The Body Planner Blog

Does a Personal Trainer from Manchester have time for fitness?

By bodyplanner | September 15, 2009

Have you ever heard yourself or others say comments like these…

“I’ve got this to do and then this and then see the kids…..and didn’t make it to the gym”

“I’ve been so busy at work recently that it’s been impossible…”

“I had such a bad day I just wanted to sit down and never did my workout”

“I haven’t had time to prepare anything so just wanted to get a pizza”

“I’m too busy to train”

…. and a number of others that are pretty similar all adding up to the fact that you are very busy.

In the past with actual clients I’ve had pretty similar conversations so not just with people that haven’t decided to make any changes to help lose 10lbs or drop a clothes size or to reduce their back pain but from people that have signed up and decided to make the change for the better and started to invest in their health. I actually even had one consultation request earlier this year who really wanted to lose weight but was really busy and didn’t think that she had the time. The way her life was planned she actually didn’t and after requesting a consultation never actually got round with the best intentions that she had to actually take it. That was a first!

First off I’m not knocking the fact that there are other parts of your life like your family and career that are just as important (let’s sidestep for now the belief that these things will also improve when your health has improved but as you ignore nothing seems to improve, sound about right!).

But what I would put forward to you is that there is a clear difference between things outside of your control occurring (once in a while) and being busy but not having greater time management skills that allow you to cope better and achieve more.

time-management

With better time management I have noticed that it is possible to get more things done, waste less time (which you will be doing) and having time to get to those goals that you want to.

This isn’t the ramblings of a personal trainer who thinks we should all make time to workout and not understand the lifestyles of poeple these days as I am one of those people just like you. Trust me - I have as little time as any to train and eat right if I didn’t want to.

As someone with their own business I have a number of hats on each day whether it be the trainer/coach, customer service, sales and marketing and I.T. amongst others in addition to being the manager of any of these tasks that require delegation. On top of that I’ll have my own lifestyle which will then include maintaining and at some times with the appropriate goals improving components of my health and fitness while also balancing with my home life with my girlfriend and other circles.

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Sure there will be times of a week, month and year when certain things are a higher priority than others but I only know that because I have managed it accordingly beforehand to understand what it is that will take a higher priority so if you’re real honest about wanting to get in shape and finding that you’re “too busy” and making excuses start looking at ways that you can manage the time better.

Plan your day out the night before, what you are going to be doing and when unless events outside your control come to light.

Put your food together the night before - people that blame busy circumstances always seem to have time to sit watching Eastenders etc for an hour when they could be taking 15 minutes to prepare food that will give them energy and substance and save the pennies spent on crap sandwiches and pizza slices.

Review your day each night - What didn’t you achieve and be honest as to why. I’ve never met a person yet who has these events outside their control on a daily basis happen. This is not the time for logical reasoning. When checking do you only have excuses instead of a proper reason.

Get yourself a Personal Trainer or join a Bootcamp or find another source of information and a plan of action to follow for your exercise regime. A lack of knowledge is a convenient truth to tell yourself that there is not time but armed with the right knowledge and expertise you will find out that the time required to get to your goals is far less than you imagined. The inconvenient truth is that you would perhaps rather tell yourself the timing is not right. Being accountable to someone else may also be what you need. In the event that you come up with excuses rather than reasons, a good coach is going to know the difference and be able to help you manage better. (As a side note one of my clients has lost 20lbs using routines that last 20 minutes a day. Have you got that sort of time and ambition).

If something so personal is not what you can comprehend or afford look over the internet. Some good sources of information on the Internet that you can download and/or use at home are Turbulence Training and Precision Nutrition but just do a search and find out for yourself (”fat loss ebook”, fat loss program). There is also a lot of free information out there these days on sites like Youtube.

Stop wasting time or at least be honest and don’t complain about your shape, size and health. It’s one or the other. How much time do you actually waste each day? Use a day planner to check it out over a few days that helps you check your day and see wasted time. There’s a difference between having a rest break and having an hour 2-3 times a day watching TV, being in a meeting that has no value and sending emails throughout the day (and being on Twitter and Facebook!).

