It's the little things that count!!!
After yesterday's blog about identifying small goals as your strive towards your training targets, we have had a bit of feedback on exactly what these goals should be.
Dave from Robina, who is trying to lose weight, emailed us to ask
"Just how small can these smaller goals be? I know that I shouldn't drink as much beer as I do but I can't see myself giving it up for good. What else can I do?"
Well Dave, here's a list of a few things that can make a big difference to how fast and how well you achieve your ultimate targets.
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Cut out alcohol altogether during the week (or at least Monday to Thursday)
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Get in the habit of having a large glass of water just before you grab some lunch.
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Prepare some food on Sunday arvo that you can use as snacks during the week. I find that having a heap of celery and carrot cut up in the fridge keeps me away from the crisps and crackers. (try it with hommus...it's YUM!!!)
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Take the stairs at work rather than the elevator
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Get up 30 mins earlier each day and go for a short walk before breakfast.
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MAKE SURE YOU EAT BREAKFAST EVERY DAY - this is a big factor, no matter what your training goals!
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Set regular times for exercise...and STICK to them.
The fact is Dave, once you have identified the behaviours that you need to reduce or cut out, the easier it becomes to identify some small goals.
Remember, just focus on one at a time. Trying to do them all at once will just result in short term failure. Do them one by one and watch them create a fit and healthy YOU!
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
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Chisel Fitness Goal setting 101
Today I want to share with you a very basic process that ALL people should go through to reach their training goals.
At Chisel Fitness we get so many people who want to be trained, and apart from the general goal of "Lose weight, tone up" (or lose weight and Chisel up as we like to call it), they rarely seem to have any other goals.
There is absolutely no problem with this apart from the fact that a single goal becomes a lot harder to achieve on it's own. Here is a way of setting some smaller goals to increase your chances of achieving the big one!
Just admit it....it's the beer and the chips!!
Many of the people we train want to change the way they look or feel. The first step in goal setting is understanding why you look or feel a certain way, and identifying exactly what behaviors have got you looking or feeling this way. (This one is usually easy to answer - BEER AND CHIPS!)
Make a small list - about 5 or 6.
Start with the easy one.
The second thing to do is list these behaviors in order from the easiest to change, through to the hardest.
Achieving goals is all about taking the necessary steps to change your behavior. Focus on the easiest one on your list and make it your priority to achieve and maintain it for at least 2 weeks.
Ingrain and Maintain...
Once you have been able to focus on a change for 2 weeks, or until it becomes ingrained into your routine, it's time to move towards the next one on your list.
Be careful though...as you focus on a new priority make sure you maintain the previous changes and keep marching towards your final goal!!!
Don't be afraid to walk backwards!
Don't be afraid to walk backwards and revisit any previous items on the list. If you find yourself reverting to old behaviors after having tried to change them, just simply go back and make them a priority for another week or two.
Remember....the key to achieving the big goal is to nail these little ones early.
Do it for a reason...not a season!!!
If you follow the little step outlined above you will find yourself achieving your goal a lot quicker.
Not only will you achieve your big training goal, but you will also be establishing healthy lifestyle habits that will keep you looking and feeling great long after the summer season has passed!
All the best with your training
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
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The Importance of Good Recovery
Whenever I get a new client it is interesting to gain an understanding of what they do for recovery after an exercise. Over the years I have heard some very funny examples of how people recover including -
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taking glucose tablets because they need more energy
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hiring a buggy at the golf course so that the walking didn't upset the training adaptations taking place
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eating steak for lunch AND dinner because their body needed more protein after the big morning run
Whilst some of the stories I hear are often way off the mark, various clients know more or less about recovery methods according to their exercise history or prior education. Often it's an educational process that we continue to build upon with our Chisel Fitness clients.
Lets set the record straight
Today I want to set a few things straight about your post training recovery. In order to do so lets take a look at what happens during exercise.
During exercise or training sessions the body is impacted upon in a number of ways. This includes -
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mechanical stress
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breakdown of muscle fibres (protein)
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fluid loss
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depletion of carbohydrate and other energy sources
So what's the secret?
By understanding that there are quite a lot of processes going on inside your body after you have done a session, it becomes easy to gain an understanding of the importance of a good recovery.
Allowing your body the chance to recover will make sure that you get the most out of your hard work during training. If you are not getting enough rest or allowing your body the chance to adapt you probably aren't getting the most out of your training and may even be running the risk of injury or illness.
Follow these tips
Here are some tips to ensure that you are giving your body the stuff it needs to recover.
Fluid intake - Post exercise fluid intake should be at least 500ml more than any fluid you have lost during the session. Carry a drink bottle with you all day and set an amount to drink throughout the day.
Nutrition - Make sure you are getting healthy nutrition from the moment you stop exercising. You will need complex carbohydrates to assist in replenishing the fuel stores, as well as protein to provide the building blocks for muscle and connective tissue.
