Dear Friend,
I get a lot of emails from people asking me what personal training entails and how it will help their fitness.
So I thought I’d write an article to explain the benefits.
A common misconception made by people is that they need some level of fitness to be able to start using a personal trainer. This is very bad thinking. If you have no fitness whatsoever a personal trainer will be able to show you how to quickly get fit, and stop you picking up any bad habits along the way. They will also teach you a whole host of exercises and routines and gradually build on your knowledge of health and fitness.
I get a lot of people who come to me who are very fit too, but their level of fitness is not where they want it to be. In such cases a personal trainer can show you the steps that you need to take to achieve your goals.
People who are new to fitness often need as much encouragement and motivation as possible to get them started because they are making changes in their lives which need to stick, or they will slip back into there old unhealthy ways and bad habits. Using a personal trainer to motivate you is the best way to make these changes stick, when you have a booking with a trainer you have to go, unlike the gym when you go when you feel like it. Even if your feeling crappy when you get to the session a good personal trainer will encourage you to finish the session with lots of motivation, and you’ll feel great at the end.
Having a regular session with a personal trainer also makes sure you stay on track to achieving your health and fitness goals. Most people start exercise with the best intentions to get their goals, but often after a few months they have made little progress towards obtaining them and are doing the same thing over and over. Regular sessions with a fitness trainer will ensure you stay on track, and that you steadily progress towards you goal by constantly challenging you each session and getting you fitter and fitter.
Choose a personal trainer who is fit themselves, this will act as an inspiration to you to better yourself and be more like them. You can model a personal trainer so you can be like them, also working out with someone who is fit will highlight to you the areas of your fitness that you need to work on.
An important factor in achieving you fitness goals is sorting out what you eat. Get your personal trainer to sort out your diet and show you where to make the necessary improvements or changes. Once you have you diet sorted out you will be amazed how much easier it is to achieve your fitness goals.
Lastly find yourself a personal trainer that you get along with, this is often overlooked. You may be spending a lot of time with your fitness trainer so it is important that they are friendly and that there is a good vibe between you. A good trainer will have your interests as there number one priority when you are with them, so that you stay focused on achieving you goals throughout the session.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>Dear Friend,
This concept came to me the other day when I was thinking of the differences between people who manage to lose weight and those that do not achieve it (or any other fitness goal).
I have come to realise one of the secrets that the successful people use to achieve their health and fitness goal, whatever it may be.
This secret is that THEY SET THEIR LIFE UP SO IT IS INEVITABLE THAT THEY GET THEIR HEALTH AND FITNESS GOAL AND ACHIEVE WHAT THEY WANT.
Let me tell demonstrate this with two extreme example. Take a person in the middle of a famine; there life is set up so it is inevitable that they will lose weight because there is no food and water available. Take a person who lives in a flat above a kebab shop, their life is set up so it is easy for them to put on weight because access to junk food is so easy.
Ask yourself this question. How can I set my life up so I will inevitably lose weight/get fit/build muscle/ etc…?
Take for example the overweight, unfit couch potato. Their life is set up so they will remain unfit until they start changing things. Their fridge is full of junk food, they have unfit friends who support the same lifestyle, instead of going to the gym to socialise they go to the local pub every night, they watch hours and hours of TV, they choose a job that doesn’t allow them any time to exercise.
Lets look at how a healthy person sets up they life so they stay healthy. They only put healthy and nutritious food in the house so the temptations isn’t there to eat junk food, they choose like minded friends who are also fit to help keep them motivated, they choose a job that allows them to walk or cycle to work, they make enough time to go to the gym fours times a week, they meet friends at the gym to socialise rather than a bar or pub. Instead of watching TV all night they devote some time to reading about new workout routines and exercises that they can incorporate into their sessions.
Importantly health people create GOOD HABITS that keep them slim and fit. If you are unhealthy you have probably created BAD HABITS that are keeping you unfit.
To get slim, fit and healthy you have to make a DECISION that from this day forward anything that is not aligned with you ultimate fitness goal is not going to be allowed into you life. You only do things that are going to progress you towards you goal.
