How to Get Fit and Healthy Without A Gym Membership

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Let me tell you a little secret; if you want to get fit and healthy, or lose weight, you don’t actually need to go to the gym. So many people use the excuse of not wanting to sign up to a gym as a way of them not being able to do exercise. This then stops them getting fitter or losing the weight they want to.

 

Getting fit and healthy should be fun and something you want to do, especially if you want to make long lasting changes. So if you are one of those people who can’t stand the thought of stepping foot in a gym then here are some ideas to get in shape without a gym membership.

 

Get outdoors Exercising outdoors is fun and there are plenty of options to choose from. Running is great way to stay in shape, get the heart rate up and is a great stress relief. If you run then try and mix it up with interval training and hill sprints to burn more calories. If running isn’t your thing, then head into the garden and do some body weight outdoor workouts. My training sessions are great if you want to be given that extra push in your workouts, and I can tailor sessions from individuals, up to four people. Being outdoors when exercising really energises you, so that’s another bonus.

 

Do something at home Most of the workouts I get my clients to do can actually be replicated at home. Most use little or no equipment and can be completed with just your own bodyweight. That way you don’t need to be paying to see me every day of the week as by signing up to a block of sessions you will also get a programme of exercises to take away with you. This allows you to work out at home in front of the TV or while listening to your favourite music.

 

Make it social If you find you aren’t motivated exercising on your own, commit to something with a friend, or group of friends. If you have nobody who’s keen, let me know and I will fit you into a session with others, helping you to make new friends. You’ll be surprised at how much fun it is achieving fitness goals with other people similar to you, where you can get support and motivate each other. You may end up making lifelong friends out of it.

 

Get active daily Being active isn’t just about going out there and exercising. Look at ways you can incorporate more activity into your daily routine. Perhaps you could start walking to work, or get off a couple of stops earlier on your bus and walk the rest. Instead of driving to the local shops, walk. Rather than taking a lift or escalator use the stairs. Also try to get out of work at lunchtime for a quick walk; this also helps to clear your mind.

When you start making more activities like this a habit then you make being active part of your daily activity. This helps burn more calories during the day and keeps your fitness levels up.

 

Starting something new is always hard, but once you start feeling the benefits it becomes easy. It’s the snowball effect; the better you feel, the more active you will do and then you get even more fitter and healthier. So go out there, get out of your comfort zone, do something positive for yourself, find some fun and start getting active today.

 

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

Why Resistance Training is Good For Fat Loss

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As a Personal Trainer, resistance training is the part of weight-loss that I have to explain to people the most. Many people believe that eating less and increasing cardio exercising is the only way to lose weight. This is only half right.

Eating less, or ‘improving your nutritional habits’ as I prefer to say, is certainly beneficial to losing weight. Burning calories doing cardio training is also very important and I’m not telling anyone to neglect this. In fact, anyone who knows me will know how much I love cardio exercising. However, this is only part of the weight-loss story (and more importantly fat loss).

Resistance training should always be an important part of your exercise programme but is the one that often gets overlooked. The reason for this? The benefits of eating healthily and burning calories through cardio training are often published in the media, but resistance training is not so readily understood or written about.

So, if you are new to the concept of resistance training, it is any exercise that causes the muscles to contract against a resistance. This can be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, or your own body weight as the resistance. It is also known as weight-training.

This, over time will increase the mass of any given muscle. This allows you to influence your metabolic rate. Many people are aware of metabolic rate and have some understanding of what it means, but may not truly understand what it refers to and how it is such a key factor in weight-loss training.

It’s a relatively easy concept to understand. Your metabolic rate is the level at which you burn calories. The good news, you can improve your metabolic rate so that you burn calories more efficiently. How? Resistance training, of course.

