Gettin' yourself to the gym!

G'day folks... I hope you are enjoying the beautiful rays of sun streaming through the windows this morning! So, it's all well and good talking about the benefits of exercise, how to do it and the nutrition necessary to fulfill for your dreams. But, there is one topic that is often left to one side - the issue of getting to the gym, being in top shape to have a great workout and maintaining focus and energy for 45-90 minutes! So, here are some ways of maximizing your potential in the gym - warning, you may see massive and significant gains in success...

• We all have good intentions throughout the day - oh yeah, I'll be going to the gym! But then the bell rings for clocking out time and the excuses start to kick in... I don't have the energy, my back/neck is sore, there's always tomorrow etc... Days and weeks can pass in this game of cat and gym mouse, until you notice a little softness in the bum/tum area and manage to make it as a last resort against the impending demoralisation of putting on some weight. It's a pretty simple issue though - motivation. Yes, I harp on about the M word quite a lot... but it is a key element in increasing your chances at success in the gym. When you set your goals, you need to have an iron will and a realistic method. My tip for this would be to maintain that realistic stance.... if you want to lose 1-2lb's per week, then less than 3 sessions a week ain't gonna cut it. So if you want to do this, then plan your sessions in advance and don't allow anything to get in your way. When it gets to 1730, be prepared... here's how:

Don't let clocking out time knock you out!

• Fuel - if you're gonna take your body for a spin then fuel is the vital issue here. So I recommend that you consume one of the following at any time between 90 minutes and 3 hours before the gym:

• Apple
• Oats
• Yoghurt
• Nuts
• Grapes
• Oranges
• 1 slice wholewheat toast with peanut butter
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 1/4 cup brown rice
• Beetroot
• If you don't have the time to think about this too far in advance then I recommend that 20-30 minutes prior to a workout you eat a banana or raisins and either a cup of green tea or a strong coffee to get in the zone.

You see, the issue is that by late in the afternoon, most people are either too stressed or lacking in energy levels to focus on the gym. Giving your body a source of slow releasing carbohydrates can help to level the hormones that cause stress, thus freeing your mind to think about other things. Some caffeine taken before the gym has been shown to massively increase focus, energy and power and thus giving you a better workout!

So help rid yourself of excuses to not workout by fuelling yourself properly and getting in the zone before a workout.... last tip, find some music that fills you with energy, focus and passion and you'll be pumping the weights for a lot longer...

G'day

Post-Weekend Rejuvenation

Well, it's that day that comes after the weekend... dare I say its name? I think we'll just celebrate the fact that it is more than half over! You may have woken up today feeling a little like this:

A little broken, tired, groggy, lethargic and a bit hazy about what you did over the last couple of days... The weekend is after all the time to let your hair down and you probably spent most of it drinking things like this

Delboy's Drinks Cabinet!

More than things like this...

If you did, then now is the time to help your body recoup from some of your excesses!

This is what I would do on the day 'whose name we shall not mention' to get my mojo back...

1. Run it off... if you aren't feeling your best today then the key is to sweat it off. Spend your day hydrating with a large glass of water every hour, some vegetables and fruit... then head down to the gym and get yourself on the treadmill... forget interval training today - your performance levels may be a little low. Instead, it is time to keep going for a long time whilst listening to some great music. A good 7/8 km run at a steady pace, with perhaps a little faster running near the end will help get your body ticking at its best again. Follow this with some crunches, body weight squats and press ups to boost your metabolism.
2. Be electric... Friday and Saturday night may have left you dehydrated and now your run will have used up a load of electrolytes, so fill your stores with a great smoothie or vegetable juice. If making at home, i recommend a juice of orange, carrot, ginger, apple and beetroot. Otherwise any of Innocent's great choices will help do the trick. Top this off by drinking a cup of green tea each morning to help cleanse your body and rev up your metabolic rate!
3. Keep it green... Your liver has taken a little pasting, and although the idea of 'detox' has been exploited to the max, there is something to be said for going green on a Monday in particular. My recommendation would be a piece of baked organic salmon, a new potato (with a squeeze of lime for great contrasting flavours) and a lightly oiled stir fry of cabbage, broccoli, asparagus, chili, red peppers, onion, garlic and courgette... this will be nourishing and boost your liver's performance as well as your energy!

Find this tasty Salmon dish with Okra, here.

So there we have it, 3 ways to get yourself back in tip top shape to face the week after a great weekend!

