CONSISTENCY IS KEY

What is the key to a successful training program? CONSISTENCY. What is the key to successful weight loss? CONSISTENCY. What is the key to successful muscle gain? CONSISTENCY. What is the key to successful nutrition? CONSISTENCY. What is the key to ingraining health and fitness into your lifestyle, feeling better for it and getting the best results you can get? CONSISTENCY. Can you see a pattern starting to emerge? So why is being consistent the key to all these things? Being consistent creates habit. So when health and fitness becomes a habit and an important part of your lifestyle, you’re already onto a winner. Training at the same times and days each week (when possible) is a big head start here. In terms of training, consistency is important for several reasons. If you try and do lots of different exercises every session and don’t follow a solid, structured workout plan, your body will never be able to adapt to the strain you’re putting it under, therefore you will not get fitter or stronger, and you are unlikely to lose any weight, get stronger or achieve any kind of performance related goal. If you are a beginner to exercise, or only have limited time available, doing two or three full body workouts a week with say six or seven key exercises each session will be much more beneficial to you in the long term. This consistency allows your body to get used to doing these exercises and that means you’ll slowly improve and head towards your end goal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting for one minute that you should pick a select few exercises and stick with them forever. At least try and stick with them for a few weeks though, and see yourself improve and get more confident with those exercises. Then change and throw in a few different exercises/sessions and stick with them for a few weeks. Stick to this kind of cycle and you won’t go far wrong providing you’re doing suitable exercises for your end goal. People often like loads of variety in every training session as they get ‘bored’. Those people don’t get the results they want in the end. Helter skelter training sessions with no structure or direction, might seen fun, but won’t be fun for long when you don’t achieve the results you want. You’re just wasting time, energy and in most cases money as well. In terms of nutrition, consistency is also key. Work out your macros, create a meal plan or keep a good diary and stick to it. It really is that simple. If you like eating lots of different meals, come up with a weekly food plan and stick to that. Good food prep is massively helpful in keeping you on track here. Make being consistent a priority in your health and exercise mission, and you’ll be a massive step closer to achieving your goals. Be all you can be. Sean

OLD SCHOOL FOR A REASON

“I don’t want to do heavy weights” “I don’t want to get bulky” “I just want to do cardio” “I don’t seem to be losing weight” Sound familiar? Unfortunately in the health and fitness industry, there are an awful lot of misconceptions which people who don’t have any practical experience or knowledge of seem to be certain are 100% fact. The main reason most people go to the gym, take part in physical activity or visit personal trainers like ourselves is vanity. Who doesn’t want to look great and feel totally confident in themselves? However these same people also feel like because they’ve seen videos on Instagram of their favourite celebrity training in a very exciting and glamourous way, that they know exactly what they need to do to achieve their own personal goals. It’s complete rubbish. Another problem these people have is jumping on the bandwagon when a new ‘fad’ exercise or training method pushes it’s way onto their social media feeds. It can be as pointless and ineffective as you like, but you can guarantee people want to give it a go. So what’s wrong with ‘old fashioned’ training methods? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Training methods that have been used for as long as exercise has existed (an incredibly long time), have been that long lived for one reason – they actually work. Fad exercises go in and out of fashion because they don’t have as many long term benefits as weight training and proper conditioning. So why is old school weight training and conditioning beneficial to everyone, and more effective than other more ‘fashionable’ ways to train, especially if you’re goal is to look good? Benefits of weight training include increased strength, muscle mass, endurance, improved cardiovascular health and appearance, and decreased body fat, and blood pressure. Importantly, for people who want to lose body fat, the body’s basal metabolic rate increases with increases in muscle mass, which promotes long-term fat loss. Also intense workouts elevate metabolism for hours following the workout, which also promotes fat loss. So you’ll be burning calories after you’ve finished training. The best way to get yourself into shape is a consistent and structured weight training program. It might not be pretty, but it’s very effective. By all means, people should do what they enjoy, but do those activities as add ons to a well planned weight training program and diet. That’s your bread and butter. Remember, it’s old school for one reason, and one reason only – It works! Be all you can be. Sean

How do I lose belly fat faster?

