Muscle Soreness (DOMS)

Many of you boot campers and personal training clients have woken up over this last week as sore as F?#k! sorry for the language, lol but more than one or two of you have had a colourful word or 2 to say we levering yourselves out of the car before your boot camp session.

Many of you have been in even though you were sore. Well done and kudos to you!!!

Many wondered if you were doing the right thing and I’m sure that many more of you avoided coming training. Although it’s a little counter intuitive research has show that it is fine to train on stiff and sore muscles if they are suffering from D.O.M.S.

D.O.M.S stands for delayed onset muscle soreness and can last from 3 to 5 days. Many of you know this already!

The studies have shown 2 things;

1. Full metabolic recovery occurs within 48 hours even if still sore

2. Training on muscles suffering from DOMS does not affect their recovery time

As far as weight loss in concerned you want to be back in training the very next day so that you keep stoking up your metabolism and burn twice as much fat. If you do a training session and then take the next 5 day off you are never going to get the metabolism of its ass and doing its job. FAT BURNING!

The painful truth is the more you train the less you’re going to suffer in the long run as your body adjust and therefore gets used to it.

For myself I rate the quality of the training session on how stiff and sore I am. If I’m not it was not a good session and not as productive as it could have been.

What can you do to relieve the pain?

Many people have asked me what they can do to relieve the symptoms. The honest answer is that your body has to do it in its own time but you can help it to do its best job by doing the following;

1. Eat good quality foods

2. Make sure that your meals are based around good quality protein

3. Drink plenty of fresh clean water

4. Plenty or rest and good quality sleep

5. Have a hot/warm bath

6. Light massage of the area

These will either bring you light short term relief (bath or massage) or will help the repair process, therefore shortening it slightly.

See you at the next boot camp session

Committed to your success

Keith, Clare and the team

When 10 more minutes in bed is more important than a proper breakfast

Is that extra 10 minutes in bed worth missing breakfast for?

As the days get shorter and it gets colder, I don’t know about you but I find it harder to get up. The snooze button comes out of retirement to help me stay in bed for just a bit longer.

For many people including myself at times it often seems like a good plan to have more time in bed and either miss breakfast or have something quick on the run.

Honestly, a good quality breakfast is worth far more than that extra 5/10 minutes between the sheets.

It has been shown in studies time and time again that people who miss breakfast make up the missed calories later on in the day or they get through the day by taking stimulants.

Neither of these approaches are good when it come to either losing weight or improving health.

Most people who miss breakfast end up feeling nibbly throughout the rest of the day, which is made worse by the high sugar snacks which is often the first thing that they have to eat.

For example one of my clients used to miss breakfast, waiting until she got to work at 9 where she would have a croissant or toast with jam and a coffee. By the time an hour had passed she was feeling nibbly again so had a high sugar snack and a coffee at 10 / 10.30ish. By lunch 1.00pm time she would be hungry again and would have a sandwich, fruit and a drink. This would satisfy her more, but by 3 pm she was ready to nibble again so she would only have 1 biscuit and a tea. She would manage to get through until dinner at 7 which would be a stir fry on a bed of white rice, but then throughout the evening she would have a glass of wine…. or 2 and some chocolate/biscuits/crisps and then to bed for 10.30/11pm.

The calories that she missed at breafast were made up plus extra throughout the day. Over a 3 year period she put on 3 stone!

The changes we made to her diet were simple but effective. If you’re not doing these, make a list and start.

1. Plan your food knowing what will happen throughout the week
2. Start your day with a protein based breakfast such as an omelette with meat or vegetables in or cold meats with some cheese and fruit
3. Take a snack with you such as goat’s cheese and grapes, olives, small meat chunks left over from Sundays roast or mixed nuts.
4. Cut the coffee and drink water
5. Take a lunch with you so that you do not buy sandwiches. Prepare it the night before possibly by cooking more dinner. Place it in a container in the fridge and take it with you for lunch. See how much money you will save over buying lunch everyday
6. Only have 2 or 3 spoonfuls of rice with your dinner. To make up the amount on your plate increase the amount of meat and vegetables

On these guidelines most people nibble less throughout the day and the evening, their health improves and they lose weight. If you don’t then you need to take things a little more seriously, come along to the boot camp for £1 or book a free consultation to find out whats best for you.

Committed to your success

Keith

Renter Friend Vs Personal Training

Do you want to rent a friend or have a Personal Trainer?

For my first post I thought that I would tell you a little about myself and the differences between Personal Trainers.

