Crazy Week!

40 Personal Training Sessions booked in this week and four consultations! Christmas is coming and the geese obviously don't want to get fat! :-)

Really looking forward to pushing everyone super hard and melt away those pounds!


Mike Heatlie MSc CSCS
Edinburgh Personal Trainer

Ten Key Things Celebrities Do to Stay in Great Shape!

1. They're motivated

Celebrities get motivated, usually through pressure, maybe vanity, but they know they're under scrutiny, some more than others, but regardless of the stimulus, in order to exercise with the required intensity, you need to be up for it, and know why you're training so hard.
Goal-setting can be a powerful motivator, so write down some short-term and longer-term goals for yourself then get to work!

2. They're consistent

Building the pyramids, building Rome, building whatever, it all took time, but consistency with time. Every quality workout, every quality meal, all adds up to a better you, a lighter you, a more confident you. Good results are achieved over time through consistent daily efforts. Great bodies are the ones from years of training and dieting, not a quick fix.

You can certainly drop 10 lbs in only a few weeks but to develop a great figure takes more time and consistency. As long as you are doing more every day to help your figure than to hinder it, then you will always be working in the right direction.

3. They're disciplined

Discipline is everything. Discipline moves us forward in our lives and careers in the most positive manner. Doing, at times, what others are not prepared to do is the making of a champion. What are you prepared to do to reach your goal? Can you find the time to exercise five times per week? Can you stay on your diet six days a week? The greater discipline you have in your life, the more productive you will be and faster you will reach your goals.

4. They make time to exercise

Every day organise your schedule as if you don't you will soon find time for other things other than exercise. Gain good time management skills and fit in a time most days for exercise. Contrary to popular opinions, celebrities do not have infinite amounts of time to exercise but they do organise their time well and fit it into a busy schedule. Make time to exercise, no excuses.

5. They're organised

Granted many celebrities have assistants to keep a tight organised schedule, but there's no reason why you can't either. Pack your gym bag the evening before, make sure you have everything. Know what workout you are about to do, the exercises, the order etc. Plan your meals for each day and have your fridge and cupboard stocked up correctly so don't have to rely on something else.

6. They hire Personal Trainers

Most people cannot afford to have a Celebrity Personal Trainer with them for every workout, but hiring a Personal Trainer even once a week, month or even just to update your exercise program will save you a lot of time and energy and will enable you to reach your goals faster. Knowledge is everything. I can give someone one piece of advice that could make them lose 10 pounds more in one month than they would do by themselves! Get some good advice, hire a trainer that will fit your budget. I know many Personal Trainers at my Studio in Edinburgh who can help! :-)

7. They know their foods

Celebrity diets are actually not too dissimilar. Some may prefer a faddy diet plan, but the fundamentals to a fat loss diet are the same. Maintain a calorie deficit, meaning that you need to have a limit on the total amount of calories you are consuming every day. You need to be eating non-processed foods, opt instead for organic foods as much as possible and avoid refined carbohydrates such as white pasta, potatoes and rice. Eat vegetables for every dinner you have, especially from the cruciferous family.

8. They occasionally cheat

Celebrities aren't robots, they're human. They crave pizza, ice cream, burgers, and chips just like everyone else. The key is though that they eat these treats on occasion, not on a regular basis. Sometimes you have to eat some tasty fatty foods just to keep you sane, but don't beat yourself up over it. As long as 90% of the time you're doing things to aid your fat loss they're no problem. The 10% won't matter.

9. They keep a positive environment

There's a saying, "It's hard to soar like an eagle, if you hang around a bunch of chickens!" Make sure the people you spend the most amount of time with are positive people who are encouraging your efforts and not ones who always eat poorly at restaurants, the moves etc. and make you feel bad for not eating the bad foods they are eating.

10. They're in it for the long haul

Fad diets don't last. Quick fix diets don't last. Find a balance of good, clean, quality nutrition and not trying to yo-yo as often. Celebrity diets are consistent and long-term. Yes they occasionally go on a particular diet for a tour, movie, or red carpet, but they will revert to their normal diet which is manageable long-term.

Use these ten key tips for staying in celebrity shape, they will keep you well ahead of the game!

INTENT!

