10 Ultimate Tips for Supreme Health and Fitness

How this will benefit you:

The SAS, Endurance Runners, Pro Athletes and Extreme Adventurers have one thing in common…there are incredibly physically fit. Here’s how you can easily share that level of fitness right from the get-go.

If you’re looking to get fitter, buffer, lose weight and reduce your risk of health problems then you need to read this.

This Photo was taken at the Athlone Triathlon in Dublin, Ireland

 

 

Simple Beginnings

Most of us would like to be fit and healthy, it comes part and parcel with living a full and successful life, however the first major problem most people hit on the road to fitness is the tidal wave of information that is available to you. Information overload right at the outset. Well hopefully this post should give you a simple start.

 

I have been keenly interested in fitness all my life and have been a sportsman from a young age. Recently I have gone into overdrive in the last few years as I have stepped up own personal challengers joining the Parachute Regiment and competing in multiple marathons.

My list of 10 ultimate tips is compiled from training with the Para’s and the SAS, observing Pro Athlete diets and fitness regimes first hand, talking with top UK marathon runners, firemen and sportsmen and reading first hand accounts of endurance athletes and their advice.

The ultimate tips list is a perfect setup for hitting the ground running on getting fit; it’s not easy but it’s not impossible either. Incorporate these 10 things into your life right now and you will see immediate and lasting effects on you health, physique and fitness. Later, when you get more confident you can start to experiment, try new things out and adapt it to your personal style, read on and bring that new dimension to you life that you have been missing.

1. Run, Run and Run some more.

For now, forget the gym, expensive memberships, personal trainers, workout routines and all other fads being rammed down your throat. Get yourself a good pair of fitted running trainers, (Asics are great) and get out there.

While training with the Para’s and the SAS you come into contact with a lot of very fit individuals each with their own training regimes and diet plans. Want to know the secret of the fittest, strongest, most ripped man currently training for the SAS?

He runs. Everyday. And that’s it. No specific diet, no gym, no calorie counting, just 10-15 miles a day running. He currently has multiple UK marathon wins, has been a Para Reg and is now looking to join the SAS.  A quick tip – Don’t attempt 10-15 miles straight off the bat, start small but push yourself. I find the very best way to do this is to build running into your everyday routine. If you drive across the city to work, leave the car, pack a backpack of spare clothes and get running in. Most people commute less than 5 miles, which after a while should take you no longer than 30-40 minutes, usually less time than the commute. Simply doing this will rack up 10 miles a day and show almost immediate results. Always remember to jog very slowly for 5 minutes or so until you get a warm sensation before stepping up the intensity and to stretch each individual leg muscle for a 20 second hold after running to avoid injury. A link to some stretches.

2 Muscle-building weight loss orbs a day.

No, these are not some kind of special, new and extremely expensive supplement. These are Boiled Eggs.

Other than being high in protein, these muscle-building orbs have a secret weight loss ingredient – selenium.

Selenium regulates your thyroid, which keeps your metabolism high meaning higher calorie burning throughout the day. I have seen a direct correlation between people who religiously eat two eggs a day and their relative percentage body fat. A quick tip – I find it easier to buy a dozen eggs at the beginning of the week, hard boil them all and then replace them back into the egg box with the shells on. In the morning, just grab two and shell.

3. Early Riser.

From now on 5am is your new start to the day. To some of you this will be a huge shock to the system, others less so. Don’t groan, it’s not as difficult as you think and it will completely change the dynamics of your day.

Research has shown that how you start your day has a fundamental impact of how the rest of it pans out. Start right and stress free and you should be in for a productive one, start wrong and you’re going to be fighting an uphill battle.

It amazing how much you can accomplish with those extra couple of hours in the morning and your stress levels are greatly reduced when you have time to have a long shower followed by a leisurely breakfast reading the paper. This allows you to slowly get mentally prepared for the day.

Of course there’s always the alternative; waking at 8 in a blind panic running around trying to get everything done, stuffing a quick snack down the gullet before falling into the car only to get stuck in traffic during your commute. Stress levels are high, your day is generally ruined because of the bad start and you’re usually going to find yourself late to the office no matter how many road laws you break.

4. Breakfast.

The most important meal of the day. You’ve probably heard this before but do not underestimate the importance of a good breakfast in the morning. Stay clear of the “kids” cereals and cereal bars as they are packed with sugar and a high proportion of fat, don’t fall into the trap of thinking they are healthy. The long and short of it is that you would almost be as well off eating a mars bars or Twix.