If you are trying to lose weight and get slim, and you eat a bowl of ice cream how do you feel, I bet a lot of you feel guilty. Guilt serves a purpose, it is your minds way of telling you that what you have just done is not inline with you goal, and you must learn from this mistake. Most people never learn from guilt and just carry on, now you know why guilt is there I want you to learn from it all the time. In the above example the lesson is “Ice cream is going to keep me fat, pick something healthy next time”.
Changing you life and habits is actually the hard bit you achieving you fitness goal, once you make the changes the goal will come so quickly and easily you will be amazed.
Setting up your life so your goals become inevitable is one of the keys to getting what you want out of fitness. Remember to regularly ask yourself “How can I set up my life so I get fit”. When you have the answers MAKE THE CHANGES.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>Dear Friend,
In this article I want to talk about how to make exercise fun. When things are fun we want to do them all the time, things that are hard work or boring are things that we struggle with.
Whenever you do something you make a CHOICE about how you feel towards whatever it is you are about to do. You can CHOOSE whether that task is going to be fun or boring by what you focus on when you do it. If you focus on all the good things and all the positive aspects of the task you will notice that you start enjoying it more. If you focus on all the negative aspects you will dislike the task. I want you to apply this thinking to exercise. Here are two lists one of some of the negative things about exercise and the other some of the positive things.
Negatives
Exercise is tiring
You get sweaty
People stare at you in the gym
Memberships are expensive
I don’t know anybody at the gym
Positives
I get a great buzz after a workout
Each session I’m getting fitter
People are noticing I’m losing weight
It’s an opportunity to make new friends
My health and wellbeing are so much better
I can concentrate for much longer
My metabolism is increasing
I can listen to all my favourite songs on my IPOD
Imagine we now have two people, one who is focused on the negative list the other on the positive list. Which of the two people do you think will be exercising regularly? Obviously the answer is the positive person, because they CHOOSE to focus on the positive aspects and this acts like fuel to keep them going workout after workout.
This is a very simple concept but one that thousands of people fail to understand when exercising. Speak to a friend who lost a lot of weight or got really fit, I bet you they have a positive attitude towards exercise and fitness.
Remember you have a CHOICE, you DECIDE if you are going to have a positive attitude towards fitness or a negative. So remember to always CHOOSE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>Dear Friend,
Fitness classes, everyone seems to have done a few at some time or another, perhaps you are attend one regularly. There are so many different classes these days that there is something for everyone’s taste.
The list goes on and on. Every year fitness companies bring out a new variation of class for people to do. A new piece of equipment will come out, promising to be the answer to your fitness problems, suddenly all the gyms start doing classes involving it, everyone’s raving about it until the next “big thing” comes along.
Time and time again I hear people say “I started doing xyz class, it was great at first I lost a few pounds and got fitter, but now nothing is happening, what has happened? Do you think I should try a different class?” If this is what you have been thinking recently I’m gong to give you the answer to these questions.
If you do what you have always done you get what you have always got! Think about a class you have been doing regularly, now think back to when you started it, think about the exercises you did when you started the class and the ones you are doing now. I bet they are very similar. You have probably been doing pretty much the same thing since you have been going to that class.
If your unfit and you start doing a class you fitness will increase, this is great to start with, but your fitness is only going to keep increasing until the exercises and routines in the class become to easy for you. When the exercises become too easy you body does not need to adapt to get fitter to be able to do them. So after that initial fitness boost when you first started your fitness and weight loss will plateau.
Classes can only be taught to the level of the most unfit person participating. Changing to another class won’t make any difference give it a few months and you will be in a plateau again.
The answer to this problem is this. START TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN FITNESS! If you attend a class regularly as soon as you walk through the door you hand over all responsibility for your fitness to the instructor. Most class instructor are very good, but everyone in that class is there for different reasons, some want weight loss, others to tone, some want to get fit and others just come along for the social aspects. There is no way in a large class of 20 people that the instructor can cater to everyone’s individual needs. This is why you must start taking RESPONSIBILITY for your fitness needs.
