Power Through Training & Nutrition

The blog for Power Through Personal Training. Sharing hints, tips and personal experiences to help you through your health and fitness journey!

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Competition Time & My Weight Experiment (Part 3)

As a lot of you know I compete in Powerlifting as part of the North West Division of the Great British Powerlifting Federation. For each competition I usually have to lose a couple of kilograms in order to get into my 66kg (and below) weight category. I do this because I am more competitive in this category, as well as it giving me a bit of experience as to what a lot of my clients go through!

I competed in my third Powerlifting competition on July 3rd. So in the weeks before I was really focused on dropping weight and watching what I eat. I decided to make it into a bit of an experiment, in order to demonstrate that weight isn’t the be all and end all that a lot of people think it is. I want to demonstrate, especially to those who weight themselves every day (possibly even every week!), how much of an unreliable measure it is. Your bodyweight only represents the effect that gravity has on you. Gravity doesn’t care what’s actually in your body, it just cares how much mass it has in total. It is my mission to demonstrate how much it fluctuates, most of the time for no particular reason!

This is part 3 of the experiment, where I continued to weigh myself every morning right up until the competition day. The weights are all taken at the same time, before any food or even a sip of water has past my lips (post toilet too, because I’m sure you wanted to know that!). These are the results and my (very honest!) notes in the last part of my experiment:

Sunday 29th May 2016: 67.4kg (Yep, I had chips twice yesterday. Oops!) Monday 30th: 68.2kg (Second BBQ of the year happened) Tuesday 31st: 66.8kg Wednesday 1st June: 66.6kg Thursday 2nd: 67.0kg Friday 3rd: 66.4kg Saturday 4th: 66.6kg Sunday 5th: 67.3kg (No alcohol but I think it was the Chinese takeaway that did it) Monday 6th: 67.8kg Tuesday 7th: 66.8kg Wednesday 8th: 66.8kg Thursday 9th: 66.5kg Friday 10th: 66.5kg Saturday 11th: 66.4kg Sunday 12th: 65.9kg (Post-Football Beers too!) Monday 13th: 67.3kg (Another delayed reaction?) Tuesday 14th: 67.0kg Wednesday 15th: 66.2kg Thursday 16th: 66.2kg Friday 17th: 66.2kg (No idea why nothing is shifting over the last few days) Saturday 18th: 65.9kg Sunday 19th: 66.1kg Monday 20th: 66.4kg (No more drinking alcohol until after the comp from this point on) Tuesday 21st: 66.2kg Wednesday 22nd: 65.9kg Thursday 23rd: 66.1kg Friday 24th: 65.7kg Saturday 25th: 65.3kg Sunday 26th: 66.0kg Monday 27th: 66.4kg Tuesday 28th: 65.3kg Wednesday 29th: 66.1kg (What?! Panic mode now) Thursday 30th: 64.9kg (Well, that appeared to drop quickly) Friday 1st July: 64.6kg Saturday 2nd: 64.6kg Sunday (comp day) 3rd: 64.5kg Offical Weigh-In = 64.6kg (Bit too light I think. Could of done with being 0.5kg heavier or so)

Monday 4th July: 64.7kg (Surprising after my massive post-comp meal and several beers) Saturday 9th July: 65.1kg (After a few days of eating nothing but fish and chips in Blackpool) Monday 11th July: 67.0kg (Birthday celebrations got me back up. Although it took a lot of buffet food, cake, cocktails and whiskey to do it!)

Time of writing this post = Monday 11th July

I found this part of my weight experiment the most interesting. At points I had no idea why the weight wasn’t shifting. At other points I had no idea how it was! I was doing the same things each set of week days, but sometimes getting a different result. I was also relaxing myself a bit on each weekend, also sometimes getting a different result.

The most notable thing during these few weeks was the effect of alcohol. The delayed effect after some weekends, after having just a few beers, demonstrates alcohols potential detriment to any kind of weight loss goal. Not only does it add a lot of calories to your diet, and therefore potentially a good deal of body fat to go along with it, it also decreases the body’s ability to mobilise and get rid of any body fat. I think this may have contributed to the delayed increases in weight, as well as the lack of the weight shifting during some weeks. The message here is that if you think you’ve got away with it after a big night eating and drinking, think again. Try weighing yourself 2-3 days after for a bit of a shock! Then you’ll appreciate how much it can harm your progress. You are also likely to be de-hydrated the day after alcohol. So due to the low water content of your body you may even weigh less.

Also, if you look, I stopped drinking any alcohol at all 2 weeks before the competition. From that point onwards it was seemingly a lot easier to drop the weight. It definitely dropped quicker during these 2 weeks. I think not having alcohol allows my body to really get into weight loss mode. The only exception was Wednesday 29th where I have no idea what happened! This sent me into a bit of a panic and I dropped too quickly after that day. On the competition day I think I ended up too light because of this. I could have allowed myself to eat a bit more the day or morning before the competition. But I was quite wary of another Wednesday happening again!

Another interesting thing is the time (and amount of food) it has taken for my weight to boost back up. I have been on holiday and haven’t eaten very well, if I’m completely honest. I think this demonstrates the importance of having your calories under control. It IS possible to lose weight while eating rubbish food. Not advisable or optimal, but possible. This is because you can still achieve a calorie deficit while doing this. Being out and about on holiday maybe left less windows to eat, so my total calorie intake wasn’t as high as I may have thought.

So that’s my weight experiment over with. I’ll probably keep weighing myself each morning through habit and curiosity, but I’m not going to share the results anymore. I have a couple of ideas for a new experiment so maybe I’ll share them with you soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Why You Should Hog The Middle Lane

Not literally! Please don’t do that. It’s now against the law as well as just being generally dangerous and annoying!

So as you may be able to tell, today’s post comes in the form of an analogy involving motorways. I want to explain why you might be better off hogging that middle lane (again, not literally), but when it comes to making a change, and finally achieving the health goals that you have.

This isn’t intended to cause any offense with regards to people’s driving ability. But when I’m driving down a motorway, 3 distinct types of drivers stand out:

1. Those who sit in the ‘slow’ lane at 50-60mph and rarely leave it. With these people I often think to myself ‘Have you honestly not got anything better to do than to sit behind that lorry for ages?!’ Mostly because I definitely DO have better things to do. 2. Those who hog the middle lane and literally never move either way. They could be sat in right front of you, not bothered that there’s a perfectly good lane with no traffic in to their left. Or they could be driving right up your backside, somehow unable to muster up the effort to slightly turn their steering wheel right to pass you. 3. Those who just put their foot down and fly past you at 90-100+mph in the fast lane. Obviously these people are in such a hurry they forget to think about the rest of humanity. Generally more likely to crash or cause an accident.

Honestly, I’m neither of these people. I stick to going 70-75mph, and move lanes according to the law, and if I can stay at my 70-75mph or not.

When it comes to any kind of goal (let’s just be specific and say a health and/or fitness goal) these also translate into common types of approaches (or non-approaches) people adopt towards their goals:

1. People that have some kind of idea of what they want to achieve, but don’t specify the what or when. 2. Those who have enough knowledge and motivation to make a decent commitment 3. Those who fly headfirst into things and put everything into their change, without fail.

The first group generally lack motivation to move out of their comfort zone, shift gears and change lanes. They are happy to, or are begrudgingly, able to slowly make progress or no progress at all. Not where you really want to be, right?

The third group, although it’s great that they are really committed, can crash and burn quite quickly. They go too full on, too soon. They either run out of places to go (and therefore progress) quickly, or just hit a wall and cave in due to too much restriction. Notice how I say CAN. This is most people, not all. But if you’re a person who doesn’t appreciate putting massive restrictions on yourself then you won’t want to be a person in this group either.

I, I think, am a person who can restrict quite easily if needed. If I tell myself I am/not going to do something then I stick to my guns. Also, if I need to do something I wouldn’t always do in order to achieve something I need to, then I’ll do it without complaint. This can make it difficult to relate to people who struggle with this, but I am learning enough now to do this competently.

