What can you do to beat Monday blues?

Firstly try and get that extra hour of sleep, sometimes going to bed an hour earlier won’t allow your body to get the rest it needs, as most people will still only fall asleep at the normal time, the key is to try and sleep in, yes, very difficult for a Monday morning, but if you pre-plan the night before, you may get an extra 15 minutes in bed.

When your alarm goes off, literally jump out of bed. Don’t lie around, hiding under the duvet moaning, get up and get on.

Jump in the shower and finish it with a blast of cold water, this will really wash away the cobwebs.

If you have the chance, exercise, the endorphins will get you going and set you up for the rest of the day, it is incredible how positive you feel after a workout. If however, you are on a tight deadline and getting ready, put on the radio and have a dance around.

If you are lagging in the tiredness department, have a coffee, go on, as long as you don’t start drinking 20 cups a day, coffee will give you that natural boost.

Just remember, it’s not only you that feel like this, millions do, but by the end of today, Monday will be over and done with, then its on with the rest of the working week!

Trec Nutrition

A spot of ironing.

You may have seen pictures, you may have owned the calender, Extreme ironing bases it’s routes in Leicestershire in the East Midlands. It is now a global phenomenon and has taken ironing to the dizzy heights. Back in 1997 when the sport started it was quoted as “The latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.” Extreme ironing sparked many other types of sport such as Extreme Cello playing and urban housework, where people hoover outside with nature. As you can imagine, the offspring of extreme ironing didn’t catch on as much as ironing did.

Hot foot

Volcano Boarding is the art of, well boarding down the sides of a volcano, not into the volcano mind, down the outside. Using techniques seen in snowboarding and dune boarding, Boards are made from plywood and the boarders wear protective clothing as they hit speeds of 50mph.

Tumble Dry

Zorbing is a sport that is very popular here in the UK. You are placed in a giant clear inflatable ball and basically rolled down a lovely hill in the countryside. Zorbers will try and run in side the ball but the constant turning makes it nearly impossible to stand up, so you end up being thrown around in a giant tumble dryer- why would people do this? We’re not that sure.

There are hundreds of odd extreme sports to try, take a look and fish out the ironing board whilst you’re at i!

Trec Nutrition.

Face workouts used the same techniques as normal workouts, using exercises and different muscles in the face, pressure, massage and tension in all areas of the face. You may seem like a bit of a nutter doing this, but it’s probably easier and more comfortable to do in your own home.

Face workouts can lift chins and necks that are slightly loose. This way of toning skin is a favourite of many celebs.It can also help you reduce chubby cheeks and re instate smooth cheek bones.

Where do we start and what do we need?

Well you need your face and you may want to invest in a stress ball.

Firstly we are going to do something to reduce the amount of fat and those chubby cheeks, the following exercise may sound odd, because you are puffing out your cheeks, but my doing this, you are stretching the muscles in your cheeks and delivering blood to those areas which break down fat.

The steps are:
1. Close your mouth.
2. Puff out your top lip.
3. Hold for 10 seconds.
4. Move the air to the left cheek.
5. Hold for 10 seconds.
6. Move the air to the right cheek.
7. Hold for 10 seconds.
8. Do a set of 10.

This is specifically for cheeks.

If you want to hit the area under your chin, a great way to do this is to place the stress ball between your chin and neck and press and release for 1 sets. Then move the ball further down towards your chest and repeat again.

The effects of this type of exercise on your face and skin is incredible.

Well, amino acids are essentially the “building blocks” of the body that are used to produce proteins. They’re vital for a healthy body and are central to muscle growth and development, with 20 different types of amino acids being responsible for the formation of proteins to build organs, muscles, glands, even hair and nails. We couldn’t function without them which is why many are known as “essential amino acids”, with these chemical units regularly being found in protein-rich foods such as meat, dairy, vegetables and fish.

That’s why having a diet rich in protein is so essential, particularly when you’re weight training—nearly every bodily function relies on amino acids and without regular consumption of them you’re not going to have the healthy body you need and nor will you get the muscle gains you want, which is why many athletes turn to amino acid supplements to ensure they’re getting the necessary levels.

It isn’t always easy to get the right amount from food sources and when you’re training you’re going to need higher levels than normal, with faster recovery times and quicker gains being central to the whole process. A combination of high-quality whey protein powder and an amino acid supplement can be the perfect way to get the look you want, so always remember the importance of amino acids (and make sure to include them in your diet) and you’ll be able to see the difference in no time.

This increases the customer base of Nuffield Fitness Centers to 300,000 people. Nuffield likes to boast a different approach to fitness in it’s centers and this is what makes it a popular option. Rather than your normal, turn up, work out and go home gym, Nuffield offer a range of services and their key focus is the health of every one of it’s members.

When you join of the fitness and well being gyms, straight away you are taken through a 12 point health check, like an MOT. This includes your BMI (Body Mass Index), resting heart rate, cholesterol, aerobic fitness and blood sugar levels. This creates your personal profile and it also allows the highly qualified instructors to create a fitness package specifically for you.

After 3 months you will have another MOT and see the changes. Another great feature about Nuffield is that they reward you for getting fitter and reaching your goals.

These centers offer a range of services including nutrition advice, private doctors, physiotherapy, personal trainers and well being experts. It really is the gym that focuses on your health as a whole, including any previous afflictions and complications.

Currently, if you visit the website, you can get a 1 day free pass, which will let you attend your local Nuffield Fitness and well being center.

It is always worth trying a range of gyms especially if you haven’t found one that you enjoy attending, a lot can be the atmosphere or their attention to your personal outcomes.

As the Nuffield goes from strength to strength, we can see more popping up in our local areas and if you are conscious about your health as a whole, this is the place to visit, everything you need if found under one roof.

