2 weeks down, what's new?

So....we're 2 weeks down in January. How is you're training going?

Have you lost fat yet? Or are you still clearing out the tins of Roses via you're mouth?

I'm guessing you've been working yourself into the ground, training 3 to 5 times per week for over an hour at a time and either not eating a thing in desperado mode to get it off or you're still in Christmas mode and eating too much.

Chances are that the latter has been happening and it could be why nothing has changed except the date on the calender.

Goal Setting:

You see, before you start any kind of fitness program you need to set yourself a goal. Saying you want to lose weight isnt going to change anything.

Now, if you had put on a stone over Christmas but want to get that off and you have made you're target 14lbs to lose then make sure you write it down.

Writing it down makes it specific, it makes it real.

For example:

By February 10th i will lose 14lbs. I will do this by exercising 6days a week, 3 days resistance training and 3 days interval training for a approx 30 minutes per day.
I will eliminate alcohol, wheat, caffeine, and processed foods for 28 days and i will keep a food journal of what i eat, when i eat, everyday until my goal is complete.

Do you see how specific this goal is compared to saying "i want to lose weight"?

Go ahead and do it, let a few friends know of you're goals so they can encourage you to stick to it until you're goal is complete.

Now for the training:

Here's a few reasons why you've not lost any fat:

(1) First off, if you aren't doing a program designed by a professional then i'm afraid you're wasting a lot of time. You can't wing you're training. If you want to win a court case you have a lawyer, if you want to win a fat loss battle then hire a professional, they know how to guide you there, it's likely you don't.

(2) Cardio:
You go into a gym, look around, see those big Cross Trainers and think....."oh they don't hurt, i'll go on that".You participate in about 40 minutes on it as you watch the tv. By the end of you're 40 minutes you've got a little sweaty, looked at the calorie count and noticed you burned 340 calories. Repeat day 2, day 3 and so on....

This is kind of cardio falls into the category we call aerobic training. When you train aerobically it will burn off about zero % fat from you're body.

In other words.....you're wasting you're time!

What you need to do is interval training. This in itself is proven to burn up to 9 times MORE FAT than aerobic training.

(3) Resistance Training:
Despite what you may think you know, resistance training should be number 1 priority for fat loss. Adding activities that promote or maintain muscle mass will make that muscle mass work harder and elevate the metabolic rate. When the metabolic rate is elavated, the more calories get burned, and that can last for up to 36 hours after a workout.

(4) Nutrition:
You can't out train a bad diet. It really can't get any simpler then that.

Increase protein.
Eat more vegetables.
Eat more meals but smaller servings.
Cut our starchy carbohydrates.
Drink water regulary.

If you do that, which is extremely basic, you will find that you're results will change.

So to recap:
Set a specific goal.
Use resistance training.
Swap aerobic training for interval training.
Eat cleaner, but more often.

Now go and make 2009 a year where you make a good change to you're body.

Mark

5 Tips to kick start 2009!

1.) Eliminate

After a festive season of too much beer, food, chocolate, more beer, wine etc etc a great start is to completely eliminate all the junk from your diet. This involves eliminating caffeine, alcohol, wheat, red meat, sugar, artificial sweeteners and dairy amongst others. It's tough but you'll feel absolutely fantastic after a month of eliminating everything.

2.) Knock aerobic training on the head!

Instead add interval training to you're program. It's harder, but you won't be wasting an hour doing nothing on a treadmil. Little bonus for you......research has shown it burns 9 times more fat than aerobic training.

3.) I pinched this from Alwyn Cosgrove:

Hire a coach

Outside expertise allows you to focus on your job and commitments and literally just "show up" and let them take care of it for you. Studies have shown that people exercising when a trainer only supervises (no instruction or coaching) work up to 30% harder than they do on their own. 30% more work translates to significantly faster results - imagine what you could do if that trainer actually pushed you through to harder workouts and designed a program that would work better? If you can't afford a coach three days per week, then hire the best coach in your area once per month and use him or her as a consultant to design your monthly workout and provide third party accountability.

4.) Stop doing Crunches or using any other exercise that you are able to do 255 reps or more

For practically every person on the planet doing crunches are a waste of time. If you're looking to burn belly fat then "crunches" are not your answer. Stick with interval training and metabolic boosting resistance training for better results.

5.) Just do it

You don't need the shoes to do it either! There will be exercise days where you won't want to do it. Well here's how you solve that: Just Do It! You can't let yourself skip a day because you're feeling lazy. It's not going to take too long. Losing weight takes dedication, and a to be a dedicated person you must make yourself do things you don't want to. Just Do It!
After all, 3 days per weeks isn't a lot.

If you don't fancy the gym and want something new this year then why not try out Boro Boot Camp?

Head over to www.borobootcamp.co.uk for more information on that.

Mark

Welcome to our blog.

Welcome to our blog.

I've been thinking about doing this for a while. I'll get ideas, or read some new information I'd like to share with you all, or any other sort of ramblings.

This will also be a blog to show the latest information from Mark Page PT.

Stay tuned for more info.

Mark

www.markpagept.co.uk