Claire, myself & Chris: rasining money for North Devon Hospice

In April last year I was approached by Claire with the view to her starting Boot Camp as preparation for the walk accross The Great Wall of China to raise money for the North Devon Hospice. After talking with Claire and the rest of the members of the team and a visit to the Hospice I decided to sponsor the trek by allowing them to participate in Boot Camp for free for the entire year to get them ready to walk The Great Wall of China.

Below is Claire’s story, please read on.

Back in April of this year (2009), whilst browsing through the North Devon Journal, I came across the article featuring Richard Taylor and his challenge of walking The Great Wall of China in memory of Sarah his sister, after reading the article my first reaction was I can do that, after telling my mum my plans she immediately said the same and it all started from there.

After a lot of thought both our attentions turned to HOW we would do it, I was unhealthy and overweight and mum felt that at 60 she was not at her peak, after ringing around a couple of fitness instructors, I came across Marc Kent, who was extremely supportive of our challenge, and much to my surprise offered his services to all of the group for free, after a couple of people pulling out we were left with just me and mum.

In May we started our long journey to getting fit and ready for the walk, I think we both had misconceptions about what to expect, but after our first session we were both hooked.  3 times a week we take part in an hour of full on exercise, which includes a warm up, circuit training and the dreaded last 10 minutes, which usually involves press ups, knees to elbow, star jumps and running.

Had somebody told us 12 months ago we would be getting up at 6.30am and running around a gym, I would not have believed them, however Marc has not only prepared us physically he has given us the confidence to believe that we can achieve this once in a life time opportunity.

What Marc Kent proves is that you can be any size, any age and any level of fitness and with the right person guiding you, you can achieve anything. This may sound corny but this is fact and we are proof of that.

What is really important about this challenge is not only the chance for us to fulfil a dream, but also the opportunity to raise as much money as possible for 2 great charities, The North Devon Hospice and Tinker Taylor 12.  Both mum and I had the opportunity to know Sarah Taylor and her family, and hear about the support they received from the Hospice at a time when they most needed it, and I can not think of a better reason to do what we are doing.

As part of the fundraising for this event, we will be holding a ladies charity night on Thursday 28th January at Sticklepath School; the event will include the following:

• A ready steady cook – Healthy style

• A presentation from Marc Kent about keeping fit

• Massage, reflexology, and head massage.

• Plus other pampering ideas.

• The event will cost £7 per person.

For more information please phone Claire on 01271 371208

If you would like to sponsor Claire and Chris’s trek and raise money for the North Devon Hospice, please visit: www.justgiving.com/clairefisher7

Since a lot of people are involved in physical exercises, it is imperative that the importance of warming up before any strenuous activity should be discussed. Many have repeatedly ignored going through the warm up stage before working out, not knowing the consequences in doing so.

Why warm up? Several changes takes place in the body once physical activity is initiated. A person’s respiratory rate, blood flow, and oxygen and nutrient levels delivered to the cells increases. The rate of increase should be regulated in a steady pace to prepare the body for the physical stress that exercise will demand. If one foregoes this priming procedure, the body will function less efficiently and the workout will produce less quality results. Warming up preps up the nervous system, heightens mental awareness and alertness, and loosens up joints and muscles to make them less prone to injuries. Warm ups jump starts the fluid located in the joints, minimizing the risk for wear and tear of the muscles. It gives the heart a suitable period to adjust and pump up blood and nutrients into muscles.

This is vital for older people, since they have tissues that are less supple; they have joints with less fluid, and weaker hearts. Sudden exercise can produce heart attacks to older people.

How does a person warm up properly? Initially, it can be done in any procedure that enables the heart to beat faster. One can simply walk and jog, or if a cardiovascular equipment is available, such as rowing machine or a bicycle, it can be utilized. Start at a gentle pace, and then slowly increase the pace until heart beat rate increases and the body temperature rises. It’s important to note that the pace should be in accordance to one’s current fitness level, where the activity will leave the person energized and not exhausted.

After working up a light sweat (suggested time is 3-5 minutes, longer if the person is working out in a cold environment) one should do dynamic stretching. Stretching helps in developing overall flexibility, particularly in the spine, shoulder, and hip areas. The kind of stretching depends on the type of activity a person plans to engage in. For instance, if one is about to play sports, the recommended kind of stretching would be the ones that mimics the movements that will be done in the court or field. If one is about to do martial arts, light sparring can be done at a quarter of the normal speed, or just simply do the movements in slow motion. Be certain that the major muscles groups are stretched for 8 seconds minimum. It is necessary to remember to keep feet moving or do leg exercises whenever the upper body is stretched to help prevent blood from pooling in the legs. Remember, one should only do stretching if the muscles are already warmed up. Do not bounce while stretching. It leads to a contraction that can result in muscle tear or pull.

