F.I.S.H.

A bit of power

2011-09-23T02:52:00.000Z

I've spent the last month training heavy with a couple of guys at the gym. It's not something I do often, but change is often a good thing, so I gave it a go.

I'm currently up to 150kg squat, 170kg dead lift, 70kg clean, 60kg clean and press, and 110kg bench press.

When I get back to my usual sort of training (higher reps) the poundages will no doubt increase.

New Training Season

2011-01-27T19:42:00.001Z

Hello everyone.

Sorry it's been so long. I've been out of the country for a while and then inundated with editing work. Finally, I'm able to commit to full-time training again.

I'm available for bookings by phone or email (you can use the "contact us" form at www.derekprior.com if you don't have my contact details.

Discount training books

2010-09-11T04:56:00.000Z

By buying any of my training books direct from the publisher you can get 25% discount. This is particularly helpful for the log sheets ("Nutritional Journal") where you will periodically need new copies once the old one has been completed.

Hopefully this should keep the costs low enough for everyone to make good use of these tools and ensure you reach your goals.

NUTRITIONAL JOURNAL: https://www.createspace.com/3471532 ( enter code UUD4HW87)

FOUNDATIONS FOR A BETTER PHYSIQUE: https://www.createspace.com/3410225 (enter code: 4NMCWESF)

I strongly recommend that all clients make use of the "Nutritional Journal" for the accurate recording of food, fluid and supplements.

If you need to keep track of your own workouts you can find "The F.I.S.H. Training Log" at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/F-I-S-H-Training-Log-Derek-Prior/dp/1445233509/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284180897&sr=8-12

http://www.amazon.co.uk/F-I-S-H-Training-Log-Derek-Prior/dp/1445233509/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284180942&sr=8-11

New clients welcome

2010-09-02T15:57:00.001Z

Following the success of the free consultations I've taken on a number of new clients (and some old) and we're training exclusively at MetamorFIT gym in Courtlands Road, Eastbourne.

I've decided to continue with the free consultations as they've been a great way of meeting new clients and accurately assessing their needs.

If you'd like a no obligations consultation please contact me by one of the following means:

Email: derekprior [at] yahoo.co.uk

or via the "Contact Us" form on my website (http://www.derekprior.com/)

It's also possible to book appointments (including the consultation) via my online diary:

http://www.clocksushi.com/fish

I hope to see some of you soon.

Current prices: 1 hour personal training: £20

My guide to training and diet for improved body composition, "Foundations for a Better Physique" is now available from Amazon.co.uk as an eBook (Kindle format). You can download Kindle for PC for free from Amazon and then the book only costs 74p.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Foundations-For-a-Better-Physique/dp/B003ZK55KC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1283442721&sr=8-5

The "Nutritional Journal" (3 months worth of food diary record sheets, measurement chart and baseline diet plan) is also available from Amazon.co.uk, currently discounted to £4.98. I recommend this to all my clients as diet is at least 80% of success.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nutritional-Journal-Derek-Prior/dp/1453718966/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283442721&sr=8-9

FREE consultations & online booking system

2010-08-03T08:48:00.000Z

I'm offering free personal training consultations for 1 week to clients in the Eastbourne area. Former clients are also encouraged to book a free consultation.

I'll be running a boot camp outdoor training session on Saturday mornings at 8am (meeting beneath Eastbourne Pier).

To book boot camp or any personal training service pleas evisit the online booking system at:

http://www.clocksushi.com/index.php

My user name is "fish" or you can find me by searching under "Derek Prior".

You can also book and pay for sessions using my website: http://www.derekprior.com/

or by phoning 07735433467

2010-07-25T22:35:00.000Z

The F.I.S.H. Nutritional Journal (12 weeks worth of food record sheets, diet plan and measurment chart) is now available from Amazon for only $7.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Nutritional-Journal-Fitness-Instruction-Strength/dp/1453718966/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

Record your eating for success

2010-07-23T12:14:00.001Z

The F.I.S.H. Nutritional Journal has just been published and will soon be live on Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc. Advance copies can be bought from Create Space eStore:

https://www.createspace.com/3471532

The Nutritional Journal includes:

* 12 weeks worth of food diary record sheets with space for 6 meals a day, supplements, fluid, pre, during and post-workout meals.

* Baseline nutritional plan

* Physical measurements chart

Use the journal as an efficient way to record all your training/weight loss nutrition. Aids accuracy, motivation and success.

Perfectly complements Foundations for a Better Physique and The F.I.S.H. Training Log.

Super-sets for Fat Loss

2010-05-13T06:20:00.004Z

Now the warm weather is on its way it's time to shed the last of the winter fat. This year I packed on a lot of new muscle but my fat% went from 11% to 14% in the process.During the winter I'd been lifting heavy with lots of rest inbetween sets.

In order to strip the extra fat and retain the muscle I've switched to super-setting exercises and keeping rest between pairs of sets to 60 seconds. I've been pairing opposing muscles for chest & back exercises whilst perfroming 2-3 exercises for the same muscle with no rest for arms, shoulders and legs.

With this protocol, and the right diet, definition starts to imprive very quickly. This is due largely to the increase in growth hormone, which is related to the lactic acid build up from reduced rest. The weights are still high enough to retain muscle (10-15 reps mostly). Heart rate is elevated throughout the workouts, thus ensuring more calories are burned and a significant excess post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which keeps you burning fat for some time after the workout (estimates of how long vary from 3-38 hours depending on the intensity of the exercise).

A sample wokout might be:

A1) Bench Press 2x 10-15 reps (no rest)
A2) Cable Row 2x 10-15 reps (60 seconds rest)

B1) Lat Pulldown 2 x 10-15 reps (no rest)
B2) Clean & Press 2x 10-15 reps (60 seconds rest)

C1) Alternating Lunge 2x 10 reps (no rest)
C2) Dead Lift 2 x 10 reps (60-90 seconds rest)

D1) Leg Extension 2 x 10-15 reps (no rest)
D2) Squat 2 x 10-15 reps (60 seconds rest)

E1) Rope triceps pressdown 2 x 10-15 reps (no rest)
E2) Dumbbell Biceps Curl 2x 10-15 reps (60 seconds rest)

For abdominals I generally use giant sets (i.e. ball crunch, side bend, reverse crunch, cable crunch, plank with no rest in between).

New Year Challenge

2009-12-28T11:35:00.002Z

A number of F.I.S.H. clients have decided to start the New Year with an intensification of training and diet. I'll be joining them in this. The plan is to follow the nutrtitional guidelines in Foundations for a Better Physique. In my case it also means cutting out all alcohol for at least 5 months.

If anyone would like to join in the challenge please contact me or visit www.derekprior.com and use the "contact us" form.

Foundations for a Better Physique is available as a FREE download from www.lulu.com or you can buy the hard copy from Amazon.

Training Books from F.I.S.H.

2009-11-27T14:24:00.003Z

Foundations for a Better Physique and The F.I.S.H. Training Log are available from the Homunculus Books Store for £5 each or as a FREE download. Follow the link below.

http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1604153

New Book Released

2009-10-31T08:45:00.006Z

My new book "Foundations for a Better Physique" has now been released and is available either as a paperback or download from www.lulu.com

The book cuts through all the confusing information about training with weights to give you the best method, in my opinion, of training your whole body whilst preserving structural balance.

The book describes the six core exercises in great detail and tells you how to periodise your training for optimal results.

Invaluable information on motivation, rest, recuperation, training variables, and diet is also included along with record sheets for diet, training and physical measurements.

Paperback costs £6.25 and download £1.50

The Fat Burning Diet

2009-09-19T02:53:00.005Z

I recently took a two week break from the 12 week challenge in order to visit Chicago and from there take a road trip to Missouri. The rest from training and dieting did a lot of good, allowing tired muscles and joints to recover fully.

I was also introduced to Jay Robb's book "The Fat Burning Diet", a wealth of information applicable to bodybuilders, athletes, and those simply seeking to shed a few pounds. Jay favours carbohydrate control but not to the extreme degree of Atkins. Carbs are restricted for 2 1/2 days (approximately 15-30g per meal) and then the evening meal of the third day is a carb load meal aimed to restore glycogen levels. In addition the Saturday evening meal is a 60 minute "eat whatever you want".

The benefits are that the body switches to burning predominantly fat for energy, thus overcoming carbohydrate addiction, energy slumps and fat deposition; muscle mass is retained through earting adequate protein, essential fats, and the carb loading meals; there is great variety to the menus, plus simple principles to creating your own meals; and adherance is greatly aided by the carb loading and cheat meals.

I've switched to this diet today, aiming to reach my goal of 156lbs and <10% body fat by 28th November.

If you would like to check out the diet for yourself visit www.jayrobb.com

FISH Dead Lifting Competition

2009-08-19T08:23:00.011Z

Training has started for the annual FISH dead lifting competition, which will be held at the FISH studio in October.

The competition is for fun and is appropriate for lifters of all abilities and sizes. Entry details are on Facebook and all FISH clients and associates are welcome.

If you would like to attend but have not received training from FISH or their associates please email me so that we can arrange to check technique for insurance purposes.

There will be small prizes for:

1) Heaviest overall lift

2) Heaviest lift relative to body weight (the lighter you are the easier to win!)

3) Heaviest female lift

The competition will be followed by drinks and, weather permitting, BBQ

Lifting straps may be used

We will start with a progressive warm up before proceeding to the first lift. Each competitor will have 3 attempts at each weight before being eliminated.

See Facebook (link at the foot of this page) for more details.

Queries can be sent to derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

For training enquiries please visit http://www.derekprior.com/

12 Week Body Transformation Challenge

2009-08-19T08:08:00.008Z

Six clients have now started the 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge - all want to lose body fat and build or retain some muscle.

The recording of diet has been made as simple as possible - it involves selecting one of three choices per meal (6 a day including snacks), entering the letter and the time eaten. So far compliance is perfect.

Three people are training with me in the FISH studio but the others have elected to train by themselves following programmes I have written. They all have copies of the diet plan and record sheets and unlimited email support.

Whilst it is naturally ideal to do the challenge with a trainer, not everyone can spare the cost; but its amazing what can be achieved with a good plan, access to support, clear goals, and (most of all) dogged consistency.

Good luck to everyone. 2nd November is not too far away. 12 weeks out of your whole life is nothing, so you might as well succeed.

If you have any queuries please don't hesitate to contact me on derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

To view FISH Personal Training services and products please visit http://www.derekprior.com/

If you would like to participate in the challenge either with a trainer or by yourself send me an email.

Derek

12 Week Body Transformation Challenge

2009-08-12T07:27:00.004Z

Due to popular demand I am once more offering the 12 Week Challenge for those of you who are serious about making extreme changes to your physique. During the 12 weeks you will work consistently towards your goal. Generally clients want to shed body fat whilst retaining muscle. I usually advise people to aim for between 12 & 24 lbs of actual fat loss depending on their starting fat percentage.

This is a perfect opportunity for those of you looking to get really lean or for those, with more to lose, to make a bug shift in your weight loss goals.

The programme consists of:

Goal setting

Weight and body fat monitoring

3 Personal Training sessions per week (weights)

Optional outdoor group training twice per week (running, hill walking, bootcamp)

12 week diet plan with detailed record sheets (vegetarian option available)

Unlimited email support

Advice on supplements and supplement ordering service

Option for additional Personal Training sessions for only £10 each
Optional photos (before, after, and monthly)

The entire 12 Week Body Transformation programme costs only £50 per week (payable at the beginning of each week)

SPECIAL OFFER: If you pay for the entire 12 week programme in advance it will cost you only £450 (a saving of £150!)

*prices are for the FISH Studio. If you wish to train at another location please contact me for a quotation.

Payments can be made by cheque, cash, or Paypal.

Contact: http://www.derekprior.com/ or derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

Telephone: 07735433467

International clients please see ONLINE TRAINING on http://www.derekprior.com/

Consistency

2009-08-10T09:09:00.004Z

Whenever you see someone with a lean, defined physique you can be sure they have trained, and even more importantly dieted, with consistency. Rather than hitting the gym hard for a few weeks, or following a rigid diet which leaves you hungry and ready to binge at the drop of a hat, it's more productive, in the long-term, to keep progressing with small steps.

Many beginners to weight training make the mistake of increasing the weight too much. For years body builders have been saying that if you can't feel the muscle working then the weight is too heavy. Outside of power-lifting/strength/athletic performance circles this is absolutely right.

To build muscle you need to keep the target muscle under tension; you also need to focus on the function of the muscle and not on the lifting of the weight (which is a tool for increasing tension). Ego is often the curse of weight lifters. What's the point of benching 100kg if you are only starining your tendons and rotator cuff muscles?

A useful aid to making continual progress is to use small increments, micro weights (such as Plate Mates). These allow you to increase the load by as little as 1/4 of a kilo. This is most helpful for busting plateau's with smaller muscle groups.

Diet is the same. Make small adjustments that are easy to follow rather than depriving yourself so much that you can't sustain it.

Generally, increase protein (but not to the ridiculous levels recommended by some body builders, unless your goal is to keep growing huger), reduce carbs (but not as low as Atkins) and increase monunsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Ensure you take sufficient amounts of Essential Fatty Acids (omega 3 & 6; I would recommend Udo's Choice oils, flaxseeds and oily fish). A multi vitamin/mineral supplement is good insurance too. Make sure you have enough B6 in particular to metabolise all that protein.

I find it helpful to create food record sheets that list the 3 or 4 options for each meal as A, B, C etc. You then simply record the letter and the time of the meal. Too much choice may be detrimental; keep things simple.

If, like me, you like to socialise then you could have one cheat meal per week where you eat what you like for an hour. This is an opportunity to go to a favourite restaurant and have a glass of wine or two. Any more than that and you can't get really good results (although you might just be able to maintain).

To get the best results, you have to be consistent. It generally takes 12-16 weeks for a figure competitor to get into peak shape, and they often start off in good shape anyway. Make your eating and training parts of your routine, not chores to be gotten out of the way. When they become as easy and unconscious as breathing you will be on the way to serious transformation.

