@beachfitproject anti-catabolic marathon training week 2

Week two is beginning this week, after bedding in from week one last week.

This week now the cardio and exercise programme has been set will be more focused on diet, making sure that I’m taking in the right stuff to make the good stuff happen.

I’m increasing my carb intake to about 150g a day, which should still see me be able to perform the cardio for longer periods of time.

Last week consisted of 4 runs – 4 long slow distance runs (3 treadmill and one outside), soccer for 90 minutes on Friday and 3 hours of squash on Saturday Fartlek style on and off. With the three treadmill runs I also included some HIIT training at the end to completely deplete sugar stores.

Before all of the cardio sessions were done I did some heavy weights with reps only up to 8 to fail, and split body parts throughout the week.

Sunday I had as a rest day, and this morning I’m raring to go for another LSD run.

Have a great week.

Week 8 day 1 re-feed day – last week of #bfp1

Morning all,

This week is the final week of beachfitproject1 before I go on holiday for a week and come back before I start a further 12 weeks of bfp2 or coverfitproject 1 – which il be attempting to reveal a solid 6 PAC at the end of the 12 weeks towards the end of September. This time though il attempt to use video diaries along with WordPress updates for the project an keep the users interacted as much as possible. Il be attending classes aswel as outdoor runs, forestfit at the local forest and also be trying my hand at kettlebells and a cross fit. Il be training twice a day and there will be no excuses for failure or poor nutrition.

Il summarise bfp1 at the end of next week.

If anyone wants to get involved in beachfitproject2 or coverfitproject the. Get involved on Facebook or @beachfitproject

Have a good day

Week 7 day 4 Ketogenic Diet re-feed day and training summary with use of a pre work out supplement – Grenade 50Cal

Morning all,

Trained Legs this morning with James.

Before training I used 2 grenade fat burner thermogenic tablets and also used a grenade 50Cal pre work out supplement. It’s advised you use it 30 minutes before training and said use 1 serving if you’ve never used it before with 250-300 ml of water, but I thought is take all of it and took two servings with 500ml of water. I took it about 8:40Am, and was within training by 9Am but got into the main bulk of the sets by around 9:10Am, and boy was I feeling the pump. I’m not sure some people would react the way did, as I’ve never used pre workout supplements before and I felt like I was bouncing off the walls. Was eager to do the set, was shaking a little and defiantly up for it.

As you can see from the ingredients; the 50 cal has some pretty mad ingredients!

We trained an ascending and descending pyramid on the plate loaded leg press:

1 set of 20kg either side (40) + machine which is 50 so I’m told all the way up to 8 x 20kg either side plus machine.
The last set I thought I’d try 8 plates aside plus a 10kg each side, and I managed 6 reps which I pleased with.
We then came back down taking two plates off each side, so 6x20kg each side, 4, 2, then 1. By this point I was feeling sick and I felt the pump do it’s job and I was fairly pleased. However I did some abductor exercises and adductor exercises and that was me, feeling sick and no longer able to carry on.

Would I use the pre workout 50Cal again: Yes I would, felt like it gave me some real determination, and energy which sometimes you can struggle with on a ketogenic diet, especially as carb levels today are at there lowest as its the morning of the re-feed day. Rest periods in between each set were about 45-60 seconds so it was fairly intense.

Anyway I’m off to get some carbs down me. Have a good day

@beachfitproject

#beachfitproject
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@beachfitproject final 2 weeks, nutrition from cheat day yesterday and an article on cover model abs and exercises

Yesterday was my last cheat day of the beachfitproject for this 8 week block.
It wasn’t as successful as hoped as I was a little reserved with what I eat but still managed to eat some cheat foods. I had a few scotch eggs, (mini savoury eggs), I had a chicken wrap, a doughnut. Then on the evening we bought two 14″ pizzas and some ice cream from Ben and jerries. Out of all that pizza I managed three slices before I was full and I managed about 5 tea spoons of ice cream. Overall it wasnt a bad day, and the reason behind it is simple:

1) a reward for the previous two weeks good effort of training and diet
2) To shock the body and a change from the norm, which will boost metabolism and barely even touch me

Il include pictures below of cheat day foods.

