Blog Schedule - Wednesday 06:00am Information
Saturdays 10:00am Work-out the week
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Welcome to another instalment of our weekly hints and tips to help you on your way to meeting your fitness goals. Are you up to the challenge? Step 1 - Warm-Up Every successful workout starts with a good warm up, so take the time to complete 3 minutes cardio, either a light jog or cycle will do, followed by 5 minutes dynamic stretching and 2 minutes of a body weight circuit. Step 2 – The Workout
Bonus Circuit Tuck jumps - 30 seconds jumping, 30 seconds resting, 5x rounds. If you need a demonstration of any of the exercises or for any additional guidance, just let me know! Step 3 – Cool Down The cool down process is important, so be sure to complete a thorough post-workout stretch, Static stretches mixed with foam rolling is good to do now! WEEKLY DIET HINTS & TIPS For this week try swapping your salted caramel mocha with cream, for a sugar free hazelnut americano with a touch of milk, this could cut at least 100-400 calories - depending on size, milk the baristas use and the amount of cream etc. If you don’t drink coffee why don’t you swap your highest calorie treat for lower calorie version, Don't cut it out, just swap it, that way you will still enjoy it and stick to your diet better! Quote of the week- “You will never win if you never begin." - Helen Rowland
For any more information just let me know, good luck, and please let me know how you get on! We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here. Dan
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The quickest way to lose fat or build muscle training system! Catchy title huh?! It annoys me I have to write such click bait titles but if I don't people just read them and at the moment I get 40+ people that read my blogs weekly so I need to keep going with the click bait titles. To all my old readers Thank you for staying with me, especially with my bad grammar! I really hope these blogs are helping and to the new readers I hope I can inspire and educate you. The only way to lose weight is a calorie deficit however, you can create that deficit through diet and/or training – this blog is about the training side. We have and will cover diet in other blog posts but whether you're a beginner or advanced this system is easy to understand and relatively easy to programme for a regular gym goer. The system is known as the A1/A2 system, double sets, push/pull sets, blood shunts, PHA (peripheral heart action) sets, or upper/lower sets, so a few different names! As you can see this system can be called a few different names but the best and easiest to describe it is the 'A1/A2 sets' as the other are a lot more specific and the ‘A1/A2’ name covers them all. It’s widely known now that splitting body parts and training chest on a Monday, back on a Tuesday, leg on Wednesday, shoulders Thursday, and arms on Friday is not a good way to train, you do get enough volume on the muscle through the week and if you're training for weight loss the intensity and calorie burning effect just isn’t high enough. To solve these problems, we found the 'A1/A2' system, which means you can train 3 or 4 times a week and a cardio, core and mobility day in there for some active recover work if you wanted to and have the willingness! I know you have enough time to, that isn’t a valid excuse. 128 hours in a week and you can’t spare 5? Come on, Eastenders isn’t that important! There are different ways to programme the 'A1/A2' system but we’ll stick to the basics and then cover the more advanced programming in a different blog where we talk about the speed/strength curve and how-to best programme that. Let’s cover weight loss first as that’s probably what you want to know about, again there are different ways to programme this and the exercises depending on your ability, strength, mobility and injuries etc so this obviously can’t be specified to you, if you did want a specific programme then please fill out this contact form and we’ll arrange something. The main way I programme most of my personal training clients is a lower exercise for A1 and an upper for A2, an example of this would be A1: Squats – rep range of somewhere between 6-20 depending on day and other factors, sets typically range from 3-5 and we may include some tempo (we will touch on it here but will be explained in another blog) A2: Bent over Row – and same conditions as above, we would then rest for 1-2 mins depending on rep range, up to 2 mins as this isn’t for strength specific training. Tempo very briefly is the time it takes to do each phase of the lift and depending on your goals determines the tempo, if at all. 43X0 – the first number is the lower(eccentric phase), the second is the time spent in the bottom position for example, how long you sit in the squat, how long the bar is almost by chest etc, the third number or X(explosive) is how long or how quickly you move the weight back to the start position (concentric phase) and finally the fourth number is how long you stay in the top position before starting your next rep. For example, of the above on a squat it would be; 4 seconds down, sit in the bottom of the squat for 3 seconds and then explode up as quickly and as powerfully as you can as soon as you get to standing start the lowering(eccentric) phase again.  