The second group can have a lot better time of it. They can amble along quite nicely in the middle lane, and make good progress in the process. They aren’t going to move or change this approach, which requires less attention or conscious effort. They may have developed behaviors and habits that allow them to operate more on autopilot. This means they will suffer a lot less with stressful decisions, decision making fatigue, and resistance to their change. In fact, just like the driving version, others may get incredibly pissed off at them. But this is because they may make progress look easy, not because they are breaking the law or being dangerous! The great thing is that hogging the middle lane when it comes to changing isn’t against the law. Heck, it probably should be the law for most people! Does this sound more like you?

If it does then this is how I most like to help my clients out. We’d probably get on quite well! This more relaxed approach is less stressful for us both I think. If you want to get on board with this then please let me know. Do so by one of the following methods:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon. Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

My Weight Experiment (Part 2)

As a lot of you know I compete in Powerlifting as part of the North West Division of the Great British Powerlifting Federation. For each competition I usually have to lose a couple of kilograms in order to get into my 66kg (and below) weight category. I do this because I am more competitive in this category, as well as it giving me a bit of experience as to what a lot of my clients go through!

My next competition is on the 3rd of July. So I am starting to think a bit more about dropping weight and watching what I eat. This time, I’ve decided to make it into a bit of an experiment, in order to demonstrate that weight isn’t the be all and end all that a lot of people think it is. I want to demonstrate, especially to those who weight themselves every day (possibly even every week!), how much of an unreliable measure it is. Your bodyweight only represents the effect that gravity has on you. Gravity doesn’t care what’s actually in your body, it just cares how much mass it has in total. It is my mission to demonstrate how much it fluctuates, most of the time for no particular reason!

This is part 2 of the experiment, and I have continued to weigh myself every morning for the past 5-6 weeks. This is at the same time, before any food or even a sip of water has past my lips (post toilet too, because I’m sure you wanted to know that!). These are the results and my (very honest!) notes so far:

Friday 6th May 2016: 67.2kg Saturday 7th: 66.2kg (Not entirely sure how I lost 1kg here) Sunday 8th: 67.7kg (Apparently? Again, not sure what happened here) Monday 9th May: 67.4kg Tuesday 10th: 67.1kg Wednesday 11th: 66.8kg Thursday 12th: 66.4kg Friday 13th (oooo): 66.4kg Saturday 14th: 65.9kg (Back in my weight category, horay!) Sunday 15th: 66.6kg (Aaaand back out of it again. Doughnuts, crisps and prosecco during Eurovision is definitely to blame here) Monday 16th: 67.8kg (Holy crap, that 2 day delay thing seems to be happening again) Tuesday 17th: 66.3kg (Ate normal, apparently 1.5kg dropped off me) Wednesday 18th: 66.2kg Thursday 19th: 66.2kg Friday 20th: 66.7kg (Seriously? I never gain weight between Thursday and Friday. I do now!) Saturday 21st: 66.9kg Sunday 22nd: 66.8kg (I can definitely confirm that I drank less alcoholic beverages this weekend. Makes a difference) Monday 23rd: 66.7kg Tuesday 24th: 66.9kg Wednesday 25th: 66.2kg Thursday 26th: 67.6kg (Fair enough. A lot of Dominos based food was consumed last night!) Friday 27th: 67.1kg (This time without the 2 day delay) Saturday 28th: 66.2kg (Amazing! I ate cake and drank wine last night too!)

Time of writing this post = Saturday 28th May

So looking at this, it seems that whenever you see a pattern emerging (2 day delays in weight gain after eating unhealthy food), it is quickly broken by it not happening the next time! The good thing is that there’s a lot more 66kg weights than last time, so I’m moving in the right direction. Right now there still really isn’t any rush, which is why I still feel I can consume decent amounts of unhealthier food every now and again. This will begin to change in the coming weeks though.

What I do know is that if I do put on 1kg+ I can easily get it off in a few days with simply eating normally. I’m pretty sure this time before my last competition I couldn’t do that for whatever reason. This is only speculation, but I could put it down to stress. The gym had just flooded and December was a bit of a write-off personal training wise. A month before the last competition was not a great time! So what’s with the 1.5kg fluctuations in weight? Am I not losing and/or gaining weight too quickly?

Not really. This is where the bodyweight measure falls down so much. It definitely cannot be body fat with it changing so much, so quickly. That’s not how your body works. You don’t eat a pizza and automatically put on a load of body fat. What you CAN do though is eat more sodium/salt and carbohydrates than you’re normally used to, which automatically leads to your body water/water retention increasing. Water follows sodium into your body’s cells through osmosis, while it also follows glucose (carbohydrate) into your muscle cells to be stored there too.

Unhealthier food generally contains more sodium and refined carbohydrates than healthier food. So when you start eating a bit healthier again, and your sodium and carb consumption drops back to your normal level, then your body doesn’t need or store this water any more. It lets it go, and the drop in bodyweight will be fairly relative to the amount you’ve put on initially. The amount of water weight you put on and lose each time will depend on physically HOW MUCH you’ve eaten, and how much sodium and carbs you’ve had on top of your normal amount. You will probably find yourself going to the toilet a lot 1-2 days after a bit of unhealthier eating! This is your body letting go of the surplus water.

So if you still want to weight yourself every day just bare this in mind. You will see huge fluctuations at times, sometimes for reasons you don’t understand. But this is mainly just down to water. Weighing yourself week to week, or even month to month will give you a better idea of body fat weight loss/gain. But again, this is still just a snap shot of a measure that still doesn’t tell you even nearly the whole picture.

I’ll continue my experiment now that I’m REALLY, REALLY trying to focus on getting my weight down, now that the competition is only 5-6 weeks away. I’ll post another update in 2-3 weeks or so.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Why You Aren’t Achieving Your Goals

I’m currently reading an awesome book called ‘Switch.’

Switch is simply about change, and making change easier when it is actually a very hard process. A lot of this blog post will contain a lot of content from this book, but in my own words. So I’ve no problem in giving it a shout out and acknowledging that a lot of the ideas for this post came out of this book. It’s a great book and I suggest you purchase a copy if you’re struggling in any way to make a change (no matter what it is). It is worth a lot more than the small amount you pay for it.

Change is so hard because humans in general are creatures of habit. This is especially true when you look at modern humans. We like to be comfortable, and when anything comes along to disrupt this comfort our natural reaction is to resist it. This can come in the form of either standing up and actively fighting it, or just simply running from it and putting as much distance between it and us as possible (flight). The smallest things can cause this resistance and cause a perceived (or even physical) barrier between you and the change you want to make. We just hate being uncomfortable, and changing requires us to get uncomfortable due to its very nature of taking us out of the comfort zone we’re currently in.

This is essentially why you, and most other people, won’t achieve their goals. Your goals require you to change something in order to pursue them, as your current practises aren’t getting you there. Change creates discomfort, and discomfort creates resistance.

But when you look at it in more detail, what actually causes this resistance? Specifically, why aren’t you achieving your goals? Well, when I look at it, there are 3 main reasons:

1. Their Goals Aren’t Clear Enough (or too Ambiguous)

Simply put, you haven’t a clear idea of where you want to end up, and/or how to get there.

You’re not giving yourself enough clear direction, which creates wiggle room for you to justify certain decisions that may not be conducive towards your goal. Therefore the goal will never be achieved as you will end up getting lost somewhere halfway down the line. This ambiguity and lack of direction creates resistance.

The Cure: Have a clear picture of your destination and focus on that as where you want to end up. Make a list of the critical things you have to do that will help you get there. Or if you don’t know these critical actions then find someone to help you who does. Stick to performing these critical actions and don’t deviate from trying to do this.

2. You Don’t Care or Want It Enough

Simply put, your motivation to achieve your goals isn’t large enough.

This can be down to a lot of things, but generally it means that you struggle to relate to or gain competence when it comes to your goal. Your priorities in life affect this too. You WANT to achieve this goal, but you don’t want to ENOUGH compared to other things you deem more important. You may also feel that it is ultimately too difficult to achieve, or that you’re essentially not the type of person who will be able to achieve it. These negative thoughts and feelings will take chunks out of any motivation that you have towards it, and cause huge resistance.

