Considering having a second helping of Christmas pudding with brandy custard? This article gives you a short approximate guide to how much walking you have to do to equal the number of calories/kilojoules consumed at your festive gatherings.
The chart below shows the energy burned typically by someone at 73kg in weight. The calorie (kilojoules) expenditure will vary depending on the intensity level, body weight, exercise performed, duration and the individual.
Below are some popular festive goodies and the walking needed to burn it off
Serving size Yummy Christmas fare Approx. energy consumed Total fat (approx.) Approx. amount of activity
75g medium slice Christmas cake 270 calories or 1130kjs 11gfat 1 hr 15 min walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g medium slice Panettone 365 calories or 1520kjs 13gfat 1 hr 34 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g Roast turkey (meat and skin) 170 calories or 710kjs 6.5gfat 45 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g Roast turkey (lean meat, no skin) 150 calories or 630kjs 4gfat 40 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
50g thick slice Ham 70 calories or 290kjs 4gfat 15 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g Pork (meat and fat) 215 calories or 900kjs 14gfat 55 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g Pork (lean meat only) 195 calories or 810kjs 13gfat 50 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
1 cup (250g) Brandy Custard 265 calories or 1095kjs 6gfat 1 hr 10 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
100g Xmas pudding 340 calories or 1420kjs 11gfat 1 hr 30 min medium paced walk at 5.6 km p/h
You can make a difference to your waistline AFTER Christmas by thinking twice about that second serving and opting for some healthier choices of fruit, salads, seafood and lean meats.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Merry Christmas This is my heartfelt wish to my friends and family for the holidays
May you have much happiness over the holidays. It has been an honour to know and learn from you in 2009.
May you give to yourself everyday.
May your “time off” be just that.
May you enjoy the challenge of being out of your comfort zone.
May you commit to a plan and the required action to achieve your dreams.
May you believe in yourself and fear less.
May you eat well and move everyday.
May you Laugh without loudly and regularly without hesitation.
May you love with passion.
May you be proud of the person in the mirror.
May you continue to dream bigger and brighter.
May you take the time to play.
May you work smarter and not harder.
May you feed your body well to add more time and quality to your life.
May you feel the fear and do it anyway.
May you take the time to travel and soak up the wealth and knowledge of other people and places.
May you smile, laugh, dance and sing.
May you persevere through the stretch and struggle to reach success.
May you turn all your obstacles into opportunities.
May you achieve your goals for 2010.
Merry Christmas from Chris.
May you give to yourself everyday.
May your “time off” be just that.
May you enjoy the challenge of being out of your comfort zone.
May you commit to a plan and the required action to achieve your dreams.
May you believe in yourself and fear less.
May you eat well and move everyday.
May you Laugh without loudly and regularly without hesitation.
May you love with passion.
May you be proud of the person in the mirror.
May you continue to dream bigger and brighter.
May you take the time to play.
May you work smarter and not harder.
May you feed your body well to add more time and quality to your life.
May you feel the fear and do it anyway.
May you take the time to travel and soak up the wealth and knowledge of other people and places.
May you smile, laugh, dance and sing.
May you persevere through the stretch and struggle to reach success.
May you turn all your obstacles into opportunities.
May you achieve your goals for 2010.
Merry Christmas from Chris.
7 Tips to surviving Christmas and still have fun
Do you think you may just blow your waistline over the holidays? Faced with lots of yummy food at this time of year? You can survive the silly season and enjoy your Christmas without looking like Santa by January 1.
1. Don’t eat unless you are hungry and stop eating when you are full. Does not get any clearer than that. In fact, if you take no other tips away with you, this will be the best piece of advice I can give you.
2. Don’t stop exercising because it is Christmas. If you are not already exercising regularly then don’t wait till the January 1 to start. January 1 turns into January 31 and the little doona cover around your middle gets larger so get started today. The best exercise you can do is the one that you enjoy doing. The holidays are a great time to get a game of backyard or beach cricket, volleyball or footy going. Stay cool with some beach activities or pool games. The list is endless of how much you can do that will keep you moving and is fun.
3. Drink more water. The amounts of food and alcohol we consume can be less if you drink 1 glass of water before eating and 1 glass of water between each alcoholic beverage.
4. Choose healthier and lower fat foods where possible. Choose barbequed and fresh foods over deep fried and processed foods.
