How Many Times Should I Train A Week to Lose Fat?

People are often asking me how many times a week should I be exercising to lose fat?

A study conducted by Buck et al (2009) looked at the effects of exercise frequency using a subject group of 90 subjects ranging in age from 22 to 74.

The 8 week study compared the fat loss results of the exercisers adhering to exercise frequencies of less than 2 times per week, 3-4 times per week, and more than 4 times per week, with each exercise bout lasting 30 minutes.

The results showed that whilst fat was lost across the board, only those who exercised 4 or more times per week showed a significantly higher change in body fat percentage, with no significant difference between ages or genders.

Whilst this study only examines one variable in reducing body fat, it does indicate the importance of frequent physical activity. Add in a healthy eating diet, the right exercise intensity and type and additional duration and you have the answer to optimal fat loss.

If you are looking for an effective, fun and varied programme that will help burn fat, tone up your muscles, boost your energy levels and improve your strength and fitness then get in touch today at either info@pbfitness.org.uk or adam@pbfitness.org.uk

Many Thanks for Reading

Pete

Whats Your Why?

At the moment I am in the process of updating my website, which helped me to keep my own personal and business goals top of my mind.

No matter what your goal, there are a myriad of reasons why you might not succeed.

If you're struggling with fat loss, it might be your diets thats not quite right, or you hate exercise or you've got too much work and not enough time or you're stressed out of your tree.

Here at PB Fitness we help people work towards their goals every single day. And pretty much every single reason can be filtered back to one common mistake.

They haven't truly identified their WHY.

Wanting to be 'X' number on the scale is never inspiring enough to see people through 12 months of training and clean eating.

Wanting to make a difference to other people, to be alive to support your partner in later life, to see your kids grow up, to live a better life with more free time, fresh air and laughter - now these are WHYS.

Sometimes people get lucky and are successful not really knowing their 'why', but they are effectively running flat out with all their heart and their eyes shut tight. They have no real focus or driving force behind them.

Before you do anything start with WHY.

Many thanks for reading

Pete

PS.If you would like some more help and advice on finding your why then get in touch with PB Fitness Today >>>HERE<<<

Are You Ready For Change?

Are you starting to struggle with your January fitness regime? Check out the stages of change model and see how it can affect your behaviour.

At the Pre-contemplation phase you are not seriously considering the possibility of change. The goal for this stage is to get you to move onto the next stage, encouraging you to contemplate the change for yourself.

Contemplation is where you become aware and acknowledge the existence of the need to change. During this phase you will way up the pros and cons as to whether to take actions or not. This is the stage where the majority of people get stuck in terms of weight loss, although you know all the health benefits to making the change there are a lot of barriers that need to be broken down.

During the preparation stage it is said that you will make a change within the next 3 months. To help strengthen your commitment for change look at developing SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-framed)

The action stage is where you actually start to make changes. To help stay in this phase you should reassess your goals regularly to help keep your plan on track.

During the maintenance stage you are looking at continuing your progress that your achieved during the action stage. During this stage you should re-evaluate your original goals and set new ones if these have been hit.

A relapse happens when you revert to your previous behaviour or fail to stick to your plan of action. At this stage you often feel like you have failed. However what you need to know is that relapses happen to everyone (even I have them), but they are vital to any successful change process so you can learn how to deal with them next time.

In the termination stage you no longer consciously worry about the change process and carry on your new behaviour automatically. In other words you have broken your old habits and formed new ones.

Just because you may feel like you have failed or starting to struggle with your new year fitness regime then don't give up. I hope this helps you to sit down and re-visit and re-evaluate for fitness goals and plan.

If you would like further support in reaching your fitness goals then see how personal training with PB Fitness can help you by booking your sessions >>>Here<<<

Many thanks for reading

Pete

Do You Train In All 3 Planes?

When putting a training programme together then you need to make sure that you train your body in all 3 planes of movement. (Frontal/Coronal, Sagittal and Transverse). Below is a bit of help on what each plane means and types of exercises to include to make sure you are training in all 3 planes.

The frontal/Coronal plane divides your body into front and back halves. Despite the planes name the exercises you perform on the frontal plane consist of side to side rather than front and back motion. Movements of abduction and adduction such as side leg lifts and lateral raises are resistance training exercise you can try on the front plan. While star jumps and side steps are examples of cardiovascular exercises on the frontal plane.

The sagittal plane divides your body into right and left halves. Exercises include flexion and extension and forward and backwards movement happen in this plane. Bicep curls and squats are examples of resistance exercises for the sagittal plane. While running, walking, spotty dogs are all cardiovascular exercises that you can do to work in the sagittal plane.

