Quick Fixes for the Season

We all know this season is real exciting and fun time. It also brings its own set of challenges to maintain your healthy lifestyle. Here are a few pointers to keep you on track with your health and fitness lifestyle.

Nutrition

1) Drink at least 3 liters of water a day.

2) Eat lots of vegetables and fruits.

3) Green tea and Warm water are the tow best things you can drink in this season.

4) Try and practice undereating whenever you can. e.g If you know you are going to be eating a big caloric and sugar dense meal at a particular time cut back on eating on the hours prior to that.

5)  Before you start a meal always go for a big helping of salad or soups.

Workouts

1) Be mindful of your posture

2) To stay active, walking is one of the best options you have.

3) Bodyweight Circuits, sprints, straddles and shadowboxing are the best toning and conditioning methods you have available to you if all you have are 10 minutes a day.

4) Keep workouts short.

5) Remember the best workout is one you will do

These points will keep you on track. Print them out if you have to. If you forget them do not panic or feel guilty- just pick up from where you left off.

Enjoy the holidays!!

You definitely know people in your family and friend circle who can benefit from these points. Go ahead and share it with them. You just might be the reason they find a change in their lifestyle forever. 

Time to Rest Ye Merry Ladies and Gentlemen

Well its that time of the year again when everybody is winding down. The year end holidays are coming in fast. Compliments of the season are in progress. In all the excitement of the holidays lets not forget that it is a well deserved break and it is an especially important time for rest and recovery.

Most people have already planned what to do and the mental break itself is the biggest thing that enhances recovery. In all the enjoyment there are practical things you can do.


1) Have yourself a merry time! - Well this comes with the season! Enjoy yourself thoroughly. Catch up with family and friends. Laugh. Do things together. Unwind!

2) Silent night - This is a good time to get some well needed hours of sleep. Let your body recover and get the stress out. You will be surprised at what just a few days of good sleep for 6-8 hours can do.

3) More than roasted chestnuts!- We can't deny this season comes with a lot of goodies and parties. In all that, eat sensibly. Order your eating right. If you know for sure there is a specific time window you will be eating a lot balance it off with undereating, juicing or fasting. Make sure whenever you can you are eating more quality and nutrient dense food. This will also keep your energy level high and you will not have energy crashes. It also keeps unnecessary fat off so you will not have to run into the new year with wild training plans.

4) Walking in a winter wonderland - Go for walks. If at all you want to stay active this is one of the best ways to do it. Go walking. Enjoy a nice walk even if it is for 10 minutes in a day. In most cases the winter season has set in. The cool air will give you a neural recharge and freshen your mind.

Rest is vital for your health and there is no better time than this season to do it. You will enter the new year feeling fresh and healthy if you plan your rest and recovery right. Go ahead and enjoy the season.

Please feel free to share this post with your family and friends so they can have a healthy, fun filled season!!

Learning the Ropes

One of the most easiest and versatile pieces of fitness equipment I have started to use recently is the Rope. I had underestimated its use till recently when one of my clients came up with an injury (had nothing to do with my training session!!). I then started digging up other reviews on what I could do to get her on her fitness goals again and then this rope showed up.

Initially ropes dont look like they can do much for you. Dont let the looks fool you! It can be a mean tool for conditioning, cardio vascular development and stripping fat.

I like them because there it is easy to setup and can be carried easily from one place to another. They offer a surprising number of variations that can get you a really good training or workout. In the last two weeks I found out just how effective ropes can be for strength training as well. To say that I didn't do too well on it is an understatement. Ropes can be used for suspension training, climbs and as already discussed conditioning. Below are a few videos of Mike Fitch from Global Bodyweight training showing how Rope training can be used in your training

Breathe again!

Hi all,

I have been delving into basic corrective exercises. It surprises me that we have lost our ability to breathe correctly and that leads to a lot of problems. I have been training myself to breathe accurately again and it has got me feeling so much more better and stronger. Here are three videos

The first one is by Mike Robertson. If you don't know who Mike Robertson he is a well respected strength coach and is prominent in the circle. He is also known as the 'corrective exercise' coach!

The other two are by Tony Gentilcore. Once again, Tony is a strength and conditioning coach and works at Cressey Performance. Eric Cressey himself is a well known and well reputed strength coach and Tony is on his team. Tony is definitely one individual you want to listen to when you are looking for strength and corrective exercise patterns.

Watch the videos, practice the patterns and learn to breathe healthy again.

10 Ways to Beat Stress

'I need to de-stress.'

'Gideon, what can I do to de-stress?'

'I'm getting tired these days, it must be all the stress.'

I have been hearing a lot of these kind of statements or questions related to stress and destress recently. So I decided to (finally!) put a post down and give insights on things that actually helped me tackle stress head on.

All of us know that stress is not good. Some of the important things that you should know about stress are:

• It is one of the leading causes of death across the world today.
• It is a time, relationship and health robber.
• It keeps you fat.

There are a lot of other negative things it does but these three pretty much cover all of it.

So how do we beat stress? In todays world there are problems and challenges at every corner but there are things you can do to beat stress.

