Ultra-FIT magazine

Our March cover model has put together a free 136 page plan to get you cover model readyand you can download it for free here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Natalia will show you how to torch fat, shape up and get cover sexy!

 

 

Todays workout is a simple timed challenge…

Do as many burpees in 10 minutes as you can.

Record your results and post below or on our facebook page!

If simple carbs (sugar), are consumed again, then all fat burning stops – because you’ve put fuel back into the glycogen tank, and the emergency back-up supply (mainly body fat) is no longer needed. This state of depleted glycogen reserves, in order to compel the body into consuming its fat and some protein reserve to provide calories, is known as ketosis.

The majority of people rarely enter this ketogenic state – they eat sufficient simple carbs and sugar so that the body doesn’t need to turn to the fat reserve for fuel. In fact, they usually eat more than sufficient sugar and simple carbs so that their weight increases.

Following ketogenic diets requires a big change in mind-set. You have to start thinking of ketosis not as being the emergency, carb-depleted, short-term back-up plan, but as being the regular and normal state of bodily function. This wouldn’t have been a huge shift for the humans of between 10,000 and 200,000 years ago (who hadn’t discovered sugar), but it is for those of today. This idea that ketosis is the correct state to be in, rather than an emergency back-up, is – as I said – a massive mind-shift.

Any way, away from the glance at science, and back to my chums Anne and Eric. Their prescribed ketogenic diets provided 800 calories per day on average. This was a protein-supplement based breakfast, a small protein bar at mid-morning, then a lunch consisting of green salad items, and a single portion of grilled meat or fish, with green vegetables, for dinner. Most green veg and salad items are high in nutrients, low in calories and zero in sugar – so they could be consumed in big quantities on this diet, including the substantial 7 ounces of lettuce they each had for lunch.

It may not sound wonderful, but it did the trick for them. Eric is down to 82kg, and Anne to 72kg – a substantial weight loss for the both.  This has pleased Eric’s doctor and has moved all Eric’s parameters back to the normal zone. Both are massively happy with the results, Eric has now reached his target weight and Anne wants to lose a further few kg to take her to 66kg.
And they achieved this without exercise. That’s right, Anne and Eric didn’t do any exercise during the last five months. They discussed it with their dietician, who said any exercise beyond the normal activities in daily living was not part of the plan. Anne even cut down the activity of her twice weekly spinning(R) session, in order to comply. The reason for this given by the dietician is that the low caloric input didn’t allow them enough energy for exercise, so therefore they shouldn’t do any.

What do I think? Well, in a perfect world, I would have made some changes. Both Eric and Anne say they have lost strength on this diet, which doesn’t surprise me – for they have lost weight (being fat and muscle), rather than fat alone. If I’d been advising, I’d have added some exercise, a daily session of light cardio and a progressive weight training programme to add back at least some part of the muscle lost, just a few sets of the key compound weight movements with regular, incremental increases in resistance based on improving performance. To fuel this, I would have upped the calories by adding more protein and introducing good fats, increasing the daily calorific value to probably somewhere around double the amount they actually consumed, changing the exact amounts over the months depending on progress, and with perhaps more food for Eric than Anne.

Eric and Anne are now committed to maintaining their new slimline selves for the future.  Seeing the results first hand, I’m not going to criticise Anne and Eric’s resolve, commitment and health gains. They’ve done massively well. And they have just as much love for each other as before but less body mass on each of them resulting in more love per cubic inch …. and that has to be a good thing – as well as a corny way to end this week’s newsletter.
Have a loving and healthy weekend!

Chris Zaremba

www.fitnessoverfifty.co.uk

Kim Ingleby tells you how to maintain your workout motivation, it can be tough but get the right mental approach in place and it’ll be a great deal easier. For you CV trainers, there’s a great article on how to get the most out of your run and bike training and so on. Regulars the Galaxy Girls talk form vs function. Now, do you just want to look good or do you want to look good and move well? Read the article to find out more.

And there’s much, much more as you’ll see in the issue sampler.

(if you are reading this article without linking from the newsletter – the complete newsletter article can be found below).

Things that have changed in just the last few years include…

Up until relatively recently, every qualifications candidate had to demonstrate that they could squat, deadlift and/or bent over row and then work these fundamental exercises into an exercise programme. This is no longer the case. It seems that a student can now progress to the dizzying heights of personal trainer and never be assessed teaching a squat – the most basic human movement and a very important exercise for everyone from grannies to elite athletes. With no grasp of the basic exercises, how can a trainer expect to safely teach more complex “functional” movements?

Older qualifications had at least a few days instruction covering pre and post-natal exercise. This has often (for the courses I know about) been reduced to a few paragraphs in a manual. Clients (usually the female ones!) get pregnant from time-to-time so surely the trainer should be able to continue their working relationship with their client through the pregnancy?

