Gym to Office: A Packing Guide

What To Pack:

Gym bag – Small gym bags are cute. They are also impractical for the gym to office routine and will end up frustrating you. Pick something big enough to allow you to carry a winter outfit and boots as its better for it to be a bit roomier in summer than too small in winter. It’s a plus if they have a section for trainers / wet towels.
Towel: Ideally a microfiber one as they take up less room, are light weight and quick drying (can also be used multiple mornings before they need washing). Most common thing to be forgotten – emergency tip: use your gym kit as a makeshift towel when this happens!
Shower gel, Shampoo (2 in 1 with conditioner if you can) and deodorant. miniatures are expensive and don’t last long so just take full size ones. Keep them in a toiletries bag though because a leaking shampoo bottle is never fun.
Other toiletries – These will depend on what’s a non negotiable in your morning routine. I’m pretty minimal which helps from both a packing and getting ready with speed point of view but you may need moisturiser, hair spray etc. Remember though, the less you use the less you need to carry.
Hair brush. Mine is foldable to save space.
Hairdryer / straighteners. Now I don’t dry or straighten my hair as it’s naturally straight so I don’t need to. You may have a gym that has these in the changing room anyway. If you ned to use these products and the gym doesn’t have them consider getting travel sized versions to assist with packing.
Underwear. Second most common thing to be forgotten. It’s never fun going commando to work or wearing a sweaty sports bra (ladies) so just try not to!
Work clothes. You may or may not have a choice what you wear to work. If you can choose go for things that don’t easily crease.
Make up – Pack what you need for that day and no more. It helps save time getting ready and space.
Shoes – Third most common thing to forget. Some pro packers I know keep a spare pair in work for such occasions!

Body Combat for Beginners – Reblog

One of the classes I teach is Les Mills Body Combat. This was the class that made me want to become an instructor so I really enjoy teaching it and always encourage gym members to give it a go.

I do get that it can be a bit intimidating for new people the first time they come to class. The moves are fast and the terminology can be confusing! But it’s also great fun and punching a kicking the days frustrations away can be incredibly satisfying!

If you are thinking about trying a class for the first time but are nervous and unsure of what to expect here’s a few things that I hope will help ease those uncertainties and allow you to have a great first experience:

