Wednesday 29 July 2009

Summer Beach workout

A popular feature of our fitness qualifications courses is our weekly beach workouts. The workouts are simple, using very little equipment but very effective.

In this video you can see my business partner Jim Conaghan and I putting ourselves through a beach workout, practicing what we preach!

This particular section consisted of...

  1. Sprint
  2. Beer barrel overhead presses - 10 reps
  3. Sprint
  4. Squat jumps - 10 reps
  5. Sprint
  6. Beer barrel bent over rows - 10 reps
  7. Sprint
  8. Sledgehammer swings - 10 reps

This video is of the last of 5 sets by the way and before which we had already performed numerous other drills!

Please excuse the shaky hands camera work...I'm new to this hi-tech video camera lark!

Monday 27 July 2009

Simple but effective - Sledgehammer swings/walking lunges and press ups mini circuit

I woke up on Saturday morning knowing I wanted a short but sharp workout that would hit my whole body whilst burning lots of energy, give me a great cardio workout and be fun. This is what I came up with!

Sledgehammer swings/walking lunges and press ups mini circuit...

20 Sledgehammer swings (10 per side)


20 walking lunges (10 each leg)

20 Press ups using push up handles


Walk back to the start and repeat!

I completed this sequenece 5 times before reducing the reps to 10/10/10 for a further 5 sets - the total workout time was just over 20 minutes. 20 minutes doesn't sound like a long time but I was constantly moving for the whole time and, apart from the walk-back recovery periods it was an all-out workout.

The workout was completed with 5 super-sets of 12 reps of bodyrows and swissball mountain climbers (A superb core exercise! Place your hands on a medium size Swissball and extend your legs so you are in a classic press up position. Keeping the abs tight and the spine neutral, perform alternate leg squat thrusts while endevouring to keep your abs and your spine rock solid).


This was an awesome No-Frills workout which left me feeling pleasently fatigued and happy knowing I'd achieved everything I'd set out to. Give it a go!

Thursday 23 July 2009

Simple Nutrition for Health & Weight Management

Weight Management – Simple but Complicated!


Let’s face it – most people are confused as to how to eat for health, fitness and weight management. If I had a pound or a dollar for every person who asked me what diet they should follow, what foods they should or shouldn’t eat, what foods will help them lose weight, I’d be a very wealthy man indeed.

So many people worry about choosing the right diet, planning their meals, organizing their gym workout etc that they don’t actually get around to doing what they need to do, I.E. getting in the gym, working hard and eating a little less! This phenomenon is often referred to as “Paralysis by Analysis”. Weight management is EASY. Okay, you need a healthy dose if will power, some common sense, a bit of application and a fair bit self discipline but the science of weight loss is simple.

Weight management is like running your bank account…if I spend less than I earn, I increase my bank balance – or in nutrition speak, I’ll gain weight (specifically adipose tissue or fat). If I spend more than I earn, my bank balance will decrease – this is the equivalent of losing weight. Spend too much and the bank manager will be on my case. Lose weight too fast, and my body will rebel and stop me wasting away to nothing.

To keep this analogy going, there are hundreds of credit cards, loans, types of overdraft, HP plans etc that allow us to go overdrawn, likewise there are hundreds of diets, exercise plans, and food supplements that will help me to lose weight. You just need to stick with one plan and give it time to work. Use the one that slots as seamlessly as possible into your life style and is sustainable, manageable, practical and healthy. It doesn’t matter how good the diet is, if you can’t stick with it, IT WILL FAIL! Just like at the bank, if the repayment plan is prohibitive, restrictive or just unmanageable you won’t be able to make the payments, no matter how attractive the interest rate was! Remember, the people who are promoting diets like South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Weight Watchers, Atkins etc are trying to SELL you something so obviously they are going to tell you that their plan is the best and that it is easy to stick to, will give you the results you want painlessly and quickly etc etc. However, the reality seldom matches the promise. Be honest – although the cabbage soup diet is virtually guaranteed to help you lose pounds, who in their right mind would want to swap great tasting food for some green, tasteless and flatulence causing mush!?!

Decisions, decisions…
Ironically, the diet business is the most successful unsuccessful business ever! In recent surveys it was found that 95% of dieters FAIL to stick with their chosen weight loss plan because of its unpleasant or restrictive eating regime. And when our dieter “falls of the wagon”, they just jump straight back on another one and try the next popular diet to come on the market! There is so much nutrition information and mis-information around most people flit from one nutritional approach to another, seeking out the magic diet that will give them the results they seek. Let’s face it – most of us want to be slimmer YESTERDAY! No body wants to lose a measly pound a week. Sadly though, successful weight loss is not sexy, fast, or dramatic. It is a slow, gentle process which takes time. Very few dieters ever come to grips with this fact and are frequently disappointed when they fail to lose 20 pounds in a month as they were promised by some diet plan or celebrity endorsed dietician.

Many diets are impractical, unpleasant, and restrictive in the extreme and can only be maintained for short periods of time. To make matters worse, when our dieting client returns to their previous eating régime, they often put the weight they lost back on – plus some extra weight for good measure and end up not only failing to reach the goals they set for themselves but actually getting further away from their ideal weight.

There are numerous physiological reasons for this happening – far too complicated to explore here, but basically can be summarized by examining the “Starvation Response” which is triggered when energy (calorific) intake is reduced by too much.

The Starvation Response
Our bodies know that fat is essential for keeping us alive during periods of starvation, so when calorie intake are reduced too low, the body will try and keep hold of this valuable resource for as long as possible. Your body has no idea you are voluntarily eating too little. It makes the assumption that there is not enough food around for your survival and makes certain physiological changes accordingly. Think about it – who will live the longest when stranded on a desert island with no food…the person with next to no body fat or the person with lots? Mr. “Lean and Got a Six Pack” won’t be looking so good after a couple of weeks of little or no food, whereas our overweight friend will be okay for a much longer period of time. Nature is so cruel!

Basically, the starvation response results in muscle loss, increased fat storage capabilities, lowered metabolic rate (daily energy requirement), increased hunger and ultimately diet failure…all of which will prolong your life when food is in short supply but in terms of weight management not really what we’re after, I think you’ll agree.

So, how can we avoid triggering the starvation response? Quite simply, we need to make haste slowly. Aim for a slight reduction in calories, a slight increase in activity levels. The body needs to almost be tricked into giving up it’s fat stores – do it too fast and we will trigger the starvation response which will, without a doubt, halt any progress and cause a rebound in fat mass gains…the so-called Yo Yo diet. Additionally, to avoid any loss of muscle, we need to engage in strength training. If your muscles are being challenged regularly, you body will keep hold of those muscles more readily, even if there is a calorie deficiency – it’s a case of “use it or lose it.” CV exercise actually promotes muscle breakdown (catabolism) where as strength training promotes the building up of muscle (anabolism).

So, we are going to try and keep nutrition simple. This plan (note – not a diet as this approach could be used very long term) is as easy as it gets…no complicated recipes to follow, no supplements to buy, no weird foods to consume – just simple nutrition which will help you reach and maintain your goal weight.

The Alternative – Common Sense Nutrition
I can sum this approach up in one sentence – 95% of all meals should consist of a lean protein plus fruit and or vegetables, drink only water, green tea or juices you have freshly pressed your self. That’s it. Hardly earth shattering or complicated, but very effective. No calorie counting or weighing or measuring your food…just make sure every meal contains protein and fruit or veg.

What’s Hot!
Protein foods…
Eggs, any “real” meat (non-processed), fish, some dairy is okay but preferably natural products like plain yogurt and cottage cheese, also nuts, beans, pulses, whey protein powder and Soya (minimal amounts for males, moderate amounts for females).

Vegetables…
Any and all except for white potatoes, and even they are okay occasionally especially post exercise.

Fruit…
Any fruit in its natural state is fine, but citrus fruits are preferred so careful with bananas which can be a bit calorie dense. Homemade fruit juices are also okay but avoid most shop bought “made from concentrate” juices as these are generally so processed they are missing many of their vital vitamins and minerals and are really only sugary soft drinks and not healthy at all. Dried fruit has some benefits but beware of overeating dried fruits as they take up very little room in your stomach and it is easy to consume them in large quantities.

Fats…
Make sure all meals contain a sensible amount of healthy fats. Often this will come from the protein portion of the meal but may also include olive oil, sunflower oil, fish oils, nut butters and oils, dairy butter (NOT margarine) etc. Do your very best to avoid trans fats like the plague that they are!

What’s Not!
Foods that contain wheat and other grains should be limited so avoid bread and pasta. Noodles and rice are also a no-go. For a great many people, grains can cause intestinal discomfort and abdominal bloating so minimizing their consumption may be beneficial. Breakfast cereals are generally wheat based sugar and salt laden junk so likewise they are off the menu. This will be a departure for many of you, but once you get used to it, this is a very healthy way to eat and will help you reach your body composition goals relatively easily and without triggering the starvation response. If you must consume grains, choose whole grains, preferably organic and look into how they should best be prepared for optimum digestion and absorption. This may well involve overnight soaking and repeated rinsing for example.

Basically, if it didn’t roam the earth, swim in the sea, or grow on the land, you shouldn’t eat it! Avoid all processed foods and try where possible to only consume food in its most natural state. If the food is “man made” it’s probably not very good for you. If it’s in a packet, there are probably better choices you can make and if anything on the ingredient list is unpronounceable then you really shouldn’t be putting it in your body!

