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Tips for toning up

Quite often clients want to tone up a specific part of their body like their tummy. Unfortunately you can’t burn fat from any specific area with a specific exercise; your body works as a whole system and takes fat from all over. However the more muscle tone you have the more fat you will burn by having a higher metabolic rate, so the sooner you will reveal those abs lying hidden (at the moment) under your fat suit.

Many  personal trainers and clients fall into the trap of going for isolation exercises (an exercise that focusses on just one muscle) to try and spot tone. Bicep curls are a favourite for the chaps.Crunches for the ladies. Isolation moves are great for some things, but try to do some compound training too. This training (that works more than one muscle simultaneously)  produces more testosterone and growth hormones than isolation moves, which help build muscle mass. Ladies, don’t worry, it’s unlikely that you will start to look like a lesbian Russian weight-lifter (we can go for that look if you like). As you are a girl you have a limited amount of testosterone and so will just get more toned and shapely.

So ensure that the basis of your training is big compound moves like push ups, lunges, dead lifts and shoulder presses.

You can combine these compound moves with more specific isolation exercises but look at this as more of a bonus if you have time. A good way to do this is through pre-exhaust, where you isolate the big muscle first and then go compound, giving it help from a synergist. An example of this would e chest flys (pectorals) followed by a chest press (pectorals AND triceps).

Tags: compound exercises, isolation exercises, resistance training, toning
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Do an explosive warm up to build more strength

A standard warm up should take you gently from your resting heart rate and gradually build up to twice resting heart rate, and might take the form of walking which would progress into a jog and from there into running. Some upper body dynamic stretching is also effective and some slow controlled squats to wake up the legs will work well too. Once you are warmed up though some more explosive moves will help you develop more power in your training session. Plyometrics, or fast explosive moves like jumping up onto a step and then lowering into a squat, or a jump down off a step and a squat, jumping lunges, jumping jacks and similar moves will fire up the nervous system and awaken your fast twitch muscle fibres. These muscle fibres are responsible for fast powerful movements and so by warming them up too (and not just the normal muscle fibres that you might use in conventional training) you will get the most out of your session.

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Getting the Most From Resistance Training

Quality is much more important than quantity for resistance or strength training. Remember that this type of training is vital for weight loss, especially amongst women, and will not make you big and hunky if you go about it the correct way. Here are 5 essential tips.

1 – Know the correct way to do the exercise. Get a gym instructor or a personal trainer to show you and make sure that you are copying what they do. Correct form will isolate the correct muscles in the correct way, making sure that you are going into overload and breaking down muscle fibres. They will then grow back stronger and firmer through adaptation. Incorrect form can put the muscles under strain, and will also put the joint and connective tissue at risk. Always make sure that you start correctly and then return to that start position after each and every rep.

2 – Think and feel the movement. When doing an exercise, focus on what the muscles are doing; feel them contract and relax. Imagine all those muscle fibres working and this will help you to do the movement properly, as opposed to focusing on the bar or weight; this common flaw means that all your energy is aimed at moving the weight and will lead you to cheat using momentum and incorrect form.

3 – Complete the full range of motion. It’s much more effective to complete 8 reps of an exercise for the full movement than to try for 4 more where you shorten the movement. Quality rather than quantity remember.

4-Do the right number of repetitions for your goal. Keeping all of the above points in mind, be sure that you are doing the right number of reps for what you want; high reps (15-20) for endurance, 12-14 for muscle tone, 8-12 for muscle size, 4-8 for strength. Remember that each range will not be solely one thing. When doing 10 reps muscle size is dominant, but you will still get a bit of toning and a bit of strength.

5 – Do the right volume of sets: 2 sets of a compound multiple joint exercise will be enough for a beginner, but as the reps come down try to get more sets in. 3-4 sets on each muscle group is best, although it does depend on you – where are you now, what do you want, how much time you have, how old you are etc.

