Personal progress

I've been working out hard over the last few months, I've added more protein to my diet (I was going to write that I'd changed my diet, but that would infer less chocolate and wine... and that hasn't happened), and I've hit some pretty fantastic personal bests.

Unfortunately, my body hasn't got the memo that I've been trying really hard - so my weight, body fat percentage and muscle mass (all determined by my scales) have stayed resolutely the same. Even my waist and hip measurements have remained the same as they were in April.

I tell people all the time that if they put in the work, their bodies have no choice but to respond. My body, however, seems to be choosing. Ain't that typical!

So, what's going on?

Well... my deadlift has gone from 30kg x 10 reps to 52.5kg x 5 reps and my pulldown has gone from 32.5kg x 6 reps to 40kg x 5 reps since the beginning of the year, with the majority of the extra weight being added on in the last couple of months - which coincides with my extra protein intake.

Therefore, I have to conclude (and I would tell my clients this) I am making progress. My body is concentrating on getting stronger, I'm just not seeing the results in the mirror.

It's at this point, if you are a three-times-a-week/lose-weight-and-tone-up gym member, that you might despair and say that the gym doesn't work, exercise doesn't work and stop coming.

Don't do that!!

In a couple of months I have every confidence that my body fat percentage will be on the move again, in the right direction, and yours will too!

How to get over this slight slump:

• Make new exercise goals - short term and long term - that have nothing to do with weight/body fat loss. Want to leg press the entire stack? Want to train for a triathlon?
• Add in a new variation of one of the lifts you do - sumo squat instead of normal squat, walking lunges instead of the leg press, press ups instead of bench. Make sure you've got a couple of really good compound exercises in your routine (ie. lifts that use more than one joint/muscle)
• Do a bit of extra cardio
• Try something completely different - fancy kayaking, football, tennis, cycling, Tough Mudder?
• Make sure you're having fun!

So, how's your training going?

Making time to workout

It's taken me a while to write another post, because I couldn't decide what to write about, but today I am admitting that I've been rubbish at keeping to my workout schedule. Something else always seems to happen - illness, injury, kids on school holidays, coffee with a friend, the dog looks sad when I leave the house...

I know I'm not the only one who uses excuses, but I also know some really dedicated people who will always find the time, no matter what else is going on in their lives. I wish I was like that.

I have all the reasons, all the arguments to counter my clients arguments... I have the answer! But I also don't listen to myself.

Here are my top tips to make sure you (and I) get to the gym:

• Write your schedule in your diary, on your calendar or set an alarm on your phone
• If you plan on working out in the morning, set out your clothes the night before (yes, I know everyone says that) and think about your workout as you go to sleep - you'll be more motivated in the morning
• If you plan on working out at lunchtime or after work, keep some spare kit in your car, or in your desk, so you can't use the excuse that you left your bag at home
• Think about how you feel when you're in the gym/on the tennis court/pounding the streets... you're having fun, right? And afterwards, don't you feel great? Why wouldn't you want to do something that's fun and makes you feel great??
• Mix it up. If you're bored with your routine, throw in a class, go for a run or bike ride, swim a few lengths. Or get a new gym programme from your instructor.
• Buy yourself some new kit. (I did this recently, and if nothing else the compliments made me feel good.) A new colour or style is perfect for showing off your achievements so far.

I know for a fact how a missed session can turn into a couple of missed sessions, which can easily turn into a week or a month. Why 'start over' when you don't need to? Push yourself through a slump and you'll come out the other side feeling awesome!

If Fred can do it...

This is not Fred!

One of the first people I met when I started work at my gym was Fred (not his real name!). Fred had just turned 80 - he came to the gym and walked for about two hours at a time on the treadmill, then went home again. That was his entire routine. Granted, for older people, it's the companionship just as much as the exercise itself that keeps them coming back, but they might as well get the most out of the gym too.

