The benefits of exercising are well documented. Anyone whose anyone knows how important it is to do. However, one of the major reasons for lack of exercise is lack of time. It may be of interest to know, that the day after winning the US presidential election, Barrack Obama was in the gym at 5am. Now, while I appreciate you have a busy life, do you honestly think you are busier than the president?
Anyone in the know will realise that training success for busy people comes down to two things - making your health a priority and using your time effectively. This is where Steve Keywood’s Personal Training can help! Day-to-day I am used to working with clients who have stressful jobs and very little free time - sometimes less than two or three 30-minute periods per week. There is no time for pointless exercises and wasted repetitions; these people need their workouts to be short, sharp and effective. If this sounds like you here are a few tips on how to get the most bang for your buck…
Firstly, start with a productive warm-up. If you are short of time, you do not need to waste valuable minutes on a treadmill, however you must not skip the warm up all together. Spend five minutes doing dynamic mobility exercises, start slowly using similar movement patterns to the ones in which you will be using during the workout. Chances are if you are like the majority of my clients, you have spent a significant amount of time over a computer prior to exercise, therefore to mobilise joints before exercise is the best method. Shoulder rolls, shrugs, rotations, squats and lunges are all effective ways of lubricating joints. Furthermore, if you have any particularly tight muscles now would be a great time to stretch them. Particular areas my busy clients find are tight tend to be chest, hamstrings and hips. This will only take you 5 minutes.
Follow this with a combination of strength training exercises. Strength training is by far the most efficient way to maintain or achieve a desired body-shape; with the other benefits of increased stability in joints it should form the main proportion of your programme. Many of my clients are amazed at the results they get from strength training, having slaved away at the treadmill for years, they thought that lifting weights was for body builders. After just a couple of weeks of strength training they realise that a well-directed programme leads to far greater weight-loss and a preferred body composition.
When short of time it is important you stick to a whole-body routine, making sure you target big muscle groups for maximum benefits. Try to include various movement patterns such as squatting, deadlifts, lunging, pushing movements (such as a bench press or press ups) and pulling movements (such as a lat pulldowns or a bent-over rows). Repeat these in a circuit type fashion with relatively short recovery time. Don’t be afraid to use heavy weights and lower repetitions, but maintain good form throughout. This should only take 15 minutes.
Anyone who knows me will realise that I have a general dislike for the conventional approach to aerobic exercise. As a general rule aerobic exercise is long, slow and boring – if you train like this it’s about time you joined the 21st century and make better use of your time. To get the best results you could try working harder for shorter time. If you are training in a gym jump on a bike, treadmill or rowing machine and try some interval training. Try going as fast as you can for one minute and then slowing right down for one minute to recover. If you repeat this four-times you will understand why this could be described as intelligent cardio. This should only take 10 minutes.
Any time remaining should be spent doing some static stretching. Again focus on any particularly tight muscles. In 30 minutes you can have a highly effective, energising workout that will reinvigorate and inspire with both function and purpose. It has enough variables to keep you interested and when all that’s done you can get on with running the country!
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Monday 27 April 2009
Who would rather look like a runner or weightlifter?
This weekend was brilliant for me. My rugby team went unbeaten all year, which for any sporting side is a great achievement. As first year as captain, I had the responsibility of making my team’s end of season speech. As you would expect from any sporting team at the end of a very good season, a certain amount of drinking would take place, but being a rugby team its fairly difficult to avoid. Being the no-good lush that I am, I indulged and suffered the consequences the next day. The hangover always reminds me why I endeavour to eat and drink healthily the majority of the time!
However, it was a great season and like the rest of my team look forward to going up a league next year. The off-season presents a number of opportunities for a sportsman. For me firstly, I can spend a little bit more time with my long suffering and ever patient wife- no doubt by September she will be happy to be rid of me on a Saturday afternoon again! It also gives me a chance to let some ongoing aches and pains heal, and get in the gym so that I am fitter and stronger next year.
