Benefits of a 24 Hour fast

Here at AdMac Fitness we believe in coaching the individual, not the method. But what does that mean?

Essentially we believe that there’s no one right way to train or to eat. People aren’t robots, and different clients will want to approach their health and fitness in different ways. It’s our job as personal trainers to help our clients achieve their health and fitness goals in a way that suits them.

We have a range of tools and approaches we can use to help our clients. We’re not married to one way of eating or one way of training. We’ll use an approach that we believe will work most effectively for our clients. In some cases, that will be calorie counting. In others that might be fasting. For some people it could be a mixture of the two.

We do what works.

This flexibility allows us to work with a lot of people in different ways, and it enables us to build up a data set on the benefits. At this time of year, one of the more powerful reset tools we can use is a 24 hour fast. In this article, we’ll explain why we like the use of a 24 hour fast as a reset.

Why using a 24 hour fast could help you

One of the key aspects of health is effective digestion. When we overwhelm our system with excess - be that food, booze, chemicals or all of the above, we immediately stress our digestive system.

Taking a period of time away from food can help to reduce the ill effects from the excess. By not adding more food for your digestive system to deal with, you allow the ‘clearing’ of the damage you’ve done. There is evidence that taking a short term fasts has benefits regarding hormone levels, reduction in stress biomarkers and the return to normal levels for blood substrates such as insulin and glucose.

Anecdotally, there’s a lot of support for water only fasts of up to 24 hours. This is an accessible amount of fasting time for most, because it’s short enough to be manageable, but long enough to be significant from a health point of view.

There’s also an evidence-based assessment that water only fasts are safe enough to use for the longer term (2 days and longer), so a day long fast is absolutely fine for the vast majority of people.

Dietary re-set

Another benefit of a 24 hour fast is that it can help serve as a dietary reset. If you’ve over-indulged on food, then taking that 24 hours away from food will help to rebalance your diet. It’s a case of simple maths…

If you’re usually consuming 2500 calories and your body burns a similar amount, you have a net balance of zero - all you’ve done is replaced what you’ve burned.

If you don’t consume any calories, your body will still burn the 2500, forcing it to rely on stored energy. It means you’ll have created a 2500 calorie deficit. You’d have done some seriously impressive eating to go 2500 calories over your target, so in one day you’re likely to have corrected a bad day the day before.

This simple dietary reset can help you get back on track after a heavy day, preventing your weight loss journey from being derailed.

When to use fasting, if you’re not using it often

Fasting is a legitimate way to lose weight, but if you want to do it properly then you have to be strategic with it. Fast for a given period of time, or on particular days.

That’s not what we’re doing here though.

In this case, we’re using it as a one-off magic bullet, so to speak. It’s damage repair after a heavy night. If you’re already following a calorie controlled diet, or you’re keeping an eye on your macros then you likely won’t need to throw in a fast… unless of course you’ve blown your calorie targets right out of the water with a massive overindulgence!

Real life happens. We understand that, so we want to give you tools to fix the damage afterwards. If you’ve hit the food or booze hard, a 24 hour water fast will help get you back on track. It’ll give your body a break, allow it to deal with the additional food and booze, then get you back to feeling good!

Let the AdMac Fitness Personal Trainers help you stay healthy!

With personal training studios in South Woodford and Bow, let the best personal trainers in East London help you to look after yourself this winter…

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Personal Training Client Transformation - Perspectives from the Client Side!

At AdMac Fitness we pride ourselves on the success of our personal training clients. Our team of expert personal trainers help people to transform their lives and their health every day.

What we thought would be a nice change is to hear what the experience is like from the client side. What is it like to be trained by the AdMac Fitness team? What has the person learned and how have they changed through the process?

In this article we’re going to hear from Mike, an AdMac Fitness client in our Bow studio. He has been trained by Gian, and together they’ll share their experiences of the process and how they’ve achieved these results…

Mike wanted to add lean mass - gaining muscle without gaining much body fat. You can see how much bigger he looks on the right, with a bigger chest and thicker arms…

What made you choose AdMac Fitness?

I started with Ad Mac fitness because I was looking for professional support with my fitness goals. The team is local to where I live and they had excellent reviews.

I decided to give them a try and right from induction I was impressed with the questions asked and the way they listened.

I’ve a spine condition affecting my bone structure and it can limit some exercises for me. It was clear they could help me with fitness goals and help to resolve issues that caused me pain and discomfort. In the years since, I’ve now also increased the range of my mobility and I can do much more than when I started.

Did you have previous experience in training?

I was training before I started at AdMac but my knowledge was based pretty much on what I’d read and learned online or snippets of feedback I’d received from class instructors in gyms I’d gone to. This was useful but enthusiasm is no substitute for professional knowledge and focus.

What were your goals at the start of your fitness journey?

I’d always wanted to gain weight and muscle mass. I’ve worked with Giancarlo in particular but also Adam too and they were brilliant at helping me reach that ambition.

More importantly though, they also provided an education - in my case on strength and mobility so my goals have become more advanced and specific as time has gone on.

What have you learned?

Stacks! And plenty I wouldn’t have thought about before I started. I’ve learned more about training, form and technique in a way that only comes from one-to-one tuition from a trained professional.

Consistency is also king! Gian works with me during sessions and I take what I’ve learned into my own training through the week. We have a big focus on checking on my overarching goals to make sure I’m on track.

Sometimes I have a brilliant week, other times it’s less good but it’s never a catastrophe - the most important thing is to dust yourself down, support yourself and get back to it.

How has your health (physical and mental) changed since you started?

My mental and physical health has transformed since I started. I enjoy having greater strength, control and mobility and I no longer suffer from back pain caused by my spinal condition.

While we can’t change the bone structure, we’ve done a lot of work on muscular support and it’s worked. The part of my body I probably disliked the most has become something I’m most proud of, because of the work put in to make a change.

Training is also a real outlet mentally and I enjoy time in the gym, using my brain and body in a different way to the usual day to day.

What habits do you have now that you didn’t at the start?

I train more intelligently and I use my time in the gym much more effectively. That gives me more time for mobility and soft tissue work which has improved my flexibility and my training sessions.

I’m also more conscious about the food I eat. While I’ve always eaten well I’m now thinking more about the impact my diet has on my body and the planet, which has led to cutting out a lot of meat and dairy.

What would you say to anyone on the fence about working with AdMac Fitness?

Jump off the fence and get to the studio! The team are kind, warm and dedicated to their clients. It’s a great atmosphere in the studio where people of all ages and abilities are welcomed and supported. And as we tackle one goal, another is set. You never know where you might end up!

A little from Gian…

Mike is one of the most hard-working and committed clients I have ever trained.

Mike came to me with the goal of wanting to put on some lean mass which he has achieved far and beyond. But his focus wasn’t just that. He was interested in being strong, functional and mobile - a supple leopard!

Mike’s posture has improved over the past two years of training as we dived into some of his habitual movement patterns and overall biomechanics to try and even out any imbalances and weakness he had. He is consistent with the guidance I give to him and he takes care of his body in and out of the gym.

Another important note, he knows when to have fun, giving his body the balance we need.

Not everyone wants to lose weight, and what Gian has explained here is how Mike came to him asking for help gaining muscle, without gaining too much fat. He also wanted to maintain his flexibility and mobility, so the sessions would be designed towards these goals.

This is the difference between training and personal training. At AdMac Fitness the sessions are delivered around the goals of the client, not about what we as personal trainers believe the client needs.

Gian points out that the work they do hasn’t just helped Mike build muscle - it has also improved his posture. This will reduce the chance of injury in future, so offers protective benefits as well. Biomechanics refers to the human movement element - Mike will now move better and exercise with more effective technique following the inclusion of specialist exercises and approaches to his fitness.

The lessons he has learned will keep him in great shape for good (as long as he applies them!)

Could you be the next AdMac Fitness Personal Training success story?

What Mike has achieved is replicated time and again by the excellent AdMac Fitness team. We have scores of success stories, just like Mike. We believe in straight up, evidence-based fitness and nutrition advice that changes lives.

No fads, no fashions, just effective work.

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Winter Supplementation - A Handy Guide

Winter has us in its grasp now… temperatures all around the UK are regularly going below zero, it’s dark in the afternoons and the mornings don’t lighten up until 8 or so!

Winter colds are abound, and the time where we burn the candle at both ends is approaching fast. Less light exposure, more drinking, late nights, parties, fewer healthy food choices, possible stress rises and reduced exercise.

