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Personal Trainer Weymouth: Fat Loss Mistakes Uncovered

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

It’s getting to that time of year again, where everyone is getting into Christmas mode and beginning to think about work parties, family gatherings and alike, and subsequently the thought of putting on that little black dress, or tight pair of jeans starts getting ever more worrying.

 

Most people’s work Christmas parties  I’m guessing, are going to be happening within the next 3 weeks or so, which really doesn’t seem all that long a time to get down to size and feel confident to wear what you want to , and to be able to indulge a little, knowing that you’ve ‘earned the right’ to. Well what if I was to tell you that in just 2-3 weeks of not making the mistakes I’ve outlined for you below, you could be a clothes size smaller, and ready to slip into any outfit you so desire?

 

The following are the 7 deadly sins of fat loss that my Weymouth and Dorset personal training clients often come to me with during our initial free consultation, and we then seek to banish them for good, with great results! In fact, when all of these cardinal fat loss hindering mistakes are booted out, clients are dropping fat and weight faster and more effectively than they have ever managed before during any of the many fad diets and workout programs they have tried out in the past.

 

So have a read, see which ones you are making, and stop making them starting today. If you do, I’ll guarantee you’ll lose at least a couple of inches in time for the party ;-)

 

1.                Eating refined carbohydrates

 

We all need carbohydrate in our diet, that’s fact. However, what we don’t need is the wrong form of carbohydrate.  Eating carbs that have been refined, such as white pasta, bread, rice, sugar, sweets, cakes, biscuits and all that other nasty sweet stuff, is quite possibly the biggest fat loss mistake that people can make. Sugar, and sugary foods, are addictive to say the least. You eat it, you want more, you want more, you often eat that too! By eating these types of carbs, your body’s response is to hit back with a huge influx of insulin, which ends up making your body store fat. Not only that, but although your energy levels may initially be elevated, shortly after, you will end up on a downer and with reduced energy levels. The way forward is getting your carbs from fresh, natural sources, such as fruit and vegetables, which as well as giving you a much steadier supply of energy, will also fill you up with the vitamins necessary to ‘unlock’ the energy within your foods, as well as boosting immune function and improving your general health.

 

2.      Eating processed foods

 

They’re convenient, their ‘tasty’ (debatable), they’re quick, they’re easy, they’re effortless………….they’re also so full of crap that every time you eat them you are literally filling your body with chemicals and empty calories, and inviting your body to store excess fat. By eating these types of foods, from canned tomatoes through to a full on microwavable curry, you’re voluntarily increasing your body fat and the level of toxins within your body, and decreasing your bodies ability to work as it’s supposed to. If you’re ‘trying’ to lose fat, but still eating packaged and processed foods (yes - even low fat, no fat, low salt, weight watchers, healthy living and all that), you are condemming yourself to failure. If you eat fresh, natural foods, you really can’t go wrong, so enough with the microwave, and get your steamer, oven and grill working, and start eating natural. You’ll be AMAZED at how much of a difference it makes just replacing everything packaged with fresh stuff.

 

3.     Doing your 100 sit ups a day

 

Yes that’s right, many of my personal training clients, when asked, tell me that their fat loss attempts to date have involved doing plenty of sit ups every morning and every night. Well this is a very quick and simple mistake for me to discuss. Doing lots of sit ups will not get you a skinny, toned waist!!!!! If it could, then a third of the population would have great abs, not a BMI that categorises them as obese. The idea of doing loads of sit ups to nuke your belly fat is called spot reducing, which doesn’t, has never, and will never work to reduce body fat. It’s not possible to work one part of your body and burn only the fat from that area. It just doesn’t go like that. The body takes fat from where it wants to. All that doing excessive sit ups does generally, is give people a bad back and poor posture. If you want great abs, you need to be able to see them, so they key is to get rid of the fat that surrounds them (acting on the advice you are reading right now will help you!). You’re far better off doing full body training to reduce fat. The more muscles you work, the more calories you’ll burn. Fact.