The Cure: This motivation needs to increase or you’re going to get nowhere. Really ask yourself if you can increase the importance of the goal in relation to everything else that you have going on. Re-prioratising in this way can certainly help, but it also may make you realise your goal truly isn’t as much of a big deal as you thought. Then you need to scale this goal down to something that is more manageable under your circumstances, and creates less resistance. Increasing relatedness to a goal is usually helped by having someone/some people close to you who can share the journey. Trying to get into the mindset in order to think/feel like someone who would achieve your goal is important too. Your goal needs to be part of your identity or you’re doomed to fail. Also, make a list of everything that you’ve already done that is in conjunction with your goal. By doing these you’ve made progress towards it already. It isn’t as far away from you as you think, and you’re generally never starting from scratch. Everything that you’ve done so far DOES help. It either helps you directly towards your goal or it helps you indirectly through the learning process.

3. The Route To Your Goal Is Littered With Obstacles

Simply put, you may know the route to your goals, but you’re making it more difficult than it needs to be by constantly blocking it in some way.

This can be both consciously or subconsciously and doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your fault. Obstacles commonly occur in your environment rather than yourself, and will only serve to trip you up on the way to your goal. This applies to people who DO make progress towards their goal over a decent period of time. They know WHAT they want to achieve. But this progress is generally very slow and staggered. This IS external resistance and will also create internal resistance by probably knocking the motivation side of things.

The Cure: Identify these obstacles. What in your environment is making undesirable behaviours easier, and the more desirable behaviours harder? Tweak it to switch it the other way round.

Also, try to identify and break specific habits that lead to undesirable behaviours. Create other habits within your main goal that lead to more desirable ones. These habits are like mini-goals that will also help clear up the path to your goal too.

So this is all about decreasing your internal resistance towards your goal, and increasing the forces of assistance towards it.

I could definitely go into more detail, but I won’t. I think that this in enough information for anyone to action right now. If it isn’t and you need a bit more info specific to your goal then give me a shout and I’d be more than happy to point you in the right direction(s). Do this on one of the methods below:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Breakthrough! (and lessons you can learn from it)

Hi Everyone!

So last week I had a bit of a breakthrough with regards to one of my mindset goals. I will give you the sentence that sets the scene, and one that some of you will definitely identify with:

‘Taking your 2 year old to get their passport photo done.’

Not the easiest thing to do, right?! Fair to say it’s likely that frustration may occur some point between getting out the door of the house and actually ending up with a useable photograph.

We’re taking my son Kai abroad for the first time in September so this is a hurdle that had to be jumped at some point. But strangely, instead of becoming frustrated, I actually kind of enjoyed the experience and found it quite fascinating. And that’s not because it was easy!

Firstly, I kept the goal for the day in mind. Get that photo!

Secondly, I made myself very aware of what would create problems in achieving this goal. Getting annoyed or frustrated would only escalate this feeling in Kai too, and only push my goal further away!

Keeping these things in mind really helped focus my mind on the task at hand.

So the first thing that happened was that Kai saw the area (slightly enclosed) that the photos were taken in, and ran immediately in the other direction. He nearly got the door open and ran clean out the shop!

So instead of getting annoyed I decided to use a more methodical approach. In my head it went something like:

‘Ok, new critical move needed towards the goal; get him back to the photo area.’

Kai likes photographs being taken of him, so my next move was to take his hand and explain calmly that this is all that would happen. And it worked!

Of course, he then wouldn’t sit in the seat.

‘Ok, next critical move is to get him to sit in the seat.’

Luckily the woman in the shop helped me out with this. We both explained to him that if he didn’t sit in the seat, he wouldn’t get his photograph taken, and he wouldn’t be able to go on holiday with Mummy, Nanna etc etc. This was the fascinating part. You could see the cogs turning and he did that little head to the side thing that he does when thinking about something. Eventually he decided it wouldn’t be so bad if he sat on my knee in the seat. This ended up not working either, but the next step was him sitting on the seat by himself holding my hand. After a few more minutes we eventually had a useable photo (the only one in about 30 I think!). Challenge completed!

So the lessons that you and I can take away from this to help us with our mindset are:

1. Keeping a clear goal in mind, in any situation, reduces the likelihood of anything disrupting your mindset towards it (in my case frustration and any form of anger). 2. The thought that people (especially children) are trying to actively defy you simply isn’t true. So when you react to this thought you’re only reacting to the belief that someone is trying to defy you. This situation demonstrated to me that lack of understanding is the main culprit. I gave Kai the understanding he needed and his actions changed. 3. People (especially children) don’t always have to do what you want them to either (and they generally don’t). So why get annoyed about it? It’s just what happens! 4. You don’t ALWAYS have to do it NOW. You can always try again. If the situation was different, if I hadn’t ended up with a useable photo, then there would always be another opportunity. I had this in my mind too. I was always thinking that the BEST situation would have been achieving the goal, and coming away with the photo. But it wasn’t t the ONLY situation where I could have achieved it. If I’d failed then another opportunity would have been there. This is very much a part of my mindset goal regarding ALWAYS having to move forwards, and not getting frustrated when I don’t.

Just writing all that down has also reinforced these points to me, and helped massively. So I encourage you to write some conversations with yourself about certain things down too. Going though things methodically like this has definitely helped me, both in situation AND in reflection.

Another update next week!

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

My Weight Experiment (Part 1)

As a lot of you know I compete in Powerlifting as part of the North West Division of the Great British Powerlifting Federation. For each competition I usually have to lose a couple of kilograms in order to get into my 66kg (and below) weight category. I do this because I am more competitive in this category, as well as it giving me a bit of experience as to what a lot of my clients go through!

My next competition is on the 3rd of July. So I am starting to think a bit more about dropping weight and watching what I eat. This time, I’ve decided to make it into a bit of an experiment, in order to demonstrate that weight isn’t the be all and end all that a lot of people think it is. I want to demonstrate, especially to those who weight themselves every day (possibly even every week!), how much of an unreliable measure it is. Your bodyweight only represents the effect that gravity has on you. Gravity doesn’t care what’s actually in your body, it just cares how much mass it has in total. It is my mission to demonstrate how much it fluctuates, most of the time for no particular reason!

I have weighed myself every morning for the past 3 weeks so far. This is at the same time, before any food or even a sip of water has past my lips (post toilet too, because I’m sure you wanted to know that!). These are the results and my (very honest!) notes so far:

Saturday 16th of April 2016: 67.0kg Sunday 17th: 67.2kg Monday 18th: 67.2kg Tuesday 19th: 67.5kg Wednesday 20th: 67.1kg Thursday 21st: 68.2kg (First BBQ of the year, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t eat THAT much! Oh well!) Friday 22nd: 67.7kg Saturday 23rd: 67.2kg Sunday 24th: 66.6kg (A weight drop on a Sunday morning? Really?!) Monday 25th: 67.4kg (I think I ate ALL the lasagne in the world for tea here!) Tuesday 26th: 67.4kg Wednesday 27th: 66.5kg (Totally didn’t eat enough yesterday!) Thursday 28th: 66.7kg Friday 29th: 66.3kg Saturday 30th: 66.0kg (Awesome, back in my weight category!) Sunday 1st May: 66.2kg (aaand back out of it again! Not bad after a lot of beer pong and pizza related activities!) Monday 2nd: 66.9kg (Delayed effect of beer a pizza?!) Tuesday 3rd: 67.5kg (Very delayed effect of pizza and beer?!) Wednesday 4th: 67.5kg Thursday 5th: 67.3kg

Time of writing this post = Thursday 5th

As you can see, there are a lot of ups and downs. Some of this I can explain, but a lot I cannot. Also, I’m not even really breaking even during each WEEK, never mind each day. What is also interesting is the inconstant effect of healthier and less healthy days. On Wednesday the 20th I had a BBQ and didn’t even feel that I had eaten that much. Yet I still weighed over a kilogram more the next day without anything else changing that day. But on Saturday the 30th I drank a heck of a lot of alcohol (mainly beer) and ate a ton of pizza and garlic bread. Yet I only weighed 0.2kg more the next day!

