Queenax

As part of an ongoing refurbishment project at my gym, they’ve just installed a piece of Queenax equipment. I’d only come across this company on Twitter recently, and so it was pretty cool when I saw it being installed. Queenax manufactures functional training equipment for gyms. It’s basically a jungle gym for adults, complete with monkey bars, designed to accommodate the latest fitness trends, such as suspension training, which is a great way to use your body weight to build muscle.

It’s just as much fun as it looks.

You can climb the vertical ladder, swing from the overheard bars, haul yourself up into a pull up, and use the TRX straps to create a suspension training circuit. This is one of my favourite ways to work out, especially in January when the gym is busy, because you only need the two straps and your bodyweight and you can create a sequence of exercises in a very small space.

PB & Banana Protein Shake

It’s important to nourish your body after training so that you can really reap the rewards of your hard work in the gym. You want to replace lost energy levels and help your body to recover quickly, aiding fat loss and building muscle. There is a huge industry making money by supplying people with protein shakes, creatine, and various pills and supplements. If you’re an athlete, or a person who is highly active every day, these can be great, but the average gym goer can easily end up wasting money on expensive products that they don’t need. Some people start buying shakes and supplements before they have even addressed their protein requirements or worked out how much protein they’re already getting from their diet. Do your research before you spend too much money, and don’t get caught up in marketing hype about miracle products… cough raspberry ketones!

For most people, a varied diet of lean protein, complex carbohydrates and fruit and vegetables will give your body all the nutrients it requires.  That being said, it can be hard to get a good quality high-protein snack when you’re on the go, and protein powders (refined supplemental forms of protein) are one of the easiest ways to do this. It’s worth remembering that protein supplements are just that, and should be taken alongside your regular daily meals. On their own, they don’t contain enough nutrients to be considered a main food source. My favourite shake is anything with peanut butter. I’ll make this one at home and throw it in my gym bag. Blending it together with some ice or using a frozen banana will keep it cool while you workout, and you’ll just need to give it a little shake before you drink because it may separate naturally.

Ingredients:

250ml almond milk
1 spoon of peanut butter
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 banana

Whizz everything together in a blender.

Enjoy!

Quinoa Breakfast Bowl

Sugary cereals, fruit, pastries, flavoured yoghurts, pancakes, toast, jam… Let’s call a spade a spade and stop having dessert for breakfast.

I love one of these breakfast bowls after a morning workout. The quinoa and the egg provide the carbs and protein you need to refuel the body after exercise, and repair muscle damage. Quinoa is great for people with gluten intolerances, and you’ll often see it in recipes used as a substitute for cereals, porridge, bulgar wheat, etc. This recipe is really adaptable – you can throw in anything you have to hand, including cashew nuts, sliced peppers, or edamame beans.

You’ll need:

1 egg
¾ cup of quinoa
1 handful of spinach or another dark, leafy green vegetable
½ an avocado
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
1 handful of chopped red pepper
1 tsp pumpkin or other seeds
1 tsp tamari
Juice of ½ a lemon

1. Cook your quinoa according to the packet instructions. It’s important to rinse quinoa thoroughly (some people will even recommend doing this twice) before cooking it, to remove the naturally occurring toxic coating called saponin.

2. Drain your quinoa once fully cooked and mix in your pumpkin seeds, tamari and lemon juice.

3. While your water is boiling for the egg, chop up your avocado and tomatoes. Poach your egg for about 3 minutes for a nice soft yolk and a firm white.

4. Serve your quinoa on a bed of spinach, and top with the avocado, tomatoes and finally the poached egg.

This breakfast is packed with protein and good fats. Because protein is slow burning, eating this meal at the beginning of the day will keep you feeling full until lunch.

