Christmas Tips

Christmas Eating

With Christmas fast approaching us the huge food shops have begun to ensure Christmas Day is bigger and better than last year. A bigger turkey, tastier Christmas pudding and the best mince pies money can buy. This does not help those who want to stay on track with their diet over the festive period in an attempt to beat the New Year diet. Here are a few tips to stay on track over Christmas yet still get the most out of the day.

1. A quick run or HIIT session Christmas morning. I know this sounds crazy but to get your metabolism really firing before a day of consuming your bodyweight in food get out and do some exercise. No more than 30 minutes is needed. Run 5 minutes to a local hill, 10 minutes of sprints followed by tabata squats (4 minutes, 20seconds work, 10 seconds rest), run back then cool down all before it's time to open the presents. Target the legs, with these being the bigger muscle groups a higher volume of calories shall be burnt, meaning you won't feel guilty having another Yorkshire.
2. Christmas lunch is always the bigger meal of the day so reduce your portion size on the other meals. Cut your breakfast in half, this will mean you'll be less full for when the main lunch arrives and you'll have those extra calories to eat at lunch without feeling guilty!!! Whatever you do, don't feel guilt for overindulging, it's the worse thing you can do. If you want something, eat it, it's one day. The more and more you crave it, when it comes to eating it you'll overindulge more because you feel like you've earned it.
3. Stick to the spirits. The festive period is a time to get merry but for those of you who want to stay on track as much as possible alcohol can be one of your biggest demos. Alcohol is branded by many experts as empty calories with the biggest protagonists being beer and wine so I personally would always advocate on sticking to spirits. Whisky has always been my choice as it's a drink that you can drink without the need of mixers as these can boast the calorie count. Gin with slim lime tonic and vodka with soda are both great alternatives.

So there you have it, three simple tips to keep you and your diet on track over the festive period.

Have a Merry Christmas

Jack

Winter Cardio and VXS Gymwear

Today’s blog is going to have to aspects to it with some tips on training and a quick review on some new gym clothing I’m now wearing. 

With the colder weather and darker nights now approaching our bodies are starting to hibernate under more and more clothes meaning that winter bulk has now arrived. Calories aren’t so closely watched, cheat meals become more often, along with cardio a distance pass time as the focus to changes to getting stronger in the gym. Now I agree with this, time shouldn't be wasted walking on the treadmill burning off those calories however cardio should still be part of your training. You may ask how? One thing I tell all my clients is through High Intensity Interval Training, instead of putting this on a piece of CV equipment, integrate it into your workout by including it as some kind of finisher to the muscle groups you're training. Here are a few examples: 

Pull Day : For this I like to use a tyre and a sledgehammer, old school training. 20 alternate sledgehammer tyre hits into 6 tyre flips. As many rounds as possible in 8 minutes, this can be changed depending on ability levels. Both exercises will engage muscles you would have used in your workout plus legs which will really help to boast that heart rate. 

Push Day : Get the battle ropes out and it will quite literally be a battle as to who will give up first, just going say you'll will probably lose. Just take three exercises using the rope, Conga Drums to begin with which are just an up and down movement with the rope. Kong Slam bring the ropes over your head and slam down then Jumping Jack’s with the ropes still in your hand as the last exercise. Complete for a count of 20 on each, take a 20 count rest (preferably the same as your working 20 count, try to avoid cheating) and repeat 4 times. Your anterior chain will be on fire along with your heart rate going through the roof. 

Leg Day : After a long, heavy leg day you really don't want to be doing a lot so lets keep in short and sweet. Time yourself in completing 4 rounds of these exercises in quickest time possible. Record this to see improve but furthermore motivate you for the next leg day to beat your last time. 

5 Burpees

10 Jump Squats

20 Alternate Jumping Lunges. 

Include these quick finishers into your workouts, just to maintain those cardio levels throughout the winter period, because quite simply lifting weights is cardio in itself. 

Now to let you on to a little secret and that is the new gym wear I have been wearing by a company called VXS Gymwear. Now you know I’m not one to rave about clothing but the guys at VXS have really struck gold. The title VXS stands for Velocity x Strength = Power and with these you get a powerful product. I was introduced to them by a friend after he heard about them as an upcoming gym wear company in the UK and he knows the biggest struggle I have in life are getting shorts that fit my waist correctly but yet also manage to fit my upper legs in, so recommend these. So I went to their online shop which I’ll link below and ordered some of their ‘Black Sweatshorts’ in large which equates to my waist size. Received the parcel in 36 hours and straight away put them on to see they actually cater for people that have small waists but yet those who train legs!!! 