It might sound obvious but tell the instructor you are new at the start- it will help you feel relaxed and they will be able to make sure you’re ok throughout the class and will make sure you have a good first experience.
There are three formats of the class- an hour class (10 tracks so sometimes it will be shorter as the length of a track can vary depending on intensity), a 45 minute class and a 30 minute class. The tracks in the shorter (express) versions are selected to still ensure you get maximum benefits from the class despite the shorter time frame.
Body Combat is mixed martial arts inspired. You will experience tracks based on a variety of martial arts throughout the class as well as incorporating some MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) training.
Don’t worry it’s non – contact. You will be punching and kicking an imaginary opponent or bag (so the air really!)
You don’t need any equipment – just you, your gym kit and trainers (and some water!)
The moves are choreographed to the music but don’t worry if you aren’t great at following a beat at first- you will still be getting your heart rate up even if you don’t get every combination of moves straight away. Following the music and combinations will get easier and when you do nail that combo to the beat you feel amazing!
You are mirroring the instructor’s movements. If they say right foot forward, they will put their left foot forward so if you imagine they are your reflection in a mirror and mirror their moves you will find you are soon putting your right foot forward without even having to think about it! Don’t worry if you new to group exercise we know this takes time to get used to!
Once they press play the instructor will generally not pause the music unless you need time to grab a mat. This is to keep the heart rate and intensity of the workout high. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a break if you need one- listen to your own body – the instructor won’t mind, just come back in when you are ready.
It is a tough cardio workout. You are going to burn calories. You will get out of breath- that’s ok it’s why you are there. If you need to take a break take one, grab some water and come back in when you are ready.
There are always opportunities to work within your own personal limits. The instructor will give different options throughout the workout to either dial the intensity up or down. So if you don’t want to jump there will always be a move you can do instead that doesn’t involve jumping but still provides lots of benefit. Equally the instructor will be able to guide you in how to improve a move to increase the intensity if you are ready to challenge yourself a bit more.
If you are new there is something called Smart Start. Effectively it means you are allowed to stay for a few tracks. When you feel like you have done enough you can leave (make sure you stretch before you leave the gym!) then each time you try the class, see if you can stay for one extra track until you can do the whole class. New exercise classes can be tough, we know that, but you don’t need to be put off from trying them because you aren’t sure you are ready for a full class yet.
There is a lot of terminology that may be unfamiliar – jab cross, uppercut, hook, roundhouse kick etc. It might take a while to remember what each move is but don’t worry you can watch the instructor throughout and over time you will start to take on board what each strike is so you can react quickly to cues.
When you strike imagine your opponent is your height! The instructor will tell you which body part to aim for with each strike – if you imagine the opponent is your height you will get the most effective workout. Possible.
It doesn’t matter if you can’t get your leg to head height when you kick (I certainly can’t!)! You will probably find as you attend more often your kicks will get higher, but the range of your kick will have a lot to do with your flexibility so don’t worry if you can’t kick as high as the person next to you – work within your own range of movement and just challenge yourself to kick a bit higher as time goes on.
If you have done martial arts training some of the moves may feel ‘wrong’. Some of the moves in Body Combat are modified to ensure they are safe and effective for a group exercise environment. It’s a martial arts inspired class – not a martial arts class.
Combat is an amazing core class. All the moves involve massive work through your core and your instructor will coach you how to effectively work the core throughout the class. So as well as burning lots of calories and increasing your CV fitness you will also find the workout does great things for your waist.
If you have a question about a move, go and chat to the instructor at the end of the class. We generally love talking to people and want you to get the most out of the class. If you aren’t sure if you are feeling a move ‘in the right place’ ask and we can spend a few minutes on your technique to ensure the following week you are confident you are getting the most out of that move / track / strike / kick.
Instructors get a new track list every three months- at which point they will teach this in it’s entirety for around 6 weeks. After that they will ‘mix’ older tracks into a playlist to keep it interesting for you and keep challenging your fitness levels until they get their next playlist. In other words – you won’t ever get bored.
Finally- it’s an exercise class and it’s meant to be fun. Don’t worry if you struggle with a move or aren’t great at certain kick- ultimately it’s all about moving and having fun whilst doing it so try not to take yourself too seriously.

Benefits of paying someone else to programme a fitness plan for you

I’m a fitness professional and could quite easily programme my own gym workouts without the help of an online coach.

Instead I get a personalised programme every month. There’s a number of reasons why working with someone else, whatever your level of knowledge, can be beneficial and this is why I think it’s a good idea to work with someone on your gym programming, even if you don’t want or need a PT to physically be with you during your sessions.

Variety

If you programme for yourself the urge to stick to the exercises you like and avoid those you find tough completely is strong. If someone else does your plan for you, you will probably find yourself doing a wider variety of sessions and mixing in those moves you find challenging allowing you to get better results.

Another Perspective

Letting an outsider look at your goals and provide advice can be hugely beneficial to your results as they can often see your areas of weakness more objectively than you can and provide ideas on training that you may not have thought about.

Accountability

Checking in with a PT can provide enough accountability to keep you committed to your workouts.

Support

Having someone to check your technique or movement patterns or discuss concerns you might have can help you progress in a way you may not on your own. A coach / PT can give you that kick up the bum we all need sometimes. Likewise, having someone to cheer your successes and push you to reach your goals is equally as useful.

Online Training can provide great value and an alternative to face to face PT sessions (of course these are also super useful) and it allows you to work with someone outside your local geographical area. This means you can select someone with a particular specialism, to suit whatever your goals may be.

If you are looking for support for your training next year this is a great option to consider and if you need advice on how to pick someone I’d be happy to help!

When Should I Train?

You work in a 9-5 (or even longer shifts) job?

Fitting in training can feel tough.

So when is best to train? This is going to be different for everyone – some people love a workout before work, others couldn’t think of anything worse. If you’re like me when you train could vary depending on the structure of your week and what training you’re doing that particular week.

