How to improve your running
03 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Exercise and Fitness Tags: Charles Poliquin, diet, Eating, High-protein diet, Muscle, Physical exercise, strength training
In case you haven’t noticed I think Charles Poliquin is pretty amazing; he talks a great deal of sense. his blogs are always informative and packed full of research and as soon as I can get on one of his courses the better!
Anyway, rather than make this post in praise of him; its probably better that I let him speak for himself Charles Poliquin.
A really long article but if running is important to you, stick with it – it may just improve your time, technique, stamina etc.
Have a happy Sunday!
x
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Top tips to lose weight
02 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Exercise and Fitness, Information Tags: Charles Poliquin, diet, Eating, fitness, Health, High-protein diet, strength training, weight loss
We all want to lose weight, and a large number of my clients want to lose it from one place in particular – their waists, stomach, midsection, abs, stomach – call it what you will it amounts to the same thing. It’s the area that weight always seems to settle and the older you get the harder it seems to shift!
So reading Charles Poliquin’s Blog yesterday he was focussing on the best ways to reduce or eliminate fat from this area in particular but, lets face it, if you are eating well and moving more the benefits are going to be felt (and seen) all over your body. With all of that in mind what then are the top tips to shape up?
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Eat Fat and Protein to Lose Weight!
01 Jun 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Diet and Nutrition Tags: Charles Poliquin, protein, food, Low-carbohydrate diet, Carbohydrate
Confused? Well check out Charles Poliquin’s blog Tip 361 which addresses the issues of high protein, low carb diets. It’s the way I should be eating – I stress should cos cutting the carbs down to 100g per day is what I am struggling with at the moment – every day is a bit better than the last which is progress. Yay!!
The higher fat and protein content really does make sure you are full and the good carbs from veggies ensures you get the carbs levels plus the fibre together with vitamins and minerals.
Would love to know what diets work for you, what are your favourite diet recipes, what are your ‘good’ snacks. What do you think of the high/low carb/protein debate?Happy Friday!
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Food Trends…..What’s In, What’s Out
21 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in Diet and Nutrition, My Training Updates Tags: Beef, Charles Poliquin, Convenience food, diet, Eating, Fat, food, Free range, Meat, nutrition, Organic food
On the back of yesterday’s post on Food, Nutrition and Diets I thought I would look a bit further and came across my old favourite Charles Poliquin who has mulled over the concept of food trends
Interesting to read another voice advocating eating good quality protein etc. Having recently discovered the taste difference in grass-fed beef, on that basis alone for me, it a clear win for grass-fed but I do know and accept that the cost differential for most people is sufficient to prevent them from eating grass-fed all of the time. To be honest in these straightened times it would be difficult for me to push eating organic foods, free range, grass-fed etc as I know that despite the taste and health benefits when it comes to feeding your family some principles have to be compromised.
But where possible, eat organic, or grass-fed – the taste is so much better, the welfare of the animals is considered and the positive impact on your health and well-being shouldn’t be underestimated.
Despite everything we THINK we know, not all fats are bad and all healthy diets should include an element of fat. Fat make us feel full, a reasonable amount of good fats in a diet ensures we feel satiated after every meal and a mixed, balanced diet will provide the nutrients to ensure we don’t constantly eat or crave junk.
I agree with Poliquin’s comments about eating foods that are in season, its something I have been saying for ages. Apart from the 
health benefits we should know where our foods come from, we should be aware of the environmental impact of shipping our vegetables half way round the world and the chemicals that have to be sprayed onto them to keep them looking appetising when they land at our local supermarket.
His comments on processed foods echo my post – as far as I am concerned we should all be avoiding as much processed food as possible. How can we expect to be healthy or to lose weight when we constantly cram processed and chemically enhanced foodstuff into our bodies? There really is a link between what we eat and how we look and feel.
And as for the suggested carb revival – do people still really believe that carbs are good for you? Oh yes, I forgot even our own government promotes a healthy diet as one that is based on starchy carbs including brad ad potatoes…..and gets away with it!
To reiterate what I said yesterday; eat the best quality real food you can afford, eat a balanced varied diet, avoid processed foods, toxins and grains.
Time to get off my soap box I think….!
Related articles
- Grocery Guide: Buying meat (nathanwjackson.wordpress.com)
- Why Grass-fed Beef Costs More and is worth it! (gauchoranchgrillboutique.wordpress.com)
- Isn’t All Grass Fed Beef the Same? (livingbeyondorganicmom.wordpress.com)
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What’s for breakfast?
10 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in Blogs from other people, Diet and Nutrition Tags: Breakfast, Charles Poliquin, Health, protein, Steak, weight loss
A while back I posted about good breakfast choices and my change of eating habits from carb based breakfasts to something including more protein Steak, chicken or salmon for breakfast?
