Back on Spin FM

I have been asked back on to Spin 103.8fm tomorrow (2nd October) and should be on at about 1.25-1.30pm. They picked up on my banish you belly fat article which is one of the most read articles I have done in the last three months. You can read that here – Banish your belly fat 

Coming back on saturday the 2nd of october

I really enjoy the show anytime I get asked on as I always get lots of texts so hope you enjoy it and text the show if you get a chance.

Banish Your Belly Fat Now

The most common request I get from new and sometimes existing clients is to get rid of their flabby belly and have a stomach to be proud of. There are so many misconceptions with regard to this popular goal that this month I will inform you on how I help my clients to achieve a firm and flat stomach in record time.

Rule 1 – Do the belly fat check up

Are you one of those women that feel good about all other areas of your body but are not too happy about the wedge of fat that keeps peeping over your waistline? The amount of fat you carry on your belly has proven to be an even better measure of health and fitness than the old body mass index (a weight/height ratio). Experts are now using a waist to hip ratio as an indicator of health and the midsection is one of the most dangerous places for carrying extra pounds. In 2007 Cambridge University in the UK concluded that

“Indices of abdominal obesity were more consistently and strongly predictive of coronary heart disease than body mass index. These simple and inexpensive measurements could be used to assess obesity-related coronary heart disease risk in relatively healthy men and women.”

Get the tape measure out now

This is just one of a number of studies that have shown a strong link between where you store your fat and overall health. Visceral fat is the fat that is contained deep inside the abdomen and surrounding the organs and the higher this level the higher your risk of heart disease, diabetes and many other health problems.

To take this simple measurement you do it first thing in the morning and without pulling too tightly wrap a measuring tape around your waist so that it is right above your belly button. Remember don’t suck in your stomach and breathe naturally. Perform the same measurement method on the hips (go around the buttocks). You then divide the waist by the hip measurement. There are a number of calculators for this online if you wish to use them.  

http://www.usnireland.ie/advice/advice_calculators_hip.asp 

A WHR of 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men have been shown to correlate strongly with general health. The higher you go above these figures the increased risk of all degnerative diseases. 

So just because you are skinny in other areas does in no way make you healthy and it’s important to do this little check-up to see where you stand. Plus you then have a measurement to repeat so you can check your progress when you apply the next few rules

Rule 2 – You can’t spot reduce

Now I have gotten the boring and depressing science bit out of the way lets address your flabby stomach. All you have to do is check out the following website for the best stomach fat burning exercises ever. Its called www.suckerforfatloss.com

I really hope you didn’t stop reading this and checked out the site. If you did then you really need a good telling off and I might need to have a chat with you as I have some lovely apartments situated in a ghost estate in the midlands that I could offload onto you. Please remember for all times that if you have any area that needs fat reduction then you need to work the entire body and you cannot select a particular area for fat loss. Fitness equipment manufacturers and unfortunately some personal trainers have been guilty of selling their product or service based on being able to help you spot reduce belly fat but the reality is that it simply does not work. I would love to list off four or five great stomach exercises (which there are on my blog) that you could do three to four times a week in just 10-15mins that would strip away the fat but in reality it would not do much and there are faster ways to get the job done. It must be said that there is no problem in doing stomach/back exercises as part of an entire training program.

Years ago when I was the director of one of the largest gyms in the country I refused to run any stomach or tummy classes that still seem so popular. I took this stand, as I did not want to sell a lie to the members. I wanted the members to get results fast and spending 15-30mins working on stomach exercises is the furthest way from getting you a flat stomach I could imagine.

Rule 3 – Intervals for rapid fat loss

Interval training (IT) is a form of exercise that is done in an On/Off fashion where you work hard (On) for 30-60secs, recover (Off) for double or triple the amount of work time and repeat 6-10times. For example, light walk/jog for 2mins (Off) followed by 1min run/sprint (On), light jog/walk to recover for 2mins and repeat 6 times. You can use any form of exercise to do this and start at any level of fitness so long as you start slowly and build up gradually to harder sessions. It can be done on a bike like in spinning classes, while swimming, walking or my personal favourite is through using a mix of body weight exercises, kettlebells and some aerobic exercise like fast walking, skipping or running.  A workout like this is going to do way more for rapid fat loss than a simple run,cycle, walk etc as it really ramps up the metabolism and its easy to do it again and see performance improvements.

