Alternatives to the Gym

The gym can be a great place to train yourself to achieve a particular goal, be it to enhance weight loss, fitness, muscle mass, health and so on. However there is a misconception that you “have to” join a gym in order to obtain great results. Well, that’s simply not true. So I thought I’d blog about various gym alternatives and how you can achieve the goal that you want to achieve without joining the gym.

Sports

Sports can be a great gym alternative. Whether you like team based sports or individual sports, you can be exercising vigorously without even realising that you are “exercising” – because you are more focused on the activity you are undertaking. The sport that you choose will of course affect your body in different ways. however, if your goal is to lose weight, then practically any physical sport will suffice.

I once had a teacher in primary school who referred to chess as the “mind sport”. Unfortunately under this context, chess doesn’t quite fit…even if it is a vigorous game!

Leisure Activities

How about getting outdoors and enjoying yourself with a loved one, family or friends? Have you considered hiking, riding a bike, kayaking, swimming, walking or golfing. Personally, I would categorise golf under a leisure activity as opposed to a sport, considering that leisure activities are generally less physically intensive. Under this same definition, you may classify bike riding as a sport if you are serious about your training.

Leisure activities can be a great way to have fun whilst moving around and expending excess calories. Whilst you may not be huffing and puffing, any movement is better than none. Particularly for weight loss, leisure activities can be very effective.

Your Job

Have you ever considered how sedentary your job is? If you sit in front of a computer all day long, you will need to move around at some point in order to stay healthy. Why not be more active in your daily work? This could be as simple as sitting on a ball as opposed to a chair so your muscles are constantly switched on to support your bodyweight. Bounce around on that ball just so you’re moving. Just try to be more active in your job.

A couple of years ago I was introduced to a concept that is taking off overseas where employees walk on a treadmill while typing at their computer. What a great idea!

If your goals are serious enough (after all, you should be your number one priority), you may even consider changing jobs. I know this sounds extreme, but you would be amazed at how many more calories you expend each day in a job where you are on your feet as opposed to sitting down. If you’re looking to lose weight, this could be a great initiative for you to take.

Incidental Exercise

This is everything that you do in your day-to-day activities. Try taking the stairs instead of the lift. Park further away and walk the extra distance. Ride your bike instead of taking the car. All these small things add up and will really assist weight loss.

Serious Cardio

There are plenty of cardio gym alternatives! If you want a really good cardio workout, you are going to have to get the workout intensity levels elevated. A great way to do this is go to your local park or oval and perform sprints! Alternatively you could go for a long jog or fast walk to get the heart rate up. Outdoor bike riding can be very effective, especially if you are riding in a hilly area. You could even buy your own home exercise machine to do cardio work! The key with intense exercise is to start slow and gradually work your way up as your level of fitness improves.

Serious Weight Training

Apart from purchasing your own weights, you can always develop a highly effective bodyweight training program. I’ve done this with a number of clients who didn’t feel comfortable exercising in a gym. You can work every single muscle group by just using your bodyweight believe it or not. Some basic exercises could include squats, pushups, dips, pull ups (varying grips), lunges and crunches.

So as you can see, there are plenty of gym alternatives – you just have to use your imagination!

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The Best Fat Loss Supplement

Within Australia, there are a variety of supplements available to purchase that claim to assist in fat loss.  You have everything from green tea extract to caffeine based fat loss substances, including many “proprietary blends”.  Anyone who is new to the world of fat loss is sure to be baffled by the numerous choices available!

So, here’s the golden question – what is the best fat loss supplement?  I’ll begin with the long answer.

When you are seeking to lose fat weight, the most effective method to lose fat effectively, safely and permanently is to develop brand new lifestyle habits.  By developing a new lifestyle that is supportive of fat loss, you will lose inevitably weight.

Ultimately, your body is a function of the environment that you subject it to.  A 50kg person exercises and eats in a way that supports a body mass of 50kg.  A 150kg person exercises and eats in a way that supports a body mass of 150kg.  Yes, there are of course many, many details to consider, yet at the end of the day, this is the reality for a normal human being.  Of course, if there are medical considerations (such as a thyroid condition for example), then it isn’t quite this simple and you should consult your doctor.

If you haven’t developed an environment that supports the weight loss that you want to achieve, you are not going to lose weight – period.

Now getting back to the best fat loss supplement, it is imperative that before you consider supplements, you establish a sound nutritional and exercise foundation that supports healthy, sustainable weight loss.  In all honesty, there is no “magic” supplement that will be your ultimate answer to fat loss.