Like all the answers when it comes to Fat Loss. Eat Less Move More! It’s as simple as that. Bonous answer don’t drink too many sugerary drinks that includes alcohol  I’m afaid not just for the added calories but the effect it has on your body’s digestive system. Merry Christmas

I want a toned, aesthetic physique so I need to do lots of cardio? NO

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

THE GYM – DON’T BE INTIMIDATED

Nobody should never feel intimidated or uncomfortable stepping foot in any gym. Ever. People go the gym to better themselves, no matter what their goal is. It doesn’t matter whether you want to lose a bit of weight, build muscle, or are training to improve your performance in a sport, everyone in the gym is looking for improvements. We are all in the same boat. One of the main reasons people who haven’t exercised in a gym before and end up avoiding them at all costs, is a fear of being judged or ridiculed. If this applies to you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Everybody has felt like this at some point. Just remember, we all go to the gym to better ourselves. So don’t worry about the horrendous images you might have in your head – of grossly muscular men in awful vests with terrible haircuts, throwing heavy weights around and grunting all the time. This just isn’t the case in most gyms. Most gyms are actually really nice places to be and are full of caring and supportive people. Anything you are unsure about, ask a member of staff and they (should) be more than happy to give you any assistance you may need. So be brave, get stuck in and enjoy going to the gym and taking part in physical activity.  Don’t be intimidated, there is absolutely no reason to be. Plus, the chances are you’ll make some friends and get fitter and healthier on they way! Be all you can be. Sean

What are some benefits of lifting weights?

There are lots of benefits from lifting weight like increasing strength, building muscle. Building muscle will create lean muscle tissue that will give you a better resting metabolic rate. So at rest your body will burn more calories. You can also increase your fitness as lifting heavy weights in complex moves or compound movements will recruit a lot of your muscles increasing oxygen to your muscles giving not only a good pump but a good cardio workout. So there are loads of benefits to lifting weights ? Christian

How do you get bigger arms with bicep curls?

A question posed to me “How do you get bigger arms with bicep curls? Well Bicep curls wouldn’t be my go to exercise to get bigger arm or even biceps as my muscle part for bigger arms as tricep have three parts of the upper arm and biceps only two. So for bigger arms I would focus more on my triceps for bigger arms. But the question is bigger arms doing bicep curls? Well time under tension or negative work and lifting heavy with good form while doing bicep curls would most effect way to building bigger arms while doing bicep curls ? Christian

How can I get motivated to start exercising?

If you think you need to ask this question to yourself think why you’re asking? Do you need to exercise? What will I gain from exercising? And what will I not gain by exercising? I always ask a question in everything in life I should and to find the answer I look at the positives & negatives and if the positives out way the negative there’s your answer. So to help you. The positives of exercising is 1.Energised. 2 lose weight. 3 become stronger. 4 be healthier. 5 look better for doing it. 6 improve confidence. 7 be fitter. 8. More likely to live longer. There’s 8 could probably come up with more. Right for the negatives 1. Can’t think of any?  if you can come with 9 excuse not to then you may find why it’s hard to motivate yourself! If not what more motivation you need? Christian

GROUP TRAINING – GET INVOLVED

Most gyms offer fitness classes where groups of people can come together and exercise at the same time under the supervision of an instructor.  These classes are becoming increasingly popular, so what’s all the fuss about, and why should you get involved in them? Here’s 5 reasons why group classes are great: 1. You’ll follow the instructions of a trainer. No more thinking about what exercise to do next or how to do an exercise correctly, just follow the session and reap the rewards! 2. You’ll push yourself harder. If you train on your own, it’s quite easy to give in early or not push yourself as much as you should. In a class, you’re much more likely to work harder, and not give up! 3. You’ll feel part of a team. Taking part in a gym class can feel like a collective effort. From generally making friends and talking to other people in the class, to encouraging each other and pushing others to achieve their goals, it’s a great way of meeting new people! 4. Consistency is key. Classes tend to be on the same days and at the same times every week. Knowing you go to a class at these set times helps you develop the consistency needed to achieve any kind of health or fitness goal. As classes become habit and part of your weekly routine, you’ll get to the point where you’re lost if you miss a session! 5. You’ll enjoy it! Finishing a good/tough class will leave you with a great feeling. Knowing you’ve worked hard and pushed yourself alongside like minded people is superb, and you’ll walk out of the class in a great mood!! So there you are, gym classes are great – get involved! Be all you can be. Sean 
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