fitness

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Cycling the infamous Kirkstone Pass

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Here are the pictures from our climb up the wonderful Kirkstone Pass during our adventure. Ten kilometres up to an altitude of 1,489 feet (454 metres), with a pleasant average gradient of around 4 per cent, but tougher sections at 12-13 per cent.

This is the longest route up the climb, but there’s always ‘The Struggle’ for those of you who fancy a tougher challenge. Gradients up to 25 per cent will definitely leave you feeling like you’ve earned a drink when you reach the Kirkstone Pass Inn at the top!









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HIIT isn't just for the superfit

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HIIT training, or High Intensity Interval Training has become hugely popular over the last ten years, with numerous scientific studies showing it can improve health, fitness and assist in weight management as effectively, if not sometimes more so, than steady exercise.

Nothing is ever perfect of course, and HIIT has its potential downfalls, one being the increased risk of injury from such an intense workout, the other being that many people don’t like to push themselves that hard, they feel uncomfortable, unwell and generally fearful they might do themselves some harm. And rightly so, overdoing it certainly can lead to muscle and joint injuries and health issues.

The meaning of HIIT

Kettlebell shutterstock_108603521.jpg
Sprinter shutterstock_265313657.jpg

When you thought about HIIT, I bet you pictured fit people sprinting, jumping, throwing heavy pieces of metal about and generally things that are HIGH intensity. Here’s the thing though; what does high really mean? High based on what? Compared to what? Measured how?

The general assumption is that HIIT is reserved for the ‘fitness freaks’, those lovers of exercise, Instagram selfies and ‘motivational’ quotes, protein shakes and Lycra. I’m going to try to change your mind on that right now.

When doing their qualifications, Personal Trainers learn about variables, the things that they can change to make workouts easier or harder, or in other words to make a low intensity workout a high one and vice versa. They learn this because people are not all the same, what is hard and therefore high intensity for one person may actually be low intensity for another. There are tonnes of variables that can be played with to ensure you’re working clients at the correct intensity. Here are just a few…

  • Time (seconds or repetitions) - how long does each exercise last or how many do you do?

  • Resistance - commonly referred to as the ‘weight’ lifted, it might be a heavy dumbbell, a band or just your own bodyweight.

  • Sets - how many times do you perform each exercise?

  • Rest - just giving someone a little longer between exercises alters the intensity.

  • Exercise - changing the exercise itself or the piece of equipment used can make a substantial difference.

We can also change the angle at which an exercise is performed, the length of the lever (by bending the arms for example), the tempo (pace) at which movements are performed, the base of support (feet wide, narrow or even on one leg) and much more. Basically, any exercise can be adapted in some way to meet the needs of every human being on this planet.

How high?

Now we’ve established that we can change exercises in a multitude of ways, that means it’s possible to create a High Intensity workout for anyone pitched at the right level for them. We just need a simple way of describing what ‘high’ means, something universal that can be applied to Joe Bloggs who hasn’t exercised since school, or Mo Farah, who…well…hasn’t exercised since a few hours ago.

Here’s one such tool, the Rate of Perceived Exertion scale, or RPE.

RPE scale.jpg

The scale is designed to allow you to judge how hard you feel you’re working during exercise. For HIIT training, aim for a 7-8 on the scale if you’re new to it; keen beans can push to 9 and even 10 once they’ve built up their fitness. If you have a medical condition, it may still be possible to do some high intensity work for you at around a 5-6, but you should speak to your medical practitioner before doing so, to make sure it’s right for you at this stage.

How will you know you’re at a 7/8?

You’ll be breathing hard and you will start to feel tired as levels of lactic acid build up in your muscles. Don’t worry though, that’s a good thing as you’re burning calories and challenging your body to get fitter, meaning next time it won’t feel so tough. No challenge, no change as they saying goes, it just has to be the right one for you.


Workouts to try

Those of you who’ve seen Insanity or Joe Wickes in action will be expecting some routines here full of burpees, sprints, jumps and lunges. They’re cool if that’s right for you, but the following workouts have been taken down a notch to provide high intensity sessions for those of you who’d love to give it a go but feel that Insanity is insane!

