5 ways to reduce the effect of DOMS

Introduction

In my experience DOMS (short for Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness), is one of the most common factors that stop many newbies from achieving their training and transformation goals.

Usually, one of two things happen. The trainee dramatically reduces their training output, resulting in the individual not getting a great enough stimulus to force the body to adapt, or they quit training altogether.

Is training always going to make me sore BC?

Not necessarily. After the initial adaptation phase, which can last between 2-3 weeks (everyone is different), your body will start to get used to the new stimulus and you wont ache so much.

This is the main reason for starting out with a gradual progressive program that is intelligently personalised to your individual ability.

If you throw yourself into a training program that a friend or colleague has shown or told you about (or even worse, that you've found online), you're asking for trouble. Doing this could result in injury or in the best case scenario, serious DOMS.

So BC, How do I start?

The first thing that you should do is to consult a professional trainer. This seems obvoius but many try the DIY approach and either fail or get injured.

Basic Human Movements
1- Squat/Lunge
2- Press up (Push)
3- Bodyweight Row (Pull)
4- Good morning  (Hip Hinge)
5- Plank (Core stabilising)

In my opinion, if you can't perform the basic human movements, then you have no business doing any resistance machines or free weights which leads me nicely into my first way to reduce DOMS.

1-Don't run before you can walk

If you can't perform the exercises above then stop trying to do fancy kettlebell exercises,  body pump, spinning classes and the latest fad class that involves sprinting backward on a fitball in a studio that looks like a disco with the heating on 100 degrees (Ok, maybe I got a bit carried away there but you get the point).

2- A car wont run on water alone

If your nutrition is not on point you will recover more slowly. Fact... When you finish your workout you need protein and a moderate amount of carbohydrates.

I recommend that my clients eat a balanced meal of a good quality protein source, some vegetables and a decent serving of carbohydrates (all of which should come from single ingredient food items). The second best option is to take a good quality protein shake to help get these nutrients in if a lack of time/preparation is an issue.

This healthy meal should be consumed within 90 minutes after the workout to further aid the recovery process.

3- We heal in our sleep

You should be aiming to get between 7-8 hours of sleep each night. When you sleep, your body is working overtime to help your fatigued muscles to grow and repair.

Also as a side note, if you are aiming to lose fat, your body uses fat as its main source of energy when you are sleeping. If you want to get leaner or stay lean then make sure you get your sleep dialed in each night.

4- When your sore, train more

Now I don't mean that I want you to anihilate yourself when you're already in pain however, active recovery is a viable way to help your aching muscles recover. Think of it this way, blood carries nutrients and oxygen around your body (both of which help you to recover faster).

The most essential nutrient that you need to recover is protein. Protein's job is to help the cells of your body to grow and reapir. This includes your hair, nails, skin and not forgetting your muscle fibres.

Back to active recovery though, my favorite way to implement active recovery is to just move. Go for a swim, a bike ride, a walk, play a sport or use a rowing machine. The options are endless but just move. If you stay still you'll stiffen up and heal slower.

5- Eat some cherries. Yes Cherries!

Consuming a couple of handfulls of cherries after you train can help to reduce the effects of DOMS. Cherries contain a nutrient called anthocyanin which helps to increase the amount of oxygen that goes to your muscles. This will promote faster recovery and as an added benefit, the carbohydrates within the cherries will help to shuttle protein to your muscles faster because when your body is in an insulin sensitive state (post training) the glycogen from the cherries will be sucked away from your fat cells and directly into the muscles that you have just finished training.

Summary

So there we have it, 5 ways to reduce the effects of DOMS. Don't go mad when you first start training. If your experienced in training already and you still get sore try some of the above tips and you'll be sure to speed up your recovery process.

Feel free to post any questions, comments or feedback below. Let me know of any topics that you want me to discuss and I'll be sure to consider them for futere blog posts.

Stay strong, be healthy and help others. 

BC

Real Core Training

Introduction

I have been requested to do a post today on core training.

