The BEN Commandments: Nutrition Part 1

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Welcome to the first instalment of my new series ‘The BEN Commandments’; the rules/principles by which I base how I live my life.

I’m not suggesting for a minute that you should follow every one of these ‘commandments’ with military precision ‘cos if you did I’m pretty sure you’ve got some sort of vacuum going on in that thing attached to your shoulders. This is a list of what works for ME. Saying that, some should be a given whoever you are, wherever you come from.

 

1) Eat ‘real’ food.

I base what I eat on the Paleo erm… Plan? Imagine you’re a cave man/woman (beard and all if you’re taking part in Movember like me). What would you eat? (the picture’s a clue). Was the body designed for refined, processed foods? Me no think so.

Local farms/markets are pretty easy to come by right now, but won’t be if we keep fuelling the Supermarket Beast, who annoy (I mean advertise) the shit outta us… and then pump all their foods with additives and water so it keeps longer and looks bigger.

Next time you’re shopping check the label for nutritional info and I bet there’s a whole host of words that we wouldn’t be able to pronounce without a Chemistry degree.

Crops are less treated (i.e. less/no chemicals involved) and animals are treated better, therefore they’re happier. ‘But I don’t give a shit if the cow was happy or not, I just wanna eat the damn thing’. Allow me to get a bit sciencey on yo’ ass: Stress (even for animals) results in high levels of the hormone cortisol, which is the same story for us. Therefore if we eat meat with high cortisol levels, guess what? Correctamundo.

2) Feast/Fast.

I already wrote a whole post on this point (read here), and I think I’ll do an update soon, so look out for that one. For now I’ll keep it simple – carrying on from #1, if you were a cave man/woman HOW would you eat? You’d hunt in the day and have a mahooosive meaty feast at night. If you didn’t catch anything you’d go hungry, but that’s fine ‘cos it gives the body a chance to restore hormone balances (homeostasis), aslong as you don’t go too long without food – I’m talking around 3 days here.

I fast for the majority of the day (~20 hours) and chow down on a solid 4 meals worth of food in a 2-4 hour window every day. It’s so easy to do knowing I can get my munch on later in the day and I find it convenient not having to worry about eating every couple of hours like I used ’ta.

I have a few cups of coffee (black) in the morning and make sure I keep hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day without breaking my fast (no significant nutritional value). This does go tits up if milk and sugar get involved though.

3) Eat protein with as many meals as possible.

Vital for growth & repair, especially of muscle. Training 4x per week I rip plenty of muscle fibres (myotrauma) and something needs to pick up the pieces and stitch that shit back up again. Fish, chicken, turkey and beef provide the bulk, with diary (eggs, milk and cheese being the support act.)

I’m sure you’d agree even at my improved BW of 140lbs I’m still pretty small. The way I see it, the more (good quality) meat I eat = more muscle gained = more strength. I don’t believe that the body can only take 30g protein per sitting, something I hear banded about all the time (even on the course I had to take to qualify as a PT). Tell Rog Law of  Rog Law Fitness this and I’m pretty sure he’d lay you out with a shovel (he’d do it with a steak but that’s just a mahoosive waste).

4) Be Flexible, Don’t Be a Bore.

Okay so I base my nutrition on Paleo – that doesn’t mean I’m a social hermit or don’t enjoy some refined shizzle every now and again. I enjoy it and if I want some I’m damn well gonna have it. It just ain’t worth the stress of having to turn it down.

I’m a heluva social person (if you wanna go do something with me I’m normally the first to jump at the chance), so don’t let guilt eat you up inside, move the fuck on. If one day I’m doing something that means I have to change from my preferred way of eating I don’t have a panic attack. I just accept it. We all have busy lives so do what fits into your schedule best.

5) There’s no need to count calories.

Considering how ‘obsessive’ you may think I am about food you might be surprised, but let’s face it – It’s just no fun.

Can you really be arsed carrying portable scales around? I know I can’t. I don’t even measure ingredients when I’m cooking (I’m gonna throw myself some man points now, hope you don’t mind).

In some cases doing this can actually lead to eating disorders – I’ve seen this happen for myself.

 

Ben. Get Stronger. Live Longer.