As previously mentioned, resistance training builds lean muscle mass, (importantly, we’re talking muscle mass, not muscle size), i.e. dense, lean muscle. Don’t panic, you are not going to bulk up as you need to eat more calories than you burn. So why build muscle mass? Simple, because muscle burns more calories than fat. Therefore, the more muscle we have the better our metabolic rate and thus the more calories we are burning.

The good news doesn’t end there. Muscles don’t just burn calories when you’re training; calories are being burnt 24 hours a day, seven days a week; so every bit of muscle gained increases the rate at which you’re burning calories around the clock!

Therefore, the conclusion is simple, if you want to lose weight, you need to improve your eating habits, do your cardio training, but also make yourself a more efficient calorie burning machine by incorporating resistance training into your training programme.

All of my Personal Training programmes include resistance training, as do all of my online training plans. My Running Buddy sessions and running training plans also include resistance exercises to make you stronger and leaner.

Want to know more about running, personal training or nutrition?

Contact me today to ask any questions or to book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

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How to Get Started

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So, you haven’t trained for a while and you feel like you’ve a mountain to climb?

It can be even more challenging at this time of year, the summer holidays are booked and threat of wearing beachwear is looming. You don’t know what to do or where to start. Let’s think about how to avoid hiding away in baggy clothes! Where do you find the motivation to start exercising?

Think about some small attainable goals. Now write them down as you are more likely to achieve a goal that’s written down. Maybe start with two short walks a week – find a destination, i.e. a walk to the shops, round the block, to the post box, etc. The first goal is to make these first steps a habit.

Next, increase the goals slightly. An example could be to run for at least 5 minutes every other day. Now this is a bit of a psychological trick. Are you going to get your running kit on to run for only 5 minutes? Not usually, no. What you will find yourself doing is, once dressed, you will run for longer than 5 minutes as you have taken the time to get changed. You will also feel good as you smash your target of 5 minutes.

Buy some new kit; a nice new pair of trainers or new leggings/shorts will be surprisingly motivational. No digging out your old kit from five years ago from the back of a drawer. Invest your money and time in freshening up your workout clothes. This will give you much needed accountability with the added bonus of making you feel better too.

Confide in someone you trust of your new exercise goals. Tell a friend, partner, family member, or indeed someone outside of your personal life; for example, a Personal Trainer. But, don’t tell the world, too much pressure can have an adverse effect.

Don’t worry if you have little niggles and aches when you start exercising, it’s normal. Anyone who exercises regularly knows the feelings; your knee twinges, your back is tight, your muscles ache, etc. No need to feel put off or that it’s only you; everyone is the same. However, there are two things to worry about; something that is painful or gets worse over time.

Obviously if you haven’t trained for a while your muscles will be sore and ache afterwards. Once again this is normal. Rest for a couple of days and you’ll be back to normal and after a couple of weeks your body will be used to it and will get stronger.

Many people give up in the first two weeks because it feels too hard. Keep going. Results aren’t immediate and exercising can make you feel sore and stiff. Get beyond that and you will start to reap the rewards. You will feel stronger, fitter and healthier.

 

If you need help to start, or need some ideas and motivation of what to do and how, please get in touch and I’ll discuss how I can help you.

 

Want to know more?

 Contact me today to ask any questions or book your FREE consultation

 Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

 

How to Make Your Workout More Fun

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Do you sometimes feel bored or unmotivated by your exercise routine? You are not alone. In all of the years I have been training, both in the gym and running, I have had my fair share of periods where my motivation starts to drop. When this happens you start to feel as though exercise is a chore and you lose the enjoyment that you previously had. It is often at this point people give up as they don’t know how to change their current fitness routine. So what can you do when this happens?

 

Find music that gets you pumped – I have different playlists on my phone for the different workouts I do. For instance, if I am going for a long slow run I will listen to podcasts, often listening to comedy shows or fitness information programmes (sad, I know). I find these help time drift by when I am out for a long time. However, when doing shorter, higher intensity workouts or weight sessions I will have some higher intensity music.

