How to get your body back after your hols!

How to get your body back after your summer holidays!

So that’s it then, the last bank holiday past last week and with it, the so called summer.

You’ve had your summer holiday abroad but the clothes you went out there in are a little tight. Has the flab monster paid you a little visit?

Your thighs that once fitted comfortably into those jeans are now busting out of them and you now have a new and improved pair of love handles perched comfortably on top of that waistband.
Yep- that darned summer fat monster has struck again!

Sound pretty familiar?
I’ll bet it does!

You see, I recently visited Rhodes for a wedding and experience this myself- (shock, horror!)
1 or 2 weeks of spending most of your hours lazing in the sun around a scorching poolside or a blazing beach consuming ice creams, cocktails, beer and the odd mouthful of stray ambre solair can really wreak havoc with your figure.

In fact, if you aren’t careful, that blubber you didn’t work that hard to gain can become a permanent fixture on your body.

Now, ideally we’d avoid these scenarios altogether by eating sensibly on holiday, (Its always amazed me how people will diet and train for 6 months prior to their holidays then render it all pointless but gaining all of that lost bodyfat back in a matter of days) but if its too late for that then read on because I’m going to share with you one of the simplest, yet most effective ‘get your body back’ programs, that if followed to the letter will have your pre-holiday body back in no time and possibly looking even better!

The program is divided into 3 simple steps that if followed individually produce pretty cool results for the people that follow them but when all 3 are combined they become incredibly powerful.

Please do me a favour though- don’t pick and choose the bits you like the sound of and discard the bits you don’t- you’ll be absolutely ROBBING yourself of those incredible results I spoke of.

Here’s a couple of other DON’T DO’S before I take you through the 3 golden rules.

1) Don’t waste your time doing endless amount of cardio. Cardio Sucks for fat loss. Period. Sure it burns calories but does nothing POST workout. Take a look at the cardio area in your gym and compare it to the free weights area- where are the best bodies? take a look at sprinters bodies- you think they bother with jogging? TRUST ME ON THIS ONE.

2) Don’t bother with crunches either. If crunches burned fat from your stomach area, wouldn’t they be the only exercise we did? And wouldn’t the people who spent the most time doing them have the best abs? Put it this way- I haven’t done a crunch for 6 years yet have gone from chubby trainer to a visible 6 pack.

3) STOP making excuses and start NOW. Not tomorrow, not Monday, NOW.

Okay, enough of the build up.

Here goes, you ready to get your body back?

RULE NUMBER 1:
CLEAN up your diet. For the next 14 days I want you to COMPLETELY cut out certain foods.

As you know, one of the reasons holiday are so great is the fact that we can let our hair down a little right? Actually, now that I think of it, it’s probably the main reason most of us take a holiday.
We have a lot more booze than we normally do more ice creams, more desserts. Just more ‘treats’ in general. Things that we only save as an occasional treat at home become almost a daily habit and can take a huge toll on not only our metabolism, our figures and our immune system. Ever wondered why you feel run down or ‘fluey’ when you get back? Or need another holiday straight after the one you just had?

I’ve recently heard people coming back from week long booze binges complaining of swine flu, when it fact its bloody WINE flu they have!

So before we go into the ins and outs of training, we’re gonna look at something that your body REALLY needs- Supportive Nutrition.

By supportive I mean we’re providing our bodies with foods that give support to the metabolism and immune systems and avoiding things that tax, stress and weaken them.

For 14 days you MUST avoid:
Alcohol- Quite simply a liquid sugar that your body can’t do anything with other than store it as bodyfat. Booze makes you fat- simples.

Don’t give me your pathetic excuses as to why you can’t. You’ve just spent every day of your holiday and probably every weekend since knocking them back, so surely a couple of weeks of the sauce isn’t going to kill you? You want results right?

ALL wheat and gluten products.

This is MASSIVE. After training literally HUNDREDS of people in my years as a fat loss expert this is by far and away the most powerful thing you can do. You’ll drop pounds very quickly and feel better than you have done in years!

Seriously, bread, crackers, pasta, pastries and most sauces- wholegrain or not could be the VERY thing that’s keeping you from getting the body you REALLY, REALLY want.

ALL processed foods- Processing food actually renders it as a ‘non-food’.
‘Fake’ foods such as microwave meals, pre-packaged foods and anything with numbers and words you can pronounce in it wreaks havoc with our digestive system and metabolisms.

We don’t have time to get into too much detail here but take my word for it, avoid processed rubbish and you’ll not only feel great, but will start to look much better too!

So if it’s canned, tinned, freeze dried, has numbers or anything unpronounceable in it then avoid it, PLEASE.

RULE 2- Drink ONLY water and green tea for the next 14 days
Yes, I know the water thing has been done to death but bear with me
on this for a minute.

Water is an absolutely critical component of achieving great health
and the firm, toned and strong body that goes with it.

Decrease your hydration levels by just a percent or two and your
metabolism changes dramatically causing you to react differently to
the foods that you eat, hold more fat and stress your immune system.

This is not conducive to looking great!

Yet, the converse is also true too.

Maintaining optimal hydration has a positive impact on everything
from metabolism and fat retention to immunity and general health.
That's why I want you to drink a litre for every 50lbs you weigh.

So, if you weigh ten stones or 150lbs then you should be drinking
just under 3 litres of plain, clean water a day and yes green tea can be included in this.

Now, I know that for many of you this will seem like a lot. I also
know that some of you will retort with claims of over-hydration or
the latest catchphrase 'hyponatremia' which has been in the new recently.

