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​Okay – so what we have here is a food label so first thing to look at is the amount of calories this food/drink has – which is outlined in blue – you can see that per serving is 118ml, which is an absolutely stupid amount, how you are meant to measure that precisely is insane so ignore than and look at the Per 100ml – this carton has 4 servings at 118ml so its roughly 500ml which is 5 x 100ml – easy to work it now!

So you just multiply the amount of calories per each 100ml so 68kcal x5 is 340 calories per bottle, which seems very high.
Next you look at the protein, which is outlined in orange the higher protein isn’t necessary better as the protein they use might be crap quality however, try and go for the most protein as you can, this means the food will keep you fuller for longer, will help with gains and a higher protein diets trumps every diet in the science tests for weight loss and health etc. so it’s generally a good thing to go by!

Next have a look at Fibre, which is outlined in the green this can sometimes be categorised under carbohydrates but where ever it is on the label look at it, the higher fibre the better for your digestive health (more research needs to be done, but this is what it seems like) to a limit, obviously you don’t want to eat so much fibre you don’t poo for a month!
A good way to see how much you need is – 14 grams of fibre per 1000 calories or 30 to 38 grams a day for men and 25 grams a day for women between 18 and 50 years old – personally I would go a bit more just because the days you get more, then great but the day you don’t hit your target you might still actually be getting enough.
Next is Fats and Carbs, the reason these are last are because the priority for you is completely different to the other people reading this, you choose which levels you want, are you Keto, high carb, low carb, high or low fat, high or low polyols, high or low sugar, high or low saturated, trans fats?

I don’t know – unless your my client, but most of you won’t be and most of you reading this are probably reading other and listen to other advice and have then probably made up your minds of which level are best for you, not only health wise but consistency wise. So read these and make up your decision.

If it doesn’t might your macros (Protein, fats and carbs) or even your calories I can almost bet there is a high/low protein, fats and carbs version and a lower calorie version somewhere so if you really want the food then go and find it somewhere!

Then salt you don’t really need to pay attention to for years now food salt levels haven’t been too bad because of the health scares of salt which are vastly exaggerated – if the food is highly salted then just drink more water and it will balance that out, unless you have a medical reason then it should go without saying, be careful with salt levels.













So just the quickly recap – in priority order:

1. Calories/Energy
2. Protein
3. Fibre
4. Carbs and Fats
5. Salt

 
I really hope this helps you and I hope that with this you can shop with better food choices – I will do a part 2 to this where we go through ingredients labels and how to understand what all the chemical sounding names are, because some of them are just the chemical names for vitamins/minerals.
​
Thank you for reading!
Dan

The importance of a good warm-up was undervalued by me for over a year!

I used to do a warm-up set and then jump straight into everything – I now warm-up my whole body regardless of what I’m training, I prime the muscle I will use for that session and I stretch them and mobilise them and then I do a warm-up set or two, I will talk you through 2 different types of warm-up and I will upload a video to accompany this with some warm-up ideas for you to follow so you can maximize your time and results!

Before we get into the techniques I want to explain and educate on why this is important, without the why and with-out the understanding you can fully apply yourself to the warm-up, if you don’t actually know why you are doing something then it won’t last – this is a concept I teach to all my clients – why we do the exercises we do and why we do them the way we do!

Warm-ups can massively help with peak force output in a study of different type of warm-ups the technique I will show improved Drop jump height and impact time by 7.1%! This is a huge increase!

In a study of military personal just static stretching showed a massive difference in Patellofemoral injury (knee pain) reduction but not much else which is disappointing however when we do dynamic stretching the performance aspect gets a massive kick, another study of footballers produced great results for both a 10m sprint and 20m flying start sprint (running start),
If you came here thinking Warm-ups where to stop you getting injured that’s just not the case, or at least I could find at the time of writing this.

