Secret Revealed: The best exercise machine for fat loss.....

Hey,

If you read the headline and got pretty excited it woudn't surprise me as a) everyone loves a secret and b) who wouldn't want to know the best machine for fat loss....takes all the guess work out right?

Now before I give you the answer (which isn't what you are expecting) let's explore the different types of machines you might typically come across in a gym or personal training studio:

Cardiovascular machines:

CV machines are set out in rows and rows within most mainstream gym chains, they are big, exciting, with flashy lights and crazy gizmo's like heart rate monitors and calorie counters and you would be pretty shocked to walk into a facility that didn't have any right?

So what are CV machines doing for our fat loss efforts?

CV machines are generally large muscle group activities, by using many muscles over a sustained period of time we can elevate your metabolism to increase calorie usage. Sounds good, if we are burning lots of calories we must be working towards fat loss?

Sure you are burning calories but is this a truly effective use of your time? for most people starting out on a fitness program from a relatively low level of fitness you really wont be burning that many calories per minute so need long periods of exercise to achieve significant calorie utilisation. So really this isn't the most effective way of training for fat loss when you first embark on your training regime and also long bouts of exercise can hinder fat loss (but that's for another article).

So the CV machine whether it be the treadmill, x-trainer, bike or rower may not be the best machine for fatloss.

How about resistance machines?

But dont they just build muscles?

Yes they do help towards building muscles but if  you avoid resistance training because that is all you think is occurring you're missing a trick!

Resistance training in it's many forms helps to build lean body mass (muscle tissue predominantly). Muscle tissue is typically more metabolically active (burns more calories at rest) than other tissue within your body so the more you have the more calories you will burn both whilst training and whilst at rest.

So build more and burn more....sounds good.

But it doesn't stop there, the physical act of resistance training is, if done correctly, so much more demanding of the bodies resources that you continue to burn calories for hours afterwards leading to double the benefits from typically a much shorter training session.

So resistance machines are the best for fat loss then?

Whoa there nelly, hold your horses....im not finished yet :)

Resistance machines are an excellent start point for those unnacustomed to resistance based training and will contribute towards your fat loss efforts....

But that's not the secret machine....

Your body is the ultimate fat loss machine

Crazy I know, but seriously the one machine that most people forget about when starting an exercise program is their own body.

Firstly your body is capable of anything. It can perform cardiovascular exercises just by performing natural movements, walking, jumping, stepping, skipping, running. It can perform strength exercises using it's own bodyweight as resistance and then for the ultimate fat loss program....

Your body can combine the two types of training.

If you perform large muscle group resistance exercises.....squats, lunges, press ups, burpees, squat thrusts, pull ups, with limited rest what do you find?

Your heart rate and breathing increase....you are training your cardiovascular system as well as developing your muscular system.

By training in this way you are using your body....the ultimate machine, to perform the ultimate fat burning training session. You will burn calories in the session and afterwards, whilst developing your musculature to promote calorie burn at rest.

Sounds pretty awesome to me :)

Add to this the use of dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, powerbags, medicine balls and you have an ever progressing training plan that will get you into great shape in minimal time.

So when you next walk into a gym or personal training studio, remember the only machine you need is your body......start using it

To your health and happiness,

Nathan

to work with Nathan find out more here

Athletic physique week 12: the final pictures

Hey guys,

thank you for following me through my journey :) your support both here, on facebook and in person has been a huge help towards keeping me on track towards my goal.

I started this mini challenge as I have been unable to commit to playing football this year so wanted a push into regular weight training to ensure I continue to practice what I preach :)

The Program

Big thanks go out to Bryan Kavanagh whose athletic physique program I have been following:

http://www.tiny9.com/u/athletic_physique

I found the program to be well organised, easy to follow, challenging and progressive which is exactly what I was looking for and the range and type of exercises involved meant it was fun to follow too (well, if you like this kinda thing like me).

The goal:

My main target was to get my body fat below 10% and to start to look more defined and athletic (As a personal trainer I felt I should look the part as well as being generally fit)

The results:

Success :) I managed to take my bodyfat down to 9.4% my shape has changed a fair bit and my abs are begining to show so i'm pretty pleased. More so than the physical appearance changes, I have enjoyed how much stronger I feel. Before starting I could barely throw together a set of 10 chin ups (the easier ones with the palms facing towards you) whereas now I am performing chin ups with weights between my feet and can do 5-6 wide grip pull ups with pretty good form. Being able to achieve these exercises is just as pleasing as the physical changes :)

The Pictures:

Week 1

Week 12

Let me know what you think with a comment below or some feedback on facebook :)

Thanks Guys,

Nathan

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Athletic physique week 8

So 8 weeks in and time to update my progress on the athletic physique program :)

So what's been happening the last 4 weeks?

Well, I feel that in the first 4 weeks although I made great progress I may have rushed into the training program trying to lift too much too soon...I get a little exciteable that way sometimes.

I figured this was the case as an old shoulder injury was rearing its ugly head and causing me mild pain on some shoulder and chest exercises. Because of this I decided to change tact slightly as I was aware that the planned overtraining was only a few weeks away eeek.

