Factors for Success in the Gym No. 6

It should go without saying that if you are going to get the most out of the exercises that you are doing, then learning good technique is pretty important. When learning technique it helps to have an understanding of the muscles you should be using during the exercise and what role they are playing. This …

Factors for Success in the Gym No. 5

The fifth factor for success is patience. If you have followed this series up to now you will know I have discussed that you have to be consistent in your training, apply progressive overload to it, put in some serious hard work and make good exercise choices. If you are following all of these, then …

Factors for Success in the Gym No. 4

The fourth factor for success is exercise choice, which I touched upon in the third factor. While there are no bad exercises per se, there are some exercises that are far more effective than others. There are also some exercises that are inappropriate for certain people, either due to previous or current injuries, complexity or …

Factors for Success in the Gym No. 3

  The third factor for success is effort. This of course doesn’t just apply to the gym, it takes effort to become good at anything in life. Forcing your body to change requires hard work and there is no way around this. Forget machines which ‘tone your muscles’, only concerted and directed effort will get …

Factors for Success in the Gym No. 2

  The second factor for success is progressive overload, which is deemed to be the most important principle in strength training. As I mentioned in the previous post, to make your body change you have to force it to change. No matter what type of exercise regime you are undertaking, your body will eventually adapt …

Factors for Success in the Gym No.1

For me the undoubted number 1 is consistency. To make your body change you have to force it to change and this can only be done by training on a regular basis. Those who sporadically go to the gym rarely achieve the same kind of results as those who go week in week out. I …

Juice Diets – Another Fad?

Juice diets seem to be becoming increasingly popular, with the preponderance of juice bars and some celebrities advocating their benefits, but are all that they are cracked up to be? Well the simple answer is no, and here’s why? The supposed benefits of juice diets are much like those of detox diets, which I have …

My Thoughts on the Sugar Tax

This year’s budget saw the government announce the introduction of a ‘Sugar Tax’ in 2018. This measure is principally designed to tackle childhood obesity, which has risen dramatically in the last couple of decades. You may wonder why I am only now getting round to discussing this. Well, as with many issues, it is usually …

Diabetes

Last week the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that 422 million people (8.5% of the world’s population) now live with diabetes, predominantly in the developed world where obesity levels are much higher. This makes diabetes a chronically serious health issue on a global scale and one which continues to rise. In fact, only 4.7% of …

Alternatives To Cow’s Milk

Alternatives to cow’s milk have become increasingly popular feeding a market for vegans, some vegetarians, people who have ethical issues with cow’s milk production, or those who are lactose intolerant. Falling into none of these categories, I have previously had little experience of these products. Last week, I discovered one of the leading brand’s hazelnut …