So why should you warm-up you aren’t a footballer and you aren’t military personal? Because the effects are the same for you, it doesn’t matter that you don’t have to run to shelter under gun fire or have a champion’s league final goal to score in the next 10 seconds – you come to the gym to perform, you want to get better, fitter, healthier and leaner! Why wouldn’t you want to maximize the time you spend in the gym when you miss days because your kids are ill, you miss days because work was so hectic or shit that you just wanted to go home and chill out with a glass of wine?

I completely understand you aren’t an elite level athlete but if you can maximise your limited time in the gym doing this very basic thing then that is worth it.
Back to the point – so the warm-up you build yourself must tick these boxes in individual sections – It must raise your heart rate – this can be done on a rower, treadmill, cross training, running, skipping and whatever you want – something you and can for 3-5 minutes non-stop at a decent intensity so you start to breathe heavily.

You must ‘activate’ I hate that term if your muscles weren’t activated you would be a gooey blog on the floor but it describes what we’re trying to do and Mobilise – so you do this by using bands to stretch, dynamic stretching into holds, light body weight exercises for example, lying leg raises, scapula pulls/sets, scapula press ups – this should stretch you, test your motor skills, make you feel unstable all these things, but this is where you test your agility etc. so when you come to do your actual exercises your body has everything stable, everything is ‘switched on’ and ready for action and at the same time free to move and get into new positions like a squat, lunge or overhead press etc.

Prime/Potentiate – this is where all that instability and motor skills become a solid foundation, this is where you use your newly found looseness and range of movement to squat deeper than you have before hold for a few seconds and then burst out into a squat jump, this is where you realise you’re a lot more flexible than you thought, so use it! Get into positions you haven’t hold them and then do them again with a bit of weight, hold them and then do them again!

This is how and where good movement patterns are made, this is how I make someone with a double hip and knee operation able to walk, squat and lunge again pain free and with relative ease. This is the basics of movement, the only difference is this isn’t their warm-up this is their session.

I used to get annoyed when I saw someone squat the same weight as I’m doing with absolutely perfection and make it look easy – I started to watch them, study how Olympians warm-up, study how people with great movement patterns go about things and every single one of them, whether they knew it or not, had a fucking good warm-up!

And it’s so easy to make one, so follow these instructions and watch the videos I will be making to go with this and you will be just dandy!

Enjoy your training!

Dan Grimes

Stop doing crunches, stop doing planks with your hips almost touching the floor, knees bent, and hips twisted, Stop doing 1000s of sit ups.

These aren’t working your core – Let’s from the very basic core exercise everyone takes for granted – Breathing! If you lay on the floor and you can't hold you abs as if is you where to take a punch and breathe by letting your rib cages expand then you don’t have a very good core, likewise if you can’t brace your abs whilst laying on your back with your knees bent up and sliding your foot out straight along the floor you don’t have a strong core.

You will have to relearn how-to breathe using all your together, this will make a huge difference to your training.
When training your abs and core it important to understand what you are doing and the means of abs and core – abs are just the 6 pack part you can see, your core is every muscle that your lower trunk uses, oblique muscles, abdominals, lower back muscles, everything!

It’s important to have a strong core that stays strong in all ranges of movement and positions, to achieve this you need train your core dynamically, things like Plank (done correctly are incredible) you can add sliders under your hands and whilst holding your core move your hands around the floor, put them under foot and again try and hold that strong core position whilst moving around.
Exercises like Aleknas, Pallof press’, Planks, Bear crawls, Med ball throws(taught correctly), Zercher carries - will work your core really well, efficiently and effectively, you are moving through different plans of movement, using you core in different ways and means the resistance comes from different angles and put the emphasis, which challenges your core stability, mobility and strength. Using your core in in this way creates a great strong core that will be strong enough to take a Mike Tyson punch from any angles.

Please start training your core with functionality and trying to get your whole core bulletproof rather than just a good set of abs.

​As most of you know the best way to lose weight is by being in a calorie deficit whilst working out, the diet type doesn't matter... at all.

So you go the gym and you aren’t sure how using weights can be best for your goals or the best type of exercise to do but you heard cardio is the best… right?