If you’ve got any questions just comment below or on my Facebook.

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day… And Neither Was Santa’s List*

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Too many things today are instant. Yep I said it, and I mean it. ‘Too many’ implies it’s a bad ting, and that’s what I’m suggesting. Do you agree?

Let’s take a second to think about that. Services like LoveFilm and Netflix mean that you can have pretty much any movie on your screen at the flick or a click of a button – do you not remember the days when as a kid you got all excited to go to the video shop? I know I did – a family trip out of the house, the search (literally half an hour to an hour some days) through hundreds if not thousands of titles in actual boxes that you could actually touch. Awesome memory. Then there’s ready meals, a subject I really don’t wanna rant about… But I can feel some Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde shit going on inside me just thinking about it. My last example is communication; Facebook, Twitter, BBM, SMS is all well and good, and don’t get me wrong you’ll struggle to find a day where I don’t use a combination or some/all of these social platforms to keep in contact with you brilliant humans as they all have unique features and uses in different situations today. However (for those old enough to remember), I ask you this; didn’t you ever used to get excited to send anyone a letter, like one in an envelope? (Note: I know that sounds slightly geeky but you may or may not have noticed recently that I couldn’t give a flying fuckbomb). Okay so why do we still send postcards back home to family and friends when we go on our jollies? Why not send Santa – who DOES exist you haterz – a cheeky e-mail with your Christmas list? Sure it’d make his life easier all automated and that.

Okay so I’m only 21 you may say – but I’ve got my ‘wise head’ on today. Even so, you might not wanna carry on reading… Remove yourself if this is the case, the rest of us don’t want you here no more. ‘Like it or lump it’. Anyways, as a society nowadays we expect things and we expect them NOW. Unfortunately for me and my fellow fitness professionals this goes for progress with fitness goals too. You wanna lose some fat? Cool. You wanna bench 265lbs? We can graft to make that happen too. The catch? It don’t just happen overnight.

I start life as a qualified PT next Thursday, 15TH November and I’m gonna admit that I have a slight worry that this view on life by the majority of society could hamper my new career… initially anyway. The scenario: I take you for a couple of sessions in a week and you don’t lose any weight, or make a 50lb PR in one of your lifts. Where does that put you? Where does it put me?

In the words of Jim Levenstein Sr. (prolly among the best father figures in life, props to American Pie)

“It’s a perfectly normal, natural thing”.

I’d even stretch to say that this could be exactly the same in 2, 3, maybe 4 weeks. How many times have you heard the phrase ‘baby steps’? My outlook is to make little gains towards your goal bit by bit, day by day.

Over my own training in the past 4/5 months I’ve been making progress more than not, adding just 2.5kg to most lifts every session. EVERY session. You do the maths – that’s a lotta improvement right? (and a mahooosive help for motivation and confidence). At just 140lbs BW I’m currently Back Squatting and Deadlifting 227lbs for at least 25 reps and considering I know people a lot bigger than me lifting a lot less than that I’m a pretty happy bunny, well I’m not a bunny but I hope you catch my drift here. If your goal is to lose ‘weight’ consider that you actually mean lose fat, and when you step on the scales and there’s no change after a few weeks of hard graft that you’ve actually replaced some of that fat with bigger, better muscle. Well done you.

So I put it to you, friend, to have some patience. Look forward to reaching your end goal and working hard towards it. Always keep it in mind, but don’t expect it to be completed right away. “The thrill is in the chase”. For now, consider what you can do right now to edge closer to it. If you want to lose fat and think you’re hungry but you want a snack what decision are you gonna make? Are you gonna give in and hope no one noticed you had the last few biscuits? Or are you gonna resist that temptation and have some fruit nuts instead?

Ben. Get Stronger, Live Longer.

If you have any questions just holla at me in the comments below or on my Facebook.

*P.S. I apologise unreservedly for the Santa reference but apparently November now means it’s Christmas season and not December as I previously thought.

How I Fucked Up and Becoming a Hero

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Okay so I admit it – I fucked up. Big time.

If you can’t handle some cold, hard, trooths (*This isn’t spelt wrong, I decided it should be spelt like this forever from now on) then I politely suggest you fuck off.

