Beating the Big Freeze (with no cardio or equipment)!

Survive the Big Freeze!

Stop your boring cardio outside in the cold and do this indoor fat blaster - no equipment needed!

Do as many rounds of the following circuit in 15 minutes as possible.

20 split squats (beginners) / plyometric split squats (advanced)
20 bodweight squats (beginners) / jump squats (advanced)
10 push ups (beginners on knees)
20 mountain climbers (beginners) / burpees (advanced)

It's that simple.

If you don't know what these exercises are just pop along to my youtube site to see exactly what you need to do. (Just search for the exercise you want).

http://uk.youtube.com/user/StormForceFitness

These kind of 'time challenges' form the basis of the Storm Force Fitness programs so if you like it come and join us at http://www.stormforcefitness.com !

Try it then post how you get on here!
Jon

What happened in London?

I was in London this weekend on an awesome fitness marketing course to help me spread the word about http://www.stormforcefitness.com and for a cheeky beer with friends.

(Yes I do drink the odd pint BECAUSE I EARN IT)

Three things happened which really made me think about how what is true and what our perceptions are, can be VERY different things!

1) One of the presenters on the course, Dax Moy is renowned for his inspirational methods and motivation techniques.

Now I'm not exactly short on motivation to get what I want in life, but Dax takes things to a new level and knows how to deliver a kick up the backside and I learnt a lot!

At lunch time all the attendees grabbed their food and sat down with each other to discuss business and what they had or hadn't done with theirs to that point. I stood there and thought why go through the discussions of 'maybe this' and 'we could that' and went a sat with Dax, who proceeded to open my eyes to many ways to help people better and develop myself and my business.

LESSON - Why struggle with ifs and maybes when you can go straight to what or who you know will get the job done?

2) I was in the Oxo tower in London being treated to a meal. I was sat next to a lady who struggled to fit in her chair.

She proceeded to tell her date / friend / husband how she was 'trying' to lose weight by walking to work each day. This was between mouthfuls of the 12oz sirloin with curly chips and garlic bread.

She then struggled to stand up, turned to me and said 'Excuse me can I get through?'

To which I nearly replied, "I doubt it"

LESSON: Trying to lose body fat involves trial and error. Actually losing body fat simply requires listening to those who are professionally qualified and can provide exact programs and systems which you KNOW will work.

3) I finally did something in London which has been on my mind for 3 years and caused many nights of upset! It's a personal thing and something which will stay between myself and I (as is often the case with the biggest challenges in life).

I also got the ball rolling on a top secret project which could change my life and those of the people who get involved within the next year! You will hear more as it develops but it has never been done before. Oooh the excitement!

LESSON: You need to take risks and persevere for the things which you value most in life and which pose the biggest challenges to you whether mental or physical. Sometimes the unknown will scare the life out of you as you can never be sure what the result will be. The risk will seem immense, but if the reward is enough, everything that goes into it becomes insignificant!

Jon, Storm Force Fitness

PS If you're ready to finally accept the challenge of not feeling flabby at Christmas....

Ladies - http://www.stormforcefitness.com/article.php?pid=213
Gents - http://www.stormforcefitness.com/article.php?pid=214

Amazing new fat loss research...

I heard some real ground breaking news today on the radio news.

Some no-doubt very well-paid scientists and researchers have found that eating your food too fast may well lead to weight gain.

I thought we knew this ten years ago.

And if we didn't, surely it's pretty damn obvious!

Stuff your face fast and you don't have time to feel full. As is usually the case with fat loss, it's a simple process.

The science behind is that we have a hormone which is released from our brain telling us we have eaten enough food and are full. This hormone usually takes around 20 minutes to be released so if you take time to chew food and digest it slowly over a good conversation you will realise you have had enough and stop eating.

Could this be the reason countries outside the western world don't have such high obesity rates?

They see meal times as a time to converse with family and relax rather than shovelling in food and drink like the Simpsons.

Another more complex reason I would suggest is that it is an all-round philosophy.

In the UK and Britain we are always stressed and rushing around. There is never enough time. Those who 'haven't got time' to slow themselves down and eat slowly are usually those who don't prepare food either (due to supposed lack of time) which leads them to eat processed, crappy ready meals.

As a trainer I always, always promote a new lifestyle rather than just a new diet or new training program because without an all round philosophy you will continue to struggle with many aspects of weight management.

Mess up on one and the rest will come tumbling down too!