I’ll continue my experiment now that I’m REALLY trying to focus on getting my weight down, now that the competition is only 8-9 weeks away. I’ll post another update in 2-3 weeks or so.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Working on Frustrations

This post is my first update on my own personal mindset goals that I wrote about last time. For those who aren’t familiar, these are my goals:

I aim to not feel like I/others have to rush things. I aim to allow myself to take time and enjoy all the points in my life where I’m not working on moving myself or my business forwards.

I aim to figure out and remove the last few situations (mentioned above) that make me anxious. I aim take my time to find the best solution when unsure about a situation, and remove the feeling of having to diffuse the situation quickly. This is to include when I’m unsure how to manage or answer some of the problems my clients encounter.

I aim to do these by the end of summer this year. That gives me a few months to work through and get used to the thought patterns that I need to adopt.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve mainly been working on the first point. So how’s it gone?

Honestly, this last week it didn’t go so well. I’ve been feeling quite drained of energy, for reasons I’m not sure of. I feel that this holds me back in whatever I’m doing during the day. When you take into account that things stopping me from making forward progress are the ones that cause me most frustration, then it’s been challenging. So I’ve been a bit grumpy and annoyed for sure, and certainly haven’t achieved my goal yet. But this is another specific situation I will have to learn to deal with and not let it affect my happiness.

But on the plus side the last couple of walks & activities I’ve done with my son in tow haven’t ended up in even just a little bit of frustration. Not even when he’s failed to obey my each and every (or any in most cases!) command. Here’s how I’ve been questioning myself in these situations to help with this:

I really wish Kai would stop messing around and follow me! He NEVER does what I want him to!

Hang on second, so you think that Kai should do what you want him to?

Well yes, at least some of the time he should.

But is it really true that he should do what you want him to?

Well he’s only young so he really just acts on what he wants to do. So no, I suppose it isn’t true. He does what he wants.

Does he just do what he wants all the time? You mentioned he never does what you want him to?

No, that’s not really true either, he’s actually quite agreeable most of the time.

But what about when he’s not. Do you think he’s doing this to defy you?

Ha ha it certainly seems like it sometimes. But no, it’s when he’s having fun and distracted by something. He’s enjoying himself and doesn’t want to stop.

That thought’s not so bad then, right?

No, it’s great that he’s enjoying himself. He should enjoy himself. That’s what he needs at his age. It’s nice to see. But we really need to get going.

Is that true? What do you need to go and do?

Hmm there’s actually nothing I suppose. I just like to be moving forward.

But do you really want that to get in the way of watching Kai enjoy himself?

No, it’s nice and sunny (sometimes!) and he has a smile on his face. I do enjoy these moments.

So this is me stopping to enjoy the moments that I said I would do last week. These thoughts in specific situations like this are what I’ve improved on most since my last post for sure. Why should I stop my son from enjoying himself, and why the heck should he do what I want him to?!

This isn’t forcing yourself to be positive by any means. It’s just consciously challenging and bypassing some of your many years of subconscious programming that you could do without.

Another update next week!

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

I’ve Really Got To Work On This…

Ok so I’m back blogging again after my seminar! Preparing for that really did take up a lot of my time.

I wanted to use this post to help me, as well as potentially help you too. I’m going to use it to and create an accountability tool for MYSELF. I am going to be accountable to all of you who read this, and I will be blogging about my progress as I go along.

I’m setting myself a goal and it’s you who will be checking up on me and making sure I achieve it!

But first, a bit of background info as to why I’ve decided to do this: I’m not the most patient person in the world. I know this, and probably most people that I know also know that this is the case. I like getting on with things. I get wound up and frustrated fairly easily, even as a result of fairly trivial things.

  As some of you know I’ve more recently started to be big into mindset based practises. This is mindset around health, fitness and goals (to help my clients), as well as around lifestyle and just generally being more positive (to help my clients AND myself). This has definitely helped so far, but it seems there are still some BIG things that I need to work on.

Last weekend, I went for a fairly decent walk with my wife and son. Bearing in mind that my son is still yet to turn 3, the walk was pretty challenging and up quite a substantial hill. I ended up getting quite annoyed and frustrated about how long it was taking for us to complete this walk (remember that I like to get on with things?). This, along with a couple of other quite trivial things that happened that afternoon, kind of spoilt what was essentially a nice family afternoon walk. It was great to get out just the 3 of us, but I didn’t allow myself to enjoy the experience as much as I could have. This is why I need to keep working on it.

First, I’ve identified what it is that I really need to work on. I mostly get quite frustrated (or anxious, which frustrates me eventually too) when:

1. Something (or someone) gets in the way or holds me back from making forward progress. This is situation specific, so it could be something as trivial as when I’m driving, all the way up to doing important work. This is where the example from the walk comes in I think. I wanted to get on with it when I could of just enjoyed being outside in the nice (or mediocre) weather! ‘Faffing’ around is also something that sets me off (my words).

2. I get interrupted or put on the spot without expecting it. This is more a point of anxiety coming from certain things in the past. Instead of taking my time and creating a solution/workable situation, my mind seems to go into flight mode and I just try to diffuse the conflict between what I was doing, and the surprise, as quickly as possible. Because I seem unable to manage the situation properly I get frustrated about this on top of anxious! Frustrated at myself as well as whatever has surprised me at the time.

3. When I feel like I haven’t done my job to the best of my ability. It is essentially my job to make people feel better and more positive. If I don’t feel I’ve achieved this, or even worse, somehow make people feel the opposite way towards anything (including myself), then it doesn’t make me feel great either. I get frustrated at myself on these occasions.

The first two points are definitely a mindset thing to work on, whereas the third is more approach based. I can sort the third out by simple becoming better at my job, which I try to do every single day. I get frustrated at myself because I care, which I think is a positive thing as well as a negative thing. So I don’t really want to alter this too much.

The first two points though need addressing for sure. These frustrations (especially the first point) are very unnecessary and cause me to not enjoy parts of life to their full potential. Who doesn’t want to enjoy ALL parts of their life to the full potential?!

I’ve made progress on these to some extent, but it clearly isn’t enough. I think I need to specifically work on these things for an extended period of time. So I’m setting myself these goals:

I aim to not feel like I/others have to rush things. I aim to allow myself to take time and enjoy all the points in my life where I’m not working on moving myself or my business forwards.

I aim to figure out and remove the last few situations (mentioned above) that make me anxious. I aim take my time to find the best solution when unsure about a situation, and remove the feeling of having to diffuse the situation quickly. This is to include when I’m unsure how to manage or answer some of the problems my clients encounter.

I aim to do these by the end of summer this year. That gives me a few months to work through and get used to the thought patterns that I need to adopt.

I need you all to help and keep me accountable. If I don’t post updates each week or so, tell me. If I’m not progressing as much as I could, encourage me or give me a boot up the arse! I know the approach I need to take to do this, so there is nothing stopping me from doing it. Just like achieving anything, it just takes a bit more consistency and focus.

So one of my next blog posts will be starting to outline how I’m addressing these thought processes and goals. This will help you do the same too. So think to yourself what you need to work on and do it with me!

Keep in contact with your progress too if you want. Use one of the methods below: Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

Let me know what you’re working on and how you’re doing it as you go along. I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

All or Nothing

‘These days it’s all or nothing now.’

A little song lyric from one of my favourite bands, The Subways. They had an album called this and it referred to (at least that’s what I got from it) the modern culture and lifestyle (especially in the western world) being geared to this mindset.

Unless a certain sports team wins every game they are deemed useless. Unless someone is making XXX amounts of money with their business it is deemed a failure. If we don’t get what we want (or what we think we should have), we freak out and usually end up in a worse situation than we were originally. It’s easy to fall into this mindset when it comes to health and fitness too. Your goals are important to you, I get it. But is this mindset actually helpful when moving towards them?

