Bullshit, Brawn and Business

How To Maximise Your Energy. Lacking motivation to workout or to stay on track with your diet? Don't worry we all do from time to time. Some of us deal with it better than others and battle through it, whilst others completely 'fall off the wagon'.  In this post I'm going to outline the most effective strategies that are most likely to help you get the most out of everyday. These are strategies that I use myself and although have no great amount of science behind them I firmly believe in from personal experience. Attack the day - Make a plan and stick to it! It starts by setting your alarm to the same time each day. I personally get up at 5:30am, drive straight to gym on a week day and get straight out on my roadbike at weekends. Get Shit Done - Instead of a 'To-Do' list have a 'Today' list. That gives you more accountability to actually get shit done rather than put it off and let it mount up. Chances are those tedious tasks won't take...

So the age old question remains; What form of cardio is best? Firstly, 'best' for what exactly? Well, if you're training to lose fat then I'd advise adding some form of cardiovascular exercise in 2-3 times a week to increase the size of your calorie deficit and help speed up your fat loss. So in this post I'm going to give reveal which form of cardio is the best for fat loss. I'm bulking do I still need to do cardio? It's not absolutely essential but I'd strongly advise that you keep at least one cardio session a week in your training schedule to keep you relatively well conditioned as stopping cardio all together will make it even more painful than it already is when you come to diet down and lose fat. What's 'best' HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or LISS (Low Intensity Steady State)? THERE'S NO DIFFERENCE. DO WHAT YOU ENJOY. A benefit to HIIT is that it is often quicker and can be done pretty much anywhere, even in a ho...

So your holiday is 6 weeks away, you've had a sloppy winter and an event packed summer, you get out the shower, look in the mirror and realise you look like a sock full of custard. It's time for drastic action.  First port of call = The internet! Whack in "How to lose fat fast" OR "How to build muscle fast" and BANG up come the results.  Unfortunately 99% of these 'shortcuts' are BULLSHIT! And because I'm so generous I'm going to explain why these 'shortcuts' are BS and explain how to actually get into the condition you want! Myth 1 - Fat Burners - Yes, they do have some benefits such as giving a caffeine boost and therefore mildly suppressing appetite. However, a good strong cup of coffee will also do this and it will save you £££'s. However, the effect of fat burners or coffee will be pretty much non existent if you aren't training 4+ times a week and in a calorie deficit. Myth 2 - Training With Your Hood Up ...

After eating and drinking myself silly over the Christmas period I decided to go on a bit of a cut in the lead up to Easter in order to lose a bit of fat. When I say a 'bit of a cut' I mean I dropped my calories into a deficit of 200 under maintenance. This was the first time that I'd ever purposefully put myself into a calorie deficient for a prolonged period of time and upon reflection it taught me a few things, which I will outline for you below. 1. Meal Timings - Naively when I started out on the cut I thought I'd be able to eat like I had previously when bulking i.e. have a massive breakfast containing around 1200 calories, a decent lunch of around 700 calories, and then a 900 calorie evening meal. However, what I quickly found out when cutting was that eating this way and having the traditional three meals a day caused periods of extreme hunger and massive energy lags. After a number of weeks I realised that instead of having three meals a day at an average of...

Do you desperately want to get fit yet when the going gets tough you struggle for motivation? Do you often don't want to train? Do you often want to want to scrap your diet plan? Do you often find yourself reverting back to their old-self. Why is this? It maybe because you have been pushing yourself too hard too soon. What I see lots in my gym is newcomers joining up and absolutely thrashing themselves in the first couple of sessions. I think we've all thought to ourselves 'I'm going to go extra hard here' when trying something new, and that's great first time around as you get to see your strengths and limitations. However, if you continually try to push yourself to the limit and then some, the chances are you will lose interest as you will either be absolutely knackered all the time and therefore not feeling the benefits of keeping fit or you will have DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) so bad you will be physically incapable of working out. What I'...

When I talk to people about my training, the thing that seems to startle people most is that I train first thing in the morning. What I'm going to do in this article is attempt to explain why I do this. Historically I have never been a morning person, I was the person who would get out of bed at the latest possible moment in order to get somewhere on time but in January 2013 I realised that I was using the excuse 'I don't have time' too often not only in terms of keeping fit but with my work as well. I was right I didn't have time to work out and complete all of my work to a high standard because I would spend the first 3-4 hours of the day procrastinating, thinking about how tired I was and therefore made a change to my lifestyle in order to become more productive. The change was getting my arse up in the morning and train! What I quickly found out is that the hardest part of training in the morning is actually turning up. The 10 seconds between my alarm going ...

Success in the gym, as with most things in life, comes down to mastering the basics. Once you've mastered the basics your more likely to see the results. With that in mind, here are a few exercise tips that nobody wants to believe, but everyone should follow. Take these ideas to heart and you'll reap major benefits. While most people waste time debating the endless stream of supplements, "new" workout programs and diet plans, all you really have to do is focus on these simple concepts and you'll see results. 1. You need to commit for the long term. Most people work out with a short-term goal in mind. I like looking at health in a different way. The goal is not to lose a stone in the next 12 weeks. The goal is to lose weight and improve your health for the rest of your life. The goal is not to bench press 100kg. The goal is to be the guy who never misses a workout. The goal is not to sacrifice everything to get your fastest time in next month...

Being fit is a concept that comes naturally to some people, it even gives them enjoyment. Whilst others struggle to grasp the concept of a training and couldn't think of anything worse than getting up at the crack of dawn to head down to the testosterone fuelled gym to sweat your nuts off and to hear 'Big Al' telling just about anybody who'll listen that he's just set a new bench press PB. But whether you like it or not sooner or later the likelihood is you are going to be told by your partner/friend/doctor that you need to get a little bit fitter; and that thought probably scares the life out of you! Now, the HARDEST part of getting fit is STARTING! This piece of advice can be applied to anything from starting your own business to starting training in order to get fit. The problem with us humans is we live in fear. We fear uncertainty, we fear failure, and therefore we fear trying! I also have a passion for business and I've lost count of the amount of peopl...