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Planning requires some focus as well. Those clients I mentioned that to be fair have identified (with my help of course) that they are making excuses and need better time management are also the ones that have yet to complete proper goal achievement principles. That’s not a coincidence! Goals give you focus that require planning and action, they don’t just happen on their own and good drills will highlight issues with your planning and ability to organise effectively. Another product I recommend that covers this subject amazingly well is The Magic Hundred by one of my mentors Dax Moy, one of the experts in goal achievement and is a great program in keeping you motivated as well.

The bottom line is that you are not one of the unfortunates that has zero time to improve each by week and may well be making excuses or be intimidated into accepting not to try. Whatever your reason, you’re just the same as me and thousands of others that feel like their lives are moving at the speed of light with no time to react but all you need is a bit of planning and the acknowledgement that you are always willing to learn more.

I hope you make the change or at least admit that you don’t care in which case don’t moan and certainly don’t call me.

Mike

doc

Posted in General Training | 1 Comment

Manchester Personal Trainer checks out England Cricket Team Warm Up during the Ashes

By bodyplanner | August 13, 2009

During the last Ashes test match at Headingley there was a lot of heated discussion about the methods used in England’s pre-match warm up. In a game of football/soccer on the pitch, Matt Prior went down in agony and was close to pulling out because of back spasms.

The issue being argued was that professional cricketers were playing football about 30 minutes prior to the match toss and not more than 60 minutes prior to the first ball being delivered and that something like this was eventually going to happen because these guys are not footballers.

I have to say that I completely agree and wondered myself why a game of football was being used as a warm up. Possibly to relax the guys prior to a big games in the series. Maybe they needed a bit of relaxation after being woken up at 5am by a fire alarm in their hotel and having to stand in the rain for an hour. Whatever the reason it astounded me that a professional sports team would be doing something so close to the start of a major match because there was nothing specific at all about what they were doing to what they were about to do. Even if they had done someting else beforehand, why do this?

Perhaps not as ridiculous as cricketers playing football but I’ve come across others also that have no specific warm up that prepares them for their activity from other sports like hockey and rugby to the gym member and evening runner.

Do you warm up correctly for what you are about to take part in?

Is it specific to what you are about to do?

Does it create the right outcome?

In sport different positions require various components of fitness at different proportions. What Matt Prior does as a wicket keeper is different to the role that Andrew Flintoff plays as a fast bowler.

The warm up that a jogger requires will be different to the one that a gym member does prior to doing a resistance workout and requirements could be different again based upon whether it is a strength training workout compared to a high volume workout.

In alot of warm ups all I generally see are walking or slow running and static stretches (which actually switch the muscle fibres off and make you feel more relaxed - kind of the wrong approach when you’re about to get physical and intense for the next 45-60 minutes!)

What you’re left with is a body and mind that still ain’t that switched on when infact these are the things that you should be considering and feeling after having a preparation phase to your activity.

All muscles should have been targeted and have that feeling of already been exerted - don’t save yourself 100% for the work. Use dynamic stretches instead of static stretches (If you really feel the need for static stretches, perform them first and follow them up with dynamic movements). Movements with resistance should be applied instead of mindless jogging to achieve muscle tissue activation and address any muscle imbalances and weaknesses .

All joints should have been worked, giving a feeling of more mobility in preparation for working through full ranges of movement.

A feeling of elevated heart rate and being a little bit sweaty should be achieved, perhaps even very sweaty that increase blood flow around the body.

Some specific areas to consider…

The hip region and taking the muscles and joints through every range of motion that the hip can go through. I use all manner of lunges and squats in combination with upper body movements that work the shoulders and core (see below) to do just that.

Glute activation. Any work using the lower body should include the bum to make movement more effective and less pressure on the stabilising muscles in the lower back.

Shoulders and Rhomboids (mid back) to enable better function in movement and the position of your posture.

Core Activation to link upper and lower body using static and dynamic movements. Like the lunges they should be performed through all planes of motion to activate all core muscles - sensible and practical really.

