New Year, New You!

Good Morning Girls!!

OK, so you can decide right this second if you want 2014 to be as good as 2013, or even better!! I know that I want to make progress this year in terms of my fitness, so if you do, I've designed a little progress report that you can download and print off. 

Now the key to making dreams a reality is to actually physically see it! So use this progress report and stick it up somewhere that you can see it every day. 

So, fill out the correct information and watch your results happen over the next 12 months! I'm looking forward to starting mine on Wednesday!! To download this PDF, please click here (dropbox)

But you see, I think this is key!

I'm also going to offer food plans and workouts for any of you girls who want kick ass this year and get where you want to be!! Please just private mail me on facebook. 

Have a fantastic new year and just remember...

Healthy Regards, 

Erica xx

Weight Training While Pregnant

Morning girls, ok one thing I need to get straight before I start, this blog is about women who are ALREADY FIT and who have ALREADY been weight training BEFORE they got pregnant :)

So, you're pregnant, you are a gym bunny and your worried about continuing your training regime in the gym? Well the first this to do is;

- Talk to your doctor (if it's a-ok to continue what you've been doing) then
- Talk to your personal trainer

There are two things that are going to have to hit home (they sound obvious, but most women need gentle reminders about it throughout their pregnancy)

1. You body IS going to change
2. Your training goals CANNOT BE about achieving your fastest time or heaviest lifts aka you training goals HAVE to be about maintaining your existing fitness level, keep strength and having fun!

"combining regular exercise and pregnancy appears to benefit both mother and baby in many ways" American College of Sports Medicine

Training throughout the 9-months

Within the first twelve weeks, I seem to find that most mothers are too nauseous to train, if thats the case then that's ok! If it's not the case then you can continue to train. You need to make sure that you listen to your body when you're training and that you're taking much longer rests (where you used to take 45 seconds change to 90 or 120 seconds).

You do need to be careful that you're not doing a serious about of impact as you are now heavier and this is going to have an impact on your joints.

In general I would just recommend basic programs which allows you to release all your endorphins, keep you happy, keep you strong and keep you lean so that you're weight gain is baby weight gain which is awesome!

An example of a pre-natal program;  

a1. Stiff Leg Deadlift x 10 reps
a2. Incline Chest Press x 12reps
120sec rest, 4 sets

b1. Step Ups x 12reps/leg
b2. Lat Raises x 15 reps
120sec rest, 4 sets

Please remember that you should be sticking to very healthy diet, just because you're pregnant doesn't mean that you're eating for two!! You should be adding about 300kcal onto your diet and more if you're training hard. Make sure that all your food is rich in vitamins and minerals, avoid processed food and continue drinking lots and lots of water!

"A physically active expectant mother would therefore have a higher caloric need, in order to compensate for calories burned off during strenuous exercise...  

well hydrated, fit pregnant women regulate their core body temperatures more efficiently than sedentary people, and undergo less temperature variation during exercise. " American College of Sports Medicine

Classes & Pre-Natal Classes


To be honest, I don't really recommend a pregnant lady attending a general class unless your trainer know's exactly how to adapt the class to tailor your. You should really be doing one-to-one training.

However, in terms of pre-natal classes - go for them!! Pre-natal Yoga and Pilates are amazing for helping mums to be become aware of their body, their breathing and their pelvic floor!! Plus they're generally relaxing and when you're pregnant YOU DO need to do relax and chill!!

TIP for your PF:

Pull your PF up as high as you can at every red light!!

" participation in regular weight-bearing exercise has been shown to improve maternal fitness, restrict weight gain without compromising fetal growth, and hasten postpartum recovery. In addition, the psychological benefits of exercise are undeniable, and should be nurtured by all who care for pregnant women. " American College of Sports Medicine

Ps. Thank you to our model above (isn't she awesome training hard!) who is 7 months pregnant and looking, training and eating great! 

Fitness Advent Calendar!

Day One!!!

Monday Evening 2/12/2013 - if you haven't trained today do this NOW (or if you have, you could be really good and do it also)

- 15 Burpies
- 20 Push Ups
- 60 Mountain Climbers
- 20 Leg Raises
- 1x30s Plan

Go on... it'll take about 4 minutes! DO IT!

If you're feeling really good.... you could do it 3 times!!!


ps. Don't dilly dally.... just do it, fast burpies and keep good technique on all!

Fat Free for Christmas

OK, feeling festive?? Here's some fun tips to help you get through this festive season!! 

Workout for today - are you going to the gym??