Jon

Health, fitness and the credit crunch

Apparently there's some kind of financial crisis going on.

I generally try to ignore such doom and gloom and fortunately my digibox broke last week so it's been no TV since.

What a blessing - it's been nice just reading, studying and listening to music!

As far as I'm concerned these things are largely a self-fulfilling prophecy - the more we talk about them the worse they get.

But what can you do if you do need to start saving some cash but you don't want to give up on your fat loss and conditioning plan?

1) Buy in-season fruit and vegetables. Supply and demand economics mean that those which are not in-season and must be imported will cost more. You'll also do your bit for reducing the negative effects of transportation and to support the local economy!

In-season fruit and veg: Apples, pears, figs, pumpkin, leeks, sweetcorn, broccoli, potatoes, kale and onions (there's lots more so do your research!)

SAVING - APPROX. £30 PER MONTH

2) Go to your local fruit and veg market about 15 minutes before closing. They will literally throw produce at you for next to nothing.

SAVING - ABOUT £30 PER MONTH IN CONJUNCTION WITH POINT 1.

3) Perform bodyweight training (or use dumbbells and kettlebells if you have them) at home. It doesn't cost you anything and let's be honest, how much have you achieved through your gym membership in the last year? Sprint up hills, ride up hills on your bike, lift heavy things you have at home - just get rid of your gym direct debit!

SAVING - ABOUT £40 PER MONTH PLUS REDUCED TRAVEL COSTS

4) Stop buying health and fitness magazines. Again, if you need to keep reading them, they haven't taught you much so far so why keep buying them?!

SAVING - ABOUT £4 PER MONTH

5) Stop smoking and drinking alcohol. Old news, but you still do it. This will save you hundreds and hundreds of pounds and your family can save on having to pay for your funeral until this 'crisis' is over.

SAVING - ABOUT £180 PER MONTH (BASED ON 20 CIGARETTES AND 7/8 DRINKS ON A FRIDAY)

6) Stop going to Starbucks (and other coffee shops) everyday. If you buy a coffee on it's own everyday of your working week (not including that muffin) you're throwing money away for something which most of the time contains a pile of calories and will only wake you up for half an hour!

SAVING - ABOUT £40 PER MONTH

So if you do all of the above, you could be saving over £300 per month.

Of which £50 could get you membership to http://www.stormforcefitness.com/ which will instantly show you how to fulfil Point 3.

Are you creating your own credit crunch....?

Weight training will make women bulky....or will it?

Many ladies shy away from weights because they 'just want to burn fat and not bulk up'.

This is one of the girls I train as a group of 4.

She has trained with me once per week for about 3-4 months, eaten well but not obsessively and done a couple of sessions at home each week.

A picture does indeed tell a thousand words.

Enough said my friends.

Oh and don't forget Jemma.....!

Jon v Dean Macey at Survival of the fittest

I raced an ex-Olympian on Saturday.

He didn't know I was gunning for him from the moment I heard he was taken part in the inaugural Men's Health Survival of the Fittest race in Nottingham, but I was!

When I spoke to Dean Macey (ex-Decathlete) after the race he said something about having not done too much training since he retired a couple of months ago.

But that was Olympic level training, and whilst he kept saying how he had never run more than 8km, as you know I hardly ever go running because of my dislike for joint-shattering, fat preserving aerobic exercise.

So what happened?

12.5km interspersed with assault courses, cold water, rope climbs etc. is what happened.

Would our training methods stand up against the 'Dean Machine' and the numerous triathletes who train specifically for running?

Final results (out of 882 finishers)

1 387 0:54:57 Simon Griffin
37 1142 1:02:50 Jon Le Tocq
113 1140 1:08:30 Dean Macey

Now I don't know about you but looking at those results and bearing in mind most people find 'cardio' boring, I'd rather train like we do at BodyClocq Personal Training and at http://www.stormforcefitness.com , with shorter, more intense, fun sessions!

Mix up your sessions, make yourself work hard, and forget what you thought you knew about exercise and life will become so much more fulfilling!

If you want to win running races then yes you will need to run.

If you want to enjoy fitness, become a great all-rounder and be able to perform well in random fitness challenges of any sort, you know where to come. With some running training the difference between myself and the winner would have been much smaller but I have no interest.

I don't know why people make themselves use training methods they don't enjoy! It's a recipe for long-term failure.

You can either start listening to and working with people who have proven results, or you can keep reading about wonder diets and magic exercises in magazines.