I’m not putting this out there as a sign of impending doom - it’s just an explanation as to why we’re more vulnerable in the winter.

It can also serve as a warning as to what we need to do to protect ourselves better. Health is about balance - so the further we go one way, the more we have to go the other in order to maintain health. If we’re sleeping less drinking more, and eating more unhealthy foods then we have to help ourselves rebalance that.

It means supplementing our diet well. It means when we get a chance, exercising effectively. If we’re sleeping less at night, schedule in naps or ‘recovery sleeps’, where we can have a longer sleep to recover.

In this article we’re going to discuss winter supplementation and lifestyle factors to help you stay healthy across the Christmas period, and the rest of the winter…

Winter Supplementation - Getting it Right

To stay healthy throughout the winter, it’s less about supplement quantity and more about quality. We have three major obstacles to deal with…

1. Lack of sunlight - reduced vitamin D levels

2. Prevalence of winter bugs - immune system pressures

3. Sleep issues through booze - general health decline

What we need to do then is supplement to address these points. We can’t rely on supplements alone to cure all of our ills and prevent anything going wrong with us, but they help. There are also lifestyle factors I’ll address later on in the article to help you too.

Vitamin D

This is arguably the most important supplement you’ll take all winter. Throughout the summer months we generally enjoy benefits of the sunshine (as long as you’re out in it), which naturally take care of our vitamin D requirements. In the winter though, things change.

We see less of the sun. We’re less exposed to the sun. Finally, the sun isn’t as powerful, so even if you get some exposure to it, you won’t enjoy the benefits as much. What this means is we need to take a vitamin D supplement to help us.

I could talk all day on the benefits of vitamin D, but I’ll summarise them with this list. Here’s the benefits you’ll experience from having healthy vitamin D levels…

• Reduced cancer risk

• Lower obesity and diabetes risk

• Improved brain function

• Stronger bones

• Improved mood

There are plenty more, but this is a blog post, not an essay! You can read more about the benefits of Vitamin D here.

Multivitamins and minerals to support immune function

In an ideal world, we’d meet all of our vitamin and mineral needs from whole food sources. The reality is however, we just don’t manage it. That can be for a number of reasons, including lack of food seasonality - we simply might not get food at its best in the winter. We don’t always make good food choices either. That’s not a good thing, but it’s the reality of life.

We can accept this, and make a point of addressing the issue. We know that vitamins and minerals play a key role in immune function (as well as general health), and we know that we’re unlikely to meet our needs with diet alone. Add to this the increased demands as we’re exposed to the winter and Christmas period stresses, and it becomes clear we need help.

A good quality multivitamin will help to plus gaps that our diet can’t fill. A daily multivitamin will provide both vitamin and mineral support, and whilst it might not be perfect, it’ll be a good second.

Sleep help

We know that sleep is the bedrock of recovery - there’s no element of health that isn’t improved with good quality sleep. Promoting quality sleep isn’t easy though - it depends on a lot of lifestyle factors such as caffeine and alcohol consumption being limited, reduced exposure to screens, reducing stress levels etc.

Assuming all of these issues are being address, one of the more surprising supplements that have been linked with improving sleep are amino acids. This is particularly true when paired with vitamin D (which you should already be taking!)

For a long time amino acids were a staple of the bodybuilding world. They were seen as a muscle building supplement only, but a lot of research has been done about the impact protein has on other aspects of health and this appears to be one of them

Improve sleep and you’ll improve a lot of other health markers, so make amino acids a go-to on your night time supplement lists.

Lifestyle factors to consider

The reality is that all of the supplements in the world won’t undo the damage that long-term poor choices make. They’ll help to improve matters, certainly. If you think though that surviving on 5 hours of sleep every night, eating a crappy diet, drinking every night and never exercising won’t matter if you’re taking your supplements, you’d be wrong.

Very wrong!

Here’s a few tips to help stay healthy…

Exercise when you can. It doesn't have to be a brutal, lung-burning workout (especially if you’re under-slept), but do what you can. Lift weights, do a bit of cardio. Stay active - it’s really important to move your body. It’s great for body and brain.

If you’re drinking alcohol, don’t drink caffeine too. One of those substances impacts sleep… adding them together is a recipe for sleep disaster.

On that point…

There’s a concept known as ‘sleep banking’ that you can use. It’s where you sleep for longer in the lead up to a time when you’re likely to be sleep deprived. So for example if you know that you have a party on Saturday night, you can allow for the reduced sleep by getting a couple of good nights in on the nights beforehand.

Research shows it’s an effective aid for short term sleep deprivation (but don’t rely on it as a long term strategy - it’s very much a short term thing!)

When you get the chance, eat well. Chances are any food you eat at a party isn’t going to be great for you, so when you get the chance, stack up on the good stuff. Start your day with plenty of protein. Get your fruit and vegetables in when you can. Smoothies and soups are great for this.

Drink plenty of water. As Paul Chek says… the solution to pollution is dilution. It’s hard to argue with that!

Let the AdMac Fitness Personal Trainers help you stay healthy!

With personal training studios in South Woodford and Bow, let the best personal trainers in East London help you to look after yourself this winter…

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Buy 5 Personal Training Sessions, Get 1 Free at AdMac Fitness this January!

Christmas is the season of giving, and at AdMac Fitness we’re on board…

We’ve got a fantastic personal training offer available. Throughout January, if you buy 5 personal training sessions, you get 1 free. It’s a great discount, with each personal training session worth £55 - £65 depending on the personal trainer you use.

It’s the perfect opportunity to kick your fitness journey off properly.

Maybe you’ve been terrified of exercise for years? Well a personal trainer can help guide you through the process. You’ll be in safe hands with the AdMac Fitness team. Our personal trainers have worked with hundreds of clients over the years, helping people to go from complete beginners to seasoned fitness fanatics!

If the thought of exercise in public terrifies you, don’t worry. At our AdMac Fitness personal training studios you’ll be working out in a private environment. Our facilities aren’t a public gym - they’re private personal training studios.

At the AdMac Fitness personal training studio in South Woodford, it’s the epitome of private training - it’s a one to one studio, so you’ll have only your personal trainer for company! It means you can create the perfect environment for your training - pick your own music etc! No need to feel any kind of self-consciousness!

Even if you’ve been exercising for years, engaging the services of a personal trainer can help to give you a new focus to your training. It’ll help you get out of a training rut, give you new ideas, new goals and provide you with opportunities to work on weaknesses.

A personal trainer is so much more than just a rep counter. The quality of personal trainers we have at AdMac Fitness will help you to see your training differently. You’ll be challenged and changed in different ways, giving your fitness journey a new direction.

We all get stuck into training ruts, where we repeat the same few exercises because we like them. In reality, these don’t serve us as effectively when we do them all the time.

A personal trainer can redesign your training plans and workout routines, all in line with your goals. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, so maybe there are fantastic exercises that you’re missing out on because you haven’t added them to your plans.

That’s the kind of insight a personal trainer gives you.

Perhaps there’s sticking points you’ve reached, and you don’t know how to get past them. By talking to one of the AdMac Fitness personal trainers, we can help you to overcome these stopping points.

Existing AdMac Fitness Personal Training Clients - We Haven’t Forgotten About You!

We realise that existing personal training clients need to be looked after as well, so we’ve got you covered!

If you refer a new client to AdMac Fitness, you too will enjoy a free personal training session for each new client you send our way. You scratch our back, we’ll scratch yours!

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

The Power of Accountability - Why Personal Training Works So Effectively

Arguably the most important element of achieving your health and fitness goals is consistency. The frequency with which you train over a consistent period of time will have a bigger impact on your results than almost anything else.

Anyone can train really hard once or twice, but the ones who make a real lasting change in their health and fitness are the ones who stay consistent over the long haul. The one-off people just don’t see the changes they like.

There is a quote that has been attributed to Aristotle, the Ancient Greek philosopher and scientist…

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

You could lift this word for word and say the same about fitness. We are what we repeatedly do. Fitness, then, is not an act but a habit. It’s not the one great workout that changes your body, it’s the dozens of them, strung together over a long period of time. It’s a consistent set of actions accomplished without a break, and with high intensity.

Personal training is a huge part of the accountability that a lot of people need in order to stay consistent for the long haul.

