The Whole Body Workout
You’ve got to give energy to get energy
Posted on 3rd February 2012 in Fitness, Health, Nutrition, Uncategorized by Sharon MerciecaHave you ever compared how you feel after a week of exercise and healthy eating to how you feel after a weekend of no training and binge eating and or drinking?
Many studies (such as the one below my blog) have been done to prove this fact, but the best study that you can refer to is one on yourself. So if you are not that well in tune with your body and mind I suggest you keep a food and exercise diary and comment how you feel at the end of each day that you do train and also on the days that you do not train and make the comparison.
When this fact is reinforced and you have had a personal experience with it, next time you try and talk yourself into not training or for reaching for the wrong food, you can remind yourselves that ‘You’ve got to give energy to get energy’!
We have all had an indulgent day, weekend or holiday at some stage, but it is identifying that by not listening to our body when it is lethargic and crying out for help that we can sink into a week/s, months or longer of inactivity and poor eating because of the exhausted excuse of ‘I am not training because I am always tired’.
So you need to remember the following to keep your energy levels high. All of the tips below require energy, preparation, consistency, discipline and focus to set your lifestyle up in a way that will give energy back but the results are well worth it and they will have you flying high.
My Top 10 tips to keep your energy high
- Always eat breakfast
- Do a weekly shop and make sure it contains all of the foods to keep you eating healthy and avoid all the foods that put you off track (remember… you are what you eat!!)
- Drink at least 2 liters of water a day and detox with hot water lemon and/or green tea
- Sleep at least 6-8 hours per night
- Manage your diary to slot in training time (exercise at least 4 times per week)
- Keep a food diary to keep in tune of what you are eating and how you feel
- Eat small portions every four hours and a snack is not a meal (it is just a snack for example 10 walnuts, small pot of natural yoghurt)
- Cut out or limit the sugar and processed foods such as crisps
- Make time for yourself to relax and recharge your batteries
- Stay positive…negative energy is draining and holds you back from reaching your goals
See below from WebMD Health News
“We live in a society where people are always looking for the next sports drink, energy bar, or cup of coffee that will give them the extra edge to get through the day,” says researcher Tim Puetz, PhD, also of UGA. “But it may be that lacing up your tennis shoes and getting out and doing some physical activity every morning can provide that spark of energy that people are looking for.”
In a study, published in Psychological Bulletin, the researchers analyzed 70 studies on exercise and fatigue involving more than 6,800 people.
“More than 90% of the studies showed the same thing: Sedentary people who completed a regular exercise program reported improved fatigue compared to groups that did not exercise,” says O’Connor. “It’s a very consistent effect.”
The results show that regular exercise increases energy and reduces fatigue.
The average effect was greater than the improvement from using stimulant medications, including ones used for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.
Researchers say nearly every group studied — from healthy adults, to cancer patients, and those with chronic conditions including diabetes and heart disease — benefited from exercise
Is Zumba really the next big thing in fitness????
Posted on 18th January 2012 in Uncategorized by Susan McKennaMSG is extremely damaging and you should know about it…..…!
Posted on 1st January 2012 in Nutrition, Uncategorized by Scott CookeMSG is extremely damaging and you should know about it…..…!
MSG(E621) is classed as an anti nutrient and is commonly used to enhance taste-active compounds balancing and rounding the overall taste of certain dishes and is commonly found in meat, fish, poultry, many vegetables, sauces, soups and marinade, so this means it’s in nearly every processed thing we eat! What is more worrying is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Union consider MSG as safe…..this is madness. MSG prevents the absorption of nutrients from foods and is an excitotoxin which means it causes nerve cell damage and cell death, so with that reason said why bother eating at all…!? The only reason we eat food is to absorb nutrients to help create homeostasis. The Industrial food manufacturers market and use MSG as a flavor enhancer because it balances, blends and rounds food, it’s obvious why food manufactures are putting this in food but I think it’s unfair and unlawful that they sneakily say on food labels “No MSG added” this just means they have brought ingredients from other companies that have put in MSG and then they can say “we have not added any MSG” when there is clearly MSG in their product. Kid’s foods are abundantly enhanced with MSG which is also worrying as they are found to be 10 times more susceptible to the damaging effects than adults. Here is another one to keep you thinking about MSG it also induces a rapid crossing of the blood brain barrier so exerting the toxic effects on the brain, nervous and endocrine system within seconds of ingesting the foods, this is linked to degenerative neurological disorders such as paralysis, muscle weakness, poor coordination, loss of sensation, seizures, confusion, pain and altered levels of consciousness as well as headaches, migraines and Alzheimer’s.
