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ULTRA-FIT MAGAZINE
NO NONSENSE PLANS FOR FAST RESULTS
WOMEN’S FITNESS
Shape-up your legs
Vol.18 No.3 No.4 £3.70
SHAPE ISSUE
PERFECT FIT Workouts For Every Body Shape THE POWER OF AN HOUR
VOLUME EIGHTEEN NUMBER FOUR
How Fast Can You Build Muscle? ON TEST: Women’s Running Shoes Multi-Gyms
www.ultra-fitmagazine.com
SHAPE ISSUE
Stand Out On The Beach This Summer
FOOTBALL VS RUGBY Which gets you fitter? FEEL THE BURN
Maximise Fat Loss Every Time SLIM DOWN TONE UP
No Frills Circuit Class Anyone Can Do TRIATHLON
Get Ready to Race www.ultra-fitmagazine.com ISSN 0957-0624 0 4
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770957 062024
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WOMEN’S FITNESS
Hate
your
Thighs? By Caroline Sandry
Photography: Neil Francombe/Ultra-Fit Images
Wish you had a nice pair of legs, instead of pear shaped legs? Unfortunately women are predisposed to storing fat around the hips and thighs, giving the classic ‘pear shape’ silhouette. Some things just don’t seem fair! While the men in your life may be able to eat pies and remain snake – hipped, you only have to sniff the pastry and your hips get wider! This is because (very basically) women are genetically programmed to lay down fat in order to produce and care for their young. Nowadays, thankfully, we have a wide variety of readily available foods and no danger of famine, so we no longer need to keep those fat stores around our hips! One of the main complaints I hear from pear shaped clients is that they look out of proportion, and many of you will have already found that dieting alone is not a solution, because more often than not, a typical pear shape will lose fat from her shoulders and upper body first, accentuating the imbalance in proportions. Pear shapes often have very delicate upper bodies, with narrow shoulders, a small bust and slender arms. The waist can be slim and curvy, and a lot of pear shapes have great flat abdominals. So, in order to balance out your proportions, we need to use a balanced approach, and tackle the body as a whole. Step one - Cutting to the fat Essentially we need to lose body fat and tone up the lower body. In order to lose fat calories taken in must be lower than calories burnt off, so diet is an important part of your regime. However, I suggest you focus on eating pure, wholegrain, quality foods instead of counting calories. Cellulite is often a real problem for pear shapes, and I have seen amazing results from women who have taken up a reasonably intense training regime, coupled with a diet void of artificial, processed junk food, and drinks as well as sugar. Ready meals should be avoided as they often contain high levels of
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salt and fat and all soft drinks should be replaced with water. It is important to mention fats here, as many women aim for a fat free diet, but this is not healthy – in fact I recommend supplementing your diet with fish oil or evening primrose oil, as these can improve the quality of your skin which can help to improve the appearance of cellulite. To burn fat through exercise – forget about the fabled ‘fat burning zone’. Many people mistakenly believe that working out at a lower intensity in the ‘fat burning zone’ will maximize fat loss but actually the higher the training intensity – the higher the fat burn will be. Your body uses different energy sources (ie – fat, protein or carbohydrate) as
start out with fast walking as running could put too much stress on your joints. If you are training in the gym, the treadmill or elliptical machine are good choices. Once you have a good base level of fitness, then start to incorporate interval training and training at higher intensities, but build up gradually. Whether you run, walk, swim or cycle, focus on good quality movements at an intensity that will produce results. Sitting on the exercise bike reading, or watching TV as you amble along on the treadmill is a waste of time. The more you put in to your exercise, the more you will get out of it! Aim to perform at least three cardiovascular training session per week, between 30 and 45 minutes.
Shaping your shape As previously mentioned – your proportions may well be out of balance, so I recommend an all round resistance programme to build some shape and definition to the shoulders (wider shoulders will make the hips look slimmer). For the upper body add tricep
In order to balance out your proportions, we need to use a balanced approach, and tackle the body as a whole fuel during your workout, and it has been shown that during moderate intensity exercise, fat is the main fuel used which is why many people train in this zone. However it is the total calories burnt that will create a fat loss in the body, and a 30 minute moderate intensity training session will have a lower total calorie burn than in an intense (or interval) session of the same duration. The amount of fat lost during an exercise session is determined by the total kcal expenditure and not by the fuel source. Running is probably the best and fastest way to lose lower body fat, but if you are new to exercise or have a lot of weight to lose then
dips, upright rows, bicep curls and press ups (most of which can be found in the last issue of Ultra fit) with a weight sufficiently heavy enough to fatigue the muscle in order to build lean muscle mass. For the lower body - exercises such as lunges, squats, plies and pilates leg exercises. I have given you six great exercises combining upper and lower body for maximum shaping. These compound exercises will lift and tone your bottom, shape your thighs, build definition into the upper body and increase lean muscle tissue to boost your metabolism and burn fat. Aim to perform these or similar exercises three times a week, never on consecutive days. You can combine your CV and resistance training to save time.
