Personal Trainer Durham | Glenn Hill | 07983570574

This blog is all about the benefits of lots of shorter exercise sessions over the traditional long session.

I have been a staunch advocate of short sharp exercise sessions for some time now and have even implemented a program for NHS choose in the NE featuring three or more four minute hard sessions for weight loss.

According to modern science, not only do multiple short sessions of exercise generally provide the same health and fitness benefits as a comparable amount of exercise completed in one uninterrupted workout, but by most measures, the briefer bouts are better.

We are not even talking about short high intensity(tabata style) efforts here which we know provide profound extra benefits over long slow efforts.

For instance, researchers at the Capital University of Physical Education and Sports in Beijing strapped small monitors to the ankles of a group of healthy men. The monitors measure changes in blood flow, providing an indirect measure of arterial stiffness. Less stiffness is healthier.

Then they had each individual, on alternating days, ride a stationary bicycle or rest quietly for half an hour. Some rode for 30 minutes uninterrupted, while others rode for two sessions of 15 minutes each, with 20 minutes of rest between.

After the 30-minute session and the two 15-minute sessions, the men’s arteries were more pliable than when they rested. But the arterial benefits did not linger long after the 30-minute workout, dissipating within 40 minutes when final measurements were taken. Not so with the shorter sessions; after the second of those, the men’s arteries retained extra flexibility 40 minutes later.

Similarly, when researchers examined exercise and blood pressure control in a 2012 study, they found that one 30-minute afternoon walk improved blood pressure readings for 24 hours among adults with borderline hypertension. Three 10-minute walks spaced throughout the day improved overall blood pressure just as effectively, but unlike the single session, they also blunted subsequent spikes in pressure, which can indicate worsening blood pressure control.

In another study presented at the sports medicine meeting, Taiwanese researchers reported that eight weeks of treadmill jogging significantly improved college students’ endurance, and the improvements were almost identical, whether the volunteers jogged for 30 minutes or for three 10-minute sessions on the same day.

So all of this begs the age old question do you have time for exercise?  Do you really not have time for three 10 minute walks?

Even better do you have time for three 4 minute tabata style high intensity workouts ?  You can even do them at home.  Check them out for free on my Youtube channel 



Glenn ( you DO have time ) Hill

Personal Trainer Durham | 07983570574

Personal Trainer | Durham | Glenn Hill

A little bit about this blog, i am discussing the fact that some modern magic works better for stretching tight muscles than traditional stretching, Massage stretching or PNF.

My credentials to talk about this subject are:

18 years Army Fitness and being a physical training instructor
Sports Massage Therapist level 3
Master Personal Trainer
BodyMap Practitioner
(BodyMap is all about looking at functions like breathing, eyes, balance, spatial awareness and proprioception in order to take our brain out of threat/fear which improves all of our functions including flexibility and power -it's upstream thinking (in your brain) it works)

Let me tell you the story that suprised me too:

I have been training one of my PT clients who has tennis elbow and tendonitis of the shoulder, we have been doing a bit of running and lots of functional leg and core work.  Our recent sessions have been very hard so i decided to take her through a BodyMap assessment and maybe some massage etc as a form of a full Body/Brain MOT.

I tested her spinal, hip and shoulder  flexibilty and pain levels before going through the body map protocols.  Within ten minutes she was 6 inches closer to touching her toes, spinal and shoulder mobility had improved hugely especially on 1 side.  Pretty amazing really as we are not actually stretching anything just moving eyes, breathing and some other magic (it's a secret-ask Dax) .

The interesting thing here is i wanted her to get the extra inch to touch her toes so i reverted back to downstream thinking of pulling, bending, stretching etc.  Lower limb/posterior chain massage,  massage stretching )pin and stretch, PNF stretching of hamstring and fascia release techniques.

You would think that this has got the extra inch wouldn't you?  WRONG

The process of painful sports massage and PNF looks to have put the client back into a state of threat/fear and limited her toe touch - posterior chain flexibilty hugely.  She is now 5 inches from touching her toes?

So traditional methods of improving flexibility have actually reduced it after the initial BodyMap (your brain just giving you flexibility because it feels safe)

I have learnt a lot today about how your primary giver of mobilty and function (brain) hugley supersedes our attempts of stretching for flexibility and function.

Cool i would like to here your thoughts, questions on a Postcard...

Glenn ( Durham PT geek) Hill

Shortlisted on the National Fitness Awards 2014

I am always trying my best to help everyone be fitter, healthier and happier.  Can i help you?   All of the ways as FREE help i will provide for you...

Hopefully by now you have got in touch and i have been able to help, if not what is stopping you?