I hope this has got you thinking……..!?
Scott Cooke
12 Days to Better Health and Fitmass
Posted on 1st December 2011 in Fitness, Health, Latest News, Nutrition, Offers by Sue BurnettDecember is here and once again (for the second year running) we are thrilled to be offering our unique 12 days of better Health and Fitmass - and this year we think it will be our best ever!
We’ll not be tempting you with a chocolate or sweets every day but we can offer you a daily health and fitmass offers, tips and discounts on gifts which will give you and your loved one’s some festive cheer. All are guaranteed to improve your families health and fitness in one way or another. Give the gift of better health and fitness this Christmas. You health matters, for LIFE not just for Christmas.
Don’t miss out and remember we’ll be offering you special deals and discounts on a daily basis in the run-up to Christmas - in our Advent Blog.
Other ways to be the first to know about the advent offers is to follow us on Twitter or become a fan on facebook FACEBOOK by clicking the like button.
In this feature we will provide you with health and fitness suggestions giving you postive ideas to help you improve your health and fitness through gift ideas for you to feed to your loved one’s if their a bit stuck for an idea for you.
Wishing you a very merry Health and Fitmass, 2011 Active Edge Solutionsfrom
Is Your Fitness Trainer Qualified?
Posted on 29th October 2011 in Fitness, Health, Services by Sue BurnettThe Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) is the independent public register which gives recognition for industry qualifications and expertise of fitness and exercise professionals in the UK. One of the key functions of REPs is to provide a systematic regulation for exercise and fitness professionals. This ensures they meet the agreed National Occupational Standards (NOS) for health and fitness industry.
All REPs Registered Exercise Professionals:
- Have met agreed NOS.
- Hold approved and recognised qualifications.
- Are competent to deliver at their recognised levels.
- They are committed to on-going continuous professional development.
- They are legally covered by appropriate insurance.
REPs registered instructors offer a wide range of experience and skills and will hold qualifications and have gained entry to the register through a a wide range of options such as:
- Gym Instruction
- Group Exercise to Music
- Water based Exercise
- Advanced Fitness Instructor/Personal Training etc.
Groups of people that recognise REPs as the professional body for the health and fitness industry include bodies such as the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Department of Health (DH).
It is strongly recommended by REPs that the general public ONLY use the expertise of a Registered Exercise Professional…
If you are a member of health club, or attend a community fitness class or wish to hire a personal trainer. DO check to see if the instructors are REPs registered.
By choosing a REPs registered exercise and fitness professional your health and safety is always paramount in the delivery of the class or fitness instruction. To find a registered professional visit: www.exerciseregister.org.
The Fundamentals of Sports Nutrition
Posted on 21st September 2011 in Uncategorized by Claudine HillierThe basis of a good sports nutrition strategy is to determine which fuels best suit the energy systems required to achieve optimal performance. The key to success involves analysing not only the nutrients required for the different types of training you may be undertaking, but also the timing of delivering these nutrients around both your weekly training regime, but also in the lead up to a race day or competition. It is important to sufficiently fuel your body in advance of your workout and to replenish it afterwards. If you’re working hard in your training it only makes sense that you want your nutrition to compliment your efforts and maximise your training gains.
