Fitter Londoner of The Week

Darren!

Darren joined the Fitter London pack earlier this year and we just can't get rid of him ;-) Not only have we seen his strength and fitness improve, he's an avid supporter of Fitter London, which is what we love the most about him ;-)

He's a regular in the Tuesday and Thursday morning classes and will be joining us in the Monday morning classes from next week :)

Well done Darren!


1. Why Fitter London?
D: Because it has an arrange of amazing Kettlebell classes that cover all areas from cardio, strength, power and core, plus it has some amazing teachers

2. What's your favourite thing about Fitter London?
D: The people and the fact that it's actually a really enjoyable and fun class, makes it feel like it's not a workout and also people really encourage you to go that extra mile.

From flat pack to six pack

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to get a six pack. Not like a Men’s Fitness cover boy (I reckon that’s just good airbrushing); just really good definition that shows the fruits of my training. I wanted to look in the mirror and see a washboard looking back at me. But it’s always eluded me. Although I’ve always been blessed with what I call my flat pack, I’ve never actually tried to take my training and nutrition to the next level in order to achieve this mythical six pack…. Though I have to admit, this is in part due to my occasional bout of laziness :)

Lucky for me, I discovered kettlebells. Over the course of 7 – 8 months, they literally melted the excess fat I had so my BMI is now the lowest it has ever been (not according to the WiFit at home, though, that still says I am overweight – LOL!) ….

Back to the point, despite the positive effects of kettlebells on my physique, there was still no sign of that washboard I wanted. And this isn’t through want of trying. Over the last few months, I’d upped it a gear with my core training to the point that I could feel the washboard… It just hadn’t risen to the surface yet. But why? I was training hard. A good split between cardiovascular, core and muscular endurance… Where the hell was my six pack!?!?!

As if by divine intervention, I had an epiphany. A bolt of lightning from the sky! It must be something to do with my diet. Cliché, I know, but let me explain….

Over the course of several weeks, I looked very carefully at what I was eating and drinking. It was quite surprising and wasn’t until I’d written it all down on paper that I could see the reality of it all in black and white.

The first thing that stood out like a sore thumb was my carbohydrate intake. No word of a lie, I was consuming an average of 500g of carbs per day! But in my head, I was thinking, well I train 5 times a week, so these must be converted into energy and burnt off. No, Phillip, not at all. Certainly the amount of training and I was doing and the intensity of it did convert a lot of it to energy, but not all of it.

It didn’t stop there, either…. I then looked at my alcohol intake.

I assumed I was being pretty good because I was trying not to drink during the week and only have a sherry or two at weekends ;) Let me tell you, I certainly picked a bad week to count the units, because it wasn’t just a sherry or two I was drinking. After several house parties and bbqs over the course of the weekend, I counted the units I consumed over those two days…. I’m not going to say what it was, but it shocked the hell out of me! No wonder I couldn’t get six pack. Drinking that amount of alcohol, laden with sugar and calories (seven calories a gram in fact, almost as many as pure fat!), I stood no chance! On a typical night out, I’d have up to 7 pints of lager. At around 250 calories in every pint, that’s 1,750 calories – more than half of a man’s recommended daily calorie intake!

It didn’t take Einstein to deduce what I needed to do.

So for the past 21 days, I have been on a total alcohol ban. Not a drop. I’ve been to pubs, bars repeatedly over the last 21 days and all I’ve drank is soda water with a slice of lime. Yum, yum.

Not only that, I’ve halved my carb intake to the recommended 300g per day and I’ve never been so excited! I was getting into the shower a few days ago I saw my first abs poking through (and no it wasn’t a trick of the light!). My BMI has dropped even further and I feel fantastic. I suffer from eczema and this has calmed right down and I feel like I have so much more energy. Who knew all I needed to do was drink less and stop pigging out on carb heavy foods.

But I am a firm believer in having a little of something you like, so I’m not banning the booze for every, nor am I cutting out the carbs completely… I’m just going to be more sensible about it. Drink less alcohol and as for the carbs, I’ve compromised. One day on, one day off. On days off, my carb intake is mainly from vegetables; on days on it’s pasta ahoy! This arrangement seems to be working for me.