Personal training and accountability - how it helps to change lives

There are a lot of reasons why somebody would hire a personal trainer, but I’d argue the most important one is accountability. If you see the difficulty many people have sticking to a regular training routine, their personal training sessions, (whether once weekly or several times per week) are the bedrock from which they build their fitness and accountability.

Personal training is the motivation you rely on when you can’t motivate yourself. The accountability of working with your personal trainer, ensuring you have a good training session even on the days when you don’t feel like it is powerful.

Habits are built on momentum, and the momentum you get when you’ve had a great session that week is really powerful. It pushes you on to adopt healthful behaviours for the rest of the week.

This isn’t just opinion either - in a study from 2019, a group of university students had their dietary choices monitored to see how a training programme would influence their food choices.

The dietary choices were monitored to see how many calories, and what kinds of foods they were consuming pre and post exercise intervention. The training program lasted for 15 weeks and there were several observations noted, especially around the type, duration and intensity of the exercise program followed. The study concluded…

‘The 15-week exercise training appeared to motivate young adults to pursue healthier dietary preferences and to regulate their food intake.’

Think about that for a second… regular exercise triggered them to make lasting changes outside the duration of their workouts. It inspired other healthy behaviours and choices away from the gym. This suggests that the personal training isn’t just effective during the session - it helps afterwards too!

Support equals success

Having a personal trainer also means there’s another person invested in your success. This is very powerful and can be another motivator that keeps you accountable. You wouldn’t be letting yourself down, you’d also be letting your personal trainers down too.

Research conducted in 2020 assessed something called ‘Supportive Accountability Measure’ (SAM), which assessed whether or not having social support helped with adherence to healthy behaviours when trying to reverse obesity.

The results showed that the ‘SAM has strong reliability and validity across two separate studies’.

By having other people invested in your goals, it would appear that you help yourself stay on track with achieving them. It’s part of the reason personal training works so well. These are the ‘soft’ elements of personal training that we don’t always think about, but are arguably more important than the dietary advice or the exercise programming.

Where to start with personal training

If you really want to change your health, the best place to start is with an experienced personal trainer who understands your goals and how to get you there. At AdMac Fitness we have a team of professional personal trainers, who operate out of our private fitness studios.

We have a diverse team of trainers, all with experience in different elements of fitness. No matter what your goals, one of the AdMac Fitness team can help you get there.

Our private personal training studios are located in Bow, E3 and South Woodford, E18. Thanks to our set up, we’re not in a public gym, so the places are never crowded and you won’t have to wait for your equipment. You’ll be able to exercise in a purpose-built personal training space to give you the very best session available.

Our South Woodford personal training studio is completely private, so you’ll have an entire facility to yourself, allowing you and your personal trainer to focus the entire session on you and your goal achievement.

At AdMac Fitness we’re not about fads, fashions and short term fixes. We want you to succeed properly over the long term, so with our help and advice you can get your fitness back on track! If you’d like us to help you, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

AdMac Fitness: Arch 457 Robeson St, London E3 4JA

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Muscle is Medicine - Strength Training Can Save Your Life!

The benefits of exercise have been known for decades, but the obsession with using exercise as a weight loss tool has made us forget about (arguably) the most important exercise benefit of all… It builds muscle mass.

I’m not even joking. Muscle mass isn’t for looking good - it’s literally an organ. It’s a living tissue and enables us to deal with a wide range of conditions. More muscle mass makes us more insulin sensitive, which helps to prevent us from developing type 2 diabetes. It helps us to maintain strength, balance and mobility in later life. It also keeps us alive for longer.

The fitness world is full of exaggerated claims, but the muscle being medicine isn’t one. It’s based in fact.

Muscle is medicine - the evidence base

In a 2018 study examining ‘the association of predicted lean body mass, fat mass, and body mass index (BMI) with all cause and cause specific mortality in men’, over 38,000 men aged between 40 and 75 were assessed for 21.4 years. There were 12 356 deaths during the 21 years. The results showed a couple of particularly interesting results…

• Excessive (over 21kg) fat mass increased the risk of death. This isn’t a surprise - the link between obesity and mortality is long established.

• A lack of lean muscle mass was a large risk factor for all cause mortality.

This is huge… whilst it doesn’t exactly give the green light for a lot of fat gain, it does teach us that we could be prioritising muscle gain (and maintenance) over constantly striving to be leaner. Especially as we age. Of course if you’re obese then weight loss should be a priority, but for people who are slightly overweight, muscle mass is more protective for health and longevity than getting leaner would be.

Muscle mass and cancer survivability

Another study compares the survival rates against cancer with different levels of muscle mass…

A Chinese study from 2022 compared the survival rates of patients with gastric (stomach) cancer. In the study, the participants were split into groups, some of the patients had low levels of skeletal muscle mass and the others had normal levels of muscle mass.

The conclusions were that low levels of skeletal muscle mass predicts a poor prognosis for patients with advanced gastric cancer, and this is not associated with postoperative complications.

Debunking the muscle mass myths…

One of the concerns a lot of people (women in particular) have is that they’ll start lifting weights, then immediately inflate. They think they’ll pile on muscle mass and look like the Incredible Hulk.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Women don’t have enough of the necessary anabolic hormones such as testosterone. They can increase muscle mass, but it takes a very long time and requires a lot of eating to gain anywhere near the amount of muscle they’d need to look ‘bulky’! The reality of what happens is the muscle they do have becomes stronger, more conditioned and healthier.

A woman could gain 5-10 lbs of lean body weight and look significantly smaller. Gaining muscle doesn't mean gaining size - it’s important to remember this.

It’s easier for men to gain muscle, but it’s still not easy. It takes a huge amount of effort, but it’s one of the most important things you can do for your health. You’ll age better, you’ll metabolise food better and you’ll improve your general wellbeing.

Struggling with where to start? Speak to the AdMac Fitness team…

The muscle maze can be a confusing one to navigate on your own, so take the guesswork out of the process by working with one of our AdMac Fitness personal trainers. They’re experts in helping people from all walks of life add muscle and dramatically change their health and fitness.

We have a long list of client success stories, so get in touch and we can make you our next success story!

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Winter is Coming... Time for Personal Training?

It’s winter… you know the drill. The nights get longer, the temperatures drop, motivation to train takes a huge dip…

Then the festive season hits!

Parties, more booze, more food, less time for exercise (which when added to dwindling motivation makes for a one-way ticket to weight gain!), compromised sleep, winter colds doing the rounds.

When you factor everything in, it’s no surprise that so many of us gain weight over the winter. It’s a pretty big challenge to stay on the straight and narrow food and exercise-wise, when so much conspires against us! When you’re at home after a tough day at work, do you really want to get up and go out to the gym, or head out for a run?

Probably not.

When the alarm goes off early and it’s dark outside, do you really want to get up and go out for that morning run or ride? Again, probably not! And that’s fine - we’re not designed to seek discomfort!

That’s where personal training can help

Personal training is a powerful tool at this time of year. It can help you navigate the winter by keeping your training intensity up. Apart from the better, more focused training you’d experience under the guidance of a professional personal trainer, it’d also give you a reason to train.

When you’ve booked an appointment, you’ve outsourced your motivation to someone. You won’t want to let your personal trainer down, so even when you’re not really feeling it, you’ll turn up, work hard and your health, fitness and general wellbeing will benefit as a result. Even winter won’t get in the way of a workout with a personal trainer, because you’ll generally be training indoors (it’s not lockdown any more!)

The motivation to train goes up several notches when you know it won’t be done outside in the cold, wet and dark. You won’t be suffering the elements, instead you’ll be in a private personal training studio, where the lights are on, there’s music playing, you’ve got great company and there’ll be an instant feeling of pride when you’re heading home, glad you got that workout in!

Alongside the additional motivation, it’s the extra quality of training that you get when you’re being coached…

The reps are better quality, the rest periods are managed, the exercise variety is increased and the intensity is higher. You’ll get more benefit from the session, translating into better results… just at a time of year when you would otherwise be taking your foot off the pedal.

Finish the year off with a bang!

If you’re concerned that you’re in danger of losing track of your fitness, it’s time to get in touch with the AdMac Fitness team…

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

Do You Always Need to Follow a Training Program?

How important is it to follow a training program to achieve your health and fitness goals? Is it vital, or can you go off piste completely? Is there a room for an in-between?

In this article we’re going to look at training programs, who needs to follow them and where there’s room to be a bit more creative with your training. We’ll look at the what’s, the why’s and when’s. This will give you a little more of an idea about how rigid your training needs to be.

