 When it comes to getting the most out of your training, it's important to keep things varied and fresh! Thankfully, there are lots of ways you can train the same muscle groups. For example, are barbell rows the same as dumbbell rows? Or do they have different benefits? What about dumbbell shoulder presses? Are they better than barbell overhead presses? Read below as to why you should train with dumbbells.. Dumbbells are most commonly used for isolation exercises and are great for upper body work as well as exercises such as lunges, walks and carries. The main benefits of using dumbbells are. 1. Ease of use Dumbbells don’t take up much space and you don’t need a Squat Rack to use them. So, if you’re looking to get a decent strength workout in at home, then dumbbells are a great way to train! 2. Training efficiency Dumbbells are much quicker to change over than loading and unloading a barbell. So, in terms of getting in more reps, dumbbells can be really advantageous. 3. Muscle Imbalances Dumbbells are perfect for isolation work. And because you’re using your arms independently, there’s no risk of your stronger side carrying the weaker side. This is beneficial for anyone wanting to keep an eye on any imbalances they have. 4. Flexibility Using dumbbells gives you a little more flexibility in terms of choosing the angles that you train at. This can be great for anyone who struggles with joint mobility as you can maintain a more neutral grip. Dumbbells allow you to move more naturally, which is not only more comfortable but will also optimize your workouts. #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip
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 It's that time of the year where there are a number of events or night outs in the lead up to Christmas. One of our clients asked us during the week: "Can I go to the Christmas party if I am trying to lose weight?" What do you think? Of course they should! One day, or one evening isn't going to undo all your good work. Here are a few tips to make the most of it: 1. Plan ahead If you know you are going to have a night out, then think ahead. For example, think of your total calories for that week, and have little less on the days leading upto your night out, then you can have bit more on the day/ night of your event. Also, maybe get some extra steps/ walks/ run in that week. 2. Be smart with what you eat On the night out, one can be smart about what you eat. For example, maybe not have any bread at the start (if it is served), maybe have 2 courses instead of 3. Maybe go with a plant/vegetarian option, or with fish. 3. Alcohol Alcohol can be a tricky one. This time of the year in particular there may be a lot of alcohol flowing. There may even be a "free" bar, or bottles of wine at the table. Ideally drink in moderation. Bear in mind there are calories in alcohol, and often we eat more when we drink, we sleep worse, and we usually don't feel like working out next day! So be mindful of it, and try and decide in advance what/ how much you want to drink and stick with it. 4. Exercise/ Workout Still aim to get your regular workouts and training in that week. Again, some pre-planning maybe required. For example, if you normally workout the morning after your night out, that might not be realistic, but schedule it for that evening, or another day. 5. Enjoy yourself Most important thing is to enjoy yourself. You have worked hard all year, this is a time to celebrate and to have bit fun, catch up with people in an informal setting and enjoy yourself. Remember you didn't put the weight on in one day, and a night out isn't going to cause you to undo all your good work. Get back to it next day! #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip 20/11/2022 0 Comments What kind of role model are you? Do you know 340 million kids are overweight? Read that again! 340 million kids are overweight! The research shows that children emulate their parents. What they see their parents doing, more than likely they will copy and do over time themselves. For that reason it is very important not just for your sake, but if you have children, then for your childrens sake that you are living a healthy lifestyle. How can you best model healthy lifestyle? 1. Eat well. This is so important for yourself, but also for your children to get into the right habit. Simple things like plant based, natural foods, rather than processed food. Ensuing priority on protein intake. Loads of fruit & vegetable. Talking about energy balance (calories in versus calories out), and minimise snacking. 2. Go to the gym/ lift weights Strength training is one of the best things to be role modelling for your kids. Why not get them involved early? For example, show them pictures of you working out, or better still have them come along occasionally to see you workout (if that’s possible), or meet you towards the end of your session. Or you could show them some of the exercises at home. As a minimum, talk to your children about it and how you feel about strength training. 3. Walk Walk wherever and whenever you can. Keep the focus on getting at least 8000 steps a day. If possible, walk you child to and from school. 4. Sleep This maybe a hard one, especially if your children are young and are not sleeping great, but it is such a vital one. Again you need to be leading by example, aiming for that 8 hours quality sleep per night. 5. Drink Water Show your children the value of drinking at least 2 litres of water a day. Demonstrate the value in water and show there is no need for sugar fizzy drinks! Show these to your children from an early age. What the child sees/ does in childhood will persist with them into adulthood. 