I will typically do A1/A2, B1/B2, C1/C2 and D1/D2 this takes about 45-60 minutes depending on rest time, reps, sets etc and then I will give the client a short and intense little circuit to finish to get as many calories burnt as we can in that hour. The part that makes this difficult is knowing what to programme so the client doesn’t get muscle soreness (DOMS – delayed onset muscle soreness) and can still walk pain free or relatively pain free, A lot of Personal Trainers sole aim is to make their client hurt so bad drinking a cup of tea, standing up and just walking is just horrific and they are quite simply shit PT’s. The hour you're exercising with me is not enough to control the other 127 hours of the week, so if I make you hurt so much you can’t walk or move for the other 127 hours are going to be spent sitting down and eating to try and recover, no amount of text or phone help will stop that - which mean your day-to-day energy expenditure goes down, massively hindering or even stopping weight loss. It’s one of the main reason I want all my clients to see me at least 3 times a week because it then changes the whole equation of 1 and 127 hours left, it's more like 1 hour in every 43, I get to speak to you and properly check up on you, make you work hard and give you motivation that lasts for the few days, you get to be honest and can make proper clear changes if needs be in a matter of days rather than weeks, also if you miss a session it means I still see you twice that week rather than once in 2 weeks! the Bottom line is much better results for you, much better! It's better to have a PT for 1/2 months doing 3-4 sessions a week than have a PT for a year doing 1 session a week. Anyway got side tracked, here’s an example of a day and circuit that I would use with a client with tempo:  In terms of muscle building we would most definitely use tempo as it keeps the muscle under tension for longer, more tensions means more volume, more volume means more growth! What’s slightly different though is I personally would do 4 or 5 days split like Lower, Upper, Lower, Upper and if you can do the 5th day add in a tough met-con circuit on the 5th day instead. An example of a 5 training day week might like this is below:  These programs were created while I was sitting on my sofa and just writing them, these aren't with a client in mind, the reason is because I don't want you reading this and thinking 'oh forget it I'll just copy what Dan put up for a bit' - everyone moves differently, has different training history, has different levels of skill and mobility, strength, aches, pains and niggles, likes and dislikes all these are a factor when programming for a client. so please do not copy these, HOWEVER use them, look at the types of exercises that are used and adapt it to you!
I hope that by reading this and my other blogs you will see that the typical ‘bro-split’ is dead and the best to lose fat and build muscle is by doing upper/lower and in this fashion, it means you get a lot more volume in the week, which means you’re more likely to grow and grow faster, or lose and lose faster, it also means you're session are more entertaining and you can be in and out in a hour but have done double or triple the amount you would have previously done. The skill in this is the picking of the exercises in regards to your needs, picking exercises that helps your bad knee, bad hip, lower back pain, weak core whatever it may be that is personal to you. That is then where the programming of this gets difficult. Having said that it only takes a bit of research on your end to find out. Like everything you need to put in the work to reap the rewards. So, go reaping! Have fun in your training, I hope you have an amazing few months of training ahead of you. Like always if you have any questions then comment on the blog and I’ll answer. We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here. Thanks Dan Welcome to another instalment of our weekly hints and tips to help you on your way to meeting your fitness goals. Are you up to the challenge? Step 1 - Warm-Up Every successful workout starts with a good warm up, so take the time to complete 2 minutes cardio, either a light jog or cycle will do, followed by 3 minutes dynamic stretching and 1 minute body weight exercises. Step 2 – The Workout
Bonus Circuit Med Ball Tri-set Chest throws, Slams, shoulder throws (above the head) - 20 seconds each, no rest inbetween, 30 seconds rest afterward repeat 4x rounds. If you need a demonstration of any of the exercises or for any additional guidance, just let me know! Step 3 – Cool Down The cool down process is important, so be sure to complete a thorough post-workout stretch, Static stretches mixed with foam rolling is good to do now! Q. Can I still have a drink on a Saturday night? A. Hell yes! As long as the drink doesn’t undo all your hard work to stay in a calorie deficit from the week you can still lose weight! The problem a lot of the time isn’t necessarily the drinking; it’s the binge at the end of the night and the lack of movement and more binging the next day, so make you move and eat well the next day and stay in that calorie deficit. Quote of the week: The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power. - Unknown
We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here. Why Personal trainers suck!
