Charlotte Ord is the top female personal trainer in the UK and was recently named UK Personal Trainer of the Year for 2010

MK: Hi Charlotte, first let me congratulate you on becoming UK Personal Trainer of the year and say thank you for taking out some time for this interview.

CO: It’s a pleasure Marc, and thank you!

MK: Could you start by telling the readers a little about your self and your coaching background?

CO: Sure.  Well I’ve always been really active and played 5 different sports to national level when I was at school, including playing lacrosse for England and riding horses internationally.  After I finished my degree in Psychology and Sociology at uni, it was a very natural progression to move into the fitness industry where I could combine my passion for training and psychology.  It was a bit of a stroke of luck to be honest that my very first job in the industry was a club manager role in a brand new corporate gym and was, initially, a complete baptism of fire, but I managed to develop the club to be pretty successful with an absolutely thriving personal training component, and that was what I really loved.  In 2008 I decided that I really wanted to go out on my own and develop my own business, so that was when Phoenix Pro Fitness was born.

MK: You have been featured in some of the top fitness magazines and have recently authored “The Beach Babe Workout.” Every girl wants to look hot on the beach, could you share your approach to getting bikini ready in a hurry?

CO: Yeah.  The programme follows exactly the same protocol we use in our club and with our members to great success every day.  It’s essentially based on the hierarchy of fat loss; sound nutrition, strength and metabolic acceleration training combined with high intensity intervals.  Despite the girly exterior it seriously works people hard, which there is no way round if you want to see significant results in a brief period of time.

MK: You mention your “triple threat” approach to getting in shape fast, would you describe this for the readers?

CO: Of course.  See the thing is with fat loss and getting into great shape is that it’s really hard to do it just through training.  There’s a saying that you can’t out train a bad diet, and unless you’re really lucky and have an amazing metabolism, it’s true.  So the first angle we need to cover is nutrition.  Good eating habits are number one on the hierarchy of fat loss, as my mentor Alwyn Cosgrove likes to call it!  Then it’s essential that you have a training programme that is focused entirely on getting your metabolism racing – especially when you only have a short period of time in which to achieve your goals.  The final prong in the triple threat approach is motivation and mindset, because without it, it’s really hard to make changes that are ultimately going to get you to your goal.  It takes 3 weeks to change a habit, and mindset is what keeps you committed when the going gets tough and you wanna quit.

MK: So we start with the right training, could you describe a beach babe workout. What kind of exercises should the girls be doing to get that beach babe look?

CO: The training component of the Beach Babe Workout is based around a combination of resistance training and high intensity interval training, both of which lend themselves extremely well to not only shifting unwanted muffin tops and wobbly bottoms, but also in producing super sleek, super sexy streamlined muscles.  The exercises that are involved cover a range of different movement patterns so that you become well conditioned from every angle, and they’re all bang for your buck exercises which produce big calorie burn during each session, and even bigger calorie burn once you’ve finished!  And that’s what we want – elevated metabolism even at rest.  All of the exercises are functional, which basically means you have to use your own body for support, not sit on a piece of kit; most of sit too much as it is – it’s time to get moving!

MK: So none of those adductor and abductor machines you see in the gyms?

CO: Err, no!  Don’t get me started on that…haha.

MK: What about cardio? In your experience what type of cardio is best for burning fat fast?

CO: high intensity interval training, or even low intensity intervals for those who haven’t trained much before, are perfect for between resistance training sessions.  These ramp up your metabolism and improve your cardiovascular fitness better than steady state training, AND it’s not nearly so laborious.  HIIT is basically where you perform an exercise, say sprints, for a short intensive burst, and then rest, or active rest, before repeating again.  You can use various different time scales, but the idea is to go really hard for short periods of time.  It’s tough, but over much quicker than an hour trundling along on the treadmill and gets way better results.

MK: So that’s the training covered. Nutrition is the second step in your triple threat approach. Could you describe the ideal nutrition plan for fat loss?

CO: In an ideal world we’d all eat raw foods, drink clean water and be totally free of pollutants.  In today’s world that’s not realistic, but if we aim to get as close to that as possible we’ll be well on our way to optimal health and therefore a killer body.  The key things when eating for fat loss and muscle tone is to drink clean, filtered water, and lots of it, eat as much raw, or at least natural, food as possible, avoid processed foods and eat often; ideally 5 or 6 times a day.  For most people a diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates and fat works very well for fat loss.  It is however essential to eat good fats as these actually help facilitate the chemical process of fat metabolism and promote overall well being.

MK: Finally motivational support and coaching, why is this so important?