I’ve also included a cover model workout for abs below, enjoy:

Dan’s cover model abs workout

When I had my half-way photos done a few weeks back, the editor told me I need to work more on my abs in order to get the lower two to pop out. Up until that point, I hadn’t isolated my abs in training because I’d been hitting them in every workout. But in the last couple of weeks, my trainer Jamie Sawyer has added about 20 minutes of weighted abdominal exercises into my routine a couple of times a week.
For each exercise he told me to tense my abs as if I was being punched in the stomach. Then he said: “Forget about imagining – I’m actually going to punch you.” Jamie has trained David Haye, so he knows what he’s doing when it comes to dealing blows. As you can see from the picture, it bloody hurt. But it’s amazing the difference it makes when you lock up your transverse abdominis. Ab exercises hurt a lot more. Which hopefully means they’re working. I’m starting to feel the difference. Give these exercises a go, doing three sets of 10 reps with each.
Double crunch
Lie on your back with your knees tucked up to your chest. Hold a weight in your hands and place a weight on your shins. Take the weight held in your hand over your head while simultaneously extending your legs out so they hover a few inches above the floor. Keep your lower back pressed into the ground. Then forcefully contract your abs as if you are being punched, pull your knees back to your chest, and crunch your torso so the weight being held is now over your knees. That’s one rep.
Ab wheel
Keeping your lower back completely flat and rigid, roll an ab wheel out as far as possible. Once you roll as far as you can while maintaining the correct body position, tighten your abs and roll back to the start position. If you don’t have a wheel you can use dumb-bells or a bar-bell with weights on it.
Standing cable ab curl
Attach a rope to a high cable. Stand with your back to the cable, pushing your buttocks onto the cable bar, and pull the rope down over your shoulders so that your hands are gripping it to your pecs as if holding the straps of a rucksack. Tighten your abs as if you are about to be punched and curl your body down until your elbows touch your knees. Hold for two seconds and slowly roll back up one vertebrae at a time. (Like me, you may want to put a towel or airex pad between the cable bar and your buttocks as you will be hinging at this point.)
Kneeling cable ab curl
The same as the standing (above), except you must kneel facing the cable. Tighten the cable around your shoulders so your arms don’t take the full weight and tire before your abs do.
Russian twists
Sit on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Grab a weight plate or dumb bell and recline back so that your body is angled about 45 degrees – the more you lean back, the harder it is. Keeping your lower body still and the weight out in front of you, twist your body to the right, taking the weight with you. Touch the weight down on the floor in line with your hip and then thrust the weight to the same position on the other side by twisting your body to the left. That’s one rep.
Swissball reverse crunch
Sit on a Swiss ball and walk down it so your lower back is supported by the curve of the ball. Have something solid behind you to hold on to. Lift your legs out straight and off the floor, keeping your body and the ball still, squeeze your abs, and pull your knees to your chest. Then, keeping your back still, extend your legs straight out without touching the floor. (To enhance this exercise place a dumbbell between your feet, but don’t go too heavy too soon!)
Serratus cable sit up
Attach two handles to a lower cable. Lie down with the handles behind your head and pick them up as if you were about to do a bench press. Keeping your arms in this position, tighten your abs as if about to be punched, explode up off the floor and as you move raise the handles above your head. Then slowly roll back down to the floor. Make sure your legs are straight and your heels stay on the floor.

http://www.menshealth.co.uk/blogs/dan-rookwood-cover-model/dan-rookwood-cover-model-training-blog-12

Week 6 day two – article on resisting temptation when following a fat loss/diet programme

Evening all,

Today is week 6 day two, cycle 1 of the carb cycling. I haven’t been on the scales for 6 weeks but in this blog I’ve included a picture of fat loss from my hip area. I’ve also included an article that was written about resisting temptation when following a diet. Enjoy.

The below article was not written by me, and you can find the original owner at the bottom of this page.