Chances are it probably isn’t.

An all or nothing mindset when it comes to working towards a health & fitness goal means that you (or you think you) need to be 100% committed 100% of the time to this goal. Anything less is no good. Let me put a couple of points across that demonstrate how could be a problem:

1. There will always be something that crops up that will feel like a disruption. Whether it be an event like a birthday or night out, or something like your oven breaking. These will disrupt your habits and usual ways of doing things, and therefore disrupt your commitment. In an all or nothing mindset these will bring on feelings of restriction and negativity. If you’re feeling these you’re already too far into an all or nothing mindset and well on your way to breaking your adherence to your regime anyway.

2. You won’t always be 100% committed 100% of the time. This commitment WILL drop, whether you like it or not. You can drop to being 100% committed less than 100% of the time, or less than 100% committed 100% of the time. The outcome is the same; you will do some things that are not part of your ideal regime. Whether it be reaching for a chocolate bar during your mid-afternoon crash, or having that extra glass of wine on a weekend evening.

So based on these two points, the problem isn’t actually the commitment. The commitment was never going to be there in the first place. It’s the thoughts and beliefs that make you think it was doable, as well as the thoughts and beliefs that crop in reaction to breaking the commitment.

You have two options:

1. Completely freak out. Believe that this/these act(s) of disruption and non-commitment are the worst things to happen ever. You’re a terrible person for doing this. What is wrong with you? You’ve blown your regime (see my last blog post titled ‘Have you blown it?’) and now may as well not even bother carrying on. Eat the rest of the chocolate bars within reach, and maybe even give up completely.

  2. Be aware of, and accept, the action you’ve just taken and what the result is. Why did you do that? What do you think about it? Is these thoughts really true? That maybe wasn’t the best thing to do for your goal, but it’s happened and you’re ok. After all you don’t have to be 100% committed all of the time. Carry on as normal but with a lovely chocolate bar in your tummy. Maybe think of ways that could help you not do that action again.

Number 2 sounds a bit more appealing, right?

So here’s a strategy to promote the chain of events that number 2 outlines. The truth is for most people’s health and fitness goals they don’t need to be 100% committed anyway. You may want to lose a bit of weight or get a bit fitter. All you have to do is be a bit more committed than you have been (or were) when you weren’t making progress towards this goal. This is where the 80/20 rule comes in.

The 80/20 rules states that you be committed 80% of the time, while you can let yourself relax the other 20%. Therefore when you reach for that chocolate bar you don’t have to freak out. Just count that towards your 20%.

There are some who have to be way more committed, way more of the time. Those who want to get super lean like bodybuilders and physique athletes would have to go further than this. But that’s not likely to be you, so don’t worry. So just because everyone else is going all or nothing doesn’t mean that you do too. Some people it works for, but most will never find a sustainable point doing this. I am starting to really get into using these more mindset based approaches to help my clients. It’s definitely paying off! Let me help you too. Give me a shout on:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon. Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Have You ‘Blown It?’

No!

You have not blown it!

This week’s post is again a bit more mindset based. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had more and more clients tell me about how they think that they’ve ‘blown it’ when it comes to their goals. They’ve somehow blown it by doing just one or two little things that many be slightly contradictory to these goals. So this can apply to any aspect of health and fitness.

I try to reduce this kind of thinking as much as possible with my clients. This kind of mindset is highly counter-productive and often leads to a spiral that goes even further down the line of being contradictory to your goals. One event that’s perceived as ‘bad’, ‘naughty’ or that you ‘shouldn’t have done’ can lead to panic, worry, stress and therefore a lot more of these events without much further thought. I’m sure a lot of you reading can relate to a time where this has happened.

So that’s why you could do well to drop this mindset. You won’t be able to drop the thoughts, but dropping the resulting/associated mindset is a definite possibility.

So if you’ve ever experienced any event like this I invite you to think about it. You may have eaten a piece of cake or missed a gym session that you were going to do. All the time prior to this event your thoughts are ‘I shouldn’t, I shouldn’t.’ But you do, and then the thoughts are ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ You then get stressed at the thought of ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ and then eventually you end up at the point of ‘Well, I’ve done that now so I might as well do…!’

And so the spiral starts, sound familiar?

Let’s get one thing straight first, NO-ONE can be perfect 100% of the time. As I’ve said in many previous posts you need to give yourself at least a little bit of room to relax any kind of regime. Also, in reality, how much is just 1 piece of cake or missing 1 training session going to effect your long term progress? Very negligibly in the grand scheme of things. The likelihood is that it’s not that 1 thing, it’s all the other things that follow the stressful thoughts that will have the biggest impact.

So the point at where you need to meet this problem is not before you take that ‘naughty’ action, it’s actually after. It’s when you start thinking all the negative thoughts about how you’ve ‘blown it.’ These thoughts will occur. If they’ve occurred once then they will occur each and every time something similar happens. So it’s not dropping these thoughts that you need to do. It’s NOT BELIEVING these thoughts, and not letting them stress you out into the spiral. This is the part of the process that CAN be changed.

Be aware of these thoughts, even embrace them. It is then you can question them and the lack of truth and integrity that they have. So you eat a chocolate bar or a bit of cake. You shouldn’t have done that, right? Wrong! You just did do it! So you definitely should have done it because you did. There’s literally no point in believing that you shouldn’t have done it because it’s happened. Thinking things should be any different is pointless.

So now you don’t believe that you shouldn’t have done it. But you’ve blown it, right? You’ve blown your healthy diet and your progress towards your individual goal? Wrong again! Like I said before, that 1 action is going to have a small to nothing effect on your progress. The thought or argument that it’s had a negative impact on your progress does not stand up to much if you don’t let it.

When you don’t believe what your mind is telling you then you will react a lot differently. You will react less negatively and be calmer. So, can you think of a non-stressful reason not to believe these thoughts? I didn’t think so!

I am starting to really get into using these more mindset based approaches to help my clients. It’s definitely paying off! Clients I wouldn’t of had the first clue about helping a year or so ago are progressing and getting great results from their training experience. Let me help you too. Give me a shout on:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

What is ‘Healthy’ Food?

Personally I believe that it is not food education that is the main problem when getting a lot of people to eat a healthy diet. Quite a lot of the time I have people come to me for help with lines such as ‘I know what I should be eating’ or ‘I know what a healthy diet is.’ The main problem seems to be actually doing it. In a world where junk food is so prevalent it does get too easy, convenient and cheap to just go with it a lot of the time. Breaking the habit of doing so is therefore the main problem for most.

I’m not saying that food education isn’t important, of course it is. But telling someone what to eat is only a small piece of the puzzle. Getting them to do it is a much bigger piece. I’ve written a lot about creating and breaking habits, and other such things that relate to this larger problem.

So what I wanted to do with this post is address more the education side of things and put in my own words what eating healthy means to me. So let’s get into it. A healthy diet from my perspective is:

1. A diet that allows your body to function optimally. There are a great many things that your body requires from your diet that allow it to perform at its best. Macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals mainly) are all required in certain amounts for this to happen. The further you are away from these amounts, the lower the performance of your body. If your body is not performing well then any goal that you have related to it will be less likely to happen. Your progress certainly won’t be optimal (if there is any progress at all!).

2. A diet that is as close as possible to ‘single ingredient’ foods A diet such as this will take care of point number 1 in a lot better fashion. Single ingredient foods are those closest to their intended form, and usually only have one ingredient, themselves. For example the only ingredient in a potato is potato. But there may be many ingredients in potato waffles and chips. The only ingredient in a steak is steak. But there may be many other ingredients in beef burgers. The only ingredient in a carrot is carrot. But there may be many other ingredients in vegetable soups. You probably get what I mean by now! Processing food like this strips it of a lot of its nutrition and adds other things that our body cannot use. Single ingredient foods are a lot more nutrient dense (they have more of the things we need above per unit of weight) and allow our bodies to function better.

