As mentioned we had a brave Southern Counties reporter join us for a session in Haywards Heath on Tuesday!
It was a fun bit of exposure for us and Catherine (the reporter) had to find out more about what we do and then ended up with a couple of physical challenges. There were 2 live broadcasts on the radio.
After saying why we do what we do and the sort of people that have joined us, Ben took Catherine through the basics of a Kettlebell swing. This was with the aim of targeting a problem area of 'saddlebags' supposedly!!
The rest of the Bootcamp got on with their session as Ben put them through their paces. I helped Catherine to prepare for her challenges and told her more about the camp.
We ended up with the challenges being to perform a double jump (2 spins of a skipping rope to 1 jump), and then to hold a plank position for 20 seconds.
Not a massive challenge - the whole session would have been better - but not bad considering jeans and heels were the workout clothing of choice!
Thanks to all the participants of the 9.30 Beech Hurst Women's Bootcamp for putting up with the slight disruption!
We look forward to our next bit of media exposure.
Steve Cork
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sussex Bootcamps On BBC Southern Counties Radio!
Hi,
Just to let you know that our bootcamp is being featured on BBC Southern Counties radio on Tue morning - apparently 9.30 and 9.50 live!!
Join us, our bootcampers and the presenter on the final week of bootcamp! Listen in at http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/local_radio/index.shtml or at 104.0–104.8 & 95.0–95.3 FM and on 1161, 1368 & 1485 AM
This is from our women's only fitness bootcamp in Haywards Heath. You can be on the next one if you are quick! It starts on September 8th.
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
Cheers,
Steve
Just to let you know that our bootcamp is being featured on BBC Southern Counties radio on Tue morning - apparently 9.30 and 9.50 live!!
Join us, our bootcampers and the presenter on the final week of bootcamp! Listen in at http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/local_radio/index.shtml or at 104.0–104.8 & 95.0–95.3 FM and on 1161, 1368 & 1485 AM
This is from our women's only fitness bootcamp in Haywards Heath. You can be on the next one if you are quick! It starts on September 8th.
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
Cheers,
Steve
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Burpee Interval Training At Home!
Here you go!
One of our clients favourites!!!
Once again i'm using the short Rapid Fat Loss Cardio soundtrack to time and motivate my efforts.
Have you tried this sytem as part of your own training yet?
If you are subscribed to my training journal, i'll hapily send you the 16 week plan so you can see how it works.
For maximum results you'll want to order the soundtracks that support the intervals. By doing so you'll also get the 4 minute version and any bonuses that still remain.
To Order Click Here!
Have a great Bank Holiday!
Not looking good weather wise for the music event in Haywards Heath!
Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Stats To Make You Think About Your Fitness Training!
I gave a short presentation yesterday morning to a group of local business people in Haywards Heath.
The focus was to let them know about my Bootcamps, what they are, who does them and why people do them. Also i showed some of our great testimonials and some sample exercises, explaining why they can be more effective and intelligent choices.
I'm usually very positively focussed when it comes to why exercise and what the benefits are etc.
On this occasion i decided to read out some not so pleasant statistics, hopefully to provide a bit of a carrot and stick to get people to take action.
I think it is worth considering the impact your health and fitness (or lack of it) has and will have in the future on your family life, professional life, and the costs to society as a whole.
A couple of interesting statistics that jumped out at me were:
The World Health Organisation in 2004 attributed 22% of coronary heart disease being due to lack of physical activity.
Energy intake has been estimated to have dropped 20% between 1974 and 2004!
The second stat there indicates to me how important a role physical activity plays and the issue of what we are eating and when.
To your health, fitness, and longevity!
Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
The focus was to let them know about my Bootcamps, what they are, who does them and why people do them. Also i showed some of our great testimonials and some sample exercises, explaining why they can be more effective and intelligent choices.
I'm usually very positively focussed when it comes to why exercise and what the benefits are etc.
On this occasion i decided to read out some not so pleasant statistics, hopefully to provide a bit of a carrot and stick to get people to take action.
I think it is worth considering the impact your health and fitness (or lack of it) has and will have in the future on your family life, professional life, and the costs to society as a whole.
A couple of interesting statistics that jumped out at me were:
The World Health Organisation in 2004 attributed 22% of coronary heart disease being due to lack of physical activity.
Energy intake has been estimated to have dropped 20% between 1974 and 2004!
The second stat there indicates to me how important a role physical activity plays and the issue of what we are eating and when.
To your health, fitness, and longevity!
Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
Saturday, August 16, 2008
What Does A Personal Trainer / Fitness Professional Eat?
I get this question from time to time - "what do you eat?"
Often after talking through the nutritional guidelines i recommend to clients.
So here we go - a fairly typical day of my food intake.
