Couples anxious to conceive have long been advised  not to get too worked up about it, and the advice is sound according to latest research. In a small study carried out by Oxford University, researchers found that women with the highest levels of adrenaline in their bodies were 12% less likely to concieve in the first month of trying than those with less of the “fight or flight” hormone. “The findings support the idea that couples should try to stay as relaxed as possible about trying for a baby” says Dr Cecilia Pyper, who led the study. “For some people it might be relevant to look at relaxation techniques, counselling and even approaches like yoga and meditation”.  Worries and stresses especially about chances of conception are counter productive, and remember that there are many mental gains to physical exercise.

Many of our London based personal trainer clients show that after just 6 weeks of training they not only feel better physically but are mentally stronger, more relaxed and more confident. We also provide pre and post natal training for our clients. This has lots of benefits for both mum and baby-have a look on our pre and post natal page on the “what we do” page.

Nutrition really is a tricky subject. Nearly everything is good and bad all at once; this remains true especially if you have too much of anything. Take fruit for example. Some personal trainers (purists) might say that a client should not have fruit at all, as it contains fruit sugars or fructose. These fruit sugars are easily converted by the digestive system into glycogen (blood fuel) so are more likely to make you fat if you are not being active. This can hamper any weight loss efforts. Yet other trainers (the more practical ones; we fall into this camp) might say that fruit is good, just proceed with caution. Fruit has lots of vitamin C in it, fibre, micro nutrients, and is a whole food. Yes some fruits have quite a lot of calories in them (a banana for example can have 60-80) but they are still healthy if eaten in moderation and if you don’t have too much of any particular one. Just use common sense and remember to keep moving!

With strapless off the shoulder dresses in vogue looking your best on your wedding day is as important as ever. Bingo wings (flabby underarms) and stage curtains (flabby upper back) have nowhere to hide and will be captured forever by the photographer. How best then to prepare for the big day? Spot reduction (exercising a specific body part to tone that particular area) is difficult. You can exercise your arms until you are blue (or red) in the face but your toned arms will most likely  still be covered by your fat suit. The body burns fat as a whole, not in parts, so an overall exercise regime coupled with sensible eating is the most effective way to success.

Compound or big bang exercises that work many large muscle groups are the way forward; they will burn lots of calories and also tone your big muscle groups (legs, bum, chest, back). This will in turn increase your metabolic rate and make you burn more calories even at rest. Plenty of the “big five” exercises are the all over fat blasters that you need, so squats, push ups, lunges, bent over rows and clean-to-press will work well. Once you have started to tone these large muscles and change shape then specific exercises like tricep dips, bicep curls and shoulder presses will be much more effective.

Studies have also shown that high intensity interval training results in better fat loss (and abdominal fat loss) than traditional long slow cardio, even when the training bursts last only half the time. So biking, running, rowing or even walking will be more effective if you do a really fast minute with a small period of recovery. Lower the recovery and/or increase the work interval as you progress.

The third ingredient to go into a fab shapely bride is good nutrition. Small frequent meals will ensure that you do not overfill the fuel tank and store fat, while giving you metabolic bursts. Avoiding processed foods and being careful most of the time will create the calorie overdraft that will remove your fat suit to reveal the toned you underneath. As you are doing resistance training and CV treat days once or twice a week will also be possible, keeping you sane.

How long? 6 weeks of reasonably focused effort should see a dress size come off. Longer or harder training will get even better results. Train for 3 or 4 days a week, for around 30-40 minutes, perhaps doing a circuit of the exercises combined with some CV intervals at the start and finish. Remember that you need to do as many of the exercises as you can. If it is easy to complete then it won’t work!!

Good Luck!!

ps there is a basic homework programme containing some of the compound exercises mentioned above on our knowledge page.

A recent survey covered all the latest shoes that claim to improve posture and muscle tone. Since the release of MBT’s (the first shoe on the market in the UK and the most recognised) in the UK competitors have been relatively slow to follow on with rival products. However in the last 12 months many major shoe manufacturers from Addidas to Nike have jumped on the bandwagon and brought our shoes with rounded soles similar to MBTs and with similar claims.

Although some of the shoes do seem to work the scientific backing is most evident with the MBTs. Proper studies have shown that these shoes make you walk in a more upright position, working the glutes, hamstrings and quads more than ordinary shoes while taking pressure off the knee joint and also strengthening the muscles around the knee.

Many of our personal trainer clients in Berkshire wear these shoes, and although they may not be the most fashionable items they really do seem to work. Of course fancy footwear should only be a supplement to healthy eating and proper structured exercise including resistance training.

Halle has recently bee papped in her beach outfit looking seriously buff and fit-that includes a flat tummy.

The oscar wining actress has a personal trainer, Ramona Braganza and follows the Factor five Plan (all our new personal training clients in London, Maidenhead and Windsor get a copy of this). This involves eating 5 small meals a day. She also works out in short 25 minute bursts five times a week. Ramona says the key to Halle’s body beautiful is plenty of squats and thrusts. “these are all over fat blasting exercises” she says. We agree at Diets Don’t Work. Training in intervals is an excellent way to burn at. Studies have shown that high intensity interval training results in better at loss (and abdominal fat loss) than traditional long slow cardio sessions. They also have more after burn, where you feel hot and energised ater the session and also promote faster adaptive fitness gains.