I was brought up right, did well at school, and had a part-time job in a shop where I got promoted to full-time Duty Manager – but everyone loves to be a rebel (or so I thought). I suppose it’s always been a slippery slope downhill since I turned 18, and in part I knew it was. But I was having so much fun… By being an inconsiderate, selfish twat. Looking back, it was down to booze and dollar. Oh, and maybe some more booze if there was some going. I managed to humiliate myself, my family, and I’m sure they won’t admit it but probably my friends too with my drink-fuelled antics. A good number of them I don’t remember, and I’ve lost count of the amount of days completely written off due to hangovers.

Back in July was Euro 2012, it was a Friday night and England faced Sweden in the group stages. I met the boys at the local drinking hole, but unfortunately I had work bright and early the next day so I could only have a couple of pints. As I’m sure you can guess now, that didn’t happen. Morale was high, the pub was full, and the lads were all in the zone for the match – we KILLED it. Everyone was singing footy chants at volume 11; we went ahead, were pegged back, before finally scoring the winner and going absolutely mental. The beer wasn’t what did it in the end, and neither were the couple of Jagerbombs I necked. At this point I should have gone home. I didn’t. House party. FIFA. More booze.

Next thing I know I open my eyes, wearing a gown of some sorts. Where am I? Hospital. I wasn’t in work, had no idea what had happened, and hardly even knew who I was. What a terrible excuse of a human. Time to change? Definately.

My car was out of action, I was close to being kicked out of my parent’s home, and worst of all I lost my job. Pure stoopidity. I needed to get out of this rut, this shitty cycle I was in. Without knowing it at the time, I had turned a corner and begun my quest to become a hero. During my time unemployed there was always one constant in my life – the gym, and I became even more passionate about it and everything related to it to the point where I spent my last money in the world, ever (£165) on an unlimited-use yearly membership as time for renewals was imminent. If I didn’t make that decision fuck knows where I’d be right now. I knew what it was I wanted to do, and began scouring the interwebz for materials to teach myself, spending literally hours on end, day after day sat in my room studying. My family saw a change and took a massive risk in funding a Personal Trainer course and I’m determined, to the point of stubbornness, to repay that debt and much, much more.

“You can’t hang around with the turkeys if you want to fly with the eagles”.

I wish I knew who originally said this so I could credit them, but either way, what a quote. So true. Simply put, if you live on the set of Shameless then Frank Gallagher and his buddies will drag you into a life of booze, drugs and crime. Remember that. Off the back of that – inspiration breeds inspiration. Special mention here for my brother from another mother Jack Coulson of Coulson Fitness who’s hard graft was a huge part of why I took this road. If my theory’s right then someone inspired him first (I hope, although he probably inspired himself – his self-drive and determination is ridic!), he inspired me, and whether you like it or not I’m gonna inspire you. Yes YOU.

In my last post I spoke about how I think Personal Training isn’t just about telling peepz what to do in the gym, it’s being a Life Coach. This week I smashed my first barrier into many tiny pieces and passed the REPs Personal Trainer qualification after a gruelling six weeks of 4am starts, three-hour journeys on a whole host of different public transport either way, and bootcamp after bootcamp, after bootcamp. I’d like to say a mahoosive thankyou to everyone who helped me through it – especially my family who I woke up quite a few times scrambling around in the dark looking for fresh socks.

Now that’s done I’m well on course with my very own ‘Snowball Effect’; I’ve hit target ‘Numero Uno’ so I’m a heluva more confident, time to get some more goals lined up and knocked down. I’ve got ten days ‘down time’ between now and my start date at the gym but will I sit on my (amazing) hiney? Will I fuck! On top of the intensive course, the last six weeks has seen me focus on my IF (Intermittent Fasting) protocol, eat better whilst trying some combos you’ll only consider krayyy (peanut butter and apple anyone?), and reading upwards of 50 articles per week. Gotta keep learning. I promise myself that I’ll keep doing this, I’ll write for my site more regularly (jackpot for you), work hard to build my network, and change my own training up a bit ‘cos trooth be told, some of it’s boring the shit outta me right now.