Supplements are designed to be exactly that – supplements.  They compliment a sound exercise and nutritional regime.  They do not replace consistent exercise and good nutrition!  You will be chasing false hopes if you expect the next fat loss supplement to be the holy grail of weight loss.

If you would like more information on the fundamentals to weight loss, please read my article “How to Lose Weight“.

Considering that you are currently losing weight at a healthy, safe and effective level, then I would advise that now would be a great time to consider supplementing with various fat loss supplements in order to ascertain which (if any) are effective in enhancing your results.  Here are a few natural, healthy, cost effective and safe supplements that I would recommend:

CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid)
Green Tea Extract
L-Carnitine Powder

Each of these have plenty of scientific evidence backing up their effectiveness with regards to fat loss.  But remember – they will do very little for you if you don’t have a sound nutritional and exercise regime established!

And now for the short answer to the question “What is the best fat loss supplement?”  – There is no “best” fat loss supplement!  There are a variety of supplemental “tools” available within the market and you will have to experiment to see which product(s) are most effective for your goals.

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Exercising to Look Good

A few weeks ago I blogged on “How to Build Muscle Quickly” where I mentioned that only a friend and I were the two remaining people who had continued to hold an active membership at a local gym after the conclusion of high school early this decade.

Well, I was in a fairly comprehensive discussion with my friend on Sunday (funnily enough, at the gym). We were contemplating where everyone had gone and why everyone had seemingly abandoned their dreams to look toned (for most of the girls) and buff (for most of the guys). However, the conversation quickly changed paths to ”exercising to look good”.

As long-term consistent exercisers, both of us agreed that exercising to look good was not a long-term strategy for success. It explains why many of our peers had dropped their gym membership and consequently “given up” on themselves. We concluded that vanity just isn’t a long-term motivating force, in solidarity.

Upon thinking about this discussion in more detail, it makes more and more sense to me. I’ll admit that when I first joined the gym at 17 years of age, I joined because I wanted to look good. It’s probably the number one reason why people join.  After all, we all want to look good don’t we?

But after a while, you come to realise first-hand that exercise has so many added side-benefits other than just “looking good”. Sure, you obtain tone by losing fat and building muscle…but the benefits to exercise are so multifaceted.  Yet it’s nearly impossible to fully comprehend these benefits if you haven’t experienced them first hand. I’m talking about the emotional, mental and spiritual benefits that defines that person. In an article I wrote three years ago, “My Transformation – Exercise And Diet Just Isnt Enough“, I discuss my first-hand experiences with these benefits of exercise. To this day, I continue to grow as a person with every single workout as I learn new things about myself not only physically, but also spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

Here’s why exercising to look good (in isolation) is like a dog chasing it’s tail. Upon initiating an exercise routine, typically it will take at least four weeks to notice any physical changes. Personally, it took me 10 weeks during my BodyBlitz competition to see the changes that I was happy with (and that was with full-on non-stop exercise and diet!). Now even if you have the patience to see this physical manifestations of your hard work, eventually you will get sick of looking at yourself in the mirror. Once you get sick of your admiring your physical being, then what do you do?

The irony is that, as I mentioned above, most people (myself included) begin exercising to look good. But as you see results, your emphasis will inevitably change from “just” exercising to look good to all these added side benefits that transcend far deeper than any physical manifestation. You begin to feel more healthier, confident, empowered, stronger (physically and emotionally), you have better concentration, enhanced sense of self, greater patience and appreciation for investment of planned time and effort. The list goes on…

Now, I’m not for one minute suggesting that exercising to look good is a bad thing, or a superficial approach to life. I think exercising for vanity is one hundred percent acceptable because “why” you exercise is your own personal choice! After all, it is your body! Personally, I still exercise to look good, but I do so in what I feel is a healthy equilibrium with all the other benefits of exercise.

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The Benefits of Stretching

Yesterday, I blogged about the benefits of exercising for health. I was inspired by Kek’s comment to elaborate on the benefits of stretching (thanks Kek!).

Unfortunately, many people overlook the benefits of stretching because it doesn’t provide you with any physical benefits. You can stretch as much as you like but it isn’t going to have any direct impact on your physical appearance.

So what are the benefits of stretching?  Well, as you’re probably aware, a major benefit of stretching is enhancing flexibility. The majority of the population is inflexible…chances are that you fall into this category.