It is all down to your own choices, but create playlists that you know will help give you the motivation and enjoyment you seek. It also doesn’t matter if people see you singing or dancing along; you are happy and that is the main thing.

 

Get a buddy – Having an exercise buddy can definitely provide a good source of extra motivation. You are far less to miss a session when you know someone else is expecting you to show up. This is where I can certainly help and why I decided to offer my Running Buddy sessions. They provide the client with the knowledge that they have someone to help get them through sessions that you won’t do themselves. It is also a great chance to just chat away the time to make the time pass by unnoticed.

 

Get a little competitive – A bit of competition never hurts anyone, whether it is with yourself or an exercise buddy. I am super competitive with myself and love to push myself to beat my previous best efforts. I also know how to keep competition fun and light-hearted for others. I offer discounts for couples or friends group training sessions and there is no better feeling than when you smash your previous bests (and beat your other half in the process). Just make sure you congratulate everyone each time an improvement is made.

 

Become a kid – Kids burn so much more energy than adults because they are constantly active; running around and having fun. Don’t think of cardio as just running on a treadmill or spending hours on a cross trainer. There are so many fun things that will get your heart rate up and you burning calories. Take on the mind of a child and go and play outside. Go and climb some rocks, jump on a trampoline, run down a hill, or go and play with a ball with friends. Your options are endless (but remember to stay safe please).

 

Mix it up – One of the biggest causes for people getting demotivated is that they get bored by doing the same thing again and again. Make sure that you are mixing up your workouts and trying new things. I have lists of different runs and exercises I can do and constantly chop and change what I am doing so that my fitness doesn’t plateau and so I keep enjoying myself. If you are ever short of ideas, or want the motivation of someone else thinking of the workouts, please get in touch to discuss how I can help you.

 

Celebrate the small wins and reward yourself – It is really important to celebrate and reward yourself when you get better and stronger. Even if it is something small, always make sure you congratulate yourself. Remember that any improvement is an improvement, whether that is a 1 second PB over a parkrun, or adding another 0.5kg to your bicep curls; they all count.

I am not advocating you reward yourself with food, you are not a sea-lion who has performed a trick. Buy yourself a new piece of clothing, a massage or piece of gym kit instead.

 

Getting, and being, fit should never be a chore. It should be something that you enjoy because you have fun and it makes you feel great. I won’t lie, if you are training for a big event or have big goals you do need to work hard, but you can have fun while you are at it.

 

Want to know more?

Contact me today to ask any questions or book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

How I Set Goals and Achieve Them

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It can be extremely difficult to make a huge lifestyle change. You have to work hard and be disciplined to break years of bad habits that have been established throughout your life. When I first started getting seriously into health and fitness one of the ways I found it easy to stay on track and measure how well I was doing, was to set myself some clear goals. In fact I still set myself goals on a regular basis so I can continue to grow as a person and achieve what I want in life. Having a goal keeps you focused and means you can track your progress on a regular basis. I thought I would share with you how I set goals for myself to achieve what I want in life.

Be realistic – I’m a big believer in having aspirations & aiming high as long as your goals are realistic and achievable. There’s no point trying to achieve something that is simply unrealistic. For example; I know I am never going to be a professional footballer, so I don’t bother wasting my time trying to be one. If your goals are unrealistic then you will just feel overwhelmed and give up when it all becomes too much. Have big goals but be realistic too about what you can and simply cannot achieve.

Know your potential – It’s important to know your potential and what you are capable of. Too many people look at something they want in life and just simply think “I’ll never be able to do that”. But listen to me, we all have the potential to achieve great things. Choose something that you enjoy and you know is achievable for you. Then go and do what needs to be done to achieve it. If that means changing your hair, losing weight, studying, moving away, whatever it takes you need to be willing to do it if it’s what you really want. Most importantly though remember to believe in yourself.