 

4.     Steady state cardio

 

Yes, this may well work for a while, and I’ve nothing against steady state cardio. After all, the sport of triathlon is pretty much all about this! However, if you’re training for fat loss, it’s not the weay to go. Many of my clients, as well as banging out sit ups by the hundred, also have previously spend an hour or so walking on a treadmill, cycling on a stationary bike, or plodding up and down on a stepper. Funny thing is, they all say it bores the hell out of them and they don’t get results after the first couple of weeks. So why continue doing it?! Cardio training for fat loss is all about hitting out the interval work. Through using interval training as opposed to steady state cardio, you will burn more ‘free’ calories throughout the day, due to the effect the interval work has on your metabolism (you can elevate it for up to around 24hrs aftre training!). So by putting in a 20-30 minute bout of interval work, you will burn plenty more calories than an hours steady workout, in half (or less) the time. Efficient, effective, and much more fun!

 

5.     Lack of resistance training

 

I don’t want to burn fat not get big muscles. I don’t have time. I don’t like the gym. Just 3 of the primary reasons I hear for why people don’t do resistance training. The exclusion of resistance training one is the biggest mistake people make with their fitness programs. I’ll put it very simply for you though: If you want to lose fat, you need to build some muscle! Now ladies, it’s not to say that you need to get stacked, and get guns like Swartzenegger (in fact, you won’t be able to due to the hormonal differences with men and women), so don’t worry about that. The underlying fact however, is that muscles crave energy, and so the  more muscle you have, the more energy they need to work, so the more calories they will burn. So, by building some lean mass (muscle) you will increae your metabolic rate, and burn more calories even when you sleep. As for using a gym, absolutely no need. Your body is the only equipment you need, and that’s a fact. Just as soon as I get some time, I’ll shoot a short workout video for you and stick it on here ;-). In terms of time, you don;t need much. 20 minutes, 3-5 times per week is whct I use with lots of my personal training clients here in Weymouth and Dorset, and the results are immense.

 

6.     Not eating enough protein

 

This is related to the above. When I have looked at a clients food diary prior to our personal training commencing, the thing that ALWAYS sticks out is the lack of dietary protein. People only ever seem to eat it in their evening meal. Big mistake. Your body needs protein to rebuild your muscles bigger and stronger after work. By effectivle ystarving your body of this vital nutrient, you are reducing its ability to create the lean tissue necessary to boost your metabolism and increase your fat burning potential. Try to get some form of protein in with every meal, but be aware that there are complete (such as in meat, fish, eggs) and incomplete (such as in bread, pasta, pulses) proteins. Go for things like organic beef, fish, chicken, turkey, whole nuts, seeds and organic eggs as your protein sources.

 

7.     No direction

 

This is without doubt, the biggest one. So many people (maybe even you) spend far too much time saying they are going to kick start their fat loss mission, but never get round to it, or go at it half assed. In my experience, the key to fat loss success (and success in general) is having a clear, determined and measurable goal, that is both achievable and challenging (check out my post here for help with seting goals http://www.procisionfitness.com/blog/2009/02/goal-setting-goal-getting/). If you have no direction, you won’t get anywhere. So know what it is you want to achieve, and actually be willing to go for it, pedal to the metal. None of this ‘I’ll start on Monday’ nonsense either, start today, start now, and start achieiving. If you truely want to be a size smaller so you can wear what you want to, and feel comfortable in it, then you will be willing to work for it. Remember, the journey of 1000 miles starts with a single step, so take the first step today by setting yourself a goal.

 

That’s it from me today. Hope you get something from this post, and don;t forget to leave a comment. Your feedback is always great.

 

If you want to find out about my GUARANTEED RESULTS fat loss program, get in touch when you’re ready ;-)

 

 Until next time, good luck.

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IRONMAN UK 2009

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

August 2nd 2009, Bolton, England

August 2nd 2009, Bolton, England

 

3 weeks on from completing Ironman UK 2009, and having now had time to reflect on the event, I figured it’s time to give you a short report on how the race went. In a nut shell,  it sure as hell wasn’t easy! But then again, few things worth accomplishing generally are. So here is the timeline of how the day panned out . . .