You get on the treadmill spend 20 minutes jogging, you go on the bike spend 10 minutes cycling and then on the cross trainer for 20 minutes, because again you heard the variety gets you better results and spending 50 minutes on one piece of cardio equipment is boring as hell!

This is where things get interesting, so for every time you get on that treadmill your body does it slightly different, you will never notice the difference, your body will always find an easier way to do something, and it will cheat! Your body is made to adapt and will always try and find the easiest way to do things.

What this means for you is every time you get on the treadmill you will burn less calories as before, meaning your results at first will be great as you will get that massive adaptive phase, where your body doesn’t know what to do or how it can react most effectively, but as time goes on that effect will get less and less. even if you do switch machine your body will adapt to that type of movement, not the machine! So running on the crosstrainer will have a very similar effect as on a treadmill.

Once this happens you can do 3 things to keep that ‘calories burnt’ figure on the screen as high as possible, you can mix up the intensities, for example 15 minutes of running instead of 30 minutes of jogging, or 10 minutes of intervals etc.

Option 2 - is by using different inclines on the treadmills so running uphill,   different resistances on the machine etc.

Option 3 - is bay far the best option – Use a mixture of weights and cardio – and using option 1 and 2 to mix up the cardio, so your body can try and adapt, you will get stronger, faster more dynamic and most importantly leaner and healthier!

on a separate note: When people talk about weight loss it usually isn’t what they mean, the number on the scale is the representation of you being unhappy with the ‘flabby bit under my arm’ or the ‘roll of fat on my back’ and the other parts of the body you don’t like, so it’s that fat that you want to lose, which yes will bring down the number on the scale but your must not fixate on that number.

By doing a mixture of Cardio and weights, you will build some muscle, you will keep those curves that you like, but most importantly you will be able to move that wardrobe on moving day, you can pick up those boxes in the office that were too heavy, you can help people to lift the heavy things instead of asking for help. Things like picking your kids up when playing with them will be easier.

If you train smartly and with the correct technique you will also improve your cardiovascular health, after a hard set I feel out of breathe, I still feel my heart beating hard and fast, so please stop doing endless amounts of cardio, if you are doing the same workout as 2 months ago the chances are you are improving anymore or if you are it won’t be the improvements you actually want.

You know who you are! You’re the person on the stairmaster sidestepping and kicking back whilst taking two steps at a time – well Hun I have news for you – while that burns your glutes, they aren’t actually growing!
 
The stimulus just isn’t there, the burn you feel is lactic acid, yeah they hurt the next day but that isn’t them growing – great tip to know whether your PT is good or not (if the PT makes you burn and ache so bad you can barely move after every session, they aren’t very good.)
 
You would have seen a difference at first, yes but that’s because you have gone from not doing anything to then training them, so the stimulus would have been there when you first started for probably no longer than a month, but it just isn’t there now and it won’t come back if you carry on doing the same. it will get less and less, you will end up losing size.
 
Here’s what you should be doing to grow those glutes and start seeing actual results.
 
Hip thrust – now while everyone will tell you to squat, the hip thrust (done correctly) will give you almost double the stimulus of what the back squat will give you (1), but again, this won’t work unless you use weights and I don’t mean light weights (2), I mean the type of weight that scares you but the type you can do safely and correctly with good control of the bar, doing this using a barbell has also been shown to have a greater stimulus than banded (3), so make sure you grab a barbell and some plates!
 
Next on the list is Cable pull throughs – these are very similar to stiff leg deadlifts or Romanian deadlifts (RDLs) however they force you into that correct position better than doing RDLs with a barbell or dumbbells, again you need to do them with some weight on the cable to get that stimulus, you need to squeeze your glutes the whole way through the movement while keeping control of the weight, the reason this is 2nd on the list is because of the ease of the movement and stimulus you get through your glutes.
 