Yesterday I read Nate Green’s ‘Hero Handbook’ and agreed with the vast majority of it, finally realising that all that time ago I had made the decision to become a hero (If you want me to send you a copy just holla at me). In short, it describes the rules and regulations he lives his own life by – what works for him in relation to morals, training, nutrition and sleep. It was always my plan to write down my own principles, and literally this minute I’ve decided I’m gonna post them as a series in the near future – poetry in motion eh?

Can you honestly, hand on heart say you live the perfect existence? If you answer yes, then you’re wrong. The way the world is nowadays there are many things I consider to be ‘broken’ within it, and I’m not talking about my car, or your ex’s heart either. What I’m talking about is society, community, moods and manners. Over the past couple of months I’ve looked on the bright side of life, looked at the half-full glass instead of the half-empty one. The usual misery of walking home from the train station in the rain was replaced with the excitement to get home, get warm, dry, and fed. I see so many people shedding on Facebook about the most trivial of shit, and if you’re one of them I’ll let you in on a secret here – people really don’t care anymore, we’ve seen it all before, we’re bored of it, and like everything in life we want something new now. Go out of your way for someone however small it is – if someone’s struggling and you can help them, in the words of Nike ‘Just Do It’.

Since I made this change I feel pretty damn awesome. When asked the standard ‘How are you?’ I don’t answer ‘Alright thanks, you?’ anymore, instead it’s much more likely to be ‘I’m awesome cheers, yourself?’ and it feel goooood. Not all of Nate’s ‘rules’ will work for you, as will be the case with mine. Make your own rules, be yourself, but be flexible and make sure you allow for life ‘cos at the end of the day it happens. Don’t make them unrealistic – no offence but you ain’t a Saint, and if you are then you’re probably pretty boring; leave room for a cheeky dessert or a night out on the lash. Consider what you’re gonna eat, how you’re gonna train, and most importantly how you’re gonna LIVE at least 90% of the time.

We only get one crack at life so there’s no time to waste, you won’t see yesterday again (unless some clever bastard actually invents the time machine, but until then…)

How will you change any part of your life to become a HERO? Let me know in the comments below.

If you have any questions about any part of this post just holla at me.

The Budget Food Challenge – Students Read!

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Recently I’ve been asked by a lot of you how to eat relatively healthy on a bit of a budget – I accept the challenge. In case you’re worried take a look around – that’s most of us, me included! I’m writing this as Uni students have started travelling back this last week or so and thousands more will join them over the coming weeks. Don’t fear, although not going to Uni I’m also being hit by the recession and I’m going to show you a few little tricks and tips about alternatives to the ‘perfect’ diet. I could go on all day about this but I’m sure you’ve not got that much time so I’ll brush over it as briefly as possible, comment if you want any more detail about any sections.

I’m a no BS kinda guy so I’m not going to lie and tell you that this is the ideal because it’s not. What it is though, is an option, a more realistic one than everyone who tells you to eat only the finest meats like grass-fed beef (that shit ain’t cheap you know!) It still doesn’t mean you’ll have to live off a diet of takeaways and pop tarts.

ImageOn the subject of takeaways and fast food, next time you wander past one or get a menu delivered through the door just have a look at the prices. How much do you usually spend at once? Now how much every week? I’ll bet you it’s at least a fiver a go. Imagine what you could buy for that; a family pack of chicken breasts costs around that in Sainsbury’s (and the other supermarkets I’m sure – I don’t get out much). Sacrifice will go a long, long way.

A quick point I’d like to make – no one is ‘too good’ for the likes of LIDL and Aldi (even me). You won’t be able to find everything you’re looking for, and of course it’s not going to be the best-quality food on the market but it’s affordable, will contribute to a big part of ticking off a your shopping list, and better than Quavers and sausage rolls.

Those of you who’ve read some of my previous articles about nutrition will know that here at Get Stronger Live Longer we’re massive fans of a balanced diet and flexible eating. Here’s the really important part:

Protein is important for muscle growth/repair, fat loss and satiety (that ‘full’ feeling you get). About a fist-sized portion with the majority of your meals will do the trick. In basic terms protein makes you feel fuller than other macronutrients like carbs, and if you eat too many carbs (more than you burn, especially if you’re not very active) then those calories will be stored in fat cells. Therefore if you eat protein with every meal you’re less likely to eat more overall, which is one process aiding fat loss and maintaining health.

