Raw Avocado-Lime Pie

If you want to try something a little different then try raw food.

You eat raw already by snacking on fruit but that can be extended to raw foods like lasagna and cheesecakes.

Here are some Benefits of a Raw Food Diet ( taken from About.com).

• Increased energy
• Clearer skin
• Weight loss
• Reduced risk of disease

The raw food diet contains fewer trans fats and saturated fat than the typical Western diet.

It is also low in sodium and sugar and high in potassium, magnesium, folate, fiber, vitamin A, and health-promoting antioxidants.

These properties are associated with a reduced risk of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that consumption of a raw food diet lowered plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations.

The raw food diet is also thought to have a favorable acid-alkaline balance, being low in acid-forming food.

Too much acidity in the body is thought to result in disease and inflammation.

Besides the immediate benefits, the raw food diet may theoretically slow the aging process and reduce inflammation, because it contains fewer advanced glycation end products and other potentially damaging compounds.

I eat raw cakes maybe 1-2 pieces a night plus a beer or two, ok that’s not raw but hey no one said go 100%.

You don’t have to everything raw but if you include your taste buds might be pleasantly surprised.

Here is one of my favourite recipes called RAW AVOCADO-LIME PIE

CRUST

- 1 ½ cups raw macadamia nuts or cashews ( soaked or not)
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- 2 cups pitted dates or figs ( I use sometimes figs)
- a good pinch Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt
FILLING
- 4 avocados probably Hass or Sheppards doesn’t matter
Juice of 5-7 limes
1/2 cup honey or agave nectar (to taste)
- ½ cup coconut oil (I think cold pressed virgin is the good stuff?)

For the Crust:
In a food processor, combine nuts, coconut, dates, and salt. Process the mixture until it is well combined, a little bit chunky, and sticky. When it is done, press the crust mixture evenly into a 9 inch pie pan. Stick it in the freezer while making the filling

For the Filling:
Using either a blender or the food processor, combine the avocados, limes, agave nectar, and coconut oil. Blend until smooth (this may take up to 5 minutes in a food processor) and pour the filling over the crust.
place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour and up to one day before serving. Use the freezer to speed it up I usually can’t wait.

If like more raw recipes here is a TV show that specialises in Raw food and I one of my recipes gets a brief mention at the 30 minute mark (self promotion yeah!)

Thanks for taking the time to read this ( and watching) and if you want to try it in the Raw let me know by leaving a comment!

It's Not All About Lifting Heavier and Heavier

There are a number of causes why plateaus happen and I will identify one of the most frequently occurring causes and offer 3 methods which helps me to break through this plateau.

I don’t like to change my current workout at a whim so by using these few simple tactics gives me enough ‘kick along’ to get out of a ‘rut’ and keep my progression moving forward, whilst still being able to use my existing program.

REASONS FOR PLATEAUS

Plateaus can occur for a number of reasons which can be complex or simply lack of:

1. Nutrition – In order to grow you need to be most times in a calorie surplus and having the right amount of energy available to do the workout.

2. Recovery – Rest is when the body repairs itself and muscles start to grow however if not adequately rested then you enter the gym in a fatigued state and overtrained.

To assist in recovery I like to add in a ‘Deload Week’ where you drop your workout volume down to about 60% on any big lifts (bench, deads, squats etc) for a week and at the same time drop down the weights on the smaller lifts (isolations) at every 4, 6 or 8 weeks intervals (I like doing every 4th week).

3. Stress – Causes cortisol throughout the body which is catabolic or rather breaks down the muscles.

4. Boredom – Lacking the drive in your workouts to hit the intensity levels required for a great workout.

5. Adaptation – Your body starts to adapt and becomes efficient at the workout so the stimulation is minimal.

6. Fear – You start to worry about the loads imposed on the body or simply getting stuck under a bar so you back off too earlier and not allow yourself to hit your maximal limits, this is where a spotter can help immensely.

So if all the above points are considered and taken care of; I find the issue that occurs most frequently with me and others is point (5) Adaption.