To get out of a plateau you can do the following:
Take you board what I have said and start applying it to your workouts. Through a bit you of persistence you will reach whatever goals you may have sooner than you think.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>Dear Friend,
Today I’d like to talk about getting started in health and fitness, we all have to start somewhere, I remember the first time I was in the gym, I was nervous, unfit, self conscious and didn’t have a clue what I was doing. These days I walk in the gym, chat to the staff, say hello to a few of the regulars that I see all the time, I’m fit and I know exactly what I’m doing for a workout that day. This all came about by using progressive fitness goals.
The first few weeks of going to the gym or starting a home workout are the hardest weeks. This is because your body is not used to the extra physical activity and you have undergone a whole lifestyle change. Most people blow it and take the easy option of giving up and heading back to the sofa with a pizza. As you are reading this I expect that you are not that type of person, you have my respect.
To keep you on track my best advice is to start setting yourself some progressive goals and keep improving on those goals. This will keep you motivated.
A lady emailed me the other day telling me that she was clinically obese and had no idea where to begin to lose weight.
Progressive goals are the way forward for her, my reply was the following:
Dear Amanda,
Try this, go out the front of the house and look for the nearest tree/lamppost which ever is nearer. Run to the tree and run back again to your house.
Great you are done for today, read the rest tomorrow.
Day2 Today’s task is to run to the first tree, then on to the second tree and then back to you house. You are done for today go have a rest.
Day3 Run to the first tree, then to the second, now on to the third and run back to your house
Keep this up and you’ll be running marathons in a year’s time, keep building upon your goals.
Take care
Pete
Hopefully my reply has explained to you what progressive goals are. Start with a small goal, make it achievable, go and do it, you will probably think it was easy. Next day go out and add a bit more to that goal, run a little further, cycle a bit further, lift a bit more weight. Make the goals easy and progressive. Fitness is only as hard as you make it, so make it easy for yourself.
Decide on you ultimate heath and fitness goal. It could be lose a stone, tone up, build some muscle, run marathon, swim the channel, you decide its your ultimate goal. Now decide how you are going to get there, seek some advice on this if you are not sure email pete@petegriggs.com, start of small and build on top of that initial first step.
Keep this up and you will see yourself progressing workout by workout, it will give you a sense of achievement, you will start to feel really good about yourself and your whole attitude towards fitness will change. You’ll see it as easy enjoyable and fulfilling.
Using progressive goals is a great way to start off exercising, it will keep you going through those first few tough weeks by giving you a feeling of achievement and make you proud of yourself.
Like the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day” it started with one brick and the rest of Rome was built on top of that one brick. So go out and run to that first tree, it can be your first brick, and add a new brick each workout you have, keep you focus on improving and before you no it all you bricks will have built a city, and you’ll be running marathons.
Aim big and start little!
Until next time keep improving!
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>Dear Friend,
In this article I will be giving you some useful tips and hints for using cardio vascular (CV) machines.
I see a lot of people in the gym using incorrect technique on CV equipment, not only do you run the risk of injury but you also won’t be able to perform at you best, making it harder to yourself.
Before I begin I need to say that these tips and hints are not strict rules. Equipment varies from gym to gym and so do people, if you are unsure check with the instructors at your gym of email me pete@petegriggs.com.
Ok lets get started with everybody’s favourite the Treadmill!
Treadmill
Tip 1. Elevation, not the U2 song but the hill you are running up. Always have a little bit of elevation when running on a treadmill, it gives you something to run against. When you run outside you have wind resistance pushing against you and this makes it harder for you to run. If you run into a strong head wind you’ll know it is very hard to run. In the gym there is no wind, so to compensate for this set the elevation between 1-2.5. This will stop you from just bouncing along on the treadmill with nothing to push against.
Tip 2. Lift your arms and Keep you head high. When running on the treadmill keep you forearms tucked in under your chest, don’t let them flop down by your hips, this is a more efficient way to run. Keep your head high too don’t run along looking at your feet. A lot of people look at their feet when they first get on the treadmill because they are worried about falling off and never get out of the habit, so relax your shoulders and look straight ahead.
Tip 3. Stay light on you feet. You have probably heard someone running on the treadmill from the other side of the gym, why can you hear them? Because they are bashing their feet down on the treadmill BOOM BOOM BOOM!. Do this long enough and you will end up with sore ankles and knees. Make sure when you are running on the treadmill that your feet hit the track very lightly, this may take a bit of practice but it will be worth it as you will be able to run longer.
