This is getting serious now

I think I am turning into a fitness nut!
I have always had an addictive personality and would describe myself as an all or nothing type of person. Nothing has changed when it has come to my new found love of fitness.

It started with wanting to shift weight for my wedding, what a great motivator to lose weight; wanting to look good for my wife, look good in my photos and wanting to look good for myself.

It has really evolved since then though. This has not just been a fad. I have changed my diet, bought the insanity programme, bought a fitbit one (got it yesterday), gone for fun runs, signed up to boxing classes .... the list goes on!

My diet is much better now than it ever has been. I am conscious of what I put into my body, without being a hard and fast calorie counter. I now eat 5 regular meals a day, always eat considerable amounts of veg and I avoid processed food like the plague.

Insanity has been an eye opener. It is seriously intense, pushes you beyond what you thought you could achieve and has really pushed my fitness levels up. I am getting back to what I looked like when I was in my teens, which was a much healthier, slimmer, fitter me.
Insanity really isn't for the faint hearted, it'll make you work so hard you think you are going to vomit (I haven't yet but I have a strong constitution). But, if like me, you want results then insanity is a great programme to follow.

The fitbit one is a new addition to my fitness regime. I bought it as I wanted to be able to track my performance better with the use of more accurate data. It is a great piece of kit, user friendly, easy to set up and I have been really impressed with it so far.
I have also synced it with my fitness pal, which I was using last year. I can now track my calories eaten, my nutritional breakdown as well as my activity during the day.
It also lets me pit myself against other fitbit users and given that I am also really competitive, I imagine I will love this aspect of it!

Fitbit users in London be warned, I will be at the top of the leader boards in no time!

Insanity month 2

Throughout month one of insanity I was pushing myself hard and the workouts were tough. Anyone out there that has done the insanity programme by beachbody will know what I am talking about.

Bring on month 2 is what I was thinking at the beginning of the year.
Month 2 day one kicks off with a fitness test - nothing new there. And I am happy to say I smashed it, except for the last exercise but I had a wardrobe malfunction with that one (my shorts were too tight for me to get my legs to where I needed them! Hahaha!)

Then Beachbody decided to follow this up with an hour long max integral session. Ouch, it was hard work, I had to dig deep and I needed a lot of water to get me through it. The programme created by Shaun T is hard, seriously hard but it is so satisfying when you complete them.

I still recommend this programme thoroughly. As soon as I complete it I will post my before and after photos, the jury can then decide if all this hard work was worth it.

Happy New Year everyone and good luck with the training!

Insanity

Everyone has seen the commercials, the before and after pictures and the many testimonials of people who have taken on the insanity challenge to come out the other side with a physique to be proud of.

After a lot of deliberation and a little cynicism, I decided to purchase the beachbody product 'insanity' by Shaun T.

From a customer experience perspective, the company is run well. The product arrived quickly and was as described.

From a fitness perspective; it is hard work, but it is supposed to be. I am about 25 days in so far and can see some results. Whilst the scales only show that I have shifted 5lbs, I can feel the biggest difference in my fitness levels. Most notably, I went for a run the other day and it was the most enjoyable run I have ever been on. It was a great feeling to be able to push myself but still have so much energy to compete the distance.

So far I would have to say I am happy with insanity. The diet plan is easy to follow and the food that comes out of it is really tasty.

I will continue to write articles on insanity and will be more than happy to recommend it of I get the results I am expecting. It is a little early to tell at the moment but it is Christmas and my diet hasn't been as strict as it should be!

Bouncing is for bunnies

Put your hand up if you like to lift weights, now pat yourself on the back!

Put your hand up if you like lifting heavy weights, now give yourself a round of applause!

Put your hand up if you bounce the barbell off your chest when you chest press, hang your head in shame!

Bouncing the bar is poor form, poor form will prevent your muscles getting the best workout, will cause injury and will stop you from getting big gains!

