Are Scales the Best Way to Determine Fat Loss?

In my day to day job as a fitness professional the weighing scales in our gym office is constantly in use with sweating, wild eyed members coming in and desperately hoping that they've lost those all important pounds for that week. But is this really the right way to truly measure fat loss? Well the scales can only show you your total body weight and so can only tell you half the story. The best way to use the scales is in conjunction with other tools. Scales can't differentiate muscle mass, bone structure and the amount of fat you have. I see people who are upset that they haven't lost as much as they thought they would but when I ask them if their clothes are loser they tell me that they've dropped a dress size! Because of this the scales shouldn't be used in isolation and you should use other methods to get a fuller picture of your body composition. The BMI scale (Body Mass Index) takes your height and weight and tells you if you are underweight, normal weight, Overweight, Obese or Morbidly obese. Again like the scales they only tell you half the story and doesn't take into consideration if you are carrying excess body fat or have more muscle. As you exercise you lose body fat and some of this fat is replaced by lean muscle. Because muscle is denser than fat you can have two people who are exactly the same height and weight but one can look like Arnie and the other can look like Mr Blobby. This is all down to body composition and the scales and BMI should be used alongside body fat % and the simple tape measure. You can find out your body fat % by using electric scales. After putting in your personal details such as gender, age and height it will calculate your body fat % and tell you if you are in the right range or not. The tape measure is really good and will show if you have lost size around your waist and therefore body fat. You do this by putting the tape through the belly button to get a true reading. Men shouldn't have a waist circumference greater than 102 cm and women no more than 88 cm, otherwise they run the risk of getting heart disease, stroke, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. Men often get caught out as their trouser size is often smaller than their waist measurement. That's because men's trouser size is really their hip measurement and not their waist at all. That's how you can have a guy saying he has a 34 inch waist and have it buckled up under a huge belly, Jeremy Clarkson style, where he's clearly bigger round the waist than 34 inches. So next time you get on the scales don't get too upset if it doesn't look like you've lost much weight as you may find that you've lost size and body fat and are on the way to a smaller fitter you. So grab that tape measure and find out.

Childhood Obesity seems to be levelling Out

According to researchers from King's College, London, who conducted a study that analysed data on 370,000 children's weight gathered from GP practices, found that more than a third of children aged between 2 and 15 are obese or overweight. But the childhood obesity crisis seems in part to be levelling out. Between 1994 and 2003 rates increased by an average of 8% each year but the following decade between 2004 to 2013, the number of children that were overweight or obese increased by only 0.4% each year. However this isn't the time yet for parents to pat themselves on the back as although younger children are less likely to be overweight or obese these days, either because we've reached a saturation point, where all the children who are likely to become overweight and obese in this environment has or government and school initiatives and better understanding of nutrition has made a difference, it's too early to know for sure. However the group of children aged 11-15 seems to be increasing. Prevalence in this group has risen from 26.7% in 1996, to 37.8% in 2013. Dr Colin Michie, chair of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's Nutrition Committee, said it was no surprise that rates were high among this group of children, "this group are beginning to find their independence and unfortunately, it is also this age group who are likely to be easily influenced by the world around them, through advertising and access to pocket money priced fast food," he explained. Eustace de Sousa, national lead for children , young people and families at Public Health England, said: "Obese children are more likely to experience bullying, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease in later life." So what to do? If you have a child in this age group try to find ways to keep them healthy. For example try to encourage them to come back home each day for dinner, so they can have a well balanced meal instead of them visiting the local 'chicken shack' shop or chippie. Encourage them to do exercise or join a sports team as doing regular exercise will make them more likely to make healthier meal choices and activities will help to control body weight better. So it's good news in some part but more needs to be done to finally stamp out obesity in childhood for good and ensure the next generation is fitter and healthier than the last.

