BOOT CAMP KICK STARTS NEW FITNESS REGIME

Former Royal Marines Reservist Rob Dale is launching a new offensive in his fitness company’s bid to keep Guildford fit and healthy in the run-up to Christmas and the New Year.

Rob launched 121exercise in 2004 offering personal training based on the tough workouts he developed with the marines in some of the world’s most inhospitable environments including the Norwegian high Arctic. He has now launched a new lower cost option which brings fitness coaching within the reach of everyone.

Rob, who lives in Burpham, Guildford, says “121exercise has proved to be very popular for men and women, offering an individually tailored programme for a period of weeks or even months. This is good value but the cost of individual training was beyond many people who wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle”.

Drawing on his experience as a physical training instructor in the Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) where he specialised in improving recruits’ endurance, strength and circuit training abilities so that they could pass the arduous commando tests, Rob has now launched a boot camp group training programme which reduces the cost to members.

Rob, who holds a sports science degree from Kingston University, says “my sports science background and time spent training with the RMR has developed my awareness and skills of how to train people from all walks of life to go that extra mile and reach their full fitness potential”.

Boot camps are 45 minute group circuit training sessions that work the whole body and cater for all ages and abilities. The circuit can consist of any number of exercises including sit-ups, squats, press-ups and sprints.

Also there are different ways to do each exercise to accommodate all levels of fitness. Each exercise lasts 20 to 60 seconds before moving on to the next activity and classes can be all male, all female or mixed and are held virtually anywhere.

Rob says “circuit training once, twice or three times a week can significantly improve overall fitness and has been shown to burn more calories than traditional gym workouts”.

Rob is currently running boot camps in Burpham, Claygate and Hersham. For full details please visit www.getfitbootcamp.co.uk

Interval Training 1 (Duration approx 30 minutes)

Go to your local park or athletics ground. Try to find a flat non slippy 100 metre stretch of ground (e.g. football pitch).

Jog around for 5-10 minutes performing mobilisation exercises (shoulder circles, heel flicks etc) and short controlled sprints (10-20 metres / 18 yard line on a football pitch) to fully warm up.

Once ready sprint / fast jog 100 metres as fast as you can then really slow jog or medium paced walk back to where you started keeping your arms and legs moving.

Once rested / active recovery for 1 minute perform another 100 metre sprint / fast jog as fast as possible and repeat the walk jog back for recovery.

Perform 10 of these interval repetitions trying to push yourself as hard as possible for the 100 metres knowing that you’ll have a minute’s recovery afterwards to catch your breath.

You’ll most probably become a bit slower and more tired towards the end of the sprints but still try to work hard.

Afterwards perform a good controlled cool down and stretch and if you want to make the session longer then combine with a continuous / steady state jog afterwards or sit ups, weights etc.

Winter Warmer Smoothie

Warm and spicy – ideal for a cosy winter’s night.

• 2 pears, quartered and cored
• 2 apple, quartered and cored
• 4 whole star anise (Chinese spice)

Juice the fruit together and pour into a saucepan. Add the star anise (Chinese spice). Bring slowly to the boil and allow to infuse. Pour into a glass and serve warm.

Government Exercise Guidelines

Government guidelines recommend 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week, but only one in five women currently reaches that target, a survey of over 350,000 people found last year.

Visit this BBC link to read the whole report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7094936.stm

There has also been an interesting study into the health benefits of moderate exercise compared to vigorous exercise.

The NHS guidelines say "taking a brisk walk, spending some time doing the gardening or doing a few laps of the local swimming pool on the way home from work" can all improve health.

But the researchers from Exeter and Brunel Universities said these activities were unlikely to do much for them and added, "brisk walking offers some health benefits, but jogging, running and other vigorous activities offer maximal protection from disease."

Visit this BBC link to read the whole report:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7035557.stm

Wettest November in History!

The Met Office has said last month was the wettest November on record, with an average of 217.4mm (8.6in) of rain across the UK.

The previous recorded average of 193.6mm (7.6in) dates back to 1951.

Well done to all my boot camp members who came out and trained through the wet conditions. The sessions only last for 45 minutes so if you turn up wearing sensible clothing then you should stay warm and dry and still be able to have a good beneficial workout.