During bicep curls, the same practice can be seen but instead of bouncing, it is swinging. Have you ever seen someone swing the barbell or dumbell in order to complete the rep?
As a general rule, if your heel lifts off the ground, you are attempting too much weight.

If you focus on the right form, the right technique and lift the right amount of weight, you will see solid gains and avoid injury. Search on YouTube for proper lifting techniques, trust me it is worth it. Utilise the preacher bench, again you will be thanking me.

Good luck and lift heavy (safely)!

All you need is a barbell and some space

So I recently starting doing a circuit comprised of 4 different exercises and it has been a revelation.

It doesn't take long, gets the heart beating and is as difficult as you want to make it.

All you need is a barbell that you could lift off the ground and complete a shoulder press. That's it!

Ok, get ready

Start by completing a squat jump
Next, move into a burpee
Do a press up
Then back on your feet to complete 2 shoulder press reps with the barbell

Sounds easy? It is! But do it 20-25 times without resting.

Finish off with a weights session for 20 minutes and HIIT cardio for 15 minutes.

Cheat meals

I wonder what everyone else thinks of cheat meals and whether they avoid them completely or eat them too often.

Having a well rounded diet is really important. Not just so you are giving your body the nutrients it needs to perform properly but also to make sure you get the best results from all the hard work you have been putting in to your training.

So if you are following a healthy diet should you allow yourself a meal that doesn't strictly fall under your diet plan?

I say ... absolutely.
Your body will adapt to whatever diet you are restricting it to. So if you are looking to lose unwanted fat, your body will slow down your fat loss after time. This is a completely natural response as your body has spent time storing energy reserves and it isn't going to give them up without a fight.

By having a cheat meal every once in a while (once a week would be a good goal) your body could be stopped in slowing your metabolism or holding on to your fat reserves.

But do remember it is a cheat 'meal' not a cheat 'day'.

Enjoy your training.

All you need is a barbell and some space

So I recently starting doing a circuit comprised of 4 different exercises and it has been a revelation.

It doesn't take long, gets the heart beating and is as difficult as you want to make it.

All you need is a barbell that you could lift off the ground and complete a shoulder press. That's it!

Ok, get ready

Start by completing a squat jump
Next, move into a burpee
Do a press up
Then back on your feet to complete 2 shoulder press reps with the barbell

Sounds easy? It is! But do it 20-25 times without resting.

Finish off with a weights session for 20 minutes and HIIT cardio for 15 minutes.

Building lean muscle

If you want to burn Extra calories without doing extra work, put on some lean muscle.

Each pound of pure muscle you add to your body will burn an extra 50 calories per day. If you add 10lbs of pure muscle, you will burn an extra 500 calories per day which means an extra 3500 calories per week.

Every pound of fat you have in your body consists of 3500 calories! So every week you would be comfortably losing that unsightly flab you are working hard to get rid of.

To put on lean muscle you need to make sure you use proper form. Make sure your target muscles are the muscles contracting during your exercises. Too many times I see people swinging their body in order to life the dumbbells they are using for bicep curls. Instead, choose a suitable weight and follow these simple rules.

1. When lifting the weight ensure your biceps are contracting only

2. Be explosive when lifting the weight

3. When lowering the weight ensure the movement is controlled at a slow pace. Try to take three seconds to lower the weight

4. Pause before you lift the weight for your second rep (you don't want momentum to help you as this prevents you from building lean muscle)

5. Do 4 sets of decreasing reps (20, 16, 12, 10). Increase the weights if you can

This exercise will burn your arms but will give you great results.

Did you also know you should focus on building muscle on your legs? Get squatting and lunging if you want to put on that lean muscle you are looking for. Your legs are the biggest muscles in your body, working them hard will help you get the burn you want.

Lastly, make sure you feed your muscles after a workout. To ensure you help your muscles recover you need a source of protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout.

