Fitness Friday: 5 Ways to Swap Fixed Weight Machines for Free Weights

Morning!

I'm really getting back into my routine so I thought I'd share some ways I'm trying to vary some exercises and make my time spent in the gym the most efficient.
Swapping out using your fixed weight machines for free weights is a great way to use more muscles and burn more fat. So here's my top ones to swap out!

1) Seated Leg Extension. This trains your quads, the huge leg muscle at the front of the thigh.
Now I think we all know that isolating your quads from other leg muscles isn't going to get the results that you want very quickly.
Squats will most definitely help your quads and glutes together, ranging from wide leg squats to one leg pistol squats.............ooh err!

2) Seated Chest Press. This trains your pectoral or chest muscles.

Using your upper body muscles is much better when you use them all at the same time, performing push ups will not only use your chest muscles but your core and shoulders too. Doing them on a box as an incline push up will maximise all of these muscles and help you build up to full push ups when you're strong enough.


3) Seated Leg Press. Another that targets the leg muscles, including quads, glutes and hamstrings.
As mentioned above, squats are the best exercises for these muscles groups. Starting with body weight squats get used to the movement and ensure your form is perfect before progressing to holding weights in each hand or even a barbell.


4) Bicep curl machine. Pretty self explanatory, but I have to admit I really don't get this one!
I'm not sure why you'd use this fixed weight machine when you can pick up a pair of dumbbells and perform a better bicep curl and engage more of your muscles therefore burning more calories and fat.

The same goes for the tricep version, you can do so much more with tricep dips!


5) Any Ab machine such as a Seat rotation or Cruncher. I used to use these all the time and I can honestly say that I never saw any results from using them.
I hate to stick with everyone else but planks are the signle best exercise you can do for your core, you see progress really quickly and just need to persevere. I try to alternate normal planks with side planks, with and without pulsing my hip up and down and curling my arm underneath and back out again. 

Using bodyweight exercises are so much better than fixed weight machines. Not only do you use more muscles because you engage your core and require more muscles to help balance your body during the exercise, but you can see faster results and that's something I can agree with having experienced it myself!

What's your favourite bodyweight exercise? Do you have any favourite routines?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Tips from Personal Trainers

After my post last week where I shared my tips that I found help me to get back into my work out routine in the new year, I thought I'd share with you some tips I've found from personal trainers that might also work.

It's always the second and third weeks of January where motivation starts to disappear and you can easily fall back into your old ways before you've even realised it!

So here's some of the best tips to help you keep on going:

1) The image you have of yourself will define what you will work towards - get a mental image in your head of what you want and keep it there. This is why I love pinterest and instagram for providing inspiration all the time and giving me something to work towards. Find something that will work for your body type and work on it.

2) Eat MORE good food MORE often - love this one! Snack more on veggies, keep your protein intake regular throughout the day and don't let your blood sugar drop. I try and eat every few hours, this means I never get really hungry and get to the cravings stage so I don't ruin my hard work. It REALLY helps and although you might think its weird to eat more food more often, as long as its the right food it won't cause you to gain weight. Since January I've been so hungry I've barely stopped eating but as its all good food its OK!

3) Carbs are GOOD - Carbs are necessary and without them you won't really get very far. Make sure you have them for breakfast and lunch especially as it will carry you through the bulk of the day, and particularly before and after a workout to fuel yourself and your body. I'm talking brown rice, oats, wholewheat pasta, sweet potato and quinoa, good carbs to keep you going and on track!

4) Don't let your body adapt - We're all guilty of getting into habits, it's the easiest way to make sure you keep going. Initially making yourself go to the same classes to create a habit is great, but after a while your body gets used to it and it doesn't have the same effect. Keep changing it up, try and go to a different class on the same day at the same time to keep your habit, go for a run outside instead of the gym or go for a hike on an unpredictable route. Anything to vary exercise will make sure you get the best out of it. I'll be doing body pump tomorrow morning and I might go really heavy for a different track each week for the next few weeks to shock my muscles into working harder.

