The New Year Health Kick

I've been seeing a few posts around about people wanting to shift their holiday weight and those that "Can't wait to get back into the gym". Whilst its highly likely that they will indeed make a start to get fit and healthy; most will drop their efforts within the first few weeks. Don't mistake this post for an excuse to bitch about the lack of motivation in society; I would rather see people inspired than spend my time putting them down. Basically, this post is directed at all of those people who are really looking to get serious about their lifestyles. It's easy to just say "I'm going to get rid of this fat and get ripped and toned in the new year" - the reality of that statement is much harsher. If you're really going to get ripped/toned/gain some serious muscle; then you HAVE to plan your approach. There's no point in thinking that you can just turn up at a gym, hit the treadmill for 20 minutes, lift some random weights and then go home - it doesn't work that way. Also, if you really want that body that you've always dreamed about; then you can't just limit your approach to exercise - proper nutrition and a structured lifestyle are also the keys to succeeding in your goals.

Let's start with the getting fit part of the plans. You need to plan your gym sessions/workouts to tailor to your specific goals. If you're savvy with that sort of thing then it's pretty simple to come up with your own personal training plan. For those who aren't as good with that side of things - find someone to ask! Most fitness experts are more than willing to dish out advice to others because its likely that they learned their shit through the exact same methods. I'm also happy to help people out as long as they're serious and not wasting their time. Also for your viewing convenience there's a few workouts posted previously in this blog which can tailor for losing weight, building muscle or both. If you're looking to make some serious gains and really bulk up - then split your training. E.g. Monday - Back and Arms, Tuesday - Shoulders. Wednesday - Rest. Thursday - Chest and Arms. Friday - Legs. Once you have a structure like that, you can then plan your workouts accordingly. Those looking to lose fat may opt for 3 days a week (E.g. Monday, Wednesday and Friday) in which to do a full body workout, possibly combining cardio and weights (which I'd highly recommend). It's all about finding the right plan for you; also don't jump into a ridiculously hard schedule because if you struggle too much it'll put you off and that's your motivation gone. Get involved in a sport that you enjoy, perhaps one that you haven't tried before; think of getting fit and healthy as fun rather than a chore!

On to nutrition - in my opinion its the hardest part of changing lifestyle. The obvious first step is to cut down massively on junk food - takeaways, chocolate, crisps, alcohol (Excessively different for students) etc. Get to know what's in your food - those figures (Calories, Fat, Salt, Carbohydrate, Protein) that you see on pretty much every product are there for a reason! They make it very easy to monitor your nutritional intake and give you more power over what's going into your body. If you're looking to gain weight, don't think that you can just increase your protein intake massively whilst working out and it'll give you gains - a high amount of protein is good, but a ridiculous amount can, and will end in a heart attack if you're not careful with it. Bump up your carbohydrates and calories too if you're looking to gain - just couple it with intense training and that's where the real gains are made! If you're looking to lose weight, obviously you'll need to drop your calorie intake along with slightly adjusting your carbohydrate and fat intake. Check out my earlier post on intermittent fasting - it works brilliantly for those wanting to absolutely shred fat!

A few quick final notes - Firstly, supplements! Its all well and good going out and spending some money on supplements to enhance your efforts and put you closer to your goals. However I cannot stress enough how important it is to really research them and find out exactly which ones will work for you. Don't expect that you can throw back a few shakes without much weightlifting and suddenly become Arnold Schwarzenegger. Supplements only work if you put 100% into your training - they're designed to build on your positive results, not produce them for you! This applies to many people with regard to fat burners - they think that they can take a tablet and wait for themselves to become thin. This is not true - fat burners work on the understanding that you're eating clean and working out. No legal supplement can just hand your goals to you on a platter - you both need each other to get the ultimate results. However; its also important to ensure that you're buying the right supplements. In the course of my training I've found that there's only a few supplements that have worked for me. For example, my protein of choice is Syntha6 - I've found that it minimises recovery time and really helps to pack on muscle. When it comes to fat burners - Thermobol from Maximuscle is a complete waste of time - its effects are minimal to zero. However there are two fat burners that I would recommend - the first are Grenades; the only problem with these are that the side effects are brutal and those with a weaker system will suffer them badly. Luckily there's a trustworthy and highly effective fat burner, which would be my first choice. This is Warrior Blaze - however it has recently become Blaze Reborn due to a change and from what I can gather improvement in their already effective formula! Plus its at a completely reasonable and fair price! Warrior (@WarriorSupps) are also a brilliant company, who actually give a shit about their customers - the same cannot be said about big corporations like Maximuscle who are just after your cash. Anyone in the Wrexham/Llangollen area interested in supplements should get in touch with Nick Lingard (@Lingard_) on Twitter. He currently runs a small supplement business with great prices and decent products!