Fit Festive Program 1

a1. Barbell Squat (10Reps) (elevate your heels if needed, so you're squatting ass to grass)

a2. DB Lunge & Reach (20Reps) (touch back knee down, db's in line with front foot, make sure you hit both ends of the dumbbells off the floor)

a3. Dumbbell Row (15Reps) (make sure your back is flat, tip the db's off your shoulder & pause)

45 second rest, 4 sets

b1. Back Extension w/ Reach (15Reps) (light enough plate, stretch out at the top)

b2. Decline DB Triceps Extensions (20Reps) (lock your arms out at the top)

b3. Leg Raises - Abs (20Reps) (legs straight)

b4. Upper Ab Crunches (20Reps) (pause and squeeze you're tummy at the top)

45 second rest, 4 sets

c1. Burpies (10Reps)

c2. Push Ups (15Reps)

c3. Mountain Climbers (30sec)

c4. Squat Jumps (10Reps)

c5. Lunge Hold (20sec)

c6. Plank (30sec)

NO rest! 3 sets 

Girls, enjoy!! 

Erica xx

ps, I did it yesterday, it was hard, but a good session! Make sure that you're lifting heavy enough! 

Abs Without Crunches

Okay, so abs are the big thing... but my God, they take serious discipline to get! Abs are hidden under the abdominal fat (which is the hardest to get rid of).

Abs will only appear on bodies that have a low body fat percentage. To get a low body fat percentage, you have to burn body fat. To do that, you need to be disciplined with your diet BIG TIME, supplement with high quality supplements and you need to bring in full body exercises into your workouts.

Compound full body exercises are more beneficial for abs than crunches!

Why??

Because you need to get lean first!! Crunches aren't hard, but chin ups are! Abs aren't easy to get, so obviously easy training won't get you abs. You need to make sure that your workouts are challenging!!

Okay, apart from the fact that deadlifts are my favourite exercise, if you want to boost fat loss, the main objective it to get stronger. You must include full body exercises, like deadlifts, into your routine!

Compound exercises are exercises that require all of your main muscle groups to work really really hard to perform the exercise properly!

Full body exercises are deadly because they really help develop your core strength! Steady core muscles are vital for many reasons... but mainly... because you look deadly with abs! To work your core properly, you need to be making sure that there are full body compound exercises in your programmes.

Full body compound exercises include;

Deadlifts

Squats

Chins 

Cleans

If anyone needs help with programme design, you can send me an email: ericabrennan.pt@gmail.com

Enjoy the rest of the weekend,
Erica xx

LOSE FAT? PHASE TWO!

So, getting back to our BIG QUESTION?

HOW DO WE LOSE FAT??

Well like I said, there are two main simple rules! The first rule is to stop eating crap and the second is to;

TRAIN PROPERLY!!

You need to: 

1. Weight Train 

2. Do high intensity cardio intervals

3. Stop chatting and taking so much rest

So just to briefly expand on these bullet points. 

1. You need to WEIGHT TRAIN!

Why? Because you need to build muscle (no you will NOT get bulky - women do NOT produce enough testosterone to increase muscle dramatically!)this means that not only will your RMR (resting metabolic rate) be elevated but the amount of calories you burn during the 24 hour post workout will be much higher. 

(e.g. When you go for a run, you are burning calories while you are running, but as soon as you get in the front door, you've stopped. Compared to weight training where you are still burning post 24 hours after your workout. You do the maths!)

2. High Intensity Cardio Intervals will leave you butchered, which is how you want to feel after you have been training. If you're going to spend an hour in the gym, make it a beneficial one! It is fact that short intervals result in higher fat loss in relation to long aerobic programs. 

3. Stop taking 3-7 minutes of rest. Put your phone away, stop talking to other people. You need to have discipline when it comes to time keeping, otherwise you're wasting valuable fat loss time. Realistically, you are in charge of your workout (Yes a personal trainer will really help) but if your workout is "too easy" YOU'RE not pushing yourself hard enough. Yeah, we could all do 20 burpies over 10 minutes, try do them in 60 seconds, thats a different story altogether! 

I don't want to drag on, so over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to focus on fat loss tips and ways to speed up the process of burning fat. There are other factors like stress, sleep, supplements, program design etc. so stay tuned :)

COME ON GIRLS, 

How to lose fat??

So the big question is; How do we lose fat? 

There are two very simple rules that you'll have to follow:

1. STOP EATING CRAP! 

So that includes, ANY food with a high sugar content (sweets, chocolate, alcohol). Transfatty foods (spreads), gluten, yeast, high carb things (pizza, rolls, soft drinks, etc) and really anything that is processed..... If you're unsure what foods to eat, live by this rule:

IF IT LIVES IN A BOX. IT'S NOT FOOD. 

Meat, veg, fruit and even dairy (but that's another day) all go off - which means they are food. Things that have a shelf life of three years, are not food. They have been processed in a factory. So anything that lives in a box is a no-no!   

We all know it. But why do we still not do it??? Because sweets & chocolate taste go good...  

But do you know what else is good? 

So keep your cheat meals to something that you really love, a pizza or whatever, to encourage you to be good during the week and enjoy your well deserved cheat meal then :)

My top tip is this: if you are having your cheat meal, make sure to take Omega 3 fish oils during, or after your meal. This will help lower the glycemic load of the food, this means the sugar won't affect you as much!

For rule number two, stay tuned :)

Happy Halloween!!