6 – Make every repetition identical. In keeping with the quality over quality rule make sure that the last repetition in every set looks just the same, or just as good as the first, keeping the above points in mind.

Tags: resistance training, toning, weight loss
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Essential home training kit-the suspension trainer

These bits of cargo webbing from a transport plane (or so they seem) are some of the most versatile, effective, lightweight and transportable bits of kit that you can use to get and stay fit. They will fold up so small that they will fit into a briefcase or a handbag!

The instability that the suspension trainer adds to common exercises like the press up make it great for training the fixators as well as the synergists (the little muscles that help the big ones do their job, and that are often neglected by conventional gym machines).

They work at home by fitting into a door frame (with no damage if you do it correctly) but are also great for outdoors. Our personal trainers use them on railings, trees, any stable object to which they can be attached. They are also great for beginners as they can add assistance to standard compound bodyweight exercises like the pull up and the squat.

Two options are the TRX-www.fitnessanywhere.com

or the FITKIT-www.fitkitpro.co.uk

Tags: suspension trainer, TRX
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I want to do my first 5K race, what sort of training should I do?

The amount of training that you need to do to run a 5k race will depend on the base level of fitness that you are starting from. Someone with a reasonable base level who walks a lot, cycles to work, goes to the gym or is generally active could go out and do 3 miles (about 5k) with little or no training. They would most likely be sore the day after but none the worse off after that. However it’s always safer and more satisfying if you do it properly and run the race in the best time that you can. Some preparation is vital for this, but don’t worry as you will not only get fitter but if you can eat well during training then you will lose some weight and tone up too. The training schedule here is 8 weeks long and assumes that you are medically sound (no major health problems, excessively high blood pressure, knees mostly intact etc). If the initial 1.5 mile run looks like too much then for the first week or two you can substitute this (and the other runs) with an interval composed of (for example) a 1 minute jog followed by a 1 minute recovery walk. As you progress, increase the “work” or jogging interval and decrease the “recovery” or walking interval so that by the second half of the programme you have dropped the walking bits altogether and can now jog all the way! This progression might look like:

Week 1 -1 Minute jog, 1 minute walk.
Week 2 – 1:30 jog, 1 minute walk
Week 3 – 2 minute jog, 1 minute walk
Week 4 – 3 minute jog, 30 second walk
You can experiment with the blend of work and recovery to find a level that is challenging but achievable for you. The body is an amazing machine and will adapt more quickly than you think.
On the Wednesday you have the option of either a rest day or a walk day but you could replace these with some cross training which will really help to make you stronger for the big day. Simple resistance training moves like push ups, squats, bent over rows and especially the plank will all make running easier. Two sets of 15 repetitions on each one is a good guide. Swimming might also be an option here, enough to keep your eye in but with no impact and the added bonus of being good for flexibility.
The terms used in the training schedule may seem obvious, but it’s worth having a look at them.
Rest: The most important day in any beginning or intermediate running program is rest. Rest days are as vital as training days. They give your muscles time to recover so you can run again. Actually, your muscles will build in strength as you rest. Without recovery days, you will not improve.
Run: Put one foot in front of the other and run. It sounds pretty simple, and it is. As Kelly Holmes said, just put your trainers on and go out of the door. Don’t worry about how fast you run; just cover the distance—or approximately the distance suggested. Ideally, you should be able to run at a pace that allows you to talk but only in brief sentences, so breathless but not on the verge of a thrombosis. This isn’t always easy for beginners, so don’t push too hard or too fast.
Walk/Run: This is a combination of running and walking, suggested for those in-between days when you want to do some running, but only some. Remember that for the total beginner your run days can use walking as recovery too, as outlined earlier. There’s nothing in the rules that suggests you have to run continuously, either in training or in the 5-K race itself. Use your own judgment. Run until you begin to feel fatigued, then walk until almost recovered. Run. Walk. Run. Walk.
Walk: Walking is an excellent exercise that a lot of runners overlook in their training. In the training schedule above, we suggest that you go for an hour-long walk on the day after your longest run. Don’t worry about how fast you walk, or how much distance you cover. Take time to stop and sniff the flowers or enjoy a scenic view. Not all training should be difficult. If a 60-minute walk seems too much at first, begin with about 30 minutes and add 5 minutes a week until you reach 60 minutes.
The above schedule is only a guide. Feel free to make minor modifications to suit your work and family schedule. The progression suggests adding a quarter-mile to most runs each week. That’s one lap on most outdoor tracks. If you train on the roads, or on footpaths/bridleways, it’s more difficult to measure precisely how far you run but many modern mobile phones have good running tracker programmes that can tell you how far (and fast!) you have gone. Google pedometer is also a useful tool to plan the runs and get the distance right. Otherwise think about how fast you are going (a good paced walk is about 3mph) multiply that by the time you were going and you will have a good idea about the distance. So don’t worry about it. Approximate the distance. As long as you are out there 3 or 4 days a week, giving it a decent go, that’s all that matters.

