The most desired and illusive fitness goal amongst my clients is a flat stomach. The Plank is going to be the key in you achieving it.

Clients that a work with generally see sit-ups or crunches as the key to a flat stomach. But in order to achieve the best possible results, you need to work all your core muscles and do so with a variety of different exercises. None better than The Plank.

The Plank works your deep abdominal muscles which; support your spine; help prevent injury and lower back pain; and acts like a corset, sucking in you whole stomach area and thereby reducing your waistline.

When performing the plank for the first time it would be  a good idea to get someone to watch you to ensure you are in the correct position.

So How Do I Do It?

Lay face down on the floor and raise yourself up so you are resting on your elbows and your knees and your back is in a straight line. Maintain this still position and brace your stomach to ensure your back remains straight. Maintain this position still for as long as you are able to keep good technique. When you are able to perform this for 1 minute, you can raise your knees of the mat and rest on your toes instead to make the exercise more difficult.

Try it and see how your stomach feels the next day! You will soon see the muscles you have been missing with your abdominal workout.

Today’ s Takeaway – Crunches do don’t get you are flat stomach. The Plank will give 10 times the results.

Many nutritionists will tell you the best way to eat is with 6 smaller meals rather than 3 larger ones. However is this really good advice? And is it realistic for people to stick to in today’s hectic world?

I try to encourage my clients to eat more regularly throughout the day and the ones who have committed to  it have on the whole, been more successful with weight-loss.  6 meals a day is pushing peoples boundaries a little though.

I find it prevents cravings for  unhealthy foods, meaning you eat less fatty foods.There is also evidence to suggest regularly fueling the body in this way has a positive effect on increasing one’s metabolism. But the success of this strategy depends on 3 key factors;

1/ You should not use your 6 meals a day as an excuse to overeat. You can’t simply eat the same amount for breakfast, lunch and dinner that you did before as well as snacking in between. You need to decrease the size of your main meals, thus allowing you to snack in between. Otherwise you will simply take on more calories than before, which will obviously go against your weight-loss aspirations.

2/ You can’t think the 6 occasions that you eat have to be meals. No one  has  time to delicately prepare 6 meals a day. You would just  need to do is pack some healthy snacks for the day. For example you snack on some fruit mid-morning and some organic mixed nuts mid-afternoon. All this takes is the planning to pack it in your bag before you go to work.

3/ Ensure your snacks are healthy such as those mentioned above. on’t snack on biscuits, cake, crisps etc, or you will make it pointless.

Today’s Takeaway – All in all eating smaller meals and snacking regularly throughout the day will bring positive results. It should allow you to cut back on the amount of carbohydrate you… Read more->

Many mixed messages exist about the role carbs (carbohydrates) should play in our daily nutritional intake. Many people live on high quantities of bread, pasta, etc. However some people avoid carbs like the plague. So what’s the truth?

Firstly you should never cut out carbohydrates completely. Carbs are the main source of our daily energy, so cutting them out completely is likely to leave you feeling sluggish, tired and lacking in energy. And  if you are following a exercise regime (which we all should be) carbs play a vital role in giving you enough energy to perform and get the most out of your workout. However eating too many carbs can lead to weight gain. So a balance needs to be struck.

For this article I will concentrate on the main sources of carbs most people choose; bread, pasta, rice and potatoes. From experience the problem with carbs centres around two issues;

A/ What sort of carbs should I be eating?
Pick ’un-refined’ rather than ’refined,’ is one simple rule. Choose brown bread over white bread, brown pasta over white pasta, and brown rice over white rice. ‘Unrefined’ means in its natural state, however ‘refined’ means the product has been tampered with either to increase its shelf life or make it more visually appealing. Refined products have been stripped of a lot of their vitamin and mineral content, and thereby makes it less healthy.

B/ How much should I be eating?
 If you are going for a workout that day, you should take on board some carbohydrates to give you the energy. But if you are not doing any exercise that day, your body will not be expending so much energy, therefore a smaller amount of carbs would suffice.

Really, you should try to have more protein and vegetables on your plate than carbohydrates. If you are having a dinner of chicken… Read more->

Interval training is essential both for optimum weight loss and fitness results. This article will detail how you can put interval training into practice.

I will use the example of walking/running because this is a form of exercise everyone has at their disposal no matter what their level of fitness, location, etc. But, all the guidelines and time-frames I will talk about can easily be used on a bike, rower, cross trainer or stepper.I

I disscused in a previous article – ‘Interval Training – Fat Loss Phenomenon?’ you have three energy systems you use for cardiovascular training, and interval training ensures that you use all three. I will give an example for each system;

1/ CP  System - For example: a 100-200m sprint. Give maximum effort for each interval, hence it should last no longer than 20/30 seconds. Allow yourself 2/3 minutes recovery time between each interval to ensure you are ready to go again for the next one. But, this does not mean you have to sprint to use this energy system.  You could jog for 3 minutes then sprint for 3o seconds, or walk for 3 minutes then jog for 30 seconds. The key is you are working as hard as you can for 30 seconds you are using your CP energy system.

2/ Lactate- For example a 400/800m run. Each interval should last between 2-5 minutes, and you should rest for the equivalent time period (i.e. 2-5 minutes). You could jog slowly for 2 minutes then run more quickly for 2 minutes. Perhaps walk for 2 minutes then jog for 2 minutes. work hard enough so you are out of breathe by the end of each interval, thereby engaging your lactate energy system.

3 Aerobic – The third and final energy system, and is what most people tend to predominantly use whilst exercising. For example a 20 minute run at a constant speed.

Here… Read more->