The Fitness Industry is a fantastic industry so many different approaches and so many avenues to go down. In this article I (Amy Black), am going to be talking about my journey to Absolute Training and the difference between Personal Trainers and Renter Friends. These are two completely different things as i will explain, as well as give you a little backround knowledge on myself.

As some of you may know i have just started working with Absolute Training, very different to what I was used to. Do I like it or prefer it? Well you’ll just have to wait and see……!!

I left school at 16 which did get frowned upon slightly by friends but of course I just wanted to earn money so I got a job as a leisure assistant at the Oxford Belfry hotel cleaning the gym and working on reception. I had a lot of fun to and also got qualified as an NVQ level 2 fitness instructor and that’s where the journey begins.

I left to work in Cannons now Nuffield Health. It was like a dream a massive gym and a 20 metre pool, classes, inductions, health assessments loads to do.

Well for the first few months.

Then it was standing on the gym floor for about seven hours a day cleaning. Have you ever walked into a gym and seen fitness instructers look like anywhere else would be better than where they are now?

Well that’s how i felt. I went on to my level 3 in advanced training to allow me to do Personal Training. I had been there a year and started to build a client base but things weren’t making any sense to me. On my course we got told machines are rubbish leisure centres aren’t doing the right job, trainers don’t train people properly. My head was just in a whirl wind I’m being told so many different things. I was looking around and was seeing clients achieve nothing although they had been with there trainer for two or three years.

Is that possible?

Trainers were taking their clients from machine to machine each week counting to 15. In my head I was thinking ‘surely this cant be my future job’ ‘Do I want to do this’. The answer was NO!!

Yet another Health assessment to do ‘GREAT’ but little did I know this was the health assessment that would change my future. I had the Clare that we all no and love.

 As two normal girls we got chatting about the industry and hormonal issues, from that health assessment I met Keith. I got to know him more when I attended the Personal Nutrition Course where I learnt heaps and felt so positive about life in general.

WOW food has a massive impact on our lives, something I’m sure I’ll be writing about in the future.

We got chatting and then the next thing i know I’m looking after his clients for a week while he is in America.

I have to admit there were times when I freaked and didn’t want to do it or felt I couldn’t but I just took a deep breath and got on with it this then led me to working with Keith and Clare, becoming part of the Absolute Training Team.

‘I’ll be ok I’ve done Personal Training before,’ or so i thought.

But in actual fact i had been a renter friend not really taking an interest in there posture or lifestyle I was there to talk to them have a laugh and watch them exercise.

Now I have people with injuries, stress issues, poor posture and muscle imbalances. Gone are the days where I ignored that, it has to be dealt with to get any results. AHHHHHHHHH it can be a complicated nightmare!

More days come where I thought I can’t do this im out of my depth. But by watching Keith listening and learning and discussion I have built on the solid foundation of my qualifications, so much information so fast!  

The early mornings are hard although I am getting there. We are working with real people not lycra gym bunnies, people with real worries and injuries. I have learnt that you need to start with the inside before the outside gets focused on.

Building real relationships with the clients working together to help build a better quality of life. That is why I can get quite tiered because you build a relationship with that person and you can go away still thinking of ways to help them. No client is ever forgotten about.

So The Differences between a Personal Trainer and a Renter Friend:

# Renter friends think its all about the exercise.

# Personal trainers build a relationship and coach’s people with all aspects that affect health.

# Your health and your results is the most important thing for a Personal Trainer

# Renter friends have lots of machines

# Personal Training is not ‘JUST A JOB’ we have a passion to making you feel fantastic inside and out.

The answer to which one do I prefer…..

Well a renter friend is a whole lot easier but who wants easy, so of course there is no doubt it is working with Absolute training being a Personal Trainer!!!

Hope to see you soon

Amy

What is The Fit Body Boot Camp

What is The Fit Body boot camp?

The fit body boot camp is a group exercise class with a difference.

It is group exercise that is based around your results not around the instructor’s ego or around the latest faddy piece of fitness equipment.

At the fit body boot camp you will be responsible for getting results as you will be weighed, measured and fitness tested to make sure that you are moving in the right directions. Subsequent test will occur every 6 weeks.

The fit body session happen 6 times per week, 6.30am and 10.00am and 7.00pm Monday to Friday and then Sunday at 9. You are required to attend the boot camp sessions 3 times a week, although we understand that life sometimes gets in the way and occasionally you will not be able to attend, if you want though you can attend a session everyday meaning that you could do 6 six sessions in a week.

The more sessions that you attend, the quicker and better your results will be!

