Motivation

Motivation to exercise

“If not you – then who?” – was one of the motivational quotes put up in the team dressing room when I was Team Manager for the WWRU (Wales Women Rugby Union) in the late 1990’s. The quote was meant to inspire you to step up to the mark, to not shy away and basically put your body in the line. But it still has relevance today when at this time over the year, in particular, when the lazy days of eating, drinking and generally relaxing down can then have us thinking “I must get fit again” 

My overriding message to you in the first instance is DO NOT FEEL Guilty. Negative self talk is an easy way to undermine our motivation with phrases like “look at the state of you” “how did you let yourself go” “why can’t l look like….”. Stop that now and start today, yes before the “I’ll start in January” vagueness, start saying “you can do this” “keep trying” “you are worth it”

My second message is to see the act if exercise as a gift to yourself. A short period of time in your day where you are going to nurture, value and invest in YOU. You are going to switch off from chores, phones and other responsibilities in order to look after your mind and body. Set yourself a time to do this when you know you can fit in about 20-60 minutes of space, or even snippets of time throughout the day. Make sure that you are wearing comfy clothes that you can move about in but don’t let the barriers of changing outfits stop you having time to yourself. 

My third message is four exercise suggestions – choose the one or two you like the sound of the best. Look at yourself in the mirror and say these words “we can do this”

1. Get out of breath – 20 minutes of brisk walking(esp uphills) or jogging, running, cycling will boost your metabolism, energise you and get rid of any cobwebs 

2. Feel the burn – working your muscles to the point when you can feel the “heat” of the muscle shows that you have found the point of making a change. Pick two exercises from the list below and do as many as you can of each until you feel the muscles “burning”. Switch to second exercise and repeat to same point. Repeat each block 3 times. 

a. Plank and squats

b. Sit-ups and press-ups 

c. Lunges and shoulder press

d. Sumo (wide) squats and side sit-ups

3. Be creative- clear a space in your lounge and set up a dance floor studio to release your inner diva. Get on your favourite music. The key to success here is CONSTANT movement for 20 minutes non-stop. Set your watch or phone and just keep moving. The first 5 to 10 minutes you will feel awkward and stiff but you will soon loosen up and then really start to go for it. Ideally you should have both an inner and outward glow of starlight sweat…

4. Be mean – as an opposing idea to the one above, create your beast mode cave studio. Split into four areas – one heart rate. One upper body. One lower body. One core. Write down two exercises on a piece of paper (use any above or see further suggestions below or in other blog pages). Each area needs one piece of equipment. A mat. A skipping rope or something sturdy to step up on. A heavy weight like a kettle bell, so maybe a brick or stone, heavy ornament like a door stop etc. A bar like object such as a broom if you don’t have anything else available. 

a. Time each area for 40 seconds with 10 seconds changeover

b. Move from each section in rotation doing one exercise at each station on the first round and the other exercise on the second round

c. This should take 8 minutes. Take a 2 minute break and then repeat again if you can. 

d. Mat station – plank. Sit-ups. Press ups. Side plank

e. Cardio station – high knee running, skipping, step ups or jumping jacks

f. Weighted station – shoulder press, kettle bell swings, forward raise – with squat or lunge if you want, full body circle in both directions with weight

g. Bar section – squats with bar on shoulders, forward lunge using bar like walking stick, side steps wide keeping bar in centre of wide squat and dropping to outside arm as you step, finally keeping bar in front on you, hold with two hands squat low, push up then squat gain brining bar to side of body. 

This is of course my motivation too. I am only human. Come back again tomorrow for more tips. 

How to plank - update

The plank is a great exercise for the core. It is a battle of you against gravity – and since this is a daily engagement, then it is worth adding this exercise to your weekly workout.

The plank is an easily accessible exercise for most of the population. Modifications can be made to position, time and movement to allow anyone to achieve a positive result.  There is some concern about downward pressure onto the pelvic floor, but by changing body position and being careful about hold time, then these challenges can be overcome – and possibly improve pelvic floor strength as well.

The plank is a time based exercise which, with good technique, can allow the spine to be in neutral position and help to strengthen overall postural endurance.

This exercise will engage the main core muscles which are the deep transverse Abdominis, internal obliques, the diaphragm and pelvic floor as well as the stabilising effect of Multifidus against the spine.  The plank position will also have good toning effect on the shoulders and triceps.  Here is how to perform this exercise.

Lie on the floor face down and slide your elbows close to your chest with both of your hands placed under your chin.  Lift your head and sternum (bone at front of chest) until you start to feel your stomach muscles lift away from the floor. Keep your knees slightly wider than your hips and tuck your toes underneath.

Press downwards through the elbows and lift up onto knees – even if you can do a full plank, it is worthwhile going through to this stage first as it will help engage the deep abdominals and decrease the initial hard engagement of the legs.

Pull your abs away from your t-shirt, tuck your tailbone in and lift the pubic bone towards the ribs. Flatten the ribs and tighten through the shoulder blades, bringing them closer together.

