personal trainer west london, personal training london, fat loss training, strength and conditioning, holistic nutrition, best personal trainer

I’ve finally gotten my “butt” into gear and written another article, today I’ll be focusing on ass!!
The glutes if you want to be technical.

Women’s goals are generally focused on tightening up their tummy, getting rid of their bingo wings, and tightening up their butts.
They’re right about training their glutes but the jane fonda style workouts aren’t really cutting it anymore.

This goes for men too, if any of you really play any sports, be it tennis, running or basketball it all starts with the glutes.
If I had known 10 years ago that the glutes were the one of keys to increasing my vertical jump for basketball then I wouldn’t have focused so much on training up my calves.
Me and my friends were convinced that having bigger calves would allow us to jump higher. To some degree it helped but we were wasting our time.

What we should have done was target the first muscle that activates in any given movement – The glutes.

The glutes and posture -

Possessing strong glutes also allows us to keep our pelvis in neutral position. In most cases we generally assume that due to peoples lifestyles, ( sitting down, driving, running/walking) the hip flexors tighten up causing the pelvis to tilt forward and throw the lower back out of alignment, when this happens the glutes become inactive. The glutes also help control the tracking of the knee joint making sure it doesn’t track out of line when we do any single leg movements i.e running/jogging. Restoring your structural balance is vital in having a healthy body so always have a balanced exercise program that promotes all movement patterns.

Isolation or compound exercises (multi joint)

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to training your glutes, any type of movement that stimulates the glute fibers will be sufficient. However there are quicker ways, remember progression in your exercises are the key to improving strength as well as tone.

What I have found to work with my clients is performing a series of  2-3 exercises run in a circuit style to improve strength and activation, If need be also foam roll the opposite muscles to inhibit overactive muscles. If you have knee issues then I recommend seeing your doctor and a certified trainer to come up with exercises that work around your problem.

The Big 3

3 exercises to challenge your glutes in a different way.

Split squat

Single Leg Deadlift with KB

KB swing

Remember work your glutes, they’re more important than just the look…….Say no to pan-cake butt.

So check it out I’m watching an old clip by Sean @ Underground Wellness that made it clear about how soy isn’t that great as a health food.
I think confusion lies in the fermented soy that they use over in asian countries and the unfermented soy we have here in the west.
We have unfermented soy nuts, soy beans, soy milk, tofu, quorn etc, where as they have fermented soy like natto’, miso, which are much more beneficial for their health as it allows them to get their protein sources without all the other dangers of soy.

Here’s what I was shocked at finding out, unfermented soy actually turns down the dial on your thyroid (hypothyroidism) which basically means that it slows down your metabolism, which is obviously bad.
The other thing is that the plant contains a natural chemical that mimics estrogen, high levels of estrogen is apparently linked to breast cancer.

You can find soy in ALOT of products these days as it is pushed as a health food and that’s the scary thing, so to bullet point -

• Soy is not a health food
• Unfermented Soy mimics estrogen
• It is also linked to hypothyroidism (low metabolism)

Listen to the videos and think about getting your protein from other sources if possible, try to rotate them so you’re not only eating one thing.

My own opinion is that if you want to eat soy now and again then that’s fine, this post is here to highlight the dangers of consuming excessive amounts of soy foods.

Click Here to read the reports and studies about the dangers of Soy.

Okay so you’ve been a regular gym user for the past 2 years, you’re really trying to lose the weight you’ve gained yet no matter what you do you can’t seem to shift that weight, sure it started working in the beginning but now you’ve reached a plateau and everything you’re doing is ineffective.

Before you start going crazy I want you to answer some of these questions, what are you trying to achieve? Why are you doing it? what have you done to get there? How long have you been doing it? What results have you achieved?

Most of the time people lose sight of their goals either from lack of results or motivation.
Let’s remember why you joined the gym, aesthetics? Right? You want to look slimmer, you want to go to the beach and take of your top and feel confident wearing that bikini with no wobbly bits or for the guys beer belly and man-boobs (Moobies.)
In most cases I will see people making their resolution and within 4-8 weeks that’s it, I’ll never see them again, the truth is, it is hard. The ones that were consistent with their training and put in the time and effort got the results they wanted.

What are you doing to get those results?

I ask this question to a lot of clients, most of the time they tell me their gym routine and it goes something like this…………

I go to the gym once or twice a week, I like to use the X-Trainer for 30mins then I go to the machines do a few sets for my bingo wings, then I might go on the treadmill and walk for 20mins to finish it off.