Lets start by first understanding the definition of the "core."

The core is a group of muscles that stabilises the torso including the spine and the vital organs.

The core consists of the following muscles that work as a team to create stability; the transverse abdominis (TVA), the internal and external obliques, the intercostals, the errector spinae, the quadratus lumborium, the multifidis and the most popular muscle that most people know of in the torso, the rectus abdominis (otherwise known as your six pack).

The main role of the core group of muscles is to maintain a rigid torso whilst the limbs are moving an maximal or submaximal velocity.

A good example of this is a 100m sprinter. The sprinter moves their arms and legs at maximal speed, in order to finish the race in the fastest time. The function of the core is to remain tight during the whole race to stop excess movement and lost force production and lets not forget, protection of the vital organs which are also inside the torso.

Understanding the function of the core helps us gain a greater understanding about the most realistic/sports specific way that we should all train our core group of muscles.

Whilst doing variations of sit ups, crunches, leg raises and rotational exercises like russian twists are good for isolating individual areas of the core muscles the crossover to real life functionality is poor.

The Loaded Carry
The loaded carry is one of the best real core training exercises. There are many different variations of loaded carry but some of my favorites are as follows;
1-Single arm dumbbell carry
2-Farmers walk
3-Suitcase carry
4-Overhead carry
5-Yoke walk

Single Arm Carry
This exercise is great as you will be pulled to one side as your walking, forcing your core muscles down the opposite side to work as a group so that you aren't pulled over to the side your holding the DB on. These are great as a warm up to any workout as they dont necessarily have to be heavy and they get all of your limbs and torso working.

Farmers Walk
The farmers walk is another good warm up or metabolic finisher at the end of your workout depending on how heavy you want to go. You will hold a dumbbell or a kettlebell in each hand and walk for a set distance at speed. All of the core group of muscles will be engaged during this exercise.

Suitcase Carry
You will need slightly more room to perform this exercise than the others. For the suitcase carry you will stand between two barbells, before performing a deadlift and walking a set distance with them both in your hands. Because of the length of the barbells, it may be best to do this exercise outside or at a quite time in the gym. This exercise will challenge not only your core group of muscles but also your grip, forearms and trapezius too.

Overhead Carry
This is one of my favourite core exercises. It can be done single handed or with both hands overhead. If you have limited shoulder mobility you may want to avoid this exercise or try the single handed version. The placement of the object in hand must be held slightly behind your head and stacked directly over the shoulders. Walk for a set distance or time. This exercise engages all of the core group of muscles.

Yoke Walk
This is the version of a loaded carry that you can really overload. Place a barbell in a high bar potition on your back (ontop of your trapezius), unrack the bar from the rack and go for a walk for time or distance. Because of the amount of weight that you can load up and walk with, this exercise causes the greatest amount of stabilisation requirement. I would not reccomend that you did this when training alone and if you do train alone, always ask for a spotter when performing this exercise. This works not only every muscle within the core but it works every muscle in your body.

Summary
So now we understand that the core muscles work as a group to stabilise our torso whilst our limbs are moving. The faster we move our limbs, the more we need to  stabilise our core muscles. Sit ups, crunches, leg raises and other core isolation exercises are fine but the crossover to real core strength and stability is very minimal. Incorporate one or all of the above versions of loaded carry to see a huge boost in performance and asthetics.

Until next week, train hard, stay positive and never stop developing yourself in every aspect of life.

BC

Why should women lift weights?

Introduction

For fat loss and muscle tone at least, the thing that I hear many women ask is, "what's the best thing that I can do to achieve this goal?"

Is it cardio? Are classes better? How about abdominal training because thats the area I want to lose my 'weight' from?

STOP!!!

Allow me to shed some light on this topic;

1) Doing cardio alone will help you become smaller than you are (under the assumption that you are creating a calorie deficit with a combination of food and exercise) but that's all it will do! You won't look anymore toned, you won't necessarily be able to see shape on your abdomen and you will likely become what's know in the industry as skinny fat. You will become a smaller version of your not toned self unless you have exceptional genetics in terms of muscularity (which is uncommon).