So what I can do now to minimise adaptation is to create a new means of stimulation for growth by modifying my lifting routine for a short period of time (over 2-4 weeks) then resume my normal program again.

There are many ways to shock the body and get it more out of your workouts here are my favourite 3:

PLATEAU BREAKING METHODS

Don't spend too long here

1. Drop Sets:

As I begin to fail at the end of a set I reduce the weight  by 10-15% so I can continue reaching my targeted repetitions. This is beneficial as at the end of a set where you can not do another rep you still might have muscle fibres not totally fatigued, so simply remove a plate and drop down in a size and continue lifting. Each time you are forcing more muscle recruitment for that exercise.

Don’t drop down too much in weight and use it on the last set only. I use these when I’m targeting 10-12 reps I don’t use these say for a 5 reps workout.

2. Rest Pause:

If I fail before hitting the number of repetitions (approx. 70% of target) rather than lower the weights or stop the set, I rest for 15 seconds and compete the remaining reps schemes or even rest pause again until I hit the rep range intended.

If I fail too early e.g 5 reps for a target of say 12 then the weight is too heavy and lighten up next set or use the drop set method instead.

3. Pre-exhaust

The aim is to exhaust all the targeted muscles with an isolation exercise then moving straight away to a compound movement.

This ensures larger muscles are exhausted at the same time as the smaller muscles where normally the smaller muscles are the first to fail before the larger muscles have fully been stimulated.

Using chest as an example:
I start with a set of flys to isolate and pre-exhaust the pectorals then move straight away to do a bench press so I can then finish stimulating the pectorals (larger muscle) along with the deltoids and triceps (smaller muscles).

Or for legs I would do leg extensions first then do squats.

Again I would only use this on the last 1 or 2 sets of the exercise.

These methods I like to use because they don’t interfere too much with my existing routine.  I can simply add in every once and a while to help my progression or conversely you could use them as your normal routine but a danger is these become your new adaptation issue.

Further I could list out many more ways of lifting ( e.g 21s, Reverse Pyramid,  Ballistic, Forced, Negatives, Heavy Duty etc etc) but this article will get way too big so I hope this gives you some ideas on how to keep on obtaining progression in your workouts.

If you try it out please let me know what you think.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

It's not as bad as you think!

Sounds paradoxical eating snacks and still being able to get a defined 6 pack Abs but it’s true.

And I don’t mean as a cheat meal but you can eat these daily!

OK there is a punch line, I need to be doing these few things first to be able to eat like this, the ground rules are:   …. Read more of this article

Watchout your head is in the way!

You have to be fit to hold up your hands for 5 rounds with 1 minute rests while someone is trying to punch portholes into you.

If fat-loss is a goal and you are bored of doing endless “TV watching”  treadmills then mix it up and consider doing a good hard MMA workout as an alternative cardio routine for fatloss.

I’ll guarantee it will engage your mind rather than being placed in neutral, your athletic skills increase and you’ll find it more enjoyable and satisfying.

So Why MMA Workouts for Cardio?

  … read more at the musclehacker!

Stretching Complaints Department - Please Enter

Do you bother stretching at all? Does it really help or hinder? Can flexibility help improve your bodybuilding? … I say YES and here is why.

Firstly we are discussing static and dynamic stretching to improve flexibility. Don’t confuse stretching with warming up as they are two different animals and should be treated differently.

Poor flexibility prevents you from achieving a full range of motion. Having tight muscles gives you less muscle growth from the same strength-training effort.

How does it improve bodybuilding?

Over time we tend to become less flexible and stiffer. You might notice your range of motion start to become limited as compared to when you were younger. And performing heavy weighted exercises shorten and stiffen your muscles and connective tissues when the effort is imposed.

Find out the right way and when is it best to stretch. This is a Guest Post I did at Musclehacker.com please click here to read more

Me in Feb 2011

Checking with Google there are 5,600,000 results and this article makes 5,600,001 and when you finished reading this there will be 10 more!

There are plenty of articles that will tell you how to get a 6 pack abs but with this post I’ll simply stick to (1) objective  of real measurements … there are no magical 6 pack promises allowed on this!

