HPC-UK Bitesize (Training): Music Ramps Up Performance

Enter any gym or sports facility and you’ll see athletes during some, if not all of their sessions listening to their iPod/ MP3 players. Many athletes feel that specific music helps to create a beneficial environment to get into the training groove. A recent study by Cal State University (Fullerton) shows that they may be right.

The study found improved performance in explosive exercise when listening to self-selected music. Intensity is a key component in increasing muscle mass, strength and power. Utilising the right kind of music might be an easy method of achieving this aim.

To help you on the road to all around general awesomeness load up your iPod with this Badassery (www.deepseagreen.co.uk) and smash up those sessions.

Reference:

Journal Strength Conditioning Research, 26: 1934-1938, 2012

HPC-UK Bitesize (Health): Weight Training = Medicine?

Even among active adults there is a loss of about 20 percent of their muscle mass between the ages of 40 and 60 years. Muscle loss, known as Sarcopenia, causes reduced metabolic rate, progressive fat accretion, decreased control of blood sugar and reduced quality of life.

Wayne Wescott (Quincy College, Massachusetts), in a review of the current literature, concluded that weight training increases lean mass and metabolic rate while decreasing body fat in middle- and older-aged adults.

Weight training was also found to improve physical performance, walking speed, quality of life, mental function and self-esteem. In addition it improves blood sugar regulation, blood fat levels, preserves bone density and lowers blood pressure. It may also reduce back pain and joint discomfort associated with arthritis.

Weight training is a key component in any wellness program, but especially for middle- and older-age adults.

Reference:

Current Sports Medicine Reports, 11: 209-216, 2012

HPC-UK Bitesize (Nutrition): After Weight Loss, Low Fat Diets Promote Weight Gain

Many people lose 25 to 50 pounds or more in a year. The secret is maintaining the weight loss.

After significant weight loss, metabolic rate slows by as much as 20 percent. A study from Boston Children’s Hospital found that dietary composition affects metabolic rate after weight loss.

Researchers examined young adults who lost 10-15 percent of their bodyweight. Low fat diets decreased metabolic rate more than low or very low carbohydrate diets. However, most weight loss ‘experts’ still recommend low fat diets for weight loss. The study showed that these diets promote weight gain and trigger high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, abdominal fat deposition and poor blood sugar regulation.

The best strategy for preventing weight gain after significant weight loss is to reduce sugar and glycemic load rather than restrict fat intake.

Reference:

Journal of American Medical Association, 307: 2627-2634, 2012

What are you going to do with yours?

Just to plant a little seed in your head, consider the following:

'There are more possible connections in the human brain than there are atoms in the known Universe'.

With that phenomenal amount of potentiality, are you really making the most of yours?

What’s Keeping You from Success?

When I taught Phys Ed I would see a whole range of abilities; from kids who could precisely place a football into a 1 metre spot from a minimum of 50m away, to others who would seemingly not be able to hit a 5x5m target from 10m away. Now in terms of outcomes those results are miles apart.

But here’s the thing, in terms of execution the difference is sometimes so subtle, it takes a trained eye to be able to spot it. Literally, a millimetre, or a quarter of a degree angle of attack, off of the precise spot upon impact could be the cause of the huge variation in the end result.

In the above example, the difference in execution was miniscule, but with distance the difference became progressively larger. So the difference in success or failure wasn’t actually the vast distances seen as a result (measurable in hundreds of metres), it was a tiny discrepancy in execution (measurable in millimetres).

This may be the case in your own life. What may seem like an abysmal failure (the result), could possibly be caused by a small disparity in some action (execution). So small differences, especially when compounded by time or repetition, can cause dramatic differences in effect.

If you have something you really want to achieve but it always seems to end in failure, try to think about small, seemingly inconsequential, actions you could take that may over time turn your previous failures into success.

This is a concept I use in the Lean for Life program. We make a small progression each week that over time (we use a 6 month timeline) will lead to a big outcome. And as each progressive action is supported by the previous actions, the momentum of the program grows as the time continues, but it actually gets easier as the program continues (and the first action is really easy, and if it’s not we’ll modify it so it is).

If you want to lose weight, have a look at the program and I’d love for you to get in touch.

Lean for Life Program

Stop Lying!!!

The key to success in any endeavour starts with one thing- who you believe you are and what you believe you are capable of.

Obviously HPC-UK is concerned with helping people develop their body and minds to fulfil their potential. So I get to speak to many people who are not happy with their body, their minds not so much; which is a shame because the unfulfilled potential in their body pails into insignificance compared to what they could do with their minds.

The reason 99.9% of these people have failed, and continue to fail to achieve progress with their body, is that their belief in 'who they are' dictates this.

Case in point = Me.