2) Depending on the class, you could see a benefit if they incorporate some weights and HIIT training. Sorry guys but Zumba, Legs, bums and tums and yoga classes aren't going to help with the outlined goals of losing fat and achieving a more toned physique. 

If you do like the classes then do them but do them for fun, not for a specific training goal as they are generalized not designed specifically for you. I will always encourage keeping active and doing exercises that you enjoy. 

3) Training abdominals for fat loss without having a structured nutrition and resistance training plan in place is like having a large pizza to yourself with a salad on the side. Its pointless...

So how do ladies lose fat then?

Both the males and females burn fat and improve muscle tone by being in a deficit of calories and performing resistance exercise that allow you to grow or retain muscle whilst being in a calorie deficit.

The only difference being, that women naturally have higher estrogen levels than men, which can make it a little more difficult to achieve fat loss as fast as their male counterpart. It is still very achievable though and it can be done with a few little tricks.

There are three ways to burn fat

1) I'm going to sound like a broken record here.... Be in a calorie deficit!

2) Manage your insulin levels. Don't let them spike too sharply and try to keep them stable throughout the day.

3) Increase the size of your overall musculature.

How do we do that?

1) Simply burn more calories than you consume. There are lots of different ways to track this however, the easiest way is to just eat very slightly smaller portions and gently over a period of 2-3 week's increase your activity to 30-45 mins per day with 1 day per week of eating a little more than the other six. This allows for balance because you should have everything in moderation including moderation.

2) You stop your insulin levels from spiking by limiting the amount of processed foods that you consume, cutting sugar out of your diet and eating a variety of foods that have a low glycemic index whilst increasing your protein and healthy fat intake. Protein, fibre and fat cause no insulin response. You can consume your food in the order of veggies and salad, then protein followed by carbohydrate. This reduces the insulin spike from the carbohydrate, helps to manage your blood sugar levels and will balance out your hormones.

3)To build muscle, we need to have a training routine in place that is based around resistance training. Now that doesn't mean that you will end up looking like the hulk. In fact, this is a myth for most women (and most men quite frankly) and is very frustrating to those that know how hard it is to gain muscle without gaining too much fat.

One of my favourite analogies for using weight training to achieve fat loss is;

"If you put a steak onto the barbecue what happens? The steak goes from being soft and and large with a higher fat content, to the steak shrinking, getting firmer and the fat drips out."

This is what happens when you do weights. Your body will shrink because you'll lose fat and your muscles will become firmer and more toned. 

Having more muscle will speed up your metabolic rate (the number of calories that you burn each day) and maks it easier to achieve a deficit of calories.

Summary

When you combine the three methods above you will achieve a steady fat loss and long term success. There are many 'fad' diets out there that promise fast results and some do deliver what they say.

If you want long term fat loss and a toned physique, then follow the advise above and you'll be sure to make an improvement.

Always remember that when embarking on any exercise routine you should always have a health check with your doctor first and consult a trained professional who can advise you on how to safely perform the correct exercises to help you achieve your goals.

Stay strong, be happy and enjoy your journey.

BC

There's more to Personal Training than Grueling Workouts

Introduction

When I first started Personal Training (Over 16 years ago) I wanted to help my clients to exercise safely, make their training more effective with the new knowledge that I had gained for my personal training courses and help them to improve thier lives in the fastest possible time. I had no idea at that time, the knowledge I had gained wouldn't come close to preparing me for the job that I had ahead of me. 

The lessons that I have learned over the last 16 years have completely changed the way that I think about training and life.

"The best way to learn is to teach." Frank Oppenheimer

When I qualified I passed all of my exams with the best possible grades, flying colours you might say. You could even say that at the time I was a little big headed about my latest achievement and even though on paper I was a qualified PT and had many years of training myself under my belt, in reality I was still an 18 year old young man who had no experience in working with the public or helping people achieve their personal goals.

