How I set about helping a client drop 48.4Ib in 8 months.

Keeping in practice with providing client privacy I will we refer to the client as B.

I began working with B in mid February, with a goal similar to many of wanting to lose weight and body fat with the added goal of building some muscle.

I write this Mid October, so 8 months have passed and to date B has lost 48.4Ib.

The initial goal was to bring up B's fitness.  This was achieved by focusing primarily on Cardio Vascular work training in two 30 minute sessions each week.

As B's fitness increased and we were seeing weekly weight loss of anywhere from 1-4Ib week we were able to introduce some more strength based work.

At this point a 30 minute session would consist of half the session focusing on compound (whole body) strength lifts, such as;

• Squats
• Military Press
• Deadlifts

The second half of the session would consist of Fitness work with the object of raising the heart rate for increasing periods of time.  Great exercises that worked for this were;

• Step Ups
• Burpees
• Planks

This was serving us well up until the 2 month point but we jointly decided it was time to make further changes to further progress in light of the increased fitness levels.

So the changes we made were firstly add a third 30 minute training session, secondly it was now that we finally decided to make some dietary changes.

Yep, we made no dietary changes until week 9.  Why?  Well beginning an exercise and dietary regime both at once can be too much change for some people.

So what diet changes did we make, well just a couple of simple rules;

1. Add protein to breakfast, in this case B eats a couple of eggs each morning followed by a piece of fruit.
2. Eat 3/4 times per day with Protein at each meal.
3. Reduce starchy and sugary carbs as much as possible.  All veg and fruit was still kept in the diet.

I will add now that whilst this seems a pretty strict strategy, by being tougher now what has happened is that we have primed B's body in such a way that at fairly regular intervals we have been able to add food into B's diet as he simultaneously loses weight.

So after 2 months of increasing strength and fitness B is now in a position to still be losing weight whilst eating more and continuing to increase strength.

There's the nuts and bolts but what does B have to say about this?

I am really enjoying my time working with Darren who has understood my goals from the get go.  I've seen consistent improvements in both my fitness and wellbeing.  

Sessions are always preplanned, challenging and varied.  Very pleased with my current progress and I've received several comments from friends and and colleagues about my weight loss.

So there it is, how I have helped B lose 48Ib + in 8 months.

If you implement anything from this into your own weight loss strategy be sure to let me know how you get on.

Darren.

1 Simple change you can make to Improve your kids school grades.

As a child and teen did your parents put you through the same routine when you got home?

• Shoes and coats away
• Drink
• Upstairs homework?

Every weekday that same routine, sound familiar?

Strangely now as a parent, I do the same with my girls, and I'm betting you do the same with your kids.

In the last academic year spelling became a big focus for my eldest daughter Evie, and so my wife would sit with her for 20 minutes before bed to practice spelling whilst I read to Erin, our youngest.

Well Evie's spelling showed some really rapid improvement, her test results were up and her confidence to sit and write grew as well as her confidence.  in the work she was doing.

Now I decided I would take some credit, the school suggested they practice each word once every day for a week.  I had Evie write each word 5 times, my theory being that with repetition some muscle memory would kick in.

Was I right, or was it the timing of when she was practicing?

In a Boston study 2 groups of learners were compared.

• The first group did a learning early in the day for a few days
• The second group did the learning just before bed.

When they repeated the learning, referred to as a practice session, the first group of early learners saw a slight decay in what they had learnt,

Compared to...

the second group who when they returned to practice the following evening they showed no sign of decay, and furthermore they were able to do further learning!  Boom, yes please!

And its not just Sleep that improves learning ability.

In another study conducted with students at the University of Michigan, 2 groups were compared after completing cognitive tasks designed to fatigue the brain.  

• One group was asked to go for a 50 minute walk around an arboretum
• Group 2 took a 50 minute walk down a busy high street.

As you can probably guess the group that took the walk around the arboretum showed better test results after the walk, and to test fairness the groups were swapped, now group 1 took the busy high street walk, and this time they showed the weaker test results.

Now, please do not think I am telling you how best to parent, by all means tell me to "mind my own business" - I'm just a guy that does exercise.  

Your still reading so thank you.

What I do want to do is present ideas that may help you to help your children.

This is what lead me to get involved in youth exercise (yep, here comes the cheap sell!), I am looking to help kids become happy kids, great kids become awesome teens, become successful/happy adults and I am sure you all want the same for your kids.

Till next time,

Darren.

YES! Your kids SHOULD lift weights. Here's 7 reasons why.

It has always been considered "unsafe" for children to lift weights, but is that really true?

Today I go over a few reasons why your child should be grabbing those dumbbells and "pumping some Iron".

Now to start with I will address some very justified concerns "The dangers to growth plates-found at the end of long bones are real," says Michael Meija, C.S.C.S>, Mens Health fitness advisor whom specialises in youth Athletic training.

However, Meija is also quick to point out that any injuries that do occur to youths are due to excessive loads for the exercise and the use of improper technique.

So to summarise this, it appears that youths can lift weight-as long as it is does done safely and correctly.

Now we have established that they can here is why they should.

Reason 1 -keeps your child maintaining a healthy weight

• In the 2018 publication Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health for West Berkshire- the following statistics were highlighted;

-8.5% of children aged 4-5 are Obese

-This Increases to 28.2% of children in year 6 which are overweight or Obese

-59.2% of adults are overweight or obese

With this upward trend in likelihood of becoming overweight, it becomes increasingly important that we provide avenues for youths to learn how to maintain a healthy weight through exercise and a healthy lifestyle.

Where does weight training come into this?

Weight training is a great way to increase the total volume of active muscle in the body by having people move through more demanding exercises than everyday lifestyle demands.

Lifting weights can create an increase in heart rate, and rate of breathing higher than that which a long run could do, this will achieve stronger heart and lungs which if maintained can keep them fitter and healthier for longer.

Reason 2- Stronger Muscles and Skeleton

Elimination of Weakness.

Sorry that sounded like some sort of Hunger games, post apocalyptic movie (my bad-but it made you look)!

If we take a look at the older generations it is likely we know someone who has had a slip, trip or fall which has resulted in a surprisingly severe injury where normally someone may just be bruised.  Often the degree of injury will be influenced by how strong (or not) that person is.

By introducing and regularly practising weightlifting not only do we strengthen and build balance and control in the muscles, we also increase bone density.  Now bone density typically does not become an issue until later in life, but the most opportune time to build that bone density is during adolescence.

Reason 3- perhaps your child doesn't get on with team sports

I'm not going to get into this one as we are getting outside of my scope as a Personal trainer and exercise specialist.  It will be the case that some kids no matter how hard we encourage team sport it just isn't for some kids- and that's ok.  We just have to find something else, for them to channel their efforts into.

Often with team sports your child may not feel like they are good at it and so shy away from it.  With weight lifting it is different, they only have themselves to beat.  If for example in week 1 they do 10 press ups, next week they try for 11.  If they return and get the 11 they can enjoy the feeling of success and achievement-with good planning and coaching this can be a weekly achievement. 

Reason 4-your child's self worth

When they reach adolescence you may have already seen they are more conscious of what other people think of them and so will begin reacting to that in their behaviour and the decisions they make. With weight lifting and other fitness pursuits they can have a positive influence on how they physically develop which will improve their self worth both in training and beyond.

Reason 5-improve family bonds

As your child gets into their teens you probably feel as though they are becoming more distant, however, if you and your youth both exercise then this becomes something else you have in common.  You don't have to exercise together (although it can be a very powerful tool in building strong bonds) but you do have a shared common interest that can be chatted about over the dinner table.  This is a great way for you to encourage them in a positive pursuit that you can really get behind.

Reason 6-Exercise reaches beyond the gym

There are many lessons that can be learnt from regular exercise.  If your child can stick to regular exercise and see, feel and experience the positive changes it makes to them, those disciplines can carry over into other avenues of life.  

I'm not saying exercise will stop the wild teenage partying or the stupid decision making but something that can ground them and give them a physical outlet could reduce their outbursts elsewhere in their lives.

Reason 7-Equal opportunities

Weight training is for everyone.  There is no weight class, no height preference and no sex discrimination.  In my Teen fitness class, I have tall, short, male, female, fast, slow and any another distinction you can think of. 

The way I operate my class, is you all do the same exercises but you beat yourself.  The majority of the time I operate on a circuit basis, this means that everyone is doing something different in the moment but at the end of the class they have all done the same work-everyone has accomplished the same.

If you would like your child to become more involved in exercise it will require some input from you

in facilitating their ability to do it, whether it is the funding, the taxiing, googling to fid the activity near you or simply you to say "yes you can do that"

I teach a teen fitness class as well as family group personal training at Accomplish Fitness-Hungerford.

For any further details;

Email; darrencarroll.pt@gmail.com

Web; accomplish-fitness.co.uk 

-Creating the Right Environments for Health The Annual Report from the Director of Public Health

https://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=45849&p=0