On my first morning, I got talking to Fred. "Hi Fred, did you know there are other pieces of equipment in the gym, and some of them might be more beneficial?"

"Kind of, strange gym lady, but they all look very scary."

"Ah Fred, come with me."

And I created a monster. A good monster, though - Fred is my inspiration.

Firstly, I put him on different cardio machines - bikes, rowers, cross-trainers - and then I introduced him to the weights. It was a slow process - all weights progression should be slow, and especially for older people. But gradually he has added a variety of exercises, and keeps upping his weights. Just this week he's managed to lift 42kg on his seated row, 30kg bench press, 75kg leg press. And he's determined to increase them. In fact, my job has turned from encouraging him to taming him! He even runs on the treadmill in intervals.

When I look at Fred, I see the 83 year old I aim to be. He has an infectious outlook, and I'm glad he was one of my first clients!

Today's training

Today was a good day for training. I've been suffering a rotator cuff injury which - when I finally realised I needed to rest properly and do no upper body weights at all - has started to recover. As a result of focusing solely on cardio for the past month, my cardio has perked up a bit - my love of running is having a resurgence, albeit just on the treadmill at the moment. I'm hoping I'll get back to running outside again soon.

So, I thought I'd share what I did today:

Warm up - a race on the Trixter Xdream bike

Treadmill -  intervals - walking at 4mph for 30 seconds, running at 5.8mph for 1 min. I started at a 3% incline, and added half a percent after every run. I made it all the way to 7% - although as it got higher, I dropped down to running for 30 seconds too.

Weights - rehab weights for shoulder
Cable chest press @ 6.25kg per arm x 12/10/8
Inverted row x 5/5/5/4
Reverse fly @ 4kg per arm x 10/10/10
Dumbbell bench press @ 6kg per arm x 10/10 (as a rehab technique, when my arms are straight up I allow my shoulders to lie flat against the bench, using the weights in my hand to push my shoulders down - and I do the exercise much slower than in the video, to make sure I'm not putting any excess strain on my shoulder)
Walking lunges @ 6kg per arm x 8/8/8
Leg press @ 75kg x 10/8/8
Lateral raise @ 4kg per arm x 10/8 (similar to this video, but starting with my palms facing my thighs, which activates the rhomboids and encourages the deltoids[shoulder] to relax)
Bicep curls @ 6kg x 10/10/8
Tricep pulldown @ 8.75kg x 8/8/8

All of these exercises were only performed until I could feel my shoulder pulling/hurting. This was only my second session lifting weights that were more than 2kg, and it felt good. I'm looking forward to slowly increasing the amount of weight I can lift... but when I say slowly, I mean r e a l l y slowly - I don't plan on getting injured again any time soon.

So, that was my training, what does yours look like?

How to push yourself at the gym

If you're following me - and I know there are five of you out there - you've probably forgotten you follow me, because it's been a while since I posted. I've averaged about one post every 7 or 8 weeks of this year so far, but my plan is to at least try for a weekly post.

As I was pushing myself on the treadmill today ( I'd already done 10 minutes cycling, and followed the run with 20 minutes on the cross-trainer) I looked around and noticed how other people weren't sweating buckets and glowing bright red. These people come to the gym - mostly women, I'm sad to say - potter about on a couple of machines, maybe lift a dumbbell or two, and leave. Some of them leave with their make-up fully in tact - whereas I do not, ever ever wear make-up to the gym because it wouldn't last two minutes.

These ladies, who look lovely and are able to catch up on their reading while cycling, will find that in a couple of months they will still have the same levels of fitness as they did today. They will still weigh the same, even though they're convinced they should be losing tens of pounds because they come to the gym three times a week. After a while, they'll become disillusioned and give up.

I don't want you to give up. I want everyone who walks into a gym for the first time to achieve their goals eventually. I want them to enjoy working out, to even grow to love it like I do!








So, what's the right way to push yourself?