You may be thinking – he’s a personal trainer so why is he telling me he sucks? Here’s why, personal trainers are human, humans like to be in a family, so they feel safe and protected so a lot of personal trainers try and find that family of other personal trainers, low carb, high carb, comp preppers, Keto, intermittent fasting, what ever it may be, the PT will get more and more sucked into this family and it will be all they do, every client who walks in the door will put through the same process told the same advise and the PT’s clients will get amazing results BUT most of them won’t! The PT will get what’s called Hyper responders to their methods, so these are the people that this method works incredibly well for, it suits their lifestyle, their training, their body everything! But The rest of his/her clients won’t get any results because they can’t train like that sustainably, they can’t eat like that, they can’t live like that so that’s them done. They waste their money the PT blames their clients for being lazy and when in reality the clients tried and tried a lot but the system just didn’t fit that person at all. And this is true for diets, training styles, lifestyle choices. This is why picking the right for you PT is exceptionally hard, because PTs are good at selling you the dream! So you hear all the buzzwords that you want the PT gets all your money and you get the potential to walk away from that PT not achieved much apart from have the realisation that you now hate everything health and fitness related! But do you know what else this is true for – slimming world and Weight watchers, do you know those transformation pictures they use? Yeah they’re the hyper responders who just click with everything they get you to do, that system just fits perfectly into their lives but for the other 95% of people and yes the statistic is that high – these diet clubs don’t work, people come off the diet and rebound and then have to do it again and again and again, the system has failed you and it’s time you started asking questions and getting someone that can actually help you with an approach that is made for you! Question your PT, question your nutritionist, question Pauline(if you have a Pauline at your diet club this is completely coincidental) from your diet club, Questioning their systems is absolutely fine – they are the expert and so they should be able to tell exactly why the system is good for you, the benefits to the system you are using but also the negatives! Question sincerely, with openness and a willingness to learn and not just question for the sake of it or to be a dick. I love it when my clients question me like this, this is why I got into the industry so I can actually teach people and change their lives for the better, their is nothing better than a client who is getting amazing results and wants to learn how and why! So please when you next have a consultation with a PT ask them about their methods, tell them about yourself (which they should be asking anyway, I probably speak for a maximum of 5 minutes in a consultation the rest of the time is the clients telling me their problems and me questioning them further, if the PT is doing all the talking then just walk away, they clearly don’t actually care about you or your results. I work hard to stay out of families, I look to see the pros and cons to each family and then put my client with whatever method works best for them and sometimes I get this wrong, but I will never leave a client in the wrong family, as soon as we find out that it isn’t working we assess and workout which system is best for that client. We make sure the approaches are worth it and backed by evidence, whether scientific or if there isn’t a research paper out there backed by what’s worked in the past, with me and other trainers, so you never be sold the latest gimmick or system just because it’s new and exciting, I work to give the client the thing that works! I hope this helps! If you have any questions then ask away in the comments and I'll answer them! As always enjoy training, train hard, eat well sleep amazing! We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here. Dan Welcome to another instalment of our weekly work-out and short hints and tips to help you on your way to meeting your fitness goals. Are you up to the challenge? Step 1 - Warm-Up Every successful workout starts with a good warm up, so take the time to complete 3 minutes cardio, either a light jog or cycle will do, followed by 5 minutes dynamic stretching followed by a 2 minute body weight circuit. Step 2 – The Workout
Bonus Circuit - 'Finisher' Cossack squats and Med ball slams - 30 seconds on each 5 x round 30 seconds rest Step 3 – Cool Down The cool down process is important, so be sure to complete a thorough post-workout stretch, Static stretches mixed with foam rolling is good to do now! WEEKLY DIET HINTS & TIPS Q. Are Sweeteners dangerous? A. Nope, I’m sorry if you have been depriving yourself, there is no evidence that sweetener consumption is dangerous or unhealthy for you, in fact there are multiple studies that show swapping ‘full fat’ drinks for the sweetened/low calorie version will help you lose weight because they can help you adhere to a calorie deficit! Quote of The Week
"Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay." - Simone de Beauvoir We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here.  Yeah but you don’t know what it’s like being me, I have no time, no energy, I work really hard, come home tired and stressed, I don’t have enough money to eat well and go to the gym, I have tried everything and nothing works, it’s just my genetics, I have bad knees and a bad back anyway so I can’t do anything.