For help and advice or to book training and nutritional plans please visit http://www.derekprior.com/

Vegetarian Training Diet

2009-08-07T07:00:00.002Z

Statstically, vegetarians have a higher body fat percentage than meat eaters. They either tend to be corpulent or "skinny fat". I was vegetarian for 25 years but spent the last year eating chicken and fish to see if it made any difference. It certainly made muscle gain and fat loss easier but I concluded it wa snot essential. I'm back to my veggie ways, and happy with it.

The big problem with vegetarian diets is that they tend to compensate for protein with increased amounts of carbohydrate. If you eat too many starchy carbs (most nutritionists recommend 60% of calories come from carbs!) they will be stored as fat. They also increase the incidence of type II diabetes, mood swings, energy fluctuations etc.

Rather than loading up on pasta, bread and rice, vegetarians are better off increasing their intake of essential fats (omega 3 and 6) and finding high quality proteins.

An essential fat blend (such as Udo's Choice oil or capsules) is perhaps the easiest way to meet your EFA requirements. It's also a good idea to stock up on flaxseeds and almondss (although nuts and seeds generally are a good investment). Obviously portion size is important as nuts are calorie dense.

Protein should come from eggs and whey protein chiefly (isolate rather than concentrate. Ion exchanged is the best source). You can also use prepared egg-white mixes or egg protein powders.

Quorn and soya products are also a useful form of protein. For carb-load days you can combine beans and rice to make complete proteins too.

Below is a sample (strict) fat loss, muscle building diet for vegetarians:

Breakfast: ½ cup berries, 1.5x scoops of whey, 1 tea spn Udo’s Choice, 15 almonds, water

Mid AM snack: 1 x whey, 1tspn Udo’s or 5 almonds

Lunch: 2 x wholemeal Nimble bread, or 1 slice of bread, or half a cup of wholegrain rice, or 1 sweet potatot
a) 250 cals veg protein (qourn or soya)
b) cottage cheese or
c) 2 eggs

5 almonds or 1 dessert spn seeds

Mid PM snack: 1 x whey, 1 tspn Udo’s/ 5 almonds

Dinner:
A) 250 cals veggie protein, B) cottage cheese, C) 2 eggs
salad/veg, 1 dspn of Udo’s

Evening snack: 1 x Casein
5 almonds or 1 tspn Udo’s

You should supplement with a good multi vitamin/mineral.

(Post workout: A) 2 x Pro Recover, 5g Creatine
Or B) 2 rice cakes, jam, 1x whey)

Every third day have a carb-load meal (an extra sweet potato, half cup of rice, slice of wholemeal bread and maybe add a banana to breakfast).

Consistency is the key - with both training and diet. Don't do anything excessive...just keep following th eplan, week in, week out, and the results will come.

If you are socialising, one meal per week could be a cheat meal....eat anything you like for an hour (but don't go crazy and gorge yourself!) This could be an opportunity to go to an Italian restaurant or whatever you fancy (just order anything from the main course and sterr clear of the bread and desserts).

Keep alcohol to an absolute minimum (save it for your cheat meal ideally).

E Book

2009-08-06T08:39:00.004Z

The training E Book is nearing completion. Most of the text has been written and the photos will be taken in a few weeks. This is an incentive to enter another peak phase of dieting once this two week holiday is over.

I've elected to reduce carbs a bit more and increase essential fats, which are vital for encouraging the body to burn fat as energy.

I'm training with low volume and heavy weights at the moment. Generally I do a warm up set of ten reps, the weight stays the same each workout for this. I then perfrom one set of 6-8 reps making sure to increase the reps or weight each workout.

Exercises are predominantly big compound moves, although I am using giant sets on shoulders at the moment.

My body fat % is now below 12% and should dip below 10% in the next month or so.

Many of my clients are now upping the weights and reducing the reps - training is always cyclical. A number are working on increasing their deadlifts so that they can at least lift their own body weight. Two clients are close to lifting twice their own weight. At this rate we may need to arrange a competition.

For all Personal Training services visit www.derekprior.com

Foundations for A Better Physique

2009-05-15T12:37:00.003Z

I'm finishing off a new eBook on the foundations of physique training, soon to be available online. The book cuts through all the nonsense written about building the body and gives you all you need to start developing a proportional, structurally balanced, healthy physique.

Summer

2009-04-28T11:15:00.003Z

As Summer approaches it is the time to get into peak condition. My own training frequency has increased and I am using predominantly hybrid training - high reps pyramiding up to low reps with big compound exercises. My current favourite is clean and press which is really starting to bring my shoulders up.

I've also started running down at the sports park athletics track. Badminton starts Thursday, along with occasional tennis and the new boot camp (training on the beach).

Sessions are starting to book up at the studio, home and for the outdoor sessions. Let's make it a summer of achieving the best possible results.

F.I.S.H. Web Site

2009-03-25T21:41:00.004Z

Thanks to Matt Flower and Lee Geering F.I.S.H. now has a website featuring our prices, online training, telephone consultations and photos. Matt & Lee are currently in serious training for April's posedown!

Spring

2009-03-22T14:08:00.004Z

Spring is upon us and, as is the tradition at this time of year, most of my clients are moving towards peak condition for the summer.

My own training has altered from the heavy liftin gof the winter. I am training4-5 times per week using relatively high repetitions (generally 8-15, sometimes more), short rest intervals, and a variety of grips, angles, combinations of exercises whilst keeping in the big moves like dead lifts and squats.

I've reverted to a parallel grip for incline dumbbell press in order to rest the shoulder joints a little and I've dramatically reduced biceps work, having made some good gains during the winter.

My goal is to shed another 5 lbs of fat by Easter. Abdominal definition is already starting to come through due to adjustments to my diet:

Currently I'm eating 6 times a day with moderate amounts of low GI carbs, good fats, and fairly high protein. I've also added some cardio in the form of boxing just to speed up the fat loss.

Personal Training in 2009

2009-01-19T14:19:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. Personal Training Prices 2009
Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health

Personal Training (1 hour at MetamorFit Studio) £45

Personal Training (1 hour Cavalry Crescent) £35

Personal Training (1/2 hour Cavalry Crescent) £20

Health & Fitness Consultation (1 hour) £30

Goal Setting and Programme Design £50

Online Training £40 per week (available internationally)

New Management

2008-01-10T17:30:00.000Z

The FISH studio has been sold and will now be known as MetamorFIT - the Studio. The business looks set to expand under the new management. There are already five Personal Trainers working out of the studio.

FISH will continue as well - Derek Prior will be returning to freelance Personal Training and will be working primarily from the MetamorFIT studio. This will allow me to focus on the training rather than the management of the business.

Happy New Year

2008-01-03T13:07:00.001Z

Happy New Year to all our clients. If anyone is looking to change their lifestyle for the New Year, shed some weight, increase fitness, and achieve physique goals, then now is the time to do it.

Don't waste you money on a membership to a corporate gym - generally you'' get poor advice from poorly qualified instructors. Also, 95% of new gym members fail to use their membership within the first three months (but you are still tied in to the monthly rental for 12-18 months).

Your money would be better spent on Personal Training with one of our four (soon to be five) top quality and experienced trainers.

As a special incentive we are offering three sessions for the price of two during the month of January.

For enquiries, or to come and look around our studio, call Derek on 07871760054 or email fishtraining@yahoo.co.uk

HIT

2008-01-03T13:01:00.000Z

Thanks for the comment on HIT (High Intensity Training). The training world is divided between HIT and HVT (high volume training). I tend to opt for a middle path - I find one set insufficient to stimulate all muscle fibres and excessive volume impedes recovery and tends to elicit an overtraining response.

Intensity (load) is generally considered the most important factor in strength training and, as Arthur Jones et al recognised, an increase in intensity requires a decrease in volume.

Once the training goal has been identified it is fairly straight forward to work out the rep range (i.e. 9-12 reps is optimal for hypertrophy); this rep range will correlate to % of 1RM (intensity).

I generally advocate brief training sessions - no more than 45-60 minutes, which prevents against gluconeogenesis/catabolism. Pre and post workout nutrition is also crucial if you want to optimise the training effect.

FISH Gym Membership

2007-12-09T10:45:00.000Z

We are now offering gym membership for those of you who wish to train yourselves.

For only £5 per week (payable by Standing Order) you will have access to the gym 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You will also receive 20% discount off of Personal Training sessions.

For more information email fishtraining@yahoo.co.uk or telephone 07871760054.

Sensible Bodybuilding

2007-11-07T16:21:00.000Z

If you would like to improve your physique by developing lean muscle mass and losing excess body fat our trainers have the expertise to help you.

Bodybuilding often gets a bad press - usually due to the preconception that illegal steroids are involved.

At FISH we prefer the natural approach. In partnership with our clients we work out optimal training, nutrition, and supplement plans to ensure that you achieve your goals. We make sure that you don't overtrain and offer education in the importance of appropriate rest and nutrition. We also make use of a whole array of training protocols and advanced techniques to ensure you continue to make progress.

For those who don't want to grow bigger, just leaner, we offer body sculpting training and specialise in protocols for maximising fat loss using resistance exercise.

Initial consultation, including measurements, is FREE.

Personal Training for 1 hour costs just £25 (£15 for half an hour).

We also design gym programmes, bodybuilding programmes and nutritional plans for your own use.

or telephone Derek on 07871760054

Circuits

2007-11-07T16:10:00.000Z

We will be running three circuit classes per week in the studio: Wednesday at 10am, Friday at 10am, and Saturday at 2pm.

We have also opened up the gym for personal use between 12pm and 2pm Monday to Friday, and from 10am-2pm Saturday (£5 per session).

For personal gym use at other times please phone or email to check availability.

Cardio in the Studio

2007-09-14T17:36:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. is moving ahead with exapnasion over the next few weeks. We are improving booking and admin systems, including installing a studio phone, broadband, computer booking system, cash register and credit card terminal.

We have also ordered an industry standard Life Fitness stationary bike to improve warm ups, cool downs, and add to our cardio options for performance training and fat loss.

We have taken out adverts in a forthcoming NHS health publication that will be distributed to hospitals, GP surgeries, health clinics etc around Sussex. We have also taken out an advert in the Eastbourne "Well Being" magazine.

Our new flyers are back from the printers and starting to be distributed. We are also finalising a Presentation to take out to Primary Healthcare providers. This details our Exercise Referral programme and features our exclusive 12 week programme of training, nutrition and education designed to equip clinets referred by healthcare professionals with the necessary skills and motivational tools for sustainable life style change and independent progressive exercise.

We will be accepting referrals with difficulties relating to:

obesity, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, mental illness, arthritis, rheumatism, muscular/joint pain, low self esteem etc. Clients referred for stand alone sessions by a healthcare practitioner will be entitled to a 20% discount. The 12 week programme will cost £50 per week or £500 if paid in full in advance. For more details contact Derek on 07871760054 or email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

Body Sculpting at F.I.S.H.

2007-08-11T10:13:00.000Z

If you want to create a lean, toned look we can help you to lose fat and refine your physique. Body Sculpting is different to Body Builidng in that the aim is to hone and refine your physique without necessarily adding masses of muscle.

For men the ideal might be similar to the older eras of bodybuilding or the aesthetic ideal represented by Franz Zane. For women figure fitness competitors, such as Monica Brant, could provide you with appropriate models.

F.I.S.H. Update

2007-08-08T19:38:00.000Z

We've been expanding our client base steadily over the past few months and have finally decided to run with this. Consequently we've just placed an advert with the Friday Ad and have also committed to a large spread in a forthcoming NHS publication which will have a massive distribution over the next 12 months.

Melody and Derek are half way through Body for Life and have been joined by Jo & Caz. A number of others look set to register too.

As an aid to training goals we've expanded our range of supplements and will be placing weekly orders to Tropicana who stock most of the big brands.

Classes at F.I.S.H.

2007-07-17T18:53:00.001Z

Melody is now offering a number of classes at F.I.S.H. - see the left hand panel for details. Studio based classes are limited to 6 people so it's essential to book in advance. In addition to the popular weight loss support groups we now offer Boxercise, Fitness Walking, and an outdoor training group for mums (babies and kids welcome).

Classes are a great way to meet new people, achieve your fitness and weight goals and receive expert advice and instruction at low cost.

2007-07-09T17:19:00.000Z

done my practical assessment today and passed very nicely so just the theory to go now and I can start to train people. Thanks to Michelle for being my "victim". She did very well and worked her socks off on every exercise. The assessor was a very nice chap who did everything he could to make us all feel relaxed and he basically just let me get on with it. Looking forward to getting the rest done now so I can get back to focusing on my own training again.

F.I.S.H. & Fat Loss

2007-07-07T12:57:00.000Z

Strange times have been afoot at FISH of late. Derek has been absent a lot due to increasing his involvement with the Eating Disorders project for the Trust. This has left Melody doing the brunt of the training. A number of regular clients dropped out over the past month due to other commitments and things looked grim for a while. However, Derek and Melody registered for Body for Life and decided to use the extra time to focus on their own goals. Almost immediately old clients started coming back and new ones appeared! Personal Training is often like that - it tends to run in cycles (and seasons).

There are now five of us doing Body for Life and the results are already good (Derek has lost nearly 3% body fat, most of it in the last two weeks). We've also been keeping "body blogs" on bodybuilding.com and have had a lot of support from other mmbers there.

Mark Jobbins continues to build up his own client base and is proving very successful. He's becoming a bit of a regular feature at the studio.

Good luck to Melody, Jo, Caz, Sheree (and the BN23 clan) with Body for Life etc. Hopefully we'll post some update pictures here over the next couple of months.

fat loss fever !!! (farewell sweet Pizza, I knew him well Horatio)

2007-06-27T18:27:00.000Z

It would seem that all at fish have fat loss fever and are doing things in oder to reduce body fat. Since my gym instructor course I have rekindled my enthusiasm for cardio vascular workouts and am trying to capitalize on this new found enthusiasm and making hay whilst the sun shines. So far so good and I have been doing around 3 cardio sessions per week and improving fitness rapidly. I did a 6k run yesterday and kept a nice even pace up throughout so that now gives me a good measure by which to improve my performance. I'm aiming to get up to 10k and then I'll just try to get there quicker. I'm still maintaining the weights but my main focus is cardio at the moment and I'll see where that takes me. Bench press improved again today so I'm hopefull I can keep onto muscle gains made over the past few excellent months of training with Del. Good luck to Del and Melody with the "body for life" plan. Over the next 12 weeks they will be transformed into greek deities, carved from granite and show me up I'm sure!!!

