"To know and not do, is not to know"

Here's the thing...

Everyone knows they should do more.

They know what they need to do (supposedly).

YOU know.

...but do you do it?

For most people, the answer is NO.

That's what my job is.

My job is, essentially, to get people to DO what they know they should be doing.

So many people refuse to hire a coach or get help because "they know what to do" or "it's too expensive", but the reality is, they just place higher priority on other things.

They'd rather binge on Netflix than go workout.

They'd rather have the newest iPhone than pay for a coach.

They'd rather follow a free plan that's not working and kid themselves that they're doing the right things (even though it's not working???)

Fancy cars and clothes... going out every weekend... takeaways multiple nights a week... everyone's different, but mostpeople will happily drop £100's every week/month on stuff that's unnecessary (and even damaging their health!), yet they won't spend it on their health.

Then they drive around in the fancy car, wearing the fancy clothes, getting their hair and nails done, lips pumped full of crap or buying other stuff to make them look/feel better, still unhappy with the way they look, because they'll do everything but the most important things - eat well and train.

So the message here is simple:

If you're not getting the results you want, because you're either not doing what you should be, or you're doing the wrong things - you need a coach.

...and I'd love to help you.

If you're ready to:

• Invest in yourself, not "stuff"

• Improve your health

• Lose some excess weight

• Move better

• Feel better

• Put in the effort

And you need help with:

• Knowing what to do (the right things)

• Staying on track and accountable

• Working around a busy schedule

• Troubleshooting issues as they arise

• Support along the way

Book in for a quick call with me (no charge), to see how/if I can help you.

Just fill out the form here and I'll be in touch.

I really do want to help! I've spent 20 years learning this stuff and it goes to waste if I don't share it!

So fill out the form and let's chat. Then you can decide if you want my help or not.

Fill it out.

Mark

10,000 steps... really?

I know you've heard it: You need to do 10,000 steps a day.

But is it true?

Basically, no.

Here's why...

Firstly, the "10,000 steps a day" was a number pulled out of thin air as an advertising campaign to sell pedometers back in the 60's.

No science to back it up. Just a clever marketing tactic.

Secondly, everyone is different. 10,000 steps for someone who's overweight and struggles to walk is not the same as 10,000 steps for a skinny teenager. And the fitter you get, the easier it becomes and the more efficient you get at it.

Thirdly, not all steps are equal. This ties in with point 2 really. 10,000 steps carrying extra weight (be it bodyweight or an external load) is MUCH harder than walking unencumbered.

In the same way walking uphill is much harder than walking on the flat.

So how many steps should you be doing?

Really, it's a range not an exact number target, but actual research suggests there's a lower limit of around 7,000 steps a day.

That's enough activity to lower the risk of all-cause mortality.

Humans are meant to be moving for the majority of the day, not sedentary, so the more active you are, the better your health, and for most people and those who don't "train" recording your steps is the most obvious measure of activity levels.

Is there an upper limit?

Yes.

You see, there's only so much energy your body can produce each day and that energy is needed for recovery, repair and immune function as well as activity. So if you're using it all up on excessive amounts of activity, those other processes will suffer as there's not enough energy to go around.

You'll end up feeling exhausted, even just from walking.

The Metabolic Ceiling

It's been shown that there's a limit to how much energy your body can produce in a day, and when studied, those who did more activity didn't actually burn significantly more energy.

So you can overdo it.

The limit of how much energy you can burn in a day is actually around 2.5x your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).

You can obviously exceed this if you do more activity than the upper limit, you won't just grind to a halt like a car that's run out of petrol, but it'll have a knock-on effect to your recovery and health.

It's hard to figure out your upper limit "steps"-wise, but you can use HRV to monitor your recovery levels and base your daily activity on that.

Essentially, if you feel tired and lethargic, and lacking in energy, or are getting ill more frequently, you're probably overdoing it.

It's a good idea to simply alternate between your lower and upper limits on a day to day basis (and ideally, base it on your recovery each day).

Also remember that it's not just steps that count (and that not all steps are equal).

Your best bet is to track your energy expenditure across all modalities ("steps", strength training, general movement and/or whatever other activities you do each day).

So, basically, you don't need to do 10,000 steps a day, however, that can be a good target to begin with if you're not doing any other training.

But as I've said before, given the choice between 30 minutes of walking or 30 minutes of meaningful exercise (resistance training), I'd almost always opt for the latter.

Don't sacrifice gym time in order to "get more steps in!"