You are what you eat…Eat Junk = Feel Junk!
Ingredients that should set alarm bells ringing and should be avoided where possible include anything hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, acidity regulators, nitrates, gelling agents, colorings, preservatives, or anything else that sounds like it belongs in a chemistry set rather than in your stomach!

Ideally, more than one fruit/vegetable should be consumed in each meal…we need a wide variety of foods to make sure we get the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals necessary to support health. One very good approach is to adopt a traffic light system when selecting vegetables or fruits. Simply select foods of different colors in each meal, e.g. red tomatoes, yellow peppers, and green lettuce. By mixing the colors of foods consumed, we are more likely to be getting a good variety of nutrients. If possible, try to purchase the organic versions of all foods mentioned. Organic food is produced without the use of pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics and other possibly harmful chemicals. Generally they cost a little more but often taste much more “real”. If it impossible to buy organic, make sure all food (including meats) are washed thoroughly to remove any surface traces of chemicals.

As far as food portion sizes go – don’t be too anal about weighing and measuring with the exception of nuts and fats which are quite calorie dense and should be avoided in very large amounts and consumed in relative moderation. When planning a meal start off with your protein portion – a medium sized chicken breast or steak for example, then pile on the veggies and add some healthy fats to round the meal off. Adjust portion sizes as hunger, energy and bathroom scales dictate.

Food preparation is something else we need to consider. The way we cook our food can be either beneficial or possibly detrimental to our health. Preferred cooking methods include the following…

Steaming – especially vegetables and fish
Grilling – for meat and fish (Non-stick grills like the George Foreman are excellent tools for the health and waist conscious!)
Stir frying – for most foods. Cut food up into small pieces to ensure quick frying and minimal loss of nutrients
Boiling – for vegetables but careful not to over cook
Roasting – for vegetables and meats
Slow cooking (crock pots)

Microwaving is very convenient but the effects of microwaves on food and health are still relatively unknown. Some evidence suggests that microwaves may actually alter the chemical structure of our foods in such a way as to render them unhealthy. In one recent study, plants were watered using cooled microwaved water. The plants failed to sprout and soon died. Whilst not conclusive, this does seem to suggest that microwaving may be harmful so where practical use more traditional cooking methods.

If possible and palatable, try to eat fruit and vegetables in their raw state, thus preserving the vitamin and mineral content that can be lost in the cooking process. Over cooking of fruit and vegetables should be avoided at all costs as excessive or prolonged exposure to heat can damage the fragile micro nutrients and reduce their healthful qualities…

Spice it up!
Despite appearances, meals that meet the above criteria needn’t be terribly dull. It’s all about using your imagination and coming up with interesting combinations of the permitted foods. Don’t forget the condiments either – healthy sauces and salad dressings can be made in very little time and add a whole new dimension of taste to an otherwise uninspiring meal. Why not consider adding the following to your grocery list… It is possible to make your own sauces, salsas and dressings to spice up any meal using the permitted foods.

Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil (extra virgin, cold pressed only!)
Unsalted butter (ok in small amounts)
Sea salt
Black pepper
Paprika
Chili or curry powder
Various herbs and spices

So, there we go. I don’t promise you will lose a dress size by the end of the week, nor do I swear you will be a stone lighter by this time next month. What I do assure you is this – eating the types of foods listed above and avoiding the man made “Frankenfoods” will give you the shape you want and the health you want without making your life so complicated you don’t know whether you are coming or going. And the best thing? This super diet won’t cost you a penny! No books to buy, no supplements to purchase, no charts to fill in. It’s a simple matter of eating the foods nature intended us to eat before processed foods became the norm.

The exception to the rule – post exercise meals
Anyone involved in serious exercise on a regular basis may find that adhering to the guidelines above may leave them feeling a bit weak or fatigued – especially post exercise. After exercise, the body’s own stored carbohydrate (called glycogen) levels are depleted to a greater or lesser degree. For a similar bout of exercise to be performed, our glycogen stores must be replenished. It is important to try and do this as fast as possible to promote anabolism (tissue growth and repair) and minimize catabolism (tissue breakdown). To achieve this, during the post exercise period we can veer away from the guidelines above and include foods that are normally not normally acceptable.

Our post exercise meal can include more refined, lower fiber carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, cereals, grains, potatoes etc. as these will now be used in the restocking of our glycogen stores and are highly unlikely to end up being stored as fat. Post exercise, the body’s main job is replenishment of glycogen stores so as a result it will use the majority of carbohydrates consumed in this window of opportunity for restocking of these vital supplies of stored carbohydrates. Make sure that post exercise meals also contain protein to kick start muscle anabolism and we have a great jump start to our after training recovery, which should lead to being better recovered for our next work out.

Good examples of post training meals include:

Peanut butter sandwich
Baked potato and tuna with olive oil and side salad
Pasta with chicken in a tomato sauce
Rice with pork and vegetable stir fry
Cottage cheese with wholegrain bread
2 bananas and a handful of unsalted nuts
Soft fruits and plain yogurt blended into a “smoothie”
Whey protein powder blended with plain yogurt and fruit.

There are many options to select from so just choose a few different ones and rotate them from day to day to ensure a wide variety of nutrients are being consumed.

Think of this meal as being a reward for training hard, safe in the knowledge it will do little to unhinge your weight management efforts – then return to your simple but effective eating plan for the rest of your meals.

Monday 20 July 2009

Military preparation programme

As an ex-Royal Marine Commando I am often asked how best to prepare for the rigours of basic military training. This programme is my answer to that question...! It's worked for lots of my clients who have gone on to successful military careers and is a decent template for anyone looking for a "back to basics" training programme.

Day one - Bodyweight Circuit

1. 5 Burpees
2. 10 press ups
3. 15 Squats
4. 20 jump jacks or jump rope double unders

Perform as many laps as possible in 20 minutes. Only rest when you need to. Aim to get more work done each session! As you get fitter, try 25 minutes, then 30 etc. This session will build real muscular enduance and cardiovascular fitness as well as essential mental fortitude. Remember, train hard, fight easy!

Finisher - today is Chin up Day! Perform 5 sets of max rep chins. Make a note of the total performed
e.g. 7, 5, 4, 3, 3 = 22 reps. Next time aim to do more reps in the same number of sets.

Day two - Run
Run "away from home" for 15 minutes - nice and slow and easy. Once you are 15 minutes from home turn around and run back they way you came aiming to run back in the shortest possible time. The aim is to get back in quicker and quicker times as you get fitter. This session is very similar to a typical military running fitness test.

Day three - Strength
Total body strength is vital for load carries and general day to day military work so some weight training is essential. Focus on exercises like squats, deadlifts, chins, shoulder presses, bench presses and bent over/seated rows. You may need to join a gym for this, or invest in some weights but it'll pay off hugely. Hire a trainer for a couple of sessions and get him/her to teach you these exercises. Stay away from machines, they won’t help much! Aim to do sets of 5-8 reps...this will focus on strength development as opposed to higher reps which focus more on muscular endurance.

A good example would be 1) Squats 2) Standing shoulder press 3) Weighted chins

Day four - Rest day or some light swimming/jogging/stretching etc

Day five - Ton up circuit

1. 100 reps press ups
2. 100 reps sit ups
3. 100 reps squats
4. 100 reps burpees
5. 100 reps crunches/sit ups

The aim is to do 100 reps of each exercise as fast as possible. You don’t have to do all the reps for each exercise in one go. Mix it up and knock off a few reps from each exercise e.g. 15 press ups, 20 sit ups, 10 burpees, 20 squats, 10 press ups etc. Make a note of your total time; try to do it faster next time.

Finisher - today is Chin up Day! Perform 5 sets of max rep chins. Make a note of the total performed
e.g. 7, 5, 4, 3, 3 = 22 reps. Next time aim to do more reps in the same number of sets.

Day six - Running intervals
Jog for 2 minutes. Sprint for 1 minute. Repeat 6 - 10 times to total 20 - 30 minutes. Aim to run further during each minute sprint as you get fitter. Intervals are best done on grass or a running track.

Day seven - Strength
Hit the weights again using different but similar exercises e.g. if you squatted last time, today do deadlifts. Keep the reps in the 5 - 8 range to focus on strength.

A good example would be 1) Deadlifts 2) Dips 3) Bent over/seated rows

Day eight - Rest day or some light swimming/jogging/stretching etc

Day nine - repeat day one
Day ten - repeat day two
Day eleven - repeat day three Etc

Make sure every workout is preceded with a 5 - 10 minute warm up of walking/jogging/rope skipping and a couple of light dynamic stretches. Finish every workout (except the ton up circuit) with a couple of sets of twisting sit ups, crunches, leg lifts and prone back extensions. Cool down at the end of each session with a 5 minute walk/jog/rope skip and a few static stretches.

Wherever you can, get out and walk - preferably carrying kit in a rucksack as this is a major part of military life!

As with all exercise - you'll only get fitter if you strive to work harder, run faster, do more reps etc than last time so keep a training log to record your workouts and do your best to beat your previous best!