How to resist temptation

Human nature dictates that when you’re told not to do something, it becomes the one thing you really want to do. Hence while doing this cover model challenge, junk food – which I never normally eat unless drunk/hungover – has become extremely hard to resist.
I’ve always kept myself in reasonable shape so that I can enjoy my food and have a drink without feeling guilty about it. But when you’re training for the cover of Men’s Health, reasonable isn’t good enough. The diet has to be bang-on. No booze. No bread. No pasta or potatoes. And you’ve got to be just as disciplined with your training.
As I write, I am eating a post-workout meal: superfood salad with grilled turkey. I really didn’t have time to go the gym today, but I went anyway. (Apologies to the Web Editor for the subsequently late blog. Again.)
Not that I can be too pleased with myself. I must confess there have been times over the past four months when I have strayed from the straight and narrow. Several business trips, a two-week holiday and a few birthday parties have tested my commitment. Most of the time I’ve been pretty good, but there have been a couple of big dinners and one spectacular night on the lash.
While such occasions are clearly not advisable, they needn’t completely derail a training programme. A night of booze is never going to do you any good, but the very occasional blow-out meal isn’t the end of the world. In fact, following the basic principle of carb rotation, it can keep your metabolism guessing so your progress doesn’t plateau. Plus, I find the resultant guilt is very motivating: I tend to be stricter with myself afterwards to atone.
Targets and temptations
I also find it really helps to have a tangible target and a strict date to work towards. For me, the countdown to my photoshoot has begun. I’ve worked too hard for too long to mess it up now. For you the goal might be a beach holiday or a wedding.
With Easter and the Royal Wedding bank holidays coming up, the temptation to undo all your good work will be strong. Fine, take the odd day off here and there, have a bit of chocolate if you must, but don’t allow yourself to give up on your training goal. Stay strong and get back in the saddle straight away.
If any of you have any practical tips for how to stay on track after a lapse, please share them in the comments section below. My trainer Jamie Sawyer kicks us off with his advice on how to reboot your training after a slovenly seven days.
Sawyer says…
“If your break is a week of alcohol, processed foods and late nights then I would suggest that you ease back into training. You may feel rested, but your cardio and muscular system are in no fit state to beast the gym on your first session back.
See that first week after your break as a kind of adaptation week, getting rid of the toxins and switching your muscles back on again. This way you won’t suffer from severe soreness, a dip in your immune system, or a bucketload of stress hormone release – all of which will make you store body fat and burn muscle.”
article taken from: http://www.menshealth.co.uk/blogs/dan-rookwood-cover-model/dan-rookwood-cover-model-training-blog-15http://www.menshealth.co.uk/blogs/dan-rookwood-cover-model/dan-rookwood-cover-model-training-blog-15

End of week 5 summary and article on gas/bloating when following low carb diet

I’m coming to the end of week 5 today, and I’ve noticed again some more changes this week. Fitness has definitely increased on the heart rate sprints and fatigue is starting to decrease. Noticeable changes in the body around the upper abs.

Today I’ve got an interesting article on gas and bloating when on a low carb diet, which I counter with some of the solutions that the article suggests anyway. It’s quite interesting, take a look.

People switching to a low-carbohydrate diet often complain of gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea as their bodies adapt to their new style of eating. For people on low-carb diets, gas is often a symptom of constipation. Constipation and fluid retention also cause the swollen, bloated feeling in your abdomen on a low-carb diet.
Causes
Fiber is a kind of carbohydrate from plants that your body can’t digest. Fiber aids in bowel movements by softening your stool and giving it bulk. However, since many low-carb diets limit fruit and vegetable consumption because of the sugars they contain, some dieters end up with hard stools that are difficult to pass. Constipation leads to gas and a bloated feeling. Also, as Health 101 explains, the sugar alcohols like lacitol and sorbitol that sweeten many processed low-carb snacks can cause digestive disturbances and gas in large quantities.

Bloating
Although constipation causes bloating, other traits of a low-carb diet can also lead to bloating and abdominal discomfort. High-protein foods such as cured meats and cheeses are salty. Sodium causes you to retain water, swelling your belly and other parts of your body. Avoid cured, treated and processed animal products to avoid bloating. Also, meats–especially beef and pork–cause bloating because they are slow to digest and empty from the stomach. You can relieve a heavy stomach by substituting white meat, fish and eggs for red meat and pork.
Prevention/Solution
Eat low-carbohydrate, fiber-rich vegetables such as greens, celery and mushrooms to relieve constipation, gas and bloating. If your diet prohibits all plant foods, then take a fiber supplement to encourage bowel movements. Also, make sure that you are eating enough healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to lubricate your bowels. Drink plenty of fluids to aid digestion and keep your bowel contents soft and moist. Finally, take a probiotic or eat plain yogurt to revitalize the intestinal fauna that aids digestion.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/300356-gas-bloating-low-carb-diet/#ixzz1wjhugiw7

