Avoiding looking like a Christmas Pudding

Christmas is a time for celebrating, spending good quality time with family and relaxing. Having personally spent one christmas out in an area of conflict, it means so much to be able to have everyone I love in the same room and be able to just unwind.

Despite Christmas being just one calendar day, the whole festival stays for weeks if not a couple of months. It's the end of November now and Christmas decorations have been in the shops for weeks and many houses are already complete with tree, lights and more. With this early snow fall - it really does add to the magic of this time of year.

There is one thing to be aware of though through the festive term, watching all those little treats, chocolates, mince pies and glasses of mulled wine. Go on then...just one more!! As well as many houses maxing up with the decorations, one of the unwritten additions seems to be the obligatory tin of never ending fancy chocolates.

If you want to avoid looking like a Christmas pudding come January, here are 5 top tips to keep you on track:

• 3 is the magic number. As a health practitioner, I could say avoid chocolates, sweets and all those treats and replace them with fruit and nuts, but I truly don't believe in complete abstainence. It tends to result in over indulgence. 3 is a good number when it comes to fancy treats, drinks or other little festive joys. It'll give you the enjoyment without the bloated and over-indulged uncomfortable feeling afterwards. Obviously, this rule wouldn't apply with Christmas dinners...that would be OTT.
• Drink water! Just because it's cold outside doesn't mean that your body doesn't need hydrating. If you're using hot-chocolate, coffee, tea and mulled wine to keep yourself hydrated then your metabolism will have left the office for the day and your energy levels may go with it. Have a glass / bottle with you an sip regularly.
• Stay active. It may not be ideal running conditions and your car may be stuck to the driveway but these things shouldn't bring your activity levels to a standstill. Get wrapped up and go for a walk. A good brisk walk is great exercise and for the more adventurous, there are plenty of exercises you can do with no equipment whatsoever at home. Try one of our Primal Flows for size, it takes no longer than 20 minutes and will hit pretty much every muscle in your body. Click here to get stuck in. Alternatively, you could always sign up to our FREE online fitness membership packed with tailored exercise videos, nutritional guidance and progress tracking.
•  If it snows, get the sledge out! There is nothing better than zipping down a hill with a high pitched scream...expecially as an adult. You'll be surprised how many calories you burn off taking the sledge to the top of the hill again too.
• Finally, don't skip meals. If you are finding yourself visiting friends and family, being greated with a handful of snacks and not being overly hungry at meal times, avoid skipping meals. Snacks are precisely that and won't provide your body with much in the way of nutrition. Moderate the snacks by sticking to the first tip and be sure to eat decent meals. Freshly cooked with good wholesome ingrediants. Here is a good article with 10 festive meal suggestions.

Please feel free to add comments with your suggestions on avoiding the pudding look.

Bootcamps and Fitness Training in Leeds

I read a really interesting article in the Daily express online yesterday regarding bootcamps. You can view it via the following link:

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/213103/Are-boot-camps-harmful-

Whilst written by a conscientious fitness professional, the article expresses the concerns of users and potential users of outdoor bootcamps. I completely agree and empathise with the points and questions raised and am taking the opportunity to answer the questions on behalf of our Outfit (www.outfit-uk.com) model but also impartially.

(I'm shortening the questions due to me having limited time

1. Is there screening or individual assessment?

Aside of this being a legal requirement, it would be suicidal for any fitness professional to coach anyone without knowing their medical history, state of fitness and goals as a bare minimum. We of course screen every member and provide an optional full body MOT to all members.

2. Is there insurance?

Again a legal requirement and completely necessary. We ensure that all groups have at least £5 million Liability cover.

3. Is there a free trial session offered?

As a consumer, it is important to try something like this without having to commit with it being a unique service. Furthermore, we feel that contracts can be far too binding and we have a flexible month by month rolling membership to our groups.

4. What are the qualifications and experience of the instructors?

As someone extremely passionate about quality, this is one of my biggest problems with large areas of the fitness industry. People delivering in areas that they are clearly unqualified in. We see it all the time and certainly military bootcamps are particularly bad for this. As a training provider through skills active, quality assurance is paramount to maintain the quality of the values that we started with. All our coaches are fully qualified personal trainers, group coaches, trained on whatever equipment used, first aid trained and have at least 2 years industry experience.

5. How many members are there to every coach?

I've seen classes where 1 instructor is working with 30+ people. In my opinion, this is both unprofessional and negligent. There is no way that even the best coach on the planet can account for that many people ensuring they follow instructions safely and effectively. We operate predominantly on a dual coaching basis giving 2 coaches to every group but even in the event of only one coach being available, we limit the class size heavily. Dual coaching allows us to lead and provide continual coaching on form and technique.