Cardio - hill or stair climbs

Warm up with a 5-10-minute walk, getting gradually quicker until you feel warm and a bit breathless. Find a hill you consider quite steep or a big set of stairs. Walk up briskly for 10-20 seconds getting to the point where you feel like it’s hard to talk, then slowly back down. Repeat 4-8 times depending on how you find it.

You can do it on the flat too as long as you walk at a pace that challenges you.

Weights

This routine is created for absolute beginners to HIIT training. Do each exercise for 30 seconds with as little rest between them as you can. You only need to do the circuit once, but if you’d like to go round again, have a 3-minute rest before repeating.

1) Standing Press-Ups (with your hands against a wall)

2) Sit Down-Stand Up

3) Seated Band Back Extensions

4) Band Wide Rows

5) Floor Bridge

Here’s a little video with a few rep’s of each exercise as a demonstration for you…

You can of course make this harder by changing any of the variables I talked about earlier; harder versions of each exercise, increasing the time to 45 or even 60-seconds per exercise or repeating the workout three times. Whenever you progress, do so gradually; make sure the workout feels comfortable a few times in a row before making it more challenging.

Hopefully it helps you HIIT some of your goals and take you one step closer to balance.

Paul :-)

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Love your heart

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Healthy heart shutterstock_244939462.jpg

I’ve had this blog piece in mind for a while and I thought, what better time to write about the heart than on Valentine’s Day. The belief systems of both the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks believed that the heart was connected to the soul, with the latter believing it was the seat of reason. During Roman times the Greek philosopher Galen built on these ideas, arguing that emotions came from the heart, rational thought from the brain and strangely, passion from the liver!

In Mediaeval times, the symbol of the heart began to appear as a sign of love, although originally the image much more closely resembled an anatomically correct diagram of the heart, something that most of us wouldn’t find too romantic these days.

Heart anatomy shutterstock_200105063.jpg

The use of the image continued and was gradually adapted to look more like the heart we know today. Martin Luther, the major figure of the Protestant Reformation, used the image of a traditional love heart surrounded by a white rose as the symbol of Lutheranism from around 1530, and by the Victorian era, the practice of sending love notes on Valentine’s Day was born.

The Lutheran symbol - reproduced from https://stainedglassinc.com

The Lutheran symbol - reproduced from https://stainedglassinc.com

What your heart can tell you

Anyway, enough of the history lesson, the real reason I wanted to create this blog was to show you how you can use your resting heart rate for all sorts of useful things.

Your heart is a muscle and just like those in your arms and legs, it contracts to create movement. Its job though is to move blood around your body, pumping used blood back to the lungs to be topped up with oxygen and freshly O2-enriched blood out to your muscles and organs where oxygen is in constant demand to keep you functioning. It has some unique properties that distinguish it from the muscles of your skeleton:

  • Unlike skeletal muscles, it’s involuntary, meaning you don’t have to think about it for it to beat. It would be slightly annoying if approximately every second your train of thought was interrupted whilst you remembered to contract your heart and keep oxygen-rich blood passing round your body.

  • Instead, it is switched on automatically by its own electrical current. This passes through continuously, causing your heart to fill, contract and push blood around your body, then refill.

  • Your heart muscle, or to give its fancy names, cardiac muscle or the myocardium, has to have oxygen to work. Your skeletal muscles can for a short period work anaerobically, or without oxygen, but this is bad news for the heart, one of the reasons why it beats continuously to ensure it gets what it needs.

Here’s how you can use your resting heart rate to learn more about yourself.


1. Fitness and health

Like the muscles attached to your skeleton, with exercise your heart becomes fitter. Regular cardiovascular exercise; walking briskly, running, cycling, swimming and gym work, causes the cardiac muscle to grow, in much the same way as your muscles grow if you lift big weights often enough.

As the heart grows in size and strength, that means it can pump out more blood with each beat and in response, it can perform its job more easily and not have to beat as often. This why measuring your resting heart rate is a good marker of your health and fitness. You can test it by feeling for your pulse in your wrist or neck using two fingers (don’t use a thumb as it has its own pulse), or many sports watches these days will provide data on your heart rate constantly, including your current average at rest.

Make sure you take readings when resting, having drunk no caffeine or alcohol, done no exercise and ideally not when stressed. First thing in the morning when you get up is a good time.