If you are like me I hate spending too long at the gym (1 hour max.) so at the end I tend to rush through doing my ab routine so I can get home and do other things.

Rather than do my abs at the gym I want to identify what are the most effective exercises that can be done at home for developing a defined mid section.

Did I mention developing rock solid abdominals is quite easy but getting them to show is the hard part?

Well this article is about developing abdominal muscles so I wont cover dieting or nutrition which is the biggest factor for low body fat.

Just to start seeing your abdominals a male needs to be under 12% body fat which is another topic altogether or you can download free these instructions on  How to Shrink Wrap your Abs.

I’m sure most of us want a 6 pack and some more than others.

From my point of view it defines a level of fitness, health and an aura of sex appeal, that’s why you will never see GQ model walking down the runway with an oversized beer gut!

I hear you say “then what are the most effective ab exercises I should be doing at home?” … These ones listed below of course!

These are actual test results of Ab activations that measures the rectus abdominis during each exercise with an electromyography machine (EMG) hence no arguing, guess work or gym locker “Bro” science.

Try some of these exercises and “feel” them for yourself and see if you agree.

Objective Exercises

* taken from the 4 hour-body book

Starting reference: Standard crunch at 100%.

Bicycle Crunch 248%                   Crunch with heel push 107%
Captain’s Chair 212%                    Ab Roller 105%
Exercise ball 139 %                      Plank 100%
Vertical Leg crunch 129%         Traditional Crunch 100%
Torso Track 127%                         Exercise tubing pull 92%
Long arm Crunch 119%              Ab Rocker 21%
Reverse Crunch 109%

You can Google these exercises if you aren’t sure of how to do them.

A few basic necessities or become inventive

To try some of the equipment exercises at home you might need to do the following:

1. Buy a swiss ball
2. Buy a medicine ball or dumb bell or use a book. I sometimes use 20 litre (approx. 20 kgs) bottled water containers.
3. For the Captain’s Chair I wedge myself in the corner of the kitchen sink tabletop and rest my hands on top or I use two chairs facing away from each other.
4. The list didn’t include hanging leg raises (which should be at least equivalent to a Captain’s chair) if you haven’t a pullup bar at home go down to the children’s park or find a friendly tree branch to use.

What Does A Workout Look Like?

Either a traditional sets and reps or a combine exercises into a circuit if you like or even a combination.

Here is one example.

Example 1. Sets and Reps

Chooses any three or four exercises above and do 3 sets x 10-20 reps with a short rest period.

Example 2. Circuit 2-3 rounds

Round 1

First exercise x As Many As Possible in a controlled form for 30 seconds then a 15 second rest
Next exercise x AMAP 30 seconds then a 15 seconds rest
and so on until all 4 exercises are finished which is 1 round.

Exercises

1 – Toe Touch: lie on back with feet in air and crunch upwards right hand touching left toe then alternate
2- Stiff Leg Raise: lie horizontal on back and lift legs vertically up then down and repeat
3 – Hip Thrust: lie on back with feet in air and thrust hips and legs vertically up then down and repeat
4- V lift : lie horizontally on back and lift legs and arms up  vertically to meet in middle then lower and repeat

You can increase the exercise period from 30 seconds to 45 and decrease the rest from 15 sec to 5 seconds as it becomes easier.

Tips:

• Whenever you are doing abs exercises make sure you contract, hold and squeeze. Feel your abs working!
• Don’t do a high number of reps it’s not an endurance event. You become tired and the hip flexors and lower back starts to dominate rather than the abs.
• Speed should be controlled (slower than faster) i.e. not too fast otherwise you end up using your body weight’s momentum. At that point you might as well stop!
• Give your abs the respect they deserve and work them out separately and not as an after thought after weights or cardio.

Resistance exercises

The abdominals are like any other muscle and to increase size and depth they need to be challenged by using extra resistance.

So if you are going to the gym or do have weights at home these indirect exercises will toughen up your core and work your abs like no other.

They will create a foundation to help develop those 6 packs.

You must include some of these exercises in your routine regardless of using weights or not.