7/11/2022 0 Comments Improvement isn’t a straight line Some people think (or hope) when they set off on weight loss journey that they will lose set amount of weight every week e.g. lose 1lb every week, and that it will follow a straight line. They tend to get frustrated if this doesn’t happen, and some times they may stop because they think they are not making progress. The reality is that there will be ups and downs, but if you do the right things, over time there will be a downward trajectory . A few tips for holding the course: 1. Trust the process If you have studied what to do, or got good advice, then trust the process, especially if the process involved looking at it holistically and not just focussing on one element. For example, if one just focussed on diet/ food alone, and one is not getting enough sleep, then sooner or later the sleep deprivation will get the better of things and undo all the good work on the nutrition side. 2. Any change takes time This is very important. The body takes time to adjust. Any significant change can take 1-2 weeks to start showing up. So don’t stop, or don’t radically change the plan everyday without giving it enough time to show up. Ideally make one major change and allow 2 weeks to see if that makes an improvement. If it does, continue, if you feel it is not, then make another adjust and allow that another 2 weeks to settle in before making any other change. 3. Be patient with yourself It is vital that if you want to sustain the improvements for the long term, that you are patient with yourself. One might be able to drop a large amount of weight in short term, but often that involves special diets, or restrictive food. This can make life more challenging, or may not be as enjoyable to live life e.g. you may not go out for dinner to celebrate special event, or if you do go out you may not eat what you would really like to eat. Life is for living, so you should be able to enjoy what you do on an ongoing basis. So be patient with your weight loss journey and cut yourself some slack so that it is sustainable for the long term. #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip  Fueling your body with the right nutrients prior to exercise will give you the energy and strength you need to perform better. To maximize the results of your training, try to eat a meal containing carbs, protein and fat 2–3 hours before you exercise. In some cases, you won't be able to get such a meal in! This is where we turn to a quick snack, that will sustain our energy and focus for a challenging workout. Here's four main ones! 1. Rice cakes (2) with peanut butter/banana This is the perfect way to ensure you'll have energy for a tough workout. The rice cakes provide carbohydrates while the fats from the peanut butter will help ensure a slow release of energy. Add a chopped up banana to the mix and your good to go! 2. Bagel with peanut or almond butter A quick and simple snack to ensure your energy needs are met. Try adding some chopped apple on top and you will be ready for your session. 3. Coffee This is a good idea for those training in the morning or early afternoon. If you train in the evening or at night, the caffeine probably won't do your sleep that night any favors, so best to avoid it. Try a quick espresso or a normal coffee to give you that boost that's sometimes needed to workout! You'll find your focus will be on point too, so thumbs up for coffee. 4. Cereal with milk A quick and easy source of carbohydrates and protein. This will give you energy to get you through your session, just make sure to pick a balanced cereal such as weetabix, oatmeal or protein granola. You'll burn off the extra calories that this snack provides, so don't worry if it isn't one of the above! #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip 23/10/2022 0 Comments Pushing outside your comfort zone The easy path is to keep doing what we have always done, that’s the safe way, we know what to do, we know what is expected of us, and we know what results we will get. But if we keep doing this, there will be very little, or slow growth. As Henry Ford famously said: ““If You Always Do What You've Always Done, You'll Always Get What You've Always Got.” ~ Henry Ford The road that is a bit more challenging is to step outside our comfort zone and try something new/ different. This maybe going to the gym, it maybe getting a personal trainer, it maybe taking up a new sport or activity. Initially it is daunting and intimidating. You are starting from scratch, you are a begineer/ novice. Here are three tips for overcoming the nerves and making the first step: 1. Just do it! As the Nike slogan says, just do it! Don’t keep putting it off, don’t keep prograstinating! Pick up the phone and call the person or place you want to start and make an appointment 2. Start small/ Be realistic Better to start small with realistic goal, rather than be expecting miraculous results immediately. For example, if you haven’t done much running before and you want to take up running, better to not sign up for a marathon in a week or a month, but much better approach would be to join coach to 5K group. That way you will build upto 5K over a number of weeks 3.Ask/ get support One of the best ways of stepping outside your comfort zone and taking on somethimg new is to ask for support e.g go to someone who teaches or coaches what you want to learn and get good at. So if you want to get stronger and fitter, go to a personal trainer. They will show you the proper way to do things and coach you along the way. That way your progress is faster, and there is a higher likelihood you will keep at it. #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip  If I asked you how would you measure progress on your weight loss journey, how would you answer it? A lot of people focus on the weighing scales and say they want to lose xKg (or lbs or stone!). Some people say they want to reduce