Have you ever said any of these? Have you ever sat down and looked at any of these and really judged yourself on these? No I know you haven’t because if you had you wouldn’t have said most of them! I have no time – you sleep for 56 per week, you work about 40-60 hours per week that leaves you with 52 hours to do whatever you with – and in them 52 hours you're telling me you can't spare just 3-4 hours per week? Come on, I know you shouldn’t compare yourself to others however, you can compare time. A few of my clients work 40 hours per week but commute 4 hours a day, have kids and they still have enough time for BBQ's, train 4 hours per week and whatever else they have planned, why? Because they prioritise their time. Is watching EastEnders, then corers, than Netflix for 3-5 hours a night really improving your life? Is it bettering you? Do you watch it and feel like you have been productive and you are making the most of your very precious life? NO! Said everyone I have ever asked! I don’t know what it’s like being you, I don’t know what you feel inside about yourself, I don’t know what problems you have or are facing being you – I know you don’t feel good about yourself, I know you aren’t what you hoped you would be at your age, I know you feel disappointed with your body and so you should feel bad about them, you could of stopped that happening to you BUT you should feel excited about where you can go, what you can become, who you can become, excited to face a difficult challenge and think ‘FUCK YEAH I GOT THIS!’ you have to accept your body and who you are now, if you can't accept yourself you'll never be able to get passed it, you have to be comfortable in your skin! You aren’t good enough now, I’m not good enough now if I was I would be helping millions of people instead of tens of people, I would have a six pack, a house by the beach, a limitless bank card and would have travelled the world! we aren’t ‘alright the way you are’ – but you can be! You have to work, you have to change and become who you want to. the thought of me having to face another massive challenges scares the crap out of me, but at the same time I’m crazy excited because I think how will this challenge me, how will I become better, what have I learnt and how can I apply that, who will I meet and learn from. This is the same in your weight loss journey, who can you meet to help you, can you make friends who are in the same boat, support and help each other work hard to get to where you all want to get to! You don’t have any energy? Do you not know what coffee is? Or even better monster ultra, energy drinks? These are energy… this one is done Joking!… so we analyse and judge why you don’t have energy… do you sleep well? 7-9 hours? Are you properly hydrated? 1.5-3 litres per day Do you eat well? Loads of veg, fibre, healthy fats, protein etc.? Then we break them down further – what is your sleep hygiene like? Are you watching TV until you fall asleep? Do you use your phone all night? Do you sleep in a pitch black room? Do you sleep in loads of clothes? Do you wake up starving or thirsty? Do you spend all night thinking about the worst possible outcome? Do the same for the others, find out the reason you have no energy and fix it, you need to take a good close look at your life – it's bloody horrible to do, it makes you feel like shit but if you can do it constructively then you can work to better it. Use the help of others and with plan with targets, achievements, reward yourself but not with food, you aren’t a dog. It doesn’t have to be big, I quite often reward myself with playing the Xbox, with a bigger reward buying myself a more expensive or different whiskey and the ultimate reward a holiday! You have worked hard to get to where you are so take some time off, come back with a clear mind, rethink your goals, and go and attack them again fresh and ready! Not having enough money – this might actually be a fair comment however you need to really assess your finances, again print off your last month’s statement, go through it see what you can scrap, see what you can change and get rid of, I can guarantee you there is something you can change which will better you, for me its Coffee and Protein bars – coffee I can half and buy energy drinks instead, protein bars I can buy in bulk for cheaper than single use, I can save about 30-50 per month with this that’s enough for a gym membership and some new clothes, Primark do training gear now you can get a weeks’ worth of training stuff for a tenner, so unless you are proper skint and honestly you just don’t have enough for the gym etc. then okay, If you happy then carry on but if you aren’t maybe look at changing jobs etc. and then look at body weight home workouts, have a look to see if your local council offer free gym days, even ask your GP to prescribe you a gym membership, if you can go to them with proof that you just don’t have time and want to use a gym then they might prescribe you a membership, it’s worth a try, I personally would rather my money being spent on someone who genuinely needs help with a gym membership than paying for someone to have antibiotics for a runny nose or someone who is getting gluten free food prescribed to them, just cut the shit out your diet and carry on! I have tried everything and nothing works, it’s my genetics – 1. you haven’t tried hard enough or you haven’t tried long enough, or you haven’t tried at all! 2. No it isn’t, your genetics don’t stop laws of thermodynamics get into a proper calorie deficit and your genetics won’t stop anything. I have bad knees and a bad back – we'll all the more reason to go to the gym and get the issues fixed! It’s like saying I have a broken car so I definitely don’t need a new one I’ll just keep driving mine and bash it up to the point where it can’t be fixed and I need surgery, now