If I keep up with the training, keep the alcohol intake down and eat less bowls of pasta and loafs of bread, I’m hoping for the full six pack very soon!

Watch this space.

P x

Breakfast Evolution: Bran Flakes to Brazil Nuts Pt II

So there I was enjoying scrumptious Nine bars and a Soya Cappuccino for breakfast as a quick energy hit. What was the problem?? Half an hour later and I was starving again. Soon I was having two for breakfast and considering a third!

At this point the lovely Matt stepped in and convinced me to try his favourite breakfast, a Topps Cafe Special: smoked salmon with steamed scrambled eggs (and if you're Matt - 10 rounds of toast and marmalade) and a black coffee. Although I never looked forward to it as much as my sticky, sweet bars it kept me full until way past lunchtime. Such a difference!

So why the need to change again...? Variety is so essential in your diet, I soon got to the point where I just couldn’t face salmon and eggs every morning. Admittedly the smell of freshly made toast in Topps cafe was becoming all too tempting every morning.

Just to digress for a second, I once heard Giles Coren (Food Critic) rant about how supermarkets and food outlets “nasally assault” costumers by pumping the smell of freshly baked bread, pastries and cakes out the door to tempt you in. Maybe it’s because I’ve eliminated them from my diet but I seem to notice this more and more, if you fancy a beating check out Paul’s, Ben’s Cookies and the worst offender by far Primrose Bakery – the smell of baking cup cakes makes you want to stick your head in the door and ask if you can lick the bowl!!

Anyway back to breakfast, at this point I was trying out one of the many caveman diets and so had switched to nuts and fresh fruit for breakfast. Berries, melon with brazil nuts or almonds was my favourite, but I soon to switched to macadamia’s and walnuts instead to up my Omega 3 intake.

Then I came across a recommendation from a top US nutritionist, and I quote “the best single dietary tip of optimal leanness, energy and sustained mental focus.” "What is it?", I hear you all cry......!!!! Well try rotating meat and nuts for breakfast. The meat allows for a steady rise in blood sugar and the nuts provide healthy fats that stabilise the blood sugar for an extended period of time.

For example:

• 1-2 Buffalo burgers + 1 handful of macadamia nuts

• 1 large venison steak + 1 handful of cashew nuts

• 1-2 lean turkey burgers + 1 handful of almonds

• 2 lean ground beef burgers + 1 handful of brazil nuts

• 2 chicken breasts + 1 handful of hazelnuts

Have I followed this....have I heck! And I can’t help but think it didn’t work for Henry VIII. However, a couple of mornings I have tried eating a chicken breast with my nuts and saving the fruit fix for later. It’s strange but certainly filling and does the job. I guess I’m still looking for what really works for me, I’ve certainly evolved but venison at 6am might be one step too far even for me!
What I will say is that cutting out the complex, refined carbohydrates and dairy has made a huge difference to my appetite, energy levels and subsequently my physique.

It took me ten years to get there, I hope you can be persuaded sooner to bin the Special K!

This Week...

• Part 2 of Keris' 'Bran Flakes to Brazil Nuts'

• Phill's 1st post on the blog :)

Saturday was another challenging but fun session :) Looking forward to this Saturday already.

Have a nice week!

Fitter Londoner of The Week

LOU!


Lou's been a Fitter Londoner for about a year now. She's a regular in the Tuesday and Friday evening Kettlebell classes. We've seen her improve so much and she's now a natural with kettlebells and works her hardest during every class :)

As stated earlier, she's an *evening* regular... We all got a pleasant surprise when, yesterday, Lou showed up at 7am(!!!) at the 'Kettlebells for Endurance, Cardio and Core' class! Go Lou!

