Personal Training

Basic Measurements

Posted by

There are basic markers we can measure and improve to gauge overall health.

In a hospital or medical environment, we will measure Heart Rate, Respiration Rate, Temperature, Peripheral Oxygen Saturation (SpO2), Blood Pressure and AVPU (the patients level of alertness).

More invasively, we will then take an ECG and VBG / ABG (Venous Blood Gas / Arterial Blood Gas). These allow us to have a good  impression of the current state of your heart and a gross impression of your metabolic processes (glucose, haemoglobin, lactate etc).

With these measures and a good history, we will have a good idea of just how unwell you are and where to start looking for the underlying problem.

If you are unfortunate enough to need admission, part of the nursing process will involve measuring your height and weight. This allows us to calculate the correct drug dose and other supportive measures.

We are also able to calculate your body mass index. This is a commonly used scale, taken from your weight in kilos, divided your height in metres squared. It allows us to quickly see whether you are underweight, average, overweight or obese.

Outside a hospital environment, some of the above measures are often really useful for tracking your personal health, in conjunction with your general practitioner. A low pulse, low blood pressure and stable BMI are all indicators of positive health.

Some people argue that in more athletic individuals, BMI is not a good marker and it may not be very useful in very muscular people. However, it does still indicate how much overall load is being placed on the body, including the heart and the joints.

It can also be argued that, as a healthy adult, until you are able to squat 70-100% of your own body weight, bench press 50-70% of it (dependent on gender), deadlift 120% of your bodyweight, get up from lying on the floor 10 times and walk quickly for at least an hour, with a body fat percentage of between 20 and 25% then you can probably do with losing some fat and improving your global fitness. These are, of course, arbitrary markers for a fully able bodied adult and you may wish to define your own within your own physical boundaries.

Another easy to track health marker is waist to hip ratio. This has been written about before here and is the circumference of your waist, just above the navel, divided by the circumference around your hips. For men, this should be less than 0.9 and for women, less that 0.8. If it were too high then it is indicative of intra abdominal fat, which is known to be unhealthy.

Therefore, I would propose the following as good targets for anyone without underlying known health condition.

A blood pressure of 120-130 / 70

A resting pulse of 50-70bpm

BMI below 25 unless measurably muscular

Waist to Hip ratios appropriate for gender

The above markers for fitness, once warmed up.

If you think that you have a physical restriction holding you back from what you would like to achieve and would like us to support you in improving your health, call and book in for a no obligation chat.

As always, this is not to be taken as legal medical advice and if you have any health concerns, see your registered doctor who will be able to help.

 

The long tail problem and noise floors in clinical practice

Posted by

In engineering, there is the concept of noise. This is generally considered to be any unwanted signal in a source and can create huge issues in many areas by masking the desired information. In clinical practice, this noise problem is seen whenever patients are telling us lots of information but not necessarily the things we need to hear and also when we are trying to promote our practices to the wider public.

In statistics, there is a concept known as the long tail, relating to the distribution of certain events (fig 1)

Fig 1: A Long tail curve

(Source Wikipedia; “Long tail” by User:Husky – Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Long_tail.svg#/media/File:Long_tail.svg)

In our case, we could say that the Y axis represents public visibility and the number of practitioners on the X. As can be easily seen, a few practitioners are highly visible and could therefore be considered well known. The rest are all at about the same level. If we applied our Pareto concepts to this, the curves fit and 20% of the people have 80% of the visibility. Great news for them, not so for the rest of us.

How do we go about moving from the unseen to seen? By creating more awareness? This is where the noise problem kicks in. If we are all shouting louder to attract attention, the noise floor just raises, burying the wanted signal in the unwanted clutter. Noise is, as stated, any unwanted signal on a specific channel. Most people have fallen for the myth that communicating via social media is the way to go, to collect followers and post lots of fun things to them. However, time the posts wrongly, include things that people don’t want to hear and you become noise, another missed or irritating signal. So you can either get around this by turning the signal up, posting more often, collecting more followers, likes etc and hope it has the desired effect or you can change tack.

If we were to use a mobile comms approach, the shout louder approach is a 2G, old generation one. If you can’t get above the noise on your chosen frequency band, use a bigger amplifier. With more modern techniques, including wifi and 3/4G mobiles, we use a process known as spread spectrum. This takes the signal we want to transmit and spreads it out across the transmission medium, allowing it to avoid noise, jamming and requiring less overall transmission power. It requires sychnronisation between receiver and transmitter, a process that is handled and agreed at initial set up.

Applying this to a clinical field, if we want to communicate with our current or potential client base, we need to communicate over several different frequency bands, at a known rate and with information that is valid to them. For example there is no point having an active Facebook page if your clients are over 50, never use social media and are very local to you. Instead, we need to use the current base as hopping amplifiers, taking our signal and passing it on. This also allows us to use the trust generation, where one person implicitly trusts a connection, since their friend does. This can require both a driven and request based protocol, where we either ask the person to refer us or produce something that they will want to pass on, spreading our message.