I highly recommend having a look at Hal Higdon’s site if you want to try the intermediate, advanced or a longer distance.

Tags: 5k run training, running training, runnng
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An Easy Marathon (Relatively).

Forget those crowded city marathons, there are lots of other interesting ones to try. The marathon with the greatest descent may be hot but is quite literally downhill all the way. The Dead Sea marathon (Jordan, 8th of April 1011) starts on the highlands of Amman and then drops 1300m over the course to the lowest point on the planet at the Dead Sea. It’s still a long way though so make sure that you have done the requsite 3 months training, including some cross training, resistance, speed work as well as endurance. Running downhill is particularly hard on the knees, so strong quads and hamstrings are also essential.

The nature of the home service that our personal trainers do means that often it’s very outdoorsy so it’s great practice for running events of all kinds. Of course there are lots of other ways that we can make you fitter and lighter if you don’t fancy running or are perhaps a bit heavy at the moment to progress to weight bearing impact exercise.

www.deadseamarathon.com

One of the best training regimes that we use is also listed here, it’s great as there are different plans for diferent levels of runner and also different amounts of training days in each week depending on time available. Usually a minium of 4 days a week is best.

www.halhigdon.com

Tags: Dead Sea marathon, Marathon training, running
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Latest news – type O blood may reduce fertility

We all know that mums going in to conception, pregnancy and beyond have a higher chance of success if they are fit and functionally strong. At Diets Don’t Work we provide pre and post natal personal training through London and Berkshire and have had lots of happy, fit births (and mums). Studies on Pre natal training have shown that it leads to shorter labour and heavier birth weights, while post natal training can help to repair any damage done to your abdominal wall (diastasis recti) and get you back to your pre birth weight. There is now even more reason to be fit and well if you are trying to conceive as your blood type may make it more difficult.

Researchers in the US recruited over 560 women with an average age of 35 who were undergoing fertility treatments and tested their blood for levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). High levels of this chemical messenger are an indicator of a diminishing egg count. They found that women with the blood type O  (possessed by 40% of the UK  population) were twice as likely to have abnormally high levels of FSH than women of other blood groups. Tony Rutherford of the British Fertility Society said that this was the first time that a link had been found between blood type and fertility. Scientists welcomed the findings but said that there was more research needed before they would advise type O women to try and concieve at an earlier age. If you are interested in the pre and post natal personal trainer service that we do have a look at our pre natal training page on the site.

Tags: fitness in pregnancy, post-natal training, pre natal training
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Marathon with a Difference

Many of our personal training clients have either completed (some in record time, have a look at Frances in our success stories page) or expressed a desire to complete one at some stage in the future. Contrary to popular belief nearly anyone who has a reasonable base of fitness, reasonably healthy knees and who has done the correct amount of training (three months is usually enough) can complete and even enjoy a marathon; many of our clients that we have trained for the big race have reported the greatest feeling of achievment they have ever felt.