Body For Life at FISH

2007-06-20T16:28:00.000Z

Our special summer promotion this year is to take you through the Body for Life programme (as per the Bill Phillips book and challenge).

For only £50 per week you will receive 3 one hour Personal Training sessions that will follow the Body for Life programme. You will also receive guidance with the nutritional side of the programme.

Ideally, the programme lasts 12 weeks but you are free to decide how long you wish to follow the programme. The aim is to reduce body fat and increase muscle tone for that lean, summer body look.

We will also be offering a special on the German Body Composition programme of Charles Poliquin. For £60 per week you will receive 4 Personal Training sessions modelled on the German Body Comp program, which is designed to maximise fat loss whilt building lean muscle tissue. You will also receive a nutritional programme to complement the training.

Once again, 12 weeks is desirable for optimal results but you will achieve a great deal even with a few weeks.

To take advantage of these offers, and to give yourself the chance to actually achieve the results you want, email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk or telephone 07871760054. You can also text or email your phone number and we will call you back.

For more on Body for Life visit: http://www.bfl-uk.com/

Weight Loss and Rehab

2007-06-19T17:22:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. has now opened the doors to GP referrals for weight loss and rehabilitation. We are offering substantial discounts to surgeries and accept referrals for obesity, general weight loss, mental health, and rehabilitation where the referral is supported by recommendations from a physiotherapist.

We will also be accepting referrals for health/fitness walking groups, weight loss groups & boxercise.

We are also finalising negotiations for working with mental health service users where we will be providing ongoing health checks, training and feedback.

For more information on services and rates please contact fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk or speak to Derek on 07871760054.

Progress

2007-06-14T20:19:00.001Z

Chutz has been off studying with the YMCA, London, for the Level 2 Gym Instructor award. Meanwhile Del's been training either alone or with Melody or Eddie. Del keeps growing larger whilst losing fat at a slow steady rate. The training protocols are getting better all the time.

Mark Jobbins has made an excellent start at FISH and now has a number of regular clients. Melody and Del are getting new referrals every week with goals ranging from fat loss and bodybuilding to improving performance at triathlon.

Del and Melody are off to London next month for a one day course at the YMCA: Strike, which involves punching and kicking. Del's also just completed the theory manual for the Poliquin International Certificate.

Fat Loss

2007-06-05T08:19:00.000Z

Melody continues to reduce her bodyfat and has been consistent with this for a few months now. She's also started training with Del and is making significant progress. This week she has increased incline flyes to 10kg and is starting to achieve full squats.

Eddie has lost 9lbs of fat in four weeks and has replaced much of this with muscle. He has trained consistently three times a week with Del and has modified his eating habits as advised. Congratulations on this incredible achievement.

Natural Bodybuilding at F.I.S.H.

2007-06-02T21:24:00.000Z

At F.I.S.H. we have a special interest in natural bodybuilding (bodybuilding without steroids). We have in depth knowledge - both theoretical and practical- of the major schools of training (including the High Volume Training associated with Arnold, High Intensity Training as advocated by Mike Mentzer & Dorian Yates, Denie's "Psycho-Blasting", X-Reps etc).

Del makes prolific use of Olympic Strength Coach Charles Poliquin's training protocols having studies his major writings and implemented his approaches with great success. Del is currently studying for the Poliquin International Certification Program.

If you would like to improve your body shape & composition, learn the basics, improve technique, or if you have aspirations to compete in figure fitness or bodybuilding competitions book a FREE consultation to see how we can help you with all aspects of training and nutrition.

Contact fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk for more information or to request your free consultation.

Training Offer

2007-06-02T09:55:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. is going from strength to strength. We now have three popular Personal Trainers and a fourth will be starting in July. Most of our clients train twice a week, with some training up to four times a week. Everyone has their own progress folder detailing weight, measurements, goals, and records of every single workout,

If you want to lose weight, build muscle, improve fitness or just improve your health then we can help. At our fully equipped studio you will be able to train with full privacy - only you and your trainer will be in the studio during your session.

To book a FREE no obligations consultation email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk. The first three people to respond will also receive one hour's FREE Personal Training session following the consultation.

Fat Loss Diet

2007-05-22T19:29:00.000Z

Both Chutz & myself have finally got serious about fat loss. We've both built a lot of muscle in recent months but we've been careless about nutrition. I generally eat very well throughout the day and then habitually eat out and drink red wine in the evenings. Chutney dials a pizza and downs Asgardian-size kegs of cider.

For eleven days now I've stuck to a nutrtion plan for maintaining as much lean muscle as possible whilst shedding fat. In the first week I reduced my fat percentage by 1%.

Fat loss is quite boring for me but I've found an added motivator on www.bodybuilding.com where I've set up my own "bodyspace" which helps keep track of goals. Each time you enter new physique or lifting stats the site displays a graph charting your progress.

The diet involves only a slight drop in calories, quite a reduction in carbohydrates - chiefly lowering them in the latter part of the day, and high protein. I'm also taking CLA (6g) and Essential Fatty Acids (6g). I've set August 31st as my date for reaching my goal of 10% body fat.

ouch

2007-05-12T08:54:00.000Z

I have just got back after the new accumulation back and shoulders workout and I hurt!!! It was a very nasty affair indeed but feels like it will have the right effects so bring it on!!! Arms on monday will be nice and then unfortunately Del has already drawn up leg torture for wednesday. I'm also starting my fat burning campaign on monday so will be hitting the hydroxicut hardcore and cla and avoiding all things bad and fun. I will keep this up for at least 3 weeks and see how it goes. Well done to my dad too who is squatting 90k now. That should keep me and Del honest.

F.I.S.H. Update

2007-05-11T21:25:00.000Z

It's been a busy week at the studio. Melody and Mark spent the morning offering health screening and training information at the Dental Practice Board and collected over twenty names of potential clients, four of whom could win a free training session.

Chutz is back from the Hebrides and looking even huger for the rest. Del & Chutz have moved on to an accumulation phase in their training, employing slightly lighter loads, more reps, and generally increased volume. The new chest workout on Thursday involved drop sets and pre-exhaust and the new leg workout design looks terrifying.

Melody is almost back to her best ever weight, with the added bonus of more lean muscle and better definition.

We've also been negotiating articles for the main-stream press and should soon be featured in a few major magazines.

Studio Update

2007-04-29T15:10:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. Ltd Personal Training Studio's client list is growing at an alrming rate - and all without any major advertising campaign!

Derek and Melody are both almost up to capacity, so it's good news that Mark Jobbins has come on board as a new trainer. Chutz starts with us in July once he's finished his YMCA qualification.

If you are looking to lose weight or build muscle - or both - we can help you with optimal programmes for weight training and nutrition, boxercise and outdoor training. We also offer technique master classess for those new to resistance training, or those who wish to advance their own training knowledge and effectiveness.

We also now stock all the nutritional supplements that we personally find the most effective.

If you are a Personal Trainer looking for a facility in which to train your clients, or if you wish to build muscle, tone up, lose fat - and keep it off - then please give us a call on 07871760054 or email fishtraining@yahoo.co.uk.

Deadlift Technique

2007-04-28T12:05:00.000Z

The Deadlift is one of the most productive exercises, one which involves most of the posterior chain muscles. Like the Squat, the Deadlift can evoke a huge anabolic response when performed correctly and with the right loading and tempo. It's also great for developing the core, again if performed correctly and at an appropriate load. I once even used Deadlifts, with lighter weights, to rehabilitate a lower back problem.

It's worth starting your Deadlift practice using the split grip -one hand over and one under. This prevents the bar from rolling at heavier weights.

The start position involves placing your feet under the bar shoulder-width or wider for stability. The bar should be touching your shins and should remain close to, or touching, your legs throughout the range of motion.

Grip the bar, one hand under, one hand over, keep the arms locked out, shrug and try to retract the shoulder blades. Hold your abdomen tight. Ensure that your lumber spine is arched, and that it remains arched when lifting and lowering. The arch involves maintaining, or even slightly exagerrating, the natural curvature of the spine.

Start the lift with the legs by extending the knees (starting to stand up). The arms do not move - think of them as hooks simply holding the bar. As the bar reaches the knees begin to straighten the lower back. Reverse the move to lower.

It's fine to set the bar down in between reps and to take a second to re-set physically and mentally.

A good tempo (if using 6-8 reps, which I think is optimum once you've mastered the technique, but depending on your goals of course) is 3 seconds to lower the weight, 1-2 seconds to lift, with about a second to re-set.

At very heavy weights you will need to create a block - this involves breathing in to fill the lungs and holding the breath during lifting and lowering, making sure you breath at the top and bottom positions. This will increase intra-tohracic pressure and help prevent forward roll and damage to the lower back.

I generally use Deadlifts at the start of my back routine (usually 3 sets of 6-8) as this means I get to hit the quadriceps and hams twice during the week. My legs and back workouts are therefore spaced as far apart as possible each week.

Chutz & Del's Training Log

2007-04-27T20:21:00.000Z

Due to a niggling knee injury I suggested a drop in weight for squats so that we can revise perfect form and increase the reps from 6-8 to 10. I think I've been unconsciously shifting my centre of gravity very slightly towards the balls of my feet when using the heavier loads and so we've dropped the weight by nearly 20kg and have started really focussing the weight through the heels. The increased time under tension and the marginally improved form has already shown some good results.

Deadlifts are back - we are working in the 6-8 rep range and I'm currently up to 100kg for 8 reps. We both achieved a 1 rep max of 130kg. Chin ups are improving - I'm now doing 4 sets of 8 and Chutz is up to 4 good reps per set.

The best workout of the month, however, was the new chest routine. I like to change the routines every 4-6 workouts, but with chest we've been stuck on straight sets of 6-8 reps for some time, purely because it's been so productive. Last week, however, we trained a bit heavier, but the real breakthrough came on Wednesday when we moved to heavy drop sets of 4-5 reps, drop the weight 5kg and perform 1-2 more reps and repeat once more. We followed this with some incline work, flyes, cable crossovers and then a few sets of incline psychoblasts (slow, continuous tension sets). The results are already quite marked.

We've finally finished phase 2 of Winning the Arms Race. The strength gains in triceps have already transferred to bench press but the heavy dips have taken their toll on the rotator cuffs.

To recover fully we've taken a few extra days off this week with a view to going even harder next week.

Winning the Arms Race

2007-04-16T21:51:00.000Z

Phase 2 is drawing to an end. We've both exceeded the programme expectations for preacher curls and dips and look set to hit the goal for hammer curls on the last workout next weekend.

Giant Sets

2007-04-15T19:36:00.000Z

We've decided to add the odd giant set to the end of our workouts. A giant set invloves multiple sets targetting the same muscle group - in this case shoulders and traps. It's gruelling but generates a lot of lactid acid, which should help with growth hormone production and fat burning.

Losing Fat & Toning Up

2007-04-14T20:56:00.000Z

The majority of our clients want to lose weight and tone up. Occasionally we get clients who want to bulk up with muscle, which, whilst having its own challenges, is often a lot simpler.

Weight loss in theory is actually rather simple: ensure that energy out is greater than energy in. Basicaly this means become more active and reduce caloric intake accordingly.

Some clients want to build muscle and lose fat at the same time - a very tricky task. To build muscle you generally need an excess of calories. The trick is to change the proportions of macronutrients in the diet and to time the intake of proteins and carbohydrates (carbohydrates should generally fall either side of training and, besides the post workout recovery drink/snack, should generally be low GI.

The fastest way to achieve that lean, defined look is to use specific loading parameters and time under tension (with incomplete rest between sets) in order to create high levels of blood lactate. This triggers a huge growth hormone response, and growth hormone not only helps us build muscle but also burns fat.

Optimal nutrition, effective training, and adequate rest (combined with increasing incidental exercise, such as walking to work) will ensure the best results.

The problem comes with adherence and motivation. Often, overweight clients are not entirely truthful about what they are eating (and drinking). If they are training well but go home and drink Coke and eat sweet foods or foods high in saturated fat they are likely to be disappointed with their rate of progress, and disappointment leads to despondency with training.

It is sometimes not enough to encourage clients to keep a food diary. Many will only make progress if their nutritional needs are spelled out for them - daily, easy to follow, menu plans. With some clients, appropriate supplements may make the nutritional side easier or more effective.

Generally, for those wishing to lose weight and build lean tissue, I recommend L-Carnitine (especially just prior to training), L-Glutamine (before and after training), Branch Chain Amino Acids (before and after training), a good quality whey protein, Conjugated Linoleic Acid, Essential Fatty Acids, and (for those who need an extra boost), a thermogenic supplement (i.e. Maximuscles Thermobol or Muscletech's Hydroxycut).

It's also important to protect the immune system with vitamins A,C and E and zinc and magnesium supplementation. Drinking soluble vitamin C (high potency) during training helps to blunt the effect of cortisol, thus preserving lean tissue.

Nevertheless, no matter how good the exercise programme and the nutritional advice, many clients simply lack the discipline to stick with it. Training not only needs to be effective, for some people, it also needs to be fun, and varied. If you don't achieve adherence in your clients then they may get short term results before returning to old habits. Long-term changes come long-term repetition of the desired behaviour. Is it better to have the "perfect" programme which the client won't adhere to, or the mitigated programme which keeps them coming back for more. At some point, perhaps after months or even years, the client may be ready for the most efficient way to train, but until then it's important to meet their psychological need for variety and enjoyment, leading them all the while towards better and more effective ways of training.

Training Variety

2007-04-12T20:33:00.000Z

We've seen a lot of training variety this week at FISH. Del and Chutz continue to pound away with optimal loads and are sowing great results. Meanwhile Joshua has been easing into German Body Comp twice a week with a third session of free-style training incorporating core stability work and boxing.