CO: I think regardless of what you’re trying to achieve, if you have people around you who are supportive, positive, cheering you on, telling you can do it, that you’re amazing, that you can do anything, you’re always going to do better than if you are left alone with your own thoughts, which very often are negative and not conducive to positive change.  The power of the mind is incredibly powerful and I would say is one of the biggest factors in body transformation success.

MK: Thanks Charlotte, that’s some great information you’ve just shared with us. So what would say are the 5 must do things regarding exercise a girl should do to get beach ready in a hurry?

CO: No problemo!  Ok so my top 5 things would be..

1. Before anything else, I’d say make a plan, schedule in when you’re going to train, and move hell or high water to stick to it.  If you don’t give yourself the option of missing training, you won’t.  Make a commitment.

2. Lift weights.  Contrary to popular belief, it won’t make you bulky unless you’re on steroids.  What it will do is turbo charge your metabolism, whip your muscles into sizzling hot shape and leave you feeling fit, strong and sexy.

3. Give it your all.  Don’t be a wimp, you’re stronger than you think, and you’ll be amazed how good you feel if you push yourself and achieve things you didn’t think you could.  You know those annoying people who get high as a kite on exercise?  Push yourself and you might just turn into one of them!

4. Don’t skip the warm up and recovery phases of your programme.  These are essential not only for getting your body ready for the more vigorous part of your programme, but also for helping you recover fast so that you come back to the following session even stronger and burn even more fat.

5. Invest in expert help.  The fact you even need to get ready for the beach in a hurry suggests that you haven’t had much time to think about how best you might get into bikini shape in the first place, and now you even less time you’re probably going to need some help.  Having a plan to follow is ALWAYS more successful than winging it – going to the gym without a proper programme is a bit like getting into your car and not knowing where you were going; you just wouldn’t do it.  Hopefully!

MK: And the 5 must do nutrition strategies a girl must do?

CO:

1. Drink plenty of clean, filtered water

2. Eat as many raw foods as you can

3. Eat at least 5 times a day as this will help to keep your blood sugar levels stable and reduce cravings for quick fix sugary foods

4. Again, make a plan.  If you’ve got a meal plan written down, you’re far more likely to stick to healthy eating habits than if you don’t.  It’s that old saying, ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail.’  Don’t let it happen to you!

5. Avoid acidic or processed foods which can leave you feeling bloated, lethargic and storing fat that you don’t need.  A diet of 80% alkaline and 20% mildly acidic is optimal.

MK: Thank you Charlotte for sharing that with us today. Before we go, is there a website where the readers could go to find out more information about you and your training programs?

CO: No worries Marc!  For more information about the Beach Babe Workout people can visit the website at www.beachbabeworkout.com and my personal site is www.charlotteord.com

MK: Thanks again Charlotte

CO: Pleasure, thanks Marc!

Charlotte Ord is a Sky TV fitness presenter and director of leading Surrey Personal Training Company Phoenix Pro Fitness.  She was named UK Personal Trainer of the Year 2010 and is a regular contributor to both the general press and fitness publications on an international scale.   A specialist in kettlebell training, Charlotte is an assistant coach to the IKFF and is renowned for her ability to produce outstanding fat loss results.  She trains a wide variety of clients ranging from those challenged by morbid obesity to ultra marathon runners, and has herself competed nationally and internationally in five different sports.

Ok, I’m back again to kick some more fitness myths in to touch. If you missed training myths part one where I went into depth on the myth that “women who lift weights get big bulky muscles” you can read it by clicking here

So straight into it with

Myth 2: Your lean toned muscles will turn to fat if you stop lifting weights

Muscle cannot be turned into fat, just as water cannot be turned into wine! It’s as impossible as trying to turn water into metal or plastic into wood!

If you stop training you willl naturally lose muscle strength and size, its a case of use it or lose it with muscle. Fat on the other hand is a source of energy, it can be stored or burned in muscle tissue.

This is what actually happens when you stop training: You will begin to lose muscle tissue and as you do so are going to set your self up for a bit of a weight loss nightmare!

You see, the amount of muscle tissue you have on your body has a direct link to the speed of your bodies metabolism. Your metabolism governs the amount of calories you will burn on a daily basis. In basic terms, the more muscle tissue you have, the faster your metabolism, the faster your metabolism the more caloires you burn on a daily basis.

To look at it another way, losing muscle would be like putting a smaller engine in your car! The smaller engine is going to burn less fuel.

One of the reasons fat diets result in such rapid weight loss is because of not eating enough to support your bodies current muscle tissue. Starving your self thin only ends up in a rapid weight gain once you fall off the diet. The same can be said for doing endless amounts of cardio, sure you’ll lose some weight, but you’ll be burning more muscle tissue resulting in a slower metabolic rate. This all makes it harder to keep the fat off in the long term.