My last point is on gaining and maintaining real motivation. Its very hard to really maintain pure motivation, but once you've put that hard work in and you're seeing results - training becomes more of a passion than a chore and suddenly you're self motivated at all times. However from time to time its good to get a fresh dose of inspiration and some brand new ideas. Personally, most of my inspiration comes from following Fitness Made EZ's training, new and old. (www.facebook.com/FitnessMadeEZ)  - its good to see someone who's ridiculously committed to and also highly enjoying their training. Also the Hodgetwins are a great source to gain some information from, plus they're funny as fuck. Check out JV Fitness and Nutrition on Facebook too! (http://www.facebook.com/pages/JV-Fitness-Nutrition) He's a fully qualified personal trainer and has some absolutely brilliant advice on the subject of health and fitness.

Anyway, I hope that the information on this post has been useful to people. As always you can get in touch with me on Twitter - @Wrighty__ Like my page on Facebook - www.facebook.com/TransformitToday; or simply comment underneath! Also I'm looking to revamp this blog a bit, possibly with a name change aswell so anyone that has got any ideas please don't hesitate to get in touch! Good luck to all of those that are undertaking a new lifestyle through fitness in the new year!
Train hard, but train safe,
Alex.

Intense Home Workout - Try if you dare!

Well, not so long ago I posted a home workout for everyone to try, nice and simple - and actually relatively easy. Since then I've had a lot of good feedback so I've decided to share the real workout with you all - the high intensity home workout - not for the faint hearted. I'd actually recommend trying the low intensity one first, if you find that difficult, then maybe stick to that for a few weeks before trying this one. This workout is guaranteed to shed those calories, and tone your body up greatly, but you have to stick to the timings and put everything you've got into it. If its taking you more than 15 minutes to complete the circuit, then you're doing it wrong. If you're not sweating ridiculously by the end of the first run through, then you are again doing something wrong. As with the previous workout, its completely bodyweight based, but some of the bodyweight exercises can be difficult. All you'll need is a stopwatch, and some water nearby! Anyway, enough with the build up - let's jump straight into it!

30 Seconds Running on the spot

15 Seconds High Knees

15 Seconds Sprinting on the spot

15 Seconds High knees

15 Seconds sprinting on spot

10 Seconds high knees

20 Seconds sprinting

10 Tuck Jumps
5 Seconds running on spot
10 Star Jumps
5 Seconds running on spot
10 jackknifes
5 seconds running on spot
10 squats
5 seconds running on spot
10 clap press ups
5 seconds running on spot
10 burpee tuck jumps
5 seconds running on spot
10 dorsal raises
5 seconds running on spot
10 squat thrusts
5 seconds running on spot
One armed press ups (10 each side)
5 seconds running on spot
Lie flat on your back, hands behind your head. Lift your legs 6 inches from the floor, hold for 3 seconds, open your legs, hold for 5 seconds, bring legs together, hold for 3 seconds, drop legs. Repeat 10 times.
5 seconds running on spot
10 twist sit ups
5 seconds running on spot
10 hand on hand press ups

20 seconds running on spot
30 seconds high knees
10 seconds sprint on spot
15 seconds high knees
15 seconds sprint on spot
15 seconds high knees
15 seconds sprint on spot