How Investing In Facilities For Dog Owners Could Help Fight Obesity

According to a study by the University of Liverpool investing in facilities for dog owners may help to tackle physical inactivity in people who own dogs. With almost a quarter of UK households owning a dog, it's estimated that 40% of owners don't walk their dogs and less than 50% of UK adults manage to perform the government's recommended 2.5 hours of exercise a week. The study found that those who didn't live near a good quality area, where their dogs could be let off their leads and have access to dog waste bins, were less likely to walk their dogs. Also a lot of owners were unsure how much exercise their dogs even needed. Leading this study, Dr Carri Westgarth said, "with such a large proportion of people having a dog, it seems that better education, facilities and improved relationships with our pets could be a great way for a large portion of the population to feel encouraged to exercise." Lindsay Johnson from Cani-fit, whose company provides professional exercise training for both dogs and their owners said, "trail running is fantastic for fitness and strength and as a result of exercising with their dog, a strong bond forms-stronger than owners have seen before."

Lack of Exercise is Twice as Deadly as Obesity

According to a new study conducted by Cambridge University, lack of exercise is twice as deadly as being obese. A study of 3334,000 people from across Europe, with the average age of around 50, was conducted over a 12 year period. The researchers estimated that 337,000 of the 9.2 million deaths amongst men and women in Europe each year was caused by obesity but twice this number could be blamed on lack of physical activity. They discovered doing even small amounts of exercise a day, burning as little as 100 calories, such as a brisk walk for 20 minutes had major health benefits and reduced the risk of premature death. However the researchers still advised that we should still be doing more than this to fully get the health benefits that physical activity can offer such as reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Sticking to Good Habits

Happy New Year to you all. Hope you all have started your training routines again or for the first time. It's so easy to have all these good intentions at the start of the new year and before the turkey left overs have finished, a lot of people have already given up and have fallen back into their old unhealthy routines. Why is this? There are a few factors that can contribute to giving up including injury, family/work commitments, boredom, cost and feeling it's all too much to take on. In this article I will help you understand the reasons why people give up and how you can over come this and still be keeping fit through to 2016 and beyond:- 1.) Don't take on too much- This is a biggie. People decide all at once that they want to join a gym 5 times a week, give up drinking, smoking and go on a diet all in one go. What do you think is going to happen? Burn out of course. If this sounds like you cut it down to 1 or 2 changes at a time. This will improve your chances of sticking to the regime 10 fold. Start to go to the gym 2- 3 times per week, then when you feel fit enough then add a class or two. Start to eat healthier, if you don't eat breakfast try a protein shake or have some wholegrain cereals or cut out all the fizzy drinks and sweets and replace with water and fruit. These small changes will add up and will help you to move forward and take on more things as you get fitter, rather than feeling overwhelmed and giving up completely. This will also reduce the risk of injury if you start off doing less in the gym, in order to allow your body to get used to your new routine. Remember quality over quantity. Doing a little bit is better than doing nothing at all and you can give yourself time to create a strong foundation to build upon and launch your healthier self. 2.) Boredom- It's easy to get bored and so always choose an activity that you enjoy already. If you love walking or running do that, if you prefer to work in a team and this gives you motivation than join a football or rugby team. Try something completely different to help stimulate both the mind and body. Try a new class that you've never done or try weight training if you always do cardio in the gym. Set yourself goals to help you to focus and check your progress. Give yourself a short term goal of 3 months, a mid term goal of 6 months and a long term goal of a year. In this way you can see your progress as time goes by and you have a plan in place to keep you on course. 3.) Cost- There are plenty of activities you can do which are either low cost or even free. Park Run is an organisation which runs 5K runs on Saturday mornings in local parks around the country and is completely free-check out www.parkrun.org.uk for further details and the nearest run to you. 4.) Family/work commitments- You need good time management for this one. Think of any time that you can make yourself available. What about getting up a little bit earlier to go for a morning run before work, or cycle to work instead of using the car or public transport, that way you can save pounds as you lose the other kind. Take a walk after lunch during your lunch break or run from work back home again. Why don't you take the family out for a bike ride, play football in the park or go for a walk or run. Park Run does a junior run as well on Sunday mornings for 4-14 year olds, so you can run with your child, keeping all of you fit. So you can see that following these tips can help you stick to your new good habits and kick those bad ones for good.