Students – and again I hasten to say from my experiences – are no longer assessed on their ability to measure blood pressure, lung function and body composition. These concepts are discussed but no longer taught. Hypertension is often called ‘the silent killer’, as there are no outward signs to alert you that it is present. The wrong type of exercise (overhead lifting, planks, exercises where the heart is above the head) can make hypertension much worse so it makes sense that, if a trainer only ever did one health assessment, they should test all new clients’ blood pressure. Very high blood pressure can make exercise dangerous but now, because blood pressure assessments are no longer taught at the introductory level, trainers have no way of screening their clients (and protecting themselves) from this all too common issue.

To pass a level three practical assessment on the courses I am aware of, students must show competence in four different hypertrophy (bodybuilding) training systems such as drop sets, super sets or pyramids. Bear in mind these are trainers who have yet to show competence in basic exercise like squats and deadlifts and that these are very specialist techniques that are not applicable for the vast majority of the exercising population.

From my perspective the current content of fitness training qualifications is a real muddle. On one hand, prospective trainers are learning less because of the removal of basic skills such as health tests (blood pressure etc) and the deemphasising of basic free-weight exercise performance but are then being assessed on advanced training methods like hypertrophy training systems that have little relevance to what a trainer can expect to be doing on a day-to-day basis.

It’s no wonder then that I believe that many trainers leave the industry within a short period of gaining their initial qualifications as they perhaps realise that their typical client is riddled with health issues they are not taught how to deal with, that they cannot correct basic exercise technique flaws because they themselves were never assessed and corrected and that their new overweight, unfit, chronically sedentary client (who probably has at least mild hypertension!) doesn’t want a bodybuilding type programme full of drop sets and pre-exhaust supersets!

……none of these problems are the fault of the trainer, the training provider or even the awarding bodies but lie with the upper echelons of the government…..

Needless to say, none of these problems are the fault of the trainer, the training provider or even the awarding bodies but lie with the upper echelons of the government who hand down the syllabi that the rest of the industry must follow if it wants their qualifications to be accredited and accepted. My suspicion is that the people who are setting the syllabi for the health and fitness industry have never worked in a gym and might not even exercise themselves. I believe that If they have ever worked in a gym, they really should know that the current qualifications framework is not equipping trainers for what their job really involves.

Thankfully, good personal trainers realise that their initial qualifications are merely the starting point for their fitness industry career and go to great lengths and expense to learn what they need to know to be able to deal with their clients safely and effectively. Surely though, if you had just paid out thousands of pounds to gain a qualification, wouldn’t you want your qualification to ensure that you were adequately prepared to work within the industry you had trained for? I know I would!

Patrick Dale
ultra-FIT contributing editor and author of “Military Fitness”, “Live Long, Live Strong” and “No Gym, No Problem”

Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]

 

COMPLETE ARTICLE

Are fitness professionals optimally trained?

Patrick Dale takes a look at fitness professional training and wonders whether it’s best preparing trainers for the real ‘gym-world’.

Having been employed professionally in the fitness industry for over 25 years, I’ve seen it go from a fledgling business that was completely unregulated to one where there are rules, regulations and qualifications for virtually every aspect. The sweat and sawdust-type gyms of the 70’s and early 80’s have all but vanished and the mega-gym chains have taken over. Personal training and working in the fitness industry in general has become a legitimate source of employment for many thousands of people whereas, not so long ago, it was something many of us did for love rather than money.

The old sweat and sawdust gyms might have catered more for serious trainers but for the average fitness enthusiast, the enormous array of facilities and services available at a mega-gym are hard to beat.

That is not to say these changes are bad…the regulation of the fitness industry means that health and safety are much improved and organisations like the Register of Personal Trainers ensure that instructors are qualified up to a certain standard. And as for the mega-gyms – they are the supermarket of the fitness world and offer a wide choice of exercising opportunities that are available to all at a reasonable price. The old sweat and sawdust gyms might have catered more for serious trainers but for the average fitness enthusiast, the enormous array of facilities and services available at a mega-gym are hard to beat.

It’s not only the facilities that have improved; the variety of fitness qualifications has improved too. Trainers now have the opportunity to take their knowledge to dizzying heights by spending literally thousands of pounds learning new and exciting ways to ensure their clients reach their fitness and health goals. Trainers can enrol on mentorships and internships with some of the best fitness minds in the world so that they can achieve even greater things with their clients. All very good news indeed.

But (and isn’t there always one of those!) at the ground floor of the fitness industry, where new or prospective trainers dwell, things are not so good.

Having delivered personal training qualifications for over twelve-years, I’ve observed firsthand how basic gym instruction and personal training qualifications have become less about EDUCATION and more about CERTIFICATION and so, the trainers being produced now are probably not as well-prepared for a job in the fitness industry as they used to be.

Courses are shorter and less in-depth, assessment standards are lower and fewer topics previously essential are covered.

From my experience courses can be shorter and less in-depth, assessment standards are lower and fewer topics previously essential are covered. Please bear in mind that I am only commenting on the qualifications providers I have worked with and through my experiences, but I feel that what is happening is representative of the fitness industry as a whole.