A Little Something for the Weekend

The weekend, two days devoted to the Lord, one where you clean and prepare yourself so as not to insult his gloriousness with even a speck of dust upon your prostrating body and the other where you sit in silence, listening to old men talk of old things.... or at least that was the intended purpose of the weekend. I think it is rather culturally appropriate that a fair few would now rather devote their weekend to bars, babes and beds as apposed to bibles, bishops and mass brainwashing.
If you are preparing to worship at the hedonist's altar this weekend, whether you be dandy or quaintrelle, I've got something to enhance your own, let's say, respective attributes...

For the modern dandy;

Figure.

Friday is no time for building muscle. The chances are you are not going to have the most nutritious night of the week and if this is the case then a severe workout is not going to lead to much gain as you are unlikely to refuel appropriately. I recommend a pumping muscular endurance workout, which will leave you fitter and pumped... filling your muscles with blood and oxygen for that hard, toned look...

Weekend Workout

Warm up well, nothing worse than an injury on Friday night... 7 minutes cardio plus calf raises, side lunges, knee raises, hip rolls, torso twists, arm swings, spotty dogs...

1. Body weight squat, burpee (super set, 3x12)
2. Forward lunges, tuck jumps (super set, 3x12)
3. Chin ups, press ups (super set, 5x 12 - as many chins as poss if not 12)
4. Tricep dips, bicep curls (super set, 5x12)
5. 4 x 2 minute fast runs (eg 14kph @ 1.5 % incline)
6. Narrow bench, shoulder press, leg raises (tri-set, 3x12)
7. Cable flye, seated row, tricep extension (tri-set 4x12)
8. 4 x 30 second as fast as poss (eg 16.5kph @ 3% incline)

This should leave you pumped and toned for a night out in a short sleeved t-shirt...

For the female dandies:

female dandies

I imagine there is nothing better for a woman than to go out on a Friday night feeling glowing, slender and confident, so this is the workout interpretation of that feeling...

1. 12 mins treadmill (walk 2mins, then run for 10 - alternate 1 minute fast with 1 minute medium pace)
2. Leg raises - 4x12
3. Bridge - 4x12
4. Stomach crunch, on or off swiss ball - 5x12
5. 12 mins elliptical (as fast as you can for 12 minutes, take a 30 seconder slower breather in middle if necessary)
6. Bicep curls, single arm rows(super set, 4x12)

Single Arm Row - great for toning the back

7. Tricep extensions, lunges (super set, 4x12)
8. Treadmill, 12-20 minutes depending on time (this time alternate 1 minute intervals, hill walk>jog>fast run)

There you have it, a great workout to make you glow and feel tight in all the right places...

Enjoy your Friday, and drink responsibly...

Start your weight loss journey today!

I'm gonna guarantee you today that the number one reason people start exercising is to lose weight! I'd bet my savings on it. I'd also guarantee you that the number one reason people stop exercising is because they have not seen the weight loss that they would like to have seen... this is a simple and easily altered state of affairs. Brother Gym believes that everyone deserves to be happy, and if part of that happiness comes from the confidence of a decent body and great health then we want to bring it to the masses...  Soon you will be able to sign up to the Brother Gym website, which is going to give each individual a bespoke training program for a very affordable fee so that you can make the most of the precious time you spend at the gym or at the park. Today, I'm going to give you a little guide to kick off your weight loss journey.

Everyone can make a massive change, starting now!

• This is your journey.... do not rely on this change to make you a happy person. Losing weight is a fabulous way to change your life - you will become fitter, more energetic and feel more confident. But, do not become obsessed or expect this to be therapy. Losing weight - the result and the journey - can help you sort out things in your life, but if you are happy the way you are then there is no need to be extreme. Your appearance is no judgment on who you are, so stay fit and healthy but don't feel the pressure to be lean and skinny!
• Find out where you are... you can't start a journey without knowing your own position. If Brother Gym is going to be your sat nav in this journey, we need to know where you are and where you want to go. So, my first tip is to weigh yourself today and set yourself a goal. See here to read up on the best way to set your goals.
• Be affirmative... nothing gets moving without a little energy and determination. Be decisive, know what you want and go out there and get it. If you are going to use a gym, go and join it today; if you are going to change your eating patterns, then detox your kitchen cupboards today! Every day before you start this journey only gives you more distance to go.
• Find out what you like... it is all well and good for Brother Gym to prescribe 30 minutes on the treadmill 4x per week, but if you know that there is no hope in hell of you doing this, for whatever reasons, then you will get nowhere. Everyone gets to places in different ways. If you like skipping up the road for fun, then tell us when you join up. We'll prescribe skipping through the park 3x per week - it's all doing the same thing in the end, burning calories and making you fitter and leaner.
• Don't be too hard on yourself... ok, so your diet may have been pretty awful for the first 25 years of your life, but we can all change at any given moment. Your past does not cement your future into a certain pattern. And, once you start this new lifestyle, don't beat yourself up if you give into a binge with the ice cream tub. Everyone needs a cheat meal now and again and beating yourself up only causes stress that will release fat loving stress hormones. Be confident in yourself, accept your human fallibility and keep moving forward knowing that you can jump all the hurdles in your path.
• Always remind yourself of your destination... if you forget where you wanted to go when you started on this journey, you will end up getting lost. Find a way to chart your journey and keep in mind what you have left to do. 

