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Scared Of The Cold? Don’t Be!

Winter time is coming up, are you thinking that it might be too cold for you train outdoors till March? The answer is NO it’s never too cold. Millions of people all over the UK exercise outdoors every day and reap the benefits from it, every day I drive around Surrey I see countless people jogging down the road or around parks, some wearing very little! My boot camp along with all other boot camps / outdoor circuit training companies run all year around.

There’s no need to stop or head indoors, indoor gym workouts / exercise classes are pretty much the same every time which will lead to you getting mentally and physically bored. Training outdoors in the fresh air will help you get some sunlight through the winter months and also boost your immune system, people who stay indoors all day long catch colds a lot easier then people who exercise outdoors 1-4 times a week.

The main result of exercise is an increase in blood circulation, increase in breathing rate, increased heart rate, increase in body temperature and increased sweat rate (yes you will still sweat!).

There’s no standing around getting cold! 45-50 minutes outdoors working hard, getting hot, burning calories and getting fit and healthy. Keep jogging or walking on the spot whilst I quickly explain circuits then go straight into it – the 45 minutes will soon fly by.

Coldest ever session I have done in the UK was back in January this year, snow on the ground, 6.45am Burpham boot camp, pitch black, minus 8 degrees (-8!), no wind at all, I stand around whilst everyone does the hard work and even I wasn’t cold, some members still took off layers after […]

By |August 8th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Injured Or Got A Niggle?

= Rest

I = Ice
C = Compression
E = Elevation
S = Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug (NSAID)

Try to rest as much as possible and sit or lay in a comfortable position.

Wrap the injured part in a compression bandage.

Apply ice to the injured part (use a bag of crushed ice or a bag of frozen vegetables) for 10-15 minutes. Let the area warm completely before applying ice again.

Elevate the injured part to reduce swelling (using pillows / cushions etc).

Follow instructions on the packaging and take ibuprofen or aspirin to help reduce the inflammation.

When exercising wear comfortable exercise trainers (with a thick, bouncy sole, preferably not flat) and make sure the laces are secured tightly around the ankle joints.

Wear knee, ankle, elbow, wrist exercise supports if necessary.

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What The Human Body Can Do In The Cold

The human body is amazing and can adapt to any conditions:

People climb Mount Everest with the aid of oxygen.
People can scuba dive to cold and dark depths of 150 metres plus.
People trek to the north and south poles for fun.
People can ski or board in the snow for up to 10 hours a day.
People swim for up to an hour in the Antarctic ocean which is the coldest in the world wearing no wet suit (just their heads covered).
45-50 minutes jogging, boxing, skipping and circuit training in your local park is a doddle compared to the above!
By |August 8th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Summertime Is On It’s Way!

Hi, hope you’re OK and that your training and diet has been going well so far this year.

It’s not too far away now from summertime and trips to the outdoor swimming pools or the beach and putting on your swimsuits that you might not have worn for a while! I always find that quite a few people contact me for one to one personal training and join the boot camps 6 weeks before they’re due to go on a beach holiday which for someone who hasn’t trained for a long time isn’t a long enough period for them to get in shape.

It takes the body 4-6 weeks to notice a change in exercise before it will start making adaptations like increasing your metabolism to burn more calories, toning your muscles and improving your stamina. The stomach area is generally the first place that people put excess weight on and is unfortunately the last place to lose it after training hard and eating well for a few months. Once you have toned up your legs, arms, back, shoulders and chest your body will then start to burn of any excess fat around the stomach area.

That’s why March is a great time to start ramping up your training for the summertime!
By |August 8th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments

No Pain, No Gain

Some people say ‘no pain no gain’ when it comes to their training regime which is what they’re probably heard on some war films when the drill seargents are shouting at the new recruits. For most people though it is a step too far.

When your body throws up it is a defence mechanism to get out all the harmful toxins and waste products (mainly lactic acid) which has accumulated from a training session gone horribly wrong. Even if you feel like you might throw up then you might have pushed it just that little bit too far.

The whole aim of a training session is to progressively train your body so it makes small adaptations along the way helping you to reach your goals.
If you throw up you’ll be depleting your body of much needed water and nutrients which means it will take your body longer to recover and the whole session would have been a waste of time.

If you’re training for 45 minutes but feel sick for 10 minutes off it then you’ll automatically have to take it easier during those 10 minutes or even sit down to rest which cuts down the amount of calories you’ll be burning etc.

Top athletes train hard every day of their lives with sport psychologists, top coaches and nutritionists etc and they never deliberately take themselves to the point of throwing up so neither should you 🙂 Work in your own limits even at 90-95% of your max that’s still an intense workout!

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Holiday Season – Tips For Keeping The Weight Off!

