So
you want to achieve a fit, aesthetic toned physique!
Lots of people think to achieve this you need to diet heavy and do lots of cardio with high reps if you decide to do resistance training.
WRONG
What is being toned and defined? It’s Muscle and the only way to achieve this is through building muscle.
Half the classes in the fitness industry which you think will help you become toned or defined I.e body pump, will not give you results.
A lot of people are scared when you mention building muscle but this is essential to build a toned aesthetic physique, or else if you diet down you won’t have any shape or definition.
What will help you achieve this is a well all round structured weight lifting program working within a 8-12 rep range, 15 reps or higher is deemed as cardiovascular exercise and won’t grow your muscle it’ll have the opposite affect.
Along with a suitable diet with a high protein intake to build and recover your muscle you will soon see noticeable shape and definition changes in your body.
However this won’t happen overnight you need a good 12 weeks to begin start noticing change but once you start seeing he results this will make you hungry for more!
We have lifting routines you can access on our online training HERE either online or with a personal trainer, this also includes nutritional support.
Become what you were born to be today!
Alan
Abdominals we all have them, they’re an important part of the human anatomy and we require them to live and move normally!
So yes no matter what weight you are YOU ALREADY HAVE ABS whether you’ve been in the gym or not!
What does differ between everyone is your abdominal progression and core strength which you make stronger by… surprise surprise….exercising and resistance training!
Abdominals work like any other muscle group they require being put under stress and tension to tear down those muscle fibres, grow and become stronger creating more shape and definition giving you the shape you desire.
However what you need to see these abdominals is a low body fat percentage, you need to be LEAN with a minimal fat percentage of at least 16% you should begin to see some lines appearing around your torso!
Is this made in the kitchen…NO…..this is made from being in a caloric Deficit on enough calories a day to loose weight and lean up that’s it!
So if anything seeing your Abs are 50% Training and 50% Diet because if your diets not in check you’re not going to to see them..and if you don’t train that area and build some more shape and size you may look too skinny and not like the finished product.
Right I’m going to hit a sore subject
Alcohol…do you realise how many calories you could be drinking?
Everyone likes to have a drink now and then, whether it’s a social gathering or maybe your having a stressful time at work and your having a glass or two of wine when you get home to unwind.
But..do you know that you could be actually in fact drinking the same amount of calories as an evening meal?
I’m going to throw some numbers below of popular drinks
Single serving of wine: from 130-240 calories per glass! Depending on what wine you have
A pint of beer: 170-330 calories again depending on lager or bitter and alcohol content.
Bottle of Alcopop: 200 calories
Pint of cider: 200 calories
So if your trying to lose weight food may not even be the problem it could be what your drinking!
Again it bottles down to (bottles down to…stop it haha!) tracking your calories on everything your taking in to be in a caloric deficit and drop those pounds!
Not to mention excessive drinking can lead to high blood pressure the onset of diabetes and increases chances of a heart arrack. So like everything in life drinking should be done in moderation!
Is your hip flexors restricting your mobility in everyday life, when you squat or attempt any leg movement?
These are also used in upper body movements such as overhead press and even a bench press!
Your hip flexors are a group of muscles situated at the top of your legs which attach your upper thigh to your hip, these muscles are involved in almost every movement we make.
These are called hip flexors because they cause flexion in the hip which initiates a bending movement around a joint in a limb. Hip flexion occurs when you raise your knee upwards, this shortens the angle of your thigh bone relevant to your hip joint.
What causes hip tightness? It can have numerous contributing factors such as in activity and weakness in that area.
How can you combat hip mobility issues?
Strengthening
Stretching
They are the two main secrets strengthening will be in a resistance training program with these key exercises:
barbell back squats
barbell front squats
lunges
split squats
leg press
stiff-leg deadlifts
All these exercises will strengthen your legs, hip flexors and glutes.
Below are some hip flexor stretches to try!
remember stretching is just as important as any training, do these daily and prioritise the stretches that feel most affective
Squatting is one of the most beneficial exercises when either attempting to lose weight or build muscle.
Why?
When you squat you almost engage every muscle in your body, if your trying to lose weight your goal should be to try and engage as many muscles as you can as the more you engage the more calories are burnt. This is a functional movement which you will use more than you realise in everyday life.
At the same time if your trying to build muscle the effect heavy squatting has on the nervous system enables you to build a good portion muscle in a short amount of time. This movement also can trigger anabolic stimulation which releases the chemicals Testosterone and HGH (human growth hormone) which enables muscle development for the entire body!