Sign up at MoveBetter.Club for MY preferred training styles, especially if you hate the idea of hitting the gym and lifting weights like a bodybuilder!

Reach out if you want more help :)

Mark

Sleep to Lose Fat

Please don't misunderstand me - sleep is NOT the magic pill to losing weight, BUT it does have a huge impact on your fat loss efforts.

You see, in a study aptly named "insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity", they ran some tests.

Essentially, they took a group of overweight people, gave them the same amount of food and the same activity levels (mostly sedentary, and we'll get to that in a moment).

The only difference was, one group spent 8.5 hours in bed, and the other group spent 5.5 hours in bed (actual sleep times were about 7hrs 25mins and 5hrs 15mins respectively).

By the end of the study, BOTH groups lost about 3kg in weight (makes sense since the calorie deficit was similar across all participants).

BUT...

The group who slept only 5.5 hours lost 80% of that 3kg from muscle tissue and only 20% of it from fat mass.

The 8.5 hour sleep group however lost about 50% of the weight from muscle tissue and 50% from fat mass.

If you're in a calorie deficit, you can always expect to lose both muscle tissue and fat mass, but the ratio between the two is what makes all the difference.

In simple numbers, the 5.5 hour group lost about 0.6kg of fat, whereas the 8.5 hour group lost about 1.5kg of fat - that's nearly 3 times the amount!

Not to mention that losing muscle tissue is NOT something you should be striving for as it'll hinder your ability to burn more fat going forwards!

So, if body recomposition is your goal (losing body fat and gaining a bit of muscle), then SLEEP is your best friend!

Remember, these guys were on the same diet and activity levels, the only difference was the amount of sleep they were getting.

If you still think sleep isn't important for fat loss, I don't know what else I can do to convince you!

This also highlights why tracking just bodyweight is an absolute waste of time.

You could be destroying your muscle tissue and keeping hold of most of your fat, yet still think you're making progress because the number on the scales is going down.

Please, track measurements and body fat %, NOT just weight.

To make things worse, the 5.5 hour group also experienced more hunger, so if you're in the real world this would likely lead to more snacking and poorer food choices further hindering your fat loss efforts.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, the participants in the study were mainly sedentary - there was no real exercise protocol in place.

Since we know that resistance training will also affect the ratio between fat and muscle breakdown (in favour of more fat being used and muscle tissue retained) in a calorie deficit, it's fair to say that both groups would likely have had better ratios if they'd been training properly too.

It's unlikely that you could stop ALL muscle tissue being lost, but the ratios would be even better for the 8.5 hour group!

Going back to your fat loss efforts, it becomes clear that the key take homes here are:

1. You need to be in a calorie deficit to lose weight
2. You need adequate sleep to ensure more of that weight is coming from fat rather than lean tissue
3. You should be resistance training to further tip the scales in your favour in terms of where that "weight" is coming from

So no, sleep is NOT the magic pill, but it sure as hell will help in your fat loss efforts.

Check out my other posts for tips on how to improve both your sleep quantity and quality for the best results.

Reach out if you want more help :)

Mark

www.MoveBetter.Club

Training for recovery?!

This may sound counter-intuitive, but you can (and should) use workouts as recovery.

Yes, a workout can actually help you recover faster than just resting!

It's not all about massages, foam rolling and breathing exercises.

For some people, they never train hard enough for this to be an issue (those people need to start adding in a couple of high intensity sessions per week), but for others, ALL of their workouts are high intensity, and that's a problem.

Not all workouts should be high intensity

"Go hard or go home" is the mantra of the steroid-infused bodybuilder with a lack of blood flow to the brain!

A light workout the day after a heavy/high intensity workout can:

• Help the body shift into a recovery state (that's when the body grows and adapts in response to the hard workouts)

• Stimulate blood flow to the muscles (which will help them recover faster)

• Help build resilience (you need to be able to function after heavy workouts and this will build your capacity to do so)

• Improve breathing and movement quality by keeping you moving and not allowing you to stiffen up as is often the case in the days after a hard workout

• Make you FEEL better - it should give you more energy, not make you feel drained after the workout.

So, how do you do a recovery workout?