I’ve got Gore-Tex waterproof trainers, water resistant tracksuit bottoms, a waterproof golf jacket, waterproof gloves and a water resistant hat that keep me warm and dry whilst I run the outdoor boot camp sessions for my members. I picked them up from different places like TK Max, Sports Direct and eBay.

When I used to be in the Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) we used to say ‘If it aint raining, it aint training!’.

If you can enjoy the sessions through the wintertime then you’ll love them in the summertime!

New Years Resolutions / Xmas Fitness Training

Christmas is a great time to enjoy with friends and family and an American study has found that people don't put on as much weight over the Christmas period as has traditionally been thought, research suggests on the BBC News Channel - visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/687024.stm to read the whole report.

The bad thing though is that whilst people only put on a few pounds over Christmas it has been shown that they never loose that weight so every year people are getting heavier and heavier.

Hence the reason why I started my boot camps in Autumn / Winter as controlling weight in these months can help to control people's weight during their adult lives.

Group Exercise is Good for your Health

"Exercising together appears to increase the level of the feel-good endorphin hormones naturally released during physical exertion, a study suggests" according to the BBC News Channel - visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8257716.stm to read the whole report.

A few Healthy Snacks

- Brazil nuts (rich in Selenium) / Almonds (low GI and a good source of magnesium and vitamin E)

- Pineapple and Grapefruit

- Goji berries (the Beta-Carotene in the fruit is thought to help fight heart disease, defend against cancer and protect skin from sun damage and is a good source of B vitamins and antioxidants)

- Dried apricots (full of potassium, iron, calcium, silicon, phosphorus and vitamin C)

- Probiotic low fat yoghurt and honey (good for the stomach, low fat and honey increases blood levels of protective antioxidants)

- Seeds and raisins / sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds

- Dark chocolate (containing 70% of cocoa solids which is a good source of antioxidants and flavonoids which are also found in green tea and red wine)

Snacking

Most people have a certain snack they like or crave such as chocolate, crisps, sugary sweets, cake etc. Reducing the intake of these items or cutting them out altogether can have a big impact on the amount of calories you consume.

Snacks are generally small and light in size and you need to eat a lot of them to feel full. The problem with this is that even one serving or portion of the snack can take you close or exceed your guideline daily allowance (GDA) for things like sugar, salt, fat, calories etc.

Food labels can be misleading in regards to the totals and percentages of your GDA shown in the tables and ‘traffic light’ system on the packaging.

Snacks should be a way of helping you achieve your 5 fruit and veg a day rather then quick and easy boredom treats which even though they taste good do not have much in the way of nutritional value, just lots of sugary calories which if aren’t burnt off during the day will become stored as fat cells.

Low glycemic index (low GI) snacks that have complex carbohydrates in them which take the body a long time to break down and give a slow release of energy throughout the day are a lot better for you.

See my above post for a few healthy snack options.

Top Tips for Controlling Portion Size

On this post there are two website links that will direct you to the Cancer Research UK main website which can be useful for anyone.

The first link has a good overview of why you should control your portion size both at home and whilst eating out and some useful sensible tips that you could try out:

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/obesityandweight/portioncaution/

The second link (which can be clicked through to at the bottom of the above webpage) gives a very useful list of 10 top tips to control your weight and other tips / tick sheets at the bottom to help you stick to the programme:

http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/healthyliving/tentoptips/

Meal Portions

The human body can only digest a certain amount of food at any one sitting.

For example protein is important for someone trying to put on more muscle mass for body building but there is no point filling a whole plate up with meat or eating two cans of tuna at the same time as most of it will go to waste.

Excess energy and calories that are not burnt off during the day will get stored as fat overnight which slows your metabolism down.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it ‘breaks the fast’ that your body goes through when you are asleep. From your evening meal to the following lunchtime could be anything up to 15 hours without food. If lunch is your first meal of the day your metabolism will be so slow that your body will only digest some of it and you will be storing up some unspent calories already.

Breakfast kick starts your metabolism and with healthy small meals and snacks throughout the day (making sure you don’t over eat) your body will be constantly trying to digest your food keeping your metabolism high and burning calories.

One way to look at portion sizes is to use your hand. One serving of protein should be about the size of the palm of your hand. One serving of green vegetables and salad greens could be the size of two fists, while starchy items like potatoes or pasta should be served in a portion about the size of one tightly clenched fist.

