How often should I train?

This is the question as a PT I get asked the most, ‘How often should I be training?”. This to me is such a broad question, with there being so many contributing factors to answer the question fully and correctly. What is your goal? How much time can you give to the gym a week? What is your current level of fitness? What does your diet look like?. These are all questions that I’m going to answer, offer you solutions and prompt ideas which in turn should help you in finding how often you should be training. 

The most important question you need to ask yourself, what really is your goal? I like to personally use a pyramid system with all contributing factors leading to achieving the goal at the top. The foundations being your diet, training in the middle and something very specific to the goal as the icing at the top. I still believe that your diet is the underpinning factor when it comes to training, not fuelling your body correctly will hinder you're training and progression. So before any of this begins you need to ask yourself what is that goal? Do you want to enter a competition, sports specific, look great for your holiday or just generally feel better about yourself? This is where you need to start. Ensure when deciding on this you use SMART goals.

S - Specific 

M - Measurable

A - Attainable

R - Realistic

T - Time Managed. 

This doesn't just have to be just one goal but could be many different, small achievable goals leading towards one long term goal. However you do it ensure that these are achievable, if not this could cause demotivation when you're not quite achieving them but can also pose as the opposite boasting motivation when you do. Once you have you're goal in mind everything else around that should be catered into how you going to achieve that goal the most efficient way possible. 

How much time you can offer to the gym is also crucial because if you can only offer 3 hours religious a week to the the gym than that is the only amount you're going to be training. Firstly you must remember that your training should never be a seen as a chore, you should be wanting to go, this being where the above point comes in with having a goal, motivating you to go and get the job done. With everyones life’s becoming busier there is less free time in your day to go and do things such as the gym and at the end of the day will determine how often you can train, so be strict on yourself on realistically how often you really are going to be able to go to the gym. If this is only 3x1 hour sessions a week that thats all it is, but you must stay committed to this, much like the SMART goals used above it must be realistic. Here are a few pointers to make the most of your time and be in the gym more regularly.

• Make it part of your routine. If you have a 10 mile commute to work each morning, instead of driving to work, cycle to work. Get up an hour earlier and join a gym close to work so you can workout before going to work meaning you can work slightly late or go for a catch up with friends after work. 
• Use HIIT (High Intensity interval training). This is the modern way to train, short, sharp and to the point with a workout rarely over 30 minutes. This can be from a class at your local gym or a quick 20 minute before your morning shower, all quick, simple but most importantly intense. 
• Train with a partner. Research says those who train together, stay together and this is very true. A Sunday morning jog or a quick circuit in the garden will up the volume you're training but also mean you're still getting to spend time with those close to you. They'll be your motivator when you need them the most.  

We’re getting slightly more specific now but in order to know how often you should be training you really should depend it on your current level. You won’t see an professional athlete that trains only twice a week and yet someone who hasn't done any kind of physical activity in 5 years all of a sudden start hitting the gym 5 times a week! You really must judge it upon what level you are at already otherwise, things such as injury could occur when you start training too soon, there must be progression. This therefore means look where you're already at yourself, could you go out and happily run a sub 50 minutes 10k with ease? Than running 4/5 times a week really isn't going to be a problem. Could you last a 30 minute HIIT circuit and still be able to move the next day, then you're at a level where you could train 3 times or more a week, its very much dependent on your already known ability level. Start off with less sessions and slowly increase over time, progression is always the better option to regression. 

Diet I will also refer back to as for me it’s the most crucial element of anyones training programme because without it you're not going to be able to train anywhere near your optimum level, get this in check before you even start considering how often you should be training. You could be training 7 days a week but if you're diet isn’t in order to either fuel or aid recovery after these sessions than you’ll never advance, or meet those goals. Little pointers to help are as follows:

• Always eat breakfast!! This is the most imperative in my opinion, opting for a carb and protein heavy meal will aid you so much in the mornings. Don't eat just a piece of food or these all in one breakfast ready to go drinks, really focus on getting some good nutritious food down you. Low Gi carbs along with some protein. Oats with MyProtein Impact Whey will do the job perfectly.
• You’ll need to eat more than you think. Find out your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) using an app or just type it into google. You'll gather a result, a rough estimate of how many calories you're body needs a day. Add or lose 300-500 for gaining to losing weight, simple!!!
• Bulk all meals out with vegetables. Veggies in this scenario are your friends, they make you fill fuller, make you believe there is more food on the plant and lastly are full on micronutrients. Also opt for greens over anything else. Snacking on vegetables is also great, carrot and celery sticks being my favourite. 
• Break your meals up throughout the day. Many people think the only way to lose weight is to eat 6 meals a day and with that they may be right, but not something which you have to stick to. I just believe in spreading them out, attempting to grasp around the same calorific content and marconutrients from each but don't get too hung up on this. Your overall calorie intake for the day is the crucial number, not how many meals you've eaten to achieve this so, divert more attention to your overall consumption. 
• Lastly it is never constrict yourself. This is one of the worse things to do in my eyes. Yes you're diet should be clean but it doesn't have to be this all the time, you can waver once or twice. Obviously this can’t become a regular occurrence but if you're craving say a piece of chocolate, than eat a piece of chocolate. There is always a better nutrition option such as dark chocolate so attempt to always get these where you can, but whatever you do don't treat it as a reward. See it as food and thats it, otherwise you'll than just have the mind set that you need a reward all the time. 

So I may have gone off subject quite a lot there but it gives you a broader understanding on how all elements work together. Yes the article is titled ‘how often should you train?’ but not one of the points I raised has more precedence than the other. Train hard, set goals, eat right and you're on the way to success. 

Chest Day - Bench Press

Bench Press

Now of course Monday was international chest day and every bench in every gym is going to be busy. That's why I trained yesterday!!! Good little tip if you don't want to be distributed and be hours in the gym trying to train chest. Train a different day!!! However the main reason as to why I'm writing this entry is to really focus on how you bench.

The bench press has so many different variations and of course rep ranges which can be used depending your goal from the exercise. Now recently I've opted for a closer grip, pinning my elbows in. This has aided with removing a lot of front delt for the exercise, along with greater lower chest development. This however caused me to push the bar slightly forward when going heavier as oppose to going straight up, meaning I wasn't getting all the power through the movement that I was actually generating. 

This caused me to totally change up my grip placement yesterday, opting for a wider press. The best way to describe it is lie flat on the bench with your arms at right angles, this is your grip placement. This taking into account your back width along with limb length. This grip placement is more of a powerlifting based placement, hence getting mor speed thus power through the push phase. I managed to go slightly heavier than normally, along with it targeting my chest a lot more as a whole. I also managed to hit higher reps and on the descent in weight, hit a PB at 100kg for 12. Some may say however the range of movement is a great deal less, but with correct rep ranges and programming it will aid you more in the long run. 

The rest of my workout followed on very much the say, focusing more on exploding in the concentric phase. Incline DB press focusing on lowering the weight over a four count, exploding up. Take the weight down to really use tempo to generate the power, thus working the muscle slightly different to normal. Flies and dips followed along with clap press ups to finish to really generate the explosive speed/power. 

Now the pump post workout was insane, mainly due to the change up in tempo and ethos of training. Make sure you always keep this in your routine in order to less likely plateau, keeping the body guessing. 

Now even though it's Wednesday, go and hit Chest again!!!

Jack

New Years Eve!!!

New Years Eve

A client asked me today, can I binge out on drink tomorrow night. My answer was yes, here is how:

- Don't consume the volume of food you would particularly eat in the day, mainly carbs and fats. The drink and no doubt the kebab on the way home will make up the rest of the calories.

- Try and stay away from heavy beers. Stick to the Whisky or Gin with low sugar mixers along with light, bottled beers. 

- Add in a high volume workout prior, burning slightly more calories than you normally would, maybe a little cardio at the end. This will make you less likely to stress about the kebab.

- Fitness doesn't rule your life. Go out and have some fun here and there. 

Happy New Year!!!

Oh and make sure to get those guns out you've been working oh so hard to grow all year!!

Jack 

A week of change

This week I decided to totally mix my workouts up. If you've been following my blog I've recently been focusing on one big set for each exercise where I go max out at the most maximal weight possible. This has hugely helped with strength and size gains however, recently I've been feeling really heavy and along with a few little injuries I've been picking up I've opted for a change to hypertrophy for a few weeks. This is my routine so far for the week: 

Chest:

- Here as oppose to my normal pyramid, working up to heavy set flat bench I focused more on incline DB press. 

- Going no less than 8 reps and no more than 15 with attention very much paid towards the contraction, squeezing and engaging the muscle.