Brother Gym welcomes you all...

Brother Gym to the rescue... 3 steps to ease your day!

Wake up early, dozy brain, get ready for work, still bleary eyed, run down to the kitchen and chuck a load of cereal and some milk in a bowl - chug. Rush through the day, take some sugar, tea, coffee now and again. Feel rubbish by lunch, buy the wrong thing. Slump in the afternoon...rush hour, exhaustion, few drinks out or a night on the sofa. Ready meal. Bed. Repeat.

His day started to blur all into one.

Step 1 - Making your Sleep Worthy

The key to a restful day is a restful nights sleep. In order to get a good nights sleep you need to go to sleep in a relaxed state. This means minimising your alcohol content, lowering your intake of sugar near bedtime and creating a dark, quiet environment. Getting to sleep before midnight is the key. Your body and mind need time to calm down and reset them selves over a 6 to 8 hour period. Do this and you will wake up fresh and ready for the next day.

Step 2 - Preparing the breakfast of Kings.

The importance of breakfast lies in starting the engines of your body. Your body relies on a constant source of energy in order to do its job, but it certainly doesn't do this properly when you don't give it something to work with. Calories actually put your body in a position to burn calories, as they get your muscles working and keep your cells buzzing.
Breakfast cereals are not exactly ideal for this. They are often processed to the point of losing much fiber and the natural part of the cereal product that your body would recognize as healthy. Instead they are sugar laden and much of what goes in your body is unusable. I recommend one of the following - eggs and wholemeal toast, yoghurt and muesli or at the least fruit and nuts. To ease your day, you can boil a couple of eggs the nights before, make your yoghurt-muesli mix the night before or chop some fruits and nuts and place them in the fridge ready to eat. Make sure you have 5 minutes to sit and eat in a relaxed state and you will have twice the energy to take into those pesky morning meetings.

Step 3 - Keep those calories coming

What's the best way to lose weight? Why, of course, it is to reduce those calories below the levels that you expend... and how do we do this? Well, we just stop eating and then eat what we want at random, sporadic times of the day. The cycle of guilt and famine... hmmm, NO! Would you ever start a fire and then only feed it at random, sparse intervals and expect it to keep going strong?

A few things happen when you decide to not eat for 8 hours in the hope of losing weight... your muscles start to eat themselves after around 3 hours with no new calories, your metabolism slows right down due to both a lack of calories and a perceived lack of calories to come - ie, survival mode. Your body will at this point horde the calories you have taken in and store them as fat, but also go into fight or flight mode. At this point, your body goes into stress, creating an adrenaline rush and releasing sugar from the liver and muscles. When it realises that you are not hunting food in the bush but sitting at a warm desk instead, it stores the sugar as fat.

Keep the flames of metabolism burning at all times!

So, don't starve your bodies by not eating from morning til night. Indeed, even the gap between breakfast and lunch and dinner is too long. Split your daily intake into 5 or 6 little segments and you will be laughing all the way to leanness. Snack on healthy, high protein, highly nutritious food and your body will keep burning calories all day long.

If you can start to implement these 3 simple and effective steps then you will quickly see a massive change in your energy levels, fat content and levels of fitness overall...

Tomorrow I will give you 3 more points to ease your day! Stay tuned...

Laugh your way fit!

I'm a grown man. I'm a quite big grown man. I'm a quite big grown man, sitting behind a laptop in a quiet literary cafe in Tufnell Park laughing my head off. At nothing.

As experiments go, it borders on the unscientific. But I had two hypotheses in mind - 1) That laughing in public, out loud and with no apparent reason for doing so will cause people to give me a wide berth. Yes, I can confirm that that will happen!
2) That by laughing I will feel relaxed, happy and positive.

Well, why have I reached this hypothesis?