These healthy portions may seem small at first, but realise that your stomach is only about the size of your two loosely fisted hands held together. Visit my above post for tips on controlling portion sizes.

Beneficial Drinks / Fluids

Here's a list of some beneficial fluids to drink during the day, before, during or after exercise:

- Water (sip throughout the day / during exercise)
- Sugar free squash (" ")
- Fruit flavoured, calorie free waters (" ")
- Sports drinks with carbohydrates (during or after exercise)
- Sports drinks with sodium / electrolytes (" ")
- Use hydration backpacks such as camelbak / platypus (for long hikes, runs or cycles)
- Drink caffeine free teas such as Green Tea / RedBush Tea / White Tea / Jasmine Tea / Peppermint Tea...

Drink until your urine is pale yellow. This is a great way to tell whether or not you're dehydrated. Pale yellow = good. Dark yellow = really bad.

Visit this BBC link to find out how to make your own sports drinks:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/health_and_fitness/4289704.stm

Fluids

The human body is about 60% water in adult males and 55% in adult females. Water is essential for life and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Dehydration can lead to:

- Headache (hangover)
- Muscle cramps
- Decreased blood pressure
- Dizziness or fainting
- A decrease in exercise performance due to fatigue

Everyone’s sweat rates are different during exercise but it is very important to stay hydrated throughout the day especially before, during and after exercise.

You cannot rely on feeling thirsty as a reminder to replace fluid lost through sweating as exercise actually suppresses thirst.

Read my above post for an in-depth list of beneficial drinks.

Is your Work taking over your life?

Working is vital to pay the bills but we all know that too much can be bad for your health. With the UK having one of the longest working weeks in Europe and 1 in 8 people working a 48 hour week or more, unions have been putting pressure on employers to introduce more flexible working conditions.

Overworked staff will become more unproductive, less interested in their work, suffer from mood swings and fatigue which can lead to more sickness and time off work.

Working long hours restricts your rest and social time and makes it hard to see friends and family and get into a steady exercise routine.

Training for 45 minutes 1-3 times a week before, during, after work or at the weekend can help you achieve your goals and improve your health and fitness and is also a good way of relieving stress.

A Healthy Diet versus Supplements

With people leading busy and stressful lives in the 21st century more and more people have turned to taking supplements as a quick and easy way of getting their daily vitamins and minerals.

These are fine to take in small doses or every now and again when you’re feeling especially run down and tired but having a healthy and well balanced diet will always be better for you then swallowing lots of tablets every day.

Try to be careful and do some research into the best brands before taking carbohydrates and protein powder supplements as sometimes the labelling can be misleading and some have very little nutritional value.

The best thing is to eat little and often. Rather then having 3 large meals a day try to have 4-5 smaller meals with healthy snacks spaced out to achieve your 5 a day (aiming for 7 is even better).

Try more variety and take pride in the food you buy and prepare as the food you eat fuels your brain and body and superior fuel leads to superior results.

Sunbathing - How do you get your tan?

Another topic which has been talked about a lot in the media of late is the damaging and long term effects of too much sunbathing.

People are going on holiday and not applying suntan cream often enough or using one with the right sun protection factor (SPF) and they generally think that getting sunburnt is part of the tanning process. People back in the UK are also using sunbeds for too long or too often which greatly increases the chances of getting skin cancer.

In terms of exercise if you have been sunburnt you will find it hard and uncomfortable to train which might mean having to have a couple of days break from your training regime, which will delay you in achieving or maintaining your goals.

If you train outdoors even in the winter time you should wear a suitable sport / sweat / water resistant SPF cream to help protect and moisturise your exposed skin.

Visit http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/sunbathing.htm for useful tips on how to sunbathe safely and avoid becoming sunburnt.

Are you Smoking too much?! Help with quiting

People start smoking at different ages and for different reasons and for anyone who is a long term smoker it must be a hard thing to give up.

In terms of exercise smoking can have a very negative effect on your general health and fitness levels and make it harder to achieve any goals you might have.

There are stories of 50 to 70 year olds smoking 20 cigarettes a day since they were 16 years old and still being able to run a whole marathon. They are the lucky few who have a naturally high genetic level of fitness which the smoking has not affected too much. For other heavy smokers they might cough and struggle to run 1 mile let alone 26. The main thing to consider is how much easier or how much faster they could they have run the marathon if they hadn’t smoked all their lives and also how much faster their recovery time would be, I think in all these areas the results would have been much better.