Melody has been getting into heavier weight training whilst using boxing to great effect with her clients.

There have been three new starters at FISH this week, one of whom can already perform a couple of chin ups. Another new client starts tomorrow and yet another next week. We've had a few people off with sickness who are due to return to training next week as well.

Mark Jobbins looks set to join the training team and Chutz is commencing the YMCA Gym Instructor course in June with a view to starting work at FISH shortly after qualifying.

Chutz & Del's Training Log

2007-04-12T20:01:00.000Z

My left knee has been playing up since moving on to heavy squats. As a result we've dropped deadlifts for the week and will be moving on to higher reps with squats whilst dropping the weight by 20kg.

Today's chest workout, however, was one of the best yet. We both hit personal bests in terms of time under tension at optimal loading. The felxibility of the current training split allowed us the option of focusing solely on bench press today - at varying inclines- and we ended up with 8 excellent sets.

The arms are responding well to the "Winning the Arms Race Programme" - I'm up to 14" biceps (from 13) and Chutz is up to 15-8.

The 6-8 rep protocol seems to be still reaping benefits for upper body but legs may have to return to 8-12 reps whilst the knee recovers.

Persoanl Training Difficulties 1

2007-04-11T10:14:00.000Z

One of the factors sometimes overlooked by Personal Trainers, and I have been guilty of this, is that of adherence and readiness to undertake a particular programme of exercise.

I tend to work very scientifically. After the initial sessions, which focus on technique and adaptation, I tend to formulate a programme designed to achieve optimal results most efficiently. Generally this involves compound exercises such as bench press, military press, squats, dead lifts, leg press, lat pulldowns (or chins for those who are strong enough), dips (again if strong enough), bar biceps and a triceps exercise (often pressdowns unless the client can perform dips or lying extensions).

I usually start with fairly high reps for safety reasons and to perfect exercise technique. Gradually there is a move towards lower reps and more sets. At some point there is a shift to a split routine in order to accommodate the increased work load.

Coupled with this is an optimal nutrition programme. Those clients who have managed to adhere to both elements have shown dramatic improvements within weeks.

However, most clients are not ready to train this way. The majority have only just reached the "action" stage of change. They still need motivating, they need to feel good, they need variety, fun, and progressive achievement if they are to keep coming back.

I'm never really comfortable with this. I tend to work on the premise that the client should get the best results for their money. The downside, though, is that is the client isn't meeting all their other, psychological needs, they will never move to the all-important "termination" stage, where they become exercise junkies. If they don't enjoy the sessions, or if they work too hard at first, they simply won't continue. This situation is bad for them - they'll soon return to old ways, and bad for the trainer - your ex-clients will generally inform others that they tried training with you but it didn't work.

In the early stages of training almost anything will bring some results. Therefore I think the emphasis should be on variety and enjoyment. If the trainer is particularly attentive, they can tune in to what works for the client and make changes accordingly. As long as the trainer keeps records of the session progressive overload can still be planned for.

In summary, it is not always the best approach to plan only the most efficient programme of training. The client has to be ready for this, and some never are. Perfectionism is great for those who are ready, but in the early stages, at least, variety, fun, and motivation are the keys.

Chutz & Del's Training Log

2007-04-09T08:50:00.000Z

Finally the effects of the virus have passed. The intensity of the German Body Comp routine was impossible to maintain during the illness and so we switched temporarily back to a four day split routine for mixed strength and hypertrophy. The results have been quite encouraging and the workouts more enjoyable as there is a degree of flexibility. Generally, though, we have been sticking to a 6-8 rep range. The chest workout has involved 4-6 sets of bench press at varying inclines. Squats have been, for us, heavy (80-90kg) and deadlifts are between 90 and 100kg. We have continued with the second phase of the "Winning the Arms Race" workout but have had to replace overhead pressess in the power rack for triceps pressdowns due to a lack of safety pins. The good news is, however, that the pins have now been manufactured and should be with us this week.

The week at F.I.S.H.

2007-04-04T15:28:00.000Z

Theo is on holiday for Easter and so we've taken a bit of time away from the studio this week. Theo and Derek spent the day, and a fortune, at Drusillas on Monday. Tuesday saw us at Gordon's leaving do (from the hospital). A group of work colleagues joined us at the Prince Albert for the weekly "jam night" where Melody and Derek performed a few songs and broke their usual nutritional rules and had copious amounts of beer and wine.

On Wednesday, the F.I.S.H. uniforms arrived along with the latest consignment of protein bars and shakes.

Business continues to pick up - Melody has started two new clients today and some old faces look set to recommence training next week.

Freestyle Training

2007-03-27T18:57:00.000Z

Due to this infernal bug I've been unable to train for nearly a week. Today, however, as I have started to recover, I decided to go to the studio and deviate from the current programme and do something I've been dying to do for months - an old-style chest-blasting workout.

I simply decided upon a rough rep-range (6-8) and based the exercises on feel (one set of incline bench; reduce the incline by a notch for two more sets, and then two sets of flat bench. This was followed by two sets of flyes super-setted with cable crossovers. Finally I did a giant set comrpised of dips, flyes, crossovers and press-ups).

For good measure I threw in a few sets of parallel grip chins at the end.

This is by far my favourite approach to working out but it needs to be used sparingly, otherwise essential work may be neglected in favour of more enjoyable work.

ankle is still mullered

2007-03-27T07:17:00.000Z

I'm unfortunately still off work and hobbling around on a rather dodgy ankle. This obviously has got in the way of our exercise routine and is therefore rather annoying. I'm still hoping to make a session on wednesday morning although I seriously doubt that I will be able to do any leg work. Lets just hope that Del is feeling better too otherwise we may end up giving up on this week and recovering for next.

It may be best to try the arm workout again so I'll have to speak to Del and see what he's up to.

F.I.S.H. Progress

2007-03-25T09:12:00.000Z

The process of F.I.S.H. becoming a limited company is almost complete. The new Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health Limited will start trading on 1-4-2007.

There have been two recent enquiries from freelance Personal Trainers who wish to start training clients at the studio. Melody is now almost at full capacity and is considering reducing her working hours elsewhere to increase her time at the studio.

Chutz has injured his ankle at work and was unable to do the German Body Comp Program this weekend. Derek has been ill with a virus and unable to train - or eat the usual high protein diet. In fact, food of any sort has been a hardship! We should be back on course next week.

We have started to develop the full German Body Comp Program for our clients, offering twelve weeks of training including diet and supplementation. Melody has one client hoping to start the program next week. Meanwhile we are putting together some advertising around this.

fat burning progress

2007-03-19T13:56:00.000Z

Ah, at last my google gremlins have been overcome and I can now post on this blog. As Del has already posted about the new regime I thought I'd just add my own little comments.
I have spent my winter being somewhat lazy, especially in the nutrition department. This obviously has lead to an increase in body fat but I also think it may have helped the growth of my legs in particular. I think that the extra calorific intake combined with much longer rest periods has enabled some considerable muscular growth in this area as legs were the one body part that was worked out every week without fail.That said my next goal is obviously to lose the excess winter fat in order to look better and more importantly, feel better. The recent change in exercise style is frankly refreshing and it would appear that after this 6 week fat burning stage Del is going to change the routine again and focus on strength training. I look forward to this eagerly as I did a lot more of that kind of trainng years ago when I first started lifting weights although not as scientifically and also not as lower reps as promised this time. Should be interesting to see what gains we can both make.

Chutz & Del's Training Log Part 3

2007-03-18T20:42:00.000Z

The first phase of the arm program is over. This was really gruelling - double tri-sets using reverse grip E-Z bar curls, Zottman curls, lying triceps extensions and close grip bench press. The next phase is for maximal strength development (neuro-muscular adaptations primarily). During the six workouts of phase one we have both made significant gains in strength and size.

Chutz & Del's Training Log Part 2

2007-03-18T08:48:00.000Z

The trouble with changing training parameters is that new demands are placed on the body - in our case cardiovascular demands from the reduced rest intervals. This week I have responded to the fatigue by giving in to my body's demands for more carbohydrate in an uncontrolled manner (hence the wine and icecream last night!). It doesn't take long, however, to make the necessary adjustments. In this case I have finally started to use the new smoothie maker and this morning had a breakfast shake with protein powder, glutamine, oatmeal, fruit, and milk. The carbs are low GI and will provide sustained energy.

The use of the blender means I don't have to pay huge sums of money for the designer meal replacements on the market. The plan is to provide similar drinks at the studio for recovery. A range of ingredients will be on offer so that clients can customise their shakes according to their needs and tastes.

Regarding the German Body Comp Program, the signs are that it is already having the desired effect of reducing body fat and retaining muscle. This afternoon we complete phase 1 of the arm program. Phase 2 involves very heavy preacher curls and dips for a maximal strength phase.

Facing the FAcTs

2007-03-17T12:27:00.000Z

At the age of nine I was looking really chunky, I was picked on at school and felt ashamed of myself and hated school because of it.
So began the cycle of starvation for days followed by cramming in as much high sugar high fat food as I could.
By the time I was 11 I weighed 11 stone and was a size 14. School summer dresses were a problem as back then when overweight children were not so common, they only made these dresses up to a size 12. I remember the embarrassment I felt when the ever so skinny shop assistant. looked at me disapprovingly as she told my mum the news.
I sweltered in the summer in that thick winter uniform.

At 12 years old I was taken to the dietitian by my worried parents, I was now 12 stone, and put on what seemed a starvation diet if Ryvita and salad, at least that’s all I can remember about it. I now had everyone on my case, treating me, or so it felt, like I was a greedy lazy little naughty fat girl, who needed to be told off all the time and treated with no respect until I showed signs of losing weight.
And so, I became obsessed with food, I took to creeping down stairs into the fridge and cupboards and stealing and scoffing whole packets of ham, cheese, chocolate biscuits and anything tasty I could find. Only then for my parents to discover the stolen food and tell me off in front of everyone and anyone and humiliate me beyond belief, making me out to be so greedy stealing everyone else’s food. Well what did they expect when I was being starved all day and made to feel awful and ashamed of letting people see me eat?
It got so bad that I would take £1 out of my mums purse and sneak to the sweet shop and buy as much chocolate as I could and then hide it under my bed. I had stashes of food hidden everywhere!

This went on until I left home, at 15 I weighted nearly 16 stone and was now a size 18, while everyone else at school was enjoying P.E. classes I did anything I could to get out of it. I hated the drama of when the 2 most slim pretty popular people would be chosen by the teachers to pick out from the class who was to be on their team. They would choose all their friends first, then the fittest people, then at the end there would be just me and a couple of the geekiest most picked on individuals left. They would then laugh and take the mickey and would moan about which of the crap people they were going to get lumbered with on their precious teams. It makes my blood boil just to think back on those memories!
Needless to say though many of those pretty girls had their kindness repaid as many of them I have I seen in recent years have weight problems or are just plain ugly now!!
Sorry, but Ha bloody Ha!

So I left home at 16, and my weight stabilised for a while, I didn’t put any on for a couple of years. Then I made one big mistake. I started seeing a guy, I can’t now begin to imagine why I became so infatuated with him, but I did, and so when he told me he really liked me BUT would only really want to go out with me if I lost some weight, I agreed.
I went to a dodgy doctor and was given an appetite suppressant and stimulant called Duremine. This gave me endless energy and no need for food! I lost a stone and a half in 4 weeks, the compliments were flooding in and I felt fantastic. UNTIL ONE NIGHT I PASSED OUT.
My appetite had been so suppressed I was barely eating anything but the odd bit of salad or fruit, after 5 weeks of this my body couldn't’t take it, and walked home one night I blacked out and woke up vomiting. I was shaking so violently I was frightened.
I went to a real doctor and he told me “stop the Duremine.”
2 months later I had regained all of the weight lost and added on to it another 8 lbs.
Over the next year and a half after a cycle of yo -yo dieting I went to weight watchers only to discover I was now up to 17.10 stone.
I remember feeling quite shocked and upset at this figure.
My new boyfriend was supportive and really liked me just as I was which stopped me from considering any more nasty diet tablets!
Weight watchers I felt was quite good, I did manage to lose a slow steady stone through good eating and the support of the meetings.

Shortly after this period I met Derek, my now husband. We got together, and for a while I think we both lost weight due to the passionate nature of our relationship!!
Soon that familiar comfort and cosiness of being together set in and we loved going out to restaurants and pubs together or staying in and having fine food and wine and having friends round for parties all based around music and food. We planned to get married and we were both conscious of our bloated bellies and so we joined the David Lloyd club to try and get into shape!
Well, I remember ambling around doing a bit of this and a bit of that, sometimes working to hard, and other times not really doing anything.
At the time I had no idea about weight training and nutrition and so I did lose some weight but not much, and probably lost more muscle tissue than fat.

Chutz & Del's Training Log Part 1

2007-03-16T16:57:00.000Z

Following on from a winter of heavy lifting and over-indulgence on pizza and wine, Chutney and Derek have started leaning out using a modified form of Poliquin's German Body Comp Program. The routine involves alternating two whole body approaches twice per week. The rest intervals are reduced and exercises are paired or in circuit form. The rep-range is generally 10-12 so there is still some hypertrophy. The increased blood lactate produced during the routine elevates growth hormone production and therefore increased fat burning. Heart rate remains elevated throughout the workout burning calories and creating an extended POEC.

Coupled with the new workout, Derek is now taking hydroxycut hardcore, L-glutamine, l-carnatine, CLA, vitamin supplements, BCAAs and protein and Chutney has switched from Cyclone to Labrada Lean Body Carb Watchers protein. Here are the latest workout shots. Hopefully there will be less fat next time!

Mike Mentzer and High Intensity Training

2007-03-11T09:37:00.000Z

Nothing polarizes proponents of weight training and bodybuilding as much as the figure of Mike Mentzer. Mentzer was a professional bodybuilder who won the Mr Universe title in the 70s and the heavyweight category at the Olympia. He last competed in the 1980 Olympia and was favoured by many to win. This was the year of Arnold's comeback as part of his preparation for "Conan the Barbarian" and the Austrian Oak won amidst controversy. Mike Mentzer came fifth, despite being in the most awesome shape of his life. He retired from professional bodybuilding in disgust.