go to the gym, strengthen what you need to, stretch, weight train and be careful but seek advice, professional advice not the biggest bloke you know because he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about, this could fix your problem, don’t just use it an excuse to give up, use it as an excuse to try! We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here. So, you signed up to the gym and you think “right new Monday new me!” Then you get into the gym so look at all the equipment, you walk around trying to find something you recognise, hoping that maybe someone you know is there to guide you but they aren’t and then think “what the hell is all this, I don’t have a clue what I’m doing, if I try use any of this I’m going to make myself look like a right moron, I’ll just go on the treadmill at least I can’t be judged on their’ Yes, I know you thought that because I did, and so has everyone who has even stepped into the gym! The difference is knowing what to do in the safety of the treadmill, while you ‘warm-up’ on the treadmill first look for the matted areas, this is now your safe spot the ‘stretching’ area – now you have been on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes you got comfortable on there and you walk over to the matted area don’t grab anything – you will just use your body weight. You haven’t lifted before so you need to get used to using your own bodyweight, this is where you start! With key movements like Press ups, lunges, squats, general stamina, hinge movements and light dumbbell work an example program of this would be:
Once you can move your body weight well usually after about 6 weeks and you can control your body weight fully then it’s time to start earning your right to move onto the key lifts like deadlifts, back squats, bench etc. but again a barbell back squat and the others requires tremendous movement skill and control so you have to do the foundations of these skills to then build up to them, so you would now build you skill level, I personally would put someone through a hypertrophy stage first, this will build muscle and some strength but also the skill at a lighter weight would give us time during the lifts to change things, so we would utilise tempo training, pause reps etc. an example of an upper body day the next phase is here:
It’s also at this point where if your goal was weight loss which it probably is – then we start adding some intervals at the end of the session so sprint on the treadmill, rower, bike, we might do a med ball circuit – you can find these below.
Once you have built some muscle and you are getting used to intervals, we can start getting you stronger and meaner, at this point you should have dropped quite a bit of fat because of the dietary changes that we would of made, which would be completely personal to you, you would be looking leaner and more toned, you should feel healthier, stronger, more determined, then with this momentum we can use that to start to get you stronger, so in weeks 11-16 we look to do a strength phase. Because of the last 6 weeks you should have your movements patterns nailed, unless of an injury, you don’t train frequently enough or you have given up all together, which is a whole different story and one we might cover in a different blog. We can now start lifting heavy shit and getting you stronger, to do this we would drop the rep ranges down, so maximum of 6 reps on a given lift, we would be using longer rest times to allow for recovery, but most of all we would be lifting heavy weights. An example of weeks 11-16 is below:
Because you goal isn’t to become an Olympic athlete we won’t be doing snatches, clean and jerks etc. yes, they are incredible movements and have a lot of transferable skills but when in life are you going to clean and Jerk a pint of milk, so although they have amazing benefits we can get those benefits from other lifts.
Then weeks 16+ is 100% in terms of how much more fat do you want to lose, do you want to go on to become even stronger, do you want to get more muscle, do you want to be faster, do you want to be more agile, more supple, more athletic? Depending on the answer the program will be made into phases to help you achieve that goal. Most likely it is fat loss, so you will go into a hypertrophy/strength phase so we can keep that toned look with strength but do intervals and different approaches to help create the biggest deficit we can so you lose fat. Before we wrap up there I have to say that your training is completely specific to you too, The examples on here are completely generic and the programs have been created without a specific goal or specific person in mind, If you were mine client we would go through a movement assessment but you would be continually accessed through the weeks, so the program might and probably will change through the weeks we train to make sure you are getting the exercises you need for your goals. The purpose of these are so hopefully with these examples you can move away from the treadmill in the corner and into the gym, have a plan so you go in and know exactly what you have to do have a choice of plans you can do, so if the equipment you need is busy you can just pick another day or different way of training that muscle group and know that as long as you do all the sessions you need in that week your result might actually be better! Make sure you always do Mobility work, stretch, go to yoga. Always work on your Core, whether that’s on a separate day or the same, make sure you train your core 2-3 more times a week, please read the 'how to properly train your core blog' here - https://www.applied-fitness.co.uk/blog/how-to-properly-train-your-core-and-not-just-your-abs. Thank you for reading, Dan Christmas guide – how to not eat yourself silly over Christmas whilst still having and eating all the things!