- When it comes to flies and dips really focus on maximal stretch to squeezing the muscle as much as you can. Doing flies on a bench with cables instead of DB's is always good for this as you can bring the handles together. 

- I put bench press right at the end and still managed 100kg for 9 which really shows the strength gains I've made. 

Back

-Back is always one of those muscle groups you want to hit hard yet a lot of people find it a difficult muscle group to train. A few points I used in order to get a good workout in. 

- Make sure you hit the back from many different angles, lat pulldown and a DB row just isn't enough. With all rowing exercises go close grip, body width and wide, along with some form of twisting motion. I like a shot gun based row on cables. When pulling down  from overhead try to use both close and wide grip. 

- Ensure you're contracting the muscle, much like I've mentioned when training chest you can do the same for back. Force your shoulder blades together contracting rhomboids and lats. 

- Stretch the muscle at the top of the movement. This is at its most effective when pulling from above but can also be used when using a rowing motion. Let the weight stretch the muscle prior to pulling and contracting the muscle. This will give you a much fuller range of motion ensuring the whole muscle is working at its optimum capacity.

- Lastly it's volume. The back is a huge muscle group so hit it hard. A good 20 sets utilising super sets and drop sets along the way to really burn the muscle group out. 

Legs:

Legs I haven't really changed, I'm still going heavy but no less than 6 reps. Little things just to keep it interesting are as follows:

- Pyramid up to one heavy set, then straight away dropset back down the pyramid hitting the same number of reps for the same weight you did when ascending. Take rest when needed but try to prevent this as much as possible. For example I got up to 160kg back squat for 6 then drop set straight down to 140kg for 6, 120kg for 8, 100kg for 10 and 60kg to failure. My legs were on fire after this so give it a go, just make sure you don't max out on the ascent up to your max.

- Pause squats are always great to use in your programme, helping improve you stability in your squat. Go light at the end of the sessions to see the best results trying to hit 12-15 reps with a 4 second eccentric phrase, a pause of 3 seconds then exploding up out of the squat.

- Supersets of quad and hamstring especially when it comes to the isolation work always gets a good pump. Ensure you squeeze the quads on leg extensions and the same with a leg curl.

- Lastly something I've been using is upsets. Now normally as the set goes on you drop the weight, turn this on its head and start adding weight. Now obliviously don't start at your max, start at 50% then slowly add weight. Perform 10 reps at 5 different intervals and the muscle group will be on fire. This is slightly like a cluster set, but will cause total confusion to the muscle which will always aid in growth. 

This is only where I've got up to this week, a push and pull workout left to do which I'll put up in another entry.

Keep the training up,

Jack

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Review.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Review.

Now over the years I have used many different manufactures to provide the supplements that I need in my diet in order to achieve the best results I can. After meeting up with Shaun Stafford (Optimum Athlete) and following Steve Cook on YouTube and social media I decided to give Optimum products a go. The first of these being the staple, a must in any supplement routine, a Whey protein. Not just any though may I add, Gold Standard Whey Protein. 

This powder is based on Whey Protein Isolates, which in my opinion is the best out there. They are the purest of any protein and are fast reacting in order to give you that protein hit both pre and post workout. Per a serving you'll receive 24grams of protein, along with very little fat or lactose. This allows for it to be a protein powder you can use in any type of training due to it versatility. For me this applies when cutting or trying to gain weight. This product I’ll still use just supplement around it with a change to my macros.  

The list just goes on with all the good points this protein powder offers the consumer. With some powders you always get half the shake suck together or most recently with some I have been using little lumps forming which you can never get rid of, not with this! Every shake whether it’s with milk or water you'll get a smooth, delicious shake. The taste isn't too bad either, my favourite has got to be the Cookies&Cream. Furthermore unlike other brands which end up making your shakers smell awful after, this really doesn’t. A quick rinse post drinking the shake then you're ready to go, maybe as it’s an Optimum Shaker, which I further recommend. 

The most important question you'll all want to know though, ‘is this it working?’. Well I can tell you it most definitely is. I take it upon waking and post workout and it really does the job. Due to the ingredients in contains it’s really fast acting, pushing my recovery in the right direction. I’ve also increased my volume in training along with the change to Optimum with my gains in both strength and size going through the roof, along with staying lean and ready for anything which the industry might throw at me. Therefore if you're looking for your first every protein shake or want a switch from one you've been using for years go out and buy Gold Standard Whey today, you wont be disappointed.

