I have finally passed my Body Pump video assessment :D

I am now a fully certified Body Pump instructor. This was going to be my last BTS programme that I teach as I already do Body Combat, Body Jam and Body Step, but I am now being tempted by Body Attack.......

Body Fuel

To aid me in my running programme, I have recently purchased Lucozade Body Fuel, I bought a case of 12 for £9.18

'It is formulated to tackle the reduction of carbohydrate stores and maintain hydration to improve performance in prolonged exercise or sport. Studies testing endurance athletes, such as marathon or long distance runners, have proven that the running speed is higher over the course of an event among those drinking Lucozade Sport, compared to those solely drinking water.' (Lucozadeshop.com)




I have only had a few, but so far I genuinely do think that they are helping. I currently go for a 45minute run 3-5 times a week. Next week I hope top run further for longer getting my time up to 55 minutes.




To get your Lucozade Body Fuel click here http://www.lucozadeshop.com/body-fuel-runners/03597.html

Flavia Cacase Starter Kit

I have just ordered my Flavia Cacase starter kit :D

I can't wait to start the Definity Shake and try out the Definity Bars, and of course, show off my new bag in the gym!. As with the Sculptress trial I will record my progress and show you guys my results!
Visit www.maxitone.com/specialoffers/flaviastarterkit.html to get your own

Less than a month left of my first year at uni now!!

My Inspiration

I have been asked quite alot how I keep myself motivated to keep up with the amount of exercise that I do, how do I make myself get out of bed a go to the gym at 7am 4 days a week, and undertake around 4-5hours of exercise a day. My answer....I found inspiration in these women...

Niamh McGuirk

 

                                Tanya Walker                                                                                                                   Rachel Cohen

These inspirational women are all energetic, lively lasses with great personalities. As Les Mills Trainers I can only imagine the training they undergo, one day I aim to be just like these women and hopefully inspire others as they do me, I've started my journey to follow in their footsteps and already teach Body Combat, Body Pump (Naimh did my Pump module training which is where this all started), Body Step and Body Jam. I have the best job in the world, it infact is not a job at all, the fact that I get paid for doing what I love is a massive bonus (don't tell anyone, but I would do it for free!)

When I wake up at 6am and really can't be bothered to get up and go for a two hour work out, hello snooze button, I ask myself...Would Niamh stay in bed?

When I finish a day of lectures and want to sit infront of the TV instead of going for a run, I ask myself...Would Tanya be this lazy?

When I can't be bothered to jump around in my bedroom or the studio on my own learning new choreography (which is actually really fun) I ask myself...Would Rachel be this slack and risk not knowing her chore properly?

I believe the answer to all of the above is...NO.

When I want to indulge in my body weight of chocolate I ask myself...Would either Niamh, Tanya or Rachel do this? The answer, I reakon probably yes ;) nothing can keep me away from a cream egg!

Also, I really want Tanya's shorts...but their sold out :(

My inspiration is the drive of knowing that one day I may be able to be like these motivational women, once you have found your motivation, always keep it in your mind.

Thankyou girlies :D You all rock! Kia Kaha!

Visit www.lesmills.com to find a class near you and experience the Les Mills classes for yourself!

Swimming

  Swimming is a great way of exercising, but is often over looked.

Swimming carries many benefits such as;
-It helps maintain the blood pressure and cholesterol
It is an aerobic workout and is therefore good for the health of your heart and lungs, and also reduces the risk of stroke, heart attack and diabetes.
-It enhances the flexibility of your joints and provides the scope for boosting your physical activity workout level. In other words, it helps a great deal in your weight loss program.
-It is perfect for those people who have a hard time carrying out weight-bearing, land-based physical activities. This is because your weight in water is about 1/10 of your weight on land.
For pregnant women as well as for people who are suffering from arthritis and back pain, there can be no better workout choice than swimming.
Swimming minimizes the risk of injuries from physical activity. So, you can easily try out the exercise and enjoy the health fitness benefits it offers, without any attached risk.
If indulged in on a regular basis, swimming can help build the endurance, muscle strength and cardio-vascular fitness of a person.
You can indulge in swimming before as well as after a strenuous workout on ground, as a warm-up and cool-down activity, respectively.
It helps a person exercise almost all the muscles of his/her body, with the main focus being on arms and legs.

