New year Kettlebell Courses Start 11th January

Here at Phoenix Pro Fitness we're getting ready for our next 10 week metabolic acceleration course, which starts on Monday 11th January, 6.30pm in Guildford and runs for 10 weeks.

Every course we have run so far has seen members getting leaner, fitter, stronger and faster, so if you're determined to get into incredible shape in 2010, no matter where you're starting from, this is the course for you!

We utilise a steady progression of kettlebell, sandbag, rope and speed and agility exercises to ensure our clients optimise their metabolisms and hence not only drop fat but keep it off!

For more information or to book your place please contact Charlotte at charlotte@phoenixprofitness.com today!

Kettlebells And The Fat Loss Hierarchy

If you’re looking to drop body fat, add muscular definition and improve your fitness simultaneously then it is essential you understand the hierarchy of fat loss before you set sail with your new New Year’s fitness programme. That is, of course, if you want to get maximal results. As I will explain in due course, it is no longer appropriate to be using the same training protocols that were successfully implemented decades ago, quite simply because times have changed, we know more now than we did then, and today’s society is a whole lot different.

At the top of the fat busting tree is strength training. The common misconception about strength training is that if you’re not leaping about and standing in a pool of sweat by the time your session’s up then it’s somehow inferior to aerobic type training, and to be fair there is logic in this rational. Indeed, an hour’s steady state running is likely to accumulate a higher calorific expenditure than an hour of lifting weights, and it’s all about calories in versus calories out, right? WRONG. Unless you are a professional athlete, the likelihood is that you’ll spend roughly 4 hours week training and the other 164 hours sleeping, working, eating, and generally not training. So when it comes to designing fat loss programmes, it is no good relying on the mechanisms that worked fifty years ago. People were way more active then they walked a hell of a lot more. Today’s society requires a programme which enables their metabolism to be elevated for a significant amount of time after they’ve stopped training, and this is exactly what strength training does and exactly what steady state cardio does not.

Taking a step down our fat loss tree we find high intensity interval training (HIIT). The first significant study to support the efficiency of this type of training was in Tremblay, Angelo, et al’s 1994 research published in Metabolism. Vol 43. no 7 (July). Pp 814-818, which compared the effects of low intensity steady state cardio and HIIT on body fat. The result, whilst not exactly as earth shattering as the researcher’s might have originally claimed, still yielded a 3x greater fat loss for HIIT, and has been supported by countless other studies since.
A branch down again we have high intensity steady state cardio, and finally, the poor relation in metabolic acceleration, low intensity cardio. So where does kettlebell training fit into all of this?

Well, whilst it would be naive to think that kettlebells can parallel barbells for maximal strength generation, they nevertheless provide today’s hectic gym goer/non-goer, with a huge bang for your buck tool that is versatile enough to cover all of the necessary components of our fat loss tree, or in an ideal world, a decent part of it.

The reason why kettlebells are so effective comes down to three main points. Firstly, the way they hang in relation to the body places their centre of mass uniquely below the hand rather than in the centre of it, which consequently initiates a higher stabilisation requirement of the working joints, meaning increased muscular recruitment and higher metabolic output. Secondly, dynamic kettlebell drills are super intense and subsequently super time efficient; making them ideal for our HIIT and well suited to our time starved lifestyles. To understand why they are so effective we need to take a look at the simple physics equation of Force = Mass X Acceleration. Immediately we can see that whilst the bell you are swinging may only be 12kg, the force your body is actually being loaded with is a lot bigger, meaning increased workload in less time and warp speed results. BOOM! The third main benefit to kettlebells for fat loss is that as a result of their efficiency we can afford to reduce the number of reps we perform and thus significantly reduce the impact we place on our joints, particularly through activities such as running where literally thousands of reps of the same motor pattern are being performed.

World renowned motivational speaker Jack Canfield once said, ‘If what you are doing now was enough to get you what you want, you’d already have it.’ So if you’re really determined to drop fat and actually achieve the body you wish you had, it’s time to start adding kettlebell to your programme. Remember that mastering technique is absolutely imperative to your success, so ensure you receive coaching from a certified trainer before you get embark.

For free video tutorials of the foundation kettlebell exercises sign up for http://www.12daysoffitness.com and look out for Kettlebells For A Killer Physique; The Foundations by Charlotte Ord

Some cuts from Charlotte's recent Sky shows

Kettlebell Training for Mums with kettlebell first timer Hollie...



Beginner's Kettlebell Tutorial with coach Stefano Chiriaco..

Mixed Feelings Over Today's Headlines: Diet Guidelines Are All Wrong...

At last, the penny drops : )

Today's UK papers have at last drawn attention to the fact that calorie guidelines taken for decades as the gold standard by weight conscious Brits are in fact completely wrong.