Just follow these simple rules:

• Keep it short - a 2-hour run isn't recovery, it's more stress. Aim for 20-40 minutes

• Keep it light - if you're doing "cardio", keep your heart rate reasonably low - about 60-75% of your max HR (think walking uphill at a reasonable pace or a light jog)

• Mix up your movements to work mobility and get every joint mobilised, and get blood flow into all muscles

• Spend a bit more time on any areas that feel like they need it - anything that feels particularly tight or sore

1. Start with some light mobility work and focus on your breathing as you do

2. Then aim for 10-20 minutes of light work - a circuit of easy exercises is probably best, just remember you're aiming for movement and recovery, not as many reps as you can in 60 seconds! Keep your heart rate in the target range and if it goes above, take a rest and dial it back a bit.

3. Then add in 2-3 sets of power or strength work to keep the nervous system stimulated (but not too much). A couple of sets of 8-10 reps per side of something like a standing cable rotation or med ball side throw would be perfect.

4. Finish with a few minutes of breathing exercises - just lay on the floor and focus on breathing as slowly as possible to get your heart rate as low as you can.

If you can alternate high intensity workouts with these recovery workouts, you're setting yourself up for success. Over-training shouldn't be an issue and that means better results long-term.

Don't train hard for days in a row, but you also shouldn't really need any days off - just do something light to aid recovery.

Be smart with your workouts. Use some to stimulate growth and adaptation (i.e. challenge yourself), and use others to aid in recovery, because recovery is where all of those adaptations occur.

No recovery = no adaptations. Which means all those hard workouts back to back are hours wasted and will actually make you feel worse!

The key to progress is to push yourself, then let your body recover. Rinse and repeat.

This will get better results for strength, fitness, muscle gain, fat loss and health.

If you need help getting some structure to your training, get in touch and let's talk.

Mark

Slow Down & Enjoy It!

I'll be honest with you here - I'm a bit of a chocoholic.

I went to a networking meeting not too long ago and after our little 60-second elevator pitch we had to tell two truths and a lie and everyone had to guess which was the lie...

People actually believed I ran 5 marathons in a year and thought me eating chocolate every day was the lie!

So, believe it or not - I LOVE chocolate.

What's this got to do with you?

Well, if you're like me, there's no way in hell you're eating one square and leaving the rest in the fridge for another day, or even a couple of hours! (Seriously - who the hell does that?!)

If it's there - I'm eating it.

And if I'm eating it - I'm eating it ALL!

It's easy to get a bit carried away and eat too much unless you only have one small bar, but it's cheaper to buy a pack or a massive bar than a regular bar isn't it?!

So here's what you should do...

Slow down and enjoy it.

Sounds simple, but actually, most people eat mindlessly and scoff down the chocolate (or biscuits, or cake, or crisps or whatever your "vice" is).

I can easily (and I do mean easily) eat a 4-pack of Wispa's in one sitting - 2 can be gone before I even make it home from the shop!

It's a bit like driving home and not remembering the journey - you were on autopilot!

So slow it down.

Sit down with it instead of eating "on the go" or while you're otherwise distracted.

Take a bite and really savour it. Enjoy the taste.

When you want the next bite, wait. Just a few seconds. Then take a bite.

Do this for every bite, and when you're finished, appreciate what you had and move on - DON'T reach for the next bar/bite/packet.

Quite often you can overeat (on anything) if you're eating mindlessly or whilst distracted.

So when you eat, make it a thing. Don't eat in front of the TV or whilst you're doing something else.

Enjoy your food, but enjoy the right amount.

Make it a rule that if you have your little treat, you make sure you enjoy it and aren't just eating it out of habit or boredom.

Set a rule that you can't eat whilst driving, walking around or working.

You could try to give it up entirely, but you shouldn't have to.

We all want treats in our life so it's about learning to control the urges and eat them in moderation.

Set yourself a few rules and stick to them, or else you're going to have to either keep struggling with it or go cold turkey - and neither of those options are good.

Also pay attention to when you reach for the goodies.

Is it when you're bored? 

Stressed? 

Tired? 

Is it just a habit (like having a biscuit with a cup of tea)? 

Is it just a habit whenever you walk into the kitchen? 

Do you automatically have it when someone else is (like ordering alcohol when you meet your friends at the pub or having a burger when your kids get a McDonalds)?

Once you recognise your cues for eating junk food, you're one step closer to getting control over it.

So, savour your treats and enjoy them. If you can do this, there's no need to forego them entirely or stress out about them.

Master you Nutrition with habits.

Let me know how you get on.

Or if you have any other tricks you use to control your junk food intake, I'd love to hear them, and I'll be able to share them - if it helps you, it'll almost certainly help others people too.

Mark

How Many Meals Should You Be Eating?

