Totall Bull sh*t…

There are so many fallacies when it comes to health and fitness. People will lose sleep, stress out and put unnecessary pressure on themselves…

Yet so many of these rituals are old wives tales – total BS basically!

Here are 6 of the biggest health and fitness myths that you need to stop stressing over…

#1 No carbs after 6pm 

If I eat carbs after 6pm all of the carbs I eat automatically turn into fat! Total BS! As long as you are eating within you calorie limit you wont gain weight.

There’s no doubt that carbs are more utilised around  periods of activity i.e. workouts, but eating carbs after 6pm will not make you fat (unless you’re over consuming calories!).

Carbohydrates actually help you relax so I small amount with your evening meal can help aid sleep. I’d recommend single ingredient, complex carbs like new potatoes, sweet potatoes and brown rice.

#2 Weights Make You Bulky

If I had a pound (£1) for every client who feared lifting weights because of gaining bulky muscles…..then i’d have enough money to buy a mansion in Kensington (ok slight exaggeration!) but it’s been said a lot!

In order to look bulky you have to have been training for a long time. You also have to be eating some serious calories and lifting very heavy weights. Most people who fear lifting weights will never ever get to the stage where they look TOO BULKY! It’s incredibly difficult and requires extreme discipline.

Getting hench doesn’t happen overnight, and if you don’t like the way your physique is going then you’ll have chance to stop or pull back on the weights way before you become a MEAT HEAD! lol

#3 Fat Burning Exercises 

What’s the best exercise to burn fat?!?! To be honest there’s no such thing as a fat burning exercise. You’re either in a calorie deficit or you’re not and that’s what determines whether you will lose weight or not.

There are exercises that are better than others in terms of the muscles they recruit and how they can change your body shape. For example compound lifts like the deadlift, squat and bench press all use multiple muscles and therefore hit a large area of the body and have the potential to build a lot of muscle and burn a whopping number of calories.

High intensity training is very popular nowadays (Joe Wicks) and is a great way to get fit, however this type of training favours burning glycogen (carbs) and muscle – but not much fat!. The body finds it easier to break down fat at lower intensity levels i.e. walking, moderate cycling, etc.

That said if you want to build an aesthetically pleasing physique and improve your body shape then you’ve got to hit the weights. If you combine weight training with low intensity cardio and a controlled calorie diet you will 100% burn fat.

#4 Carbs make you fat 

Carbs don’t make you fat…too many calories do! There’s no doubt that spending time on a low carb diet can do wonders for your mind and body, especially if you want to lose weight and improve health…

Carbohydrates, especially processed carbs (sweets, sugars) can cause inflammation in the body and can create hormonal imbalances with insulin, ghrelin, and leptin – these hormones all effect weight.

That said the main focus for anybody looking to lose fat should always be to create a small calorie deficit.

Carbs can still feature in your daily food, as long as you fall within your overall calorie target. That’s unless you are diabetic in which case you should speak to your doctor.

To improve your bodies ability to utilise carbs make-sure to train at least 4x per week. HIIT training and higher rep weight training (8-20 reps) is great for turning your body into a lean, mean, carb burning machine!

From my studies and experience it’s best to try and keep carbs around active times e.g. workouts, either consuming 1-2 hours before, during, or after exercise (within 2 hours of training). Most people don’t need to worry about this though. Just start by exercising more and creating a small calorie deficit.

#5 You MUST drink 2 litres of water per day! 

This is just some arbitrary number made up. Most of us actually need a hell of a lot more! I’d recommend drinking at least 300ml of water per hour, and 1-2 litres per hour during exercise.

Let’s say you are up for 16 hours of the day and train for an hour in the gym, that means you’ll need around 5/6 litres per day!

I know that’s a heck of a lot by most peoples standards but that’s because the standard of 2 litres is way under what you actually need!

This weekend or on your next day off try drinking 5 litres of water and just notice how much better you feel p.s. you’ll also burn more calories as you’ll be going to the toilet every 30 mins! lol!

#6 You need to eat little and often

Again an old wives tale based on the notion that if you eat a little and often you wont overeat! Ok whilst this theory seems plausible… not everyone has the time or wants to eat 6-8 small meals per day!

The best diet to follow is the one that works for you and the one that fits into your daily life. It’s no use setting yourself a target of 6 meals per day if you dont get 6x per day to eat!

Do what works for you, whether that’s 4, 3, 2 or even 1 meal per day! Yes, I said it…1 meal per day. Famous fitness model Greg Plitt used to live off one meal per day…

The meal he ate was just massive and contained everything he needed.

As a general guideline I’d suggest that 3 meals + 1 snack is a feasible and sustainable way of living for most. For athletes and bodybuilders this does go out of the window… they will need to eat more frequently (especially bodybuilders, eating at least every 3 hours)

Thanks for reading,

Nick 🙂

Who Wants A Workout Plan to Follow At Home? 

Not everyone likes going to the gym to workout, for one they can be expensive (£180-£600 per year!) and it’s not always easy to find the time to go.

By the time you’ve travelled to the gym, got changed, worked out and then driven home you could be looking at 1-2 hours!

Not many people have 1-2 hours spare each day, especially mums, hardworking dads or anybody with lots of time consuming responsibilities.

Gym’s can also be sweaty and intimidating –  a bunch of bronzed men and women looking sculpted and wearing tight lycra pants!

One of the best ways to get fit, without spending a fortune and taking up too much time is to workout out from home. All you need is some basic equipment, like resistance bands and dumbbells and you can great results.

Lots of my 1-1 personal training clients prefer to workout in the comfort of their homes and they get just as good results.

Due to this demand I’ve designed an 8 Week Home Workout program which you can follow yourself.

The plan is suitable for both men and women and suitable for all fitness levels (there’s a different program for beginners, intermediates and advanced trainees)

The plan includes…

• An 8 week exercise plan
• 4 different home workouts
• 20 different exercises with full demonstrations

and everything you need to know to get fit and lose weight without spending hours working out!

In fact, the workout(s) only take 30 minutes per session! and you only have to train 4x per week! That’s just 2 hours per week out of 168 hours (1.2% of your weekly time!)

If you were to have a workout plan written up by a personal trainer or gym you would be looking at a minimum of £30 but i’m making this plan available for a small fee of just £3.99. 

If you’d like to shift some weight and get fit then swipe up your copy by clicking the blue button below…