There's your circuit! Make sure that when you're doing the running/sprinting/high knees that you put everything that you've got into it. If you're doing it lazily then there's not much point in doing it at all - if you can't handle the intensity then simply try the easier one and build up. There's absolutely no shame in admitting that you're not quite at the right level for this and building up to it instead. With regard to any aspect of trying to meet your goals - a lot of the time its difficult and sometimes detrimental to try and jump straight into a ridiculously high intensity. You might not be ready for the intensity and you'll end up either not doing the exercises right and not getting the results - or you'll just hurt yourself and not be able to train for a while - that's gonna hurt both your goals and your confidence with exercising. If you're really serious about your goals then you'll be sensible about them too - know your limits and therefore know how far you can test them. It's all about being patient and finding the lifestyle that works for you! Anyone that tries this workout please get in touch with me and let me know how it goes, I'm interested to see if anyone sees the results that I have. You can tweet me @Wrighty__ find me on Facebook - www.facebook.com/transformittoday or leave a comment below this post. Thanks for reading!
Keep Testing the Limits
Alex.

Mixing it up!

Lately I've decided to completely mix my training up. Previously I was relying on workouts engineered by myself with a pretty conventional split. So I'd do three sessions and split them into Chest, triceps and shoulders; Back and biceps, and finally Legs. This worked for me for a while; but after a few weeks it became clear to me that I needed to up the intensity and try shaking things up if I wanted to carry on making gains and hitting targets. Otherwise, what's the point in training? So I thought that it would be best to take a leaf out of someone else's book, someone whose training advice I could actually rely on. I did contemplate the Hodge Twins, but had been using their methods for a while and had to try something completely different - enter Fitness Made EZ. I trawled through his YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/glyphmedia) and found his Flexdem workouts. I've been using these workouts for two weeks now, and I'm definitely seeing so many more improvements. My new workout split as a result of this is

Monday - Shoulders
Tuesday - Chest and triceps
Wednesday - Biceps and triceps
Thursday - Back and biceps
Friday - Legs

 In 2 short weeks I've been able to really improve my personal bests and I'm feeling great as a result of the change-up. For example, I've been able to up my bench press from 70kg to 90kg, and my Squats from 130kg to 140kg among other improvements; but they're the most notable. Just a simple shake up of routine and split can affect your progress massively. One thing I really want to point out is EZ's inclusion of a 'burnout set' - its a set at the end of a workout to target the smaller muscle used in your session. For example it would be tricep on a chest day, and bicep on a back day. Honestly, those sets really finish off a workout and leave you feeling pumped. I'm not going to share any real details of them, you have to check out his youtube channel to really understand what I mean. If you don't then you're just depriving yourself of precious training information.

Basically, all I wanted to point you towards in this post are the real benefits of mixing up your training. You can't allow your body to get used to a routine because it will become less and less effective with each session. You've got to be willing to try new things and up the intensity to see real improvements; that all depends on if you're serious about your training or not I suppose. Also, don't be afraid to take advice from different sources (as long as its not completely idiotic). In my experience, the Hodge Twins, Fitness Made EZ, bodybuilding.com etc. have been really useful. I want to point everyone's attention to another brilliant source - JV Fitness & Nutrition. (www.facebook.com/pages/jv-fitness-nutrition). Jason is a fully qualified personal trainer and was one of the first examples that I saw of dedication to fitness and nutrition. Honestly, he will be able to answer any queries at all on the subject of fitness. So please go and like his page on Facebook and see what he's got to say.

Speaking of Facebook, I've also started up a page dedicated to this blog. Its www.facebook.com/TransformItToday - It's just basically to keep people informed of updates on the blog as I won't be posting them on my profile anymore. It would be great if everyone could go ahead and like the page as its lacking at the moment. Hopefully I'll also be training with Grant (@jonesgx on Twitter) in the coming months and getting some training snaps/videos of proper form in exercises and I'm aiming to get them up onto the page. I've had a lot of good feedback from the latest posts, especially the home workout post. So any more feedback is welcome and I'm also happy to advise people on different aspects of training, whether that be nutrition or workouts.With regard to future posts; if anyone has got any suggestions for them then by all means get in touch with me and we'll work something out! So please direct all feedback to either my Twitter - @Wrighty__ , My Facebook page - www.facebook.com/transformittoday , or just leave a comment under this post!
Keep testing the limits,
Alex.