Bowl pretty full of nuts, seeds, small amount of dried fruit, oats and 250ml of low fat yogurt.
1 Slice of rye bread and 4 poached eggs, plus a few veggies.
Serving of chicken or fish along with a good helping of raw vegetables.
Handfull of brazil nuts almonds and handful of dark chocolate!!
Serving of chicken or fish along with more veggies, occasionally some kind of sauce and occasionally some kind of carbs - rice, pasta.
Somewhere (either with the nuts and chocolate or after evening meal) i'll usually have another bowl of yogurt and nuts etc.
Variations?
Up to a couple of servings of red meat a week.
Usually no more than a couple of alcoholic drinks a week.
I tend to eat fruit as and when it is available locally in season.
Hydration?
Probably get through 1 - 2 litres of water, and up to 8 cups of green tea a day!
4 cups of black coffee a week.
Supplements?
1-2 doses of Seagreens seaweed supplement.
What i have covered here is probably ridiculously consistent for me! I just find it easy to do something similar at the same time most days. Most of the time food is simply fuel, although i definitely enjoy eating!
I eat and drink nearly 100% organic, and as mentioned with the fruit i prefer local and in season produce.
I have tried quite a lot of variation in my nutritional approach, which included five and a half years as a vegan.
I think that everyone should start out with all the basic nutritional guidelines in place and then optimise and make changes gradually from there to find out what works specifically for them.
Avoid extreme fads and 'miracle' products!
To your health and vitality!!
Steve
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
Often after talking through the nutritional guidelines i recommend to clients.
So here we go - a fairly typical day of my food intake.
Bowl pretty full of nuts, seeds, small amount of dried fruit, oats and 250ml of low fat yogurt.
1 Slice of rye bread and 4 poached eggs, plus a few veggies.
Serving of chicken or fish along with a good helping of raw vegetables.
Handfull of brazil nuts almonds and handful of dark chocolate!!
Serving of chicken or fish along with more veggies, occasionally some kind of sauce and occasionally some kind of carbs - rice, pasta.
Somewhere (either with the nuts and chocolate or after evening meal) i'll usually have another bowl of yogurt and nuts etc.
Variations?
Up to a couple of servings of red meat a week.
Usually no more than a couple of alcoholic drinks a week.
I tend to eat fruit as and when it is available locally in season.
Hydration?
Probably get through 1 - 2 litres of water, and up to 8 cups of green tea a day!
4 cups of black coffee a week.
Supplements?
1-2 doses of Seagreens seaweed supplement.
What i have covered here is probably ridiculously consistent for me! I just find it easy to do something similar at the same time most days. Most of the time food is simply fuel, although i definitely enjoy eating!
I eat and drink nearly 100% organic, and as mentioned with the fruit i prefer local and in season produce.
I have tried quite a lot of variation in my nutritional approach, which included five and a half years as a vegan.
I think that everyone should start out with all the basic nutritional guidelines in place and then optimise and make changes gradually from there to find out what works specifically for them.
Avoid extreme fads and 'miracle' products!
To your health and vitality!!
Steve
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Your Health And Fitness Balance?
How balanced is your health and fitness approach?
How many different areas are you doing pretty good at?
All too often i see people who hit one area really well but are shockingly bad in others.
Other people might do a couple of things ok and a few more not so good.
Many will also not be up to scratch on any area.
Now, we have to be aware that the concept of 'balance' is different for many people depending on their particular goals and perspectives. But whatever your particular bias, you are going to need some level of strength, endurance, flexibility, speed, power, supportive nutrition, and restoration.
This is a basic list - each category could be further subdivided into specific aspects of each.
Take each of the above areas and honestly evaluate each one for yourself. Imagine each of these qualities is the spoke on a wheel. Any gaping holes or weaknesses in your wheel (your approach)?
Not many people have the requirements of an ultra specific training programme. Therefore most of us can benefit from being 'all rounders' to a certain extent.
So, the challenge for you is to address some of those areas you are not currently doing so well at. It's easy to do the things that we have learned to be good at, or have a natural ability for, even when we work them hard.
It's challenging, both physically and mentally to work at something new or different. And if you are truly addressing something that was out of balance, then addressing this should only be a positive, compared to just doing something different for the sake of it.
Ever heard that saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail in the wall that needs banging in?
Sometimes you really don't need to do just more of the same thing, harder!
Look at the two areas above that really form the foundation of the gains that you make, especially concerning health, - nutrition and restoration. Are you really giving your body enough of a varied stimulus, and then enough down time and fuel to positively adapt to that stimulus?
Be an Everyday Athlete!
Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
How many different areas are you doing pretty good at?
All too often i see people who hit one area really well but are shockingly bad in others.
Other people might do a couple of things ok and a few more not so good.
Many will also not be up to scratch on any area.