Here’s the Pros and Cons or training at different times of the day

Morning Workouts

Pros

You’ve got your workout out of the way before the days really started, reducing stress
Leaves your evenings free to do other things
You’ll be that super annoying person at work greeting sleepy colleagues with a bundle of energy because you’ve been up for several hours already
Breakfast tastes better after a workout!
The gym is often a little quieter at this time
If you do classes you’ll get to know all the other regulars as it tends to be a more consistent group of attendees in the morning
You start the day feeling energised

Cons

If you hate mornings this isn’t going to be for you
Getting ready for work takes more organisation if your going straight from the gym

Lunch Time Workouts

Pros

Can help stop you overeating at lunch time
Time efficient – leaving your mornings and evenings free
Having limited time to train can keep you focused
A lunch time workout can increase energy levels for the afternoon and help avoid an afternoon slump

Cons

If you don’t have a gym nearby this is tough to do (but still possible if you have shower facilities)
Workouts have to be short (not always a bad thing)
You don’t get much time for showering / changing after
You have to fit eating in somewhere else in your day – how possible this is depends on your job
You need an hour lunch break to make this work ideally
If you’re northern you don’t get lunch break because you have dinner!

Evening Workout

Pros

Potentially more time to train so less pressure
Your brain can switch off now it’s the end of the day and you cn focus on your workout
Can help de-stress

Cons

You can be tired by the end of the day
Gyms are often busy- Monday’s especially.

Weekend Workouts

Pros

You might be able to dedicate more time to a session
Less stress means you can relax and enjoy training without watching the clock and needing to be in work soon
The gym might be quieter so easier to get on the equipment you want

Cons

Reduces the time you can relax away from your working week (although for some training helps relax them)
If your gym is near work rather than home the travel time could be prohibitive
It may be hard to fit regular workouts into your weekends depending on what you like to do / if you travel a lot etc
If you fancy a drink on a Friday or Saturday night training the next day might not be much fun

I personally like to do different types of session at different times to suit my mood. Experimenting and finding the time you feel best working out at can make a huge difference to how committed you stay to a training plan.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anway – Reblog

On Sunday I travelled down to London to do my Aim 1 (Advanced Instructor Module) in Sh’bam.

Now I can’t dance. I closely resemble a plank of wood attempting to move to the beat (I can hear what I’m supposed to be doing and when, I just struggle to make my body do it when it comes to dancing). So whilst I’ve done the equivalent courses already in Body Pump, Body Combat, CX Worx and GRIT and also my Aim 2 in Body Pump so knew what was coming, I was really really (really really really) nervous about this one.

Added to this, for personal reasons, I wasn’t in the best head space when Sunday arrived and my confidence and concentration was at an all time low.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of what you do on an Aim but in addition to teaching and getting feedback on this particular course you also learn about (and try) various different types of dance, which- in my case- meant spending the whole day trying things I’d never tried before (ballet, contemporary, Jazz…).

I will start by confirming that, as anyone who has ever met me would expect, I did not excel in any of the movements tried. I also managed to completely forget the choreography for my track about 10 seconds in the second time I taught and pretty much fell to pieces.

I spent much of the day feeling really quite uncomfortable.

But I’m glad I did it.

We all like doing things we are good at. We never mind trying things when we are confident they are going to go really well. That’s fine because even if you’re good at something, going on courses such as these and getting feedback can still improve you.

But although I was by far the least able person in the room on this occasion it was probably one of the most valuable Aims I’ve done. Regular readers will know I hate cheesey phrases like ‘step out of your comfort zone’ but on this occasion, this is what I was forced to do. Not just occasionally but for 9 hours straight! I gave so many things a go that just didn’t feel natural or comfortable or easy- and when my attempts went wrong I tried my best to laugh it off.

I will never be a ballerina but learning how to do things that scare you is a skill that can help you in all aspects of your life, not just the gym.

So if you think your rubbish at squats and so fear approaching the squat rack just go and do it. You might still be a bit rubbish afterwards but you’ll be giving yourself a chance to improve at the same time as reducing the mental block surrounding it.

If you want to learn to do a handstand, sod what people think and just start practicing – the worry about what you will look like is normally a lot worse than any kind of response you might actually receive.

I’ll sign off by saying a massive thank you to Laura Turner for putting up with me the whole day and not laughing at my attempts to dance and also all the other Sh’bammers for their encouragement and advice!

How to pick the gym for you

Are you looking to join a gym for 2019? Do you know you want to get fitter, train more, train for an event but aren’t sure how to pick a gym?

