We often hear saying that they want to “tone”. However every time resistance training is suggested the answer often is “I don’t want to get bulky”. First thing first, for a guy to get “bulky” they would have to train 5 days a week, with great intensity lifting heavy weights every week for a good few years to achieve a “bulky” physique (unless taking performance enhancing substances). To gain a large amount of muscle is a difficult thing to achieve. It’s even harder for women to achieve due to the fact that testosterone levels in women are so low. For guys it would be a dream to start packing on large amounts of muscle by lifting moderate weights twice – three times a week.

So how do we “tone”? We “tone” by reducing fat and increasing muscle size (yes we have to increase muscle size!). As previously stated increasing muscle size is hard. Resistance training has to become a vital part of your training program if you want to achieve a “toned” physique. The treadmill, cross trainer, bike, rower etc will help you lose fat. However they will have a negative effect when it comes to building muscle. To increase muscle size and “tone” you will have to perform resistance exercises a minimum 2-3 times a week. When we say resistance exercise we mean that the weight has to be heavy (however not too heavy). It has to be difficult and out of your comfort zone, otherwise results will be minimal. Resistance training will also help you reduce fat as it can increase your metabolism and you are burning calories whilst exercising. A mixture of both resistance training and cardio is best.

However to achieve a “toned” physique you also will need a good nutritional plan, one that is tailored towards your goal. If your goal is to increase muscle mass then this will hard to achieve in a calorie deficit. Also for fat loss this will impossible to achieve in a calorie surplus. If you are looking to achieve fat loss and muscle gain you will have to train in separate phases. A phase dedicated to fat loss (e.g. 6-12 weeks) and a phase dedicated to muscle gain (e.g. 6-12 weeks).

 

For more information on any of the topics you can speak to one of our personal trainers for free and they can set you off in the correct direction.
Take a look here

Or our 12 week inch loss program is specialised to help people improve their body composition. Take a look here

How to stick to you new years resolution!

Every year the loads of people believe that in the new year we are going to get fit, look and feel great. So why do so many of us fail at this and end up saying the same thing in December again. With the most common phrase “I’ll start again in the New Year”. DON’T LET 2017 BE THE SAME AS EVERY OTHER YEAR! Below I have made a list of things we can do in order to make 2017 “your year”.

EXERCISE IS BORING!
Many of us start pounding the treadmills and exercise bikes. This is boring! Make your workout more fun. Many of us don’t like running and the gym. You do not have to do these to lose weight. Get yourself signed up on a football/netball/tennis/badminton/whatever team. This way you will enjoy your exercise more.

DON’T GO IT ALONE!
This links in with the first point. Going to the gym on your own is boring, running on your own is boring. It takes a lot of will power to get yourself off your sofa and get your butt to go and do something. Especially when it’s dark, wet and cold outside. Get a group of friends together to go. This way you can make it a social occasion and actually have a laugh whilst exercising. Also these people will help motivate you on the nights you don’t really fancy it.

GET ADVICE!
Now there are many people who have lost weight and got into great shape all by themselves and this is fantastic. However there is a lot of misinformation in the fitness industry and many people don’t even know where to begin. Get some professional advice from a qualified fitness professional. If they try and sell you anything other than personal training or fitness classes (e.g. fad diets) then they are no good. Good personal trainers understand that fad diets aren’t good for you and will push you in the right direction.

START SIMPLE!
Don’t look into fad diets and ridiculous training regimes. Start as simple as a couple of training sessions per week, plus a simple nutrition plan that doesn’t restrict you too much. The first thing we do when we begin a training program at Fitness 206 is start with what you are currently doing. Most people tend to eat well “most” of the time. However I explain consistency is key. Them biscuits and cakes after your tea do count, as does them 12 pints or 2 bottles of wine at weekend. The first thing we would do is work upon this and find alternatives. You would see massive results just from doing this.

For any more advice just drop us a message in our contact tab.

In today’s society many of us want to lose weight. When I say weight I mean fat! As fat loss and weight loss sometimes may not correlate. I could lose about 2lb of weight in a couple of days just by reducing carbs in my diet (My body composition may not even change). Anyways, back onto the title. Is weight loss easy? The scientific answer is yes. Scientifically weight (fat) loss is very, very simple. It’s primary school maths, It’s calories in – calories out. If you consume less energy than you expend then fat will be used as an energy source and therefore you will reduce the size of your “fat” cells. If you do this over a period of time then you will continue to lose fat. Remember all calories count (even the ones in alcohol unfortunately!).