Probably the cheapest quality source of protein is eggs – I have at least two every day and would have more if I could. There’s so many possibilities of what to do with them; boiled, poached, scrambled, and even whip up an omelette. That final approach is bound to be an important weapon in your arsenal – if you have any ‘left-overs’ just whack them all in and away you go. Another cheap option is tinned fish; tuna, salmon, sardines, pilchards, etc. Preferably you’ll put it with veg in some shape or form, but if not these can also go in a sandwich or through pasta. Consider frozen meat products as well!

Here’s a genuine story I like to tell about how, erm… mis-informed shall we say, some people can be. I was talking to a girl who wanted to lose some weight and upon asking her what she’d been eating recently she replied with ‘salad’. The question ‘anything else?’ should have been a joke, only she wasn’t joking – she genuinely ate only salad for the few days before our chat, even attempting to argue that she made the decision not to eat any meat ‘because that makes you fat doesn’t it?’ If it’s not already clear, the answer’s no.

Fat is also misunderstood. ‘Low-fat’ versions of food products tend to cost considerably more, but ask yourself why you should pay for them and how much better than full-fat are they? What replaces the fat taken out? I can’t imagine it being anything vaguely useful. Your body needs healthy fats (look for Omega 3) found in fish, meats, nuts and oils especially. So next time you cut the fat off your bacon, don’t chuck it in the bin, save it for the end and enjoy it.

Fresh veg can be problematic in that it can be expensive and also has a shorter shelf life (see the next para about preparation). Again, almost every meal should include around a fist-sized portion and as much as possible make it an aim to hit that ‘five-a-day’ target. Frozen veg is normally cheaper and although nothing beats eating it straight out of the ground, this is an excellent alternative. Remember that if it’s frozen there’s no way it can go off – so fill at least a drawer in that freezer.

One huge stumbling block many have very ungracefully tripped over and never got up from is a lack of preparation, certainly when it comes to food. I know it’s hard to be organised, I’ve been there, done that, didn’t have time to print the t-shirt after I’d designed it… If you do nothing else just make a damn shopping list. If you plan what you fancy eating over the week then you’re more likely to stick to it. Once you’ve done that, and resisted the urge to buy the supersize packs of junk on offer (no really, you should avoid them) you’ll have already taken a massive step on the road towards a healthier you!

Those special promo offers piss me off big time, why is it always the crisps, chocolate, and biscuits?! Calm Ben, no ranting now. Saying that, the odd treat every now and again won’t hurt you, so don’t get stressed about your life being over if you have a piece of cake. Just remember it’s a one-off and appreciate it more, that’s what all the parents say right? Or was that just mine?

Anyway, so your cupboards and fridge/freezer are stocked up with your first ‘healthy shop’, so what now? Pre-cook some of that fresh meat you’ve bought and put it in a tub in the fridge – if it’s ready to go then you’re more likely to get that down you than the packet pasta or biscuits sat in your cupboard (Why are they there? Get rid of them, please? For me?). On a serious note though, the more ‘junk’ you have available to you, I’m talking in your home now, the more likely you are to snack on it or if you’ve had a really shit day binge eat it.

So there you have it, an attempt at a cheaper diet that’s still as healthy as possible. I always keep in mind that this is just the current situation and when I can afford to eat better I will, and I hope you will too. Feedback or anything you guys and girls pick up – don’t be afraid to leave a comment for other readers to use.

Ben. Get Stronger, Live Longer.

More Than ‘Just a Fitness Trainer’

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First things first, I apologise for the lack of content over the past coupla weeks – life gets in the way. I’ve been busy sorting my PT course and start Monday 24TH Sept. Come 2ND Nov I’ll be ‘fully-qualified’ although this is nothing more than a formality – damn the system.

When I started writing for Get Stronger, Liver Longer I thought I’d be writing almost exclusively about fitness and training… How wrong was I?! Over the past few weeks (the majority of that time spent reading blogs of the fitness industry leaders) I’ve learn a helluva lot and in doing this changed my mind about Personal Training, for better not worse. It’s so much more than fitness – it’s LIFE coaching; at least that’s how it should be anyway.

