by 24fit | Apr 7, 2015 | Injury Prevention, Joint Staibility, Over 35s
Steve Berkman, a physiotherapist from London, reports a big rise in the number of women undertaking challenges such as the London Marathon and triathlons.
‘Only this morning I have had three female first-time marathon runners in the clinic,’ he says. ‘They may have the cardiovascular fitness to run 15 to 20 miles at the weekend, but in the rush to get fit they haven’t given their muscles and tendons time to adapt, so they got injured.’ Read Article
JOINT STABILITY PROGRAM – Do some “Kevlar Training” infrastructure building for the human body, toughening the joints, creating stability at every joint. This involves the use of light weights and other exercises to strengthen all the little “helper muscles” around the joints, which, along with a lot of stretching insures that each joint is functioning properly. Phase 1 of the 24 Fit workout prepares the body for the more strenuous work to come later in the training cycle.
Who needs a Joint Stability Program?
- How fit are you?? Have you spent the last 5-10 years working at a PC or been “inactive”?
- Over 35, and not exercised much recently? By your mid-30s, most people still look young, but are already experiencing the BIG Three of aging: deteriorating lean muscle mass, worsening posture, and crumbling joints…
- Preparing for an endurance event? Modern man or woman is inactive for 22 or 23 hours a day, then will bolt off on heart throbbing run for 45mins. Our ancestors would have been exposed to a wider range of activities, so their tendons and ligaments would be hardened by constant movement. These days when modern man/woman are subjected to bouts of repetitive motion, like running, stress and wear are accelerated and they end up at the physios. Some studies show that 50% of runners, for example, get injured enough so that can’t run.
- Serious athlete – Elite and professional athletes spend half of their workout time in the gym on injury prevention. All strength and conditioning programs must begin with a joint stability phase where the body is hardened against injury.
- About to start some insane workout? Both unfit and over 35 and just about to start some crazy workout, then pre – book an appointment at the physios now!
“After a careful review of the P90X workout when it first came out we predicted a plethora of overuse and traumatic injuries. Since then I have had to explain to the many clients injured from these high intensity, ill designed training programs that not even my Olympians would hold up under the stress of these workouts. The creators of this training program were apparently not alive during the 1980’s when Jane Fonda type workouts caused an epidemic of joint and muscle injuries from jumping and running on hard surfaces and `performing body weight exercises with no regard for form and technique” Robert Forster
Militarization of Fitness? Is it sustainable? “Do you believe any of the following are true?
No pain, no gain. You have to suffer to get in shape.
More is always more.
Working out is not fun, but it’s an obligation.
If I don’t almost throw up, I’m holding back too much.
You’re only as good as your last workout.
I feel like a loser when I miss a workout.
If you answered yes, then you’re at the “exercise is war” understanding of fitness!
“I spent a decade there, with plenty of joint casualties and war stories to prove it. So I’m not belittling you—I’m just saying that this isn’t the only way to train, and it sure as heck isn’t sustainable” Jonathan Angelilli
Article about the Militarization Of Fitness
What’s a better approach to working out?
The basic premise of all well designed exercise programs is the progressive overload principle. Fitness must be “pushed” from below, i.e. starting slow and progressing to harder workouts slowly. In addition, what recreational athletes and fitness enthusiasts don’t realize is that elite and professional athletes spend half of their workout time in the gym on injury prevention. All strength and conditioning programs must begin with a joint stability phase where the body is hardened against injury.
PHASE 1 : WEEKS 1–8
Spine and Pelvis Stabilization
Shoulder Stabilization
Total Body Integration
Metabolic 1
#24fitworkout
#jointstabilityprogram
by 24fit | Jan 2, 2015 | Body Composition, Fat Burning, Metabolic Analysis, Nutrition, Periodization Training, Strength Training, Wellness Coaching
Happy New Year! Wishing all users of the 24Fit Workout a Happy and Healthy 2015. Good luck with all of your fitness goals!
Here are some tips for losing body fat in the New Year:
Nutrition
1. Min 15g of protein with every meal, personalised to the individual. For example, a male who is 5ft 10″ requires more protein than a female at 5 ft. 4″. Contact us for a protein prescription.