Find support – It’s so important to surround yourself with a positive group of people who are supportive and caring. Don’t be afraid to tell those closest to you what your goals are and why you want to achieve them. No one has ever achieved greatness by doing it alone, so you shouldn’t have to either. My wife, friends and family have played such a massive role in my journey, so remember it’s okay to ask for help and support. You’ll be amazed at what you can do with a team of great people behind you.

Find an expert – If you have a particular goal and you know someone who has achieved what you want, then go and ask them how they did it. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel when you can find someone who has already got a proven method for reaching your goal. If you don’t know someone personally who has done it, then contact me. It’s great to get support from people as we will know and understand the struggles that you will be going through.

Dream big but plan small – As I said before it’s great to have big goals and dreams but if they are far out of reach then it can be easy to give up when it becomes too hard. So if you do have big goals then break them down into smaller more achievable ones. If you want to run a marathon but have only just started running, then your first goal might be to just reach 10km without stopping as opposed to just aiming for the full 26.2m. When you your goals are broken down to smaller ones then you can celebrate your successes along the way, which will keep you motivated towards the bigger goal. I’d recommend splitting your long-term goal into three. The short-term goal should be between two to four weeks from your start date. This should be more about the ‘process’ of changing your habits and starting your journey. Your medium-term goal should be half-way between your start date and your final goal. That is the perfect time to check progress to ensure you are where you need to be to achieve your overall goal and, if not, make some changes to ensure you will do.

 Track your progress and adapt – Regularly track your progress against your goals and reassess if things aren’t going to plan. I’d recommend splitting your long-term goal into three. The short-term goal should be between two to four weeks from your start date. This should be more about the ‘process’ of changing your habits and starting your journey. Your medium-term goal should be half-way between your start date and your final goal. That is the perfect time to check progress to ensure you are where you need to be to achieve your overall goal and, if not, make some changes to ensure you will do.

You may need to put back the date of your overall goal if things aren’t going to plan, but that shouldn’t worry you. More often than not though, your hard work will be paying dividends and you can be ahead of your target. Just keep trying and keep moving forward.

 

So, when you are planning your goals remember, know your potential, dream big, believe in yourself, do what needs to be done to give you the best chance of success, be adaptable, resilient and keep reaching for those goals.

If you want some help on achieving your goals get in touch and together, let’s make your goals a reality.

 Want to know more?

 Contact me today to ask any questions or book your FREE consultation

 Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com

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Benefits of Exercising Outdoors

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I love exercising outdoors. There is something about breathing in fresh air that helps you push a little bit harder. It’s also a nice change from being in the gym. You really can do a good workout outdoors anywhere, like a park, the forest or even your own garden. My programmes are designed to allow you to get the most out of any workout with minimal or no equipment, so you don’t need to be tied down to a gym membership.

Still need convincing? Well here are just three of the benefits exercising outdoors will give you.  

 

  1. It helps you focus It can get a little crowded at the gym, which also means you can get distracted, comparing yourself to others and how their bodies are. When you take the workout outdoors, you only have yourself to focus on. There also aren’t any mirrors outside, so no more getting distracted with how your hair is looking, how much you are sweating and how you compare to the person stood next to you.

 

  1. Boost your vitamin D levels with the sunshine Whilst you want to be careful exposing yourself to too much sun (not always a problem in the UK) there are many benefits to getting a daily dose of sunlight. When we are exposed to the sun on our skin, it helps our body’s production of Vitamin D3, which is extremely important for bone health and your metabolic function. Just make sure you wear suncream and sunglasses to protect yourself against harmful rays.

 

  1. It saves you money Gym memberships can be costly, especially if you want a Personal Trainer as well, and whilst you do need a gym for more specialised training, you can actually get an extremely good workout with no equipment at all. Think of the hundreds of pounds you could save for the new clothes you can treat yourself to when you achieve that body you have always wanted.

 

Want to know more?

Contact me today to ask any questions or book your FREE consultation

Call me on 07815 044521 or email me at martinhulbertpt@gmail.com