Ice Packs - Ice will initially reduce the blood flow to the muscles and can be used to ease muscle soreness from any bruises or bumps.
Contrast showers - This is a favourite of mine. Alternate between warm and cold water temperatures whilst in the shower. Not only will it send adrenaline around your body, it will also increase the flow of blood and nutrients to the muscle for recovery.
Sleep - Sleep is the highest quality form of rest. Many of us burn the candle at both ends with our busy lives so plan ahead to make sure that your head is spending enough time on the pillow. If you train on the weekends it might be a good idea to fit in an afternoon nap.
So there you have it...a few things to think about after your next training session. If you want help planning your training sessions, or just want some general advice regarding your specific recovery methods, contact Chisel Fitness for more help.
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
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Whether you like it or not - YOU'RE AN INDIVIDUAL!!!
As you can read in the title of this blog, each and every one of us is an individual!!!
Now I am not about to get all spiritual on you but it really is essential that you understand how important this statement is to you achieving your training goals. 
Training for the individual.
Plenty of fitness products and trainers will advertise the latest and greatest training methods and promise a wide variety of results without ever considering the differences between each individual.
This point was highlighted to me during a conversation with someone over the weekend.
For the sake of this story let's call her Jane.
Jane's story
Jane is someone who has recently got back into training after having many years off. She has been extremely busy working full time and raising a family (and cooking some damn fine lasagna that I recently had a taste of - YUM!!!).
Jane's main training goal is to shift some unwanted weight which had crept up on her over the past 10 years...and she has already achieved some fantastic results!
Jane's doing all the right stuff!!
She has been extremely well committed to sticking to her plan and has no problems getting up early in the morning to get to the gym. Her diet has changed and you can noticeably tell that she has dropped weight from all over her body.
Jane's not happy.
Despite all this Jane isn't entirely happy. During our conversation Jane made the following comment.
"But I'm not losing any weight from my tummy. I have been doing everything that the guy at the gym tells me to do and it isn't moving. I have even been doing some of the exercises I see on those commercials for ab-machine's and it's still not doing anything. Some of the ladies in the gym are doing the same stuff as me and I think they are losing more weight than I am".
Now apart from the fact that some of this isn't quite true (Jane has lost weight from her tummy and she looks fantastic for it!!!), Jane's expectations have been blurred by the assumption of what works for one person should work for everyone. Jane thinks that if someone in the gym or someone on the television can get specific results, then she should be able to as well.
Introducing individuality
And that leads me back to my initial statement - each and everyone of us is different!
Because we are all different individuals we respond differently to training stimulus. There are many reasons for this including
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Heredity - physique, muscle fibre characteristics, heart and lung size and other factors can be inherited and can influence the adaptations that take place during training
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Level of Fitness - improvement due to training is most dramatic when levels of fitness are low. As fitness improves the level of effort required to initiate a training adaptation increases and the amount of improvement begins to happen in smaller steps.
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Nutrition - training involves changes in the tissues and organs of the body. Adequate protein and nutrients are required for these adaptations to take place. Depending on an individuals metabolic functioning, different levels of these macro-nutrients are required to get the best results.
Jane's motivation
Perhaps the reason that this is so important to realise is because of the effect in can have on your motivation to train.
Take Jane for an example. Here is someone who is doing all the right stuff, has already experienced some fantastic results, and will continue to do so if she keeps up the hard work.
But Jane's motivation is starting to slide. All because she wants the results as fast as 'everybody else' despite the fact that she isn't 'everybody else'.
The fact is that Jane is starting to get results after not being very active for the past 10 years. She is doing great things and will eventually get the results she is after if she continues along the same path. All she needs to do is accept the fact that she is an individual and her body will react at a rate that it is comfortable with.
Hope this helps
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
Is your week as good as mine???
Just a quick post to advertise what a great week it's been so far....and its only Tuesday morning!!!!!
It's good to be me!!!!
Geez I'm having a great week!!!
"What makes it so great?", I hear you ask.
Well let me tell you. The past two mornings have seen me get out of bed nice and early to train some clients, in what I think is one of the most beautiful places in the world - Currumbin beach.
Not bad hey???
Not bad hey? And I wasn't alone. Every morning there are literally hundreds of other people exercising and training along the beach front.
I'm going to stick my neck out and say that most of these people are also having a great week!
It's all about the plan
And it all comes down to planning.
Did you plan to have a great week or have you just fallen back into the same old routine?
Personally I know that being up early in the morning, taking in the views and fresh air, and doing some exercise along the beach front is going to get me going!!!
So what get's you going?
So what get's you going? When Monday comes around, don't just fall into the same old routine and wish your life away until Friday arvo comes around.
Make some plans. Book in some early morning exercise, plan some healthy meals, set some time aside for yourself, and ENJOY!!!!