In 1994 a landmark study was published which concluded that a training group doing IT for 20mins 3 times a week for 13 weeks burned nine times more fat than those doing long, boring training for 45-60mins 3 times a week for 20 weeks. These results have been supported time and time again since this date proving its amazing benefits.

The magic of IT is in the intensity of the training or the ‘On’ part. When you are working hard for that 30-60secs and through repetition, you’re up-regulating your ability to use fat as energy after the session has finished, increasing you’re ability to train at high intensity and increasing growth hormone levels which aid fat loss. 48-72hrs after an IT session you’re still burning fat and moving your metabolism into overdrive.

When my clients train with me individually or in my group sessions we always do some form of IT (with weights or straight aerobic exercise) to take advantage of the above benefits. Which would you prefer, getting nine times more fat loss in less time doing, for example, some kettlebell swings and press ups in 15mins, or spending endless hours never really getting the results you deserve?

Rule 4 – Carbs, the flat stomach nemesis

One of the first areas you must address when you want to drop the stomach flab is to cut back on the bread, rice, cereals, pasta, potatoes, alcohol and all junk food. Time and time again when my clients take this simple step and replace these foods with a little fruit, way more vegetables, more meat, fish, eggs and some good fats from the likes of avocadoes, nuts/seeds and olive oil their stomach amazingly shrinks. There are two reasons why this happens 1) the latter foods cause less bloating 2) the latter foods do not cause your blood sugar levels and consequently your insulin levels to rise as much as the former foods.

Fat loss in any area can be greatly aided through a diet that does not promote blood sugar levels to rise excessively and repeatedly. When sugar levels increase rapidly insulin is released in large amounts and that meal can be more easily stored as fat. This is the glaring issue I have with ‘fat free’ or ‘low fat’ products. Many of them contain sugar, which only promote fat gain. There are lots of theories on how best to drop weight and burn fat through diet and all I can present to you is what I see work consistently with the people I train every day. All of my clients know that their success is completely dependent on the quality and quantity of the carbs they eat and none of them feel like they are ‘on a diet’. Girls, if you want to feel and look your best then do what skinny women do and eat less carbs, stop eating like a man and make nutrition changes for life rather than go on a ‘diet’.

Rule 5 – Get more zzz’s

Did you know that people under forty who sleep less than five hours per night are more likely to gain belly fat over time? This was the conclusion of a study looking into the link between fat gain and sleep. It makes perfect sense as when you are awake more you have more time to eat. When it’s getting late in the day and you’re very tired it’s way more likely that you are going to pick on those high carb foods. In these situations always have some eggs on hand for a quick omelette, fruit and nuts or even a bit of nice dark chocolate to tie you over.  

Another point is that when you are deprived of sleep or very stressed out, a substance called grehlin is increased and this makes you want to eat more. If you are not getting enough shuteye it can also reduce leptin levels. This substance is responsible for appetite regulation so when you are lacking enough sleep your body can be telling you that you are hungrier than you really are and can’t properly let you know when you have eaten enough as effectively as it might when you are fully rested. Make sure you wake up feeling rested and ready for the day and a general rule of thumb is 7-8hrs per night.

Like the old Irish proverb goes – “A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cure’s in the doctor’s handbook”

Saying hello to Barbara

Yesterday I visited the great guys in www.crossfit.ie for a workout and instead of doing their workout of the day (WOD) I was allowed to pick the session.

I went with crossfit barbara as its been a few months since doing it and wanted to make sure my form was up to the crossfit standards. It goes as follows –

20 pull ups (inverted rows if you need to scale)

30 press ups (chest touches floor)

40 sit ups (shoulders to touch knees if possible)

50 squats

all done for 5 rounds with a strict 3mins break between rounds. The first time I did this I went straight through the 5 rounds with no break – dying the next day!!

I plugged in the tunes, ramped it up to 11 and I must say who couldnt push hard when this killer tune is playing –

Myself, colm and tom blasted through the first round (got the first one in bang on 3mins) but every round there after was getting slower with the press ups taking for—-ever! Possibly due to all that benching the previous day and Colm noted that I am dropping my hips too much on my press ups – just me getting lazy as its been pointed out by my good friend Marco also.