A top breakfast – The following breakfast I have every morning religiously and I love it so much it’s almost like a desert first thing in the morning and it incorporates a fair few power foods to get your day off to the best possible start. Get yourself a cup of steel cut oats, Tesco’s organic are excellent and very well priced, not the quick cook stuff as they lose most of their goodness and cook with a cup of semi-skimmed milk (use skimmed if you’re a die hard). Stir any combination of raisins, Blueberries, or nuts as well as anything else you might fancy (malteasers do not count) into the mix and the whole lot into a plate. A heaped teaspoon of +10 Manuka honey tops it off. Leave the spoon with the honey resting on top for a few seconds to make it all runny and stir in. This delicious breakfast will having you looking forward to mornings again.

5. Water, Water and MORE Water

If running is my single biggest exercise tip then water is my top health and diet tip. The 8 glasses a day is a great benchmark but try and go above and beyond this, you can never really drink too much water, and your body will pretty much stop you if you do so drink as much as you can.

The benefits of water are numerous and I’m not going to go through them now but if you are serious about leading a healthy lifestyle then you have to get this fundamental right.

6. Pasta and Chicken.

I used to work as a chef at Melwood, Liverpool FC’s training ground so if you want to know what the players are eating to keep them in top condition it is this. Pasta Pasta, Pasta, Pasta and some chicken and they are insanely religious about it. Your muscles are about 4/5ths carbohydrate to 1/5 protein so your diet needs to reflect this.

Diets that reduce your carbohydrate intake are dangerous because your muscles need carbohydrate for energy in the form of glycogen; this is where a majority of your energy will come from with the deposit made up from fat. If you take out the carbs the body will go into starvation mode and start to store body fat as a precaution, your cravings will also become monstrous as your body seeks out sources of glycogen.

Cutting out carbs is fundamentally why 9 out of 10 people who diet put the weight back on within 12 months as the cravings just become far too much.

The only real way to lose weight is to be burning more calories then you are in taking which means a healthy diet and regular exercise. Calories come from carbohydrates and fats however carbs are used up first and more quickly than fats so try and base most of your energy foods on carbs. Cereals, breads and pasta’s are all great sources of carbohydrates.

7. An hour between fruit.

Fruit is great, no doubt about it and getting your 5 a day is very important in leading a healthy lifestyle however there is just one major rule you need to be aware of with fruits and that is to do with mixing foods.

On their own fruits are great but combined with other foods they can cause disruptions in the digestion and causes food to start to ferment in your stomach due the high levels of acid they contain.

This goes against our traditional eating habits of having fruit after a meal, try to resist. You can find out which foods do not combine well with fruit but it can all get a bit complicated, an easier rule to follow is try and leave an hour either side of eating fruit and you should be fine.

8. 8 o’clock Lockdown.

After 8 o clock…STOP EATING. Obviously don’t be too religious about it, if you’re at a friends for a meal don’t stop abruptly midway through the main course but in general, when at home, try and stop eating after 8.

Between 8pm and 4am is your bodies natural time for digestion and is also usually when you are least active so if you put a lot of food, especially high calorie food in at this time your body isn’t going to use it, it’s just going to store it…as fat.

Having a decent meal around 6 should ensure you don’t need to eat after 8, just fight the “want” urge.

9. Become less sweet.

I mean this purely in terms of diet obviously. You need to reduce the amount of sugar you take into your system. There is not two ways about it, this is a hard step and takes a high level of self control. For me, this is the hardest thing in the world to do as I have a massive sweet tooth.

The problem with our modern diet is that we are all too accustomed to the amount of sugar in our food.

Try this if you dare, go one full week without any sugar at all, the next time you pick up a biscuit after that and your likely to spit it out because your body is shocked at how sweet and sickly it tastes.

10. Benchmark.

Do not overlook this step. It may seem clichéd but it is extremely important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Do not get religious. Once every week of every fortnight is enough.

The best thing to do is splash out 50p and get a proper readout from one of the machines you can find at almost all gyms.

This will give you your Height, Weight, Percentage Body Fat, Blood pressure and Ideal targets in one handy printout.

Well that’s it from me. If you’re serious about changing your lifestyle get stuck into the above points and get prepared to see the benefits.

There really is nothing better than being in good health. As long as you have your health, anything is possible.

 

 

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