To each I say ‘PANTS’.

You WILL NOT over-hydrate because you will be eating very nutritious and mineral dense
foods that will maintain everything in correct proportion.

If you find yourself rushing to the bathroom every five minutes
then simply add the smallest pinch of pure sea salt to help you hold onto some of that (not table salt) to every litre you consume, you shouldn’t be able to taste this, if you can you’ve put too much in.

RULE NUMBER 3-
Do some form of RESISTANCE training 5 days a week.
Like I said at the start, don’t waste your time with cardio work.

Apart from all of the things I stated earlier, cardio can cause you to get rid of the ONLY tissue in the body that burns fat- MUSCLE.
Yup, that’s right. Muscles are the things that give your body its shape; muscles are the things that consume most of the calories you take in and the very thing that gets rid of fat.

Sounds pretty obvious we want to hang onto it right?

Then why are so many people wasting their time and energy jogging, cross training and hitting every machine possible?

So I want you to perform strength exercises daily that will challenge your muscular system and metabolism. Not only will these make you stronger, more supple and help you function better, they’ll also improve your body shape and burn more body fat than any Cardio machine ever would.

The exercises you choose should follow the ‘600’ rule. That is, as many of the 600 muscles in your body should be involved as possible. Exercises like squats, push ups, lunges, deadlifts and pull ups will work best.

In fact I’ve even put together a short video you can follow if you like- check this out- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u64CdCN0vk

I do appreciate that it might be a little different from your gym programme, but hey- you’re probably bored with that and the lack of results it’s bringing.

So- you no know EXACTLY what you need to do.

What are you waiting for? Go get your body back!

Will Power SUCKS?

I have a confession to make. I have ZERO willpower. That’s right, Me, Paul Mort, The leading fat loss speciailist in the UK has NO willpower, absolutely none.

‘But you have a 6 pack, you must have some?’

Nope, I have none. I have a problem saying no to things I enjoy. Food talks to me.
I HATE denying myself the things I really really want. I LOVE indulgence.

I bet you’re the same. Denial is just not my style.
You wanna know my secret to staying lean WITHOUT willpower?

Lack of Opportunity.

Simple as that.
Do not give food or drink the opportunity to tempt you.
Don’t keep chocolate and sweets in the house and then try to deny yourself and commence a battle of will with the fruit and nut- itll be you that ends up nuts!

As ridiculous as it may sound, will power is completely over rated.
Heres a recent example.

A few of my friends were going out for a drink one Saturday afternoon and I knew they’d end up heading into the town centre to get ‘merry’.
In fact, scratch that they were going to get p*ssed.

So, as I was in training for a photoshoot I drove down had 1 ‘drink’ (a blackcurrant and soda) then told the lads that I would be dropping the car off and meeting them in the town centre.

KNOWING that I’d struggle to avoid having booze and KNOWING that booze has one use (it makes you fat and gives you MEGA carb cravings the day after) I turned my phone off!
Yes, I know that’s a bit naughty but do you see my point?

Willpower is just not my forte, so its easier to take myself out of the situation and if there’s an occasion where I can have a drink- I have a few voddies or amarettos, simple.

Need more examples?

When I eat out and it isn’t my ‘cheat meal’ I eat out with friends who have similar goals to me and don’t just binge at any given opportunity (see my article ‘are your friends making you fat?').

Politely ask the waiter not to bring the bread basket out.

Don’t even bother tempting yourself.

If its not the bread that gets you, it might be the desert.

Tell the waiter you don’t want to ‘see if the dessert menu has anything healthy’ it wont and you probably don’t even need desert.

Girls wanna come over for a girly night in with a bottle of wine?
Your on antibiotics- they’ll never know! ;-)

This is an obvious one, but NEVER EVER, EVER go food shopping when your hungry.
When travelling plan and pack your meals in advance.

I can never understand you guys that eat well and train for 6 months to get in shape for a holiday that eat junk food at the airport- before you’ve even took off??!!?
Exercise in the morning if you cant motivate yourself to go at night. You have less time to lie to yourself that you have too much to do.

Get yourself a motivated gym partner. They’ll drag you there when you cant be arsed!

Join a group training program. Bootcamps are awesome. RAMMED with people who have a similar goal and want to get healthy.

A little different from your pisshead friends who always try to tempt you to make themselves feel better?
So, just a little tip but potentially crucial to your fat loss success.

Lack of opportunity will ALWAYS trump will power.

Fat Loss Supplementaion

Do You Really Need to Use Supplements? My Top 3 for fat loss!

Touchy subject…..

Now, this article will no doubt cause huge debate and a few raised eyebrows. That’s awesome!

Let me start by saying that I have nothing to gain by advising for/against certain supplements or strategies. I’m sharing with you what has WORKED with the 100’s of clients who’ve had tremendous fat loss results both with myself and some of the WORLDS top fat loss experts and what’s backed up by what I ‘consider’ to be great research.

In essence I’m giving you my complete unbiased OPINION on what I truly BELIEVE works and what doesn’t.

So let’s get cracking!

While it’s true you CAN get good results with a good nutritious and clean diet containing your 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, plenty of lean protein and lots of clean FILTERED water why not get GREAT results by supplementing (and a wagon full of other benefits too)?!

Let’s get one thing clear though. There is no MAGIC PILL for fat loss! In fact, I’d say around 95% of supplements out there today are a complete waste of your hard earned money!

Despite what the major supplement companies say, you won’t get 6 pack abs by taking 2 ‘lard blasters’ first thing in the morning on an empty stomach and 3 before your gym session.

