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Count down to Liverpool fun run Sunday 12th Sept 8am  -  5 week run plan 

Aim to complete these runs 2 - 3 x per week 

wk	10 km goal	6 km goal
1	40 min total walk 1 min, run 4min	25 min total walk 1, run 2 min
2	50 min total walk 1 min, run 5min	30 min total walk 1, run 3 min
3	60 min total walk 30sec, run 5min	40 mins total walk 1, run 4 mins
4	60 min total walk 30 sec, run 8 min	40 mins total walk 1, run 6 min
5	60 min total run as much as you can, allow only 30sec walks where needed	40 min total run as much as you can allow only 30 - 60sec walks

 

The best way to perform HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT is an outstanding form of exercise to improve your fitness level and burn fat from your body.  You may have heard of HIIT recently in the media, but don't be fooled, HIIT has been around for decades. I myself started using it at least 15 years ago and it is always my fall back workout when I need to whip myself back into shape.

You can read here a study by UNSW on its benefits  http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2007/jan/Fat_exercise.html even though the article states 8 seconds of high intensity followed by 12 seconds of light intensity,  any short bursts will work just as well.

I like the old fashion Tabatas - 20 seconds hard, 10 seconds rest., I also regularly use 30 sec easy, 30 sec med, 30 sec hard.  But try your own interval mix of anything from 8 seconds up to max of about 90 seconds.

I really like to use running in my HIIT, but any exercise that you can adjust from easy to hard will do. Such as     Cycling,  boxing,   skipping,  swimming,   hills, bodyweight exercises such as squat jumps, push ups etc.

How Intense is Intense??

The harder you push yourself, the quicker and more profound your results will be, however, that is easier said than done. As long as you push yourself outside your comfort zone, you will acheive a fantastic result.  A great way to keep yourself motivated and to push even harder is to train with a group. Its easy to slack off when training on your own, but with other members of the group there to motivate and push you, you will generally work harder . Not to mention its just a lot more fun and social.

Why not try a Bod Squad Group Personal Training session to feel the benefits for yourself.

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Motivational tips to get you off the couch

1. Reward yourself  - when you finish your workout, treat yourself to a magazine, movie, massage or facial etc.

2. Punishments - if you skip your workout, fine yourself by putting $20 into a jar or make a bet with your partner that if you dont workout, you have to do the washing up for a week.

3. Review your goals everyday and everynight to help you stay on track

4. The hardest part of your workout is getting dressed and getting there. Once you've shown up, you will usually stay for the entire workout

5. Visualise  yourself doing a great workout and achieving the results you desire

6. Social support - workout with a buddy or a group for extra encouragement and accountability.

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The Hunger Scale is a fantastic tool you can use to know exactly when to start and stop eating.

As a general rule, you should eat whenever you notice yourself around level 3 on the scale and you should stop eating at around level 6. 

 

The Hunger Scale

1. Physically faint

2. Ravenous

3. Fairly hungry

4. Slightly hungry

5. Neutral

6. Pleasantly satisfied

7. Full

8. Stuffed

9. Bloated

10. Nauseous

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Do you know how to exercise to burn fat?

We are burning calories all the time. Even at total rest we are burning approx 1 calorie per minute.

Exercise and movement obviously increases the amount of calories burnt. Below is a rough guide to intensities of exercise and how many calories you can expect to burn.

Low intensity  burns 4 cals per minute eg. walking, stretch class, yoga, or any exercise where your breathing patterns don't change too much from everyday life. (no excess calories are burnt once the exercise is finished)

Medium intensity burns 7 cals per minute. eg. jogging, swimming, cycling, anything where you are starting to huff and puff but can still hold a conversation.   (small amount of calories continue to be burnt after the exercise is finished)

High intensity burns 10 - 12 cals per minute. eg running, boxing, skipping, race swimming, anything where you are really huffing and puffing and could only say a short sentence before having to catch your breath.   (large amount of calories continue to be burnt after exercise is finished)

Note - this last level is very hard to hold for any period of time, you still get major benefits and calorie burning if you can acheive this level at varying intervals throughout your workout. Hence the term High Intensity Interval Training. 