Things that have changed in just the last few years include…

Up until relatively recently, every qualifications candidate had to demonstrate that they could squat, deadlift and/or bent over row and then work these fundamental exercises into an exercise programme. This is no longer the case. It seems that a student can now progress to the dizzying heights of personal trainer and never be assessed teaching a squat – the most basic human movement and a very important exercise for everyone from grannies to elite athletes. With no grasp of the basic exercises, how can a trainer expect to safely teach more complex “functional” movements?

Older qualifications had at least a few days instruction covering pre and post-natal exercise. This has often (for the courses I know about) been reduced to a few paragraphs in a manual. Clients (usually the female ones!) get pregnant from time-to-time so surely the trainer should be able to continue their working relationship with their client through the pregnancy?

Students – and again I hasten to say from my experiences – are no longer assessed on their ability to measure blood pressure, lung function and body composition. These concepts are discussed but no longer taught. Hypertension is often called ‘the silent killer’, as there are no outward signs to alert you that it is present. The wrong type of exercise (overhead lifting, planks, exercises where the heart is above the head) can make hypertension much worse so it makes sense that, if a trainer only ever did one health assessment, they should test all new clients’ blood pressure. Very high blood pressure can make exercise dangerous but now, because blood pressure assessments are no longer taught at the introductory level, trainers have no way of screening their clients (and protecting themselves) from this all too common issue.

To pass a level three practical assessment on the courses I am aware of, students must show competence in four different hypertrophy (bodybuilding) training systems such as drop sets, super sets or pyramids. Bear in mind these are trainers who have yet to show competence in basic exercise like squats and deadlifts and that these are very specialist techniques that are not applicable for the vast majority of the exercising population.

From my perspective the current content of fitness training qualifications is a real muddle. On one hand, prospective trainers are learning less because of the removal of basic skills such as health tests (blood pressure etc) and the deemphasising of basic free-weight exercise performance but are then being assessed on advanced training methods like hypertrophy training systems that have little relevance to what a trainer can expect to be doing on a day-to-day basis.

It’s no wonder then that I believe that many trainers leave the industry within a short period of gaining their initial qualifications as they perhaps realise that their typical client is riddled with health issues they are not taught how to deal with, that they cannot correct basic exercise technique flaws because they themselves were never assessed and corrected and that their new overweight, unfit, chronically sedentary client (who probably has at least mild hypertension!) doesn’t want a bodybuilding type programme full of drop sets and pre-exhaust supersets!

……none of these problems are the fault of the trainer, the training provider or even the awarding bodies but lie with the upper echelons of the government…..

Needless to say, none of these problems are the fault of the trainer, the training provider or even the awarding bodies but lie with the upper echelons of the government who hand down the syllabi that the rest of the industry must follow if it wants their qualifications to be accredited and accepted. My suspicion is that the people who are setting the syllabi for the health and fitness industry have never worked in a gym and might not even exercise themselves. I believe that If they have ever worked in a gym, they really should know that the current qualifications framework is not equipping trainers for what their job really involves.

Thankfully, good personal trainers realise that their initial qualifications are merely the starting point for their fitness industry career and go to great lengths and expense to learn what they need to know to be able to deal with their clients safely and effectively. Surely though, if you had just paid out thousands of pounds to gain a qualification, wouldn’t you want your qualification to ensure that you were adequately prepared to work within the industry you had trained for? I know I would!

Patrick Dale
ultra-FIT contributing editor and author of “Military Fitness”, “Live Long, Live Strong” and “No Gym, No Problem”

Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you at [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today’s workout will raise a few eyebrows at the gym but is certainly effective. Set up the equipment in advance so that you can rip through the exercises as fast as you can!

1. Row 500 meters
2. 20 reps 20″ box jump (adjust height to suit)
3. 20 press ups (full or on knees as appropriate)
4. 20 medicine ball slams (5-10kg ball)

Perform 5 laps as fast as possible. Record your time and try to be it when you next perform this workout.

Continued from newsletter 21st Feb 2014

Article taken from our Feb 2014 issue – written by Paul Mumford

I’m not the only fitness professional who has done this either. Pete Cohen is a bestselling author, highly respected motivational speaker and the man behind Weight Loss Guru. He has helped thousands of people to lose weight and now points towards carbohydrates or sugar as the main culprit for all our weight problems.

Pete Cohen, “One man’s medicine is another man’s poison and some people can tolerate sugar better than others. I suppose the truth about sugar in its simplest form is that it has no nutritional value whatsoever. Our body’s capacity to digest sugar is very limited. It’s a really weird dilemma actually because we need sugar for our brains to function but we only need a couple of teaspoons in our blood stream at any one time. What people don’t really understand is that sugar was put in food in the first place to give it more flavour and when the dieting and weight loss world really took off people stripped fat out of food and replaced that with sugar. This sounds really odd but in many cases it’s the sugar which makes people fat and not the fat.” 

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Before we go any further it’s important to understand a little more about what we mean by sugar. When we eat food with carbohydrate in it our body breaks it down into glucose (sugar). However, not all carbohydrates are equal. The more processed the food is, the faster it gets turned into glucose. For instance, white bread will break down to glucose much faster than granary bread.

The hormone insulin is secreted by our pancreas whenever we eat something that contains carbohydrate. It’s appears to be the insulin that’s making us fat and not the fat that we eat.