Laughing has been shown to reduce muscle tension, increase the amount of oxygen in the blood, exercise the heart and produce happy chemicals in the brain called endorphins. As an added extra it also burns a small amount of calories - but, many small baby steps can take you a long way.

Laugh like a gurgling baby!

So, is this going to help you to reach your health and physical goals? Well, I'd say so. The result of my laughing madman routine at the cafe has left me feeling quite giddy, open to new thoughts, ready to be charming to others and so positive that I think it may add 30 minutes onto my workout today. On top of that, I know that it is lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which are known to increase your chances of becoming fat! So I can laugh my way thinner too... in fact I have noticed that many comedians, especially the laughing, manic ones can be in pretty good shape.

Admittedly, it is unlikely that this is the look you are after, the spaniel on steroids appearance is a little unnerving.

Laughing is a small but pleasurable thing that you can throw into your day... watch some Monty Python, go to a stand up gig, read some Tom Sharpe or just enjoy being around friends. It will make your day easier and be beneficial to your health and the look of your body!

I say, just laugh... whatever it is you are doing right now, just laugh. Plus, a deep belly laugh is going to work your abs at the same time. Result!
Beware of the link below. I saw this show in Edinburgh this year, had me laughing like a chimp at a food fight but it was possibly the most offensive show to some... it will make you laugh though!

Supplement Secrets! No.1 Protein Powder

Supplementation is perhaps the most controversial topic in the world of fitness and health. I mean, in 2010 in the Western World, what could we possibly need to supplement our already over zealous diets?

Well, it is true, we do live in the land of plenty - a society defined by an overabundance of everything that man can possibly produce. But in this buffet of indulgence do we really know what is good for us and what we should be eating in order to achieve the fitness goals we have? That is debatable, but of course the supplement companies would have you believe that they have a bunch of stone tables decreeing what is and what isn't part of a healthy diet.

I have trawled nutrition journals, read the nutrition info on countless tubs of protein powder and ingested copious amounts of muscle building, vein popping, fat trimming supplements over the years. So I have some experience, and now I am going to narrow it down for you... I am going to condense the experience I have gained over the last several years into a few body changing supplements.

Let me get one issue out of the way first.... 'Brother Gym, if I take these supplements am I suddenly going to grow huge buffalo style muscles, have veins popping out of my skull and lose 20% of my I.Q?' Err, no. Or 'Brother Gym, I'm a young lady and I don't want to become really muscular, butch or show any veins'. Well, you won't.

I'll explain a little... let's take protein supplements for example. Your body requires protein to synthesize muscles and hormones. It is an essential part of our diet. The key question is, how much should you eat? If you exercise a decent amount, then I would say 1.2 grams of protein for every kg of body weight. If you exercise 3-5 times a week, then 1.5 g/kg of body weight. If you exercise once or twice a day, then 2g/kg body weight. So if you way 75kg and train 5 times per week you will need about 113 grams of protein per day - roughly 4-5 chicken breasts, 5 tins of tuna etc... essentially, quite a lot to fit into your diet, and then there is the cost of all that food! Once you think about it, protein supplementation makes quite a lot of sense - it is a convenient way of reaching your daily needs and cheap in relative terms. So, that is supplement secret number 1 - take advantage of protein supplements in order to simplify your busy life.
So, which protein supplement?

In my experience the best is:

CNP Pro-Peptide is a top quality protein supplement, considered to be the best in the business. It costs roughly £45 for a tub that has about 40-60 servings.....so it can last about two months. Less than £1/day.... well, that's pretty good value for money. I suggest 1 1/2 scoops twice a day, once as a mid morning snack and once in the mid afternoon.
Within a week or two of taking this supplement you will notice that your muscles are fuller, harder and stronger. You will make quicker strength gains as your muscles are being properly fed and repaired on a daily basis.
And ladies, as a side note. The chances of any of you becoming butch, overly muscly and muscle bound are slim to none. The body uses testosterone to become big and muscly, something you are quite fortunately lacking in on the levels to achieve this. Protein supplementation will just help to maintain your strength and create a tone, lean physique!

Tomorrow: What supplement I should use when I have just worked out?

Hope this has been helpful.

Ps. Most bodybuilding supplements are a lot of..... rubbish. I do not work for CNP, or have any connection with them. This advice comes from only my experience as a trainer, personal trainer and nutritional therapy student. Do not stop eating properly or rely on these products. 9 times out of 10, real healthy food will work better for you. This is a convenient supplement for the busy and those dedicated to making a sustainable difference to their body.

Brother Gym

Vitamin Water - water of Life or water of Sabotage?