I hope you're still filling in your nutrition diary from Friday - the weekend is always interesting when it comes to food and drink!

Jon

See me and Big Dean..
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=844351&l=027cc&id=511307969

3 pounds lost with no exercise?

Today I have a challenge for you and a friend.

It's so easy a 4 year old could do it.

Yesterday a new client of mine walked in 2 weeks after her initialc onsultation with me.

I had asked her to do one thing.

Write down everything you eat and drink until the first 'real' session.

She did. She lost 3lbs of body fat.

Unfortunately, handwriting is not the perfect fat loss solution sodon't get all excited and rush out to Wilko's for a set of 10 biro's.

The key is MONITORING.

Simply by becoming aware of what was going in her mouth, this lady became more controlled and stopped eating cr*p (or so much of it;-) )

I've told you over and over again - if you're not recording stuff(training, food etc) you will not lose weight unless you get lucky.

Now imagine what could happen when we get some good ol' short,sharp exercise sessions going on.

A stone in 6 weeks? Probably.

This stuff works EVERY TIME.

So write down everything you eat and drink until next Friday.

Get your friend to do it as well.

Swap diaries each day.

See what happens.

If you want to do it on your own, post you daily consumption under this blog entry in the comments - whatever makes you take control and be accountable.

Just try it - you'll be amazed.


Always here to help,
Jon

3 mistakes

Did you try the curry recipe I sent on Friday night?

Over the weekend I received quite a few emails asking for regular recipes so it must have tasted good - unfortunately I can't give away all the good stuff as that wouldn't be fair on my members at http://www.stormforcefitness.com/ !

They have access to Burrito breakfast, Egg pot, Moroccan chicken, Turkey and apple burger, Amazing meatballs, Beef tacos, Tuna and kidney bean salad and many, many more recipes - and everyone of them is low in calories and VERY tasty!

So what mistakes are often made?

1) Did you enjoy the curry then got frustrated on Saturday because you were rushing around after the kids trying to get food ready? Why did you not just make more of the curry then have a healthy meal already prepared for the next day?

You can do this EVERY evening as a Storm Force member ensuring you don't have to buy salt-laden, fatty, mayo smothered sandwiches or pasta dishes from Marks and Spencer (or other good stores :-) )

2) You assume healthy food has to be boring. I've proven my point. I must admit I didn't have the curry - instead I knocked up a vegetarian roasted vegetable dish (with a sirloin steak) in 30 minutes from chopping board to plate!

3) You didn't have time to cook the curry because you spent over an hour in the gym after work then were too stressed out to relax and cook a nice meal. Why didn't you perform one of the 20 minute fat-blasting sessions on Storm Force Fitness then you could have done both AND got more results from your session?!

I really, really wish the people in this world who claim they don't have time to be healthy would just open their eyes!

For a one-off fee (less than a good night out and probably less than you spend at Starbucks each month) you can have access to the fastest, tasty, healthy recipes and the most time-efficient training I use for myself and my clients.

You get noticeable fat loss results, eat healthier food, can exercise at home in private or in the gym if you do like it AND have more time to enjoy life, showing off your new body to anyone who will look!

But hey, what do I know?

Jon - 5.5% body fat and never has to train for more than 45 minutes!

http://www.stormforcefitness.com

Let's all have a curry on Friday

It's Friday tomorrow, which for me means treat night!

I train and work hard all week (especially today!) so I deserve a meal when I can go a bit nuts.

Last week I had a not-so-healthy pizza. But I earned it - that's the key. It helps keep me on track.

There's a MASSIVE difference between caving all the time and earning a treat.

Today however, I am going to give you a curry recipe which can be ready from scratch in under 20 minutes and is actually really healthy!

Enjoy....

Chicken Masala(4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 chopped onion
6 fresh green chillies
6 chopped garlic cloves
2 tsp grated fresh root ginger
1 tbs ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 large bunch of fresh, chopped coriander
150ml water
2 tbs olive oil
400g chicken breast cut into strips
250ml chicken stock

Preparation:

Blend vegetables, herbs, spices and water until a smooth paste is created

Heat olive oil in large, non-stick frying pan, add the paste and fry stirring constantly for around 1 minute

Add chicken to frying pan, stir for around 3 minutes then add chicken stock

Mix well, cover and cook on low heat until tender (around 10 minutes)


Remember there's plenty more where that came from...

http://www.stormforcefitness.com/article.php?pid=216 (scroll down to the recipe section)