Health and Fitness

On: Simple

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Simple is not the same as easy.

In fact, most of us complicate things, because simple is hard work.

If you look at the goals most of us want to achieve, they seem simple, yet we fail so often. Partly through our own weakness, partly through temptation, and mostly because the simple route is the hardest.

Want to get stronger, slimmer, richer, have better relationships? Good. Admirable goals. Now go work at them.

Stronger? Train, not just exercise. Sacrifice something important to get there.

Slimmer? Be careful what you wish for, lets change that to optimise your metabolic health. Now don’t have the take away and exercise regularly.

Richer? Spend less than you earn, clear up your debt burden and be creative with investing.

Better relationships? They take a lot of work, mostly on yourself.

All simple goals, all challenging and resource consuming.

And seek support. We can’t help with the financial or relationship goals, although being healthier and more resilient can have huge positive benefits in all aspects of your life, but we can support you with getting stronger, healthier and more resilient.

Contact us and see how we can help you upgrade.

On: Dosing

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On: Dosing.

The dose is important. If you take too little of a medicine, it is ineffective. If you take too much it will kill you.

The same stands for training, or almost any action. Too little and you will experience no benefit, too much and you will burn out. Of course, this effect tends to be cumulative, and with training, too much may not be immediately obvious.

Which is why finding your baseline, and seeking professional input is vital, particularly when starting out or attempting a specific goal.

Once you’ve set a goal, seek an expert to tune it and succeed.

On: Phones

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Look around next time you’re in a gym, or pretty much anywhere. If its not in the middle of a crossfit WOD or a class, most people will be playing with their phone. Staring at it, caressing it, stroking it. If they paid that much attention to their partner, the relationship would probably be significantly improved.

Maybe they are checking their workout program, or changing tracks on the playlist. But most of the time they’re messaging, scrolling and simply being distracted.

One of the many places a phone does not belong is in a gym. You need to be present, in mind and body, for safety, for effectiveness. Otherwise its simply an activity you are cosplaying and you are not reaping the full benefit.

The gym is your time. For training, for self improvement, for relaxation, for training.

If you use your phone for workouts, get a cheap note book and transcribe the plan into that. If you feel that it is imperative that you are contactable, then mute all other notifications and put the phone in your bag to ring. And then negotiate time alone, there is nothing so important that you can’t put it off for an hour. And if there is, maybe you shouldn’t be in the gym. If you listen to music, wireless headphones can transmit up to 20m, and you can set the playlist before you leave home.

So put the phone down. Be present, train with intent, and tap into the improvements in mind and body that can offer.

On: Training

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You’ve been in the gym, in the pool, or on the road. You’re turning up, putting in the hours. And yet, you’re not improving. The weight isn’t shifting, the personal bests are not rolling in, the same old faces as the same competitions still shake your hand, the race finish time is about the same as last year. You can’t actually do more miles, or lift more weight, as other commitments would suffer, and you’re on the cusp of overtraining.

Frustration abounds.

But…. are you training or exercising? We can too often convince ourselves that we are training, simply because we are going through the motions and turning up. The difference? Exercise is exertion, training is progressive overload with rest and retesting points. Fitness posers exercise, gym bros exercise, older people in village halls exercise. Exercise is good, its vital to positive health, but past a certain point it won’t necessarily lead to the changes you’re wanting.

However.

Perhaps there is another way.

Take a break. A few days off, or if that sucks mentally, a few easy days. During that time, define some baseline movements that matter to your discipline. A defined distance for running, swimming or cycling. A set of lifts that matter, a benchmark workout.

Then go for it. Have a test week. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it, and if you can’t manage it, you can’t improve it.

See how good you are, push it and draw a line in the sand. Go far, go fast, go heavy.

Take the results, sit down, with an expert if you can, or yourself and a pad if you have a good training knowledge.

You can always get stronger, improve mobility, hone skill, but then look honestly at what you’re good at, what you need to improve, then broaden the scope. Actively look for the weaknesses. Can you improve your nutritional base line, your sleep, your recovery?

Write a plan, stick to it, record, then in 6 weeks, do it again.

You will get better.

Maybe, finally, your power to weight ratio will improve, your 5K time will crack the that precious mark, your bear complex will get better.

Test, reflect, plan, execute.

If you find mobility is an issue, an injury doesn’t respond to rest, you want some nutritional guidance, or another expert opinion, then come see us. With over 20 years therapeutic experience, 30 years of practical involvement in sport, and a unique perspective on life, we may be able to help.

