Top Fitness Personal Training

Ever thought about getting a standing desk for work?

If so, my latest blog might interest you - we go into:

- The "sitting is the new smoking" debate
- The rise of standing desks, and how they've become so popular
- Whether standing desks actually work

Feel free to give it a read when you get five minutes!

Should you get a standing desk? — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Standing desks have long been seen as a solution to our inactive office jobs, helping us to sit less and move more. But do they actually stand up to scrutiny? This latest blog reveals all.

The same people that always tell me they can’t lose weight are always the same people who refuse to walk because they think it won’t make a difference.

Walking is a game changer. It’s the first doable habit for many people to start losing weight. And, if you do it consistently, it helps you burn a lot of extra calories and aids with fat loss.

It may be a small thing and sure, it doesn’t feel like you’re doing CrossFit or Olympic lifting, but it’s a small action that isn’t hard to take and really starts to add up. Never underestimate getting your daily step count up.

If you're interested in hearing more on how walking can supercharge your weight loss, check out my blog on how to make weight loss a (literal) walk in the park:

NEAT – How to make losing weight a walk in the park — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Want to know how to send the amount of calories you burn through the roof, without spending hours sweating away in the gym? Read on.

One of the questions I'm asked most is how you can build a better bum through training. So, I thought I'd put my thoughts on the topic into a blog post, covering:

- The anatomy of the butt muscles (glutes) and why they're so important
- Why the "Squat b***y" is a myth
- Three exercises that are AMAZING for building a shapely bum

Check it out if you have a spare 5 minutes this lovely Friday!

https://www.top-fitness.uk/blog/how-to-build-a-beautiful-b***y

Being a basic-b!tch PT, one of my favourite things to do recently has been to take a walk and listen to Atomic Habits by James Clear. One lesson from this book that’s really resonated with me is the 1% rule.

Why? I’m guessing you’ve set goals for yourself at some point. And that you haven’t always hit these goals. I get it - me too. You start full of optimism, then after a few days or weeks let your new habits slip, and all of a sudden the exciting goal looks scary and unattainable.

This is where the 1% rule - the simple habit of becoming 1% better at something every day - comes in. If you decided to be 1% better every day at the start of a year, by September you’d be literally 100% better at that task than you are right now, and 365% better a year from now than when you started.

The 1% rule mirrors a lot of the habit formation work I do, working with clients to get them 1% closer to their goals every day. We work together to find areas in which they can make a positive change that doesn’t feel difficult in isolation but, over time, generates mind-blowing results.

For example, here’s one for free.

When trying to improve your daily step count, rather than trying to go straight to 10k steps a day (which there’s no magic or science behind), just try doing 100 more steps each day. So if you did 5,000 steps today, tomorrow you'd have to do 100 more steps (5,100) to give 1% more. Over 10 days that's a thousand more steps each day - all by just making a tiny improvement on the previous day.

How could you apply the 1% rule in your own life this week?

"Drink more water" definitely isn't groundbreaking health advice. In fact, you probably hear it a few times a week. But have you ever wondered:

- How much water you should actually be drinking?
- The two vital tells that mean you can quickly and easily tell whether you're hydrated or not?
- Whether beer and coffee actually do dehydrate you?

If the answer to any of the above is "yes", you should probably check out my latest blog post, where I dive into the science to answer every question you've ever had about hydration.

Check it out when you get five minutes -

A deep dive into hydration: How much water do you need to drink? — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Wondering how much you need to drink each day to stay healthy, happy and hydrated? Wonder no more - this latest blog covers everything you need to know about hydration, why it’s important, and how to drink more throughout the day.

So Netflix has been churning out some pretty good content lately (I mean, with those falling subscriber counts they have to be).

One example is White Hot, the documentary about the rise and fall of fashion brand Abercrombie & Fitch.

Remember Abercrombie & Fitch?

Prob. Lem. At. Ic.

These people only used to use “All-American'' swimsuit models or sports stars for any of their modelling work. If you had:

- Any slight physical imperfection?
- A body fat % above 10%?
- Any ethnic background other than Caucasian?

You wouldn’t model for them, you wouldn’t work in their stores and - get this - their (clapped) CEO didn’t even want you wearing their clothes!

Thankfully, advertising, fashion and society more generally is certainly more body-positive nowadays.

Even in the fitness space, we’re thankfully moving away from the old “looks are everything” mindset in favour of more balance.

Rather than sticking needles in our backsides so we can slather ourselves in fake tan and step on a stage, we’re focusing more on improving performance, getting healthier and getting both fitter and happier - a much more positive mindset to be in.

This is also the mindset I apply to the online clients I work with as a PT. If you want someone to prep you for a bodybuilding contest? Or spend six weeks starving you and shouting at you to get you an amazing-looking (but bloody miserable) “before and after picture”?

I’m not your guy.

But if you want to focus on sustainable, healthy behaviours that strike a balance between helping you smash your short-term fitness goals and actually being manageable (and enjoyable) long-term? Still getting the transformation you’re after while actually having fun in the process?

Now that I can work with.

Interested in hearing more about how we can work together? Drop me a DM and I’ll get you all the details.

Some of you might know that last month, the UK passed a law that means that many food businesses (restaurants, cafes etc) now need to display the calorie counts of all the meals they serve on their menus.

