This morning, my lovely wife was looking for motivation in order to reach her fitness goals so she started looking for people that have attained the physique she’s working towards in 2012. This act is a very motivational and powerful tool to not only keep you going but to give you a constant reminder of what you’re after.

It’s part of a visualisation excercise that some people call dream boarding or vision boarding, where you collect images of things you aspire to be, do  and have such as cars, holidays, houses etc but for the purpose of this blog, which is related to fitness, I’m going to set a challenge to you to find images of a person or people you’d like to benchmark yourself against.

You can of course have more than one and they can be for various different reasons, be it aesthetic, overall health etc. You can even expand this into other areas such as financial, career or character benchmarks.

This reminds me of what world renowned motivational speaker, Anthony Robbins says, “Choose someone who is the best in your field and do what they do” in other words, this exercise will help you because you can find out and study the person(s) you’ve chosen!

I’m going to share one of mine and I do hope you’ll share yours with me in the comments.

 

Well this is the first post of 2012 and once again, I’d like to wish you a very happy New Year!

If like most people, you’ve thought about goals for the new year and reflected on 2011, you’ve probably set some New Years Resolutions.

That in itself isn’t a bad thing, being goal orientated is a good thing (although I don’t understand why the majority of people are only goal orientated at this time of the year)

Anyway, i’m here to tell you that in actual fact, New Years Resolutions kinda suck! Why? Well think about it… How many people set them? and now… how many people forget about their new years resolutions a month, a few weeks or even a few days into the new year? You see, from a Neuro Linguistic Programming point of view, when you set a New Years resolution, your subconscious mind will think, “Okay, i’m setting a resolution for the new years… what does that mean?” and then it goes to its database of all the information you’ve ever put into it and chances are it pulls out a card from a file drawer that reads

“New Years Resolutions: A well meaning goal that most people forget about after a few weeks of setting them”… in other words, you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.

But what if  we used a goal setting exercise to enhance the chances of us keeping to our resolve?

You may have heard of a SMART goal before. so if you’ve set a resolution to lose weight, make more money, gain a new career, quit smoking or whatever, let’s set it as a SMART goal!

The acronym SMART stands for:

Specific
It’s no good just telling yourself you want to lose weight or make more money in 2012… that’s too vague and from the point of view of the subconscious mind, it gives it very little information and zero motivation. I mean you could make an extra £1 or $1 and that’s making more money or it could just mean losing 1lbs… Be specific such as “I will lose 10lbs of by  the 31st of January 2012 by eating smarter and working out more”… Now that’s more specific and adds a bit of motivation as you have an actual target. Also set an emotional reason for your goal or a Why? Why do you want to achieve that goal? Maybe your goal is to make more money this year? Perhaps the emotional attachment to that goal could be  to take your kids to Disneyworld this year?

Measurable
Following of from Specific goals, you want your goals to be measurable. This can be easier with quantifiable things like money, weight etc. Also set targets. It will keep you motivated if you break your goals down into smaller chunks. For example, if you’ve set the goal to lose 10lbs by the 31st of January, you can break them down into 2.5lbs per week!

Attainable / Action Planned
A goal is nothing in my opinion without a plan of action. If it is attainable, then there must be a plan attached to it. Anyone can set a goal and most people do. The problem is most people don’t plan it out and don’t understand what it takes to attain that goal. This is where you will need to seek out what you need in order to attain your goal, what knowledge you need etc and then plan it! Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to…? Right you got it!

Relevant/Realistic
I’m all for being positive but you need to be realistic too. Make sure your goals are realistic and relevant to you. Realistic in the terms that if you’ve set a goal to become an olympic standard sprinter and you’re technically obese, chances are, it’s not going to happen this year. Also make sure it’s relevant to your goals. There’s no point setting a goal to qualify as a IFA if you’ve no interest in finance!

Timed
This is related to measurable goals. Set goals in a timeline so you know when you want to achieve something by and when you want to achieve the stepping stones. Saying I will be 12% body fat is almost just a dream until you give it a deadline and saying I will be 12% body fat by 1st June 2012 – right in time for the beach! is much more powerful!

