Maddenfitnesscoach

In Winter, Many of us here in Ireland or nothern hemisphere get significantly less sunshine.

Therefore, many of us can be at risk of becoming vitamin d deficient.

Exposure to the sun is where our bodies absorb the vitamin d however in winter time there is significantly less sunshine, we get less Vit D.

Vit D can help maintain a healthy immune system, may help prevent or fight respiratory infections and is essential for healthy skin, bone and muscle tissue.

Everyone is different in terms of how much to take each day and therefore I would recommend to get a blood test to determine if or how much vitamin d to take.

Final point to remember Vit d is a fat soluble vitamin which simply means to take it with a fat source so you could have it with your eggs in the morning for example.

'𝐚𝐡 𝐢'𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫'

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves.

We are all guilty of this one.

An easy strategy to avoid this is to tell yourself another lie. 'i'm only going to do 10 push-ups, that's it'

Then you just keep going through your workout until your done.

Better tactics include:
1) Planning out a time to workout
Physically writing this in your diary will help.
2) Leave your workout gear where you can see it
3) Play your favourite playlist to get you moving

Doing ab excercise will not help you get abs or a flat stomach.

Everybody has abdominal muscles whether they know it or not.

It's just usually covered by fat tissue. This is NORMAL due to most people tend to store fat around their midsection.

You wouldn't do thousands of bicep curls to burn fat off your arms so why do sit ups to burn fat from your stomach.

It, unfortunately, doesn't work like that.

You burn fat by being in a consistent calorie deficit or burning more calories than you take in through food.

Ab exercises are great if you want to you want strengthen or build muscle , not to lose fat.

We have all heard it: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Funnily enough, this phrase originated from a Kellogs marketing push in the 80s/90s and it still stuck around to this day.

There is no meal in the day that is most important.

Food is important to sustain us for our daily activities.

Breakfast is just a meal, no point in glorifying it for more than it is.

There are so many misconceptions that skipping breakfast will cause you to store more body fat or go into starvation mode.

The reality is none of these things happens if you do skip breakfast.

In fact, I have some clients that don't have their breakfast or 1st meal of the day till 12/1pm. That is purely due to personal preference, not for any fat loss benefits.

The reality is some people don't have much of an appetite in the mornings, which is totally fine.

Some people actually feel more alert for work when delaying their first meal.

Other people, it may have the opposite effect of feeling weak and/or tired without some food.

Again this comes down to personal preference and what works best for you.

Be clear on your goals but allow flexibility in your approach.

There are many ways to skin a cat and same goes for your goals.

It is easy to fall into one line of thinking when it comes to achieving your goals.

We often think that there is only ONE method to lose fat or to get fit, when in reality there are many routes you can take to get you there.

At some point it may come down to trial and error. Trying something new and failing until you stumble across the right path.

As a coach, there is no blueprint to give to everyone. If there was it would make my job a piece of cake!

Every individual is different and therefore may need more flexibility in their approach.

#𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲

Take the food off other peoples plate because those are counted as their calories.

If only it was that simple...

𝟔 𝗪𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬

Tracking progression is a great way to keep you accountable. The old saying of 'what gets measured gets managed' rings true here.

𝟏. 𝐋𝐨𝐠 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
Keep track of your sessions record your weight, sets, reps etc.
𝟐.𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
Use tape measure/bodyweight etc to get body measures.
𝟑. 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲
Great way to keep you accountable when your food is written in front of you.
𝟒. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐬
Visual charges are difficult to see day to day. Photos can be a great tool to see these changes over time.
𝟓.𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 - i.e. how your clothes fit, how you feel day to day etc.
𝟔. 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬! Great way to burn some extra calories.
Try these tips out and keep the progress train moving!

Another Recipe incoming :)

Overnight Oats. The ever versatile meal that can be used in almost any meal or snack.

You can mix this up and put your own flavours to this. Add you mix of fruit or even some chocolate if you dare.

Just note, the ingredients you put in will dictate the flavour that is soaked up.

If you do not have whey protein, a Greek Yoghurt should suffice.

Best not to overload it with lots of different flavours as it will just be a mismash in a bad way. Best to stick to 2-3 optional extras.

This is one that'll save you time in the mornings to enjoy cold or heated up.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐲..

A lot of my clients can relate to this.

Inchworms bring fear into many when they appear on a gym program.

It's the type of exercise that on paper doesn't seem all that bad.

However, after a set of inchworms, you'll know all about it.

Anyway Happy Halloween, ya filthy Animals!

𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚

Steak Sandwich. Simple wholesome, delicious and high protein meal.

Nothing complex about this meal which means it shouldn't take long to prepare.

Even if you are stuck for time, this should be simple to whip up even for the most domestically challenged people out there.

If you found this useful, please share this your story and tag a friend to try this recipe.

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭....

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫!

We are all guilty of overcomplicating things but it is especially prevalent in the gym for some reason.

Unless your goal is to join the circus or be a crash test dummy, then there is no reason to squat on a Bosu ball.

Most people go to the gym with the goal of getting stronger, fitter, increase muscle, move better etc.

All of the above goals will benefit from exercises that create stability.

Take the squat, for example, the more stability you can achieve, the more force you can apply.

We can achieve this by screwing our feet into the floor, bracing our core, taking a breath in.

Hence the more stability and therefore force applied will equal to potential to get stronger at that exercise.

The moral of this story is KISS (Keep it simple stupid).