5. Treat yourself to smaller amounts of party food.
6. Avoid picking at food for no good reason. Get into the Christmas spirit with activities that keep your busy. Keep moving by chatting, dancing, playing games with the kids, socializing and assisting to clean up.
7. Bring lots of healthy low fat meals and treats to the events you attend. Be mindful of the pasta and potato salads as these can be loaded with high fat dressings. By bringing along healthy food you will be helping your family and friends keep the scales down as well.
You can make a difference to the size of your bits after the silly season. Get into the habit of exercising and eating healthy now and you will survive Christmas with your body looking good and you feeling fantastic forever.
1. Don’t eat unless you are hungry and stop eating when you are full. Does not get any clearer than that. In fact, if you take no other tips away with you, this will be the best piece of advice I can give you.
2. Don’t stop exercising because it is Christmas. If you are not already exercising regularly then don’t wait till the January 1 to start. January 1 turns into January 31 and the little doona cover around your middle gets larger so get started today. The best exercise you can do is the one that you enjoy doing. The holidays are a great time to get a game of backyard or beach cricket, volleyball or footy going. Stay cool with some beach activities or pool games. The list is endless of how much you can do that will keep you moving and is fun.
3. Drink more water. The amounts of food and alcohol we consume can be less if you drink 1 glass of water before eating and 1 glass of water between each alcoholic beverage.
4. Choose healthier and lower fat foods where possible. Choose barbequed and fresh foods over deep fried and processed foods.
5. Treat yourself to smaller amounts of party food.
6. Avoid picking at food for no good reason. Get into the Christmas spirit with activities that keep your busy. Keep moving by chatting, dancing, playing games with the kids, socializing and assisting to clean up.
7. Bring lots of healthy low fat meals and treats to the events you attend. Be mindful of the pasta and potato salads as these can be loaded with high fat dressings. By bringing along healthy food you will be helping your family and friends keep the scales down as well.
You can make a difference to the size of your bits after the silly season. Get into the habit of exercising and eating healthy now and you will survive Christmas with your body looking good and you feeling fantastic forever.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Fitness on a shoestring budget.
Are you using the current economic climate as the reason not to exercise? You may be doing it tough, but Australia is becoming soft around the middle as a result of deskbound work, increased reliance on our vehicles for transportation, fast food, and technology that makes things easier. It is a perfect recipe for the expanding girth of our population.
“Don’t use the justification that you have no money as the excuse not to be healthy” says Chris Bakens from Healthy Executives. “The truth is, you do not need lots of cash to get fit. You just need the desire to want to make a difference to your health and fitness and transform your sedentary lifestyle.”
Investing time on your health now will give you a healthy way of life, and put you in a better financial position by preventing costly health problems later.
There are 7 tips below to get started today for little or no money at all.
1. Exercise in the comfort of your own home. Exercise DVD’s or some of the Pay TV channels have regular programs that focus on getting you moving. If you don’t have any of these available to you, then join your local Library and borrow them, and what’s more...it’s FREE.
2. Your local community parks have pathways to walk and run as well as fixed equipment to exercise. Check out your local council website or service desk to find out where. All you will need to get started is to have some comfortable clothing you can move in, supportive footwear and slip, slop, slap.
3. FREE group exercise. Most of the major capital cities have regular group fitness activities that are run by their local councils. It is also worthwhile checking out some of the major privatized parklands in your city for FREE exercise programs (E.g. Southbank parklands).
4. Include your family. Get outside with your kids. Dust off the bikes in the shed, shoot some hoops, kick the footy or play some tag. Nothing exudes happiness more than some quality time with the people who mean the most to you in life. Take a trip to the beach this week-end to go for walks on the beach, beach cricket, body board some surf, or beach soccer.
5. Surf the Internet. Want some FREE advice on how to get started on an exercise program? There are many FREE programs available to you at a press of a button and awaiting you to take action.
6. Weights workout with no fancy equipment. You can work your legs at the gym using the leg press, but unless you are planning on pushing rocks up a hill, you can’t really apply it to every-day life. Use body weight to become mentally and physically stronger. Push ups, dips, chin ups, squats, and lunges will give you are more efficient and balanced body in regard to appearance and function.
7. Group fitness at work. Get a bunch of your work colleagues together for a regular run or walk at the park. Seek the guidance of a qualified Personal Trainer to come to your workplace or Local Park to monitor and guide you with your program and give you the accountability you require.