The macro nutrients in your diet fuel the supply of energy in your body and each has a different and important role to play. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins need to be balanced in the correct proportions for your needs. They are complimentary and removing a single food source from your diet will have effects on the way the body metabolises the remaining groups. Upset that balance and the consequences are far reaching.
Each macro nutrient is converted into energy (ATP) via various energy pathways dependent upon it’s unique properties. As ATP is broken down it releases the energy to fuel muscle contractions. The rate and force of contraction rely on the different types of energy pathway and are derived from one of the macro nutrient groups.
An athlete will rely on their supply of carbohydrates (stored as glycogen) the most, as this fuels moderate to high intensity exercise.
Those training sessions of a lower intensity and longer duration will utilise fats as their main fuel source.
Finally, proteins are primarily used to aid repair of tissue, allowing muscle fibres to grow stronger and become more efficient.
It’s also important to take into account your micro nutrient intake (vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) as these play a role in triggering the responses of the energy pathways. For example, calcium ions are involved in the neuro-transmission process for muscle contractions and iron carries oxygen within the bloodstream.
With appropriate training, our energy systems adapt and become more efficient and allow greater exercise duration at a higher intensity. Your body is an amazing machine with capabilities almost beyond comprehension and it deserves the best fuel you can feed it.
Whether you’re a recreational exerciser or a professional athlete; a triathlete or a bodybuilder our experts at HillCliff Personal Training can provide a nutrition strategy that will help you maximise your training gains and perform to your optimum level.
© HillCliff Personal Training 2011
Vitamin and mineral supplements and training performance
Posted on 10th September 2011 in Uncategorized by Claudine HillierThere is a common misconception that taking a vitamin supplement will improve sports performance. Some are under the false impression that vitamin and mineral supplements can boost the normal metabolic processes when supplied in amounts greater than those provided by diet alone; the rationale being that this might cause increase speed and duration of metabolism. While it may appear plausible on paper, there are a number of factors that prove that supplementation will not produce this result;
Water soluble vitamins will simply be excreted in the urine when optimal levels are achieved, and fat soluble vitamins can be toxic when they exceed requirements
Over consumption of certain individual minerals and vitamins will have an adverse effect on the absorption of other essential nutrients
Oral ingestion may not increase supplies at the critical site within the body
Vitamins do not directly provide energy. This comes from macronutrients – carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However, vitamins and minerals play key roles in intermediary exercise metabolism, recovery and adaptation when acting as co-factors in the body’s ability to process and utilise food.
The best way to ensure that the daily requirements for vitamins and minerals are met is through a healthy and varied diet. Because an athlete has to consume more calories in order to fuel the energy expenditure from training, this additional intake should in theory ensure that all micronutrients are provided from food, including any increase in requirements resulting from the demands of increased metabolism. However, certain circumstances dictate that this is not always the case.
Many of the daily recommendations for vitamins and minerals are estimates of those required for sedentary lifestyles to prevent deficiencies which may in turn prevent diseases. Not all references are applicable to athletes or those who are very active.
While deficiencies in minerals and vitamins will impair performance, there is no evidence to suggest that supplementing an already sufficient intake will improve performance, either in physical work capacity, endurance, cardiovascular function, muscle strength, oxygen consumption, nor resistance to fatigue. However, there are other clear benefits associated with the consumption of antioxidants and the evidence for supplementation is more favourable than not.
Nutrients rarely work alone. In order for optimal function and performance to be reached, every nutrient must be available as a resource in sufficient amounts. Any deficit of an individual nutrient will upset the balance. Excessive amounts of any one nutrient may also have a similar effect. This is why it is necessary for an athlete to be aware of the various consequences of taking an individual nutrient supplement. (If iron or calcium deficiency is of concern then an additional supplement may be appropriate. Consult with your GP for bone mass density tests and ferritin level blood samples to be taken to establish whether there is any necessity for an increased dose that could not be met by diet alone.) A multivitamin and mineral approach may be the best option. It should be taken as a dietary supplement, rather than an ergogenic aid.