We asked Lou a couple of questions:
1. Why Fitter London?
You're doing something different that gets results.. and pretty quickly. After my first few classes I noticed a difference and i love the fact that something new aches after every time I do it!!
It's never easy... but thats the point - so many group classes just get into the same boring routine, but everytime its different and you get the support of everyone around you to keep the motivation going. It is also challenging all the things I hate doing and things I wouldn't do if I workout myself - burpees/press ups/squat thrusts.. you get the picture ;)

2. What's your favourite thing about Fitter London?
My favourite thing about Fitter London is that its motivational and it pushes me to a new level - be that through exercises I hate, the crowd of people or the results I feel i'm getting.

Well done Lou!

Functional Movement....

What does functional movement mean to you?

To be strong? To be fast? Surely being able to run a marathon makes you pretty functionally fit?.....WRONG.

If you are Functional your body moves with ease in any direction. Lifting yourself out of a swimming pool for example is not just about upper body strength (I can have hours of fun watching people fail miserably at this before deciding to just use the ladder). It’s about technique and being functional.

I have been training for over 10 years and played rugby for nearly as long. All I cared about was being able to run fast, lift heavy weights and being the man on the rugby pitch.

To me, I was functionally fit, but boy was I wrong.

I was convinced by my girlfriend to go on a Functional Movement Screening (FMS) course in Budapest. Being a typical bloke I didn’t think it was for me but I went as it gave me an excuse to see Budapest again. Great beer.

When we were on this course (which was amazing by the way) we all had to be screened ourselves.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO……………….My results were a complete surprise. Low scores and even zero’s were creeping up as we investigated shoulder mobility. I thought I would nail it. I couldn’t believe it, "How could this be?" I asked myself? "I’m fit, strong, fast and play rugby 3 times a week!!".

Yes I was strong and yes I could run fast, but my shoulder and hip mobility, core strength and balance quite simply needed a lot of work.

I can run 100m in just over 11 secs yet by hip mobility scored low. I can bench press 140kg but my shoulder mobility scored really low. The truth is an injury was on the horizon if I kept this level of training up but paid no attention to the finer details.

So of course I was not going to have this. As soon as we arrived back in the UK I was a man on a mission to increase my mobility and have the balance of a tight rope performer at the circus.

Here’s the amazing part.

After just 4 weeks of following my prescribed Functional movement programme (it took just 10mins a day) which consisted of stretches, controlled movements and breathing exercises. Not only did the obvious happen (my mobility, balance and core strength improved) I added 15kg to my bench press, 15kg to my squat and felt so much quicker on the rugby pitch. I was amazed.

So yes being strong, quick and having tons of endurance as well as is looking great are important, but if this kind of training restricts your movement then you need to do something about it. It really can take your training, your performance and your recovery to a whole new level. It has changed the way myself and my clients train and move forever.

If you suffer from back pain, knee pain, restricted shoulder movement or suffer from an imbalance book your Functional Movement Screen today.

Fitter London are Certified Functional Movement Screening Instructors.

For more information on booking your FMS please contact us:

http://fitterlondon.com/contact_us/

The least favourite part of my training...

... is very important but painfully (really!) boring!

I know I *have* to stretch after my training sessions and this is not because Katt recommend it or because I've been taught and told it's necessary. BUT because I learned the hard way....

I ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon last year - I'm very proud of that achievement - and the last thing on my mind after struggling past the finish line was cooling down or stretching. All I wanted to do was get my medal and my goody (rubbish) bag, find my way home, eat a whole chicken from Nandos (ok, I was only able to eat half because I was exhausted), shower and go to sleep... and that's exactly what I did.

I woke up with aching, heavy legs the next morning and barely made it to work. I was proud of my aches and pains because it was proof I ran a HALF MARATHON (woohoo!)! I was not pleased when my knee suddenly hurt like hell (stick with me and you'll get used to Adura the Drama Queen) when I landed heavily while taking part in one of our classes. I thought I had damaged my knee permanently and stopped high impact exercises... including my favourite: running :/

After a week of the pain not subsiding, I followed much needed advice and went to see a Physiotherapist and surprise surprise - my knee wasn't the problem! My ITB (Illio Tibial Band) was very tight and my Gluteus Medius was weak (I was surprised by this and if you know me, you'll understand why). This meant I was overcompensating with the wrong muscle groups while doing many exercises. I was given boring homework - I had to stretch and foam roll everyday (to ease out the knots and tightness in my ITB & calves most especially) and do certain exercises to strengthen/awaken my gluteus medius.

