Fitness and Wellbeing Readining List

For a few weeks now I have been meaning to add a reading list to the site, many of my clients have asked about what books I recommend to help them in their journey to improved levels of wellbeing. So I thought I would put up a short list of my top 5 books.

I hope you like them and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Eat, Move and Be Healthy By Paul Chek

The Optimum Nutrition Bible By Patrick Holford

New Rules of Lifting By Alwyn Cosgrove

Anatomy of Exercise By Pat Manocchia

Nutrition for Dummies (UK Edition)

I will be reviewing some of the above books in the coming months, so keep your eyes on the blog! All the above can be found on Amazon!

Until Next Time,

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Fitness Social Networks

Anyone and everyone seems to be part of one of the many social networking services that there are on the net. One of the most common ones and one that I have finally given into is Facebook As I am new to this I might not have got all the following details right, so please do let me know if I need to correct anything.

Facebook – has a number of groups you can join that cover the areas of health and fitness. There are also a lot of sports groups too, that should cover every conservable type of sport you could possibly play. Facebook has a group for loads of gyms, and other sporting and fitness related groups. There are also a load of groups for all different types of wellbeing goals, so why not have a search and see what groups you might be interested in joining.

As I am a newbie to Facebook, I am sure that there is much more I could have written about, but I still have to find a lot out about it myself yet. If you have any tips for wellbeing on facebook, why not add it as a comment then others can see.

Until next time, train hard!

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Web Sites

The internet now has a number of great web resources out there for anyone looking to improve their personal levels of fitness and wellbeing. I have been a user of the internet for a long while and it has been very valuable to me when researching new methods and possibilities for new exercises to use with clients.

Below I have listed some of the great resources that I use, but remember that not all you read, see, or hear on-line is true (the links below I consider reputable) but always careful consider anything on-line and look into the background of the author.

You Tube - Has a great range of fitness professionals putting up some great content, I find you tube very useful as it allows clients to view various exercises and use the video footage as a prompt to help them when training away from their trainer.

Some of the content that I consider to be the best on You Tube include Underground Wellness, Paul Chek, Dax Moy, cbathletics, michaelboyle, etc…

Look out for the Foresight Fitness Channel launching very soon!

Lifestylexperts – Is a UK based wellbeing site with a good collection of articles and information on a very wide range of topics (including stress, lifestyle, life coaching, and of course fitness). The site also has a board of advisors that all have specialist areas of expertise, with a facility to ask them questions via e-mail (I am one of the Experts, so if you would like to ask me a question on-line please do).

Fitness Venues – Started off as a UK based listing site for gyms and personal trainers, however it has expanded to include a wide range of articles, a forum and reviews. A great resource for the UK based fitness enthusiast.

BBC – The BBC has a excellent wellbeing section on their website, it is up to date with the latest news in the field of wellbeing, nutrition and exercise. A great resource for both personal Trainers and clients.

T Nation – This site was set up as a mainly body building based resource but has some great articles by well known coaches and trainer that will be of use to anyone who is interested in strength and conditioning.

In my next entry I will be looking at some of the social networks and what they offer to the fitness community.

Until next time train hard!

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Fitness Forums

I have been a user of forums for a number of years, I think they can be great places for the free exchange of ideas between like minded people within the health and fitness community.

JP Fitness Forum – is one of the best all round fitness and related forums I have found on the internet. The forum is used by a lot of people with a very high standard of knowledge in the field of Health, Fitness, and Wellbeing. Well worth a look if you ever have any questions or are looking to increase your personal wellbeing knowledge. The forum covers many areas of strength and conditioning, nutrition and injury management. It is well established so if you want to know the answer to something you can bet it has been discussed at one time or another, and the searchable history makes it easy to find the answer.

Fitness Venues - is an off shoot of a UK based Fitness Services Listing and Article based site. The forum has not been going too long but already has a good group of contributors. It covers a very wide range of wellbeing related subjects, including fitness and exercise, diet and weight loss, health and beauty, nutrition and supplements, and leisure jobs. This site has a great deal of potential and will, I am sure come into it’s own over the next year!

Martial Arts Planet - started off as a Martial Arts based discussion group, but has for the past few years had a thriving fitness section. Again this forum has a great deal of knowledgeable contributors, who have varied backgrounds mainly with a martial arts slant. The sections on this site cover areas such as weight training, body weight training, flexibility, nutrition, injury prevention and management, and CV training. A must for anyone who is into martial arts and fitness.

T Magnum - This is the forum section of the well know Testosterone Nation website. A mainly US based web site covering all aspects of wellbeing generally from a strength and conditioning stand point. The site and forum are well established and have a number of the greats from the world of strength and conditioning as regular contributors.

These are just four forums of the many the net has to offer, they are the ones that I regularly use and can be seen on (screen name Tom@foresight). I do suggest that if you are looking to improve your knowledge on the subject of health and wellbeing have a look at one or two of these sites. They really are fun, no attitude, but knowledgeable places.

In my next entry I will be looking at some of the websites that I use and recommend to clients on the subject of health and fitness.

Until Next Time,

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

The On-line Fitness Community

Foresight Fitness Services, and especially me have been embracing the great development of the on-line fitness community over the past couple of years. Which have helped us to keep in contact with people who share our passion for health and fitness from around the world! As well as trying to put personal training (and us personal trainers) in Manchester and Cheshire on the internet map, by doing things like this blog.