5) Don't go all or nothing though - Stay consistent in terms of efforts, don't run every day for 2 weeks and then give up because you've got blisters and shin splints. Allow your body time to build up and recover but keep pushing and don't give up just because you ache more than normal.

6) Prepare everything - Workouts and food in particular. Don't turn up to the gym and wander around deciding what you're going to do, write it down or plan it all in your head and just go for it whilst you're there. Same goes for food, prepare your meals and plan out when you're having what meal, it will help when you're tired after a workout just want to eat, and stop you from going for a takeaway or a ready meal! One of the easiest ways I've learnt to do this is to prep a load of meals on one day and portion them up. You can then freeze some for later on and keep others in the fridge. I also find having cooked chicken and a tupperware of ready cooked quinoa in the fridge helps as I snack on that instead of crisps!

7) Perfect your form - Before you start piling the weights onto the bar make sure you know what you're doing and your form is correct or you'll injure yourself before you start. Not only that but knowing your form and performing the full range of each movement for each rep will get you the most out of each exercise that you possibly can; i.e. squat lower, push up harder and stretch further, it will make you sweatier without a doubt!

8) Focus - This means ignoring your texts, calls and emails whilst you're in the gym. Focus on what you're doing for the 30 minutes or hour you are exercising, not only will this make your workout seem like it goes faster but it will also ensure you get the maximum out of it too. Blast your favourite music and concentrate.

9) Hydrate - The most important factor in weight loss and exercise. Don't forget to stay hydrated and keep a bottle of water near you, I carry one with me all the time and the benefits are endless!

10) Make a record - Take photos for a before and after. You don't need to put these on the internet (I certainly haven't!) But it can help to show you progress that the scale might not. I've also started to keep a journal of my dirt and exercise habits so that I can see progress. An increase in distance when I run, or a change in pace, an increase in weights or just about anything really. I'm hoping it will give me a boost when I see how far I've progressed or how my body has changed.

What do you think of the tips? Are there any that stand out to you that you think might help? 

I know I need to keep changing up my classes and exercise and definitely need to prepare my snacks better!

L xxx

Fitness Update

Morning everyone!

Hope you're having a great week so far. I am spending today with my mum at Swindon's Shopping outlet as we need to get a load of birthday presents for family members.....and I can't guarantee I won't pick up a little something for myself too! I need to be good though and hopefully not pick up any more than 1 product....

Anyway, my main reason for posting today is to give you an update on my fitness plans and goals so i hope I don't bore you too much with my waffling on but it's as big a part of my life now as blogging is and I'm sure I'll be mentioning it a lot in future.

I would imagine we've all been on a bit of a health kick after the gluttonous Christmas period and kicking up the exercise a notch was my first priority. I've put together a plan for myself to kick my metabolism back into action, drop the few (!) extra pounds I put on over Christmas and get myself fit and ready for the challenges I've set myself this year.

Let's list these first:

1) 10km run on March 1st
2) Dirty Dozen on June 22nd
3) Tough Mudder August 16th
4) Cardiff Half Marathon October 5th (this is provisional...depends on how TM goes!)

These are the physical tasks I've set myself this year. I'm not a runner by any stretch of the imagination but I've started on the treadmill so that I can force myself to learn! I need to increase my distance so that i can reach 10km by March, and increase this slowly to 20km for TM in August.

If you don't know what Tough Mudder (TM) and Dirty Dozen races are then give them a quick google....basically they're both obstacle courses that require you to run a certain distance and then also tackle a number of obstacles. These range from climbing walls, swimming through ice, running through fire and getting electrocuted all before a free pint and a big party!
They sound very fun and a massive challenge for me as I'd never run further than 5km before let alone completed any obstacles like this.


My current plan is the following:

Monday - Body Combat. This will help with cardio as it burns around 750 calories per class and will help me strengthen my leg and core muscles without high impact like running does. Plus i really enjoy it!

Tuesday-Friday - Gym program. I have one at the moment which is great but I'm planning on meeting with my trainer to update my program and therefore get some new exercises related to TM training. I will need some serious upper body and core strength to get me through it! I plan on going to the gym to do this program with 20 minutes on the cross trainer or a run twice during the week.