In summary: The military have a simple philosophy: improvise, adapt and overcome. It refers to every situation of everything you do. If it is too cold to exercise, then put an extra layer on, if it is too hot to exercise then drink more water or participate in some water activities. Whatever your circumstances, it is your goal to improvise, adapt and overcome and get your workouts done.
“Don’t use the justification that you have no money as the excuse not to be healthy” says Chris Bakens from Healthy Executives. “The truth is, you do not need lots of cash to get fit. You just need the desire to want to make a difference to your health and fitness and transform your sedentary lifestyle.”
Investing time on your health now will give you a healthy way of life, and put you in a better financial position by preventing costly health problems later.
There are 7 tips below to get started today for little or no money at all.
1. Exercise in the comfort of your own home. Exercise DVD’s or some of the Pay TV channels have regular programs that focus on getting you moving. If you don’t have any of these available to you, then join your local Library and borrow them, and what’s more...it’s FREE.
2. Your local community parks have pathways to walk and run as well as fixed equipment to exercise. Check out your local council website or service desk to find out where. All you will need to get started is to have some comfortable clothing you can move in, supportive footwear and slip, slop, slap.
3. FREE group exercise. Most of the major capital cities have regular group fitness activities that are run by their local councils. It is also worthwhile checking out some of the major privatized parklands in your city for FREE exercise programs (E.g. Southbank parklands).
4. Include your family. Get outside with your kids. Dust off the bikes in the shed, shoot some hoops, kick the footy or play some tag. Nothing exudes happiness more than some quality time with the people who mean the most to you in life. Take a trip to the beach this week-end to go for walks on the beach, beach cricket, body board some surf, or beach soccer.
5. Surf the Internet. Want some FREE advice on how to get started on an exercise program? There are many FREE programs available to you at a press of a button and awaiting you to take action.
6. Weights workout with no fancy equipment. You can work your legs at the gym using the leg press, but unless you are planning on pushing rocks up a hill, you can’t really apply it to every-day life. Use body weight to become mentally and physically stronger. Push ups, dips, chin ups, squats, and lunges will give you are more efficient and balanced body in regard to appearance and function.
7. Group fitness at work. Get a bunch of your work colleagues together for a regular run or walk at the park. Seek the guidance of a qualified Personal Trainer to come to your workplace or Local Park to monitor and guide you with your program and give you the accountability you require.
In summary: The military have a simple philosophy: improvise, adapt and overcome. It refers to every situation of everything you do. If it is too cold to exercise, then put an extra layer on, if it is too hot to exercise then drink more water or participate in some water activities. Whatever your circumstances, it is your goal to improvise, adapt and overcome and get your workouts done.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The A – Z of stretching, sweating, jigging and jogging
Health and fitness: Something you achieve by worrying yourself sick over all the things you are not allowed to eat and drink.
Selections from humorous guide that was given to me 20 years ago from my mother. Some things just never change.
A – Athlete. One who owns three pairs of jogging shoes.
B - Black Forest cake. There are a number of items listed in the weight watchers hall of fame. Mom’s apple pie with cream or ice-cream, croissants, peanut butter larded on bread and smeared with honey, drooling chunks of camembert cheese – but if you really want to sink into mega-calorific bliss, perhaps the ultimate indulgence is Black Forest cake.
C - Cellulite. Expensive way of spelling fat.
D - Deep Breathing. Something one usually hears on the telephone.
E - Exercise. Pushing, panting, perspiring, pounding, palpitating, suffering in the hope that you will get more time on this earth so that you can do more suffering.
F - Fun Run. Strange modern phenomenon usually seen only in affluent Western societies. Crowds of anything up to 25,000 don strange clothing and relentlessly run across a course of 15 to 30 kilometres. The activity is very curiously named.
G - Golf. Some say it is a good walk spoiled, but more likely it is a good game spoiled by walking. However, now there are electric golf buggies with comfy seats, and even refreshment bars. Who would want to walk, indeed?
H - Health. Something you achieve by worrying yourself sick over all the things you are not allowed to eat and drink.
I - Instant Coffee. Always beware of instant anything: Instant friends, instant marriages, instant love affairs, instant s*x, instant contracts, instant porridge, but above all beware of two horrid inventions of our time, instant tea and instant coffee. If you are to have your heart slowed, your arteries hardened, your sleep destroyed, for heaven’s sake have the real thing.
