Why exercise is essential for those over 50

As you know, I am a big believer in the benefits of exercise for those over 50.  And it makes me feel good when others – especially professionals in fields such as sport, longevity and nutrition – feel the same way about it that I do.

So I was pleased when Neil and the guys at Insure4Sport came for a chat and interviewed me on this; well, it is my favourite subject after all!

They published the article, which includes a video interview with Rob Riches – the guy that got me into fitness – as well as me discussing how important this subject is for my age group.  Or ‘essential’, as the title has it.  Take a look at the article on the link below, and once again many thanks to Neil and his team at Insure4Sport.

 

Behind the scenes at my 60th birthday photohoot

I did a photoshoot with great photographer Simon Howard on the occasion of my 60th birthday.  It’s not the best that I’ve looked, but I don’t think its too bad for someone of my age – especially as you know I was obese 10 years earlier.

It only lasts a minute, so it’s a cramming down of two hours activity – but I hope you get a flavour of what it’s like.

 

You’re never too old… Watch this video to prove it!

I was recently asked by SunLife to feature in a video promoting something close to my heart – that life can and should be great after the age of 50, with new experiences and enjoyment around every corner waiting to be discovered.

www.bitly.com/LifeAfterFifty

 I agree massively with Sun Life’s view that ‘You’re never to old to start something new’ and – as you know – the new thing for me was turning my health around with the discovery of the joys and benefits of getting fit.  So here is the video, produced by Kingdom Creative for Sun Life, and my thanks to both for permission to reproduce it here.

New ‘Fit Happens’ TV series

Season Two of my Fit Happens TV series is now ready!

Initial TV transmission in the UK is in May 2017 by the Community Channel.

Season Two is five half-hour episodes similar in format to the episodes 1-4 of Series One, but bigger and better with an extra cast member – joining Keith Cormican and me on the studio sofas and in fitness locations globally – is top fitness personality Nicola Feustel.

As well as improving the looks of the sofa-sitters massively, Nicola brings massive knowledge and experience from working on her own fitness, individual clients and group training.

There are many new features in Season Two – a new logo, more segments, more subjects, more cameras – our first drone footage – and a massive crew of highly-talented media production individuals putting it together.

Expect to see crossfit, boxing, spinning, fun-running, bike testing, group workouts, a brand-new ultra-cool kitchen with great new recipes, and new workouts and exercises all over the place!

Plus more expert guests to join the three of us from the world of fitness.

The current transmission times are here: Fit Happens Transmission Times May 2017

Keep looking on www.Fit-Happens.co.uk or the Fit Happens Facebook page for more details of future transmission times.

Whole-body pre-contest workout

I sometimes get asked if there is just a single workout that I would recommend to work all the key muscles in just one workout.    And one that includes some cardio element as well as effort for the muscles.

The answer is that there is – and its the workout I specifically use for a few days before going on stage in a fitness model contest.  To me, this workout ticks both boxes – its a perfect whole-body workout – plus a great pre-show conditioning session that works everything to the level I need before that big day.

Take a look – its the first video on my video wall – www.bitly.com/ChrisVideos

I recorded it the day before appearing on stage in the Pure Elite Fitness Model Championship, so you can tell I was motivated to get it right.

And feel free to let me have any questions, of course.

New TV Documentary on Fitness for Over Fifties

A short TV documentary has recently been produced showing how fitness is becoming a growth trend for the over fifties.

In this documentary, my fitness activities are shown alongside others of the well-over 50 age group, showing how the trend for fat-down and fit-up – and keeping supple and stretchy – is growing in this age group.   Over 50% of UK adults are over 50, and its excellent that this group is both taking its own fitness more seriously, and being addressed by fitness suppliers with dedicated products too.  Something I’ve been promoting for years of course.

This made-for-TV documentary was filmed and broadcast earlier this year, and many thanks to director Alex Blakemore for permission to show on YouTube.

www.bitly.com/FitnessOverFiftyDocumentary2016

 

MaxiNutrition Promax Lean

maxinutrition-promax-leanI was pleased to receive a supply of  Promax Lean Bars from MaxiNutrition recently and I’m keen to give you my thoughts on them, both from a nutrition point of view and as a snack food.

The ones I have are the Dark Chocolate flavour, they are also available as Chocolate Orange or Chocolate Mint – I prefer the 100% chocolate flavour hit of the Dark Chocolate ones. Whichever flavour you choose, the nutrition information is the same – so flavour choice is purely down to taste preference. The bars are supplied individually as a 60g bar or in a box of 12.

Let’s look at the nutrition first. Each bar provides 206 calories of energy. The macronutrient breakdown is that these calories are sourced 44% from protein, 36% from carbs and 20% from fat. For me, that is pretty close to ideal as I like to have a 40:40:20 ratio. Of course, that is a target ratio for me across the whole of day, not per individual food item, but it’s excellent that this one item already hits the ratios pretty much on the nail.