Any one of these lifts you will need to brace your core and the abdominal area works to stablise the load.

• Deadlifts – weighted or 1 Leg Bodyweight
• Front Squats, Back Squats, 1 leg Bodyweight Squats
• Dumb bell Renegade Rows or Pushups
• 1 arm Dumb bell Overhead Presses
• Hand or Head stand
• Turkish Get Up
• 1 Arm Snatch

Watch out for the Scam

If you ever do come across articles using words in their titles like “Hidden”, “Secret”, “Weird”, “Strange” etc. on tips for getting a 6 pack then be wary of them you might end up wasting money or more importantly your time.

There are good solid programs (and some do use those words above) but hopefully this article helps you identify the scammy ones.

Further if you see the author’s photo and they look like they have never see single digit body fat levels in their life then it’s fair enough to ask them, “how do they really know what it takes to get one or let alone tell you how to get one?”

I’ve seen too many “fitness products” sold by weight loss gurus who look like they need to take their own advice. They are on Facebook right now promoting their products.

Bottom line there are no secrets,  it’s about consistently working hard and being smart in your training and eating.

I hope this helps your workout at home.

Please ask any questions below if any of these points are not clear or you would like further details, in fact please leave a comment if you just simply agree or disagree.

Thanks for taking the time to read this article.

When do we start?

I have published a guest article over on musclehacker.com  about discovering what is the best type of cardio for fat loss!

I provide a definitive answer that will work for you guaranteed.

Maybe you have heard that before but if you haven’t then the answer is (drum roll please) ….  click here  to find out at the musclehacker.com!

How to Lose Weight Fast

Why? Just for the sake of curiosity and see what worked plus we are in Mid Winter and I always tend to put extra weight on over that period.

So I chose 3 methods but there are many more ways to lose fat however these were easy enough for me to do.

The 3 that I decided on for my weight loss experiment were:

1. Intermittent fasting during the day.

2. Eating mainly simple Carbohydrates during the day.

3. Eating mostly Proteins during the day.

But firstly I had decided on some simple rules:

Rules:

1. Make sure it would be practicable for myself or anyone else to follow at anytime without disrupting their lives too much.

2. Not to be in a severe calorie restriction – I wanted to eat when ever I liked, and not starve (OK I know its suppose to be losing weight) and even though it was for 7 day but I always fell hungry and miserable and keep on thinking about eating, so stuff that, there had to be a better way.

3. Eat normally at night – having a family I wanted to be able to eat at the dinner time with them and not be like some food ‘Alien’ from another planet.
So dinner was no holds barred: I could eat anything I liked and usually had a 1 or 2 glasses of wine or beer and always with desserts (And not only my healthy cheat desserts I love to make but some really bad-boy ones).

4. I would follow the diet strategy for 1 week then I would eat normally for 1 week to bring my weight back to normal and then do the next diet plan and so on.

So I guess I shall call it a diet although I hate the word immensely , I didn’t want to go hungry (that’s never good for long term) and stick to one type of macro-nutritent.

The Diet Strategy:

1. Intermittent Fasting;

I’ve spoken about this before and have used it to great effectiveness for fat loss. It really has helped me jump over some fat loss plateaus.

Using the Eat Stop Eat philosophy was to have a break from eating during the week e.g 1 or 2 days.

So the deal was I would eat a normal breakfast and eat again at dinner time 4 times per week.

I figured this was a near equivalent to 2 full day fast for the week.

Typical Eating during the day:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oats, 1 piece of fruit, chocolate milk, coffee + 1 whey protein drink
Mid Morning: Nothing
Lunch: Nothing
Mid Afternoon: Nothing
Dinner: Normal plus desserts

My fruit bowl

2. Carbohydrates: Any fruits were acceptable apples, bananas, frozen fruits, oranges etc

From breakfast until Dinner I would only eat fruit when I felt hungry, then return to a normal meals at dinner and after.