Friday 17 July 2009

Osteoporosis - what is it and how to avoid it

Osteoporosis is a condition which causes bone mass to deteriorate drastically and often results in an increase risk of bone fracture. It’s a condition which primarily effects women but is not unheard of in men. Basically, bone breakdown (caused by cells called Osteoclasts) happens faster than the body can repair (using cells called Osteoblasts) which results in a weakening of the skeleton especially in areas where cancellous (honey comb like) bone is found – the spine, the hips and the wrists. The areas that are affected by Osteoporosis are ironically the most likely the ones that would suffer a fracture if you were to fall over. If you were to fall forwards you might break a wrist, sideways you might break a hip, or backwards you might fracture your spine. As with many chronic diseases, prevention is better than cure so in this article I’ll outline strategies for reducing the likelihood of developing this debilitating disease and will help you to develop a strong, healthy skeleton.
Osteoporosis can be caused by any number of factors including - advanced age, gender (females are more likely to develop it than males), poor nutrition, exercise habits, family history, sedentary life style, exposure to sunlight, race, (Caucasians/Asians are more likely to develop Osteoporosis than Afro/Caribbean people) chronic smoking, menstrual irregularities and premature menopause. Obviously some of these factors are beyond our control but lifestyle, diet and exercise aren’t so I’ll focus on the positive action you can take to reduce your risk of suffering Osteoporotic fractures.

1) Diet - you are what you eat. This is a vital piece of nutritional information which if more people understood there would be so much less nutrition related chronic disease. Everything we eat either becomes part of us or passes through our bodies and because of this, it is vital we consume the correct types of foods which provide all the necessary nutrients so our bodies can operate correctly. Some foods (basically sugar laden junk foods) rob the body of nutrients rather than provide them so the first dietary step we should be consider is to cut down on the amount of junk foods being consumed and increase the amount of “real” foods. Once the anti-foods have been removed, we can focus on consuming food which will enhance health and not detract from it. For bone manufacture to occur, it is essential that adequate amounts of the mineral Calcium are consumed.

Calcium is essential for lots of reasons - without it our muscles (including our hearts) wont function. Because of this, anytime the diet is low in Calcium, the body will dip into its stores (our bones) to take what it needs to keep our bodies running smoothly. About 99% of our bodies Calcium is found in our bones, and the remaining 1% is in our blood. The body will do everything it can to maintain that 1% - even if it is to the detriment of bone mass. By ensuring there is adequate Calcium in the diet, we ensure this scenario is much less likely to happen.

The recommended daily amount for Calcium consumption is 1000mg a day and 1500 mg where there is an increased risk of developing Osteoporosis or the condition has already been diagnosed. Calcium can be supplemented but it’s always better to try and consume as much natural food as possible to avoid having to pump ourselves full of pills. Foods which contain large amounts of Calcium include dairy i.e. milk, cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt, sardines and other soft boned fish, bread, baked beans and enriched breakfast cereals.

Calcium absorption is dependent on adequate amounts of vitamin D. We get most of our vitamin D from sunshine but we can also acquire it from such foods like oily fish, nuts, eggs and unprocessed plant oils. Increasing Calcium consumption without sufficient vitamin D will reduce the amount of Calcium which can be utilized by the body. Make sure your diet is rich in both, and the risk of developing Osteoporosis should reduce significantly.

2) Exercise - use it or lose it! Our bodies have an amazing ability to adapt to stress and exercise is a form of stress. When we exercise, we set alarm bells ringing which cause our bodies to make adaptations so that, the next time we are exposed to a similar amount or intensity of exercise, we are better equipped to deal with what is being demanded of us. In addition to our hearts, lungs and muscles, our bones also undergo positive adaptations to the stresses put through them.

When we exercise, especially weight bearing and weight lifting activities, our muscles are called upon to perform work. Our muscles are attached to our bones via connective tissue called tendons. The force our muscles produce is transmitted to our bones via these tendons which allow us to move and overcome resistance. Our bones respond to this stress by producing Osteoblasts (the bone building cells) and laying down new bone material which results in greater bone mass. If the bones are not exposed to weight lifting/bearing activities, they will become weaker and less dense – hence “use it or lose it”.

The best forms of exercise for the prevention and control of Osteoporosis are ones where a significant load is put though the skeleton. These include weight training and activities performed in the standing position e.g. running and walking (so called weight bearing activities). Exercise where bodyweight is supported externally e.g. swimming and where there is little or no skeletal loading e.g. Yoga/Pilates have a minimal effect at best on bone mass. A well rounded resistance training programme that stresses the major joints/bones of the body plus some weight bearing cardiovascular work will ensure the skeleton is being stressed appropriately which should result in increased bone mass. Exercises such as squats, dead lifts and standing presses are all excellent at putting load through the entire skeletal system resulting in positive adaptations to exercise.

NB. It should be noted however, where Osteoporosis has been diagnosed, high impact activities such as running are not recommended due to the increased risk of fracture and low impact activities combined with an appropriate resistance training programme would be more appropriate in this case.

3) Lifestyle factors - the other 164 hours a week! So, diet wise, we’re getting plenty of Calcium and vitamin D and minimizing our consumption of “nutrient robbing” highly processed food. Were hitting the gym 2-3 times a week and doing plenty of walking or jogging as appropriate. What about the rest of the week? It’s quite possible to undo all of that good by making a few not-so-great lifestyle choices.

In this last section, I’ll outline some of the things which might, despite your best efforts, negate your diet and exercise and increase the risk of lowering your bone mass.

Smoking chronic cigarette smoking lowers Oestrogen levels in women and Oestrogen is one of the most vital hormones responsible for controlling female bone mass. Long term female smokers often suffer from a premature menopause which can hasten the onset of Osteoporosis. Testosterone levels in men are also adversely affected by smoking so the take home message is that if you treasure your bone health, then quit the cigarettes sooner rather than later.

Low bodyweight – being too thin can also have a detrimental effect on bone mass. Being very lean (>10% in females) can cause a significant drop in Oestrogen levels again resulting in lowered bone mass. It is not uncommon for very lean women e.g. competitive athletes, to suffer amenorrhea (absence of reproductive cycle) and dysmenorrhoea (irregular reproductive cycles) both of which can adversely affect Oestrogen levels. Additionally, being of low scale weight also means that a lighter person puts less stress through their skeleton during their daily activities which will, in turn, not increase in mass as readily as the skeleton of a heavier person. Increased body mass is one of the reasons men tend not to suffer Osteoporosis as often as women as they generally have a greater BMI (Body Mass Index).

Carbonated drinks – to counteract the acidic effect of carbonated drinks, the body will use Calcium as a buffer and this Calcium often comes from the bones. Carbonated drinks (including sparkling water) contain harmful ingredients which need to be neutralized to maintain even blood ph levels (ph levels refer to the degree of acidity versus alkalinity) and thus valuable Calcium is used up, leaving the bones vulnerable. If you do enjoy carbonated beverages, make sure they make up only a very small amount of your daily fluid intake and you are particularly vigilant in making sure you consume adequate dietary Calcium.

Sedentary lifestyle – as mentioned in the exercise part of this article, the body adapts to the stresses put through it. No stress = no adaptation. If our bodies are not exposed to weight bearing loads, the bones will weaken. You may have seen astronauts who have been in space for a long time returning to earth with very weak and fragile bones. This is because during their stay in space, their bodies were not being exposed to gravity and therefore very little stress. As a result they developed a form of Osteoporosis. It is vital we expose our bodies to weight bearing activities on a regular basis if we hope to maintain bone mass. Exercise IS beneficial (and vital) but additional weight bearing activities will greatly add to the overall effect. Where possible incorporate additional physical activities into your day…walk instead of ride, stand instead of sit, take the stairs rather than the elevator, and carry things that you might normally move by easier methods. Every time we apply an external load to our skeletons, our bodies will respond by making our bones stronger, or at the very least maintaining our bone mass.

Osteoporosis is a serious medical condition which, sadly for many, is only diagnosed after an Osteoporotic fracture has occurred. Prevention is better than cure so follow theses guidelines to minimize your risks.

Finally, do you know why, as we age, we tend to get shorter? Yep – Osteoporosis. The spine looses mass and collapses in on its self which will often manifest as a “Dowagers hump” (a pronounced hunch on the upper portion of the spine). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be a little and old. I want to be a tall, straight backed old man!!!

Patrick Dale
http://www.solar-fitness.com/

Note – this article is intended for entertainment only and is not intended to replace the advice of a medical professional. If you are in any doubt about Osteoporosis or need any further information, please contact your professional health advisor.

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Using the slow lifts to improve the fast lifts

One of the characteristics of many workouts is the inclusion of the so-called “fast lifts” e.g. the clean, the snatch and the jerk. These exercises require high degrees of skill, power, and flexibility and, when we consider the possible consequences of a missed lift, courage!

Improvement in these fast lifts is often frustratingly slow and moving up in weight may take months of repeated efforts until we feel ready to up the ante and attempt the next level.

So – what if I were to tell you there was a method you could utilize in your training that would give you an almost instantaneous increase in the fast lifts allowing you to make maybe weeks worth of improvements today? I imagine you’d be skeptical at best and probably think I was mad and worst!

This method has long been utilized by elite eastern block athletes as a “plateau buster” – a way of promoting progression in athletes who are experiencing stagnation in their training.

Don’t worry though; it doesn’t require any self administration of anabolic steroids, weird supplements, odd training equipment or anything else that may cause you and your loved ones to question your sanity.

Much of strength training is neurological in nature – we all have muscles and we all have a nervous system but it is the interaction of these two systems that provides us with the ability to demonstrate strength. If the two systems are working out of sync, we will only be able to demonstrate modest feats of strength and power at best. However, if we can synchronize these two systems we can enjoy the fruits of their synergy and demonstrate much greater degrees of strength and power then usual.

Obviously local muscular hypertrophy (size) plays a part in maximal force generation but it is possible for a small muscled person to out perform a large muscled person if the smaller person has had sufficient neurological training. (Think bodybuilders versus weight lifters as a good example.)