Supplementing is EXACTLY that- ‘Supplementing an already clean, nutritious diet and fat loss program’

So with that in mind, I don’t want to go into to much detail about exercise and diet this week, you’ll find my thoughts on those here- http://personaltrainernortheast.blogspot.com

The supplements I’m going to recommend are ‘general’ Supplements. For example, when I work with 1-1 clients we take 12 skin fold sites which help us determine exactly which supplements they need for THEIR bodies. Having said that, the supplements below WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE!

So let’s take your results from GOOD TO GREAT by looking at my top 3 supplements for body composition NOTE: a good multi vitamin/mineral complex isn’t including as we should ALL be using this. Email me if you’d like my recommendation paul@precisionfitness.co.uk

1) A good quality fish oil-
Notice the word quality. This is absolutely vital. If you’re buying from a high street store- that includes that very popular health food store with h and b in its name the fish oil is of VERY POOR quality. Fishy burps? Good quality fish oil doesn’t cause that. Fishy taste in your mouth? Yep, that’s the quality too. Fish oil, is THE BEST fat loss supplement out there today. Apart from helping every disease known to man. Its main roles in fat loss are to help control blood sugar levels (THE key to fat loss- from the love handles especially), to turn OFF fat storage enzymes and turn ON fat burning enzymes. Simply put, if you’re not taking at least 9g of fish oil a day you’re missing out on some tremendous benefits. http://alimentnutrition.co.uk do one the best fish oils available in the UK at an affordable price! Take 3x3 a day WITH food.

2) Whey Protein- This one isn’t ESSENTIAL but I believe if you’re looking to get the most from your diet and training you need to be using some form of whey protein. Without boring you with too much science, they are many different types of whey- each different in quality. My personal recommendation is the VERY reasonable but the GREAT quality myprotein.co.uk.

Lets look at protein and its benefits (Whey ISOLATE is always the best choice NOT concentrate, a mix is fine though)
FACT: low REFINED carb diets ALWAYS outperform ANY other diet when it comes to fat loss
FACT: Protein releases the hormones that make you feel fuller for longer
FACT: Protein helps repair, maintain and build lean muscle the ONLY tissue that can burn fat.
FACT: meat, nuts and fish aren’t always available or handy
FACT- putting some whey powder into some water and mixing doesn’t take much time and is a GREAT snack but AWESOME with breakfast.
FACT- Whey Protein provides TREMENDOUS support and is a huge boost to your immune system
FAT- Protein powder DOES NOT make you ‘bulk up’ or ‘get bigger’ it’s almost the same as eating a chicken breast-last time I checked they don’t give you guns!
FACT- if shakes turned you into arnie wouldnt all the WEEDS at your gym be huuge now? i know they arent at my gym!
FACT- the hour after you train its VITAL to get protein and amino acids into your system or your fat melting workout could have been a complete waste of time. Protein powders are THE best option for this.
FACT- I LOVE chocolate orange flavour true whey by myprotein.co.uk- its not Terry’s its mine!

3) Green Tea- we all know green tea is good for fat loss right? Wanna know why?
Seriously there is sooo much evidence supporting the use of green tea that it should be compulsory to drink it!

Green tea has a boatload of benefits especially linked with preventing cancer but as usual we’ll focus on fat loss.

Green tea contains a fair amount of caffeine- which if used correctly is AWESOME for fat loss (notice the use of the word ‘correctly) however, the green stuff also contains L-theanine which stops the caffeine ‘spike’ that can end up in the jitters, sweating etc, so we get a 1-2 combo of a boost in our metabolism by increasing our energy expenditure without the so called ‘side effects). Just two cups a day have proven to have some benefit too

That combined with the potent catechin ECGC and it’s a knockout combo for fat loss!!
You can either drink it on its own, with lemon or peppermint or use the concentrated form, again, myprotein.co.uk do a superb one!

Obviously there are other great supplements out there such as my favourite Fenugreek, Magnesium, Branched Chain Amino Acids, glutamine, creatine, and if you have any questions about any of them please don’t hesitate to contact me!!

The Swedish Furniture Diet

I don’t know about you but I dread trips to IKEA almost as much a visit to the dentist for a root canal.

After running out of excuses that range from football matches to courses to the final not quite valid ‘I’m washing my hair’, this past Saturday I decided- sorry FORCED into visiting Ikea to purchase some new furniture for my office.

Storage for all of my books, journals and manuals was a priority (basically a book shelf with doors to hide the clutter) and after 4 hours of humming, harring, measuring and designing (not to mention battling with my willpower over those darned hot dog) we finally got we wanted.

On Monday, I attempted to build this thing and the more I realised that flat pack furniture is very much like fat loss.

You’re shaking your head now aren’t ya?

Stay with me on this…..

Let’s look at how the two are VERY closely linked, of course we’ll do it in numerical order- just like those ikea instructions do!

1. When you’re trying to drop fat its VITAL you have a crystal clear goal, in fact you want a picture in your head of your ideal body (some of my clients even have a photo or a cut out of their ideal body- wether its realistic or not you NEED that goal)- EXACTLY like I did when I got my unit, I had a very good idea of what I wanted for my office and what I wanted it to look like.

2. Measure up. Just like you measure the space where you want that furniture to go you need to measure your body before you go. I had to measure heights, lengths and depths. You need to measure waist, hips, chest and thighs.