When we eat any form of carbohydrate, there’s something else going on that seems to have a big impact on the way we store fat. The hormone insulin is secreted by our pancreas whenever we eat something that contains carbohydrate. It’s appears to be the insulin that’s making us fat and not the fat that we eat.

Pete Cohen: “One of the jobs of insulin is to regulate blood sugar which enables our bodies to work. Another of its functions is to take excess sugar and store it as fat. Unfortunately when you eat a lot of sugar you secrete a lot of insulin and that’s what takes fat into your fat cells. When you eat foods that are high in fat you don’t secrete insulin so it’s more likely that you will use that fat as a source of energy. That may seem unbelievable but we don’t often eat foods that are high in fat on their own. The foods we eat that tend not to be good for us are usually high in fat and high in carbohydrates. Plus sugary foods tend to be quite addictive as opposed to fatty foods which are not so much. I mean, how much butter could you eat on its own? How many avocados could you eat? It’s hard to over eat these things. But when people start eating doughnuts or sweets or chips, there’s no mechanism that tells us when we’ve had enough.”

Now if you’re discovering all this for the first time it might be hard to digest (excuse the pun). The idea that a high carbohydrate, low fat diet is actually making us store body fat? But we’ve been told for years that’s how we should eat for weight loss, right? But the idea of a diet lower in carbs and higher in fat is actually nothing new.

Pete Cohen: “It’s not new information it’s just been kept from us for many years. I did a lot of research on this because I needed to re-evaluate the advice I was giving to people. A lot of this calorific advice (eat less, move more) dates back to the 50’s and 60’s when it was all to do with the food pyramid. At the top of the pyramid were fatty foods and at the bottom of the pyramid was what people were told to have lots of, which was carbohydrates, grains and so on. The food pyramid was designed by the Department of Agriculture in America and not by doctors. As far as they were concerned there was a lot of money to be made in people consuming lots of wheat based products and other carbohydrate products. So I think a lot of us have been fooled.”

You only need to go to your local supermarket and suddenly it will dawn on you how much food rich in sugar there is on the shelves. For starters my local supermarket has an aisle devoted to cereals, most of which are high in sugar, another full of crisps

 You only need to go to your local supermarket and suddenly it will dawn on you how much food rich in sugar there is on the shelves. For starters my local supermarket has an aisle devoted to cereals, most of which are high in sugar, another full of crisps. Then there’s chocolate and biscuits and a whole corner devoted to bread and cakes. There are also sugar-laden foods sneakily hiding on the other aisles too – sauces, prepared frozen foods, even yoghurts and some soups. It’s really no big surprise how we’re all so addicted to the stuff.

Cut out the Carbs?

So is the answer to losing body fat, reversing the obesity crisis and reducing our risk of diabetes and heart disease to cut out the carbs?

Pete Cohen: “When you ask people what carbohydrates are, most people leave out vegetables and fruit. Vegetables are the best form of carbohydrate that anyone can eat. Most people are lacking in green vegetables, which are also very good for your blood as they have lots of nitrates in them. The glycemic index measures how much insulin is released from eating different carbohydrate foods. For instance a sweet potato has a lower glycemic index than a regular potato. But we could all eat more green vegetables in our diet which are a good form of low GI carbohydrate.”

But hang on there, I hear you say. If you’re telling me I need to eat less carbohydrate that surely means I’ll be eating more fat. Isn’t that bad too?

Pete Cohen: “For starters you need fat to burn fat. If you’re eating good quality fats your body will digest those and use them as a source of energy. In fact you can teach your body to use fat as a source of energy. Most people don’t use fat for energy, they use sugar because they eat too much of it.”

I’m guessing now that this information about sugar is starting to filter through, the food manufacturers will jump in as they did when we were led to believe low fat was the answer. How long do you think it will be before your supermarket has a small low carb section next to the gluten free and lactose free foods?

Pete Cohen: “I don’t know what difference it will make though. Has putting warnings on cigarette packets made that much of a difference? It’s probably had some impact but as I say sugar is extremely addictive. In fact some studies have shown that mice prefer sugar to cocaine. So it’s going to be very hard to control because we’re moving further and further away from traditional agriculture and more towards producing processed foods to make life easier and more convenient. I always challenge people to think that what you need to eat and drink is what nature has provided for us and if you eat more food that has been manipulated then you’re manipulating yourself.”

———————————————————————————————————————————-

Pete’s top 3 tips for reducing your carbohydrates

1. Celebrate the fact that you’re committing to eat less carbohydrate. Give yourself a big pat on the back every time you go to eat it and then don’t.
2. See yourself as an addict. Recognise that you have a problem with it. Sometimes admitting you have a problem empowers you to act differently. Be open and honest about your relationship with sugar.
3. Tell other people around you what you are doing. Ask them for their support.

