Take Ownership of Your Body

I recently read an article which highlighted the fact that The Health Survey for England has identified the following 7 established risk factors of ill health in England:

• Smoking
• Binge drinking
• Low fruit and vegetable consumption
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Raised cholesterol

A worrying fact is that over a third of the population have three or more of these risk factors. 

The article where I read this is called Why Are We So Unhealthy. In it they blame everything and everyone but the people themselves for the increase in unhealthy lifestyles. This angered me because the truth is if you want to make a change to your body and lead a healthy and fulfilling life, the responsibility lies with you, not the government or supermarket or the NHS. You need to 'take ownership of your body' in the same way that you would with any other aspect of your life. I do realise that there are social factors involved too, but the ultimate choice of how you choose to behave is still yours.

Taking responsibility for the first three factors in the above list is self explanatory, it is a matter of 'do' or 'don't, there is a black and white choice to make. The last four are a little bit more tricky, but a good way to manage these (as highlighted in the article) is through physical activity. 

Basic physical activity such as getting up and going for a walk is a good starting point for those who don't usually do any exercise at all, but for those of us who are already active, what does taking 'ownership' mean?

I don't believe that just turning up at the gym and going through the motions of a workout is really taking ownership of your body. I say this because I have previously had PT clients who have thought that they would see results simply because they were paying me money and turning up for their training sessions. They failed to understand that although I could provide them with the tools and motivation to reach their goals, they needed to put in the effort, they ultimately had to take control of their well being.

For gym users, especially those who have been training for a long time, one of the ways of taking ownership is by honestly reviewing what you are doing and making changes where necessary. The following 6 questions are a good starting point:

1. Am I working with a structured routine that is based on my needs and goals?
2. Is the intensity of my workout correct for someone with my ability?
3. Am I working on my weaknesses as well as my strengths?
4. Does my workout include those all important elements... 'mobility' and 'flexibility'?
5. Is there enough variety in my training. Have I included some classes or new techniques in my routine?
6. Am I keeping a record of my progress?

I believe that taking ownership means paying attention to detail and putting yourself in charge of every aspect of what you do. Once you start doing this for your training, this mindset will transfer into other aspects of your life!

Steve

White Board for Week Starting 21 January 2013!

Have a look at the kettlebell whiteboard for this week...

(this will be subject to change...)

Which kettlebell should I be lifting?

Correct weight selection for kettlebell training is important, especially when first starting out in the wonderful world of kettlebells. In my experience as a trainer, those who have never done any weight training in the past generally gravitate towards the smallest bells while more experienced weight lifters are sometimes shocked that the weights are not as big as those found in a 'normal' gym. 

The generally recommended starting kettlebell weights are 8kg for a woman and 16kg for a man. However, for the kind of high volume training which done in a group kettlebell class, these weights might not always be appropriate for new participants. I therefore have the following suggestions:

In group kettlebell classes, my advice is to choose a weight that you believe is going to challenge you but still allows you to carry out the exercises correctly and safely. For your first couple of training sessions you might not want to work with the most challenging weight and may you instead choose to focus on learning and perfecting great technique with slightly less resistance. Your strength will quickly increase and your chosen weight will need to go up (to at least those recommended) in order to maintain the desired intensity. 

This lighter weight approach is good when learning moves such as presses, squats or windmills where lower weights will not damage your technique. For swings, however, it is possible to choose too small a weight and this needs to be recognised by all new kettlebellers. 

A swing weight needs to be heavy enough to force you to move the kettlebell using the power generated by the hips. When a small weight is used for swings, it can turn the move into a front raise where the shoulders perform the lift and the ballistic nature of the exercise is lost. Swinging with an underweight kettlebell can make you favour the lower back to generate the drive instead of the hips, which can lead to injury. When a heavier weight is used, it is more natural for the hips to take over the motion and for the move to become a strong and forceful, cardiovascular exercise.

To summarise: 

Lifts require a weight that is heavy enough to challenge but light enough to encourage good technique.

Swings require a weight that is heavy enough to challenge but not so light that it compromises form and safety.

Speak to your instructor before starting to ensure you have the correct kettlebell.