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Cravings

95% of all cravings are to satisfy the tastebuds and / or sugar and caffeine addictions. The other 5% may be a nutrient you are lacking, but it is highly unlikely you are deficient in tim tams at 3pm.

Think about this.

Eating takes about 5 minutes per snack. Maybe 15 minutes for a meal. Compared to over an hour and a half of walking for the average woman to burn off something as simple as a honey sandwich.

Often when we give in to a craving, it doesn't take us long to have that craving again, it's not like eating ice cream today takes our mind off ice cream for the next 6 months. Ice cream is right back on our minds tomorrow or even later today.

The old saying " a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips" is pretty accurate. It really is ONLY a moment spent eating, but your belly fat and any other blubber stays around the other 168hrs of the week.

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Everything you need to know about nutrition was taught to you by your mother

*  eat more fruits, vegies and salads

*  don't drink soft drinks

*  take your own lunch to school or work.

*  don't spoil your dinner with treats and mindless eating

*  plan your meals

*  avoid junk food

*  drink more water

Its so simple, why do we still struggle??

Take Bod Squads 8 week body transformation challenge for education, motivation and accountability.

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Exercise and then act like it NEVER HAPPENED

To make your workouts truly effective, you have to act like they NEVER HAPPENED.   What am I talking about? 

If you complete an awesome workout, huffing and puffing, sweating and giving it "your all" , then you get home and to "recover" from it you sit on the lounge for the next few hours, and you are LESS active than you would normally be,   all of your hard work is going to waste.

The same applies if you decide to reward yourself after your workout with  __________  (fill in the blank with your favourite treat), all of your efforts are wasted again because you have put back the calories you worked so hard to burn, sometimes MORE calories than you actually burnt.

And if you do BOTH - that is, sit on the lounge for a few hours with your favourite treat, then just forget about it.                       You will actually put on weight and wonder where it all went wrong.

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The Ultimate top 3 tips for fat loss

No, it's not a new fancy diet or the  latest exercise. Research shows us that the top 3 tips for fat loss are

1. Planning  -  like the old saying goes, "fail to plan and you plan to fail"

A little organisation and hard work at the beginning of the week will make all the difference to your weight loss results.   Think about the week ahead, write down your meal plans and then prepare your food ahead of time. 

2. Social Support - find a friend, workmate or better yet a fat loss coach to join you in your journey 

3. Accountability  -  of course you should always be accountable to yourself, but sometimes that just doesn't cut it. Being accountable to a third party doubles your chances at acheiving your goals. 

Check out BOD SQUAD's 8 week fatloss program for all of this and more

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What is the Glycemic Index?

The Glycemic Index (GI) is the scientifically proven way of ranking carbohydrates in foods according to how they affect your blood glucose (sugar) levels.

Not all carbohydrates are created equal

Carbohydrates with a low GI (55 or less) will make your blood glucose rise slowly and fall gently over a longer time.

Carbs with a high GI (70 or more) are digested quickly causing your blood glucose to surge and then crash.

Benefits of eating low GI foods are

* Fill you up and keep you satisfied for longer.

* Lower insulin levels which makes fat easier to burn and less likely to be stored

* Reduces your triglycerides, total and LDL (bad) cholesterol

* Increases your level of HDL (good) cholesterol

* Manages blood glucose levels

* Reduce your risk of developing diabetes

* Reduce your risk of heart disease

* Sustain energy levels for longer

 

Dont forget serving size is also important, as eating too much of any kind of food, even healthy choices will make you put on weight.

 

Some easy alternatives to replace high GI foods with lower GI foods are

* choose traditional porridge, muesli or bran cereals instead of cornflakes or sugary cereals

* choose a wholegrain bread instead of wholemeal or white bread

* choose basmati rice instead of jasmine

* add protein to your meal as this will lower the overall GI of the meal

Check out the website www.glycemicindex.com to find the GI of almost any food you can think of.