How do we get the results?

By doing full body exercises that engage all the muscle of the body making you fit and strong, increasing your metabolism and burn massive amounts of calories.

Fit body boot camp training is also based around interval training taking the heart rate up and down, making the heart stronger and increasing the metabolism for prolonged periods after the workout. This type of training will also raise the metabolism for long periods of time, enabling you to burn massive amounts of extra calories even when you are sitting, sleeping or at work.

The fit body boot camp has other components that will help you to achieve your goals. These are critical to your success!

The Jump start nutrition programme!

This nutrition programme is designed to supercharge your results helping your weight loss and toning by provide your body with the correct nutrients which will help your body detoxify and lose weight.

The programme has been designed with your lifestyle in mind. You will NOT need to count calories or points or limit you self to just cabbage or something silly like that. It is a programme built on good wholesome foods with options for you to do more to improve your health.

The Coach Approach

We all have barriers that get in our way or sabotage our results. By identifying behaviours or beliefs within yourself that are stopping you from gaining the results that you want. Our coach approach will help you to identify these problems and find way to overcome them.

So, what is the fit body boot camp?

The fit body boot camp is a 4 pronged approach to your health and weight loss results;

1.       Cutting edge exercises to increase your metabolism and burn fat

2.       Top nutritional information to melt fat from your frame

3.       A coach approach to break self sabotaging behaviours and beliefs

4.       Motivation and support

I look forward to see you at the camp

Keith

Making Tuna Omelettes

Hey, listen – seriously the most important meal of the day is Breakfast and I just cant believe how many people miss this fundamental meal of the day. I hear all sorts of excuses as to why they do it, but to be totally honest with you – if you want proper weight loss this is one of the meal you have to conquer and I have been dying for ages to tell you how to make the most simple breakfast for the mornings. I personally must eat this every morning – it is a tuna omelette – So here goes, this is what you do and how you do it – It is delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 Egg
• 1 Tin of tuna in sunflower oil
• Tomato (optional)
• Avocado (optional)
• Tinned foil (optional)

Preparing to Omelette

1.      Crack the egg in a bowl and whisk

2.      Open the tinned tuna and drain the oil into a separate bowl

3.      Scoop half of the tin of tuna into the egg and mix together until totally blended

4.      Slice the tomato

5.      Peel and slice the avocado

Cooking the omelette

1.      Heat the non stick pan

2.      Place a small amount of the drained sunflower oil into the pan

3.      Pour the Tuna and Egg mixture  into the pan and spread out evenly

4.      Once one side is done turn the omelette over and cook the other side quickly

Eating the Omelette

Here you have two excellent options of how to eat your omelette.

If you are hungry and can’t wait:

Place the hot omelette on a plate with the sliced tomato and half the sliced avocado and eat with a fork

If you can’t face eating first thing:

Place the omelette in some tinned foil with the optional tomato and avocado on top, wrap it up and take it with you to work

That is how you make and eat my lovely omelette – please let me know how you get on by leaving a comment at the bottom – happy eating

 

Committed to your success

Clare Valvona

Guaranteeing Results!

Guaranteeing your results

One of the best things about the fit body boot camp is the way the instructors guarantee your results…. Yep that’s right they say results or your money back!

But how can they do this?

Consistency and regularity are the keys to success here. Firstly you have to train a minimum of 3 time per week…. Yep that’s a minimum!

But you could train more get incredible value for you money and supercharge your Boot Camp results! 

You need to follow the diet plan and then there is the goal setting and coaching that you will also need to do to make sure that you get your mind into the right place and ready for results.

If you put all of these things together to have a very… no an incredibly powerful training system and strategies. Many companies or individual trainers focus on the exercise, producing really good workouts, but this leaves out some of the most important factors.

I know that you have heard the saying, ‘you are what you eat’, well, there is no truer statement. Your body literally builds itself from the foods that you put into it. So to improve your health it’s important to place the right nutrients in to the body to be assimilated.

The other important factor is mind set. The difference between first and second place in the Olympics or World Championships is often down to mind set, the total and utter belief that you will win.

Did you see Usain Bolt the other evening break the world record again the other evening? He had won before the start gun, you should have seen how relaxed he was before the race, he was always going to run a great one as he was not tense. If you compare him to Tyson Gay, his closest rival, you’ll see that Tyson was wound so tight it’s surprising he was able to run at all, but a great testament to his mental toughness that he still managed to run a national best. Awesome! 

 Many people that I work with have failed before they have even begun as they don’t believe that they can get the results that they are looking for.