Why do we follow training programs at all?

The first question we need to address is why need to follow training programs at all?

The answer lies in the principles of fitness. There are 6 main principles of fitness, and they govern how the body adapts to training. The are the guidance by which any training program will need to follow in order to be successful.

The 6 principles of fitness…

Here’s each of the principles in more detail…

Overload: In order to make progress, tissues need to overloaded. Muscle and connective tissues become stronger and more able to cope with load when then lift heavier weights. Cardiovascular capacity is enhanced when it is pushed beyond its normal limits etc.

Reversibility: This is what happens when we stop training. If a lifter stops strength training, the muscle and strength gains reverse. If a runner stops running, they lose fitness. The same happens if the intensity of training drops - there’s a reduction in capability.

Progression: This is linked to overload, but it has to be managed safely. If the speed of progression is too fast, there’s an injury risk. Progression and overload must be present to improve fitness and capability, but at a sensible rate.

Individualisation: The principle of individualisation exists to ensure that a training program is designed with the individual needs of the person in mind. Rather than just following a generic training program, to really maximise personal fitness it has to be a program for the individual.

Periodisation: This is linked to progression, because it’s the pre-determined rate of change throughout a training program. It can consist of a mixture of changing intensities, program direction and overall volume and load.

Specificity: A successful program has to be specific to the needs of the client. If they want to improve their 5km time, focussing all of their training time on building muscle is wrong. Training should always be specific to the goal.

Why principles determine programs

A program will always be written to achieve a pre-determined goal. This is fundamentally the difference between ‘exercising’ and ‘training’. When you exercise, you are doing something non-specific to get or keep fit. When you train, you are looking to improve a particular outcome measure.

By not following a program, you can’t be sure that you’re training in accordance with the principles of fitness. You don’t know if you’re overloading, you don’t know if you’re progressing and there’s no chance of general exercise being periodised. Exercise will get you fit, keep you healthy and the rest, but training by following a well-designed program will help you achieve a specific goal.

If you have a target to aim for, you need to be following a program. Whether that’s a physique goal or a sporting goal, you need to be aiming for something.

But what about weight loss? Do I need to follow a program then?

This is where it gets interesting, because it’s a slightly grey area…

You need to follow a program of sorts - a calorie target. Outside of that, you need to be exercising to help you burn more calories, but it isn’t necessary that you follow a particular training plan in order to lose weight. Any form of exercise will help with that goal.

Of course there are workouts that will make the process quicker, but beyond that your weight loss is going to be determined by keeping a negative energy balance (burning more calories than you consume). That’s why people manage to lose weight just by turning up at a variety of fitness classes, or by hitting the gym regularly without a real plan in place.

As long as they hit their calories, everything else will be OK.

If you have a goal, but don’t know how to achieve it…

Then you can speak to one of the expert personal trainers at AdMac Fitness. We operate out of two sites - one of our personal training studio’s is in Bow, and the other personal training in South Woodford.

We have a whole team of personal trainers who program exercise for a living, helping people just like you to achieve their health and fitness goals! Whether that’s weight loss, building muscle, being a better runner or just feeling a little healthier, our personal trainers can help you.

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Our locations are…

AdMac Fitness Bow: 153-159 Bow Rd, London E3 2SE

AdMac Fitness South Woodford: Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

South Woodford Personal Trainer - Adam MacAllister of AdMac Fitness

If you’re looking for a personal trainer in South Woodford, your search just got a whole load easier. Adam MacAllister, owner of AdMac Fitness, one of East London’s premier personal training businesses has just expanded into a new South Woodford PT studio.

AdMac fitness has established itself as one of the go-to names in East London personal training. The business has been built steadily since 2015, growing from Adam alone to a full time team of 5 personal trainers working out of their studio in Bow, E3.

The move to open a new personal training studio in South Woodford came about during the summer, when a unit in Marlborough Business Centre on George Lane became available. With the Bow Personal Training studio operating at capacity, the decision to open up a new fitness studio in South Woodford was an easy one.

Rather than just do a rinse and repeat of the Bow PT studio, Adam decided to really place the emphasis on the personal element of personal training, opening a single-person unit. The idea is the client can train in an environment they’re absolutely comfortable in, and their only focus is on themselves and their training. No distractions, no worrying about other people watching… just pure focus on working hard and getting their job done.

Results driven personal training in South Woodford

Boasting a fully equipped personal training studio, the AdMac Fitness South Woodford centre is perfect for anyone who really wants to focus their attention on maximising their fitness.

Too often in a workout, people are easily distracted by their phones, by the TV, by watching fellow gym goers. It means much of their time in the gym is wasted, because their attention is elsewhere and time that could be spent training, is spent unproductively.

That’s not the case here!

The studio is purposely minimalist, with all of the attention on helping the client get the results they want to. Each session with your personal trainer is a chance to move yourself closer to your goals.

With hundreds of dramatic transformations achieved over the years, when you train at AdMac Fitness South Woodford, you know you’re in the best hands. There’s a lot of personal trainers who will promise the earth and when it comes to delivery, they’re out of their depth. They lack the experience of dealing with different clients, programming excellent, efficient workouts and making the fitness journey an enjoyable one.

A library of transformations from Adam’s personal training career shows he delivers results…

Booking your South Woodford Personal Training sessions

At AdMac Fitness South Woodford we have personal trainers available with different specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals.

The private personal training studio is based at…

Unit 4 Marlborough Business Centre, 96 George Lane, South Woodford, London, E18 1AD

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Focussed Training, Focussed Results at AdMac Fitness South Woodford

Life is full of distractions… social media, emails, text messages, phone calls and the like. It’s rare in the modern world that we actually get any time to focus on anything. There’s research that shows technology makes us very distracted, so focussing attention on anything during a training session sounds like a big challenge!

In a world where so many things are pulling your attention in different directions, how can you focus on a particular task? Having a phone beeping, push notifications robbing you of your focus, other people talking to you etc eats into your attention.

That’s where the latest private personal training studio in South Woodford is perfect for fitness training when you have a busy brain.

AdMac Fitness has expanded from its original personal training studio in Bow, to a new private fitness studio in South Woodford. It’s a new concept in personal training, and one that the AdMac Fitness team believe is perfect for the needs of the modern day client.

AdMac Fitness South Woodford is a private personal training studio where the attention is purely on the client. It’s a single-person studio, designed to be a distraction-free space where you can work hard and focus purely on the task at hand.

Just you and your personal trainer, working hard at making you fitter, stronger and healthier each session.

Adam MacAllister is one of east London’s best personal trainers. With almost a decade in the fitness industry (having been a PE teacher beforehand), he has helped hundreds of clients achieve their health and fitness goals.

He started his personal training business (AdMac Fitness) in Bow, E3. From humble beginnings, AdMac Fitness now employs 5 full time personal trainers. They have grown thanks to expert guidance, unrivalled personal service, effective and inspiring workouts and a huge catalogue of success stories.

Where many personal training businesses closed down during the pandemic, a combination of online and outdoor sessions saw AdMac Fitness actually grow, cementing their reputation as market leaders.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Adam decided to open in South Woodford to offer something different. A truly in-person, focussed experience. A workout dedicated to you and your goals. Building the body you want, one workout at a time.

The AdMac Fitness studio is the epitome of personal training. No having to queue for equipment. Your choice of music. No need to hurry up to suit other gym users. No need to feel self conscious. You can have the very definition of a private personal training session at AdMac Fitness South Woodford.

At AdMac Fitness South Woodford we have personal trainers available with different specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals.

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Three Stretches You Need to be Doing

One of the most neglected aspects of fitness is flexibility. It’s often seen as the poor relation of the other, more ‘important’ and less boring work done in the gym.

We get it. It’s far more fun and interesting to lift weights, to sprint, to swing kettlebells etc. The stuff that makes you feel like you’re doing your body some good. There’s also the time consuming element of it - when you’ve trained hard, you want to get on with your day… not sit there pulling your limbs in different directions!

Sometimes though, you do what you NEED to do, not what you WANT to do!

Stretching has been shown to improve the range of movement in muscles and joints. This is fundamental to helping protect against injury and movement quality issues. It also helps to improve your training - flexible muscles and joints allow you to exercise with great technique, making your training more effective.