I’ve been wearing them quite often over the pass few months and can’t get enough of them. The cotton based shorts ensure comfort in the gym, not restricting movement like many of the mesh material based shorts do. After a good 10 washes in the washing machine they still look like the first time I’ve worn them which shows quality, more so value for money at the price of £18.99. These shorts due to the simple but smart design can be warn anywhere in or out of the gym, but maybe wait till its a little bit warmer for that. The one thing I like the most are the zipped pockets, such a life saver in the gym. Lets say you're mid way through a set performing a incline DB press and your phone falls out of your pockets, causing headphones to fall out and before you know it everything just ends in a mess. With these simply put your music on, zip the pockets up and you're away. The simple things are often things which are overlooked but with VXS they've really thought of the things that you need in every circumstance for the hard working, motivated gym goer. 

Be sure to check their products out at http://vxsgymwear.co.uk

So, keep your cardio up even through the winter, even just for those quick 10 minutes at the end of the workout and be sure to invest in some good gym wear to help you out in the gym. Because if you look and feel epic in the gym then you'll perform epic. 

Jack

A season to change - New Programme

Writing a new programme

With the summer holidays now over for me looking lean and in shape like I actually attend a gym is not such a priority. This means new goals and objectives within my training are to be made, keeping my motivation and somewhat desire to staying fit. This is the fundamental factor in your training because everything will come together to achieve this end goal. Now for me this is to get the scales to read the grand total of 100kg, yet still be under 12% BF. I've never quite achieved this so this is the main goal along with a few other minor goals such as:
- 180kg Back Squat for 10
- 160kg Bench Press for 5
- Strict Overhead Press 100kg for 5.
I can't stress enough how vital it is to have these in place. When you get to that manic day at work and you realise that you've got to go a train legs that evening, the goal for back squats will force you to get under that bar, squat down and get back up again. It's that motivation that you need when you're just not feeling it.

Now just a quick few pointers when it comes to writing your programme:
1. Don't include too much. Volume has its place in any programme but often when writing workouts people tend to include way to much. Aim for no more than 20 sets, if you're struggling with that add in a superset, mini circuit at the end or even add in a second day into your programme. I'm currently doing this for back as I really want to try and create more width.
2. Set all your weights and reps. I am one of the worse for this myself in that I often end up going into the gym and roughly following what I've written down so this time I've written everything in detail and really follow it to the very last rep. Also ensure you keep slightly adjusting things such as weight to keep pushing yourself and become stronger.
3. Add in a test! Try to include in each workout something that will test you that little bit more, a mini challenge just for that workout. A timed circuit or max weight for reps, just something that will fire you up for that session.
4. Always have you're main objective in mind. Don't go off on a tangent when writing out these plans and remember how you've always wanted big arms so you're going to include them in every workout. Take a step back and think about how you're going to achieve that main goal.

So there you have it. As the sunshine is turning to rain here in London, with the seasons changing its time for you to change. I'm currently running a 8 week strength based programme for a one off price of £50. If you're interested in this or any programmes solely catered to you send me your details at jcdpersonaltraining@gmail.com.

Happy Training

Jack

Sleeve bursting arms!!

Sleeve bursting Arms

With the summer now well and truly upon us everyone is changing jumpers for t-shirts and all that hard work you've put in over the winter months you really want to show off. The first thing that draws any attention when it's t-shirt weather is your arms!! Here are a few last minute training tips to really get your arms bursting out of your sleeves.


Add more volume to your triceps!!
Triceps are often neglects when it comes to training arms purely as they're never seen but they take up two thirds of your upper arms, it's not all bicep you know!!! These as a muscle I have found can take a lot of volume as they're used in every pushing motion you do so in order to force them into growth you must train them many different ways to shock the muscle. Train them through different rep patterns with a low rep, high set day on your chest day with a high rep, low set day following shoulders. Focus on tempo and contraction of the muscle and then other times just overload the tricep as much as possible. These methods will stun the muscle, forcing it to grow. Mix the exercises up in your routine adding in reverse push downs, reverse bench and cable skull crushers as oppose to the normal exercises you may do. Lastly over work the lateral head of the tricep which runs from your deltoid, the outer part of the tricep. Kick backs and over head extension are great in isolating this head as the others are often used more in the pushing exercises. This will bring greater depth to your arm size thus create that sleeve bursting look.

Tempo and good form when training biceps!!
So many people now see the top guys in the industry curling heavy weight and automatically employ this type of training into their routine with horrendous form and are not stimulating the muscle at all. This is unless they are curling to gain bigger traps and back. Yes use this shock tactic at the beginning of the workout but don't comprise form for it, as soon as you feel your form is going maybe get one or two cheat reps in but then stop. Move on to an isolation exercise such as a preacher, concentration or incline bench curls where form is a great deal harder to cheat on. Drop the weight down slightly and focus on really tempo and squeezing the muscle at the top of the movement, pushing blood into the muscle. You can add a few force reps in when you're fatigued through either help from a partner or if you're performing a single arm curl get the other hand involved, exhausting the bicep and pushing for growth. Much like the tricep train both heads of the muscle, wider than shoulder width for the short head and closer grip for the long head. I like to include rope hammer curls, lying wide  cable curls and reverse dumbbell curls to really hit both heads.