So if you stop training you could get fat but not because your muscle has been magically converted to fat. You will likely get fat if you continue to eat the same amount of food you did while you exercised and because of your slower metabolism. One cannot be turned into the other.

I will be back in a coupe of days with Myth 3:  Specific exercises are great for toning muscles

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc

This is an interview I did with Tim Egerton over at Sprint Strong on the importance of developing optimal body composition for speed and power based athletes.

Tim Egerton is a Strength & Conditioning Coach based in the North of England. A Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the NSCA and an Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCC) through the UKSCA, Tim also has a Masters Degree in Strength & Conditioning. His passion for speed development stems from his life long involvement in Track & Field.

Tim: Hi Marc, I really appreciate you taking out some time for this interview.

Marc: No worries Tim, thanks for having me.

Tim: You have developed quite a reputation as an expert in fat loss. Many readers may be thinking this subject is not particularly relevant to their sports training. However, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on the importance of developing optimal body composition in speed and power based athletes.

Marc: In my opinion Tim, having an optimal body composition is equally if not more important to speed and power based athletes than it would be to the general population. While having a lower body fat percentage is good for general health and lowers the risks of certain diseases, I believe that obtaining an optimal (for your sport) body composition can only improve your performance.

For instance, in weight categorised sports such as boxing/judo where the athletes need to fight at certain body weights having a low body fat percentage would enable the fighter to be stronger, fitter and faster than an opponent at the same weight with a higher body fat percentage. The same would go for rugby players.

For pure speed athletes such as sprinters having a less than optimal body composition would be akin to running with a ruck sack on your back, it’s just going to slow you down!

Tim: Would your approach to improving and optimising body composition vary greatly between an overweight population and an athletic population?

Marc: In a nut shell I would say no. For an over weight population it’s slightly easier as it’s just a case of manipulating their calorie intake, especially their carbs to help reduce body fat. Where as due to the intensity as well as the frequency that a high level athlete would train it would depend on how many calories they would need to be able to train at those higher levels. Cut calories too much and you will never have the energy to train and recovery would be compromised.

Tim: Obviously physical training plays an important role in optimising body composition. However, the importance of nutrition should not be overlooked either. What nutritional advice would you give to a speed and power based athlete who might be looking to decrease their body fat levels but also needs fuel himself appropriately for intense training sessions?

Marc: For both my fat loss clients and the athletes I train I always stress the importance of getting enough protein to help facilitate muscle growth and recovery. The more muscle an athlete carries the more protein they should ingest. I aim for my clients to get 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. We want to feed the muscle and starve the fat. I would ensure there diet has adequate amounts of good fats obtained from salmon, tuna, and cod liver and flax oil. From there it would be a case of getting in good quality carbs to fuel the workouts. How many carbs? Well that would depend on where they are in their training cycle and how far off their target body fat percentage they are.

Tim: Are there any nutritional supplements out there that you think athletes should be taking, either from the perspective of body composition or performance?

Marc: To cover the short falls in some athlete’s diets a good quality multi vitamin/mineral should be top of the list. Also to help ensure they are meeting their protein requirements I suggest a good quality protein power and a post workout recovery shake that has a 2:1 carb/protein ratio. Studies have shown this ratio has been optimal for recovery, I recommend a shake due to convenience.

Tim: Thanks Marc. You have provided some really useful information here. Is there anywhere the readers can go to find out more about you?

Marc: Thanks for providing me the opportunity to share my information with your readers. If your readers want to check out more from me they can find it at my main website: www.MarcKent.com

Thanks again Tim, it’s been a pleasure.

–  End of Interview  –

I hope you found the above of some interest and gained some insights into developing a better body composition. These tips can help anyone looking to reduce their body fat to improve their sports performance or simply to look better naked.

Train Hard, Eat Smat!

Marc

Eating for fat loss really is simple. The chances are, you don’t need to buy anymore diet books or  nutrition programs. You already know what to do!

So just to remind you I’m going to give you these 7 simple fat loss tips to help you reach your fat loss and fitness goals quicker.