So how about a marathon with a difference? Have a look at the Great Wall of China Marathon on the 21st of May 2011. The tough but inspiring race along the great wall includes a mere 5164 steps over the course. Hopefully the amazing sights along the way will be enough to distract you from the possible “stiffness and discomfort”  (personal trainer speak for pain) along the way!

great-wall-marathon.com

Tags: Great Wall of China Marathon, Marathon training
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Lift weights to be slim like a Personal Trainer

In many of the fitness articles and fat loss TV shows out there we see people being told about all the hidden sugar in food, all the fat that makes biscuits tasty (but us fat), and more often than not people being made to eat better things in smaller quantities. Your weight is a simple equation: energy in versus energy out. So obviously eating (energy in) is extremely important, but by trying to lose weight through eating alone is like trying to solve a maths equation by looking at only one half of it. So many of these articles spend time looking at input while ignoring output. Even the shows that get people to exercise as well as improve their nutrition focus more on cardio-vascular exercise; activities like running, walking, cycling and jogging are usually featured. But one of the most ignored aspects of weight loss and fitness is seldom mentioned, yet it is one of the most important tools you can use and will have the longest lasting effects; resistance or strength training. Resistance training is a type of exercise where the muscles apply force to an external resistance. It is an absolutely vital part of any fitness program, bringing many health related benefits. It is also an essential part of safe and permanent weight loss.

The engine in a car that is sitting at the traffic lights is constantly ticking over, using fuel. The bigger the engine in the car the more fuel it will use. With us (people) our muscles are our engine; they are constantly using fuel, even when we are sitting still. And sleeping! So the larger the engine the more fuel we will need. By toning our muscles with strength training we are effectively increasing the size of our engine, so using more fuel, even outside of training and when at rest. Although cardio vascular training is also vital for a healthy body and helps to increase output in the weight loss equation, we only really burn fuel while actually training or for a short period afterwards. With strength training we are burning more fuel all the time. This not only helps you to lose weight but also to keep it off.

Resistance training also had lots of other benefits: it strengthens the bones and prevents osteoporoses; it increases stability in the joints so you are less likely to injure yourself while being tackled by the dog/children/slippery pavement; it promotes postural stability; it improves confidence; it reduces unhealthy levels of LDL (cholesterol); it prevents back pain; it reduces the effects of diabetes.

There are many myths surrounding weight training that it is important to dispel too. It doesn’t necessarily involve lifting heavy weights, as resistance can be provided by a variety of things – body weight, elastic bands, bottles of water and even bags of sugar can all be used to provide an effective work out. Many of the best resistance training exercises are ones perceived to be old fashioned, like squats, lunges, push ups and the plank. These can all be done at home or in the park with little or no kit. Other myths to dispel are:

Women who lift weights do NOT develop bulky muscles, or resemble Russian weight-lifters. Muscle growth is largely dependent on the male growth hormone testosterone, so men are much more likely to bulk up. In women exercising in the correct range will enhance muscle tone, giving a firmer shapelier figure.

Weight training will NOT make you slow and cumbersome. Increased muscle tone improves speed, co-ordination and agility, with training institutes around the world using resistance work to get the best speed, power and agility out of their athletes. Sprinters are some of the most muscular athletes around – they are also not slow!

It does NOT take ages to get results. Study after study has shown that high quality workouts lasting just 20 minutes and performed 2 times a week can bring substantial improvements in your strength, muscle tone and bone density. By using good technique and the right number of sets and reps you will get results in no time at all: you should see a change in 4 to 6 weeks.

You cannot target specific areas to burn off unwanted fat. Many magazines and articles lead you to believe that if you do 100 sit-ups a day you will have a flat tummy. The body works as a whole system, and only by addressing the whole system (nutrition, lean muscle mass, energy output and metabolism) will improvements come. The body burns fat from all over, so the right programme will make you lose fat everywhere! More and more people are lifting weights, from the young to the elderly.

Tags: resistance training for weight loss, weight loss, weight training
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