What if I told you that there is a way to blast through those dreaded plateaus and evolve your results to a new level? Well there is, and it is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) but I will say that this method of training is certainly not for the faint hearted, its tough and grueling but the results……….. great!

HIIT uses a strategy of short, intense exercise bursts. Resulting in a significant increase in the resting metabolic rate of your body for a staggering 24 hours, and causes anabolic effects such as decreased fat and maintained muscle mass.

HIIT can be done by using the traditional methods of cardiovascular exercise, such as the bicycle, the rowing machine, the treadmill, or the cross trainer or it can be done by incorporating movement inspired methods such as boxing, kickboxing, or whole body circuit training using tools such as dumbbells, kettlebells and plyometrics.

A HIIT session consists of a warm up period, followed by six to ten segments of high intensity exercise, separated by medium intensity exercise, and ending with a period of cool down exercise.

The high intensity exercise should be done at near maximum intensity. The medium exercise should be about 50% of your maximum effort. The number of repetitions and length of each depends on the exercise. The goal is to do at least six cycles, and to have the entire training session last around 15 – 20 minutes.

The great thing about HIIT is that its great for all levels as you are only working as hard as you personally can go in each maximum effort repetition!

Let me break this down for you.

Physical Activity & Exercise

‘Physical Activity’ and ‘Exercise’ are two very different concepts and both play a very important role in achieving total well-being in your life. Physical activity refers to any type of movement and Exercise refers to more structured movements performed for specific aims. Both are fundamentals in Wellness and without them both we would not be able to achieve both mental and physical well-being.

Diet

Diet is another very important portion in achieving total well-being. In order for us to be healthy both physically and mentally we need to ensure we have a well balanced diet. Our body needs a balanced intake of Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Mineral Salts & Water. In order for us to know how to eat healthy, we need to know the quantity of foods we eat, rather than simply calculating the number of calories in the foods we eat.

Lifestyle

This is another very important role in our well-being. Even if we are doing a few hours of exercise each week and combining it with excellent nutrition we cannot achieve total wellness if we are combining it with an excessive intake of alcohol, smoking or insufficient sleep.

Relationships with Others

Feeling good about yourself is the first step to peace of mind and building good relationships with others. Developing and maintaining significant friendships and loving relationships with others, can only bring about the positive energy of self-satisfaction and overall happiness.

Here are my TOP 10 TIPS for achieving WELLNESS:

1: Ensure you dedicate 30 minutes each day to moderate, continuous exercise.

2: Include muscular strength and flexibility exercises into your fitness routine.

3: Try to walk or cycle instead of using means of ‘passive’ transport (car, bus & lifts)

4: Eat at least 5 or 6 small well balanced meals each and every day ensuring you choose fresh, natural produce.

5: Make sure you get enough sleep each night to ensure you recharge both physically and mentally.

6: Stay motivated by constantly setting yourself new goals to achieve in both your working life and private life.

7: Dedicate time to your loved ones, friends and your hobbies.

8: Spend time in pollution free environments and into nature in the great outdoors.

9: Do not smoke or compromise your health through the intake of substances and maintain full self-control.

10: Maintain a positive attitude at all times and as often as possible SMILE!

Wellness can be a very complex subject and difficult to understand and achieve, so if you do need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me further should you have any questions.

Dave Montoya

david@peak-physique.com.au

0407 620 499

Your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent water. Blood is mostly water, and your muscles, lungs, and brain all contain a lot of water. Your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your joints and organs.

Signs of Dehydration

You lose water through urination, respiration, and by sweating. If you are very active, you lose more water than if you are sedentary. 

Symptoms of mild dehydration include chronic pains in joints and muscles,lower back pain, headaches and constipation. A strong odor to your urine, along with a yellow or amber color indicates that you may not be getting enough water. Note that riboflavin, a B Vitamin, will make your urine bright yellow. Thirst is an obvious sign of dehydration and in fact, you need water long before you feel thirsty.

How Much Water do You Need to Drink?

A good estimate is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number in half. That gives you the number of ounces of water per day that you need to drink. For example, if you weigh 160 pounds, you should drink at least 80 ounces of water per day. If you exercise you should drink another eight ounce glass of water for every 20 minutes you are active. If you drink alcohol, you should drink at least an equal amount of water. When you are traveling on an airplane, it is good to drink eight ounces of water for every hour you are on board the plane. If you live in an arid climate, you should add another two servings per day. As you can see, your daily need for water can add up to quite a lot.