2. Think plant protein on every shopping trip e.g. Quinoa/Almonds. Plant Protein is low in saturated fat, alkaline-forming and easy to digest.
3. Choose Formula 1 Shake for breakfast, a healthy and tasty form of plant protein and also contains complex carbs fibre and nutrients.
4. Focus on balanced nutrition, replace high fat, high calorie, high sugar, low nutrition foods with nutritionally dense foods such as the Formula 1 Nutritional Shake Mix and meal bars. If you don’t maintain good levels of macro and micro nutrients, you may find you are never satisfied after eating, or still lack energy, making you reach for products such as sugary drinks, biscuits or other unhealthy snacks. These foods can cause an energy spike (rise in blood sugar) followed by an energy crash (fall in blood sugar), which leads to further fatigue and hunger. vitamins and minerals play a key role in cell function converting macronutrients into energy. It’s not just about counting calories it’s about balanced nutrition.
5. Skip the empty calories of starchy or sugary food. Avoid processed carbs. They prevent use of fats, spike insulin, and cause inflammation. Don’t eat carbs alone.
6. Find alternative to carb based snacks with those sugar highs and lows. Choose from fruit, protein and vegetable snacks. Eat protein with every snack e.g. 4 almonds with an apple
7. Ideal proportions for balanced main meal? 1/2 vegetable/salad, 1/4 protein, 1/4 carbs
8. 24Fit Nutrition Philosophy: 30% fats, 40% carbs, 30% protein from both foods and supplements
9. Take a break after each course. It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to communicate to your brain that it has had enough. You’ll enjoy more, and eat less.
10. Focus on low GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels.
11. Use the Herbalife meal replacement programme to reduce your calorie intake say 250-500 calories less than your active metabolic rate. And calorie intake personalised to body composition, gender and activity. To lose weight you need to create a deficit in calories from your active metabolic rate. However, WITHOUT LOSING LEAN MUSCLE. There here are 101 ways to reduce your calorie intake, but many restricted diets may lead to losing muscle. Reduce calories whilst getting many more nutrients than everyday foods ( protein, fibre, vitamins & minerals, complex carbs), the science of meal replacement. Feed the body so its gets everything it needs, its fully nourished, that’s not a low calorie cereal for breakfast and low calorie soup for lunch! Exercise on a restricted diet, can be counterproductive as you lose muscle rather than gain it..
12. The key to sustainable weight loss (as opposed to the “yoyo” weight loss and weight gain of trendy weight loss fads) is a high resting metabolic rate as well as balanced nutrition. Your resting metabolic rate, or the calories you burn throughout every minute of the day, is much more important for weight management than the calories you burn while exercising. One pound of muscle burns about 15 calories, one pound of fat burns 3 calories.
13. Strength training 3 times a week for 30 mins (at gym with equipment, a class with weights, fit camp with own body weight, at home with resistance bands/dumbbells with the 24Fit Workout)
14. Take part in your favourite cardio exercise (dancing, walking, running etc.)
15. Over 35? Step up your strength training. By your mid-30s, most people still look young, but are already experiencing the BIG Three of aging: deteriorating lean muscle mass, worsening posture, and crumbling joints.
16. Choose “Periodization Training” (24 Fit Workout) over the “Militarization of Fitness“. Teach your body to burn body fat over time rather than just burn carbs.
17. Use a post workout shake after training which accelerates lean muscle growth, which in turn revs your metabolism and burns more fat, and speeds up recovery. Eating soon after your workout not only speeds the recovery process, it also can prevent you from feeling deeply ravenous and overeating later on. Recovery shake = 10-20 of protein.
Metabolic Analysis
18. Focus on metabolic age and resting metabolic rate rather than weight and BMI. Metabolic age can give you greater insight into your health habits. A metabolic age that is substantially lower than your chronological age means, compared to the average person in your age group, you have more muscle mass, less fat, are probably more active, and therefore can consume more calories.