All the best!

Fahad

 

Hi everyone!

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very warm and merry seasons greetings for the holiday season.

As 2011 draws to an end, i’m sure we’ve all reflected on our year and now thinking of setting goals for the new year. Now your goals will be personal to you. Some of them will be financial, some will be related to your passions, family or other interests but I implore you, if you haven’t already done so, to set some health related goals.

Remember, your health is your best asset and you are your number 1 investment both in mind and body. So if you haven’t already done so, think of some health related goals for 2012. They may be to lose weight, get fitter, gain muscle mass or get fit for competition but whatever they may be, i’d like to help you.

In 2012, I will be sharing weekly fitness tips to members of my mailing list. These will be tips to help keep you informed and motivated and maybe even entertained so if you haven’t done so already, please sign up to my mailing list! (The form is on the right under the pic of the woman)

Here’s to 2012! Happy New Year!

Fahad

 

Martin Rooney, for those of you that don’t know, is an expert when it comes to functional training for pro athletes and fighters. Having worked with some of the worlds top fighters and athletes including NFL, NBA and MLB stars.

To me, Martin is to fitness what Tony Robbins is to the world of self help and not only does he share great wisdom when it comes to training for fights or for competition in any sport, but his wisdom of life or his “Rooney Rules” are very thought provoking.

Anyway, back to the book.

Any fighter who takes their training seriously would like to get stronger and more conditioned. The trouble is, the fight sport industry is littered with die hard traditions and old school mehods of doing things. In today’s day and age where we have all these new scientific break throughs in training, it is important to keep upto date and learn how to not only train harder but smarter as well.

With the advent of mixed martial arts as a mainstream sport and mixed martial arts athletes dedicating their lives to their training, we now see a new wave of combat sports fitness routines and many of them can be found in this book. Rooney goes through a detailed journey around the world focussing on various arts that will interest not only a mixed martial artist, but any martial artist or fighter from any discipline. His travels take him from learning Muay Thai in Thailand at the legendary Fairtex gym, Kickboxing in Holland with Meijiro gym, Boxing, Sambo Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Western wrestling and boxing and combines traditional training methods with more modern practices.

The book has a comprehensive collection of excercises and detailed photos of each with discriptions. It also contains a series of “Warrior” Challenges where you can measure your current level of fitness and conditioning in various areas, training programs to improve on those areas and the Warrior challenges also make a great way of charting your progress!

Whilst the book is geared more towards practitioners of Mixed Martial Arts, anyone from any style of combat sport can

 Training for Warriors by Martin Rooney is avaiable to purchase from Amazon.com

Ok, this one sounds like a no brainer but it amazes how we know that we need to eat but most of us don’t know HOW to eat.

Just yesterday at the gym, I was speaking to someone who asked me for advice on reducing fat around their stomach and increasing mass in their abs.. yup folks, the number 1 question of how to get cut abs.

When I questioned this person on their diet, I was shocked to hear that they only ate once a day and at 10pm no less. To make it worse, this person said they eat pasta and chicken. The fallacy that pasta is good for you is another issue in itself but let’s debunk the number one mistake people make when trying to burn fat or lose weight and that is EATING LESS AND STARVING YOURSELF IS NOT HOW TO LOSE FAT!

If anything, starving yourself triggers your body’s fat storage mode because it goes into survival mode. Chances are, with one meal a day, you’re way below your calorie consumption is way below your requirements are to maintain your basal metabolic rate. What this means is that not only does your metabolic rate slow down but you’re store fat and burn muscle instead! Hardly what you want when you’re trying to gain muscle and burn fat right?

The trick to boost your metabolic rate and to put your body in a fat burning mode is to actually eat more meals. Whilst sticking within your daily caloric intake (we will discuss how to work your caloric requirements in another article) but spreading your meals across 6-8 smaller meals is the key to accelerating your metabolic rate.  A good analogy is to that of a fire, by constantly topping up a fire with with wood, you keep it burning, much like your metabolism.