Picture from: http://proimblogger.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Low-carbohydrate-Diet.jpg

Week 5 cycle 2 day 2 -& info on Protein for fat loss – Whey vs Casein (optimum nutrition casein)

For the last 4-5 weeks I’ve been consuming a Branded Pure Protein – IGF-1 from USN. The protein superbly packed full of vital ingredients, has excellent protein content and tastes very good (especially vanilla although I am biased towards that flavour as it has many uses: protein porridge etc)

Research shows combining whey protein with a casein protein in your diet may promote fat loss. So for the next 4 weeks I’ll be taking in an Optimum Nutrition Casein Vanilla shake in replacement of a normal whey and checking against results from the last 4 weeks. Once that initial 4 weeks with the casein has passed il then combine a casein shake with a whey protein shake in the diet (not taken together) and check results.

Below is an article on Casein vs Whey protein:

PROTEINS AND WEIGHT LOSS
It remains inconclusive whether a high-protein diet offers weight loss benefits, with the efficacy of any specific diet largely depending on an individual’s relative caloric intake and expenditure. By following a high-protein diet, such as one based on whey and casein combination drinks, you may achieve weight loss, according to a 2009 study published in the journal “Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.” As an additional benefit, the same study found that a high-protein diet may improve cholesterol levels.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
The effects of whey and casein depend as much on how you take the supplements as the properties of the proteins themselves. For weight loss, Dr. Michael A. Smith advises drinking whey and casein shakes during periods of fasting, such as during the stretch between lunch and dinner or whenever you have your longest period of fasting of the day. In addition, consuming extra proteins, alone, is unlikely to affect weight loss unless you adjust your overall diet accordingly. Reduce your intake of foods with a high energy density, or foods with many calories in small volumes. Instead, round out your protein intake with fruits, vegetables and other low energy-density options.
WHEY VS. CASEIN
Though whey and casein are both proteins found in dairy products, they have different properties when used by the human body. Whey is relatively easy for the body to break down for metabolic use. In some cases, whey powder or whey concentrate contain forms of whey that are already partially broken down, making them even easier for the body to use right away. By contrast, casein is relatively slow-acting, delivering amino acids to the blood more gradually. In addition to the difference in release times, whey and casein contain different types of amino acids.

The above article was in reference to: http://www.livestrong.com/article/554922-whey-casein-blend-to-lose-weight/

Image of Casein Nutrition facts belong to Optimum Nutrition And image of whey vs casein image belongs to: muscle chronicle which can be found here

Week 5 re-feed day (4) Nutrition, Training and Article on Tabata HIIT training

Evening all.

This morning I trained HIIT again and did 40 minutes. Pre workout grenade supplement was included and I was sweating big time come the end of the 40 minutes. It felt good. I’ve been looking at Tabata HIIT training, and below this written piece from me is a couple of articles of research and theory behind Tabata training.

My diet day is a re-feed day so naturally more carbohydrate. I’ve had porridge for breakfast with a hand full of sultanas. Mid morning I had some whole meal tagliatelle with a light pasta sauce. I halted that serving and eat the rest around 4 hours later. This evening for dinner I have sweet potato and a butcher burger, and to round off some natural low fat Greek yogurt with some strawberries. Sugars sound quite high in all of this today, but my body is craving it! Them glycogen stores will not re-feed themselves!

Below is the article on Tabata training. Have a good day!
Tabata: A form of HIIT training and uses 20 Second Body Weight Compound exercises followed by 10 seconds rest x 8 bouts = 4 minutes. Each bout should be close to maximum effort. There are various research articles on Tabata training showing different results to do with the aerobic and anaerobic system, but tere are also results showing how Tabata training can have excellent results on fat burning, which is explained below. That’s enough from me, here is the science and research behind it

If you do not know what Tabata is, I’ll explain a little bit about it. Tabata was founded in Japan by Izumi Tabata. He conducted tests on two groups of athletes; comparing moderate high intensity training with high intensity interval training.

The results were that the athletes training in high intensity interval training improved their aerobic systems as well as their anaerobic system. The athletes who did the moderate high intensity training only improved their aerobic system and had little to no increase in their anaerobic system.