Saturday - Body Pump. I love this class and it will hopefully help me increase the weights i can use and therefore get stronger, i just need to be committed enough to increase my weights each week!

Sunday - Run day! Sunday's will be dedicated to an outdoor run around the parks near my house. This means I will be running outside in daylight instead of on a treadmill as it's currently too dark to do this when I've finished work at the moment. As the nights get lighter again I'll be running outside in the evenings.


Having been doing this loose plan for 2 weeks I can say that it is hard but achievable to go 5 times a week if you plan your life and put the effort into it whilst you are there. It's hard to be motivated all the time especially when you don't see any results. I've been trying to eat more veg than fruit recently and have been having soup instead of fruit on my morning breaks to fill me up. That combined with increasing my water intake and I've been feeling like a beached whale!

Luckily my body has got used to it not and hopefully I'll start seeing some results soon.


Aside from these challenges I am hoping that it will help me lose about 1 stone (14lbs) and tone up my arms and core where I could do with being a bit less wobbly! I'd like to be comfortable in a bikini in case the situation where I need to wear one arises!

If any of you have some tips for my diet or exercise plans, or anything that will help me in my quest to survive TM then I'd be grateful. If you have any challenges you've set yourself this year please share them with me below, I'd love to know of any others and of your plans :)

L xxx

Bloggers Unite to Lose Weight - America this

Hey All

My first proper post since my holiday. I had lots scheduled for when I was away so posts would still go up on my days off. My holiday was amazing. I think I will do a nosey photo post of it soon as I love looking at people's photos. 

This was the gorgeous view I was greeted with when I arrived at the hotel. I love the moody sky.

Breakfast Day 1 part 1

So the past two weeks I've been eating what I want. I'd said in previous posts I was going to restrict myself on holiday as it's a holiday and it's America. Full of naughty food treats and boy did I go all out on the food. Who can resist pancakes for breakfast. Especially American ones. I didn't spend much holiday laid down and spent 6 full days out of 7 at the parks so I did walk a lot and swim a bit too.

Day 1 part 2

While there I had 3 breakfasts like this

So the bad news. Over the past two weeks I've gained 4 and a half lbs. Not too bad could have been worse and I'm thinking positive that I've still lost 9lbs in 9 weeks. 

This had to happen Chilli Cheese Fries (best thing ever) and spicy chicken (I did eat the celery)

Diet wise now I'm back calorie counting starts again tomorrow (my food shop gets delivered tonight). I'm going to be upping my weekly calories to 1500 ish now during the week and sensible but what I want food at the week. I'm hoping this will give me the best of both worlds, with tasty meals, not feeling deprived and still losing a small amount like 1/2lb a week. I think this will more be easy to stick to.

The most beautiful steak I've ever had

I will be back to logging my food on MyFitnessPal (if you have it send me your name.) I love this app. It's brilliant and I don't think I'd have stuck so long at my weight loss with out it. It makes tracking what you eat so easy and there are lots of lovely people around for inspiration on bad days.

Roast beef, cheese and gravy Man V Food style sandwich

Exercise weight I'm unsure of at the moment. My knees are back hurting lately so a trip to the Doctors is needed when I get round to it. I really need to motivate myself to exercise in the flat. Especially as winter is drawing in and running when it's dark around by me isn't the safest.

The Last Day meal

Winter makes it hard but I'm thinking lots of tasty soups and warming meals from The Hairy Dieters book. I'm going to do a chilli, ginger and butternut squash  and a minestrone soup this week so I'll try and include those recipes next week aswell.

Washed down with a mint choc chip ice cream

I also need to be better at resisting the Starbucks at uni, not only is it a waste of money it's not great calorie wise even though I do go skinny. I also need to get my partner back out of his Domino's addiction. A low calorie pizza recipe would be appreciated if anyone has one.

My gorgeous hand luggage!! How cute is this. Just had to share it.

Hope you are all doing well. Sorry for the photos of my naughty food from holiday if your diets are going well. As you can see I fully went for it. What are your winter weight loss tips?

Love M

xxx