Both pose a problem, not being able to gain may leave people desperate to put on some weight, where as when you gain muscle quickly, there is no balance between loosing weight then toning up and for those on a diet, they may find the scales increasing rather than decreasing, due to an increase in muscle gain.

Which are the best ways to build muscle quickly?

The team at Trec Nutrition have put their heads together and come up with some top tips on how to gain muscle quickly, the best ideas and the best nutrition.

Firstly before you go crashing into any exercise, warm up. The last thing you need is any major damage or strains.

The basic rules of gaining muscle are the number of reps of the exercise and the amount of sets you do. The average and most effective amount of reps is around 10-15 and sets of these reps should be around 5-10. The body works well under pressure and you have to push yourself through that wall.  You will also notice as your work outs increase, you will be able to lift heavier weights.

The way muscles increase is the healing process of the muscle fibres fusing back together after a workout. In theory, after a major session you should let your muscles rest for a day between. To help boost the size of the muscle you need to eat and not just anything you fancy. By increasing the protein in your diet, muscles repair themselves and become bigger and stronger. You can work out how much protein you should be getting in your diet by estimating 1g of protein for every lb of weight in your body.

Finally, make sure you drink enough water everyday and that you have enough decent sleep. Sleep is when the body repairs itself, it will also be concentrating on those growing muscles.

Trec Nutrition Team

Jodie Marsh: Bodybuilder starts on DMAX next Tuesday and follows the former glamour model on an 8 week strict fitness and diet routine, which ends on a high. This is something she has never done before and has proved to thousands that with complete dedication, you can transform your body.

Starting as a UK size 10, Jodie Trained hard, reduced her fat and created lean toned muscle, bringing her down to a tiny size 6. Jodie could have only reached these dizzy heights with the help of her personal trainer- Tim Sharpe.

Tim is a freelance personal trainer and completely transformed Jodie in 60 days, loosing her 20lbs of fat and gaining 5lbs of muscle. He is proud to have turned Jodie around using only exercise and no chemicals.

Jodie trained for 6 hours a day, during her 8 week challenge. She drank numerous protein shakes to help her build muscle and her routine broke down like this:

2 hours of cardio

2 hours of weights

1 hour of abdominal work

1 hour of posing and routine work

She totally cut out carbohydrates and being a vegetarian, found it difficult to get the protein she needed to build muscles, so would guzzle numerous shakes and eat as many as up to 15 egg whites.

It just shows that with a little dedication anyone can transform their bodies and Jodie is complete proof! We’re looking forward to seeing her change right before our eyes.

Although we many of us many not have 6 hours a day free to train, we believe this story to be inspiration and fingers cross so will you, enough so, to pick up some weights, take a re check of the shopping list and get fit.

Jodie Marsh: Bodybuilder starts on the 24th Jan- 9pm on DMAX

Which got us thinking. Normally certain food stuff will make use bloated, take bread for instance, many people, especially in the past 20 years and developed intolerance’s and allergies to glutens in bread, but it is not just the glutens. Interestingly, when mass bread production came into fruition in the 1960, many additives were included in the breads to make them white, to make them soft and ultimately to make them last longer than fresh hand made bread. Whilst this modern way of getting your daily bread was a fantastic solution for busy women and their families, the effects were not really considered until the last decade or so. So this makes us think about homemade bread. At that doesn’t mean purchasing a packet that you simply add water or oil to, we’re saying get your hands dirty and buy the best ingredients.

We’ve already tested the waters and made some incredibly delicious and healthy spelt bread, with organic spelt flour which has a low-medium GI index and most importantly has caused no bloating!!!

Now most fitness fanatics will try and reduce the amount of carbs in their diets and up the amount of protein and fresh vegetables. Bread may only make a rare appearance, but when it does you can enjoy some home made bread which has been made simply from flour, water, yeast and a dab of oil. At least you know exactly what is going into your own bread.

Homemade health is quite simple, cost effective and actually enjoyable, it is also managing a way of your intake of healthy food.

If you want to loose weight, going and pumping iron is not going to help your situation. You should be doing as much cardio as possible to get the heart rate up and burn those calories. After a few weeks of cardio you can introduce some weights to help tone the figure.
If you want to build muscle and bulk up, head straight for the weights. It is advisable to do some cardio, maybe some treadmill time to warm up and cool down those muscles.

If you are worried about your plan or any equipment, always speak to a member of staff at your gym, they can show you how to use the equipment properly, some key exercises and routines and some great variations so you won’t get bored. They can also tell you about what kind of things you should be eating, especially if you want to build more muscle.

Thousands of people join gyms and increase their fitness every year, we know some can be very conscious of themselves whilst working out, if that is the case consider a gym buddy or make good friends with an instructor, it will make the experience much more rewarding.

So, we’ve found some more moves to boost that core starting with leg raises in the captains chair, sounds rather strange but basically your local gym may have this piece of equipment. You can choose to do one of two things, place yourself on the equipment holding the bars and raise your legs with your knees bent or raise your legs, keeping them straight so they are 90 degrees to your body.

We know that stomach crunches are great for ab work but you can vary the way you do this by using a stability ball, this not only provides a platform but your core will work even harder to keep you balanced on the ball.

Vertical leg crunches strengthen core and obliques down the sides. Simply start on your back, bring your legs straight into the air and slightly cross at the feet to link feet together, then with your arms on your chest or around the back of your neck for support, contract your abs and proceed to perform a normal ab crunch, this is intensified with the legs in the air.

When you are in this position you can also perform the reverse crunch, using your arms to stabilise yourself, push your legs up into the air so your bottom and lower back come off the floor then lower yourself down slowly!

All of these exercises will help to build a strong core.