Not only does this prepare the body for what you are about to do but gives you endless warm up routines to work with that engage the mind and truly prepare you for your workout or sport.

I think the biggest mistake people make is just thinking about their workout without preparing and seem hesitent to work hard in their warm up. Make time for a specific, outcome orientated warm up and your chances of injury will drop dramtaically, your efforts will increase and so will your results.

Get sweaty and out of breath in your warm up and keep it specific. Only use a football if you’re a footballer folks.

Laters

Mike Bach

The Body Planner

Plan To Get Better Results

Even in our Boot Camp I get the members to perform warm ups drills that feel like they’re part of the main session and tick all the boxes above.

Want to address any weaknesses and imbalances that can cause injury? Find out why all our Manchester based Personal Trainer clients undertake a Kinetic Chain Assessment.

Posted in General Training, back pain | Tagged The Ashes, Warm Ups | Leave a comment

Leading Personal Training company has weaknesses in Manchester Cinema

By bodyplanner | August 5, 2009

As a Personal Trainer and expert in fat loss and conditioning I’m suppose to be a great role model and in the dictionary under “athletic” or “lean” you would see a picture of me but just like you I have my weaknesses and going to the cinema is one of them.

I love movies, it’s the perfect break for me and a way to wind down and relax. I’ve always preferred it to going out and getting wasted on beer. I’ve done a bit of that as well in my college days especially but if I could I would get one of those cinema rooms like you see on MTV Cribs and go and watch a film or a series of 24 - the best show on TV!

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The problem with going to the cinema is we have the best pick and mix going - the shrimps and bananas, the big long fizzy cola bottles and white chocolate mice. I must confess that I have a sweet tooth so how do I still stay in good shape? - even in a bad month I’m sub 12% bodyfat

Again it’s one of those mindset type answers coupled with another prevention strategy that is basic and simple, yet very powerful.

1 - Remind yourself of your goals, the cost of your goals (the sacrifices you have to make) and the importance of these goals to you on a regular basis. Keep them on a card and read as many times as necessary throughout the day.

2 - Create habits. The first one is to remind yourself constantly about your goals. Whatever your actions are create habits. If you want quick results, more habits may have to be made but be realistic according to your personality. Let 1-2 habits get firmly installed into your memory banks so that they become second nature.

Would you get an alcoholic to lose 4 stone and start a business at the same time. Possibly not! Worry about one thing at a time if the nature of the change and your personality are at conflict.

3 - Remove temptation. When I am in a period of wanting to really burn bodyfat I know the pick and mix is going to ruin it or the sweet section at the petrol station of supermarket.

So what do I do?

Not allow the opportunity in the first place by not entering the pick and mix area.

Also bring some other snacks

Don’t go shopping when hungry

Don’t have spare change on me.

It’s not like I need to do these things all the time - I’m not an addict, I have already created good habits and the goals and commitment to the cause do a lot for avoiding such pitfalls but if they are not enough, then removing the opportunity to fail can be the missing ingredient for all of us.

So if you want to get super lean and look great naked or in your clothes and willpower alone is not stong enough, what things could you do to avoid temptation?

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Avoid going shopping when you are hungry and avoid certain aisles.

Train and exercise with somebody else better than you - a friend, using a trainer, a small group or bootcamp. Whichever it is, they must take away that opportunity to sit at home and blame lack of time.

Be around like minded people away from exercise that don’t tempt you to go to MacDonald’s or have several drinks. Let people in your circle that push you towards your goal and not the pullers that sabotage you.

Empty your cupboards from the crap that is in them. Anyone who starts the Elimination Plan knows this as part of the strategy.

When opportunity knocks to do the wrong thing, make sure you throw a dummy and go in a different direction.

Mike.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What a Personal Trainer from Manchester knows about back pain and shopping at the Trafford Centre

By bodyplanner | July 30, 2009

Sometime in your life you are probably going to be one of those unfortunate people that complains of some form of back pain and as a personal trainer you would think that I would be different…but I’m not.