Eating Protein at every meal is also quite important. Not only does protein help with cell reproduction, it also increases the metabolic rate slightly since it contains thermogenic properties.

Eating Carbohydrates is important to be energised as well as maintaining sanity but choosing both the sources of your carbohydrates and the timings of when you eat them is key to keeping the fat off. Starchy carbohydrates are all well and good but cut out refined carbohydrates, sugars and crap out of your diet (Chips, crisps, sweets, white breads, white pastas etc). Carbohydrates affect your insulin levels and there is something called the glycemic index which scales how quickly and highly a carbohydrate spikes your insulin. Foods higher on the glycemic index should be avoided except after training in your post workout meal/shake (however, the glycemic index is a simplistic way to look at this as combining foods effects the overall glycemic load but you’ll still find the best sources of carbs in the lower end of the glycemic index)

Eating Fats is also essential to fat loss… that’s right, I said eat fat! Like carbs though, all fats are not created equal. It’s saturated fats you’ll want to minimise along with trans fatty acids and hydrogenated fats (fats that are solid at room temperature like butter). Fried foods are also a nono. Good fats are mono unsaturated fats, omega 3s and omega 6s. Good sources of these include avocados, fish, seeds and nuts. Just be careful to remember that fats are calorie dense so it’s a good idea to not over do your fat consumption. I’m also a fan of not combining fats and carbs in meals. So make your last few meals later on in the day protein and fat meals unless you workout later at night.

So in summary here are a few pointers on how to eat.

1. Eat smaller more frequent meals (6-8 smaller meals per day)

2. Consume protein with every meal

3. When eating carbohydrates, consume them during  the day and make them come from sources such as vegetables and low glycemic whole foods. Starchy carbs should be eaten around training and high glycemic carbs straight after a workout.

4. Choose healthy fats. Avocados, nuts and natural nut butters, seeds, fish, fish oil supplements and flax seed oils are good.

5. Eat nutrient dense vegetables every day (greens etc)

6. Try not to consume too much fats and carbs in the same meal

7. drink lots and lots of water!

8. Avoid sugars, refined carbohydrates and convenience foods where you can.

Yeah, 6-8 meals can take some planning particularly if you have a busy schedule but getting into a habit of preparing your meals the night before and packing convenient snack foods (fruit, vegetables, protein bars, hard boiled eggs, food in tupperware containers) will help. Remember, it’s all about developing healthy habits so don’t make being busy an excuse to not getting your meals in (when I had busy days at university, I remember eating a meal in the toilets haha)

Remember, you can make excuses or you can make progress but you can’t do both!

 

I had an interesting conversation yesterday after training with a few guys at the gym. Whilst some of us were there mixing our post workout shakes in our branded shakers, a few guys questioned us on our need for them. Some stating “you should get your protein from real food” and others just saying how damn expensive supplements are!

Now, I was one of those in the protein shake camp who gulped down a strawberry flavoured post workout shake which I thought was quite yummy but it got me thinking. I was a bit of a slave to supplements early on in my training career, gulfing down as many pills and potions as I could afford expecting some miracle of  epic proportions of performance enhancement to occur but I didn’t really feel that much different.

Lately, i’ve cut down on supplement use, mostly due to financial factors. I actually feel no difference during my workouts now than I did when I took expensive NOS pre workout stimulants (though I have a very potent workout stimulant and that’s my desire to be the best I can be!). Although I cannot deny that pre workout stimulants can help give you a buzz and I do have good experiences with them, it seems as though people now a days feel as though their workouts will be total failures without them. Many supplements on the market are not essential however, I will say that supplements do have their purposes.

As I stated earlier, I did have a post workout shake. I think if you’re going to have one protein based supplement in your workout armoury, at least have  post workout shake. The reason is simple in my opinion. Firstly, after a gruelling workout, your body is screaming at you for nutrients. Your muscle glycogen will be depleted and if muscle gain is important to you then by not having something quickly, you could force your body into a catabolic state where you’ll lose muscle.

