Viral Gaurd

Thought I'd share my winter well-being tip with you. In order  to stay on top of my winter exercise routine, I take Viral Gaurd every morning with a glass on orange juice after breakfast.

Viral gaurd has Probiotics in it which is a good flu fighter. Most people only take Viral Gaurd when they start getting sick. I on the other hand take it throughout the year. I'm not saying that you won't get sick if you take Viral Gaurd, but you most certainly won't get the flu as bad as any other person who is not taking it.

Forget the flu injection...Take Viral Gaurd and you should be ok for most of the winter :-)

Happy Training :-)

Green Tea

What's the whole fuss about fat burners? So many people take fat burners when all you need to drink is green tea. The main ingredient in most or all fat burners is Green Tea. Instead of spending lots of money on fat burners, drink green tea 3 times a day. 1 glass after breakfast, 1 after lunch and 1 after supper. I've used it before and it works like a charm.  

You could go a step further & make your Green Tea really exciting & spice it up a bit by adding slices of lemon, orange, mint leaves (bruise the mint leaves a bit before putting them in) and a little bit of honey.

Even better yet, put it into the fridge & make it an Ice Tea for a delicious summer drink :-)

Exercise Early in the morning

Exercise first thing in the morning BURNS the most calories and BURNS for a long period of time. If you are one of those people who exercise first thing in the morning, try doing it on an empty stomach.

Ok lets clear up what early morning exercise is. Early morning is 5am, 6am, 6:30am. If you going to exercise at 9am, I suggest you eat an hour or so before you exercise.

You could go a few steps further and drink 1 cup of strong black coffee before you exercise. The black coffee will give you a nice KICK which will aid you in your early workout.

The other alternative is to drink a whey protein shake just before you exercise. You can drink whey before exercise whether you workout in the morning, afternoon or evening. Whey protein stimulates lean muscle growth. The more lean muscle you have, the more you can burn fat. I highly reccommend whey protein.

If you are diabetic, make sure the whey is suitable for diabetics.

Magazine Articles

Various fitness magazines has loads of exercise programs in them which leads you to believe that you should be doing those exercises to lose weight, look good, get a six pack etc

Most of those programs were not designed for the average person. I'll give you an example... Can the average person do 10 pull ups on a bar? Can the average person do a 20min run? Can the average person just start doing Plyometrics? The answer to all 3 questions are No!

It's great to read these programs and to get some sort of motivation from them, but when you start with any form of exercise...(& I've said this 100 times before), seek some professional help before embarking on any exercise program.

Also remember, we are never going to look like those models they use in the magazines. When we read those artilcle's & we look at how great the person looks who's doing those exercises, we kinda inspire to look like that & that is our first mistake...which just leads to us FAILING hopelessly.

If your are 30 years old, you will never look like 20 ever again in your life. So set your goals a bit differently. Say, I want to exercise to feel good, be healthy, lose 10 kilo's etc Right it all down and keep it next to your bed so you can look at it every night before you go to bed & every morning when you wake up. Looking at it every day (twice a day) will reinforce you goals and keep you on track.

So reading those fitness articles are cool & inspirational, but remember that they were not all designed for YOU!


Have a Great day...& keep In Shape :-)

Update to my supplement blog

Hey guys!


I'm sure some of you know that i buy all my supplements at Pick n Pay. My buddy Ivor Mathews owns the supplement section in all the Pick n Pays Country wide & he always supplies me with the best products at the best prices and also gives great advice and will not sell you anything you don't need. He even slashes Dischem's prices.


In an earlier blog i spoke about some of the Top brands & how only sponsored athletes could afford to take a product like Muscle Tech. Well I've got good news for everyone :-) Ivor has brought in a new range of Muscle Tech called Six Star Pro Nutrition at a fraction of the price. To give you an eg The old NaNO X9 use to cost about R900...They now have the exact same product called NO Fury which costs R179.


So I'm happy to say that i have already bought this product and delighted that "we" as the ordinary people in gym can also now take TOP CLASS Supplements like the Pro Athletes at a Very affordable price.


Happy Training :-)


Cass

Supplements

Supplements claim to make you lose weight, gain huge muscles, increase your recovery rate during/after exercise, increase strength, burn body fat, but do they really work?

One will often hear that taking supplements is a waste of money & you'll end up having expensive urine. I believe that supplements has it's place in the fitness industry. Taking a Good Quality supplement in the correct manner will lead to good results.

So what supplements do you buy?
There are hundreds of brands on the shelves. Some work better than others. I strongly suggest you speak to someone who knows enough about supplements and someone who is not going to force some cheap product onto you for the sake of making a sale. (which is what a lot of salesman do) So be very careful.

I am going to punt a couple of product names now...No I'm NOT getting paid to do so :-)

Some of the good brands to be taking would be Muscle Tech, EAS, Dymatize (these are international products). Muscle Tech is very expensive & not always aimed at your average earner. If you can afford to purchase Muscle Tech then I would say go for it. Evox is one of the better local brands. I find the international products way more refined & streaks ahead of some of our local supplements.

The food we eat on a daily basis does not constitute enough of the overall essential vitamins & minerals that we require to push our bodies beyond that "comfort zone" when we exercise. The correct supplements would assist in providing the body with that Good quality protein we need.

Consult your Dr to find out if you are allowed to take certain supplements, especially if you are diabetic or have any other illness.

In conclusion, supplements are awesome if taken correctly and not abused.

Overtraining

Over the years as a Personal Trainer I've seen many people overtrain & i just don't seem to understand why exactly people overtrain. Is it an obsession & if so, an obsession to look good? Is it the "high" during & after exercise that makes one feel good? What is overtraining?

Over training is a Physical & Emotional condition that occurs when an individuals exercise volume totally exceeds their recovery rate or capacity.

So why do people overtrain? Most of us believe More is Better. Others have an addictive personality & get hooked very easily because of the Endorphin rush which is related to exercise. Endorphins is a chemical released by the brain when one exercises. Hence one has that "Feel Good" feeling.

 Over training is very common amongst people who lift weights. Runner's also easily fall into this overtraining category because they never feel they've done enough distance before a marathon. So they end up doing too much mileage.

Improvements in strength and fitness occur only after the rest period following hard training. This process may take a number of days to complete, depending on the Intensity & duration of exercise which may lead to and overtrained state.

Overtraining Symptoms

Persistent muscle soreness (Delayed onset muscle soreness)

Persistent fatigue

Elevated resting heart rate

Reduced heart rate variability

Increased susceptibility to infections

Increased incidence of injuries

Irritability

Depression

Mental breakdown

Then there is the Physiological effects of overtraining: Decreased muscle strength, Chronic muscle soreness, Depressed immune system which leads to constant infections, flu & colds, Insomnia etc

Treating Overtraining
Take a break from exercise and allow your body to recover properly
Reduce your training intensity
Get lots of sleep
If you training hard, allow rest DAYS in between

Training "Smartly & Wisely" is the way to go. You will reach remarkable goals & results if you only trained Smartly. The question i always ask all my clients..."Are you a professional athlete?" If the answer is No, then don't try & train like one.