NTC at Barry’s Bootcamp

With world class trainers and a list of celebrity clientele as long as your arm, Barry’s Bootcamp can take credit for some of the best bodies in the business, including Katie Holmes and Jessica Alba. Currently we only have one studio in London, opposite Euston station, but 2015 is bringing us Barry’s East, which will be located in Finsbury Square. There’s definitely a growing niche for boutique fitness studios in London and Barry’s Bootcamp is among the forerunners of this trend. Reputed to be the ‘hardest workout in the world’, burning up to 1,000 calories in an hour, it combines a mixture of HIIT with strength training. The class is split in half; one group starts off on state of the art treads while the other half uses dumbbells and resistance bands on the floor. There is a definite militant feel running through the studio. The trainers are tough, and the interior is reminiscent of an army barrack. Although the changing rooms come fully equipped with GHDs. Yesterday I was lucky enough to attend the Nike Training Club class at Barry’s, taken by the legendary Anya Lahiri. Of course I was almost late because I was stuck on the Victoria line, but I arrived just in time to see girls milling about in their lycra, and Anya’s dog Crusoe padding about the reception area. I placed my order for a post-class protein shake, stuffed my bag in a locker and headed into the studio. I grabbed a pair of dumbbells and found a space on the floor. Anya had us start off with weighted squats, then we were straight into a brutal sequence of lunges, bicep curls, tricep extensions, upper cuts, reverse flies and kick backs. My arms were trembling by the time I was allowed to put my dumbells down and take my place on a treadmill. For the next 15 minutes  Anya pushed us through some sweaty sprint intervals, including a particularly painful uphill climb on a 10% incline. For the second half of the floor session, Anya pushed us through exercises that targeted our core, such as weighted plank rows, jackknifes and Russian twists. I felt a sudden burst of energy when I stepped back onto the treadmill to finish the class. When you know you’ve only got one final push, you really want to give it everything. I love a workout that targets the whole body because it keeps you motivated the whole way through. I also loved the peanut butter shake afterwards. Ice cold and ready and waiting for you; a girl could get used to that kind of treatment. I may have protested loudly once or twice, but I definitely pushed myself hard in Anya’s class and I have the DOMS today to prove it.

20 Minute Abs

Sometimes half the battle can be getting to the gym, especially when you’re not looking or feeling your best. Luckily, I have an ab circuit that you can complete in the privacy of your own home. I’ve put together some of my favourite bodyweight exercises, which means no equipment and no excuses. You cannot spot reduce fat, and if anyone tells you that you can, tell them this is a total myth. As much as I wish it weren’t so, your body will burn fat from a predetermined store, and in the same way that running will not solely burn fat from your legs, abdominal exercises won’t solely burn fat from your stomach. This is why cardio and resistance training go hand in hand if you want to see muscle definition in your abs. And let’s face it, we all do. This circuit will hit your core and then finishing with a round of HIIT will blast your body fat.

A format I like to use for abs is to interchange two exercises and complete three sets of each one. I’ll set the timer for 6 x 45 seconds and hit each movement back to back. I’ll give myself a 30 second rest then move onto another two exercises. The more you mix it up, the more you keep your body guessing, and the more interesting you make it for yourself.

Our first two exercises today are bicycle crunches and what I call Spiderman press ups.

Bicycle crunch: Lie flat on your back and hold your hands either side of your head. As you crunch up, draw your left knee up and your right elbow across to meet it. You should feel the burn in your core as you crunch up and over. Repeat on the other side and keep alternating slowly and smoothly. As with any exercise, keep total control over your range of movement.

Spiderman press ups: Assume a normal press up position, and as you press down, bring your left knee up to meet your left elbow. Repeat on the right hand side. The traditional press up is great because it employs multiple muscle groups but this one adds an extra level of difficulty. You’re adding extra load to one side of your body, whilst engaging the core muscles as you move your knee to your elbow.

30 second rest. 30 seconds, I mean it! No cheating.

Our second two exercises are mountain climbers and tricep press ups into side planks.

Mountain climbers: Place your hands firmly under your shoulders and keep your arms straight, with a nice flat back – no bums in the air! Alternatively drive your knees up into your chest in a fast movement, as if you’re running. This is designed to be an explosive movement, so challenge yourself to see how many reps you can complete before the time is up. Keep your core tight and keep your knees close to your chest, fight against the natural instinct to let your bum rise. You want to be as straight as possible, from your shoulders to your hips to your toes.

Tricep press ups into side plank: Rather than the traditional press up position, where the palms find a comfortable wide stance underneath you, in order to hit the triceps you need to pull your hands in closer and keep your elbows tucked into your body. You should find this harder than a traditional press up, so you may want to use your knees for support. Remember, it’s your workout. Push down into the ground and up again. From this position, move into a side plank, fully opening up the body and holding the position for a second. Repeat this exercise, alternating from side to side.

Take thirty seconds to recover and have a quick drink of water.

The last two exercises are plank jacks and toe taps.

Plank jacks: Assume a plank position and get ready for another explosive movement. Keeping yourself firmly braced on your forearms, push your legs out into a horizontal star jump. Bring them back in together and repeat. You’ll feel this one burn in your core, but push through and aim for as many reps as possible. In some exercises we look for control over speed, but this is not one of them. The higher the number, the better. Keep a firm core and focus on maintaining a flat plank position.

