Do YOU Have Time To Exercise?

One of the most common barriers to exercise is often time.

With the stresses and strains of the real world nobody seems to have any ‘spare’ time. 

This thought however is tempered by the understanding that time is the great equaliser. Young or old, rich or poor, male or female, we all only have the same 24hrs a day.  This begs the question is how do busy people find the time for exercise? 

The truth is its about priorities. If you value exercise, or more importantly value the results of the exercise, you will be driven to make time. 

This will sound rather mean to those that don’t exercise and feel they can’t find the time, but my experience of working with many busy mums and businessmen has taught me one thing - if it’s important you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.

By making it important I’m talking about having a clear goal and a strong reason to achieve it, you will be driven to succeed because it will be of high value to you. 

Furthermore if you are engaged in the process and enjoy the experience it’s amazing how you can find the time to fit it in.

I will further counter the challenge of time by suggesting that exercise doesn’t need to take an hour. In the last couple of months I have helped more than 50 people get fitter, leaner and lose weight with only 15 minutes exercise a day. And I haven’t even met them!

The people who have followed my internet-based plan are all busy people but have managed to integrate this fifteen-minute daily exercise habit along with healthy eating to achieve amazing results. I guess it helps that I’ve made it a bodyweight exercise plan that anyone can participate in regardless of their fitness level and they can do it at home before or after work with no equipment. 

I also feel alongside the strong message (all you need to do is exercise 15-minutes a day and eat better) and simple application the concerns of these people were legitimised by social proof (I have many walking talking adverts of the success of my plans), they had someone to answer to and a strong support network (I set up a forum for them to check into daily so I could coach and advise) I was tracking there results weekly to keep them accountable. This all helped to make the process more engaging and successful.

My point is not to sell you my plan. But to demonstrate we all find time to exercise a challenge. Before you start a plan you will struggle with energy, motivation, fear of competency, fear of failure. But if you look beyond time and consider some other very important aspects such as selecting the correct modality, surrounding yourself with the right people and embrace the process it becomes very doable. 

3 Steps To Lose Belly Fat

Apologies for being a little blog shy recently. Sometimes I have to work...

I’m now three and a half weeks into my six-pack challenge and I’m loving it.

It’s amazing how eating healthier and regular consistent exercise can bring about an amazing sense of well-being. I’ve been challenging myself in the gym with a mixture of free weights and bodyweight exercise and just this week I’ve started doing sprints. 

Whilst the exercise element of my challenge is important to develop muscle tone I feel there are a couple of aspects people overlook about this type of goal. Without these you can forget about creating a lean, toned and healthy body.

Check my three most important steps to losing belly fat...

Sugar

To be fair, sugar doesn’t just make your belly fat - it makes you fat all over. I’ve seen it debated over the internet (...where the truth is rife?!) with varying answers. The reason being it is a catalyst for many other physiological reactions. Sugar is your bodies preferred source of energy. In the presence of sugar your body will not use body fat for fuel (an overly simple explanation...). By cutting simple sugars (chocolate, sweets, fruit) and reducing starchy carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes) your body will be able to use stored energy (your belly fat) for fuel.

Top Tip: Eat a diet of mainly good quality protein (poultry, fish, meat) rich in healthy fat (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, fish oil) with an abundance of greens and low and medium starchy vegetables (brocoli, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage) for ultimate change in body composition.

Sleep

This is the type of advice most people like to hear! People who get a good nights sleep store less fat. The reason for this is multiple. Your body regenerates over night. You will get a healthy boost in growth hormones which assist in recovering from the trauma and stresses of daily life. Furthermore, getting a good nights sleep helps curtail your appetite. It’s true! When sleep deprived your body secretes more of the hormone Grehlin which makes you want to eat more. It also reduces the amount of Leptin (also a hormone!), which reduces your appetite and lets you know you’re full. Therefore when sleep deprived your body will tell you that you are hungry and not tell you when you are full!

Top Tip: An hour before 12 is worth two after! Get to bed by 10pm for the best quality sleep. If you struggle with sleep try supplementing with magnesium and zinc 30mins before bedtime. 

Stress

Whilst I’m not overly enamored about the concept of spot reduction (targeted fat loss) I do feel there is an element of truth to this one. In the book Cortisol Connection, the author presents a fascinating insight into how the stress hormone cortisol causes people to store belly fat. Aside from this I have seen and experienced the impact chronic stress can have on the systems of the body. When stressed it affects the way you digest food meaning you become less nourished, breath meaning you become tense and tight and as we know affects the way you sleep. 