3. Pay the Price- That may be trawling round ikea for 4 hours and buying something fairly pricey just as you may have to get a trainer who can write you a QAULITY program or join a fitness bootcamp such as ours. Either way, just get a plan, don’t just wander around the gym hopping from machine to machine or ‘do your own thing’. That’s akin to buying a few bits of wood and ‘doing your own thing’ with them! Even bank robbers have a bloody plan!

4. Now is when the fun starts. Get your tools, and I must admit, I didn’t have a hammer! Guess what the first tool I needed was?

Yup, you guessed it! Your friendly fat loss expert had to use a MEAT TENDERISER to hammer the first parts in.

So- you may have to join a gym to do your programme or buy a swiss ball and a set of dumbbells BUT that’s not the be all and end all- you can always borrow some or use your initiative if your supposed to use a barbell, you can use 2 dumbells.
If you don’t have a kettlebell, you can use a dumbbell.

If you don’t have a stop watch, use the one on your mobile or ipod!

5- Open the instructions. NOTE- if you’re a fella you may have problems with this one as we always think we know best.

Okay lets get one thing straight, when you get a programme, follow it TO THE LETTER.
If it says 20 reps- you do 20 reps.
If it says you cant have bread then you shouldn’t be eating bread!
It it advises you to train every other day- you train every other day.
If it says no crunches- don’t do bloody crunches

Imagine If I ignored the ikea ‘build-by-numbers’ manual and decided not to put the screw where the told me or if I couldn’t be bothered to tighten the door on properly?
Its exactly the same!

I hear it all the time- “Paul I;m following your program but I’m jogging a couple of times a week”

B**lsh*t!

Its not my program now its YOUR program Mr Fat Loss Expert!
I better not tell my girlfriend I didn’t bother fastening the shelves down properly then! ;-)

6- Admire the finished product. Granted building a better, leaner, sexier body might not take you 2 hours, well 6 if you’re me! (hey I’m fat loss expert not a joiner!) but either way, you follow the plan you get the results!

So there you have it!
Follow the IKEA fat loss program this summer and get yourself a Swedish body- without the extra shelves!

How to be UNSTOPPABLE at dropping fat!

What if I told you this next part could DOUBLE, in fact TRIPLE the rate at which you ACHIVE your goals?

All of you will have heard about goal setting, you may already have some goals set , either in you’re head or you may have written them down at some point, chances are you’ve forgotten about them now or other ‘stuff’ just got in the way!

Personally, I have read over FOURTY goal setting and personal development books and done several courses on the subject and quite frankly, most of them are a load of fluff!

After reading this many books you’d think I may have learned something, well yes I have but the following strategy I actually picked up in a FREE download from my friend Dax Moy that I popped onto my I-pod by chance and let me tell you it works an absolute treat!

I have come across THE most powerful goal ACHIEVEMENT strategy that I have ever seen and used to great effect!
Without bragging, this strategy helped me earn 10 grand in 1 MONTH, the same amount as I used to earn in a YEAR!
Here goes: Grab a pen and paper and get ready to write some powerful stuff.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AND WILL MORE THAN TREBLE YOUR CHANCES OF ACHIEVEING YOUR GOALS!
The Science of goal achievement Part 1

THE WHAT

Simple- Know EXACTLY, PRECISELY what your goal is. Put up your dart board so to speak, so you have something to aim for. Be CRYSTAL clear in what you want, no vagueness, don't be general. Be very, very specific. For instance I don't want to see you writing down: "I want to lose weight" - doesn't "I want to look and feel fantastic by the end of bootcamp by dropping a dress size” sound much more powerful? And believable?

Quite simply- If you don't name your goal, you won’t get your goal.

So.... take a piece of card (I like to use those little postcards from Ikea -mine has a plastic duck on the front!) or some paper and write down YOUR goal(s) and remember be CRYSTAL clear.

As an example and as a kick up the backside for me ( I have a TOPLESS photoshoot on Friday and go on holiday on Friday), here’s part 1 of my current fitness goal: “I want to drop 3-4lbs,get down to around 7% bodyfat and be absolutely RIPPED by 28th of June" you see, as a trainer helping others all day and running a thriving business I sometimes use the lack of time excuse too or I’m simply exhausted from training people for 14 hours a day! - No excuses now though!

Again, this science of goal achievement is absolutely brilliant and
will really turbo charge your motivation AND results!

So, your card or paper should look something like this:.." I want to drop 6lbs of body fat and see a ripped 6 pack by 26th of June"
Pretty precise, darn rite crystal clear.
Now we need to attach some meaning to it so let’s go to part 2

Part 2
THE WHY

So you're now pretty clear about what that goal of yours is , its time to get even more powerful. I want you to think about your goal and work out WHY you want it. This is so incredibly powerful. I want you to really think about what truly drives you, because you want to look better? Not good enough. Why do you want to look better? So you feel better about yourself? Again not deep enough, think about what’s truly, honestly driving you. Why do you want to feel better about?
Yourself? Do you want to look better on the beach? Are you trying to impress someone? Dig deeper, peel the onion.

Here’s mine (and believe me, this is VERY scary for me to let you in
on this!)

““I want to drop 3-4lbs,get down to around 7% bodyfat and be absolutely RIPPED by 28th of June because I want to challenge myself to see how lean I can get AND so I look absolutely awesome on the beach and in y upcoming photoshoot so that people actually comment on how good I look”

WOW... I can’t believe I just told you that- my reason is both vanity based and emotional and is acting as a true driver for me right now.

Okay go do it.. Write down your NEW goal with true reason attached to it, I guarantee you if you know the WHY you'll always find the HOW and stay motivated towards achieving it.