J - Junk Food. Food that is good to eat. One of the great anomalies yet to explained by medical scientists (and theologians): why does food that allegedly makes you unhealthy always taste so much better than food that allegedly makes you healthy?
K - Kilograms. Perhaps the only satisfying aspect of the metric system is this: if you convert pounds to kilograms you come out at less than half the weight.
L - Living. A health hazard.
M - Metabolism. Something always possessed by other creatures. You see them at McDonalds feasting on Big Macs, washed down by milk shakes; you see them at Chez Pierre’s feasting on Duck a-l’Orange and Mousse Chocolat, their figures incredible, undamaged. Whereas you, noble creature that you are, the epitome of self denial, have only to walk past a Mars Bar to put on a kilogram. Ah, If only you had their good metabolism.
N - Nautilus. System of tension weights. Probably first invented by the Spanish Inquisition during the 15th century. Ideal for extracting confessions.
O - Obese. It is unfair the word they use...pot bellied, corpulent, portly, roly-poly, stout, tubby, abdominous, paunchy, buxom, bosomy, Junoesque, pneumatic, well-stacked, Wagnerian, well-upholstered, endomorphic, Brobdingnagian, amplitudinous, elephantine, steatopygous, and...ah yes...FAT!
P - Push Ups. A refined method of human cruelty. In boarding school days, apart from a thrashing, there were two methods for inflicting punishment on schoolboys...write 1000 lines or do 100 push ups. The body sags, the arms begin to shriek. Now push-ups are an essential part of one’s joyous life at the health studio.
Q - Queasy. That uneasy feeling you get in the stomach when confronted by yoghurt or a soy bean salad.
R – Rowing machine. A device where no one follows you in a speed boat, no Cox barks rating instructions, no one hollers from the river bank on a bicycle, the tide never flows against you and you never get your feet wet.
S – Sweat. Distasteful human condition now costing mega-millions in TV-advertised deodorants.
T – Tofu. It is made out of soy beans. It is a high protein bean curd and tastes like compressed office paste. Japanese triumph like the Sony, Suzuki, and the Seiko. Anyone who can bear to eat it merits glory and deserves to be as thin as a chopstick.
U – Unfit. When you to pant while working the computer.
V – Vegemite. You must appreciate that Vegemite is not just a spread; it goes deep into the Australian ethos. Australians far from home start to get nervous and frantic when they can’t get this mysterious substance which looks as if it should be used for making roads. They are like Saxon’s without their woad or Scot’s without their haggis. It is rich in vitamin B and other mysterious substances. Actually it is made from spent yeast, usually from the brewery. How wonderful that thirsty people drink their beer to Vegemite possible.
W – Wheat Germ. Oh Hell! You’ve got to get into wheat germ. This is the embryo of the wheat kernel; it’s the life force, rich in vitamins E and B. The health freaks tell us that you don’t get it at all in refined flour. The large wheat processes toss it out as undesirable. It is so delicate you have to keep in a screw top bottle and refrigerate it. Ideal on fruit in the morning. It tastes just like sawdust.
X – Xenophobia. Dislike, even detestation of all foreigners. This is why the Olympic Games are so popular. They are another substitute for war.
Y – Yoghurt. Semi-solid, sourish, junket-like, curd-like, food prepared from milk fermented by added bacteria. Invented by the Arabs on camel back to combat impossible heat conditions. Health nuts eat it as a sort of penance.
Z – Zen. Mystic Asian philosophy which, you hope, might explain why you do all these things.
From the Book The Health and Fitness Dictionary by Dunstan and Hook.
Author and journalists Keith Dunstan and Jeff Hook together pound and pant through this side splitting guide to fighting fitness and muscular might.
Selections from humorous guide that was given to me 20 years ago from my mother. Some things just never change.
A – Athlete. One who owns three pairs of jogging shoes.
B - Black Forest cake. There are a number of items listed in the weight watchers hall of fame. Mom’s apple pie with cream or ice-cream, croissants, peanut butter larded on bread and smeared with honey, drooling chunks of camembert cheese – but if you really want to sink into mega-calorific bliss, perhaps the ultimate indulgence is Black Forest cake.
C - Cellulite. Expensive way of spelling fat.
D - Deep Breathing. Something one usually hears on the telephone.
