Supplements

Many people swear by taking sports supplements, drinking protein shakes and eating protein bars at every opportunity. But are they really necessary?

When I first started working out at the gym in London, before I qualified as a Personal Trainer, I didn’t know much at all about supplements and through this lack of knowledge, I didn’t use them.

During the first couple of months at the gym, I still started to see decent improvements to my body shape, and felt that I was progressing well. But, like many people, I stuck to the same old routine that was handed to me at my induction on day one and several months later I stopped seeing any changes no matter how many times I went.

The gym was fairly small and run down and I discovered another gym nearby which was much larger and full of free weights and various other machines. I joined up and following an excellent program written for me at my induction, this time with some tips on nutrition, I saw big changes again with my progress. Then a few months later, the same thing happened. I hit a plateau and it all seemed to stop. I made an appointment for another induction to get a new program done, but due to changes in staff, I saw someone else who more or less told me that I didn’t ever need to change my program again – I could just stick to the one I already had. It's amazing that this 'advice' came from a so called fitness professional, which couldn't be more wrong.

That prompted me to do my own reading and I started buying various training and fitness magazines. One of which had an excellent training program for a 3 month period. The magazine was also full of supplement ads and I decided to try my luck, a victim of all the hype and marketing. I trained really hard at the gym about 5 times a week and started taking an ‘all-in-one’ product containing protein and creatine. My body completely changed over the space of the 3 month program and people were starting to make positive comments about my new physique. I was putting on so much muscle I was finding it difficult to find clothes to fit – especially as my waist was small but my legs were bulking out. I have to emphasise again that I was training really hard and eating right.

Due to a several changes in circumstances which all came along at once, I couldn’t continue following the program and I discovered that I can’t tolerate artificial sweeteners. So I couldn’t continue with the supplements either.

The next time I really worked hard at the gym for muscle gain I didn’t use supplements at all, but I saw similar if not more results than when I took the protein and creatine mix. I made sure I was eating adequate protein in my diet.

For me, the fact that I saw huge results when training hard both while using supplements and not using them leads me to think that they really aren’t necessary. If you are getting the right nutrients and adequate amounts of protein (about 1 g per pound of body weight) in your normal diet, you too should be able to train without them.

5-a day fruit bid falls flat – Express

JUST one in eight people is eating the recommended five portions of fruit and veg each day.

Despite growing awareness of the Government’s recommendations for a healthy diet, the message is still not getting across.

A report, from a study commissioned by the Fresh Produce Consortium in 2006, said most people eat just half the amount of fruit and vegetables they should.

Only 12 per cent eat five a day.

Although this is a slight increase on the previous year’s 11.3 per cent, most people eat just 2.5 portions on average.

In 2005, most people were eating just 2.4 portions.

The consortium warns that at this rate it could take another 25 years before everybody reaches the five-a-day target.

Its report comes as Britain is gripped by a soaring obesity epidemic, with almost a quarter of adults classed as obese.

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/52344/5-a-day-fruit-bid-falls-flat

Cardio - shorter workouts are better than 1 long session

Researchers have recently discovered that breaking up your cardio workouts into smaller segments helps to burn more fat than performing cardio in one single long session.

The study, by the University of Tokyo and the Institute of Sports Medicine in Copenhagen, involved 7 men who performed one 60 minute cardio session and 2 sets of 30 minute cardio workouts with a rest of 20 minutes in between. The exercisers worked at an intensity of about 60% maximum oxygen uptake.

The results concluded that there was a higher degree of fat burning when exercisers performed 2 bouts of cardio instead of 1 continuous session.

This is an even better reason to mix up your cardio sessions at the gym. You could perform one session, then do an abs circuit before doing another cardio workout.

You can read the full article here:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070718001504.htm

Do I have to be a member of a gym to get fit?

The short answer is no! All you need is a suitable space to workout such as your local park, garden or even a room inside as long as it isn't too cluttered.

Apart from purchasing some suitable exercise clothing and a decent pair of trainers, you don't even really need to buy any expensive equipment. A small investment in some resistance bands, dumbbells and a stability ball will open up a huge array of exercises to tone your whole body.

Power walking or jogging at least 3 times per week will improve your cardio fitness and stamina. After a warm up, try jogging for 60 seconds followed by walking for 90 seconds and repeat this 8 times. Add another 60 jog each week until you reach ten 60 second jogging intervals. Once you have reached this level, reduce the number of intervals to 6, but increase the jogging time to 90 seconds followed by 90 seconds rest. Each week add another set to reach up to 10 again.