Mentzer continued to write his "Heavy Duty" column in "Ironman" magazine and produced books and other media promoting his "Heavy Duty" training system - high intensity training in which the volume of training is reduced, rest periods are increased, and heavy weights are favoured, often using intensity increasers like pre-exhaust, negatives, and forced reps.

Mentzer likened the training stimulus to other stressors on the body, including exposure to the sun. Too much sun exposure results in sunburn and the destruction of skin rather than the desired tanning effect. Too much volume in weight training, coupled with insufficient rest, leads to over-training and muscle atrophy.

Mentzer recommended training infrequently and he advised cutting down the volume, often as low as one all-out effort working set for a particular body part. Some of Mentzer's protocols were adopted successfully by seven-time Mr Olympia Dorian Yates.

Mentzer has come in for a lot of criticism, however. Charles Poliquin, for one, says that it is impossible to completely exhaust all available motor units with just one working set. Another problem is Mentzer's insistence on taking every set to failure and beyond - something which has been shown to reduce testosterone levels and thus decrease the anabolic environment needed for muscle growth.

Mentzer was right, however, to reduce training time (anything above 45-60 minutes generally results in an increase in cortisol levels which results in catabolism and gluconeogenesis). He was right to indicate that many bodybuilders trained too frequently and were thus prone to over-training syndrome.

During his professional career, Mentzer initially followed the high volume training associated with Arnold et al. He later identified the need for less frequent training but seem, in his later writings, to have reduced training frequency ad absurdum.

If Mentzer's insights are married with the high volume approach and a middle ground is sought his ideas start to bear fruit. Ideally, training protocols need to be varied, periodised, so that high intensity, low volume (in terms of total reps performed) work gives way to periods of lower intensity (load) higher volume work. Rest intervals between sets, number of sets and reps, and number of training days are all factors that need to be manipulated in order to ensure maximal training effects.

In general I like to change training protocols every 6 weeks or so (for example, six week periods of accumulation, increasing volume; strength work at higher intensity, lower over-all volume, and longer rest intervals; fat stripping periods of high volume, higher reps and incomplete rest between sets etc).

It is best to avoid the polemic on either side of the high intensity vs high volume debate. We need aspects of both, and more, for continuous progress. Mentzer was a thoughtful, intelligent, trainer who may have had personal and political reasons to wage war against the protocols promoted by the bodybuilding "authorities". He offers insights into some of the pitfalls that have always plagued bodybuilding - such as the psychological reasons for too frequent training, but his own views often need tempering.

The key is to understand how each stage of training relates to specific goals. Understand what you are trying to do and how to get those results safely and effectively. There is no perfect programme that can continue to reap rewards indefinitely. One of the most interesting things about training (and a real pain to those who are mentally lazy) is that it has to keep evolving if the body is going to continue adapting.

F.I.S.H. Calling Personal Trainers

2007-03-11T09:23:00.000Z

If you are a freelance Personal Trainer with Level 3 REPS registration F.I.S.H. would like to hear from you. Our fully equipped studio is available to rent on a "pay as you go" basis. There are no contracts and no fixed rent: you simply pay a percentage of each session you give at the studio.

Personal Trainers are encouraged to bring their own clients to the studio and may also advertise their own Personal Training business both at the studio and on our blog site. Due to the high volume of Personal Training currently undertaken by F.I.S.H. we may also be able to refer new clients to freelance Personal Trainers using the studio.

For more information, and to come and look around, please contact Derek on 07871760054 or email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

F.I.S.H. Studio Photo Update

2007-03-10T17:23:00.000Z

How To Find a Good Personal Trainer

2007-03-09T21:24:00.000Z

There are hundreds of Personal Trainers out there, some excellent, some good, some average, and some down-right dreadful. As with any other profession it is not enough to go by qualifications. To be an effective trainer the individual needs to have passion and commitment, organisational skills, inter-personal skills, deductive reasoning, a commitment to continuous learning, and empirical knowledge.

Unfortunately I've witnessed a lot of bad Personal Trainers. Some barely seem to watch what their clients are doing and either don't recognise or don't care about poor exercise technique. At best these trainers are ineffective, at worst they are negligent and even dangerous.

The first quality I tend to look for in a trainer is attentiveness: they need to be constantly observant. They must scrutinize every aspect of their client's exercise performance and must filter out everything else going on around them (except for being aware of potential hazards).

This attentiveness needs to be present when discussing goals and taking background. It is made manifest in active listening skills: the client must feel that they are being heard, valued, and respected.

A good trainer will also be a diligent record-keeper. This will ensure that the client progresses at each session (if they do not progress each time they are wasting their money). There must be clear plans of what the client wants to achieve and how to get there efficiently and safely. The trainer should regularly discuss these plans with the client and make adjustments depending on the response to different aspects of the programme.

The trainer should also be sensitive to anything that makes the client feel uncomfortable or embarrassed and seek to minimise or eradicate these things.

The trainer should also be able to provide a rationale for exercise choices and training parameters. They should be open to discussion and honest about the limitations of their expertise. A good trainer is never satisfied with their own level of knowledge and should continuously push the boundaries of their own understanding and practice.

It is not enough for the trainer to have a sound academic knowledge - they should experience the exercises and regimens for themselves wherever possible. They must be able to speak from experience.

A good trainer will avoid over-training the client (I have known trainers who insist on excessive use of particular exercises that leave the client barely able to walk for days afterwards). They must also be knowledgeable about the importance of rest and nutrition.

If you are looking for a Personal Trainer check for the following:

1. Registration with the Register of Exercise Professionals at Level 3; some big gyms employ level 2 gym instructors and then pass them off as Personal Trainers.
2. Observe them training others and watch for attentiveness, exercise correction, record-keeping etc;
3. Find out about their own training. Do they look like they train?
4. Ask for any testimonies or speak to their clients yourself. What results did they get?
5. Request a free consultation. Were you listened to? What approach did the trainer recommend? Does it make sense? Ask them for a rationale and evidence base for their suggestions.
6. Check the fees and cancellation policy.
7. What records will the trainer keep? If they take no notes at the consultation forget training with them!
8. Observe them, observe their clients. Look out for posture, conditioning, exercise performance. Fit clients, or those making progress, often indicate a good trainer.

Once you find a good trainer stick with it. Good trainers are of immense value and will get you results beyond anything you could achieve by yourself. A Personal Trainer should be an invaluable resource, motivator, technical instructor and guide.

The keywords are attentiveness; safety; efficacy; diligence; reliability; commitment and a passion for training.

Fat Loss Through Weight Training

2007-03-07T20:21:00.000Z

Many people think that to lose fat they need to go on a restricted calorie diet and perform hour upon hour of cardio. Calorie controlled diets are virtually certain to backfire: they generally result in a loss of lean muscle tissue which leads to a corresponding drop in metabolic rate. Eventually progress with the weight loss plateaus until there is another drop in calories and a further reduction in metabolic rate. From here there are generally two options: continue the progressive calorie restriction (ultimately leading to anorexia and cachexia, or severe muscle wasting) or return to normal eating and put on even more weight than you lost due to the reduction in metabolically active muscle.

Aerobic exercise may help to shed even more calories but it does not effect major changes to body composition and metabolic rate. Cardio is ideal for health (the 30 minutes per day of exercise equivalent to brisk walking recommended by the ACSM) or sports-specific training, but weight training is superior for lasting fat loss and changes to body composition.

Not only can muscular hypertrophy lead to a better physique and the burning of significantly more calories at rest, but there are even protocols for training with moderate weights (65-75% of 1 rep max) that will generate high levels of blood lactate with a corresponding high production of growth hormone (which burns fat whilst stimulatin glean tissue growth).

For maximum fat burning it is essential to produce high levels of lactic acid by extending sets and increasing time under tension (through relatively high reps, say 10-15). It is helpful to pair exercises using super or compound sets and to reduce rest intervals (generally to between 45 and 65 seconds; sometimes as low as 30 seconds). This "incomplete" recovery contributes to the elevated lactate levels and growth hormone response.

Diet also has its part to play but not by excessively reducing calories. Generally the ratios of macronutrients need to be manipulated in favour of higher protein and lower carbohydrate (but not to the levels suggested by Atkins). Low GI complex carbs should be the principal form of carbohydrates. The level of carbohydrates decided upon will be dependant upon carb tolerance, energy levels, and activity. The only exception to the low GI rule should be the post workout (within 15 minutes) meal.

For more information on losing fat through weight training contact Derek at fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

Are You Serious About Changing Your Body?

2007-03-06T22:45:00.000Z

At F.I.S.H. we take great pride in our knowledge and experience of using weight training to change body composition. Whether your goal is to lose body fat or increase muscle mass we can help you with all aspects of training and nutrition. We always start with technique, ensuring that all exercises are safe and effective. We then make progressive demands on the tensile strength of muscle fibres and on the respective energy sustems to elicit the desired training effect. Through manipulation of training variables, nutrition and rest we can help you to make the most of growth hormone production to build lean muscle and eliminate body fat.

If you think you have the dedication to transform your body, and if you can commit to three or more training sessions per week then we would like to hear from you. To kick start the opening of the new studio we are looking for four people willing to undertake the body composition challenge and share their progress with visitors to our blog. The four people selected will receive a substantial discount on Personal Training sessions for the period of the challenge (12 weeks).

Please email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk for further details.

F.I.S.H. Goes Limited

2007-03-06T22:17:00.000Z

F.I.S.H. has now started the process of becoming a limited company - Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health Limited. Presently we are operating as sole traders, Priority Principle and Inspire Fitness. Once the limited company is operating we will be approaching other Personal Trainers about using the studio.

The cable crossover is now assembled and the studio is now fully functioning. We have ordered a preacher curl bench and dip bars and are awaiting the delivery of safety pins for the power rack.

Training in the studio is proving to be sheer luxury. It's nice to be able to perform supersets, tri-sets and even giant sets without losing the equipment mid-way. Derek and Chutney have been meticulously recording loading, tempo and time under tension and thus progressing at each and every workout. We have two more weeks of mixed strength and hypertrophy to go before moving on to Poliquin's German Body Comp Program for six weeks prior to a maximum strength phase.

Melody has started a three day split and is already starting to rediscover the definition she had before Christmas. Nutrition is improving all the time and the new trade account with Tropicana is proving very popular - particularly as there is no minimum order (Maximuscle insisted on at least £300 per order). The combination of EFA capsules and CLA is proving effective and we have both started on Hydroxycut Hardcore, the new version of the fat stripper we both employed whilst in Australia a few years ago.

Best achievement so far must go to Jon Martin who is now doing parallel squats with a three second eccentric and explosive concentric phase. We have been working on form for a few weeks and it is now close to perfect. He's currently up to 47.5kg but will rapidly increase the load now that the range of motion and technique have developed.

Melody's Personal Training Maladies

2007-03-02T22:19:00.000Z

I feel like giving up. I’m angry with people for letting me down tonight.
I am worried about money now, I had it all just about covered.

I am really stressed out about putting together that bloody piece of equipment, I nearly broke my back trying to do it, not to mention all the broken nails!

I didn’t have any food with me because I was going to go to Waitrose on the way to Ian’s and get some food.
Feel like eating one of Del's protein bars, given up chocolate for lent, but it’s not that that stops me it the thought of getting a telling off from Del!!

Perhaps a bag of crisps or, sod lent and get an inviting creamy chocolate bar (or 2), well after all I am hungry and I have a good thousand or more calories to eat by the end of the day!

My hands are cold and I’m sick of listening to that same CD, the floor is a mess, needs hovering, I need to do all the washing up, and there is a bloody trolley full of rubbish outside that I need to get rid of……..

Kathy has such kind words for me about my training, Anne is chuffed to bits she’s lost half a stone and 6% body fat. It’s great, but unless I get more honest and committed clients like them it is all going to fail. I feel despairing about this, I have to lose a stone at least before I think anyone will look at me and want to train with me and pay the full price. So why does my mind want to sabotage and go and eat crap just because my mood has been changed by circumstances that I cannot control right now?
Yes weight loss is going to be slow and steady, I weighed myself tonight and I was down another pound, felt depressed that is wasn’t down by 3 pound or more, OH GET A GRIP, WHAT DO I SAY TO EVERYONE ELSE? a pound down is better that a pound up, and a pound of fat takes up a good fistful of flesh!!

Well, found the high calorie Dr Kargs crackers, high in protein too so munched one of them for dinner, oh OK I lied I had 2. Well it was supposed to be my dinner.
Still pondering on the miserable mood, considering the blow it tonight attitude.
When I realise I need to challenge myself and decide to write it down get it all out, and get it into perspective.

Now how about I write a nice friendly, but informing letter to all my clients who are buggering me about.

Then drink a big glass of water (always makes me feel better some how)
Then tidy up, wash up, hoover up, so we’re ready for action tomorrow?

Make a plan of actions for the week as far as getting classes running and new clients in the door.

Then god forbids What about TRAINING?????? What on a moody day? Turn this crap day into the best day I have had??
I turned it around, all by myself. And from now on it will just get better and better. There’s still a lot of hard work and crap turn-able days ahead, but I am going to do it. I am going to get fit and feel great again and make a good decent living from a job I love doing.

the end. (until next time)

Arnold Schwarzenegger

2007-02-28T22:05:00.000Z

Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on something akin to mythical status in the world of bodybuilding. Despite the decades since his departure from the competitive stage Arnold is often the first name to spring to mind when bodybuilding is mentioned. He has his critics, of course (Lee Haney described himself as having "a more complete" physique than Arnold in the '80s, and current Mr Olympia, Jay Cutler, reputedly told Arnold he knew next to nothing about modern bodybuilding).

However, Arnold still bears comparison with the current crop of bodybuilding "freaks" whose proportions have become ludicrously inflated so that they resemble bloated Cardassians more than human beings. Arnold won the "Best Built Man" title early in his career: the modern heavy weights would no doubt be excluded from such a competition on the grounds of species.