On the stand today we have a colourful, tasty, sweet bottle of Vitamin Water:

Don't they look Sweet!

People have been chugging back bottles of the oh so innocent looking neon tinged drink for a couple of years now, secure in the knowledge that they are doing something good for their health. I have also been a victim, drinking the odd one, especially after a workout.
There are two things to consider here... are the purported health benefits of Vitamin Water actually true and what are the down sides to drinking it?

1. Well, first of all... you can ditch any of the drinks that have vitamins A, D, E or K in them unless you are going to treat them like wine and drink them with a meal. These vitamins need to be taken in with dietary foods to be absorbed otherwise they have no effect. Ok, so that still leaves you with the B and C vitamins - all well and good, until you consider the fact that as a westerner you are unlikely to have a deficiency of either of these or any other vitamin for that matter. So, Vitamin Water, I accuse you of trumping up the charges of vitamin deficiency!
2. Oh Vitamin Water, from what a great height must you now fall.... what is the number one enemy to a good diet?... Sugar! Now the great thing about real water is that it has many upsides and absolutely no downsides when drunk in appropriate quantities. Vitamin Water on the other hand now seems to have almost no upside and many downsides! Check out the label and look at the sugar content... The 'power-c' dragonfruit version in front of me has 27 grams of sugar in it. 2 Heaping Tablespoonfuls of the Stuff!! And the cunning boys of coca-cola, who are ultimately the makers of this soft-drink in disguise, will tell you it is largely fructose... Wrong again! The fructose in this drink comes from a corn syrup that has been enriched with fructose.... that's like enriching nuclear waste with vitamin C to make it healthy!

Verdict - add fresh fruit or vegetable juice to get the same effect as this monstrous lie of a drink purports to have! Unfortunately, Vitamin Water, I sentence you to a lifetime in the Coca-Cola isle in the supermarket....

Alternative - coconut water.... Coconut water is the new California-craze that is sweeping east! You can buy VitaCoco from Planet Organic.

Say no to tooth decay!

I hope this has been helpful!

Brother Gym

Weep with Joy!

If there is one thing that makes staying healthy the hardest, it is the continual abstinence from the foods we love. Well, today I change all that for you! What will I give to you today to make you weep... oh yes, Cheese Burgers. Now we all know the internet loves cheezburgers. But I am gonna give you the real thing!

Delicious, desirable.... but wholesome?

Why? Well the humble but delicious hamburger has its downsides.... high fat content, red meat - not great for your digestive system, dough..... but on the other hand, it can contain tomato, lettuce, onion and pickle - all of which have healthy properties. And now, due to new research I can advise you to cook up a mouthwatering, savory, gooey, beefy tower of deliciousness. It has been found that both meat and cheese contain Menaquinone, a type of vitamin K that has been shown to improve your body's prevention of tumour development and reduce the risk of cancer mortality by 28% - according to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

So, how do you make a delicious but healthy cheeseburger...

For the burger -

400g best quality steak mince
1 egg white
1/4 cup soft breadcrumbs
1/4 tspn salt
1/4 tspn pepper
1/4 tspn cumin
1/4 tspn chili powder

For the rest -

Cheese - your choice. Cheddar, swiss cheeses and blue cheeses work well.
4 wholewheat rolls
Tomato, slices
Red onion, sliced
Gherkin, sliced

Method:
Mix together the burger ingredients in a bowl.
Shape into 1/4 inch patties.
Wrap each in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Then place on a griddle pan at medium hot and turn occasionally for 10-12 minutes until no longer pink inside.

Serves 4. (Or freeze the remaining burgers until next time)

Serve with:

Simple but effective!

That would be a spinach and pepper salad. It is best to keep it simple and quite plain with the burger as that is the meaty star of the show!

Even healthier alternatives -

Turkey burger/Ostrich burger - head on down to the butcher and ask for some turkey mince, or if like me you live pretty close to somewhere like Borough Market (London) then pick yourself up an ostrich burger.... both are leaner, healthier alternatives to beef and honestly, just as tasty!

Tuna burger - for you fish/non-meat eaters you can try a tuna burger. You have two options here. You can either just stick a delicious, marinated and seared tuna steak between two pieces of bread or you can actually make a burger from yellowfin tuna.

Tuna burger - every bit as delicious as its meaty counterpart.

You can get a great recipe from Gordon Ramsay here.

Fine Print - it's great that the scientists have found a healthy reason to include meat and cheese into our diets. Thank you scientists. However, we must remember that red meat and burgers should be eaten no more than once or twice a week if you are looking to lose weight.