I ended up doing a 32.01min time including all breaks. I have done it under 30mins before but I must say the chest to knees on the sit ups really slowed me down as I would normally not have come that high. On a plus note I got all the pull ups in every round as 20reps unbroken i.e. I did not have to come off the bar. Hands are a bit rough from that today though. I did not take any video but here is the guys at crossfit kalmar doing it well –

Certainly feeling it today and please remember if you want to give this a shot then aim for 3 rounds and keep a good range of motion on all exercises. Oh and I hope the guys at crossfit liked the flapjacks as they are my bribe to get to train with them in their great facility. Looking forward to the next time.

Oh 2 more vids of the world class Pat Barber doing the same workout in a crossfit gym in New Zealand and in a smoking time of 26.50mins – stunning!

And one by Bionic (possibly one of my fav crossfit competitors as his numbers are stunning!). Here he does the exact same workout in 30.05mins but doing chest to bar on the pull ups – totally hard core.

On a small point, they both hook their feet under a pair of dumbbells which might help me next time with speed as we did our unhooked and without the use of an ab mat.

Ok honest last one. I saw this video and would like to comment. Just watch the press ups and please note that he never once touches the floor with his chest (pause it any time to see as its miles from the floor).

 Head dropping too much and like for me hips dropping too much (BUT I made sure I touched chest off floor on ever rep). Obviously I think this is wrong and watch bionic and pat do the press ups – chest on floor or it does not count.

Secondly, on his sit ups he is using his hands to pull at his legs to get up on almost all reps – fail!! Not allowed. Squats are spot on though.

i suppose what I am saying is standardize the movements. I have first hand experience with this in crossfit competitions as you get away with nothing and since that I have become massively aware of making sure I use full range on all exercises so when I post a time or workout it has been done correctly.

Hope this helps and I am going back to eating right now – one of those days where I just can’t eat enough!

Rapid fat loss in less time

When people want to increase their fitness levels and drop a few pounds typically they start doing aerobic exercise like walking, jogging, cycling, swimming in the belief that they will become slimmer and fitter. There is only one problem – at best most will become slightly smaller versions of themselves’ and will most likely remain in the same shape.

There is a better way and that’s interval training (IT). IT involves repeated bouts of higher intensity exercise usually lasting for no more than 10-30mins (total length of session). A typical interval program would involve the following:

• Walk 2mins followed by 1mins jog/very fast walk done six times then followed by a light walk/jog for 5mins.

You can do IT using any type of exercise e.g. weight training, swimming, cycling, cross trainer etc the most important point is that when you have to work hard for that 1min you be honest enough and really work hard, then recover and repeat. It’s also important to progress with your intervals, for example, walking/jogging faster once you have gotten used to it. IT is hard so ensure that if you do it on a Monday the next aerobic session should be lighter and easier then followed by another IT session just so you do not burn out (of course mixing in the weights sessions also).

Because IT is done at a higher intensity than normal long, slow, boring cardio some people have concerns over the effect it has on their heart. In June 2007 a study in Circulation was published which showed the superior cardiovascular effect of aerobic interval training versus moderate continuous training in heart failure patients. They  took 27 75+-year-old patients who had had heart attacks and got them to do intervals or steady aerobic training. They concluded that in the IT group their heart became healthier, they increased their fitness nearly 3 times more and improved the quality of life in the patients. So if anything IT proved more effective and was better for building a healthy heart

Faster results in less time - win!

The benefits are that you will increase fitness and burn more fat in half the time it would normally take you. Take for example a study done back in 1994 published in Metabolism. They did 20 weeks endurance training where the participants burned almost 29,000 calories as compared to 13 weeks IT where they burned just 13,600 calories. Now that’s a big difference in calories burned and training time yet they discovered the IT group lost 9 times more fat at the end of the program! Its up to you to decide – do long boring aerobic exercise and get slower or no results or burn 9 times more fat in much less time. How this works is basically because the intensity is much harder your body becomes more of a fat burning machine and speeds up /increases the enzymes responsible for burning fat. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology in April 2007 showed that even just 2-weeks of IT increases the capacity for fat oxidation and concluded that

“Seven sessions of IT over 2 wk induced marked increases in whole body and skeletal muscle capacity for fatty acid oxidation during exercise in moderately active women”.