Toe taps: Lie flat on your back (off to a good start, but it will get harder…) and raise your legs in the air, so you make a right angle. Lift your arms up, and crunch towards your legs, aiming to touch your toes with your fingers.

That’s your 15 minute ab sequence done!

Now to finish with a 4 minute HIIT circuit to really raise your heart rate and spike your metabolism.

20 seconds jumping jacks (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds high knees (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds suicide sprints (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds burpees (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds jumping squats (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds speed skaters (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds press ups (10 seconds rest)
20 seconds jumping lunges (10 seconds rest)

Eating for Abs

Abs. Everyone has them, but very few people can see them. Muscle definition in this area is something lots of people strive towards with targeted exercises. You can’t expect to have a washboard stomach if you’re sweating it out in the gym but filling your body with crap. It doesn’t matter how strong your core is from all those crunches, planks and mountain climbers; for a woman to be able to see muscle definition in this area, she needs to be seriously lean, and that is almost solely down to what you eat. Cardio is a secondary factor in reducing your body fat, but you can’t outrun a bad diet. If you want a flat tummy, the kitchen is where you need to start.

1. Cut down on carbs, especially refined carbohydrates. Lots of us have office-based jobs where we spend a lot of time sitting down every day. Often we don’t need to load ourselves up with as many carbohydrates as we think we do, and we’re simply not burning them off. Cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner… sound familiar? An easy way to cut down is to swap your sandwiches for salads. That’s up to 10 slices of bread during a working week. This simple change will really make a difference. Bear in mind however, that the more exercise you do, the more carbohydrates your body needs for fuel and restoration. Remember to always choose complex carbs, and think about how active you’re going to be on a particular day before you plan your meals.

2. Increasing your protein intake with meals will keep you feeling fuller for longer, meaning you’re less likely to snack on unhealthy treats. Research has shown that people who increase their protein intake to 30% eat up to 450 fewer calories per day. I’m not a big fan of counting calories, but it demonstrates the point I’m making here; if you eat more protein, you’ll eat less crap. What’s more, protein helps slows down the absorption of sugar into our blood stream and helps to stabilise our blood sugar levels, reducing cravings. Try and include some protein with every meal. I cook with a lot of lentils, one of my staple store cupboard ingredients. They’re cheap, versatile, and they’re a great plant-based source of protein.

3. Good fats are absolutely essential to a healthy diet, so don’t be afraid of them if you’re trying to tone up. I’ve heard of countless weight loss programmes which vilify nuts and avocados because they’re high in fat. Contrary to popular belief, fats don’t make you fat! Eating too much is what makes us fat. What’s more, fats play an essential role in the absorption of essential vitamins A and D, meaning we can’t gain the full nutritional benefit them from foods which have been stripped of fat. ‘Fat free’ is a marketing ploy to trick you into thinking you’re making a healthier choice. If the fat is removed from a product, it has to be replaced with something else, usually sugar or additives.

4. Cut down on snacking out of boredom, habit, or simply because something tastes good. We’re not cows and we shouldn’t be grazing all day. Try and stick to regular meals, and before you reach for the biscuit tin, ask yourself if you’re really hungry. If you are, have something balanced that will keep you satisfied for longer. We sometimes fall into traps of eating more of certain foods because they’re good for us. This can mean that even if you’re eating well, you might not be losing weight due to overeating. For example, a large handful of nuts with some fruit is a great snack. But several large handfuls is not so great!

Unfortunately we girls are biologically designed to store fat around our tummies, which is why so many of us consider it to be a ‘problem area’. I can’t tell you that you’ll see results overnight, but if you’re committed to targeting this area and you follow these simple rules, you will see a significant difference over time.

Girls who Lift

If you’ve never lifted weights before, the weights room can be a really intimidating place, especially for girls. Although it’s typically a male-dominated area, while girls tend to stick to the treadmills and cross trainers, the tide is slowly starting to turn against the misconception that lifting heavy weights is not for girls. The sooner this myth is debunked the better, because there are many reasons why girls need to start lifting weights.