So what changed?

I didn't veer away from the basic outline of the program...the main exercises remained but I regressed the weight back slightly and increased the repetitions to take some pressure off my shoulder joint. I also spent some extra time each session working on my back and rear shoulder muscles to see if improving the balance of my upper body strength would reduce the pain....

And?

Im pleased to say it has worked...or seems to have as the shoulder pain hasn't re-appeared in the last 2 weeks of training yay, so I will be maintaining this small change as I progress through the coming 4 weeks of the challenge.

Progress?

I definately feel progress has been made as I am gradually again increasing the weight I can lift for some exercises, particularly I am pleased with my weighted pull ups...not much weight added (upto 8kg now) but considering I struggled with bodyweight pull ups 8 weeks ago it feels good to be able to perform these. Body wise I feel my back has made the most change in the last few weeks, my chest is still improving and my arms are still lagging behind but getting better :)

Goals:

So 4 weeks to go....I am pretty pleased with progress however my only target was to get my body fat % below 10%...currently I'm at eleven....4 weeks hard work then to bring it down (even 9.9% will do haha). My diet has been clean throughout (beyond the two cheat meals) however the last few weeks have been more carb heavy with an attempt to up calories for development...the coming 4 weeks I will be again stripping the carbs back to push for this last drop in fat....I might even chuck in a fast or two for good measure.

Pictures :)

Day 1

Day 56

Week 4 Athletic Physique Update

Onto my week 4 update of my progress on Bryan Kavanagh's athletic physique development program.

To see the program itself follow the link below and once you've checked out my review below leave me a supportive comment or a critique of my progress :)

http://9e994ahli1r6oa940b1lkj91b4.hop.clickbank.net/

The last two weeks have seen a progression in intensity from the first two weeks with a mixture of upper/lower and full body workouts.

Despite much post workout soreness I am still enjoying the training and feel I am slowly getting stronger and fitter, the eating is dull but manageable...its good food but very samey...I'll cope though :) (especially as I'm giving myself a treat meal once every 4 weeks which co-incided with tonight yay - did the photo first though lol)

Making progress?

Looking from week 1-4 there's a definate change in shape, I have also dropped from 14% Body Fat to 12% so im on course for my sub 10% target....still alot of work to do and I would like to continue building lean mass as well (particularly my weedy arms), having looked at the program for the next month with planned overtraining I'm hoping this will start to happen.

I have also briefly seen my Abs poking through and wish they looked as good standing up as they do lying down :)

So 8 weeks to go and going strong, leave me a comment or critique my progress to keep me inspired and look out for the next photo in 2 weeks time :)

Nath

Athletic Physique week 2 photo update

Hey guys,

So here goes with my week 2 update of my progress on Bryan Kavanagh's athletic physique development program.

to see the program itself follow the link below and once you've checked out my review below leave me a supportive comment or a critique of my progress :)

http://9e994ahli1r6oa940b1lkj91b4.hop.clickbank.net/

so far the program has been pretty tough but in the grand scheme of things has been very much an introductory process using lots of compound lifts to target large muscle groups, well.... if I had any large muscle groups haha.

And have I made any progress?

yes I believe so, I'm very much a beginner when it comes to specific athletic weight training so it is unlikely that within two weeks there would be any huge muscular changes as mostly the adaptations will be neuromuscular in nature...ie my movement patterns and recruitment of current muscle has gotten better. I feel (and hope) it is more likely weeks 6-12 where muscular size changes will occur most. 

I am fairly pleased though that there does seem to be a composition change occurring (I will be measuring body composition and weight tomorrow to confirm) I feel stronger and am lifting more in the second week than the first and performing higher reps on chin ups which are a major struggle with my long gangly arms lol.

All in all pretty pleased with a tough but enjoyable first two weeks, especially as yesterday was my cousins wedding and Englands first world cup game and I managed to stick to plan and avoid alcohol :) tough but worth it...especially to see some of the dancing through sober eyes :)

Anyhew check out the pics and leave me some comments and I'll post again in two weeks,

Nath

(Week 2 pic is green background)

Day 1 of the athletic physique program

Hey guys,

I am due to embark on Bryan Kavanagh's athletic physique development program to see if I can get in the best shape of my life in the next 90 days or so.

The program itself is based around clean eating, regular heavy resistance training, high intensity intervals, and metabolic workout "finishers".

So why am I doing this?

Basically I have always kept myself fit by playing football and training specifically towards this. This has meant my aerobic fitness has been fine, I have been able to manage my weight (as my genetics tend to suggest I should struggle with this), but I have never needed an athletic physique.

For the past few months I have been gradually increasing the amount of weight training sessions I have been performing but with no real consistency, more so just because I enjoy it than to for any specific goal.

Now though I have decided to step this up a level, so after meeting Bryan at the Fitness Entrepreneur Bootcamp in Nottingham in April I have decided to take up his offer of trialing his program.