Designing Your Tabata
Next, you want to begin to ask yourself what you want to achieve. Do you want to lose fat? Do you want to improve your endurance? Do you want to improve your muscle endurance? Do you want to gain size and strength at the same time improving your cardio? All these can help formulate what exercises to include. This is a sample of a simple Tabata session:

• Pushups for intervals 1 and 3
• Body weight Squats for intervals 2 and 4
• Medicine ball slams for intervals 5 and 7
• Sprinting or jumping rope for intervals 6 and 8
Before You Use Tabata
Like many other exercises and forms of workouts; you must be committed and determined to put forth all your energy in the exercise. The Tabata Training Method is an advanced form of exercise and it requires you to be fit as well as mentally strong. The method is designed so that it lasts 4 minutes long, however within those 4 minutes you have to go through 8 intervals: Each lasting 20 seconds at a very high intensity.

Using The Tabata Training Method
Using Tabata is quite simple and straight forward. However you must be prepared for the session. The first thing you need to do is to pick the exercises you wish to include in your Tabata training. Then, you need the right equipment for the exercises. After, you have to decide which interval is for what exercise (if you have more than one exercise in your training). For example you could have one interval for one exercise and another interval for the other exercise. This is a sample Tabata training plan:

• Barbell Squats (intervals 1,3)
• Pushups (intervals 2,5)
• Chin ups (intervals 4,6)
• Sprinting in place (intervals 7,8)
• Equipment needed: Barbell with weights, surface mat for pushups and a chin up bar
Tabata Training lasts 4 minutes and has 8 intervals in total lasting 20 seconds. Within those 20 seconds however, you are going all out. Make sure you use a weight where you can successfully go all out for all 8 intervals. Also make sure the exercises aren’t too hard and aren’t too easy. The exercises should hard enough so it makes you sweat and breath during an interval, however easy enough so you can last the whole Tabata session.

Using The Tabata Training Method Effectively
As mentioned above, you must be prepared and have chosen the correct exercises so you can see improvements in your fitness. However, what I didn’t mention was that you must have proper nutrition and rest if you want Tabata to work.

3 Reasons To Do The Tabata Training Method Instead Of Long Distance Running
1. Time
One of the down sizes of doing long distance running is that it takes time to get to the area where you are jogging to and back; and time for your heart rate and metabolism to shoot up. Because it takes time, you’ll have to work longer and harder in order to see the results (losing fat and/or improving cardio).

If you don’t know already, Tabata is a four minute session. Each Tabata has 8 intervals of which you exercise at a very high intensity for 20 seconds. After 20 seconds, you have 10 seconds to rest. Tabata is a form of high intensity training and one of the benefits of high intensity training is that it can boost your metabolism and heart rate up in a matter of seconds. Long distance running requires anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 in order to get your heart rate up. Not only that but you have to maintain that heart rate for the rest of the jog to get your body to burn fat.

2. Losing Fat
I’m sure you’ve encountered various people saying that the only way to lose fat is to jog. The truth is, jogging is only one of the ways to lose fat (and the slowest). As mentioned above, jogging takes time for your metabolism and heart rate to rise. So in order to burn fat while jogging, you have to wait a bit until your body can get into the fat burning zone.

Tabata training will raise your metabolism and heart rate up in no time. Because you are performing these exercises at a very high intensity, your body will have to work much harder to keep up. This will cause your heart to pump faster and your metabolism to rise; which you want if you are planning on losing fat. Your metabolism will stay at a high not only during the workout, but after the workout as well. This means that your body will be burning fat even when you aren’t doing anything.

3 Aerobic and Anaerobic Benifits
Izumi Tabata was the founder and creator of Tabata. He conducted a test which tested two groups of athletes. The first group was ordered to train in moderate intensity exercises (this includes jogging, skipping, swimming, cycling and so forth) at 70% lasting an hour for each training day for five days a week for a total of six weeks. The result from this group was that their aerobic system improved, however their anaerobic system improved little to none.

The second group was ordered to train 4 days a week for a total of 6 weeks at a high intensity (170%) each training day lasting 4 minutes. The results of this training group was that they increased their aerobic system much more than the other group and that they had a 28% increase.

This means that the group performing high intensity training (Tabata) had much more improvements than the group performing moderate intensity.