Here’s a guide to what the scores mean

60-80 beats per minute: a good resting score, well within the normal figures and showing that your heart is working at a normal level whilst at rest

Less than 60 beats per minute: If you’re active and generally lead a healthy lifestyle, this shows that your heart is strong and not having to pump too often to meet its demands. If you’re overweight and live an unhealthy lifestyle e.g. drink or smoke excessively, it’s worth visiting your GP to discuss this as low resting heart rates for you can be a sign that it’s not quite working as it should

Over 80 beats per minute: your heart is having to work hard even at rest. If you live an unhealthy lifestyle, you might want to consider what you can do to lose weight, increase your health or fitness and visit your GP to get a check-up. If it’s over 100, you should definitely see your GP to discuss actions and lifestyle changes.


2. Recovery

Resting heart rate will vary constantly by a couple of beats, but if you notice that yours has increased by 5 beats or more, it’s likely that you’re a bit fatigued. It could be that you haven’t recovered from a hard training session (or late night), or it could be a sign that you have a cold coming. For example, mine was hovering at around 45-48 last week, then all of a sudden it went up to 60 and was followed closely by a bout of man-flu.

Monitoring it daily can help you to keep an eye on training intensity, knowing when to ease back, and also to help you evaluate whether you’re on top of healthy habits like fruit and veg intake, water and sleep.


3. VO2max and other markers

Some of the fancier sports watches use something called Heart Rate Variability. Basically that’s the time-gap between your heart beats. When you’re fit and well, not too tired, training at the right level for you and free from colds etc, your heart naturally speeds up and slows down. That means that the time-gap between beats naturally changes too. Some watches can measure this change and actually use it to calculate an estimate of your cardiovascular fitness, known as your VO2max

V = Volume

O2 = Oxygen

Max = the maximum amount you can take in

The watch can provide you with a score, likely somewhere between 30 and 80 depending on your age and fitness, that shows you approximately how many millilitres of oxygen you can take in per kilogram of your bodyweight every minute. Fitter people can get more oxygen in, hence why they can work harder during exercise without getting tired.

You can find out more about VO2max here.

Love your heart

As you can see, your heart is a wonderful thing that can tell you all sorts about how well it’s working with some simple checks. Give it some exercise a few times a week, it loves it when it can see its muscles growing! ;-)


Stay balanced,

Paul







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Take the squat test

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This is a great fitness test to try at home as it needs very little equipment. It's also great as you can record your total and aim to beat it over time; I've set out a simple training programme below that can help you to better your score in future.

 

Why squat?

There are loads of benefits to adding squats to your exercise routines...

1. Research has linked being able to perform more squats with a lower risk of mortality...or put simply, dying. That's because they're a great marker of your overall ability to function; to get in and out of a chair, up and down the stairs or to have the leg strength to maintain your balance and prevent falls

Squats outdoors shutterstock_321504203.jpg

2. Another study in 2015 showed a link between brain function and leg strength. Twins were tested and the ones who maintained leg strength better over a ten-year period also saw a much smaller decline in cognitive performance. This may be because the leg muscles are the largest and therefore a strong indicator of overall health and fitness

3. You'll tone and strengthen lots of muscles, including your legs, bum and core (in fact, you'll likely tone your stomach much more with squats than with sit-ups because of all the extra muscles utilised and calories burned as a result). Done regularly you'll feel and see improvements in confidence, health and sports performance.

4. They're also a cracking exercise for keeping you mobile and strengthening bones and joints. They can help decrease risk of osteoporosis, arthritis and ankle, knee, hip and lower back problems, as well as manage existing issues if pitched at the right level.

5. Add in the fact that they don't need fancy equipment and can be done literally anywhere and you've got yourself one truly balanced exercise!

 

Test yourself

Here's a simple squat test you can use to assess your leg strength and endurance. There are links to easier and harder alternatives at the end of this blog if you prefer.

  • Get a sturdy chair without soft cushioning (a dining room chair is ideal) and place it with its back against a wall.