Time to Grow

Over time I improved my people skills, my business skills and the ability to research newly released training data on the most effective methods to help my clients improve both safely and quickly. This personal growth turned into increased PT sales, improved relationships with current clients and an authenticity that can't be faked by just a good sales person. I have and always will practice what I preach meaning, if I ask you to do it, you can bet that I will have practiced the new exercise technique, intricate details of an exercise (a different way of doing the same exercise) or dietary method many times before I ever mention it. 

The clients that I train and the great results that my clients get, allowed my confidence to grow. I was no longer big headed about how good I thought I was. I have improved with the understanding that I will never have learned it all but the self-assurance that I can help the vast majority of clients to be physically more advanced and have a better education in nutritional techniques to achieve many different goals.

"The more you learn, the more you'll realise how little you know." Joe Abercrombie

I am always humble about the results my clients get and I make a point of giving them any credit for the results that they achieve. I am only a guide on their journey and the client is the person who must walk the path to the top of the mountain. I feel an overwhelming sense of pride when my clients break through their training, nutrition and self-development goals.

Training isn't always the answer!

Sometimes the right thing to do when trying to keep your clients on track, is to not train them (hear me out before you get out the torches). I have had many clients over the years that have come to their training session in no fit state to train down to personal circumstances (sometimes out of their control and sometimes within their control). 

It could be one of a many different reasons that prevent them from being able to train and in my sessions, if you aren't in the right frame of mind to train, you shouldn't train (risk vs reward must be in favour of reward). I have taken clients out for a walk or just found a quiet space for them to vent, cry or shout in these circumstances.

Short term, this may not contribute to a client achieving their goals on this given day but in the long term, if life situations gets ontop of them, this can hold back their training more than missing a day of training. Sometimes taking a small step backwards to allow for future steps forwards is a necessary action. 

Different Perspective

I have a different perspective on this subject to many trainers. Too many trainers believe that their job is simply to train and advise their clients and when the hour is up the client isn't thier problem until the next session. Sadly, this is all too common. The trainers I have known over the years with this attitude don't stay in this industry for long. I am fortunate to have been in the presence on a regular basis of a diverse and intelligent group of PT's that share similar views to myself (Iron sharpens Iron!).

More than a Personal Trainer

The thing that they don't teach you when you are learning to become a PT however, is that as a PT, you are obliged to do whatever it takes to get your clients to stay on track. This is where I believe many fall short on service to their clients.

Whether you like it or not, you will build up a relationship with each and every individual client that you train and on top of a trainer, you will become a friend, counselor, roll model and a pillar of support for some if not all of your clients. There is so much more to being PT than gruelling workouts, diet advice and a few scripted encouraging words.

Please feel free to add in anything that you feel I have missed out in the comments below. I would love to hear your comments on your own PT experiences.

Until next time, be healthy, stay strong and enjoy life.

BC

Resolutions- How to stay on track

Introduction

Setting your resolutions for new year is the easy part but staying on the right path to achieve them is slightly more challenging. I want to share with you an easy technique that will almost guarantee success in whatever you goals are.

This technique can be applied to almost every aspect of life from training to nutrition, business, friends and family. The technique is so simple that it almost doesn't seem worth talking about at first glance but if you read this article the whole way through, you'll see that it is worth your investment of time.

Staying on track

Take care of the day, don't look too far ahead at your end goal. Now this seems a very simplistic approach to achieving your goals and aspirations but it is very relevant. Most people will be so fixated on their long term goals that they don't look after today. In order to achieve your goals you will need to set yourself micro goals. Micro goals are daily tasks that you will need to complete in order to keep you moving forwards.

An example of this from a nutrition perspective is to concentrate on each individual meal. Yes, you have a certain number of calories and percentage of macros to achieve each day but the end figure is a result of each individual meal being on the right track.