There have been internet polls comparing Arnold to Ronnie Coleman, the previous Mr Olympia. Coleman may well have been awesomely huge, but Arnold came out on top in the polls due to his superior aesthetic. At his best, Arnold retained something of the classical physique, and in some ways his "weaknesses" (his legs were nowhere near as huge as the those of modern bodybuilders) may well have been his strengths.

Another recent poll, this time in a bodybuilding magazine, compared the chests of top bodybuilders from the past to the present. Arnold came first with Lou Ferrigno close behind.

Training philosophy has certainly changed since Arnold's day. He used to advocate gruelling two hour workouts often twice per day but research has shown that working out beyond the 45-60 minute mark produces high levels of the catabolic hormone cortisol. Obviously Arnold was able to achieve great results with his prolonged training sessions (due to genetics and anabolic steroids) but he may have achieved even more had he trained a little less. That said, Arnold's "Basic Training Program" in his "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" is excellent. The more advanced programmes are probably a bit over-the-top in terms of volume (as Mike Mentzer's prescriptions are woefully inadequate in terms of complete motor unit recruitment).

Arnold has a shoulder exercise named after him, the "Arnold Press", which is a sort of combined lateral raise and shoulder press. He also has "The Arnold Classic", one of the most prestigious bodybuilding competitions (which also hosts an array of other sports).

Whatever one may think of Arnold, he remains an inspiration for many and probably the greatest icon of bodybuilding - so much so that we felt obliged to put a poster of Arnold up in the F.I.S.H. studio behind the power rack (perhaps one last rep of squats could be squeezed out by appealing to this demi-god of training).

F.I.S.H. Studio Update

2007-02-24T10:16:00.000Z

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. F.I.S.H. has not even launched its advertising campaign - we only have the blog and have handed out a few brochures so far - and yet the studio is filling up.

We have been fortunate that many of our previous clients have come over to the new studio. They have been quick to spot the benefits: the whole studio to themselves and their trainer; no waiting around for equipment; no feelings of intimidation from boisterous men in the free-weights area; meticulous goal-setting and record keeping; and absolutely no admin or gym fees: all they pay for is the training.

There has also been considerable interest from the staff and businesses in the surrounding offices at Temple Grove. So much so, in fact, that we are already looking at ways to increase our hours at the studio.

The training sessions to date have been an absolute joy. Whatever the trainers plan for their clients can be realised as we have exclusive access to all the equipment all the time. Derek's clients are benefiting to the meticulous attention to loading parameters and time under tension plus the luxury of being able to perform super, tri and giant sets without anyone else jumping on the equipment in between exercises.

Melody has finalised plans for the weight loss group and boxercise classes which should be up and running by next week. Her own training is gathering pace - progress shots to follow at a later date.

Leg Training

2007-02-21T18:23:00.000Z

There has been a trend amongst modern body builders for training legs with high reps, thus increasing the time under tension. This protocol may be quite helpful in increasing the muscle substrate systems and may also promote a hormonal growth response through occlusion and/or the increased time under tension. However, I think that to train legs optimally you need to account for their muscle fibre composition: hamstrings and quadriceps are predominantly composed of fast-twitch fibres which contract quickly and respond to heavy loads (low reps).

Think of the leg development of sprinters, for example. Sprinters need to generate phenomenal power and speed over short bursts. The same principle applies to leg training where the goal is hypertrophy, strength, or power.

Bearing this in mind it may be prudent to work in the 6-8 rep range with squats, dead lifts and leg press for a period (I like to change workout protocols roughly every six workouts in order to force the muscles to keep adapting). Rest periods should be 3-5 minutes (larger muscles, and heavier loads, require more rest, particularly as we are interested in challenging the contractile strength of the fibres more than the energy systems).

Experiment with different foot positions and spacing (perhaps every six workouts again) and vary the exercises (back squats, front squats, dead lifts, parallel grip dead lifts, lunges, leg press etc).

Squats, performed correctly, will help to stabilise the knee joint. The squat and the dead lift are unparalleled for the amount of muscles the involve and the anabolic response they elicit.

If you squat to a position where the thighs are parallel to the floor you will involve the hamstrings and glutes to a greater degree. Lunges are also great for working these muscles but you may benefit from additional hamstring work using leg curls and stiff leg dead lifts.

To start with, I would suggest using these big compound moves for about six workouts before reviewing your leg routine. Leg extensions and curls can be added later for specialisation if you need it.

My current leg routine involves five sets of squats (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest); five sets of dead lifts (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest); 3 sets of leg press (6-8 reps and 3 minutes rest).

I plan to add lunges at a future date but will probably move to a strength routine of squats and dead lifts for 2-4 reps, five minutes rest, and high numbers of sets after the current phase.

F.I.S.H. Studio Opens

2007-02-18T16:43:00.000Z

At last the F.I.S.H. Personal Training Studio in Eastbourne has opened for business. Our first two clients through the door were Carole Penney and Jonathan Martin who continue to train with Derek Prior twice per week. Both have made exceptional progress with resistance training technique and both already show impressive gains.

We are still awaiting the delivery of a cable crossover and heavy duty free weights mat on Wednesday.

The new brochures are back from the printers and will be distributed this week.

Melody is almost fully recovered from a bout of tonsillitis and has commenced a two week anatomical adaptation phase using the big compound exercises and target-specific loading and tempo parameters. She will then move on to a three day split (each muscle to be trained once every five days). Derek is supervising Melody's weight training in return for some boxing sessions.

Derek has also recommenced serious training after almost a three month lay off. He is following a three day split (chest, back, external rotators; thighs, calves, and abdominals; shoulders and arms). For arms he is following Charles Poliquin's "Ultimate Arm Program", a six month program with changes every six workouts. The phase one "double tri-sets" are gruelling.

Chutney has ordered us a large Arnold poster to go behind the power rack and Theo has donated an action figure of the Mighty Thor for the desk. Art work for the walls is being provided by Gordon Prout.

Why Some Clients Don't Lose Weight

2007-02-09T22:06:00.000Z

Occasionally I have a client who trains regularly and makes good progress with resistance exercise and cardiovascular fitness. They may also be on carefully structured nutritional plans and yet when the time comes to check body composition there is a degree of disappointment. Sometimes there is an easy explanation: with one lady the weight did not drop significantly but the lean body mass had increased, indicating a growth of muscle and a drop in fat weight. Whilst she was disappointed by the apparent lack of weight loss, careful recording and explanation of the figures was reassuring and served as a future motivator.

Another client, however, failed to show any appreciable fat loss. In fact the fat percentage and over all body weight was higher - but so was the lean body weight. This client had made excellent progress with resistance training and his cardiovascular fitness had improved dramatically. It became apparent that something was amiss and so I became even more observant.

There may be any number of reasons for failure to lose fat weight - carbohydrate intolerance, under active thyroid, poor timing of nutrition etc - but generally the simplest explanation is the right one. Many clients who are overweight don't stick to the nutritional advice. They may indeed train hard and make progress - and they will still reap many health and fitness benefits - but if they don't make the suggested nutritional changes there will be little change in body composition.

It's not much of a problem if the client is on track nutritionally but occasionally slips up. As long as they don't skip meals and get back into the routine of regular eating the harm, if any, will be minimal. The problem is when the client professes to be following a nutritional programme but is actually gorging on ice cream, chips, cakes and fast food on a regular basis.

How is the trainer to react? Some clients will readily admit to the nutritional failings but nevertheless wish to continue with the training as a form of damage limitation. Others may become disillusioned with your training - in effect blaming you- and discontinue. Either way, the experience of a "non-compliant" client can be disheartening for the trainer - it may even adversely affect your reputation (the results your clients achieve is often the best form of advertising).

Do you just continue to train such an individual (is short-term financial reward enough to motivate you?) or does the issue need confronting?

I generally opt for an approach of gentle enquiry. It does not help the trainer or the client if an inquisition ensues. It is better to be patient, non-judgemental, and focused on the positives. It may be that the client experiences genuine difficulty making the nutritional changes; there may be hidden social pressures; they may have an eating disorder; some are fearful of succeeding; some become anxious as their body weight reduces.

The important thing is to communicate, to adopt an attitude of active listening, and to advise only where advice is sought. Suggested changes should be small and manageable, and enough time needs to pass for these changes to become habituated before further changes are made. Be specific. If your client drinks 3 litres of Coke a day suggest they switch to diet coke (or, better, water). If they are failing to drink enough water, ask them to introduce an extra glass or two and encourage them to bring a water bottle to training sessions.

Offer small amounts of education: talk about the virtues of high protein at one time, glycaemic index at another. Focus on the foods they currently eat that are helpful for their training goals. Don't label foods good and bad however.

With such clients, small changes may reap long term benefits. The key is to remain patient, to keep communicating, and never to condemn.

Binge Eating

2007-02-08T19:41:00.000Z

Some of my clients train extremely effectively, working hard and diligently. They follow personalised nutritional plans and train consistently. However, every now and again they go "off the rails". Often this is the result of binge eating and the resulting negative spiral.

Generally, a binge once in a while has little or no effect on training goals. It may even help occasionally. The problem is the related negative cognitive spiral that often accompanies binging and the duration of the binge cycle.

Ideally, if a client binges, even if the binge is prolonged, my advice is to forget about it, continue to train, and return to the usual nutritional plan, which generally involves eating six to seven meals a day at roughly three hourly intervals. Under no circumstances should they skip meals or try to juggle calories to balance out a binge episode.

The problem with the negative cognition is that it is usually a response to certain eating rules: some foods are identified as bad, and if I eat those foods I may consider myself "fat", "lazy", "useless", "a failure". What follows next is a "what the hell" attitude and further bouts of binging.

In a desperate bid to take control the individual will often resort to a strict diet and will set themselves dietary rules which are virtually impossible to maintain. Once the rules are broken (and they will be) the negative cognition kicks in and the binging starts again. Another factor here is the hunger caused by the semi-starvation diet which physiologically primes us for the next binge.

There are some self help approaches that may be of benefit for those who do not have a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist (preferably one trained in the CBT-Enhanced method for eating disorders).

The first principal is to increase metacognitive awareness, which basically means "thinking about thinking". Over time, through discussion with others, reflection, or better, recording what is eaten, when, and what the accompanying mood and thoughts are, we can start to recognise the characteristic automatic negative thoughts.

A useful analogy is that of the DVD player. In various situations we relate to others and our environment on a virtually automatic basis. For each of this situations (and our relationship with food is one of them) it is as if we have inserted a particular DVD. The thoughts are not ourselves - many of us identify with our thoughts and feelings, both of which have a large degree of autonomy. Once we recognise that the "eating disorder" DVD is running we can take steps to eject it (for example: challenging negative thoughts and offering more realistic alternatives; diversion - exercise, socialising, cinema etc- or working on some of the structures that hold this negative thinking pattern in place - low mood, anxiety, low self-esteem, boredom etc.

This kind of work is ongoing and reaps benefits in accordance with the commitment put into the self-help techniques.

Statistically, however, the most effective approach for reducing binge eating is to regulate eating, to eat small meals at roughly three hourly intervals and to avoid skipping meals. Once this approach is combined with your training goals (i.e. high protein, low GI, adequate nutrition) you have a highly effective defense against binging, and if you do binge you have an immediate strategy: just get on with the eating plan you were following with no self-recrimination.

There is no need to commence "driven" exercise regimens or to increase the frequency and duration of your workouts. Just keep on as normal, train hard and effectively, eat at regular intervals, and don't worry about slipping up: just think of the extra stored glycogen you can draw upon for your next training session!

Calf Training

2007-02-07T11:28:00.000Z

There are a number of conflicting views about calf training: some advocate low reps and others high; some feel there is no point training calves because they are genetically determined and no amount of training will enhance them (although Arnold surely must have disproved this one!). Often calf training is neglected as, like the hamstrings, the calves are not “mirror muscles”.

Whilst it is true that outstanding calves are genetically determined there is a great deal that can be done with correct training to enhance calves.

The first point to consider is that the two parts of the calf – the soleus and the gastrocnemius – have different fast-slow twitch fibre ratios. The soleus (the lower calf) is comprised of about 88% slow-twitch fibres and is therefore most responsive to high reps. The gastrocnemius, however, is about 60% fast-twitch and therefore responds better to low reps.

To train the gastrocnemius, the knees should be locked, legs straight (standing calf raise machine; dumb bell calf raise on a step; one legged calf raise; donkey calf raise). To target the soleus the knees should be bent, as on the seated calf raise machine.

The tempo should be relatively slow – try 5 seconds eccentric and 5 seconds concentric and pause at the bottom position for between 1 and 4 seconds (i.e. 1 second during very high reps; 4 seconds on low reps). This inversely related pause increases time under tension, which leads to greater hypertrophy.

Continuous Progression in Resistance Training

2007-02-05T18:08:00.000Z

One of the difficulties facing trainers is how to ensure continuous progression. Unfortunately, it is not enough to simply follow the same training protocol for an individual. If you design a programme of resistance training and expect the client to make continual progress simply by adding more weight or more reps you, and the client, will most likely be disappointed. They may continue to make some gains but for these gains to be optimised it is important to consider a number of factors:

Time under tension: this is why it is so important to control the weight on both the concentric and eccentric paths. The amount of time a muscle is held under tension is crucial to recruiting sufficient motor units for adaptation to take place.

Load: the cumulative load for a particular muscle group should be increased either through increasing the average weight lifted or manipulating loading parameters, with drop sets for example. This will have an impact on time under tension: for example, if you are able to bicep curl 20kg for ten reps on the first set, following a rest of 3 minutes you may only be able to perform 9 reps, and then 7 or 8 on the third set. By dropping the resistance on subsequent sets the time under tension should increase.

Fibre type: depending on the client’s goals and the muscle being trained fibre type is an important factor. With the hamstrings, for example, there is a predominance of fast-twitch, type 2b fibres, which respond better to low reps (heavier weight) and a relatively fast concentric action (think of the explosive power of sprinters – who generally have superior hamstring development to body builders). The soleus, on the other hand, is predominantly composed of slow-twitch fibres and therefore responds better to higher reps.
Reduction of the myotatic response – by pausing for a second or two in the stretch position (i.e. full extension of the elbow in a biceps curl) the plyometric effect is reduced thus increasing the tension on the muscles and leading to greater hypertrophy gains.