1) STOP WORRYING!!  Jesus Christ said that about 2000+ years ago. If someone like Jesus said this he knows what he is talking about. This might be easier said than done but it is vital to get your thoughts in order. Some of the things people worry about most of the time don't even happen. Think about the solution to the problem and not the problem. 

2) Sleep! - Do not neglect your sleep. I have written a seperate post on this earlier. Click here.

3) Time Out: - You need to take some time out on a daily basis. 10 or 15 minutes a day should be good enough. Just quieten yourself down and relax. Don't think about work or anything else. Just relax. This would be a good time to also focus on your breathing which brings me to my next point.

4) Breathe: - If ever there was one quick technique I relied on this was it. In the middle of things just stop and take in deep breaths. Anywhere in between 5 and 10 breaths should be good.

5) Ease off on the eating: - Stop eating so frequently. The digestive system is a system that requires huge amounts of energy to work. I strongly suggest slowing down from food for a while. You can do just vegetables or vegetable juices during the day and eat normally again at night. Another practice you can take up is intermittent fasting also known as IF.

What you eat is also important. As much as possible stop eating sugar and processed foods. These also put an enormous strain on your digestive system causing a lot of stress. Watch what you eat and reduce the frequency. Take a break from eating.

6) Unplug:- It is amazing what time without electronic gadgets do for you. For a while switch off your phone, internet and stay away from your computer. I used to take 24 hours out from all of the gadgets around me. It was sooooooo refreshing. I have written an experience of mine here. There are also hidden dangers of technology which causes massive stress. Unplugging once a while will help.

7) Exercise:- Exercise helps a lot at destressing. You can have an exercise schedule in 10 or 15 minutes. There are studies again and again that show that exercise reduces stress. Get an exercise routine.

8) Sunlight:- Get out into the sun. The Vitamin D assimilation and the light does alot for you.

9) Walking: Walking is a great way to get your blood circulating and destressing. It loosens you up and keeps you active and your mind fresh. Here is more on walking.

10) Talk to someone: If you have something on your mind or something is wearing you down talk it out. Sometimes you just need to go to someone you can trust and tell them, 'I just need you to listen to me!' Then talk it out. See how much lighter you feel.

There are more techniques to this but these are the most common ones and that you can implement quickly. Start implementing these and start to reduce your stress today.

If this post has helped you please share it with someone. Drop in comments, ask questions and if you need help with destress techniques you can contact me here.

Another lesson learnt from another client - Discipline and Honesty

The other day a client of mine asked me after a session, 'Do you also train?' Now, while that might seem like 'DUH', it got me thinking. Sometimes clients questions can take us off guard and also keep us in check. It has been quite a busy month for me and my training frequency has reduced but I made time to train at least twice a week for 15 minutes. I was so glad I managed to do that.

Imagine if I had to tell the client, 'No, actually I have not been training recently because I was really busy?' Instead of building them up I would have given the message that its ok to avoid training if there was a 'so and so' reason. 

'Oh c'mon, you didn't need to tell them.' That might be true. That also means it would have backfired on my character. No one would have known except me but in all honesty that would have weakened my resolve and authority as a trainer to ask them to do something or make a suggestion. These clients look up to us for maintaining their health but I also believe as personal trainers there is an element which goes deeper. It is setting an example and standard.

Stay honest and true to yourself. You will be able to handle 'curve balls' that suddenly get thrown at you from your client. As a trainer your own personal disciplines are necessary to be an authority and make an impact while training. Also, when you do that you come from a position of authority to be able to tell your clients what to do.

Discipline and honesty helps you through any aspect of life. As trainers I think this is especially true and important as we also set the example of being role models. It also helps to practice what you preach. If you need to stay on track find someone you can trust and stay accountable to so you can keep sharp. My wife keeps me accountable with something as little as a posture deviation. It gets irritating sometimes but I know its for my good and getting me sharper and stronger in character and skill to do what I have to do.

Practice living being true to what you stand for. Might be a bit difficult at the beginning but if you are consistent it will become a part of your life.

If this post has encouraged you send it out to someone else who you think needs it. If you need any help with Lifestyle Coaching or fitness, send me a message.

Having fun, Monkeying around, Breaking Barriers and Celebrating Achievements

Training sessions should be fun. That is something I learnt from Matt Marshall or at least got it reinforced in my mind from him. Thats exactly what I did today. I was waiting for a client to show up and I decided to have some fun on the kids playground - just monkey around on the monkey bars!!

Well I know it doesn't sound too modest but I was impressed with my speed and body movement. I just ran, jumped and swung around and hung around and also found out where all I had made improvements. Movements I thought still had a long way to go just flowed nicely and......for lack of a better word happened. It was sad that there was no video and no cameras but I did feel like I made my entry into the world of bar athletes.

Here is what went down:

3 single arm Pull ups:) from a 2 second single arm hold previously.

Front levers  

Reverse pull ups 

Upside down Pull ups 

Isometric holds on parallel bars for 15 seconds

I am thankful to God for this and to all the people who kept encouraging me to push past my limits with bodyweight training I want to thank you as well. I am going to take some time out today and celebrate!!