If it’s this easy why aren’t we all running around looking like elite athletes. Psychologically being in a calorie deficit is hard, especially if you want a social life. When ever we are out we are surrounded by pastries, burgers, fast food, alcohol etc. These are all things that we enjoy and will start to crave (especially around Christmas). Below I have complied a few things we can do to combat this:

Know how many calories you consume a day
A lot of people have no clue how many calories they consume a day. With technology this has become easier than ever. A great app to use is “My Fitness Pal”. With this you can see how many calories you are consuming a day just by scanning or typing in your food. It also tells you what nutrients you are consuming and if you are deficient in any. Remember this is an app and may not be 100% accurate with its calculations as it doesn’t know your individual needs, but it’s a great place to start.

Exercise on the days you know you have social occasions
This is something I come across all the time. Most people socialise, drink and eat rubbish on the weekend. However they do not exercise on these days. The whole idea is to be in a calorie deficit. GET UP AND DO SOME EXERCISE! Don’t let that 1 day let you down, you will be right back where you started on Monday. Hit the gym hard on the days that you will consume a little more calories than usual. This will help massively as it may even balance out so that you consume the same amount of calories out expend on that day.

Eat before you go out
If you eat before you socialise you are less likely to give in to them cravings. The amount of times I have gone to the cinemas on an empty stomach and seen all the chocolate and just said “one bag won’t hurt”. Added to that bag of chocolate was nachos and a large coke. There I will have consumed between 1/2 – 3/4 of my daily calorie allowance. If you eat before you go out you are less likely to give into these cravings.

Choose healthier places to socialise
I understand this always can’t be the case. The amount of people that I see arranging nights at pizza & burger places when they are trying to lose weight baffles me. There are loads of restaurants that serve healthy dishes. The majority of them will serve either chicken, steak, veg etc. Pick healthier options when socialising.

Toughen Up!
You know this is what you have to do so let’s not hear the excuses. My favourite one is “I don’t have time”. As if it’s a lot quicker to eat a bag of crisps than to eat an apple (or any other type of fruit). It’s hard I know, but let’s just get it done you will feel better for it, I promise. If time is an issue then prepare your food for days in advance. Also don’t listen to your work mates/friends/family that are very negative when you are trying to lose weight. Most of the time they are like this because they aren’t happy with themselves. They don’t mean to be negative, however it maybe a subconscious reaction. Dig deep down and don’t eat rubbish.

There has been a lot in the media about the effects of sugar on the body. Most of the coverage around sugar has been negative, with many individuals and companies claiming that cutting sugar out of your diet has many health benefits. Many gym goers and “fitness freaks” may have tried diets where they try and reduce sugar intake from the diet.

What is sugar?
Sugar is a carbohydrate. It can come in two forms monosaccharides (tend to be found in fruit, rice etc) and  disaccarides (tend to found in granulated sugar, milk etc). Both of these tend to still get digested in a very similar way.

What is fast releasing and slow releasing sugar?
Fibre helps regulate your digestive system and will also help keep your blood sugar regulated. Blood sugar can be raised very quickly when high levels of sugar are consumed without much fibre. E.g. coca-cola and chocolate bars (These tend to contain very high levels of sugar, even if there was fibre in the diet they are likely to still rapidly increase blood sugar). Consuming high amounts of sugar with a low amount of fibre is likely to cause our levels of sugar in the blood to increase rapidly. This puts a lot of strain on our pancreas that produces insulin, this is produced to escort sugar to your muscles/organs. If too much sugar is consumed then the extra energy will get stored as fat to be used at a later date. Increased fibre and starchy foods e.g. sweet potato, brown rice (even white rice is ok) etc will release sugar more slowly into the blood stream and therefore put less stress on your pancreas. It is less likely that sugar will be stored as fat if it is released into the blood stream over a longer period of time. However if you are in a calorie surplus then you will store it as fat ans are likely to still be consuming too much sugar.