3. A diet that is as little processed as possible This is obviously related to the last point, but I wanted to go into more detail. Not only does eating more processed foods stop your body from functioning optimally, it actually goes further and specifically screws up your bodies systems even more. Processed foods are those that when you look at the nutritional label you see a lot of ingredients, with a lot of them being things you couldn’t even begin to pronounce in a million years.

Most of our bodily processes work on negative feedback systems. In living things this is referred to as homeostasis. Each person has general set points that their body tries to maintain, and get back to if disrupted. These set points include things like weight. Everyone has some kind of specific weight that their body is more comfortable being. Eating a lot of processed food can disrupt this system. This disruption can be in the form of a blurring of these set points, or in fact shifting them to a different level. Your body gets confused with all the unusual chemicals that it’s getting bombarded with. This is why a heavily processed diet can cause people to gain weight so quickly.

4. A diet that gives you enough energy Like micronutrients your body also needs a certain amount of energy each day to function properly. Diets that are too restrictive on calories can also cause the body to downregulate its processes (usually referred to as your metabolism) to save energy. This makes them fairly unhealthy in the short term, and un-sustainable in the long term. This applies to both the physical and psychological aspects of the diet. As touched on above, if you’re eating plenty of the healthy stuff, any negative impact on your health and body composition won’t be nearly as dramatic, if any at all! This is due to the fact that your body can actually use the healthy stuff, rather than just storing it.

5. A diet that doesn’t make you feel terrible in general A great deal of tiredness, lethargy and illness can actually be attributed to your diet. Again, this is due to the reasons already mentioned. Heavily processed food can cause all of these things by not allowing your body to function properly. On top of that, food sensitivities and intolerances will also leave you feeling pretty rubbish if you’re consuming foods that cause a negative reaction. In this case you can go to your GP and ask to get tested. Or you could experiment a bit on yourself first. Log your food and how you feel during the day. Look for any patterns in what you’ve logged. Bare in mind that it could be ANY food. It’s not just the common sensitivities like wheat, gluten and dairy that can be the problem. It could literally be anything as everyone is different.

So I’ve outlined how your diet can have both a positive and negative impact on your health and fitness goals. I’ve managed to focus on just healthy verses unhealthy. I’ve not even mentioned the amount of anything you need to consume. This is because focusing on the above will give you by far the best start with anything that you want to achieve, without having to worry about anything else. Maybe at some point down the line you’ll need to think about that, but not right now.

The next step is working out strategies to help you make it easier to eat the healthier food. I’m big into helping my clients to do this, so if you want any help working out how to also do this then just ask. Contact me on one of the ways below:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon. Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Words I’ve Stopped Using (and why)

A less conventional post this week.

I’m going to plunge you into the depths of my brain and see what you think. You may like it, you may not. Of course I’d be more than happy if you did. But if you don’t I can’t say I’m that bothered. This is because it’s something that has helped me over the last few months, and my mindset when it comes to thinking about the things that are happening around me.

I’m going to introduce you to some of the most harmful words that you can come across, and they probably aren’t what you think. These words are harmful to YOU when YOU think them, as well as the events that happen to you in the context of these words.

First you must understand one thing; it is only your thoughts and associated beliefs/feelings that cause you any pain, suffering and negativity. Mentally these cannot be caused by any other event or person apart from yourself. Obviously another person can cause you physical pain, that’s another issue all together. But if you think about it, how could any external event directly cause a shift in mood or emotion in you unless you attach a certain thought or belief to it?

I know this is difficult to grasp. I’m quite new to this way of thinking too. So I still struggle with this concept. But I see the sense in it, which is why I’m persisting with it. Why should I let someone or something else piss me off or upset me? Years of programming have gone into creating my thoughts and beliefs, so it’s not going to all disappear overnight. But I can feel a slight progressive shift occurring.

This is where focusing on trying to drop these words from my vocabulary has come in handy. They all focus my attention on external things that are out of my control. They are also pointless words that essentially mean nothing when you really think about it.

Ok, so here are the words I’m talking about: Should and Shouldn’t Fair and Unfair

Let’s start with should and shouldn’t, as these are the ones I’ve tried to stop using first. These are usually associated with another person or event, for example:

He shouldn’t have… They should… …shouldn’t have happened

Thinking something should or shouldn’t be as it is (or has happened) is quite pointless. It will just cause you unnecessary stress and pain. Certainly some events that happen to you or others are not good events. But they have happened, and have happened in the way they have happened. There’s nothing you can do about it.

Even in a more on going situation you are commenting on an external occurrence that you have no control over. These events are not your business. They are something someone else has decided to do. Unless they have directly caused you physical harm you have nothing to worry about. If they or the event in question have inconvenienced you, it’s only because you believe they have inconvenienced you. You can get past this and find another way to go about your day. Chances are if you feel inconvenienced you haven’t given yourself quite enough time to do what you need to do anyway. You may feel rushed, and that’s only your fault.

So that’s why I try to stop myself uttering or thinking the words should and shouldn’t, unless it comes to my own activities that is. With regards to fair and unfair the logic is quite similar. Fair and unfair are very much non statements. Nothing is either fair or unfair, it just happens. If you’re saying that some event or action is fair or unfair, you’re again commenting on how you think it should or shouldn’t be that way. But again, it is what it is, and thinking otherwise is counterproductive.

If something is deemed unfair there is some sort of obstacle that needs to be overcome. Try focusing on it as a challenge. Focus on what it is and how it can be overcome, rather than how it makes you feel. Deeming something ‘fair’ means you think it’s acceptable to your own set of beliefs. Who is anyone to decide what’s acceptable or unacceptable?! Everyone would come out with a different opinion in most situations anyway!

Also, thinking something that has happened to you is fair, can take away from the fact that you worked bloody hard to make it that way. In this situation it’s not ‘fair’, it’s a good job done by you. Well done!

So that’s why I try to stop myself thinking that things are either fair or unfair. Both of these pretty much come down to 2 main things that you could do well to prevent:

1. Living in other people’s business (focusing on what others are doing and not what you’re doing). 2. Thinking things should be different to what they are (focusing or reacting on/to what you think should happen and not focusing or reacting properly on/to what actually has happened).

Both of these will prevent you from doing what YOU need to do to solve your own problems and move forwards. They will also prevent you from seeing what is truly important to YOU, and the things you have that make YOUR life awesome.

And remember, never blame other people. If you feel you have a problem with something it’s always you who can (and needs to) change something to make it not a problem!

Have I explained that well enough? I hope so, but if I haven’t I won’t blame you for telling me so! Let me know so I can make it better next time. Do so on one of the following:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Trial & Error

Back in the game now!

Apologies for failing with a new blog post last week. I’m going to get back into these with what I feel will be a good one. It’s a subject quite close to my heart and one that fits well with how I think & work.

As many of you may know I come from quite an academic background. I have a first class bachelor’s degree in Sport & Exercise Science and a master’s degree in the Physiological side of the afore mentioned area. So Trial & Error has played a big part in my past. Being mainly into science based subjects has made that unavoidable!

In this blog post I will demonstrate how and why trial and error is important and how you can use it in order to help with your health & fitness goals.

Firstly, some experiences of my own to demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about. Trial and error is basically deciding to do something in a certain way in order to see if it has a specific effect on something else/other things. In the context of most people’s health and fitness it is manipulating their exercise and/or dietary practises in order to see if they have a positive effect on their health & fitness goals. I have done this in the past, mainly relating to dropping weight for my Powerlifting weight category. 

It has been mainly around the use of carbohydrate in my diet that trial and error has been useful. It sounds bad (but it isn’t really) when I say that trialling how little carbohydrate I can get away with has been a big focus. Powerlifting is a sport requiring very short bursts of strength and power. So in theory carbohydrate stores aren’t as taxed as a lot of other sports. But when you train 5 times per week, and do a lot of higher rep accessory work after the more powerful stuff, you definitely need some! But for weight purposes, due to the fact that carbohydrates are stored with 3 times their weight in water, it’s a useful thing to manipulate. 

