Nutrition and exercise – “A balancing act Part 2

Last week I spoke about the disadvantages  of using extreme methods of dieting as a tool for sustaining  weight and how from my personal experience I proved I didn’t work as my weight increased and decreased drastically until I was left at the less desirable, heavier end of the scales.  The brain and the body both need and crave balance in order for them to function at their optimal capacity so in this article I will briefly use my personal experience as an example for this blog.

Whether you are a complete beginner to exercise or an experienced gym bunny the following will be of use to you.  So enjoy!

A few  questions I get asked a lot as a trainer over the years and ones I would have asked myself before I was a trainer are, 

“What is the best exercise for getting toned” or

 “What is the best program for getting fucking huge man!?” A question that is a popular one among preadolescent males who wants to wear the tight t shirts on a Saturday night to get the girls (that was me) or my favourite question is;

“What is the best exercise to get rid of this” and the client grabs their stomach fat harshly as they say this to me at the same time they jiggle the fat in their hands incessantly like it is a piece of best prime rip for sale at my local butchers and it is going on special!

The answers to all of these entertaining questions are they were all asking unspecific questions. 

Be specific its’ a must!

Not being specific and educating yourself on how to reach your fitness goal is time wasted and maybe even dangerous....I remember I wanted to become more flexible when I began training in kickboxing almost thirteen years ago as a teenager.  I was training a wet week and I decided I needed results fast. So I strapped 2 kg ankle weights to my leg and began executing leg swings at full power and speed above my head or at least making a good go of it.  I was like “hey look Da! Watch my foot almost hit the ceiling I’m deadly!”  So my next swing got over my head and in the process it stretched and tore my hamstring and I was now in;

Crouching agony hidden embarrassment-(Laugh if you have seen the movie) on the ground.

 My Father asked if I was OK and I replied with, “Oh yeah I’m grand “as I hopped up of the floor and reaching for the tiger balm.. I was in bits for weeks after that and was unable to train.

  Had I just done the research or even better yet asked my martial arts instructor at the time for his professional experienced advice I might not have enough scar tissue on my hamstring to cover your car with, which now in my late twenties sometimes affects my training from time to time. Now my plan was sound in one sense as I was using a method of dynamic flexibility training but unfortunately the ankle weights were a touch too enthusiastic and stupid to be fair.  I should have planned it better!!!

The program

I know running is hot at the moment so here is a program I made years ago which I altered slightly for those of you that would like to start running but are complete beginners.  I am not  a runner nor do I pretend to be an authority on running.  There are many different schools of thought and methods and this is a simple one i created.  I know this works as I used to use it for helping me cover 10km in under 40 minutes, my best time was (34 minutes flat at 10 km) when I was involved  in a competitive kickboxing.  So I was training for speed, stamina and cardiovascular/muscular endurance.

I would run 10km but break it up up into (10) 1 km interval training periods to keep it interesting as running bored me yet it was a necessity to my training.  I would 

sprint/ jog, jog/run, sprint/run and cycle the three ways over the 10km which was fun as it was always changing.

Tip:

record a 1km route in your car as you drive and take note of 0km-1km on your odometer  then that's your route.

You could walk or jog home for your cool down.

If you  are lucky enough to have a local Athletics club with a track here are the guidelines..

2 and a half laps of a 400 meter track will see you at 1000 meters or 1 Kilometer.

The current world record for running 1kilometere or 1000 meters is 2:11.96 and is held by Noah Ngeny, of Kenya, 

The female world record is 2:28.98 by

Svetlana Masterkova of Russia

ULTIMATE GOAL RUN 1KM IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

PHASE ONE

WEEK 1-3

GOAL= CREATING THE HABIT OF EXERCISING 3 DAYS PER WEEK

-I am using 1km an example as it’s a good distance to train for fitness so eventually the goal is to run 1 kilometer or 1000 meters.  Complete this for three weeks without fail.

-At the beginning of week four time how long it takes you to walk the 1 km; this is your set point or your tool for measuring the progress of your training then you will make this a habit.

 -The reason you did not time your 1 km time straight away is you only need to concentrate on achieving one thing at a time until you complete that task at hand.  Each time you achieve a new goal you are gaining a new level of discipline.

PHASE TWO

 WEEK 4-7

GOAL= TRANSITION FROM WALKING TO JOGGING
(WITH RECORDED TIMES)

-Let’s say your 1 km time is averaging 10 minutes walking, now   We are going to show you how to scratch up to 2.5 minutes off that over the next 4 weeks.
 Work harder than your normal walking pace for intervals of 10, 20 and 30 seconds. Like this;

o   -Walk fast or jog for 10 seconds, walk normal pace 30 seconds

o   -Walk fast or jog for 20 seconds, walk normal pace 30 seconds

o   -Walk fast or jog for 30 seconds, walk normal pace 30 seconds

o   Complete the cycle after reaching the end until you have hit 1km. 
- So in theory if you manage to complete 3 cycles of the above program you would cover the 1km  in  7.5 minutes.

   -You will have jogged or power walked for 3 minutes in total and actively rested for 4.5 minutes.
 Each week you will get fitter and your time at the end of each week will reflect this and contribute to your timed 1km goal.

 PHASE 3

WEEK 8-10

GOAL= DECREASE 1KM TIME BY 1MINUTE

week 8-10 is going to get you to take less rest periods (walking) and longer work intervals (jogging)

 Like week 4 we need to determine our set point by recording our time, the program has changed slightly now though in order to eventually make jogging the active rest period.

Like this;

o   Jog 30 seconds, walk normal 10 seconds

o   Jog 30 seconds, walk normal 20 seconds

o   Jog 30 seconds, walk normal 30 seconds

o   So in theory if you manage to complete 2 cycles of the above program you would have worked for 3 minutes and rested for 3 minutes  WHICH MEANS YOU ARE NOW CLEARING 1KM IN 6.5 MINUTES

Phase 4

 week 11-12

  goal= Run 1km in 5 minutes or under

You repeat what you have done twice already, determine your set point and work from there.

Now your program looks like this.

 take into account your fitness levels have been gradually getting better every week and jogging is now comparable to walking to you now since you began training almost 3 months ago!!!

o   Run 30 seconds jog 10 seconds

o   Run 30 Seconds jog 20 seconds

o   Run 30 seconds jog 10 seconds

o    So in theory if you manage to complete 2 cycles of the above program you will have worked for 3 minutes at full running pace and jogged for 1 minute 20 seconds

o    This means you are now covering 1 km in 4 minutes and 20 seconds

Be consistent

 its normal to get unmotivated but push on and remind yourself why you are doing this new program.  Its for your health damn it!!!

Fergal Lawlor is a health and fitness professional/personal trainer and the owner of Apeiron Fitness which provides personal training and fitness courses to the public.
He also runs a martial arts Dojo Called Mugendo Martial Arts Academy which has locations in Trim, Athboy, Kells and Navan in County Meath, Ireland.

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for information on personal training with Fergal