The program took Bryan's initial trialist Ian from generally fit to fitness model competition silver medalist in less than 90 days, and whilst I'm not expecting the same (I'm certainly not intending to compete) I am hoping to see a significant transformation and a more lean athletic physique :)

What are my goals?

my main aim is to get my body fat percentage below 10%, my lowest this yr has been around 13%, highest about 18% and it currently sits around 14% so this will be a great change.

By achieving this body fat percentage it would be awesome to see some abdominal definition, and I would also like to significantly increase my upper body musculature to the point there is a noticable difference between day 1 and day 90 :)

So here we go this is my Day 1 picture and my analysis and I will follow this up every two weeks throughout the program so keep checking back for progress reports.


So currently
Weight 77kg,
Body fat 14%
Lean Mass 66.2kg
Fat Mass 10.78kg

Professional looking picture huh :) you can be guaranteed there will be no photoshopping here (even if it would save my embarressment haha)

Anyhew, this is going to be a big challenge with some gruelling sessions, training 5 times a week minimum, and I will have to make some sacrifices such as avoiding alcohol throughout the world cup and friends/cousins weddings so I would ask that you provide me as much support as possible leaving me comments either here or on facebook to keep me motivated :)

Thanks,

Nathan

P.S. To check out the program for yourself you can see it here: 

http://www.tiny9.com/u/athletic_physique

Dukan or Du-can't? a new way of dieting...

In france there has been a new diet revolution that has been branded the "cure" for modern obesity epidemics.

A bold statement to make but it would seem that over 5 million people in France are raving over the simplicity and longevity of the diet where it seems in the long term you can eat as you please as long as you stick to one golden rule:

PROTEIN THURSDAYS:

Even resteraunts are jumping on the bandwagon serving proetein only meals on a thursday with the simple premise being that consuming only protein keeps hunger at bay as it takes a longer time to be digested than other foods and is lower in calories than many of the fats and carbohydrates.

There is more to the diet in the initial breaking in stages but it seems in the longterm this simple idea is helping people to lose weight and keep it off.

There is likely to be a huge launch of the diet in the UK, most likely with expensive support systems, in coming months but you can get started or find out more through the Dukan diet book,



let me know your thoughts, revolution or new fad?

Nathan,

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Quinoa good way to eat healthily :)

Black Bean Quinoa Salad

1cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp flaxseed oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cup black beans
2 cups chopped celery
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Quinoa Preparation:
Rinse quinoa well. Take 2 minutes to swish grains around the pot with your fingers and strain water down sink. Repeat at least once more.
In small pot, combine rinsed quinoa with water. Bring to boil, lower heat to minimum, cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.
Let cool.
Combine cooled quinoa with rest of ingredients except salt, pepper and seeds.
Let sit one hour.
Finish it off with seasonings and seeds before serving/eating at room temperature. (Although it’s good chilled, too.)

enjoy :)

www.nathanlee-pt.com

soups you sir....

Chicken with Oregano & Basil Soup

Makes 6 servings, approx. cook time is 1 hour, 20 minutes.


Ingredients:

1 small, whole organic chicken
2 litres water and broth from roasted chicken
7 cloves garlic
4 cups each carrots and celery
3 cups thickly chopped onions
½ cup cooked brown rice
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. olive oil (to roast the chicken)
sea salt and pepper

Cooking instructions:

Roast Chicken : Heat oven to 190ºc. Check for bags inside the chest cavity. Rinse and pat dry, place in roasting pan. Stuff chicken’s chest with 1 cup chopped onion and 3 garlic cloves. Massage olive oil into skin, sprinkle some of your oregano, basil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper on greased chicken. Pour filtered water in bottom of pan, about an inch high.

Cook for 30 minutes, take off cover, cook for another 10 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Debone chicken, separating the white and dark meat from the rest. you can freeze these chicken scraps and use it to make chicken broth with later.

Soup : Throw chicken meat, broth from roasted chicken and everything else on the ingredient list together in a pot. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

enjoy :)

www.nathanlee-pt.com

wheat free bread recipe

Hi guys,

heres a wheat free bread recipe from my good friend Laura:

I tried this new recipe for spelt bread today and it turned out really well. You might try a slice of this toasted & topped with mashed banana and sprinkled with seeds for breakfast!

Three minute spelt bread:
With spelt there is no need to leave the dough to rise. This really takes three minutes to prepare.

* 500g spelt flour (Use whole organic spelt - I used Doves farm spelt, you can get it from Holland and Barrat but I've also seen it in sainsburys)
* 10g fast-acting dried yeast
* ½ tsp sea salt
* 50g sunflower seeds
* 50g sesame seeds
* 50g linseeds - (I used pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds as thats what I had most of)
* 500ml warm water

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark6. Combine all the ingredients, adding the water last. Mix well and turn the dough into a greased loaf tin. Put straight into the oven and bake for an hour. Remove the loaf, turn it out of the tin and then return it to the oven without the tin for a further 5-10 minutes. (I found I didn't need to return it to the over without the tin as it was cooked through but maybe this depends on your oven?)

thanks Laura, everyone else... enjoy :)

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Hey guys,

Here's a healthy energy boosting breakfast smoothie for you to try:

1 Banana
1 cup berries
1 tbsp flaxseed (ground)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup natural yogurt
Water/rice milk/oat milk to get desired consistency

enjoy :)

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Recently it has been suggested (by research scientists and aging specialists) that the body is designed to live for 120 years-- disease-free!!!