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WOMEN’S FITNESS The Walking Lunge ■ Stand up tall, feet hip width, keeping navel drawn in ■ Take a large step forward and bend knees until front thigh is parallel to the floor and hold for 1 second ■ Raise your body up, lifting your back leg forwards to repeat the lunge with this leg ■ Continue lunging forward alternating legs. ■ Take 10 – 15 steps on each side and build up to two sets Training tips – Keep abdominals engaged, and ensure front knee stays in line with second toe of the front foot. Dumbbells can be hand held for added resistance.
Side Lunge with wood chop ■ Stand with feet shoulder width apart, holding a weight (medicine ball is ideal) in both hands, up above your left shoulder, as if holding an axe in preparation to chop some wood ■ Step out to the right and bend your right leg into a half squat, as you simultaneously swing your weight (axe) diagonally down past your right knee ■ Step back up to the start position and repeat in both directions ■ Perform 8 -12 on each leg Training tips – Beginners start with no weight, and progress. Stop briefly at beginning and end position rather than swinging back and forth. Keep abs tight throughout and aim to bend the traveling knee to a right angle.
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FEATURE
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FEATURE
Is a member of the tight 5 as fit as a member of the back 4? A winger as fit as er ‌ a winger? And what about hookers can they strike quicker than a centre forward? Author of the complete guide to Sports Training, John Shepherd compares the training and fitness assets required for each sport ...
v Rugby which gets you fitter?
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NUTRITION
meals on wheels take the healthy highway!
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NUTRITION
If you’ve ever had to drive long distance on the British road network, you’ll know the true meaning of stress, delays, frustration and even infuriation. It’s hardly surprising then that as we seek solace and comfort by taking a break from this ‘hell on earth’, even the best healthy eating intentions can flounder on those motorway service station rocks! But don’t despair because as Andrew Hamilton explains, with a little planning, all is not lost…
My dad might have been a cynic at heart, but he knew a thing or two about healthy eating. I didn’t even know what sugar and white bread were until I started visiting my schoolmates’ homes, and as for processed and instant meals, well they were the spawn of the devil. However, more than anything else, my father despised motorway service stations, believing they encapsulated everything that was bad about modern British society. Fatty, sugary, processed, reheated foul-tasting junk food sold at rip-off prices, served in an environment combining the aesthetics of a tatty amusement arcade with the service ethic of a prisoner of war camp! Things have improved somewhat since the 70s, and it’s fair to say that most motorway service stations are lighter, brighter, more pleasant places in which to relax, with a greater selection of foods and beverages on offer than ever. However that’s only half the story; the prices tend to be somewhere north of extortionate (how the hell do they have the gall to charge £1.20 or more for a small bottle of mineral water?) and the quality of food very variable. To make things worse, traffic congestion is at an all time high, making for longer journey times, increasing the need to take extra stops.
Psychology of eating on the move If you’re trying to watch what you eat but spend a lot of time on the road, how can you navigate round the nutritional obstacles that lie in your way? The problem is that while you might set off with the healthiest of eating intentions, spending hours behind the wheel can do strange things to your mind. The number one enemy is undoubtedly boredom. If your journey’s long or you get stuck in a motorway jam, it’s inevitable that you’ll feel bored. Unfortunately research shows
that regardless of actual hunger, boredom is associated with comfort eating. It’s not surprising therefore that that’s the time you’re most likely to reach for the sweetie packet or pull into a service station and tuck into a nutritional nightmare! It’s not only boredom that can scupper your good eating intentions. Driving requires continual concentration (or should do at least!), which means that you need to stay mentally alert. Although an infusion of caffeine and sugar will help achieve this and stave off tiredness in the short-term, in the longer-term it can actually make things worse, just when you need maximum alertness – towards the end of your journey.
Preparation We’ll tackle the thorny issue of how to successfully navigate your way around a service station shortly, but before we do, it’s worth mentioning the alternative, which is to avoid them all together! This doesn’t mean not pulling in for a rest or a walk, and taking a mental break when you feel the need. However, it does mean starting your journey prepared and with your car loaded up with the right kind of nutritional goodies to see you through the journey. Now, you might think that preparation simply involves chucking a few things in car for the journey, but in reality, it involves more than this. Preparation starts when you do your shopping – if you haven’t got the right foods in your cupboard, you’re not going to be able to take the right foods with you on your journey. So if you’re planning a long car journey, bear this in mind when you make that pre-trip visit to the supermarket. Good examples of snacks on the move include fruits that can be consumed easily (peeling a banana while simultaneously navigating the M6 is not recommended!) such as grapes, apples, pears etc., wholegrain cereal bars, nuts
and raisins, carrot batons, homemade wholemeal sandwiches, oatcakes, small squares of low-fat cheddar – the list is endless and only limited by your imagination and the general principles of healthy safe snacking on the road (see box, ‘Rules of the road’). If you’re travelling alone, remember to place everything within easy reach so that you can safely reach for something with one hand only and without taking your eyes off the road. For safety and convenience, drinks are best consumed from sports drinks bottles; they’re easy to grip and drink from without spillage and you can reseal them simply by pushing the nozzle down with your mouth at the end of your last swig! Again, don’t risk your safety and that of other road users by attempting to remove and replace screw caps on bottles.