Don’t believe me? Consider the fairly common phenomenon of “old lady lifts car off toddler to save life”. I’m sure most of you reading this will have seen headlines like this in the media. What happened to this frail old lady to allow her to demonstrate such a dramatic level of strength? Demonic possession? Popeye’s spinach? Nope – merely an over riding of her normal neurological system caused by fear and adrenalin.

Whilst it is unlikely we are going to be able to replicate the car lifting feat of our octogenarian, we are going to be able to use similar strategies to “fire up” our nervous system to allow us to tap into hidden strengths.

So, before I explain how this method works we first need to explore the neuromuscular system to understand how and why we can use it to our advantage.

Muscles are made up of many muscle fibers which are organized in bundles. We have bundles of bundles of yet more bundles all wrapped up in a final outer layer called a fascia. These fibers are grouped into motor units – a group of fibers which work together in pools.

The amount of strength we can generate is dictated by the number of motor units we recruit for any given task i.e. if I were going to lift a water bottle which weighed 500 grams, I would recruit only a small number of motor units, where as if I wanted to lift a weight of around 50 kilos, I would recruit many more motor units for the task.

This is the basis of the “all or nothing law” which states that muscle fibers either work to 100% of their contractile ability or not at all – it is only the number of fibers recruited which varies form task to task.

Most of us will have experienced the all or nothing law going a bit wrong…and it is this “going a bit wrong” that we want to utilize in our yet to be mentioned training method.

Picture this – you are moving house, and you are filling boxes to load into the removal van…boxes of heavy books, pots, pans, some bedding and all that sort of thing.

You are down to the last box and you know it’s going to be a heavy one – full of books. So, you psyche your self up and approach the box. With a neutral spine and tensed abdominals, you stand over it, squat down and take a firm grip on it and heave it up…and it goes soaring into the air almost hitting you in the face and smashing into the ceiling!

Someone swapped your heavy box of books for a box of pillows and your neuromuscular system was fooled into recruiting too many motor units for the job. Now, if only we could do this at will…

It just so happens – we can, and that is the basis of this method of training.

Its technical name is neuromuscular synaptic facilitation, which we will re-name complex training.

Complex training is a method where we will attempt to trick the body into recruiting more motor units than are needed which will allow us to demonstrate greater power than is normally possible.

Fast lifts generally utilize relatively lighter loads when compared to the slow lifts – this makes sense because a light load will move fast and have greater velocity than a load of great magnitude. Power is basically strength performed at speed so it is essential the load for the fast lifts permits maximal acceleration. Strength on the other hand is maximal force production without any concern for velocity. In complex training we are going to use both loading parameters with a view to maximizing force production at speed i.e. power.

So – the empty box scenario in the gym…

Decide on the fast lift you want to train – let’s say for this example the power clean. Think of a slow lift which utilizes similar movement patterns to the fast lift you want to improve – in this case the bent legged deadlift.

Load up the bar with close to your 1RM (repetition max) for the deadlift and perform a good solid rep – obviously having warmed up appropriately before hand. This should be a safe attempt – in other words there should be no doubt you will make the rep, but it should still be fairly challenging…

While resting for 2-3 minutes, set up the weight required for your power clean. On completion of the allotted rest period perform the power clean. Don’t be surprised if you nearly launch it over your head as it feels so light! You may even manage multiple reps with a weight that would normally “own you.”

So – what the hell happened? Your neuromuscular system was expecting a massive heavy load because of the “feeder” set done a few moments ago, however, you reduced the load and the nervous system over compensated and allowed you to recruit more motor units in synchronization than normal and the result for you? A new PB!

There are a number of other good combinations that can be used in complex training – here are a few to get you started...

Bench press & Plyometric press ups
Front squat & Squat jumps
Deadlifts & Cleans/snatches
Standing press & Jerk

Chin/pull up & medicine ball slams

Remember the slow lift is performed for one good rep at close to 1RM, then rest 2-3 minutes before doing the fast lift.

The fast lift could be performed as a 1RM attempt or multiple reps as training dictates.

As a general guideline, only perform around 3 sets of a similar pairing otherwise fatigue will set in and be detrimental to the performance of maximal power.

In conclusion, complex training gives us a useful tool for making progress in the fast lifts BUT because of the high degree of loading used in the preceding slow lift, should only be used by those who are advanced enough to withstand the rigors of this type of training.

Patrick Dale
www.solar-fitness.com

The Tabata Method – Improved Fitness in 5 minutes!

An unbelievable claim?

If someone told you that a there was a training method that could dramatically improve your aerobic fitness, your anaerobic fitness and help you drop body fat while performing workouts less than 5 minutes you’d probably think they were a scam artist, telling you a blatant lie or just plain crazy!

Incredibly such a method does exist and it’s called the Tabata Method.

Dr Who?

The Tabata Method is named after Dr. Izumi Tabata – a sports scientist from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan and is a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) protocol which has been successfully used by the Japanese Olympic speed skating team amongst others to improve aerobic and anaerobic conditioning using very brief workouts.

During his 1997 study Dr Tabata compared the effects of longer, lower intensity exercise with bouts of short very high intensity exercise. Using a unique interval training method the athletes participating in the study increased their aerobic fitness by 14% and anaerobic fitness by 28% in just 8 weeks! It’s worth noting that the subjects Dr Tabata used for testing were already accomplished sportsmen and not just beginners which make this study even more astounding. Even more incredible is the fact that the total actual training time per week was an unbelievable 30 minutes.

What is the Tabata Method?

The Tabata method involves performing 8 – 10 sets of 20 seconds very high intensity exercise separated with 10 second recovery periods giving a total training time = 4 – 5 minutes. The caveat of the Tabata Method is that all the intervals have to be done at 100% intensity – an absolute flat out effort. You have to strive to perform as much work in each 20 second interval as possible and try to maintain that work rate for the 8 – 10 sets. The old adage that you can train long and easy, or short and hard has never been truer than when describing the Tabata Method! As with any type of exercise, Tabata Method should be preceded by an appropriate warm up of 5 – 10 minutes and followed by a cool down of similar duration. All in all the session could take as little as 15 minutes…perfect for anyone who is short on time but still wants great results from their training.

All this and fat loss too?

Traditionalists may scoff at the idea of workouts which promise “fat loss in 5 minutes” but Tabata Method can deliver where many slow steady workouts fail. This is due to a phenomenon called Excessive Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC which is sometimes called Oxygen Debt…When performing Tabata Method or any other HIIT, a large amount of lactic acid is produced. This build up has to be cleared on cessation of the exercise and in very simple terms the aerobic system is responsible for the removal of lactic acid from the blood. The aerobic system goes into over drive for an extended period after exercise has stopped in an effort to “flush out” the lactic acid. This means that the metabolism (the rate at which we burn energy) remains elevated for a number of hours after we have packed up our exercise kit and gone home. It’s not uncommon to feel warmer than usual, have an elevated resting heart rate and increased breathing rate for a number of hours after a tough Tabata Method Workout – all indicators of elevated metabolism and therefore increased calorie expenditure while at rest. The primary fuel of the aerobic system is fat so we end up burning elevated amounts of fat after exercise essentially getting two workouts for the price of one! As you can see – Tabata Method is not only time efficient while you are doing it but keeps on delivering in the hours after exercise too.

Exercises of choice…

In his study, Dr Tabata used a mechanically braked cycle ergometer however many exercise modalities The most important thing to consider when choosing exercises to use with the Tabata Method is that there is minimal set up (you only have 10 seconds between sets remember) and that technically, you can perform the exercise under stress when severely fatigued. Multi joint exercises are best as they stress multiple muscle groups simultaneously and put the greatest demand on the cardio-respiratory system – thus giving the most “bang for your buck”. In many cases all you need is a clock with a second had and you are all set for a Tabata Method workout. If you become a real Tabata aficionado it may be worth buying an interval timer which can be programmed specifically for your workouts thus leaving your mind free to concentrate on your workout - check out http://www.gymboss.com/ for an excellent timer which is ideal for Tabata training.

My TOP SIX Tabata Method exercises

1) Prisoner Squats – A classic exercise - prisoner squats are a great “entry level” Tabata exercise due to their ease of performance, lack of any required equipment and the fact that you can easily keep an eye on the clock whist pumping out the reps. Keep your hands clasped behind your head (no pulling on the neck) and keep the chest elevated. Make sure your heels stay down and feel free to walk on the spot between sets to try and keep the lactic acid at bay. To increase the demands of this exercise consider wearing a weighted vest.


2) Burpeesyou can’t beat the burpee exercise for total body conditioning! Modify them to meet your individual fitness needs by performing the version that suits you best! To perform a burpee a)squat down so your hands are touching the floor, b) jump your legs to the rear, c) jump them back in and then d) stand up. To increase the intensity of this exercise a press up can be performed when the legs have been jumped to the rear and a leap off of the ground can be added instead of just standing up. Keep the abs tight to protect the back making sure your spine never sags.















3) Skipping – if you are a proficient skipper, this low tech exercise offers a new twist to traditional rope work. The best skipping styles for Tabata Method are knee-up sprints and double unders (two turns of the rope per jump). Ensure you wear good shock-absorbing shoes and use a sprung surface to minimize the risk of lower limb injuries.







4) Sprinting – this could be performed on a running track, a grassy playing field, a beach or even on a stretch of deserted road. Sprint for 20 seconds, walk for 10 seconds, repeat for 8 – 10 sets. Simple but highly effective! Avoid pacing your self and expect to find that the last few sets are really tough...your sprints may be reduced to a shambling run by the end!