Back when I was a bit younger I used to lift a lot of heavy weights and not do enough recovery leading to a lot of muscle ache that built up and affected my posture and then resulted in a back complaint called lumbago which is sever over tightness of the back muscles leading to spasms, joint pain around the pelvis and a total lack of mobility.

These days I’m still a very strong guy and can deadlift 160kg even if I haven’t looked at a barbell in a month and squat some pretty heavy weight to.

poor posture and low back pain

The thing is that it doesn’t have to be the so called “more risky” activities that cause problems. In everyday life the most common reasons I see for back pain is excess weight and everyday posture in real life scenarios like at a desk, sat in the car, walking, lifting shopping and standing in a stationary position.

This last one especially makes me laugh and I see it every time I go shopping. Take a look yourself next time you go shopping either at yourself or others, especially the husbands and boyfriends that go shopping with their other halfs and are standing their trying to raise an interest while their better halves are going through the racks. I was in the Trafford Centre more recently and saw hundreds of people adopting this lazy style posture quite excessively. To be honest I was one of them!

When we are in a standing position we basically get very lazy and put all the weight onto one leg that stays straight while the other relaxes and goes into a bent of flexed position. This puts all the weight through the straight leg and hip and finishes in the muscles of the lower back, putting excess pressure on them. Once or twice isn’t going to matter but continuing to do it, coupled with other postural dysfunction will lead to excess soreness, usually on one side and can accumalate until something more sever happens.

Some other common forms of torturing yourself are…

Leaning forward in the shoulders and lower back when at a computer

Adopting a similar position when driving

Leaning forward and downwards excessivley when gardening or picking up the shopping backs or hoovering.

one of my personal training clients in Manchester with back pain

Now more recently I have unfortunately been through a case of lower back pain that was all muscular and have started a process of recovery. One of my favourite methods of recovery is to get a sports massage or deep tissue massage which I’m having a hard job of finding in Manchester while searching on the internet. During these searches I was pretty amazed by some of the advice that is on the internet when it comes to low back pain and also found it quite ironic that I found myself when looking for someone that could help resolve my discomfort.

I’m quite sure that if you have had back pain you will have been told to do one of these points below (I’ll let you find it and I’ll tell you later which one I have nailed as the most popular piece of advice) but it is fairly meaningless without looking at all the points together and could infact make the condition worse.

If you do experience acute or chronic low back pain I would look at all the following to relieve it and even remove it completely for the longer term.

Have a postural assessment

Continue the assessment to consider any dysfunction in the way you move

Look for imbalances in muscle tone and relative strength - Is the front of your thigh dominating all leg movement and putting stress on your lower back. Are you more dominant on one side of your body movement to the other.

Strengthen weaker muscles like the glutes and core/abdominals

Stretching short and weak muscles like the hamstrings

Stretch dominant muscles like the quads that also become tight

Check movements for firing sequence to be sure that the muscles that should be working are working sufficiently and the smaller stabiliser muscles in the lower back or not being overworked.

Participate in release techniques such as the use of a foam roller or sports massage. This is far more beneficial than the normal type of massage if you are looking to resolve muscle pain and not just having a relaxing time.

One service I recommend is having a kinetc chain assessment or something similar from a practitioner in your area. This is exactly what I was looking for but couldn’t find anyone other than myself. I’m sure there is and they probbaly didn’t have a website or great SEO but I have experiened the work done by a KCA practitioner and found it to be one of the most useful exercises I have undergone.

Stay Strong and look after your backs

Mike

PS If you have been told to stretch your hamstrings only, then you need to change your doctor/physio or whoever you see!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged deep tissue massage, Kinetic Chain Assessment, low back pain, lumbago, muscle spasm, sports massage | 1 Comment

Are you being taken for a ride?

By bodyplanner | May 6, 2009

A couple of nights ago I was flicking through the TV channels and stopped on one of the shopping channels because the show had health or fitness in the title so I thought I would have a look. If Eastenders had a sports day theme in the storyline I would probably record it!

On show at the time was a product called the i Joy Ride (everyone wants to put ‘i’ in their product title these days. Maybe I should start being known as the i Fat Loss Personal Trainer?) which is on sale at the bargain price of £399.