6. Are there weights involved and are the instructors qualified?

This is so important and an area that is potentially more dangerous than just bodyweight exercises. I've seen some awful examples of coaches stepping into areas they aren't trained for. We run a kettlebell instructor course and on numerous occassions, we've had trainers start the course confessing to have used them with clients and by evidence of their technique, they have no idea of how to use them properly. We ensure that all our coaches are fully trained and confident on equipment.

7. Are there alternative exercises for varying fitness levels?

Thinking that one size fits all as a coach is a common mistake and I've seen countless examples where group members are being asked to perform exercises that they shouldn't be attempting.

When classes are run, we always demonstrate with both progressions and regressions allowing members to select the most appropriate level.

8. Are new members able to speak with existing members before joining?

Whilst I've never thought about this before, we always encourage guests to speak with the members on their free taster session. This is something that we'll certainly encourage a lot more proactively as it'll allow members to ask more openly without the fear of being sold at which on today's commercially driven world, is a refreshing opportunity.


- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wellington St,Leeds,United Kingdom

The Ultimate stomach without sit ups - part 3 of 4

Now that you've mastered the basics of using your stomach through breathing and core control, we're ready to step forwards to the next level. However, if you're not too confident that you've mastered these key points then I recommend that you spend some more time mastering the movements and exercises from parts 1 and 2.

Assuming that you have done those and you're confident with them, let's turn up the volume a little. You're possibly curious to know what type of exercise I'm going to suggest now to really start working the stomach. It's been such a saturated Market over the last 10-20 years aimed at stomach exercises. From electrodes being stuck to your stomach, ab rollers, specially designed clothing, bizarre footwear to hula hoops and all sorts of other weird fads. The stomach seems to be an area that we're all very conscious and sensitive of. Market history shows that we're willing to spend lots of money on solutions that take away the worry and achieve results. The good news is that you don't have to spend money on anything that will most probably end up in the bottom of the wardrobe.

It may come as a suprise that my exercise of choice for the stomach is the squat. Done properly, this exercise is incredible for the abdominal wall. Firstly, if you've been to a body pump, yoga or circuit class then you may have a very different idea of a squat than what I'm discussing. Watch this short video to make sure we're both clear and singing from the same sheet:

The best exercise for a ripped stomach
Whilst in the video, I'm using a weight (kettlebell) this isn't essential straight away.

The three essentials are the range of movement (all the way down), maintaining a strong and straight spine and finally good breathing pattern.

You may have been told only to squat to knee height or half way down before but you only have to look at any toddler, child or many people living in the developing world to see that squatting almost all the way to the ground is natural to the human body. It is crucial to work through full range for many reasons. One being that it will help prevent your hip flexors from dominating your abdoman during bending forwards and other movements. Furthermore, working any muscle properly, full range is essential. If you have knee, ankle or hip problems and you feel this would cause problems then consult a sports physio or sports therapist first.

Secondly, keep your back extended through the movement. Because we all sit down for hours, our ability to hold the spine in extension unsupported isn't generally as good as it should be. To get the most from the sromach, keeping extension and using the stomach to support this is key.

Finally, use the breathing habits from part 1 in the movement. We suggest that breathing in on the descent and breathing out on the standing phases are optimal, however, this is largely preferential. As long as you breathe and breathe abdominally, you'll be working well internally.

As you become strong and able to work through good range in this movement, look to apply load as the video shows.

When it comes to exercise, always be conscious of the internal workings of the body. Think of it like this, just because a car is moving forwards doesn't mean that it's supposed to be. It could be rolling downhill, it could have been nudged or the breaks may not be working.



- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our Charity Event - Let's Take it Outside 2010

Just 2 weeks ago, we ran a charity event raising money for two incredible causes in Newcastle Freeman Hospital and the CCU of Bristol Infirmary Hospital. The event marked our company's 2nd birthday but the driving force was raising money for causes that supported a very close friend, Martin Hall who sadly passed away earlier this year after a long battle with a complex heart condition.

Despite having a condition that stopped Martin from joining in many activities, he always involved himself even if it meant from the sidelines.

We were absolutely blessed with an incredible degree of support for the charity event. This came through an amazing range of prizes, donations, event support, media coverage and people giving up their prescious time to help out. I'm including some huge thank you's at the bottom of this blog for those that supported and made the day a complete success.

The event was an absolute success and everyone got stuck in taking part in the activities, challenges and many brightened up the day with some impressive face painting. We managed to raise over £700 for the charities which we're delighted with.

The results of the actual events will be going up on our main website 'Hall of Fame' very soon (http://www.creatingchaos.co.uk/) and you'll be able to see some of the blistering results achieved on the day.

Here are some photo's from our colourful day in October...

Our brutal battling rope challenge in full flight

A pirate with an egg

A colourful crew preparing for Halloween

We had the rule book stolen...may have been the pirate!