Some people swear by three meals a day; some people live on two. Others recommend from 5 up to 8 meals per day!

So what’s right?

Well, for starters, we’re all different, and what works for others may not work for you, and vice versa. 

What you need to pay attention to is how you feel when you follow different eating plans. If it makes you feel good, then it’s probably right for you, regardless of what the next guru says.

Before now I’ve recommended the “smaller meals every 2-3 hours” approach, and for some that’s great. Especially if your main goal is to bulk up – you need to eat more meals to get the sheer amount of food you need in. You can’t get 5,000 calories down you in 1 or 2 sittings (certainly not the right calories anyway!).

But, for fat loss and general health, as well as hormone optimisation (which is the key to weight loss, muscle gain, mood, energy levels, fat storage/burning, sleep and much more besides) I’ve come to realise that actually, despite all the reasons to do otherwise, we actually weren’t far wrong in the first place with the old “breakfast, lunch and dinner” routine.

There are a number of reasons for this, and although I HATE talking about calories (because if you’re eating the foods you’re supposed to be eating, calories really aren’t an issue), you’ll struggle to overeat on just 3 meals a day.

The key here is not to snack between meals. 3 meals means 3 meals. 

Various and numerous chemical reactions happen after we’ve eaten, and some hormones aren’t even released until 3-4+ hours after we’ve eaten, others take that long to get back to normal levels. 

The main hormones we’re concerned with here are Leptin and Insulin, which interact to determine when we feel full, and what we do with the food we’ve eaten. 

If these are out of whack, you can be sure your body fat levels will show it. The best way to address insulin resistance and leptin sensitivity is to take longer periods between eating, as well as selecting your foods carefully.

There’s a lot more to it than this, and I don’t have space here to go into detail, but you don’t need to know how or why it works to benefit from it. The most important thing you can do is to make sure when you do eat, you’re eating the right foods (see my previous articles/blog posts/website for details). 

So try it for a couple of weeks. Have a good breakfast (not toast/cereal etc. – have real food), then nothing until lunch 3-4 hours later, then nothing again, until dinner. No snacks between. No sugar-filled drinks (that includes “sugar-free” versions of things!). Just keep well hydrated.

Then when you’ve finished dinner – you’re fasting until breakfast 12+ hours later.

If you have breakfast at 9am, then lunch at 1pm, then dinner at 5pm - you're eating all of your meals within an 8-hour window (9-5), so you'll then be fasting for the reaming 16 hours each day. (See my other posts for more information on the benefits of fasting like this).

It’s important that you get all the nutrients you need at these three meals, so plenty of veg, lots of protein and fat from good sources, fruit, nuts and seeds. Don’t waste your meals with breads, pastas and other nutrient-free foods.

And always check with your GP before you make drastic changes to your diet – especially if you have any medical conditions. (Although I have to say that – it’s always a good idea!)

For more detailed guidance, check out MoveBetter.Club and get everything you need to start seeing the results you want.

Mark

Who Do You Want To Look Like?

There are many different training methods available to anyone that wants to lose weight. But which is best?

The most common option seems to be running. Many people who hate the thought of going to the gym, working out with weights, or attending fitness classes, opt to go running a few times a week in order to lose weight; but is this the best idea?

Bearing in mind that most people want to lose FAT, not WEIGHT, it’s safe to say that running ISN’T the best way to do it. There’s no doubt that it has worked for many people, but if you really want to reach your goals (which you may think are weight loss, but actually, you just want to fit into smaller clothes and look better – unfortunately, people have linked this with weight), you're better off doing resistance training.

Let’s make it easy to see what’s better for stripping fat and building the muscle that shapes your body...

Take a look at the average marathon runner – for the most part, they look skinny, emaciated, and generally not too healthy. They may weigh very little, but they have no muscle, and no shape to them – not the ideal figure is it?

Now take a look at a sprinter. They’re lean, muscular, with good shape and muscle tone. They look athletic and healthy, and will generally have LESS body fat than the marathoners.

Obviously these are two extremes, but the bottom line is if you want to lose fat, shape and tone your body, and look and feel strong and healthy, you need to ditch the long cardio sessions and start working with high intensity intervals (sprints if running’s your chosen activity) and start lifting weights.

If you enjoy jogging, then by all means, go jogging. But unless your goal is to be “skinny fat” (where you weigh very little and look skinny, but still have a high body fat – mainly due to a lack of muscle), then you also need to be doing intervals and weight training.

