Do you fall into this category?

Are you one of the 40% of women who don’t get enough exercise?

A shocking study undertaken by the World Health organisation (WHO) * found that four in 10 females are not getting enough exercise to benefit their health. With a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, mental health problems and even some cancers what is holding you back?

Fitness does not need to be made in a gym so excusing yourself from exercise because you “hate the gym” is not a reasonable excuse! The recommended guidelines are 75 minutes of intense activity such as running or 150 minutes of moderate activity such as walking per week, yes per week!! That means that there are still 9,930 minutes of the week to do other things! Surely we can all strive for this target.

As a personal traininer who trains women exclusively, I completely understand the struggles and barriers that many women face when trying to incorporate more exercise into their daily lives.

Having worked with hundreds of women I have had the opportunity to really gain an insight in to our busy lives. We have so many balls to juggle and personal fitness is usually the first thing to go when life gets busy.

As a working mother of two children, a wife, daughter, pet parent etc etc I know first hand how a plan to go for a run can quickly disappear when something more pressing comes up. Before you know it a whole week has past and none of the exercise sessions that you had planned for the week ahead had got done. You feel sluggish, tired and maybe a little irritated too! The weeks go by and then you realise you have simply got out of a fitness routine and your body starts giving you subtle signs that its not liking this more sedentary life! Aches and pains, loss of flexibility and strength or even going upstairs makes you feel out of breath!

Here are my top tips for getting back into fitness and upping that level of daily activity:

1. My number 1 top tip is to keep a training journal. If like me you love lists and enjoy the satisfaction of recording and ticking off activities then this may be a real help for you. Note down all the activity you managed to do each day. Both planned exercise sessions (PT session, gym, bike ride etc) and also unplanned too such as gardening, walking etc. It can be very satisfying to look back at the end of the week and see how much you have accomplished and over the months to see how you have progressed to!

2. Try exercising outdoors. It can be exhilarating to feel that fresh air and sunshine on your skin out in nature.

3. If you can’t get outside try putting on some music really loud and just dance (no one can see so go for it). Have a good stretch session afterwards too. Note how it makes you feel. It will make you want to do it again!

4. The best bit about exercising is the way it makes you feel. Let those feel good endorphins flood the body. Its a wonderful way too increase not only your energy, stamina etc but also increase your self confidence, reduce your stress , anxiety level and install a sense of calm too!

Source: *

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/british-women-exercise-inactivity-who-study-health-a8523321.html

Red Hot Personal Training, face-to-face, online, Pilates and Pre and Post Natal

Why You Should Drink Water

We all love these long sunny hot days but please don't forget the importance of keeping hydrated, especially before during and after your workouts!

The building blocks to a better body.........

There is definitely something to take away from the 'Three Little Pigs' children's fairy tale and its not just for children. Children's stories are often written in a way to teach them valuable lessons with characters making mistakes thus helping children to translate them into real life situations.

In the story, the first little piggy was a little bit lazy and grabbed at the first thing he could to build his house. Unfortunately straw isn’t great raw materials for building a house and so the wolf ate him. This is like the person who grabs at the first sugary treat before stopping to think or eats processed foods at every single meal. Yes it gets the job done and you fill you stomach but in the long run the lack of nutrients will keep you constantly craving food and the body will just keep sending you hunger signals.  This little piggy did not put the time and effort into building his house much like those that don't take the time for exercise.  Even those of us who are extremely busy can learn to incorporate exercise into our daily lives so there really is no excuse.

The second little piggy built his house out of wood and yes it was stronger than the straw house, but the wolf still managed to blow the house down and eat the pig, it just took a little more effort on the wolfs part. The second little pig is like the person who still eats processed junk food BUT is “exercising” so its ok?? To some this might sound ok as the exercise will 'burn off' the junk that they are eating. If only it was as simple as that.  

The body constantly needs nutrients to build and repair and get stronger and the fuel that you supply it with and the exercise that you give it will ultimately make up 'You'. If you keep putting the junk and poor quality foods into your body and deny it of all the nutrients it needs and deny it of exercise, it simply WONT be able rebuild you a better body.  Simply put, you cannot out exercise a bad diet, or expect to do well on a good diet with no daily exercise, the two truly go hand in hand.

So that leaves us with the third little piggy who was the one who took his time, put the effort in and sourced the best materials and built himself a house of bricks and eventually outsmarted the big bad wolf. He kept it simple and built a house that would last for years.

To truly build yourself the best, strongest and most robust body (to keep that wolf at bay) does it not make sense to give it the best raw materials (nutrition) possible and the movement (exercise) that it needs and craves?

How to make your dream body a reality

Many people use this time of year to make New Years resolutions and dream about changing their bodies for the better.  Is this one of your resolutions this new year?

Picturing in your mind what you would like to acheive is fantastic but here are a few ways that can help you actually get there.

How committed are you to change? 

Your dream body will not be made overnight so understanding that you will need to commit to make exercise a part of your daily life and improving your diet so you consistently eat well are key to success. This is ultimately what we must strive for.

What do you need to focus on to get there?

Choosing an exercise programme designed for your individual body and personal goals in conjunction with a healthy diet will definitely improve your fitness, body shape and confidence not to mention enhance your mood and stamina. This is where a personal trainer can be invaluable and help you take away the guess work of what to do and when and motivate you to achieve your best.   

If you’re truly serious about your fitness goals make a commitment to yourself to do what it takes to make that happen. Keeping a diary of your exercise, increasing your daily vegetable intake and water consumption can have a big impact.