Swimming has been associated with relieving the joint pains, high blood pressure and discomfort that are often experienced during pregnancy.
Indulging in swimming can help post-surgery patients, who adopt an otherwise sedentary lifestyle, avoid muscular atrophy.
It is found to have soothing effect on the mind as well as the body of a person, mainly by regulating breathing and stimulating circulation.

Ask Sophie...

DeanDean: I'm 56 yrs old. is running good for me? i'm lucky though that don't have high blood pressure and not obese but my tummy is getting big due to sitting all day at the office. i play table tennis at least 30 minutes everyday but needs to do other forms of exercise to make my abs flat like i used to have when i was a gardener.

Sophie: There are many significant benefits of running for people as they get older. Many people take up running when they feel they can no longer take part in contact or team sports. After the age of thirty many physiological changes take place in a persons body such as; reduced muscle mss, reduced muscle elasticity, decreased aerobic capacity, declined lung elasticity reduced bone density, slower metabolism and an increase in body fat.

The health benefits of running for older people are the same for the younger participants, such as; less risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer. Improved mobility and weight control. As people get older the risk of developing any of the conditions listed in above grow, alongside this, the benefits of running increase also.

My advise to you would be to get a quick check up at the doctors to ensure that you are able to begin your exercise safely, then begin your running programme slowly.

Start by taking brisk walks 2-3 times per week for around 20 minutes, for 2 weeks.
Then progress to short runs, running for 5 minutes walking for 5 minutes, for 20-30 mins, for 2 weeks.
Progress to running for 10 minutes walking for 5 for two weeks then your good to go!
After this you can run for longer, to where you feel your limit is.

Happy running!

Any questions?...Just leave a comment!

Sculptress Trial

I have recently completed a trial I did of Maxitone Sculptress shake and capsules. I have monitored my progress after using the shakes and capsules for one week.

I got the Sculptress bundle of One tub of Sculptress Shake, one pack of Sculptress Capsules and one Maxitone Shaker. all for just £29.99.

Maxitone recommend that you take the shake twice a day and take the capsules three times a day, on an empty stomach. If you are going to begin taking Sculptress as Maxitone suggest then I would recommend getting two different flavours of shakes. I had Strawberry and after taking two shakes a day, I am now unfortunately sick of it! However, I did feel the benefits of taking the Shakes, I had more energy (probably due to the caffeine in them) and feel they aided me in recovery. The Capsules were easy to take and easy to carry around.

There were a few challenges I faced. This was meant to be a 7 day trial running from Monday -Sunday, unfortunately I was struck down with a cold on the Friday and Saturday and so I did not take the shakes that or capsules on either day! I then had to extend the trial to the Tuesday. Easter Sunday also fell dure in my trial, a day which I completely over indulged in chocolate (I am eating a cream egg as we speak)

These are my before and after photos. Bearing in mind these were only taken a week and two days apart. I would definitely recomend Sculptress.
BEFORE

AFTER

My next maxitone mission is going to be their Definity range.

Definity is Maxitones toning range where the Shake is £18.99 and the CLA tablets are £9.99.

Instead of getting the Shakes and Capsules, I think i will go for the Flavia Starter Kit instead Included is the Shakes, Definity crisp bars, Maxitone gym bag and Maxitone shaker. all for £49.00 saving you £16.96!
Definitly going to go for banana flavour this time!

If you have ever tried any of the Maxitone range let me know how you found it!
If you want to order Sculptress now click here

cho-yung weight loss tea

I stumbled across this weight loss diet, after reading a great review about it, I became curious to see if it actually worked. According to Cho Yung Tea, you should take just two cups a day and you will drop ALOT of weight, their are many convincing success stories on the website along with information about the tea and its benefits:
'-Green tea may increase energy expenditure, and positive effects on weight management have been seen using green tea.
-Green tea is drunk widely across Asia, where the rates of many cancers are much lower in Asia than other parts of the world.
-Cho-Yung Tea is a safe and natural way to improve health and lifestyle. It is NOT a medicinal drug. Many people feel that natural products are safer for their digestive systems and overall, long-term health.
-Cho-Yung Tea oxidises fat, rather than blocking its absorption.' Taken directly from the website.


I visited the website where it has a lady talking you through the benefits of Cho Yung tea. There is a box in which you fill in your details: current weight, goal weight, height, gender, and age.