Those were the most boring weeks of my life but after only 2-3 weeks, my knee wasn't hurting even a tiny bit and my Gluteus Med & Max (the sleeping giants) were finally awoken ;-)

So the moral of the story is:

• Always include stretching, SMR (Self Myofascial Release) or what I still don't feel comfortable doing (mainly because I am always the least flexible one) - Yoga or Pilates in your training regimen. Sports massages are very effective too and I try to make sure I get 1 at least once every 4-6 weeks.
• If you have an injury, don't assume it's just that, there's most likely a less obvious cause than you think - consult a professional.
  

I really needed to do this write up cos I have not been listening to my own advise so...

Now that I'm done with this post, it's foam rolling time - just what anyone would like to do on a Sunday night while watching 'While You Were Sleeping' (It's on Sky, it would be wrong not to watch it!) ;-)

For more information on SMR, and to purchase a Foam Roller, speak to a member of the Fitter London Team. Instructional videos on Foam Rollers will be posted very soon on the Fitter London YouTube Channel.

This Week...

... will be filled with even more on fitness and nutrition.

If you aren't already, follow our blog and Twitter (http://twitter.com/FitterLondon) so you're always notified immediately when we update.

Have a nice week :)

My Breakfast Evolution: Bran flakes to Brazil Nuts

Everyone has heard the saying “Breakfast like a King” but as a teenager I loathed breakfast and every morning without fail my mum would force two slices of toast into my hand as I legged it out the door which I would promptly sling over the garden hedge on route to school. By 11am a feeling of faintness would kick in but a Cadbury’s Biscuit Boost would soon sort that out.

Things changed when I became interested in fitness and I soon caught onto the “healthy” wholegrain cereal fad and Bran Flakes, Muesli or Special K became a fixture in my diet for years. The more I educated myself about nutrition and training the more I refined my cereal choices, swapping semi skimmed milk for skimmed, then onto soya milk, rice milk, almond milk, oat milk, goats milk.....you get the picture! As I learnt more about added salt and sugar I opted for millet rice flakes, quinoa pops or spelt flakes and in doing so joined the wheat free, taste free revolution.

Nuts, seeds and fruit were soon added for protein, omega oils and antioxidants and I pretty much thought I was reaching optimum nutrition as far as breakfast was concerned.
I was training hard by now, anywhere between 6-12 hours a week working towards a half marathon and pushing my body to fittest levels beyond my expectations (we all know how that turned out but that’s another blog entirely).
Soon my one bowl of cereal was becoming two and the size of a fruit bowl at that! Struggling to control portion size as my hunger was through the roof I switched to oatcakes for a wheat free, low fat, low GI and portion controlled (if you leave the box at home) breakfast. Toppings included organic peanut butter, raw honey or agave nectar.The next change came with a new career as I entered the fitness industry and with it a need for breakfast “on the go” in the form of cereal bars. I researched the best and opted for Nakd, Trek or Nine Bars; natural, raw and full of omega oils, fruit and nuts, great! Protein, carbohydrate, convenient and blooming lovely! I was pretty happy at this breakfast stage in my life, Nine bars are almost as good as a Cadbury’s Boost (so you know it’s too good to be true!)
The more I developed professionally the more I learned of new concepts in nutrition and the next step in my breakfast evolution brought about the biggest difference in my physique, fitness and energy levels. What was it....?

You’ll have to tune in next week :)

Fitter London Challenge - Jon v Matt

Matt's Top Tips

Post Workout Nutrition

Have you ever heard/read that training, recovery, health and overall well being is 70% diet and 30% exercise?

Well it’s true, so listen up.

Don’t get me wrong training is great, it makes you fitter, stronger, keeps your joints healthy, gives you a massive confidence and feel good factor and most of the time it’s great fun (well our classes are anyway ). However if your diet lacks nutrients, your training and your recovery will SUFFER and this is where things go wrong. It is so important to tailor you’re diet according to the demands you place on your body...