The damage and long term illnesses from smoking have been highlighted extensively in the media and there are now various treatments and support agencies to help people cut down and quit all together.

The NHS has a very good website with lots of information, tips and advice http://smokefree.nhs.uk/

Are you Sleeping enough?

Sleep is essential for a person’s health and wellbeing.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) when people don’t get enough sleep they can suffer from the following:

- Irritability / mood swings
- Slowed speech
- Impaired memory
- Inability to multitask
- Micro sleeps (nodding off for 5-10 seconds, especially dangerous when driving)

In terms of exercise your body rests and recovers when you’re asleep and the nutritional value of all your meals is realised to rebuild and replace vitamins and minerals lost during the day such as calcium, potassium, sodium, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin C...

If you are just starting an exercise regime or have been training hard for an event such as a triathlon and you are not getting enough sleep then your body will never fully recover or and your training will not progress as it should.

Individual sleep needs vary. In general, most healthy adults are built for 16 hours awake and need an average of eight hours sleep a night. However, some individuals are able to function normally and without feeling tired after as little as five or six hours sleep. Others cannot perform at their peak unless they have had ten hours sleep.

You should by now know how many hours sleep your body and mind needs to feel fully refreshed and you should aim to get that many hours every night in order to get into a rhythm. If you are struggling with a long term lack of sleep then you should consult your GP to find out what treatment or remedies might work for you.

Are you Moving around enough?

Activities carried out sitting down such as watching TV, playing computer games (Wii excluded), surfing the internet or reading a book do not require any physical effort to complete and therefore don’t burn any calories.

Any sort of movement of your body burns calories in order to move your muscles and joints which then moves your skeletal system. Movement increases your blood circulation and also generates heat which increases your metabolism. Sitting down for a long period makes your body very relaxed and sometimes cold which slows your metabolism and can create more fat as insulating layers.

People normally associate Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) with long haul flying but there have been cases of people having severe health threats from DVT from sitting at their computers for too long.

Try not to spend too much time sitting down in anyone period. Get up and walk around as often as possible and loosen of your ankles, legs, wrists, arms, shoulders and neck and stand up straight to improve your posture.

What type of Exercise Category do you fit into?

When considering exercise there are generally three types of people.

The first is the extreme athlete who knows exactly what to do to keep on top of their game.

The second type is those of an average to high fitness level who enjoys exercise and sport and maintains their fitness all year round.

The third and most common type is the person of low to average fitness who can never get into a steady exercise routine. They normally ‘Yo-Yo’ on their diets and exercise often starting with new year resolutions and finishing in February or March to start again 4-6 weeks before the summer holidays by which time its much too late.

The key to a healthy lifestyle is consistency. Someone who has never exercised before needs to start slowly and progressively increase their fitness level and once they have achieved their goals they need to work to maintain that level.

It’s very hard both physically and psychologically to achieve past goals such as a target body weight or running a marathon in a certain time after a period of no exercise.

People also have to be careful not to ‘overtrain’ as that can lead to ‘burnout’ and ‘staleness’ which have negative effects such as amongst other things fatigue, mood swings, cold like symptoms, impaired performance and loss of concentration.

How much Alcohol are you drinking?

Most people enjoy a drink now and again and it’s OK for a special occasion or at the weekends.

However if you drink more often than this e.g. every evening with your meal or in the pub most nights, you will be surprised to find out how many calories you are consuming.

Just from cutting down on alcohol or abstaining for a certain period can help you to notice some weight loss and an improvement in your fitness and energy levels.

The latest report from the National Health Service (NHS) states that:-

Men should not regularly drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day.
Women should not regularly drink more than two to three units of alcohol per day.

Visit http://units.nhs.uk/howMany.html to see how many units are in specific drinks.

The NHS also has a useful 10 step guide to cutting down on alcohol along with a drink diary: full details are at http://units.nhs.uk/cuttingDown.html

Welcome to my Blog...

Hello and welcome to my Blog,

I will be updating my Blog regularly with expert health, lifestyle and fitness advice ranging from new training exercises, routines and stretches to healthy meal and snack options.

Hope you'll find this information useful.