The 23g of protein is a combination of whey protein concentrate and milk protein isolate (MPI). Whey protein concentrate is in fact the largest single ingredient of the bar – representing 17% of the weight of the bar – and is a variant of whey from which not all fat is removed. It’s a dairy product of course, as is the less commonly seen MPI, which forms the second largest ingredient. MPI is the dried substance once lactose and minerals are removed from skimmed (de-fatted) milk. I’m not a big fan of milk in its natural state, but I don’t have a problem with MPI. That 23g is a good chunk of the daily protein amount I’ve selected to help in my muscle-build and muscle-maintenance goals.

The 18.8g of carbs represent 36% of the calories, and a surprisingly large amount of that is sugar – 10.9g which provide 21% of the total calories. The sugars come from a few sources – including actual dark chocolate, which represents 14% of the 60g bar weight. It’s interesting to see real chocolate included, as many bars have synthetic choc-like substances as their coating and flavour. That’s not to say this is a fully additive-free product – for one thing, the degree of sweetness that makes it enjoyable to taste can’t come just from that chocolate – there’s several added sweeteners in there too which promote the sweet taste while adding fewer calories than extra sugar would.

I wondered what made this bar particularly identifiable as ‘Lean’ in its title. This would be the added ingredients which aren’t often found in bars of this type – such as caffeine and L-Carnitine. The caffeine content is quite high – at 125mg its not far off the amount you get in a large can of fizzy stimulant drink. The effects of caffeine are well known – increased focus, up-regulated heartbeat, and release of bodyfat to the bloodstream for use. The amino acid derivative L-Carnitine is less well known, but is seen by many as a bodyfat metabolizer over continued use; and the 2g provided in each bar is typical of the recommended daily dose in the supplement world.

So much for the ingredients and the nutrient numbers. When do I have a bar and why?
My daily diet includes a mid-morning snack and a mid-afternoon snack – the two smallest meals of my six meals a day – the others being a larger breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a post-workout protein and natural fast carb meal. And I like those two small snacks to be around 200-250 calories, with around 20-25g of protein. So these bars fit that perfectly. I usually have one of these bars, or something similar, for one of those two snacks per day. They are also my ‘emergency’ go-to snack food if I have an irresistible craving for breaking my daily calorie target of 2250.

MaxiNutrition recommend no more than two Promax Lean bars a day, and I agree with that. I like to keep my diet varied within my target numbers, so I wouldn’t exceed that anyway.

How do I think the product’s claims stack up with my own thoughts? On the box MaxiNutrition claims the product assists in lean muscle definition, energy metabolism and alertness. From my study of it, I reckon those are very fair claims – provided the bar is taken as part of diet that focusses on clean, healthy nutrition that maintains the macronutrient ratios along with undertaking significant resistance training and cardio-based exercise.

Thanks to the guys there – check out their full range on www.MaxiNutrition.com

Easy Nutrition

I’ve spent a few years following various nutrition approaches – from very precise all the way down to totally random!  These experiences have led me to devise an approach to nutrition for fitness which is flexible, enjoyable and workable in daily life.  It does require a bit of understanding, and there are rules to be – well, if not obeyed, then ‘observed’.  And there is a bit of maths involved too – not too much, but counting and multiplying do come into it.

The approach is designed for those who want to increase their fitness levels, decrease their fatness levels and – probably for most – a bit of both.  It assumes you are already pretty active and undertake exercise most days of the week.

To save ploughing through some big articles, I’ve put my recommended approach down into two videos; the first describes how the numbers work – calculating calories, grams of macronutrients and timing.  The second then takes those ideas further and translates them into real life eating – real meals on a real day on a real test subject (that’s me, of course).

The first video is www.bitly.com/ChrisNutrition001 and when you are ready to move on from the numbers to the meals, it is www.bitly.com/ChrisNutrition002

I’ve kept both the detail of the maths and the full calorie and macronutrient breakdown away from the videos – but you can see this, if your geek-level is high enough, on my web site – www.FitnessOverFifty.co.uk then choose Easy Nutrition on the Nutrition tab.

I hope that all works for you and you pick up an approach to healthy eating that can see you through to your fitness goals. Drop me an email if anything needs a chat through!

Over 50’s quick fitness guide

I’ve been working with the guys at Damart to produce a very quick and easy guide to fitness for the over 50’s – with a few exercise ideas and descriptions of other activities that could assist those (like me) in the better half century of life.

The document is A Damart fitness guide for over 50s and is an introduction to building activity and movement into the lives of those who realise how beneficial exercise can be at this time of life – without getting too much of a glow on and without going to a gym.  Take a look and see some ideas that may just help to add years to life, and life to your years.