Free Training Advice

This comes down to your goals, lifestyle and current fitness level. For
those who are new or returning to exercise, aiming for two to three
workouts each week is a great place to start to build your fitness
while giving your body time to recover. Once that’s feeling easier,
you can add more workouts to your weekly schedule! When your fitness
increases, you might be doing between four and six workouts each
week.

The best time work out is whenever you can fit it in! Have a look at your
schedule and figure out what time of day is best for you.
If your routine is flexible, think about when you feel most energetic,
or when you would prefer to exercise. Morning workouts can be an
energising way to start the day for some, while others prefer working
out in the afternoons or evenings. 

Consistency is what matters, so focus on working out when it works best for you,
which will make it more enjoyable and easier to stick to!

Again this depends on what works for your lifestyle. For adults, the World
Health Organisation recommends at least 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity, or at least 75-150 minutes each week of vigorous-intensity
aerobic physical activity. 

Exercise and fitness can help to boost and improve your mental wellbeing. For
example, exercise has now been proven to be 1.5
times more effective than Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at reducing
mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety. 

Exercise (as long as it’s not done in excess) can also positively impact
hormones, which in turn can improve our mood and mental health.  

The production of endorphins
post exercise can improve our mood and
hormones. such as adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones), can
essentially be ‘burnt off’ with exercise, therefore reducing
physical stress. 

When you choose a weight for strength training, pick a weight that’s
“heavy for you.” For example, 5 lbs may be heavy for one person,
while 50 lbs is heavy for someone else. This will depend on your
current strength and fitness level.

You should be able to complete all reps in a set with good form, and have
to push yourself to finish the last 1-2 reps of each set. If you
could easily breeze through 15-20 reps of an exercise at your current
weight, it’s a good sign to bump it up a little. On the other hand,
if you’re struggling to complete all reps and compromising form,
decrease the amount of weight or resistance you’re using.

As always, talk with a doctor before making any fitness changes. The
best way to start a fitness program is consistent walking and
establishing a cardio baseline. Aim for 5-15 minutes most days of the
week. Once you’re able to hit this consistently for a few weeks,
add in 5 minutes until you can reach the 150 minutes of moderate
cardio guidelines. (30 minutes, 5 days per week) From here, I
recommend meeting with a certified personal trainer to determine a
personalized strength plan you can follow 1-2 days per week. (One
upper, one lower, or two total body circuits) From here, you’ll be
able to progress into different strength training.

BCAA’s are arguably one of the most popular muscle building/sports
performance supplements on the market today. On paper, BCAA’s sound
amazing. BCAA’s make up approximately one third of the protein
content of muscle and include the amino acids leucine, isoleucine and
valine. Unfortunately, research for BCAA supplementation in the
presence of adequate protein intake for a reference athlete or
individual does not seem to promote a benefit.(107)

Another example can clearly be seen in a study by Churchward-Venne et al.
2012.  24 males participated in a study that involved being
sectioned into groups that supplemented with either a complete whey
source versus a lower dose of whey protein combined with leucine and
other essential amino acids. The results showed that even though the
low dose combined with EAA’s was able to augment skeletal muscle
growth for a few hours following exercise, only complete whey could
continue to keep up the pace and keep the muscles growing.(125) Keep
in mind people, the global market for sports based nutrition is
lucrative and is projected to increase by over 50% by 2022.(126) Yes,
some supplements do work but this is a billion dollar industry we are
talking about, and to maintain these numbers they are going to have
to allow some supplements to slide through to keep up with the bottom
line. Optimizing your performance comes a distant second my friends.

Protein is the foundation for muscle growth. It directly builds mass by
providing amino acids, the essential material muscles use to get
bigger. In fact, protein or amino acids are often referred to as the
body's "bricks and mortar." No surprise, then, that if you
want to get big, you need more protein than the average person. Start
at 1 gram per pound of bodyweight per day and go up to as much as 1.5
grams. So if you weigh 180 pounds, that's 180-270 grams of protein
daily. Be sure to spread that intake evenly over your six meals to
maximize absorption and provide a continual flow of building
material.

Your body is made in the kitchen, not the gym. While training will
definitely make you stronger and faster, eating habits will make you
leaner and fitter. To eat for the body you want, consider your goals,
cut the junk and focus on eating better not less.