Well chosen weights = great results!

5 Simple Rules for Fat Loss

"I really want to lose weight and make a difference to my body! 

And I really want the results to last!"

If the above statement applies to you, then here are 5 simple rules to help make this a reality.

Number 1: Throw Away the Scales!

Although monitoring your weight can be a good way to measure progress, I believe that it is given far too much importance by society, by magazines, on tv and even in the supermarket. We obsess with the scales and weigh ourselves when we wake up, before our workout, after our workout, before we go to bed and at weight loss groups where we stress if we have put on an extra pound during the week. The truth is that our weight is always going to fluctuate slightly due to reasons which could be related to hormonal changes, illness or stress levels amongst other things.

Once you have disposed of the scales, replace them with that really lovely pair of jeans or dress or suit in the back of your wardrobe that no longer fits. Try it on and be honest about how it feels, make a mental note of the way it fits or doesn't fit, maybe even take a photograph of yourself wearing it (don't even look at the photo for now... It's for future reference). This might be a really difficult and emotional thing to do, but it is the first step to making a positive change. 

Put the item back in the cupboard, circle a date in your diary for 4 weeks time when you will next try it on and then another date for 4 weeks after that.

Number 2: Set Process Goals! 

Process goals are all about doing! They are the steps that you are going to take in order to achieve your ultimate 'outcome goal'. Examples would be making sure you attend your weekly kettlebell class, or ensuring that you walk a certain distance every day, or maintaining your pledge to eat a good healthy breakfast every day!

Each time you achieve one of these process goals, you are one step closer to reaching your outcome goal as well as giving you shorter term goals to aim for. 

It makes sense to sit down with a trainer or someone else who you trust and set out your overall outcome goal and a series of process goals needed to achieve it. Keep a good record of this to see how you are progressing.

Number 3: Lift Bigger Weights!

 Weight training needs to be a challenge...

Lifting decent weights correctly will increase your resting metabolic rate, strengthen muscles and bones and change the shape of your body for the better. 

I'm happy to inform you ladies (and sorry to break the news to you gents) that weight training will NOT make you look like a bodybuilder! 

Female PT clients have informed me in the past that they build muscles very easily and therefore want to avoid weight training. I have had to explain to them that this is not true due to he small amount of testosterone in the female body which makes muscle building extremely difficult even for women want to achieve this. If it was easy to increase muscle mass from weight training, all the men in the gym would look like Arnold Schwarzenegger... but they don't despite having testosterone levels that are 7-8 times higher than women.

What a well designed weight training routine will do for you is turn your body into a calorie burning machine!

Number 4: Higher Intensity Training! 

There is an old fashioned idea, which I believe is mostly promoted by those who sell heart rate monitors, that working out for a long time at a slow steady heart rate in the so called 'fat burning zone' is the most effective way to lose weight (fat). The truth is that although a higher percentage of the calories burned at this intensity may be in the form of fat, the overall amount of calories burned is a lot lower. 

Higher intensity workouts such as interval training and HIIT will burn a much greater number of calories per workout than steady pace training. These kind of sessions are better for improving muscle tone, strength and power with the added advantage of much shorter workouts. A 45 minute high intensity workout is far more productive than plodding away on the treadmill for 2 hours in the 'fat burning zone'.

Number 5: Eat Clean! 

I have saved the most important for last...

Without going into very complicated technicalities of nutrition and amounts of carbs, protein and fats you need, the best nutritional advice for anyone who wants to improve their body is to 'eat clean'. 

This simply means...

• Prepare your meals from scratch and avoid processed foods. 

• Stay away from anything which calls itself a 'diet,' especially those which make you cut out a food group. 

• Cut down alcohol (it is full of calories and not much else). 

• Watch your portion sizes... Avoid overeating! 

• Give yourself a treat day once a week and be really strict with yourself the rest of the time.

These 5 rules may go against what you have traditionally been told. My aim is to get you to stop the cycle of doing the things that you have always done, where you always end up getting nowhere, falling off the wagon, feeling demoralised and then starting the whole thing again only to repeat the process. I want you to make these 5 simple changes which you can maintain for life!