So it’s not just a boring inconvenience - it’s a very important element of maintaining your health and fitness, and reducing your injury risk!

Advancing your stretching

It should be a given that you’re doing your basic post-workout stretching. The usual sites such as quads, hamstrings, calf muscles, upper back etc. These are what we’d call your ‘maintenance’ stretches - the day to day movements to keep you flexible.

They’re not really the ‘problem’ sites though. Those are areas that don’t really suffer much in the way of prolonged stillness, resulting in shortened muscles and stiffer joints.

That title belongs to the shoulders, the chest and the hips. Our sedentary lives have been shown to cause us a myriad of problems, but the one we’re interested in is the musculoskeletal pain. The prolonged sitting we do at work, behind a desk, at the wheel, in front of the TV contributes to muscle tightness, which can manifest into joint pain.

The common sites for these are the hip flexors (causing lower back pain), the chest (causing neck pain) and the lats (causing shoulder pain).

In the next section we’re going to show you three very simple stretches to help you prevent these tight spots, reducing your joint pain and helping you to prevent further injury. You’ll also be able to improve your training technique because you’ll have freer movement of the limbs.

Hip flexor stretch

The hip flexors run up the front of the thighs, over the hips and into the lower trunk. They’re responsible for helping lift the legs up, so when we’re sat for long periods, they’re engaged a lot. If they’re not stretched properly, they become tight.

Here’s a hip flexor stretch - do it 4-5 times per week, for 60 seconds per side. It’ll really help you!

The Passive Hang

This is a great stretch for opening up the shoulders, stretching the back, elongating the spine and the elbows. It’s super simple, helps to improve grip strength and has a deep and long lasting stretching effect across the upper body. All you need to do is passively hang - take hold of a bar, relax and dangle. Take all tension out of your back.

Do it 5 days per week, 30-60 seconds per time.

The dumbbell fly stretch

Internal rotation of the shoulders (when the shoulders are pulled together in front of you) is really common. Sat using a computer, driving or eating, you’re in internal rotation. Over time this can cause shoulder impingement, so it’s a good idea to open up your chest. The best way I know is with a dumbbell fly stretch. Hold the dumbbells out to the side for as long as you need to, with your chest at full stretch.

Do this every time you’re at the gym, for a minimum of 60 seconds.

Three stretches you need to be doing… Final thoughts

These stretches will take up literally a few minutes of your week, but the trade off is huge. There’s a good chance that if you’ve been struggling with back, chest or shoulder injuries that muscle tightness and imbalances might be the cause.

Add these stretches into your week and you may even find that your injuries clear themselves up fairly quickly.

Personal Training with AdMac Fitness in Bow and South Woodford

The AdMac Fitness personal training studios are in Bow, E3 and South Woodford, E18.

We have personal trainers with a range of specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals.

For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Alcohol and Weight Loss... What's the Deal?

One of the most common questions we’re asked as personal trainers is ‘can we still drink alcohol whilst trying to lose weight?’

In this article we’re going to answer the question, but we’re also going to give plenty of context to the answer, explaining what alcohol does in the body and what the impact of drinking is likely to be when it comes to your weight loss attempts.

Our aim isn’t to be either a killjoy or an advocate for full-on boozing… it’s merely to give you the facts so you can make your own decision around whether you drink or not, and how much drinking you do whilst trying to drop some weight and improve your fitness.

Alcohol and calories…

The first place to start when it comes to anything to do with weight loss is calories, because the success of any diet lives or dies on how well you manage your energy balance. If you manage to consume fewer calories than you need, you’ll successfully lose weight.

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram. For context, here’s what the three macronutrients contain per gram…

• Protein - 4 calories

• Carbs - 4 calories

• Fat - 9 calories

That means that alcohol is nearly as calorific as fat, and more calorific than carbohydrates and protein. There’s a reason that it’s known as a beer belly eh?!

Here’s a table taken from the NHS website, detailing the calorie information of several common drinks. It’s a rough guideline (different brands contain different amounts of calories), but it serves well as a rough outline of what different drinks contain, and likens them to a foodstuff…

So what this means is that it doesn’t take much in the way of drinking to really de-rail a weight loss plan. If you were to head out to the pub for a night out, if you had 5 pints of beer you’d have consumed in the ballpark of 1200 calories!

A bottle of wine will add around 600 calories to your daily consumption.

These calories have to be factored in to your overall calorie intake if you are on a weight loss program. So it’s not to say you can’t drink and lose weight, but you have to make sacrifices elsewhere in your diet if you want to keep your calories within your target for the week.

Alcohol and hunger

The elephant in the room when it comes to alcohol and weight loss is the impact drinking has on food intake. Anyone who has ever had a few drinks knows how tempting a burger/curry/kebab etc is afterwards… and that kicks your diet an even harder kick in the nuts!

Research shows that even moderate alcohol intake clouds decision making and makes us eat more. If you are having to restrict calories, making your decision making ore difficult is going to harm your diet. In this study from 2015, researchers found that even a small amount of alcohol consumed made participants increase their calorie intake by 11%.

There’s an undoubted link between alcohol and hunger, but the true mechanisms behind it are as yet not fully understood. Researchers believe it’s down to the effects of alcohol on the hypothalamus, and others believe there’s a hormone element to it as well. Either way, it exists anecdotally, as any food place by a pub will be able to tell you!

If you factor these calories in, no problem. If you don’t, you’ll certainly hinder your progress!

How to plan alcohol intake on a diet

It’s absolutely possible to lose weight whilst drinking. You just have to plan it. Here’s how you do this effectively…

Adjust your calories throughout the week…

Say for example you’re allowed 2000 calories per day, but you know you’re going to a party at the weekend, you can reduce them throughout the week. If you drop through the week to 1800, you can save an additional 1200 calories for your night out.

On the day of the drinking, work out…

As well as reducing the calorie intake throughout the week, keep your calorie burn high. On the day you’re actually going out for a drink, burn some additional calories. A good cardio session or HIIT session is the perfect way to do this.

Consume the lower calorie alcohol choices…

Looking at the list above, you can see the difference in calorie intakes between drinks. If you look at a double gin for example, it’s less than half the calories of the pint of beer. Even adding a diet mixer, you’d still keep the calories low. This is a way to enjoy a night out without the additional calories.

Don’t continue the boozing for too long!

Once you’ve had your night out, get yourself back into making good choices straight away. You’d factored in the calories so you haven’t ruined your diet. Get back to the good choices and you’re fine. Don’t think you’ve ruined everything - that only happens if you don’t get back to good choices soon.

Alcohol and Weight Loss... Final Thoughts

The answer to the question ‘can I drink and still lose weight’ is ‘yes, if you plan it properly’.

Weight loss is ultimately a question of calories in versus calories out, and whilst alcohol is high in calories, you can factor these into an overall diet plan. Just make sure you follow the advice in the list - drop your calories throughout the week, train hard on the day and drink lower calorie drinks on the night.

Get back on the horse the day later!

If you need help with your weight loss, AdMac Fitness personal trainers are here to help!

The AdMac Fitness personal training studio is in Bow, E3. We have personal trainers with a range of specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals. For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

South Woodford Personal Training

The South Woodford Personal Training scene has just had an upgrade in the form of AdMac Fitness. Opened in summer 2022, the new branch of AdMac Fitness brings the same quality of personal training, fitness expertise and attention to detail… with a twist!

The AdMac Fitness in South Woodford is a single-person unit, meaning your personal training is truly the most private form of personal training available. The unit is designed for single person training, meaning you’ll never have to wait for equipment, you can make the environment your own and you can be truly comfortable in the surroundings.

It’s the ultimate in personal training.

The benefits of a single person training studio

There are lots of reasons why somebody would enjoy training on their own, with just a personal trainer for company.

If you’re anxious about training in front of others for example, a private personal training studio is perfect - it’s the most judgement-free zone there is. You won’t feel self conscious, because there’s literally nobody for you to feel judged by. Your personal trainer is the only person you’d be sharing the space with.

There’s an element of personalisation to the space as well. You could pick your own music, so you’d be training to whatever you want to, not what the gym decides! Although this may seem like a minor detail, these touches add up and it makes the space feel like a comfortable training environment.

If you’re training in an environment that you feel happy and comfortable in, you’re going to be willing to train harder. You’re going to want to train more often. You’ll get better results, you’ll develop a training habit and you’ll actually enjoy the process. This will make for a more successful fitness journey and a generally happier person!