The biggest portion of content will most likely be geared towards nutrition rather than anything else, reason simply being; ‘you can out-eat crappy training, but you can’t out-train a crappy diet’. I would make my second apology of this post at this stage now… if I was sorry for anything, but gladly I can say I’m not and if you don’t wanna believe that what you eat is more important than how you exercise then (I am sorry for this)… Fuck you. Let me put it like this; you train for about an hour a few times a week right? You have another 23 hours in a day to make poor dietary decisions… You dig?

The rest of the posts will be made up of info about training and little ‘life tips’ that should help you become better or live better in some way – I hope you take at least one thing from every post I write and all I ask of you is to pass that knowledge on, help someone else out. Share the wealth.

I think the main reason I’ve had the change of heart about personal training was down to one very good friend of mine who I began working with 2/3 weeks ago. He’s 21, works at a food retailer as a shop assistant and was stuck in a bit of a rut – only time will tell but if I’ve got anything to do with it (which I have) he’s pulled himself out of it and won’t look back. He’s thrown himself fully into this; overhauling his nutrition (including Intermittent Fasting – and may I also add, absolutely loving pushing the boundaries), training 3x a week, and this one surprised me most of all… is looking to go back to college to study sport in some way, shape or form. Apparently this was my doing and I’ll support him with that decision.

I’m not gonna lie it’s the little things in life (no not that smart ass)… okay little victories in life, that make me tick. That story may not mean a lot or even anything to you – but I take a great sense of pride knowing I’ve helped someone make their life better. If there’s anything I can do to help you just holla at me in the comments, via Get Stronger, Live Longer’s Facebook/Twitter pages, or my personal accounts.

Ben. Get Stronger, Live Longer.

What IF We Didn’t Eat? (Just for a While)

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I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. Have you ever been so busy that you haven’t had a chance to eat for an extended period sometime during the day? Have you ever gone ‘past hungry’? I’m guessing that the feeling of hunger didn’t intensify the longer you went without food; it just came and went in waves, around the times your body was used to eating. After years and years (in my case 21) why wouldn’t this be the case? This is most likely due to a combination of physiological and psychological withdrawal symptoms, consider it that your body has an addiction to eating.

Now consider that there has been a lot of recent interest proving that IF (intermittent fasting) is actually healthy for you, and before you shit yourself,  no you are not going to starve and die (or lose any muscle) – I promise. If it makes you feel better researchers in this area first experimented with a 3.5 day fast (nowhere near as long as I’d recommend) and the only results come the end of this period were positive ones. I apologise for this scientific section, however these are the main benefits:

  • Decreased insulin levels – the higher insulin levels are, the higher your body’s ability to store food intake as fats, therefore the resulting reduction due to fasting for even a few hours means that this will instead be burnt as energy and increase fat burning capacity.
  • Increased lipolysis – in layman’s terms this is just the body’s ability to burn fat cells. Whilst fasting fat is released from fat stores and this process has been shown to multiply by five times after just 15 hours.
  • Increased blood glucose – if insulin decreases fat burning capacity, glucose is its polar opposite. It also maintains blood sugar levels and decrease cholesterol.
  • Increased levels of GH (growth hormone) – this is the major reason why you will not lose any muscle while fasting, including metabolism rate being maintained and further capacity for fat loss.
  • Convenience – in terms of not having to worry about preparing and consuming 6-8 meals every day. I mean seriously who has time for that these days? I know I don’t.
  • Fat loss – just in case I haven’t mentioned it in every point so far, oh I have? Good.

I’m 99% sure that you already engage in some type of fasting, even if you don’t realise it. You know that time when you stop eating before bed and sleep for 6-12 hours (give or take) before you get up and have breakfast? Well that’s a very basic type of fasting, so good start people. Does 12 hours sound like a long time to you? Believe me it actually isn’t, and you could easily extend that by just 4 hours. This is called the 16/8 split, advocated by the likes of Martin Berkham (leangains.com). Brad Pilon (author of ‘Eat Stop Eat’) advocates a 24 hour fasting period. Both of these methods are very well respected. I’ll admit that there is a small transition period of around 5-14 days to get used to it but it will be worth it, just you see. Jack and I have both been through this process, and the grass is greener on this side, honestly.