Above taken from: http://tabatatraining.org/

Tabata method
A popular regimen based on a 1996 study by Izumi Tabata uses 20 seconds of ultra-intense exercise (at an intensity of about 170% of VO2max) followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated continuously for 4 minutes (8 cycles). Tabata called this the IE1 protocol. In the original study, athletes using this method trained 4 times per week, plus another day of steady-state training, and obtained gains similar to a group of athletes who did steady state (70% VO2max) training 5 times per week. The steady state group had a higher VO2max at the end (from 52 to 57 ml/kg/min), but the Tabata group had started lower and gained more overall (from 48 to 55 ml/kg/min). Also, only the Tabata group had gained anaerobic capacity benefits
Long aerobic workouts have been promoted as the best method to reduce fat, as fatty acid utilization usually occurs after at least 30 minutes of training. HIIT is somewhat counterintuitive in this regard, but has nonetheless been shown to burn fat more effectively. There may be a number of factors that contribute to this, including an increase in resting metabolic rate. HIIT also significantly lowers insulin resistance and causes skeletal muscle adaptations that result in enhanced skeletal muscle fat oxidation and improved glucose tolerance.
Recently it has been shown that two weeks of HIIT can substantially improve insulin action in young healthy men. Similarly, in young women, HIIT three times per week for 15 weeks compared to the same frequency of SSE exercise was associated with significant reductions in total body fat, subcutaneous leg and trunk fat, and insulin resistance. HIIT may therefore represent a viable method for prevention of type-2 diabetes

Above taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

Week 5 day 3 +Technogym Arke Training and todays nutrition

Afternoon all.

Trained this morning with Russell again and we did shoulders. Started with some light dumbbell shoulder presses, followed by some sets to 8 rep failure followed by front raises, side raises and rotator cuff frontal exercises. We then hit the plate loaded shoulder press machine where we did an ascending pyramid on a shoulder press.
We finished off with a few light core exercises, including using the new technogym arke training medicine type balls.

I’ve just had lunch which consisted of two oven chicken breasts wrapped in ham, with chilli flake accompanied with a 2 egg omelette with chilli. (quite chilli orientated)

@beachfitproject #beachfitproject – twitter

Supplements pro on Facebook.

Enjoy the article today on the new technogym arke range.

Below is an article from technogym on the arke range and it’s uses:

technogym arke picture here
The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) has counted functional training among its projected top fitness trends for 2011.

Functional training has already proven to be a success because asit is based on natural movements, it allows users to gain an ease of movement never before experienced in everyday activities.

ARKE – train the best possible way
For you and your fitness staff, ARKE represents an innovative approach to Functional Training, based on new tools and a method designed and tested by the Technogym Scientific Center.
For your members, it represents a journey along the development of their posture, from childhood to adulthood, and to regaining genuine physical well-being.

The ARKE tools and method will help all your members, from beginners to experienced athletes, to explore their movement potential by training in a new, effective and mindful way and achieving visible results, day by day.

Four categories – endless possibilities
The ARKE tools are divided into four categories , each named after one of the four natural elements (Earth, Water, Fire and Air) and characterized by different shapes and colours according to intensity and mode of use. The line includes three innovative pieces of equipment (Pendulum, Twin Clubs and Water 8 Ball) to revolutionise your approach to Functional Training.
Products & solutions
ARKE, the new kit for functional training

Offer your clients complete functional trainingwith Arke, the new Technogym solution for functional training.

Optimising physical efficiency means training your coordination, stability, balance, flexibility, strength, speed, agility, responsiveness, and cardiovascular & respiratory capacity.
ARKE, the new approach to functional Ttraining, is based on a newly designed equipment kit and a method designed and guaranteed by the Technogym Scientific Center

Appeals all members
From beginners to advanced users, one-on-one or in small groups, ARKE is suitable for everyone because it’s a training method that allows complete freedom of movement and involves all physical components, giving the best results with the support of a personal trainer.

What’s new
ARKE is an equipment line divided into four categories, each identified by a colour and a name inspired by the four classical elements (air, earth, water, and fire), and is composed of traditional elements as well as a few that are unique of their kind. Here they are.

Water 8Ball is a tool consisting of two semi spheres joined together, and because it is filled with water it has an unstable mass that makes it very helpful in developing balance.