This leads me onto my next question………

How long have you been doing this for? Did you see any results?

I’ve been doing this for 2 years now and I haven’t seen any results, I don’t know why?

99% of the time you aren’t seeing the results because you aren’t forcing your body to work hard enough, you walk everywhere in your daily lifestyle and you expect to lose weight by walking on the treadmill for 20 mins, I wish it was so easy. The fact is the exercise you’ve been performing just doesn’t increase your metabolism high enough like it once did when you first started.

A few changes that I would make to their program

1. Use resistance exercises, start with bodyweight then progress onto resistance work. Start by performing an upper body exercise immediately into a lower body exercise, this increases the amount of muscles being used, remember that the more muscles you use the more calories you burn.
2. Increase the speed on your cardio, if you have been going on the X-Trainer at 4-5mph maybe its time to change it up a gear, try the X-Trainer for 20mins but at any given point go really fast for 1min, repeat 5 times.
3. Increase your frequency – Going once to the gym is not going to help you lose weight especially doing the same routine you normally do. Even the busiest person should have some time to perform a bodyweight resistance circuit, try to include squats, lunges, push ups, bent over rows, and skipping. It only needs to be done for 15-20mins.
4. Watch your nutrition, we all know that nutrition is the big key to losing that weight. No-one can help you here because it’s the one thing that you’re able to control and if you can’t stop yourself from eating all those chocolate biscuits or drinking copious amounts of alcohol then try to remember why you started all this in the first place? To look and feel better?

The last thing you need to remember is to take fat loss completely seriously. It’s no joke when it comes to fat loss -

“Fat loss is an all-out war. Give it 28 days — only 28 days. Attack it with all you have. It’s not a lifestyle choice; it’s a battle. Lose fat and then get back into moderation. There’s another one for you: moderation. Revelation says it best: ‘You are lukewarm and I shall spit you out.’ Moderation is for sissies.”

— Dan John, legend

If you can’t do this yourself hire a trainer, let them guide you, every trainer seems to be a fat loss expert but look at how they program your sessions, Is there progressions? Does it get harder each week? Are you doing the same movements all the time? Use a systematic approach to training like world renowned fat loss guru Alwyn Cosgrove.

http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/hierarchy-of-fat-loss.html

Believe in yourself, Strive to be better, Get the results you deserve.

Before doing these 7 movements, it is important that you have had your kinetic chain assessed for any impairment. I recommend getting your static posture assessed as well as performing movement screens to find out if you have any impairment in the human movement system.

The body is capable of many different movements, many can be traced back to the times of cavemen and not much as changed since then in terms of movement, the 7 types are listed as –

Push (horizontal or vertical)
Pull
Squat
Bend
Lunge
Twist
Run/Jog/Walk

The Push

Pushing exercises are probably the most popular among fitness fanatics possibly because it’s the easiest to learn or because every time you open a magazine someone is doing a push up or a bench press. Even by the time you’ve started school everyone knows that doing push ups will enable you to develop upper body strength and size.
There are two types of pushing, horizontal and vertical.

Both movements are needed in everyday life, this could be when you need to push a car or when you need to reach up to place something on the top shelf, it’s really an exercise that is definitely needed in any good program.

Muscles worked – Chest, triceps, Anterior deltoid (front of shoulder) and core musculature depending on the exercise.

Push up

Kettlebell Press

Dips

The Pull

The pull is often neglected because of the popularity of the pushing exercises. It’s important to remember that the body likes to maintain homeostasis (balance) lack of any pulling exercises will not only cause structural imbalances it will lead to injury, postural defects and altered force couple relationships (altered recruitment of muscles.)
There are many exercises that you can use to do a pulling motion, what you need to do first is learn proper scapular retraction.
I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve seen people doing a seated row or one armed DB Row with improper activation of their scapular, I usually ask them if they feel it working in the place they want it to and 9 times out of 10 the answer is usually no. Pulling movements use the trapezius and rhomboids to pull the scapular into retraction and depression. It is very important in improving the health of your shoulders.

Muscles worked – Mid/Lower Traps, Rhomboids, Latissimus Dorsi, Biceps

Pull up

Bent Over Row

The Squat

The squat is not a popular exercise for everyday gym goers, everyone wants to develop their chest, arms and six pack abs, nothing wrong with that goal but do not neglect the other half of your body. If you’re serious about getting abs then the squat has to be close to the top of your list of most important exercises.  Benefits include, core control/stability, increase in growth hormone (dependant on weight), strengthening of the posterior chain and improved movement.