Okay so everyone knows that Christmas Is about connecting, giving, faith, love and of course pigs in blankets and any other food you enjoy, but pig in blankets! So how do you eat 3kg of them a day over Christmas, well you don’t, you eat 1.5kg a day, you also buy the ones with the lowest calories, You don’t cook them covered in them oil, butter or any other very fatty/calorie dense foods like cheese. You do this for all your favourite foods, you buy the Lower calorie version, if they don’t have the ‘light’ versions then buy less of it, if you only buy the 1kg packets of whatever because ‘well I’ll get through it all anyway and it’s Christmas’ yes you will get through it, it’s your favourite food/s but buy less! That way you might run out one day, may for a few days but you would of saved yourself eating another 1000 calories over per day. Drink as much water as you can all the time! Water will fill you up so you won’t be able to over eat because you’ll be too full from the water, buy flavoured, zero calorie sparking water, this will keep you even more full and it tastes nice, there are about 10 different flavour options so don’t just say I don’t like it, try the different flavours! Try and move as much as you can, go out for a walk in the morning if you have kids, take them to the park for an hour and run with them, take the dog for a walk, just try and move, don’t spend the days sitting at one end of the sofa and watching the home alone marathon, die hard and elf. Get it and do something! Anything is better than nothing especially at this time of year when it’s cold so you spend more time sitting around doing nothing. DO SOMETHING! A really easy way to rack up the calories is in liquids, gin and tonic, get zero calorie tonic water, whiskey and coke get Pepsi max, Coke Zero, Diet Coke Anything zero calories! If you go out and buy all your drinks for over the Christmas period buy zero calories version option of as much as you can, that way you aren’t tempted, you have no option but to drink 0 calories options. And the really easy way to make sure you don’t over eat is by intermittent fasting(IF), so don’t have breakfast and don’t eat anything after 8pm-ish so that will give you a decent sized window of 16 hours if you eat at 12pm and with the hustle and bustle of Christmas you probably won’t miss breakfast much, its important that when you do IF you drink loads of water and only have a black coffee in the morning, the milk and sugar will bring you out of the fast. Fill up on high protein foods, so have extra chicken/turkey for dinner, have a protein shake if you can that way you get the fillings effects of the water and protein, just again make sure the chicken/turkey isn’t fatty, leave the skin off or put it to the side. Fill up on high fibre foods so the same concept as protein but eat more carrots, sprouts, broccoli, butternut squat, parsnips but not potatoes, these are normally covered in goose fat, and made to be light and fluffy so they are easy to over indulge on and calorie dense! And the last little tip, DON’T BE SO GODDAMN GREEDY! A lot of the time we just eat, we aren’t hungry, the bowl of celebrations are there, we are full but our hand still goes toward that celebration bowl and grabs more and more chocolate, stop this. Just sit further away from the bowl, put a glass of water in front so you have to put more effort into getting them, honestly it works anything that makes getting them harder to reach will work! I hope you have an amazing Christmas and get everything you wish for, and if you don’t then be grateful you have a roof over your head, access to free health care, hot water and the ability to understand and appreciate this time of year! Dan Personal Trainer Welcome to our weekly blog filled with hints and tips to help you on your way to meeting your fitness goals. Are you up to the challenge? This weeks is a leg and bum workout! Give it a go! Step 1 - Warm-Up Every successful workout starts with a good warm up, so take the time to complete 2 minutes cardio, either a light jog or cycle will do, followed by 3 minutes dynamic stretching and 1 minute body weight exercises. Step 2 – The Workout  Bonus Circuit