Working from different angles – Arnold was quite right to insist upon targeting muscles from a variety of angles but it is perhaps not necessary to perform so many sets at each angle. If you are looking for complete chest development, for example, you may have decided upon 4 sets of bench press but could perform one set on progressively inclined positions rather than 4-5 sets at each position.

Manipulate rest – generally, if you are looking at maintaining strength for each set and being able to challenge the tensile strength of fast twitch (type 2a and 2b) fibres, rest intervals should be at least three minutes. However, there are gains to be made from reduced rest periods (down to 45-60 seconds), in which case there is a second hypertrophic reaction, this time through build up of metabolic by-products and occlusion of the veins. There is a corresponding growth in energy reservoirs (glycogen and phosphate creatine), and in the venous supply.

In addition, close attention needs to be paid to recovery: rest between workouts, sleep, and nutrition. These include consideration of recovery drinks with 60-80g of simple carbohydrates, 25-30g of protein, vitamin C (which not only supports the immune system but also has an anti-catabolic role), magnesium, and perhaps creatine.

These are only some of the factors affecting progress. The bottom line is that the trainer, to be effective, needs to plan for each session, or each period of training, by reviewing workout notes and paying attention to time under tension, loading, rest, and exercise selection. They should also continuously assess the client’s physical development and target lagging areas (structural assessment would be helpful at intervals).

If the client has reached a plateau in terms of strength development there should be an assessment of the primary and supporting (synergistic) musculature: a lift is only as strong as its weakest link.

Generally, a training programme should be thoroughly reviewed at the minimum six weekly. It is no good simply plugging away at the same tired old routine hoping to eke out minuscule gains. The results are likely to be despondence, over training, and too great an identification with Sisyphus of classical mythology.

Personal Training Studios

2007-02-01T10:54:00.000Z

Many newly qualified trainers enter the industry sub-contracted to, or employed by, one of the major franchise gyms. Whilst this may seem attractive due to the extensive range of equipment and the potential for customer contact, these arrangements have their drawbacks.

Fitness First, for example, charges a weekly rent which may seem reasonable to a well established trainer charging London rates, but £85 per week can seem an insurmountable obstacle to a newly qualified trainer with a small client base. Fitness First claim to off-set this by starting the rent on a sliding scale in return for the trainer working as a gym instructor (with no pay) for a reducing number of hours for the first few months. Often, the trainer is not allowed to work on their own business during these hours and may end up having to work excessive hours in order to make any money at all.

An additional problem is that Fitness First has its own targets and agendas: they sell a product called "Get Results" which is often marketed as "Personal Training" when it is, in fact, a gym programme with a half hour personal training "taster" at week four. Because the sales and fitness teams get commission for selling these, and because they are set aggressive targets, it is not in their interests to support personal trainers with building up their own client base. In fact, there is an unhealthy internal rivalry which forces many trainers out of business.

Other large gyms have their own systems (David Lloyd, for example, uses a combination of salary and commission). Where the trainer is an employee they lose many of the tax benefits of self-employment and don't reach anywhere near the hourly rate they could make as freelance trainers.

One solution is to set up your own training facility, although this is a costly risk. If your budgeting and marketing is out you could end up in trouble. Attracting new clients to this sort of venture is going to be extremely hard at first, although once you are established word will get around and you will hopefully have testimonials to circulate.

F.I.S.H. (Fitness Instruction for Strength & Health) Personal Training Studio in Eastbourne was set up to provide a solution for new trainers just starting out and to offer an alternative to gym-shy or busy clients who do not want to queue up to get on a particular piece of equipment.

F.I.S.H. is an exclusive Personal Training studio with regular staff to act as mentors to newly qualified trainers. The new PTs will be asked to undergo competency assessments and will be offered ongoing support and supervision. The F.I.S.H. team is a community for nurturing new trainers and developing the highest levels of technical skill, exercise and nutrition knowledge, and client-trainer relationships.

F.I.S.H. does not charge a weekly rent but does require a percentage of the trainer's earnings (currently this is £7.50 per session the trainer conducts). We encourage trainers to follow our suggested pricing structure, which generally leaves them making a profit of £22.50 per session (which is good considering there are no overheads).

The only financial outlay required is an initial registration fee of £20 to cover the production of a profile board for in-studio, web-site, and brochure advertising. Trainers are also encouraged to order a uniform training top.

The F.I.S.H. studio is equipped with top quality free-weights, exercise balls, mini trampoline, cables, power rack, dip and chin bars, heavy duty benches, full length mirrors, body composition scales, and a height measure. Trainers and clients have access to our extensive range of supplements and fitness clothing and are encouraged to use F.I.S.H. documentation (which they are free to photocopy at their own expense).

All enquiries from prospective trainers should be directed to:

Derek Prior

fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

derekprior@tiscali.co.uk

Progression in Resistance Training

2007-01-30T22:00:00.000Z

You must have noticed the guys in the gym who always train hard, always train heavy, and always train the same. You may also have noticed that, no matter how long you have witnessed their training, they also always look the same.

There may be a number of reasons for lack of progress: inadequate nutrition or rest; poor timing of nutrition and supplementation; inappropriate exercises. Often lack of progress can be ascribed to poor knowledge, poor technique, and a lack of variety.

The body is a lazy organism. It is concerned with the conservation of energy and assiduously tries to cling to homeostasis, maintaining its biological state within pre-set parameters. Unless muscle fibres are stressed to the point of overload there will be no incentive for them to grow. If they are taken to the point of momentary muscular failure (or beyond, as with forced repetitions) the signal to grow is even greater (in the latter case up to 30% greater). To ensure muscular overload is progressive, leading to bigger gains, there are a number of variables that can be manipulated. For many recreational bodybuilders, however, it is always about increasing the weight at all costs.

In addition to poor exercise knowledge, poor form, and an ignorance of specificity, the other contributing factor to training plateaus is lack of variety.

If you perform the same routine week in, week out, there will come a point when you cannot increase the weight without sacrificing form. Your body will also quickly adapt to a particular way of training. If it is no longer taxed it will cease to develop.

In order to increase the intensity of a workout there are a number of variables that can be manipulated: resistance (weight), repetitions, rate (speed), rest (in between sets) and range of motion. Experiment with each of the “5 Rs”. Cut down your rest in between sets. The muscles won’t be fully recovered and will fail earlier in the next set. Move through a full range of motion (fully extend the arms at the start point of a biceps curl for example); sometimes pause along various points in the range of movement and allow the muscles to statically contract; exploit peak contraction positions; slow the movements down, control the negative. Sometimes use faster movements; sometimes work with heavy weights, but only if you can maintain good form. Experiment with high intensity techniques (rest-pause, supersets, pre and post-exhaust, negatives, static contraction etc). If you increase the intensity you may need to reduce the volume. Mike Mentzer advocated short bursts of extremely high intensity training using very heavy loads (with perfect form) and then leaving the gym to start the recovery and growth process. Dorian Yates, six times Mr Olympia, successfully exploited this type of training philosophy but there is, for the recreational bodybuilder, a caveat: Yates suffered his share of major injuries, including a detached tricep, and when Frenchman Francis Benfatto experimented with heavy training he seriously damaged his pectoral. If you use high intensity, don’t use it exclusively. Vary your training.

Don’t allow your workouts to become totally random, however. Follow a basic programme that gradually progresses resistance (consider using step loading cycles for 4-6 weeks). Intersperse your regular training with sessions of high intensity work. Don’t be afraid to modify your routine every 4-6 weeks. Listen to your body. Keep notes of how you respond to different approaches and mix your approaches. Francis Benfatto, who recently staged an incredible comeback at the Australian Grand Prix, makes the comparison between training and music:

“You don’t play with just one note of music, and we bodybuilders can’t play just with weights. We must play with technique, reps, speed, machines, dumbbells, barbells, inclines, declines, supersets, giant sets – everything. We must push our bodies with new things all the time so we can always progress.” (Flex, September 2006, p118)

With a combination of good nutrition, adequate rest, clear goals, exercise knowledge, good form and variety you will continue to make gains. Don’t be one of those people who always seem to be in the gym, always train hard, and seldom change their physiques. Think about what you want to achieve, study the most effective exercises and learn correct form (consider having a session on technique with a personal trainer who has knowledge of bodybuilding), manipulate the “5 Rs” and experiment with high intensity at intervals. Don’t worry about what everyone else is lifting. Focus on form – it’s all in the execution not the ego.

Heavier Isn't Always Better

2007-01-30T21:56:00.000Z

Generally the recreational bodybuilders who seem to have reached a plateau in their development adhere to a decidedly myopic training philosophy: increase the resistance, but keep everything else the same. Good form is often sacrificed at the expense of more weight. The result has been the evolution of some rather bizarre lifting techniques: how many times have you witnessed the ectomorphic novice trying to swell his biceps by holding a barbell with elbows flexed, swaying back and forth from the waist before throwing the weights down with a mighty crash and then striding off to admire the supposed growth in the mirror. Lateral raises are the funniest exercise performed poorly. Determined to keep pace with the big boys, the over-zealous bodybuilder extends the prescribed slight elbow bend to a full ninety degrees (thus reducing the lever length and the comparative resistance), and then proceeds to flick the dumb bells up to shoulder height with a complex multi-joint movement focused chiefly on the lower back and wrists.

In such cases the target muscle gets off rather lightly whilst there is an unintentional, and largely ineffective, working of the lower back and forearms. The risk of injury is high and the likelihood of muscular development low.

Let’s look at the bicep curl. This exercise, presumably, is meant to stimulate growth of the biceps/brachialis muscles. To effectively target a muscle it is necessary to focus on the relevant joint action. In the case of the biceps, the role of the muscle is to flex the elbow joint (not the lower back!). It is essential, therefore, to isolate this joint by fixing the elbows at the sides and keeping the wrists in line with the elbows and forearms throughout the motion (many body builders make the mistake of curling the wrists over at the top of the movement). The torso should remain upright with a neutral spine position and the shoulders down and relaxed. The abdominals should be pulled in about 25% and the knees should be soft (slightly bent).

Generally the speed should be moderate with control of the eccentric (downward) movement during which the muscle is lengthening under tension. Poliquin (1990) demonstrates that the greatest hypertrophy gains are made using a repetition range of 8-12 and a moderate resistance: it is not necessary to lift very heavy weights to develop muscle. A weight should be selected that allows the trainer to perform within the prescribed rep range so that overload is achieved at the end of the set. Weight increases should be made in small increments allowing for the retention of perfect exercise form.

The challenge for the recreational body builder is to compete not with the other people in the gym, or with Arnold Schwarzenegger or whoever one’s idol is, but to compete with oneself. The weight must fit the person and that person’s specific goal. The exercise chosen, the form, the speed, the number of sets, the rest periods must follow the law of specificity. What do you wish to achieve? What is the best exercise to achieve this? What joint actions are involved and how do you best perform the exercise? Training is not random and it is not about brute force. You must know what your goals are and how best to approach those goals by using safe and effective exercises. If you must flick your wrists and sway your back during lateral raises then you should be able to explain exactly why you are doing this.

Diets Don't Work

2007-01-30T21:51:00.000Z

Whilst the diet industry would like you to believe that you can shed weight by purchasing their products, it is unlikely that you will achieve any long-term benefits from the majority of diets and weight loss products on the market. Sustainable weight loss is best achieved by creating a negative energy balance – that is burn more calories than you consume.

The problem with traditional diets is that they often advocate eating fewer calories than those needed by the body to sustain its basic functions. If you consume fewer calories than this Basal Metabolic Rate the body will enter starvation mode and cling on to fat stores in an attempt to preserve life. If blood sugar levels drop as a result if inadequate nutrition, particularly for those on low carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, the body will create its own glucose for energy by scavenging amino acids from lean muscle tissue. This self-cannibalisation results in less lean muscle which consequently reduces the metabolic rate. In effect this means fat gain will happen even easier in the future.

A reasonable approach to sustainable fat loss has a number of elements. Energy out has to be greater than energy in. Rather than reducing your calories to amounts lower than Basal Metabolic Rate, additional calories should be burnt through exercise (incidental exercise such as walking to work and taking the stairs, or using the cardiovascular equipment in a gym).

Metabolic rate can be raised by increasing lean muscle tissue through resistance training (each additional pound of lean muscle burns approximately fifty calories per day at rest). Weight training also burns between 240 and 400 calories for a typical session.

Nutritionally, a balanced diet comprised of approximately 55-60% carbohydrate, 30% fat and 10% protein is recommended for health. There will be some variations depending on desired outcomes and exercise programmes. Carbohydrates should be from wholegrain, wholemeal sources and of low-medium GI (glycaemic index). Avoid simple sugars as these will spike blood sugar levels causing insulin production which will store the sugars as fat.

A useful aid to ensuring you eat enough to lose weight is the keeping of a food diary in which you record times, amounts and types of food eaten. For optimal results a programme of exercise involving both cardiovascular and resistance training is recommended. The anatomical adaptations that take place through a progressive exercise programme increase the ability of the body to metabolise fat as fuel whilst raising the metabolic rate and burning additional calories.

Effective Personal Trainer-Client Relationships

2007-01-28T19:02:00.000Z

For Personal Training to be most effective it is important that:

1) The Personal Trainer is qualified to the appropriate standard (REPs Level 3);

2) The Trainer has expert knowledge and experience related to the trainee's goals;

3) The Trainer works collaboratively with the trainee to determine SMART goals which are based on the client's "wants" rather than what the trainer perceives as the client's "needs";

4) The Trainer is able to build rapport with the client leading to a trust-based collaborative relationship;

5) The Trainer and the trainee are able to identify obstacles to exercise, nutrition, and recovery compliance and to agree on strategies to minimise or overcome them;

6) Exercise goals must be regularly evaluated and adjustments made to the plan to account for aptitude, efficacy, exercise preferences, over-achieving and under-achieving;

7) A sound nutrtional plan should be in place, preferably along with recording systems, body composition monitoring, and regular revues.