———————————————————————————————————————————

To find out more about Pete Cohen go to: www.weightlossguru.com

 

And Paul Mumford: www.mumfordphysed.com

 

The Fittest Man on Earth

Rich Froning Jr

Imagining being able to Google, ‘the fittest man on earth’ and finding your name returned as the first entry. Rich Froning Jr. Doesn’t have to imagine it – he is the guy who wears the T-shirt. Paul Mumford caught up with the multiple Crossfit® Games winner.

Before meeting up with him on a recent trip to the UK I Googled Fronning (26) as I wanted to get an idea of what I was letting myself in for. I got a pleasant surprise when I discovered a character far removed from the formidably proportioned, tattooed, yet well-groomed and handsome American guy that he appears to be on the surface.

PM: Tell me about your background Rich. Did you grow up a sporty kid?

RF: I played a lot of stuff growing up but baseball was my main love. I actually got an offer to play in college following high school but decided not to do it and retired from the sport. I then went on to work as a fire fighter in Cookeville (Tennessee), which paid for my tuition through university.

 

PM: How did you come across Cross Fit?

RF: I was studying exercise science as my undergraduate degree and one of my professors was the head strength and conditioning coach. He showed us some videos one day on the Crossfit web site and the rest is history. I already really enjoyed working out and doing that kinda stuff so I fell in love with Crossfit from the moment I got started.

PM: What specifically was it about Crossfit that appealed to you so much?

RF: Everything was different every day. Crossfit isn’t really concerned with who is the strongest or who is the best. It makes you good at everything rather than a specialist at just one thing.

PM: So how did your interest develop? What led you to start competing?

RF: My cousin and me trained together from when I started out with Crossfit in 2009. We watched some videos of the Crossfit Games and when we tried some of the workouts we thought our times weren’t too bad. They were pretty comparable. So when they opened up registration for the games in 2010, me being a naturally competitive person, I decided to sign up and see how I got on. The first year my whole plan was just to make it to the regionals which I won. Then my goal was not to finish last and I finished second. I was actually in first place right until the last event and just kinda tanked a little bit.

PM: So what do you have to go through each year?

RF: You have to be prepared for anything physically. For instance this year we rowed on a rowing machine for a half marathon but then we also had to do a one rep max clean and jerk ladder in increments of 10lbs. We would go up every minute and have to do a new bar. But then there’s also workouts that involve gymnastics, some handstand push-ups and muscle ups. You really have to be a well-rounded athlete. You can’t just be strong or be in incredible aerobic shape, you have to be a mix of everything. 

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PM: So when you get through to International level, over how many days is the final contest?

RF: For the last two years it’s been four days. It kinda started out as two days and now it’s usually Wednesday, an off-day on Thursday then Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

PM: As you’ve won the CrossFit Games in 2011, 2012 and 2013 – do you have a concrete plan in place and know what you need to do to prepare for the next one?

 RF: I try to surround myself with hard working people who are going to push me in certain areas. I have a good crew of guys that I work out with back home. A lot of people have a set plan but I really don’t. I just base each day on how I feel from the day before and we kinda change things as we go. In the morning I usually work out for around an hour and a half, Crossfit style stuff, metabolic conditioning. Then after about an hour or two I usually do some type of strength work and then at night I’ll do some kind of Crossfit thing again for about an hour or so. Every day is different. You just have to be ready for anything.

PM: Do you know ahead of time what you’re going to be expected to do at the Games?

RF: No, CrossFit always talks about preparing people for the unknown. We train all year to not know what we’re training for.

PM: What about when you’re not training for a competition? You must get a little bored being a competitive person. Do you still set yourself little challenges?

RF: Yes and no. That’s the good thing about Crossfit, every day is a competition really. You’re pushing yourself against other people. You’re pushing yourself against yourself. That makes it more interesting.

PM: So what about diet then Rich? Do you follow the whole Paleo principle that many Crossfitters do?

RF: No. I like food way too much to be Paleo. I’ve tried it before and felt like it hindered me a little bit. I didn’t feel it was good for me. To be honest throughout the day I don’t eat that much. I snack, take some supplements and stuff like that. I train usually in the morning fasted with some Amino X that BSN (His supplement company) makes and then at night I’ll eat whatever I want. If I get a lot of food in my stomach I don’t feel like working out. I try to stay away from breads and pastas though just because I don’t feel good eating them.

PM: So what have you noticed about Crossfit while you’ve been visiting some of the gyms in the UK? Am I right in thinking that it’s more mainstream in the US and still a little underground in the UK?

RF: To be honest I guess it’s similar in the UK to how it started in the US but from what I can tell it’s growing very rapidly here too and all over the world. I’ve been to London, Denmark, Korea… literally all over the World now for Cross Fit. I’m going to Berlin in a few weeks for a competition: Team USA versus Team World. It’s pretty cool to see that at first it was a US thing but the rest of the World is catching up pretty fast.

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PM: I know Crossfit gets a lot of bad press here in the UK because people don’t think it’s safe and there are lots of stories of people becoming injured.

RF: There’s a lot of bad press everywhere. Some people don’t like to work hard and like to make excuses. There’s also techniques you need to master if you want to be proficient and able to go at it with incredible intensity but we preach technique. I think if you’re doing something the right way you’re not going to get injured. I do this stuff 3 or 4 times a day and injuries are minimal. I’m sore every day but that just comes with what I do.