This is part of what makes the AdMac Fitness experience such an enriching one.

What we can help with…

Given we’ve been in business for almost a decade, we’ve worked with people from all walks of life with a wide variety of health and fitness goals. There’s almost certainly nothing we haven’t seen before. In general though, here’s the kind of things we help our members achieve…

• Weight loss

• Muscle building

• Strength improvement

• Lifestyle transformation

• Nutrition planning

• Cardio improvement

• General wellness

This isn’t an exhaustive list - there are plenty of other aspects of health and fitness we can help with, so if there’s something you have in mind, get in touch. We have a team of personal trainers each with their own specialist area, so we’ll certainly be able to find the right fit for you.

How to book my South Woodford Personal Training sessions with AdMac Fitness

If you’ve decided that you want to start personal training with AdMac Fitness, or you want more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Personal Training in Bow, E3

If you’re looking for a personal trainer in Bow, E3, take a look at AdMac Fitness.

The team of personal trainers in our private personal training studio have been delivering outstanding results for a wide variety of clients over the last 8 years.

We’ve worked with all kinds of people in that time. People who are trying a personal trainer as a ‘last resort’. People who are at the very beginning of their fitness journey. People who are looking for the help to lose that stubborn last few pounds.

And that’s the beauty of hiring a personal trainer - they help people with their fitness goals for a living! Our personal trainers have a wide range of specialities and approaches to training, so whatever your fitness goals, we’ll be able to pair you with the perfect personal trainer for you.

All personal training businesses say this, but we really are different.

AdMac Fitness isn’t just a place where people go for personal training. Our approach is client-centred, so they are very quickly made to feel at home. Our personal training studio in Bow is private, so you aren’t in a large gym, surrounded by people who want to use the same equipment.

We pride ourselves on the relationships we build with our clients, so they start coming for the expert personal training… they stay because of the culture and community we build…

AdMac Fitness combines fun with RESULTS!

The reality is that a personal training business in Bow, where there’s a lot of competition would only be successful if it delivers results to its clients. AdMac Fitness personal trainers does just this. We have a proven track record of helping our personal training clients achieve all kinds of fitness goals, including all of the most common reasons people would hire a personal trainer…

• Weight loss

• Muscle building

• Cardio improvement

• General health and fitness improvement

• Dietary advice

• Strength increase

Having been in business for 8 years (at the time of writing) and having helped so many people for so long, any chance of these results being a fluke are long gone! Our personal trainers consistently deliver excellent results for a wide range of clients with a variety of health and fitness goals…

Where to find AdMac Personal Training in Bow

The AdMac Fitness personal training studio is located at the following address…

153-159 Bow Rd, London, E3 2SE

Schedule
Our opening hours are
Mon - Fri, 6 am-7pm / Sat, 10 am-1pm

If you’d like to hear more about personal training in Bow, or you’d like to come and meet us and see the private personal training facilities where we operate from, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the following methods…

Phone: 07921465108

Email: admacfitness@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you, then helping you on your way to excellent health and fitness. You’re in the best hands around with the AdMac Fitness personal trainers.

The best personal trainers in Bow!

AdMac Fitness is Expanding - Personal Training in South Woodford!

Throughout the summer there was something bubbling at AdMac Fitness, and now we’re able to share the good news with you…

AdMac Fitness is expanding into South Woodford, with a brand new personal training studio!

The opportunity to take on another space was presented to Adam, and having reached the natural point where the AdMac Fitness brand needed to grow, he decided to take it on as a single-person training studio. It’s designed to accommodate one personal training client at a time, giving them the opportunity to be trained in absolute privacy.

It’s a slightly different proposition to the AdMac Fitness HQ, which is a multi-person space that we can use for one to one personal training and group work.

The new South Woodford personal training studio is designed to be a space where personal training clients can experience unrivalled one on one attention - the kind of service that AdMac Fitness has become renowned for. The levels of professionalism that have been delivered day in, day out since we started in 2015 have allowed us to get to this position.

We didn’t want to dilute what makes AdMac Fitness so special by opening another version of the same thing, so instead opted for a purely personal training approach.

Personal Training in South Woodford

Anyone who walks through the door at the AdMac Fitness in South Woodford will enjoy an incredible level of service and an approach to fitness that has helped the business grow so successfully over the years.

Our experience, attention to detail and technical expertise have allowed us to help literally thousands of people improve their health, their fitness and lose weight. These techniques and ways of working have been developed and refined over the years, meaning we can help anyone, from any walk of life achieve their fitness and health ambitions.

With a talented team of personal trainers, we’ll always make sure you’re well looked after.

Booking your South Woodford Personal Trainer

If you’ve been looking for a personal trainer in South Woodford, look no further than AdMac Fitness. You’ll be training on your own in a specially-dedicated personal training space. No crowded gym, your own music choice, nobody to make you feel intimidated - just you and your personal trainer.

You’ll be trained by some of the best personal trainers in London, with a lot of experience in ensuring you achieve your health and fitness goals.

Whilst personal training businesses come and go, when you become an AdMac Fitness client you are joining a business that has slowly and steadily built up a fantastic reputation built on excellent service. You may join us as a client, but you’ll soon become a friend. We’re not like other personal trainers, we’re a company built on excellence, dedication, and the relationships we share with our clients.

Where to find AdMac Fitness South Woodford

Here’s the address for AdMac Fitness South Woodford…

UNIT 4

MARLBOROUGH BUSINESS CENTRE

96 GEORGE LANE

SOUTH WOODFORD

LONDON

E18 1AD

How to book your personal training session at AdMac Fitness South Woodford

If you’d like to book your South Woodford personal training sessions, or for more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Is There Still a Place for Steady State Cardio?

Over the last couple of decades or so, fitness has been revolutionised. Driven by research from the labs, the way personal trainers program exercise has changed beyond measure. In the 1990’s an exercise program was usually a mix of steady state cardio with some resistance machines thrown in. The emphasis was on making the machines more technological than effective.

Modern day programming looks nothing like that.

A personal trainer now is likely to program a wide variety of exercises, movements and rep ranges. You’ll be using barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, battle ropes, bodyweight work etc, and achieving far better results in less time. Cardio is incorporated as part of the weight training workout, or as a high intensity interval element of the session.

This is a benefit of research. We can get much of the benefit in a lot less of the time.

So why did cardio change?

The one area that has changed more than others over the years is how we approach cardiovascular exercise. From the birth of the commercial gym, right the way through to the last few years, ‘cardio’ was seen as a staple. It was reflected in gym design - most gyms had row upon row of treadmills, cross trainers, exercise bikes etc.

A typical program would see people doing cardio for 20-30 minutes every single session. It was seen as the only way to lose weight and improve stamina, so that’s why it featured so heavily in most programs. It was a throwback from the jogging revolution of the 1970s, and research hadn’t caught up.

The tide started to turn in the early 2000’s, when people such as Charles Poliquin advocated against using cardiovascular exercise in order to increase fat loss. He argued (backed up by research), that you could lose fat more effectively by controlling your calorie intake and increasing you strength training.

This school of thought took hold, and by the mid-late 2000’s, many people in the fitness industry were advocating against cardio completely, arguing that all it did was shed muscle and wasn’t even that effective against fat. The pendulum had swung completely the other way, going from ‘do lots of cardio every session’ to ‘don’t bother with cardio at all’.

It found a middle ground in from around 2010 onwards.

The explosion of ‘conditioning’

By the 2010’s, CrossFit was really beginning to explode. The fitness world had been (and would remain so for a while) suspicious of this thing called CrossFit. It seemed to combine awful weightlifting technique with vomit-inducing cardio. One thing was certain though - it was revolutionary. Never before had people combined seemingly opposing approaches to fitness within a workout.

As the approach became more refined, a more appropriate version of cardio, ‘conditioning’ grew. It combined the heart rate and stamina benefits of cardio, with resistance training elements. It seemed to be palatable to both sides - the cardio bunnies and the lifters.

The results were impressive too. Shortly afterwards, the research endorsed it as an effective approach to cardio, calorie burn and fat loss.

The reality is that conditioning is the best approach we have for the general fitness enthusiast. It’s versatile, it ticks lots of boxes in terms of cardio improvement, strength improvement, muscle maintenance and exercise variety (therefore adherence). It has a low injury risk and can be done in almost any space, using as much or as little equipment as you need.

So is there a still a place for steady state cardio?