 

11pm (day before): Finally managed to get to sleep! I wasn’t feeling nervous, but despite getting to bed at 9.30pm, just couldnt sleep. Not what you want before a long race!

 

Race Day

 

2.30am: Alarm went off. I’d actually set 5 on my phone, as well as a couple on my girlfriends phone just in case! There was no way I wasn’t getting up! I found myself suprisingly wide awake for this time in the morning, and was massively excited about the day ahdead. I was less excited by the prospect of what I knew i was going to be having for breakfast!

 

Because I was staying in a hotel, which wasn’t providing an early breakfast for competitors, I had to work round this. So brought a steamer and a load of food ready to cook and eat. As I was eating a pretty low fibre, no wheat, no dairy diet in order to reduce risk of digestive problems, but still needed to get on board a good few calories, my breakfast consisted of the following: 1 x  steamed sweet potato, 1 x small steamed baking potato, handful of steamed green beans, 1/4 an avocado, 150g cooked chicken breast, butter, sea salt, 2 x bananas. I can safely say, that this will not go down in history as my favourite ever meal, and in fact, despite usually being able to eat anything, anytime, with a few bits of sweet potato and some dry chicken left, I called time on my breakfast and conceded defeat to the early start.

 

4am: Left the hotel, and drove down to the Reebok Stadium, where shuttle buses were running competitors to the start at Rivington Reservoir. On the bus, I chatted to a fair few people, and realised that there were a lot of first timers there like myself. A few nerves started to creep in on the way to the Reservoir, but mostly I was excited about starting, and finishing the race.

 

4.30am: Transition was open, so I got myself down to my bike to pump the tires up, and do a last minute check, as well as affix my fluids and food for the bike leg of the race. Because the weather had been so horrendous for the last few days, with loads of rain, the grassy area in which the transition was located was nothing more than a muddy pool, and despite the mats that had been layed down, it was very boggy underfoot, which meant that running from the transition tent to my bike was going to mean my cleats were full of mud, so clipping in could be a pain.

 

5.30am: By now, I’m in my wetsuit, all prepared, with hat and goggles in one hand, and my dry clothes bag in the other, ready to drop off before the swim. The man comes on over the speakers and gives the call for everyone to line up ready for the 400m walk down the steep concrete path to the swim start.

 

6am: The race was due to start by now, but not everyone was in the water as yet, so we had to wait. I positioned myself about 50m away from the line of buoys we had to follow, and right at the front of the start line. A few more nerves set in about now, as I’d not yet done a swim with so many people in such a small space, and it was going to be pretty nasty for sure!

 

6.10am: 3…2….1….GO! Swim begins, and I get a reasonable start, managing to avoid getting kicked in the face more than a couple of times, and after 400m or so I find myself in a little bit of space. I get to the first turn, and everything slows down, as so m,any people are turing 180 degrees at the same time, and at this point there’s a few more arms and legs flying in faces which makes it interesting! I ended up pretty wide on the turn, and had to cut back in, and in fact, I ended up zig-zagging pretty much the whole of that straight until the next turn. Within 30 minutes of starting, I felt my hips and calves cramping, and had to keep trying to stretch out while swimming. Eventually this subsided luckily. Lap 1 complete, and just one more to go. After about 2 miles of the swim my shoulders were beginning to tire, and I felt my technique and speed both go downhill, but as soon as I got to the home straight, got a burst of energy and hammered home. After about 1h11m of swimming, I was out of the water, and began the steep 400m run to transition.

 

Out of the water. Leg 1 complete.

Out of the water. Leg 1 complete.

7.20am (ish): Got up to T1 and took my time getting myself sorted out for the bike leg. I necked a bottle of Gatorade while running to my bike, then picked it up, ran down the muddy path, and jumped on. As predicted, my cleats were full of mud so it took a bit of time to actually clip myself in, but once in there, I was feeling strong and ready to go.

