Raise the Intensity
November 6, 2011
Got Intensity?
When it comes to exercise, there is one common ingredient that sets it all apart from what the other guy next to you is doing. It is the intensity of your workouts.
The secret ingredient that all programs have, that were ever been designed is the simple fact that it is all about the intensity. The harder you go, the more energy you burn, the quicker your results will be.
Workouts that are associated with time, performed at high intensities repeatedly have been studied and found to give the best results in terms of strength and endurance performance. Of course the bonus of that all will also be the fat loss.
There is no need to bring a book or watch tv whilst you are trying to get your dose of exercise, so either get serious or stay at home on the couch. You are better off spending your time doing something else.
So get stuck in it, Raise your Intensity.
Bjorn Voon
Training for Weight Loss or Fat Loss
April 22, 2011
If your goal is to train for weight loss, then there are a few things that you need to get right and that is to determine if you are training for either or. Training for weight loss means to reduce your weight on the scales or on the other hand, training for fat loss is training to reduce the percentage body fat that you have on your body.
For some folks, both mean the same thing but to a personal trainer or a trainer the distinction has to made clear. Let us first look at the Body Mass Index which is what someone will use to determine if they are going to be obese, overweight or normal. This measurement will take into account bodyweight in kilograms and also your height in metres. Here is the truth about this index. There is a grey area where this scale does not become relevant to you anymore if you have been exercising regularly and been strength training.
The media has made the public very aware and conscious about our weight which is a good thing, but it should not be an obsession when you are already training and have been training regularly. When you do strength train, you will build muscle. Muscle is by far a more dense and solid tissue. Fat has more volume per kilogram of muscle. Both weights are the same, 1kg of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1kg of fat. It is just the amount of volume or space that muscle takes up compared to fat which is significantly lower.
It is not the weight that should be your concern, but rather the fat instead. The moment you begin to build muscle, you will become more dense and heavier if not more than before. Bodybuilder BMIs indicate that they are overweight and obese!
Here are some tips on how to lose more fat rather than weight:
- Lift the big heavy weights
- Train at an intensity that is higher that what you normally train at
- Vary up your program and do what is most uncomfortable to you
- Find a good trainer who will motivate and push you to your limits
- Go hard or not at all
This is the raw way, no frills on how to lose fat. If you do not train like this, you will not ever succeed in your little piss-farting around in the gym with the ‘do lots with light weights’ attitude. You might as well go watch a movie or have a coffee.
Get real, get serious and train hard.
Real results means hard work.
If you are going to take it easy, do not even bother.
Perth Personal Training or Perth Group Training
Pedometers and Your Weight
April 10, 2011
A pedometer will measure the number of steps that you take in a day. It is a small gadget that you can clip on to your pants or slip into your pocket and measures the movements or vibrations from the steps that you take.
Ideally they should sit around the side of your hip where the vibrations are felt the most. When you look at just 1 step, the average around 50cm or less, 10,000 will mean walking about 5km.
The Queensland Government has started a steps movement of 10,000 Steps
The idea is to get everyone to take 10000 steps in a day. Now for many of us that can be very difficult if you are seated at the computer and expected to stay there. If you do move around, then you will be seen as not working or being unproductive.
Here are some tips to help get you moving a little further than usual so that you can hit your 10000 steps:
- Build up to the volume gradually. Pushing 10k steps tomorrow if you have not done any volume like this for a while is silly.
- Park a little further away. Choose a carpark that is further away, it will probably be cheaper and you may be able to clock a couple of hundred steps here.
- Park your car at the top of the carpark. Use the stairs to get down. This would add at least a hundred more steps and possibly work a bit more sweat.
- Find a toilet that is on another level in your building and utilise those toilet breaks to get at least >20 steps.
- Walk at a relatively fast pace, do strolls or wondering. Really get your body moving.
- Do not take large steps. take smaller, faster steps, engage all your muscles in your lower legs when walking.
- Lump sum steps can be done in about 30-60 minutes if do not manage any during the day.
Is it really enough? Can you be healthy at 10,000 steps or 5km? Chances are you will be struggling to hit 10k steps a day, but it is about all the little excuses you can give yourself to make yourself walk just a little further each and every day.
A habitual change is always difficult, but it is really about the conditioning for that new change which would make it all worthwhile in the end.
Pedometers are very cheap to purchase. Make sure though that it does measure the exact number of steps as there are dodgy ones that could register more steps that you are actually taking.
Get yourself a pedometer and get walking!