Back Squats – These are incredible for everything you do, walking, jumping, carrying your kids, picking your kids up from the floor whatever it maybe, although the squat movement isn’t actually used in day-to-day life much, because of the stimulus it places on all your whole body it gives you a massive bang for your buck, the muscle stimulus for the glutes is greatest on the barbell back squat, and again done with good technique this will completely change your training and day-to-day life all while helping build that bum you want.
 
Frog pumps – These are tough but great for opening your hips up while giving you a different angle to hit your glutes and give your glutes a bit more shape and density – these target a muscle called your Gluteus Medius or Glute Med which is on the outer part of you bum, it’s important to work your glutes from different angles to give it the muscle stimulus it needs to grow and to hit muscles you might not get the best activation from doing something else.
 
Other exercises you should include are reverse hyperextensions, glute press (not leg press), banded fire hydrants, reverse lunges, RDLs, box or squat jumps, side lunges. All these target your glutes in different ways and using different movement patterns and planes of movement which means as long as the stimulus is good enough you will grow your whole glutes and will minimize your risk of injury as you won’t have a weak link.
 
 
 
1 - https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jab.2014-0301 - Bret Contreras et al. A Comparison of Gluteus Maximus, Biceps Femoris, and Vastus Lateralis Electromyographic Activity in the Back Squat and Barbell Hip Thrust Exercises
 
2 - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15438627.2017.1282358  - Cochrane, Darryl J et al.
 
3 - https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jab.2015-0091 - Bret Contreras et al. 
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Diet Clubs - we've all heard of them and i'm sure that we all know someone that has been a part of them. i'm here to discuss the pro's and con's of diet clubs so that you can work if they're right for you.

On the one hand...
Diet clubs offer accountability, support, a community and a sense of belonging. they make you feel secure and like you are doing the right thing.
The fact that they offer you accountability means you will more than likely achieve your fat loss goals. it’s quite possibly the biggest thing that will make sure you stick to your exercise and diet plan.
The support aspect is also an incredible tool as you always have someone to talk to, someone to ask and someone that can offer advice when you are struggling.
A community helps when you are struggling or losing motivation. knowing that there is a community of other people that are going through or have been through the same emotions as you is incredible. This is because you can help each other get that motivation back and you have multiple people you can look at for inspiration and guidance.
Because everyone in your group is in the same boat this makes you feel like you belong at the club, working together to help each other reach your own goals. you also feel secure and like you are doing the right thing as you are surrounded by people who feel the same and are working hard to achieve similar goals.

​On the Other hand...
The problem with these clubs is a huge one and it’s the reason they fail you. if you have had to re-do a weight loss club, if you have had to try something else after the weight loss club to lose weight then by definition it hasn't worked and it has failed you. Whether you agree with that or not, by definition it’s a fact. I’m sorry to tell you.
the big problem is their knowledge, it’s horrific and potentially doing more harm than good. a lot of the representatives fat shame and I have heard multiple people speak about how they were made to feel that if they didn’t lose weight or even if they did that they were still obese. their knowledge that a mashed banana is somehow different to a whole banana is insane. Not to mention the concept of ‘syn-free’ pasta and rice, possibly the things that people are most likely to overeat.

But this isn’t even the most damaging thing. the most damaging thing is that most of them will help you lose weight but then leave you with no habit changes, no understanding on how you lost weight and no understanding of the importance of changing your mindset.   They don't educate you to think positively about your body or yourself, so that you don’t go back to stress eating, eating out of boredom, or eating because you don’t feel like you're worth anything. these are the reasons I  hear people say that the club representative hasn’t the foggiest how to deal with stuff like that, neither does a crap PT. this is why you should invest properly in your health. this doesn’t mean you should just plough your money into any  health product, you should invest your time and do your research on PT’s, products, clubs etc.