Typical Eating during the day: (varied depending on my hunger)

Breakfast: 2 pieces of fruit + 1 whey protein drink
Mid Morning: 2 pieces of fruit
Lunch: 3 pieces
Mid Afternoon: 2 pieces+ 1 whey protein drink
Just before dinner: another piece, so about 10 pieces per day

3. Proteins: Egg whites, tuna (OK a bit boring and it varied depending on my hunger)

Same as above eating plan but instead of carbs I would only eat protein foods and then return to a normal dinner.

Typical Eating during the day:

Breakfast: 1/2 cup scammbled egg whites + 1 whey protein drink
Mid Morning: 1 can of tuna & handful of nuts + 1 whey protein drink
Lunch: 2 cans of tuna or 2 whole eggs+ 1 whey protein drink
Mid Afternoon: 1 can of tuna or 1 whole egg + 1 whey protein drink

4. Exercise Program:

Incase you were wondering what I did for exercise, I did exactly the same workout throughout so it should not have effected the results.

But for the record here is my routine I did over the whole dieting period.

Monday to Friday: I walked 40 minutes (find out why does walking help fat loss)

Every second day I lifted weights using Visual Impact – Phase 1  ( click here if you would like to read about my previous transformation using this program).

On Saturday and Sunday each day I would jog 6 kms plus 10 minutes of sprinting intervals.

One of my Chocolate Cakes

Here is what happened and it surprised me!

Before I started I would have thought fasting would have been my best bet then fruits and then protein! I didn’t expect that.

I wish I counted the calorie intake to make it more quatitative but I wanted to keep it fairly simple, i.e no counting calories and eating when I felt hungry with no hunger pains.

So the big surprise was I started to put on weight with fruit, I’m not sure why except the basic fact I was eating so much I was mostly in a calorie surplus.

I will say I tended to feel hungrier eating the fruit and I ate more as opposed to the protein where I did feel I ate less as I felt fuller.

So that is one big advantge in eating proteins with meals is that is does fill you up.

I know at least now what works for me and it’s something that I could frequently use but not all the time as a balanced diet will always better in the long term than anything extreme.

I probably could have dropped more weight if I my restricted calories by not eating dessert and alcohol every night but if I can drop some weight and still enjoy the foods I like then its all good!

So I’ll definitely use this every now and then to drop some weight in a week.

If you decide to try it let me know and what sort of results you get, I’d be interested to gather more data on it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and if you have any questions that I can help out with please ask!

That’s it, no need to read any more but ONLY if you know how much to drink!

Do you know how much water to drink daily to help reach peak performance?

I mean too much water could be as bad as too little water! Over hydrating can lead to an electrolyte imbalance.

I use to run and exercise a lot and I kept away from processed foods and added salts, which I thought was a good thing.

After I had a blood test it showed I was very low in sodium which came from excessive sweating and was flushing out all the salts in my body, which inturn meant I was not absorbing water but it was passing right through my body even though I was drinking all the time.

I remember getting ready for a race and drank so much leading up to it, I felt bloated so I wasn’t even in the mood to run hard.

So here are some strategies to hydrate correctly during exercise.

1. Before exercising begin in fluid balance.

Which means drinking regularly throughout the day leading up to training or for a competition, ( Yeah I know you already knew that but just in case).

• Aim for at least 2-3 cups about every 2-3 hours ( i.e 1 cup per hour) prior to working out.
• But no more than 1 cup, 10-20 minutes before starting.

2. During Exercise

• Drink to match your sweat rate.
• Drink at regular intervals about every 15-20 minutes but don’t exceed your sweat rate.
• Here is a quick way to work out your sweat rate, it’s worth doing if you want to feel and perform the best.

Calculate Sweat Rate:

Note: 1 gram approximately is 1 ml of water.

Sweat Loss ( ml) = weight before exercise – weight after exercise

Sweat Rate  (ml/hr)  = total Sweat loss ( ml) / exercise duration ( hours)

Example: When I jog 10 km it takes about 60 minutes
My beginning weight is 71.6 kg – End weight 70.8 kg = 800 gram loss / 1 hour
So I next time I go for a 10 km run I should take with me about 800 ml of water that should be drunk in a hour.
If I decided to run 15 km instead I drink at about 800 x 1.5 = 1200 ml  for that run.