Absolutely there is!

There’s millions of people who enjoy cardio, whether that’s going for a 20-30 minute jog, or an easy bike ride. Bodybuilders the world over still use very low intensity cardio to help with their fat loss approach - there’s almost zero injury risk, the cost to the body in terms of effort is low, but the calorie burn is surprisingly high. When studied, a brisk walk burns around 80% of the calories of an equivalent distance jog, but at a fraction of the effort.

There are all kinds of benefits of cardiovascular exercise, such as…

• Improved insulin sensitivity

• Reduced blood pressure

• Better control of anxiety and stress

• Greater cardiovascular efficiency

• Enhanced circulation

• Improved sleep

• Healthier, stronger heart

• Reduced depression

These are a fraction of the potential benefits. The point remains the same - if you want to enjoy your steady state cardio, go right ahead! Do what you like, because the exercise you’ll stick to is better than the one you won’t!

The AdMac Fitness team approve!

The AdMac Fitness personal training studio is in Bow, E3. We have personal trainers with a range of specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals. For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

5 Ways to Make Leg Day More Beneficial

Training your legs is super important. Whilst the oldest cliche in weight training is missing leg day, you can’t deny that strong legs have a knock-on effect all over the body.

Legs are the base on which the rest of your body is built. When you perform exercises such as squats, lunges, stiff leg deadlifts etc you don’t just benefit your legs - you’ll train your back and core as well. You’ll be improving your joint stability and your injury resistance. Your athleticism will improve, not to mention your overall musculature.

When you weight train you stimulate the release of human growth hormone. When HGH release is stimulated, it benefits the whole body. Given the legs are the biggest of all the muscle groups, training them stimulates the largest release of human growth hormone.

In short, train your legs and EVERYTHING benefits!

Now we’ve established that leg training is important, let’s look at ways we can make it even more beneficial to you as a lifter. All of these approaches are evidence-based and should feature in your leg workouts…

Include Single leg Movements

One of the quickest and most effective ways of building overall strength is by ironing out any strength imbalances between sides. I like to do this with single-sided, or unilateral movements.

There’s not just a strength imbalance issue at play here - there’s a sporting element. We know that bilateral deficits exist (where one side is weaker than the other), which can impact sporting performance - jumping off one leg, accelerating when running or even changing direction is worse when you have a weaker side.

Ironing out these with split squats etc is very helpful in a sporting and injury resistance sense.

Improve Range of Movement

When you work through a full range of movement, you improve the strength of the muscles and the health of a joint. Unfortunately most people can’t manage to do that with squats and lunges, so they need help with it.

Weightlifting shoes are a massive help, because they raise the heels, making it easier to achieve greater squat depth. This means you increase the time under tension of the muscles, which improves their strength and capacity to lift (it removes any ‘sticking points’ in a lift).

Another way is to add a squat wedge. These have exploded in popularity over the last few years, and rightly so - they’re an excellent way of helping lifters to increase their range of movement and therefore strength on squats, lunges and split squats.

Include lateral movements

In the gym, most people perform leg exercises in one direction. The knees will move forwards and backwards, but rarely side to side. Whilst this is great from a squat and lunge strength perspective, it does little good for athletes who require side to side/lateral movements of their knees and legs as a whole.

If you participate in a sport that includes change of direction (which is most sports), you need to training your legs in a side-to-side manner as well. Research shows that lateral knee stability is improved by exercises that do this.

Follow the advice in this video to help you include these exercises into your training…

Mix up rep ranges

True fitness and strength will include a broad range of rep requirements in training. If you’ve spent your entire lifting life working in the same narrow rep range (usually 3 sets of 10), then you’ll only be good at that.

One way to mix things up and really improve the effectiveness of your leg training is to switch up the type of leg training you do. Adding high repetition sets (20+) to your workouts, as well as high weight, low rep sets (1-5 reps) will help to make you strong across a wide range. You’ll be strong and have great lower body endurance, which makes you truly versatile and will help build a lot of muscle.

Include power movements

People mix up power and strength, when they’re actually two very different things. You can be strong but not powerful, and powerful but not strong. Here’s a simple explanation…

Power is your ability to move a mass (weight, ball, yourself etc) at speed. Examples include throwing, jumping, weightlifting.

Strength is your ability to move a heavy mass, regardless of the speed. Examples being heavy squats, deadlifts, presses etc.

In most sports, power is more useful than strength. You build power by lifting lighter weights at high speed, but with an effort on large muscle groups. Think plyometrics, olympic weightlifting etc. Of course you need to have some level of strength in order to generate power, but by biasing power training, you’ll develop more useful sporting abilities and be generally ‘life fitter’.

5 Ways to Make Leg Day More Beneficial - Concluded

Leg day should be an integral part of your weekly training. Even if you’re only interested in aesthetics, leg training is important (as we discussed earlier).

By adopting these five lessons into your leg training, you’ll make it more useful, beneficial and effective.

If you want your health and fitness journey to be guided by the best personal training team in East London, get in touch with us at AdMac Fitness. We operate from our private personal training studio in Bow, E3. Contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Get Your Warm Up Right

Warming up before exercise has been the subject of all kinds of change across the decades.

In the personal training world there are all kinds of different voices making suggestions… some people are saying that stretching is important. Other people say not so. Some say you should stretch, but only at certain times.

The good news is that there’s a lot of very credible research out there in the fitness space, so we can look at how the scientific community views warm ups and take advice on how best to prepare the body for exercise. Fundamentally that’s all a warm up is - a prep phase for what is about to come.

The evolution of warm ups…

If you cast your mind back to school PE lessons (well, if your teacher was anything like mine), a warm up would consist of standing by the side of a freezing cold pitch, perform a few stretches and then away you go - you’re playing!

It was amazing that there were fewer injuries - I think the only reason the injury rates were relatively low is because kids are basically made of elastic, so the injury frequency is a lot lower generally.

As time went on, it became more understood that you needed to ‘warm up’ the body properly, which is where the introduction of low intensity cardio came in. Gentle jogging, cross trainer use, rowing machines before a workout - they became increasingly important, for good reason.

In sporting circles, pre-event cardio became a feature too. Rather than standing by the side of a pitch stretching, you’d see players performing running drills and getting warm that way.

The stretching issue…

Stretching is another aspect of warm ups that have evolved significantly over the last few decades.

For many years there was one type of stretching - static stretching, where you bent into a stretch position and held it for a given period of time, usually anywhere between 10 and 30 seconds. As research into the area grew, it became apparent that static stretching wasn’t a great idea before exercise, simply because it doesn't really reduce injury risk.

As the research around stretching grew, we had improved recommendations. The type of stretching suggested now moved from static stretching to dynamic stretching - a type of stretching where you progressively elongate the muscles and work through a more functional range of movement. The results from the labs were consistently positive in terms of the improvement of range of movement and reduction in muscle stiffness.

When to stretch? The debate…

The general trend of the science shows that the best time for stretching is after a muscle is warm - this can be achieved actively (cardio/movement) or passively (sauna, warm bath/shower etc). We know this because blood flow increases flexibility and range of movement, but also it reduces the injury risk significantly.

Research shows us that when muscles are cold (which can happen outside in winter sports), the risk of injury is increased significantly. To reduce the risk, spend time making sure your muscles are warm before you do any kind of stretching. Whether you’re a runner, a football, rugby, hockey, golf player or any other outdoor sport, never stretch until you’ve done a warm up.

Some people don’t like to stretch at all, citing research that claims there’s a detrimental impact on muscle performance post stretching.

The counter argument to this claim is that muscle stiffness can have a much more severe detrimental effect on performance that any minor loss of power or strength post-stretching. The research does note that the loss in muscle function is very small, so it’s unlikely to make a big change to amateur sporting ability.

Movement based warm up…

If you’re warming up for a sporting event, there’s some credible research showing that you will benefit from a movement based warm up. This is one that gradually warms the body by the usual principles, but then adds in specific movement and technique drills.

This kind of warm up is effective because it doesn’t just warm the body - it practices movements and techniques, which has the effect of stimulating the neural system and warming that up too. It’s not just a case of warming the body, it’s also a practical way of warming up the movement patterns and specific timings ahead of the activity being undertaken.

So what’s the best warm up advice? The bottom line…

Based on what we have discussed here, a warm up should be based on what you’re about to do. A specific warm up is far more effective than a general warm up when you’ve got an activity to undertake. There are some commonalities, which are…

1. A gentle cardio element. This warms the body, most specifically the muscles and connective tissues that are about to be used. Always do this first.