Parting words.... enjoy your burger with a single glass of full bodied red wine for added antioxidants, or even better a glass of vegetable juice!

Time to hit it hard!

Good afternoon folks. Morning broke, the tube strikes infuriated and I'm sure it is one of those days where you would like to do nothing more than go straight for the sofa and a glass of something fermented, brewed or distilled. Of course, if you take a 5 km run to the sofa and drink some water before sipping a glass of wine I have no objection.

On the other hand, there is a certain satisfaction and an obvious reward to be had from steeling your mind and making your way to the gym or out for some exercise... even if just for 30 minutes of intense training.
So ask yourself what it is you want. I'm not going to patronise you by asking silly questions, instead here is a pretty good reason to go to the gym even when your day has been hard, long and laborious...

You could live longer... Now, if that carrot ain't big enough for ya I think I've lost you. Exercise works all of the systems of the body - cardiopulmonary, skeletal, muscular, nervous and all in between. Have you found that your car tends to have trouble starting when it has been left sitting for a while... well, I'll let you consider that analogy. Our ancestors didn't do too much sitting around. From Stone Age through to Victorian they were a bunch of hard as nails workers who thought very little of using their backsides as cushions. Now I'm not saying we should all be down a pit, up a tree or scavenging for berries all day, but the least we can do is give 30 to 60 minutes a day over to doing what our bodies were built for. 

The Hunter-Gatherer lifestyle had certain advantages

So how could we emulate a hunter-gatherer style workout in the gym?

Well here's my tip for a great workout on the days you don't have the energy to fully blast one body part!

Warm Up - 12 minutes on the CV machine of your choice. Start slow and slowly build up to high intensity for the last 2 minutes.

Stretch your muscles dynamically by emulating the movements you are going to use in the workout!

1. Squat and Curl... hold an appropriate dumbbell in each hand. As you come up from the squat, bicep curl the weights. 3x12
2. Lunge and Reach... take a light medicine ball in both hands. As you lunge forward and drop the hips reach forward and down with the ball. Then push off the front leg with power and back to the start position.
3. 3 x 2 minutes running on the treadmill... keep the speed high enough that the one minute break between bursts is necessary.
4. One legged curl and press. Standing on one leg, hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand. Curl the weight and shoulder press it above your head whilst bracing your abdominal muscles. 3x10 per side.
5. Press Up>Burpee>Curl and Press. Place 2 dumbbells on the floor, assume a press up position with your hands on the dumbbell handles. Press up, then power off the ground by using a squat thrust and jumping off both feet, being careful to maintain balance. When landed, perform a bicep curl and shoulder press with both hands simultaneously. 3x8
6. 3 x 2 minute bursts on the treadmill again.
7. The plank. To emulate a hunter waiting in the brush, assume a press up position but lean on your elbows rather than hands. Hold for 1 minute. Repeat once more.
8. Static stretch all body parts.

So, a short and sweet workout for today. This can be grueling if the intensity is maintained so give it a go!

Over and out.

So you want a six-pack?

So you want this:

Six Pack

Ask most guys what their goal in the gym is, and the above will normally feature pretty high on the list.... It's up there with good biceps, chiseled jaw line and toned back and chest muscles....

Of all of these, the six-pack probably requires the most amount of work to achieve. Here are my 5 top tips for a six-pack:

• Sort that technique - to activate your core muscles properly you need to master the art of breathing, bracing your abs and keeping a neutral spine position. This is basic but quite difficult to achieve time and time again. As you lift a weight you should exhale, pull in your abs and contract them whilst maintaining a straight back position.

Neutral Spine in the middle - bum not pushed out, pelvis held in a central position

• Do the heavy lifts - to keep your core muscles strong, raise your metabolism massively and achieve overall growth you need to work on the heavy lifts - squats, deadlifts, clean and press. These movements use the most muscles in your body and due to the amount of weight you can lift once you have been training for a while they will burn massive amounts of calories.

Dumbbell Clean and Press... also effective with a barbell.

• Do a sensible amount of core training - a lot of guys tend to think a six pack can be achieved by doing hundreds of crunches a day... this seems a little illogical. Like any muscles group, the rectus abdominis (six pack muscle) needs recovery days. I recommend 2 30 minute core sessions a week. These should include static planks, front and side crunches, wood chop movements, rotations, leg raises and pull and push cable movements.
• Become a Cardio machine. We all actually have a six pack muscle. For a lot of us, though, it is hidden under a layer of fat. In this respect cardio will be your friends. Mix long, slow duration training (30-60 minutes at a steady pace) with highly intense interval training.... eg. 5 minute warm up and then 2 minutes run on an incline to fatigue followed by a minutes walking... repeat for 25-30 minutes.
• Eat lean and keep it clean.... Give yourself a mantra.... it isn't catchy, but just say 'lean protein, complex carbs, healthy fats and lots of fresh vegetables' for every meal. Eat 4-6 times a day - every 3 hours or so. Keep the portions quite light and only treat yourself to one cheat meal per week.