Some things to consider to help you make the best choice for you:

Location

When do you plan on going to the gym? Before or after work, on you lunch break? Pick a gym that is going to help you fit training into your schedule. Will it help if the gym is on the journey home from work, in your office building or closer to home. Once you’ve decided this you can look at the options in that area.

Facilities

What do you want to do in the gym? Without sounding patronising you will need the equipment to do those things. You don’t need anything else. Unless a Watt bike is essential to the training plan you wish to follow it doesn’t matter whether the gym has one or not. It’s easy to get swayed by gyms which have lots of fancy facilities but unless you know you will use them they don’t need to be part of the gym picking process. On the other hand if you know the reward of a sauna and steam after a training session will make you go to the gym then look for ones that provide those faclities. If you’re trying to create a calorie deficit is the gym with the café that does amazing looking cakes the best option for you?

Additional Services

Do you want to do classes rather than train on the gym floor? If that’s your plan look at the timetables and pick the gym with the timetable that suits you. Will you want a PT? If you do look at their offers and specialisms so you pick a gym which can best accommodate your needs.

Atmosphere

Visit the gyms you are considering and ask people you know who are already members what they think (if you don’t know anyone have a look at the reviews on their Facebook pages). Different gyms have different atmospheres and there is no good or bad it’s just different gyms suit different people. I train at very corporate style gyms where everything is sleek, friendly and professional but my favourite gym is a local leisure centre which can sometimes be a bit chaotic but has a diverse customer base (in ages, professions, nationalities) and a more relaxed feel to it. On the other hand I also like the gym in my office (which is a more functional , weight based space) because everyone is very much in and out, minding their own business as we all have a limited time slot to get things done- at lunch time that suits me. Pick somewhere you will feel comfortable.

Price

How much are you willing to spend? This may naturally cut down your options depending on realistic budget. Remember value is based on how much you get out of a service as opposed to whichever is the cheapest. Paying a lot for a gym that has many great services which you never use isn’t necessarily the best value though so make sure you can afford the membership before you commit but work on how much value you will get form the gym rather than the actual cost per month. You are far more likely to use something you value over something that is expensive and you feel you should use.

My Guide to Body Pump – Re-Blog!

I wrote this back in April but it’s all still relevant so if you are looking to start Body Pump have a read!

If you have ever looked into taking a class at your local gym chances are you will have seen Les Mills Body Pump on the timetable.

It is probably the most successful group exercise programme in existence. I love teaching it and still take it as a participant once a week.

Done regularly with challenging weights it will give you results.

Most people who want to lose weight / tone up do lots and lots of cardio. Cardio is good for you BUT you also need to do some resistance work to shape your body. Body Pump is great because it works the whole body in 30-60 minutes using a low to medium weight and a LOT OF REPS – all whilst moving in time with some good music. If you have never used a barbell before it is also a safe introduction into some basic lifts / moves.

However if you have never used weights before it can also feel a bit intimidating. I remember my first class and the confusion at everyone collecting lots of different sized plates and changing them quickly in between tracks and my bemusement at how everyone seemed to know what move was coming next!

So this is my ‘what you need to know’ guide to taking your first Body Pump class:

Arrive at least 10 minutes early and introduce yourself to the instructor so they can help you set up and so they know that you are new. This can help them tailor their teaching, ensuring you have a good first class.

Stick with light weights for your first couple of classes and concentrate on getting the hang of the tempos and the moves. Body Pump works because you are doing large numbers of reps, so whilst you want to use a challenging weight eventually, it’s ok to start off light – 3.75kg each side might be a good starting point for most.

The instructor will give you a guide of what to put on the bar at the start of each track (e.g. double the weight, take 1/3 off etc.). Listen carefully to this – they will normally give two options – one for regulars, one for new people but do not be afraid to stick with the same weight all the way through on your first class.

The structure of every class will always be the same:

60 minutes

Warm up
Squats
Chest
Back
Triceps
Biceps
Lunges
Shoulders
Core
Cool down

45 minutes

Warm up
Squats
Chest
Back
Lunges
Shoulders
Core
Cool down

30 minutes

Warm up
Squats
Chest
Back
Core

So when the whole class looks like they know what is coming they do for a reason-

and after a couple of classes you will too!