The transverse plane divides your body into top and bottom halves. when you perform movements of rotation, you are working on the transverse plane of motion. Exercises that invoke twisting happen on this plane. V-sit twists, alternating oblique crunches are examples of resistance exercises, while alternating jab cross or hooks in boxing are examples of cardiovascular exercises that require you to work on the transverse plane of movement.

If you would like any help putting an exercise programme together then please don't hesitate to get in touch today (>>Click Here<<) and we can sit down and write a programme that is effective for you.

Many thanks For reading

Pete

Need More Hours In Your Day For Exercise?

With the best will in the world, sometimes fitting in regular exercise can be a real struggle after all your other responsibilities. After work, family, school run, housework, cooking, cleaning etc the last thing you want to do is go to the gym and exercise. This is where it is no use as fitness professionals banging on about how you should make your health your priority. Sometimes its just not possible to get to the gym everyday. 

I will hold my hands up and say that I have this problem too and complete understand and share this difficulty.

As fitness professionals we need to come up with alternatives to help you stay on the fitness bandwagon when your 9 to 5 and probably some hours beside are already spoken for.

The easiest way to fit exercise in is to walk to work instead of taking the car, or if you have to drive the car try parking it a little bit further away from work so you have to walk that little bit further. Get off the bus a stop earlier to get a ten minute power walk in on your way to work. Do a mini core circuit 2 or 3 times a day (you can easily do this in 5 minutes). (I will be giving you some small workouts that you can do in your lunch break in a few weeks).

One which I like to do and which I am currently doing as I am writing this is sitting on a swiss ball rather than a chair. This will help you to engage your core muscles and improve your posture all day long. Improve your flexibility with regular stretches at your desk. 

Keep hydrated by having a glass of water on your desk in front of you, every time you finish the glass  walk to the kitchen to fill it up.  

Get out and take the dog for a slightly longer walk and faster walk to increase your heart rate, take the kids to the park and have a play with them pushing them on the swings and roundabout.

When you do have some free time at the weekend, or maybe one evening a week, get to the gym or outside and put some hard yards in. Two or three quality sessions per week, combined with general daily activity and a healthy balanced diet is enough for most people to stay in good shape.

Food prep wise, use half an hour of your spare time at the weekend to prepare and plan your meals for the week ahead so you know what you are having when.

Just because you are unable to get to the gym on a daily basis, doesn't mean that you should give up on your health and fitness goals altogether.

If you would like more support in your fitness journey then why not think about personal training with PB Fitness CLICK HERE to see how we can help you.

Many thanks for reading

Pete

How to Pick A Good Personal Trainer

The other day I read a great post online about how to choose a Personal Trainer. Unlike becoming an accountant, lawyer or doctor, there are no standard tests for personal trainers. You can do a 2 day course or even do it at home which is ludicrous.

The post that I read shared some pointers on how to pick a great PT. Reading the list made me feel pretty proud as I can honestly say that both myself and Adam tick all of the boxes. Here are a few pointers to look for.

1. A good PT teaches - they don't just tell you what to do but explain why you're doing it and how it will benefit your body.

2. A good PT individualises the process according to who you are, what your goals are, your lifestyle, what you like and don't like. A one size fits all approach is never on their agenda. There may be common threads, but everyone's body reacts to different stimuli in different ways.

3. A good PT motivates, but they don't babysit you. At PB Fitness our aim is to teach our clients as much as possible so that you are empowered to make good decisions for your health and fitness by yourself. We love supporting our members and always strive to go the extra mile, but no PT can be with you 24/7 and it's a great feeling for anyone to feel like they have the knowledge to help themselves where necessary.

4. A good PT helps you set goals for the long term as well as the short term. Every workout is part of a longer term plan.

I hope that these have helped if you are embarking on a new fitness journey this year then give yourself every chance of success and follow this advice.

If you would like to experience personal Training with PB Fitness please contact either info@pbfitness.org.uk or adam@pbfitness.org.uk to discuss this more. Alternatively check out our website.

Many thanks for reading

Pete

January Fitness Tip 4 - Cut Out The Alcohol.

I know a lot of you will be doing the dry January, which is great because it will give your body a rest after the Christmas period and time to reset for a positive start to the year.

You may now be starting to notice some of the benefits from being alcohol free if you have been doing dry January. Including, better sleep, healthier looking skin, feeling more energetic and weight loss.

So why not try to carry it on into February. I'm not saying to stop drinking altogether, but just try cutting down on what you would normally drink.

Try setting a number of days each month that you are going to drink. For example if you know you have a wedding or birthday then factor that in.

Many thanks for reading

Pete