Expert Articles

As we know nutrition accounts for 70% of our body composition goals. We have all heard the saying "you can't out train a bad diet". You could be spending hours in the gym, never miss a session and give 100% effort every time you train but if you aren't watching what you are putting in your mouth you won't see the changes in your waistline.

How the comparison of others is destroying your happiness & goals.

I'm sure we have all heard how important calorie balance is. Calorie deficit vs surplus is the key to achieving our goals whether it is muscle gain, fat loss or maintenance. It's a fine balance between calories we are consuming and calories we are expending. For example, if our goal is fat loss we want to be in a calorie deficit which means we are burning off more than we are consuming whereas if our goal is to gain mass it is ideal to be in a surplus where our caloric intake is greater than what we are expending. This sounds simple enough, but it isn't as simple as food intake vs exercise. Many factors come into play when determining our energy output each day.

People usually begin resistance training because they want to change the way their body looks, get stronger, or lose fat. As a surprise to many people who begin resistance training, they begin to see the following benefits. 

As we all know adhering to a healthy diet and consistent training schedule go hand in hand when it comes to achieving your goals. But what if you're not getting the results you want yet you feel like you are doing everything right? Taking a look at your lifestyle factors could play a major part in overcoming certain plateaus and barriers in your journey.

As we continue to settle in to the "New Normal" getting back into a weekly routine is now more important than ever!  Why, you may ask? 

Due to unforeseen circumstances, lack of motivation or personal difficulty we stop taking into account how essential it is to train ourselves and maintain fitness. During this time individuals are at higher risk of health disease and experience the gradual deteriorating of their fitness. This fundamental principle of fitness is known as reversibility.

Tips for Training though Covid-19

COVID-19 has changed the way we live, for many people, we had a lot of fulfilment in life with our day to day activities. We believe there are 3 factors which is a bigger concern than the COVID-19 disease. 1) Isolation They say we're more connected than ever before through social media, however also never been so disconnected. Social media can lead us to false hope, insignificant "comments" "like", lack of real connection to name a few. We're creatures of human connection and interaction. We like going for a coffee/a movie with friends, family dinners/birthdays, dinner and drinks with your best friends.  2) Structure & Routine Without it, we may feel lost. Creatures of habits we've become, day to day, week to week, month to month. Now we live in a world potentially struggling to "fill the time".  3) Uncertainty Not knowing and not having an answer to when this will end! This can lead to anxiety, which in turn changes our thought process. Eventually our flight or fight mechanism comes into play. So how do we overcome this? How do we create connection, consistent structure and live in a place of certainty in uncertain times? Our advice is to review the below checklist and ask yourself, are you taking control of you? Are you each day, each week, taking time to look after you? The below list is 100% in your control, it's your choice if you choose to do or not do. If your checklist is less than 50% - Please stop, slow down, breathe and look at ways to increase your checklist. If your checklist is 50-70% - Keep moving forward and look for small improvements each day. If your checklist is 70-90% - Give yourself a pat on the back, this is a fantastic place to be. If your checklist is 90-100% - Congratulations on looking after you, our advice would be to help support others. Your Checklist: Tick off if you have completed each of the below. Sleep Routine • 7 - 9hrs sleep each night. •  Into bed the same time each night. • Rise at the same time each morning. • Turn off all devices 1-2hours before bed. • Dim lights 1 hour before bed to help secretion of melatonin. Nutrition • 6-8 glasses of water per day. • Adequate amount of vitamins and minerals in diet. • Adequate amount of carbohydrates. • Adequate amount of protein. • Adequate amount of essential fats. • Limit alcohol intake. • 5-6 small meals per day. • 1-2 coffee per day (monitor caffeine intake and artificial sweeteners). • Online Health Seminars. • Complete your Food Diary. Mindset • Practice Mindfulness. • Breathing focus (YouTube for breathing practices). • Smell - The aromas of coffee, flowers, candles. • Mediate. • Listen to inspiring music/podcast. • Fresh air. • Sunlight. • Set daily and weekly goals/targets. • Clean your work space/home. • Plan you day before it begins (create a structure). • Set a weekly task list and tick it off once completed. Exercise • Walking / Bike Ride 20-30min. • Resistance Training. • Yoga / Pilates / Stretching. • Run / HIIT Session. • Online PT. • Online Group Training. • Complete an Exercise Diary. Connection • Call Family and Friends. • Call an old friend. • Online Video Conversation (Facetime/Zoom). • Post a hand written letter. • Told someone how grateful you are to apart of their life. • Plan future events with someone close. All the above tasks you have 100% control over, it's up to you how to spend your time, effort and energy. We're generally busy people and don't take time for ourselves, now is the perfect opportunity for you. Lastly, this is an ideal time to learn something new (language, short course, instrument), find new hobbies (puzzles seem to be people's go to at the moment) and look to give back, look to find ways to support others.