Tuesday 30 July 2013

Get a beach body and eat pizza!

I'm less than a week into 'beach mode' and I'm already getting bored with the bland food. So I'm experimenting with different foods all the time. Check out this carb-less pizza, everyone loves pizza right?



How to make the pizza...

Cook one chicken breast
Blend the chicken breast in a blender or mash it up with a meat cleaver.
Create the pizza base with the blended chicken
Add toppings of your choice. I used tomato purree, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms and red pepper
Season with mixed herbs
Bake in the oven for a further 10-20 mins
Enjoy....

Friday 19 July 2013

The superhero vitamin

Vit D is synthesised in the body in response to sun exposure or it can be obtained from food/supplement form. Chances are though your not getting enough sun exposure to create optimum amounts of Vit D (especially if you live in the uk). So it might be worth investing in a supplement. Look for 'vitamin D3' as its superior to its standard vitamin D counterpart. For a long time vitamin D was simply looked at as a bone health vitamin, but studies have shown its benefits branch out more. Much, much more....


Muscle strength 

Lean body mass

Blood sugar regulation

Insulin resistance

Muscle power 

Male and female reproductive health

Cardiovascular health

Fat loss

Immune function

Prevention of obesity 

Treatment of hypertension (high blood pressure)

Kidney health

Bone strength and density 

Acts as an anti-depressant 

Maternal health


Remember, there's 3 ways you can get your vitamin D levels up 

1. Sunshine
2. Vitamin D3 supplement
3. Eat foods high in Vit D such as cod liver oil, fish, oysters, caviar, eggs, mushrooms. 

Hands down, there's no other vitamin or supplement that gives you more 'bang for your buck' than what vitamin D does. It's not only essential for your health and fitness goals, but essential for life! 


Monday 1 July 2013

How to get a body like Candice Swanepoel

In the gym, in a bar, at a party, it doesn't matter where I may be, as soon as a I tell a girl I'm a personal trainer you can pretty much guarantee they reel of a pre-prepared speech of questions like...

(Takes deep breath)

"How can I tone the insides of my legs and loose fat from my tummy and shape the back of my arms and develop a really nice bum and make my legs look longer and tighten up my abdominal muscles and lose fat off my back?"

(Looks and me with excited eyes and a big smile)

At first I don't normally give a direct answer, I usually want to find out what their currently doing and why it's not working for them. They're responses usually always involve:

Cardio (lots of it)
Bicep curls (with weights equivalent of a baked bean tin)
Crunches
Zumba class

Sound familiar? It's great, your doing some exercise, but it will only get you so far! Obviously diet plays a huge roll in getting that Candice Swanepoel figure, its also worth noting that you are tied to your genetic limitations when it comes to sculpting your perfect body. Your bone structure will always be the same, your height will always be the same etc. Candice has a slim, lean, muscular body, defined abs and definition in her arms,legs and shoulders. She looks strong yet sexy and feminine. In other terms - Perfect!



Here's 5 things you should be doing in the gym to achieve a similar look:

Sprint intervals
Sprint training is a great fat burning and metabolism revving tool. You can get more work done in a shorter period of time and its more exciting than a 30 minute jog. Check out this blog post for more info on sprint training http://fitinfivehundredwords.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/sprints-for-win.html

Focus on money exercises
What are money exercises? These are the ones that give you the most bang for your buck aka compound exercises. Compound exercises use more than one muscle group, burn plenty of calories and rev your metabolism. Examples are - squat, chest press, lunge, romanian deadlift, kettlebell swings and burpees.

Shorter rest periods between sets
Because females generally have less overall muscle than males they are generally weaker. This means they can recover faster between sets. The effort can usually be repeated in as little as 30 seconds. A faster paced workout will also burn more calories...bonus!

Lift heavier
The ideal rep range for females is 8-15, so pick a load that is ideal for that amount of repetitions. You need to challenge yourself and give your body stimulus to change. Baked bean tin bicep curls ain't going to cut it! High reps (20+) do not help burn fat or improve definition, lifting heavy will burn far more calories and keep your metabolism revved for hours after your workout.

Keep sessions short an intense
An ideal workout should be quick and intense. The ideal time is 45-60 minutes, not 3 hours of nonsense. Long workouts will either put you in so much of a calorie deficit you look fatigued, thin and wiry or the exact opposite and raise your cortisol levels up which will hold fat around your middle. Neither one of them is the look we're going for.