  • Warm up for 5-10 minutes by walking, doing step-ups, marching/jogging on the spot or anything else that gets you feeling warm and a bit sweaty

  • Stand in front of the chair and keeping your heels on the floor, squat down until your bum taps the chair before lifting straight back up til you're completely upright, knees not locked out. Try a repetition or two to practice if you wish.

  • When ready, perform as many squats as you can until you need to stop and check how you got on against the tables below.

Taken from the Australian College of Sports & Fitness

Taken from the Australian College of Sports & Fitness

Improve

Here's a simple training plan you can follow if you'd like to improve your score.

If you scored less than 30:

  • Do sets of 10 until you reach a number greater than your total from the test. For example, if you scored 17, do 2 sets of 10; if you scored 26, do 3 sets of 10.

  • Have a 30-second rest between each set.

  • Aim to do this 2-3 times each week and re-test the following week.

If you scored more than 30:

  • Do sets of 20 until you reach a number greater than your total from the test. For example, if you scored 36, do 2 sets of 20; if you scored 51, do 3 sets of 20.

  • Have a 30-second rest between each set.

  • Aim to do this 2-3 times each week and re-test the following week.

Each time you re-test, take your new total score and adapt the training programme based on the above guidelines. 

 

Alternative tests

This test is a little easier and was designed for people aged 60-94 year's old to assess leg strength: https://exrx.net/Calculators/SeniorChairStand

This one is a toughie and a good choice if you're after a squat test that challenges you both physically and mentally: https://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/wall-sit.htm

 

Be sure to share your score with us and we'll check in on your progress next week!

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Water: the stuff of life

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As it's the hottest week of the year so far, I thought it might be useful to give you some helpful hints and tips on water and staying hydrated. Hopefully something in here helps you to find your fluid balance.

How much fluid do you need?

Use this calculation to work out your base needs...

  • Age: up to 30 = 35-40ml of water per kg body weight (multiply your weight in kg by 0.035 or 0.04)

  • Age: 31-54 = 30-35ml of water per kg body weight (multiply your weight in kg by 0.03 or 0.035)

  • Age: 55-65 = 30ml of water per kg body weight (multiply your weight in kg by 0.03)

  • Age: 65+ = 25ml of water per kg body weight (multiply your weight in kg by 0.025)

 

So, for example, Bob is 56 years old and weighs 80kg, the calculation he needs to do is:

80kg x 0.03 = 2.4 litres per day

 

What about exercise?

The more exercise you do the more fluid you'll need. Hard exercise can increase your daily fluid needs by up to a litre for every hour done. Check out the tests later in this article to work out if you're getting the right amount for your needs.

 

What counts towards my fluid intake?

There's water in your food, so if you're eating a healthy, balanced diet, it's thought that around 20% of your basic water needs are met. So for our example above, Bob would be getting just under half a litre each day through food  and need to drink around 2 litres each day.

 

Drinks that count towards hydration include:

  • Water

  • Squash

  • Milk

  • Fruit juice (this will hydrate you but can be higher in calories so you may want to dilute it with water)

  • Fizzy drinks (yep even these hydrate you; again though they'll often be higher in calories so limit the amount you consume)

  • Tea and coffee (the vast majority of what's in your mug is water so it serves to hydrate you, outweighing the diuretic effects of the caffeine. If you're sensitive to caffeine you may want to limit the amount of coffee you drink to just a few each day)

  • Shandy (yep because there's very little alcohol in here, it can hydrate you. Too much booze though will dehydrate you, so either limit the amount or drink plenty of water at the same time)

 

How do I check that I'm getting the amount I need?

Every one of us needs a slightly different amount of fluid. Whilst the calculations above are helpful, you'll likely need to make tweaks to how much you drink based on:

  • Your genetics

  • Your training regime

  • Your diet

  • The weather

  • Illness

  • Age, gender, pregnancy, the number of diuretics like alcohol you've been cons,ing, sleep, stress and medication

Because of this, there are some great tests you can do to see if you're getting what you need:

 

1) How do you feel? Tiredness, dry mouth and skin, headaches, irritability, unusual hunger and aching muscles can all be signs that you're dehydrated. Listen to your body and if you think you're thirsty, drink fluids little and often to help rehydrate yourself.