Remind yourself why you want to make the change

Do you want to be able to keep up with your small children in the park without getting out of breath, wear that size 10 bikini, be confident to stand up and present your work to a room full of people, sleep better? 

These are all achievable with the help of regular exercise and a healthy diet. Get excited about your goals and the final results, but make no mistake, if you don’t consistently exercise and support your training with a healthy diet, those results will never exist outside of your imagination and you’ll never find out how amazing it feels to have achieved them.

Always remind yourself of your goals and just go for it!

Summer fitness with the kids!

Due to the positive feedback we received from our 'get fit with the kids at the park' video clip last summer, we thought that we would share it again this summer holiday so if you have not seen it before or want to see it again just click on the video below and why not be inspired to 'get fit with your kids'! 

How 'Blue Space' can benefit you

We have often talked about the benefits of being outside for a healthy mind and body and achieving the balance between high intensity and lower impact exercise.  On those essential recovery days that your body requires to rest and repair from more intense activities, why not benefit from so called 'blue space'.

Much like the benefits of being amongst 'green space', 'blue space' (including seas, rivers, lakes and larger ponds) is said to have a great impact on our health and wellbeing.  

Anyone who has taken a long walk (or even sat and read a book) along the seafront or around a beautiful lake knows that calming and de-stressing effect it can have on you and a more relaxed body and mind will be better prepared to endure those more strenuous exercise sessions that really push you to your limits!

Try it and make a mental note of how you feel afterwards!

If you feel someone you know could benefit from this advice don't forget to hit the 'share' button. 

Take it outside

As the busy founder off Red Hot Personal Training I often get asked by my clients "how do you find time to work out yourself?"  That question was the inspiration for this blog.

I often head outside for an outdoor workout (dog in tow too!) the fresh air, bird song and feeling of accomplishment that comes with working out with nature is such as good feeling. (Even when you don't feel like a heavy workout a brisk walk can do you wonders!). If you want to torch body fat, gain definition and keep you body burning fat long after your workout is finished then you need to use body weight moves.

If you want to up the intensity then find a nice quiet spot and a tree stump!  Here are just  a few ideas you could try:

1. Single leg deadlift (see photo at top)
2. Calf raises balancing on a small tree stump
3. Press -ups
4. Tricep dips
5. Plank

The list of possibilities is endless!  Make sure to choose a dry tree stump to avoid slipping!  Give it a try and reap those fresh air benefits:) x 

P.S Let us know if you enjoyed this blog by liking Red Hot Personal Training on Facebook or on our website.

Time for Tea!

A perfect little cup of green goodness.  Green Tea has been prized for centuries throughout China and Japan and it is now becoming a popular drink here in the UK too.  So what is all the fuss about?

Certain compounds in the green leaves such as Catechins, EGCG and Thiamine to name a few are known for their wonderful health boosting benefits.  Check out these top reasons below as to why you should include a few cups into your daily fluid consumption.

1. Helps fight Inflammation
2. Boosts fat loss
3. Helps relieve stress and boost immunity
4. Reduces muscle soreness and recovery post exercise
5. Boosts exercise endurance

Feel like giving it a try?  For best results select a good quality Matcha Green Tea (ideally organic) that is made in Japan and not China as some green tea from China contains high amounts of lead. 

How to get back on track - Part two

Small changes in habits can lead to a permanent lasting change. Think about how you can incorporate more movement and opportunities to increase/maintain muscle mass into your daily life. We have touched on this subject before but its such an important one. As we age its important to retain as much muscle mass as we can. We lose muscle at a rate of 1% a year after the age of 40!!  Try these two ideas below:

1. Walking the dogs or vacuuming the house today?  Add in some walking lunges when no one is looking! Lunges are a great multiple muscle exercise targeting not only those leg muscles but also stretching your hip flexor muscles, activating your core muscles and improving balance!

2. Why not put some music on and just dance!  Dancing helps improve aerobic fitness, improves muscle tone and strength and also has many mental benefits as well including enhancing mood. Click on the link below.  

DOWNLOAD SONG http://bit.ly/1nbKLB4 Flashdance What a Feeling Irene Cara © 1983 Unidisc Music Group Become a Fan On Facebook CLICK http://bit.ly/aybWug Follow on Twitter! http://twitter.com/UnidiscMusic Jennifer Beals Irene Cara is best known as a singer of movie themes, though she worked as an actress since childhood.

We love this, its a classic, just turn it up, dance and see how you feel afterwards! 

Please feel free to ‘like’ and or ‘share’ on facebook.

Is this the missing ingredient to improving your wellbeing?

Research suggests that losing even 30 minutes of sleep per night may promote weight gain, and adversely affect blood sugar levels, creating long-term consequences for your weight metabolism.  

 A better nights sleep will help your body to build up the energy to keep you supercharged the following day with a notable reduction in any anxiety, depression levels and help us feel more alert the next day. Good quality shut-eye also helps with that all important muscle repair too.

Try these top tips below for a better nights sleep tonight (One food may surprise you!!)

1. Avoid these before bed as they contain the stimulating amino acid Tyramine that will keep you awake. Processed/smoked meat, Milk chocolate, and Aged cheeses such as parmesan.

2. Eat/drink these foods before bedtime which contain tryptophan magnesium or serotonin that will relax the body and mind. Turkey, Cherries, Chamomile or Lemon Balm tea, Dark chocolate  (yes, we did say chocolate but it must be the dark variety!) 

3. Avoid blue light from mobile phones, tablets etc too close to bedtime as this stimulates the brain with artificial light and interferes with sleep inducing melatonin.  (Please see blog below dated June 19th for more info on this).

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