I entered my details to see if I was eligible for the 14 day free trial...the next page then told me my BMI was too low and that they wouldn't recommend me starting a weight loss programme. I thought this was great! If all diet and weight loss websites did this I think it would hinder many people with eating disorders, getting fuel for weight loss. However, I could have just lied about my weight.
If anyone has tried these products please let me know as I am very intrigued!
If you want to try them please be careful. It is a very attractive offer, but READ THE SMALL PRINT! The website asks for your card detail to pay for the tiny amount of postage and packaging for your 14 day trial. After this 14 day trial you are going to be charged £56,50 every 30 days for another months supply until you email them asking them to stop sending their products to you. So if you just want to do the 14 day free trial please ensure that they are aware of this!



For more information visit



If anyone has tried the Cho Yung Tea weight loss tea please let me know how it worked for you!

So you want to improve your strength?

Try this out, It is known as the Russian Squat Program generator.
This is designed to increase your strength, not your size. It should also be used alongside other squat exercises in your programme, not as the only exercise. Done every other day e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday will give you the results you are looking for, if you do it everyday then your body will not have enough time to recover and your strength will deteriorate rather than improve



Simply visit to enter your one rep max so it can be calculated.

Then follow your personalised programme for 6 weeks and see how much your strength improves!
This programme doesn't just have to be used for squats, it will work for anything, IE bench press, dead lift, bicep curls tricep extensions etc.

Example programme for 100kg 1RM


Day #1* Day #2* Day #3*
Week 1 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps 80kg 6 sets of 3 reps 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps
Week 2 80kg 6 sets of 4 reps 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps 80kg6 sets of 5 reps
Week 3 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps 80kg 6 sets of 6 reps 80kg6 sets of 2 reps
Week 4 85kg 5 sets of 5 reps 80kg6 sets of 2 reps 90kg 4 sets of 4 reps
Week 5 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps 95kg 3 sets of 3 reps 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps
Week 6 100kg 2 sets of 2 reps 80kg 6 sets of 2 reps 105kg 1RM You should be able to max at 105%!

Let me know how you get on with this programme.

I will also do a trial and let you know my improvements, so watch this space...

Cycling

Cycling has many health benefits, it minimizes the risk of coronary heart disease, improves your fitness, reduced the risk of osteoperosis, and lowers blood pressure..
It is an aerobic exercise which gives your heart, blood vessels and lungs a workout, thereby reducing the risk of heart problems.
A few miles of cycling per day will provide you with trimmer, toned muscles. This is because your upper thigh muscles, backside and calf muscles all get to workout.
Themore often you cycle the greater your stamina will become, enabling you to carry out your day to day tasks easily.

Many over weight people struggle to get into exercise as they feel the strain n their joints such as their knees, especially when running, but cycling is low impact, with minimal strain on joints.

Cycling is also a great for stress relief, minimising stress levels, making depression less likely in the individual.
Along with all of these benefits, cycling reduces blood pressure, improves your overall fitness and is a great workout!
Even better...Its environmentally friendly!!!

If you dont own a bike and can't get outdoors on one, dont panic...go to a spin class near you!

Cycling carries many health benefits and is also a fun recreational activity.
Available at most gyms and leisure centres, Spin classes are great! They are a high-intensity, low impact class. Every participant works to their own level to reach their own goals, You can very your speed, resistance time etc. A typical class is lead by an instructor on a stationary bike at the front, who motivates you the whole way through the class leading you through sprints, hill climbs, and mixed terrain to awesome music!
I am a spin instructor and absolutely love it! I put in every effort to motivate my participants. The group exercise element of it really helps you to work harder, in a typical 45 minute class participants burn around 400-600 calories.
Also available in addition to Spin Classes are RPM classes.
Same idea as Spin, but is pre-choreographed by the Les Mills Team in Aukland. Wicked moves to awesome music!

There are a variety of Spin bikes, my favourite are Keiser M3 bikes, which have a gear changer and an LCD screen telling you your speed, heart rate, distance, watts, calories burnt (approx) andwhat gear you are using. David Lloyd Leisure Centres use the Keiser M3 bikes, in their spin/Keiser classes, visit to find a class near you.

As always...any questions? Leave a comment or email me at barrettsfitness@googlemail.com.