Lengthen the neck and pull your chin in – keep looking down but you can sort of “peep” forwards as if you are looking over the top of your sunglasses – it helps to keep the upper back engaged.

Actively brace or hold the abdominals in and breathe slowly through your mouth.

When straightening the legs, lift the knees off the floor gently and keep pressing the heels away from you. Stay on the balls of your feet.  The thighs will be engaged but not the glutes.

 6 seconds will sometimes be enough (!) you will feel the abs engaging – they may even tremble, but it is important that you grit your teeth a little and not give in on the first bit of perceived hard work.  A standard time to hold the plank is an awesome 3minutes 40 seconds...but it will take some time to build up to this.

Remember that the plank works the deep abdominals, so you need to mentally focus on drawing or flattening the belly button towards the spine – this will encourage the muscle to lift up against gravity, thus, increasing its tensile strength – however, be aware, the “flab” is not a muscle and will gently hang towards the floor...don’t worry about it, there are other ways to deal with that issue and the plank will result in improved posture which can translate to a vision of weight loss (if that is your goal). If you do not have the flab, then you will still notice some gapping between the contracted muscle and the skin. This is all normal and won’t be noticeable when you are standing.

Aim to do repeated cycles of 3 or 5 sets. Aim to have time as the main driver – start with 30 seconds (so adapt position to kneeling rather than aiming for straight leg plank and then giving in after 10 seconds) and work up to 2-5minutes.  Time time time always.  Ideally, make the changes recommended below for maximum benefit, so 1 minute in one position and one minute in another.

Once you can master a still plank for 1 minute, it is super important to make changes to improve core strength by adding movement to the static hold – we are humans that move and we want to train our core to be strong in a variety of positions. 

The best way to start to do this is to move the knees.  In a kneeling position, gently lift one knee at a time, keeping the back and pelvic girdle still as possible. Aim to lift and lower knees in a pace that is suited to your walking, running or biking pace.  If you are on straight legs, then you drop one knee to the floor – but still aiming to keep pelvis still.

Once this is achievable, then look to lift one then the other foot off the floor in a kind of marching or stepping pace – keeping the foot in a flexed (so it mimics a standing position on the floor). The foot can lift high enough to feel the glutes engage, but if you feel a burning sensation in the holding thigh (the one on the floor) or across the top of the hip – then go back a level as you are probably trying to stabilise by using your hip flexor and not your abs. This is not a good way to train as you need the muscle to fire in the correct pattern to facilitate good core strength.

Moving on, you can then add a turn to the leg whilst it is lifted – thus making a great open chain exercise on the Piriformis (great for runners). Simply lift the leg and turn outwards, making sure the knee and foot turn.  The holding leg will often get a good closed chain exercise for the Piriformis so not too many of these as they will lead to fatigue and poor technique.

You can then add a running action by bringing the knee to the side of the chest - super hard mountain climber!

There are other great core exercises out there, but this is a gold standard option that you need to consider for your fitness programme. 

You can do the plank every day, and even more than once a day. It does feel hard, but it will get easier 

If you have any concerns about the downward pressure onto the pelvic floor, then stay in the knee position and pike or lift the hips a little (not too high) just enough to be able to “cup” the abdominal contents into the pelvic bone girdle. 

Good Luck

Eating for Endurance - update

Eating for Endurance – for all those marathon runners, tri-athletes, Iron men and women - and others J

For the past 100 years (and probably longer in a less scientific way) research has looked at the positive impact of eating correctly before and during exercise. Although researchers continue to question the validity of “carbo loading” there is much support for eating carbs to allow you to train or exercise for longer. The picture shows the muscles cells before and after carbo loading. The first picture shows the cells in a light colour with “gaps” and then the second shows the muscle cells darker in colour and packed closely together - all ready for the long run or cycle ride!

For most people a healthy intake of carbs would form about 40-50% of your diet. But for endurance athletes, you will probably have to increase this to 60-70% in addition to the huge increase in calories that are needed in general in order to sustain high quality and regular training. To work this out you need to times your weight in kg by 7-10g for a daily intake for the athletes or ~4g for a normal diet. What happens then is that our bodies are able to convert the “chemical energy” of food into “mechanical energy” of stored carbs (as well as using it to keep warm) – and we mainly store this in our muscles (see pic) with a smaller supply for emergencies in our liver.

Carbo Loading – How to do it.  Commonly, the habit of restricting carbs in the week leading up to an event before consuming loads the day before has been used by many people.  This idea is based on the huge uptake of carbs that we see when we eat breakfast following the “fast” overnight – so long fast = greater uptake?  However, there are many problems with this such as lack of energy and feeling lethargic and lightheaded in the week of training before the event, as well as having a bloated and heavy stomach on the day of the event.  Luckily, there has been much research into the way of maximising stores, so below I detail some of the newer ways of thinking and you can be rest assured that these have been tried and tested by the scientists J