Rowing Machine
Tip 1. Keep you back Straight. I’ve seen so many people on the rowing machine all hunched over, this is bad for your back and will inhibit you breathing. Keep you back straight and lean back slightly, this will help you row faster.
Tip 2. Resistance and Stroke Rate. A lot of people get on the rowing machine and think “Yeah I’m tough” and stick it on full resistance. A better way to do it is to drop the resistance by one or two and increase the stoke rate (how fast you are going back and forward). Most rowers will display your stoke rate, ask an instructor if your not sure where it is displayed. Find out what rate you normally row at then add 4 to it. If you normally row and 25-26 Strokes per Minute try keeping the stroke rate above 30. Dropping the resistance and increasing the stoke rate is a good way to improve you cardio fitness.
Bike
Tip 1. Have the ball of your foot on the pedal. When setting up the bike adjust the toe straps so that the ball of your foot (big lump behind your big toe) is in the centre of the pedal. This is the optimum position for your calf muscles to generate the most amount of force when cycling.
Tip 2. Make you legs go in circles. You can use the toe straps on bike to lift the pedal, when one foot is pushing down get the other one to lift up. Try and imagine your feet going in circles when you are pedalling rather than just pushing down. This will help you pedal faster.
Cross Trainer
Tip 1. Stand tall. This is another machine that people have a habit of hunching over on, keep you head high and you back straight at all times to avoid and injuries.
Tip 2. Arm height. If the cross trainers in your gym have bars for your arms to push and pull on make sure you hold them just below the height of the top of your shoulder. If you hold them too high then the machine will pull you out of position all the time, too low and your arms won’t be able to push and pull properly.
Stepper
Tip 1. Hold on lightly with your hands. A lot of people when using the stepper rest all their weight on the arms. Make sure you hold on lightly with you hands and let your legs take the weight of your body. Take the resistance level down if you can’t hold on lightly as you probably have it too high.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and Surrey with me will help you achieve your goals of weight loss and fitness. Pete is based in Sutton South London and works in Cheam, Wallington, Carshalton, Epsom, Banstead, Ewell, Morden, all over London and Surrey, in gyms, homes, parks, gardens and is available internationally for bookings.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>By Pete Griggs
www.petegriggs.com Personal Training in London
Subscribe here for Monthly email articles
Dear Friend,
Love it or hate it Cardio Vascular (CV) work is an essential part of your workout, In this article I’d like to tell you some tips and tricks that I have compiled so you can get the most out of your CV work.
I hear a lot of people say “I hate CV, its boring!” if you fall into this category or even if you don’t just take a look at the benefits a regular CV programme can have on you.
How long should I do CV work for? Is a question I get a lot. Well to answer that I first need to tell you about the energy stores in the body. Your muscle stone energy which allows them to move, this energy is stored within the muscles themselves. You also have your fat stores in your body that everyone is trying to get rid off, fat store can be used as energy when you are working out too. Read on and I’ll tell you how.
The energy within you muscles must first be used up before your body starts to use its fat stores. It will take you about 30-40 minutes of moderate exercise to use up the energy in your muscles before any fat is being used. If you want to lose weight you must make your CV workouts at least 40mins long, anything less than this and you won’t be using you fat stores as energy. Aim to build up you CV workouts until you get to and 1 hour.
You should be doing your CV workouts 3-5 times a week. If you are new to exercise start with 3 times a week and build up from there, more experienced people should start on 4 or 5. If you do less than 3 times a week you probably won’t notice much difference in your fitness and weight. Doing more than 5 is not healthy as you run the risk of over training and getting ill.
How hard you should work while doing your CV work, or the intensity, is important too. To work this out you will need to use your heart rate, you will need to get your heart rate to a certain level in order to achieve any benefit from you CV workouts. Beginners should start at a lower intensity and then build up session by session. Here is how to work it out.
Your lower and higher limit numbers are the beats per minute of your heart. You need to work hard enough so your heart rate comes within the range of the lower and higher limit. Use a heart rate monitor when working out to find out your heart rate. A lot of modern machines have them built in.
Example I am 24 years old.