My off-season this year will be a little different to most. As most people know, I have been walking round for the last 18 months with a broken wrist, having sat through numerous consultations at St Peters, and having had my op cancelled last Christmas, I am due in for the op at the end of July. After which, due to a bone graft they will take from my hip, I will be laid up for a couple of weeks. With the recovery time looking to be close to 3 months, I have a longer off-season than most, so therefore have perhaps more time to get bigger, stronger and quicker. I will keep you updated with my training programme and you can see my progress.
This weekend was also the London Marathon. A fantastic event, in which normal, everyday people from across the world participate. However, watching the television camera scan across the start line makes me wonder exactly how good for you marathon running actually is. Aside from the amount of stress that running puts on your joints, there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that exercising for longer than an hour catapults the body into a catabolic state, meaning the excessive stress begins to breakdown tissue.
Many people see running as the be all and end all. They feel they need to burn fat to look good, but when given the choice of whom they would rather look like Paula Radcliffe or Marilou Dozois-Prevost (google her!) or Seb Coe or Josh Lewsey, they tend to choose the later. The majority of my clients have far greater success in the gym lifting weights as oppose to pounding the streets. As fitness coach Charles Poliquin says ‘human beings were designed to throw stones at rabbits, not chase after them’. Not to say that running is not a worthwhile fitness pursuit, but there are far better, healthier ones.
Conversely, on Sunday afternoon I went over to see the Chinese State Circus in Guildford. It was a brilliant show. The athleticism the performers showed was fantastic. All of the performers in the show looked great. All of them had clear, defined musculature. All were balanced and strong (males and females). Although I never had the chance to find out for certain, I’m fairly sure none of them had ever taken part in a marathon.
When people tell me that running is the best form of exercise it does beg the question. Who would rather look like a runner or weightlifter?
However, it was a great season and like the rest of my team look forward to going up a league next year. The off-season presents a number of opportunities for a sportsman. For me firstly, I can spend a little bit more time with my long suffering and ever patient wife- no doubt by September she will be happy to be rid of me on a Saturday afternoon again! It also gives me a chance to let some ongoing aches and pains heal, and get in the gym so that I am fitter and stronger next year.
My off-season this year will be a little different to most. As most people know, I have been walking round for the last 18 months with a broken wrist, having sat through numerous consultations at St Peters, and having had my op cancelled last Christmas, I am due in for the op at the end of July. After which, due to a bone graft they will take from my hip, I will be laid up for a couple of weeks. With the recovery time looking to be close to 3 months, I have a longer off-season than most, so therefore have perhaps more time to get bigger, stronger and quicker. I will keep you updated with my training programme and you can see my progress.
This weekend was also the London Marathon. A fantastic event, in which normal, everyday people from across the world participate. However, watching the television camera scan across the start line makes me wonder exactly how good for you marathon running actually is. Aside from the amount of stress that running puts on your joints, there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that exercising for longer than an hour catapults the body into a catabolic state, meaning the excessive stress begins to breakdown tissue.
Many people see running as the be all and end all. They feel they need to burn fat to look good, but when given the choice of whom they would rather look like Paula Radcliffe or Marilou Dozois-Prevost (google her!) or Seb Coe or Josh Lewsey, they tend to choose the later. The majority of my clients have far greater success in the gym lifting weights as oppose to pounding the streets. As fitness coach Charles Poliquin says ‘human beings were designed to throw stones at rabbits, not chase after them’. Not to say that running is not a worthwhile fitness pursuit, but there are far better, healthier ones.
Conversely, on Sunday afternoon I went over to see the Chinese State Circus in Guildford. It was a brilliant show. The athleticism the performers showed was fantastic. All of the performers in the show looked great. All of them had clear, defined musculature. All were balanced and strong (males and females). Although I never had the chance to find out for certain, I’m fairly sure none of them had ever taken part in a marathon.
When people tell me that running is the best form of exercise it does beg the question. Who would rather look like a runner or weightlifter?
Saturday 25 April 2009
Beware of Bread!
Considered a staple food in many peoples diet, it is always one of my first recommendations to limit or eliminate bread intake from any aspiring clients diet.
Whether your goal is to lose weight or maintain a preferred bodyshape, limiting bread intake, in both quantity and frequency, for a short period of time will allow you the opportunity to see how your body reacts.
Introduced to our diet about 10,000 years ago, it has been proposed by many experts that the human machinery is not designed to function optimally on grains.