It has also been suggested that we should live to a ripe old age without wrinkles, age spots, gray hair, thin hair, senility, poor memory, bone and joint disorders, heart problems, lung problems, digestive problems, kidney and liver problems, nervousness, shakiness, vision problems, hearing problems, varicose veins, weakness, fatigue, aches and pains, prostate problems, cancer, or low sex drive.


Crazy huh? we're acually designed to live predominantly disease free for much longer than currently expected...


It would seem that the key factor to reversing or preventing disease is maintaining an acid-alkaline balance in the body. When this balance is maintained, the body is a well-oxygenated healthy environment.


An acidic body has thick blood that becomes sticky and does not oxygenate properly. The cells cannot dispose of waste products and so the body's ability to heal itself is impaired. This impairment is characterized by sick blood, diseased cells, inflammation, excess body fat and suppressed immune functions.


Acidic blood blocks vitamin absorption and starves your body of essential nutrients, creates toxic buildup in clogged cells, slows down organ function and makes you feel sluggish and weak, prevents proper digestion and creates excess gas and bloating, causes unhealthy weight gain, speeds the aging process and makes you look older.


These conditions are ideal for contracting and breeding various microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, yeasts and parasites as well as being a causal factor in many 21st century disease states.


The Scientist suggest that no illness can be cured without balancing body detoxification by flushing excess acid waste from the body. If we are too acidic, we are unhealthy; and if we are totally acidic, we are dead!


So how does acidity occur in the body?


High acidity enters our bodies by eating processed foods, pre-packaged foods, sugary foods, white flour products [including pastas], dairy products [including milk, cheese, ice cream], alcoholic beverages, drugs, processed table salt, foods grown and processed with pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics, or hormones. Meats, including beef, chicken and turkey, also promote acidity.


Because of the acid overload in our environment, most of our drinking water now contains acid. Even stress creates excess acid. If you’re not getting enough sleep or exercise or are facing lifestyle changes, you probably have more acid than your body can handle. Your cells are absorbing acidic toxins much faster than you can get rid of them through your colon, lungs, skin and kidneys.


Scary, so what can I do?


* First and foremost clean up your diet.
* Eat from predominantly unprocessed sources (nothing in a packet or a tin).
* Cut out or reduce wheat consumption.
* Limit red meat consumption and consume only grass fed varieties.
* Limit Dairy.
* Limit or remove stimulants (caffeine/alcohol).
* Eat organic foods as often as possible.
* Eat predominantly raw foods (salads/vegetables/fruits/nuts).
* Consume greens drinks (see your local health store).
* Consume alkalising salts (again see health stores or google it).
* Drink clean (ideally filtered) water.
* Get to bed by 10pm most nights of the week.

Do most or all those things and you will be well on your way to maximising your health, for more information on acid/alkaline balance check out:



to your health and happiness


Nathan


www.nathanlee-pt.com

looking forward to the fitness entrepreneur bootcamp at the end of the month in Nottingham :) lots of new nutrition, training and motivation ideas to share yay

An easy way to eat for weight loss

Having run numerous weight loss courses and seminars it has become increasingly apparent that people are confused as to the best balance of foods for weight loss:

- low carb
- high carb
- no carb
- high protein
- low fat

Alongside these "diets" the food agencies would have us believe that the food pyramid still serves our best needs with its age old principles of the largest amount of your intake coming from breads, cereals & potatoes alongside increasingly lower amounts of other food groups...typically in the ratio:

Carbs 50-60%
Protein 10-20%
Fats 20-30%

So why does this ratio exist?

If you look back to the 1940's when it was created, food was rationed based on those practices that were abundent and affluent. The cereal companies put much money into government and in return recieve ongoing backing that suggests cereals, grains and bread products are the ideal largest food group in our diet.

What this has done is make the cereal manufacturers rich and the rest of us fat or fighting to stay lean.

How are carbs like cereal, bread & pasta making us fat?

Carbohydrates when digesting are released into the blood stream as sugars. Sugars in the blood stream cause a release of insulin, a chemical messenger or hormone, that serves to move this blood sugar into the muscle or liver tissues as storage for energy when needed.

This process is a normal response and essential for the energy to move, exercise and stay conscious and typically the liver can hold 40-50grams of carbohydrates and the muscles can hold 300-350g of carbohydrates.

Issues arise when we take in excess carbohydrates as any that can not be stored in the muscle and liver (amounts above the levels mentioned) will be stored as fat.

This doesn't sound good for my fat loss goals...what can I do?

A more realistic ratio of macronutrients for weightloss would be:

- 40% carbohydrates
- 30% protein
- 30% fats

So a simple aproach would be to limit your intake of breads, cereals, pasta and other carbs to small portions, ensure you have a lean protein source with every meal, and eat healthy fats (fish, nuts, eggs, fat from organic meats, olive oil) more freely.