E - Exercise. Pushing, panting, perspiring, pounding, palpitating, suffering in the hope that you will get more time on this earth so that you can do more suffering.
F - Fun Run. Strange modern phenomenon usually seen only in affluent Western societies. Crowds of anything up to 25,000 don strange clothing and relentlessly run across a course of 15 to 30 kilometres. The activity is very curiously named.
G - Golf. Some say it is a good walk spoiled, but more likely it is a good game spoiled by walking. However, now there are electric golf buggies with comfy seats, and even refreshment bars. Who would want to walk, indeed?
H - Health. Something you achieve by worrying yourself sick over all the things you are not allowed to eat and drink.
I - Instant Coffee. Always beware of instant anything: Instant friends, instant marriages, instant love affairs, instant s*x, instant contracts, instant porridge, but above all beware of two horrid inventions of our time, instant tea and instant coffee. If you are to have your heart slowed, your arteries hardened, your sleep destroyed, for heaven’s sake have the real thing.
J - Junk Food. Food that is good to eat. One of the great anomalies yet to explained by medical scientists (and theologians): why does food that allegedly makes you unhealthy always taste so much better than food that allegedly makes you healthy?
K - Kilograms. Perhaps the only satisfying aspect of the metric system is this: if you convert pounds to kilograms you come out at less than half the weight.
L - Living. A health hazard.
M - Metabolism. Something always possessed by other creatures. You see them at McDonalds feasting on Big Macs, washed down by milk shakes; you see them at Chez Pierre’s feasting on Duck a-l’Orange and Mousse Chocolat, their figures incredible, undamaged. Whereas you, noble creature that you are, the epitome of self denial, have only to walk past a Mars Bar to put on a kilogram. Ah, If only you had their good metabolism.
N - Nautilus. System of tension weights. Probably first invented by the Spanish Inquisition during the 15th century. Ideal for extracting confessions.
O - Obese. It is unfair the word they use...pot bellied, corpulent, portly, roly-poly, stout, tubby, abdominous, paunchy, buxom, bosomy, Junoesque, pneumatic, well-stacked, Wagnerian, well-upholstered, endomorphic, Brobdingnagian, amplitudinous, elephantine, steatopygous, and...ah yes...FAT!
P - Push Ups. A refined method of human cruelty. In boarding school days, apart from a thrashing, there were two methods for inflicting punishment on schoolboys...write 1000 lines or do 100 push ups. The body sags, the arms begin to shriek. Now push-ups are an essential part of one’s joyous life at the health studio.
Q - Queasy. That uneasy feeling you get in the stomach when confronted by yoghurt or a soy bean salad.
R – Rowing machine. A device where no one follows you in a speed boat, no Cox barks rating instructions, no one hollers from the river bank on a bicycle, the tide never flows against you and you never get your feet wet.
S – Sweat. Distasteful human condition now costing mega-millions in TV-advertised deodorants.
T – Tofu. It is made out of soy beans. It is a high protein bean curd and tastes like compressed office paste. Japanese triumph like the Sony, Suzuki, and the Seiko. Anyone who can bear to eat it merits glory and deserves to be as thin as a chopstick.
U – Unfit. When you to pant while working the computer.
V – Vegemite. You must appreciate that Vegemite is not just a spread; it goes deep into the Australian ethos. Australians far from home start to get nervous and frantic when they can’t get this mysterious substance which looks as if it should be used for making roads. They are like Saxon’s without their woad or Scot’s without their haggis. It is rich in vitamin B and other mysterious substances. Actually it is made from spent yeast, usually from the brewery. How wonderful that thirsty people drink their beer to Vegemite possible.
W – Wheat Germ. Oh Hell! You’ve got to get into wheat germ. This is the embryo of the wheat kernel; it’s the life force, rich in vitamins E and B. The health freaks tell us that you don’t get it at all in refined flour. The large wheat processes toss it out as undesirable. It is so delicate you have to keep in a screw top bottle and refrigerate it. Ideal on fruit in the morning. It tastes just like sawdust.
X – Xenophobia. Dislike, even detestation of all foreigners. This is why the Olympic Games are so popular. They are another substitute for war.
Y – Yoghurt. Semi-solid, sourish, junket-like, curd-like, food prepared from milk fermented by added bacteria. Invented by the Arabs on camel back to combat impossible heat conditions. Health nuts eat it as a sort of penance.