By eliminating bread from their diets for two weeks, the majority of my clients report feeling much better. They feel more balanced, less symptoms of bloatedness and far more energised.
If you need a to replace bread, try Ryvita or Oat Cakes and see what difference it make to your health and fitness ambitions.
Whether your goal is to lose weight or maintain a preferred bodyshape, limiting bread intake, in both quantity and frequency, for a short period of time will allow you the opportunity to see how your body reacts.
Introduced to our diet about 10,000 years ago, it has been proposed by many experts that the human machinery is not designed to function optimally on grains.
By eliminating bread from their diets for two weeks, the majority of my clients report feeling much better. They feel more balanced, less symptoms of bloatedness and far more energised.
If you need a to replace bread, try Ryvita or Oat Cakes and see what difference it make to your health and fitness ambitions.
Friday 24 April 2009
The 300 Workout
This week for a bit of variation a few of my clients attempted the 300 workout.
Based on the movie 300, the 300 workout is a high intensity exercise routine designed to sculpt the body to resemble the actors playing Spartans in the movie 300.
During the movie, King Leonidas (Gerrard Butler) heads out to lead the Battle of Thermopylae. In it, 300 Spartans fought to their death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army.
In the movie, Butler is dressed for war, shirtless with a red cape flowing behind. Undoubtedly in good shape, his tone and definition obviously provoked intense speculation.
Needless to say, the 300 workout is not for the faint-hearted…
The Routine
The workout gets its name from the total number of repetitions. The idea is that there should be no rest between movements and you are rated in the amount of time it takes you to complete.
25 Pullups
50 Deadlifts with 60kg
50 Pushups
50 24-inch box jumps
50 Floor wipers
50 1-arm clean and press with 16kg kettlebell
25 Pullups
It is important to note, for safety reasons, that I tailored this workout to suit each individual client that was game enough to give it a go. However, I have only received positive reaction from every client.
Even when tailored the workout presents enough of a challenge. If you fancy giving it a go do so with extreme caution. Select the appropriate weights for your fitness level and maintain correct form throughout.
Whilst preparing for the movie, one of the lead actors is reported to have completed this workout in under 18mins. Nevertheless, completing this workout between 20-25 minutes can be considered a good time.
Let me know how you get on.
Based on the movie 300, the 300 workout is a high intensity exercise routine designed to sculpt the body to resemble the actors playing Spartans in the movie 300.
During the movie, King Leonidas (Gerrard Butler) heads out to lead the Battle of Thermopylae. In it, 300 Spartans fought to their death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army.
In the movie, Butler is dressed for war, shirtless with a red cape flowing behind. Undoubtedly in good shape, his tone and definition obviously provoked intense speculation.
Needless to say, the 300 workout is not for the faint-hearted…
The Routine
The workout gets its name from the total number of repetitions. The idea is that there should be no rest between movements and you are rated in the amount of time it takes you to complete.
25 Pullups
50 Deadlifts with 60kg
50 Pushups
50 24-inch box jumps
50 Floor wipers
50 1-arm clean and press with 16kg kettlebell
25 Pullups
It is important to note, for safety reasons, that I tailored this workout to suit each individual client that was game enough to give it a go. However, I have only received positive reaction from every client.
Even when tailored the workout presents enough of a challenge. If you fancy giving it a go do so with extreme caution. Select the appropriate weights for your fitness level and maintain correct form throughout.
Whilst preparing for the movie, one of the lead actors is reported to have completed this workout in under 18mins. Nevertheless, completing this workout between 20-25 minutes can be considered a good time.
Let me know how you get on.
How to Eat, Move and be Healthy
As a fitness professional the advice given in this book extremely useful.
Its concise, easy to read and understand, and can help anyone looking to improve aspects of health and fitness.
For all of my clients, it outlines many methods used in my studio and will provide a much greater appreciation for why we do what we do.
Paul Chek is an excellent motivator and teacher, and all his major strategies are combined in this one book. With so many books on health and fitness available to buy, if you were to buy only one book I recommend ‘How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy’.
Check it out on Amazon today!
Its concise, easy to read and understand, and can help anyone looking to improve aspects of health and fitness.