More reviews to come on the Optimum range so stay tuned.

Jack.

How to train effectively?

How to train a effectively?

Recently I was reading in a Q&A section of a magazine and it made for an interesting read. Training effectively can mean a numerous number of things but mainly aimed at are you reaching the goal that you set out to. So the point I'm getting at is set yourself goals in training, here are a few you could set yourself. 

Strength goals - set yourself a goal of a certain exercise you want to lift more weight on, thus building further strength. The big three are always good for this. I like to go with the most reps at BW for bench, 1.5 BW squat and 2xBW deadlift. 

Muscular Endurance - you could set yourself a certain goal through time based or number of reps completed for an exercise or numerous of exercises. A circuit/crossfit WOD is always good for this. Set yourself goals and strive to beat these, this will motivate you to push yourself further and train more effectively.

A competition or event - this is the best way to push yourself further as if you're competitive like me it shall push you more and more to achieve a better result at the event. Setting your sessions round this will always mean you'll train effectively.

Nutrition - this is in my eyes the most important. If you're not eating the right foods, not just pre and post workout but daily you won't train effectively!! As you may have heard many times if a car didn't have the right fuel it wouldn't work the most effectively it could. This is the same with the food you consume. Stick to your slow digesting carbs pre workout so not to feel sluggish, with fast digesting both during and post workout. Eat plenty of fruit and veg, lean protein options with a little diary and you'll be on the right track. 

So there you have it, get training effectively. Follow this points and you won't be going far wrong. Let us know if these points help. 

Killing Shoulders, Mike O'Hearn and Rob Riches

As many of you will know who regularly read my posts I talk a lot about shoulders. This is because out of all muscle groups, this is my weakest both in size and strength. However, I recently watched a collaboration video on YouTube between Mike O'Hearn and Rob Riches which very much demonstrates a different way of training shoulders, this I then out into practice yesterday in my workout. 

The first exercise he uses is a single standing DB press. I love all standing exercises just recently because it really helps activate the core, stabilising your upper body especially when going heavy over head. Mike is explicit about going heavy in this video. You just go heavy , don't chase the pump. 1-5 is my normal rep range. He goes on to mention how the opening exercise should always shock the nervous system and the rest of the workout will feel light. Furthermore be careful with warm up sets, don't go to far, only 5 reps over 2 sets are really needed otherwise all your doing is putting strain and fatiguing the muscle before you've even hitting it with the big stuff. I really stuck by this in my recent workout and boy does it work. My shoulders were on fire and I only really went heavy for one set at 37.5kg for 5 reps. Nothing compared to Mike getting up over 140lbs for 6 with ease. The guy has insane strength and I think one of the best bodies in the game so who wouldn't take advice off him.

The rest of the workout continues with a huge focus paid on not over doing it on every set you complete, but real attention paid to the heavy sets, always to failure!! He goes on to talk about how form can sometimes be slightly comprised within reason to reach those extra few reps. Giving the press, a more so push press towards the end of a set by a little bounce from the legs. After 3 more exercises, including a upright DB row, rear delt fly and a horrible looking lateral into a front raise movement, done light with control focusing in the roundness of the shoulder, and boy did it burn, the workouts done. 

So there you have it, check the video on Rob Riches YouTube page, if it gets 2 million views then Mike has said he'll fly you out to LA to train with them, so get liking, sharing etc. Now go and kill shoulders.

Jack

Keep clean eating whilst on the move, Squats, Deadlifting and Spectre.

Recently I have been away a lot with work however as discussed in previous posts this hasn't stopped me from eating clean and the fundamental reason for this is meal prep, but also my 8 pack bag from MyProtein. 

Now this allows me to store up to 8 meals in the bag along with side pouches to store secondary items, this is where I like to put my cottage cheese, fruit and greek yogurt. This bag goes everywhere with me and allows for me to eat wherever, whenever. Its so durable unlike most bags where the zip breaks after a few weeks, this will survive the most brutal of users. Its currently priced at £29.99 in both holdall and back bag, couldn't recommend this enough, so get over to myprotein.com. 