Do this measurement a  couple of times in any exercise you want to perform well in to get a good average.

IMPORTANT – I should mention if you eat or go to the toilet then this will need to be added into the equation but I highly recommend not to do this cause the way we measure the toilet loss …well you really don’t want to know!

Another Concern

If you are doing a high intensity exercise that last longer than a hour consider using a rehydration formula that includes carbohydrates and electrolytes.

The carbs and electrolytes help with fluid absorption, retention, refuels energy, slows fatigue rate and maintain fluid balance in the body minimising muscle cramps.

Rather than buying a energy drink you can simply make your own.

Here is one example:

2 Tea Bags ( optional but provides some caffeine)
3-6 level teaspoons sugar (12-24 grams of Carbs, but don’t go over board sugar slows down water absorption)
A pinch of salt (0.5 grams  sodium)
2 oz lemon juice (about 5 grams of carbs and a good electrolyte to help process mineral absorption)
30 oz boiling water

3. After exercise

Replace any fluid deficit by drinking 150% of deficit 4-6 hours afterwards to account for ongoing sweat and urinary losses.

Example: If I lost 1 kg (1000ml) during exercise drink 1.5kg (15ooml).

Some other advantages on drinking enough Water!

BETTER MUSCLE GROWTH

We know that water is a major component of the body about > 60 % and muscle is composed of 72 percent water by weight whereas fat is 20-25 percent water.

So diets and exercise that result in excessive fluid loss have a significant effect on muscle size.

And too little water intake you become dehydrated your body retains water to protect itself and it’s saved subcutaneously which smooths out the skin and you lose muscle definition.

So if you want to look hard and defined  then water depleting for a longer period other than a few days like bodybuilding competitors is not a good idea.

Or you might have been on a diet and now its time for a cheat day?

Yeah but if ample water isn’t available in the body all those carbohydrates will draw water to your digestive tract and muscle glycogen and as a result you might start to get headaches for no apparent reason other than this. (Carbing dehydrates you!)

FOR FAT LOSS

If you aren’t drinking much then the kidney’s can’t filter contaminants properly so the liver starts to help out which slows down ones of its main functions of breaking down body fat.

So more is less here! Without proper hydration rather than looking defined you would be more bloated and carry more weight than you want to.

Increasing hydration is a must for the liver to work at optimal levels. If you ever reach a fat loss plateau try increasing your intake of water, you could start losing fat again.

Didn’t think drinking water could be this complicated?

To live well and be active  you can possibly get by with these old saying:

• 8-10 glasses of water a day
• Drink when I get thirsty (it’s usually too late you are dehydrated but don’t ignore this signal)
• At least I drink coffee, tea and hey beer has water in it.

So it’s all good! So follow the above guidelines during the day (except the coffee,tea and beer part) and it should be OK or could a bit of hit and miss.

If your goals are to achieve the absolute best performance when you hit the field, then knowing a little more about  hydration could help you achieve a better result on your sporting endeavours.

Cheers! or is more like a Gulp?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Anorexic or Buffed

My all time favourite body weight exercise is to go for a run.  I find running is a very effective method for fat loss and if done the right way can help build a muscular body.

Running doesn’t cost much, no fancy equipment or gym membership needed, it gets me outdoors and I can do it anywhere, anytime.

I have been running regularly for over 5 years, initially long distances where I was doing about 80-100 kms per week but through injury and the everyday time restraints,  I had to run much shorter distances just to fit in all my daily activities.

As I lowered my running distance and increased the intensity I noticed a change in my body.

I had been lifting weights all throughout my running but on shorter the distances my body started to develop a muscular shape.

The Best Way To Run For Muscle Growth.

You probably heard many times of the comparison between Sprinters and Marathon runners. At the Olympics you can see how real this comparison is.

By the way there are very lean body builders who just walk or slowly jog, this keeps their heart rate very low and they can build a ripped muscular body too.

So from experimenting over the last few months I’ve discovered the best way to run and build or at least maintain a muscular body is follow these two extremes.