It took a bit of a mental adjustment to start eating animal protein that early in the day and I know other people find it really weird that I love steak for breakfast (people expect you to eat sugary cereals as if that’s what we are MEANT to eat – I mean what did we eat before Sugar Puffs were invented???). Have just seen a recent Charles Poliquin post on the subject of breakfast The Meat and Nut Breakfast and its good to see a post advocating a high protein breakfast and outlining the things that I love about it; it keeps me fuller for longer but I feel so much sharper and alert and for longer.
Had my steak, eggs and broccoli this morning…yum!!
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Is stretching good or bad?
25 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in My Training Updates Tags: Bodypump, Charles Poliquin, fitness, Flexibility, Foam rolling, Hamstring, Hip flexors, stretch
Ever since I started at the gym I have been taught to stretch before and after every workout – no matter whether that’s a Body Pump class, my programme or a PT session I always take the time to stretch, even for a few minutes. In the early days I couldn’t really see why or understand what on earth that was doing for me and I can remember thinking ‘why am I paying for someone to show me how to stretch when I want to be doing something?’.
But as time when on and muscles got tight or sore I began to see that especially when I have been sat at a desk or in a car all day the stretches help to lengthen tired, tight muscles and help me to get more out of every session – after all if I have really tight hamstrings or hip flexors that will impact on my ability to train properly and I wont be able to train as hard or as long anyway! And as for stretches post-workout, I love them!
I saw this on the Charles Poliquin site earlier and whilst as always, I think he has something interesting to say, I don’t believe that in the general training public (as opposed to professional athletes) stretches should be discounted. After all, I believe it’s as much of a mental preparation for training as a physical one – stretching for me is the transition from the rest of my life, work and general busyness to the concentration and focus needed to complete a programme or a tough PT session.
My routine is pretty much fixed now, once I get into the gym I usually grab one of the dense, hard foam rollers and start to work on my
quads – depending on how tight they are and where else is sore I may move onto my back, my lats etc – add in a few stretches for my hamstrings, hip flexors and (lately) my tired lats and I’m good to go and ready to train. But nothing irritates me more than having to share my stretching space with someone who only wants to have a chat (and its usually about nothing and they never take a hint!), for me the act of foam rolling and stretching is part of my workout and I don’t really like to share unless it happens to be with my trainer!
So, in short despite what I have read, I wont be stopping stretching any time soon, the benefits far outweigh any potential drop in performance and from my personal experience, my muscles aren’t as tight when I train, I have less muscles soreness post workout and (apart from never-ending minor injuries at the moment, yes I know I am overtraining) I am been relatively free of injuries.
So, to anyone who doesn’t currently stretch before or even (heaven forbid!) after working out, take a bit of extra time out and stretch those tired muscles – it will feel soooo good and your body will thank you for it!
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Hey, It’s All About the Calories, Right? Not!
19 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Diet and Nutrition, Information Tags: calories, Charles Poliquin, insulin, Jonny Bowden, weight loss
I saw this on the Charles Poliquin tweet and had to post it…..Hey, It’s All About the Calories, Right? Not! | Poliquin Lifestyle.
Anyone think its time to stop counting calories yet?!
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Why we shouldn’t do aerobic training!
08 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in Blogs from other people, Information Tags: aerobic training, Charles Poliquin, exercise, fitness
Apologies for the short post but sometimes life just gets in the way of comprehensive blogging!
Anyway here is another Charles Poliquin article detailing the many negative effects of straight forward aerobic training such as running and how to counter their effect.
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Don’t be average!
16 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Motivation and Positivity Tags: Charles Poliquin, fitness, NLP, Personal trainer, Personal Training, personaltrainer, weight loss
Well I have been blogging for what seems like ages but in reality is only a few weeks but it is only now that I am beginning to think about what I want my blog to say about me.
When I started this, my intention was to document the good and the bad as part of my health and fitness journey, to include the challenges which trip me up (such as my wobble over the BFP) as well as the good days (like Wednesday) as well as to include some bits and pieces from respected contributors found as part of my on-going education (such as the stuff from Charles Poliquin). It is only now that I have stated to think I should be using my newly acquired skills to motivate, inform, educate and inspire – despite the pretentiousness of that statement it really is something I WANT to do.
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Why aerobic training is bad for you
12 Feb 2012 3 Comments
in Blogs from other people, Information Tags: aerobic training, aerobics, Charles Poliquin, strength training
I have read several variations of this on blogs and websites but at the risk of repeating it I thought I would post it here and give proper credit where its due!