To top up meal sizes replace your normal carbs with vegetables to ensure you dont feel hungry.

This is a very simplified version of eating for weight loss but if you make this first step consistently you will see a difference in your weight and shape.

for further reading around this ratio for weight loss have a read of the following book:



to your health and happiness

Nathan

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Belly's not gonna get ya...if you read and apply this :)

Many of the questions I get asked whilst working as a fitness professional relate to reducing stomach size and searching for the elusive six pack abs.

Often this is quickly followed up by...shouldn't I be doing more stomach exercises to reduce the fat around my middle?...

No...you shouldn't as you cant spot reduce through body part specific training.

Simply put removing body fat from your body is based on burning enough calories through exercise or activity and/or mildly restricting your caloric intake. These two processes place you in a calorie deficit so you start to lose weight.

Unfortunately your genetics will play a large part in where your body likes to store fat, and where it is happy to release it from, meaning that all your hard work frustrates you as it falls from the arms, the legs, the face practically anywhere except where you want it to.

So I can't spot reduce at all....I'm doomed to belly burdon?

Actually no....there is hope yet :)

Spot reduction is possible from site specific areas but not through exercise.

The key to abdominal fat loss comes down to the following:

Rebalancing your hormones:

The main hormonal culprit for belly fat storage is cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that when chronically elevated encourages our body to store nutrients from our diet as fat around the belly. This stress can be anything from sitting in the same frustrating traffic each day, an overly busy job, or being a night owl.

So how can I reduce my cortisol levels?

Your first aim is to get to sleep by 10-10.30pm most nights of the week. Cortisol levels tend to elevate sharply after this time in the evening (this is often why we can then stay awake in to the early hours) which means we dont get into the deeper restorative sleep that our body needs to reduce stress levels. It also leaves us with higher levels of stress the next day...gradually fatiging the body and making it harder for us to burn fat.

Find time to relax: reduce your stress levels through massage, relaxation, reading, yoga, meditation, whatever it takes to switch off from the world.

Assist your body to fight stress and rebalance your hormones with supplementation:

-most of us will benefit from a multivitamin (particularly B-complex vitamins) magnesium and zinc.
-those with long term stress that they know wont immediately change should look to theanine (found in green tea or capsules), magnolia bark, PMF's (citrus peel supplement). all of which will assist with relaxation and improved sleep (choose one and follow dosage advice).
-if you are under a particularly large amount of stress (sudden deadlines etc) then ashwagandha, ginseng, or rhodiola may be necessary until the stressor is removed.

beyond the supplementation I would also recommend removing stimulants such as caffeine (from tea, coffee, cola's etc) and engage in shorter bouts of exercise (as long bouts raise cortisol levels) regularly.

I hope this helps guys, if you follow the advice here you will put yourself in a stronger position to remove the unwanted belly fat from your body.

For further information on cortisol control try the following books:



to your health and happiness

Nathan

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Do you love your love handles? No? then read on....

Often with any weight loss journey you will reach a point where stubborn fat just sits there refusing to budge.

Each individual is different and we often read that this is purely genetic and we must be patient, it will go when our body chooses to let it go from that area.

But what if you have run out of patience?

Is spot reduction possible?

Despite popular belief yes it is (cue heavenly music and the sun parting the clouds lol) however this is more so through hormonal manipulation rather than specific exercises.

Through changes in your diet, lifestyle and with supplementation of natural products you can target those stubborn areas of fat whether it be your belly, love handles or thighs.

The Love Handles

before we start to focus on losing specific fat from the love handles I have to presume that you are already completing the following pre-requisites, without them you are fighting a losing battle:

- a clean, healthy, balanced diet with a mild caloric defecit compared to your daily maintenance intake.
- regular moderately intense exercise or activity.
- consuming a litre of water for every 25kg of body weight
- getting to sleep by 10.30pm 5 nights a week

If you are not doing these 4 things then start now as your body isnt ready to get specific...you might not even need to if you get the above completed for a sustained period of time.

ok so we're up to scratch and good to go?

Great, so the main culprit behind fat stored in the love handle area is insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance in its most simple terms leads to the body storing carbohydrate from your diet in the fat cells rather than the muscle or liver cells, and particularly this storage occurs in the love handles.

Insulin resistance develops from years of eating refined and sugary carbohydrates such as pasta, white rice, bread, and consuming large amounts of fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolate etc.

Our typical response to these foods is for the body to produce insulin to tell receptor cells to recieve the broken down sugars to reduce our blood sugar levels. Unfortunately because we over consume these foods over an extended period of time our cells become desensitized to the constantly high levels of insulin, ultimately leading to insulin resistance and love handle specific fat storage.

Ok that doesn't sound good what can I do about it?

First we need to give your body a break from all the refined overly processed foods such as pasta, white rice, bread and all sugar (look for it on food labels as fructose, dextrose, glucose or anything ending in ose and avoid like the plague). Do this for a 30 day period and you are well on the way to resetting your bodies responses to sugar based foods.