Pendulum consists of a shaft with holes located at different heights, to which a sphere is attached that serves as a weight. Thanks to the holes on the shaft, the sphere can be positioned at different heights, changing the resistance that the user must supply during movement.

Twin Club is a pair of clubs with a new fastening system that allows them to be used both together and separately. Combining the two clubs in different ways, the centre of gravity can be symmetrical or asymmetrical, achieving different training results.

Complete Range
The air category consists of equipment filled with air, making the equipment suitable for throwing and for performing exercises on an unstable surface. It includes the Wellness Ball, Medicine Balls and Air Ball.

The earth category consists of Balance Dome, Kettle Blocks, Stability Disc, Balance Pad, and Foam Roller; these are all products used for performing exercises on the ground or with supports.

The water category includes equipment filled with this element, which makes the weight of the water balls and the Water 8ball dynamic and therefore unstable.

The fire category includes Pendulum and Twin Club, both suitable for warming up and strength training.

http://www.technogym.com/gb/company/news-and-events/news/products-solutions/arke-the-new-kit-for-functional-training/10552

Week 5 day 2 progress: Benefits of a cheat day explained, and why it is good for Dieting and fat loss

Morning all.

Back in the gym this morning, cardio today though. Two days ago I had my bi-weekly cheat day, where basically I eat what I wanted (il explain the benefits of that further down this article). I had a pasta bowl with meat an jalapeños, which was fairly heavy on the calories and fat, loads of carbs and some protein (mainly from the meat). I had a chocolate milkshake, low in fat but quite high in calories as it was mainly carb based, and some protein. We then in the evening after work had a BBQ and I could have been a little worst then anticipated, I opted for the chicken off the BBQ (bbq’d breast fillets) and I also had a rump steak. Later on that evening i had 3 small pieces of pizza with the lads for the boxing and then had some Ben and jerrys apple pie ice cream (that was beautiful).

All in all it was a successful cheat day, and that has kicked in the motivation again and refuelled me which will kick me on for the next two weeks until the next cheat day.

Benefits of having a cheat day in a hard training and diet programme:
The theoretical benefits of cheat days are:

1) you’ve been working hard for the week or two weeks in my case, and you can put the diet and training aside for one day and enjoy your life, not letting exercise and diet rule you for one day
2) motivational goal factor. Gives you something to look forward to after hard bouts of training
3) some research shows that a cheat day can be beneficial to a fat loss programme (explained below)
4) kick starts motivation for the next solid hard block of exercise
5) good for your mind body and soul, and for you to relax and reward yourself.

Scientific evidence below:

1) Increased thyroid hormone output. When in a caloric deficit, underfed individuals produce less T3 and T4—both important thyroid hormones that play roles in the regulation of metabolic rate. A cheat day or strategic overfeed is used in part to increase these hormones.
2) Increased 24-Hour Energy Expenditure. A caloric surplus from a cheat day causes the body to upregulate basal metabolic rate (BMR). Some studies have shown an increase of 9% above baseline, and it’s hypothesized that more is possible.
Increased serum Leptin levels. The big one that most harp on. Leptin levels drop while in a caloric deficit (lasting as little as 72 hours), and a periodic bump in leptin coming from a cheat day has several benefits including increased thyroid output, increased energy expenditure and BMR, and overall increased thermogenesis.

The above was taken from: scientific evidence above

More below about cheat days:

Physiologically, cheats can offer many benefits. If you have been dieting pretty hardcore, it’s likely that you have low muscle glycogen levels. Along with this often comes a sluggish feeling during your workouts and less than optimal strength.

Glycogen:
Glycogen is a polysaccharide of glucose (Glc) which functions as the secondary short term energy storage in animal cells. It is made primarily by the liver and the muscles, but can also be made by the brain and stomach.

You may also find that you are fatiguing faster than normal and are not able to keep up with your previous performance.

A cheat meal or day, since it often means an excess of calories and carbohydrates taken in, will serve to replenish some of these stores, which will help give you more energy and train harder at your next workouts.

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Cheats Can Offer Many Benefits.
Along with decreased muscle glycogen that goes with dieting, there is also a slowing of the metabolism effect. The body senses starvation and tries to lower the amount of energy it needs to continue to function on a daily basis.

This means you will be burning less calories just sitting there than if you hadn’t been dieting, which makes weight loss even harder.

above taken from:

Hope you enjoy a cheat day too.

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