By exercising, you are continually contracting muscles in order to generate movement. For example, bicep curls require the contraction of the bicep muscle in order to lift the bar up. Another example could be when you run, the primary muscles involved (hamstrings, quadriceps, glutes, tibialis anterior and calves) are all contracting in order for you to perform the running movement. With this continual contraction happening, these muscles will become tighter and tighter. It is therefore very important to establish a stretching routine in order to combat this tightening of muscles.

Okay, I hear you asking…”so what if I have tight muscles?”. Well, muscles attach to bones via connective tissues. If your muscles are tight, your muscles will be pulling your bones into an unnatural position. This means having poor posture which can significantly increase the likelihood of injury. Of course, there are many other bad side-effects of poor posture including self-esteem, self-image, confidence, joint degradation, spinal dysfunction and so on.

Tight muscles also restrict your range of motion when exercising.  For example, when performing a squat, having a good degree of flexibility will allow you to obtain a good stretch through the quadriceps and glutes.  However being tight will inhibit your range and increase the likelihood of injury (often through curviture of the lumbar spine as a result of tight hamstrings).

As I mentioned in the comments in my previous blog post, the three major points of injury (according to a physician at an exercise professionals seminar I assisted in hosting) were the knees, lumbar (lower) spine and shoulders. The most common reason for injury was being inflexible. I cannot count the number of clients that I have trained with at least one of these injuries that could have easily been avoided.

A secondary benefit of stretching is aiding recovery. By stretching following a workout, you do enhance flood flow to those muscles and can thus aid in nutrient transport for cell repair.

Now I know that there are studies out there saying things like ”stretching doesn’t reduce the risk of pulling a muscle”…and that may be so. But there is plenty of research out there backing up what I have said above!

Here’s an interesting point.  An increased degree of flexibility can inhibit the muscles ability to generate power. The reason is all to do with the physics of conservation of energy – a tighter muscle will conserve more energy than a more flexible muscle. If you are training for a specific power event, this may be something you may want to discuss with your personal trainer.

Finally, there are a small percentage of people who are “over-flexible” or hyperflexible. Being too flexible can have some serious side effects also, particularly with joint dislocations and joint laxity. This is because the muscles allow for too much stretch and thus an over-extension at a particular joint can occur.

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Exercising for Health

As a male in my mid 20′s, I have always been very heavily focused on training to gain muscle. Whilst not “every” younger male exercises to gain muscle, it’s definitely a prevalent goal within this demographic. There are many reasons for this, some of which include confidence, self-image, self-esteem, vanity, attracting the opposite sex, instinctual evolutionary dominance and just love of weight training!

Within this category of gym go-ers, I honestly feel that the whole aspect of “exercising for health” is overlooked. Building muscle is one thing, but if you haven’t got your health…well…you haven’t got much at all.

I’ve been guilty of this myself in the past, particularly in my late teens when I first stepped foot into the gym. I guess it is a part of maturing where you realise that you are mortal and that your health is something to be nurtured, especially as you become older.

But this discussion is not focussed on young males.  It could be anyone – from extreme contest preparation, to rapid weight loss or over-exercising for a particular event.

Exercising for health encompasses a whole array of aspects including:

• Cardiovascular fitness
• Mental health & brain function
• Nutrition
• Muscle development
• Recovery
• Disease prevention
• Injury prevention
• General health & well being

I’ve just thought of these off the top of my head. I’m sure you could think of a whole bunch of other area’s that are positively affected by a well balanced exercise regime.

What I’m getting at is this. It’s easy to undermine the importance of your health. But abuse your body and you’ll very quickly regret taking your health for granted.

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Online Fitness Program

Today we re-released a brand new version of our old “AZ Training”, which was an online fitness program that you could sign up to, select your goals and be presented with a 12 week road map to achieving your goals.

This new online fitness program, which we have entitled “VIP Online Fitness Training Program” (original isn’t it?) is a step up from the previous “AZ Training”, which is why it’s taken so long for us to release!

What I’m most excited about is FINALLY being able to release the numerous instructional video’s that I countless hours recording!  I got some decent bloopers too (none of which are going to be publicly available!).  One that I remember vividly was where I was demonstrating a standing shoulder press and lost my breath from doing too much weight!  I quickly learned that trying to talk and exercise simultaneously is only possible when you actually reduce the weight to a reasonable amount!

In a nutshell, this program not only provides you access to a whole library of exercise video’s and photo’s, but it also contains nutritional, exercise and supplement plans to suit your specific goals.

This online fitness program is our “budget” alternative to our intensive online personal training services.  Follow this link to find out more about our new online fitness training program!