Onwards.

 

What cost fitness?

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What cost fitness?

Occasionally, people complain about gym prices, the cost of personal trainers and kit.

Only occasionally though. Because if you understand the value, you wouldn’t complain about the cost. Other than kit. There’s always a new shiny toy to try, and past a certain point, none of which will really improve your performance.

If you’re stronger, you’re less likely to die early, unforeseen events excepting. If you’re fitter, you are more likely to survive a hospital admission (being admitted to hospital is really bad for your health). If you’re healthier, life seems easier, because you have a greater capacity for stress.

Now, fitness is different to wellness. Wellness is a never-ending feast of rubbish, where a huge number of people, both honest and exploitative play. You might benefit from a yoga and meditation session (both are demonstrably good for you), but you don’t need yoni steaming and jade eggs. And you certainly don’t need to spend 300 pounds on any of them.

Fitness is far more measurable and relatable.

At the most basic, you need nothing more than you already have to improve your fitness, other than knowledge.

However, if you know nothing, then the next step is to ask an expert, or at least a professional. This is where gyms, trainers and such come in.

Do not ask the internet, as you have no filter on what is good or bad. As an internet guru, I could tell you to do 5k every other day and 50 burpees for breakfast but if you’ve got a medical condition, or an injury, or the most exercise you take is picking up the remote when you turn off your laptop after working from home all day, then I may actually kill you. Unlikely, but possible.

Instead, find someone you can have a conversation with, who can answer pertinent questions and give you honest answers. You may need to pay for their time but hey, you wouldn’t ask your next door neighbour to help fit a kitchen unless they are already skilled in it.

If you can’t afford that route, then go to the library and read a book. Lots of fitness people have written books and at least they’re relatively validated. And the walk there is a good start.

So, to loop back to the start, pricing. A gym has significant running costs, a personal trainer is not working 40 hours a week and is self employed. In the end, it is a return on investment question “am I getting out what I am paying in?”

As an example, a local CrossFit box charges £75 per month for 3 sessions a week. But for that you are getting equipment, expertise, time, and a quality environment. A local council gym may charge £30 a month, but you won’t be getting the expertise and programming, so you’d better know what you’re doing on your own (hint- that 12 reps/3sets on each machine will rapidly lead to plateau and boredom).

How does this tie in to us? We are professionals. We treat injuries, and have over 20 years of working with people. We coach, and work with trainers who actually care and understand their jobs.

If you want to live longer, healthier and perhaps even happier, come talk to us.

The first step is the hardest, but the most rewarding.

On: Advocacy

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I don’t have your best interests at heart. Why would I? I have my own stuff to deal with once our interaction is over. The criticism, fear of failure, and self doubt in my mind. Administration, other patients, personal and family concerns, my own health issues, background noise, the passing comment from a colleague that got stuck in my head and keeps rattling around, the alerts and distractions on the screen in front of me. That’s not even counting the 30 or 40 other interactions I will have today, another 8 patient appointments and the meetings related to those.

As a medical professional I try my best to push those aside, to silence them and focus on you. To give you the time and attention you need and deserve, to bring the years of training and experience to bear on your behalf. To know when to treat, when to advise and when to refer. And hopefully at the end of our consultation together, as we conclude our interaction, you will feel listened to, reassured and aware of the next steps.

But I don’t have the time to advocate for you, to have your long term best interests at heart and ensure a life plan is laid out before you. You simply get the time slices I can afford, amongst all the other pressures.

Thats your responsibility. It has to be. This is a 2 way relationship. Come to me for treatment, support, advice and reassurance. Then take control of the other elements yourself, to make sure everyone is working towards the overall goal of longevity and optimal health.

Be your own advocate.

On: technology, tests and treatment.

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Listen to the patients history, they will tell you the diagnosis.

Possibly not entirely, as patients sometimes miss detail or forget timelines.

However, subsequent to a thorough history and examination, all other tests should be used to confirm or deny your hypothesis, including imaging and blood tests.

The problem comes when we, as practitioners or medical professionals, get distracted by new technology or training. This means we look at what we can do, not what we should do.

Ethically, one should do the least for the most benefit. So just because I can order a blood test doesn’t mean I should, if it won’t change my subsequent decision tree. And just because I’ve bought a shiny machine, the information it produces won’t necessarily fundamentally alter the treatment plan.