Talking of continuity – we get a ‘new release’ every 3 months. So at that point, every instructor will teach this new set of tracks for 4-6 weeks. That is why when you do your first class some people will look like they know what is coming – they have probably done the track lots of times before! After about 6 weeks, the instructor will probably start to ‘mix’. This means they will bring back some older tracks to keep things interesting and keep your body reacting well to the class.

As a new member, you can take advantage of something called Smart Start. This means that if you want to try a few tracks (we suggest up to the back track) and then leave you can do. Leave your stuff out and the instructor will put it away at the end of class. Then next week you can stay for a couple of extra tracks, and a few more the week after until you can do a whole class. This is optional and you can stay for the whole class if you want, but it does provide an option to try the class out and build up week by week if you are new to exercise.

With Body Pump technique is more important than weight so don’t worry too much at first about what you are lifting – instead work on getting the moves. Doing them well will bring better results than just picking up a heavier bar!

The tempo is also really important in Body Pump. You will hear the instructor ask you to move at different tempos (3/1, 2/2, bottom half pulses). These aren’t just to make it more interesting. The different tempos help to work different muscle fibres and maximise your results so try to work with the instructors pace.

You aren’t moving or jumping (well occasionally you might be jumping but rarely!) but you will sweat and you will get out of breathe. Body Pump will burn calories as well as shaping your body.

Don’t be worried if you wake up the next day and climbing the stairs or tying your hair back hurts! This is your body reacting to new training and will pass in a few days. After a few classes your body will take less time to recover!

If you have done weights in the gym before you may be confused by a couple of the moves we do in Body Pump! Be aware that some moves (Deadlifts for instance) are modified for the studio environment. This is for safety reasons as a) we move at a fast tempo and b) the instructor needs to make sure a large group of people are all moving safely.

I hope that the above tips have made the idea of trying a class less daunting! If you do decide to give the class a go, I would love to hear your thoughts!

Why you shouldn’t make New Year’s Resolutions

Do you make New Year’s Resolutions?

We were talking today at work about what resolutions people planned to make.

The idea was that everyone would write down what they wanted to change and hide it away somewhere and then check again in three months’ time to see if everyone had stuck to their resolutions…. or if they had failed.

A few years ago I would have been up for this. I’ve made many New Year’s Resolutions over the years, in fact normally the same resolutions year after year which I never kept.

These days I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions as such. Here’s why:

January is a shit time to make drastic changes

It’s cold, dark and everyone is depressed and skint after Christmas. It’s a rubbish time to decide to suddenly make drastic and often restrictive changes to your life. Result is you feel miserable two days in and give up. Planning to give up chocolate on January 1^st when you probably have a shed load of left over chocolate in your cupboards is practically setting yourself up for failure. Deciding not to drink in the most miserable month of the year so you’re left sitting on the sofa instead of going out to catch up with friends is going to become unappealing quickly.

Resolutions tend to be negative

Generally we say things like I’m going to give up… sugar, wine, chocolate, smoking. It’s something we are NOT going to do anymore. This means we feel like we are depriving ourselves. Depriving yourself is rarely a long-term plan for success.

Resolutions tend to be vague

I want to lose weight, I want to get fit, I want to earn more money. They are goals / outcomes we’d like to reach yes, but they aren’t very specific and how and when they will be achieved isn’t always clear. How often do you make vague plans with a friend to ‘catch up soon’ only for that catch up to not happen? It’s not because we don’t want to catch up it’s just because we’ve been too vague for anything to actually happen. Resolutions can be a lot like that.

Resolutions end up leaving you feeling worse about yourself

The actual idea that got me thinking about this was based on hiding your resolution away and checking again in a few months to see if you have succeeded. The flip side of that is if you haven’t then you feel like a failure. Yet if you’ve hidden something away for three months how likely is it you will lose sight of it as a goal as life gets busy? You’re essentially setting yourself up to feel shit.