Train your forearms!
Many people when training arms neglect the forearm but they're still part of the arm. With people wanting to more and more lift heavier weight they opt for straps, meaning their grip strength is poor this never really training forearms. Larger forearms automatically give a more atheistic look to the arm and stronger forearms will help assist when you're looking to move more weight as they act more often than not as a fixator, allowing you to squeeze the bar harder, engaging more muscles. Reverse curls and wrist curls are the two I like to use and get rid of those straps!!!!

So there are three easy tips to add into your programme in order to see results and have sleeve bursting arms.

Jack 

Add in the finisher!!!

As seen in many of my recent posts everyone in the fitness industry is gearing up for the summer. Refining their diet, cutting the calories and bringing their intensity up when working up. This doesn't mean however everything must be high reps, you can still lift heavy but add in these few little points and you will add in intensity without even realising it!!

Stick to compound lifts
Add the beginning of every session stick to the big lifts for the muscle groups you're training, thus engaging more muscles meaning more fuel is required for these to function and a greater number of calories burnt. Furthermore your heart rate will hit sky high due to the sheer amount of effort that is required on these exercises.

Contraction, contraction, contraction!!
When training pay extra focus to the contraction of the muscle when doing a certain exercise. Things such as tempo in which you're performing the exercise and the stretch and squeeze which I talk about so much. This will in turn make the muscle work a great deal harder not only building and conditioning the muscle but requiring more energy to perform the exercise.

Cardio Mini Blast
These are one of the favourite things I use with clients and is as simple as just adding a quick 20 second cardio blast on the end of a set. These could be running on the spot, jumping lunges, burpees or even star jumps, anything that will just increase the heart rate. This will burn those extra few calories, get a better sweat on but more importantly build a better metabolic rate.

The Finisher
This is something I've really started to include in my workouts and is basically just a simple circuit of some kind to finish off the workout. I always like to use compound exercises from the workout I'm doing to fatigue the muscle group I'm training further but also to act as a HIIT/cardio session on the back end of my workout. Here are a few examples.

Legs - 8 rounds in the quickest time of:
6 Front Squats
12 Back Squats
5 Burpees

Back - As many rounds a possible (AMRAP) 10 minutes:
10 Deadlifts
5 Pulls Ups
5 Burpees.

You get the idea, all being very simple but so effective on the end of a workout and there you have it. A few simple ideas that can get you really working hard in the gym to get that summer body ready.

Train hard, look great on the beach!!!

Jack

'Bad workout is the one you didn't do’!!!

‘I really don't feel like the gym today’, is a thought that goes through everyones head from time to time no matter if you're just beginning your fitness journey, or at the top with it being your profession, everyone has these doubts. So I’m just going to explain a few things quickly that I think can help you out. 

Make sure you keep mixing up what you're doing!! 

One of the main issues as to why people put the gym off or don't really want to go is because they're bored with it. Doing the same exercises, rep schemes and not seeing any change to their body. Firstly, change is going to come instantly, its something you need to work at over time but furthermore doing the same routine week in week out isn't either, you must shock the body in order for it to change. Mix things up such as a heavy week or a high reps week, make the session into a circuit, anything that shall just see some kind of change. 

Use different training styles. 

This is one thing that I definitely use in my training, especially if its late and I really don't want to train, lets take legs for example. I normally start with heavy front/back squat performing anywhere between 2-5 reps for anywhere from 5-10 sets. When you less motivated however you will never hit the weight you want to hit, become frustrated and really do anything to put off squatting that weight. One thing I like to do is ‘on the minute, every minute’ principle. Take the weight down to say 80% of what you would lift to perform 5 reps of front squat and perform 5 front squats on every minute for 10 minutes. I would then do the same but for 10 reps for back squat. This really gets you're heart rate up but more importantly motivated you as you know that the quicker you do the4 reps (not compromising form) the more rest you get before the minutes up. Plus you end up completing 50 front squats and 100 back squats all at pretty good weights. This principle can be used for any lift but I like to stick with the compound exercises such as the bench, deadlift and push press. Other styles could be Tabata, (20 on, 10 off for 4 minutes) or AMRAP, as many rounds as possible in a set time of a few exercises. All things just to keep you that little more motivated. 

Train with a partner.

Not everyone can afford a PT to watch their every move and motivate them that little bit more when the workouts becoming tough, but someone that can do the same job is a training partner. Work together through the workout, spotting each other, giving one another encouragement to get those few extra reps. Plus the principle I like to use is you've got to beat the reps from the set before, brings a bit of competition to the training and bragging rights in the changing room after the session. 

Test yourself.

This is another one of my favourite things and its as simple as once a week putting a test into one of your sessions, here are a few I like to use:

- Max Rep BW Squat/Bench/Deadlift without rest.

- 100 squats/press-ups timed.

- One rep max

There are many more but anything that is timed with maximal reps usually does the trick. 

So there you have it, a few tips to when you're really not feeling like going to the gym to use to get that workout in as don't forget ‘the bad workout is the one you didn't do’!!!

Jack