There's a reason hamsters don't have six packs

There are advantages of cardio sessions being part of your fitness programme. But you need to be careful of only using cardio as your main weapon for weight loss.

Every gym has different machines dedicated to cardio. These tend to include; treadmills, elipticals (cross trainers), exercise bikes and rowing machines. Every gym has those people who only use these machines and those people tend to use them for the same amount of time every time they exercise. Read on if your work out sounds like the following;

Cycle for 7.5km
Run for 2.5km
Cross trainer for 3.5km

Not bad, you might be thinking and there was a time when I would have agreed with you but this type of training programme will result in diminishing returns. By this I mean that each workout will result in fewer calories burned.
A friend of mine started going to the gym a few years ago and utilised a 100% cardio regime. She got great results at the beginning (reduced body fat, smaller waist line, improved fitness level) but her results hit a plateau just as quickly. Her boyfriend, another good friend of mine, was quick to tell her that this was due to her eating more, something you do without realising when you undertake a lot of exercise. This is not strictly true.

The problem with a weight loss programme that is heavily focussed on cardio is that your muscles and lungs will become more efficient with each session you will actually burn less calories for the same amount of exercise. The good news is this means your fitness level is improving, the bad news is your weight loss will slow down or even worse STOP!

To avoid this plateau try adding these things to your workout programme;

• High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Jog at 70% for 1 minute followed by sprinting for 1 minute then repeat process
• Hill sprints; use the incline on the treadmill to burn extra calories
• Join a spin class; a variety of intensity and resistance will help you increase the calorie burn
• Get into the weights room

By including one or more of these ideas into your workout you should benefit from better results, it's important to include variety and it will prevent your body from getting used to your workouts.

The final downside of cardio is the build up of cortisol. Your body naturally produces cortisol during long periods of cardio type exercise. Cortisol actually prevents weight loss so another reason to stop treating the gym like your own personal hamster wheel.

Good form builds lean muscle

I have over heard a few common things in the gym and seen a few other things as well. To the casual observer they are quite humorous, especially as they seem to be stereotypical to men and women. 

First, I have over heard a number of ladies say 'I want to lose weight but I don't want to put on any muscle because my legs / arms / shoulders (insert body part here) are big enough'. This basically means that these ladies become scared of the weights room as they think that by lifting weights they will become the female equivalent of the hulk.

Second, this is an observation of men in weights rooms. Time after time I have seen guys lifting the heaviest weights they possibly can, which I imagine is either to impress the women that don't go in to the weights room any way, to show all the guys who the big dog on campus is or because they think this is actually how to gain lean muscle.

In this blog I would like to tackle these two things as I understand them. 

For the ladies out there that are scared of doing weights because they think that will automatically lead to looking like a female version of Arnie, don't worry because that isn't going to happen unless you actually trained for it to happen. By avoiding weights it means that all you are doing is committing yourself to a life long prison sentence to boring cardio, you may as well cancel your gym membership and just go running outside. 

My fiancee had the same concern when she first started going to the gym but I put her mind at ease when I told her that every 1lb of muscle she put on would help her to burn an extra 50 calories per day. I also explained to her that the biggest muscles in your body are your quadriceps (the top half of your legs) so there is a good place to start if you want to add muscle to your body. So don't shy away from weights as building lean muscle is a very important aspect to losing weight. 

Now on to the guys; I understand perfectly why we want to lift the heaviest weight we can but if you want to a) avoid injury and b) properly target your muscles, you need to ensure you are not lifting weights that are too heavy. By lifting weights that are too heavy you will automatically use other muscles to complete your rep. Ask yourself this; have you ever seen anyone doing bicep curls who had to bend their back or swing their hips to complete the rep? I know I have. Now ask yourself this; have you ever done this?