Generally, around their daily lives and activities, people have a carbohydrate sweet spot. This is the point at which they can still perform their activities without their carbohydrate intake affecting their energy, mood and alertness. Trial and error comes in very handy to find this sweet spot. I first halved my carbohydrate dense food portion from my lunch and tea. I felt fine but my weight wasn’t dropping, especially before my second competition. Then I completely cut my carbohydrate dense food portion from my lunch. I still felt ok and it had a more desirable effect on my weight! It wasn’t enough though and I eventually figured out that it was my post-workout protein shake (at nearly 300 calories a go) that was the thing that had to be cut out.

This brings us on to calories. The above can apply for your calorie intake too. Rather than calorie counting you can take your normal portions and take/add a little bit from/to it (say about a thumb areas worth of carbohydrate dense foods for example). Does this change your ability to lose/gain weight? If not, try and cut/add a little bit again. Keep going until your weight drops/elevates a little bit each week. You only want to be in a small calorie deficit/surplus in order to maintain a good body composition for either goal. 

So these have been my experiences. But what about you?

The main thing you need to remember is that with trial and error you are ONLY changing ONE thing at a time. You re-evaluate your progress after a week or so after the change. If you don’t, how do you know what is working and what isn’t? It certainly takes a bit longer, but if you have a bit of patience and give yourself enough time then it leads to you finding out EXACTLY what works for YOU. The result is a repeatable process and pattern that you can use ALL the time, and forever. 

The above examples are just a drop in the ocean. You can use trial and error on other goals or problems that you have in life. If you start feeling bloated and tired it could be the result of a food that you’re eating. In this case record your foods and eliminate one at a time to see if there’s a difference. This may take some time but if you don’t have access to things like intolerance analysis it’s something that YOU can do yourself in order to take control of your health. You can also use trial and error to create sustainable habits within your day. If you start getting stressed or anxious about a change you’ve made, it clearly doesn’t work. That’s ok. You tried and just need to re-evaluate and tweak it a bit for it to be a better fit.

Trial and error isn’t just a practise saved for science and scientific study. It’s something you can do every day to take control of your health and fitness, both now and well into the future. So experiment on yourself and see what works (and of course, what doesn’t!). 

If you feel that you can’t do this then I’d be more than happy to help. Just give me a shout with one of the following methods:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

‘Fattening’ Foods

In this week’s post I wanted to touch a bit on the whole ‘high fat vs low fat’ food argument that still seems to be all over the place right now. Quite high fat foods (namely read meats) have been in the media recently for their potential to cause cancer, which adds to the other diseases like heart disease that they have been blamed for in the past.

Many findings of such a nature tend to be loose relationships between the foods themselves, and the disease that they supposedly cause. These loose connections then get sensationalised by the media until it seems that there is literally nothing that you can eat that is at all good for you. So I wanted to give me take on what a ‘fattening’ and potentially disease causing food is.

As mentioned, a ‘fattening’ food has typically been misinterpreted in the past as a food high in fat. This belief is still being defended by many, and up until recently has been included in government healthy eating guidelines. However, research has caught up, and it now seems that this view is only half (or maybe even less than half) correct.

It is true that foods higher in fat have more calories contained within them (as fat is more calorie dense per gram than carbohydrate or protein). This is where the original misinterpretation undoubtedly came from. So if you’re excessive on any high fat foods it will have a significant impact on your body composition. But there is another more important reason why a food is likely to be fattening. A lot of foods high in fat are actually very good for you. But what it really comes down to is the QUALITY of the food, and therefore the fat contained within it. All types of fat (both saturated and unsaturated) have numerous uses in the body. This is because of the specific nature of fats and the structure that they have. Cells within the body recognise these structures and know exactly how to use them to meet its needs. So if the quality of the food is good (single ingredient/whole foods) then the fats within them are useful. Examples would be poultry, meats, unprocessed dairy and nut based foods. These foods are high in fat and generally NOT ‘fattening.’

But if the food quality is low, the fat quality is also low. The fats have likely been altered and changed in a way that the body doesn’t recognise them. Also, the nutrients in the food aren’t there to help the fat be used properly. This is typical of a food high in hydrogenated fats (processed foods like pies, pastries and margarine spreads). They now cannot be used as usefully in the body. So they have to go down another path, a path that stores then as body fat. Therefore these foods are both high in fat AND ‘fattening.’

This phenomenon, as I’m sure you’re at least partly aware of, can be applied to other food groups. If the quality of the food is low, or the body has no use of what you’re putting into it, then the result will be an increase in stored body fat. The other food group mainly responsible for this are carbohydrates. A lot of high sugar/carbohydrate foods are of poor quality, containing additives that cannot be properly used by the body (like cakes, sweets and biscuits). Also, if at least moderately vigorous exercise is not undertaken, then a person has a limited use for even starchy carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, pasta etc) as fuel. In both situations you will get an increase in body fat stores. These foods can be low in fat AND ‘fattening.’ Carbohydrates are not the enemy to a lot of people, but they need to be earned through activity.

As a final point, any food can be fattening if you’re eating too much of it (standard advice but very true). Also if you’re eating too much in general then it’s your eating habits that are fattening. But just because a food is higher in fat, it shouldn’t be demonised for being so. Emphasise quality over content or amount and you’re most of the way there to achieving better health, fitness and (if this is your goal) appearance.

  If you’re unsure on how to emphasise these quality foods, or if you think your eating habits are off track, then give me a shout and we can approach these together. I’m sure you will find my approach to these very useful. Contact me on:

Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]                     [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon.

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

My Second Powerlifting Competition

As some of you know I competed in my second ever Powerlifting competition the weekend before the one just been (the 17th of Jan). This was another Novice Competition to warm me up for some more major ones later on in the year. Like I did with the first one in August I wanted to write up a breakdown of what happened during the day I competed. So here it is!:

To start with I was a lot more relaxed about the whole thing than the first time out. It was in the same venue so I knew exactly what layout and set up to expect. I knew what structure the competition would take so I wasn’t as stressed about what would happen when. I was also part of a bigger team of more familiar people, which added to the support and comradery I experienced throughout the day. There were about 7 of us this time compared to 4 the first time.

Before the competition I was also less stressed about my weight. The experience of the previous competition where I weighed in too comfortably allowed me to get better feeds in, in the night and morning before I lifted. This helped with general energy levels for sure. So there was less thinking towards ‘just making sure’ and more towards eating properly to help me out. I ended up weighing in at 65kg exactly, which is about the weight I’d want to for any future competitions.

There seemed to be a less nervous atmosphere in the warm up area this time around and all warm ups went smoothly. I was in a smaller wave of lifters so there was less time between lifts. I think less waiting time suited me a bit better as I can recover a lot better now, and it allowed me to sustain a bit more momentum, especially on the deadlifts.

So now to the important parts, the lifts! The lifts went very much like they did in the first competition, and you’ll see why if you read on.

My first squat nerves were definitely the same as last time. I was opening on 135kg, compared to 125kg in my first competition. Although nervous, I got this out the way no problem. I had pre-planned to use this competition to try and hit personal bests so I only went up to 140kg for the second lift. There was a slight sticking point in the middle but for the first time trying to do the weight it was a very decent lift. My last attempt was 145kg. I was a bit hesitant and tipped forwards on the way down a bit. I counteracted it, which only ended up with me pretty much vertical at the bottom. At that point I would have pretty much had to defy the laws of physics to push it back up. So I got 2 out of 3 squats again, but 5kg up on the last competition (and a personal record!). Despite the failure at 145kg I think I’m really starting to get into a good groove on the squats. I’ve worked on controlling the decent more and it seems to by paying off.

For bench press I opened at 90kg, compared to 85kg last time. This first lift again went up no problem, which is what openers are for really! I went for a 5kg increase for my second lift and failed twice at 95kg, again! I failed twice at this in the last competition so this doubled the frustration. I think the commands make a huge difference in the competitions. You’re not 100% sure when you can start pressing the bar back up. My sticking point is still in the middle. Most people can grind through this but I seem to either lift it fine or just stop! So from now on I’m going to train bench press with commands ALL the time. I’m also going to work on widening my grip in order to stop me sticking so much in the middle. This allows my chest to work more for more of the lift so I don’t stick on my triceps when they come into play.