Twenty percent of your water need will come from the foods you eat. The rest of your water need should come from the beverages you drink. Water is the best choice. Sodas have a lot of sugar in them, so if you drink sodas, you may take in more calories than you need. Herbal teas that aren’t diuretic are fine. Sports drinks contain electrolytes and may be beneficial, just look out for added sugar and calories that you don’t need. Juices are good because they have vitamins and nutrients.

Caffeinated beverages will also add to your daily water need. Even though caffeine is a diuretic, if you regularly consume caffeine, your body will regulate itself to that diuretic effect.

Drink Enough Water

It may be difficult to drink enough water on a busy day. Be sure you have water handy at all times by keeping a bottle for water with you when you are working, traveling, or exercising. If you get bored with plain water, add a bit of lemon or lime for a touch of flavor. There are some brands of flavored water available, but watch for extra calories.

In deep sleep, human growth hormone does its best work. It repairs damaged muscle tissues, aids in muscle growth and generally promotes the restoration of muscle building that weight trainers rely on for getting great results.

In fact, a decline in deep sleep as we age has been suggested as a contributing factor to muscle wasting (sarcopenia) in the elderly.

My conclusion on this is that if you want to get the best out of all the hard work, time and effort you put in at the gym, then you must plan to get sufficient quality sleep into your daily regime. How much of deep sleep, REM sleep and total sleep is optimum you ask?? Well this is still a matter of conjecture across gender and age. Yet as you must know from experience, refreshing sleep has its own rewards when you wake and it is unmistakable.

The Perfect Poo: a fat long mid-brown sausage that is easy to pass and feels like it is all out when you are done…a one wiper!

Stools should float just beneath the surface of the water

Too heavy: indicates decaying matter or non-used materials i.e. too much protein in the one meal

Too light (and they are difficult to be flushed away): indicated too much fat in the diet that is unable to be broken down by bile stored in the gall bladder

Very pale stools: indicated insufficient production of bile by your liver

Very dark stools indicates: slow movement through the intestines
Low activity in your thyroid and/ or your adrenal glands

Hard stools indicates: insufficient hydration or calcium and iron not being absorbed correctly by the body

Constipation/ odourless stools indicates: improper bile quality for peristalsis/ bowel movement

Burning elimination: bile is too acidic so you need to cut down on the animal protein i.e. red meat

White mucus in stools: there may be a disturbance in intestinal flora (so put some good bacteria back in there)

Blood in stool can indicate cancer of the colon (don’t panic, get it checked) or hemorrhoids

Green stools: indicated toxic waste is being eliminated from the gall bladder

Diarrhea: possibly indicates inflammation of the colon wall or beneficial clearance of something unwanted/ infection

Ever wondered what actually makes your muscles grow?  How they become stronger?  How they develop more tone?  Interestingly enough I became pretty focused on this concept from a pretty young age, and was always exploring ideas and methods that would accelerate this process.

Now, whether we think that we need it or not, our muscles need to have some type of resistance applied to them in order to stop them shrinking.  “Shrinking, that sounds good!” do I hear a lot of you say?  Well, when it applies to body fat, then shrinking is really good.  But when we are talking about muscles, then shrinking is no good!  You only need to see the old lady crossing the street, hunched over to see the effects of muscles that atrophy (shrink).  Therefore your muscles are doing only one of two things:  Growing or shrinking!  So which one do you choose?

If you are like most, you chose growing….good choice.  Now, don’t despair, strength training will not make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Just ask anyone who has wanted to gain muscle, how hard it really is!  Therefore if you are engaged in some type of resistance work / strength training then you need some strategies to maximize performance.

This week’s solution:  Drop sets.

If you were to perform, let’s say 8 repetitions of a tricep pushdown at 5 plates, and you pushed to your maximum, therefore eight was exactly the maximum you could have done.  No more, no less.  Now consider the set you completed.  The first one, two and three repetitions were pretty easy, four and five not too hard, then by six, seven & eight it was really working, sound right?  Now you might suggest that repetitions 6, 7 & 8 were the only ones where you really worked.  Agree?

Let’s say we up the weight to 8 plates.  Now you may squeeze out 3 or 4 repetitions (all working hard), then dropped the weight to 6 plates and punched out another 3 reps, and finally dropped the weight to 4 plates and squeezed out another 3 reps!  We could definitely argue that you have worked to your maximum on 3 different occasions within the one set (as opposed to only once!)

Try this technique this week.  Pick an exercise you are familiar with and use this strategy.  Feel the difference in the muscle.  Recognise that you may need to use less time to achieve the same effect!

Happy pumping