Losing weight is nonsense!

People are obsessed with body weight. So many people want to lose weight. I still hear even educated people saying "I want to lose ...lbs" Why is that? Because people are conditioning to think that they should be a certain weight to be fit and healthy. The problem lies in the fact that there is some truth in that, just that the truth has been manipulated. The truth is, if you are fit & healthy, you will be your ideal weight. Obtaining a supposed ideal weight will not make you fit and healthy. But by pursuing health & fitness, you will achieve your ideal weight.

If I told you I could make you look 10 times better, and feel 10 times better, but you would actually have to gain some weight, what would you say? What if I told you nobody would ever know you had gained weight unless you told them, because you would look so much better? If you are a size 14, and I said I could mke you a size 12, or even a 10, but you would gain weight, would you go for it?

If you focus on your body shape and composition as a goal, who cares what the scales say? If you are smaller, more shapely, fitter, stronger and feel a whole lot better for it, isn't that what you really wanted? Or do you not care about how you look & feel, so long as the numbers go down on the scale?

Be fit, strong, healthy & confident. Do not get sucked into the "weight-loss" mentality. Throw away your bathroom scales and get a full length bedroom mirror instead. Want to look good naked, or want to lose 5lbs? Losing weight doesn't mean a change in body shape - hell, it may not even mean a change in body size either.

Focus on looking good and feeling good. I tell my clients "how you look and how you feel is what is important". Forget the scales. Forget weight loss as a goal.

Here is the truth:

For nutrition:-
It is more important to exclude the junk than finding a fancy diet plan.

For exercise:-
It is more important to push yourselves - hard - with resistence, than to look for the magic training tool or plan.

Cut out the junk food and train hard! Your body will look better for it.

Rant

My training is exclusively with kettlebells, bodyweight movements, gorilla ropes and Indian clubs/power clubs. Some people still view what I do as a novelty. They still think that 'traditional' exercises are the way to go. Why is that? Is it because bigger gyms/training facilities have the ability to market themselves and their methods to a wider audience? I would have thought that by now the results would speak volumes, but the message still isn't sinking in. My diet gets challenged as well because I am a vegetarian. What? A vegetarian? Don't you get sick all the time? You can't possibly train on a veggie diet.. surely you need protein? You eat chicken though, don't you? How about fish? Let's put this in context: Last year I took part in a 12-week body transformation challenge. Not that I wanted or needed to change, I just rose to the challenge. My fat percentage was 8% to start with (as a result of my normal day to day training and nutrition), so I wasn't interested in weightloss. I instead decided to gain muscle. Using my OWN training methods and tools, as well as my vegetarian diet, I put the effort in. In truth, I got bored just over halfway through, but I had gained a stone (6.5kgs) and maintained my 8% bodyfat, in 7 weeks. The closest out of the rest of the group, managed to drop to 8% bodyfat, but a third of the weight loss was muscle - in 12 weeks. What about athletic performance? I can, and have, flipped tyres and dragged sleds faster than professional athletes who outweigh me by more than 50%.

So for all the doubters out there, if you think a vegetarian diet is unhealthy, or you think kettlebells are a novelty, put your money where your mouth is. Join me for a workout. So far none of you come even close to matching me physically.

"First they laugh at you, then they ignore you, then they fight you, then you win."

MMA Strength & Conditioning

If you are looking for the best form of strength & conditioning for MMA, and are not yet training in kettlebells with a skilled instructor, you are driving with the handbrake on! Most forms of training, including some sport-specific programs, lack the training to give you the mental focus required to be at the top of your game. Other forms of training are seriously struggling to keep up with kettlebells for conditioning the body for extreme deceleration. Dynamic loading of the hip muscles for powerful contractions is fundamental for athletic ability, and kettlebells are miles ahead in this respect. Kettlebell movements build deep neuro-muscular foundations for athletic strength & power with forced acceleration and deceleration, abdominal pressurization, multi-planar muscle movements and hand eye coordination. The extreme body awareness created through repeated tension and relaxation, concentration on proper breathing techniques, and mental focus often draws parallels with martial arts or yoga training. Kettlebell training will teach you the fundamentals of strength training whilst delivering brutal conditioning. You will develop all-purpose strength to easily handle the toughest and most unexpected demands. You will maximise your staying power because the last round will decide the winner, and you will forge yourself a fighters physique, because the form must follow the function. What are you waiting for? Start swinging!

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

A few home truths

So many people are getting sucked into believing utter nonsense about exercise, nutrition & health. Not only are people always looking for an easy short cut to strength, health & fitness, but I see so many trainers making things worse by wasting clients time with exercises that, at best lead nowhere, or at worst are dangerous. Then when their clients don't see results it is blamed on hormone regulation, stressed out organs or some other intangible no-fault-of-the-trainer-or-the-client reason.