Z – Zen. Mystic Asian philosophy which, you hope, might explain why you do all these things.
From the Book The Health and Fitness Dictionary by Dunstan and Hook.
Author and journalists Keith Dunstan and Jeff Hook together pound and pant through this side splitting guide to fighting fitness and muscular might.
Monday, November 23, 2009
The 5 fastest tips to look tight, toned and tasty for the holidays.
Waiting till January 1 to get started on your best year ever?
Want some simple strategies to be in the best shape you can before the holidays?
1. Do 30 – 40 minutes of planned exercise every day:
Fit people burn fat faster. Unfortunately most people claim to be time poor or financially broke and are not really committed to making a difference to their health at all. If you gave them a couple of extra hours per day or money in the bank, they would spend it unwisely. The first step is to reclaim your priorities and reassess your routines and habits. Schedule some daily exercise that you will enjoy. Don’t just write it on your “To do “list!! “To do” lists never get done. Instead, write a “Things that have to get done” list, and separate it from the “What would be nice to get done” list.
2. Follow 80 /20 rule of eating:
80% of what you eat should look like it came out of the ground. Eat mostly fruit, vegetables, grains etc. The 20% is the other stuff like meat, dairy, sweets etc. Examine the contents of your next meal and see if it passes the 80/20 rule. Also aim for low fat foods to have less chance of accumulating as fat on your body.
3. Drink more water:
People who are dehydrated feel exhausted and tired. When you are dehydrated you are less likely to get up from the couch and exercise. Aim to drink more water every day. A good rule of thumb is to drink more water than you are drinking now.
4. Lift some weights:
There is nothing better than a body that is strong and healthy. After the age of 20 we lose lean muscle mass at a rate of 1 – 2 kg per decade. This can be reversed by lifting weights on a weekly basis. The more lean muscle we have, the higher our metabolism. The higher the metabolism, the more body fat we burn. If you have not got a program then have a chat to a Personal Trainer to design a plan that is right for you.
5. Puff a little harder when you exercise:
Getting out of your comfort zone is the key to reaching your goals. If you have put aside 30 minutes per day to exercise, then spend it wisely on puffing a little harder. And don’t forget the power of incidental exercise (I like to call it accidental exercise).Walk past the lifts to take the stairs, get outside and play with your kids instead of watching TV with them, and walk to the shops instead of driving. Remember...fit people burn fat faster.
Want some simple strategies to be in the best shape you can before the holidays?
1. Do 30 – 40 minutes of planned exercise every day:
Fit people burn fat faster. Unfortunately most people claim to be time poor or financially broke and are not really committed to making a difference to their health at all. If you gave them a couple of extra hours per day or money in the bank, they would spend it unwisely. The first step is to reclaim your priorities and reassess your routines and habits. Schedule some daily exercise that you will enjoy. Don’t just write it on your “To do “list!! “To do” lists never get done. Instead, write a “Things that have to get done” list, and separate it from the “What would be nice to get done” list.
2. Follow 80 /20 rule of eating:
80% of what you eat should look like it came out of the ground. Eat mostly fruit, vegetables, grains etc. The 20% is the other stuff like meat, dairy, sweets etc. Examine the contents of your next meal and see if it passes the 80/20 rule. Also aim for low fat foods to have less chance of accumulating as fat on your body.
3. Drink more water:
People who are dehydrated feel exhausted and tired. When you are dehydrated you are less likely to get up from the couch and exercise. Aim to drink more water every day. A good rule of thumb is to drink more water than you are drinking now.
4. Lift some weights:
There is nothing better than a body that is strong and healthy. After the age of 20 we lose lean muscle mass at a rate of 1 – 2 kg per decade. This can be reversed by lifting weights on a weekly basis. The more lean muscle we have, the higher our metabolism. The higher the metabolism, the more body fat we burn. If you have not got a program then have a chat to a Personal Trainer to design a plan that is right for you.
5. Puff a little harder when you exercise:
Getting out of your comfort zone is the key to reaching your goals. If you have put aside 30 minutes per day to exercise, then spend it wisely on puffing a little harder. And don’t forget the power of incidental exercise (I like to call it accidental exercise).Walk past the lifts to take the stairs, get outside and play with your kids instead of watching TV with them, and walk to the shops instead of driving. Remember...fit people burn fat faster.