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Feeling Intimidated in the Gym

I remember when I first signed up to a gym, I was overweight with no gym experience whatsoever.  I was really excited about my gym membership, yet I was quite intimidated by the weights room.  There were so many machines and I had no idea how to use anything!  Even worse, all the other guys in the gym were so much more “built” than me…I felt as if everyone was thinking “What the hell is this guy doing in the weights room!?”.

But you know what, my case of “intimidation” was really mild.  There are so many people in Australia that are intimidated to even step foot into a gym.

My question to you is this – do you fit into this category of feeling intimidated in the gym?

This could be anything from feeling that you are “too” overweight and everyone will look at you, right through to something like what I experienced; being inexperienced in the weights room.

I would estimate that 9 out of every 10 people starting out experience some degree of feeling intimidated in the gym.  Often it is based on the premise that everyone in the gym has a tight, toned body…but nothing could be further from the truth in your typical gymnasium.

When you initially walk into a gym, people are not looking at you and thinking that you’re out of place.  There are some people who are there to socialise.  Most others are there to train.  Most people are too concerned with themselves and what they are doing, to worry about anyone else.

I can honestly say this from first-hand experience.  When I first walked into the new gym many years ago, I felt like everyone was watching me.  But now, being a regular trainer at a gym, I really don’t care if a skinny guy steps foot into the weights room.  Nor do I care if an overweight person hops on the treadmill.  If anything, I commend them for being proactive and doing something positive about their health and physique!

Here’s one thing to remember, everyone has to begin somewhere.  No one was “born” fit, or “born” buff.

I guess I was fortunate in the fact that I did hire a personal trainer straight up so he could show me exactly what to do to obtain the results that I desired.  But not everyone does this and many people (both males and females) stay within their comfort zone (whether that be cardio…or just not showing up to the gym at all!)

At the end of the day, don’t let irrational fears stand in the way of you achieving your own personal goals.  No, you don’t have to join a gym to get results as there are many other alternatives.  But if you do, make sure you use that facility to your full advantage.

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The Best Muscle Building Workout

I had an excellent 3 days at the fitness convention, “FILEX” over the weekend.  I met up with many friends in the industry and also met new people from all around Australia.

What’s really great about FILEX is the information that you learn.  Definitely worth the mention is Dr Len Kravitz, an amazing educator who presents the latest research on exercise/nutrition to a number of interested industry professionals.  As you probably guessed, I’m one of them!

Unfortunately, I cannot summarise all of the research that he presented to us in a single blog post…but I was inspired to write a short blog post on “the best muscle building workout” for anyone who is after that ideal training stimulus to build maximum muscle.

Guess what – there is none.  Who would have thought?  A quick google search for “the best muscle building workout” quickly reveals 344,000 pages.  Yet the science behind the answer to this often pondered question leaves much be desired.

I really, really wish that I could say 4-6 reps to failure with 3 minutes rest was better or worse than 10-12 reps to failure with 90 seconds rest…but you know what…I can’t.  Nor can anyone make this claim in a substantiated manner because the science just doesn’t draw any solid conclusions!

However, I do have some good news.  Whilst I’m not going to go into all the individual studies (that’s more what I would do with research articles that I love publishing), there is a common theme with muscle gain:

Periodisation

What’s periodisation?  Well, in it’s simplest definition, periodisation is all about developing a planned progression in order to maximise performance and minimise overtraining and injury.  I’ll spare you all the technical jargon – it’s basically mixing up your workout to keep the body guessing.

An example of this could be going from 4-6 reps with 3 minutes rest to failure for 3 weeks, then to 6-8 reps to failure with 2 minutes rest for 3 weeks, then to 12-15 reps to failure with 90 seconds rest for 3 more weeks.  You could also change the tempo of your exercises, the exercise choices, exercise speed, order etc.

There is no “ideal” way to periodise a workout to maximise muscle building for everyone.  Everyone is an individual and everyone will respond differently.

However, there was one study which I was particularly impressed with the results from.  Over the next 8 weeks, I am going to trial this form of periodisation and see how my results go.  Here’s the structure that I am going to test out:

3 day split (legs/push/pull)
All sets to failure (I love it!)
Changing exercises every 2 weeks

Weeks 1-2: 4-6 reps, 180 seconds rest, slow/controlled execution (compound exercises primarily)
Weeks 3-4: 6-8 reps, 120 seconds rest, controlled execution (compound exercises primarily)
Weeks 5-6: 8-10 reps, 90 seconds rest, faster execution (compound/isolation mix)
Weeks 7-8: 10-12 reps, 60 seconds rest, even faster execution (compound/isolation mix)

I’ll be very interested in seeing how this pans out due to the high degree of variability of this style of training.  If I obtain great results, I’ll be prescribing it to my clients who are seeking to gain muscle.  I’m always the guinea pig

At the end of the day, I strongly suggest that you also try different training protocols to see what the best muscle building workout is for YOU.