Go find your WHY
Wow- Pretty powerful stuff huh?

Hopefully, that goal of yours is really starting to take shape now and you're feeling really positive and exited about achieving it.
I for one can’t wait get you started on your quest for a better body.
Now for pat 3 which is often the most overlooked and underestimated phase of achieving goals and is also one of the main reasons people fail in their goals.


Part 3
KNOW THE COST
Now by cost, I don't necessarily mean financial cost, although sometimes it may, for instance, you've paid whatever to get a copy of my fabulous book. That’s just one of the costs, what extra food will you have to buy? Do you need supplements?

However, much more important than that what will you have to sacrifice; far for this as it’s located in the welcome pack. Are you prepared to give up alcohol for example? Are you prepared to mput in MAXIMUM effort at EVERY class?
If not, then do you really want to reach that goal?
So get out that pen and paper and write down the costs.... Here’s my revised goal achievement statement for you to grin at!
“I want to drop 3-4lbs,get down to around 7% bodyfat and be absolutely RIPPED by 28th of June because I want to challenge myself to see how lean I can get AND so I look absolutely awesome on the beach and in y upcoming photoshoot so that people actually comment on how good I look
The costs of achieving my goal are:
Complete 4 metabolic weight training workouts per week, complete 2 interval training sessions per week, cut out all processed foods, alcohol, wheat and dairy for the next 14 days leading to the holiday. Drink 4 litres of water every day. Take ALL of my supplements at the recommended times, get to bed by 10:30 pm EVERY night, complete two 24 hour fasts."

Again, take out your pen and paper, go to chapter BLANK where you’ll find out the cost, then start to shape your goal- I swear this stuff works! Remember that 10k in a month I told you about earlier? I went through this exact same process with it and it blew my mind!

Remember if you need help with any of this process.. Email me!!
ANYTIME.

Now you should be getting really fired up about starting to work towards that goal of yours
Okay this phase, part 4 is sooo simple but definitely the thing that holds most people back and keeps them away from their goals, both financially AND health wise


Part 4
PAY THE PRICE
This is easy, TAKE ACTION. As Nike have been saying for years- JUST
DO IT.

you see, this seems quite easy in theory but are you really prepared to pay the price? will you fall off the wagon after 7 days?

Can you really cut out the booze for the full 30 days?
Do you really want results or are you just kidding yourself?

Here are some of my top strategies for staying on course for the entire journey of achieving ANY goal

1. write down your goal on 3 sheets of card, put one next to your bed, one in your handbag and take one to work. Take time to look at these cards at EVERY opportunity you can, EVERY day.
honestly, this REALLY works wonders. At the VERY LEAST you should be reading them upon rising in the morning and before going to sleep at night.

2. Keep a food diary and fill it in, the results may surprise you. Log food, drink and times

3. When faced with a difficult situation- maybe you get offered some chocolate or fancy a drink- Ask yourself this " will this make me leaner or fatter?"The answer should take care of the decision. Every action will either take you closer or further away from your goal. Do you really want the cake or do you wat the results? You cant have both! Cake or a sexier, slimmer body? YOU CHOOSE.

An interview with Dublins Fat Loss Expert

I recently had the pleasure to interview a fat loss expert who DEFINITELY walks the walk and practices what we preaches.
Without too much ‘fluff’ Bryan Kavanagh is someone who has REALLY impressed me with his ability to get people REALLY lean, REALLY fast. I should also mention, I;ve NEVER met anyone who eats so much broccoli!

Check out Bryan’s picture too- he’s not in bad shape himself either!
Anyway. Lets get into this!

PM-Bryan, can you tell my a readers a little about your background your specialization area?

BK -To be honest I used to pride myself on increasing sports performance. Making people stronger, faster and more powerful was first on my list. Maintaining strength: mass ratio was essential because of the nature of the athletes I was working with . . martial artists and boxers need to make weight…
So in essence I transitioned into experimenting a lot with fat loss and ‘making weight. . but the emphasis was always on performance. .
Thing is. . all the athletes I worked with underwent a complete body composition shift. They gained muscle and lost fat. . hmm . .
Isn’t that the goal of almost every trainee anyway. . ? I’ve had made the same observations on the track. . they were all in great condition . . and yet they spent so little time in the gym.
I spent the last few years focusing on performance and saw ‘bodybuilding’ and ‘fat loss’ as a separate entity! I actually didn’t notice what was happening right underneath my nose. . almost every single one of the athletes I worked with ended up really lean and really strong. .In the past I was asked on numerous occasions to help people lose weight and I would just respond ‘don’t eat crap and do some training. .’ simple as that!
I soon realized that the performance goals I set for boxers and martial artists were giving better ‘aesthetic’ results than anyone I worked with. . I was on to something. .

PM Whats the number 1 mistake people make when it comes to trying to lose fat?
BK-the number one mistake people make in the gym. . .hmm but there’s so many! (laughing)

I would have to say that the primary thing holding people back is they have no clue where they want to be or what they want to look like!

People set out with a goal like;

‘I want to be in good shape’

I know that may sound reasonable at first but when you take a closer look you will agree it is actually ridiculous! Lets use a little analogy for this one. It really is like you waking up in the morning and saying;

‘I think I will go somewhere today’. .

Where? ... Work? …To the shopping centre?

You could be going anywhere… lets get a little more specific than that people;

‘I want to lose 30lbs see my abs and do 20 chins straight. .’

Now there’s some goals I can relate to!