Is sugar bad for you?
In my personal opinion, sugar is not bad for us if we have it in moderation. However, when we intake too much sugar we are essentially in taking a lot energy and if we intake too much energy we do not need, we store fat. This then leads to a greater chance of many diseases. When choosing your food, look to consume less than 6g of sugar per 100g of food. However, it depends on what we are consuming, we know fruit is high in sugars (fructose). Eating fruit isn’t likely to have a detrimental effect on your health, as long as its not consumed in huge portions. It’s often the high amount of calories that we tend to consume with high amounts of sugar especially through fizzy drinks, chocolate bars, sweets etc.

Can you totally cut sugar from your diet?
Most likely the answer is NO. You would have a very, very, very restrictive diet if you were totally cut sugar from your diet. Many foods contain sugar even in low amounts. Even foods high in protein and fats can contain small amounts of sugar. One of my personal favourites I hear at least once a month is “I never eat sugar, I have totally cut if from my diet”. I am 99.999999999999999999% sure that every person will still be consuming sugar, even in small amounts. Also consuming extremely low amounts of sugar is not healthy.

When is sugar good to consume?
Sugar is a fantastic energy source. Sport athletes will consume a good amount sugar on a daily basis. They will consume sugar as an energy source to keep up with the demands of training. Otherwise they would “burn out” quickly. Also a good time to intake sugar is after training. You need to replenish your muscles with sugar as you have used whilst training.

So, we need sugar in the diet as we use it as energy. Most of us do intake too much sugar and this will have a damaging effect on the body. Reducing sugar is great for most of us, especially individuals with sedentary lifestyles. However, sugar is a natural energy source (in most cases) and without it our training and general life might have a negative affect without it. Moderation is key and the odd treat every 7-10 days is more than likely to be perfectly fine.

A very common sight in the gym (especially with women) are people spending hours and hours of cardio a week trying to lose weight. This is fantastic and will help your overall health when you compare it to the opposite, watching endless netflix whilst eating a share size chocolate bar every night (been guilty of this a few times myself).

Will hours and hours of cardio prevent you from losing fat, the simple answer is no. HOWEVER just think will endless hours on the treadmill/bike and the 1000’s of burpees get you the body that you want? As well as this, are all the hours of cardio a week sustainable? With some people the answer is yes, if you enjoy putting your body through high amounts of pain everyday. Even with this, you will most likely end up burning yourself out at some point. This will lead you to feel tired and lack motivation to exercise. Most of us will become bored and unmotivated before we even get to this point. Cardio is good at putting our body in a calorie deficit. If your body is in a calorie deficit you will lose fat, but think about how you will look if you keep performing cardio on a regular basis. Elite Long distance runners have very low body fat, their body is designed to run long distances and are fantastic at doing so. Is your aim of coming to the gym to have a body like an elite long distance runner. If this is your aim then cardio is fantastic, however if you want the “toned” look then cardio everyday is unlikely to give you this.

So what can we do?

Change your training regularly
Don’t stick to the same routine all the time. Add some extra exercises in every 4-6 weeks to keep it fresh. Performing the same routine in the gym every time you go is likely to get boring. E.g. If you usually do 20 mins on the treadmill, try some HIIT (high intensity interval training) instead. Just type in HIIT workout in on youtube.com and there will be 100’s of workouts to choose from. Also if you usually do basic sets on your strength exercises, try some circuits, perform 3-4 different exercises without a rest.

Lift some weights
I am not saying you should start lifting heavy weights 5x per week. However adding a few strength exercises to your routine will have a number of benefits to your body. It will improve muscle size, reduce body fat, increase your metabolism, low impact on your joints (compared to running and jumping) and many more….  (Women you WILL NOT become “bulky”, you are very unlikely to have enough testosterone in your system)

Get a training partner
Training with another person will push you out of your comfort zone. If you are training with somebody else you are more likely to do the exercises that you aren’t confident with, also they are also likely to introduce you to new exercises. Once you have become confident with these exercises you can add them more frequently into your training routine and you are less likely to become bored. They will also give you that extra push to exercise on the days you don’t quite feel up to it.

Don’t stop cardio
Cardio is an important factor in order to live a healthy lifestyle. The point I am trying to make is that performing cardio all the time might not be the best way to achieve your goals. Still keep it in your workout routine, it is very important. Also cardio doesn’t have to be boring. I play 6 a side football twice a week. I can assure you that I am working twice as hard playing football than I ever would on the treadmill at the gym. So cardio can come through a hobby such as badminton, netball, football, running, swimming or anything that you can feel increasing your heart rate and your breathing rate. The main thing is to keep it enjoyable!