a clothes size (for ladies a dress size, for men a pants size) and so may focus on measuring body parts. For others it is to feel better/ have more energy. Some people say it’s to be able to keep up with the kids! There is no right or wrong answer here. It all depends on you, and your goal. However, some are easier to measure than others, and to notice a change faster. This can be good and bad. For example, the weighing scales is the most quantifiable measure – it gives us a black & white number every time. So it can be good to see a number. However, it can easily change by such things as time of the day, if you have eaten recently, how much water you drank, the time of the month for ladies, you might have lost fat but put on muscle etc. One may come despondent if the scale isn’t moving in the right direct, or if it is not moving fast enough, however other things might be going on. One of the least quantifiable measures is how one feels or how much energy one has. However, this can be one of the most important indicators, and have the biggest impact on our daily lives. Most of us know if we have “low” energy, or “high” energy. A simple way of making it more specific is to think of it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = low energy, and 10 = high energy. Checking in with oneself, or with your coach every week or every month using a scale like this gets the balance of both worlds. Isn’t it more powerful if we feel better and have more energy? We’d suggest putting more emphasis on this measure, and less on the weighing scale, or use the scales to compliment the other measure, and not just focus on the scales.  The key to weight loss and muscle gain is relatively simple. Some people try and make it complicated and use fancy terms or push fad diets or special products. The truth is: If you eat less, you will lose weight If you eat less, and eat plenty of protein, you will lose body fat If you eat less, eat plenty of protein, and strength train, you will lose body fat and gain muscle. So the answer is eat less, eat plenty of protein and strength train! Bottom line, it is the quantity and quality of what we eat, and add strength training into the mix to tone, get stronger and gain muscle.  If you want to get stronger, you need to be doing a little bit more every time you go to the gym. It doesn’t need to be dramatic improvement every time, in fact that’s not realistic, but think more that old adage of aiming for “1% more every time”. In strength training this approach is called “progressive overload”. Personal trainers will often lay this out in a structured deliberate set of programs/ blocks over the space of a few weeks (or months). 4 simple ways of doing this: 𝟏. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐬. For example: 6 to 8 to 10 to 12 reps 𝟐. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. Example: 8kg to 10kg to 12kg 𝟑. 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐬. Example: 2 sets to 3 sets, 4 𝟒. 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨. For example: If doing a squat, instead of 1 second down, try doing 3, 4 or 5 seconds down Initially when you start your strength training journey, you will see you are able to do larger progressive increases (jumps), but the longer you are doing it, the less the increase will be, but you should still be aiming to do a little bit more. Most important thing is to always do it in a safe manner, without risking an injury to yourself, and with good technique/ posture all the time. If technique/ posture/ form starts to break down, then hold the same reps/ weights/ sets as the last time for a bit longer and try a bit more the next time. #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip  It’s that time of year where there are colds and flu’s starting to do the rounds again. Some people are asking when can I come back training after been sick or unwell. Here are a few things to take into consideration: 1. Listen to your doctor/ consultant The first port of call, and the expert on this matter is your doctor/ consultant. Have a conversation with them, or check with them when is it appropriate to go back to exercising again. 2. Listen to your body If you are feeling tired, or sore, or low energy, you have to listen to your body and take heed of it. There is no point in going back training too early and finding you are making matters worse for yourself and your recovery time will even be longer. If the cold/ flu hasn’t cleared up, you may also pass it on to other people who might be at the gym. 3. Start back slow When you do feel ready, start back slow and steady. This could mean a shorter session the first time back, or it may mean lighter weights/ less reps/ less cardio, or it may mean all of the above! It is better to turn up and do a little and get back into the swing of it, than overdoing it and running yourself down again and being out of action for another number of days or weeks 4. Talk to you coach/ training partner(s) If you have a coach or personal trainer, or if you workout with a training partner(s), talk to them in advance or when you turn up and let them know what you have been through and how you are feeling now. They will support you and work with you and adjust based on how you are doing. 5. Get back to doing the fundamentals well again Usually when we are sick our eating habits are disturbed and our sleep is impacted. Get back to eating well, sleeping well and drinking loads of water again will help your overall recovery and set you up for having energy and feeling like working out again. #personaltraining #personaltrainer #weights #weighttraining #strength #gym #fitness #fitnessjourney #fitnessmotivation #cardio #weightloss #coach #maynooth #kilcock #clane #celbridge #leixlip |
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