PM This REALLY grates on me but Why, Why, Why do people persist with jogging and sit ups?
BK- Why do people persist doing sit ups and jogging…? Next question please… : )

It actually is understandable when you really think about it;

They don’t know any different. They are being told to do it at every opportunity but idiotic ‘health writers’ in the newspaper ‘wellness’ section. . it wouldn’t surprise me if the editors themselves wrote them articles because some of them are hilarious. . one I seen the other day was openly telling people to take sugar with their tea if you are feeling tired because you may not be getting enough carbohydrates. . hmm

Getting back on track… I think people persist in doing long drawn out cardio because they equate long boring exercise with weight loss. They think in order to lose weight they must train for a long time. And the first thing that pops into their head is ‘go for a run’.

I reckon it’s the clowns on the infomercials that have poisoned people’s brains with crunches and their divine ability to sculpt you a nice 6pack with little or no effort on your part. . ab rollers, ab loungers and the likes. They really crack me up. Rocky films may also have something to do with it. . I, myself am guilty of dangling out of a branch and doing upside down sit ups… they just look hardcore I guess haha
All jogging does is make you efficient at doing that particular movement. i.e. you burn less energy less time you do it. So in essence every time you go for that jog you teach your metabolism to perform on less calories. The run you done yesterday is burning a hell of lot less calories than the run you started doing a month ago. You are more efficient now and burning less fat. Period.

But seriously your probably better off doing nothing… there I said it …

Too many people think they can train hard 3 times per week, eat well twice per week and they will be in great shape in no time. This simply is not the case. You have to dedicate at least 90% of your time to eating sensibly and training hard. That’s it. Even at that you still have to be careful for the other 10% of the time. Being lean is a full time job. It is not a 4 hours per week all out assault on the gym and then for the other 164 hours of the week you eat crap and laze about.

PM- finally, what are the 3 TOP TIPS you could give to anyone looking to get lean?
BK The top 3 tips I have for your readers are;

1. Have a plan. I know I sound like a broken record but you need a plan, write down where you are now and where you want to be and get cracking on it. Start where you are now, take measurements, weigh yourself, test your fitness and come back in two weeks and do it again (with witnesses).
2. Get a stop watch. I see people all the time that don’t time their rest periods. . I really don’t understand it. . it looks something like this

Set 1.
Rest 60seconds
Set 2.
Rest 3 minutes
Set 3.
Rest 2 minutes 22 seconds.

I’m exaggerating but you get the point right? How on earth can you measure your progress if your recovery is undulating all over the place?

3. I know I said ‘weigh yourself earlier in the post but I really would suggest you do yourself a favor and throw the scales out the window. I’ve had to explain to dozens of women in the past week alone that they are in-fact losing bodyfat even though the scales is only showing small differences. In weeks of intense training you will put on small amounts of functional muscle and this is a must. You will lose fat at the same time. Increase muscle and decreased fat. . weight will either stay the same (for now) but bodyfat will drop and clothes will fit better and you will look and feel better.

Is that not the goal anyway? Look and feel better? Not be a certain number. .

You can read more about Bryan's AWESOME fat loss programs at http://paulmort.absystem.hop.clickbank.net/

Confessions on an F.F.B (former fat boy)

I know what it’s like to be fat, really fat. At just 19 years old I weighed in at a scale tipping 16 stone and had an alarmingly rotund 42 inch waist.

I was tired, unhealthy, uninspired and a downright slob. I skipped breakfast after hitting the snooze button 5 or 6 times. When I arrived at work I’d order the aptly named ‘belly buster’ and then I’d spend the next few hours looking forward to my next ‘meal’.

4 years later I was 4 stones lighter, 4 trouser sizes smaller and I thought I’d won the battle of the bulge but the war of the wobble had only just begun!

You see, I now realise I did it all the wrong way. You see I was lighter, fitting into smaller clothes but still looked like crap, but dammit at least I wasn’t fat anymore!

Another 5 years on and am now one of the leading fat loss experts in the UK and have lectured other trainers, doctors and private plastic surgeons on fat loss.

I learned the hard way about the difference between ‘ugly skinny’ and ‘buff lean’. I’ve spent around 9 years doing so! If only I had known then what I know now!

The most important thing I learnt along the way is that an FFB or Former Fat Girl for that matter can’t play by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to getting and staying ‘ripped’.

My best mate and my girlfriend are both carbohydrate ‘bitches’ and you probably have friends or relatives who are the same.

You know the ones; they can eat pizza, pasta and bread and not put on an ounce of fat. Yet you so much as look at a wholemeal bap and you start bloating up on the spot!

The Former Fat Person DEFINITELY has a low genetic tolerance to carbohydrates of the refined variety. More importantly, eating that bread will results in your waist DIRECTLY expanding. The Bio-Signature Protocol, developed by the worlds leading authority on all things fitness, Charles Poliquin shows us that your supra-iliac (love handle) skin-fold measurement has a DIRECT correlation to your carbohydrate intake.

You may have lost some serious fat but you just can’t eat or train the same way as a naturally lean person. I hate those guys, with a passion!

ARE YOU AN FFB OR FFG?
You could be an FFB or FFG if:
• You’ve lost 2-3 stones (roughly) of fat
• You can gain fat at a rapidly alarming rate
• You have the urge to smack around the head those skinny people who say ‘I need to go on a diet’
• You’re a male and you feel like murdering with your bare hands anyone that’s a ‘hardgainer’ and finds it difficult to gain weight

There actually isn’t much info out there for Former Fat People. But what follows is a short guide to what I’ve learned over the years as both a former fatty and a fat loss expert. Some of my evidence is based on actual research, some of it is based on my own experiences with many, many clients and of course with my own lard loving frame.