From looking at the above it is clear that the trainer needs to possess excellent communication skills, exercise knowledge, nutritional knowledge, and an ability to motivate, be non-judgemental, supportive, and able to focus on positives rather than condemning non-adherence and set-backs.

The skills required are not disimilar to those found in the helping professions - counselling, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, life coaching etc.

The minimum requirement is for the trainer to be fully conversant with the concept of "active listening", which at its most basic means being attentive to the client, indicating (verbally and non-verbally) that you are listening to what they are saying; not interrupting; seeking clarification of what they are saying; summarising to show understanding, and allowing the client to express what it is they want rather than telling them what they need.

In additional to being a good listener and to being able to elicit accurate goal-oriented information from the client, the trainer will also need to be a resource person, a provider of reliable information on exercise and nutrition. This will necessarily involve a recognition of personal limitations and a willingness to refer on or conduct the relevant research.

Additionally, the trainer may well have a role as a "skilled helper". As an adjunct to active listening skills, the trainer will be able to help the client formulate strategies to overcome problematic behaviour (exercise avoidance, eating problems, sleep hygiene etc). In this capacity it may be useful to adopt some cogntive behavioural strategies (for example food/mood diaries and formulations for problematic eating and associated responses).

All of these skills can be acquired through brief courses or through relevant reading. I am not suggesting that the trainer becomes fully qualified as a counsellor or cognitive behaviour therapist, merely that they add some of these skills to their professional "tool-kit".

At a more basic level, the trainer must be discreet, confidential, trustworthy, reliable, respectful, punctual, diligent, observant, encouraging, supportive, a good record-keeper, and an honest, but tactful, appraiser.

Don't leave training to chance: plan and record everything and hone your interpersonal skills.

Training Infrequently

2007-01-28T14:29:00.000Z

When I first started training with weights I was influenced by the high volume approach advocated by, amongst others, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I found myself in the gym for two to three hours six (sometimes even seven) times a week.

Initially I made some progress. Mostly this was due to moving from a sedentary to a very active lifestyle and the caloric deficit created by hours of training. After a few months, however, the progress stopped/ By now I was psychologically addicted to training and found myself going to the gym even when I knew further training would be counter-productive.

During this period I discovered the writings of Mike Mentzer whose "Heavy Duty" training system (High Intensity Training) recommended brief but extremely intense bouts of exercise followed by long rest periods. I tried this for a while but found training for only twenty to thirty minutes once every four to seven days unfulfilling. Whilst Mentzer might have commented that this was due to a psychological need, I was never fully convinced of his infrequency principle.

Over time I completed my Personal Training course with YMCA F.I.T. and continued to read as much as I could on weight training: Denie's"Psycho-blast", Stuart McRobert, Charles Poliquin, John Hansen etc.

The approaches and theories are somewhat conflicting and bewildering. Up to a point you can achieve results with any of them. Some are safer than others, and this leads to the possibility of long-term progression. Others are more suitable to experienced trainers or elite body builders. Stuart McRobert's approach is extremely sensible and he provides excellent advice on technique and steady progression, but, for me, his approach is mechanical and uninspiring. I also found the rate of progression a little too slow - although I agree with using very small weight increments for progression at times.

In my own training I have evolved a somewhat eclectic approach that focuses primarily on compound exercises (squats, dead lifts, bench press, bent over rows, chin ups, dips, and bar bell biceps curls). I now train each body part for 4-8 sets once per week (formerly I could do anything up to thirty sets for chest twice a week). I currently use a three day split, although recently whilst setting up the F.I.S.H. studio I've been limited to two workouts at home and have been surprised at the growth achieved with relatively lights weights and lots of rest.

So Mentzer had a point about infrequency but perhaps too much of a point. I find that resting at least 48 hours between workouts is keeping me growing and that three (sometimes four) workouts per week allows me the time to hit each body part effectively and does fulfill my (pathological?) need to train fairly frequently. Taking seven (or even up to fourteen) days of rest between workouts seems excessive and may actually interfere with the habituation which is essential to continuing with an exercise programme.

I still throw in the odd super-set, pre-exhaust, post-exhaust, drop set or rest-pause, but whereas before I would use these techniques at every workout I now use them only occasionally (often not for weeks). They have become plateau busters and novelties that keep me interested. Sometimes they are time savers and enable me to do an effective and intense workout in under half an hour.

In conclusion, for drug-free body-building (from my experience) it is effective to train three to four times a week with at least one whole day off in between workouts. If you are forced, through circumstances, to take an extra rest day don't be disheartened or frustrated. See this as an opportunity to recover and grow. This cognitive re-structuring has been a key to my recent progress - being able to see rest days in a productive light.

Personal Trainers

2007-01-15T21:55:00.000Z

Personal Trainers sometimes come in for a great deal of criticism in the bodybuilding magazines.

Sometimes this is due to the almost delusional beliefs of the writers in their own expertise. Often, however, their remarks have some validity, although they are seldom qualified.

Years ago, anyone could claim to be a personal trainer - the industry was not regulated. Generally, these days, trainers have to train for about a year (some organisations offer intensive, fast-track, training that takes only 3-4 months).

The training itself is rather good and involves practical and theory tests. However, it is possible to become qualified and yet have no commitment to the ongoing training, reading, personal practice, and experience that are essential to becoming an effective, safe, and reliable trainer. The Register of Exercise Professionals goes some way towards remedying this by insisting on continuous education accreditation, but even this does not make up for a lack of true passion for training knowledge and practice.

There is another caveat when it comes to personal training: some of the big gyms employ fitness instructors (who possess a level 2 qualification that implies competence in gym inductions and in formulating a basic gym programme) and then pass them off as personal trainers. These companies have their own training packages which they offer to customers as "personal training" and are shameless in doing so. Often these same gyms encourage genuine personal trainers to practice on their sites for an extortionate rent but then proceed to undermine their businesses (often the trainers are sub-contractors) by selling their own products, which are facilitated by level 2 gym instructors. The customers are short-changed (some would say defrauded) and the level 3 trainers are under-cut and often go out of business.

There are, nevertheless, some extremely effective trainers, but you have to know what to look for.

Essentially, a good personal trainer is 100% attentive. This means that they listen to their clients, particularly in the setting of SMART goals, and that they also watch their clients at every moment, identifying errors in technique or gauging intensity and when it is time to stop a set or exercise due to technique starting to deteriorate.

The trainer should have a good knowledge of muscle and lever functions and attachments and should be able to identify the most effective exercises for a given goal. They should pay attention to detail - posture, exercise form, range of motion, resistance, repetition speed and smoothness, rate of perceived exertion etc.

The trainer should intervene when there are potentially injurious factors, such as the rounding of the back during a dead lift, and they should continuously attempt to focus the client on the exercise by using appropriate levels of correction and encouragement.

If the trainer is asked to justify a particular exercise choice they should be able to do so - and should not feel threatened by the request. There must be a rationale for training approaches, and the training should always be the most effective, whilst being safe, for the client's individual goals.

I would also expect a trainer to have sound nutritional knowledge, an understanding of health related issues, and good communication skills (especially active listening).

One last thing to look for in a trainer is their commitment to their own training. A good trainer should be in regular training, but more than that, they should be always on the lookout for furthering their knowledge and experience. They must be forever questing for better practice, better technique, and better understanding of the needs, and wants, of their clients.

Qualifications are never enough: they are the bare minimum. Watch the trainers with their other clients; assess them as they work, or as they train themselves, and only when you are happy with what you observe should you place yourself in their hands. Once found, however, a good trainer is invaluable.

Fat Loss Tips

2007-01-15T20:02:00.000Z

Whilst it is a good idea to estimate your resting metabolic rate and then to make adjustments for activity and weight loss/gain goals it is possible to make good progress even if you don't go through with the calculations.

In the past I have calculated my clients' nutritional needs down to the last gram of each macronutrient. I've then produced detailed meal plans that ensure a balanced array of nutrients, timed with military precision. I used to present the client with the plan confident that they would follow it to the letter and make the gains they wanted.

Bitter experience has taught me that there are very few "ordinary" trainees who are going to be consistent with such plans. Their lives are too varied; the dietary rules are too strict and it is only a matter of time before they break them. Usually these infringements of the rules incur a "oh, well, might as well give up" response and the goal gets ever more remote.

There are exceptions, of course, and these people make the best gains.

Others get into the idea of writing down what they eat - only they do this retrospectively and then beat themselves up for consuming too little or too much.

Recently I've elected for a basic ("ideal") meal plan with a number of alternatives for each meal and some general principles for those "can't be bothered" times.

Basically, there is a simple structure: eat six times a day at roughly three hourly intervals. At the simplest, divide your target calories (which you can determine by keeping a food diary for five days and seeing what you need to maintain, or you can do the calculations). If your goal is to lose fat, reduce this figure by about 15%.

Divide your calories by six and aim to eat roughly this amount at each of the six meal times.

For those who are busy, protein bars or drinks will provide convenient alternatives, along with hard fruit.

The diet should remain high in protein (1.6g per kilo of lean body weight is recommended for fat loss. There's no benefit from going above 2g per kilo). Carbohydrates should come from wholegrain sources wherever possible and should be low GI, and fats should be principally monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

Once you decide on the sorts of foods you are going to eat, spend a bit of time calculating their macronutrient and caloric values by referring to the packet labels and using a calculator. It should then be possible to identify a variety of foods and snacks that could make up a meal slot.

You can work out the percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate in accordance with your goals. For health the ratios are: protein 10%, carbohydrate 60%, fat 30%. For serious training, the retention of lean tissue and fat loss these percentages will need to be adjusted (for example 20, 55, 25). You may want to experiment with ratios or refer to a good nutrition book.

For simplicity, divide the values between the six meals (remember, there's little point consuming more than 25-30g of protein at one time - the excess will be excreted or stored as fat); and don't get hung up on carbohydrates: you need them! Your brain needs them, and your muscles needs them. Just make sure that they are from clean, fibrous sources and low GI, except within the fifteen minutes immediately after training when simple sugars help to speed recovery and optimise protein synthesis.

A sample basic structure might look like this:

7am Shreddies, skimmed/semi-skimmed milk; glass of orange juice

10am Protein bar; apple

1pm Tuna salad sandwich (wholemeal bread - preferably with seeds)

4pm Protein bar; pear

7pm Sweet Potato, Chicken breast/grilled fish/broccoli, carrots

10 pm Protein shake; handful of nuts

Post workout (within 15 minutes) 1-2 bananas; protein shake

That's about as basic as it gets. Once you have your structure in place you can add variety by substituting foods of similar nutritional value. Make sure there are enough good fats by adding cold pressed extra virgin olive oil to salads, eating a handful of nuts or seeds, and eating salmon once a week. The protein bars and shakes should be the low GI/low-moderate carbohydrate variety if your goal is to lose fat.

The more planning and calculating you do, the better the results, but as I said at the beginning, there are few people who can commit to that. Find out the sort of foods you should be eating; approximate their caloric value, and slot them into the six meals a day structure.

If you can't afford, or don't want, protein supplements, eat more fish, chicken /turkey breast, eggs, low fat yoghurts etc. You might also want to look at quinoa.

Once you know what you should be eating you can stock up on all the required foods and snacks and prepare food in advance for convenience/packed lunches.

One last thing: if you do "fall off your horse" and binge/eat too much when dining out, don't fret. Enjoy yourself and then resume your normal eating structure. Don't skip a meal or try to adjust for the additional calories. The basic meal plan should be the norm but there will (and must be) exceptions (unless you are a competitive figure/bodybuilding athlete or have a pathological relationship with food and body image).

Reverse Anorexia in Body Building

2007-01-14T10:20:00.000Z

We are all too familiar with the pathology of Anorexia Nervosa and the driving feature of over-evaluation of body image. Often this over-evaluation is reinforced by the activity of scrutiny - often looking in the mirror and focusing on what are thought to be the worst body features.

Is self-scrutiny in the mirror reliable? Differences between the subjective beliefs of anorexia sufferers and the consensus view of others (objective reality) leads us to conclude that it is not. Why is this?

The image we see in a mirror is actually half the size that we are (try getting someone to stick tape on the mirror image at the top and bottom and then measure it). The brain compensates for this by "doubling up the image". There are degrees of distortion in the processing, more so when pathology is present. "Bad" features become magnified. In addition, there will often be variation in mirror images depending on lighting, the mirror surface, reference points in the reflection, mood of the observer etc.

In body building we sometimes see the reverse of anorexia (in which the sufferer sees their mirror image as being fatter than it really is). In body building the goal is usually to grow larger, in terms of musculature. A body builder desperate to gain weight may look into the mirror and despair at the perceived muscular atrophy. Nothing seems to be growing - indeed everything seems to be shrinking. Whereas the anorexic is likely to restrict calorie intake even further, the body builder is likely to train even harder and longer. The net result of this will be over-training thus inhibiting the processes of recovery and growth.

In such cases, more reliable methods of gauging progress might include:

1. Photographs
2. Measurements
3. The appraisal of others

Continual progress can be ensured if the body builder:

1. Accurately assesses caloric needs for weight maintenance and then increases by roughly 20%
2. Consumes protein equivalent to 2g per kilogram of lean body weight
3. Ensures adequate supply of other macronutrients (carbohydrates and "good" fats)
4. Progresses training at each workout (increase resistance or reps within the target rep range; at times decrease rest; range of motion and repetition rate can also be manipulated).
5. Strictly adheres to correct exercise technique, generally adopting full range of motion and a controlled, smoothe, rep speed.
6. Rests sufficiently between workouts. generally keep resistance works to less than an hour and take at least one day off between workouts.

So what is to be done with mirrors?

If body-checking becomes problematic use mirrors solely for checking clothing coordination, hair and face. Remove any extraneous mirrors. Focus on the training and on maintaining adequate nutrition. Rely on the feedback of others and occasionally (monthly?) get someone to take your measurements.

Unless you are a driven, competitive level, body builder, don't set your sights on future gains. Enjoy the training, enjoy the journey, and most important, maintain a balanced life that doesn't solely revovle around your physique. Train with prescribed regularity and eat to match. If that's in place, quit worrying and let things take their course.