Muscles worked – Quadriceps, Glutes, Hamstrings, and the core (erector spinae, abdominal complex)

Front Squat

Back Squat

The Bend

Along with the squat, the deadlift is one of the most demanding exercises. It works pretty much everything from your chest, lower back, abdominals, glutes, hamstrings to your grip. It is often overlooked for one of the more popular exercises, it looks like a very simple movement but can be quite technical at the same time.
There’s nothing else really to say about this exercise except that you should do it, the body has 600 muscles and the more we can use them the more metabolically active they become.

Muscles worked – Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings, Erector spinae, Latissimus dorsi, Trapezius, Abdominal Complex, Arms

Deadlift

Romanian deadlift

The Lunge

Lunging is a very athletic movement, it requires stability, balance, strength and co-ordination. If you’re going to start lunging start off by performing a static lunge on the spot, just up and down holding something sturdy to help with your balance. Once you have the required strength then progress to using no support and onwards to the full lunge.
I find that clients have difficulty with this exercise the most.

Muscles worked – Hamstrings, Glutes, Obliques, Quadriceps

Multi planar Lunges

The Twist

The twist is a movement that we frequently use, think about every time you move when you turn to pick something up, when you throw, when you put something down, twisting is a movement that we can do however little or no people train within this plane of motion.

Muscles worked – Internal, external obliques, Rectus Abdominis, Erector spinae.

Lateral Twisting Plank

Cable Twist

Walking/Jogging/Running

Walking/Jogging/Running also called your gait cycle are some of the most basic of movement patterns, jogging and running should be added to your routine to maintain the most basic functions.


I hope that this article has helped teach you something new and made you think about how to programme your own exercise routine. If you are truly serious about making changes then utilizing these types of movements will definitely be beneficial.
Doing these 7 movements and their many variations will help to improve your strength, fitness and movement, as an added bonus doing these movements in a structured program will also help with fat loss. Consult a trainer to find out how.

With summer coming round the corner I’m sure everyone has that beach body goal in sight. Now is the perfect time to start and so here are a few tips to help you with your goals…

1. Keep a food diary – Whether it is checked by your trainer or not logging the foods you eat will help you keep your diet in check. I would recommend getting a trainer at your local gym to check up on your food diary and recommend any swaps you could make. Try lowering the amount of processed foods and if eating out try eating as healthy as possible.
2. Change your exercise routine – I’ve had clients ask why they haven’t been losing weight even though they’ve been going to the gym 3 times a week, doing lots of cardio and crunches?
   The level of activity you are undertaking may not be enough of a stimulus for your body to raise its metabolic rate.Use resistance exercises to build lean muscle, muscle is more compact, it weighs more than fat but makes your body burn more calories to maintain it thus having an increased metabolism burning more fat overall.
   For the ladies that are worried about gaining bulky muscles you shouldn’t worry about gaining that amount of muscle unless you are progressively overloading them.
   Where do you see this progressive overload happen? On the Adductor and Abductor machine. I’ve seen some women lift about 80% of the weight on these machines in the hopes that are toning the area when in actual fact they are increasing the muscle size in that area.
   Remember to do big movements, things like squats and lunges that will help you rapidly lose weight a lot faster than just working on the smaller areas such as the dreaded bingo wings and back boobs.
3. Find a workout buddy – With the current economy not everyone can afford to hire a personal trainer to push them throughout the session but this doesn’t mean you can’t get the same results. Working out with a friend that has the same goals as you definitely helps you push yourself to work harder. Join a gym with your friend and motivate each other to achieve your goals.
4. Get a good night’s rest, aim to be in bed by 10.30pm each night. Growth hormone is secreted during a good night’s rest this hormone can help you gain muscle and drop fat. Try to turn off all electrical appliances and get a good night’s rest. Just remember to leave the alarm clock on!
5. Keep your water intake to a minimum of 2-3 litres a day. Keeping your water intake high will help elevate your metabolism as well as flush out the unwanted toxins in your body. Fat cells need to be hydrated before they can shuttled around the body to be used as energy.
6. Do something active – This could mean gardening, go for a bike ride, walking to work or just taking a walk during lunch, and take up a sport. Anything to get your body moving, the more you stay active in your daily life the more it will help you overall. I’m sure you people already know this so get off your butt and get moving.

Alright I hope this has helped in some way, remember to train smart, eat healthy and think positive. Talk to your trainer before you decide to design your own workout programs and remember I’m always here to help you.

Good luck in achieving your goals