Over the mud and onto the bike

Over the mud and onto the bike

After a short downhill section from the start, the course then leads you 2-3 miles up a nasty hill, which at one point gets pretty steep around a hairpin bend, before starting a winding decent, before another hill.

Tough climb at the first hill

Tough climb at the first hill

The first lap on the bike was fast. i was feeling strong and averaged 19.3mph, a little faster than predicted. Lap 2 was slightly slower, as the head wind picked up. When it came to lap three, that first hill seemed twice as long, although I was able to overtake a lot of competitors during the climb which felt good! The final 20 miles of this lap were pretty slow, with fatigue setting into my legs, as well as some cramps coming and going in my hips. I was finding myself needing to feed more often, and that seemed to help.

 

Nice flat bit to make up some time, at last!

Nice flat bit to make up some time, at last!

1.30pm (ish): At the end of lap 3, with my legs feeling prety ruined and energy levels getting lower, I thought to myself, what a time to do my first marathon! When at T2, I again took my time to get sorted out, and when ready, began the initial climb past the spectators, including some family and friends who had made the journey to watch this event.

Out of T2 and up a hill at the start of the marathon. Easy!

Out of T2 and up a hill at the start of the marathon. Easy!

The encouragement was amazing from everyone, with the croud shouting to competitors ’well done, keep going, you’re looking really strong’. Tell us that in 26 miles time! I actually started the run pretty quick, and felt suprisingly good, but 6 miles in it hit me. Another 20 to go.

 

Running technique starting to suffer

Running technique starting to suffer

I managed to stay pretty strong for the majority of the run, although frequent cramps in my calves, hips, quads, hamstrings, groin and at one stage even my right forearm made running pretty hard going at times. After 16 miles, stomach problems began to hold me back, requiring me to walk and even stop every now and again, which disappointed me. Feeding was hard, so I stuck to Gatorade and energy gels, although did manage to sneak in 3 bananas on the route too which were a great boost. With 3 miles to go my stomach was in bits, and hurting more than I had ever felt before, but knowing that there was less than 30 minutes of running left for me, I put it aside and pushed through.

 

With the home straight in sight, emotion started creeping in, with the enormity of what I was about to achieve actually sinking in. The feeling was amazing. The croud was cheering, the finish line was in sight, and all I had to do was finish the final 100m and that would be mission accomplished.

 

10 months of training, all worthwhile. Job done!

10 months of training, all worthwhile. Job done!

5.45pm (ish): Crossing that line was the best feeling I have ever had, and after being given my finishers medal, and t-shirt, and a cap for coming inside the top 250 finishers, I found my family, who were beaming with pride, and most probably, relief that after 11h45m28s of hanging around the course, waiting for me to swim, cycle or run past them every couple of hours, they could finally go home!

 

Mission accomplished, all smiles!

Mission accomplished, all smiles!

My split times for the race were 1h11m30s for 2.4 mile swim, 6h9m39s for 112m mile bike, and 4h10m47s for 26.2 mile run. This placed my 222nd overall and 12th in my age group of 18-24. All the sacrifice and hours of training have been worth while, and having loved every minute of the race, I have now set some targets for next year, where I’ll be competing at Ironman France in Nice. Bring it on!

 

Yours in success

 

Andy ;-)

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GOAL SETTING & GOAL GETTING: THE 5 W’s

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Almost everyone has various goals in all aspects of their lives, and those that don’t, lack purpose and direction. However those who have unrealistic or incorrectly set goals also lack this purpose and direction, and find that they waste so much time ‘trying’ to achieve their goal, without every really getting out of first gear, and subsequently fail. In essence, we all should have many short, medium and long term goals, and should not limit ourselves to achieving one at a time. A unilateral approach often has a negative impact in other aspect of your life. For example, setting out purely to earn twice as much money this year as you did last year may well have a huge impact on the time you have available for your family, your friends, and yourself, which will have other consequences such as family problems, a feeling social seclusion, decreased fitness, and many health problems such increased stress as a cocktail of all of the above.