Monday, November 16, 2009
7 Reasons your workout routine sucks!!
1. You don’t keep it fun or interesting. The best exercise to do is the one you enjoy doing. Exercise that you don’t enjoy is a killer. If there is one sure way to be turned off regular exercise, it would be that you are not looking to make the experience enjoyable. Plug in a set of headphones the next time you jump on the treadmill and watch your favourite TV shows, or listen to your favourite music while out walking. Keep it fun so you can count on coming back for more. Can’t find regular activity you like? Be patient if you are having difficulty choosing or sticking to an activity. It may take quite a few tries before you feel like something clicks.
2. You don’t schedule daily exercise in your calendar/diary. ‘Not enough time,’ ‘too busy’ and ‘can’t afford it’ are all just forms of a sickness called Excuse-i-tis. Establish a regular schedule for physical activity. Be active while watching TV. Ride a stationary bike, walk on the treadmill, step up and down on a step/bench, use some dumbbells, or do some stretching during your favourite TV shows...just get up and get moving more often!
3. You only focus on one element of fitness. Work on a variety of exercises to work on the 3 elements of fitness. Include some endurance (anything that sustains your heart rate up for an above average period of time), strength training (lifting weights and providing resistance for your muscles to get stronger), and flexibility training (the ability to move the joints through their entire range of motion to provide length and suppleness).
4. You are lifting more weight than you can handle. You know you are lifting too much weight when your technique is sacrificed in order to lift a heavier load. Gradually increase the resistance of your workout to prevent injury. Talk to any bodybuilder and they will tell you it is not about how much weight you lift. If you have to jerk your body while lifting your weight then you are lifting too much.
5. Not exercising intensely enough - Leaning on the side bars of the stair-master will lower the intensity of the workout as well as put a strain on your wrists and lower back. If your intention is to lose body-fat then you will need to exercise intensely enough to get you huffing and puffing with a light sweat. (E.g. reading a magazine while riding a stationary bike...need I say more)
6. You don’t know how to use the equipment. Seek out the guidance of a trained professional on how to use the equipment effectively. It is worth investing in a Personal Trainer (even for 1 session) to demonstrate correct technique and the intensity at which you should be working to.
7. You focus on quantity rather than quality. You don’t need to work out for a long period of time to get the results you need. Be realistic about what you actually want to achieve for your fitness and seek out professional guidance to give you some pointers in the right direction. There is an old saying in the fitness industry “You can work hard and you can work long...but you can’t do both!”
Chris Gent- Healthy Executives Performance Coach
2. You don’t schedule daily exercise in your calendar/diary. ‘Not enough time,’ ‘too busy’ and ‘can’t afford it’ are all just forms of a sickness called Excuse-i-tis. Establish a regular schedule for physical activity. Be active while watching TV. Ride a stationary bike, walk on the treadmill, step up and down on a step/bench, use some dumbbells, or do some stretching during your favourite TV shows...just get up and get moving more often!
3. You only focus on one element of fitness. Work on a variety of exercises to work on the 3 elements of fitness. Include some endurance (anything that sustains your heart rate up for an above average period of time), strength training (lifting weights and providing resistance for your muscles to get stronger), and flexibility training (the ability to move the joints through their entire range of motion to provide length and suppleness).
4. You are lifting more weight than you can handle. You know you are lifting too much weight when your technique is sacrificed in order to lift a heavier load. Gradually increase the resistance of your workout to prevent injury. Talk to any bodybuilder and they will tell you it is not about how much weight you lift. If you have to jerk your body while lifting your weight then you are lifting too much.
5. Not exercising intensely enough - Leaning on the side bars of the stair-master will lower the intensity of the workout as well as put a strain on your wrists and lower back. If your intention is to lose body-fat then you will need to exercise intensely enough to get you huffing and puffing with a light sweat. (E.g. reading a magazine while riding a stationary bike...need I say more)
6. You don’t know how to use the equipment. Seek out the guidance of a trained professional on how to use the equipment effectively. It is worth investing in a Personal Trainer (even for 1 session) to demonstrate correct technique and the intensity at which you should be working to.
7. You focus on quantity rather than quality. You don’t need to work out for a long period of time to get the results you need. Be realistic about what you actually want to achieve for your fitness and seek out professional guidance to give you some pointers in the right direction. There is an old saying in the fitness industry “You can work hard and you can work long...but you can’t do both!”
Chris Gent- Healthy Executives Performance Coach
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