If the answer to the second question is yes, then drop to a lighter weight. All you are doing is using other muscles in your body to lift the weight so your bicep isn't even getting the maximum benefit from the exercise. You are also risking injury to your lower back. So if you want to get the maximum results from the muscle group you are working you must ensure you can complete the desired number of reps with perfect form. If your form cannot remain perfect throughout the rep, do not complete the rep. 

If you don't trust me on this, read the advice given by any weight training expert as they will only ever say the same thing. So remember, perfect form means bigger muscles and no injuries. 

Good luck and enjoy your weight training.

Work smart not hard

We all want to look good, reach our goals and get the best results from our training, I think that is pretty obvious. I go to the gym regularly, I have to admit that I am addicted and I often can't wait until I can get in there for my next workout. I am thinking about it now as I write this.

Whilst I am in the gym I hang out with two different types of crowds. My first workout is a boxing class, which is great. It is a really good cardio workout with a lot of core work, we also do weights and resistance training. The class lasts 45 minutes and always leaves me in a sweaty mess. There is a great bunch of people that come to the class who all work hard and all want to get good results. I see the second set of people in the evening, these are the people who frequent the weights room. They also work hard and also want good results but the results are a different type. In general the people in the boxing class are there to lose some extra pounds and look lean. In weights everyone is looking to add some lean muscle or bulk up.

The one observation I have had over the 5 months I have been going to this gym is that not everyone actually gets any results, well visible results anyway. This brings me on to the point of this blog entry, it isn't enough to just work hard.

All I know is that I would be pretty disappointed if I went to the gym most days and nights over the course of a 5 month period and didn't see any results. But I see a number of people in my gym who work incredibly hard, put in the necessary time and effort but don't seem to be getting any where.

If you have been in this situation before I feel for you, I really do and my aim is to help you to identify how you can make the necessary changes to your workouts in order to achieve your goals.

First, the science behind it. In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you eat, you need to create a calorie deficit. Every pound of fat in your body contains 3500 calories. If you were to create a deficit of 500 calories per day, you would lose 1lb or fat per week / 4lb per month. That is a healthy amount to lose.
Every 1lb of muscle in your body will help you burn an extra 50 calories per day. Therefore, if you increase the amount of muscle in your body and continue to keep your calorie intake under control you will actually increase the speed of your weight loss.

Exercise alone is not good enough to help you reach your goals. You need to be really careful about how you fuel your body and what your diet consists of. I'm not a calorie counter (I don't meticulously count every single calorie I put  in to my body) but I have a pretty good idea of the number of calories I eat daily. Start by looking at your diet and look at the nutritional information on the packets of the foods you eat, you will be surprised by the number of additives that are in foods you think are healthy.

A bit more science for you;

1. Calculate your BMR (Basel Metabolic Rate - the number of calories your body will burn at rest)
2. Calculate how many calories you burn during exercise
3. Calculate how many calories you eat on a daily basis

If you can create a scenario where (1+2)-3 = 500 then you have created a scenario for healthy weight loss.
Remember that you need to fuel your body for exercise so be sure to still eat a healthy number of calories (a recommended amount for men is 2500 and women is 2000 on a daily basis).

Good luck and enjoy your training.

I don't need you to believe in me...

I don't know if everyone experiences this but when I tell people I am going to do something that is going to be a challenge, they usually tell me 'oh, you won't be able to do that' or something to that effect.

That was the same at the beginning when I said I was going to lose a lot of weight for my wedding. It seems to be that the minute you say you are going to get fit or lose weight you are confronted with 3 types of people.

1) The instant expert

This is the person who, despite having never previously shown any reason to suggest so, suddenly becomes an expert on weight loss and how to build lean muscle. They will share with you some half baked exercise programme, write you a diet plan and back it all up with a scientific explanation that makes solving the Kennedy assassination more plausible.

The trick is to identify these people quickly so you don't end up following any of their advice. Some of it could be good but would you take advice from someone who thought they looked like the first pic, but actually more closely resembled the second? (from www.fit2fat2fit.com)

Thought not... 