 

This article focuses on the structure of setting clear goals. The format should be used for every single goal, and you should rememeber not to limit yourself to one ambition.

 

It is vitally important to set clear and distinct goals, and then not stop until you have achieved them, whether they are social, family or work related, physical or anything else. If you don’t set appropriate goals and follow several principles, rarely will you will ever achieve them.

 

An example of an ineffective goal would be to state that ‘this year I am going to lose weight’. In this instance, how much  weight do you want to lose? Is it really weight you want to drop, or is it simply a clothing size or 3? By what time this year do you want to have achieved this goal? Why do you want to achieve it? How are you going to achieve it? You can see that the ‘goal’ is highly flawed, and leaves far too much room for ultimate failure, which is quite possibly why you are reading this and thinking of all those times you have said to yourself that ‘this is the year that I’m gonna get thin’, only to still be sat there wishing that you had stuck to exercising and eating right.

 

The difference between succeeding and failing in life, fitness and love, can be the way in which you go about setting, and then accomplishing your goals. The following information is not ‘cutting edge’, nor is it amazing new research. What it is, is simple and highly effective advice that will ensure that one week, one month, one  year from  now, you won’t be sat there wondering why you haven’t achieved everything that you set out to in that time period.

 

The principles of goal achievement, as I see them, are illustrated perfectly by ’The 5 W’s’

 

1. WHAT

 

The key to effectively answering this, is to ensure that the goal is specific to you and what you want to achieve. The goal should also something that you can successfully measure. For example, rather than stating ‘I want to lose be thinner’, you need to specify a realistic and attainable (yet challenging) target. So saying that ‘I want to be a size 10′ would be a great start to effectively setting the goal. This however, is still incomplete and is setting you up for failure before you even begin your quest.

 

2. WHEN?

 

Nice and easy, put a date on it. In the example used above, no time scale is given, making the goal very vague and lacking purpose and thus leaves great risk of failure. Simply saying you wish to become a size 10 is not enough. When do you want to do it by? Tomorrow? Next week? 6 weeks? 6 months? A year from now? As I’ve said, it’s very simple stuff! Now our goal could look like this: ‘I want to be a size 10 by July 6th 2009′. Now we’re starting to pave the path toward total goal achievement and our ideal shape, and are ready for the next W.

 

3. WHY?

 

It’s all very well and good setting a goal such as that above, but without being totally 100% honest with yourself and discovering why it is that deep down you want to achieve it, there’s little hope of you going the distance.. In order to be fully aware of why you wish to achieve the goal, it may be necessary to do some soul searching, and not be scared to tell yourself the home truths that have been at the back of your mind for months or  maybe years. So look at your newly written goal, and pick it apart. The following example may help . . . .

 

‘I want to be a size 10 by July 6th 2009′

Why?

Because that’s the date I’m going to be in public in just my swimsuit on the beach.

Why do you want to be a size 10 for that?

Becuase I am too big and don’t look how I want to look.

What do you want to look like?

I want to look healthy and fit, with the body of my youth, rather than the sluggish, motivation lacking person that stares back at me in the mirror now.

So why do you really want to lose the inches?

Because my self esteem is low, I lack energy, I often get breathless climbing the stairs, and I’m tired of having to wear black, baggy clothes in an attempt to cover up the body that my sedentary lifestyle has caused me to develop.

 

Job done. We have uncovered WHY you want to become a size 10, and now our goal can look as follows:

 

‘I want to become a size 10 by July 6th 2009 so that I can look great and feel confident in my swimwear on holiday’

4. WILLINGNESS

Now our goal is properly constructed, written down, and staring us in the face, it’s time to ask one final question . . .

‘Am I willing to devote the time, energy and money necessary to achieve my goal?’

 

To answer this you have to first know the relevant info.

How much time per day/week/month am I going to have to devote to achieving? Am I willing to get up that extra hour early in the morning, train on my lunchbreak or miss out on eating and drinking at the pub with friends on a Saturday night?