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Why Did I Gain Weight!?

You may just be starting out with a new exercise and nutritional regime to lose weight. But at the end of week 1 you gain half a kilogram. Conversely, you may be a month into a program, be experiencing some great losses and then, out of nowhere, gain a kilogram! ”Why Did I Gain Weight??” you cry out of desperation!

Well, it happens to everyone. Weight loss is not linear and you can never predict your results with 100% accuracy. Just when you think it’s all going to plan, something will appear to throw you off course. Often, it’s the unexpected weight gain.

So why can you gain weight when you have been so diligent with your exercise and diet? There is no simple answer as there could be any (or a combination of) many things including:

• Altered hormone levels
• Poor sleep patterns
• Stress
• Changed food intake
• Altered approach to exercise
• Less incidental exercise (ie. just “moving around”)
• Changed drinking habits
• Sickness
• Mood
• Overtraining

…and the list goes on.

The fact is that there are so many chemical reactions happening simultaneously within the human body that it’s almost impossible to identify the one single reason why you experienced weight gain.

As I’ve written about numerous times in the past, weight loss is not about daily results. Sure, you can set mini goals – but as soon as you focus on each individual day, you are focusing yourself on short-term results and thus setting yourself up for failure. This is particularly true the week when you (almost inevitably) gain some weight – you’ll feel like you’re a failure!

Weight loss is a long-term goal for many of us, so we should be thinking in terms of long-term results. You should be considering the general trend of your results over a number of weeks. If, in the first three weeks, you lose an average of 1kg a week and then in the fourth week you gain half a kilogram – you’ve still averaged 0.875kg per week! At that rate, I would be suggesting to stick with the plan because in week five, you’re likely to lose some more weight if you remain consistent.

It’s time to alter your approach when you hit a plateau by not losing (or gaining) weight for multiple weeks in a row. Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, so if you’ve gone a month without any weight loss, it isn’t working! Change something before you throw the towel in and give up on yourself!

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Fallen Off the Wagon?

The Easter weekend has been and gone.  No doubt there was an interruption to your normal routine because of the public holidays and celebrations.  Now that we’re back into the normal working week, it can become hard to re-establish their previous routine.

Here’s the thing – the hardest part to achieving weight loss, muscle gain, fitness etc. results is developing the routine.  As soon as that routine is broken, this can lead to discouragement, guilt and disappointment.

Now I really dislike the phrase “fallen off the wagon” – because I don’t believe that an over-indulgence means that you’ve fallen down and everything has turned upside down.  This perception that “all is lost” once you make a minor mistake is what prevents millions of people from achieving their ultimate goals.

I’ve seen it happen a number of times – someone is going really well with their weight loss for a number of weeks.  All of a sudden a celebration such as a birthday comes along.  There is alcohol, nibbles and cake involved…and often a little bit too much!  The following day the hangover might kick in which puts exercise on the backburner.  Then, because of the amount of discouragement two days of overeating and lack of exercise has caused, this could quickly manifest itself into a string of consecutive days, weeks or even months of destructive behavior in regards to health and fitness goals.

Now consider this.  Easter was a complete blowout – some may considering themselves to have “fallen off the wagon”.  Far too many chocolate eggs and wine.  The fact is that you do need to accept that there is nothing you can do about the past.  I cannot say it more frankly than that.  You need to accept that it was a holiday and you maybe enjoyed it a little “too” much.  But hey – we all over indulge every now and then, it’s nothing to be ashamed of!

You now have a choice – you can go and be miserable and wallow in your misdemeanors, or you can get back on track.  If you get back on track, you’ll continue to put one foot in front of the other and be well on the way to achieving your ultimate goals.  The alternative, to feel sorry for yourself, isn’t going to get you anywhere and is only going to exasperate the impact of the over indulgence.

Ultimately, achieving weight loss, toning or muscle gain results is the result of a consistent approach.  It’s nearly impossible to be consistent every day of the year.  You need to accept that you are human and that you will make mistakes.  So this doesn’t mean that you’ve “fallen off the wagon!”.  But with every mistake, we are one step closer to finding the solution to getting over a guilt induced pattern of destructive behaviour and achieving long-term success.

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