Secondly cycle your intake of complex carbohydrates, so alternate days with normal portions of potatoes, brown/wholegrain rice, with days of either very small carb portions or none at all. By alternating these cycles you are ensuring you keep energy levels up, allowing your body a rest from high insulin levels, and encouraging the body to access fat stores as a preferred energy source :).

ensure on low or no carb days that you make up your portions with meat or vegetables so that your body recieves adequate nutrients every day, you may miss the carbs but you shouldn't be going hungry.

If we get both of these parts right we should see results within 30 days :), we can assist the process with the following health supplements...

Fish oils:

Fish oil supplements, whether capsules or oil, are without doubt one of the best health products out there. Amongst the many health benefits (google them) you will see that fish oils accelerate fat burning, decelerate fat storage and blunt the insulin response when taken with meals (so specifically useful on carb days). I would advise finding yourself a good online source (as the high street versions are not as potent and taste awful), ideally there shouldn't be any fishy aftertaste if you get a good prouduct.

Fenugreek:

Fenugreek is a herb that is often used as a mediterranean culinary spice, it can be used in seed form sprinkled on foods, or taken as a capsule both of which can be found at high street health stores. for Insulin resitance, fenugreek helps to slow gastric emptying (so sugar doesn't overwhelm the blood stream) and reduce blood sugar which will reduce the insulin responses to your carb based meals and assist in giving your resistant cells a "breather".

Magnesium:

Magnesium is fast becoming recognised as an essential mineral for health, sadly it is also now publicised that many of us are already magnesium deficient.
(for some of the benefits of magnesium have a look at www.mgwater.com )

It would seem that magnesium is a potent protector against insulin resistance and will assist our process of removing the pressure from the over sensitized cells.

Magnesium can be found again at health stores with the most appropriate type being magnesium citrate, follow the dosage advice as if taken to too high a dosage you may be a little "loose" lol.

Thankyou for reading, I hope this helps you to understand why the love handles can be such a difficult area to remove and gives you some key points to put into action

to your health and happiness

Nathan

p.s. if you want more information try the following book for ideas :)



www.nathanlee-pt.com
www.nathanlee-pt.ning.com

Hey guys generally speaking I read a couple of books minimum per month to update my knowledge on fitness, health and diet...

here's some I have read so far this year...

worth a read if you want to find out more about some of the topics I write or will write about over the coming months :)

Getting to the bottom of it.....glute activation

Check this guy out....

he knows a thing or two about glute activation, the rest of us tho? Ours have got lazy.

not through a lack of exercise mind you most people in gyms will be doing squats and lunges, hip extensions and abductions but our glutes just really aren't developing and this can be a supplementary causal factor for low back pain...something that mr Gluteal up there wont experience!

So why aren't our glutes working?

Mainly because we are sat on them so often, with many of us office bound, driving more and then relaxing either on the sofa or seated in restaurants, we are spending more and more time in a seated position.

yes it's great isn't it?

well no, not really. We spent thousands of years evolving to stand tall and be active and now the last 20 years has seen us take an evolutionary step back into our seats.

I am confident to say that this is one of the biggest causal factors of low back pain seen today.

so why is the seated position so bad?

well two things oocur...

1) your hip flexors become extremely shortened and over active.
2) your glutes become lengthened and underactive.

Without going too indepth the agonist and antagonist muscles (paired) either side of a joint are served by the same nerves equally.

If one of those pairs becomes short or over active the nerve signal becomes inhibited to the opposing muscle...in this case the glutes (your bottom) get switched off (as they are also in a lengthened inactive postion when seated).

Over time this leads to the hip flexors pulling the lumbar (lower) spine out of position as the pelvis tilts forward, putting pressure on the lower back and being a precursor to low back pain.

The gluteals become weak and don't activate as they should in squatting, lunging, walking and the hamstrings tend to take over their work (synergistic dominance) (alongside the pelvic tilt this leads to us thinking we have tight hamstrings) leading to potential hamstring strains.

So what can i do to save my glutes?

first....stop stretching your hamstrings and focus on the hip flexors. See a qualified personal trainer to help you stretch or teach you to perform it yourself so that you can relax your hip flexors asap.

second.... get up out of your chair, if your'e stuck in the office all day get up every 30 minutes and stretch out your legs, walk to the water cooler and increase your fluid intake, go flirt with the boss, whatever it takes but get out of that chair.

third and final... get your trainer to give you specific glute strengthening exercises and show you how to really activate them, simple additions such as a resistance band around the knees during a squat force you to push outwards to keep knees in line with the toes and automatically activate your glutes....theyl thank you for it :)

bottoms up :)

nathan

Fitness and Fat Loss Myths.....3 of the most common get BUSTED! or Confirmed!

Hey people I hope you are all fit and well?

Todays second article (I have a day off so I'm playing catch-up yay) is about the typical questions I get asked or statments I hear on the gym floor and examining why these common beliefs just don't cut it.

so here goes, happy reading :)

1) I do hundreds of crunches to burn belly fat

Sorry this one just annoys the hell out of me as no matter how many times you explain it those clients still climb back on the sit-up wagon.