Now, we have to be aware that the concept of 'balance' is different for many people depending on their particular goals and perspectives. But whatever your particular bias, you are going to need some level of strength, endurance, flexibility, speed, power, supportive nutrition, and restoration.
This is a basic list - each category could be further subdivided into specific aspects of each.
Take each of the above areas and honestly evaluate each one for yourself. Imagine each of these qualities is the spoke on a wheel. Any gaping holes or weaknesses in your wheel (your approach)?
Not many people have the requirements of an ultra specific training programme. Therefore most of us can benefit from being 'all rounders' to a certain extent.
So, the challenge for you is to address some of those areas you are not currently doing so well at. It's easy to do the things that we have learned to be good at, or have a natural ability for, even when we work them hard.
It's challenging, both physically and mentally to work at something new or different. And if you are truly addressing something that was out of balance, then addressing this should only be a positive, compared to just doing something different for the sake of it.
Ever heard that saying that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail in the wall that needs banging in?
Sometimes you really don't need to do just more of the same thing, harder!
Look at the two areas above that really form the foundation of the gains that you make, especially concerning health, - nutrition and restoration. Are you really giving your body enough of a varied stimulus, and then enough down time and fuel to positively adapt to that stimulus?
Be an Everyday Athlete!
Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Watch My Workout Muse Rapid Fat Loss Interval Demo!
Here is just one short example of the Rapid Fat Loss Cardio soundtracks that i recently posted about.
As you can see, good high energy stuff!
With a movement as big as a clean and press i quite like sticking with it for the whole 8 rounds. Once you develop the ability to work such intervals, you can do something which will be more likely to fatigue like squats or press ups.
You could even do several of these 8 rounds back to back with different exercises if you are feeling really evil - something my circuit training class in Burgess Hill have experienced a couple of times - albeit without the same soundtrack.
Watch out for the look of relief on my face when the completion is announced!
I've got a confession to make. I wasn't feeling on top form for this. I had a couple of weeks interuption to serious exercise while moving and then a further week off after aggravating my shoulder. As this was the first thing i did with any real effort, i've been sore most of the week - just from this 4 minutes!!
Time to step it back up - are you going to join me??
Hey if you still want those soundtracks, a personal training client of mine just bought them and the bonuses were still available with it. Remember, this is a short workout. The 16 week system is using different 20 min interval workouts.
Here is the link
Click Here!
Cheers,
Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Your Next Level Of Fitness! - Add Urgency!!
I've spent quite a bit of time this week working to improve personal training clients and class / bootcamp participants urgency in their movements.
Why?
Well the simplest answer comes from working with people on their punching and kicking.
Doing these type of movements in a slower and more relaxed manner certainly has some value. However you don't want to leave it at that!
Adding some urgency, power and dare i say it aggression turns these movements into a completely different animal!
Having got good with your technique so that you are pretty safe to strike harder, really trying to hit pads with your whole body is an amazing and exhausting experience!
Given the task of doing a set of bodyweight squats and moving at a good rate, many people - even those who who are 'advanced', tend to move pretty slowly. I can only think they have been doing too much bodypump!
Adding some urgency would remove the desire to prematurely reach for some added weights, especially when adding such an external load sometimes makes individuals technique much worse.
Overall i'll sum it up like this - if your training session is based on intervals and movements of a higher intensity, and you are able to talk during or immediately afterwards - you aren't really doing intervals and may well benefit from some urgency, quick!!
Our latest 4 week fitness bootcamp is about to begin. This time we are adding Horsham into the mix. Watch out, Sussex is about to get fitter, leaner, healthier, and looking better on the beach!
Cheers,
Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
Why?
Well the simplest answer comes from working with people on their punching and kicking.
Doing these type of movements in a slower and more relaxed manner certainly has some value. However you don't want to leave it at that!
Adding some urgency, power and dare i say it aggression turns these movements into a completely different animal!
Having got good with your technique so that you are pretty safe to strike harder, really trying to hit pads with your whole body is an amazing and exhausting experience!
Given the task of doing a set of bodyweight squats and moving at a good rate, many people - even those who who are 'advanced', tend to move pretty slowly. I can only think they have been doing too much bodypump!
Adding some urgency would remove the desire to prematurely reach for some added weights, especially when adding such an external load sometimes makes individuals technique much worse.
Overall i'll sum it up like this - if your training session is based on intervals and movements of a higher intensity, and you are able to talk during or immediately afterwards - you aren't really doing intervals and may well benefit from some urgency, quick!!
Our latest 4 week fitness bootcamp is about to begin. This time we are adding Horsham into the mix. Watch out, Sussex is about to get fitter, leaner, healthier, and looking better on the beach!
Cheers,
Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk
www.everydayathletes.co.uk
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