On greek yoghurt I’ve recently just swapped to Skyr yogurt. This stuff is in my opinion the best yogurt currently on the market. It’s fat free, high in protein tipping the scales at 11 grams per 100 grams and has only 4 grams of sugar. This is a must buy!! Great as a pre workout snack and pre bed snack or even on top of my favourite banana omelettes. Get down to the supermarket where it is currently a bargain with two 450 grams tubs for £3. You can’t beat that. 

Lastly as many of the long term followers will know I’ve recently been focusing a lot more on the big compound moves. Last week was a great training week for me. If you follow me on Instagram you'll see that I managed to get out 170kg back squat for 5 reps which is a new personal record for me. For some reason training in a jumper inspired me to go heavier than normal, working my way up slowly to this weight. When I go heavy my back often gives way, however with my deadlifting routine being on point recently my lower back seems to be a lot stronger and be managed to put up bigger weight. On the point of deadlifts I managed to max out at 220kg this week, not that far away from half a ton. This was with pretty sore legs so I was really pleased. Points to note when going heavy is really bend down and use your legs more in the movement as oppose to just your back. Furthermore warm up correctly, I went up from 160kg in 10kg intervals, this really helps prepare yourself mentally when going heavy and often don't notice the difference in weight. 

http://www.myinstagramprofile.com/jacksfitnessforyou/

In other news I was inspired by a viewing of Spectre on Sunday as I got invited to the cast and crew viewing, prior to the premiere on Monday. If you haven’t yet checked it out do, you won’t regret it.

Anyway have a great weeks training

Jack

I want bigger shoulders

I want bigger shoulders!!

This seems to be a goal of many recently, with a lot of people asking me how can I build boulder shoulders after seeing people like Ryan Terry and Steve Cook. It's kind of like the new chest and huge arms. 

The one thing you must remember about shoulders are that they are often secondary muscle group or stabilising muscles in most of the exercises you do, this therefore means when it comes to training them don't always use a lot of volume. Front delts get a big hammering when training chest, and even more so performing exercises with an incline.

Warm you shoulders up! Shoulders are prone to injury and if you have a recurring injury in your shoulders say goodbye to ever building big shoulders. Always spend a good ten minutes before any upper body session really warming up the shoulders, particular attention paid to the rotator cuff. 

Focus more on the lateral and posterior head, more than the front delt. As already mentioned the front delt is used often in through other exercises. The lateral and posterior will is also give more depth and roundness to your shoulders, thus making it appear a lot larger. This is in my opinion the easiest way to build size fast through isolation, high rep, low weight and focus on the contraction, squeezing the muscle. 

Lastly is split the shoulders into two workouts. This is something I'm using at the minute and absolutely love it. I do a anterior workout focusing on the push press to begin with then upper chest along with the lateral head of the muscle. The following day I deadlift heavy at the beginning, slightly using it as a secondary back day. Then I focus on face pulls and flies to recruit my rear delts, finishing with a shrug marathon. It is certainly working for me as this has always been a lacking muscle of mine. If you're cut for time add triceps onto the end of the anterior workout and biceps onto the posterior day.

So there are four easy steps you can adjust into your training in order to build bigger shoulders. Have a fab weekend. Eat clean, train hard and get plenty of rest. 

The season is upon us, let the bulking begin!!

Now as I sit and write this the dark nights are closing in, meaning winter is arriving which can only mean one thing in the fitness world, let the bulking commence. So before everyone starts eating whatever they want I thought it would be good to outline a few points with regards to nutrition.

Track your Macros:
By this I mean monitor your macros in order to ensure you're eating enough but also eating enough of the right stuff. Firstly work out your Basic Metabolic Rate then usually add on 500 calories to put on weight. You don't have to eat absolutely loads. Then add in the break down of the calories, I follow around 50% carbs, 35% protein and the remaining 15% fat. This will ensure you have carbs for energy but also a surplus to add on size with enough protein to ensure you're repairing the broken down muscle. Use MyFitness pal to track this, it doesn't need to be exact, like if you were dieting, but you'll be surprised how much food you actually need to eat.

Selection of Carbs:
Now for example say your macros allows you to eat 400 grams of carbs, this doesn't mean it can be just any carbohydrate. Try and have low glycemic based carbohydrates such as rice and oats throughout the day then both pre and most defiantly post workout opt for a high glycemic carbohydrate such as fruit or a dextrose based drink. This will help spike insulin levels and will be quickly absorbed into your system, thus helping with the recovery process. My favourite currently is a banana, kiwi and dates!!!!