Basically this just comes down to how your body works.

Are crunches and sit-ups good exercises?...yes,

Do they utilise enough calories to see body fat shift?...no

Do they specifically target body fat for any calories they do burn? ...no

Typically speaking any isolation exercise ie crunches, bicep curls, tricep extensions, are going to strengthen and tighten that area of muscle but will have no effect on the fat surrounding that muscle.

The only way to burn fat from problem areas is through large muscle group exercises, compound resistance exercises and cardiovascular training, and a clean mildly restricitve diet that in combination create a calorie defecit.

Even at this point your body will still decide gentically and hormonally where the body fat will be removed from first and last.

You can actually spot reduce specific fat store problem areas through hormonal manipulation (see a future article) but not through site specific exercise.

Myth BUSTED!

2) The more you sweat the more you lose!

This is an understandable presumption to make that the level of sweating during your workout is indicative of how hard you are working and how many calories you subsequently burn.

However, what it is important to understand is that sweating is just a homeostatic mechanism for the body to regulate temperature.

Homeostasis is just the process of the body keeping all its systems at a consistent level.

So when we get overly hot, in extreme climates or when running on a treadmill the body excretes fluid (sweat) to allow cooling of the blood as the sweat evaporates of the skin.

Each persons individual control of temperature will be slightly different based on their natural physiology and current internal environment, so the amount they sweat in response to a given amount of exercise will also vary, thus the amount you are sweating is not neccessarily indicative of how hard you are working or how many calories you are burning.

people often associate this sweating with weight loss but in reality you will replace much of the water (sweat) loss when you next drink after exercise.

so throw away the sweat suits and only use your bin liners for their intended purpose (to make capes at halloween).

Myth BUSTED!

3) No Pain, No Gain,

So this is a difficult one because it comes down to your definition and understanding of pain.

the dictionary defines pain as: An unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder.

so this would suggest that all pain is related to injury, disease or emotion. In which case you would be well advised to avoid anything painful at any level so the no pain no gain phrase would definately contradict this meaning.

However in the field of exercise and sport that definition of pain may need extra clarity.

Pain in exercise may be described as the uncomfortable burning sensation of a muscle performing hard work, for example most people that have performed any significant weight or resistance training will have experienced the burning sensation as you near the end of a training set.

I feel that in this instance yes, potentially, as long as you have trained progressively up to this point and use safe overload principles, then no pain no gain gives a generically acceptable statement that just confirms that you get out what you put in to your exercise program.

However pain that is more sharp than burn, or pain that arises in a non related area of the body to the movement occurring is definately not applicable to the no pain no gain mantra so please do get any of these pains checked out by a physiotherapist or a corrective exercise specialist.

Myth: Inconclusive depending on your definition of pain.

Thanks for reading,

stay healthy and happy,

Nathan

Are you running before you can walk?

As a personal trainer and fitness coach, I have often experienced people's desires to try the latest and greatst exercise, that they have typically seen in magazines, that claim to be the next best thing to get a 6 pack or lose the love handles or bingo wings.

Whatever your reasons for starting an exercise program it's vitally important to follow a progressive plan based on where you are now and where you want to be.

Don't run before you can walk!

So the point of this article is to give you a guide to the progressions you should be making to ensure your exercise program is safe and effective.

To get the best from your body you would be well advised to follow the following continuum....

Mobilise, Stabilise, & Strengthen.

1) Mobilise

Too often when people embark on a new exercise regime they jump feet first into energetic cardio routines or lively classes without first having a trained professional examine what their body is capable of.

Your first point of call should be a postural and movement analysis (often referred to as kinetic chain analysis) that allows you to understand which of the muscles in your body are tight, long, weak, strong, inhibited or facilitated.

Because of our current society's tendancy to be seated (in the office, the car the couch) many of us will exhibit tight facilitated musculature that pulls our posture out of position.

Once you understand which of the muscles in your body are tight you can target them specifically as part of a flexibility plan specific to your body... rather than the typical finsh a session stretch your hamstrings and go philosophy of most training sessions.

Ask yourself the question... why do you stretch the muscles you currently stretch?

So why is this important?

If you start to perform even simple movement patterns such as cycling and cross training at the gym, without mobilising or stretching/releasing tight musculature you are putting yourself at risk of injury and potentially making current postural deviations worse.

For example anyone with an office job would be well advised to avoid cycling or any seated exercise unless they have a specific hip flexor lengthening plan.

Find a good trainer, get assessed, then start to re-balance your muscles for a body that moves more naturally, burns more calories and stays injury free.

2) Stabilise:

great so we can now build mobility into our program to protect the joints and muscles what's next?

Stabilisation of the joints within the body is our next step to true strength and fitness.

Before we can start to add any true strength work into our program the joints and supporting structures must be stable through their natural ranges of motion.

Using static strengthening, or isometric exercise, we can create basic strength around a joint whilst ensuring perfect postural position and exercise technique.