5) Thrusters – a total body
exercise which rivals even the mighty burpee! Thrusters can be performed with a barbell, a pair of dumbbells, a medicine ball or even a sand bag. From a deep “front squat” (deeper than in the picture aiming for 90 degrees at the knees) stand up and, using the momentum from your legs, simultaneously press the load overhead before reversing the movement and returning to the starting position. Try to set a rhythm and stick to it!

6) Rowing ergometer – a rowing machine with a programmable timer is an excellent choice for Tabata Method training. Aim to maintain the distance covered from one set to the next or take an average from the 8 – 10 sets completed and try to beat it whenever the workout is repeated. Make sure your rowing technique is sound to avoid any potential lower back injuries.


When One Tabata isn’t enough…

In isolation, the Tabata Method offers an efficient and effective workout but the fun really begins when exercises are combined into pairs or groups. The options are literally endless for designing your own Tabata hybrid workouts which will keep your fitness improving for years to come…

Tabata Super Sets – Select two suitable exercises and alternate between them for a 10 minute workout which will really get the job done. My personal favourite is skipping paired with burpees. Perform skipping (knee up sprints) for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, followed by burpees for 20 seconds and so on. Repeat the pairing for 10 sets for a short and effective workout.

Tabata clusters – choose 3, 4, 5 or even 6 exercises and perform each one using the Tabata method. Rest 1 minute between exercises and work your way down the list. Try to select exercises which overlap as little as possible to avoid overloading your muscles to such a degree that you are unable to continue. When performing a big cluster of 4 – 6 exercises it is quite acceptable to include a couple of “easier” exercises in the sequence to reduce the intensity slightly e.g. Tabata sit-ups, press ups or step ups offer a brief respite from burpees or thrusters.

Example of a Tabata Cluster
Perform 8 – 10 sets of each exercise before moving onto the next. Allow 1 minute recovery between each exercise. Total time = 24 minutes.

1 Burpees
2 Skipping
3 Prisoner Squats
4 Sit-ups
5 Thrusters


Tabata Circuits - Tabata Circuits are very similar to the Tabata Cluster method except exercises are performed vertically instead of horizontally. Work down the list performing each exercise in turn for 20 seconds using the 10 second rest interval to move to the next station…

Example of a Tabata circuit
Perform 1 set of 20 seconds of each exercise in the sequence, using the 10 second rest interval to move to the next station. Complete 8 – 10 laps of the circuit non-stop to total 24 – 30 minutes of work.

1 Skipping
2 Press ups
3 Squat thrusts
4 Sit-ups
5 Burpees
6 Lunges

The wrap up

Tabata Method offers any fitness enthusiast an extremely versatile and effective addition to their exercise armoury which, whilst challenging to perform, offers a wide range of benefits when used on a regular basis. Don’t let the short work out length deceive you – training the Tabata way will get the job done in record breaking time.

Patrick Dale
http://www.solar-fitness.com/

References:

Effects of moderate –intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2 Max
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8897392


Clarence Bass – Sprints build endurance
http://cbass.com/Sprintendurance.htm

Peak Performance/Raphael Brandon - Aerobic interval training
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0145.htm

Women, weight and weight training

I have just returned from my daily trip to the gym. While I was there, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. The gym I use is a big, open plan, well equipped room but it seemed there was an invisible force field around the weight training area that only the female clientele could see. The whole time I was there, not a single member of the gentler sex came into the weight training area. Luckily for me, the force field didn’t prevent me from going into the cardio area and asking a few ladies why they didn’t come over to the other side of the gym. Their responses ranged from “I don’t want big muscles” to “cardio is best for weight loss” to “it smells really bad over that side!” After speaking to a few more women (in the name of science obviously) I realised there was an awful lot of misinformation, confusion and outright lies being spread about resistance training so in this article, I intend to dispel a few of those old myths and start a petition to get more woman lifting weights!

Myth number 1) Strength training will cause big, bulky muscles and make woman look masculine.

Most women do not have the genetic potential to develop big muscles. They lack sufficient amounts of the male hormone testosterone to develop the kind of muscle mass seen in men. The dominant female hormone, oestrogen, is not responsible for muscle growth, unlike male testosterone. The only way for the majority of women to develop large “male like” muscles would be for them it ingest/inject extraneous testosterone to override their normal hormonal functions. Clearly, this is not a common practice and is only really seen in the sport of bodybuilding and other pursuits where developing maximal strength is necessary.

Myth number 2) To lose weight, I need to do lots of cardio.

Imagine a glass. In your mind fill this glass with three parts water and one part olive oil. As you know, water and oil don’t readily mix so the oil will float on top of the water. This glass represents your total body weight; the water represents your lean tissue (muscle, bones and internal organs) and the oil representing your body fat. Most exercisers are only concerned with what they weigh, not what that weight is made up of (correctly termed body composition). Using our glass analogy it would be easy to pour off either liquid and reduce the contents of the glass, however, the reality is we want to keep the water (lean body tissue) and ditch the oil (fat). Getting rid of muscle and keeping fat is just pure madness, but with someone who exclusively uses cardio exercise for weight management, that’s exactly what they’re doing.

Cardiovascular exercise is essential for our health – it keeps the heart, lungs and circulatory system in tip-top condition, and also burns energy (calories) when we’re doing it. However, because your body is the master adapter and responds to the stress you put upon it, it will do everything it can to make cardiovascular exercise easier. The body lays down new capillaries to aid in oxygen delivery and lactic acid removal, grows bigger/more cells called mitochondria to produce more energy giving ATP, makes the heart bigger and stronger and improves the function of the lungs to increase the efficiency of the cardiovascular system, and rids it self of any extra muscle not actively used in the chosen cardiovascular activity. Think about it. Muscle is vascular – it needs oxygen to survive. Even when you are running, the muscles of your upper body still need large amounts of oxygen. To increase the amount of oxygen available for the running muscles in the legs, it makes sense from a survival perspective to get rid of some of the redundant muscle mass of the upper body. It’s like trimming unnecessary weight off of a car chassis to give greater performance.

This is all well and good for runners wanting to run faster or further, but for someone who wants to control their body fat and look good, this is about the worst possible thing you can do. Muscle needs fuel (food). Less muscle = less food required. We call the daily amount of energy you need your Basal Metabolic Rate – or BMR for short. The resulting loss of muscle mass lowers your BMR resulting in an energy surplus which will most likely turn into fat when that energy is not used. A two pound loss of muscle will result in a approximate 70 kcal drop in daily energy requirements. This means our aerobic loving exerciser will lose muscle, gain fat and look worse than they did before starting their exercise regime.

What is the best way to maintain/gain lean tissue I hear you ask? The answer is “Lift weights”. It’s a simple case of use it or lose it. The body will maintain/increase its muscle mass if that muscle is being called on regularly to perform work.

A small increase in muscle mass will result in a higher daily BMR which means our exerciser will need more energy on a daily basis, and if they are under eating, that extra energy will have to come from body fat stores.
So, the take home message is that a combination of cardio and weight training is best for fat loss. Weight loss can occur when we lose muscle but the reality is that it’s the fat we need to lose, and keep the muscle.

Myth number 3) To tone up I need to do lots of reps with a light weight.

The lovely Jane Fonda did wonders by getting people exercising, but she also set us back years by promoting “the burn” and super-high reps for toning and inch loss. That burning you feel when you are exercising is not fat melting away, it is Lactic Acid being produced by your muscles as they run out of oxygen. Lactic acid does not cause spot reduction of body fat. If super high reps caused spot reduction of body fat, people who eat lots and often would have thin faces from all that chewing!!! Spot reduction is a super-sized myth! Fat stores will disappear globally, not locally. It’s cruel but it’s the truth. Some one once asked me “what’s the best exercise to make my stomach thinner?” I replied “Push your self away from the dining table sooner”. Probably not the answer they were seeking, but it’s a painful truth very few exercisers/dieters ever grasp.

The best (in fact only) was to improve the condition of a muscle or muscle group is to overload it – in other words ask it to do more work than usual. This means work it harder, not longer. Think about it. You do 30 side leg lifts to tone your glutes (your butt). When that gets easier, you do 35, then 40 and so on. After a few months you are doing 5 sets of 50 per leg and your entire exercise routine consists of nothing but side lying leg lifts because that’s all you have time for. Sounds like madness doesn’t it? Surely, it would be better to increase the workload, overload the muscles more and not have to spend an hour on the same exercise? To improve the condition of a muscle, it must be exposed to progressive overload i.e. asked to do more than it’s used to on a regular basis. Only then will it we see the adaptation (increase in tone) we are seeking.

A rep count of 20 or less is best in terms of effect and training time economy. Any higher than that and really it’s just a waste of your valuable time. This 20 rep rule applies to all muscle groups, including abdominals. Super high reps do nothing but waste time. Find ways to make exercises harder rather than do hundreds of unnecessarily time wasting reps.

Myth number 4) Free weights for men, machines for women.

This is one of those stupid, old, sexual stereotypes from the ‘70’s that never really went away. Old fashioned gyms used to be the reserve of manly men, but that stopped in the ‘80s when commercial gyms came into being. The thing is, in many cases, the free weights area is still kind of off limits to women. Why is this? Do the men intimidate the women with all their unnecessary grunting? Is it because the exercises seem “too manly”? Are women concerned that they might get big muscles like the guys? (We’ve covered this now). Is it really the smell??? (Can’t help with that one – too many protein shakes are the probable culprit there I think). Whatever the reason, the free weight area contains some of the best tools a girl can use to give her the body she always dreamed of.