 

2) The pee test. Urine should be light or straw-coloured. Darker urine or even only urinating a few times each day suggest you're dehydrated. The NHS suggests that going to the loo less than 3 or 4 times a day is a good sign.

 

3) For the exercisers out there, weighing yourself before and after training can be a great marker of hydration. Sadly if you've lost three pounds during your workout I'm sorry to say it won't all be fat! Much of it will be water and will mean you need to rehydrate. 

Even just a 1-2% decrease in weight after a workout will mean you are dehydrated and need to replenish your fluids. If not you may feel unwell, tired and your exercise and mental performance can decrease significantly.

Just as an example of how small a weight loss this can be, for me, weighing in at 70kg, even a loss of 0.5-1.5kg (1-3 lbs) after a session means I'm dehydrated. This would likely need me to drink somewhere between 0.5 and 1.5 litres of fluid to replace these losses.

 

Summary

Drink little and often across the day using any combination of the drinks outlined. Monitor your hydration levels through how you're feeling, your urine colour and your weight post-exercise.

Over time you'll learn the timings and amounts that work for you to maintain your fluid balance.

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The world is your playground - making outdoor exercise fun

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If you’re a little bored with your current gym routine, summer is a great time of year to mix things up a little by getting outdoors. The world is a great gym and even better, membership is free. Try this little routine and get yourself a shot of vitamin D in the process:

 

Lamppost shuttles

Choose a fairly flat path or piece of road with no crossings that has lampposts equally spaced along it. After warming up thoroughly try the following:

·      Sprint to the first lamppost, walk back to the start

·      Sprint to the second lamppost, walk back just one

·      Sprint three lampposts, walk back

·      Rest for 30 seconds and repeat 2-6 times depending on how you feel

 

Park bench circuits

You can work every muscle just with a local park bench and a resistance band. Try this great little circuit for 30-60 seconds on each exercise depending on how fit you’re feeling:

·      Squats (bum to bench)

·      Press-ups (off the back is easier, off the bench is harder, feet on the bench is super-hard)

·      Step-ups (alternate legs to make it easier, do all on one leg then swap to make it harder)

·      Dynaband rows (close to your body)

·      Triceps dips (legs bent to make it easier, straight to make it tougher)

·      Dynaband rows (elbows out wide)

 

Hanging around

Children’s play area make for great training kit. Just be sure to let the kids use it first of course! If it’s free then try these challenging exercises:

·      Hangs – if pull-ups is too tough, just try holding the rail and hanging in mid-air. Work up until you can do 20-30 seconds.

·      Knee raises – once you’ve mastered the hang, holding your body as still as possible, draw one leg at a time up towards your chest doing 8-12 each side. You can progress by performing with both legs at the same time.

·      Swings – if you like monkeying around this is a great exercise for you. Swing from one bar to the next without letting your feet touch the floor if you can.

·      Pull-ups – there are so many variations here, close grip, wide grip, holds at the top, shifting your bodyweight left and right and many more. Aim to do 4-10 repetitions.

Here's me messing about with a few different pull-up variations;

Assisted with a band if you find pull-ups tough but want to be able to do them: http://youtu.be/mRV-vX3rh3c  

Pull-ups with a pull to one side to add some variety and work the core and upper body harder: http://youtu.be/DvUxsEvEzIk

 A more advanced version pulling to both sides in one rep: http://youtu.be/RszZO2Lj7yY

Step-climbing

Climbing stairs is a phenomenal way of keeping fit and burning calories. It’s great for toning your thighs, backside and core and keeping your heart in good shape. Try one of these options to suit you:

·      Walking up stairs – find a flight of steps with at least 20 steps. Aim to spend 5-10 minutes walking up and down with as little rest as you can.

·      Stair running – you can place both feet on each step to develop fast feet or take steps one or two at a time to develop leg power.

·      Step jumps – stand at the bottom of the steps and jump onto the first step then step back down. If you’re feeling confident you can try the second or third step.

If you'd like a simple exercise routine to tone your body, you can download my guide 'A Week in Balance'. As well as healthy recipes, you'll find a range of bodyweight exercises to tone all areas. Even better, there are three difficulty levels for each exercise so you can pick the one that feels right for you. Get your copy here for just £2, half of which goes to the Genetic Alliance UK charity.