The FFP’S main problem is his accumulation of fat cells and storage of fat cells.
You see, when you gain fat, you gain fat cells. When you lose that fat, the cells remain there, albeit ‘shrunken and empty’. These HUNGRY cells are just sitting there, waiting, ready to pounce, just itching to expand again. In just a few, short weeks of poor eating habits or lowered activity levels, those nasty cells can cause the FFP to blow out those lovely, new 32 inch wait jeans faster than you can say ‘ Pass the garlic bread’

The FFP’s body is a walking time bomb, or should I say a walking fat bomb, able to blow up with just a few little slips. It DESPERATELY wants to get fat again. It LOVES being fat.

I have a Fat Lad living inside me everyday just bursting to get out.

I crave pizza, I’d love to sit down every night and watch the soaps. I love a few bottles of stella, a papa johns and a barbecue on a weekend.

I sometimes can’t be bothered to go workout. I have a list of excuses as long as my arm.

This Fat Lad is with me, chewing at my ear EVERY single hour of EVERY single day.
Here’s how I keep him at bay, these are all MUST DO’S.

1) The FFP must select his carbohydrates VERY CAREFULLY. Carbs are very tricky for the former fatty. Because of list of physiological issues too long to deal with here. Yes, we do need carbs, but we need the right carbs and at the right time. Veggies, especially green, are fine at any time. But carbs such as oats, whole-wheat bread etc are only good at two times in my eyes- around training and at breakfast. Carbs taken in at these times aren’t likely to be stored as fat.

2) Those two times aside, the FFP must REALLY control his carb intake the rest of the day. As a former fat person you must toss most bread and cold cereal products out forever. Soft Drinks and Juices? Never again! Your’’re an FFP and your relationship with flour is over…boo-hoo. Get a tissue!

3) Breakfast for the former fatty should be the largest of the day and the last meal of the day should be the smallest. Calories and carbs should be tapered down along with portion size. Us FFP’s are storage monsters. Eating too much late in the day will lay on the fat for sure. Protein only on a night-time.

4) The FFP MUST LIFT WEIGHTS. This is a no-brainer. The FFP must also train harder than the average person, both resistance and cardio and do it FOREVER. We can’t even slack off a little. Where most people can cruise along and maintain, the FFP will immediately begin laying on the lard.

5) Stick to big, basic exercises for boosting that crappy, FFP metabolism. Exercises such as Deadlifts, Squats, Rows, Pull Ups, Dips, Push Ups. These exercises build the most muscle and burn the most calories therefore must form the core of any training program.

6) Supplement wise the FFP must take a fish oil supplement. Take a handful every day to switch off the fat storage hormones and switch on the fat burning hormones.

From FFP to PLP
Studies show that the majority of people who lose a lot of fat will eventually gain it back.
It doesn't have to be that way!
With the right nutrition, training and supplements the former fat person can become a PLP- permanently lean person. It’s not easy and you’ll have to work even harder than regular people to stay lean and mean but as an FFB myself, its definitely worth it!

The TRUTH about "Alli" Tablets

The Truth about Alli tablets!

So the new magic pill is making a killing in the weight loss market huh?

Guess what though?

It DOESN’T WORK!

Yep that’s right, this huuuge media hype and MASSIVE profit making pill doesn’t work
I absolutely 100% guarantee it. In fact if you drop bodyfat (not the same as weight) whilst using it, I’ll pay for a years supply for you.

How it works

Before you can buy the pill over the counter you have to have a BMI of 28 upwards.

My take- first off, BMI is a load of tosh. I’m walking round at 9.5%- my leanest ever and guess what my BMI is? Yup 28!

The products active ingredient is Orlistat. The makers claim that taking the tablet can increase weight loss by up to 50%

What does Orlistat do?

Oh this is where we have a REAL rant and wake a few people up!

The Alli tablets dissolve in the stomach, where the active ingredients orbital binds itself to the enzymes in the body that are responsible for breaking down fat.
In essence, orlistat ‘blocks’ the absorption of the fat you eat and you excrete it (more on that later)

Here in lies the problem.

1-Fat DOES NOT make you fat. That’s right FAT DOES NOT make you FAT.
Sure the excess calories from a high trans fat diet can cause you to gain some extra weight, but its actually excess CARBOHYRATES that are causing the obesity problem in this country and are the reason I see so many love handles spilling over jeans on a Saturday night!

You see, the body actually want to use bodyfat as energy, but taking on as many refined carbs such as bread and pasta and all of the sugary products that most of us do, causes the pancreas to release huge amounts of insulin to deal with all of this.
This, repeated over time leads to a condition known as insulin resistance, where your body will just keep releasing insulin over and over again, many times overshooting the mark of how much you need.

So the fat you currently have stays where it is and all that excess insulin is stored as extra bodyfat!

2- It blocks ‘good fat’ too!
It’s a well known fact that ‘good’ fats such as oily fish; nuts and fish oil tablets are GREAT for helping people to get lean. Well, this great healthy fat is also excreted! GREAT!

Fish oil is actually THE BEST supplement when it comes to trying to drop fat. Click this link for more info-http://personaltrainernortheast.blogspot.com/2009/03/do-you-really-need-supplements-for-fat.html

In fact good quality fish oil actually helps EVERY disease known to man and has MANY great benefits apart from the fat loss thing. It lowers blood pressure, increases cardiovascular health, decreases inflammation, decreases stress and depression; helps treat diabetes so it REALLY concerns me that people are wanting to take this out of our already unhealthy diets!