3 younger competitors dicussing how to flip the tyre

Jenny laying the law for the egg & spoon

One of the winning teams

In no particular order, I'd like to say a massive thank you to the following people:

• All those that came and took part
• Jonathan Hirst (Network Marketing), Ian Beaumont (BDO Stoy Hayward), Stuart Palmer (Icon Health & Fitness), Ric Moylan (Fighting 4 Fitness), Lisa Burnett (Health Means Business), Jason McCarthy (Wolverson Fitness) and all those who donated gifts and prizes for the events.
• Both our families for bringing equipment, fixtures, prizes and supplied the face painting.
• Jenny for being incredible

We had an absolute ball and we'll most definately be running the event next year...bigger, better and possibly a warmer month :)



Pointless exercises

Having arrived slightly early for a meeting with a University, I thought that I'd use the 20 minutes to put together a blog.

Whilst down in Bath this weekend, Jen and I visited a gym on Saturday. It's rare that I visit a gym but it was actually really interesting. A hotel gym with old equipment, machinery and decor on the walls that belonged to a good few decades ago. What was also interesting was, as it was like going back in time, the diagrams of exercises on show were way out of date yet for many still form part of their work outs.

Inspired by this retro experience, here are 4 pointless but still very used exercises:

Sit Ups - probably the worst exercise for postural dysfunction and muscle imbalance. The fact is that the hip flexors which sit infront of the hips between stomach and thighs are very facilitated in pretty much all of us. This means that they are working even when they shouldn't be, lunges, squats and many lifts are all swarmed by dominant hip flexors. Doing a sit up is just saying 'come on Mr Hip Flexor, work some more!'. Sit ups also encourage poor balance within the abdominals, rarely work full range, are uni-planar and often leave people with back or neck pain. If you want to work your stomach, change your mindset. Rather than isolating the trunk, think larger movements and learn how to breathe abdominally.

Side Bends - just to clarify, I'm discussing standing up, holding a weight in pne or both hands and then bending sideways. Firstly, is this movement natural or functional? Many people do this thinking that it will eliminate love handles or the comically described muffin top. It's important to know that you can't spot reduce when it comes to weight loss in a specific area. Apart from the movement forcing supportive muscles to become prime movers which isn't great, it's just a really awkward movement. If you're looking to reduce bellyfat then the biggest single thing that will reduce this is nutrition. Combined with a healthy exercise programme with sufficient recovery and you'll be well on your way.

The third is quite controversial as many people still use these which are front or side raises. To avoid confusion I'm referring to holding a weight in one or both hands and lifting the arms out to the front or side from standing position whilst keeping arms extended. Biomechanically, you ate either abducting the arms or flexing the shoulders. Both of these movements are natural functions of the body, however, in isolation, they don't encourage balanced function. Whilst the main part and top of the shoulder (deltoid) gets a great work out, this exercise doesn't require much effort from the most crucial aspect of shoulder stabilising known as the rotator cuff. The shoulder, as a joint, has the greatest range and mobility of all joints in the body and should be treated as such. Furthermore, isolating weighted raises tends to target the upper neck muscles which are often extremely over active through using computers and sitting at desks for long periods. This exercise can contribute to soreness and stiffness in the neck. To work the shoulders more functionally, why not try kettlebells.

Finally, looking at what I've already included, I'm going to break the mould as I've focussed heavily on isolated exercises and you've most probably identified that I'm not the greatest fan of these. The final exercise I'm going to mention is doing cardio without doing any strength/conditioning work. The fact is that running, cycling, rowing and many other forms of cardiovascular exercise are heavily repetitious. For joints to move, you need muscle and for joints to move through the same paths over and over again without being injured or overwhelmed with exposure, you need strong and well supported joints that are able to absorb impact and the exposure that you're asking of them. The problem being that cardiovascular exercise is catabolic in it's nature meaning that the body is in flight mode and more likely to break down muscle tissue. To understand this further, let's think back to the hunter gatherer instinctive existence of humans. It makes complete sense. The times when we'd be working cardiovascularly would be either hunting for food or fleeing from danger. The body is a magnificant machine and thinking about both situations, there is no gaurantee of getting food at the end. To this, the body goes into a survival state of breaking down muscle for energy as opposed to fat stores. This is a slower process meaning the body can work for longer and it also means that the body will benefit from the insulation of retaining bodyfat helping it keep hold of essential energy stores and maintain body temperature. You could argue that certain types of cardio work through resistance like swimming, hill running, rowing etc. However, irrespective of this, when the heart rate is above a certain level for a consistent duration, the body will work in a catabolic state.

If you'd like ideas on types of strengthening exercises then why not enjoy a free month on our online fitness membership www.creatingchaos.co.uk. You don't need equipment or even a gym membership. These types of exercises should be combined with cardiovascular exercise giving you a healthy heart and lungs.

- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wilton St,Middlesbrough,United Kingdom