I bet you’ve said ‘I’m starving’ in the past, quite a lot. Hell I know I have, but can you honestly admit that you’ve actually felt true physiological hunger? We both can, and it’s not as bad as people make out you know. A 16/8 fast is a nice way to ease into this concept and reap the benefits, without feeling true hunger. Imagine trying to make that 24 hours then, and get those benefits but in even greater amounts. Training at the gym in the correct way will give you physical strength, doing this is one way to make you mentally strong I assure you, and who doesn’t want to be strong? The strongest people in life always win.

The 16/8 split is the probably the easiest form of IF. I complete it from 20:00-12:00 and eat in an eight-hour window from 12:00-20:00 every day. I need to stress that this ‘window’ isn’t a time for binging on crap, but make sure you’re eating enough of the right foods – a nice balanced ‘diet’ (see my Nutrition Guide). Don’t worry about training either because I do that three times per week while in the fasted state (again backed by scientific evidence). Black tea/coffee and water are all allowed during fasting just leave the sugar and milk out of those brews. If you feel comfortable and confident enough to try it go for a 24 hour fast, which we both complete once per week. Again I’d like to add that the day before/after a full day fast is no excuse to gorge on excess shit junk food, forget the fast never happened and just eat ‘normally’, whatever that is to you. You WILL find it hard at first, persist. After the second or third time you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

HOWEVER, I will warn you that one size doesn’t fit all. Yes I have just recommended this and for good reason; science backs it up and so does personal experience. But that’s sort of the problem here – it’s personal to us. What’s working for us may not work for you, so for starters if you’re considering giving this a go but have a medical condition use your logic or if that’s not great it might be safer to check with a health professional. For some of you it just won’t be practical perhaps due to work and some of you will just need breakfast, and that’s okay because that’s what works for YOU! Everyone is different.

If you want more information on fasting check out:

http://eatstopeat.com/

http://www.leangains.com/

http://renegadedietbook.com/

 

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/intermittent-fasting

Ben and Jack. Get Stronger, Live Longer.

Is Toning An Illusion? – We’ll Show You the Magic

Posted by getstrongerlivelonger on

If I made a bold statement like there’s no such thing as toning would you believe me? ‘What about the girl’s amazing body though?’ I hear you say. Well funnily enough I was at the local pub quiz last night and a very relevant question came up: ‘Can muscle turn into fat? True or False?’

Fat and muscle are two totally different types of tissue, so any ‘illusion’ of a muscle changing shape and looking less like a bingo wing more suited to a KFC bucket is just that – an illusion. For starters muscles are pre-programmed to be one shape, with the visible differences coming only in the size of the muscle. Consider this; ‘toning’ is actually the process of losing body fat (however small this may be) which sits on top of the muscle, and gaining a little bit of muscle to fill the gap left by the fat.

At this point I’d like to point out that while I’m obviously not on the charm offensive here, I’m also not here to offend you girls. To illustrate the point I’m trying to make I’ll use my situation as an example; as you can probably guess purely from the fact that I’m writing this post I’m very interested in the area of health and fitness, train multiple times every week and eat as well as I can. However, despite weighing similar to a feather at 57kg (~9 stone), I still have the goal of becoming more lean by dropping my body fat percentage a little more (while still putting on muscle AND eating enough of the right stuff).

Therefore in writing this, no I’m not calling you fat at all, but in order to create that ‘toned’ illusion you want this is the bare, honest truth behind it. Now onto the best way to achieve this, which again may be something you may see as controversial or downright ridiculous. Before any idea is accepted it starts out as exactly this, and if anyone had cracked this industry then I wouldn’t be here would I?

Get on a piece of cardio equipment and smash it for an extended period of time, maybe two or three hours? That’s if you’ve got time to waste and I’m not talking about a few hours a week, I’m talking months, probably even years – because it will also take you far longer to reach your goal. Lift weights. I mean proper ones. ‘But I’m a girl?’ So I can’t be ever sexist but you can be lazy and we’ve got to train differently? Why? We’re not that different you and me, apart from the obvious before you point that out.

