The Naked Warrior

Training

What to look for in your Personal Trainer

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Making changes to your health, fitness or body shape can be a challenging task especially when you don’t know what to do. There is so much information available and it can be pretty confusing for anyone who’s looking for help. Getting the right help may require investing in a fitness professional and the support from a Personal Trainer could ultimately be the difference between achieving your goals or not.

The fitness industry has become very popular over recent years which has resulted in a rapid increase of fitness professionals. With so many to choose from and so much information just figuring out where to start can be a challenge. Even though there are more Personal Trainers than ever before, the question is, can they actually help you?

So, what makes one Personal Trainer stand out from the other? Here are some things that you should look for in your Personal Trainer.

Your Trainer understands that it’s about you and not them

People differ in many ways, they have different personalities, goals, values, likes and dislikes and not all people are motivated the same way. Look for a Trainer who listens and understands that it’s about you and your goals and not about them and their ego. Your Trainer should be providing you with a tailored plan which is specific to your body type, your goals and one that will benefit you long term and not put you off in the short term.

Your Trainer cares about your goals and understands your emotions

Often setting goals can expose negative feelings or thoughts about oneself which can be extremely hard to do and finding someone who makes you feel comfortable enough to expose such things can be even harder.

A Personal Trainer should be excited to help you and genuinely care about your progress no matter what your goal is by providing you with the knowledge, support, accountability, tools and action steps required to achieve your success. As your emotions can heavily dictate your results look for a Trainer that helps you to better understand your own. Emotions often become barriers so identifying and understanding why you act or feel a certain way can help you to overcome any challenges you might be facing.

Sometimes achieving a goal may be a long journey with many ups and downs, some people will have better days than others so look for a Trainer who takes the time to understand your emotions and they should know when to challenge you or hold back if needed. Maybe that extra set today isn’t as important as a conversation to ask if things are ok.

Your Trainer keeps you accountable

More often than not someone will seek the help of a Personal Trainer because they need somebody to keep them accountable. Look for a trainer that keeps you accountable to your goals by keeping you accountable to the things that you said you would do. If your Trainer sits back and watches you sabotage your progress without asking the hard questions or doesn’t challenge you when it’s needed, then what are you paying them for? Accountability isn’t about making you feel bad about yourself or guilty about any so called bad habits, it’s about helping you to face and overcome challenges that might be holding you back so you can move forward.

Your Trainer cares about your safety

Safety should always be paramount so look for a Trainer that pays close attention to yours.. Ensure your Trainer pays close attention to you and your technique. If they are paying attention, then they are engaged in the session and if they are engaged then they are showing that they care. Getting injured is only going to set you back, so make sure your technique is a focus.

Your Trainer focuses on your nutrition, not just exercise

Look for a Trainer who understands and also helps you to understand that when it comes to results, more often than not nutrition will play a far more important role than exercise will. Education should be a focus and your Trainer should be helping you to improve your eating habits by providing you with the knowledge and tools to do so. Make sure your nutrition requirements are specific to you and your goals. Your Trainer should be educating you so you can adapt your requirements to your lifestyle and learn how to overcome conflicting habits.

Your Trainer empowers you to take control of your life

Empowerment comes from knowledge and self-belief so you want someone who educates you and encourages you to believe in yourself. Look for a Trainer who educates you so you can do all of the right things when you’re away from them. The time you spend away from your Trainer will have a far greater effect on your results compared to the time you actually spend with them so understanding what to do when you’re on your own is crucial. Nutrition, exercise, alcohol and your circle of influence are just a few of the things that can affect your results so you want to know how to make the best food choices, understand food labels, know how much you should be eating and training, know what to do if you slip up and have a bad meal or day and learn how to say no to destructive habits that might be holding you back.

Your Trainer contacts you outside of your training sessions

Often the weekend is when people fall off the wagon but it also happens during the week. People generally have good intentions and will try to implement good eating and exercise habits but it’s our emotions, poor habits and even our circle of influence that can impact our results in a negative way. Stress for example is a major barrier for many people and might be the reason for emotional eating. The contact from your Trainer outside of your sessions could be that little bit of extra motivation you need when the stress and temptation is at its peak. So, whether it’s to ask if you need any help or some positive words to keep you on track, knowing you’ve got the support from your Trainer can make all the difference.