Erica xx

Luscious Lips

How can we get these:

If we have these:

I'm even noticing now waking up with REALLY dry lips... lovely, I know. So cracked/chapped lips, ulcers and cold-sores are on the horizon ESPECIALLY at this time of year. And I promise after todays blog there are going to be no more GORGEOUS pictures...

So I met my Mother yesterday and as we were having a bowl of soup, she told me that she had an ulcer in her mouth that was driving her mad... So she went to the chemist and bought some ulcer-iee cream. Now what's the problem with that? The problem is, is that it's going to go away and come back again in a couple of weeks and she'll think it's just another one. 

So obviously that's not solving the solution. Your skin is the last stop for things to appear on. So when something does appear on your skin, you need to hit it from the inside first. Makes sense doesn't it? Stress is one of the big factors for these little beauties, so sort your stress levels out and give you immune system a good boost. 

If you get cold-sores, dry/chapped lips, cracked lips or ulcers you need to treat yourself to this:

It's an little aloe stick which is sooooo soothing for your lips. It'll last you months and it is anti-viral (so you can apply when you have an ulcer and apply when you don't have one), anti-septic and anti-pyritic. It's a mighty midget that you can put on anything (even like insect bites, because it takes the itch away). It is a multi-purpose product BUT it's a must have in your pockets for Winter. 

I also use this toothgel (it contain's no flouride and it has propolis - remember that bee stuff - see this blog to know what propolis does :)) It's brill and it got voted BEST whitening toothgel in the states by Readers Digest - which is pretty cool. 

But it's just brilliant for any thingies that appear in your mouth. 

Have a Super Dooper Sunday :)

ps. Next week - our new healthy cook book!

Shop :)

Change your thinking, change your life

Good morning girls, 

Cold Autumn Sunday morning - love them :) 

So throughout the week, i'm going to be posting up all the best defences now for coming into the Winter months. We have a lots of different problems in Winter compared to Summer like;

1. Our immune system is what we need to hit to stay healthy.

2. Our skin, because it's going to react with the cold windy air. 

3. The Winter Blues can be a problem for some people (Seasonal Affected Disorder = SAD)

So i'm going to post my favourite supplements and little tips up throughout the week on that :)

For this morning though, I want to share with you this little clip. I just LOVE it. Like I want to cry every time I watch it because I feel so motivated and ambitious afterwards. I've actually started to watch it every night (for the past two weeks I have). I like going to bed feeling positive, feeling excited, feeling happy about my life and my future; this clip ticks all the boxes. 

In the past two weeks I've received LOTS of exciting news… Which i'm going to be announcing very soon. News in relation our gym #tfa The Fitness Agency. So watch this space because it IS very exciting!!!

Happy Sunday! 

And remember, the only person who is stopping you achieving ANYTHING that you want in life. Is you… So move out of your own way! 

Love Erica xx

Home-made Protein Balls

One thing I'd like to point out. I really love baking BUT if I bake, I eat everything... SO I don't bake.

So during the week, I did a little baking experiment which turned out GREAT :)

So I made little yummy protein balls.

Ingredients:
Forever Ultra Lite Aminotean Protein Shake (1.5 scoops)
Organic Peanut Butter (1 tablespoon)
Almond Milk (30 mls)
Organic Porridge Oats (1/2 mug)
Mixed Seeds (half a mug)
Dried fruit (small handful)
Flaked almonds (2-3 tablespoons)

 Method:
Put all the ingredients into a bowl
Mix together with a wooden spoon!
Make small little balls
Pop onto a tray and into the oven (Gas 4 (160 degrees))
Turn after 5 minutes and leave in the oven for another 5

They taste awesome and are a superb snack or breaki!!! Absolutely delish with a cup of herbal tea :)

Good morning girls :)

Okay as we all know water is a necessity to keep our bodies healthy BUT most people don't drink nearly enough!

You have got to drink water on its own, tea does NOT count. 

If you don't like water - get over it & drink it!

Here's some reasons;

- It helps to maintain healthy body weight by increasing metabolism and regulating appetite (yahoo)

- Water leads to increased energy levels. The most common cause of daytime fatigue is actually mild dehydration.

- Water leads to overall greater health by flushing out wastes and bacteria that can cause disease.

- Drinking adequate amounts of water can decrease the risk of certain types of cancers, including colon cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer.

- Water naturally moisturizes skin and ensures proper cellular formation underneath layers of skin to give it a healthy, glowing appearance.

- Water aids in the digestion process and prevents constipation.

- For a majority of sufferers, drinking water can significantly reduce joint and/or back pain.

- Water can prevent and alleviate headaches.

- Water is the primary mode of transportation for all nutrients in the body and is essential for proper circulation.

Oh and eh it is COMPLETELY essential to the human body’s survival (a person can live for about a month without food, but only about a week without water)

Eh in a nutshell... Drink more water!

(Bottled is better than tap & make sure that your bottles are BPA free... But that's for another day!!)