If you dedicate yourself to these 5 points it won't be long before you see a massive change. 3-6 months aught to see a massive change in your body fat levels, muscle tone and overall look and feel!

Feel free to contact me to clarify anything you don't quite understand above.

Good Luck!

The Holy Mole

It's coming up to snack time - the moment your well laid plans can either be cemented in place or torn apart like the wrapper on that Mars bar!
I'm not going to tell you what not to eat right now, I think you all know that...

I'm going to show you something you can make of an evening, keep in the fridge and eat over the next few afternoons at your desk....

Simple, effective....it's Guacamole time!

Take:

A Couple of These, mashed

Several of these, finely diced

A coupla cloves of this, crushed

1 of these, de-seeded and finely chopped

1 of these, finely diced

A small handful, finely chopped

Lemon juice to taste!

A pinch and a shake out of these!

Mix together with a spoon!

Eat a few tablespoons worth with a couple of oat cakes and a selection of cut vegetables and you have the perfect healthy, nutritious snack! Compare to supermarket equivalent - no cream (supermarket can be up to 15% cream) and no vegetable oils.

Enjoy your afternoon!

Brother Gym

Brother Gym's How to Guide... Packing on the Muscle

So, the summer which never truly began has now truly vanished into the future, only to not return again next year, one assumes. But, it's not all downward turning lips and soggy eyes, because at least the kids are back at school and we don't have to put up with them littering out pavements, tubes and buses with their bodies during the day. So what is the attraction of winter? Well, for one you probably aren't going to be stripping down into your trunks or bikinis for some while yet, which means one thing - time to pack on some muscle!
See, your year can be cunningly used as a way to structure your workout goals and programmes.

September - November - build up muscular endurance and strength.
December to March - Work on the muscle size.
April to June - Strip off some fat
July to August - Enjoy the fruits of your labour!

Now this doesn't mean you have to spend half of the year fat and wearing big sweats to cover yourself up. It is just a little tweak in mindset that allows you to optimise your schedule based on necessity. A little bit of fat in the winter will keep you warm and allow you sufficient calories to build muscle whilst going lean in summer makes you look and feel great for the beach and stay cool!

So, how extreme am i talking? Let me use an example!

Ryan Reynolds - September to November - lean but not as muscley after a summer on the beach, hypothetically

 

Mid - Winter. Big on muscle, still defined but less so.

Summer - perfect mix. Big on muscle, short on fat! (roughly 3% body fat)

This can also happen. 

So let's start with September... what should you be doing?

After a summer of relaxation and perhaps a little deconditioning, it is important to start as if you are a beginner. For the next two weeks, concentrate on technique, core muscle activation and low-medium intensity weight training in the 12 rep range for 3-4 sets per exercise.

Example Total Body Workout

Push Ups - 3x12
Pull Ups (assisted or unassisted) - 3x12
Plank - 2x1 minute
Squats - 3 x 20
Dips - 3x12

Bench Press - 3x12
Lat Pull Down - 3x12
Leg Raises - 5x10
Lunges - 3x10 (per leg)
Barbell Curl - 3x12

Doing this simple workout 6 times over the next 2 weeks will really help to raise your muscular endurance, increase tone and build a base for more intense training to come!

Give it a go and good luck!

Re:Fuelling. Metabolism boosting post-workout meal.

So you've been good, done an amazing workout and now you can settle back to relax for the rest of the day. What is your body doing though?

• Rehydration - you are bound to be a little dehydrated after your workout. So continue to drip feed yourself a pint or two of water over the following 2 hours. This will keep your body in good condition to burn fat, allow for recovery of muscles and flush out waste products.
• Hyperdrive - if you have done an intense interval or weights sessions, then your body will continue to burn calories at an elevated rate for many hours (up to 72). This is particularly evident in the first two hours after the gym. So it is at this point that you want to get a good supply of carbohydrates in the body as it is unlikely to be stored as fat - it will be replenishing the glucose stores in your muscles. 
• Repair - the muscles in your body will have torn apart - on a micro level - during the workout. Over the next few days they will be repairing themselves and becoming stronger as they do so. If you have done an intense cardio sessions you also need to replenish your electrolyte levels via salts, minerals and vitamins.