This reminded me of a story a while back with one of my clients when she was looking for good pieces of equipment to help in her bid to lose weight and get fit.

Against my advice she went and bought one, only to find that it didn’t provide all that she had hoped for and is now being used as a place to put the washing. You almost cannot see it for all the clothes that lie over it.

What is not uncommon about this story is that there are hundreds of other people right now looking for “the product” that will do more of the work for them or that their is a product out there, better than any other that will make you leaner and fitter in 6 months time.

The best tool you have is actually in your house or at the office already and that is your own body.

In posts like this one I will normally go along the route of taking said piece of equipment apart but I’m not going to do that this time because this product doesn’t actually promise something over and above what it delivers for a change.

Many products will actually lie and say they promote fat loss and get you in shape but I cannot see that the i Joy Ride does this. All it says is that it works to tone the ab and thigh muscles and makes no mention that it promotes fat loss.How could it when it only works a few isolated muscles?

What I don’t like about the product is the expense in relation to the amount of exercise that you can do with it. That and the fact it does not promote fat loss which is what most of you are searching for in the first place.

On top of that I feel like I have to make a point that there are no shortcuts but that effective exercise can promote very quick results, they just come with a price of having to work a bit harder than getting rocked around in your living room while watching Eastenders.

Personally, I want a program that is more challenging and also promotes more benefits to my all round health and fitness than simply “toning up” a few isolated muscles.

So if you want to spend £400 to get rocked around like you’re on a horse go and get one.

But if you want to tone up the same muscles and lose fat at the same time so that you can show your new shape off, get used to performing exercises with your own bodyweight that deliver even better results and can still be done in the convenience of your own home.

While the machine will get easier and easier, bodyweight exercises can be changed to make them more intense so that you never get bored and never run out of programs that challenge you to get results throughout.

Keep it intense folks!

Mike

The Body Planner

PS Get in touch if you want to try out an i Joy Ride and I’ll put you in touch with someone who will be selling one second hand soon I believe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged iJoyRide, Mike Bach, Personal Trainer Manchester | 1 Comment

What I have, and you should have in common with Dirk Diggler

By bodyplanner | April 30, 2009

If you have ever seen the film Boogie Nights, Mark Wahlberg shoots the final scene on his comeback from becoming a coke addict and is looking into the mirror practicing his scenes on completion, whips out his pride and joy and says to himself…

“I am a star. I’m a star, I’m a star, I’m a star. I am a big, bright, shining star. That’s right.”

…zips it back up and gets ready to roll.

While he made many a bloke want to be him for a minute and a lot of women want to be with him, that’s not what I’m talking about here.

What I am going to tell you a bit more about is a process called “Incantation” that you should make a habit in your life when you want to reach your fat loss goals and get in the right frame of mind and taking the necessary action that pulls you further towards your goal.

I’m not going to start comparing myself in any other way here!

Have you ever had a goal that really motivates you and is something that you really want, only to lose that feeling that you had at the start and feel less emotion towards and start to ignore it.

You go through highs and lows of wanting that goal. When you have those high moments, you become unstoppable and every move you make is in the right direction.

In those low moments, feelings of negativity creep in and the most energy you expend is flicking the buttons on the remote control.

These low moments start to creep in more and more becasue it is a lot easier to do nothing or do something that comes into conflict with your goals than make the effort and continue with making the changes and sacrifice that feel really easy when you’re on a high but impossible when you hit rock bottom.

End result is a total drop out in what you’re doing, less action being taken and acceptance that you can’t do it or that something else is more important.

Those feelings of empowerment and committment that you had at the start have disappeared until you decide to go through the same process again.

The thing is, change can be hard and you have to get into a habit of making the right decisions and taking the right action and it is your state of mind at the time that drives this and decides whether you are going to have a good day or one of those days that suck.

A lot of these ups and downs and a long term failure of not realising your goals comes down to not getting yourself in the right fram of mind and the focus necessary on a daily basis that then makes it a lot easier to take action and make the right decisions and be very productive when you are taking that action.