Another easy way to see what you need to be doing is to walk into any gym. Are the people who look how you want to look walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes, then moving across to sit on a bike for half hour and watch EastEnders? ... Or are they in the freeweights area lifting weights?

Don’t be fooled by the common misconception that cardio burns more calories. Use your muscles and lift weights that you struggle to finish your set with i.e. if you’re aiming for 12 lifts (repetitions), you should struggle to finish the last 2 or 3. 

Just take a look at British champion weightlifter Evelyn Stevenson (Google her name).

Not exactly the hulky mass of muscle that people (especially women) are afraid of becoming if they lift a weight!

It should be clear, just by looking at the different athletes, which type of training will produce the best results – if you want to look like a sprinter, train like a sprinter.

This may go against what you thought was the best way to train and what you’ve been told by magazines, friends, even trainers in the gym. But really, it’s pretty obvious.

Be aware also that the same goes for diet. Just because you’ve read it, a friend recommended it, or a trainer has told you to do it, doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Even if it works, there might still be a better way, and it’s usually the most obvious.

If you’d like to know more about how best to eat and train for your goals you can joining my membership site MoveBetter.Club where you'll be guided, step-by-step through nutrition and training to get the best results.

Mark

What are humans supposed to eat?

Diet is a hot topic, and which "Diet" to follow is an ongoing argument.

As a Personal Trainer I've studied nutrition for nearly 20 years. 

I've completed courses and qualifications on nutrition, read multiple books, spoken to other coaches and clients, and basically absorbed as much information as I can on the subject in order to come to my own conclusions based on education and evidence, not just taking someone's word for it (no matter who they are).

And I've got to say it's a mess!

Not all people are the same, not all "Diets" are the same, and there's no one-size fits all "Diet".

What you have to do is look at what all of the most successful "Diets" have in common.

Usually it's:

- Appropriate calorie intake for the desired outcome

and

- A focus on real food, not fake foods

Really good "Diets" will also look at:

- Hydration (and what you're drinking)

- Sleep

- Lifestyle 

and

- What training you're doing

However, the most logical approach to nutrition, in my eyes, is to simply look at what humans have been eating for thousands of years, not the last few decades.

And I've got to say, the carnivore diet makes the most sense to me.

Whilst I'm still wrestling with the idea that vegetables may actually be bad for us, which goes against literally every nutrition course I've ever done, it does make sense.

Humans are hunters.

A tribe that was unsuccessful hunting would have died out pretty quickly.

They wouldn't have survived eating just plants.

Whilst animals can run, hide and fight to protect themselves, plants are stuck in the ground. And they don't want to be eaten.

So if they can't run, hide or fight, how would they protect themselves???

With chemicals that stop them from being eaten. Toxins.

And by eating plants, we are taking in those toxins - which explains why many people can't eat certain vegetables - because they're more sensitive to those chemicals.

The rest of us may be able to 'tolerate' them better, but that doesn't mean they're not doing us harm at some level.

The most successful humans were the best hunters.

Those are the tribes that thrived.

This, to me, says it all.

We'd have hunted for our food (animals), and only supplemented that food with plants if there wasn't enough.

Plants were for survival only, not to thrive.

Yes, there's an argument for vitamins and minerals in vegetables, but we also need to consider what the most prized parts of the animals were...

The organs.

Organ meats (liver, kidneys, heart, brain, eyes, testicles etc.) contain ALL of the nutrients we need to survive and thrive.

Our ancestors knew, either intuitively or by trial and error, that the organ meats were the most important parts to eat.

So, while I'm not saying at this point that you should stop eating vegetables, I am an advocate of eating meat, and organ meats (and eggs) for the bulk of your nutrition, and maybe questioning if vegetables are actually as good for us as we've been led to believe.

Obviously the quality of your meat is important (but let's face it - with everything they spray on crops these days, if the plant toxins don't kill you, the cocktail of chemicals they've been sprayed with will certainly do some damage!), so try to get the best that you can afford - organic and grass-fed is good.

(I get most of my meat here - it actually works out cheaper than the supermarket most of the time!)

I've never been a fan of vegetarian or vegan diets, and this is yet another reason why I truly believe that meat is an essential part of the human diet, and you need it to thrive.

Yes, I know there are healthy, fit and strong vegans out there, but that's not the majority, and the ones who make it work (long-term) use everything we know about food science to ensure they're getting it right - not just foregoing meat and living on banana sandwiches! 

