Surrey Personal Training Top Tips to Achieve Results

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Are you dreading putting on your swimming costume or bikini this summer?  If you follow our top tips below, you’ll notice results that make you feel confident about revealing the bits that are normally hidden during the winter months!

1) Your exercise program should include aerobic activities (CV), resistance (strength) training and flexibility sessions.  The minimum amount recommended each week is at least 40 minutes sessions, 3 x weekly, combining all elements.  CV training alone will not shift the excess!

2) In order to stimulate greater fat loss, your CV sessions should be at least 60% max heart rate to make a significant difference. 

3) 1lb of fat is equal to 3,500 calories.  You should aim to reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories each day.  Here’s how:

  • exercising at the right intensity
  • increasing your metabolic rate with strength training
  • reducing your intake of junk food and alcohol
  • eating a well-balanced, unprocessed diet

4) Avoid foods that give you that ‘bloated’ feeling:

  • wheat and processed grains
  • simple carbohydrates and refined sugar
  • foods high on the glycaemic index

5) Schedule your training session into your diary and write it down!  Without planning and preparation, it’s easy to find an excuse of why not to exercise.

6) Exercise by doing something that you enjoy.  Motivation is key to success.

7) Keep your body well-hydrated throughout the day with filtered water and caffeine-free tea.  Aim for between 1.5 to 2 litres each day. 

8) Confused about where to start?  Hire a professional Surrey personal trainer and weight management expert to put you on the road to success.  By following a carefully detailed program that is unique for you, the results will be noticeable much quicker!

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Two Great Total Body Exercises. Why?

May 14, 2009 By 1 Comment

What are you hoping to achieve from your exercise program?  Weight loss, toned muscles, flatten your stomach (finally!), improve your CV fitness, improve your ‘functional’ strength or just shift some of the excess from your backside? Can two simple movements address all of these things?  The answer is simple.  YES!

Are you able to sit down on a chair, and then get back up again?  Then you can squat.  As we get older and begin to lose strength and flexibility, the sitting down motion is easy, but the getting back up again may need some assistance from the armrest.  Unless you train your body to cope with this movement, squatting (or sitting down) will continue to get more difficult as you get older.  The good news is that performing this simple movement as part of an exercise program will help with all of the ‘goals’ listed above.  The benefits of squatting are these;

Fat and weight loss – working your muscles against gravity will improve your lean muscle tissue and assist with greater fat loss and help to tone your muscles and backside!

Flatten your stomach – yes, squatting can also be considered a core exercise in a ‘functional’ way.  Your muscles work as a kinetic chain, from head to toes.  If you train your body to move as one unit, i.e. everything working together, this will improve your balance. core strength and help to flatten your stomach.

CV fitness – squats will increase your heart rate and can be a great form of CV exercise (whilst toning your muscles, improving your core strength and helping to flatten your stomach).

Functional strength and flexibility – have you ever experienced lower back pain?  A major factor in lower back pain can be caused by tight muscles and lack of flexibility, i.e. your kinetic chain isn’t working as one unit.  Squatting will help to overcome this.

When performed correctly, this simple movement pattern can be so beneficial.  It can also be progressed in so many ways to include your upper body strength and further improve your core strength.

The Squat

The Lunga

The same goes for the lunge.  Can you walk up and down stairs?  Then you can lunge.

Always seek the advice from a professional before starting an exercise program.  Your body will thank you for it!

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Increase Your Metabolism with Strength Training

March 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Strength is the ability of your muscles to withstand a force.  Strength training is to train your skeletal muscles to become stronger.  There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of your own bodyweight against gravity and using free weights.

 

Why and How?

When performed correctly and with optimal posture, strength training can provide significant functional movement benefits and improvement in overall health and well-being including increased bone and muscle mass, improved joint function, a reduced potential for injury and increased metabolism leading to greater fat loss.

 

In order to gain strength benefits, the force output of a specific muscle or group of muscles is increased through incremental addition of weight or gravity, reaching overload to become stronger.  Primarily, strength training is an anaerobic activity. 

 

What is a Strength Training Program?

 

At this point, many people conjure up the image of someone in a vest top lifting a serious weight whilst grunting and groaning.  Although this form of strength training is a choice for some, for most it is not.  At the other end of the scale, a simple movement of getting out of a chair can be a strenuous exercise. 

 

The human body works as an integrated unit and should be trained in that way.  Research shows that regular strength training will strengthen and tone muscles and increase bone mass.  Full range of motion is important in strength training because muscle overload occurs only at the specific joint angles where the muscle is worked.

 

In order to achieve optimal performance, consider the following components when designing a training program:

  1. A strong core, defined as the muscles that attach to the pelvis.  The core and rotation become the basis of movement.
  2. The gait cycle or walking is dominated by single leg movement.
  3. Balance and stability drive strength.
  4. Pure strength can only be achieved with optimal posture. 

There are many elements that need to be considered before starting a training program.  What is your specific goal?  Are you training for an event?  Do you want to overcome an injury?  Do you want to look good and achieve fat loss?  Do you want to prevent the onset of illness?

 

Always consult a qualified fitness professional before starting a strength training programme.  The results will be worth it!

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