The side effect of Alli-So now that I’ve convinced you there’s no way it can help you get leaner, lets looks at some more stats.
That fat that was blocked earlier?
Around about 25% of it in fact, is excreted, which of course means GREASY POOS. NICE!
Oh and those greasy poo's can come at ANY TIME, such as when you’re in the gym or on a night out! EVEN NICER!
So unless you want to fill your pants with an oily stool, I’d avoid this at all costs!

What to do instead for fast fat loss
A VERY brief overview!
1) Limit your carbs to only fibrous vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower!
2) Eat protein with EVERY meal (meat, fish, chicken etc)
3) If it comes in a packet, box or tin, don’t eat it! Think like a caveman/woman.
4) Take fish oil- this really is a no brainer!
And lastly 5) exercise WITH WEIGHTS. I seem to touch on this every week but going jogging, doing aerobics and suing a cross trainer SUCK for fat loss. Please lift weights- or get fatter!

fat ass and thighs?

Hip and Thigh Fat- A womans nightmare?

After last weeks look at muffin tops and love handles I though tit best to move on to a problem that affects mainly you ladies out there.

Accumulation of fat around the gluteals and thighs. In other words- fat ass syndrome!
It’s important to say here that this is only relative if you’re fairly lean everywhere else and you have problems with fat and cellulite in the buttock and thigh areas.

A J-lo butt might be the must have beach accessory this summer but all the ladies I work with find it a great source of frustration. I’ve literally met females with 6 pack abs yet who still carry a fair bit of stubborn fat around the rear!

Why does this happen?

Well, whereas last weeks topic was insulin, the source of this ‘stubborn’ fat is the female hormone estrogen
.
We all make estrogen, even men can create it (think man boobs or ‘moobs’) but it’s what happens to it once it’s been produced that matters.
More importantly, the amount of man made estrogens (named xenoestrogens) has increased frighteningly in the past 30 or so years.

Did you know for instance that the following things can actually mimic estrogen INSIDE your body from the OUTSIDE?

Plastic Bottles, Birth Control Pills, Teflon Coating and commercial meat injected with hormones (most of the meat in your supermarket!)

Whilst the liver tries to detoxify estrogen to eliminate it from the body it sends it via the bloodstream to the local adipose tissue (fat stores) - in the case of females, this is in the lower body.

Why is in only women? How come men get off Scott free?

In a nutshell, females, as well as producing there own estrogen, they also have a greater number of so called alpha-2 receptors in there lower bodies than men do (men’s ‘stubborn’ area tends to be lower abdominals)

Alpha-2 receptors basically block or inhibit fat from being taken from the fat cell and being used as energy- hence the ‘stubborn fat’ phenomenon.

The Bad News for Fans of Spinning.

Being a spinning instructor myself, I found this difficult to grasp but it makes complete sense and our results here speak for themselves.

Now before you get your Lycra covered knickers in a twist, let me clarify that there’s spinning and there’s spinning!?! Spinning SHOULD be taught with A LOT of resistance, resistance is what causes fat loss. Simple as that. If your class is based around intervals (periods of maximal work followed by periods of recovery) then you’re fine.

HOWEVER- if you working at low/medium resistance at high speeds (over around 65pm) then your in trouble.

Spinning at high speeds/low resistance can cause the calcium plates of the body to tire. This, repeated over time will cause the increased storage of fat IN the muscles of the hip and thigh region to provide a more readily available source of fuel for the muscles. UH-OH!!!

Now that we’ve kicked spinning's ‘ass’ (see what I did there?) lets look at what we need to do to effectively get rid of that troublesome butt and thigh fat for good!


How to Spot Reduce from The hip, thigh and butt
1. Detoxify estrogen levels by consuming A LOT of vegetables high in Indole-3-carbinol. Watercress is the number one choice here as well as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and kale. Estrogen binds to these foods and is ‘excreted’ LOVELY!

2. You can also get indole-3-carbinol in supplement form, although I prefer it in its natural state in food.

3. As with last week DO NOT microwave food as it destroys 97% of the flavanoids than can help get rid of this excess fat. Oh and boiling destroys 66%- that means STEAM!

4. Organic Flax Seed HULLS are great for speeding up the ‘excretion’ process. Take one teaspoon mixed with water upon waking.

5. Bin the low resistance/high speed spinning.

6. Make sure you lift your weights- a resistance training plan of 10-15 reps, 3 sets with short rest periods of 30 seconds is VERY effective. Choose compound movements such as squats, lunges and pushups. If you’re doing the 3 things listed above you will NOT bulk up.

7. You must get off you fat ass to lose your fat ass!

If you’re still reading I assume I haven’t offended you, if you have any questions please feel free to email me at paul@precisionfitness.co.uk

Paul Mort is one of the UK’S most exciting, in demand and respected fat loss experts in the UK.

With a no BS approach to fat loss he is currently one of only a handful of trainers in the UK who can offer an iron clad, 125% money back guarantee on his services and systems.

Paul has featured in several national newspapers and magazines as well as on terrestrial TV and Radio with his hard hitting and controversial approach to fat loss. He was recently described by Men’s Health’s Craig Ballantyne and Dax Moy as one of the UK’s top personal trainers and by world renowned fitness expert Alwyn Cosgrove as a ‘superstar trainer’.

He is also the creator of the revolutionary M.E.L.T method. The most effective fat loss system in the UK today and the only one of its type that can guarantee results- drop a dress size in less then 28 days or your money back