2. Dynamic stretching. This is superior to static stretching, because it helps to reduce stiffness of a muscle and increase range of movement.

3. Movement specific warm ups. If you are taking part in a specific activity, such as throwing or jumping, warm up for this in particular. Take the time to work your body through specific drills to get it ready.

If you are in a gym, stages 1 and 2 here are applicable, then with number 3 you can adapt. You can perform a warm up set at the start of each exercise with an empty bar or light pair of dumbbells. It has the same effect - it practices a movement pattern, but at the same time it does so at low risk because of the light weight.

The AdMac Fitness personal training studio is in Bow, E3. We have personal trainers with a range of specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals. For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Workout Finishers to Add Intensity to Your Training

Anyone who has had personal training with us at AdMac Fitness will know how we like to throw in a high intensity workout finisher into our sessions sometimes. It’s a way of maximising calorie burn and intensity of a session. It’s also a great way to challenge your fitness - being able to perform well under fatigue is a true test of your physical capabilities.

Workout finishers can be made up of all kinds of exercises and approaches, but the one constant they have is that they’re high intensity. They can be made up of traditional cardio exercise, resistance exercises or a combination of them both.

Here’s a few workout finisher ideas to add to your training…

Air Bike Finisher: 30-20-10 Watt Marker

This is a fantastic workout based around a mixture of time and power output, which is measured using the Wattage counter on the Air Bike screen.

You start with a 2 minute warm up; this is gentle, the idea is to get your legs and arms moving and your blood flowing.

On the 2 minute mark, the workout starts.

Ride for…

• 30 seconds maintaining 150-250 Watts (this is recovery pace)

• 20 seconds maintaining 300+ Watts (this is moderate-fast pace)

• 10 seconds flat out – aim for 700+ Watts (women) and 900+ Watts (men)

Continue for as many rounds as you need to!

Barbell Complexes

Set a barbell up with a light/medium weight - something you could manage about 20 deadlifts with. Perform the following complex…

• 1 Deadlift, 1 Power Clean, 1 Push Press

• Rest for 10 seconds and then perform…

• 2 Deadlifts, 2 Power Cleans, 2 Push Presses

• Rest for 15 seconds and then perform…

• 3 Deadlifts, 3 Power Cleans, 3 Push Presses

Keep going until you can’t complete the next circuit. It’s an all-body circuit that will burn a lot of calories and train a lot of muscle in three simple moves. If you don’t know the exercises, give them a quick search on YouTube.

Treadmill Hill Run

This is a great finisher, because it uses one item of kit and is a really simple way to train.

Set the treadmill at 5KPH and at 0% incline. Every 30 seconds increase the speed and incline by 0.5KPH and 0.5% incline.

Keep doing this until you can’t keep going any longer.

At this point either take 2 minutes rest and start again, or finish your workout.

Thrusters to Finish

Thrusters are an excellent finisher exercise because they leave no muscle untrained, they don’t need a heavy weight and they’re great to do when fatigued because the technique is relatively easy to pick up. This combo means that you can keep going until you’ve got nothing left in the tank!

You can either set a rep target (I’d suggest 100) or a time target (I’d suggest 5-10 minutes).

You keep performing reps with as few breaks as possible until your end point is reached.

Rowing Machine or Ski Erg Sprints

This one is particularly nasty… but the good news is it will torch fat, is simple to set up and will improve your cardio capabilities no end!

Set the rower or ski erg to 100m sprints, with a 20 second recovery.

Row or ski as fast as you can for the 100m - it will take you between 20 and 25 seconds per set.

Watch the rest timer count down for 20 seconds…

Repeat as many times as you can. Once your 100m sprints take longer than 30 seconds, it’s time to call the workout off!

These finishers are simple to set up, but tough to execute. The idea is that you give each and every one your all, so you leave the workout having maxed out your capabilities. When you perform finishers properly, they help elevate your fitness and calorie burn to a whole other level!

The AdMac Fitness personal training studio is in Bow, E3. We have personal trainers with a range of specialities, so we can offer the ideal personal trainer to help you achieve your goals. For more information on who we are, what we do and how we can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, contact us on… 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

Changing Seasons... Change Your Approach to Healthy Living?

As much as we hate to admit it, the summer is drawing to a close. The nights are drawing in, the mornings are that bit darker and there’s a slight nip in the air. The seasons are changing, so does that mean we have to change our approach to healthy living?

There’s definite value in adapting how you approach healthy living as the year progresses. As a base you should be switching your foods around if you want to maximise vitamin and mineral density, as well as taste. You can tweak your supplements as well in order to reflect the changing needs of your body.

Your exercise and sleep patterns can be switched up to maximise results and minimise risk.

As we head into the autumn, here’s some of the simple yet very effective lifestyle tweaks you can make to ensure great health…

Tip 1 - Start Supplementing Vitamin D Again

I’m assuming if you’re reading this you live in the UK. If that’s the case, as the sun fades away, our vitamin D levels go with them! This is a bit of an issue, because it’s such an important aspect of our overall health. Research suggests vitamin D has protective effects against cancer, heart disease, fractures and falls, autoimmune diseases, influenza, type-2 diabetes, and depression.

In the summer months (April-September), frequent sun exposure and natural light helps us to keep our vitamin D levels topped up naturally. In the colder, darker winter months however the sun isn’t strong enough to provide us with sufficient vitamin D.

To combat this, a daily vitamin D supplement is a good idea.

Tip 2 - Allow Yourself More Sleep

We are ‘photosensitive’ beings… in English this means we are affected by light. This is all kinds of light - natural light, artificial ‘blue’ light from screens, candle light etc. They can impact all kinds of things. Our mood is a good example - ‘yellow’ light from candles for example is relaxing, whereas ‘blue’ light from screens and ‘white’ light from fluorescent bulbs can impact our ability to sleep.

In general though, your body will require more sleep in the darker months than in the lighter summer months. This has been proven via research on seasonal changes in sleep cycles, so make allowances for the extra sleep. Turn off screens earlier, light candles and get to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal.

Tip 3 - Maximise Outdoor Time

This might sound counter intuitive given the world is getting colder and darker, but it’s still important to maximise time outside. Even if you live in a city, look for green spaces if possible. Even if it’s not, there are benefits to being outside and walking. You want to hit a minimum of 10k steps per day and that’s always best done outdoors - run an errand or two on the way and make your walk useful!

Being outdoors has been linked with calmer moods, reduced anxiety and improved general mental health. It’s also a great excuse to get away from a laptop and breathe in some fresh air. Don’t worry about the cold, just wrap up!

Tip 4 - Change Your Diet

Food is seasonal, and when you’re in tune with this there are all kinds of benefits you may not be aware of, ranging from health boosting to money saving. We’ve lost a lot of this knowledge though because we can import foods all year round, so we lose sight of the seasons.

We’re about to enter the root vegetable season. This means foods such as carrots, turnips, broccoli, onions, squashes, potatoes, parsnips etc are about to become much bigger, tastier and cheaper (who doesn’t love a bargain?!) . They’re also going to be more nutritious, so everyone wins!

Fruit wise, it’s time for apples, pears and berries.

Get rid of the salads and replace them with soups and stews.

Tip 5 - Boost Immunity

We all know how important great immune function is, so now is the time to build your immune system ahead of the winter colds and flu season. When it comes to immunity, we know that it’s just as important to stop reducing your immune capacity with late nights, excessive alcohol etc.

The basic immunity tips include all of the normal good advice… a healthy diet, plenty of sleep, take plenty of exercise and supplementing properly. Alongside the vitamin D, it’s a good idea to take a multivitamin and a cod liver oil every day.

Changing Seasons... Change Your Approach to Healthy Living? Concluded

There are without doubt differing requirements from summer to winter, but they don’t need to be dramatic or wholesale. A simple evolution in what you do will be sufficient, assuming you practice generally healthy behaviours generally!

Just take the advice here and make the necessary changes. You’ll maintain excellent health throughout the year, avoiding the winter cold and flu season and feeling great throughout the colder months.

Let AdMac Fitness help you with your fitness journey…

If you want your health and fitness journey to be guided by the best personal training team in East London, get in touch with us at AdMac Fitness. We operate from our private personal training studio in Bow, E3. Contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!