For weight-lifters, this is what should be done after the initial warm up. Load the bar with about 50-60% of the heaviest weight to be done for the session and perform the number of repetitions that will be done for the heavy sets. For the second set, the weight will be increased to 80%, then eventually to 90%, decreasing to 2-3 repetitions. Afterwards, rest for about 30 seconds, then repeat the steps. After this warm up, one can now proceed to the heavy lifting for the day. The advantage of doing the procedure is that the heavy sets will feel less daunting and can now be performed with considerably less stress.

After warming up and proceeding to the main workout, it is equally important to cool down. When a person suddenly stops exercising or lifting weights, blood gathers in the muscle and oxygen is blocked. When this happens, a person runs the risk of having a heart attack. So cooling down should have the same importance as warming up.

Exercise is good for the health. Everyone is encouraged to pump it up, just remember to remember all the necessary precautions not only to maximize the workout, but also to stay safe and healthy.

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc

My workout today consisted of two mini circuits. In the first circuit I did an elevated ab workout with my feet up on the bench and hands on kettlebells. The circuit consisted of the following four exercises:

Press Ups

Mountain Climbers

Renagade Rows

X-Body Mountain Climbers

The video below shows the workout.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcHk5-dpm5k[/youtube]

Part two of the workout consisted of various kettlebell swings. Check the video below to see what I did.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEN3XlpxByw[/youtube]

Give the workout a go and leave a comment below.

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc

A quick workout today of kettlebell swings and press up variations.

Perform the following exercises in the order shown without rest. At the end of the 8 exercises take 1 minutes rest and repeat 1-2 more times.

Kettlebell Swings

Burpees

Kettlebell Swings

T-Press Ups

Kettlebell Swings

Gecko’s

Kettlebell Swings

Press Ups

Watch the video to see how its done

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XsTywu4KD8[/youtube]

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc

Summer is finally here and its time to head down the beach and show off that body you have been working hard on all through the winter. You have been exercising through the winter haven’t you?

Well if not now’s the time to take action and stop putting it off with excuses such as “oh, I’ll start tomorrow” or “just one more biscuit, slice of cake, vodka etc wont hurt”

So to help you get a beach ready body that you can be proud of I’m going to give you my top five tips to give you the best results in the next two weeks.

Now I’m not saying it’s going to be easy but then nothing truly worth having is ever easy. So here are my top five tips…

1, Stop working your abs in the hope that if you do thousands of sit ups/ crunches you will be able to burn loads off fat and get that toned midsection that you desire. It just doesn’t work like that. The body burns fat from genetically determined places which you nor I have control of and doing sit ups/ crunches won’t burn anywhere near enough calories to elicit a fat burning effect.

2, Exercise! Come on, you didn’t honestly think you could get ready for the beach without putting in a little effort did you? You don’t need to live in the gym but what you do need is a 20-25 minute whole body workout done 3-4 times per week using compound exercises that use the largest muscle groups in the body, (check out some of my videos for ideas). By using compound exercises that use more than one muscle group at a time you will not only stimulate muscle growth and burn calories, you will also rev up your metabolism which will allow you to burn more fat all day long. Stay away from shaping exercises as they don’t burn anywhere near as many calories.

3, Follow your 20-25 minute workout with 15-20 minutes of interval cardio. Interval s can be done on any of the traditional cardio machines or out side. After a five minute warm up on your chosen exercise to get the blood pumping you then go as fast as you can for 30-60 seconds and then rest for the same amount of time. Repeat this for a total of 15-20 minutes for a great fat blasting workout. If you’re up for it try hill sprints or try skipping as fast as you can for a minute then slower to catch your breath then repeat. Interval training will help you to burn more calories post workout than slow steady cardio. Forget the fat burning zone; you want to burn as many calories as you can!

4, Nutrition. Fuel your body with real food. Try to eat as much fresh natural food as possible staying away from processed packaged food which is generally high in fat, salt and sugar. Try to reduce you consumption of caffeine which dehydrates the body and alcohol which is a useless nutrient that the body has to deal with before it can burn any of the calories that you’ve eaten from food. Basically if it wasn’t around when the cavemen where then don’t eat it. Technology may have moved on since then but the body still works on the same principles as it did thousands of years ago.

5, Be sure to drink at least 2 litres of fresh water per day. Did you know that the body is over two thirds water? Water is used by the body for transporting and carrying nutrients between cells, exchanging oxygen in the air we breathe with the carbon dioxide produced in or cells which must be excreted from the lungs. Water helps flush the body of toxins and waste products through urine, sweat and tears. Water helps to keep the skin healthy, helps to reduce wrinkles and helps reduce your chances of getting headaches. Need I say any more about water?

There you have it, my top five tips for getting a beach ready body in two weeks but will you act on them?

Train Hard, Eat Smart!

Marc