• Workout at the right heart rate -we use the Karvonen formula, which allows for a higher working heart rate zone. This link is interesting, because it compares different formulas.
• If you haven't increased the levels on your cardio machines for a few weeks, just increase it by one. You can always lower it back down half-way through the programme, but you should find that after a couple of sessions you won't need to.
• Increase the weight you lift by the smallest increment available and see if you can complete the same number of reps. If you can, do the same after another couple of sessions until you have to reduce your reps a little bit.
• Do not be afraid to sweat.
• Don't worry whether other people are watching you. They'll be stares of admiration.
• At our gym, we offer regular reviews of your programme. I know some gyms don't offer that service or charge - if that's the case, get an instructor to check your technique periodically. It's very easy to fall into bad practices.
• Use the mirrors to check your technique - that's what they are there for.

These are just a few ways to make sure you are always pushing yourself. Although it might not be what you want to hear, working out should never be easy. But, as your fitness, endurance and strength increase, you'll be able to handle it better!

Are you the newbie at the gym?

Everyone thinks that on the 1 January, people are beating on the door of the gym, ready to sign up and blast through their new intentions. From my experience, it's more of a trickle that peaks around week 3. So, if you're still at the shall I/shan't I? stage, here are some tips to get the most from the workout.

1) Choosing a gym
 If you have a choice of gyms in your area, visit them all. Check how thorough the induction is. If their idea of an induction is to walk past the equipment saying 'This is a treadmill, this is a rower' without at least giving a demonstration, then you might find you don't get the most out of the gym without a lot of  research.

Are the classes you want to use at a time when you can use them? Is the swimming pool available when you need it?

2) Be sure of your goals.
 During a good induction you'll be asked about your goals. Losing weight and toning up, is the answer most people give - but it's not specific (it's like telling a travel agent you want to go somewhere hot for your holidays - they'd need a little more detail).

My favourite clients say things like, 'I want to run the London marathon this year' (note, not a marathon one day), 'I want to be able to lift xxkg on the bench', 'My left side is weaker than my right, I want to fix that', 'I want to get my body fat down to healthy levels'. I can work with that, and you can see the path towards achieving it.

3) Be realistic about what you can achieve
You can't get a six-pack in ten minutes a day. You can't lose two stone in three weeks, no matter what the side-bar adverts on Facebook say. You can't reach your goals in a month - unless your goal was to go three times a week for a month

Six weeks is the shortest time when you should start to see measurable and positive changes. Six months is about the time, if you've been consistently working towards it, that you should meet your initial goals. Then you need to make new goals. Don't give up - your health, exercise and diet is a lifelong committment, even though your goals and priorities may change.

4) Work hard
If you don't put the effort in, you won't get the results. It's that simple. Don't bring a book to read - you'll immediately work much less hard (if you get so bored at the gym that you need to read, think about intervals - 30 seconds easy pace, 30 seconds flat out effort - bet you won't get bored then!). Increase the levels when the programme gets easy. Change the programme you use. Focus on the muscles you use when you lift weights, don't just go through the motions.

You should be working out at a level which means you can't hold a conversation while you're on the cardio machines. You should be able to answer in one or two word grunts. With weights, you should feel a resistance (how much will depend on your goals, but if you're lifting something that weighs no more than your handbag it's too light).

5) Don't compare yourself to other people
They may have the body you envy, but they'll undoubtedly have different goals.

6) What you do outside the gym is just as important as what you do inside
This covers the food you eat and the activity you do. If you work out hard, then reward yourself with a slice of cake and a cuppa from the cafe, you'll be cancelling out the exercise - you might even put on weight! How many times have you heard people say, 'I tried going to the gym, but it didn't work for me'?

Do you drive to the gym? Could you run or walk there instead?
Do you always take the lift instead of the stairs?

So, that's all for now. Joining a gym is the easiest thing you can do; sticking at it, training well, and achieving your goals are harder. But they are worth it!