If you would like to know more about how I work with Clients on a one to one basis through my range of personal training programs then just reach out with your questions by dropping me an email cj@thenakedwarrior.co.uk or https://thenakedwarrior.co.uk/contact/

Why Women Should Weight Train

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Every female on the planet wants to have a fat free body, they want to feel tight, toned and sexy.  Many women fall into the trap of overtraining on cardio and forget the most important type of training for fat loss and that is strength or weight training.  So why do ladies avoid weights?  Generally the comments you hear are:  “Weights are for men”, “I don’t want to look like a man” or “I don’t want to get big and bulky”.  Well Ladies let me tell you that this simply won’t happen unless you start taking illegal supplements – we simply do not have enough testosterone in our bodies to build muscle like men do.

So why should you train with weights?  The most important reason is that weight training builds and maintains muscle and this is the key element to revving up your metabolism, even when you are at rest, with an increased lean muscle mass your metabolism will burn more energy.  The more muscle you have the greater your capacity to store carbohydrates which means you can eat more carbs without them being converted into fat.

Women who regular train with weights will find that their body becomes tighter and their shape will be transformed into a strong athletic figure without saddle bags or bingo wings – isn’t this what every woman wants?

As you get older the metabolism naturally slows down – your resting metabolic rate will drop approx 2% every decade after the age of 20 due to a loss of muscle mass.  By weight training and building muscle regularly and consistently you will ensure that your muscle density is maintained and thus ensure your metabolic rate continues to stay fired up.

The process of lifting weights puts stress on the muscles and the body responds by building more muscle cells to compensate for the new loads being placed upon them and this cell generation requires energy – hence your tight toned body has the capacity to burn more calories.

The other essential reason why women should do weights is that it can prevent the onset of osteoporosis or brittle bones by ensuring the bones stay strong.  During exercise when the muscles are being stressed the ligaments that attach the muscle to bones pull on the bone which stimulates cell growth and calcium deposits as the body ensures it is capable of taking the stress loaded.

Other benefits of weight training include:-

  • Increased strength and everyday functional capability
  • Reduction in blood pressure
  • Less risk of developing Type II diabetes
  • Stronger immune system
  • Healthier joints
  • Increased balance and performance
  • Calcium Retention
  • ‘Delayed Aging Process

Do Crunches Get You a Six Pack?

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It must be understood that achieving a flat stomach or six-pack does not occur as a result of any form of abdominal exercise in isolation.   It is also important to point out that you cannot spot reduce one particular area of the body; you have to focus on overall body fat loss by following an appropriate eating plan, in combination with weight training and cardiovascular exercise. You don’t burn petrol by opening and closing the bonnet of the car. You burn it by driving it. The same applies with your stomach. Move your body and you will burn the fuel and fat off your stomach. It may surprise you to learn that we all have a six pack, some people also have a layer of fat over the top of theirs!

The only way to get a flat stomach is to firstly lower your overall body fat (through proper nutrition and regular weight training and cardiovascular exercise). The body tends to store fat easiest around the mid section due to the need to protect the vital internal organs.  It is due to this natural survival mechanism that excess fat is stored here first and can be the last area the body draws on for energy.  The body will take energy stored in the fat of the arms and legs before taking it from the mid section as its priority is to protect the precious organs.  This is why for some individuals reducing fat around their mid section can be tough.

Secondly, the stabilising muscles around the spine need to be activated to achieve a neutral lumbar spine, rather than a lordotic spine, which make the stomach protrude.One of the most widely known abdominal exercises is the “crunch”.

The Rectus Abdominus (which is the muscle targeted when performing a crunch) does not play a direct role in core stability as this muscle does not attach to the spine. The Rectus Abdominus is generally stronger than the stabilising muscles and its main role is to flex the spine, the movement performed when doing crunches.

People may respond by saying that they don’t perform crunches to stabilise their spine.  Instead they perform them to get a flat stomach.  I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but this is never going to work.

There is only one way to make an abdominal crunch effectively switch ‘on’ the stabilising muscles and that is to perform them very slowly, with the correct breathing pattern.  You stabilise first and then exhale on the contraction or crunch part of the exercise.

That way, the Rectus Abdominus is forced to co-contract with the Obliques, Transverse Abdominus and Multifidus, as they consist of predominantly Slow Twitch muscle fibres, which like to be recruited slowly.

Crunches performed at faster speeds may be useful to the body builder who wishes to thicken the Rectus Abdominus to achieve the “Six Pack” look.  However, this will only be effective once the Body Fat has been lost.