How much effort am I going to have to put into achieving it? Am I willing to plan my meals, make sure I follow a training programme strictly, learn to say no to fast food and sedentary habbits?

How much money is it going to cost me? Am I willing to pay X amount for a gym membership, X amount for a better quality diet and X amount for some new gym shoes? (losing weight doesn’t have to be expensive I might add, these are just examples!)

 

If you can answer that yes, you are willing to commit 100% to achieving your goal, you are ready to get started, and work toward the final W.

 

5. WINNING

 

Winning; to be successful or victorious in a test. In this case, the test is your goal, and winning is accomplishing exactly what you set out to. Winning is not always easy, and with any real goal, comes hard work, effort and quite often sacrifice. If you have been willing to totally commit to achieving the goal, and have successfully implemented your goal achievement plan (in the above example, a nutrition and fitness programme), you will have won. So when it comes to July 6th 2009, when you are standing proud in your swimwear, not only will you be confident and glowing with health and vitality, but you will be safe in the knowledge that you have achieved a target that so many before you have set out to do, only to fail at the third, second or even first hurdle. You will have won.

 

Yours in health and vitality

 

Andy Sloan

www.procisionfitness.com

andy@procisionfitness.com

07843 438173

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10 things YOU can do TODAY to improve your health

Monday, February 16th, 2009

The following is a list of 10 simple things that you can do to improve your health and well being, starting NOW!

 

1. Ensure that you are drinking around 1 litre of water per 25kg of bodyweight per day - If this seems too much and you will keep going back and forth from the toilet, add a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt to each litre (you won’t be able to taste this but it’ll do the trick ;-)

2. Reduce your tea and coffee intake - As diuretics, these beverages dehydrate your body, as well as causing un necessary internal stress within your body. So cut them out and stick to high quality water!
3. Reduce your intake of packaged/processed food - These foods are laden with additives, preservatives, fungicides, pesticides, and all sorts of other chemicals that your body is not designed to utilise. If you have been consistantly eating these foods, many of the chemicals will have been ‘dumped’ in your fat stores, and need to go! The weight loss you can achieve through eliminating these foods is amazing!
4. Eat organic - On the contrary to processed and packaged foods (and to an extent, commercially farmed/reared produce and meat), organic foods are full of nutrients vital to optimising the way your body and its internal systems function (not to mention enhancing your skin, mood, energy levels and more). Think abvout it, what the farmer fertilizes the ground with, and sprays on his crops, then goes into the crops, which you then eat! So even eating something fresh and wholesome like an apple is going to result in you ingesting various chemicals. However, if foods have been naturally grown and fed, you are treated to all the goodness that they have absorbed.
5. Swap from white to brown - This especially goes for breads, pastas and rice. The closer the product is to its natural, unrefined state, the better. Granary bread, wholewheat pasta and brown rice are all higher in fibre and less sugary than their white alternatives, providing a slower and sustained energy release, while also helping to improve digestion and the health of your colon.

 

6. Eat as much raw produce as possible - Regarding your fruit and veg intake, raw is often best. Cooking kills off enzymes which are vital for ‘unlocking’ the energy within foods as well as aiding in digestion. Many vitamins and minerals are also sensitive to heat. Cooking makes the foods more sugary so they get into your blood stream quicker, resulting in a quick energy ’spike’, but later resulting in a plummet! If you are cooking fruits and veg, cook slow and at a low heat as the damage to vitamins, minerals and enzymes is decreased.


7. Eat protein with every meal -To ensure that your body has sufficient proteins to repair itself, a steady supply of the nutrient is necessary. So with each meal, make sure that you get some high quality protein in, such as that provided from organic chicken, grass fed beef, raw nuts and seeds.
8. Avoid all trans and hydrogenated fats - Such as those found in ‘low fat’ products, fast foods, pastries, cakes, biscuits and all the ‘fun’ stuff. It’s not so fun when you know that the chemical formula of trans fats is not too dis similar to plastic! Try digesting and getting energy from a cling film sandwich!