It’s interesting to note that some exercises and machines are deemed to be male or female when the reality is that our bodies are so similar, that pretty much all exercises are beneficial to both sexes. That being said, some exercises considered very “masculine” are virtually essential for any woman wanting to work on the traditional female “problem areas” of the hips, butt and thighs. I refer to the squat, dead lift, stiff legged dead lift and to a lesser extent the lunge and high step up. With enough weight, these exercise will give most guys the “killer wheels” they’re after, but with moderate loading and a rep count of 15-20, they will carve any woman an awesome lower body in much less time than endless sets of hip abduction, hip adduction or standing leg curls.

Any woman who wants a good lower body should learn to squat and dead lift. Period.

Myth number 5) Muscle turns to fat when you stop training – I don’t want that to happen to me!

Go back to our water and oil in a glass image. Is it possible to turn water into oil or visa versa? The answer of course is no (Unless you are Jesus – then you’d probably do the water into wine thing anyway.) The same is true of muscle and fat. They are biologically different and cannot turn into each other. However, it is possible to reduce fat stores and increase muscle mass thus giving the appearance of one turning into the other.
Because muscle is biologically active, it needs energy (calories from food) to sustain it. However, if our subject stops exercising for an extended period without reducing their calorific (food) intake, their muscles will shrink (correctly termed atrophy) and their fat stores will grow (hypertrophy) again giving the impression of one turning into the other. The easiest was to avoid this happening is to a) don’t stop training and b) if you do have to stop training for an extended period e.g. illness or vacation, try to reduce your food intake so that the excess energy that would usually be used up by your exercise wont be stored as fat.

Myth number 6) Strength training makes muscles short and bulky – I want long slender muscles like a dancer so I do yoga instead.

I’ve heard this one so many times now that if I had a pound for every time, I’d be a rich man indeed. I had a huge argument with an ex girlfriend about this very subject…needless to say I stuck to my guns and am now single! It always amazes me how common this misconception is.

Muscles are the shape they are because of where they are attached to your skeleton. These attachment sites are referred to as Origins and Insertions. A muscle is attached to the skeleton by tendons. The point at which the tendon meets the skeleton dictates if a muscle will appear long or short. These attachment sites will not move regardless of whether you engage in vigorous weight training or endless yoga and stretching. It’s just genetics, pure and simple. Some people are blessed with long muscle bellies and short tendons, giving an appearance of long, flowing muscles, whilst other people have shorter muscle bellies and longer tendons giving the appearance of short “bunchy” muscles. There are no special exercises that will magically change the length of a muscle belly. Don’t waste precious time doing weird and wonderful movements alleged to lengthen your muscles. We can make our muscles bigger, firmer and improve their condition, but their length is predetermined – if you don’t like the length of your muscles, blame your folks, not your weight training routine.

Myth number 7) Strength training just takes too long and I have to go too often – I don’t have time!

When I here this one, it’s safe to make the assumption that this woman has trained with a man who fancies him self as a bit of a bodybuilder and has been exposed to the multi day split system of training. With the split training system, different muscles are trained on different days e.g. Monday is legs, Tuesday is chest, Wednesday is back, Thursday is shoulders, and Friday is arms (ready for a weekend out in town wearing a T shirt 2 sizes too small!). This type of training is fine for bodybuilders but for the majority of exercisers it requires way too much time in the gym.

The average exerciser should seldom adopt a split training programme and instead stick to whole body weight training sessions where the body is exercised as a single synergistic unit. Whole body training is time efficient, easy to plan and requires only 2-3 hours of gym time a week, leaving lots of time to do other things.

By using exercises which are deemed to be “compound” i.e. there is movement at more than on joint, we can work multiple muscle groups at the same time. By way of an example, to work the lower body effectively using isolation exercises (an exercise where movement is limited to one joint only) you would have to perform 6 exercises … leg extensions, leg curls, hip extensions, hip adductions, hip abductions and calf raises. Or, we could just do squats. Weight training really can be that simple and straight forward.

It is possible to train the entire body using just 6 exercises and still have time to perform some cardio or core work and be finished in an hour or less. Organise the 6 exercises into a circuit and you have an amazingly effective fat burning/cardio workout in the time it takes the average male trainer to do his guns workout!

So ladies, leave those split routines to the bodybuilders. Smart woman do whole body workouts.

Myth 8) I can’t strength train because I have back/knees/shoulder pain.

Which came first – the chicken or the egg? It’s the same for this myth. Is your back/knee/shoulder pain because you don’t weight train? Once a doctor has given the all clear and confirmed that any pain is not due to musculoskeletal or neurological injury, it’s not uncommon to find that after a few weeks of corrective weight training chronic aches and pains start to disappear. The body is an amazing machine – far more complex than any automobile. To run at optimum efficiency, it needs to have all its parts working in balance. By balance, I mean our muscles (which are generally arranged in opposing pairs on either side of a skeletal joint) need to be equally toned. If muscles on one side of a joint are stronger than those found on the opposite side, a dysfunctional joint will develop and pain may well be the result. Many of our day to day tasks are unidirectional requiring the use of muscles on one side of a joint only. This means that within a pair, one muscle maybe stronger than the muscle that opposes it.

With prescribed weight training exercises, we can rebalance the muscles on either side of a joint and return that joint to full function. Strengthening the lower back can cure lower back pain, strengthening the muscles of the thigh (the quadriceps and hamstrings) can prevent knee pain, strengthening the muscles of the upper back can improve posture and prevent neck pain.

Some time ago, I had an email personal training client. The deal was I would write a programme and the client would take it to her local gym and the resident instructor would then teach her the exercises. This client was suffering from some lower back pain which had been attributed to muscle weakness so we agreed that she needed to improve the strength of her back and I prescribed dead lifts. The instructor, on hearing about the clients’ bad back removed the dead lifts from her programme and replaced this great exercise with the leg curl machine. Needless to say, when I heard about this I was aggrieved! What the instructor failed to realise was the client had 3 growing children who regularly needed to be picked up and carried and she needed to prepare her back for the rigours of this frequent occurrence and the fact the kids were getting heavier all the time! She NEEDED to dead lift! Weak muscles shouldn’t be favoured or ignored but challenged so that they cease to be weak.

I’m sure many more myths are still yet to be busted so if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line so I can expose them to the world! I’m sure you can now see, weight training is an essential form of exercise suitable for almost everyone – young and old, male and female. The huge benefits that can be gained from lifting weights (improved strength, bone density, muscle tone, joint stability, posture, fitness etc) far out weight any perceived risks so I strongly urge you to take up weight training and reap the rewards. You body will thank you for it!

Patrick Dale.
www.solar-fitness.com
Before undertaking any new exercise programme, always consult your doctor and seek professional instruction as faulty exercise technique can result in serious injury.

Fitter, faster, stronger, leaner!

“Learn how to go from your current physical performance levels to new levels by making logical progressions in your workouts!”

It’s Monday, so it must be chest day…5 sets of bench press, 3 sets of dumbbell flies, 2 sets of dips and a couple of sets of press ups to finish the workout – same workout as last week, and the week before, using the same weights you always use and the same rep scheme. Or is it cardio day? Run 3 miles in 30 minutes, just like last week and the week before. Or is it Body Pump class today? Same work out as always, same weights, same exercises, same duration? Maybe you don’t even know what you did in last week’s workouts? Do you go to the gym and do whatever your training partner suggests or just do what you feel like doing (The Weider Instinctive Principle!!!)

If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you you’re not alone. Look around the majority of gyms and health clubs and you’ll see vast numbers of people doing the same training, week in and week out. When they look in the mirror they see the same old reflexion staring right back them…their physiques or figures haven’t changed in ages, their fitness improvements have stalled and they have the same strength today as they did this time last year.

There is an old saying in exercise – “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got”.

When they started their current workout routine what they were doing will have worked. It provided overload and sufficient training stimulus to force their bodies to adapt, to change, to improve. The thing is the human body is lazy! Once it can comfortably perform the activities it is being asked to do, it ceases making adaptations and we stop getting the benefits we seek from exercise. If we don’t try to progress our workouts, the very most we can expect is to maintain our current physical condition and the worse case scenario is that we actually lose fitness as our body becomes ultra-efficient at the exercises we perform which in turn lowers the training effect of our training sessions. It takes the body 3-6 weeks to adapt to a stressor like exercise. After that, it takes a new stressor to keep the body adapting and improving.

People stay with the same exercise regime for a number of reasons – partly physical and partly psychological. Examine this list and see if any of the points relate to you and your current workout situation:-

You’re good at all the exercises and don’t want to be seen doing things you aren’t good at.

The programme you are on was written by an expert so it must work.

Your current programme worked initially so it will work again if you stick with it long enough.

You only know a handful of exercises and have limited knowledge of programme design.

You are comfortable with your routine and are reluctant to change it.

Whatever your reason for not changing your routine I can’t stress enough that unless you do something different from time to time you are doomed to little or no progress!!! You are literally wasting your time in the gym! So if you want to get fitter, faster, stronger or leaner we have to force our bodies to adapt and improve – and that means we have to shake up our workouts on a regular basis.

I’m often asked “does it (exercise) ever get any easier?” The answer is a resounding “NO!” To see progress in our fitness levels, there needs to be a consistent trend of increased workload/work rate. Exercise isn’t easier the fitter we get – we just develop a greater work capacity.