Factors that affect the vitamin content of foods
Much of the food available today is processed and many of the nutrients from the original sources are lost by the time the food reaches the supermarket shelf. We must take this into consideration. With the best will in the world, what would appear to be a healthy diet can be lacking in the necessary nutrients for optimal performance, which is why unprocessed whole foods, along with the freshest produce possible are the best options.
Cooking methods should also be taken into account. Frying and boiling will destroy many of the nutrients. Steaming or stir frying are preferred methods. If choosing juices it is advisable that to consume them as soon as possible after the fruit or vegetable has been juiced. The greater the time left between juicing and consumption, the greater the oxidation and subsequent degradation of nutrient content.
Summary
The effects of a nutritional change are dependent on physiological dynamics. Just as with physical training, there is no quick fix. If your nutritional intake is not built on sound principles, no amount of supplementation will result in optimal gains.
The most important fact to note is: supplements are not a replacement for a sound diet based on healthy, unprocessed fresh foods.
If you’re looking for sports nutrition plans and advice contact us at HillCliff Personal Training for further details.
The Benefits of Pre-Natal Exercise
Posted on 2nd September 2011 in Uncategorized by Claudine HillierAt HillCliff Personal Training we know that there are many benefits to exercising whilst pregnant. It is important that you exercise safely and with the consent of your GP and midwife and ideally under the supervision of a specially qualified personal trainer. The goal is not to increase fitness or lose weight during your pregnancy. Instead you should be aiming to simply maintain a level of fitness and ensure that the inevitable weight gain that is beneficial to your unborn baby is not excessive.
Some of the numerous benefits of prenatal exercise:
Enhanced cardiovascular health gives you more energy through your pregnancy.
Improved muscular balance may relieve backaches and general joint and muscle soreness which occur from a change in your posture and centre of gravity.
Reduced leg cramps, swelling and water retention and easing of gastrointestinal discomfort.
Strengthens the abdominal muscles reducing the level of diastis rectus (where your abdominals move apart to make room for the baby).
Reduces maternal weight gain and fat accumulation. (It is desirable that you gain weight through your pregnancy in order to support the baby’s growth. This can be anything from 11 to 15kg, but studies show that those who exercise gain, on average 3.6 kg less that those who had a sedentary pregnancy.)
Less prone to develop gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia.
Reduces perceived pain during labour and brings the possibility of an easier, shorter and less complicated birth.
Enhances circulation which may in turn reduce the risk of varicose veins.
Evidence suggests that your baby may have a less traumatic birth due to their experience of changes in oxygen supply and blood flow whilst you are exercising during your pregnancy.
It will be easier to recover after the birth. You will regain your previous fitness levels more quickly if you continue to exercise through your pregnancy.
Babies of mothers who have exercised through their pregnancy tend to be leaner.
If you’re pregnant, planning to have a baby in the near future, or have recently given birth, contact us at HillCliff Personal Training. Find out more about how we can help you through your pregnancy or in getting back to exercise following your new arrival with our tailored programmes based on your current levels of fitness and your previous history, designed by our specialists in the field of pre and post natal exercise.
The Benefits of Personal Training
Posted on 9th May 2011 in Fitness, Fitness Equipment, Health, Nutrition, Sport, Training Plans by Stephen Hoyles
I am currently learning to play golf. To do this, I have been taking lessons from a golf coach. I believe in allowing a professional to do a job they are trained to do. When I wanted to learn to drive, I went to a driving instructor. I could have been taught by family members, but opted for a professional instead. When I am injured, I take the advice of a physiotherapist. If I required accounts advice, I would speak to an accountant. The point is, there are people who know their subject far better than I do, so I speak to them about my needs in their field.
This belief extends to my professional life. As you would expect, I am a big believer in Personal Training, and think more people should look seriously at the effects having a Personal Trainer could have on their health and fitness.