Negatives out the way – I fully believe in improving things – here’s what I think is better than making New Year’s Resolutions and why:

Change when you are ready

There’s a popular saying that if you’ve thought about it you’re ready. It’s November – if you’re thinking about stopping drinking fizzy drinks – stop now, why wait until January? If you want to start running start running – these things aren’t banned until January 1^st. I get that over Christmas isn’t the smartest time to start a diet or new training regime – that in itself is potentially setting yourself up for failure. You could however start to make some small changes to set yourself up for after Christmas. Start walking more, logging your food intake a few days a week, drinking more water so that after Christmas you aren’t starting from scratch and you haven’t just spent a month feeling crap thinking I’ll sort myself out next year. If on January 1^st you don’t feel ready to make a change but do a couple of weeks into the year start it then, or in February or August or October, you haven’t got to wait until 2020. New Year’s Resolutions have the idea of starting at midnight on 1^st January – change can however happen at any time. How often do you think I’ll start my diet on Monday and eat a weeks worth of food over the weekend knowing restriction is coming- you ‘could’ start a diet on Thursday (well we ‘could’ not call it a diet at all but that’s another blog altogether). Generally change that happens when you’re ready as opposed to an imposed time tends to be more effective.

Choosing to make positive changes

Positive changes are easier to put in place than ‘I won’t’ type changes. I will drink more water, I will eat vegetables with every meal, I will walk 10,000 steps a day. These are things you are going to do – so you do them and you’ve created a change. You might have also eaten ten chocolate bars but you’ve still eaten vegetables with every meal, the change has still happened. Positive changes make us feel better and so we are more likely to stick to them.

Goal setting over resolutions

I don’t make resolutions any more but I have sat down and done some goal setting for 2019. I have decided what I want to achieve, these are specific goals so they aren’t things like ‘I want to get fitter’ they are set things I’d like to get done, some will be quick and relatively easy others less so. Along with these goals I have made detailed plans of what I have to do to reach these specific goals and planned out realistic timescales for taking these actions. I’ve asked for feedback from people more experienced than me on these plans and discussed goals that include other people with them so we are on the same page. I know what I need to do personally and professionally in 2019 and how I plan to do it. I’ve got more chance of reaching these goals than if I left I chance.

SMART resolutions

Specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time specific. If you goal ticks all these things you’re more likely to be able to reach it. But taking this on a slightly different tangent being smart about what you decide to try and do AND WHEN will help you succeed. I know I’ll eat more cake and chocolate than I normally would this month. I will move more to stop me feeling sluggish but I also know I will want a bit of a shake up of my diet and training routine in January to make me feel refreshed. Yet I also know that the first week of January is likely to be an extension of Christmas for me so I won’t do this January 1^st. Instead I’m committing to joining in with a programme on 9^th January which I know won’t drastically change my current lifestyle as I already follow a lot of the principles but will give me a bit of renewed focus at a time I will need it. Planning ahead, being honest and smart with this planning will help you feel good about change.

Commit to creating habits / systems instead

If you want lose weight you could think of it as working towards creating habits that in turn help work towards weight loss. Make drinking more water, creating a calorie deficit and training three times a week a habit and you will achieve your goal but you also find it is something that starts to fit into your everyday life as opposed to something you have to work towards constantly. The benefit of this is you can pick one small thing to work on then once that has become a habit work on something else, building change gradually.

Re-framing how you think

‘I want to be get over my ex and for them to see me looking happy.’ You could re-frame this thought process to what would make you happy? Seeing your friends more perhaps? So instead of I want to get over my ex you could say I want to go out and do something fun with my friends once a week / fortnight / month (commitment depending here). Instead of focusing on becoming happy or getting over someone you could just commit to doing something that has the potential to make you happy and allow feeling happy and getting over them to happen naturally – all the time your still succeeding in your actual goal of getting out and socialising. It sounds very self help book but when you start to habitually re-frame your thoughts, you start to find it easier to make changes.

I’ve made lots of changes to the way I approach things in 2018 – old habits die hard admittedly but by looking at making changes in a more positive light you can create a you that you are happier with and start 2019 not feeling the need to set resolutions.

Supplements

For a couple of years I have limited the supplements I take to a Multi Vitamin and Omega 3 but recently after feeling fatigued I introduced a couple of additional supplements into my routine, namely liquid iron and hydration tablets.

In particular – liquid iron (specifically Spatone)

Adequate iron levels are important for the body to function properly whatever you do day to day and Doctors have often suspected my iron levels to be low (although blood tests have always shown otherwise – I think I’m just very very pale!). More relevant for me though, from my own reading on the subject recently (because before I start using supplements I like to do some research), ensuring the levels of iron in your body are adequate can have a positive effect it can have on your fitness goals in several ways.