Rower sprints for 150 metres – rest for 45 seconds and repeat 5 times! If you need a demonstration of any of the exercises or for any additional guidance, just let me know! Step 3 – Cool Down The cool down process is important, so be sure to complete a thorough post-workout stretch, Static stretches mixed with foam rolling is good to do now! WEEKLY DIET HINTS & TIPS Q. Are Sweeteners dangerous? A. Nope, I’m sorry if you have been depriving yourself, there is no evidence that sweetener consumption is dangerous or unhealthy for you, in fact there are multiple studies that show swapping ‘full fat’ drinks for the sweetened/low calorie version will help you lose weight because they can help you adhere to a calorie deficit! Quote of the week- “Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future, act now, without delay. - Simone de Beauvoir” For any more information just let me know, good luck, and please let me know how you get on :) As it's getting close to the new year when my business goes nuts if you are interested in having personal training in the new year please fill out the contact form and get in early because I honest cannot guarantee any slots in the next coming months. Dan Set You aren’t good enough... for you! Wow clickbait title alert! But for most people it’s true, but how dare I say that you ask? You’re a PT, you should be praising people's effort and body image - I do! You will never ever see me knock someone’s effort, I will do everything in my power to keep someone’s effort as high as they can, that isn’t what this is about, you haven’t understood the phrase if you thought that, and the only body image I praise people for is a healthy body - you should never congratulate someone for being overweight or obese - congratulate their confidence and effort to change but what sort of health profession would I be if I said ‘yeah that’s great you’re obese, we should be promoting that look and I like the way you have raised every one of your health risks and are telling people that that is okay’ See my point - I will never put an overweight/obese person that feels happy and confident in their skin down, but they must see the risk they are posing to their physical and mental health. This is problem people assume that when I say you aren’t good enough and they think I’m saying ‘go and kill yourself’ this is NOT what I’m saying - you have to accept yourself mentally but if you are in any ‘unhealthy’ category then I would have thought you want to change that to maximise your health, wellbeing and to live to an old and with a good amount of self dependance. I’ll be the first one to tell you I’m not good enough. My cardio ability isn’t good enough, my Body fat is higher than I want it to be, my mental health isn’t great - I suffered with Depression and anxiety to the point I couldn’t go near a gym, my financial situation isn’t good enough, I don’t know a martial art, I’m not the best Personal Trainer I can be, I have so much more to learn, I’m not good enough but I’m working towards being the best PT, having complete financial freedom etc. I’m working hard to change all these and I have changed a lot, I’m grateful for every opportunity taken and missed, I grateful for finding a job that means something to people and be able to make money from, I know some people stay in a job they hate for 20 years. So this post isn’t about making yourself feel bad for where you are - where you are might be ‘fine’ but do you always want just a fine life? Or do you want to have the freedom to do whatever you want? To always better your situation? This is about making you excited about where you can go, how far you can go in your job, in your workouts, in your life? Do you always want to live paycheck to paycheck balancing money and saving for holidays or do you want to push yourself even harder, learn more, work harder(not longer) - pay for a holiday whenever you want? Go on weekend breaks away, maybe buy a better car? Fancier wine? The newest phones when they come out? Do you want a better relationship? All these things can be solved by accepting where you are now and then seeing where you could be, be realistic but have a ‘if everything fell into place perfectly plan’ so you can see where the absolute limit of where you could go is. You need to push, challenge yourself, and work hard to become the person you want to be. Do you want to be on your deathbed bitter and annoyed at the world that mistreated you or do you want to be there happy, knowing you tried to make your dreams come true, you made your own opportunities, you made the best possible situation for you, for your kids maybe, you helped as many people as you could, whatever the reason you want to feel happy strive to achieve that, don’t ever put yourself down! A step in the wrong direction is still a step, it is still better than standing still - so keep taking steps until you find your passion and purpose and then take the leap! Life isn't about just settling for what you can do easily and without thinking, we are privileged enough to be able to have access to to 24/7 information on everything! so struggle with your something challenge yourself to get better, to do better to be a better person. Set goals, set intentions, and always back yourself! Strive to be the best - your own best, fuck everyone else! Do this for you! Love you loads! Dan |
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The Main Author is Dan Grimes, Guest authors will be posting too. Archives
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