How does all of this relate to the long tail? Without a well structured communication and client generation plan, we are within that tail, an issue also connecting to income. The 20% that might be getting the visibility may also be the ones getting the patients / income. In the creative industries, there are a couple of thinkers who talk about true fans. A true fan is one who buys all of the paintings a particular person makes, goes to see their shows, tells their friends and so forth. With a comparatively limited number of true fans, the artist can make a living, the number required varying with the art form (a musician may need far more than a painter as their average unit price would be lower). We too need fans, people who not only amplify our signal but who can provide us with some form of regular and steady income. Once you sit down and figure out how many you need, you can develop your strategy from there, so that your message is spread correctly, focused and not considered noise.

You don’t need to lift yourself up above the noise floor, just make sure your signal gets received by those who should see it.

Training made personal 

Posted by

No matter how much you wish to make changes, sometimes the internal motivation simply isn’t there. 

Time pressures, knowledge, medical complications all make a difference in getting moving and making changes. 

In these circumstances, it’s a good plan to get a trainer in. 

The issue is how to pick one. 

A few pointers might be the following:

Do they look like they walk the talk?

Are they qualified and take regular courses to keep learning?

Are the regimes they’re recommending suitable for you?

Are they working from a big gym, a crossfit box or visiting home? Each has its own philosophy which you might love or hate. 

Can they give you references from successful clients who aren’t mates? 

Most will also give a trial session of two so you can experience their methodology. 

In the end, go by gut and get after it. 

Out there

Posted by

Out there is your dream job.

It isn’t.

Out there is your perfect partner.

They aren’t.

Out there is your perfect body, if you just take this supplement and do this five-minute exercise.

Nope.

Out there is a realm of possibilities.

Wrong.

Out there is a fantasy place, a modern dream  to placate the meek, invented to sell the next quick fix or short cut “hack”.

A sheen of glamour to disguise the truth.

Reality says there is no such thing as a dream job. There is the something that you are well suited to doing, where your unique talents and skills can be applied. It may take you years and several false starts to get there, and it will require hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Reality says that there is no such thing as a perfect partner, the soul mate who will happen to walk around the corner and into your life. There may be someone who is supportive, loving and with whom you click. They may be with you for years, or for a short time. And maintaining a relationship takes hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Reality says there is no such thing as a perfect body. Just the one you have been given. We can change it, support it and develop it to its best potential but you may never be a size 8 if your skeleton says otherwise, you may not have Rich Froning’s abs is you don’t have his genetics. And any change takes hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Right now is a realm of fantastic possibilities. Dreams can become ideas can become plans can become reality.

And out there is a whole team of people, be they friends, professionals and expert sources who are willing to help you achieve.

But it all requires hard work, self-discipline and flexibility.

Big Rocks

Posted by

We all know that exercise is important, that is is the best medicine.

But there’s never enough time.

It takes too long to drive to the gym, change, follow the program card, shower, drive home.

So many of us aim to do it like that, its what the experts and celebrity magazines tell us we need to do.

The experts. The people who own gyms. The fake celebs with too much time on their sponsored wrist watches.

The people who make money from our seldom used good intention memberships.

These people would prefer it if we ignored the less commercial solutions.

There are, of course, many benefits to a well set up gym. Resistance work has been shown to be hugely effective at preventing a wide range of medical issues as we age. They can be sensible for many people, both from a medical and a personal safety perspective (not everyone feels happy walking or running around the darker areas of town). Training with a group or a qualified coach can be far more motivating than on your own.

And sometimes the best gym is your front room, a kettlebell and mat. A brisk walk, a few swings, a few squats, a bit of stretching, 30 minutes. Current advice shows huge benefits are gained from only 30 minutes a day of moderate activity. A 30 minute morning walk, with a few stretches after.

No machines, no noisy sound systems, no strutting peacocks.

Your music, or silence. Privacy, so no body anxiety. No travelling. And a free shower after.

Whatever your exercise style, make it a big rock, something that is really important to you, and figure out how to put it in the bucket first.

Even if that means a 5am alarm.

Its a better start to the day that pretty much anything else.

 

A useful tool for client profiles

Posted by

Every day, we take clinical histories of patients and basic medical backgrounds.

Very often, we also do basic biomedical testing – height, weight and blood pressure, to give a brief picture of any issues that need to be addressed immediately.

To allow me the simplicity of calculating the clients Body Mass Index, Guideline Basal Metabolic Rate and Bodyfat percentage, I created an excel spreadsheet.

It also outputs a number of other trackable variables so you get the best bang for your buck!

This is attached here: Formula Tool

It allows for age, and sex as well, so might provide a useful reference guide.

Get the basics right first 

Posted by

It doesn’t matter what supplements you take, what your morning ritual looks like, who your guru is or whether you prefer goji berries, blueberries or beetroot as your preferred superfood, if you’re not getting stronger, faster or any achieving any measure you’re aiming for, there’s something not working. 

Nothing happens without enough sleep, enough water, enough high quality macronutrients. If you don’t get the basics sorted first, you’re building your castle on sand. 

So before you start spending on the latest expensive magic product, check you’re getting:

7- 8 hours restful sleep

2-3L water / fluids

75-150g protein

Plenty of vegetables and berries

No? 