How often to eat:
Now there are many different ways of consuming your calories. Some swear by eating all your food in a short period and fasting the rest, e.g. 8:16 diet. This is an option but if your sticking to a clean ish diet I can't see that this is going to be needed. I would tell many people to try and split the meals up throughout the day in three hour periods. This keeping you full and also allowing for you to be able to consume your meals without force feeding yourself. However at the end of the day as long as you're sticking to your macros it really doesn't matter when you consume them as long as you get them in.

Eating on rest days:
This is a thing that I am going to start changing in my diet and that is consuming less on rest days. Some would say this is incorrect however my body doesn't require the energy output it would need on a day which I am training and therefore believing cycling carbs in order to eat less on these days will reduce putting on unwanted body fat. Don't get me wrong you can't put on size without gaining fat but you can slightly slow the process down in order to not gain to much weight, which will be so much more difficult to lose when it comes to the summer cut. Just add this in maybe once every two weeks and see how it effects you.

Four easy puts you can input into your winter bulk. Hope this helps

Jack 

Meal Prep, the easy way!!!

Now nutrition is the largest contributing factor to get in shape and more importantly stay in shape. If any of you follow me on Instagram you'll know I prep meals a lot! There are three reasons I do this.

1) I am very busy at work and I like to eat around every 3 hours so I prep them all and carry them with me everywhere I go. It also saves so much time slaving away in the kitchen!!!

2) Keeps you on track. This is the most important. As your meals are prepared you don't fall into the trap of having to buy something, risking the temptation of having a cheat meal. 

3) You can prepare the exact nutritional requirements you need. Everyone has a macro goal, meal prep makes this so easy. Just cook all the food you need to meet those requirements and then split that into the meals throughout the day. 

Tips for meal prep:

- Prep meals in two day blocks. This means you can cook in bulk, making the process so much faster. Also means you can buy in bulk. 

- Prep food you will eat cold!!! There is a wide spread of protein options, I like to stick to sweet potato and brown rice for my carb options, including veggies. Fats are through nuts, eggs and avocado. 

- Grab a sauce low in salt and sodium. Carry this with you everywhere you go, just to add a little flavour to boring food. 

- If you haven't got a fridge to store your food in then get a 6 pack bag!! These are amazing. They are totally worth there weight in gold. A must buy if you're serious about staying on track with your nutrition!!! Link below. 

So there you have it, meal prep made easy, now get gaining!!!!!!!

Jack

Beat the post summer blues with four easy steps!!!

Now everyone's summer holidays have ended, so does their time in the gym. There has been a report published that shows the months when gym memberships fall. These are September and February, after they have come back from summer holiday or attempted to get rid of their extra weight from Christmas binge. This is such a waste as they've put so much work in just to have to start all over again. The following few steps will be able to stay on track.

1) Post summer holiday set yourself another goal!! Throughout the autumn months there are many 10k runs and mini triathlons. Team events like Tough Mudder or the Rat race which when working as a team will motivate you more to keep it up. 

2) Try something different!!! If you've been slogging away on the treadmill then try adding a circuit or some weights into your routine. If you've been hitting the weights try a different variations of training. German volume training, improving strength gains all can be structure into your programme. Even focusing on a body part (except arms!!) or a particular exercise. Mine is the push press and shoulders, so two goals combined. 

3) Reduce the amount of sessions but up the intensity. As people go back to work the gym moves to the bottom of the list of priorities however, you can still fit it in. Instead of doing maybe the four sessions you were doing, bring this down to three but up the intensity. Less talking at the water fountain and more sprinting on the treadmill. Use intervals for cardio and swap straight sets for supersets when it comes to the weights. Dedicate one of the sessions to just a circuit, therefore you get two workouts in one.

4) Make fitness part of your daily routine. If you don't have the time or motivation then this is a must. Instead of grabbing the tube or bus to work run in every other day!! If you've got a long lunch hour, grab you running trainers and go on a quick jog before you eat lunch. Walk to work as oppose to driving. Little things that can just keep you active and elevate your heart rate, building a higher metabolic rate. 

So there you have it, four easy steps to keep fitness at the top of the agenda. The most important which I haven't included is you must enjoy it. If you don't enjoy going to the gym then a play sport. Just stay active, eat clean and you'll stay in shape.

Jack