A post workout shake (A shake with high glycemic carbohydrates and fast absorbed protein along with any other goodies to aid recovery) is a quick and convenient hit! It’s not always convenient to have whole food in your gym bag and eat it right after a workout and that short window of opportunity to get your recovery nutrients in could have closed by the time you get home, get cleaned up and cook/prepare your meals. So in that instance, I would definitely recommend a post workout shake.

Supplements, as their name suggest, are there to supplement your diet. And frankly, it is hard to get all the nutrients we need especially with all the processed food around and nutrients in whole foods not being as potent as they once were if you make wise choices you can cut back on supplements and keep them to a minimum. A protein shake to top up your protein is OK as are essential fats (Udo’s oil is highly recommended) and a good multi vitamin too but if you’re training on a budget, don’t be fooled into thinking you need every supplement under the sun. Remember, supplement companies and the magazines (most of whom are actually owned by supplement companies) want you to be dependant  on them and all the latest and greatest pills and potions out there but if you eat unprocessed whole foods, quality proteins and fats you can keep your supplement use down.

In conclusion, suppements do serve a good purpose. I highly recommend post workout shakes that are designed for such purpose as it cuts down your recovery time and helps you train harder sooner, and supplements to help you meet your daily requirements of proteins, vitamins and essential fats are good if you’re not getting them from whole food but there is also a lot of hype about supplements too and lots of fads and trends that are here today and gone tomorrow so be weary and do your research!

Chok Dee!

Fahad

 

One of the many properties an aspiring Thai, Low Kick Kickboxer or even MMA fighter requires are conditioned shins and one of the questions I get asked frequently is just how do you condition your shins? Should I kick trees like in the Jean Claude Van Damme movie, Kickboxer? Tap them with bottles? Roll them with Rolling pins?

Well there are certainly many methods employed to getting the shins conditioned to a level where by you can fight and check leg kicks however, due to misinformation and a lack of understanding about the body, Some of these methods utilized by trainers and fighters alike actually could be detrimental to the body in years to come.

The idea that the shin can become harder, due to calcium deposits developing over the shin bone or the bone itself getting harder is somewhat of a myth. A conditioned shin comes in various parts.

1. The nerves surrounding the shin have been weakened or deadened so the pain is not as excruciating as it was before shin conditioning started.
2. A lot of it can be psychological. In a fight anyway, adrenaline will be responsible for the fact that you might not feel the shin on shin contact as greatly as you would in training. Tell yourself that there’s no pain and carry on fighting.
3. Correct technique. The way you block a leg kick can also be a factor in the amount you feel when you check.

So what’s wrong with hitting trees or tapping shins with bottles and sticks?
Well, when you hit the shins with anything that’s harder than the bone you run the risk of causing tiny stress fractures on your shin. In the short term this may deaden the nerves however, in the long term this could actually weaken the shins causing pain and injury, even arthritis later on in life.

And what about kicking trees? Hey didn’t the Thai’s kick trees back in the day? 
Before I went out to Thailand I had this vision of Thai’s just whacking away at trees. Haha how wrong I was. Nope, in this day and age, no trees are harmed in the making of a Thai Boxer however, it is true that before, Thais kicked the trunks of soft banana trees (the trunks were very rubbery and soft thus not like kicking an oak tree) The trunk of the trees they’d hit would be so soft in fact that they would make makeshift hand wraps with the strips of bark from where they kicked.

So how exactly do you condition your shins?
The tried and tested method is to basically kick the bags and pads AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!!

The harder the pads and bags, the better the conditioning however, you must start at a level where by you are not feeling as if you are damaging yourself. After all, what’s the point in hitting the bags that are so hard that you are all bruised and battered and then can’t hit for at least a week?

Sure you will feel some pain on your legs after training but with the right treatment (Massage, Ice etc) you’ll be good to go for the next training session.