Figure those out then move forwards. Basic consistent steps climb mountains. 

Be Ready….

Posted by

If you can run 10k in 40 minutes but not carry your buddy 200 yards, are you ready?

If you can squat twice your bodyweight but can’t even run for a bus, are you ready?

If you can walk for hours with a pack but can’t climb a rope, are you ready?

If you can’t swim 25m in a pool, clothed, are you ready?

You never know what life will throw at you. It may be carrying a sick child home from a day out, helping a friend move house, walking across town because the traffic is messed up, or even being caught up in a situation where your skills and fitness are vital to keep yourself, and those you’re responsible for, safe.

Chris Hadfield, in his book “An Astronauts Guide to life on Earth” has a point about being a zero.  You might not be a direct asset to the situation at hand, but you really don’t want to be a burden. Being fit and ready to respond makes you a better zero.

We all like to think we’re fit, but have no idea what that actually means. Being able to run 10k fast is a skill but if you’re washed out for a week after, that isn’t so great. Being built like a rugby prop is useful, if you play rugby. But those guys and girls can also run very fast (at least the professionals), can you?

For its many detractors and weaknesses (not enough endurance based cardio respiratory training in most boxes), crossfit and its like offers a great way of being a better human. Not only do you get faster, fitter and stronger, you can develop mobility and recovery.

Of course, you don’t need to join an expensive box to improve. A few basic kettlebells, sandbag and jump rope are all you need to start.

And get some first aid training. The basics really are basic but could save your life and those who you love.

So be a better human and a positive asset to everyone around you. Get after it.

Linked below is a basic training plan and ready guide. It assumes you can move without pain but little else. Caveat: See a medical professional before starting any new form of exercise plan to make sure it isn’t going to kill you.

Be Ready V2

Listen to your gut

Posted by

Too often you’ve heard the phrase “You are what you eat”. But have you considered the effect of what you eat on your performance, mentally and physically?

We all know caffeine can give you a pre workout boost, carbohydrate drinks are sometimes necessary for energy during a long session and a good recovery meal helps you prepare for the next one. We also know that some people suffer from significant allergies and intolerances that have a huge impact on their lives.

But what if what you were consuming was having a negative effect on you? Not catastrophically but in little ways. That the bread roll with your soup at dinner had triggered a little bit of gut irritation which reduced your capacity to perform through mediated inflammation? That a spot of reflux and indigestion from eating too late and too much had stiffened up your thoracic spine, leading to an inability to squat as efficiently?That the beer to celebrate a good result had set off a minor chain reaction leading to a niggling injury due to reduced healing capacity? That the fructose in your sports drink started a series of cravings for other sugary treats later in the day?

All of these are not uncommon cases of tiny adverse reactions to food and drink, but we too often ignore them. Thats not to say that we need to be utterly soulless and controlling about our diets, simply aware that what we put in has a dynamic and often medium term effect on our ability to perform optimally.

Pay a little more attention to the effect of what you consume and reap the rewards long term.

Story, Focus, Drive.

Posted by

Ever worn prismatic glasses? Often found at science fairs, these  creations appear to turn the world upside down. What they’re actually doing is putting it the right way up, since the lenses in our eyes invert everything and we have learned to correct automatically somewhere in our brains. Put on a pair and for a while, everything is difficult to do, your hands miss whatever you reach for and it’s impossible to walk. However,the brain very quickly learns the corrective states and you are able to get on as normal. Take them off, and the whole sequence has to be unlearned, which interestingly seems to take far longer.

This little trick confused natural philosophers, even Isaac Newton, for centuries as they knew from camera obscuras that lenses can invert images. So, as well demonstrating a number of fascinating facts about the brain,  it can be used as a metaphor for learning and achievement.

Some things we instinctively do. The basics of humanity are simply picked up as we go along. Walking, eating, sleeping and talking come pretty much built into the hardware. Other skills are taught in a more formal setting, such as reading, writing and mathematics. These require a structured approach but can be applied as a base layer of education to everything else we need to do. Beyond that are the skills that require time, effort and talent to achieve a high level of competence. None of us will be Usain Bolt, Chris Hadfield or Caitlin Moran. These people not only have brilliant born talents but have worked very hard to get to where they are.

The common ties between these layers of skill, innate, basic taught and advanced, other than practice are:

Story

Focus

Drive

A child wants to walk to explore its surroundings. Reading, writing and mathematics allow us to gain some traction in understanding the world better. Usain Bolt wanted to be the fastest runner, Chris Hadfield wanted to be an astronaut, Caitlin Moran a writer. From those basic goals, everything else flowed.

Refine, polish and adapt your story. Use that to generate the focus and drive that will get you many steps closer to where you need to be than just wishful thinking. If you don’t seem to be getting progress, review the story. Sometimes side branches can become the main path, occasionally they’re dead ends.

And looking at the prismatic glasses? Put on a pair and the brain suddenly has to get back to a state of normality, so will figure out the way to go about that, even without your slow conscious input. Your story can be the prismatic glasses. Why not give them a polish?