Personal Trainer of the year shortlisted 2014

Glenn Hill (Personal Trainer County Durham)

07983570574

So i am looking at helping more people out with my specialist brand of Personal Training but this time in Durham.   I have no idea how good, great or bad they are, there are probably some excellent Personal Trainers in Durham, however i am looking into helping more clients in that area.

My pond is getting smaller you see, i already have helped so many Cestrians by improving their lives and now it's time to help our friends in Durham.  My reputation in my little pond is excellent, but it's time to expand.

Hopefully by November i will have been crowned gym based Personal Trainer of the year 2014 at the National Fitness Awards, if not i am still very pleased to be in the top 7 (shortlist). 

My Personal Training involves a no stone unturned look at the mind/brain and body, i bet some of you are thinking the mind and brain are the same thing? mmm.  Today for example as an average day i was just waiting for my PT Client Coreen (who has upper body injuries so we can only train lower limbs) when a gym member came in complaining of an injured back.  Some PTs cannot help but because of my Sports Massage and BodyMap background i had removed the painful back within 5 minutes (BOOM).  One very impressed  gym member and then onto helping my client.

Coreen had been working very very hard for a couple of weeks and was stiff so we never carried out exercise today, instead we conducted a BodyMap assessment which within 15 minutes improved all of the mobility and function issues for Coreen.  Then we carried out some basic sports massage removing painful nots and then Sports Massage and PNF stretching.  Basically my intuition told me that the best thing for my client today would be a (Full Brain and Body MOT) to get everything back to good working order to ensure better results in the future.

She left her session feeling amazing and ready for our next one.

That is the difference  between what i do and what others do.

If you are in County Durham and would like to work with a Personal Trainer with an excellent reputation then get in touch.

Glenn Hill

Alcohol stops weight loss - Boom

So this is a video blog talking about the negative sides of alcohol, well actually just talking about the fact that booze can stop your fat loss for up to 3 days.

Listen and watch as i explain my method of staying in shape and still having more than the odd beer.

5 tips on stress reduction

Heya my awesome tribe

Personal Trainer Durham

I am going to talk about stress and give you 5 top tips to reduce stress, before we do that i will explain why stress is so bad for our health and weight.

Not sure you know this but stress is one of the biggest killers and even CHDs and strokes can be caused by stress.  We are starting to believe that stress is the foundation of most fatalities, think about it.

Obesity which can cause diabetes, heart disease and strokes can be caused directly and in directly by stress.  How can stress keep us fat or make us obese? 

Directly - hormones

Release of the stress hormone cortisol which can stop the fat burning process and hold onto the fat, great for survival of a caveman over the winter months but life threatening for stressed out modern people.  Also when you are stressed you will be most likely be in the sympathetic nervous system which is the flight or fight nervous system when blood is shunted to the limbs ready to run away or fight to survive.  This blood should be in your gut to aid with digestion and fat burning.
Indirectly - eating

So indirectly is more common and more noticeable than the hormonal effects of stress on us, so you are stressed and you go for junk food to make yourself feel better or even worse you starve yourself as you are not hungry.  Both have a very negative effect on your metabolism and keeping fat off in the future.

The medical definition of stress is, “the perception of a real or imagined threat to your body or your ego.” It could be a tiger chasing you or your belief that your spouse is mad at you (even if he or she is not). Whether it is real or imagined, when you perceive something as stressful, it creates the same response in the body.

Years ago stress would be a productive thing for the caveman because it would shunt blood to help a caveman catch his food or escape from a threat or during the winter months it would retain fat to help him survive the winter.  Unfortunately 100,000 generations as a hunter gatherer and 10 generations of modern agriculture our brains haven't developed enough to distinguish actual and perceived threat.

You feel stressed or threatened and a sudden influx of adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones floods your system, raising your heart rate, increasing your blood pressure, making your blood more likely to clot, damaging your brain’s memory centre, increasing fat storage, and generally wreaking havoc on your body.

My tips are as follows and work for myself and my clients: 

1. Move. A great way to reduce stress is enjoyable exercise, a bike ride, horse ride, yoga or a nice run in the woods.  Remember though your brain still sees exercise as stress, it is a stress on your body and mind so if the exercise is too tough or competitive it could have the opposite effect.  For myself a nice mountain bike ride through the woods on a hot day de-stresses excellently.
2. Breathe. Most of us hold our breath often or breathe high in the chest, anxious breaths. Deep, slow, full breaths have a profound affect on resetting the stress response.  Your brain can feel in threat or stress and often some big slow breaths breathing through the diaphragm is the first and quickest way of bringing you back into the correct relaxed nervous system and de stressing and helping you relax or sleep.
3. Sunshine. This is the life giving rays of the sun, the vitamin D from the sun has been proven to make you feel happy and has been know to treat depression.  I have been using the sun actively for improving my clients self esteem and morale for a long time now, normally a bit of exercise or cycling in the sun.  15 minutes of sun a day is recommended for good health, get some real sun on your skin each time.
4. Sleep. Lack of sleep increases stress hormones. Get your eight hours no matter what.  Take a nap if you missed your sleep. Prioritise sleep.
5. Think Differently. Practice the art of noticing stress, noticing how your thinking makes you stressed. Practice taking deep breaths and letting go of worry. Don't let bad people let you get down, ignore what other people think.  Always think positively i actually try and take a positive with everything i do, every time i mess up i think of the benefits.

