In this weeks ‘Gym Series’ episode, Eliot shows us 4 ‘Calf’ exercises. By adding these 4 simple exercises into your routine, you can help improve the size and strength of your calfs.

How many times have you heard that stress makes you fat? More than a few I would suspect. However, like all sweeping statements it’s not quite true. What actually makes you fat is your response to stress and the impact that has on your body – haven’t we all pigged out when we are miserable. The way that we eat has a huge impact on our ability to cope with stress and today we examine how to beat stress with nutrition and how to avoid the common pitfalls and optimise our diets so that stress and its deleterious impact are minimised.

Why Stress Leads to Bad Eating and Fat Bodies

You should know by now that stress raises cortisol levels in the classic “fight or flight” syndrome. Our original stress programme as cavemen was designed to give us a boost when hunting or just plain surviving. Cortisol is what is known as an “energetic hormone” and is produced at times when our bodies require an extra boost for immediate action. Unfortunately, modern man suffers from a constant undercurrent of stress akin to a pressure cooker running without a valve. How often have you felt stress literally rising through your body as you are stuck in bad traffic, dealing with deadlines, worrying about the mortgage, or listening to the late night doom and gloom that passes for news nowadays.

All of this means that you can’t switch off at night and have trouble falling and/or staying asleep. We all then turn to sugary foods or pastries to keep our energy levels up the next day. The result? Weight gain.

Also, during stressful periods, it is very common to skip meals altogether as the temporary hormonal status can blunt hunger pangs. You know that when this happens you almost always end up binging on all the wrong foods.

Coping with stress can be as simple as fixing your diet – not mainlining caffeine!!

How to Mitigate Stress Through Nutrition & Supplementation

1. Eat a small meal every 3 hours:

Keeping blood sugar stable is a crucial aspect of stress control as low blood sugar raises cortisol levels and leads to the pig-outs that always add body fat. Your body is a very smart mechanism, insulin mitigates cortisol so one of the reasons why you crave sugary/starchy foods when you are hungry is that the insulin produced by such eating will cease the production of cortisol. The clever thing to do here is to graze, having a small balanced meal every few hours rather than lurching from feast to famine and back again.

2. Ensure adequate hydration:

Never ever allow yourself to become dehydrated. Inadequate hydration causes a change to the pH balance of your body, disrupting testosterone output and drastically raising cortisol output. Aim for at least 3 litres of water daily, and remember that feeling thirsty means that you are already significantly dehydrated.

3. Supplement with extra Omega 3 Fatty Acids:

Essential fatty acids have a myriad of wonderful health properties, and in the particular context of stress mitigation they are highly beneficial due to their inhibition of the adrenal activation of steroids, aldosterone, epinephrine and norepinephrine elicited by a mental stress, through effects exerted at the level of the central nervous system. In plain English this means that for the same amount of stress you will produce fewer stress hormones when consuming omega 3s on a regular basis. We tend to have the most success when we tie in dosage with body fat %, roughly operating on the basis that it is best to supplement with 1 gram of fish oil for every 1% body fat carried.

4. Adaptogenic Herbs:

These are botanical herbs that do literally what they say on the tin – they allow the body to “adapt” to stress by allowing for appropriate cortisol output. In fact they serve the dual positive purpose of boosting adrenal output when in a state of depletion and calming cortisol output during times of stress when the adrenal glands are being overstimulated. Look for Holy Basil, Ashwaghanda, Panax Ginseng, and Rhodiola Rosea.

5. Supplement with Magnesium:

Magnesium calms the nervous system and makes us less prone to feel the effects of stress. Specifically, the magnesium salt that you should look for is Magnesium Taurate. The taurine (contained in the taurate) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, acting as a relaxing agent for the body. Optimal dosage is 350mg with dinner, and a further 350mg upon retiring.

Conclusion on how to Beat Stress with Nutrition

We can’t control many of the stressful things that happen to us on a daily basis, but we can do many things to help us mitigate any harmful effects. Eating and supplementing wisely can have both a positive physical and mental impact on our ability to brush problems aside and get on with living and enjoying life as it should be lived.

Thank you for reading – www.fitness-worx.com

Join the FWX Team every Wednesday evening at 7pm for the annual FWX BOOTCAMP! This shall take place at Kenilworth Rugby Club “Cow Patch” – Email enquiries@fitness-worx.com for further information!

Doing a 30-minute HIIT workout just three times a week could make you measurably fitter and healthier in only a few weeks.

Jack Gibson, Personal Trainer at FWX explains..
One of the most common reasons people give for not doing regular exercise is: “I don’t have enough time.” It’s currently recommended that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week in order to see health benefits. Whatever form of exercise you choose to do, be it running, cycling, swimming or classes, that’s a lot of time to dedicate to fitness.

But if you can’t reach the recommended time threshold, is there another way to achieve similar improvements in fitness, or is all lost?

Don’t throw in the towel just yet. A 30-minute HIIT (high-intensity interval training) session, including at least 10 minutes of high-intensity activity, could be as good as exercising at a moderate level for 150 minutes per week.

What does a 30-minute HIIT workout look like?

The three stages of any workout still apply, regardless of how long or intense the session is: warm-up, exercise, cool-down. Stages one and three are non-negotiable. Skipping either could cause injury, stiffness and reduce the efficacy of your hard work in between.

I have used the example of cycling, but most aerobic exercises performed at an intense level for short intervals would work.

Close up of man cycling intensely indoors
Warm-up (0-5 mins)

Begin jogging or cycling at a steady pace
– Gradually increase your speed every minute until you are slightly out of breath but can still hold a conversation.
– Intervals (5-25 mins)

Cycle for 60 seconds as fast as you can on high resistance
– Recover for 60-90 seconds at a low speed and low resistance
– Repeat intervals and rests for 20 minutes
– During the intervals, your aim is to reach 90% of your maximum heart rate – you should be out of breath and struggling to maintain the effort. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, you can learn about rating perceived exertion according to how you feel.

Cool-down (25-30 mins)

Jog or cycle at a steady pace for five minute
– Stretch out your legs and upper body.

Definitive proof?

HIIT-based exercise is still being studied, and nothing is ever really definitive in the world of fitness research. The good news is that the evidence base supporting its efficacy is both robust and growing.

Yes, doing three workouts per week that include at least 10 minutes each of high-intensity interval work is very likely to improve your health and fitness, whether you’re already fairly healthy or could do with being fitter. Your aerobic capacity will increase, and the associated benefits of being more active will make you feel great.

However, there is no absolutely definitive advice that will suit every individual’s needs and abilities. If you’re already doing the recommended 150 minutes of exercise per week, we aren’t suggesting that you cut back.

If you’re able to include three HIIT sessions into your existing weekly exercise schedule, then try it for a few weeks and see how you feel. If you’re not doing much exercise at all, a few HIIT sessions would be a quick and easy introduction to exercise to suit a busy life.

Like the idea but don’t know where to start? A few sessions with a FWX Personal Trainer would get you on the right trackQ

Before you engage in a new exercise or a nutrition plan, we advise you to discuss your goals and plans with our Trainers. They will be able to assess your physical state and discuss the suitability of your plan, taking into account any risks or underlying conditions.

Contact 01926 859 488 for further information or email enquiries@fitness-worx.com!