In Thailand I would see fighters train on the bags kicking away at them morning and afternoon, continuously kicking with one leg for over 3 rounds then switching to the next leg. This amount of kicking is the correct way of conditioning your shins. Along with patience and perseverance (Hey, it’s not going to happen over night in fact it could take at least 6 months of training like this)

Kicking leather Thai pads should also be placed as a mandatory training drill in your shin conditioning regimen.

What about sparring?
Sparring is a great way to condition shins and get used to blocking but it must be done with shin pads on as stated above, you must try not to strike your own shin with anything as hard as or harder than except of course for in a fight.

So It’s all about deadening nerves?
Not entirely. As stated above it is also a psychological process. Another thing to help condition shins is to condition the muscles that are surrounding the shins. These muscles are usually worked out from the intense amounts of running and skipping a Thai boxer will do. The Thai style of running, whereby you strike the road/floor with the ball of your feet and stay on your toes, works the Calf muscles which in turn builds the muscle defenses on the side of the shin. As is the same with skipping.

So remember ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Train hard but train smart and train safe!

Keep your guard up and Chok Dee!

 

 

Protein seems to be a big buzz word in the vocabulary of anyone interested in their fitness or sports nutrition and rightly so as it is one of the macronutrients alongside fats and carbohydrates (Yeah, alcohol is a macronutrient too but you don’t need that to survive so we won’t mention them as an essential)

Cynics amongst us may think that too  much emphasis has been given to protein in order for supplment companies to sell us more of their wonderful protein powders and ready to drink shakes and potions but let’s see what protein’s all about and why, as a fighter or someone interested in fitness in general, a diet rich in protein is a good idea!

So what exactly is protein?

Every cell in our body is made up of protein and the protein we consume is made up of amino acids. Our bodies use the amino acids which are digested from the protein we eat in order to build more protein help repair cell tissue and help them regenerate.

Now our bodies can generate some amino acids itself which are "non essential" but the rest have to come from food and these are called "essential amino acids" These can come from a variety of sources including:

• Meat
• Fish
• Dairy products
• Supplements
• Beans, Legumes, Pulses
• Soy products

Some of the sources above are better than others. "Complete protein sources" provide all of the essential amino acids and are usually found in meat, fish and supplements whilst "incomplete protein sources" do not have all essential amino acids and are typically found in vegetable protein sources.

Protein aids in the building of muscle tissue which is extremely important for a fitness lifestyle because lean muscle mass is good!

Why do you need it?

Like I just said, Lean muscle mass is a good thing but put it this way, When you work out or put your body through strenuous activity, you’re putting your body through stress which means cells and muscle take a beating and need to be repaired. Ever had that achey sore feeling a few days after a gruelling workout? That’s called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or D.O.M.S. for short which are micro tears in the muscles from over use. Protein helps rebuild the muscle tissue and help generate new muscle tissue too so if you’re looking to gain muscle mass, adequate protein is required. So it’s good for gaining muscle and recovery. It is also beneficial for rehabilitation from injury.

How much should you take?

Mostly, this depends on your body and your activity levels but an active person should have, in my opinion, between 1-2 grams of protein per lbs of lean muscle mass per day. It should also make up around 30-40% of your total caloric intake but this again depends on your requirements and a more in depth approach should be taken.

If you’re not too active and are just interested in healthy eating or weight loss, I would still recommend eating up to  1 gram of protein per lbs of lean muscle mass.

It helps you lose weight!

Imagine that your metabolism is like a furnace, a fat burning furnace (or at least a calorie burning one). Lean muscle mass keeps that furnace working harder thus making it burn more calories. Therefore the more lean muscle mass your body is comprised of as opposed to fat and water, the more calories you can burn even during resting periods. Since protein helps with muscle synthesis, it will help you lose weight. Also when you’re trying to lose weight, chances are you’ll lose some muscle which means a weaker furnace but making sure you’re getting adequate intake of protein will keep you from losing much muscle.

 

Hi everyone!

Just a quick note to sy thank you for your patience and bear with me as I renovate my site! Thank you!