PM: Am I right that you’re the only person to win the Crossfit Games more than once?

RF: Yes, Sir.

PM: Does that put extra pressure on you to go for number four?

RF: We’ll see. As of right now I’m going to enter. Number two was pressure, number three was pressure. With number four, sure there’s pressure but … there’s always pressure competing. I always expect more out of myself.

PM: What about beyond number four or have you not thought that far ahead yet?

RF: No, there’s no real plan. I’m pretty strong in my faith and I know that God will point me in the directions He wants me to go and do the things He wants me to do. So I try to be obedient and do whatever it is He’s leading me to do.

PM: I was going to ask about your faith if that’s OK because I’ve noticed you have a reference to the Bible on a tattoo running down the side of your body.

RF: Yes, it’s from the New Testament. Galations 6:14 and it’s ‘May I never boast in anything except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, which the world has crucified to me and I to the world’. It keeps me humble, it keeps me thinking about why I do what I do. My whole role is to glorify him with the things that he’s given me.

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Rich Froning is proud to be a Team BSN athlete. Check out more exclusive content and videos at www.bsn-supplements.com

Size 18 to 8!

Cover model and mum of 2, Anita Coleman explains how made the drop.

Anita Coleman is a single mother of two beautiful children (a boy and a girl) and an inspiration to many other women (and men). She trains hard and eats as healthily as she can. With thousands of social media followers she’s motivating so many others and shows them that as a single mum you can find the time to live a fit and healthy lifestyle.

A Fit Family

 Anita explains that she runs a fit family, “We are a very active family. My little boy loves boxing he trains twice a week for a local club and he’s always practicing his skipping at home. And my little girl loves horse riding, she is a very confident little rider. Health and fitness is a big ‘yes’ in our family and we love being active and eating healthy.” Anita was into sport and exercise in her school days, she played hockey and ran and was a keen horse rider, however she let things slip as family life took a hold. Her current interest in getting fit came about after having her second child. She explained that with each pregnancy she put on five stones more and that she went from a size 8 to a size18 in nine months. “After the first pregnancy the weight came off very easily, but with the second it was much more difficult. I lost the first three stone relatively easily but struggled with the last one to one and a half stones.” Anita was breast-feeding throughout. So to try to shift the remaining weight, Anita decided to do a sponsored 3 mile fun run for Sports Relief. She went out four nights a week to train and the remaining weight did come off. However, as Anita puts it, she was, “… Left with a saggy stomach and loose skin.” In an attempt to tackle this, she went along to her local gym, but as she readily admits didn’t have a clue as to what to do. She explained that the gym staff were very helpful and got me lifting weights. “I will admit that I was like I don’t wanna get hench (ha ha), as back then I was not very educated about health and fitness and thought I might muscle up. But I trusted what they said and within seven weeks I was seeing results and I was getting more into it. I even started taking protein powder and to eat more healthy.”

Motivation

Like many people motivation, keeping it and finding it is crucial to Anita when it comes to maintaining her size 8 figure. She explains that to keep herself working out and following a healthy diet that she takes progress photos of herself. “I take one every week to see if there is any change. She often posts these on her instagram page. When it comes to healthy eating she explains that she finds this more easy to adhere to. “I eat pretty healthy and clean all year round.”

In terms of advice for other women and men wanting to get and stay in shape she advocates plenty of rest between workouts and proper nutrition, “If you don’t rest properly or eat sensibly you can get easily fatigued and lose motivation.”

“Maintaining my physique and fitness can be hard work at times especially being a single mum and working as well,” explains Anita adding, “It can be tiring and sometimes especially, when I have been at work all day and I’m stressed with everyday living things I can lose motivation at times.” So how does she turn the negatives into a positive? “But when I do feel like this I will think to myself and say, ‘look how far you have come with transforming your body, keep going don’t give up now’. And after lifting weights for five years now so it has become an every day routine for me.”

Anita Coleman Typical Day’s Workout

Biceps

Biceps Dumbbell biceps curls 3 x10

Concentration curls 3 x10

Hammer curls 3 x 10

Legs and Glutes

Leg press 3 x 10

Sumo squat with barbell 4 x10

Walking lunges with dumbbells 3 x 20

Leg extension 4 x10

Seated leg curl 4 x10

Shoulders

Shoulder press machine 3 x10

Shoulder press dumbbell 3 x10

Lateral raises 3 x10

Triceps

Triceps pull down 3 x10

Overhead triceps extension 3 sets x10

Dumbbell kick-backs 3 x10

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Q&A with Anita

 

UF: What’s your favourite workout?

AC: I love training my abs and core.  This is because after having two babies it was such an achievement for me to achieve the results I have and I like to build and maintain my six pack!

UF: How long did it take you to get into the shape you are in now?

 AC: It took me three months of hard work and dedication to get totally shredded.  Recently I have put on 10lb and am more curvy not so shredded …… I like my new curves!

I think my back looks very slender so I’m working on getting more definition and also my calves need more work on them.