Some things taking an iron supplement may improve (note I’m not massively sciencey and this is just my understanding of what I read):

Energy Levels – Ensuring iron levels are not low can help reduce fatigue during workout as without sufficient iron less ATP can be produced (part of the reason why those lacking sufficient iron can feel tired and fatigued).

Performance in the gym – One thing iron does is ensure oxygen saturated blood is able to efficiently reach the areas that need it thus assisting your performance.

Recovery – That same nutrient filled blood pumping efficiently into muscles can also aid recovery after training. In addition low iron levels can reduce the efficiency of our immune system, which could also make it harder to recover from a tough week of training.

Hydration Tablets (specifically ORS)

Hydration plays an important role in sports performance (and every day human being functioning).

Most of the time I still just drink water (and I average about 4 litres a day) but when I have been feeling run down I’ve been adding a hydration tablet to my pint of water a couple of times a day to perk myself back up. Adding a hydration tablet into your water can help you get the right balance of water and electrolytes needed to replenish your body after training. The theory therefore is that you can hydrate more efficiently after training by drinking a hydration solution to just water. The advantage to these over sports drinks is the tablets are lower in sugar and calories.

As little as a 2-3 percent reduction in body mass via water loss can have a significant impact on your concentration and muscle power so potential benefits to remaining hydrated:

Reduced chance of cramp, muscle fatigue and joint pain. As the core body temperature and heart rate can be regulated more efficiently.

Reduced fatigue. Helping making training easier.

Improved concentration. Being well hydrated can maximise the speed at which messages are sent from the brain to the muscles, resulting in a better performance for longer.

Avoid Dehydration When exercising, your body loses water and essential salts through sweat. If not replaced, this can result in dehydration – this obviously is not good.

Obviously you can’t replace good nutrition with supplements but knowing what your body needs and making smart use of supplements to ensure you get it can be a good thing.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a ****

I’m not a fan of treadmills but I do enjoy getting outside in the fresh air, so whenever I get running in my training programme I try to do it outdoors.

The first time I got a session that mixed running with body weight exercises that I would normally do in the gym I was torn. I didn’t really want to do the running on a treadmill but how else did I mix it in with Bulgarian Split Squats? The answer was I got a bit creative and used tree stumps and park benches I found along my run to mix them in (body weight squats obviously).

Since then I’ve adapted lots of my running plus body weight sessions so they can be done outside and they are often my favourite workouts of the week.

When I tell people about these workouts I am often met with slight horror at the idea of doing a squat or a burpee in the middle of a park or along a cycle path. Some people don’t even like the idea of running in public so the idea of adding in body weight exercises just seems too embarrassing. What is people see me?

I would say, don’t worry, nobody is looking at you, but actually that probably isn’t true. It’s a bit different so sometime people do look. Last Friday I went out on my lunch break to a nearby park which is right next to a main road. I did some sprints mixed in with body weight squats and half way through a set of squats a couple of blokes in a van felt the need to shout their ‘feedback and encouragement’ in my direction.

To be honest though this didn’t bother me and certainly didn’t stop me finishing the workout. Of course I felt a bit silly the first time I trained outdoors but now as long as I finish my workout and get to do it in the environment that makes me feel good (and running outside does that) I don’t care whether strangers watch me or even take the piss.

Because there’s one thing I’ve learnt from doing these workouts outside.

If you are doing what works for you it doesn’t matter what other people think, especially people you have never met, and those people that feel the need to judge you not only don’t matter but are probably holding themselves back from doing what they really want to do because they are too insecure to stand out from the crowd. Essentially it’s ok to be different.

I’m also pretty confident that the odd person that walks or jogs past as I’m doing mountain climbers on a patch of grass in a park would like to have the confidence to do the same and rather than looking at me to judge they are perhaps just curious or even a little impressed.

A few months back I was in the middle of set of jump lunges on a cycle path in between runs and two elderly ladies stopped and asked what I was doing and why. I explained and they asked a few more questions about what they could do at home that was perhaps a little less jumpy and then went on their way.

I appreciate that training outside isn’t for everyone and if it isn’t for you fair enough, but if there is a type of training you would like to try but are holding back for fear of what others might think then stop. Give it a go and pretty quickly you will coem to see that even if people do judge you it matters very little.

Training outside has been like my own little version of learning the subtle art of not giving a shit!