Research undertaken by the independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition report that the advised daily calorie consumptions of 2000kcals for women and 2500kcals for men are set too low, and blames an under-estimation of physical activity levels amongst the UK population for the error.

Sadly given the country's increasing obesity issues I am not convinced that that is necessarily true, but every fat loss expert worth his salt has, for quite some time now, been advocating a shift away from calorie counting and towards food type awareness. It is therefore always pleasing when the media encourages a diversion from calorie obsessed diets which are by no means always healthy and which often stifle metabolism.

It does however infuriate me that, with the opportunity in their hands to really drive home some sound nutritional advice to the masses, the same article then goes on to print, in great big bold letters, 'You can eat another cheeseburger a day.'


Yes indeed, according to the consumer editor of this particular newspaper, the recommended 16% increase in calorific intake now recommended by the Food Standard Agency would boost an adult's daily limit by as much as 400 calories - equal, and I quote, to 'a regular cheeseburger or two packets of ready salted crisps.' Marvelous.

Despite a golden opportunity to educate people on what really constitutes a healthy diet, this article has spectacularly failed not only in their inability to highlight any useful information, but also by encouraging people to eat more junk.

Whilst I applaud the Foods Standard Agency for implementing food labelling and increasing awareness of the constitutuion of everyday diets, I can't help but think they're missing the point slightly.

The recommended daily allowance is based on the average man or woman, but who exactly is average? And how many people do they realistically expect to monitor their calorie intakes to the nearest 100kcals on a regular basis anyway?

At Phoenix Pro we monitor calorie intake so infrequently we don't even have an official form for it. This may go against the protocols of trainers or dieticians, but it works for us, and it works for our clients who are releived to NOT have to calculate their every mouthful or live by red days, green days, carb days or any other faddy and annoying procedure.

Instead we focus on ensuring our clients eat nutritionally supportive foods on a regular basis, whilst increasing their lean protein and water intake, avoiding grains and refined carbs and supplementing their diet with fish oils and good fats.

To give you an idea of how well this works, three new clients who all started training with us one week ago, and who have had one coached session in that period whilst following our nutrition programme, have each lost between 2 and 5cms off their waists.



Chew it over.

Wise Words: Victory and Defeat

‘It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.’ – Theodore Roosevelt

New Study Identifies Link Between Obesity and Cancer

Researchers at the American Institute for Cancer Research recently released a report which suggests that over 100,000 cancer cases each year are caused by obesity. The findings, which were based on studies of seven different cancers with known links to obesity, indicated that the following are caused by excess body fat:

• 49% of endometrial cancers
• 35% of esophageal cancer cases
• 28% of pancreatic cancer cases
• 24% of kidney cancer cases
• 21% of gallbladder cancer cases
• 17% of breast cancer cases
• 9% of colorectal cancer cases


The study offers the first quantifiable measure of obesity’s link to cancer, and this is not the only issue heavily linked to excess body fat. Not only does it increase the risk of developing cancer, but it also reduces an individual’s likelihood of surviving the disease and can make treatment more difficult.
As yet it’s not quite clear why obesity increases the likelihood of developing cancer, but hypotheses have been made that excess estrogen released by body fat could be the culprit in cancers such as estrogen-receptor positive breast cancers. In addition, increased body fat can lead to elevated levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory composites in the blood, which are linked to DNA mutation and diseased cell growth, as is seen in many cancers.

While the study is ground-breaking in itself it does not propose any potential solutions to the problem of obesity which is also heavily correlated with diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes. The bottom line is to maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible through regular exercise and a balanced diet.

It's Bonfire Night - Let's Burn Some Fat!

So, tonight is Bonfire Night, and Halloween is over for another year. I was out in London last weekend and it was fabulous to see so many people getting into the spirit of things and dressing up for the occassion. Loads of them were dressed to the nines in skimpy, sexy outfits showing off their hard-earned devillishly hot bodies, whilst others were, well, trying to hide as much as possible.



Which one were you?




If you were feeling less than comfortable dressing up last weekend, then it's not too late to turn things around for the festive season and in particular, everybody's big night, New Years Eve. Sure, you may not be dressing up half naked in a barely there devil costume, but it'd be pretty cool to be turning heads in a slinky, gorgeous party dress, right?

At Phoenix Pro Fitness we specialise in getting our clients ready for their 'big event', whether it be a special party like New Years, a summer ball or a wedding day.

You now have 8 weeks until New Years Eve, enough time to make a BIG difference to how amazing you feel as you see in 2010.

Do you remember that girl at the New Year's Party last year? The one that all the other girls referred to as 'b*tch'?



That didn't happen by magic. She trained and dieted hard for weeks before that party, and it totally paid off.

So how about this year, YOU be the girl turning everyone else's heads?

You have 8 weeks. Will you make the difference?

www.phoenixprofitness.com

PS Don't forget our 30 day personal training trial for just £69! Sign up today and bring in 2010 feeling HOT!