I think it’s fair to say that the majority of gym attendees are there to improve their body shape. Losing fat is a major factor in improving most people’s body shape, but why do we find losing fat so hard to achieve. Below I have listed 3 reasons why we aren’t losing fat and what we can do to combat them.

Be honest with yourself (be consistent)
Losing fat is hard and it takes dedication. If you are eating a healthy diet for 5 days and then consuming 10 pints / 2 bottles of wine, a fry up, a curry, 1 large chocolate bar and 4 bags of crisps on a weekend, then you aren’t going to achieve much fat loss. I understand the we all need to enjoy ourselves but we need a reality check. In 10 pints of beer we could be looking at 2500 calories, that’s what is recommended for the average daily intake for an adult male per day! To lose fat we consistently have to be in a calorie deficit. This means that we to consume less calories than we use. This isn’t just 5 days a week, your body doesn’t change at the weekend! You have to be in a calorie deficit for the whole week. To see any results in the week we should be looking at a calorie deficit of at least 3500 calories per week (500 calories per day). This equates to around 1lb of body fat lost. I guess you are looking at that and thinking all that work for 1lb. However think that if you kept this up for the whole year it would be 52lbs / 3st 7lbs / 23.6kg. That is a lot of fat to lose.
So let’s be consistent, cut the rubbish and be honest with yourself. Let’s do the exercise when you don’t totally feel up for it, eat that healthy meal instead of a pizza on a Saturday night. The results you will see will make you feel miles better than the junk food ever will. Setting small achievable goals will make it a lot easier to achieve and keep the momentum going. Also don’t worry when you “fall off the wagon” (everybody does) just get straight back on it ASAP and you will still see the results.

You are restricting yourself too much
This links in with my first point. I always see it, Monday-Friday people are in the gym smashing it 100% and being very restrictive with their diet. This is a recipe for disaster. If you restrict yourself too much then you are going to relapse, and relapse hard! Linking into my first point, we have to be consistent. Too many people will be in a calorie deficit of approx 4000-5000 calories 5 days a week and then be in a calorie surplus of 4000-5000 calories over the next 2 days (a lot of it through alcohol!). This leaves you exactly where you started last week. This will lead to you becoming unmotivated and therefore you are more likely to actually gain weight.
Fat loss does result from exercising and being restrictive (to a certain extent) with your diet. But don’t go at it too hard. Remember 500 calories a day. This sounds a lot but if your nutrition is made up mostly of good quality food such as meats, eggs, fish, rice, potatoes, veg, fruit etc, rather than processed food you be able to eat a good amount and still be in a calorie deficit. This isn’t to say you still aren’t going to be hungry. You will be hungry, as you are in a calorie deficit and you aren’t adequately fuelling your body. Long term consistency is better than short term intensity. Moderation is key. However we have to remember that moderation isn’t a full wee
kend of drinking and eating rubbish. Moderation is that curry every couple of weeks or that chocolate bar on a weekly basis.

You aren’t drinking enough water
I used to be one of them people that said “I can’t drink water”. Now I hate thissaying as I drink about 2 litres of water a day. We believe that we don’t like water, but when we do drink it we actually don’t mind it. So please never say to me “I can’t drink water”, just get over it and start drinking it, you will like it. It’s not too sweet, too sour, or even have a strong taste to it. I can understand when people don’t like certain foods as most foods have a distinctive taste or smell to them. What you don’t like about water is that it doesn’t have a strong taste or fizz to it. Water has no calories. This makes it great for fat loss as you can drink as you can drink as much as you like (well, enough that you don’t drown) and it will not contribute to fat gain.
Start drinking about 2 litres of water a day. Stop making excuses that you can’t drink it, you can I promise. It’s not bad at all. There is no other way to combat it than to start drinking more. Give it a go!

 

There isn’t any secrets on fat loss. The simple science is that if you consume less energy the you expend then you will use stored fat as an energy source and therefore you will have less fat stored. However if you would like to get a great body shape then there are more factors to contribute towards it. The “toned” look that people tend to desire will not be achieved just by being in a calorie deficit (unless you have fantastic genes, you lucky bugger). You have to alter your nutrition and exercise. Ways in which to achieve this will be coming over the next few weeks, so keep your eye out!

Get a Free Consultation

Receive More Information On Any Of Our Packages.

ENQUIRE NOW