Sorry vegans. I'm just not convinced. There are certain nutrients that we just can't get from plants.

Diet is a HUGE topic, so this is only a small part of it.

If you want my help with it, by all means get in touch and we can talk about Coaching.

I just hope after reading this you at least start to question what the best diet for humans might be, and maybe experiment a little.

For further reading I'd highly recommend The Carnivore Code

To your health!

Weight Loss or Fat Loss

I hope you're well. 

For this post I wanted to talk about something that a lot of people get a bit confused about...

The difference between weight loss and fat loss.

Most people will say they want to "lose weight", but what they really mean is they want to lose body fat.

"Weight" on the scales means very little.

When you jump on the scales, you're weighing not just body fat, but also muscle, bone, the contents of your stomach, the contents of your bowels...

(I'll never forget watching an episode of "The Biggest Loser" when one of the contestants lost a pound that week and one of the trainers furiously exclaimed "A pound?! I could shit a pound!" - Brilliant!)

It's actually an incredibly poor indicator of how much fat you're losing.

Everyone who's ever attended Weight Watchers or similar knows this - they often avoid eating all day before a weigh-in so the scales don't say they've put on weight!

That's a great way to deceive yourself and everyone else!

(They then proceed to smash an entire days' calories in one sitting, with their "low points" curly wurly's and pink wafers!)

IF you're going to weigh yourself - and let's face it, it IS something that people are worried about and the easiest metric to track - you need to do it at the same time every day, ideally first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything, and then work out your weekly average. Then compare week to week.

DO NOT use a single day as a snapshot, because "weight" fluctuates massively.

But really, what you should be tracking is FAT LOSS

This is the one people are really thinking of when they talk about "weight loss".

No-one wants to shed 2 stone of muscle and keep hold of all of their fat - that would be insane.

Yet the scales would have you believe you're achieving your goal, because the number is dropping!

So in order to really know whether you're heading in the right direction or not, you need to be measuring your body fat percentage and using that to track your progress.

Ditch the scales, and start tracking body fat - that's what people are really trying to lose, not "weight".

If your body fat percentage drops, you know you've lost body fat, not muscle.

(The other way to decrease body fat, as a percentage, would be to increase muscle mass - this would likely mean an increase in weight!)

So whilst it's ok to talk about "weight loss", just remember that what you're really talking about is fat loss, and maybe replace the "weight loss" talk with "fat loss" talk to help other people realise the difference too.

If you ever hear me talking about weight loss, know that it's simply because that's what most people still talk about and think of - I will always mean, and be focussing on, fat loss. I'm just using language people resonate with. 

Using weight as a measure of progress would be doing people a massive injustice, and anyone who uses bodyweight to measure success is doing people a disservice (you know who I'm talking about).

Don't fall victim to the "weight loss" crowd. The fact they focus on weight shows they don't know what they're talking about.

And as for BMI...! Height to weight ratio is meaningless if you're using "weight" (12 stone of fat or 12 stone of muscle? There's a BIG difference!) 

I truly can't believe the NHS and even the army still use BMI - it truly isn't a "health" service - just a "sick" service.

Do yourself a favour - start tracking your body fat percentage and STOP stressing over your weight.

Unless you're 30 stone (in which case, yes, any weight loss is likely going to help extend your life right now), you should be looking at body fat, not weight.

There are various options, but just make sure you use the SAME method each time you measure, under the same conditions wherever possible.

The Naval Method is the cheapest option and is reasonably accurate.

I'd avoid the scales that supposedly measure BF% - mine are literally 10% OVER my actual BF% - not accurate AT ALL.

Leave a comment if you've found this useful.

Mark

YOU are an ATHLETE!

You may or may not realise this, but, YOU ARE AN ATHLETE!

The fact is, we ALL need to move well.

Ok, so we don't need to chase down our dinner any more, but we need to move around and function like humans are supposed to.

We may be able to get away with it these days if we lose that ability, but it's not fun.

Just ask anyone who isn't fortunate enough to be able to move properly.

It's sad that we don't realise what we've got until it's gone.

Stop and think about what it would be like if you couldn't complete basic tasks and ask yourself if you ever want to be in that position.

Start training like a human, for better movement and mobility.

Strength you can use, not just numbers on a sheet.

If you don't train - start.

If you do train - make sure it's functional.

We're not machines yet, so until then, train like a human.

Be the athlete you were born to be.

And if you want help figuring out how to do that, get in touch.

Mark