One daily habit that you should try is called incantation, defined in wikipedia as…

“An incantation or incantations are the words spoken during a ritual, either a hymn or prayer
invoking or praising a deity, or in magic, occultism, witchcraft with the intention of casting a spell
or an object or a person. The term derives from Latin incantare (tr.), meaning “to chant (a magical spell)
upon,” from in- “into, upon” and cantare “to sing”.”

I’m not suggesting any voodoo, spell dropping practices to start going on around the globe to get a six pack but this is what many a successful person will do to give them the confidence, self-belief and right type of attitude that goes a long way to getting in the right mindset and achieving.

Something to try is to write down some goals or affirmations that include your habits and goals like this for example…

“I will eat and drink correctly to burn fat and have more energy”

“I will not sabotage my progress with chocolate and alcohol”

“I will exercise like a champion 4 days a week”

“I will get to a size 10 by taking the right steps each day”

“I will succeed every day and take positive steps towards my end goal with each action I take”

“I am powerful beyond measure”

You see the difference. It doesn’t have to be goals all the time but statements that help you achieve them and get you in the correct mindset to achieve them.

Rather than stop short at writing them down and reading them to yourself in your head, say them out loud. I’m not saying to shout them out loud and ring bells at the same time but hearing them out loud rather than silent reading is a pretty powerful way of getting you ready for the day and can be the difference between skipping your workout that day, having the Mars bar and losing your focus and drive and gaining momentum each and every day.

Say them out loud to yourself and get yourself to believe and be inspired.

Try writing your incantations out and see how they work for you.

Speak to you again soon

Mike

The Body Planner

Looking for an effective goal achievement strategy. Check out Dax Moys Magic Hundred for a goal achievement program that can work across all areas of your life like your health, career and finances.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Incantation, Mike Bach | Leave a comment

Why a loss of focus is the slippery road to failure

By bodyplanner | April 27, 2009

I’ve had a couple of conversations today, not for the first time with people who in their pursuit of their fitness goals will lose sight of what they are trying to achieve and start to get nowhere week after week after week.

I was speaking to one guy in particular who has a bunch of commitments with family and work and has been really keen to lose weight and lost a few pounds but then started to stagnate.

In this case there was one point above all others that highlighted his plight and that was having a focus on the goal like he did in the early days.

Back then, he did what was necessary, changing his diet and exercising on a regular basis each week.

Now though, it’s a different story. He was quite honest in saying that his environment has not changed much since he started; work is busy, maybe a bit more than usual but nothing that is making him work 12 hour days but the mindset to take action on a regular basis has.

Whereas before it was at the forefront, it is now at the back of his mind.

Motivation is good but could be better.

Some goals were reached but a lot more are far from completion.

The first thing I said to him is that you have to keep these goals at the forefront of your mind by reminding yourself about them on a daily basis.

You see, it is quite easy to lose sight of what you are trying to achieve when there are so many things going on in various parts of your life like you health, career, family and finances for example.

The problem usually comes when have no agenda as to how we are going to achieve them, what are the first steps we are going to take and what we have to focus more on in some days and periods to get things done.

My personal approach to this

Remind yourself of all your goals on a daily basis

Prioritise some more than others. Without this you can seriously get caught up in the little things that still need doing but 100% prevent you from making any headway into the goals that matter to you most and would make the biggest impact in your life.

Evaluate and measure your progress on a daily basis. You have chosen to take action on chosen goals each day but it makes no sense if you haven’t still achieved them. If you have not, be honest and explain to yourself why not. In many cases this will highlight a weakness that can be rectified as not all reasons are becasue of some emergency that could not wait.

Set big goals; ones that get you excited and emotional and are more likely to bring action.

Say your goals out loud to yourself. Personally, I can’t just read them to myself and believe in them. Sometimes you have to take more action and make yourself believe in them.

Start using these steps on a daily basis and I assure you that you can forget the times when days and weeks were lost to history and no further progress was made in your quest for rapid fat loss or fitness or the six pack.