220-24=196 my maximum heart rate is 196 beats per minute
196x0.6=118 my lower limit is 118 beats per minute
196x0.9=176 my higher limit is 176 beats per minute
So when I have a CV workout I need to keep my heart rate between 118 – 176 beats per minute for it to have any benefit to me.
Last thing that I want to talk about is improvement. You should always aim to improve on your last CV workout. Make it a little faster, a bit longer, a bit harder you can choose. This is important to do because as you consistently improve session by session your fitness will get better session by session. Remember don’t do the same workout twice always make the next one better than the last one.
Ok so the points to remember when doing your CV workouts are
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply these principles to your workouts and get you using them properly to benefit you. Personal training in London and the surrounding counties with me will help you achieve you goals of weight loss and fitness.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To subscribe to my monthly newsletter for useful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep Improving!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
By Pete Griggs
www.petegriggs.com Personal Training in London
Subscribe here for Monthly email articles
Dear Friend,
I have noticed that in pretty much all gyms across the country there are guys (and a few girls) who are in the weights sections of the gym four or five times a week giving it there all, pushing and lifting as much weight as they can, but they don’t seem to bulk up. This may apply to you reading this, you have a good weights programme to follow working every muscle in the body over the week, but no matter how heavy or how long you are in the gym you can’t put on a pound.
Well here the answer, you need to EAT MORE!
If your weight is maintaining the amount of food you are eating currently is enough to support the amount of muscle you currently have. There is no extra food to build any new muscle because energy in = energy out. What you need is energy in > energy out, this way your body has extra calories to build new muscle fibres, which your muscles are asking for from lifting the weights.
The key is to keep eating till you get to your desired weight. A lot of people will worry that they will put of excess fat whilst eating extra. To avoid putting on extra fat you have to increase the amount of food very gradually. To do this try the following (this is to be used in combination with a comprehensive weight training programme incorporating cardio too) eat breakfast lunch and dinner as you normally would, along with that you are going to have two Bulk Up meals one between breakfast and lunch and the other between lunch and dinner.
For your bulk up meals I suggest cereals, rice, pasta, along with a source of protein such as chicken or protien shake. You will also need a pair of food scales to do this. You will need to weigh out your Bulk Up meals each day, and then the secret to putting on muscle and not too much fat is to ADD 1GRAM EACH DAY TO YOUR BULK UP MEALS. This may seem insignificant, but over ten days you will have added 10 grams to you Bulk Up meals and slowly but surely you muscles will gradually grow, and your strength should increase too.
The healthier you eat while doing this the less fat you will put on, stay away from junk food altogether, and keep alcohol to a minimum (save drinking for nights out). Avoid processed food and stick to the low fat options.
When doing this you should aim to gain 2lb of body weight each week, if you are gaining more than this cut down on the amount you eat as you will probably put on some fat. If you aren’t gaining 2lb a week increase the amount you are eating until you are.
Try to eat your breakfast, lunch and dinner meals as you normally would and don’t worry too much about what you eat, just make sure it is healthy.
Just keep adding 1gram a day until you get to the weight you want, as for rest days (days when you don’t do any exercise) if you a doing this and gaining easily then just have one Bulk Up meal, if you are struggling to put on weight while doing this carry on as normal having two Bulk Up meals on your rest days, see chart below for explanation.
Gaining Easy
Monday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Tuesday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Wednesday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Thursday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Friday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Saturday, 1 Bulk Up meal, add nothing to it
Sunday, 1 Bulk Up meal, add nothing to it
Struggling to gain
Monday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Tuesday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Wednesday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Thursday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Friday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add 1gram to them
Saturday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add nothing to it
Sunday, 2 Bulk Up meals, add nothing to it
When you are doing this you may not feel like eating much because you are full up all the time, but as long as you are gaining 2lb a week and still training hard stick with it, you’ll get used to it after a while and won’t even think about it. Just make sure you stick with this programme and your weights programme for at least a month to notice some difference.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply this eating programme to your lifestyle. Personal training in London and the surrounding counties with me will help you achieve you goals of weight loss and fitness.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for usful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep EATING!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
]]>by Pete Griggs
www.petegriggs.com Personal Training in London
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Dear Friend,
Been doing the same old workout for months and not lost any weight? Or did you start losing a weight and then couldn’t lose any more?