1. Pick one day per week to plan, shop and prepare your food for the week ahead:
2. Buy  packs of chicken breasts in bulk (this way it works out cheeper),  grill them and then freeze them in individual bags. You can take them out on a daily basis to defrost for lunch when needed.
3. Buy and prepare a week’s worth of vegetables. Put peppers, spinach, tomatoes, and carrots in salads. Cut up raw broccoli florets, carrot sticks, and celery pieces for appetite suppressing snacks. You can then place all these veggies in the fridge in their own airtight boxes.
4. Buy bags of apples, oranges, and kiwi fruits, take 1 of each to work each day or leave the bags of fruit on your desk at work. Doing this will ensure you have healthy snacks on hand and will also help you towards your 5 portions of fruit & veg per day.
5. Buy bags of raw nuts such as almonds, brazil’s, and walnuts. Try to avoid roasted nuts as most are roasted in vegetable oil covered in salt. Take a bag of nuts to work and eat some alongside the fruit so ensure an adequate intake of protein and heart healthy oils.
6. Only buy whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pastas, brown rice and high-fibre cereals. The closer the food is to its natural state the better it is for you. Stay away from packaged foods that been modified in any way by the food companies, such as cakes, biscuits, pastys etc. These foods are full of fat and sugar and will halt your fat loss progress in its tracks.
7. With that said: Alow yourself a treat once per week, but no more, to your favourite meal. Stick to the 90/10 rule.You do remember the 90/10 rule don’t you? Basically it means that you should be eating healthy 90% of the time. So if you eat 6 meals a day (breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and evening snack) then you should be eating 38 healthy meals/snacks per week (7 days x 6 meals = 42 meals x 90% = 38).

This means that you can allow yourself up to  4 treats a week. This gives you room to fall in your nutrition without the sense of failure you get with and all or nothing approach, just chose your treats wisely!

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc

When the words oils and fats are mentioned, health-conscious individuals tend to run for cover. What they fail to realize is that there are good fats and bad fats. Complete avoidance of intake of oils and fats would actually be detrimental – rather than beneficial – to their health.

The Truth about Fish Oil

Essential fatty acids must always be part of our daily diet – without them, we take one step closer to our deaths. Essential fatty acids are divided into two families: omega-6 EFAs and omega-3 EFAS.

Although there are only very slight differences to distinguish the two groups of essential fatty acids from each other, studies have revealed that too much intake of omega-6 EFAs can lead to inflammation, blood clotting and tumor growth. The good news, however, is that the opposite is true for omega-3 EFAs. Omega-6 EFAs can be found in vegetable oils while omega-3 EFAs can be found in fish oils among other foods.

Omega-6 vs. Omega-3

Physicians and scientists are of the same opinion that the cause behind increasing cases of heart disease, hypertension or high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, premature aging and certain kinds of cancer is none other than an imbalanced intake of omega-3 and omega-6 EFAs.

As mentioned earlier on, omega-6 EFAs can be found in vegetable oils. This includes but is not limited to corn oil and soy oil, both of which contains high amounts of linoleic acid. Omega-3 EFAs on the other hand can be found also in marine plankton and walnut and flaxseed oils. It should be significant to take note that fatty fish and fish oils contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), fatty acids that have been observed to provide many benefits to the human body. In the early 1970’s, a study on Greenland Eskimos have revealed that one of the major reasons why they rarely suffer from heart diseases is because of their high-fat diet (mainly composed of fish).

The two essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA, are also helpful in preventing atherosclerosis, heart attacks, depression and various forms of cancer. Fish oil supplemented food have also proven to be useful in treating illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, Raynaud’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Other Benefits of Fish Oil

There are a lot more illnesses and situations in which intake of fish oil has proven to be significantly beneficial.

Making the Heart Healthier
The heart is inarguably one of the most important parts of our body and having an unhealthy heart means having to suffer a rather limited lifespan. Naturally, it’s in our best interests to keep our hearts happy and healthy and one way of doing that is eating food that contains fish oil.

In Athens, Greece, for instance, a study was made to show if there was a direct relationship between high fish diet and inflammation of blood vessels. The results revealed that those who ate more fish than the others had a lower level of C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, factors that are commonly used to measure likelihood of blood vessel inflammation. These benefits remained even when the various risks associated with high fish diet were taken into account.

Fish to Become Thin
In Perth, Australia, a study had revealed that fish consumption can be used against hypertension and obesity. Researchers of the UWA (University of Western Australia) have discovered that a weight-loss diet which includes a regular amount of fish consumption can be quite effective in reducing blood pressure and improving glucose tolerance.

Fish Oil to Combat Asthma
People suffering from respiratory problems like asthma tend to be perceived as unfit and unhealthy. They should now be pleased to learn that certain studies have revealed the benefits of fish oil for asthma-burdened-individuals. Statistics show that approximately 20 to 25% of children today suffer one form of asthma or another at a certain point in their lives. And certain evidence reveals a regular diet of food with high linoleic acid content as the reason behind it.

Researchers of UW (University of Wyoming) conducted a study by subjecting a number of children to a high-fish diet while others continued with their regular diet. Results revealed that the participants who ate more fish were less prone to asthma attacks and were able to breathe more easily as well.

Consult Your Nutritionist Now
Nothing is good when consumed or used excessively but complete avoidance of a particular food type is equally harmful as well. Ask your nutritionist for the right amount of fish intake for your age and health status.

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc