Comments and followers are welcome




Monday 9 April 2012

Zombies.......RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!

ok something a bit different for you today. I like most use Nike run or similar apps to help keep you motivated while out running and to generally track how far you have gone. This is great and a useful app with which you get cheers from you friends and can race yourself.
But yesterday I stumbled across something a little different, an app which motivates you in a far from traditional way ...................... by emersing you in a post appocalyptic world where you are running for your life from ZOMBIES!
Now I know some of you out there will be thinking this is a bit silly, however I was curious and thought the idea of running in a game intrigued me.
The basic idea is simple, you start a run and you are lead through an audio story (inbetween your own music playing) through various missions, all the while picking up items to help you along the way. However the way is fraught with dangers and every so often you hear the warning ZOMBIES RUNNNNNN!, the only way to evade the attack is to run faster!!! each attack lasts about a minute, if you are caught you loose some of your collected items.
Now ofcourse these are fake zombies and you wont die or suffer catastrophic injures if caught, however its suprising how the ever louder groans and quickening beeps motivate you to run faster...... (just be careful if you are running in towns)

Now I tried this out for the first time today, not really knowing what to expect so I turned it on picked my music and started my first mission. Immediatly the story begins to unravel in your ears, interspersed with your music. I was merely 5 minutes into my run when the first zombie attack occured and I RANNNNN like I've never run before in a training run with zombies breathing in my ears and warning beeps getting closer motivating me speed up even more before finally I managed to evade them. This aspect is great for me and probably many others as once out on a run I tend to settle into a bit of a plod.... I can go for miles I'm just not very fast so this aspect really will help me improve my sprinting and hopefully my speed overall.
Now I am yet to see how long this will keep me intrigued and todays run was just a short 5k to the gym, and somewhere along the way I accidently locked my screen (this will stop the app) which meant I didnt finish my mission or see any more zombie attacks. I believe there may have been 2 attacks in this mission and the missions I believe are all around 30 minutes long, as you complete a mission it unlocks the next and I'm guessing zombie attacks get more frequent as you progress....


But I guess im going to have to wait to see in my next run, luckily my mission is paused and I can start this up again on my next run which I actually cant wait to go out and do... so I'm guessing for now this app is working for me :-), I think trying it at dusk or in the woods on trail runs could make it even more eery!!! thats if you dare :-)

The price for this app is a little high, it had been on offer but now its reverted to its £5.49, but I think thats money well spent to give a little fun to what can be boring monotonous runs.

so for now.............. RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!

Thursday 22 March 2012

A Week in my training schedule

Hello all,

just a quickie today, just thought id let you all know how things are going. I can honestly say my inner gym bunnie is winning the war over my inner food monkey.
I am slowly regaining the time and the love for the gym and training. Im already into my 5th hour of training this week which feels great.
so from last Thursday heres a little peek into what i get up to :-)

Thursday = 30min swim, 30 minute spin
Friday = Long walk with Puppy (im at work all that day but pup comes with me and we go for a trundle around 5pm)
Saturday 5k Run
Sunday Rest day
Monday = 30 min Cross fit, 1 hr spin, and 30 minutes of weights
Tuesday = 1 hr spin 30 minutes boxing
wednesday = 1 hr tough cross fit training (1  mile run 2 k row x3 no rest)
and tonight it will be 45 minute swim 30 minute bike :-)

I know this isnt for everyone, but just trying to make your routine varied and intresting helps and doing the things you love which for me is spinning/boxing and cross fit (my new friend)

Hope you are all going well out there

keep going, eat well, train hard and reap the rewards.

Wednesday 14 March 2012

Cross Fit

hello all, appologies again for the delay between posts life is a bit of a whirlwind at the moment.
However id like to spend a couple of minutes telling you about cross fit a new training system which is booming at the moment.
Crossfit is a great all round work out focusing on functional movements (things you do in real life) and cardio. A PT friend of mine was recently putting up his latest cross fit work out and it got me looking into it.

i found a great free app (crossfit daily) which gives you a new work out every day. Now some of these work outs will be too hard for novices involving pull ups etc however there are plenty we can all do.

i tried my first session out on monday involving 800m run, 50 sit ups and 50 back extensions then repeat 3 times no rest in between.

now with all cross fit the aim is to time how long it takes you to do the rounds with the aim to improve each time you do that work out.

Now when i did this session the first round was fine, the second ok and by the third i was beginning to feel the pinch... but you feel a great achievement after and with most cross fit work outs they wont require you to spend hours in the gym and many you can do at home.

After mine i had a good sweat on but then carried on to do 80 leg press, 36 bench press, 36, chest press and 36 row. I felt great.

yesterday i was teaching spin but tonight i have yet another cross fit work out to do, why not try it yourself at home:

3 rounds timed of:

10 burpees
20 squats (with or without weight)
30 sit ups

i will also be doing a 5 k run :-)

so go on, give it a go and see what you think.

ill keep you updated on my sessions.

Wednesday 1 February 2012

Things that make me mad

ok so i know i have been on and off the radar for a while now but im still fighting the good fight.
To Summarise, Ive had a few issues with health which has now finally seemed to have come down to a very deficient me in Vitamin D (levels which are barely detectable). This has meant Ive been battling to maintain my fitness due to some of the side affects of low vit D which include muscle and bone pain and tiredness, not to mention the affect on the immune system which has meant it seems like Ive just had one bug after another over the last year. However all that aside im battling on and despite a weight gain over the year of 1 stone im am not to concerned as theres light at the end of the tunnel....... at least i now know im not going mad and there has been a cause to the various symptoms which i just couldnt conect the dots on.

anyway... now that i have filled you in on whats been happening with me on to my main topic which is Things that make me Mad!!!

Now obviously i blog about fitness and health but always try to remain objective and encourage a healthy balance but sometimes you hear people doing or saying things that just make you want to scream:

1. Fad Diets
2. LOW CARB!!!!!
3. Being a slim healthy size yet still saying you need to loose weight!!
4. as long as I count my calories its fine
5. I want to build tone but loose weight

ok so these are just a few of the things which make me mad but they are all very common themes i hear day in day out being discussed by people in the gym

Fad Diets - as I've said and will always say moderate what you consume but do not cut out/replace or overly restrict. if a diet is telling you to cut out one of the main food groups steer clear. we are omnivores for a reason and need every (Natural) food group to help sustain healthy bodies and minds. the worst in my mind is the NO CARB diet..... Carbs are our most important and basic form of energy resource they are not bad as long as you stick to natural unprocessed forms (remember if its white its more than likely processed... nothing but coconut in nature is naturally white)

OK now im all for being aware of what calorie intake you have had in a day..... its obviously a simple equation energy in - energy used = energy stored. But i am not keen on diets which allow you to eat anything as long as you count it..... for example its ok if i have a mcdonalds today as long as i eat nothing else!!! NOOOOO a mcdonalds as a treat if you really want it (and ask yourself if you really do) is fine but please learn not only to be aware of calories but also which foods are healthy choices, and which should be avoided such as highly processed meals/snacks or treats.

Now on to those you here in the gym discussing the fact they cant understand why they arent loosing weight (you look and see a slim toned normal person and wonder what the heck have they got to loose? a butt cheek?)....... ok now when you are carrying excess weight you can slim and tone up at the same time.... however if you have reached the normal to lower levels of your weight range and you are doing a significant amount of muscle building/toning excercises.... well im sorry you are unlikely to loose much weight its known muscle is heavier than fat and you may even put a few pounds on (good pounds) but you will find your shape changes........ GUYS PLEASE STOP OBSESSING ON WEIGHT AND CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK TO LOOKING AT HOW YOU LOOK OR FEEL....... DO YOUR CLOTHES FEEL LOOSER? YES? THEN GREAT!!!!!! WHO CARES IF THE SCALES SAY YOUVE LOST NOTHING.

At the end of the day people we all make mistakes we all have bits of us we dont like, but please start to be happy with who you are, dont follow trends or new celeb diets or take those models in the magazines to be ideal examples.... just learn to make healthy choices, live energised lives and treat yourself every now and again....... after all we are all meant to be different... imagine how boring life would be if we all looked the same.

Rant over