2) The critic / the dream crusher 

In a nutshell this is the person who says 'You will never be able to do that' because they know they couldn't...

Sadly these people can be your friends and family, don't listen to them. If everyone who heard someone say this to them decided to quit, the world would be a much less advanced place. I have met these people, some of them are friends of mine and I don't let them affect my motivation. Well in a way ... I do.

I use the critics to motivate me more, I think about them telling me I can't do something that I know I can do. It is a great feeling proving these people wrong and they are always wrong. If you put the hard work in and you stay focussed on your goals, you will achieve them.

In my experience a critic can become a know it all when you are part way through achieving your goals. When they suddenly realise it is possible and you are able to do it, they will say things like 'you have done well so far but you will obviously find it more difficult / your results will slow down / you will put the weight back on .... ' I don't think so!

3) The supporter 

Surround yourself with these people, they are great. They will support you, they won't doubt you and they will  help you achieve your goals. 

I am lucky that most people I know fit in this category. So thank you to my fiancee and my good friend Pete who have supported me the most. If you don't have people like this in your life, find them, make them a training partner (this is Pete in my case) and spend as much time with them as possible. If you dream big and you have positive reinforcement you are more likely to achieve your goals. 

Which supplement should I choose?

To get the results I wanted I did a lot of research into the supplements you can take that aid your progress. If truth be told, I spent hours researching. In this section I will share with you my research and the results I gained from taking supplements. 

Before you invest your money in buying a supplement there are a few things you want to find out. This naturally depends on which type of supplement you are going to buy. If we take protein supplements for example the list might look like this; 

• How much does it cost?
• How many grams of protein is in it per serving? 
• How many servings are in it per unit bought?
• How easy does it mix? 
• Does it taste nice? 

I'll break this down further:

Like pretty much everything out there, the better products are 'reassuringly expensive' and this is no different with protein shakes. Every review I read on protein powders leaned towards the more expensive products. The reviews that clinched it for me, in suggesting that I should invest in the higher end products, were those written by students who were willing to invest the little money they had in the more expensive products.

Considering it is a protein shake, you want to know how much protein is in each serving. The amount varies significantly from brand to brand so you need to check the nutritional values. The protein shake that I invested in has 53g of protein per serving.

You will also want to know how long it will last for. A lot of supplements in the market are bought in units of 2kg or 5kg. The product I bought came in 5kg tubs and last approximately 3 months. At least I can now work out the total annual cost and determine if I am happy investing that amount of money. 

Mix-ability is really important as you want one that will mix well and easily. You don't want a shake that is difficult to mix in a protein shaker (I'll review these another time) and you don't want a shake that will be grainy. 

The taste element is really important and it doesn't just come down to the flavour you buy. It is a fact that not all products taste nice and whilst you might be thinking 'I'm not buying it for the flavour, I'm buying it to reach my goal', you want to be sure to buy something you can stomach. I drink a protein shake after each workout, each shake is almost a pint (500ml) in volume, I want to make sure I enjoy drinking it. When researching your protein shake for flavour, make sure you look out for anyone who had to add milk, fruit or ice-cream to improve the taste. 

Throughout the rest of the supplements blog I will review other supplements I use (flax seed oil, L-Carnitine tablets and fat burners). I will also review protein shakers - not a straight forward purchase. I hope my protein  powder review helps you decide if a product is for you. Feel free to add a comment if it does.

Get Fit 4 Good does not have doctors on staff, and the advice found on this blog is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor before beginning any exercise or nutrition program. 

Make smarter food choices for weight loss

Before you change your diet you need to think about what you eat that could be a cause of your weight gain. For me it was pretty easy to identify; I used to buy my breakfast from a local coffee chain and it would regularly consist of some sort of breakfast sandwich or a bacon croissant on a Friday morning (two if I had been out the night before!). Lunch would be anything convenient, snacks would always be unhealthy, drinks would usually be fizzy and the amounts would always be pretty big.