So if you are happy to go through the motions, lose weight then put it back on and then lose weight and then put it back on and end up spending hundreds or even thousands of pounds on clubs, shakes, pills and powders to lose weight then that is 100% your choice.
However, If you want real sustainable change then hire a GOOD personal trainer. we have a Facebook group for clients so they can support one and another and get all the help they need from past clients and current clients.
I’m a personal trainer, who actually cares about you, your health and your results. if you turn up on time and put in the effort, I will give you everything I can to succeed with results straight away but also make you learn how to change in the future.  I will teach you the basic principles that mean you will never need to ‘diet’ again and you won’t need to waste money on shakes, pills etc.
 
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. 

Don’t you’re there to relax...

This will be quite a quick blog post about what you can do exercise wise on holiday.

The easiest way to exercise on holiday is walk - stop hiring a moped or buggy or getting a taxi to go 10 minutes down the road, walk everywhere, I always carry a pouch for valuables - with sun cream, coin change and notes, make sure you have as much water as you can carry and just bloody walk, it’s amazing when you just go exploring in a new city or place as long as it’s safe to do so, just go for a wonder, you find some amazing things too.

The second one is Swim! Chances are you are you getting to the sun because England doesn’t have it, let’s face it 5 days of summer doesn’t count as Sunny England, so you’ll stay somewhere with a pool or near beach or both - so take the opportunity to swim or learn to swim! I have retaught myself to swim and getting better and better each holiday and now look forward to getting away to swim! It’s a great all over workout that’s bloody hard on your cardio health too - if you have poor mobility it’s amazing at loosening you up and allowing you to move more freely.

Thirdly - Find a gym - this doesn’t need any explanation just do your own workout in a gym!

Finally - Do a ghetto workout in your room, this takes a bit of dismantling of beds, overfilling of suitcases and the like but once ready can be a gruelling task, you can do dips on the side of the bed, into press ups into weighted burpees in bent-over suitcase rows, into Kettlebell swings but with your bag, jumping lunges with a backpack, shoulder press with your suit case, squat and press with your bag, single leg Glute Bridges loads of stuff!

Do it to a time rather than rep range and just go for it!

Personally I don’t like the idea of training while you’re on holiday apart from relaxing exercises like swimming and walking, for me I’m there to get away from everything I normally do and everyone I’m normally with - I’m there to completely shut down, restart and reload my whole mindset, state of being and purpose and to just explore somewhere new and exciting!

Now as it's coming up to holiday session and people are well on there way to either booking or going on holiday I thought I’d right this little guide that means you can eat well on holiday and not come back like I have done a few times a few Kilos heavier.

One of the main things to do isn’t to do with eating but a tip that means you can be habit more lenient with your food, HIRE A BIKE!

Most cities now offer a Boris bike style system, so what better way to explore a new city than by cycling, you can’t ride a bike walk, My girlfriend probably hates me for it but I love just walking, and figuring it out as we go getting google maps when you need to, if you aim for at least 15k steps you should be able to do this very easily on a city break, if your on a beach chilling holiday then going down and swimming for 10 minutes every hour or 2, or if your by the beach just getting up walking, one of the things I do is get smaller bottles of water, so i have to get up and go and get another bottle of refill the one I have, it's a little thing but can help a lot with raising your NEAT(non exercise activity thermogenesis)

Don’t have the mentality of ‘fuck this I’m on holiday give me ALL the food’ think ‘fuck this I’m on holiday give me all the dinner’ - having this mentality and waking up having a glass of OJ or apple juice with your coffee, having a freshly made 4 egg omelette with leafy greens, some fresh fruit and maybe a few rashers of bacon - you A) have a good hit of protein to start your day, have a good amount of energy from carbs for when you go walking and a pretty decent amount of fats to keep you healthy and again give you energy for exploring the city or the sun loungers. not to meant all the vitamins and minerals from the eggs and leafy greens.

So, stick with that sort of breakfast, sort your protein source first! and then find something with a good balance of fats and carbs and don’t eat as much as you can!