Over my next couple of blog entries I am going to look at some of the on-line resources that are available to the fitness community. I will be splitting it all down into Forums, Web Sites, and Social Networks. So if you have any sites or forums that you use that you think we should include in this let me know!

I will be finishing off this series of blog entries by going over some of the web based services that I have built into our product range and how is see them developing over the coming months.

Until next time,

TOM

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Article: How to get a Beach Body

It is that time of year again we are all thinking about our holidays, we all want to look good on the beach or next to the pool. So how do you actually go about getting the body that looks good in a bikini/trunks? The answer is simple really, a lot of hard work and keeping a close eye on your diet.This short article is going to look at some of the main points to consider, when looking to loose a few pounds and tone up ready to hit the beach looking great!

The key to all weight loss is in the nutrition, most importantly you want to avoid all the fad type diets that often appear at this time of year(such as the maple syrup diet, cabbage soup diet, etc…) in favour of healthy well balanced nutrition. Fad diets are on the whole are not realistic, and un-realistic diets can hardly ever be maintained.

Below I have listed what I consider to be the major factors that lead to having a well balanced diet:-

• Spread your calorie intake over five smaller meals per day (always start the day with a breakfast).
• Cut you fat intake as much as possible.
• Browns over Whites – Brown rice, bread, etc…
• Avoid sweets, sugar, chocolate and other empty calories.
• Increase the amount of vegetables you are eating (minimum of 5 portions per day).
• Increase the amount of fruit you are eating (minimum 2 – 3 portions per day)
• Drink water (2.5 litres per day)

To go with all the great, well balanced meals that you are taking on you need to match this with an increase in physical activity levels. This does not mean that you have to become a sprinter overnight to see results, physical activity includes anything that gets your heart going faster than it would be pumping at rest. So everything including gardening, walking up stairs, running, vigorous cleaning, going to the gym, playing a sport, playing around with the kids, all count as activity.

As with nutrition you want to set yourself safe and realistic goals, so if you have not done any exercise for a while start off with some more gentle activities, where as if you are already a gym user/player of a sport you could maybe start with a more vigorous form of exercise.

The general rule with this is the harder you work the faster you will see results (within reason). So for example if you walk for half an hour everyday it will take you longer to see results than if you ran for half an hour each day. This is where the balancing act comes in you have to push yourself but remember that exercise should not be painful. If you have gone to the point of pain you have gone too far.

Remember there are no miracle cures when it comes to losing weight and toning up, so keep in mind the general rule that if it seems too good to be true it often is. If you implement the general rules above you should be able to make some good fat loss in time for those summer holidays.

There is a lot of help out there now for people who would like to control their weight and keep healthy, try talking to your doctor, nutritionist or personal trainer for further information.

There is also a vast quantity of on-line resources available for those who are looking to improve their wellbeing. For links see http://foresight-fitness.co.uk/main/links.html.

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk

Product Review: Soulmate Food

Recently I came across a product that I have been looking for the likes of for a while. A product that can wipe away all those problems with knowing what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat it.

In my view nutrition is one of the cornerstones of wellbeing (the others being Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Mental Wellness), Soulmate Food aims to help you with this by providing nutritional sound meals, that help to complement your efforts in the remaining three areas to improve your overall levels of wellbeing.

In my ten years working in the wellbeing industry I have often been told by clients that they find nutritional control the hardest thing to deal with. As opposed to exercise which many people find it relatively easy (once they get in the right mind set) to slot into their diary time to exercise. There are so many distractions when it comes to nutrition that making headway to an improved diet can be hard. The common obstacles seem to be, I don’t know what I should eat, I don’t have time to shop for the right food, and I don’t have time to make the right food. Well Soulmate helps to remove all those barriers.

The product itself is a very simple and effective idea, initially you fill in a form on-line that identifies your goals, allowing the people at Soulmate to give you a nutritional program to match what you are looking to achieve. Common ones seem to be weight control, predominately loss but they can also provide weight gain diets, the company also works with a number of sporting teams, providing the diets that fit with the players individual needs.

The second section on the web site allows you to mark off foods that you do not like, this section is amazingly detailed. For example allowing you to cross off tomatoes but allow tomato paste. I was amazed at how even the most fussy eater could easily send in the information to ensure that the food that turns up at their door only contained what they liked.

The food is then delivered in three day blocks, it can be delivered wherever you like within the UK. It comes in a cold box ready to just pop in the fridge.

The food itself was high quality, all came individually rapped and labelled (detailing contents, how to cook, and when to eat), and most importantly tasted great. All meals can either be eaten how they arrive or require short pan or oven cooking, making dinner time extremely easy. There was also a great variety of meals over the days, which meant that the food never became boring.

At first glance the product does seem quiet expensive, at an average cost of £25 per day. But if you stop to consider that you are getting 5 meal a day, that have been specifically designed for your nutritional needs. You do not have to go shopping or on the whole cook and most importantly this product will help you to achieve your goals! The price does look alot more reasonable.

All in all I was very impressed by Soulmate product and the professionalism and knowledge of the staff. This product will have a great impact on helping individuals to achieve their wellbeing goals and especially weight control. So I give it a 10 out of 10, well done Soulmate!

For more information contact Soulmate

Tom Godwin – Personal Trainer – Foresight Fitness Services (Personal Training + Corporate Wellbeing) - Manchester and Cheshire, UK

trainer@foresight-fitness.co.uk

www.foresight-fitness.co.uk