In the rest of this article, I want to tell you about the “training variables” you can use to keep your workouts fresh, interesting and above all productive and discuss the importance of record keeping to keep us on the road to improved performance and appearance. So, grab your shovel because we have a rut to dig our selves out of!

Progression – the key to long term progress.

Making progress in our workouts requires the manipulation of the “training variables” – the characteristics of our workouts. By making changes to one or more of the training variables on a regular basis we can keep making steady progress towards our genetic potential for physical fitness. Let’s look at each of the training variables in turn:-

Resistance Training Variables – things we can change about the way we train with weights.

Number of exercises per muscle group – can be increased or decreased

Number of sets per exercise and per workout – can be increased or decreased

Target repetition range – higher reps/low weight = more muscular endurance specific, lower reps/greater weight = more strength specific

Loading – increasing the weight used for each exercise to develop greater strength

Recovery period between sets – can be lowered to increase workout density (more sets possible per workout) or to challenge recovery ability

Workout frequency – train more often

Workout duration – train for longer

Movement speed – can be increased to promote power development or decreased to extend the duration of a given exercise (referred to as Time Under Tension or TUT)

Different exercises – e.g. trading barbell bench press with dumbbell bench press

Stable based exercises to unstable – e.g. from machine based exercises to free weight exercises to challenge co-ordination and balance

Simple exercises to more complex ones – e.g. from single joint exercises to multi joint exercises

Exercise order - change the order of exercises performed in the session and training week

Training systems – employ drop sets, super sets, forced reps, pre/post exhaust etc

Split routines – split body parts up differently on a regular basis e.g. legs on Monday and not chest!

Changing any one of the above variables will result in a new stimulus which our bodies will have to adapt to resulting in improvements in fitness. With so many variables to choose from some restraint needs to be exercised so as not to change too much at the same time. Rather than randomly shake our workouts up, we want to employ a couple of the exercise variables for a period of 3-6 weeks and then, once we have adapted to the new stresses of our modified work out, make use of a couple more of the variables thereafter. For example, for 3 weeks focus on increasing the amount of weight used in each exercise, then for a further 3 weeks try to perform more reps with the weight constant, and then reduce the rest intervals gradually over the next 3 weeks and so on. By making small but significant changes on a regular basis we guarantee continued improvements in our fitness levels – up to our genetic potential.

Aerobic Training Variables – things we can change about the way we do our cardio.

As with resistance training, there are a number of things we can do to make our cardiovascular exercise more productive and therefore improve our aerobic fitness to new higher levels. By implementing the following, we can make sure that the dreaded plateau is a thing of the past.

Frequency – exercise more often

Intensity – work at a higher percentage of maximum Heart rate

Duration – exercise for longer periods of time/cover greater distances

Speed – run/cycle/swim/step/row at a faster rate

Intervals – employ interval training in place of steady state cardio*

Terrain – run/walk/cycle on different surfaces

Hill work – purposely seek out hillier routes to walk, cycle or run

Modality – select different aerobic training methods e.g. run instead of swim

Add resistance – use weighted vests, ankle weights or back packs

Employ an aerobic training method – e.g. fartlek, FCR or LSD)**

*Interval training – periods of high intensity work interspaced with periods of low intensity recoveries e.g. run hard for 60 seconds, jog for 120 seconds and repeat
**Fartlek – mixed speeds within a training session performed randomly, FCR – Fast Continuous Running…aerobic exercise performed at high levels of intensity for shorter periods of time, LCD – Long Slow Distance…Continuous aerobic exercise performed at a comfortable pace for extended periods of time

As with our resistance training variables, it’s a good idea to focus on one or two of the above options for a few weeks before selecting other variables from the list. Trying to make too many changes at once is likely to be too dramatic a change and result in exhaustion and possibly injury. It is also worth bearing in mind that it is recommended that increases in duration/distance per workout and per training week be limited to approximately 10%. In other words, if your current longest run is 3 miles, don’t increase your mileage up to 4 miles over night but increase the distance to by around 400 – 500 metres to avoid potential overuse injuries.

“If we are going to succeed, we need to plan for success” & “Failing to plan is planning to fail”

Improvements in physical fitness don’t happen by accident. They are a direct result of the application of consistent and sustained effort, good eating habits and appropriate rest. If we have no real plan, we have much less chance of making the progress we are looking for.

When thinking about exercise, it’s necessary to think long term – not just tomorrow, next week or next month, but next year and the year after. How are you going to take your current level of exercise and fitness on from the here-and-now to your ultimate fitness goal? The answer is to make a plan.

They say a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, but if those initial steps are in the wrong direction then we’ll never get to our destination. It is necessary to “reverse engineer” our journey from where we want to be to where we are now so we can plot our route to ultimate success.

So – a few questions…write down the answers:

What is your ultimate fitness goal? (lose fat, run a marathon, make it to the 1st team etc)

Where are you currently in relation to your ultimate fitness goal? (score out of 10)

How committed are you to achieving your goal? (score out of 10)

How much time can you dedicate to your goal? (list the hours per week)

What are the possible barriers you might encounter during your quest for success? (make a list)

How can you remove those barriers? (write down solutions to the above list)

What/who are your allies in reaching your goal? (Who can help you?)

Once you have answers for the above questions, you are well on your way to making a plan of battle to take you to your goal.

Next – we need to break down the ultimate fitness goal into smaller bite sized chunks. Our ultimate goal is probably a long term goal…months or possibly years away. That’s a very long time to remain motivated. To help keep us focused on the prize, it’s worth breaking our main goal down into several sub-goals which are more readily achievable.

To give you an example – let’s say your goal is to run a marathon (26 miles) but currently your longest run is 6 miles. That means you have to run a whole 20 miles further to reach you goal. For many people, that might seem like a daunting if not impossible task! Instead, let’s break that ultimate goal down into more manageable chunks…

1st sub goal – run 10 miles
2nd sub goal – run a half marathon (13 miles)
3rd sub goal – run 17 miles
4th sub goal – run 21 miles
Ultimate goal – run a marathon

By breaking down our ultimate goal into smaller bite sized chunks, we will experience numerous minor successes on the way to realisation of our end goal. This promotes adherence, maintains enthusiasm and improves our success potential dramatically.

To train smarter, think SMARTER!

Once you have decided upon your goals, apply the acronym SMARTER to them.

SMARTER stands for:-

Specific – put a numerical value to what you are trying to achieve

Measurable – make sure you can prove success by hitting numerical targets e.g. body fat %

Achievable – is your goal feasible? Do you have the necessary resources to allow success?

Realistic – can it be done in the time available? Are there many barriers to overcome?

Time bound – set a dead line when you expect to achieve success

Enjoyable – if it’s not you are less likely to stick to it

Recorded – write it all down, tell your friends, make your goals public property! It makes it much harder to drop out if you know people are interested in your progress!

By applying SMARTER to the goals we set for ourselves we improve the likelihood of succeeding massively.

Training Diaries - No more wasted workouts!

I am an absolute believer in the power of a training diary. I have kept training diaries for my entire exercising life and rely on them constantly to help me plan my next phase of training. A training diary will provide you with numerical evidence of previous workouts performed, allow you to track improvements, see what has worked well for you and what has been less successful, show consistency and highlight lapses as well as improving focus as you record your performance from workout to workout.

By making use of a training diary, you’ll never go into the gym and be saying to your self “Now, what shall I do today?” Every workout will be productive and specific to your goals.

Personally, I use A5 sized ring bound note books as training diaries although I know you can buy fancy programmes for your computer. Alternatively, if you are so inclined, you could even design excel spread sheets. Regardless of what method you choose, keeping a training diary is one of the most useful tools we have available to keep ourselves motivated and focused.

By utilizing the information in your training diary, you can plan your next workout based on how your previous workout went. Make a note of which exercises you performed, which exercises which need increased resistance, reps achieved with a given resistance, number of sets performed, rest intervals used, settings on cardio machines, durations and heart rates of CV exercise, total duration of each workout, how you felt etc. By having all this information to hand, we can use the training variables discussed earlier to push our selves onwards and upwards towards out ultimate fitness goals.

So, the take home points for continued exercise progress are:-

1) Whatever you are doing now, you need to change in the near future
2) Manipulate the training variables regularly to promote progression
3) Set goals and work towards them
4) Make long term plans for success
5) Keep a training diary to measure your success and keep you focused

By following these 5 guidelines, your ultimate fitness goal isn’t just a dream, but a reality well within your grasp!

Patrick Dale
http://www.solar-fitness.com/

Interview with Patrick Dale

INTERVIEW WITH PATRICK DALE
BY: KEITH L. BALBERT
Co-VP Real Gainz
ISSA CFT

Hi everyone! Today I am here interviewing Team Real Gainz Member, and our most prized writer Patrick Dale. Whether you are reading an article on Real Gainz online site or in our printed magazine you will find we use his articles throughout both.

Patrick at this time I would like to thank you for your time doing this interview. Is there anything you would like to say before we begin?

Hi Keith – I’d just like to say a huge thanks to Real Gainz for publishing my work and that I am looking forward to working with you as the magazine and website go from strength to strength.

OK let’s get started with the first question:

Q. I understand you live in Cyprus now. Please tell our readers where you were born?

A. I was born in the City of Bristol in the south of England. I lived there for my first 20 years or so before heading off in search of fame and fortune! I still have family and friends there so visit regularly – although I don’t know if I’ll ever live there again.