You may have to put in a bit more work on a daily basis to make these principles work but I didn’t say they would just happen. While believing in something is important, thoughts alone will not bring your goals to reality.

Speak again real soon. I’ve been off the radar recently due to a big project happening soon but my goal is to write a post each day this week. Wonder if I’ll do it?

Laters

Mike

The Body Planner

PS Dax Moy has released a new version of his Goal Achievement program, The Magic Hundred and I’ve just got my copy today. The initial version sold over 600k copies in first 48 hours and this version has lots of new information so I’m expecting a lot of demand. If you want to take advantage of a special discount on the system, go to The Magic Hundred now before the offer runs out by end of Tuesday. Not only does it cover health and fitness but all other componets of your life as well like relationships, career and finance.

Posted in Goal Achievement, Goal Achievement 2009 | Tagged Goal Achievement, Goal setting, The Magic Hundred | Leave a comment

The difference between eating for fat loss and pasta

By bodyplanner | April 17, 2009

I am a believer that pasta is not the best food in the world when it comes to healthier living and a successful fat loss diet. In fact it is rubbish and more likely in my experiences to help you put weight on.

Let me explain this in more detail by telling a story that could be used for over a hundred of my own personal clients and many others that I have met and spoken to who have been manipulated by restaurants like Pasta Hut to name one and what they have seen on TV and magazines.

As part of any fat loss program I will ask a client to tell me about their current eating habits and perhaps complete a food journal prior to making any changes. Either way, I am being told that “I eat pasta” or “have pasta instead of chips” or something along those lines with the understanding that the pasta being consumed is a healthy option. I will also ask them to review their energy levels in relation to their eating habits and normally the answer will be fatigued more often than not and sometimes bloated.

In time, we have decided to eliminate pasta and replace with (more) vegetables and perhaps potatoes and rice and over time not only have we increased energy levels but also lot more weight than ever before. While a sound exercise regime would also be incorporated there was sufficient evidence to show that removing pasta from the diet was a very successful method in kick starting results again and improving all round energy levels and performance.

So why is this? Here are several reasons why pasta is harmful to your chances of getting in shape.

1. It is wheat based. This means that it is indigestible to some degree or places more stress on your digestive system than you should have to leading to a more sluggish metabolism that does not burn fat well. We all need a high metabolic rate to be able to burn fat tissue effectively. This doesn’t mean you have to have some form of disorder to be intolerant to wheat. More of us are susceptible to wheat based products than we think and can also be the cause of fatigue, bloating and more often than not produce weight gain.

2. It is part of the traditional Carbohydrates (CHO) family that we eat too much. CHO are the main source of energy in our diet and come in 2 forms, one being starchy CHO that include pasta. These type of foods are particularly calorie dense for the amount eaten which leads to weight gain. Compare any meal with pasta in relation to your meat (source of protein) and vegetables (source of CHO, vitamins and minerals) and you will see that the ratio of pasta to the other foods is a lot higher. Just because pasta is not high in fat does not make it better for you. A large part of the western epidemic of obesity is connected to high CHO diets as much as having too much fat in your diet.

3. It has a higher GI value meaning that you create an insulin response when blood sugar gets too high. When this happens the energy from the food will be transported into the cell tissue at a higher rate which can lead to a build up of more fat tissue. The overriding concern is definitely the amount eaten but the insulin response does not help.

4. Contains less fibre meaning it is not so filling and leads to more overeating.

Pasta isn’t so bad if you are a big time runner or other type of athlete, they are actually expending more energy than a normal person would dream of and are not concerned by trying to burn fat tissue and only on their performance. I think a large part of this myth that pasta is okay comes from sports as well but their activity levels are high and one of their requirements is to get energy into their bodies as quickly as required for their purpose.

So what should you eat instead?

1. Vegetables. Don’t forget that CHO is your primary source of energy. We are not talking high protein diets with no carbs or other silly fad type programs. Vegetables are higher in fibre and will keep you fuller for longer while also giving you the energy you need to function well. Green ones are the best like broccoli, spinach, kale and cabbage to name some.