Start NOW!!!
And start it NOW! What's your plan for tomorrow?
I'm getting up at 5am to go for a ride...anyone keen to join me???
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
Does Exercise make you hungry???
It's an interesting question isn't it? And one that you could answer with several different responses according to what stage of your training you're in.
Bad Excuse
The reason I ask is because it was given to me as an excuse recently by a client. We were having a general discussion about nutrition and how this particular client's eating habits have changed since we started training.
Originally when we first started training this client took my advice and made some real positive changes to his nutritional plan.
Nothing too complicated.
Simple changes...more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff! And because of these changes we started to see some really good results from the training.
Then he became an expert
And then this particular client went and became a nutritional expert overnight! Without telling me, my client all of a sudden changed his eating plan because of some very wrong and misinformed assumptions that he made.
It wasn't that he stopped eating the good stuff....he just started to eat more of the bad stuff again. When I asked him why he said...
"Since we started to exercise I have been feeling more hungry. Now that I am burning more energy in our training I thought it wouldn't matter if I ate some more because my body needs the extra fuel."
In a way he was right
In one way my client was correct in his assumption. When you exercise your body burns more calories and eventually you may experience an increase in your appetite.
However, if your goal is to "lose weight and tone up" (we prefer to call it lose weight and Chisel up!!), as was the goal for my client, then you still need to function with a calorie deficit (burn more calories than you take in).
By eating more of the bad foods, which are very high in calories, my client was actually consuming more calories than we were burning and therefore was training his body to put on weight rather than lose it.
It's not just the amount but also the type of food!
You also need to be extremely careful of the type of food you are eating. If you find that exercise is leaving you hungrier than normal than make sure you are getting plenty of lean protein and fibre in your meals. Foods high in these will leave you feeling fuller for longer and make it easier to control your appetite.
The exercise and nutrition team.
Never forget that exercise and nutrition are a team. If you are serious about your training and goals then you need to realise that the two need to work together to help your body function the way you want it to.
If you feel that you are stuck in a rut with your current nutritional plan or you want some help making a team out of your training and eating plan then contact Chisel Fitness for some professional advice.
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Personal Trainer
Thanks J Mac!!!
Yesterday I had a bit of trouble getting myself organised and getting the stuff done that needed doing. No big dramas....just me being a little slack (first time in 27 years...honestly!!!).
Anyway...last I sat down to watch a show called 20 to 1 which highlighted some of the most spectacular finishes to sporting contests around the globe. The very first video was about a student in America referred to as JMac.
What an inspirational kid!!! Here's a kid who's dream is to play in the high school basketball team but doesn't get picked...instead takes on the role of manager and water boy, and is without a doubt the most passionate supporter at every game. No bad attitude, no excuses, no slackness.....
Thanks J Mac for giving me the kick in the ass that I needed. Check out J Mac's video below.
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Trainer
Mum's Don't Work Hard Enough
I'm sure that this heading will raise a few eyebrows so before you start writing any complaint emails, let me explain myself.
Don't Stop
Many women reduce or even stop doing any physical activity after having kids. Many of the women that the Chisel Fitness Team train point out that they used to be active prior to giving birth.
What's even more surprising is the number of women who figure they are getting enough exercise by simply chasing around a new born or toddler.
WRONG!!!
A recent study has found that being active is one of the first things that parents sacrifice. After stopping an exercise program parents find the thought of committing so much time too daunting, and often don't take the necessary steps to become more active.
Women in particular think that their roles as mothers means that they are doing enough exercise, and all they need to do is follow the latest celebrity diet to get back in shape.
Do it for your kids
The truth is that women can achieve fantastic results in not much time at all. The Chisel Fitness Training Team are experts in developing effective and efficient training programs for women at all stages of motherhood.
Contact the Chisel Fitness Training Team to ensure that you are getting enough activity in your life so that you can remain healthy and active for your kids future.
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Trainer
Early Warnings on Silent Killer!!!
For many years ovarian cancer has been known as the silent killer due to very little being known about the symptoms that women should look out for. However, in recent years research has uncovered some interesting information, and doctors now agree that there are early warning signs.
The American Cancer Society recently issued some guidelines which highlight the most common warning signs as
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bloating
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pelvic or abdominal pain
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decreased appetite or feeling full really quickly
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urgent or frequent feelings of having to go to the toilet
Don't Panic!!!
If you suffer from some of these symptoms don't panic because it's still unlikely that you will have ovarian cancer. These same symptoms can also be a sign of irritable bowl syndrome or a urinary tract infection.
Get Checked
The best thing to do if pain persists is to see a doctor. Ask for a pelvic exam, ultrasound and blood test. With early detections women can raise their chance of survival by 93%.
Cheers
Chris van Hoof
Chisel Fitness Trainer