9. Don’t avoid fats - Just make sure you are getting them from quality sources, such as olive oil, organic meats and poultry, organic fresh fish (not farmed), organic seeds and raw nuts, flax oil, coconut oil. Fat is essential within your body, so don’t cut it out (that will do more damage than good), just be aware of what it is you are putting into your body, and what it is that your body actually needs!

10. Get outside in the fresh air and do some exercise - Whether it’s a full on workout or just taking the dog for a walk, get some sort of physical activity done and give your body a reason to grow stronger!
Hope these tips have helped ;-)
Yours in health

 

Andy  ;-)

andy@procisionfitness.com

07843438173

www.procisionfitness.com

www.procisionfitness.ning.com

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Mobile Personal Training in Weymouth, Dorset, from Procision Fitness

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

Hi,

 

I’ve had a few people ask me what exactly is mobile personal training, and why is it so good?  So while I’ve got 5 minutes I thought I’d give you a quick breakdown of a few of the reasons why mobile personal training with Procision Fitness is becoming such a huge hit in Weymouth and Dorset. 

 

Firstly, a quick summary of what mobile personal training is for those who are unaware: Rather than you having to go to a gym, studio, leisure centre or other facility, the trainer generally comes directly to you, bringing all the necessary equipment. This ensures that your training takes no longer than it need to, as it takes out the travel time, of say going to a gym, which may be anything from 5 to 30 minutes (or further) away. This is a great bonus for those with busy jobs, dependent children or simply limited free time. I can’t speak for other trainers, but Procision Fitness always ensure that for the 30 minutes to an hour that you are with your trainer, your workout is thorough, effective and efficient, not wasting a single second, so as soon as your trainer leaves, you are ready to get on with the rest of your day.

 

Another great benefit that Procision Fitness offers you, is the opportunity to train with us anytime between 6am and 11pm. There are very few gyms out there that offer that, and certainly none within Weymouth, Portland or Dorchester that I know of! This means that for almost everyone, there is time to train either before, after or even during work, so that training doesn’t have to run your busy schedule!

 

Many trainers working in large chain gyms and fitness centres with be contracted specifically to train soley within their facility. However, although Procision Fitness is a mobile service predominantly, we also have a number of links with local fitness facilities, enabling us to train clients in them. This means that if you want personal training in your Weymouth or South Dorset home you can get it, or if you wish to be trained in a local gym that can also be arranged. So the best of both worlds, with no additional gym fee!

 

On the topic of gym fees, that’s another thing you don’t have to worry about when recieving mobile personal training. As rather than pay £800 for a yearly membership somewhere, only to ‘forget about it’ and give up due to lack of interest, motivation and time, with mobile personal training you can be sure that you aren’t wasting a penny, as there really is no need for most people to use a gym for the goals they wish to achieve!

 

The last benefit I will touch upon is the fact that with mobile personal training, you can even be trained in your place of work! So this means even if you work long hours, a trainer can still come to you and train you during your lunch break, either in your office, the grounds or a company facility.

 

To briefly conclude, you could say that the main benefit of mobile personal training is that it takes much of the negative stress out of training, so you can concentrate on other important things in life such as family, friends and career development.

 

I hope this gives a good enough description of mobile personal training to those of you who are unaware of it! Apologies for the brevity of the post, but time is of the essence!

 

Yours in fitness and health

 

Andy ;-)

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Overcoming ‘Anti-Exercise’ Weight Loss Excuses in 2009!

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

 

So it’s the start of a new year, and with that comes New Years Resolutions. The major one people come up with after the festive period is losing weight. So this is when thousands flock to their nearest gym and book up a years membership, then go out and buy a brand new pair of running shoes and one of any number of ‘miracle’ diet books, only to find that by mid Febuary, the resolutions have gone out the window faster than Usain Bolt out of the blocks, and everyone’s back to square 1, or worse -1!

 

Of course there are some who manage to keep it up, and my hat goes off to anyone who brings exercise into their life and lets it stay there for keeps, as so many people seem to give up for numerous reasons. Do any of these sound familiar regarding your weightloss experiences?