Top Tip: Stress comes in many forms. I’ve found by drinking less caffeine, regular exercise and eating lots of nutritious food I’m less stressed, anxious and generally feel more calm, although I’m sure this is particularly insightful...

The ABS Challenge: The Importance of Looking Good Naked

The first week of The ABS Challenge is complete. Even for a fitness fanatic with laser beam focus, the initial week of any plan is never easy. You can always expect a certain amount of withdrawal symptoms likened to a drug addict without their fix. Headaches, lethargy, moodiness ...you name it I’ve had it. 

Fortunately, my experience of cleaning up my diet has taught me several things. Firstly, it should only last about five days. And secondly, it’ll be worth it in the end. I know after the first week of eliminating sugar, caffeine and processed foods I will be looking and feeling fantastic and and this is enough to keep me on track.

After admitting my failings last week and confessing to turning into a caffeine and carbohydrate junky whilst training for The Wall Ultra Run I have been fascinated by the amount of interest in my latest challenge. I guess it proves my super-human feats of ultra endurance mean nothing and getting a six-pack and looking better naked is far more important.

I’m not saying my followers are a fickle bunch, but... 

This also tells me another thing. You guys don’t care about my witty repertoire and just want to see what I’m doing to get in beach-ready in just six-weeks and know how I’ve done it...

So without further ado...

This is what a typical day looks like...

Breakfast: Vegetable Omelet (3 eggs, broccoli, orange pepper & green beans)

Lunch: A Man Salad (king prawns, spinach, rocket & watercress, avocado, cherry tomatoes, Dressing: fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, pinch of pink Himalayan salt & pepper) & a raw carrot and hummus.

Afternoon Snack: Cucumber & Hummus

Dinner: Tuna Steak & Roast Vegetables (peppers, courgettes, fennel, sweet potato)

Post-Exercise: Protein Shake (Sun Warrior Vegan Protein Powder, rice milk, banana)

To compliment this I’m indulging in a a bit of heavy strength training four or five times a week (I will elaborate on this in another post...) and bodyweight circuits two or three times per week.

What do I look like now...

Only joking...

BOOM! I’ve lost 2 INCHES from my stomach in just 1 week! Still pretty impressive in comparison to last weeks, right?

I’m still a little skinny (understatement - I’m not sure I can change this significantly in six-weeks...) but progress nevertheless. 

I’ll be back next week with another update.


Just in case you thought this was weird - I find taking pictures of myself and posting them on the internet strange too...

What’s Next? Welcome to the ABS Challenge!

I’ve just completed my EPIC sixty-nine mile ultra run and now it’s time to get fit and healthy...

This might sound like a contradiction in terms, but the truth of it is running that far and the type of training involved is NOT healthy.

During my preparation for the big race I developed what can only be described as an unhealthy relationship with chocolate and caffeine. It became common practice to come home from a run, open the fridge and inhale. Not good.

Therefore, when The ABS Challenge came to town (more metaphorical - it’s run on the internet) I decided to sign up. 

I’m under no illusion - I don’t plan on winning it. I just want an incentive to get back in the gym and start eating healthily again. And there is no greater motivation to eat healthily and start training than public humiliation.

So... For the next six-weeks I will be posting my bare chested torso online for the world to see and working my ass off in the gym.

This is great for you guys for a couple of reasons:

1. Because I will be blogging lots hints and tips
2. Because you will get to see my bare naked torso

Where do I start???

I NEED to start eating clean nourishing food. I will start eating more fresh fish, fresh poultry, fresh meat, fresh fruit, fresh veg. Don’t get me wrong my diet wasn’t tooooooo bad. But I know I will need to bin the chocolate and caffeine.

I’ll be trading my bad habits for some healthy new ones. I’ll make sure I’m getting five portions of vegetables a day, I will plan my lunch to include a healthy portion of protein and salad and I will avoid my trips to Starbucks (humph...) 

I know after the first week this will become second nature and I will start to feel AMAZING.

What else???

I’m gonna start to get back in the gym. I will start using big compound strength exercises such as squats, lunges, bench presses and pull ups. These will start to sculpt and tone my muscles (Wow! Did I just say two of most disgusting words in fitness?!) 

Is that all???

No. I will start to get to bed on time too. 

All in all it’s gonna be AWESOME.

So... With the maximum amount of humiliation here it is. My before pics...

Yes, Shameful. BUT if nothing else it is proof running a very long way is NOT good for getting in shape. And, that despite my holiday to Menorca only a month ago, my tan has gone.

Keep up to date with my progress on here. Or get following on Twitter @SteveKeywoodPT or even on Facebook.


Did I really use the words 'sculpt' and 'tone'?!