Why would you want to build more muscle? building a pound of muscle amounts to around 50-70 cals additional burnt a day! So if you’re attempting to lose weight this is a long lasting way of increasing your bodies required caloric intake with a controlled caloric intake will promote weight loss.
This movement will also assist strengthen and thicken your ligaments and tendons in your knee, ankle and hip joints enabling your joints to take more pressure, giving you the less likelihood of injury in these important areas.
Last but not least!
Do you want to fill out your jeans? the squat is the perfect exercise to grow your legs in a proportionate way, building your Glutes (bum), Quads (fronts of your legs) and Hamstrings (back of your legs), giving you the toned, slender legs everyone will envy!!
What is the purpose of Fat within foods?
It has one purpose and that is to help the body digest vitamins A, D, E and is an essential source of fatty acids of which the body cannot create itself.
In calorie strong point all fat is the same! Whether is saturated or unsaturated 1g of Fat is equal to 9 calories, like carbohydrates and Protein if too much of this is eaten it is stored as body Fat.
For a healthy lifestyle and diet you should be making a conscious effort to minimise your intake of Saturated and Trans fats, instead replace these with unsaturated fats.
This will help reduce your cholesterol and your risk of Heart Disease.
Examples of Food with high amounts of Saturated Fat: (Too much of these are what increases Cholesterol)
men shouldn’t have more than 30g of saturated fat a day
women shouldn’t have more than 20g of saturated fat a day
children should have less
Trans fats are often found in small amounts in Meat and Dairy foods, like Sat fats these can increase cholesterol.
The government daily guideline for Trans fats is no more than 5g a day for an adult, luckily there isn’t a large trace of such Fats in our foods in the UK.
As i said earlier if you want to bring down your Cholesterol and decrease your chance of Heart Disease your better having more Unsaturated fat rather than Saturated fat in your diet. These are primarily sound in Fish and Oils, they are commonly known as polyunsaturated or monounsaturated.
Examples of Foods which contain Unsaturated Fats are:
Olive oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and other spreads
Avacardos
Certain nuts; Almonds, Brazil and Peanuts
Fish; mackerel, Kippers, Herring, Trout, Sardines, Salmon and Fresh Tuna
So watch your fat intake and what fats you’re eating! Something as simple as checking the Nutritional label on the back of the foods you buy will give you all the info you need!
Why is it important to build and strengthen your shoulder muscles?
Your shoulder is actually one of the least stable joints in your body and because of this you should make sure strengthening the shoulders (Deltoids) is part of your training regime.
There is one large muscle covering the shoulder socket with three heads these are:
Anterior Delt (front)
Lateral Delt (side)
Posterior Delt (back)
The rotator cuff is what stabilises the shoulder joint which has four smaller muscles which are:
subscapularis
supraspinatus
infraspinatus
teres minor
Strengthening these muscles will:
Improve posture
Strengthen the muscle surrounding the shoulder joint
Increase mobility
Decrease chances of injury due to instability
Improve everday tasks and activities
Where a lot of people go wrong who allready train is they neglect the back of the shoulder.
This can give instability, worsen your posture and lead to injury so below are some exercises for a well rounded shoulder workout:
Barbell Overhead press
Dumbbell Arnold press
Front raise
Lateral raise
Reverse fly
Upright row
Face cable pulls
So what’s your excuse?
Get training shoulders!
Alan Fitton-Head PT
One of the most effective ways of losing weight is on a high protein diet, but how much should you be eating?
Most case studies on this subject online say on average between 0.8-1.5g per pound of bodyweight but from my experience it completely depends on your goal whether you’re dieting, maintaining or bulking.
If you’re dieting and you want to maintain as much muscle mass as possible id recommend on having your protein intake higher between 1-1.2 g per pound of bodyweight.
Example;
Say i weigh 180 pounds and i’m dieting so i choose i want to have an intake of 1 g of protein per pound of bodyweight, which will keep me fuller and assist holding onto as much muscle and strength as i can.
so to sum this up:
1g of Protein X 180 lbs Body Weight = 180g of Protein
Therefore for me to diet and keep hold of as much muscle as possible i need to be eating roughly 180g of protein a day because i’m on a caloric deficit, if my goals were to maintain weight of bulk i wouldn’t need as much protein as my body wouldn’t be losing fat and muscle from a calorie restriction.
Protein Supplements – Whey Protein/Diet Whey/Protein Bars
Note: I only recommend Protein supplements if you cannot get enough Protein through your diet alone, these are not a meal replacement and should only be used as a Supplement to assist your diet!
What are Carbs? They are sugars and starches which the body converts into Energy which then helps you function normally, you need a certain amount of carbs to maintain normal bodily functions.