If I got £1 for every time I heard a woman I was talking to about weight training say something along the lines of I don’t want to get big/bulky/muscley I’d be quite a few quid better off. One significant difference men and women do have though is the level of testosterone within our body, a major player in muscle building. – about a 90% difference in fact. If you want to be sure of this just look at me again and remember I’ve been training seriously for at least a year and despite my best efforts still don’t resemble the Hulk in the slightest.

Many studies have proven that weight training is the best way to reduce your body fat percentage. There is no doubt that traditional ‘cardio’ will burn more calories whilst training, but that’s where the benefits end. With weight training calories are still burned while training (admittedly at a slightly lower rate), but the effects on your resting/basal metabolism are where the real results begin to show. In short, the resting metabolism is how much energy your body requires to complete normal functions such as digestion, but nothing else i.e. imagine sitting on the sofa all day and doing nothing (don’t get too comfy because that my friend ain’t happening). This will lead to an increase in the amount of energy the body uses and what do you think it will use next? Correct – fat! Yes I did just say that you would be burning fat even long after training.

Looking a bit closer into the content of the training I’d recommend, when I say lift weights I don’t mean do bicep curls for 100 reps with 1 pound Barbie dumbbells. That won’t get you anywhere. I’m talking about big compound moves (which work multiple muscle groups) such as squats and pull-ups. The reasoning behind this is that the high intensity of shifting heavy weights creates a more effective stress on the body to work hard. I do my biggest moves at the beginning of my training sessions, either squats or deadlifts and start to sweat after about two reps, this to me is proof enough that it’s working. Sessions that consist of three/four compound lifts, 5×5 (five sets of five reps) lasting no longer than an hour, completed two, preferably three times per week should cut the mustard.

Don’t be scared of being strong, why would you? I’ve already explained why you won’t bulk up plus what do you think other people’s perceptions of you will be? A woman that can do everything including anything involving heavy lifting by herself… Shiiiiit! I know of a number of women at the top of the profession; Nia Shanks one of the writers for ‘Girls Gone Strong’ being one of them (check them out on Facebook) who look like what I imagine most of you dream to, this being their way of training. When I say they’re stronger than me doing pull-ups with an extra 35kg added to their own bodyweight, I shit you not. At the end of the day you’re functional, built to do every day jobs efficiently and without the help of some guy (unless that’s what you want of course, you can still always pretend eh). It doesn’t matter how hard I think I literally cannot find one reason why being strong could be bad in any way, and history has already proven that the strongest people (both physically and mentally) will beat inferior competition all day long. Do you want to be a winner?

The closest to traditional ‘cardio’ I would recommend if you absolutely have to do any would be a form of interval training (combined with weight training). Again why would you waste so much time ‘working’ at low intensity for a couple of hours on the treadmill or the stationary bike when you could wrap it up in fifteen minutes and come out with better results? One study I always use when talking about the benefits of intervals used two groups; continuous running for an hour every day Monday-Friday, and an interval group who trained for just four minutes over the same time frame for a period of six weeks. Ultimately this totals up to five hours versus twenty minutes per week, and what gave the better results? While the continuous group improved their aerobic capacity by 10%, the interval group increased theirs by 28% whilst also improving anaerobic capacity.

I haven’t mentioned anything about nutrition simply because there’s just too much to say here. This is primarily an article about training but I will quickly stress how important it is. You can train as much as you like but if you eat shit that body fat will not budge, fact. I’m actually of the opinion that how you eat is more important than training itself – you can train minimally and maintain a decent figure if you eat right, however this doesn’t work the other way around. You can do all the abs workouts in the world but without burning the fat that’s hiding them first you’ll never be able to show them off. Cue Jessica Ennis popping into my head mmm… Anyways back to the matter in hand, for information about what to eat read my Nutrition Guide.

The combination of great training and flexible healthy eating should change your lifestyle for the better. I mean what’s the end result? You look shit hot and you can kick his ass when he pisses you off. Win win right?

Ben. Get Stronger, Live Longer.