My body is athletic; it has a good level of muscle mass and low bodyfat percentage. I can co-ordinate various parts with precision and so on, etc, etc...for most of my adult life I've been 13 - 13 1/2 stone at approximately 6% bodyfat.

Why is this so? Because of my self belief that 'I'm an athlete'.

Okay so now you're saying, of course you believe you're an athlete when you have that body, that can do those things and you compete...DUH!!!

You honestly couldn't be further from the truth.

My body is that way, because I wholeheartedly believe it to be so. I have no doubt in my mind that I'm an athlete...three years ago my body disagreed.

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, a fairly aggressive cancer, but fortunately due to the great work of scientists worldwide and the amazing, AMAZING people in the NHS, very treatable. So 9 months of Chemotherapy, end result being lots of vacuuming around the house (hair loss), huge muscle loss, huge fat gain, nerve damage (intermittent loss of feeling alternating with periods of intense pins and needles), lung damage, and cardiovascular damage (heart and blood vessels).

I ended up at 14 1/2 stone at approximately 20 percent bodyfat, not being able to effectively feel my hands and feet, not being able to walk the length of a street without feeling exhausted and out of breath, mitochondrial dysfunction, and as for co-ordination, well, the chemo-brain did a wicked number on that.

One thing didn't change, in fact it became even more resolute in my mind….'I'm a mudda-funking athlete'. My body at that point certainly wasn't what I would consider athletic. I however, mindfully disagreed back.

Had I agreed, I would still be in the same, if not worse, shape now. Why? Because if I no longer saw or believed that I was an athlete, I didn't really 'need' to do certain things. Maybe I still 'should' do these things, but as we know 'should’s' don't usually happen. When you truly 'need' to do something, in fact a better term to use would be 'must'...when we 'must' do something, it gets done...period. And when we take the right actions and get them done, we get the right results. After all, outcomes don't occur without actions.

As an athlete, I must train. Specifically, as a sprinter I must sprint. To support my sprinting I must weight train. To support my weight training I must eat the correct foods. A big part of sprinting is co-ordination and reaction speed, so I developed a training and nutrient supplement to improve this. I can't carry 20 percent bodyfat and still hope to move fast, so that too must be changed. And it would be a good idea to be able to feel your hands and feet, so again I developed a nutritional protocol to assist in the repairing of my nerves. I sought out the best information and practiced it consistently and frequently.

Where am I today? 13 stone at 10% bodyfat (and still getting leaner, I'm not rushing this as some of the toxins from the chemo' are stored in the fat cells which makes me ill if released too quickly). I'm completing higher quality sessions than I ever did in my earlier career and aiming towards some big things in the next few years.

Now honestly, if you're always 'wanting' to lose weight, or continually dieting, why do you never really achieve your goal? Be really honest, what is the story you tell yourself? Do you believe you're a cover model or do you actually just tell yourself you're fat and never really truly believe this will change? If it's the latter, guess what, you're right. If you believe you're fat and have tried 'everything' to lose weight, then you'll always remain the same, even if you temporarily lose a bit. Why? Because if you believe this, your actions will reflect it.

If you truly believe you're a cover model, then that bottle of wine and sharing size packet of crisps, although appealing doesn't get consumed. They may indulge occasionally but not frequently. The things they do practice frequently are train, eat goal supportive meals and generally organise their environment to ensure that specific actions are taken.

If you believe you're fat and out of shape, then you're much more likely to make decisions and take actions that affirm this, or tend to gravitate towards people who affirm this for you, and you for them. You change your standards to reflect your vision.

If this is you, and you're happy with it, fine. Nobody really (really, really...) cares. But make the decision and live with it, stop saying you 'wish this' or 'wish that'. No you don't. You simply are lying to yourself. If it's important to you, you'll find a way. If it's not, you'll find an excuse.

If you really want to make progress with a facet of your life, make the decision. Be honest about what you want, and get it clear in your head where you want to be. Think about what you need to do to get there (here’s a hint: look at what the majority do, and do the opposite). Find the absolute best information you can to achieve your goal. Then frequently (every day) do those things.

‘We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.’ ~ Aristotle

Maximum Weight Loss Calculator

Back in January I wrote an article that briefly described a recent representative study which suggested that for permanent fat loss there is a specific threshold that if crossed will compromise your metabolism and future ability to maintain weight. You can read that article by following the link here Link to Article

Thanks to two very smart individuals I've been able to put together a simple, easy to use calculator that provides you with a figure for how much weight you can lose without overstepping this 'metabolic killing' threshold.

All you need to do is follow this link (http://www.hpc-uk.net/5.html) and open up the 'Maximum Weight Loss Calculator'. In the calculator simply enter your current weight and the period of time you are aiming to focus specifically on fat loss. The calculator will return the maximum amount of weight you can lose (for the entire period) without disrupting your metabolism and your end weight.

Give it a shot.