Simply enough I, like thousands of others across the country think this is a bad idea, for a number of reasons - the main reasons being it's not going to work as a weight control strategy, and that it may be damaging for the 1.25 million people across the UK that currently suffer from eating disorders.

I've collected my thoughts on the topic in my latest blog - please do give it a read if you have 5-10 minutes spare today and let me know what you think!

How to enjoy meals out without counting calories — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Want to know how to enjoy a meal out while on a diet - without having to count your calories? Read on for seven top tips.

Let's talk about Diet Coke.

Diet Coke gets a seriously bad rap.

It'll give you cancer.

It'll spike your insulin.

Its adverts are dumb.

That kind of thing.

None of these (aside from maybe the advert thing) are true.

In truth, Diet Coke is just a low-calorie, zero-sugar version of the original soda. While it's definitely not a health drink, what Sharon from accounts has been telling you about its evil, cancer-causing ways is massively over-exaggerated. In fact, for those of you with a sweet tooth Diet Coke can actually be a useful weight loss tool by helping you curb cravings, virtually calorie-free.

Why am I telling you this? One, because I think it's important you don't have any unnecessary fears over a harmless (and delicious) drink.

And two?

Because until a couple years back I was one of those t*ts using his pre-pubescent voice to tell anyone who would listen (not many people, to be fair) that Diet Coke was the devil's drink, that it was one of the worst things you could drink, and every other myth under the sun.

Luckily, with some time and research, I learned the error of my ways. But, it took a lot of effort, and time wasted, not enjoying a drink that I liked, which was in fact perfectly fine from a health standpoint.

If you'd like to skip that wasted time and work with a coach to accelerate your knowledge, results, and fitness, I currently have a couple of spaces free for online coaching - feel free to DM me for details.

And, if you’d like to learn more about Diet Coke (and zero-calorie drinks more widely) I’ve got you covered - check out my full blog on the topic: https://www.top-fitness.uk/blog/diet-coke-bad-for-you-or-not

Diet Coke - Bad for you or not? — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Ever wondered just how "bad" for you diet sodas really are, and if they really help you lose weight? Read on to find out everything you've ever needed to know.

Why your scale is lying to you.

Wake up. Step on the scale. >>> Don’t like what you see.

Step off. Take off your clothes. Step back on the scale. >>> Still not what you were hoping for.

Step off. Sit on the toilet. Hop back on the scale. >>> Still. Not. Good. Enough.

Your day just started off a total disappointment, and it hasn’t even started yet. Joys.

That number means something to you. It’s important. I get that and appreciate the power that number holds even though it rarely tells the truth.

So you go through the day, trying to forget about the morning weigh-in routine. The day went well. You give yourself a high-five . It was hard, but you chose the salad at lunch, even though it wasn’t what you really wanted. You said no to the 3:30pm chocolate temptation. Surely, surely this made a difference!
You get home and run straight for the scale, full of excitement.

“How the blinking bejesus did I gain 4 pounds?!?!?”

Cue the spiral.

You grab that chocolate bar, ditch the workout - There’s no hope and nothing you do seems to matter.

You’ve “gained weight” but lost perspective.

There are numerous reasons the number on the scale has gone up. But here’s what you want to focus on:

Perspective.

4 pounds of fat is roughly 14,000 calories. That means you’d have to overeat by 14,000 calories OR roughly 26 Big Macs to actually gain 4 pounds of fat. The vast majority of us don’t even consume that many calories in an entire week.

The day-to-day and hour-to-hour weight fluctuations are normal parts of biology and they don’t reflect your progress. The scale merely shows you your total body mass.

You may have “gained weight” and in the process, you lost perspective.

We all know this process takes time. Some days there are steps forward. Some days there are steps back. But through it all, keep your perspective.

Looking to get a handle on your food and exercise - without wasting time on guesswork or fads? I have 3 free two-week passes of online personal training that I would like to gift to busy, time-poor professionals who would otherwise be too nervous or uncertain to start their health and fitness journey.

I want nothing in return for these slots, I have the time and would love to use it to help people rather than scrolling on Facebook (which helps neither of us).

Interested? Drop me a message and I'll get you all the details.

We're now coming to the end of January, and for many of you that New Year's Resolution will be looking harder by the day, right? Luckily, I've got you covered. Click through to read my latest blog giving my five top tips (as featured in the Daily Express and Daily Mirror) on how to set - and stick to - health and fitness goals for life.

Five Top Tips for sticking to your New Year fitness goals — Top Fitness Online Personal Training Five ways to take action today and set health and fitness goals that will last you for life.

If you want to build bigger arms (which is of course the most important thing in the world, ever) you need to do loads of bicep curls, right?

Wrong. In fact, your triceps (the muscle at the back of your arm) makes up around 2/3rds of your arm muscle, meaning that if you want bigger guns you need to factor some tricep work into your workout routine.

If you're struggling to decide what tricep work to include, I've got you covered - I contributed some advice to T3 recently giving my five favourite tricep exercises you can do with dumbbells meaning that (as long as you have some dumbbells kicking around) you can build your arms both in the gym and at home. Check it out when you get a few minutes!

The best tricep exercises with dumbbells as recommended by a gym owner/PT The 5 best exercises for building bigger arms, as recommended by the founder of Top Fitness, Tom Opper