A second example of taking care of the day from a business perspective is to know what individual tasks you need to do today that will help you to achieve your long term goals and success. It is no good concentrating on your long or medium term goals if you haven't addressed the tasks that need to be done today in order to get you to your medium and long term goals.

A third and final example from a family perspective is to make time in your schedule to do things together each day. If you have children and you are reading this then please don't miss the daily opportunities that are right in front of you slip away without enjoying them. You will already know that your children grow up so fast and before you know it they wont be dependant on you anymore. Nothing is as important as your relationships with each other because after all, life isn't all about how much money you earn (although money is relevant in this day and age), or the latest gadgets or designer clothes (which are a nice luxury but they aren't a necessity), it's about having a positive impact on the people that you really care about, it's about giving to others without the expectation of receiving anything back in return and its about showing your love for the people in your life that mean the most to you every single day.

Summary

In summary, you should create a list of daily tasks to complete that will help you to achieve your long and medium term goals. If you work on today, tomorrow will be a little brighter, you'll never lose momentum and you'll stay on track to not only achieve your goals but to surpass them. Make sure that you the take time to spend with the people who you care for the most each day.

Until next time, look after the day and each other.

BC

Get through Christmas without feeling like you've blown your diet & training

Introduction

During the Christmas period many people that are health conscious, exercise regularly and pay attention to their dietary requirements worry about what they are going to do on Christmas day itself. Some questions that you may find yourself asking are;

Am I going to blow all of the hard work that I've put in over the year on Christmas day by not sticking to my diet? 

Is my body fat or physique going to change for the worse by not sticking to my diet on Christmas day? 

What things can I do on Christmas day that will help me to counteract some of the bad food that I will inevitably eat?

Tip Number 1- Relax

On Christmas day the best thing that you can do is to just enjoy the day for what it is. Christmas day is about spending time with family, friends, and loved ones. If you don't eat perfectly on this one particular day, it is not going to negatively affect all of the hard work that you have put in over the last year.

Instead, focus on enjoying the little time you have with the people that you care about most. You will be able to resume your diet on Boxing Day or the day after and you will quickly realise, that there was no need to worry in the first place.

Planning for days like this is part of a healthy lifestyle. I would however recommend, that in the week leading up to Christmas that you are particularly clean with your diet in order to counteract the bad foods that you will inevitably eat on the day, which is fine by the way.

Tip 2 - Don't be inactive

Instead of lounging around in the morning, once you have exchanged gifts with your family and friends, take the children over to a park for them and you to burn off some energy, go for a bike ride on that new bike that you may have gotten, you could take the dog for a walk, or you could follow a local trail for gentle morning stroll. Just try to keep active (it doesn't need to be intense)as this will help to reduce snacking between meals. If you aren't at home in front of temptation you won't be tempted. Another plus for being active is that you can counterbalance some of the excess calories before you eat or drink them.

Tip 3 -Go easy on alcohol

Whilst we may enjoy a drink at this festive time of year, try not to go mad with alcohol on Christmas day. I'm not saying that you shouldn't have a drink or two or even three over the period of the day but I would recommend that you don't go overboard. Remebmer that balance is a key factor in living a healthy and happy life.

It works both ways, you don't want to live a life that involves you getting completely drunk, eating processed unhealthy foods every day and you don't want to completely abstain from ever eating anything that isn't good for you as this would make life boring and is an unrealistic expectation.

Summary

These three tips should help to put your mind at ease as we are heading into the last few weeks before Christmas. Keep thing's clean with your diet these coming weeks and then enjoy your time with friends, family and loved ones this Christmas. 

Do some gentle exercise even if it's just going for a stroll in the morning and don't go over the top with alcohol.

I hope that all of my readers have an amazing Christmas this year and I look forward to writing my next blog after the big day.

Stay strong, be happy and have fun.

BC

Alternatives to traditional cardio

Let's face it, if you want to have any decent level of fitness or athleticism you are going to have to perform some kind of cardiovascular exercise. There are however less boring/tedious ways do do cardio other than just going for a jog, up hill walk on the treadmill, a cycle or doing the x-trainer for 30-45mins three times per week.