19. Metabolic testing unlocks the secrets held in the individual physiology of each of our clients and is crucial to our success in helping people of all ages and abilities reach peak fitness and optimum body weight. Many clients come to us in frustration because they have reduced their calorie intake and increased their training, but are still unable to achieve the body they desire. At this point, they are consuming fewer calories than their body needs for basic systems function, forcing their metabolism to slow to an idle to conserve every calorie consumed. The result is a sluggish metabolism that stores fat instead of burning it for energy. With the information gleaned from this test, we can accurately prescribe for you the quantity of calories you need in order to keep your metabolism revving all day long. The result is less body fat and more energy.
Challenges
20. Pick a Spring Event Goal: Having a specific event to train for like a 5K or a charity bike ride will give you purpose and added motivation to train through the difficult winter months.
21. Utilise Herbalife Challenges: Level 10 Body Transformation Challenge, 5k in 5 weeks, Weight Loss (biggest loser challenge), and 24 Fit Challenge. It takes 90 days to change eating and exercise habits so use the 90 day challenges to help you with motivation.
Education, advice and support
22. Use Wellness Coaching with 24Fit to transition from where you are to where you would like to be: 1.Nutrition 2.Exercise 3.Metabolic Analysis. 4.Challenges, 5. Education, advice and support.
23. Use Herbalife programmes to establish a healthy pattern for yourself a structured eating routine – say, a Formula 1 shake in the morning, a piece of fruit mid-morning, a salad or veggies with protein for lunch(or another shake or meal bar), a protein snack in the afternoon, and a well-balanced dinner. Programmes available:
“Get Lean and Fit”
“Get Ripped”
“Performance Nutrition”
In summary, balanced nutrition, a healthy active lifestyle, tracking results, challenges and a personalised programme to get results. Message us for advice.
by 24fit | Nov 18, 2014 | Fitness DVDs, Injury Prevention, Periodization Training
Stop The Insanity!
Every day we see more extreme “fitness programs” advertised with high-intensity workouts and volumes of work that even my elite athletes would never hold up to. “What most recreational athletes and fitness buffs don’t realize is that elite athletes spend more than half of their time in the gym on injury prevention, and the rest of the time on performance enhancement. Safe and effective stretching and injury prevention workouts might not be spectacular to watch, but they allow athletes to work harder at their sport and in the gym on performance enhancement.” Robert Forster – Physical Therapist to 42 Olympic Medalists, NBA and Grand Slam Champions and Member of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness.
What Jonathan Angelilli in his article “The Massive Fitness Trend That’s Not Actually Healthy at All” described as all-out war on the body, what he called the “militarization of fitness — all the boot camps, marine-inspired workouts, extreme workout routines, and general glorification of pain. Even our recovery and regeneration techniques are prioritized by how painful they are.
How Does the Militarization of Fitness Affect Your Workout?
In every way possible. It affects your health, happiness, the sustainability of your program, and your ability to reach your goals.
Do you believe any of the following are true?
No pain, no gain. You have to suffer to get in shape.
More is always more.
Working out is not fun, but it’s an obligation.
If I don’t almost throw up, I’m holding back too much.
You’re only as good as your last workout.
I feel like a loser when I miss a workout.
If you answered yes, then you’re at the “exercise is war” understanding of fitness!
“I spent a decade there, with plenty of joint casualties and war stories to prove it. So I’m not belittling you—I’m just saying that this isn’t the only way to train, and it sure as heck isn’t sustainable” Jonathan Angelilli
Periodization Training
A better approach, periodization training with the 24Fit Workout, give u more stamina, strength, & an overall greater performance! The basic premise of all well designed exercise programs is the progressive overload principle. Fitness must be “pushed” from below, i.e. starting slow and progressing to harder workouts slowly. 24Fit builds your fitness up with a stair step series of methodical, progressive challenges and recoveries that strengthen your body and keep brain and brawn fresh.
The calories you burn during workouts are inconsequential to your overall body weight or body fat content! Instead, it is how well you use your exercise time to reprogram your daily physiology that matters. Take a look at this graphic comparing “What people think they need to do, to look better, lose fat get in shape” v What people actually need to do”?
Take a look at the 24 Fit Workout, a 24 week programme with 3 phases. Key advantages:
- Teach your body to burn body fat over time rather than just burn carbs..