Next up is lunch - if you’re on a city break, the chances are you’re too busy to get a proper lunch, grab a local style lunch, in Spain there's loads of little bars that serving chicken Paella, Budapest get a cinnamon chimney cake with and some kind of local meat based meal to be honest I normally stick with a chicken burger or something like that again don’t eat as much as you can, I sometimes just have a black coffee on a city break and wait to dinner but there's a castle to see or a secret building somewhere who knows! on a sun break I get starving from sitting in the sun an I’m normally all inclusive for the sun holidays, I’m not big time(yet) its just sooooo much better and less stressful (which is the whole point of going to the sun) so for lunch I’d normally grab an omelette if I didn’t have one for breakfast or if even if I did to be honest, or a burger or whatever you can get with the all inclusive, normally its something pretty ‘english’ we seem to get anywhere in the world and there is a ‘english fish and chips’ shop,

And then for dinner and drinks - YOU’RE on holiday do whatever you want! be controlled on breakfast and lunch, don’t snack and then do whatever you want for dinner, keep your activity as high as you can, swim, walk or cycle, don’t spend a penny on taxi’s!

A final word - RELAX! turn all my emails off, i mute all my work related Facebook/WhatsApp groups, this year I’m going to get a very basic Holiday phone and a little camera with social media upload ability, and leave my iPhone at home, so everyone can see what I’m doing but i get none of notifications if there's an emergency I’m still reachable! I implore you to do the same!

Diet hacks and smart food swaps

This will be a quick guide to give you little hint and tips to be a diet ninja and be able to know if you are going to binge smarter swaps.

With out beating around the bush dieting in really bloody hard, its hard to stick to, it's hard to maintain and it's hard to choose which approach to go down, I would recommend 2 differerent approaches, which I'll explain in another post.

Now when you are on your diet you get mad cravings, everyone has had them, everyone will get them, so can foods can you swap/add/take away to give you the best reults you can get...

The first are biscuits and crisps, Biscuits... there really isn't a good food swap, you cant get healthy biscuits however, you can change for better biscuit, so if you count calories pick biscuits with added protein. crisps you really have no hope, there are low calorie crisps but they are like eating flavoured dust, so before you know it your 15 packs down and still hungry.

Next is chocolate - now this is managable, when you have a chocolate craving, change for dark chocolate or chocolate coated nuts, a little advisory warning though, dark chocolate tends to have higher calories so if you do have dark chocolate then stick to one or 2 bars of 75% +
and thats the same for the nuts, buy the little snack pots they are more expensive and you get a lot less, so over feeding on those is very costly!

Fizzy Drinks - This is easy - if you drink coke, change for coke Zero, coke pay millions to make there stuff taste the same and those millions arent wasted, Coke and coke Zero honestly now taste the exact same, if you drink Lucazade, you can get... lucazade zero - Monster zero, relentless zero. Changing drinks is the easiest way to get rid of a sweet tooth and most at 0ish calories you really cant go wrong.

Butters and spreads - This is a tricky one, as you can live your life calorie watching, so smarter spread anf butter swaps are crucial, instead of margerine get some olive oil spread, things like low fat phillidephia, or spreading cheeses are amssively helpful, it kills your cheese craving and gives you a tasty low calorie alternative.

Next is choices of meats - you need the lowest calorie ones, so reduced fat everything!!! appart from fish, pick the oiliest mofos you can get, not only do you get the saturated fat from salmon you get a massive hit of omega 3.

Sandwhiches and wraps - this is hard, people have compared wheat to Herion on the addiction scale, but its a mental thing, people believe they genuinely need bread to survive, you really don't. im against bread but its a crap food, it has nothing to it. You can now actually get low Calorie bread but it tastes liek cardboard, this is one of the things you are just going to have to say goodbye to and replace for nutrient dense foods, make a Jacket sweet potato (Sweet jacket potato? which one? lol)

You have heard me talk mostly about calories here, this is because you will not lose weight unless you are in a calorie deficit, you can do endless amounts of cardio, putting stress onto your joints, Have you ever looked at someone who runs alot and thought 'wow I want her bum' or 'Yo look at that dudes guns!'? I'm going to throw this out and say no.

So make some changes to your diet, lift some weights and go hit your weight goals!