Identifying the problem is the easy part; you probably already know what you could change to make a difference. The harder part is knowing how to change it, knowing what to change it to and knowing what foods you can eat that will actually help you to lose weight.

The first thing I changed was to eat my breakfast at home. This way I knew exactly what I was eating and how much I was eating. Breakfast is now a bowl of porridge or a bowl of cereal with oats. The aim is to eat something that provides a slow release of energy. You don't want to be getting hungry a couple of hours later, instead you want to boost your metabolism but stay full for longer. In looking for a suitable cereal I have avoided those with lots of sugars and have tried to keep it as natural as possible. If I have ever not been able to eat breakfast at home, I tend to eat a banana or an apple on my way to work. The idea is to get your metabolism working as soon as possible and the only way to do this is by eating something.

Lunch is no longer about convenience, it is about a healthy balance of the right types of food. Preparing your own lunch in the office can help with this. If you work near a supermarket this is easy, if not, prepare food at home. The idea behind lunch for me is to get a good level of protein mixed with a good amount of fresh vegetables. I don't use salad dressings though as they can contain a lot of calories. If you are going to buy your lunch or eat in a restaurant (with clients for example) just be smart about your choices and think about portion control.

The key with dinner is to eat freshly ingredients, take advantage of having a kitchen to actually cook in. When choosing meat make sure it is lean and will provide a good amount of protein with little amount of fat. Fish is also an excellent source of protein. Vegetables are an excellent addition to your diet if you are looking to lose weight but make sure you also prepare them healthily. Steaming veg is a great way to ensuring they keep their health benefits, roasting veg is a good second option. Here is a list of veg I tend to rotate throughout my meals;

• Broccoli 
• Leeks
• Spinach
• Sweetcorn (on the cob)
• Peppers
• Tomatoes
• Sweet potatoes (much better for you than normal potatoes)

Snacks; snacking is actually an important part of losing weight. Ideally you want to be eating 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 large ones. With that in mind, make sure you use smart portion control with your breakfast, lunch and dinner so you can get the most benefit of eating healthy snacks in between meals. The important thing to achieve is eating the right type of snacks; nuts are great as they are also very good for you. They are high in fats (although they are good fats) so eat them in moderation. In particular I tend to snack on;

• Almonds
• Cashew nuts
• Walnuts

Fruit is also a good snack although they are high in fructose so again I have moderated the amount of fruit I eat; in particular I tend to eat;

• Bananas
• Apples
• Blueberries

Get Fit 4 Good does not have doctors on staff, and the advice found on this blog is not a substitute for medical advice. Always consult a doctor before beginning any exercise or nutrition program. 

5.1% body fat lost since January 1st 2012

Initially I just wanted to lose weight, so all I cared about was what the scales said.
But as I continue getting closer to my goals, I care more about the composition of my body than just the weight of it. So at the beginning of the year I started to track my body fat percentage.

On 1st January 2012 my measurements were;
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 202lbs

• Neck  - 16.5"
• Chest  - 41"
• Bicep  - 15"
• Waist  - 40"
• Hips    - 37"
• Thigh   - 24"

Body fat percentage 26.33% (using http://www.linear-software.com/online.html)

On 29th February 2012 (2 months later) 

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 195lbs

• Neck  - 16"
• Chest  - 41"
• Bicep  - 15.2"
• Waist  - 36.5"
• Hips    - 36"
• Thigh   - 24"

Body fat percentage 21.23% 

I have achieved this through exercise and a healthy diet plan. My exercise regime has consisted of a mixture of cardio and weight training. My diet plan is easy to put into practice and easy to replicate. 

I will provide the details of my exercise plans in my workout page. I have already added some content on my diet plans to this page. If you have any questions, email me at loseweight4thelasttime@gmail.com or leave a comment. Also, come back weekly for more comments, tips and training ideas.