BH Personal Training

Tonight the sun was shining 😎😎🙌🏼🙌🏼

Let’s get back to basics!!!!

Always around this time of year, we hear about various different diets, Keto, intermittent fasting, vegan, Paleo, the list goes on. People looking for the next big thing, the quick fix, the magic pill🙄

At the end of the day, no matter which one you choose, unless you’re creating a calorie deficit none of them will work.

Last night after my zoom class I touched a bit on how people tend to over estimate their calorie output during exercise and become a little disheartened.
The majority of you now have some sort of device or app telling you your calorie output after your activity.
Unless you are say a long distance runner, you will NOT lose weight through exercise alone. Yes you will get fitter, stronger, feel better, all those things but you will not lose weight unless you’re creating that deficit with daily calories.

However ..., having said all that, people who workout (consistently) create a thermal effect within their body meaning basically that they create more lean muscle mass and less body fat, which in turn will give them a faster BMR (Resting metabolic rate) so fitter people generally burn more calories sleeping or at rest in layman’s terms.

This is what you what you want to create for yourself, This is how you create long term weight loss, but consistency is the key, not random workouts.

Let’s take a 30 minute kettlebell class for example, you will burn approximately 300 calories, or about 3 hob nobs!!! Not great is it ?? But....if you’re consistent with your efforts , you will change your body composition creating more lean muscle mass, and in turn overtime will lose weight, providing your calorie intake from food is on point👌 so don’t get caught up or disheartened with low calorie output from some forms of exercise, but do get caught up with tracking your calorie intake IF weight loss is YOUR GOAL.

If you’re in doubt of your daily calories in , download my fitness pal and track every morsel, it’s cumbersome at the beginning but we all mostly repeat meals so you’ll only have to do it once and it will be stored.
It becomes second nature after a while. If you’re genuinely serious about losing weight it’s worth it.

So morel of the story, eat less, move more, track everything, create a deficit, no need to cut food groups but do if you want, if it works for you 👍 yes you can lose weight without exercise but it’s more difficult and be prepared to go hungry and manifest a lazy metabolism if you chose that route, and be prepared to put back on weight when you start eating “normally” again. That’s called yo yo dieting, another topic for another day 😉

If you’re a seasoned runner keep scrolling on by....

With each lockdown, more and more people take to the pavement to keep fit. Maybe your gym is closed or you’ve embarked on a new January health kick, so this post is aimed at all you new runners starting out....

Over the years as a personal trainer I often listen to people’s story about trying and failing at running.
The most common reason for this is they simply find it too hard, they don’t have the patience to get over the first few weeks of feeling uncomfortable and often say they can’t get the breathing right. This is generally because most new runners are trying to do too much too fast.

When you start running, run to time and not distance, a good start would be 20-30 minutes 3 times a week with rest days in between. Download a couch to 5k app which are an excellent starting point. At the beginning run/walk, but make sure your running sequence is nice and easy, a conversational pace if you’re with a friend is how to judge.

Stop comparing yourself to Mary on your road who can run a 5k in 25 mins, this is your journey.

Another reason people give up early on is because of injury. A very common injury amongst new runners is the dreaded shin splints. This is usually because of 2 reasons. Again trying to do too much too soon, and inappropriate runners.

You will NEED to invest properly in runners, get your gait done in a running store and charge them annually. You need to find out if you are either a neutral runner or a pronator. You’ll only need to do this once and after that you’ll be able to buy online if you want, but for your first “good runner” I’d recommend going to a specialist running shop. Expect to pay in the region of €150, but after that running is relatively a cheap sport😉

You don’t need to invest in a fancy gps watch but if you have one, certainly track your runs, if not download run keeper or map my run but you will need to run with your phone for these.

Onto more female delicate matters.
Bo***es 😉 if you are anything more than a B - cup, you need to invest in a good sports bra, the best on the market IMO is shock absorber. You’ll need to be measured as they are usually not your regular day to day bra size, but again like the runners after the first time, you’ll be able to buy online from multiple websites. Anything smaller then a C-cup, you’ll get away with high street brands.

Pelvic floor issues. A lot of women tell me they can’t run because of a poor pelvic floor and their bladder just can’t take it. Do not let this stop you from running.
Firstly you need to identify that this is actually a problem and begin to address it, start by doing your pelvic floor exercises on alternating days, but in a lot of cases, you may need to go and see a physio who specialises in female health in this area.
This is a really common problem, much more than you’d realise and often not spoken about. A lot of these specialised physios can do absolute wonders with their expertise and lead you on the right road.
In the meantime though, wear a pad, your best Bridget Jones pants and off you go 😉

Running on your period. No you certainly won’t feel like it , but it’s a known fact that exercise of any kind not just running eases the pain that periods bring so suck it up and off you go.

The more you run the easier it gets, you will get back what you put in. We’ve all heard of happy hormones called endorphins, as a personal trainer I probably shouldn’t be saying this but no gym workout will give you same endorphin release as a good run in the fresh air, so give it the chance it deserves.....

Running is to be enjoyed not endured, I have never EVER regretted a run, yes I’ve procrastinated for hours on end still do, but the hardest step is out the front door. Over time you will feel it getting easier and easier and at some stage if you persevere you will call yourself a runner.... good luck 👏🏻👏🏻