There is enough scientific proof now available to show that IT will give you quicker results in less time so start working harder in less time rather than spending all your previous time doing boring steady aerobic training. Boot camp classes, spinning etc are all examples of group training that are IT based and will give the same training effect.

I use interval training in almost every single session I do with clients to some extent. This could involve weights, running, cross trainer, spinning bikes, boxing etc. The following video is an example of an interval session I did recently on a basketball court. I know this is not always possible for most but you can set this up outside really easily (obviously skip the basketball shots if that’s not your thing).

I will always train myself and my clients focusing on performance improvements and NOT just focus on fat loss. The fat loss will happen as long as your diet is good and you are making progress on your intervals and the weights you are lifting . Otherwise it’s just pretty boy/girl training which is so over. I prefer to move/act like an athlete NOT train like a bodybuilder. It’s a travesty that I see many people train in gyms like a bodybuilder yet they all want to look athletic. Might need a change in program me thinks?

I hope the dunk at the end of the video shows that for me being athletic is of paramount importance rather than just looking good naked!

New Article in RSVP Magazine

So the article i did for RSVP magazine has finally come out – it was supposed to be a seperate Mens section/magazine but things changed and they put it in as an insert.http://www.rsvpmagazine.ie/

RSVP Mag

The article was on how to burn fat and increase fitness through the use of interval training and below is a copy of it – there were other areas also covered on working the chest and loosing the moobs for men but your just going to have to buy it for the pictures of me looking rather silly.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So you finally decide to get in shape, drop some fat and loose the man boobs and belly that were making you look and feel terrible in anything more figure hugging than a baggy shirt. You dust off the old runners and decide the best plan of attack is to do some gentle walking/running or join a gym where you can do the same while watching TV and some cute girls. Weeks go by with little or no results to show for your efforts. Yes you may feel fitter and you might have even dropped a few pounds but what if I was to tell you that conventional wisdom when it comes to burning fat and increasing fitness is completely outdated and you’re taking the slow road to looking and feeling great.

 

Doing intervals for faster fat loss

For years we have been told that in order to burn fat through exercise you must train at a comfortable level for a long time, from 45-60mins, (long, slow, distance (LSD) training) so you stay in your ‘fat burning’ zone. The fact is that over the past 10 years there has been a significant shift in that thinking and has moved towards interval training (IT) – harder, more intense workouts done for a shorter time that will have you looking and feeling great very quickly.

 

IT is a form of aerobic exercise that is done in an On/Off fashion where you work hard (On) for 30-60secs, recover (Off) for double or triple the amount of work time and repeat 6-10times. For example, light walk/jog for 2mins (Off) followed by 1min run/sprint (On), light jog/walk to recover for 2mins and repeat 6 times. You can use any form of aerobic exercise to do this and start at any level of fitness so long as you start slowly and build up gradually to harder sessions. It can be done on a bike like in spinning classes, while swimming, walking or any form of exercise that gets your heart rate up.

 

In 1994 a landmark study was published which concluded that a training group doing IT for 20mins 3 times a week for 13 weeks burned 9 TIMES more fat than those doing boring LSD training for 45-60mins 3 times a week for 20 weeks. These results have been supported time and time again since this date proving its amazing benefits.

 

open your mind and look at the proof in the research

The magic of IT is in the intensity of the training or the ‘On’ part. When you are working hard for that 30-60secs and through repetition, you’re up-regulating your ability to use fat as energy after the session has finished, increasing you’re ability to train at high intensity and increasing growth hormone levels which aid fat loss. 48-72hrs AFTER an IT session you’re still burning fat and moving your metabolism into overdrive! LSD training on the other hand decreases muscle strength/power, breaks down muscle and does not increase metabolism beyond 24hrs.

 

Since 1994 a litany of research papers have confirmed the superiority of IT in everyone from trained athletes, diabetics, chronic heart failure patients and overweight patients. I use IT with all my clients and it has consistently shown faster results than doing LSD training. I still advise clients to do some LSD training but only if they have time on their non-training days as a recovery or easy session. IT should be done no more than 3 times a week due to its intensity and is best combined with a proper weights program, stretching and of course a good diet. It’s not about putting in the time is about putting in the effort.