So often, people want to be fitter, leaner, stronger etc, yet don’t take the advice of a Personal Trainer. They either join the gym with a friend, or take the advice from a guy in work who has been going to the gym for a few years – it is more often than not a case of the blind leading the blind. In many ways they are just shooting in the dark, hoping to find the road to weight loss. More often than not, their approach doesn’t work; they lose focus and interest, give up exercise and haven’t lost a pound (not in weight, anyway!) By taking the advice of a Personal Trainer in the first instance they would have had their plan set out from the start and knew they were on the right path to weight loss.
Before we go any further, I will stress that just because a person has passed their Personal Training exams, it doesn’t make them a good Personal Trainer. Over the last 10 years I have been in and around many gyms and have seen some brilliant Personal Trainers, but they are far outweighed by the crap the fitness education industry seems to churn out on a daily basis. There is so much more to Personal Training than knowing exercises – people need to be inspired, motivation, enjoy their sessions and want their questions answered. Without these auxiliary skills you may as well write off the Personal Trainer and keep searching.
As my career has evolved, so has my approach. I suppose like any profession, when I first qualified I was full of theoretical knowledge, but experience hadn’t kicked in. I didn’t fully know the effects of what I was doing, I hadn’t experienced the psychology of coaching someone through a long term project, and I hadn’t had the opportunity to try new things and chart the results. As time passes though, you learn more, read more, experience more and you begin to shape how you work.
I now focus my approach on improving all round health, not just fitness. My understanding of biomechanics and the role of the musculoskeletal system has improved, my exercise programmes are more balanced and allow for better performance, improved fitness, better posture, reduced injury risk, better injury management and a massive increase in overall health. These skills have come with client experience and practical application of techniques – these aren’t the kind of things you can read about in books.
In my opinion, it is these additional skills that set apart a fitness instructor and a Personal Trainer. Personal Training should be just that – PERSONAL to you and your needs. Any idiot can tell you to lift a weight a thousand times or run until you drop – so what? Those aren’t the skills you are paying for. A good Personal Trainer is an investment in your health, your wellbeing and your future. If you want to be screamed and shouted at to run and carry things, join the army. If you want a strategic, well-planned and effective training regime, hire a Personal Trainer.
Personal Trainers should ensure that your programme is in line with your goals and needs, but structured so they evolve at the right pace. I often tell people you can’t build a house on sand – it is all well and good wanting to achieve a particular goal, but if you are carrying injuries, your posture is awful and you haven’t done any exercise in months then we have to look at the bigger picture – let’s get a solid base of curing the injuries, perfecting the posture, improving the base level fitness and getting the techniques right. From there we can work on achieving the levels of fitness and the body conditioning you could have only dreamed of previously. If you try and work hard with a body that can’t cope, you are heading down a bad road from the start.
So what exactly should a Personal Trainer do? A Personal Trainer should start with posture and muscle imbalance checks, consult you on your diet, put together nutritional plans, take measurements and body composition results and help you set realistic targets and goals. From there they should be looking at fitness testing and putting together plans to start you on the road to your goals. Remember this is a process – it took you your whole life to develop the body you currently have, it will take work to change it.
But what if you can’t afford the services of a Personal Trainer full time? I never said a Personal Trainer needs to supervise every session you do. I have clients I see once per week, I have clients I see three times per week. I used to have clients I saw once per month to ensure they were keeping on top of their training, checking their progress and setting them their training plans for the next month. I would also ensure they were out of their bad habits from a technique point of view, and keep them running along smoothly. You can still gain some of the benefits of Personal Training by having a monthly session, so don’t think of Personal Training as a benefit for the rich only – anyone can benefit, and you can’t put a price on your health.
If you are interested in starting a fitness improvement plan, take seriously the effect that a good Personal Trainer can have. In reality the price isn’t much – many people spend more on a weekend in the pub than a Personal Trainer would charge for a month of sessions!
Think about that next time you wake up with a hangover and are £200 poorer after a heavy weekend…