A few of my one to one personal training clients and boot camp members who have been on holiday lately and have come back saying they’ve put on 3-7lbs. Here’s are a few tips on how to keep the weight off when you go on holiday and how to get rid of it as soon as you come back:

  • Try to do at least 20 minutes of exercise a day. Some people go to all inclusive resorts and eat lot more food than they normally do and consume more alcohol than normal and spend all the time by the pool or on the beach laying down sunbathing so all those extra calories are just going to be stored as fat and extra weight 🙁
  • Cycle, brisk walk, hill walk to a view point, rock climb, jog, snorkel, swim, golf, tennis, squash, badminton, use the hotel gym, attend some exercise classes etc to keep your metabolism up and burning calories rather than storing calories. If you’re on holiday with your children it’s a good example for them too. If your baby is in a pram go out for a brisk walk before it gets too hot and try a few hundred metres of jogging every now again whilst pushing the pram etc.
  • Try to eat sensible size portions! For some reason when it’s a buffet peoples eyes become larger than their stomachs and people can easily over eat. Try to eat fresh healthy options and not to the point where you have to lay down afterwards. Try a 5-10 minute walk after a main meal.
  • Drink lots of water which is important for hydration and helping clean your body out of toxins. When you become dehydrated your body finds […]
By |August 8th, 2013|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Your Body Is For Life

It’s great to have a big kick start to the new year and a healthy detox and a few small changes to your diet to make it have more nutritional value and increase your fitness training but it’s also important to keep it going through the whole year so that you can reach your goals quickly then maintain your high level of health and fitness.
When you take any breaks off during the year you soon lose fitness and it’s harder to get back into it so it’s better and easier to do a steady amount throughout the whole year. Anymore then 2 weeks off exercise is too long. The government recommend training at least 3 times a week every single week. If you go on holiday for 2 weeks still try to do some exercise whilst your away.
‘Health is wealth, movement is medicine’.
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Detox Is Nearly Over, How Much Have You Lost?

Tuesday 24th January today and one week left of the dreaded New Years detox. I started mine January 1st and will finish Sunday 29th January when I’m in Italy. Mine has been pretty simple. Eat only nutritional food and drink lots of water. I’ve cut out all crisps, chips, pies, microwave meals, chocolate, ice cream, sweets and alcohol and I’ve never felt better.
I started off just under 15 stones and now weigh just under 14 stones and have lost about 15lbs. I should have taken some before and after photos to send to some health and fitness magazines. I’ve lost a bit on my face but mostly on my waist which is where all my treats laid and have lost about 2 inches / 2 notches on my belt.
In the weekdays I normally finish work quite late, then go home for a shower and have a little nutritional snack. Then I made the mistake of having a tasty but calorie deficient snack like chocolate digestive biscuits, doritos, Haagen Dazs, wine gums etc at 9pm or later only an hour or so before going to bed.
It doesn’t matter how much exercise you do. If you eat an unhealthy snack or drink alcohol (liquid calories) right before bed you don’t have time to break it down / burn it off and it will sit on your stomach all night and increase your fat content. I’ve got some body fat scales at home and have lost 5% body fat this month.
It’s all about self discipline and seeing what works for you. I’ve cut out all my favourite snacks and don’t have any cravings for them at all and in the future I’ll have a sensible small portion […]

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Are You Pushing Yourself Hard Enough?

In the Royal Marines the final commando test is the infamous 30 miler across Dartmoor.

Wearing basic boots, webbing, rucksack and carrying a rifle totalling 45lbs in weight – recruits have to go up and down hills, cross streams, swamps and moors in under 8 hours to earn their coveted green beret.
Blisters! Because it’s such hard terrain carrying over 3 stones on your back it’s the equivalent to running two normal flat marathons back to back.
Throughout the 32 weeks of the longest and hardest infantry training in the world the furthest that any recruit will run is 12 miles.
The rest is made up of 40 minute intense circuit training sessions that work the whole body and increase your VO2 max / endurance and also some fast short runs (1.5 miles flat out).
It sounds far fetched but it’s a tried and tested winning formula designed by sport professors at Loughborough University.
So that goes to show that you don’t need to spend hours and hours long slow boring jogging on the roads to increase your fitness, if you work hard and push yourself really hard every now and again at boot camp then that will do the job too!
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Unusual Phone Call Promoting Fat & No Exercise!

Private number came up on my phone and I thought OK I’ll see who it is. Most private numbers are people trying to sell me advertising.!

 It was a woman whose writing a new book and wanted a quick chat.
I didn’t really have time to but thought I would help her out.
She basically said in her opinion and her research that exercise not only loses weight but also breaks down all parts of body composition and that it can actually be bad and cause death.
It’s true that their is a condition called sudden death syndrome but that occurs for 1/1 million people that exercise (which is pretty damn low).
I said that it’s better to exercise sensibly which the government and all the other health specialists also recommend as it decreases the chance of illness, improves lifestyle and helps people to live longer.
She gave an example of a cheetah chasing it’s prey at full speed and if it doesn’t succeed it gives up and rests and waits for the next opportunity.
I gave examples of other animals for example wolves that chase there preys at nearly full speed for hours if not days on end until their prey is too fatigued to run any further. But she didn’t take that as a valid point.
She said that exercise takes glucose from the brain which is the largest and most important organ.
I said that exercise strengthens brain skills, concentration, helps people to sleep well and helps stop mental illness.
She said that it’s been shown that larger, fatter people are actually healthier than people who exercise regularly. (I don’t know where she’s getting all this ‘new’ data from!)
I said if people didn’t exercise they wouldn’t be able to get out […]

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