An example of this would be a supported squat position. Instead of a dynamic squat that has high potential for movement error and compensation we would move into a squat position and take the time to analyse and correct our position for perfect practice...as practice makes consistent! You could use a friend, a mirror, or a trainer to look at your position and give you verbal and physical feedback to improve your position.

These static positions allow you to learn how a position should feel, how the muscles and joints feel in the correct allignment, so that when we introduce movement you know instinctively that you are achieving the desired action.

This is particularly essential for core exercise.

Often people rush into crunches and sit-ups as they presume they are the best exercise for the abdominals as their PE teacher or football coach always insisted on them, when really the abdominals are designed for stabilisation of the spine.

Exercises such as the plank, abdominal hollowing, pelvic bridges and supermen will all provide a more effective stabilisation training effect that supports the spine and reduces the chance of injury or chronic pain through exercise and daily activites.

It is important too to not neglect the stabilsers of the shoulder, the rotator cuff muscles which must be strengthened prior to large muscle exercises like the chest/bench press, shoulder press, lat pull down etc.

3) Strengthen:

Now that we have rebalanced the tightness/weakness in our muscles and addressed the need for stabilisation of the bodies joint structures we can begin to strengthen the major muscle groups of the body.

First we will need to build strength endurance, this allows the neuromuscular pathways to develop correctly so that what our brain thinks...the muscles do, and prepares the ligaments and tendons of the joints and muscles for harder work in the next stage.

Typically this involves comfortable weights or bodyweight exercises that we can perform in the 15-20 repetition range.

After 4-6 weeks of this progressive endurance program we can the add a greater strength element. Increasing the weight now to a level where you can only perform 6-10 repetitions with good technique. Again perform this progressively for 4-6 weeks and then alternate these cycles throughout the year.

So there you go people, a generic guide to the progressions you should be making through the initial 6 months to a year of your fitness program to ensure a balanced strong body.

There is more to learn with regards training for specific outcomes so look out for future articles but until then,

Stay healthy and happy,

Nathan

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Strike a pose! Make 2010 the year you improve your posture

Hey guys,

Happy new year :)

Posture probably isn't the hot topic everyone is thinking of at this time of year because it's not a fat burner is it?

That's what we all want after new year right...the latest greatest way of burning off the excesses of the festive period?

So changing how you sit, stand and move...that surely can't effect fat loss?

WRONG!

Granted if we take a narrow view of the acute variables then sitting that bit taller or standing without restriction isn't going to burn as many calories as say a 20 minute burst of interval training.

However, lets take that 20 minute interval training session as an example. If you wanted to maximise fatloss your higher intensity running, rowing or cross training speed wants to be as high as possible.

So what affects this speed and ability to maintain this speed?

Efficiency!

The more efficient your movement, the faster you will be able to perform, the longer you will be able to perform and therefore the more calories you will burn within any given session.

So how can you improve efficiency?

Through posture!

Posture doesn't just refer to whether we sit tall or slouch, there's far more to it. It refers to the balance between our joints and muscles within the musculoskeletal system.

The balance of these muscles and joints are refered to as the kinetic chain. If any part of the chain is unbalanced it has a knock on effect throughout the rest of the body leading to reduced mechanical efficiency...or put simply you just dont move as well as you should.

Ok, so we know that posture is important but what affects posture and how do we know if ours isn't as good as it should be?

The biggest affect on posture is your daily routine. The way you get in and out of the car, the way you sit at your desk, even the way you sleep. All of these things will affect the balance of your muscles and the stability/mobility of your joints.

For example, compared to even 10-15 years ago we are spending more time in a seated position. In a seated position the muscles across the the front of the hips, the hip flexors, are in a shortened position. Over time this adaptive shortening becomes permanent. Now when we are in a standing position our pelvis tilts forward causing instabilty and inefficiency of movement.

To see if this may be the case for you, look at how your belt sits. If the front of your beltline sits lower than the back there is a good chance that your pelvis is unecessarily tilted forward.

This is going to hinder movement and thus reduce our ability to burn fat through exercise, but in the grander scheme of things this is one contributing factor to low back pain...which IS guaranteed to put a halt in your exercise based fat burning.

So what can you do?

Without being able to assess your posture like I can with my personal training clients I can't give you individual guidance, however the following should help :)

- take a break: if you are in the same seated position every day at work, home or in the car, get up and move. Moving once an hour even to walk around the office will relax the muscles around the pelvis reducing the likelyhood of inbalances developing.

- stretch: often people will stretch after workouts as they have read that it's good for you. It is, but you should only be stretching muscles that are tight (see a good trainer to find out)! Again with much of our daily work in front of us, typing for example, our shoulders fall forward creating tightness in the pectoral (chest) muscles. So when you get up from that chair make sure to open out the arms, draw the shoulders back and relax the chest.

- set a reminder: it could be an alarm on your phone or a visual cue on your computer screen that reminds you to sit with good posture but whatever it takes make sure you have something that reminds you to sit naturally tall.

Ok guys it's over to you now, make the most of your posture and you will make the most of your exercise for fat burning whatever form it takes whilst also reducing your chances of musculoskeletal injuries.

to your health and happiness,

Nathan