As for treatment itself, the gold standard therapeutic ladder must always be applied. Physical intervention, then medication, then surgical intervention.

Knowing how to apply this, when to step up and down, the precise tool and most importantly when to stop, is what we spend years training for and why the patient needs to select their practitioner with care and recommendation.

Only then will they find the person that understands and diagnoses their presentation, educates and treats it effectively and most importantly demonstrates how to prevent its recurrence.

Whoever you, as a patient, go to, don’t be taken in by the technology and treatment modalities, look behind the curtain, look at outcomes and be driven by the outcome.

If you think we can help, please do call, we have over 20 years of experience, in both NHS and private practice, to help you work with your presentation.

On: Movement

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Note: if you’re a seasoned gym goer, this isn’t going to be for you.

Leggings and trainers on, new t shirt, new attitude.

Old body.

A common problem. You’ve got your new motivation, goals set and defined, but after a couple of days, you’re sore, stiff and tired.

Your body hasn’t had time to learn.

If you haven’t moved and exercised vigorously for a while, then time is needed for your soft tissue to change, to adapt, and begin to grow.

And, if you’re a little older, then you need show your body some love to clear the worst of the scar tissue and old injuries first.

From zero, walk. From walking, move weights, from weights and walking to increased cardiovascular load (running, cycling, swimming, rowing etc) and more frequent / intense weights.

Your overall goal should be 3 -4 sessions a week of decent cardio, with an elevated Heart and Breathing rate, and 2 sessions of Resistance Work. If you do CrossFit in a good box, or circuit training classes, you can get this in one session, but anything is good.

If you find injuries that need addressing, niggles that need support, or want a more individual plan based on your body, experience and goals, then contact us, or a professional near you.

Move, you evolved to.

On: Eat to Move

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Flip the script.

Don’t think what is a good or bad food. Other than chewing asbestos or drinking brake fluid, most things we consume are not intrinsically bad for us.

Your body doesn’t see a burger with added cheese and a plate of chips as unhealthy, it sees it as a huge stack of macro and micronutrients. (Macronutients – Fat, Carbohydrates, Proteins. Micronutrients – vitamins, minerals, other compounds). Neither does it see an avocado and salmon salad as healthy. Again, it rapidly reduces it to things it needs and things it doesn’t.

The difference is that the burger probably contains more things that the body doesn’t need, whilst the salad probably contains more that it does.

And herein lies the crux of the matter. If you consume too much of anything, there are detrimental effects. And if you consume too little, ditto. Both lead to poor health, in different ways.

In a modern western society, for the majority of us, we are fortunate that a lack of macronutrients is not an issue. The quality of those macronutrients become a matter for debate and education, but not one for here. So, we mostly suffer from an excess, with the consequential effects of excess weight, poor health and reduced healthspan.

So flip the script. Concentrate less on what you eat, whether it is a “good or bad” food. Eat to move.

If you want to lose weight, eat a little less and move a little more.

If you want to gain weight, eat a little more and move to stimulate the body.

Simple in principle, challenging in practice.

If in doubt, or if you want a more detailed discussion, please do contact us or another qualified professional.

Make a start, the journey ends at the end, but is worth it every day.

New year, old you.

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My new calendar is shiny and beautiful, from a science communication group called Kurzgesagt. (a fabulous YouTube channel). But it is just a graphical representation of another year, and a tool to help me track and organise my time.

Therefore, the concept “new year, new you” is fundamentally pointless, since all you have done is turn a page. Subsequently expecting old habits, entrenched patterns and routines to change overnight will lead to probable failure, disappointment and for some, loss of internal esteem (“I have failed at this task therefore I am a failure”). Expecting to lose weight, exercise more, eat better, drink less, learn a language and read a book a week, all at the same time, is likely to prove impossible, especially when turning off the TV and getting to bed on time is a challenge.

I propose we drop this charade. Rather than starting afresh on a specific day, especially one often immediately following a period of excess, we would perhaps benefit from spending time first reflecting on what we want the outcomes to be, then look at what will lead to those, then pick a specific single goal and work towards that.

To help with this, I will be doing a sequence of posts covering simple tools and techniques that may help you first assess your goals, then progress towards achieving them.

Of course, none of this is specific medical or theraputic advice, it is all general, and if you feel that you need professional support, then please seek it, either via your GP, or the appropriate trained expert.