How to Avoid the Christmas Fat

This is the time of year when all that work done in the gym can come undone with all those Christmas festivities. But it doesn't have to be like this and you can still enjoy Christmas if you make a few alterations here and there. Below are my top 6 tips on keeping (fairly) healthy during this period. 1.) Don't allow Christmas to last too long:- enjoy yourself eat what you want (in moderation)but only for 3-4 days. Don't allow to stuff yourself for over a week, which can easily happen if you just sit there and eat on Christmas day and go through to the new year and beyond! 2)Eat some nuts:- Walnuts, cashews, Brazil nuts and almonds are all a great source of calcium, which helps build strong bones and teeth. The British Heart Foundation recommends we eat a handful a day and there's evidence that they can even reduce cholesterol. Just ensure they are the unsalted variety. 3) Get Dancing:- With the success of 'Strictly' there's never been a better time to go dancing. Ballroom, disco or salsa it doesn't matter what it is as long as you move that body. Depending on intensity and your weight you can burn over 400 calories dancing. If you're dancing you consume less booze and party food as well. Now the party season is here, why not take advantage and burn some extra calories on the dance floor. 4.) Don't overload the plate for your Christmas dinner-you want to leave room for pudding, and you will comfortably feel full not feel like an over-stuffed turkey! 5.) At parties and Christmas tea choose more natural foods such as sea food, lean meats and chicken/turkey rather than sausage rolls, spring rolls and pizza which are higher in carbohydrates and saturated fats and lower in good quality proteins. 6.) Stay Active- During the slump between Christmas and New Year's Day, why don't you keep active and go for a walk, jog or a bike ride to burn off some of that Christmas dinner, rather then sitting in front of the t.v. and going through yet another box of chocolates This will make it much easier to restart your fitness regime in the new year rather than having two weeks off and doing nothing. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

My Top 5 tips to looking great in that 'little black dress'

It's the party season and it's that time of year when ladies dust down their 'little black dresses' and attend those festive parties. However shock horror, you may not feel that confident as you've gained a few pounds since last year and you haven't stepped foot into a gym or dance studio for some time. But don't despair, there's still time to look great in that 'little black dress'. 1). Do squats-This exercise is the king of butt exercises, as it works all the muscles of the butt, making it more toned and uplifted. Not only that it hits the muscles in the legs too, so you can get toned legs at the same time doing just one exercise! Try doing 2 sets of 15-20 reps with or without weights and build up to 5 sets, with a 30 seconds rest in between. 2). Dead lifts-use either a bar-bell or dumbells, this works the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. Ensure you have a slight bend in your knees and slowly and with control bend at the hips, lengthening the spine and keeping the weights close to your body and go down as far as you can, breathing in. Breath out and keep your stomach muscles tight as you slowly return to a standing position. Do 2 sets of 15-20 reps and build up to 3 -5 sets. 3.) Plank-this Pilates exercise works the core muscles, helping to strengthen and tone the stomach muscles. Lay prone on the floor and lift yourself off the floor having your forearms supporting you and on the balls of your feet. Ensure you draw your belly button towards your spine, keep your stomach tight and remember to breath. Ensure your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles are in alignment. To make it easier rest one or both knees on the floor. Do 3 sets of 10 - 20 seconds. Progression will be increase the time spent in plank. 4). Push ups- If squats is the King of the lower body then this is the King of the upper body. This exercise hits the chest but also helps tone the shoulders and triceps. Who doesn't want toned and honed shoulders and arms when wearing that strapless dress. There are various levels the easier one is on your knees with your hips forward and in line with your shoulders. Hands are one and a half shoulder widths apart and hands are inline with the chest. Harder version is the same position but off your knees. The shoulders, hips, knees and ankles should be inline. Bend your arms until they are at a 90 degree angle, with elbows in line with shoulders and sticking out to the sides, then with control push yourself back up, ensuring you don't lock out your elbows and keeping your body in alignment. Aim to do 2 sets of 6-10 reps and progress to 15-20 reps of 3 sets as you get stronger. 5). Stand up straighter- posture is really important and if you ensure that your ears, shoulders, hips, knees are in alignment than you will instantly look slimmer and the bonus is that if your posture is good, there's less strain on your lower spine, therefore less chance of getting back pain. Try doing a mini circuit incorporating these exercises. Do them in this order:- Squats, Push ups, Dead lifts and planks. Do all exercises back to back and rest for 30 seconds before doing again. Do 3-4 circuits in total. Doing the exercises in a continuous pattern will help keep the heart rate up and burn body fat as it becomes an aerobic exercise. Try adding a sprint on the spot for 30 seconds as well to get your heart rate up even more and burn some extra body fat.