The most obvious one is that it builds muscle. You may have heard that muscle weighs more than fat. This is nonsense. What people mean to say is that muscle is denser than fat. Therefore, if two women are of the same height and bodyweight but one has more muscle mass, she will look slimmer. Increasing your muscle mass will also rev your metabolism, which is why developing muscle is crucial to lowering body fat. On top of being able to fit into that old pair of jeans again, there are numerous benefits to being physically stronger, such as being able to easily carry heavy bags of shopping in from the car. In your 20s your ability to increase your muscle tone is at its peak; you will reap the benefits of weight training well into later life if you start when you’re younger.

Resistance training will change your body in ways that cardio can’t and dieting never will. Girls have long been told to lift small weights for a higher number of reps, widely touted as the magic formula for ‘toning up’ without becoming ‘bulky’. Well I’m here to tell you that unless you have a pair of testicles, you don’t have enough testosterone in your body to get ‘bulky’. So step away from the pink dumbbells. I repeat, step away from the pink dumbbells. Muscles only grow if they are forced to. You need to apply enough tension to the muscle fibres that you cause micro-tears; your body will then repair the muscles, and adapt them in order to better handle the stimulus that caused the damage. Those 1kg dumbbells are not the way to achieve this. So if you want to increase your muscle mass (and if you’re still reading, I hope you do) then forget what you’ve heard, and think bigger weights, but fewer reps. Don’t worry if you’re still afraid of ‘bulking up’; building muscle is hard work; it won’t happen overnight. Nobody ever woke up after one training session and thought ‘holy fuck, I’m huge!’

As well as a toned body, weightlifting creates strong bones, and an increase in bone density can help to protect you from osteoporosis further down the line. Stronger muscles also mean stronger connective tissues and stable joints, which can help you avoid injury while working out. So those who think weightlifting puts a strain on your joints are actually wrong. While cardio is important for cardiovascular health, some people don’t know that weight training can also improve cardiovascular function. Not only that but it has been proven to reduce blood pressure, and lower the risk of diabetes. If you still feel intimidated about entering the testosterone-fuelled weights area, remind yourself that a) you have just as much right to be there as anyone else, and b) like most things men do, weightlifting is easier than they make out. They might try and baffle you with ‘bro science’ but at the end of the day, you’re picking something up and putting it down. Simple, compound movements are the most effective ones for hitting several muscles at once; concentrate on seriously economic moves such as barbell squats and deadlifts. It’s important that your form is correct so as to avoid risk of injury; grab a gym instructor and they’ll be happy to help you with this. Ignore the animal-like grunts, and remember that unless you’re the one wearing the snapback, (why is there always one?) someone else looks like more of a plonker than you.

Overnight Oats

Every time I hear someone say ‘I don’t have time for breakfast’, I know that what they usually mean is, ‘I can’t be bothered to get up 15 minutes earlier’. If you don’t know by now how bad skipping breakfast is for your body, where the hell have you been? There are no excuses. If Barack Obama can find the time to get up, eat breakfast, workout and be the President of America, then I think Helen in Marketing can probably find enough time to eat something in the morning.

Most processed breakfast cereals contain hidden quantities of sugar, so they’re not a great way to start your day. And don’t get me started on breakfast bars and biscuits. Porridge oats are a much healthier alternative. Oats are a great source of magnesium, which can help to prevent heart attacks and strokes by relaxing blood vessels and regulating blood pressure. There is also evidence to suggest that it can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Oats also contain beta-glucans, a type of soluble fibre that slows down the absorption of carbohydrates into the bloodstream. This helps to prevent the wild spikes in blood sugar and insulin levels which encourage our bodies to produce and store fat. During the summer, you might not feel like having a warm bowl of porridge, so here’s a great alternative. It’s cheap, delicious and really easy to prepare.

Before I go to bed, I weigh out 30g of organic porridge oats. I soak them in a little water (don’t drown them) and leave them in the fridge overnight. Due to the soaking, you’ll be amazed at how little milk you need to add the next morning. The soaking also aids with digestion and absorption. When I wake up, I only have to add a splash of coconut milk. Coconuts have amazing health benefits, and coconut milk is deliciously creamy, so it’s a great substitute for people who like full fat milk. It has a very mild coconut flavour, and it’s high in good fats.

Add a sliced banana or a few handfuls of berries, and sprinkle some nuts and seeds on top to make sure you’re starting the day with some protein. I love blueberries and chia seeds, but you can use whatever toppings you like; my mum loves grated apple with cinnamon and pecan nuts on hers.