2. Potatoes and rice. A word of warning, these are much better than pasta because they are not wheat based and if you need more energy than vegetables can provide then these are good alternatives. Do however be wary of portions as they are still calorie dense.

3. Protein. By eliminating pasta and cutting down on starchy type CHO overall the ratio of protein to Carbs should be higher but increase slightly if necessary. Proteins enable you to stay fuller for longer and burn more calories through intake than carbs.

Use these tips for starters if you are serious about getting leaner or to maintain a certain shape or take up professional sport if you want to continue downing pasta like it comes out of a tap.

Laters

Mike

The Body Planner

Posted in Fat Loss, Nutrition | Tagged Fat Loss, Mike Bach, Nutrition, Pasta, Personal Trainer Manchester, Wheat | Leave a comment

Batgirl or Batwings?

By bodyplanner | April 15, 2009

When it comes to losing weight I am a big supporter of calling it fat loss because that is what any person is trying to lose rather than just weight on the scales for the sake of it. When it comes to removing fat from the body it is normal to look at and target some areas more than others simply because it is either more visible or you can become fixated on the troublesome area. From experience, one area that comes up more than most is the back of the arms and what is called either bingo wings or bat wings when there are fat tissue deposits there.

: Fake Batman?

Traditional approaches that do not work well but are there in abundance over the internet are using small weights and performing several hundred isolated tricep exercises like kickbacks and extensions. I’ve even seen so called experts suggest the use of water bottles in replacement of small dumbbells using the same exercise approach.

The root problem with this type of approach is that the muscle under the fat tissue is not working hard enough, the muscle tissue in the body as a whole is not working hard enough to burn fat tissue and the anatomy of the muscle not being considered.

I’ll explain these in more detail as I now cover the 3 tips to lose the bingo wings.

1. Perform all over body routines instead of concentrating your time and effort on kickbacks and extensions. While the muscle tissue around the problem area has to be considered as part of your training routine, there are over 600 muscles in your body that need to be exerted to create a usage of energy that can correlate to burning enough calories that amount to 1lb and then 2lb of fat tissue and so on. By working one muscle group (the tricep region contains 3 of these 600 plus muscles) you will not burn the calories required. Use exercises that work more muscle groups including the tricep region or not to burn more calories that will then target fat tissue across all areas of your body. Some examples are squats, deadlifts, squat to press and push ups.

2. Use more weight or resistance, the small dumbbells and water bottles will not cut it. Following on from the above point, the muscle tissue has to work hard to create a disturbance in the body that amounts to the burning of fat tissue across the whole of the body. If the muscle is not worked sufficiently it is harder to promote an energy deficit in the exercises being performed and calories from fat tissue will remain stored. Instead of endless reps over 20 try performing reps between a range of 8 and 12 with a weight that challenges you come the end of the set.

3. Perform larger push type exercises like dips and horizontal pushing movements. Exercises that work several muscles at once and tax your system more or known as compound movements whereas exercises like the kickback are isolated. As previously mentioned it is imperative to perform movements that work more muscles in the body but as far as specific upper body and tricep work is concerned those larger compound type movements will also work all 3 heads of the muscle region while many of the isolated movements work 1 and maybe 2 at best. So as well as creating a more positive energy disturbance, you will also target all muscle tissue in the problem bingo wing region.

For some this may mean a total change in attitude towards exercise and routines that are not so comfortable and can be done while watching TV. They will require more exertion but as well as burning fat effectively, you will get big gains in your fitness and all round performance as well.

: Batgirl

I’ve encountered a number of women especially that have changed to this approach with considerable success as part of a balanced diet also. Not only has it worked for anyone overweight but also for those that are in an accepted weight range as shown by BMI scales but with an undesirable amount of body fat and visible in problem areas like the thighs and back of the arms.

Use these tips in your exercise programs now and it will make a difference.

Speak soon,

Mike

The Body Planner

Dream, Act and Succeed

Posted in Fat Loss | Tagged Batwings, Bingo Wings, Mike Bach, Personal Trainer Manchester | Leave a comment