I want to start by explaining the definition of cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise has two different energy systems.

- Aerobic system... This refers to your body using oxygen to perform an exercise for a prolonged period of time at a generally light to moderate pace of around 60%-85% of your maximum heart rate. Aerobic exercise can be fuelled by glycogen reserves, fat reserves or a combination of both.

-Anerobic system... This refers to your body working for a short period of time at a high percentage of your maximum heart rate, usually over 85%, in which case your body is initially powered by glycogen which is the body's prefered source of energy. Glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen, when needed, reacts with oxygen and produces carbon dioxide and water to then produce energy for our body to use in short bursts.

Now the Science is out of the way lets get down to the good stuff...

3 ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO DO CARDIO

Sometimes it is hard work to get motivated to get on the treadmill, stationary bike or x-trainer with a goal of using up any excess glycogen and to burn some body fat.

What if I was to tell you that you could burn off that extra glycogen and fat without your joints taking the impact of pounding the treadmill or the tediousness of the stationary bike or x-trainer and get fitter at the same time! Interested?

CIRCUITS
Circuits are great because you can really elevate your heart rate for 30-45 mins with your heart rate in the 60%-85% range. This can be done on resistance machines or free weights or even just with your own bodyweight. That is why circuits are so good. You can tailor your workout to what equipment you have available to you.

I have provided a sample circuit below but feel free to create your own. You can add ANY exercise to this circuit and it will fit right in.

Start off by doing 3-5sets of the exercises below and build it up to 10 sets.

(1) Bodyweight Squats x10
(2) Press Ups x10
(3) Crunchies x10
(4) Burpees x10
(5) Alternate Leg Lunges x10 on each leg
(6) Plank for a 30 second count
(7) Back extensions x10
(8) Chin Ups or Horizontal Rows x10
(9) Hip thrusts x10
(10) Leg Raises x10

You will find this very challenging at first but your body will quickly adapt, gaining both aerobic fitness and muscular tone at the same time. Due to the variety of different exercises your mind is active and the time goes much faster than when you do traditional cardio.

TABATA
The Tabata protocol was created by a Japanese man named Izumi Tabata. The idea of this protocol is to quickly create an oxygen debt which you will recognise from the lack of breath that you have. This will quickly make your body use up your stored sugar (glycogen) which then forces your body to use stored fat (once your glycogen levels are low enough) for energy.

The Protocol
5 min warm up (a walk, cycle or gentile mobility would be fine)

Choose any cardio machine/bodyweight exercise (like a burpee or jump squat)/ weighted compound exercise (like a squat or deadlift) and do 8x20 seconds of work as fast as possible (with good technique) followed by 10 seconds of rest.

Do a 2 min cool down (a walk, gentile cycle or some stretches  )

The Tabata Protocol is intense and they are great at the end of a weights workout to burn off any excess glycogen and to start tapping into your fat storage cells.

COMPLEXES
Complexes are a combination of three or more compound exercises (an exercise that uses two or more joints and multiple muscle groups at once) done consecutively without rest, using the same peice of equipment (usually a barbell or dumbbells). Complexes are very good for increasing fitness and burning fat. They also have the added benefit of allowing you to tone up whilst doing something a bit more creative that standard steady state cardio.

An example complex routine would be as follows;

3-5 sets with a 1 min rest period:
X5 Power Cleans
X5 Front Squats
X5Push Press.
X5 Back Squat
X10 Press Ups

This will be very challenging both physically and mentally but the rewards gained from complexes are well worth the effort. Don't forget that this is just a sample routine. Please feel free to get as creative as you want with this.

So there we have it! Three alternatives to doing your traditional cardio that should keep your interest and get you burning stubborn fat in no time...

If you have any questions then please leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Until next time. Have fun, get creative and in the words of Mark Bell, Strength is never a weakness and weakness is never a strength.

BC