SPRINTING and WALKING (or slow jog) will assist you obtaining a muscular looking body.

Running Long Distance - I'm a bit Soft Looking

The steady state, medium intensity long duration running will definitely give you great cardiovascular conditioning but will decrease your muscle size!

Muscles will shrink as they adapt to the long distance running since its easier for the body to get oxygen to a smaller muscle than a larger one.

Our bodies will take any excuse to lose muscle size!

Hearing common terms like “eat the muscle” or “burn the muscle” aren’t quite right because only fat cells are burnt, oxidised or consumed. Muscle is a different type of cell and with long distance running your body will not allow muscles to focus on growing bigger whilst energy is continuously needed by other cells and if in a further energy deficit by dieting, only makes things worse.

Mechanically this makes sense too.

When you size  an engine to do specific work in a set time that equates to amount of power required. …Power is a function of work and time.

Moving a body faster requires a larger engine, moving a body slower require a smaller engine. Your muscles form a large part of that engine.

So you can see the effect of moving quicker (like with High Intensity Interval Training) you will need larger muscles.

IMPROVE YOUR RUNNING TECHNIQUE HELPS YOU TO RUN FASTER

So if you agree with me, help your muscles grow by learning to run faster like sprinting!

ENTER Tim Ferris and The 4 – Hour Body Book.

Tim’s book’s description is an uncommon guide to rapid fat loss, incredible sex and becoming superman.

Essentially Tim experiments on himself through all tests of  routines and workouts to discover how to make his body fitter, stronger and faster!

In the last 2 months I decided to focus on the Ultra-Endurance section of the 4 hour body book which specialised in going from 5k to 50k in 12 weeks however my goal was to run faster for the 3 km distance, I had no interest in running further.

The last few years I entered a couple of short distance races like the 3km Jetty to Jetty and North Lakes Run and ran competitive times.

My last results for the 3km was 12.43 min where I came 12th ( 2nd place for over 40s).  My treadmill time for the same distance is 11.25.

My strategy of training for a run was simply run as quick as I can! … Not the brightest thinking.

Well I did that for a year and my times didn’t really improve, I thought well that is as fast as I’m able to run.

After 2 months I decreased my 3km time to 11.35 minutes which is now very close to my treadmill time.

Shorter Intense Running - I'm looking more fit

Progression is the key to all activities and this develops a better body than the one you had yesterday.

Improve your running technique means you can go faster, it can reduce risk of  injury which adds up to burning more calories.

I won’t go into the full details but I trained using 4HB methodology and I’m going to highlight the tips that I believe had the biggest impact on increasing my running speed.

• 1. Focus on consistent running pace. – 4HB say to start around 180 beat per minute I’m currently running at 192 bpm. I use a metronome on my iPhone to help keep pace. (Usain Bolt runs about 257 bpm for the 100m)
• 2. Lean into the run don’t bend just at the hips. – 4HB discusses the inefficiency and potential pain by running bent! I find leaning hard to do because of habit.
• 3. Pull your heel close to your buttocks. – 4HB says lean and pull up your feet by using your glutes.
• 4. Keep arm swings to a minimum. – I found to run at 192 beats per minute a small arm swing helped.
• 5. Now here is a surprise. You must include STRENGTH TRAINING! so it’s not all just about running.

In the 4HB they use Squatting, Military Presses, Deadlifts and we aren’t talking about just lifting a light weight, we will lift heavy to stimulate growth.

If you need an idea for strength building, two great programs that I have used previously are: Muscle Gaining Secrets for massive growth or  Visual Impact for a lean muscular shape both styles will help with increase your running ability.

To give you an idea my weight training whilst training for the 3km is Deadlifts (330lbs x 5), Back Squats (440 lbs x 5), Military Presses (132 lbs x 5)  and I weigh 158 lbs.

So using the outline above is how I learnt to run faster by increasing my aerobic line.

I’m able to burn more calories effectively in a short amount of time without causing a reduction size in muscle that helps build a muscular body.

Please give this technique a try next time you want to go for a run and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading this.