You have just completed a Fitter London Kettlebell class on a Tuesday morning, which we all know hits every major muscle group in the body and is always a challenge.

Your muscles have been depleted of sugars; your muscle fibres have been broken down and are now in desperate need of fuel in order to replenish, recover and be ready for the day ahead and training sessions to come.

A typical guy will opt for a post workout protein shake; this is a wise choice however most drinks out there contain a ton of sugar and typically way too much protein. Remember your body can only use a certain amount of protein in one go (normally 20 – 30 grams) the rest is quite simply wasted and stored, most shakes contain anywhere up to 55g protein and 50g of sugar in one serving. Where there’s sugar there are calories so beware. Not only is this way too much but the last thing your body needs after it’s already been stressed from a full body workout is a protein and sugar overload. This will just create more stress for the digestive system.

Now for the ladies (and I’ve seen you ;-)) who grab a post workout coffee on the way to work. Bear in mind that you have just lost a load of water during your workout, grabbing a dehydrating caffeine filled coffee is not ideal.

So to keep things simple, here is a list of things to avoid and things to consider after your workout:

Avoid:

• Lucozade
• Sugar laden protein drinks.
• Excessive protein (20-30g is ideal)
• Caffeine.
• Saturated fats.

For immediately after your workout:

• Fruit (dates are great)
• A protein shake with no carbs and between 20-30g protein (no ladies this will not make you big and muscular).
• 100% pure coconut water (amazing)
  

It is also important to make sure your meal following this one should also contain all the right nutrients to aid your recovery further.

For example scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and a piece of fruit would be great. A great protein hit from the eggs and salmon (ideal to repair those hard working muscle fibres), Iron and B vits from the yolk, healthy fats from the salmon and of course vits, minerals and antioxidants from the fruit.

Remember you are what you eat.

Yours in training,

Matt

This Week...

... is nutrition week.

• Keris shares what she's discovered over years of healthy eating
  
  
• Matt's Top Tips, starting with post exercise snacks/meals
  
  
• *New* videos
  
  
• ... And More!

Have a nice week :)

It's not only about exercise, it's more about what you eat!

I took this picture of my waist/stomach (I couldn't button up these jeans and I was inspired to post a future 'before picture') on the 4th of January 2010 and wasn't pleased:

Why? I know the pictures above don't look so bad considering I used to be overweight (I'm the one on the right):


But in January 2010 I was training 5 days a week and should have looked liked it!

I grudgingly accepted that the culprit was..... MY DIET(!!)

My typical day started with a pre-workout snack - a banana. Post workout, I'd have five oatcakes (cos I felt I deserved it)..... Then the killer was - I got to work and had a HUGE bowl of porridge with milk (of course) and a very generous helping of Agave Nectar (healthier option to honey right? Not in the proportions I was having!). I usually had white rice (with veg and chicken - good) for lunch and I won't even go into my weekend treats. I did all this because I was a regular @ the gym and I thought I could afford to eat whatever I wanted. I was WRONG.

After making a few changes to my diet (which I'll go into in the following weeks), I sometimes catch myself staring at my abs (I think I can call my tummy that now, yay!) and loving what I see. Yes I'm almost as arrogant as Matt ;-) And I can fit into those jeans perfectly now :)

I haven't taken any pictures in a few months but I remember seeing this comparison pic in May (both taken in May) and realising I was on to a winner:



I'll be back with more details and pictures next week.

--
Adura

Updates

Kettlebells for Strength, Size and a Six pack (Saturdays 1-2pm):
If you're looking to take your training up a gear and see results like never before, this is for you. Expect nothing less than super strength, iron abs and reduced body fat.

COMING SOON
Ultimate Kettlebell Bootcamp:
Quite simply nothing like you have ever done before EVER.

Sports Specific Training Bootcamp:
Whether you play football, rugby, tennis, maybe you run half and full marathons. Whatever your sport or passion this class will take your explosive power, speed, agility and endurance to the next level. Outperform the rest and recover quicker.

For more information on any of the above or if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

matt@fitterlondon.co.uk

Have a great day,

The Fitter London Team

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