Enjoy! x

#ThisGirlCan

Yesterday evening this advert aired for the first time on national television. Since then, half a million people have watched it on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7lt0CYwHg

This Girl Can is the name of a new campaign set up by Sport England to tackle the fact that women are significantly less likely than men to regularly participate in sport or exercise. Arguably the government has been dilatory to act, but this campaign looks set to be worth the wait. Sport is still seen as inaccessible to many women in this country, a country which is battling growing health crises. Regular exercise is crucial to a healthy lifestyle. For example, studies have shown just twenty minutes of moderate exercise a day can cut your risk of breast cancer by up to a fifth, and there is a growing amount of research to suggest that inactivity causes more deaths than obesity.

Sport England researched the barriers that prevent women from getting involved with fitness. They established that many women feel self-conscious participating in sport or working out, so much so that 2 million fewer women than men regularly do so, even though 75% of those aged 14 to 40 said they would like to do more. After extensive research, they concluded that it is the fear of being judged that puts many women off exercising. I can relate to this. I fell off a treadmill once and I wouldn’t go back to the gym for a week. It was more embarrassing than painful, although upon reflection I’m lucky I didn’t break anything.

It’s stuff like ‘I’m too fat to do this’ or ‘I’m not fit enough to go to that class’. -Jenny Price, Sport England CEO

The aim of the campaign is to convey the message that it is normal to feel like this. This is why seven ‘ordinary’ women have been chosen to front the campaign. Although we are seeing an increasing number of amazing role models for women in sport, This Girl Can is addressing the problem that an Olympic athlete like Jessica Ennis is seen by many women as unattainable in terms of her physique and athletic skill. Women are now being offered alternative ambassadors for sport than those we have previously seen in the media. The advert shows these women running, swimming, cycling and sweating. They’re not made up with dewy skin and sexily tousled hair, to simulate an unachievable ‘post-gym’ look. They’ve not been airbrushed within an inch of their lives. This is a campaign that women can relate to, because we’re being shown something real.

We are all imperfect and let’s celebrate that, it doesn’t make us less valuable. We all have wrinkles and bags under our eyes and cellulite and pores and all those things that you don’t normally see in images of women. -Clare Balding

Working out should be about looking after your body, setting yourself physical challenges and doing something you enjoy. It should not be about what you’re wearing or what you look like. This advert is trying to send a message to the women who are made to feel like they don’t have access to the exclusive world of fitness. It’s trying to say that actually, it’s not as scary a place as it seems. If #ThisGirlCan do it, then so can you.

Visit www.thisgirlcan.co.uk for more information about the campaign and join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #ThisGirlCan.

Kettlebells

What are they?

I’m talking about a cast iron ball which gives an explosive all over workout, builds strength, improves core stabilisation and burns fat. Kettlebells originated in Russia in the 1700s, and were later used by the Soviet army as part of their physical training. Despite having been around for hundreds of years, it’s only fairly recently that they’ve been incorporated into fitness training as a great way of increasing overall body strength. A 15 minute kettlebell circuit can burn up to 300 calories, making them a really time efficient way of working out and a fun way to mix up traditional strength training with barbells and dumbells.

The bells are designed as such that the weight is unevenly distributed, unlike a dumbbell. Whereas a dumbell sits in the palm of your hand, the ball of the kettlebell is in front of your forearm. Because they are more difficult to control, they put a greater strain on your stabiliser muscles, and your core is more engaged during the movement. Kettlebell movements are very functional, as they mirror the way we carry things in day to day life. They also tend to be faster paced than those which you would perform with a dumbell or a barbell, which means they fire up fast-twitch muscle fibres.

The KB swing is one of my favourite exercises. Take a comfortable stance, placing your feet just wider than hip width apart. You want a soft bend in your knees, but not a deep one – this is not a squat. The thrust of the movement should come from your hips and glutes. Start with a gentle swing and build up to an explosive movement, bringing the KB up to chest height. This exercise keeps the muscles working for the entire range of movement. Because the glutes, hamstrings and lats all work together, there are less imbalances and the movement is softer on the joints. Aerobic workouts can put pressure on your joints, damaging your knees, lower back or shoulders, whereas KB swings are a great overall muscle conditioner. Once you’re comfortable with the movement, you can try a one armed swing, switching arms as you reach the top of each repetition. This movement will force your core muscles to work harder. You will need to use a lighter KB for this one.

You can use kettlebells to work pretty much every muscle in your body; they can be effectively used to perform a goblet squat, a lunge with a shoulder press and an upright row. Most gyms offer kettlebell classes, where you can learn several exercises and put together an entire circuit for yourself.