Avoiding the dreaded PLATEAU

IM BACCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Did you miss me?

The reason for my long exile was, well to be honest no topic lit my writing fire and I didn't want to force it with babbling rubbish. I could of done the cliché review of the 2012 Olympics, writing about what an inspiration it was to see amazing results being achieved with super human efforts by the athletes. I went against that as I didn't want to insult your intelligence as you all don't need me to tell you that hard work and dedication can result in anything you want to achieve, you know that right? DON'T YOU?


Anyway back to the topic at hand which has once again got my health & fitness brain ticking..... Avoiding the dreaded PLATEAU.

The reason I've decided to tackle this topic is due to the sheer volume of people I see in the gym on a daily basis, week to week, month to month, year to year doing the exact same routine and looking exactly the same. They're in a dead rut & in need of a fitness intervention. Our body has been created perfectly to adapt to the stresses & vigour we put it under, the day after your first tough effective workout when the aching sets in is the very moment your body begins to adapt. What happens during a workout is you create micro tears in the muscles, during sleep & rest days your body begins to repair itself, the muscles rebuilding stronger to avoid the repeat of the tearing.

The ache is not a bad thing, "embrace the ache" I say, its a sign of an effective workout, you want to force the body into adaptation mode, its only then that you will see a physical transformation. Like I said earlier we are wonderfully created so the adaptation period won't last long at all, only taking 2-3weeks before the body is fully acclimatised to your routine and screaming out for a new challenge. At this moment is when plateau begins to creep in and you need to take action to continue your progress towards physical transformation. I choose not to repeat the same exact session with my clients more than twice, constantly tweaking and adding new stuff to further challenge my clients. Every time you add something different to your workout you force the body to change, keep your workout the same and face your body staying the same.

My advice to you in avoiding plateau, after 2weeks increase the intensity of your workout by 5% so maybe increasing the reps or the weights that you do. After maybe 6weeks completely change your workout, confusing the body & again forcing adaptation. So for example if for 6weeks you've focused your training on building muscle, lifting heavy weights, mix it up with starting high intensity circuit training which is more cardio based working the muscles in a different challenging way, again forcing adaptation. Vice versa if you've done 6weeks of cardio introduce some heavy weight lifting, confusion works the body best and through that you'll attain the best results.

A body transformation programme should last 12weeks minimum.

Written by

Erron Dussard

Founder 

STONEiMAGE Management

Follow me on twitter: @STONEiMAGE

Better health more wealth

We relate the acquisition of wealth to working hard, having an entrepreneurial mind or having a god given talent. How many of you relate the acquisition of wealth to your health?

Well its logical to think that better health means less days off sick, more work done, better appraisals leading ultimately to salary increases and promotions. Looking into it a little deeper, post exercise there is a release of endorphins into the body similar to that after orgasm which gives you that feel good factor. Those who exercise frequently benefit hugely from this natural high, so much so that when you extract exercise from the routine it is normal to feel low & depressed. Those who exercise frequently have lower stress levels than their lazier counterparts.  Your productivity levels will  go through the roof , your thirst for new challenges and opportunities will increase, your mind will be clearer of stress to be more creative and you will be far happier.


I had a phone conversation with my aunt after she done the STONEiMAGE30minCircuit, she was deliriously high on endorphins, you could hear the excitement in her voice. She said post workout that she was feeling really energised which is down to kickstarting your metabolism into gear. After 6-9hrs of sleep your metabolism slows itself down as you don't need the energy throughout the night, that is why when we first get up everything we do is in slow motion, that knocks on to how you start work and so on. A bit of exercise in the morning can really ignite your day and set you up for a real good one, TRY IT!!! Added to the biological benefits you also look better, when you look better you definitely feel better, your confidence is high and you wake up every day with a real purpose.


 The longest I've gone without exercise is 8weeks which I enforced on myself when I done the STONEiMAGE Experiment last year and those 2 months were my most unproductive months to date since I've been in business. A lack of energy, enthusiasm and motivation financially put a strain on the company and in that period I did not sign up 1 new client. I was a mere shadow of my previous self, very glum and uninspiring, I'm probably lucky to of kept my clients during that period. Once I restarted exercise again I felt rejuvenated, the spring in my step was back, I felt a lot better about myself therefore working better and being a better trainer to my clients. Within days I had signed up 2 new clients and not because I done anything different in my approach but my aura would have been better, much more approachable and enthused which led to those 2 people wanting to train with me. Exercise gives me the energy to take on new business challenges and explore new opportunities which can only be beneficial. 


To achieve all that you wish to achieve you need to be at your best both mind and body. They work in tandem  so for me, to have an imbalance in one aspect of your life it is surely to have affect on another. 


Written by


Erron Dussard
STONEiMAGE Management
www.stone-img.com

The No Carb Diet, STONEiMAGE's verdict

Over the last 2weeks I decided to investigate the no carb diet phenomenon. To say the diet has created a lot of controversy would be an understatement but I thought, hey what the hell, if I'm going to form an opinion on the subject then I should understand it more. So here I am once again experimenting with my body (we all remember what I put it through last yr).

