Flexibility is seen as something exclusive, adopted by yoga practitioners and also something people use for long term health. Usually people look at it at older ages when the body tightens up and/ or is recovering from injury. My approach is to tap into the benefits of flexibility by getting to optimum performance and health through stretching before any problems occur. By keeping mobile and flexible the great long term effects are that you will be able to train more regularly and optimally due to reducing or eliminating injuries.

Flexibility will give you longer and more functional muscle in that you will be able to use your muscles with the full use of their range of movement.

Flexibility will give you much greater balance and coordination of your muscles and on the journey to becoming more flexible you will develop more power due to the fact that muscles are lengthened. A tight muscle that is strong isn’t necessarily powerful as speed will be reduced when range is taken away or isn’t available.

Flexibility will reduce muscle soreness and enable you to recover and train with less recovery time, more frequency and more energy.

The process of improving flexibility comes from a slow releasing energy system and requires deep breathing in turn allowing the diaphragm to open or be less constricted so that the body becomes more alive and rejuvenated from deeper breathing. This will reduce stress and tension from the mind too. Anyone that has a high pressure job will be able to look at things from an additional perspective and also relax themselves mentally.

Here are the stretches I recommend from years of experience with clients and where muscles are universally tight.

1 The bridge or variances of the bridge. This is a beautiful way of lengthening the spine to its fullest capacity and also strengthening it, it is also a great way of opening up the chest which is much needed so people can breathe more diaphragmatically.

2 The splits, front and both sides. These are amazing for lengthening and mobilising and opening up the groin and hips and taking pressure away from the spine. The hips can lead to the store of a lot of tension in the body as a result of sitting down for prolonged periods of time or being sedentary.

3 Shoulder stretches where you link both hands behind you from both sides. This is great for opening the arms chest and shoulders.

4 Lying spine, glutes and chest stretch. This stretches almost everything that can store tension in the body, especially the spine, the glutes and chest.

These stretches can sometimes seem hard, at first you may not be able to do them so progress is key, keep maintaining being limber in these poses. Work on your weaknesses to create more balance and therefore more power.

To good health and longevity.

My ideas on training revolve around ways of exercising that make you feel stronger physically, mentally and empowered emotionally. At the same time as going through routines it’s ideal at times to be able to flow and obtain a release of serotonin and dopamine – those chemicals that naturally occur in the body and can make you feel good.

There are so many facets, energy systems and styles of training the body and in each of these aspects there are hours and hours of training required in order to become proficient. So to get out of the everyday routine of going to the office or to work and fitting in your workouts, at times look at exercise as getting back to nature.

One easy way many can do so is simply by taking a walk, walking on grass in a park for instance, hiking in woodlands, breathing the air and looking at trees. Recreational walking can easily relax you and get you away from being too mentally engaged i.e. entirely zoned into work, laptops and mobile phones.

The body and mind need play, movement and release. Meditation is another activity I give clients especially highly productive ones who are MD’s and CEO’s. Again this allows for relaxation and as a means of departure to leave the regular thinking box behind. Another thing meditation provides from an exercise perspective, especially the way I teach it is very good posture.

I believe you are not getting the benefits of your full intelligence and energy pathways if you’re not breathing fully and diaphragmatically. The way to breathe diaphragmatically is deeply, slowly, in tune with your body from your abdomen all the way into your chest with an upright lower, middle and upper back. To put it simply my way of teaching meditation creates great posture, a strong back and lots of confidence.

Other ideas I have on exercise are about cardio especially running which seems rather unpopular in some quarters of the fitness world. I feel this is sad because the benefits of lymphatic and bowel movement, perspiration, blood flow, tuning into the body and activation of all muscles, joints and ligaments cannot be understated.

I firmly believe that a cardio session several times a week is hugely beneficial if you can fit it in. I cant always fit it in myself and I’m a trainer so I get that you may not be able to do it most days, but try to get in as many sessions as you can anywhere from 3 and above per week. All you need is a pair of trainers, appropriate clothing and a place to run. There are of course alternatives such as skipping, cycling or rowing etc. It can be whatever form of cardio you like but I would recommend a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 45 minutes per session.

For strength, if you want truly strong, lean, powerful and buff arms, it’s really simple… Do one arm assisted or unassisted pull ups for 5 reps and do 75-100 push ups in 5 sets either with added weight or simply using your bodyweight. In general push ups will help you get a stronger core, good shape and better endurance for many sports you play while improving general health and fitness.

I have found so many clients benefit by simply doing push ups and pull ups and you really can manipulate these two exercises for incredible arms, chest, back, shoulder and core muscles and even impact your legs by doing them.

For general health squats are absolutely essential and you can benefit from these exercises by doing very high to low reps and also by doing them from many different angles and positions as well as adding lunges in. Another thing I currently like is to mix squats and lunges using bodyweight only but transferring from as many different positions as I possibly can until it’s unbearably hard. As ability increases you will be able to find more difficult but rewarding positions to get in and out of.

Bridges and sit ups are exercises that we do on a daily basis in smaller degrees that improve our flexibility and general well being. They are difficult to do for any sustained period of time at first but once you have progressed and are able to do them more easily your joints, ligaments, musculature and flexibility will all improve. You can either make the exercises easier using supports or you can make them harder by making it one sided, using one limb instead of 2 and thats where play and seriously hard yet enjoyable and beneficial training comes in.

Exercise can be fun, playful and rewarding. It can be testing but not monotonous. Capoeira, dance, gymnastics or even just playing around can really get your body to become alive and free as well as your mind.

Discover your body by looking and feeling for what works for you. To me the body, mind and spirit merge as one and what you do to one part impacts the others. For example, if I perform movements to open and strengthen my posture this will open and strengthen my mind and help to release tension and emotion that may have been stored from an upsetting or emotional situation. Moving your body counter intuitively away from common movement patterns gives you new problems to solve and can help to bring old connections back online.

Essential movements like squats and deadlifts are the foundations for building strength but including balance drills like handstands and leg balances or pistol squats can allow you to work on multiple components and capabilities during the workout thus helping you to unleash your inner warrior.

Rather than just working on individual body parts, we can work on all aspects of our bodies ability to perform. One workout could be geared towards increasing speed, you may find yourself working on hand speed with a boxing partner or trainer getting you to strike rapidly while moving your feet purposefully.

Coordination is another component a workout could focus on, this could involve bouncing, striking, throwing and catching medicine or tennis balls.

Yet another component a workout could be geared towards are transitions, moving between positions dynamically. Something like capoeira or animal flow routines which work the core and the whole body can be a fun way to do this.

If you look at components of your workout as a playful toolkit you can create incredible 3D workouts rather than flat 2D routines. You’ll perform well physically, mentally and spiritually.

So go on, play around but play around hard, challenge yourself and get the most out of the incredible body you have.

The way I see it, different body parts influence a different reality.

We have two essential things that change us, number one how we use our bodies and two how we use our minds which leads to how we view our internal/ true selves. You’re probably saying what’s this got to do with an article on opening up the chest? There are three areas in our body that hold the most tension so if you strengthen these body parts and release the tension in them you get the best out of yourself mentally and physically.

The three areas are the chest, the trapezius and the glutes. Tension in the trapezius tends to arise from physical stress, resulting in tensing up and appearing anxious in front of others. The chest tends to be connected with our emotions about ourselves and how we relate to others. The glutes store tension from both the physical and emotional spheres but that’s an article for another day.

Chest opening usually requires the shoulders to be relaxed and rotated in a circular motion. The other muscle that really helps open up the chest and that can be worked synchronously is the tricep which gets its deepest stretch and utilisation from the maximum extension of the arm. The best stretches for the chest come from circular motions and fully extended arm positions.

My favourites are shoulder dislocates, arm rolls with locked arms close to a wall, the crucifix stretch and bridges with two arms, one arm or utilising a wall. The other exercise I love and rarely see done are hex bar deadlifts where each rep ends by standing tall at the end of the motion. If you do try this at the end of the motion hold your position momentarily, open the chest and pull your shoulder blades back. The heavier the weight the deeper and more intense the diaphragm will work which is very good as it helps to develop deep, powerful breathing.

The stretches mentioned above require more of a fluid, consistent and smoother breathing technique. Such a technique can be used outside of training in social and business situations.

Try these things out in your workouts and try to take what you learn and master about breathing patterns and apply them in your everyday life.

Inflammation is a great subject on what I consider to be two subjects:

1) Inflammation you see caused by the foods we eat.

2) inflammation caused by impact or poor training or an accident.

Good health can be demonstrated internally and externally as in how we feel and how we look. Taking steps to heal ourselves and improve our health is about what we say to ourselves and the actions we decide to take followed by discipline.

For example, if we focus enough on eating foods that do not cause inflammation because we want to have a nice shape, be strong or avoid having a puffy face or bloated stomach then we need to be vigilant about what we eat.

The main allergens that increase inflammation and should be avoided or minimised are:

1) Sugar

2) Dairy

3) Alcohol

4) Gluten

5) Sweeteners

Another cause of inflammation would be joints and ligaments where swelling occurs around this and this may be unavoidably caused by collisions, intense sports contact and simply a lack of physical awareness of how to mobilise joints, ligaments and muscles appropriately or how to warm up blood into the muscles, joints and ligaments.

To fight inflammation from an external perspective, massage, mobility, warming up well, appropriate rehab and proper mobility of the body for performance and from a food perspective things like consuming anti-oestrogenic foods, like cruciferous vegetables, having an alkaline diet with lots of water and also having supplements and foods high in omega 3.

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I’ve noticed people are paranoid about even entering a gym and there are several reasons including psychological ones as well as lifestyle ones so I’m going to break it down for you so I can either help you or someone you know with this.

There is always an element of fear or avoidance that comes in from exercise either being too painful or someone not being worthy enough in themselves or from a technical perspective, not knowing what to do. I’ve heard a lot of men and women say they don’t have the time which is another way of saying that they don’t prioritise or value training enough. I’ve even asked clients who stopped training for long periods and then come back, “doesn’t training help you feel good?” They will say yeah but I can’t be bothered and then I will reply with, wait a minute… Are you saying you cant be bothered to feel good? And then the aha realisation kicks in!

The other day I spoke to another client who hasn’t trained or exercised in 7 years and he said the reason was that he felt embarrassed to do so and that the embarrassment was due to his body image and how he saw himself. With women, I’ve done consultations where the wife in front of the husband has told me that she was traumatised psychologically at the idea of looking and even feeling attractive to the opposite sex. Another view I’ve been given by a lady in her early 20’s is that some women view sports and fitness as a manlike activity.

So their are so many different view points! The thing that I believe about exercise for everyone, both men and women is that it has so many health benefits, physically, mentally and psychologically from preventing diseases and providing a great shape to feeling strong emotionally and physically to relaxation to de-stressing and releasing tension from occupations and lifestyles to plain old feeling confident in ones self. Simply seeing yourself achieving and progressing in different exercises and activities and feeling fulfilled and hearing others complimenting you on your new skills or shape or even radiant smile.

Feel free to comment below and tell me what has stopped you training currently or in the past even and please share success stories or even challenges or blocks as I’m happy to help.

Here are some tips on testing and improving your life by improving your mobility…

Mobility is a combination of flexibility and strength and also will help you to open up any tense parts of the body. Some parts of the body hold tension, stress and anxiety so when you stretch and strengthen them what happens is that you release the tension and put your body mind and emotions at ease and are able to relax, be more present and alive and awake.

The first emotional centre of the body is the chest area and when you stretch and open up the chest and shoulders you allow yourself to feel free and not hold on to burdens. The shoulders and the chest being tight tends to show signs of someone who doesn’t have self confidence and belief in themselves so opening up the chest and shoulders gives a feeling of strength and certainty it’s also an open pose so allows you to be more present and open. A great exercise for this is the crucifix and many variations of the crucifix where your arm is straight and you twist your body and one of your legs away from you arm opening up the chest and shoulders and upper, mid and lower back whilst engaging your hips.

Here’s an overall mobility drill for the upper body:

Holding a single leg Russian twist to one side will allow you to open up the hips and buttocks. The buttocks are another area where we hold physical stress so deep breathing and stretching in this area releases lots of tensions and creates a lot of aliveness and relaxation in the body.

For the groin there is the front splits. Even if you cant yet do the splits reaching for the floor in front with your hands allows you to release tension from the groin, hamstrings and lower and upper back so this is a great way of getting rid of anxiety and softening the body and mind.

There are also the front splits or a progressive version of this whereby you can stretch the hamstrings, hip flexors and groin area and also the bridge which opens up the chest and sternum and also strengthens the muscles of the back, the forearms and stretches the whole front side of the body as well as the back and develops the glutes and even the ligaments and joints especially the wrists. Mobility is key to a healthy fulfilling life full of well being.

Your probably thinking as an owner of a gym with a team of trainers and being a trainer myself that I have simply lost it!.With all the courses I’ve been taking and training I’ve been working on I’m going to say to you I’ve truly found it! From hypnosis, to NLP to coaching to boxing to capoeira, meditation, gymnastics, movement, yoga  and weight lifting… My realisation is ultimately what we all want and what I have in common with all of you is that we want to eliminate pain from our body so that we can be our most powerful, our most strong and our most energetic in both the body and mind and with these tools we are ruthless, confident and full of joy in our wellness and in our outlook.

An open mind and a strong body is what gives you the tools to feel productive, successful, vibrant and healthy in your body and mind. You cannot be depressed or down when you eliminate pain from your body, from you posture and from your outlook and meaning and then comes the healing where you look forward to your physicality and your vibrancy in your training, in your desires and in your outlook.

Join the experience, come and see for your self from myself and from my team the vibe and knowledge and training regimes we have to offer. What we our offering is to tailor your training and your programme to your lifestyle inside and outside of AWPTS. See you soon and looking forward to it.

I found this a difficult blog to write for many reason and here are some of them:

We all have different eating habits e.g. fruiterian, vegetarian, vegan and meat eater and pescetarians. That is the first issue, the second issue is that we all react differently to certain food groups, we are all different and what’s good for one may not be good for the other. The other thing is, we all have different training, lifestyle and fitness goals so what I can do is share with you some of my ideas and thoughts and concepts and you can decide, agree and even argue a different view or voice and I would be happy to consider how you handle your nutrition healthily. What I will do is include different snacks that can be considered healthy for people with different diet plans and strategies, also if you were or are a client, talking through how you felt each day after a meal or a week of eating something would be something I would do to test how each food affects your body, you would be surprised how important this is and has been for each client.

At Prêt, if I were vegan I would buy pumpkin seeds and a banana and some water to stay hydrated and energised as you would get fat, protein and carbs in those two simple foods with water to keep you clean and refreshed.

At Itsu as a meat eater I would have the thai chicken curry with rice and ask them not to add any sauce and have that with water, you have again proteins, and carbs and vegetables to create a well rounded meal, on another meal though i would probably get some natural fats like avocados, nuts or seeds

At Leon you can get salmon and avocado box sets where you get high proteins and fats for someone who is pescetarian and/or on a ketogenic diet.

At most local cafes in SW1 you can ask for salmon and avocado and ask them to add grilled tomatoes and cucumbers. Loose Box does a great steak with salads.

At Sainsburys or any other supermarket locally you can buy beef jerky with an apple or nuts of your choice with carrots or any other vegetable you would like to mix your nuts or seeds with.

I hope that this helps you to make some healthier choices when shopping for your lunch or pre or post workout snacks!

I’ve been thinking for a while what my studio represents to me and my team. We have athletes from Great Britain from sprinters and runners to competitive martial artist, boxers and UFC fighters over to spine and posture specialists and remedial therapists. The thing is each one of us has a unique gift and skill set so whilst we are all individuals we also have a community. We all believe in athleticism whether it’s a fitness model or a fighter or trainer, we all believe in health from nutrition and different forms of exercise using different styles as well as psychology to help fit the clients and his or her needs.

We are all believers in functional training and activation of the body which means no matter what your goal is we can get you to do it well and get that result with the addition of having a well balanced and strong structure of a body.

Education is key so we have the science the education and the years of experience in the field and all of us have competed at some level in various arts. We have catered for fitness enthusiasts, athletes and Mums and tired Dads and CEOs and MD’s. Our gym is private and so is our attention and so we are able to dedicate and with determination give a very personal experience. No matter what your goals are we are able to tailor them for you and to help you get what it is you desire and also to get beyond results, things that you didn’t know would impact you with the impact that makes you feel way better and way more empowered when you walk outside and go back into your day to day lifestyle. If you want to work with a world class personal training team then book as session today!

First of all I have to say that I love living and owning a gym in Westminster as it’s central, full of culture and history. You can get away from the busy side and chill in parks when it’s sunny or go for relaxing walks in Victoria park. Also the clientele are polite and cultured people who live in the area among the residents and the people that work in the area tend to be high-flyers. So generally all clients tend to be confident and high energy people who do well in many aspects of life.

Everyone seems to know everyone here and have a direct and yet warm and confident approach to each other. I dont know if it’s just my luck or my gyms culture but that’s the way it feels. Even when going to local gyms like Gymbox there’s a really friendly atmosphere. I tend to like working out at different gyms to check out any new trends, people and ideas that I can add on to my studio or embrace.

What I would say about Westminster clients for my team and for myself is that they are highly intelligent, family oriented, warm and confident people with great business minds and a desire to get the best that they can out of life. Which is exactly why I love my job. Work is not work for me, it’s play, it’s enjoyment and it’s fulfilment.

I’d like to say a great big thanks to all of my Westminster clientele who attend Adam White Personal Training Studios from me and my team.

I’ve noticed most people a lot of people suffer from back pain and if they don’t a lot of people over compensate other muscles to cover up back pain and sometimes this can appear in the form of shoulder issues, knee and hip issues too. Then when looking at back pain itself we have a lot of things going on from the tailbone all the way up to the neck and everything below the tailbone as the whole body works as a whole unit. Some of you will experience pain because the back is weak and some of you will experience pain because the back is tight. So there are a lot of things to look at. A really common and easy detection of back pain is to look at peoples squats. Now I’ve trained people who lift 100kg and way more and even though they squat heavy that doesn’t mean they are squatting correctly and they will feel the pain, then a very common type of person that suffers back pain is a mother or guy or girl who works in the office and isn’t particularly active or if active simply isn’t doing the correct exercises or is doing correct exercises but with the wrong technique.

Assessment one is in the squat, arms are pulled back and in line with shoulder and thumbs are facing the wall behind. the chest is lifted up wards and the bottom is pushing back and at the same time the feet are in line and pointed slightly outwards whilst the knees go in an outward direction as the person squats down. Now usually with a keen eye the lumbar or lower back switches off and both the glutes and the lower back need engaging, you can see this as when squatting the butt and the back don’t appear to show tension from behind they tend to collapse and curve the spine the hip and the butt position.

The other move is the inchworm which lets you do a forward bend touching your toes and then lengthen your hands away from you along the floor until you can fully extend your arms straight and overhead and eventually able to touch your nose to the floor.

A common cause of back pain comes from sitting down and tends to be down to how people hold themselves while sitting down, chest collapsed, shoulders rounded, lower back arched and hips collapsed. Ao what counters that? Hip thrusts and back raises. For hip thrusts, the the palms are facing the ceiling upwards and the thumbs must touch the floor and the hips and chest and glutes have to be elevated as high as possible towards the ceiling. the other move, the back raises require you to tense your glutes, and lower back while squeezing the elbows behind your head as high upwards toward the ceiling as possible. Two other moves required would be a movement based side plank to get the obliques working and also to cause a side bending of the spine and and twisting movement from the torso with either one or both legs in the opposite direction of either or both arms. Of course this is a simplistic and general view for back pain and general of course depending on different body types and injuries there will be a lot more exercises, movements and drills to use based on the individual and the amount of time dedicated to the movement will depend on the severity of how weak or inflexible someone is in one of the movements. If you have back pain and would like to book an assessment contact us today!

The reason we do hand balancing is that it’s outstanding for both coordination and activation of the nervous system and also for strength and body awareness which is why gymnastics can be such a spiritual game and yet such a great enhancement and benefit for the physique. If you want longevity and long term health balance is the the way forward, balance in working the body holistically and balance in the act of balancing which switches on the nervous system, our proprioception, mental focus and motor skills.

The focus required to balance on both hand or one hand or balancing acts on both feet or one leg will get the brain and nervous system so switched on our neural pathways keep us young simply by learning to focus, coordinate and activate in unison.

A lot of strength is required to hold us up and so we get a lot of toughening and strengthening of the joints, ligaments and bones and muscles. The other thing required is usually dynamic movements of the body that require agility and momentum and clear thinking and vision so we also get a lot of speed and flexibility merged with strength and tend to create a shape and body type that doesn’t have to much waste or weight on it e.g. you don’t usually see an overweight or heavy or unfit person doing these things, so doing these things foot balances and hand balances will get you in an awesome shape simply by doing the activities. It’s funny because sometimes they look easy and deceptively simple so people believe it wont work as it doesn’t look as hard as running or lifting weights and that’s where I believe we get once again deceived.

Come over to my gym in sw1 as I would love to show you different balance drills and how they can benefit you.

Joseph Pilates the creator of Pilates and an incredible innovator physically and mentally said you are as young as your spine.

So the title the best exercises for ageing muscles made me laugh, as to me muscles dont age they get conditioned or they get unconditioned very similar to a computer programme being written and updated effectively or not. Our bodies and minds are very much like computer programmes with muscles the program they need is to be stretched and to contract and to activate. If you can contract, stretch and activate your body fully and as a whole you will be healthy and appreciate longevity, dynamic movement, the lines and shape you want and the energy and dynamism that you want.

Here’s the key, every body has a different body and a different signature so each one of us like our fingerprints will need tweaking to our programs and our structure of both exercise and nutrition and the contradiction here is, we all have human bodies and there is a certain code of energy systems that we have to keep us working at our most effective rate.

Heres a big one for me, cardiovascular conditioning. It’s so important and personally I believe it’s something we must do daily and if we are to go for the health guides do it a minimum of 3-5 times to feel good, to have great blood flow and oxygen and energy and positivity bursting through the body with the additional benefit of tuning into your body and progressing it with feeling and feel good factor as you go from cold, to warm to steaming hot from within the body and then sweating from the outside and detoxifying. A lot of people do interval training instead and O disagree with this because real interval training is done in intensity with another partner whether its with your personal trainer challenging you or with a group doing sprint training or having a boxing partner moving you for 3 minute rounds, from what I have seen people doing interval training on their own is a less effective workout and not a great drill for women who want to be slim and strong or guys who want to raise the energy levels and drop body fat. If you don’t believe me what speed will you run at when your playing a five a side football match against when you are on a treadmill, and how many more directions, and variables and need for recovery and change of direction and instinct are needed.

Do me a favour, if you want to be fit do your cardio it’s important and it is a long term necessity. I believe in cardio that is upright e.g. standing so whether its boxing, football or dance or skipping and running well thats up to you and your trainer. The cardio I do on my own is skipping as it moves the bowels and lymphatic system detoxifying the body, all the footwork gives you rhythm, coordination and explosive energy from the bouncing and at the same time it helps your knees as it stops you from having flat feet that do not move around or mobilise. After that, I would do a run when my knees are in good condition and I have extra energy as it feels great and I also enjoy shadow boxing and kickboxing with someone I like boxing and sparring, for you it may be football, capoeira, ballet or boxing. This is about you and what works for you and I’m a guy that likes to help discover who the you is and discover what works best for you.

The body needs strength and resistance training. I think there are so many ways to keep the body strong, my preferences are using the hex bar to do deadlifts as they are safe on your back and great for stabilising and strengthening your back, handstands and bridges and push ups and pull ups and single leg squats as they challenge your body to push its own weight using different variables and these exercises give you solid joints, ligaments and bones and they also keep your muscles firm and tones them, for abs you can always add sit ups and hanging leg raises and for some men and women there may be weak body parts like the triceps and this is where weight training and bodybuilding concepts can help where you can look at a particular muscles group and create balance, firmness, shape and strength. One of my favourites for triceps is the skull crusher and then there’s feeding the muscles correctly with proteins and water and greens without poisoning the body too much which is why I have gone down the route of being a flexitarian, it means I eat fish but i don’t eat fish everyday, I eat meat but I don’t eat meat everyday, it meansI eat fruit sometimes but I don’t rely on it, the only universal rules I have is I eat lettuce everyday to alkalise the body and have wheatgrass shots as often as I can. I have protein shakes usually a vegan source from my new supplement company Arbonne, they sell pea protein in a chocolate flavour and if you want you can get this from my Arbonne website. I like fats like coconut oils, almonds, avocados and olives. I go out of my way to have fats and greens everyday as they cleanse and fuel the body and of course you need a lot more water than you think you need. If you’re tired this is potentially because you have not drunk enough water. Ageing really comes from accumulating too many toxins and not moving the body enough. Another way to keep the body from building up too many toxins is regular massage, stretching for the appropriate muscles required to stretch and meditation to reduce cortisol levels and anxiety so you can have more feel good factor. Oh yes and do all you can to get your rest and sleep well! All the best and if you need help feel free to contact me and see me for a conversation and even a session.

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I went out for dinner ladt night with a friend and he said to me that I contradict myself.. I thought about it and its true I like to be like water as Bruce Lee would say.

I love to be consistent and have foundations and the paradox here is that i like to mix it up. I TRAVEL a lot learning from coaches around the world learning as many things as i can about the human body and mind connections and disconmections.

Usually i would skip and run everyday for energy and do gymastics and calisthenics and boxing. That is this year at least. Last year i was more into bodybuilding and olympic lifting.

The more i do and learn the more i realise i domt know it all and the path to great training is the path to workinh out what your body needs and what your passions are.

So here are my ideas at the moment

Snatch
Pull ups
Push ups
Box jumps
One leg balancing
Skip 10 minutes
Run 10 minutes
Hex bar deadlifts
Russian twists
LEG RAISES
PLANKS REACHING FOR A STICK USING SIDE FRONT AND REVERSE POSES
Hex bar deadlifts
Front splits
Side splits
Full bridge

This is my daily programme at the moment for what i need and desire. It will change. There are variables and there are foundations there.

What you can learn from this programme is it addresses different planes of motion.. there are different rep ranges and activities and yet its designed for my physical goals. What are your goals and how do you keep your workouts fun and progressive.

Healthy regards

Adam

A lot of programmes are centred around making bigger muscles or getting onto someone else’s idea of shape rather than tuning into your body’s natural structure and potential.

Who knows your body better than you do?

If you train your body around the structure of its spine you will breathe better. You will feel more confident. You will move more athletically and you will feel and look at your best.

The bodies spine revolves around bending down and extending up. Two no brainer movements would be inchworms and hex bar deadlifts. Inchworms will relax your spine on the forward bend and hex bar deadlifts will get you to tense your lower back and strengthen it and work your core at the same time. Then the body and spine will need side bend motions so exercises like doing uppercuts from boxing or side planks while catching something will also work. And then the spine rotates so doing roundhouse kicks or Russian twists will work the core.

 
Then universal postural and health and energy building exercises are one leg balances on each leg for one or two minutes. Skipping and running for 20 minutes each and mobility and stretches for tight areas like the chest, groin, glutes, hamstrings, calves, lower back, quads and arms.

 
I hope that helps. If not come over and do a coaching session and if it does definitely come for a coaching session so we can tailor and advanced your workout.

Nutrition is key to progress in your energy, your health, your strength, your mobility and a sexy athletic shape.

It will even affect the optimisation of your mood so needless to say it is absolutely important and a essential to a well balanced life.

Let’s start with macro nutrients that boost and maximise your recovery:

Protein and fats are absolutely essential for recovery so if you eat meat things like steak, salmon and cod are amazing for handling your protein numbers. For those of you that are vegan and vegeterian flaxseed, hemps seeds, nuts and seeds are amazing for proteins and fats.

Fats are incredible for the brain and the hormones and for long and slow released energy which will keep you fuelled throughout the day.

Ideal fats are coconut oil, almonds and avocados. They are great for everyone whether you eat meat or not.

Greens are so important for cleansing and alkalising the body so that your gut replenishes and transports your nutrients effectively so that you are fired up. Look at having wheatgrass, spirulina, broccolli, asparagus and cucumber as all of these foods are high in alkalinity.

Then there are carbs. Me personally, I tend to avoid starches as they cause inflammation in the body and slow down my energy rather than raising it up. I have them occasionally and test your body if you feel better or not with or without starches.

What I do like for carbs are fruits as they contain sugars and also micronutrients.

Bananas have potassium and magnesium (which is great before bed to relax the body). Berries are high in vitamin c and are high in antioxidants so will be great for your immune system. Coconuts also have fats and carbs and are a great source of energy, slow releasing and high in magnesium to enhance muscle recovery.

As for supplements I recommend zinc for the immune system. VITAMIN C to recover you from workouts and cold weather and glutamine for gut and brain health.

Last of all take magnesium supplements to enhance and recover your muscles and calm your whole body down so you can sleep well. It’s always worth getting your blood work checked once in a while to get an MOT on where you’re at and to discover what’s working best for your lifestyle and the results your want.

Essentially there are 3 ways to lose body fat:

1. Eat in a way that you are energised and burning body fat

2. Rest. Sleep and Relax.

3. Exercise intensely.

It’s simple and it’s hard at the same time. It’s hard work. So the only way you will truly get your physique goals and a sense of fulfilment is at the point that your disciplined for the long term. For life. Day in. Day out.

When you have a strong enough ‘why’ for what you want to achieve then you will have focus and energy to pursue it. Why do I do it? Because to me I feel connected, spiritual, alive, energised and fricking happy!

Now I’ll give you some practical tips:

Eat greens, healthy fats and clean protein sources. Eat avocados, Bananas, Berries, Steak, Salmon, Cod, Almonds, Coconut oil, Flaxseed oil, Broccolli, Peppers, Garlic and any other good fats, proteins and vegetable.

Avoid or reduce alcohol, starches and sugars (cakes, sweets etc).

Try meditating to reduce stress. It will help you avoid emotional eating and gaining fat. Try sleep and napping that gets you to the point where you feel energised and recovered. However many hours that may be and never act tired. Acting tired makes you sluggish. Don’t do that to yourself. Commit to being energised.

Try to exercise daily. Do skipping. Do running. Do rolling. Yoga. Gymnastics. Martial arts. Weights. Rock climbing. Boxing. Dancing. Sprinting. Mix it up and get as many types of fitness as you can and then you will discover your true discipline and love.

Losing body fat is easy you just need a big enough why and experience the emotions and feelings that come with being in good health.

It hasn’t been deliberate but it has been interesting. I did get down to 7% body fat percentage on a paleo diet which was a kilo of meat and as much greens and vegetables as you wanted but that wasn’t totally right for me because my gut one morning was in agony and I had to go to hospital with my girlfriend at the time only to find out that I couldn’t sleep all night because I had gas.

After speaking to my ex girlfriend who was a nutritionist, she suggested that I eat rice and yoghurt to help with my gut. I started to focus on building muscle so my diet then consisted of lots of meat and fish for protein and then carbs and also vegetables. With the carbs added to my diet I started bulking. I also started adding fat to my body. I felt less energetic and was avoiding any cardio. In fact it seems that there is a clue there that the nutrition we eat may even affect the exercise and activities you do.

Then I decided enough is enough add that it’s time to get fit. I went to an Anthony Robbins seminar and decided energy and being lean and enjoying exercise that makes me feel good is my new priority. My diet completely changed to great fats that really upped my energy. Avocados. Almonds. Flaxseed. Nuts. Seeds. Coconut oil. I started eating fruits like bananas. Mixed berries. Apples. Kiwis. I continued eating meat and fish I just found myself eating less meat and fish due to having more fruits and vegetables.

I used my fitness pal and discovered that I was getting a lot of protein from the nuts, seeds, green drinks with wheatgrass and these new foods I introduced. The result… Im leaner, more active, ripped, feel fantastic and Look younger and feel a lot more intuitive. After all, variety is the spice of life. Find out what works for you as it will well be worth it.

First of all, my first real life hero that inspired me on my fitness journey was Bruce Lee the revolutionary martial artist who gave birth to MMA. Then there was George St Pierre and now theres Connor McGregor. In my studio we have a bunch of trainers who compete in UFC, Bellator, Jiu Jitsu, Thai Boxing, Karate and Krav Maga!

All these fighting disciplines are incredible and require infinite intricacies and skill levels. The thing that fascinates me is the conditioning you have to go through to get the edge and that competitive advantage and gift.

Don’t forget ultimately MMA covers multiple discipline at once for example Boxing, Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. The coordination, the footwork, the speed, the power, the timing and the reflexes are unparalleled.

I may be biased because fighting and gymnastics are my currently loved skillsets but to me they are the ultimate athletes. The conditioning. The bravery, the frustration and the heart that goes into it are incredible. On top of all of that they have to cut weight for their fight which can be extremely difficult and requires high levels of metal and physical discipline.

Let’s now look at the rewards. PRIDE. FITNESS. COURAGE. DETERMINATION. FULFILMENT and ACHIEVEMENT. Personally I love the conditioning and I think you will find it awesome too. So come over and I’ll get you a UFC or Martial Arts coach to start you off on one on one training. You will love it plus getting punched in the face isn’t a requirement to take part!

One dimensional personal trainers tend to be very focused at what they are good at but what they are good at may not suit your client and their goals.

Let’s say you’re a personal trainer who’s into bodybuilding and your client wants to be functional, fit and slim, there may be a conflict of interest. (However, all styles of fitness have some benefits to any style of training.)

Whether you’re a bodybuilder or a functional trainer it doesn’t really matter… what does matter is that you know how to give your clients the results they actually want, this comes from constantly improving your own education no matter what style of training you may prefer.

A good coach/personal trainer is a great listener, a great observer and also able to read between the lines and understand what your client is not saying. For example,  when you see them move dysfunctionally, look at correcting the movements and notice what else may be weak and where else they are strong. That way you can focus on one of his or her strengths and of his or her weaknesses or imbalances rather than hammering them with something that works for you!