Service station solutions If your journey isn’t too long, healthy snacking can be great for keeping your body and importantly your brain nourished. However, for really long journeys, getting out of the car and eating a proper ‘sit-down’ meal can be very refreshing psychologically. Besides, there are only so many apples, sandwiches, or nuts and raisins you can eat before monotony sets in! If you do decide to take a proper meal break, or you didn’t have time to prepare some snacks for the car before you departed, the first thing to say is that you don’t have to rely on service stations in order to get a sit-down meal. Unless you’re passing through very rural terrain, you can generally find small cafes and restaurants within easy reach of most motorway junctions. If you do a regular motorway journey and have to make do with stopping at a service station, or are planning to stop at a service station roughly halfway through your journey, simply go to Google Maps,
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FITNESS FRONTIERS
Welcome to Fitness Frontiers, a series that brings you the breaking news from the world of sports science and sports nutrition research. In each issue, Andrew Hamilton takes a look at some of the latest scientific research and what it means for you…
*
Can pre-resistance cardioacceleration reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness?
f you’ve ever moved up a level in training or returned to training after an extended layoff, for example after injury, you’ll know all about the pain of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is a seemingly unavoidable consequence of unaccustomed high-intensity exercise and can afflict
I
everyone, from fitness novices to hardcore athletes. However, new study by Californian scientists suggests that it might be possible to reduce the severity and duration of DOMS by a technique called ‘cardioacceleration’. The theory is that by performing cardioacceleration (raising your heart rate to around 60%+ of your heart rate reserve [HRR] - 60% of HRR roughly corresponds to heart rates sustained during moderate intensity aerobic exercise) before performing a resistance exercise, extra blood perfusion occurs in the working muscles, which helps
to limit eccentric contraction damage and speed up muscle recovery. To test this theory, researchers studied the effects of cardioacceleration in athletes who were randomly assigned to one of two groups: ■
■
Experimental group – the athletes performed anaerobic resistance exercises with cardioacceleration before each set; Control group – the athletes performed identical exercises in the same order without cardioacceleration.
Heart rates were recorded during exercise using heart rate monitors and the subsequent DOMS was self-reported by the athletes using ‘Borg's Rating of Perceived Pain’ scale. The subjects then trained three times per week for 9-11 weeks, using a progressive, whole-body training protocol. Before each set of resistance exercises, the experimental subjects used brief cardioacceleration to raise their mean heart rate during resistance training to around 63.7% of HRR. The control subjects however rested briefly between sets, attaining a HRR of around 33.5%. The results were fascinating; compared to the control group, athletes performing cardioacceleration experienced significantly less subsequent DOMS among all muscle groups and workouts. Moreover, the average duration of DOMS following the introduction of the resistance training program was much less in the cardioacceleration group – DOMS all but disappeared by the fourth week of training in the experimental group but remained throughout in the control group. The researchers concluded that ‘aerobic cardioacceleration immediately before each set of resistance exercises rapidly eliminated DOMS during vigorous progressive resistance training’. Given these study results, if you’re retuning to training after an extended layoff or are new to resistance training and are concerned about DOMS, you my benefit from performing some brief CV pulse raising exercise before each resistance set. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jan;22(1):212-225
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SHOE TEST
Photo: Courtesy Polar
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SHOE TEST
Women are different Most people work out at a fairly young age that women and men are different. But if you are shoe designer the difference you start to obsess about will go in completely different directions to those which concern the average member of the population. In many ways for shoe designers the issues affecting women are the same as those affecting men – impact forces, support and protection against the harmful rotational forces caused by overpronation, smooth transition from initial impact to toe off, fit and road feel (or proprioception) to name but a few! But there are differences in the details on these and other issues. Simon Bartold, an international research consultant for ASICS explained why. A key piece of research in this area was published by Jack Taunton in 2002. He had spent 25 years studying more than 20,000 runners and the injuries they suffered. Simon explained that Taunton found women have significantly different injury patterns to men. They have a similar rate of injury but suffer different types of injuries. For example they are two times more likely to get anterior knee pain, but that figure may be as much as nine times! They are at least two times more likely to develop lateral knee pain and three times more likely to get gluteus medius injuries. They are ten times more likely to get sacroiliac pain than men. You don’t need to know the detail on these types of injury to know that sounds bad!
running shoes By Andy Barber
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