The benefits of eating a non-carb diet are dramatic weight loss and bodyfat reduction in a short period of time. This is because the body turns to fat as its primary energy source in the absence of carbs. Now the opposing controversial effects of a non-carb diet are tiredness & lack of concentration which is because carbs provide the energy to the brain once broken down.

So the last 2weeks have been enlightening for me as I have carbs with every meal normally. Oats, Pasta, Rice, Potato, Bread & Fruit were all off limits. I pretty much went to the extreme of having chicken morning, noon & night literally with babybel's cheese being the snack of choice. The 1st 5days were the toughest with headaches, tiredness & dehydration being the main effects. Up to lunchtime would be fine but by the early evening I found myself feeling really tired & with the headaches I found myself becoming a bit ratty (luckily my clients didn't realise as I concealed the feeling, the fact they see that as my normal behaviour is a bit alarming. Maybe I am an evil sadist). Anyway back were the days of afternoon naps like a baby very similar to what was needed in my last experiment, 1hr would normally do the trick. On another note, no amount of water that I drank would seem to quench my thirst always feeling dehydrated (some days drinking over 3ltrs) & with a horrible dry taste in my mouth, mouthwash was never far away to freshen up. As I began to get annoyed with the constant tiredness & headaches there it was, the silver lining. I had Just finished a light workout (I didn't have the energy to muster anything else) and I was about to go in the shower when I glimpsed my reflection (vein much?!) my abs were showing quite a bit more than before & with just 5days gone even if for a short moment all the negative feelings towards the 'no carb diet' disappeared. Now I know to start with my stomach is fairly toned but the more you get into training the more you look to improve & fine tune the minute of details, so to see this little improvement was something of an achievement. "This no carb malarkey isn't half bad", I allowed myself to think but that all came crashing down at my track sessions on Sundays at Ladywell Arena, Catford, 11am, all are welcome (had to plug it a little). Luckily for me the weather or for whatever reason had resulted in no one turning up. I was there on me tod and quite relieved as even though it was morning I had already felt tired, so I planned a light sprint session. Rocking up about 15-20mins late came my cousin to join in the fun, there & then I knew I would have to work harder than planned. So the structure of our sprint sessions goes 3x150m, 3x100m & 3x50m all ran flat out at maximum effort. The 1st 2 150's I got through with relative ease and I guess the ego got the best of me as we started to stagger the starts and as they usually do, for the better I must add it got a bit competitive. I now decided that I would have to run down my cousin who had a head-start and therefore run 2 or 3 times harder. After the last 150 and 2nd 100m sprint I began to feel so light headed and nauseous that I thought I would faint (don't worry I'm not expecting any sympathy). With my blood sugar already low from the dieting I was doing myself no favours working at 90-100% capacity. When working at such a high intensity your sugar stores are usually burned up so quickly and the fat reserves are called in to use as a secondary energy source, that's why intensity training is the latest thing to be encouraged, short & high energy. So with no carbs in my system and presumably my fat stores running out I was running on empty like a Ferrari without fuel and we all know what will happen if you drive without fuel, eventually the car will breakdown. Luckily my cousin didn't push through with a request for 3x50m at the end which is surprising as when the roles are reversed I am not so forgiving which I'm sure a lot of you can vouch for. After session I was literally craving for sugar like a crack fiend and broke my diet to have a banana, believe me it was really needed. Home, eat & sleep was the order of the day after that. I've only ever felt that bad once and that was again at track but in searing heat.

Week2 it seemed that my body had become accustomed to the lack of carbs and without any high intense training I was getting through the days without needing sleep. I even went for a 10km run on Tuesday even though I ran at a slower than usual pace & it was only then the light headed feeling and rattiness reappeared. Physically I was looking even more toned & in just 10days I had lost 2kg and 2.5% of bodyfat.

Pre no carb diet 9.5% bodyfat

Post no carb diet 7% bodyfat

So now today, the end of the experiment & I cant wait to introduce carbs back in to my life after the exile. Conscious that craving the carbs my body will become like a sponge, absorbing and storing the carbs as fat I will re-introduce gradually. This is the mistake many make and end up putting the weight plus some, all back on hence the term yo-yo dieting.

The verdict.........

My thoughts are while I may in my opinion look better, I don't feel as good as I look and it leaves me to pose the question, "No carb diet, vanity over health, is it really worth it???" I'd have to say no, I love my crazy high intensity workouts and I can not operate normally training my clients to the best of my ability during a no carb diet when I feel lethargic. What I will change in my eating is the amount of carbs I have no longer eating carbs in the evening when the sugar isn't needed as I'm not as active (carbs not used up turns to fat). For a short period of 10days before a holiday, wedding, etc I can see the appeal as the results are amazing and very instant. All I would advise is its a false look as you cannot maintain eating that way for a long time and will resort back to size or gain more once you re-introduce carbs. So if you must, do it for only a short period, this is not a healthy long term solution. Its simple exercise, work hard & eat a healthy balanced diet.


Written by

Erron Dussard
STONEiMAGE Management Ltd
www.stone-img.com