If clients, who are not conscious about losing Body Fat, perform crunches they may appear to be getting fatter, as the abdominal wall thickens, without a corresponding loss of adipose tissue.

Now that we’ve established people should generally focus on exercises that will stabilise the core, there are so many effective exercises to choose from:

  • Supine Floor Holds
  • Supine floor Crunches
  • Prone Ball Holds
  • Supine Ball Holds
  • Supine Ball Crunches
  • Supine Leg Lowers

These are all useful exercises and each of them have various progressions to them.

Exercise Cheats for Busy Women

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Let’s face it being a female today means being busy with multiple jobs to do so exercise often falls to the bottom of the to do list and prioritising much needed ‘me’ time is tough.

Being active has many health benefits, helps to make you feel more energised plus is essential for managing stress, sleep and positive mental health!

To all my busy ladies with little time to exercise – here are 10 ways you can boost your energy levels by sneaking in these easy movements:

  1. Get up and walk around as much as possible, leave items out of reach so you have to get up when you need them
  2. Squat and brush and squat and brush – whether it’s your teeth or hair you do this daily so you can squat daily too!
  3. When doing the dishes focus on pelvic floor squeezes, butt clenching and calf raises
  4. Do crunches during the advert breaks when watching TV
  5. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to move when sat at your desk for long periods, get up and do some alternating lunges
  6. Try dancing around the house with the vacuum cleaner and put some fun into the daily chores
  7. Join in at the playground rather than sit on the side lines if you are taking your kids out to play
  8. Before you sit on the sofa at night, take 30 seconds to perfect your plank
  9. Use your stairs as much as possible to help burn extra calories and tighten your bum

 

By incorporating these little movements into your everyday activities you can be sure that you will be strengthening and tightening your body daily!

Simple Steps to Ensure Your Success

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Check out these simple steps to follow when looking to achieve success with your health and fitness goals

Step 1 – Goal

Set yourself a goal with a specific date to get you motivated and focused.  Is there an up coming holiday, a special birthday, wedding or event?  Make a plan for what you want and when by then write it down.  Commit to you and your goal in writing and then keep it somewhere highly visible – on your fridge, your bathroom mirror or even in your car.

Step 2 – Fun

Work out what exercise you enjoy doing so it never becomes a chore.  Join a dance class, learn to surf, dust off your old mountain bike or even hiking in the hills!

Step 3 – Accountability

Next work out what is going to help you stay on track.  It is easy to stray off the path with out support so why not grab a mate or get the family involved?  Make family time fitness time!  If you are really serious or new to exercise invest in a personal trainer.

Step 4 – Prioritise

Make it a priority and where possible kick start your day with a workout as it is all too easy to procrastinate later in the day and let work, friends or your partner take precedence Empower yourself to become the healthier, fitter person you deserve to be and remember its ok to be selfish, it’s your body.

Step 5 – Healthy Eating

Reduce your intake of foods that are high in sugar and fat and increase your intake of lean protein and vegetables.  It is also possible to increase your metabolism by eating regularly and aim to eat 5 smaller meals a day rather than 3 large ones.  Don’t forget the most important meal of the day – breakfast!!

Step 6 – Reward

Treat yourself to a new haircut, a pedicure, a new outfit or that sexy little bikini.  Knowing what that treat will be at the start of your fitness journey will also keep you motivated and on the road to success.

How Muscle Can Help you Burn Fat

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Weight training helps to increase your lean muscle mass, which in turn increases your resting metabolism.  This means that when you are carrying out your daily activities you are burning a lot more energy as a result of your muscles being stronger. Muscle in its resting state is like an idling car engine, burning up fuel in the form of calories  Therefore, it’s true that the more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest each day The more muscle you have, the greater the storage capacity you have for carbohydrates as well. Stronger muscles will allow you to eat more carbohydrates in your day without them being converted into fat.

The actual act of lifting weights and doing a weight training session burns a high amount of calories also.  By focusing on compound exercises (multi-joint movements that work several muscles at one time) you increase the calorie burning capacity.  If you think of exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, bench press and pull ups, these are all compound exercises which challenge multiple muscles meaning you can maximize the calorie burning potential. Not only does weight training help with fat burning, it will also help to make you feel tighter in the muscle and many people see a drop in the size of clothes they wear.  This in turn increases self confidence and can help to overcome any body image issues. It should also be mentioned that it is recommended that women especially follow a structured weight training program to prevent the development of osteoporosis or brittle bones, a condition which can be overcome through weight bearing exercise and adequate intake of calcium.