- Address common vulnerabilities of the human body regardless of age or previous activity level. Make your body more resilient to injury, unlike many “insane workouts” which lead to injuries
- Periodization training so you need to sequence your training, to develop one aspect of fitness at a time and then use that as a foundation to build the next. And principles which recognise that all exercise is much less effective if rest and recovery periods are not provided.
- Workout lasts for 30 mins, the time it would take you to drive to the gym and back!. This length of workout is achievable over time. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Why strength training 3 times a week for 30 minutes?
- You will be less likely to quit the 24 Fit Workout once you get started because it follows scientific training principles. The program progresses your fitness naturally, so that you not only keep going, but never want to stop!
- Improve posture with 24Fit. Standing up straight can improve breathing and digestion. And uses less energy. A good antidote for all those people stuck at their desks all day.
- Has 3 levels of difficulty so any age, any condition, anyone can build a better body! ( beginner, intermediate and advanced)
- Clear instruction, it’s like having a PT in the room with you.
- Includes nutritional advice, which is so important to get results, including what to take around exercise
- Developed by Robert Forster a PT that has has worked with top athletes such as Pete Sampras, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Florence “Flo-Jo” Joyner, Greg Foster, Allyson Felix, as well as weight management clients looking to burn fat. Thirty years of experience in a set of 13 DVDs! He learnt from his work with endurance athletes how to burn fat as an energy source, rather than carbs. And hes wriiten a new book called Healthy Running – Step by Step
Additional sources:
Read article – The Massive Fitness Trend That’s Not Actually Healthy at All
by 24fit | Oct 30, 2014 | Body Composition, Metabolic Analysis
If you want your workouts to be 100% productive, and your nutrition tailored to your personal physiology, then all your health and fitness efforts should begin with metabolic analysis. Metabolic testing unlocks the secrets held in the individual physiology of each of our clients and is crucial to our success in helping people of all ages and abilities reach peak fitness and optimum body weight. This testing will allow us to help you too, because it allows us to accurately determine a key aspect of your physiology when it comes to achieving and maintaining good health and high levels of fitness, that is the exact number of calories you need daily in order to maintain, increase, or decrease your body weight.
Without this testing, all other exercise and nutrition programs are based on a guess when it comes to the calories you require each day to reach your goals.
Resting Metabolic Rate Test
The key to sustainable weight loss (as opposed to the “yoyo” weight loss and weight gain of trendy weight loss fads) is a high resting metabolic rate. Your resting metabolic rate, or the calories you burn throughout every minute of the day, is much more important for weight management than the calories you burn while exercising. The term “metabolic refers” to how your body makes energy. Your resting metabolic rate is the rate at which your body burns calories to run your bodily functions at rest.
Many clients come to us in frustration because they have reduced their calorie intake and increased their training, but are still unable to achieve the body they desire. At this point, they are consuming fewer calories than their body needs for basic systems function, forcing their metabolism to slow to an idle to conserve every calorie consumed. The result is a sluggish metabolism that stores fat instead of burning it for energy.
With the information gleaned from this test, we can accurately prescribe for you the quantity of calories you need in order to keep your metabolism revving all day long. And the right amount of protein to help build lean muscle. The result is less body fat and more energy.
Whats about Active Metabolic Rate
Take your RMR and use a multiplier based on your activity level. To lose weight, consume 250-500 fewer calories than your active metabolic rate, using the Herbalife Meal Replacement Programme. The aim is lose weight and body fat but without losing lean muscle. Ideally increasing your lean muscle so you can burn more calories every day
Do include a strength training element into your programme, that is 3 times a week for 30 minutes using the 24Fit DVD’s. Do include a recovery shake such as Rebuild Strength. Don’t skip your protein shake after you exercise and think that you’ll save calories! A protein shake after training accelerates lean muscle growth, which in turn revs your metabolism and burns more fat, and speeds up recovery. It also can prevent you from feeling deeply ravenous and overeating later on. Exercise and nutrition working together to get the best results. Thats #24fit.
Contact us for advice: options for metabolic testing, protein factor, resting and active metabolic rates.