I didn’t get as down on myself this time and was looking forward more to the deadlifts. Between bench press and deadlift is still the time where my energy level dropped the most. It was noticeably not as significant this time though. I opened at 165kg on deadlift. This was up from 150kg last time. No problem with the opener again. For my second lift I increased 10kg this time, to my existing PR of 175kg. This went up better than it had done before, despite a bit of mid-back rounding. So I had another attempt to look forward to, the last lift of the day. I wanted to finish on a high again so went for 180kg to finish. It came off the floor quite quickly, but the rest of the lift felt like it took 1000 years to eventually get to the top! Looking back at the video it didn’t take as long as I thought. But either way I just kept the bar moving and eventually locked it out. A good lift to finish and another personal record!

So all in all my total was 410kg, up from 387.5kg in the last competition. I improved on all my competition lifts and got 2 PRs. I won my weight category too, which was an added bonus. A good day all round.

Writing this now (Tues after the competition) I feel pretty beat up and tired. But I’m enjoying the chance to rest before going for another training program next week. I need to improve my bench press, which will be the main focus this time. The next competition is on home turf. The GB Powerlifting Federation are having the Cumbrian Championships in Carlisle, at The Sands Centre, on July 3rd. This competition will allow me to qualify for the main North West Divisional Championships in November. I already have the total needed but need to replicate or better it in an official open competition.

There will be a more information based post coming at you again next week, so look out for that!

Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

The Use of Liquid Protein

In this week’s post I wanted to touch a bit on the use of liquid proteins. My wife Leanne actually suggested that I do this as a topic due to the confusion that can surround these types of products.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have recently stopped taking my post-exercise protein shake due to the calorie content being partly responsible for my increased difficulty to drop the bit of weight I need for my Powerlifting competition weight category. In my opinion, when it comes down to it, you’ve really got to ask yourself if taking protein in this form is worth it. This can be for goal related factors like body composition changes, or related to other factors (like financially, as a lot of these things are very expensive!).

For me I found that it was not worth it. This has been confirmed by the fact that my training and strength has actually improved in the most part since stopping my protein shakes. Having to compromise in other areas of my nutrition clearly wasn’t worth the trade-off in recovery and performance.

These are the 2 reasons why liquid protein is effective; recovery and performance. Recovering from exercise and the performance of subsequent bouts of exercise are the factors that allow you to get more, and more out, of your exercise sessions. But do you really need it?

I tell my clients that you should try and get the protein you need from whole ‘single ingredient’ foods. That means 3-4 hits of quality protein every day. Ideally (but not 100% necessary) one of these should come within 2 hours before exercise, and one should come within 2 hours after exercise. If your day doesn’t allow this, don’t stress about it too much.

This is the first instance where a protein based shake may be beneficial. If you cannot see yourself getting any kind of decent nutrition post-exercise, then a quick and easy shake can be useful and easily absorbed. This allows the body to more instantly begin to recover from the exercise you’ve just performed. But again, do you really need it?

Another instance a protein shake may be useful is before bed. During sleep is the time your body is recovering the most. So giving it the things it needs to recover is a good idea, and one of these things is protein. However, consuming calories quite close to bed time can potentially disrupt your sleep patterns. This is more likely with solid food, so a liquid form can be a less disruptive alternative. But again, again, do you really need it?

Another thing I always tell clients is that you should never SUBSTITUTE food for liquid shakes. Whole foods are healthier in general and a lot of protein products can be littered with additives and low quality. So liquid protein is something that should be considered ON TOP OF a person’s normal food intake.

So when it comes down to it a person only needs liquid protein if their protein needs outstrip the amount they can take in through food. Protein dense foods fill you up quicker and are less easily digested. Therefore it can come to a point where protein synthesis is just not high or quick enough just in solid food form. This will only happen if you are training many times per week with no rest days, or multiple times per day. Bodybuilders and performance sports people usually come under this banner. A quicker and fuller recovery will be required for these people.

Is this you? I realise your performance in all your training sessions is of paramount importance. But if this isn’t you then chances are if you’re performing below optimum levels in these sessions, it probably isn’t because your recovery is compromised through lack of protein. I would look at other factors like sleep, the type of food you’re eating (is it quality?) and other nutrient deficiencies. I participate in a performance activity (Powerlifting), which is why I though a bit of extra help couldn’t hurt. But I’ve found that even I don’t really need the extra protein or calories from liquid protein shakes.

If you’re still not 100% convinced either way then why don’t you try it out yourself? Use the information in this article to identify the best times to try it. Weigh up the pros and cons, try it out and see if it works for your individual goals.  If it doesn’t, stop, simple as that.

How did you get on? Let me know on:  

   Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]                     [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon! Until then, Power Through! Danny

[powerthroughpt-blog]

Trying to Lose Weight For The Second Time (But This Time Over Christmas)!

Before my first competition I put up a blog post titled ‘Try to Lose Weight For the First Time.’ The link to this is here:

http://powerthroughpt.tumblr.com/post/123451370509/trying-to-lose-weight-for-the-first-time

The current post is designed to be a bit of an update on how I’m progressing towards my second competition, which isn’t many days away now, on the 17th of January.

Since the last competition I have been in and out (mostly out to be honest) of my weight class (66kg and below). I haven’t been excessive though and have stayed between 65 and 69kg. I certainly haven’t been as much as the 71kg I was before trying to drop weight the first time. Writing this I am currently sitting at 66.9kg after Christmas and new year, with 2 weeks to go. I made sure I had dropped to the weight I should be before Christmas, in order for me to enjoy the festive period more. This reflects my approach to goal achievement. If you’re likely to experience something that is not in agreement with your goals, take it into account and plan for it. Compensate during other times so you can still enjoy these life events. No problem, no stress needed.

All in all I’m probably in a worse position than I was 2 weeks before the last competition. But the good news is that my weight in is at 9am this time (as opposed to 12 noon) so I can have breakfast after it. Therefore my morning weight is a better reflection of what it will be in the weigh in.

Honestly, I’m finding it a lot harder to drop weight this time around. I’ve had to adapt and compromise a lot more than last time, but still allowing myself to relax a bit from time to time. I put this down to having more muscle mass than before the last competition. I think this is from doing more higher volume accessory work. This has definitely made my muscles bigger and stronger, which can only be a good thing!

But like I said, it’s made the weight loss process a bit harder. So this is what I’ve had to do with regards to my diet in order to compensate:

1. I’ve ditched my post-workout protein shake. This was nearly 300 calories per day and proper food is more important. 2. I’ve cut my portion of carbohydrates from my lunch. I’m now just on veg and a protein source. Again, this isn’t because carbohydrates are the enemy. I’ve found that I can do this without suffering any negative effects so it’s a sensible way to cut out a bit of food. 3. I’m eating food 3 times a day for most days now, instead of 4. Therefore most days I cut out my midday snack. This is especially on days that I don’t exercise. It generally isn’t needed on these days. Doing this also allows me to have a slightly larger tea, so I don’t go to bed hungry (which I hate). 4. When I knew I had a potentially big meal on the way (e.g. Christmas dinner) I compensated by eating less of other things during this day. It’s these small amounts of planning and compensation that can really help. I personally think this is what has helped me the most. 5. Any Christmas related luxuries (chocolate and cheese for me) I’ve had in small amounts of each day, rather than having massive binges. This does take restraint and will-power, but if you can do it, it pays off by increasing both of these qualities in you.

All this has managed to limit any weight gain over December/New Year to just a couple of pounds. I’m judging this as a success!

How successful were you? Let me know on:

    Phone/Text: 07738235230 Facebook:    www.facebook.com/PowerThroughPersonalTraining Email:          [email protected]                     [email protected]

I’ll be back with another post very soon!

Until then, Power Through! Danny