I'm training in the gym today and an overweight woman starts training next to me by doing seated dumbbell bicep curls and then seated shoulder lateral raises with a good rest between sets. What is her goal, her intent??? If she wants to lose weight/fat she needs to train so much differently, she's wasting her time. She needs to get as much energy out of her body as possible, and seated exercises with long rest periods is not the right way to go about it.

Focus on your intent during your sessions!

Edinburgh Personal Trainer

Congratulations to our client Jay Ali who has been working well with our trainers and has lost over 40 lbs at the Studio!

Exercise selection

Training my ass off in the gym I see a young guy come in. He sits down at the pec deck machine and does three sets of 12. He then moves onto the seated chest press and does the same, again with about a 2 min rest in between sets. This is pretty much pointless training, for a few reasons. Firstly if you want your body to change the overload principle must apply. The body must be stressed enough so that it has to adapt to stress placed upon it. The pec deck, the seated chest press, they're just not the same as the lying bench press or dumbbell press with a quality weight. We need best bang for our buck in our training and that is why exercise selection is so important.

The inner/outer thigh machine is a poor exercise selection when one could lunge or deep squat. Exercises selected at the beginning of a workout must also be the hardest. Squats, lunges, deadliest, bench press, dips etc. leave tricep pushdowns, curls etc. for the end, working small muscle groups in isolation is easy, big exercises....a bit more to ask. You wouldn't want to squat after 50 mins of training would you?

If weight loss is your goal you need to make better use of multi-joint/muscle exercises so expend as much energy as possible. Always remember that should be your goal for every weight-loss workout, get rid off as much energy as you can so plenty of reps, little rest periods, combined with quality cardio, get that bloody glycogen out of your body so fat can be utilised more efficiently.

Edinburgh Personal Trainer Mike Heatlie www.mikeheatlie.com www.mikeheatliepersonaltraining.com

Fasted Cardio for Weight Loss – Is It Worth It?

Ever thought about getting up first thing in the morning and doing some cardio training before breakfast? Many individuals perform this ritual in order to burn more body fat and attain that wonderful, lean physique!

The theory behind cardio training before breakfast is that as you don’t eat anything at all for perhaps 10-12 hours prior to exercise, your body will be in somewhat of a fasted state. Your levels of stored carbohydrates (glycogen) will be lower than normal and therefore if you train first thing in the morning you will be using a lot more fat for energy as this is the body’s second preferred source of fuel. Sounds simple enough right? Well not quite.

Many fitness experts are divided on the merits and success of training in a fasted state with many stating that it is not effective and many swearing by it. The confusion lies in the fact that training in the fasted state is effective for some goals but not for others, there is no black and white, just many grey areas!

Let me give you some examples. If an individual wanted to increase muscle mass then performing cardio training in the morning is a bad idea. Why? Well if glycogen levels are low, or lower, then the body will begin to use more fat for fuel. However the body will also dip into muscle tissue to extract proteins (amino acids) in order to convert the proteins into energy, a process known as gluconeogenesis. This is bad news for bodybuilders or anyone looking to increase muscle mass (hypertrophy) as your body will basically be eating away at your muscles!

If an individual wished to lose body fat however, and didn’t mind losing a bit of lean muscle tissue, then cardio training in a fasted state is good news. The intensity can only be that of low-moderate as it would be difficult to train highly intensely in a fasted state, although it is possible, it just depends on how much stored energy you actually have.
For individuals involved in weight training I would recommend at least two meals prior to exercise in order to produce a quality training effect, however many individuals have demonstrated quality gains through weight training first thing in the morning without breakfast.

Personally I have found that to get lean, cardio training in a fasted state 2-3 times per week is excellent and I have seen wonderful results from it. I have seen even better results if your last meal in the evening prior was a protein meal with no starchy carbs and a stimulant, such as caffeine, administered prior to morning training. The stimulant will do two things. Firstly it will spark the central nervous system into action firing up your cardiovascular system for exercise which is highly beneficial if you’re getting up at 6am!

Secondly a stimulant will help free fatty acids in the blood stream that will contribute to the burning of body fat, all good news. If you’re still sceptical over it’s merits, then simply try it for 4-6 weeks and monitor your results. Remember your goal must be to get lean, lose weight and body fat. If you are wishing to develop muscle tissue or are involved in anaerobic sports such as sprinting or weight lifting then avoid it at all costs!