Come on people! Do I really have to point out to you that the people who are seeing results are the ones who are consistent with good nutritional habits, and exercise with intensity. I see so many people "training" and they NEVER break a sweat! Well here's a newsflash, you will NEVER get results. It's that simple. Don't go blaming your hormones, your metabolism, your organs or your glands if you are not putting in the effort.

I do believe that hormone regulation to achieve better results is a fact - but that is for athletes looking to make a small amount of difference to their ALREADY fit, strong & healthy bodies.

If you want to see change in your body, sort your nutrition out first. Don't get sucked into nonsense like blood type dieting, metabolic typing or anything else. Good nutrition is not complicated so don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You can fine tune it like anything else, but the basics are the basics, so start there and be consistent.

When it comes to exercise, push yourselves! So many people go to the gym for years and never see results. Why? Because they just don't the effort in. They don't put the effort in to sorting out poor nutritional habits and they don't put the effort in when they exercise. Keep good form above all else, but lift heavy and pick up the pace! A good trainer will understand how to put exercises together so that your body can cope throughout the entire session, and not have you collapsed in a heap gasping for air after 5 minutes. Going hell for leather without an intelligent structure doesn't do you any good either.

If you need direction with nutrition & exercise, employ a personal trainer. But remember 2 things:
1 - make sure they know their stuff
2 - make sure you follow their advice
If the trainer can't tell you why you are doing something, or what you should expect from it, they aren't worth your time or money. If you don't follow their advice, then you're wasting your own money and time. The personal trainer is not a magician. The PT will guide you, but actually putting the effort in and making the changes is still down to you.

Get training! Challenge everything, especially yourselves.

Bad advice

I had a client in one of my classes the other day say something strange, and I had to comment on it. She had been told by her masseuse NOT to lift heavy weights, the suggestion being that she was now too tight in her muscles as a result... Unfortunately now I have to re-educate her that lifting heavy is actually a good thing! Of course always make sure you warm up before a work out, and you can cool down with stretches afterwards, and if you are STILL feeling tight - go to a masseuse! By let them just do their job, not mine (I am a qualified masseuse, so I am happy to do their job though!).

There are always people out there that will give bad advice. So question everything; even what I tell you! Challenge it, research it, experience it - decide for yourself if it is good advice. By telling someone they shouldn't lift heavy, good form allowing, is ridiculous. If you do not want to challenge yourself, get back on the sofa and stay away from the gym.

Changes to studio class timetable

The new schedule for the Kettlebell & Bodyweight studio classes is as follows:

Tuesdays 7pm
Chase Sports & Fitness (opposite Southend Hospital)
250 Prittlewell Chase
Westcliff-on-sea
ss0 0pr

Thursdays 7pm
Iron Den Studio (see www.idpt.co.uk for a map)
Unit 37
Laurence Industrial Estate
Eastwoodbury Lane
Southend-on-sea
ss2 6rh

Prices are £6 for the Chase, and £8 for Iron Den

Spaces are limited to 16 at the Chase and 10 at Iron Den
Please book in advance to avoid disappointment!

A Saturday morning class may be introduced soon if there is enough interest.

Challenge everything, Especially yourselves

To Eat Meat Or Not To Eat Meat

Enough Already! I have just read another article that says we actually evolved into carnivores. If evolution is true, we were probably more physically akin to carnivores earlier on during our evolution than later on. The bottom line is humans are capable of, and designed for, an omnivorous diet. There is scientific evidence for both sides – carnivore & herbivore. Which makes us omnivores. Which in turn means we are more than capable of surviving on various diets. It is not about eating meat or not eating meat. It is about eating a clean, healthy, balanced diet that provides us with all the nutrients that we need.

I have chosen a vegetarian diet, and I do very well on it. I have my reasons for being a vegetarian, and if you would like to know them, just ask me. My diet is not lacking in any nutrients, protein, vitamins, minerals... I get everything I need from a vegetarian diet. If you think that isn't possible, just look up famous vegetarians or vegans. You will find world class athletes, bodybuilders, cage fighters and strength coaches.

I cannot stand it when vegetarians are portrayed as skinny, weak and malnourished. Sure, there are vegetarians out there that are, but they are not following a good, balanced diet. Have you noticed how many meat-eaters are fat, weak and malnourished? Just because your diet includes or excludes certain foods doesn't mean either is a good, healthy diet. Both diets can be good, or bad.

I follow a vegetarian diet. For those of you who remain unconvinced that a vegetarian diet can be healthy and provide everything an athlete requires, I challenge you to come on down and join me for a workout. So far everyone who challenges my diet hasn't even come close to challenging me physically.