Belief is key to success!

I’m going to talk a lot more on all of these subjects over the next couple of weeks, so tune in and get some results straight off the page!

1. Eat right

2. Believe in yourself

3. Consistency in exercise and number 1 and 2

Committed to your results

Keith

 

 

Get the best from your boot camp!

As you know I’m committed to helping you get the best from your bootcamp by giving as much quality information as possible on this blog. On today’s posting I’m giving you  some simple steps to get the most from your bootcamp.

Some of you will be training early morning, others mid morning, lunch time or evening. Whenever your bootcamp session is be sure to get as many of these things right and you’ll see the weight loss, body shaping and tone and health results that you desire and deserve.

1.Nutrition

Make sure that you eat 2 hours or more before your bootcamp session. If you eat too close to the training session, you may find that your food gives you a stitch, makes you feel sick or you may even be sick if you’re not careful.

Spare some though to what you are eating! Burger and chips with a beer at lunchtime is not going to give you a great  boot camp session! (I have watched more than one person being sick form a burger, chips and beer lunch! Not pretty!), sandwich, crisps and a coke also is not the way forwards.

A better meal would be cold meat with salad sticks and 2 or 3 spoonfuls of cuscus or cold meat, salad with a banana or other fruit to finish.
I understand that you may not feel like eating early in the morning before a 6 or 7 am bootcamp, but you must promise me that you will have a good meal before bed the night before and take fruit with you or make a protein shake to have straight after your boot camp session. Do I sound like your mother????!!!

I’ll have to give you some recipes for protein shake or 2 in a blog post soon.

Nutrition is of critical importance to your results, if you are looking to get the best from your diet then you need to go here down load the course information and then book yourself a place; http://absolute-training.org/personal-nutrition/. Many people tell me that they know what they should be eating, but are often SO wrong when pressed on the subject. Lean the real power of food here! http://absolute-training.org/personal-nutrition/

2. Hydration

Make sure that you are well hydrated, sip water throughout the day, but stop sipping about an hour before your boot camp session. This is to stop it from sloshing around in your stomach or giving you a stitch.

If you are attending an early morning bootcamp have some water before you go to bed and sip some when you get up before the bootcamp session.

Drink water during the bootcamp session, but make sure that it’s room temperature and not too cold. Cold water can cause you problems with absorbtion, it can bring digestion to a halt and cause your gut to shiver sending it into spasm.
3. Get yourself a Heart Rate monitor!

Go to your local Sports shop or to Argos and pick yourself up a heart rate monitor so that you can see how hard you and your heart are working. Most watches also let you see how many calories you have burned up. In a  bootcamp session you are looking to get you heart rate as close to your maximum as possible and burn as many calories as you can. In the 45ish mins that you’ll be working out you want to try and do at least 300 calories, push hard and see if you can increase it to 500!

The higher the heart rate the more total calories will be burnt, both in the session and after. High intensity workouts are far better for fat burning then long slow ones. I’ll give you the where’s and whys about this really soon.

4. What’s on your feet

You don’t need to spend a fortune, but make sure that you are not wearing months or years old trainers. If you use your trainer nearly every day and do some high intensity work in them, they will be good for about 3 months. After this they may cause you problems, such as ankle, knee and back pain.

If you use your trainers rarely they could last you up to a year. Check your trainers if they are worn and scruffy then it definitely time to get some new ones. If you intend to do bootcamp and work hard then I’d spend a little money on them and make sure that you get the best ones that your budget allows. It also important to get the best ones for your feet and walking/running style. To find out which trainers would be the best for you, I suggest that you go to a shop called the Sweat shop. There staff and trained to look at the way you walk or run and then suggest trainers for you depending on this information. To find your nearest 2 stores are Milton Keynes and Hatfield. Although you’ll pay more for the trainers you’ll get some great advice about which trainers to buy and why.

Ok, so let’s have those key points;

1. Good quality, well timed food, not beer and burger! (If you wish to know more about the right diet go here http://absolute-training.org/personal-nutrition/

2. Hydration! Water, water everywhere so make sure that you have a drink!
3. Heart rate monitor. Know how hard you are working and what your calorie consumption is.
4. The right foot wear. Important for reducing injury risk, comfort and keep away the blisters! www.thesweatshop.co.uk/storefinder.cfm

Other areas that I need I’ll give you information on for getting the best out of your bootcamp are; sleep, goals setting, measuring and accountability but I think that we can cover these another day.

Committed to your success

Keith Tucker