UF: Do you stay in the same type of shape all year round or do you peak for certain times and if so how?

I usually stay curvy all year round. But I did set myself a challenge this year and wanted to get abs/six pack. So I had to change my eating plan by making sure I had the correct amount of carbs and protein with every meal. What I did was prepare my meals in advance for three days. I weighed my food and put it in containers, this stopped me from skipping my meals and kept me on track.

UF: You have a big social media following (over 29k followers on instagram) how did this come about?

 AC: It came about from the just uploading food and fitness photos, before and after pregnancy pictures talking about me being a single mother of two kids and still having the time to go the gym and stay fit. I think a lot of women can relate to me because I keep it real. I will show photos of my stretch marks and I say to women because you have children does not mean you can’t achieve your bikini body afterwards – you can. I like to put motivational quotes with all my photos.

UF: Who’s been the biggest inspiration in your life in terms of fitness?

My inspiration comes from my two children I like to stay fit, active and healthy for them, it’s very important for me to be in very good health for them. When my kids are older and they have children I still want to be able to run around after them playing tig.

UF: Have you worked with a personal trainer before?

I have worked with top US fitness model and personality Diego Sebastian this year. He helped me with my nutrition plan. We did this online, the diet he put me on got me ripped.

UF: Have you any fitness role models?

My friend Cindy Garcia-Lister. I met Cindy through facebook and I remember seeing this awesome body transformation. She was a size 16 and then got to a size 8. I was like OMG she looks awesome and she competed in her first fitness show and won. She inspired me to work harder at the gym. We met when I was working at Bodypower in May and we just clicked straight away and have been very good friends ever since.

UF: What are your fav fitness recipies?

 AC: One my favourite recipes is tuna burgers. I like making these because they are a cheap meal to buy and easy to prepare and my kids love them!

Ingredients:

1 tin tuna

1 egg white

6 tb spoons of Quaker oats

4 chopped spring onions

Tiny drop of olive oil

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix together

Heat up the oil in a non-stick pan

Make the ingredients into burger shapes

Put tuna burgers into the pan leave for 5min then turn over and leave for another 5min till golden brown

UF: What are your aims for the future?

I want to carry on motivating and inspiring other people and helping them with their fitness journeys. Eventually I would love to work with people who have eating disorders/issues with food.

Follow Anita on instagram @ AnitaFitness

Transformation

Natalie Jowett

From sprinting to red carpet premieres, being Jessica Ennis’ body double and gaining a masters degree in sport psychology, Natalie Jowett is a model of fitness.

UF: Tell us a little bit about your background, fitness, sports and family?

NJ: Keeping active is something that’s always been a big part of my life and always will be. My background is in athletics, particularly the 100 metres. I think doing a sport really helps develop certain attributes that can help you in all aspects of life. I have always been really competitive so even if I didn’t get into athletics I’m sure I would have pursued another sport. My family have always been so supportive in whatever I have chosen to do. I can’t stress enough how important having the support of friends and family is when you want to try and reach a certain level in a sport or achieve a particular goal. I also think it’s important to surround yourself with like-minded people if you want to be the best at what you do.

UF: Were you always into sports and fitness and what inspired you to get involved?

NJ: As indicated, I’ve always been into sports and keeping active. Even from a very young age I loved running. One of my earliest memories was going to Greece on a family holiday when I was 3 and running around the track at the original Olympic stadium. I remembered I loved the feeling of running fast (or what I thought was running fast at the age of 3!). I’m not sure exactly what inspired me to get involved but I started off doing gymnastics when I was around 8/9 but my real passion was always for running. So when I was 12, I asked my dad to let me join the local athletics club and it just went from there really.

UF: What type of training do you focus on at present and what’s a typical week look like?

NJ: I focus predominantly on weights and train a different body part each session. A lot of women have the misconception that lifting heavy weights makes you bulky but it’s a myth. I’ve been weight training for nearly 10 years now and I’ve roughly stayed the same weight and shape.  Everyone is different but if you want results, the most important thing is to train hard and push yourself. A typical week for me would be:

Mon: Back and Abs

Tues: Chest & Biceps

Weds: Rest

Thurs: Legs & Abs

Sat: Shoulders & triceps

My training has changed somewhat since I used to sprint but the intensity is still the same. My trainer Louise Beard-Ritsma is a bodybuilder and a real inspiration. She always pushes me to get the most out of myself and although I train hard, it’s always enjoyable which I think is the key.

UF: What is your favourite workout and why? 

NJ: I enjoy all my sessions but my favourite workout is probably my back and abs session on a Monday because I do deadlifts as part of my session, which is my favourite exercise. Last week I did partial deadlifts and managed to lift 140kg for 3 reps. I was really pleased with that as its over 2 ½ times my body weight, so that gave me a real buzz.

UF: What body parts do you find it easier/harder to work on?

NJ: I’d say my weakest body parts are definitely my biceps. My biceps are not particularly strong and it takes me quite a while before I can put the weights/reps up. However, it makes me more determined to improve, even if I’m only putting the weight up slightly, I know its more about the intensity of training and how hard your muscles are working, so I try not to get too caught up in worrying about the amount of weight I’m lifting.