In addition to following your usual training and nutrition plan, try to increase your normal carb intake by 10g per kg of body weight 2 days (48hrs) before an event   - However, this is just a general guideline, and the most current research seems to indicate that a combination of protein and carbohydrates are a better way to be able to recover from exercise and prepare for further training. In particular to time your eating fairly close to after training, and look at combining not only protein into this food stop, but having a combination of glucose and fructose (sugars) for the greatest potential - interestingly, this can be done quite easily with some chocolate milk or flavoured yogurt - happy days :)

The day before your race, you then rest your body and eat as close as you can to your normal diet, but make 100% sure that you are fully hydrated.  However, you could then try another piece of cute research which showed huge improvements in energy stores by increasing (above normal) your carbs by 12.5g per Kg two days before your event.  What I found most fascinating though was the body will take on more carbohydrates into the muscle if you do 3 mins of super intensity exercise (after a warm up) before your meal - so a super-turbo-charged loading mechanism!  Just be warned though – if you already have a great diet and your are “fully loaded” then eating more carbs does not give you more energy – despite what it might say on the bottle...

So for day to day stuff, think about eating 150 – 330g of carbs around 3-4hours before exercise to maximise your energy stores which means you can work out harder.  But beware, that eating 30-60 mins before exercise can cause a different effect where you get the peak of carbs going in too soon and then exercising just as insulin is starting to take effect which can cause you to have low blood sugar.  Not good to feel weak and lightheaded before a race or class! And don't forget to use your low GI foods.   

The added bonus of eating 3-4 hour before exercise is that the body is primed to release more fat into the bloodstream - so maximising your fat burning potential tooJ. Please think about when you eat and try not to be governed by standard meal times. For example, if you want to do a lunch time class, then eat something at around 10am in the morning – a second breakfast if you like. Then eat again at about 3pm before your evening session.  A small tip is that if you have not had time to eat then it is better to eat whist you are exercising rather than the 30 mins beforehand. You could have fruit or energy drink, shake or yogurt (esp. ones with side fruit serving as they have loads of sugar) etc – something to Inc stores without sitting heavy on your stomach

Finally, don’t forget that even if you have eaten well you can still run out of “energy” in a high intensity workout as the ability of the muscle to contract efficiently can be hampered by lactic acid.  So if part of your race involves you running up a hill or overtaking someone then you will need to drop your level of exertion for a few minutes whilst you body catches up with its energy production. It is also then worthwhile knowing how hard you can go in your sprint finish so that you don’t fade at the final few meters. Hydration is key to acting as a buffer to lactic acid, so keep up the fluid intake.

To summarise:

• For long distance endurance runners you will need to increase your carb intake to about 60-70%  carbs. Base your daily calorie intake on 50 cals per Kg of body weight.
• Eat 3-4 hours before exercise for maximum energy stores
•   Don’t eat 30-60 mins before exercise – eat just before you start or during if you have low energy
• Always eat breakfast
• Before an event, eat increased carbs 2 days before the event and then have a normal eating on your rest day the day before the event.
• Always eat following training – this does not have to be immediately if you can face it, but there is some evidence that eating a combination of carbs and protein, within 30 mins increases your energy uptake to the muscle - it may help prevent DOMS but more importantly will allow you to recover quicker and perform better at your next training session 
• Inc in protein is also a must as it forms an important part of the energy cycle for using carbs. Inc protein after exercise helps alleviate DOMS and helps protect female athletes from becoming anaemic.
• For every unit of glucose you pull into the body you also need to take on board 3 units of water – so being well hydrated is essential 
• Sports drinks are often a practical way to replace energy during heavy training sessions and are better than water alone on long or intense training bouts, but they are expensive to use and prior planning can help you deal with replacing glucose
• When training, it makes little difference if the glucose consumed is low or high GI - so go with something you like eating rather than something you feel you should be eating or drinking.

Top Ten Tips to beat the post -Christmas bloat

1.  Drink more water - water will help to hydrate you, flush out the excess and stop you being so bleary eyed ☺️
2. Get outside - fresh air and a 20 minute walk will do you the world of good.
3. Do some ab work - chose sit-ups or plank. Working the muscles will compress the gut. Stimulate your bowel to move and help get rid of gas 🙈
4. Have an alcohol free day - give your liver chance to recover 💕
5. Do some stretching - lengthen your body to release tension, make you feel good and help to realign your body 🙂
6. Skip the protein - protein takes longer to process so a meat free , cheese free day will help your gut recover 🍎
7. Go for a long walk or jog - get your boots on, take a flask, some apples and a bit of Christmas cake and head for the hills. Moderate uphill walking where you get breathless will improve your insulin response and be a fab calorie burn 🌈
8. Dance - well any kind of jumping around will help so get on some tunes and twist shake and groove to banish that lethargy 🕺🏼💃🏼
9. Up your fibre - all that heavy stodgy food needs to be gone! Tuck into the dates and figs. Get some porridge for breakfast. Eat some fruit. Drink some prune juice 😇
10. Set up a circuit - 4 exercises and do each one 30 seconds and go around 3 times. Chose upper then lower body. E.g. Sit-ups squats. Shoulder press. Lunge. Or high knee running , side sit-ups, jumping jacks and press ups