So how do you do this?

Well, if you want to maintain a good level of lean muscle and reduce your fat levels you need to maintain the ability for your body to build muscle at all times. This is done through nutrition. Let's keep it specific to a post - workout meal though.
What does it need to contain?

• Complex carbs
• Lean protein 
• Vegetables
• Healthy fats. 

So here is a recipe for a great metabolism boosting meal -

Post - Workout Tuna Nicoise

• 1 tin of tuna in spring water or 1 tuna steak seasoned and cooked to your liking and cut into small piece.
• 1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced
• Roasted red pepper, sliced
• Spinach leaves
• Fine beans, asparagus, broccoli spears lightly cooked in a small amount of oil
• Cherry tomatoes - baked in a little oil, balsamic and salt
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 5 new potatoes, boiled and chopped

For the dressing

• Olive oil
• White wine vinegar
• Dijon Mustard
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lemon

There is nothing complicated here. The key thing is to make the dressing to your own taste and minimise the amount of oil. You want the salad to be tasty, but the main reason for eating it is to replenish the body with good carbohydrates, lean protein and lots of vitamins and minerals as well as the healthy fats in uncooked olive oil.

Give it a go and enjoy!

Work your way towards Leaner Legs

Hey gymnasts,

So, one of the most common questions I get asked is how can I get leaner, more shapely legs. And my answer is never, "just sit around and think about it". Surprisingly.

So how would i tackle this subject? Well, here's a 3 pronged attack on the ol' legs.

1) Cardio, cardio, cardio. Boo I hear you chant in unison. Hang on a second, though. I said there could be no magic! It isn't that difficult though really. Go for a walk - you'll feel satisfied, energised and pleased with yourself. Get on the treadmill - keep it short. 20 -30 mins of hard training (hard from your perception, don't worry about the guy next to you) 3 times per week should have you on the road to leggy heaven in no time!

2) Squat to success! Squats are not an arcane method of torture. Honestly. I'm not talking mind-blowing feats of human strength here either. Mix 4 sets of 20 body weight squats into your workouts twice a week and begin to see a change pretty rapidly. As this gets easy, start to carry 10kg on your shoulders and slowly build up. By week 6 you should do 4 sets of 12-15 - just enough weight that you feel a good burn in the legs and keep upping the weight to maintain the burn!

3) Don't stress about it. Stress is a sure way to keep the pounds on. Structure your workouts to fit your life and you'll be laughing all the way to the beach next summer. No need to become miserable or a gym freak.

Give it a go and tell me if your legs don't start to shape up nicely!

Brother Gym Tip No. 1

Exercise Tip 1. Friday 3rd September -

What is the most important thing to do when you want to start losing weight? Well, the clue is in the question. You have to 'start' doing something. Easily said, I know. But, how do you do this?

I say, grab the bull by its horns. Well versed cliches aside, my tip for today is to s...et a start date!

"I want to lose half a stone this month"
Ok. That's a start. To lose half a stone in a month you are going to have to have a calorie deficit of roughly 24,500. Sounds a little daunting doesn't it.

It needn't be though. Let's take it week by week. So each week you need to have a deficit of 6000 calories.

Step 1. Count your alcohol calories. 10 pints of beer - roughly 1800 to 2500 calories. Half it!
Step 2. Watch all of your liquids - can of coke. 142 calories. (x7 - 1000 calories). Go Diet! (lesser of two evils)
2000 saved so far.
Step 3. Sandwich fillings. Favourite of the employed masses, enemy to the slimerati. Thick slices of cheddar, 120 calories each. 2 in a sandwich, 5 days a week...1200 calories! Cut it thin and half that.
Mayonnaise. Sophisticated name it may have, but svelte it will not maketh thee. 172 calories in a tablespoon. EEK! x5 days = 860!
Another 2000 saved!
Step 4. Exercise. All that sweat, the vigorous panting, hot lycra and red cheeks - now that's the look that'll get you noticed. 3 hours of vigorous cardio and resistance training will certainly get you the other 2000, especially if you include the boost in calorie burning brought on by intense training for the following 12-72 hours.

Safety note - weight loss is definitely useful to those who are truly overweight. But there is nothing worse than seeing a skeleton pounding their bones on the treadmill. Be responsible. Look in the mirror, if you have a big gut, struggle to fit into your old clothing....then ok maybe you could lose some weight. But let's be real, size 0 was not a trend anyone found attractive. So stay healthy and only lose what isn't!

Over and out