For all of my clients, it outlines many methods used in my studio and will provide a much greater appreciation for why we do what we do.
Paul Chek is an excellent motivator and teacher, and all his major strategies are combined in this one book. With so many books on health and fitness available to buy, if you were to buy only one book I recommend ‘How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy’.
Check it out on Amazon today!
Fruit Juice: Is it healthy?
In my experience, for the majority of my clients fruit juices are best avoided as they are too high in sugar. With all the fibre extracted, the concentrated fruit sugar has a particularly powerful negative impact on insulin and blood sugar control. Sugar flooding into your bloodstream causes a strong insulin surge that rapidly lowers blood sugar and increases fat storage.
However, vegetable juices, as long as they are freshly made, are recommended in moderation. One glass, three to four times per week can be a great way of getting nutrients into your diet. Try combining carrots, celery and spinach for a delicious juice, by making it yourself you will realise that you will never get the same tasting juice twice!
However, vegetable juices, as long as they are freshly made, are recommended in moderation. One glass, three to four times per week can be a great way of getting nutrients into your diet. Try combining carrots, celery and spinach for a delicious juice, by making it yourself you will realise that you will never get the same tasting juice twice!
Strength Training: The missing ingredient in women’s fitness.
The importance of resistance training for women should not be underestimated. An issue surrounded by misconceptions, strength training has a fantastic ability to create an optimal body composition, a well-balanced physique and an injury-free lifestyle.
Strength training has been proven to benefit all populations, from adolescent athletes to seniors. Women, in particular, see tremendous benefits from strength training- and certainly NO BULKING!
Time and time again, I meet women who rely on cardiovascular activity and a low calorie diet to change their physical appearance. Unfortunately, low calorie diets merely punish the soul and plummet the metabolism, and, without including consistent strength training in their program, effecting change can be an impossible goal.
Women further benefit from strength training because of the increase in resting metabolism created by strength training. Because of this increase, women who are trying to reduce body fat will do so more easily.
For women of middle age, this is particularly important. Strength training can help them avoid that predicable metabolic sluggishness that often occurs at that stage in life. Thus, the true secret to keeping middle age pounds off is not to eat less, but to strength train more!
Strength training need not be complex or overly time consuming. It can fit easily into any woman’s lifestyle, since it requires minimal equipment and time. Using free weights you can use all major muscle groups and improve body image very safely and effectively.
For the safest, most effective program, you should seek the advice of a certified fitness professional so why not give me a call.
Strength training has been proven to benefit all populations, from adolescent athletes to seniors. Women, in particular, see tremendous benefits from strength training- and certainly NO BULKING!
Time and time again, I meet women who rely on cardiovascular activity and a low calorie diet to change their physical appearance. Unfortunately, low calorie diets merely punish the soul and plummet the metabolism, and, without including consistent strength training in their program, effecting change can be an impossible goal.
Women further benefit from strength training because of the increase in resting metabolism created by strength training. Because of this increase, women who are trying to reduce body fat will do so more easily.
For women of middle age, this is particularly important. Strength training can help them avoid that predicable metabolic sluggishness that often occurs at that stage in life. Thus, the true secret to keeping middle age pounds off is not to eat less, but to strength train more!
Strength training need not be complex or overly time consuming. It can fit easily into any woman’s lifestyle, since it requires minimal equipment and time. Using free weights you can use all major muscle groups and improve body image very safely and effectively.
For the safest, most effective program, you should seek the advice of a certified fitness professional so why not give me a call.
Hello and Welcome
Hello and welcome to my blog !
From now on I’ll be using this blog to archive any interesting articles on health and fitness. I will endeavour to regularly update it with tips, news and views to interest and inspire both clients and friends.
I welcome any feedback so feel free to contact me via my webpage www.stevekeywood.co.uk or call 07786 513 388.
In the meantime, please enjoy.
From now on I’ll be using this blog to archive any interesting articles on health and fitness. I will endeavour to regularly update it with tips, news and views to interest and inspire both clients and friends.
I welcome any feedback so feel free to contact me via my webpage www.stevekeywood.co.uk or call 07786 513 388.
In the meantime, please enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)