 

My strongest body part is probably my back but my legs are pretty strong too from all the years of sprinting. I think its easy to build up strength fairly quickly especially with compound movements such as squats and deadlifts, due to the fact you are recruiting a number of muscle groups, as opposed to isolation exercises.

UF: Why did you get into fitness modelling and how difficult was it/is it to make headway?

NJ: I started by doing a couple of shoots for photographers when I was at university and then my coach put me forward to be involved in some filming for the IAAF (International Amateur Athletics Federation) on Olympic lifting. I really enjoyed doing the shoots and being involved in the filming and decided it was something I wanted to pursue, so I joined a sports modelling agency. At first I was a bit impatient when I didn’t get any calls for jobs but getting my first job was really exciting. It’s quite difficult to make headway at first but even if you don’t get the job, it’s all good experience. It’s good to go to lots of castings but it’s more important to go to the right castings so it helps to have an idea of what the client is looking for.

UF: What tips have you got for anyone embarking on this route?

NJ: For anyone looking to get into sports and fitness modelling my best advice would be not to take rejections personally. Rejection is a big part of it so when it happens, I think it’s important to be able to deal with it so that you can learn from it and move on. It’s impossible to have the right look for every job so you have to accept that you can’t be right for everything but with enough persistence and determination, you will find something that you are right for.

My second tip would be practice posing/having your photo taken to find which angles work best for you. You might feel silly at first but the more comfortable you are with having your photo taken, the better it will come across on camera. There are plenty of people who look great, but it doesn’t seem to come across in photos. You have to find a way to connect with the camera and allow your personality to come across which takes practice!

My final tip would be don’t be too proud to do unpaid work when you are starting out. A lot of people think modelling is glamorous and extremely well paid, which it can be, but it is also an extremely competitive industry. A good way to start off is to do tfp (time for prints) which means that although you won’t be paid, you will get some modelling practice and also get some photos out of it which is a great way of building up your portfolio. As well as this, joining a reputable agency is a good way to get work, as they will also be able to let you know if you have the kind of look that is marketable.

UF: How did the role in the Film Fast Girls come about?

NJ: I had been signed with a sports modelling agency for a few months then I got a call about doing some body double/stand in work for Powerade before the Olympics. I absolutely loved it and once Powerade had worked with me, they requested me for various other adverts to body double. It was the break-through I had been waiting for, as it seemed that once I had done a few adverts, more work seemed to come in. Once I started to become established as a body double, I was offered a role in the British film ‘Fast Girls’, where I body doubled for the main actress (Lenora Critchlow) who plays a sprinter. Because the film is centred around two female sprinters trying to qualify for the British athletics team, there were numerous running scenes which had to look authentic, which is why they needed real athletes to run in some of the scenes. The filming days were very tiring repeatedly doing take after take of flat out running but it was an amazing experience, seeing it all come together and walking down the red carpet at the world premiere of the film in Leicester square.

UF: What type of diet do you follow and how are you learning about fitness modelling?

NJ: I have to confess as a sprinter my diet was appalling! I don’t have a big appetite so I could get away with eating pretty much what I wanted. I ate relatively healthily but I would often miss meals or forget to eat if I was busy. I have a bit of a sweet tooth too so I ate quite a lot of sweets which would boost my energy but then I would crash afterwards. Now I can safely say my diet is a lot better thanks to my trainer Louise. It’s made a big difference because I have a lot more energy than I used to have and I can train harder. I eat every 3 hours and try to eat as cleanly as possible. I follow a bodybuilder’s diet which involves eating a high protein diet so protein with every meal, which is either lean meat such as chicken/turkey or fish and also taking protein shakes.

UF: What did you think of the ultra-FIT/Fitnorama fitness model workshop we ran?

NJ: I really enjoyed the workshop and it was great meeting other people with the same interest. I learned lots of things I didn’t know before and it was great to meet John Shepherd, Andreas Michael (from Fitnorama) and Shaun Stafford (top fitness model). I would definitely recommend the workshop for anyone looking to get into the industry (www.mffitnessworkshop.com).

UF: What are you plans for the future?

NJ: I plan on continuing with modelling. I really enjoy doing body double work but would like to make a name for myself as a fitness model as well, so that I can be known for my face as well as my body!

UF: Anything else that you would like to add.

NJ: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and there is a lot to be said for networking when it comes to the fitness modelling industry so it helps to try and build up some contacts. It has to be said a certain amount of luck is involved when it comes to modelling but to an extent you can make your own luck by creating opportunities for yourself and making the most of them, which is exactly what I did.

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Natalie Jowett Achievements

BSc Psychology (Loughborough university)

MSc with distinction Sport Psychology (Loughborough university)

Personal trainer

Set up my own sports massage business aged 19

Published academic

British junior 100m champion

Body double for Jessica Ennis

Body double Leonora Critchlow ‘Fast Girls’ film

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Natalie trains at: The Atlas fitness gym in Milton Keynes www.atlasfitnessgym.co.uk