Q. Why did you leave Bristol England to live in Cyprus?

A. I was lucky enough to be offered a job in Cyprus and I always wanted to live in a Mediterranean country as I love the warmth, culture and people so it was an easy decision to make. The UK doesn’t have the best weather and, without getting too political, I don’t like the way the country is going – the cost of living is getting higher all the time and crime rate is soaring. I felt it was a perfect opportunity to improve my quality of life…and get a year-round tan!

Q. When did you realize you were interested in pursuing a career in fitness and sports?

A. I can’t actually remember a time I wasn’t interested in fitness and sport! I have always been fascinated with the ideal of ultimate physical performance ever since seeing Pumping Iron and watching the 1976 Olympics on TV. My first memory of training is running around the block, aged 7, getting “in shape” for school sports day. I was encouraged by my parents, some fantastic school teachers and coaches to pursue sports from an early age. I’m just so lucky that my lifelong hobby became my job once I reached adulthood. I get paid to talk about my hobby all day – how cool is that?!

Q. I saw on your Real Gainz page you went to college to study Physical Education. Can you please tell our readers what college you went to and what degree do you hold?

A. When I started in the health & fitness industry, there was very little in the way of formal qualifications in the UK so I spent two years studying a BTEC Physical Education at Bath College of Further Education in the England. It was basically 2 years spent learning how to coach a wide variety of sports from athletics to weight lifting. It was an enjoyable and useful course which exposed me to a huge number of different sports but from the perspective of health and fitness, not hugely beneficial.

Q. Besides your college certificates, do you hold any personal training certifications and if so what kind and from what organization?

A. Blimey – that’s a long list! I have qualifications in teaching Aerobics and Circuit training from the YMCA, weight lifting coaching qualifications from the British Amateur Weightlifting Association (BAWLA), a diploma in Personal Training from Premier Training International, a certificate in sports massage and rehabilitation from Premier Training International, numerous nutrition qualifications, I hold a variety of CHEK institute qualifications and I am a qualified trampolining coach and certified climbing instructor.

Q. Wow – a very mixed bag! No wonder your articles cover such a broad number of subjects. I see from your Real Gainz page you were in one of the most elite fighting units in the world, the British Royal Marine Commandos. Even here in America their reputation is unchallenged. How was that experience for you? Can you tell our readers where you saw action?

A. I had an amazing time in the Royal Marines and wouldn’t have missed it for the world. The skills I learnt such as team work, perseverance, self reliance and mental toughness have been so useful in later life. I made some great friends and got to see some interesting places whilst doing exciting things (sky diving for one!) that I would never have had the chance to do otherwise. During my time as a Royal Marine Commando was deployed in Northern Ireland where I worked as part of a small unit involved in boarding and searching ships moving in and out of Belfast harbor and gathering intelligence from passengers. It was basically an anti-terrorist role and a career highlight. I spent my last couple of years working with boats – from speed boats to troop carriers which was a great experience as I love the sea.

Q. After leaving the Commandos you started your own company called Solar Fitness Qualifications. Can you please tell our readers what Solar Fitness does and why you went in this direction instead of a typical personal training company?

A. Prior to joining the Marines I had my own small personal training and aerobics teaching business so on returning to civilian life I decided to move away from personal training and into lecturing rather than go back in the same direction. After working for another qualifications provider for a few years my business partner and I decided to go it alone and Solar Fitness Qualifications was born. I have an endless passion for the health and fitness industry but it breaks my heart to see bad personal trainers doing their clients more harm than good and I wanted to raise the level of people working as trainers. Too many trainers currently working in the industry can’t even squat and dead lift properly and I really want this to change. I figured the best was to achieve this was to have my own training company. SFQ courses are 8 weeks long and cover everything from basic anatomy and physiology to advanced programme design plus nutrition. Every day is 7-8 hours of theory and practical lessons plus evening and weekend work. I’d describe it as a foundation course as really, even over 8 weeks, we only scratch the surface of the skills a personal trainer should have. We make sure our graduates leave us with an excellent grounding in the basics and the understanding that they have a long way to go.

Q. How can someone who is interested in becoming certified by your company become certified? Do you have any distance learning courses?

A. We currently only offer full time residential courses and we do not offer distance learning although that is something we are looking into at the moment. Because of the practical elements we focus on (exercise techniques, teaching skills etc) we believe the best way to learn is to do. We are currently exploring the possibility of offering the non-practical elements of the course, such as anatomy, physiology and nutrition via DVD/distance learning but this is something for the future. I enjoy the interaction with the students and the theatrics of teaching too much to want to provide our material on DVD – at least for now.

Q. Besides being interested in fitness I understand you are also interested and have competed in various sports. What sports have you competed in?

A. I started my competitive sporting career as a long/triple jumper and sprinter during the summers of my youth and played Rugby during the winter, both at national schools level. I also played a fair amount of basketball and fenced competitively although not to the same standard. When at college I experienced some success in trampolining, diving and weight lifting and spent the next few years pursuing those. From those very technical activities I moved into endurance sports and competed in triathlon and distance running (my bests include a 17 minute 5k, a 35 minute 10k and a 1hr 24 minute half marathon) and held a UK national top 100 ranking in short course triathlon for 2 seasons. Unfortunately, due to lack of proper coaching and too many races I suffered from severe physical and nervous exhaustion and stopped competing after just 4 seasons. Bodybuilding fascinated me so I got very into hypertrophy training and training for aesthetics and considered competing but realized that as a tall heavy weight I was way to lightly built and would have been beaten by the female figure competitors (!) and decided to save my parading around in a posing pouch for the beach. In addition to the sports mentioned I have also played men’s lacrosse, studied Karate, Tae Kwon Do, boxing and judo but only for interest and not competitively. Nowadays, I don’t compete in any sports but still train hard enough that if s scratch game of basketball or rugby comes up, I can play at a reasonable level.

Q. I know one area of interest to you and that you are extremely passionate about is family health and fitness. Why this part of the fitness industry over general fitness?

A. Because, as a rule, most people are in terrible shape! Obesity is now an epidemic and chronic diseases like type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome X and hypertension are becoming the norm. Our modern lifestyle and diet are making us ill and, although people live longer than they ever have, for many people, quality of life is much reduced. Who wants to live to be 90 but spend the last 30 of those years in a hospital bed? Not me that’s for sure! It takes relatively small amounts of activity to keep the body fit and eating healthily is far from complicated meaning vitality and well being are within virtually anyone’s grasp. For some reason, the health and fitness industry tries to complicate getting in shape and I want to show people that, for the vast majority, small changes will pay massive returns in terms of enjoying a longer and more productive life!

Q. Besides training and writing for Real Gainz what else do you do? Are you all work and no play or a mixture of both?

A. I do work hard but I like to think I work smart as I want to have plenty of leisure time to make the most of! We have a wonderful climate in Cyprus which means spending time out doors is a real pleasure so I like to spend as much time enjoying it as possible. Because I spend a fair amount of time training my leisure time tends to be spent relaxing – sat on the beach reading and listening to music is my idea of heaven! I am also a HUGE movie buff and try and see as many films as I can. Live music is another passion of mine and I try to go and see both local and international artists when the opportunity arises.

Q. When working out what does your workout routine look like?

A. Very mixed! As I am no longer interested in bodybuilding I don’t do that type of training any more and strongly believe that hypertrophy training is only appropriate for a small percentage of the population. I focus on athletic-type training which promotes both function and appearance which is not generally the case with bodybuilding type training. I train 5-6 times a week and rotate through strength training (multiple sets with low reps), muscular endurance circuits, interval training and the occasional longer, slower aerobic based workout. I prefer to train outside in the fresh air so most of my sessions involve the use of sandbags, medicine balls, weighted sleds and bodyweight exercises and when strength training I seldom perform isolation exercises, preferring to focus on the big lifts such squats, dead lifts, over head pressing, bench pressing, chins and bent over rows as these exercises provide the most “bang for your buck”. I also perform the classic Olympic lifts and their variations on a regular basis. I use swimming, jumping rope and running for my aerobic and interval training and do core work every other training day.

Q. What does your nutrition plan look like? Do you believe nutrition plays a vital role in health & fitness?

A. Nutrition is vital for health AND appearance and my eating reflects this. I focus on a high consumption of fruit and vegetables, unprocessed grains, plenty of lean animal protein and lots of water. I do have a sweet tooth which I indulge from time to time but 95% of what I eat is clean food prepared as simply as possible to minimize nutrient loss. I am a very firm believer in simple nutrition and base every meal around a lean protein and vegetables/fruit which seems to work well for me. Contrary to a many nutritionists’ opinions, I eat a fair amount of saturated fat as I believe is vital to health and it’s actually trans fats which are responsible for many of the health problems blamed on fat consumption. I also believe that animal protein is far superior to vegetable protein and make sure I eat plenty of meat on a daily basis. I guess my diet is very “hunter/gatherer” orientated. As far as supplementation goes, I keep consumption to multi vitamins/minerals and fish oils as a “safety blanket” to ensure I get optimal levels of these.

Q. I’ve heard that Cyprus is a beautiful island. Can you tell those of us who haven’t been there what it’s like there?

A. Sunny, friendly and relaxed! It’s a beautiful island about 250 miles long and 75 miles wide. Inland we have a range of mountains called the Troodos Massif where you can ski for 4 months a year. It’s a typical Mediterranean Island and the pace of life is reflected by this – the native Cypriots say “slowly slowly” and that’s how they live their lives – which can be frustrating initially but after a while is a fantastic attitude and way to be. I’ve been here over 4 years now and think of it as home.

Well that’s all the questions I have for you today Patrick, Thank you Patrick for doing this interview with me.