If you starve the body you can experience fatigue, muscle cramps and a very tired/drained mental state. The body can survive of proteins and fats however this will eventually have a negative affect on your body.
You should be eating an amount of Carbohydrates to keep your body fuelled and working affectively.
There are two different types of carbs, Complex and Simple Carbs;
Simple Carbs: These are Processed carbs usually very high in sugar and often give you a quick influx of energy however doesn’t keep you full or energised for a long time, this is often where you get your “Sugar Rush” from.
Examples; sugar, white pasta and bread
Complex Carbs: These are slower digesting and will keep you fuller and energised for longer periods of time
Examples: unrefined grains, whole grain breads, rice and oats
How do you digest Carbs?
Your liver digests these into glucose, which then stimulates the production of insulin in the pancreas. The insulin functions to get the glucose into the body cells to be used as energy. Simple carbs create a higher level of insulin than complex carbs therefore the simple carbs are used faster where as the complex carbs are used slower resulting in longer lasting energy!
So in a nut shell the more complex carbs you eat the higher amount of energy your going to have for a longer period of time. However still with any type of carbohydrate if you eat more than what your body requires it is going to be stored as energy formally known as fat.
So
you want to achieve a fit, aesthetic toned physique!
Lots of people think to achieve this you need to diet heavy and do lots of cardio with high reps if you decide to do resistance training.
WRONG
What is being toned and defined? It’s Muscle and the only way to achieve this is through building muscle.
Half the classes in the fitness industry which you think will help you become toned or defined I.e body pump, will not give you results.
A lot of people are scared when you mention building muscle but this is essential to build a toned aesthetic physique, or else if you diet down you won’t have any shape or definition.
What will help you achieve this is a well all round structured weight lifting program working within a 8-12 rep range, 15 reps or higher is deemed as cardiovascular exercise and won’t grow your muscle it’ll have the opposite affect.
Along with a suitable diet with a high protein intake to build and recover your muscle you will soon see noticeable shape and definition changes in your body.
However this won’t happen overnight you need a good 12 weeks to begin start noticing change but once you start seeing he results this will make you hungry for more!
We have lifting routines you can access on our online training HERE either online or with a personal trainer, this also includes nutritional support.
Become what you were born to be today!
Alan
Everywhere online you will see phrases such as:
Right I’m going to hit a sore subject
Alcohol…do you realise how many calories you could be drinking?
Everyone likes to have a drink now and then, whether it’s a social gathering or maybe your having a stressful time at work and your having a glass or two of wine when you get home to unwind.
But..do you know that you could be actually in fact drinking the same amount of calories as an evening meal?
I’m going to throw some numbers below of popular drinks
Single serving of wine: from 130-240 calories per glass! Depending on what wine you have
A pint of beer: 170-330 calories again depending on lager or bitter and alcohol content.
Bottle of Alcopop: 200 calories
Pint of cider: 200 calories
So if your trying to lose weight food may not even be the problem it could be what your drinking!
Again it bottles down to (bottles down to…stop it haha!) tracking your calories on everything your taking in to be in a caloric deficit and drop those pounds!
Not to mention excessive drinking can lead to high blood pressure the onset of diabetes and increases chances of a heart arrack. So like everything in life drinking should be done in moderation!
One of the most effective ways of losing weight is on a high protein diet, but how much should you be eating?
What are Carbs? They are sugars and starches which the body converts into Energy which then helps you function normally, you need a certain amount of carbs to maintain normal bodily functions.
If you starve the body you can experience fatigue, muscle cramps and a very tired/drained mental state. The body can survive of proteins and fats however this will eventually have a negative affect on your body.
You should be eating an amount of Carbohydrates to keep your body fuelled and working affectively.
There are two different types of carbs, Complex and Simple Carbs;
Simple Carbs: These are Processed carbs usually very high in sugar and often give you a quick influx of energy however doesn’t keep you full or energised for a long time, this is often where you get your “Sugar Rush” from.
Examples; sugar, white pasta and bread
Complex Carbs: These are slower digesting and will keep you fuller and energised for longer periods of time
Examples: unrefined grains, whole grain breads, rice and oats
How do you digest Carbs?
Your liver digests these into glucose, which then stimulates the production of insulin in the pancreas. The insulin functions to get the glucose into the body cells to be used as energy. Simple carbs create a higher level of insulin than complex carbs therefore the simple carbs are used faster where as the complex carbs are used slower resulting in longer lasting energy!
So in a nut shell the more complex carbs you eat the higher amount of energy your going to have for a longer period of time. However still with any type of carbohydrate if you eat more than what your body requires it is going to be stored as energy formally known as fat.