So to summarise stress is a real big deal and could mean the difference between fat or fit or dead or alive.  I believe that i am the only Personal Trainer in County Durham who thinks of stress as the number one component when working with my clients.  If you would like some more info on what i do please check out the rest of my blogs on here or on my website www.itrainhard.co.uk.

I am running a get fit and lose fat quick for your holidays program with almost unlimited personal training and nutrition support for one month for just £500.  I only have 5 places and one has just gone so if you like how i operate please get in touch ASAP to get my help and support.

Glenn(the stress go to guy North East) Hill

07983570574    01913874222

Dont be so rude..

Does your other half have a big nose? the reason i ask is..  you see having high standards is like having a big nose and i should know i have both.

1. Every one can see that you have a big nose or standards.
2. Some people don't like the look of a big nose or high standards   generally because they have nil standards and are probably scrounging layabouts that always chose the easy path.
3. A big hooter gets in the way some times, kissing etc. However high standards can be a pain too because doin things properly and to the best of your ability takes much longer than doing it half hearted.

The point i am making here is that high standards are something some people just have and i/we are making Ladies at Leisure / Personal Training /Beauty Spa and New Salon all about high standards.  This doesnt mean expensive it just means professionalism, diligence, customer care and a strong work ethic.

If you see it not happening in any of the facilities or staff just let the management team know and we will endeavour to improve things. 

Our new Hair salon is opening on the 5th of July and is called "Hair Kandi", we have a brilliant head stylist and are proud to offer a discount of 50% off the full works for our members for first cut etc and for everyone for the entire first week.   
BOOK UP NOW FOR 5th,7th,8th,9th,10th,11th July.


"Hair Kandi"
Ladies & Gents hairdressers
182 Front Street
(within ladies at leisure gym)
Chester le Street
0
I know we generally stick to what we know, however you should try our stylist she is great and has lots of experience and a great style. 

Open day 5th July we are offering great extra offers and styles including nibbles.

BOOK UP NOW FOR THE FIRST WEEK BEFORE ALL OUR PLACES GO....01913874222

www.itrainhard.co.uk

101 days at the gym

Personal trainer Glenn Hill in Durham

Now this blog should have been titled 100 days at the gym. 

However i had a small error in my paperwork which meant the winner completed 101 days consecutively working out in ladies at leisure gym in chester le street.
Well done to Barbie burgess who changed her body shape, fat percentage, fitness and health during the challenge.

6 people started and as expected only the truly motivated survived with only one finishing gaining an amazing sense of achievement and a new found healthy habit.

She lost of over 2 stone of weight and gained a considerable amount of metabolism raising muscle.

At itrainhard fitness we are always coming up with challenges to inspire our friends and gym members to get in the shape of their lives with our help.

So either check us out in Chester le Street or follow our online mini sessions online and let us help you with your fitness challenge.

see you soon
Glenn(durhams go to guy)hill

01913874222

Here at itrainhard fitness and health we are always helping people in the community and surrounding areas in the battle with fitness and weight loss.

We are helping the staff at South Tyneside Hospital with fitness on our choose to lose campaign. We were asked and are now delivering a fitness and weight loss plan for FREE just to help the NHS Staff with the support of NHS Choose.

We are offering two chances to join the program, 12th June and the 1st of July.

The plan is to provide everything for the health workers to get in shape whilst being in the comfort of their own home or office (absolutely no classes or gyms).

Weighed before and before and after pics and the person who loses the most weight wins
 a great prize.

What's it all about?

1. Personal Training advice
2. 1 Month nutrition plan
3. 1 month home training plan
4. Mini sports massage
5. Home mini workouts via youtube
6. Demo of the home mini workout
7. eBooks including motivation, metabolism and alcohol

Any it sounds great doesn't it?  a FREE weight loss plan and it is all done at home, no more excuses that you can't afford a gym.

Another example of itrainhard fitness helping local NE people getting into the shape of their lives.

Glenn (the go to guy) Hill

p/s

if your NHS trust, hospital or company  would like help just ask and we will see what we can do.