 

  • I don’t have time to exercise
  • There’s nowhere for me to train
  • I get bored with exercise
  • I’m not fit enough to exercise

 

When I speak to people, that’s just a handful of ‘reasons’ people give me for why they haven’t been exercising regularly, and have subsequently gained weight. As a result of hearing these ‘reasons’, I find myself telling people simple things that they already know, but perhaps need someone to ultimately tell them in order to make the changes. That therefore is the purpose of this post, as I have taken the above common excuses, and provided you with simple yet highly effective ways around them, and not only getting, but STAYING on track for achieving your weightloss goals in 2009!

 

I don’t have time to exercise - For the vast majority of people, there IS time, it’s just a case of finding and utilising it. The key to weightloss, in it’s simplest terms, is burning more fuel than you put into your body each day. Try making simple changes to your life such as cycling to work, using stairs not lifts, walking to the shops and so on. Almost everyone out there can, if they look for it (usually not very hard!), find a 20 minute slot in their day in which they could exercise. Whether it’s getting up half an hour earlier, training on your lunch break, or a quick circuit before dinner, the opportunities are there. You can get amazing (sustained) weight loss results in  only a very short period of time, simply by choosing exercise quality over quantity. So find or make a little time, and use it wisely!

 

There’s nowhere for me to train - To these people I say ‘the world is your gym.’ Look at the road and see a running track or a velodrome, look at woodland and see the perfect place for a walk, look at a play park and see a circuit station, look at the floor in your lounge and see somewhere built for press ups, planks and about a thousand other floor based exercises. We all have the facilities to train, it’s just a case of having the imagination and determination to use them.

 

I get bored with exercise - This is up there with the most common excuses for not exercising, and it’s probably the most valid. If we don’t like something and have freedom of choice, the chances are we aren’t going to do it. However almost everyone can find some form of physical activity that they enjoy, and that will keep them stimulated enough to maintain it for long enough to achieve their goals. The beauty of exercise is that the freedom of choice is pretty much endless. I won’t go over everything, as that would take many years, and result in a repetitive strain injury, however I will give you a few simple things to vary with your training to keep you interested and achieving results:

 

  1. Exercises - don’t use the same gym routine over and over. Apart from the fact the physiological benefits will plateau out after only a few weeks, it really can be boring!
  2. Programme structure - mix up your sessions so you don’t have time to get bored. Throw in intervals when running or on the bike, use super, tri and giant sets in the gym, as well as circuits, change your routine split, sets and reps, intensity, frequency, duration etc.
  3. Location - If you get bored walking the same route, or training in the gym, mix things up! In some ways a routine can give us tunnel vision, making us not think outside the box, so don’t let this happen. If you’re getting bored in the gym, take your training to a local park. If you’re getting bored walking, get in the pool!
  4. Train WITH someone - Whether this is a friend, relative, personal trainer or a load of people in a group class, let other people help you stay motivated and on course

 

I’m not fit enough to exercise - Provided you have no long term condition that your Doctor says prevents you from exercising, the chances are that you are fit enough to exercise. Maybe you’re not in the shape you would like to be in, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t fit enough to do something about it. Just think, if right now the reason you won’t exercise is that you ‘aren’t fit enough’, imagine what things will be like in 1, 5, 10 years time if you don’t get started. One major purpose of fitness testing is to assess your current state of fitness. Whether you complete a full health and fitness assessment such as the ones we provide at Procision Fitness in Dorset, or you simply time yourself walking half a mile, I’d strongly reccommend getting one done, so that in a few weeks when you come to re-test, you can see that you were in fact fit enough to exercise, and now you have a figure that tells you how much fitter you have become as a result of a little training. It’s not about where you start, but where you can get to.

 

So that draws a close to this post. I hope that some of the pointers in here are of some use to you, and I wish you every success with your fitness and health goals for 2009. Let me know how you are getting on, and send any questions you may have.

 

Andy ;-)

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