Curry spices could olay a critical role in the battle to prevent global warming by reducing the vast amounts of greenhouse gasses emitted by agricultural animals like cows and sheep. Based on laboratory research, a team at the Universith of Newcastle concludes that adding the spices to the animals’ diet could reduce the amount of methane produced in their stomachs by up to 40%. It is believed that the spices kill off the gut bacteria that create the gas. Methane emissions from livestock (farting, basically) has been estimated to make uo 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Now don’t get the wrong idea here and think that you can help by going out and having lots of curry. According to the Diets Don’t Work personal trainer advice bureau (me) you should of course only have a curry as a special treat and be sure to do lots of exercise to counteract the huge calorific input-the nation’s favourite dish, chicken tikka masala, with pilau rice and plain nan, contains on average 1,338 calories. It also has more fat in it than you should eat in a whole day. So proceed with moderation.

So why has this dramatic change in the frequency of these allergic conditions occurred?

To answer this we need to consider what predisposes humans to develop allergies in the first place. One essential pre-condition is to be born with an inherited tendency for allergy. This is coded in our genes and inherited from our parents. This allergic tendency is called atopy and someone with the predisposition is known as an atopic person. However, it is certainly not guaranteed that an atopic person will always go on to become an allergic person. So has the increase in allergy been due to a change in our inherited predisposition or from a change in our environment? The answer is fairly obvious if we consider that genes do not change easily or quickly. The abrupt rise in allergy in the last fifty years would have required an equally abrupt change in our genes. This is quite impossible, and so the only valid explanation is that the increase in allergy is caused by environmental (including life style) changes. So it is not that more people have become allergy-prone, more allergy-prone people have become allergic because factors in the environment have added together to cause it. Until the end of the 19th century, agriculture and other outdoor occupations were the norm, houses offered very basic comfort and levels of hygiene were very poor. Allergy was rare and mostly affected people from the privileged classes. With the advent of the industrial revolution in the 19th century, life changed dramatically and irreversibly. People abandoned agriculture in favour of industry which was expanding and offering more employment. The population became more affluent and levels of personal comfort and hygiene improved. Housing characteristics also changed. Houses became better sealed with insulated windows and constant heating to maintain a temperature above 18-20 degrees Celsius. People mainly worked indoors and mechanisation reduced the level of physical activity. Hobbies also changed, as people abandoned physical pursuits in favour of sedentary activities. There was also a major shift in the composition of our diet. Huge increases in the consumption of sugar, salt and commercially modified fats occurred as people replaced home prepared natural foods with commercially produced convenience foods. Major changes in transportation also occurred as cars trains and planes replaced the less efficient, but also less pollutant, animal transportation. All these changes started at the end of the 19th century, but became more prominent in the second half of the 20th century, coinciding precisely with the period when the rise in prevalence of the allergic diseases occurred.  Scientists are now convinced that amongst these life style changes there are allergy-inducing influences whilst, at the same time, many protective influences have been lost.

Today’s topic-Can I change the physique I was born with?

True AND false. If you were born with thick ankles and not the longest of legs (like me), then you will never have thin elegant legs no matter how hard you train. So you might not actually get to feature in swan lake. You can however, by focusing on the right sort of training, keep as much fat off as possible and with good muscle tone and flexibility look your very best. By exercising the upper back and shoulder girdle you can also ensure that you keep a good upright posture and look lean and elongated. Similarly, if you are a very tall and willowy type, you will struggle to be as curvy as someone with a natural hour glass shape, but through good nutrition and exercise will be able to lok your best for your morphology. So you can’t change the basic bone structure that you were born with, but you can really help yourself by exercising and eating well thus making the most of what you’ve got. If you really want to get going then a course of personal training with one of our experienced personal trainers will help you get specifically what you need.

Today it’s myth number 5-you can eat as much as you want as long as you exercise.

This one in most certainly false. Your weight is a two sided equation, energy in versus energy out. Even if you are exercising lots, a surplus in energy will always be stored as fat. The only way to maintain a healthy weight is to match what you expend with what you take in. If you need to lose weight than you will have to take in less than you put in! Quite simple really. Yes exercise will help tremendously in increasing the output, so that if you can exercise AND eat well then you will get smaller. But even if you burn 1000 calories a day and eat 1200 calories a day extra then you will get fatter. Many personal trainers in London preach the importance of reducing fat, but this is a generalisation. We NEED good fats (vegetable oils and fish oils)  but it’s the man made and animal fats that are bad for us and will make US fat. It’s just as important to avoid processed carbohydrates and refined sugars. No mater how much exercise you do you still need good varied and natural foods. Have a look at out personal trainer guide to nutrition on the Knowledge page of this site.

Ok, so we all know that Christmas is now just around the corner, and that more than likely we will be going for it in the food and drink stakes. The average calorific horrific intake on Christmas day in Britain is 4000-5000 calories, or two days’ worth, so what we at Diets Don’t Work suggest is hiring on of our mean but supportive and charming personal trainers to pre-empt the onslaught. By embarking on a programme of resistance training and CV we can push your metabolic rate up higher so that you will be burning more calories (and more calories from fat too!) even while you are sitting watching the sound of music. Lean muscle needs more energy to maintain itself whether you are exercising or not and so burns more fuel, stopping you from getting too fat over the festive season. For more on this have a look at the energy systems fact sheet on out “The Knowledge” page on the website. 

Even a little trot out on Christmas morning will help to get you through the trauma of all those Brussels sprouts. So if you need advice or motivation we can help now and in the new decade with a personal trainer in the Maidenhead, Windsor and Bracknell areas. Good luck and be good-you can still have fun too!