If you do what you have always done you get what you have always got.
If you have a goal or target weight that you want to get down to you need to PROGRESS towards it. You won’t suddenly achieve the goal by doing one thing, to achieve you fitness goal you need to make small incremental steps to progress you to where you want to be.
I see people in the gym everyday doing the same workout that they have been doing for the last two years and in those two years they haven’t lost a pound of weight. Then you get those people at the gym that you may have seen yourself, the ones that the weight is just falling off, every time you see them they are slimmer and more toned. The difference between them and you is that they workout using a progressive model of training, sometimes consciously, sometime unconsciously.
So what is progressive training I here you say? Progressive training is making each workout you have a little harder than the last one. Each time you are at the gym you are trying to improve or beat what you did last time. Run a little faster, a little further, pedal bit faster, more up to the next level etc…
Take for example the treadmill. Nine times out of ten people are running on it for the same speed and the same amount of time they always do and getting nowhere. To apply a progressive model of training to the treadmill try the following (you will need a pen and paper), it is so simple anyone can do it. Say for example you normally run at 5mph (miles per hour) for 20mins. What you are going to do is the following:
Workout 1. 5.1mph for 20mins
Workout 2. 5.2mph for 20mins
Workout 3. 5.3mph for 20mins
Workout 4. 5.4mph for 20mins
You get the idea
Or you could try
Workout 1. 5mph for 21mins
Workout 2. 5mph for 22mins
Workout 3. 5mph for 23mins
Workout 4. 5mph for 24mins
You get the idea
Write down what you do each workout and then try and beat it on the next one, this must be used in combination with a healthy diet to get the greatest results.
One of the keys to using a Progressive model of training is to make each progression tiny and achievable. Running at 0.1 faster isn’t going to make me lose weight I here you say. Well if you add 0.1 to the speed each time you have a workout after ten sessions you will be running at 6mph instead of the usual 5mph and by progressing like this you will burn more and more calories each time you visit the gym.
The secret to the progressive model of training is this. Every session is going to be a tiny bit harder than the previous, so you will push yourself a tiny bit harder each session, you will also get a tiny bit fitter each session and the big one is you will INCREASE YOU METABOLISM A TINY BIT EACH SESSION.
When you metabolism increases the amount of calories you burn off going about your day to day activities increases too. You will lose the extra weight your carrying by increasing your metabolism and burning off more and more each time you workout. If you progress each time at the gym for a few months the difference will be staggering and just think of the possibilities if you applied the progressive model over a few years! You be able to get your metabolism to what it was when you were in your twenties if you keep progressing and given enough time.
The beauty of this model is that it is so easy to apply, adding 0.1 to you speed on the treadmill is so small that you will barely notice it while you are running, but it will build up workout after workout, week by week.
Don’t try and jump ahead with increasing what you are doing with your workouts. For example running at 5mph straight to 6mph, it is too bigger jump for you body and lifestyle to adapt to. Your next workout will suffer because you will be tired. Small tiny increments make it easy for your body and metabolism to adapt to, they will build up over time, so be patient!
For those of you who aren’t able to run, and can only walk on the treadmill, try increasing the elevation by 0.5 or 1.0 each workout, this will have the same effect.
You can also apply the progressive model to the time you are running, add a minute to each workout and in ten sessions time you will be running 10mins longer, your metabolism will also increase just like it does when increasing the speed.
If you relate to what I am saying and feel you need help in this area why not book a personal training session with me to get you started the right way. I can explain to you how to apply the progressive model to your workout and even to your diet and other areas of your life. Personal training in London and the surrounding counties with me will help you achieve you goals of weight loss and fitness.
To book a session or for comments and questions call or email me:
Email: pete@petegriggs.com
Phone: 07947 049889
To Subscribe to my monthly newsletter for usful articles and tip about health and fitness click here subscribe.
Until next time keep training and keep PROGRESSING!
Pete Griggs
Ps don’t forget to tell you friends!
If you wish to reproduce this article please email pete@petegriggs.com.
Please Read Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the authors and theirs alone. Information in the articles is not to be taken as medical advice, please consult you doctor before undertaking any type of exercise programme especially if you have any medical conditions.
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