After your cardio workout, add some body weight exercises to tone and strengthen the body. If you are a beginner or haven't exercised for a while, start with 1 or 2 sets of 10 repetitions for the following exercises. When you can do 2 sets increase the repetitions to 15 and add another set. That's 3 sets of 15 reps for each exercise.

Walking lunges (legs and glutes)

Press ups (for chest and triceps) - From easy to hard try starting in a standing position against a wall, in a box position on the floor or 3/4 position or full press ups

Seated rows (for upper back) - use a lamp post and use a resistance band

Triceps dips using a bench

Shoulder press with dumbbells

Dumbbell curls for biceps

4-point draw in (on all fours, pull belly button in towards spine) for core conditioning


This workout covers cardio, chest, legs, glutes, back, shoulders, arms and core.

Superfoods

Superfoods, as the name suggests, are foods that are particularly good for you. They are usually rich in vitamins, minerals or anti-oxidants. They help keep you healthy, can reduce the risk of cancers, and boost your immune system. They also help to improve the appearance of your hair, skin and nails.

Take a look at the following list of superfoods, and make sure you include plenty in your diet. My favourite snack at the moment is a handful of blueberries and strawberries, with plain live yoghurt.

Oily fish – contain omega 3. Omega 3 fats help to prevent depression, and protect against the onset of dementia.

Avocado – yuck, but it’s full of vitamin E - a natural anti-oxidant.

Broccoli – also full of anti-oxidants and vitamin C

Beetroot – low in fat and with folic acid

Berries – full of anti-oxidants and vitamin C. Try cranberries, blueberries and blackberries

Beans – high in vitamins and fibre, low in calories

Cocoa – contains plenty of anti-oxidants. Choose dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage, and no, unfortunately you can’t eat the whole bar. Small quantities only please.

Lentils – contain soluble and insoluble fibre, protein and iron

Turkey – low in fat, high in vitamins and protein

Nuts - full of essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. Recent studies suggest that eating a handful of nuts several times a week can help reduce heart disease. Brazil nuts and walnuts are excellent choices.

Peppers – high in vitamin C (green peppers contain more vitamin C than oranges)

Pumpkin – full of vitamin C, and the seeds are full of iron, zinc and omega 3 fats

Spinach – Vitamin C & E, iron, folic acid, calcium and beta-carotene

Sweet potato – contain vitamin C and E and beta-carotene. Try substituting ordinary potatoes with sweet potatoes

Natural yoghurt – contains calcium and probiotics

Watercress – full of vitamin C, folic acid, calcium and iron

Changing your workouts

When did you last change your program? If you have been doing the same routine for a while now, it is time to spice things up a bit and introduce some variety into your workouts.

The human body is incredibly efficient and will always look to do things in a way to save the most ennergy. Therefore, your body quickly adapts to exercise so that it has just the right amount of muscle to perform an action. The body also 'learns' how to do an action by setting up neural pathways.

To keep your body responsive to exercise, change your workouts every 4 to 6 weeks. Judge this for yourself by monitoring progress each week. If you notice that you can no longer progress with a particular exercise, then it is time to change to something different. Try throwing in an exercise which targets the same muscles but at a different angle or try using alternative training techniques such as pyramids or supersets.

Likewise with cardio. If you are able to run for miles on a treadmill at the same pace and no longer see any improvements, you need to start adding different variables to your workout. Try reducing your cardio session to 20 minutes but add short sprints for 30 seconds followed by slower jogs for 30 seconds. Also, make sure your don't stick to your favourite cardio exercise because it feels comfortable. Try a different machine or exercise for each cardio session.

Coffee....

With all the controversy about whether it’s ok to drink coffee, it was interesting to read the following article on the MSNBC website about coffee and exercise and the protection this may give against skin cancer.

“Can adding a cup or two of coffee to the exercise routine increase protection from skin cancer? New research indicates that just might be the case.

The combination of exercise and caffeine increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation, according to a team of researchers at Rutgers University.”

You can read the full article here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20038324/

This doesn’t give the green light to drink gallons of coffee though! It is still better to drink water to hydrate and help remove toxins from the body. And of course, when exercising outdoors, always use a sunscreen.