Tag Archives: Park Run

New Fitness TV Series – Fit Happens

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I’m the co-host of a new fitnesIMG_3153s magazine TV programme starting this weekend.  Called ‘Fit Happens’, the show is on this Sunday and for the following few weeks.

Its a fitness magazine programme, covering fitness in a number of different ways – in the gym, in the kitchen, in exercise classes and out in the fresh air.  We’ve targeted this programme at the overall community – its not a commercial enterprise in any way.  If the programmes help just a handful of people find ways in which they can reduce their fatness levels, and increase their fitness levels, then it will have done its job. 

Much as I would have liked ‘Top Gear’ style production values, it was made on a zero budget – so no glamour trips for us (the local park is the furthest we went!).  But the message, I hope, is large.

My co-host is top sports nutritionist Keith Cormican, and he joins me for each of the four episodes.  In this first episode, Keith takes us through cooking a healthy meat meal, while I look at gym exercises for the Pull group – Back and Biceps.  Together we are in the park for the 5k ParkRun, and we have a go at answering viewers questions.  Future episodes include features on aerobics, cycling, yoga, gym training other parts, more tasty and healthy kitchen treats, and answering more questions from viewers.

The first showing is at 8:30PM this Sunday on the Community Channel – which is FreeView 63, Sky 539, Virgin Media 233.  And then at the same time each week for four weeks. 

I very much hope you get the change to watch some or all of the episodes  – and maybe get some further inspiration towards the benefits of a multi-activity, fitness-focused life!

A bit of re-resolving

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The first blog of 2014 and so, of course, the first thing to do is wish you a happy, healthy and fit new year! I’m not a big fan of the word ‘resolutions’ – they get broken far too easily – but I hope that you have taken a few minutes to think of your fitness priorities for the year.

I’ve a bit of ‘catch-up’ work to do on the fitness front myself. The family Christmas and other celebrations have led to me being less fit than I’d like to be – for example, I’m up to 12% body fat today, and I like to be under 10% for most of the year, coming down to a lower number for contests. Additionally, I have a number of fun events coming up (some holidays in Feb, a TV series in March, and the Miami Pro Fitness Model World Championships in April) so its definitely time to get back into shape.

I’ve decided to commit to my fitness objectives for the year, and here are the highlights. It’s nothing new, just a re-commitment to last years approach. I hope it’s of interest, and if you need some inspiration in setting your own priorities, maybe there’s something in here that can help.

Keeping fitness levels up and fatness levels down is a blend of nutrition and movement. My view is it’s 50% nutrition, 30% cardio and 20% resistance training, and since there are three components, I’ve re-committed to objectives in all three.

On the nutrition side, my ideal day has seven meals. That’s made up of three smallish main meals per day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – with a smaller snack in between each, plus a shake after resistance training, and finally a late night snack. I don’t count calories accurately, but I do make a rough eyeball estimate of each meal; the three mains should typically be about 500 calories each, with the snacks and shake each at 250 – that comes in at about 2500 for the day. I make sure that each of those seven meals has a substantial protein element, and I keep the sugar and saturated fats down. And it’s definitely time to put the Christmas booze away.

For cardio, I’d like to get my 40 minutes pre-breakfast cardio back up to five days per week. I keep my cardio effort at around 65% of my maximum heart rate, which works out to be 120bpm – this ensures I keep in the aerobic activity zone with the main fuel source being fat. Nothing eaten beforehand, only black coffee or my RIPPED fat burner from True Performance Nutrition. On Saturdays, I replace the cardio with a 5k ParkRun – and I’m sure I can keep to the Sunday goal of a lie-in!

On the resistance side, my aim is to get back up to five days per week in the afternoons or evenings – cycling round ABCDE body parts, one part per day (arms, back, chest, delts and elevators). That’s a 50 minute per day trip, which is now back to being a high priority, as Christmas is done. Elevators are legs by the way, in case you don’t know my strange use of the alphabet!

There’s nothing new in the above, it’s what I was doing pre-Christmas for 2013. So my resolution – if we are going to use that word – is to get back to business as usual!

I hope there’s something in the above that helps you. There’s more about everything on my website www.FitnessOverFifty.co.uk – and I’d be happy to answer any questions or comments on Chris@FitnessOverFifty.co.uk

And as I said, a happy, healthy and fit new year to you!