How long should a workout be?

It depends…. However, we can still look at the various reasons that some workouts are longer than others to help understand what might work better in certain situations and for certain goals.

Working out for a marathon will require more time, working out for strength will require substantially less.

Even 30 seconds counts, we all have to start somewhere, I’ve seen people start with 2 minutes on the stationary bike and build up to 45 minute spin classes, conversely had people bring their workouts down to 30-40 minutes from 2 hours for better results and life balance.

I like to look it like this:

Trainer writes program, we take a little more rest in between sets for the first few workouts, overall 52 minutes.

We get used to the program and require less rest, normally in order to keep the same feeling (our muscles have adapted) workout now takes 44 minutes – is this less effective now?

It’s more time efficient for sure, less rest will keep the muscles working hard. Should we look to increase reps/weight or add exercises?

An important factor here is whether the workout is still achieving its goals.

Let’s take a few examples:

A. Powerlifter, has the following to complete:

Squats

20kg 10 rep warm up
60kg 5 rep warm up
80kg 5 rep warm up
100kg 5 rep warm up
120kg 5 rep working set
120kg 5 rep working set
120kg 5 rep working set

To allow for their muscles to recover sufficiently, 2-5 minutes of rest would be required. This is due to the outcome being one of max strength.

Total rest time – 12-30 minutes

B. Bodybuilder

Squats

20kg 10 rep warm up
60kg 12 rep working set
60kg 12 rep working set
60kg 12 rep working set
60kg 12 rep working set

Bodybuilding typically uses hypertrophy, fancy words for time under tension and surprising enough we take less rest between sets 30-90 seconds

Total rest time – 2-6 minutes

I know there are less sets in the second example! Still even if expanded for a full comparison the difference would still be significant.

If we take that and apply it to the rest the gaps grow, well we would expect it to…..

The powerlifter would (typically) do less movements in the overall workout, the bodybuilder would have a few more (again typically) so the gap narrows with the additional exercises the bodybuilder completes.

This brings me back to the start, the length of the workout is linked directly to the goal, in the majority of cases.

Strength – less movements, more rest
Hyperthrophy – more movements, less rest

Let’s pop over to cardio for a moment, and pick a half marathon – training from the outside will consist of working up to a half marathon distance….

In an ideal program we would also include some other workouts to help, these could be speed based, hill based and so on. These will over the course of time become much shorter than the longer distance run.

We could be doing a 70 minute long run with 20-30 mins of sprints or hills.

The length of the workout becomes a secondary consideration and the content and progress leads the inclusion of speed/hill work as an example.

The cardio one is a great example of the goal leading the content, rather than it having to be X minutes long. We are also starting to see more of a shift for strength work also, more purposeful exercises with quality reps rather than lots of exercises with lot’s of reps.

When looking the length of workout, look at the specific requirements accordingly to your goals, see what is required the time will then calculate itself.

Not sure if your workout is hitting the time/goal sweet spot? Give a member of Team SF a message to help you out info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Mixing cardio and strength

How to plan for getting the most out of both and the best ways to integrate them together.

A while back we had a look into cardio or weights first, let take a look at mixing the two together.

Stating the obvious first, we could put them on different days to mix them overall throughout the week, meaning each session has a distinct aim.

When we start looking at actually mixing the two within a single session things can seem like they start to get more complicated, clearly everything can be made as complicated as we like – the key is trying to keep it as simple as possible!

As always let get some stock examples on the go and see how these would play out:

Balanced – we have half the session cardio and half weights, very straight forward, easy to remember and it will work. The downsides are that scaling one of the sides becomes hard, or if we are having a not so good day we may want to do one or the other…

Prioritise one – so this could be where we want to increase our performance in one but maintain a level in the other, it’s doable to a point, in that when we start to build on the priority, the other naturally gets harder, for example if you start at 5k with cardio and extend to 10k we can’t expect our resistance work to maintain with the extra prior workload.

Prioritise each in different sessions – we could do the above but balance this over the week, cardio focus Monday, weights focus on Wednesday and so on, this would give good balance, however is going to make building up performance for both more difficult with greater time between each workout.

As always there will be variants of the above, this just gives us a flavour of how we could break down the sessions to incorporate both.

The main take away is that with 2 separate goals it becomes more difficult to juggle them, that doesn’t mean its not possible, just takes a bit more planning.

I like to think of it as having and A and B goal or a build and maintain goal:

A goal (e.g. 6 months) – increase cardio undertaking
B goal (e.g. 12 months) – Progress strength over the next x months

Build goal – increase compound lifts by 10%
Maintain goal – keep cardio at current baseline

Again, many flavours of this and as always it depends on what our overall goals are.

Need a hand with goal setting and balancing? Give a member of Team SF a message to help you out info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Integrating data and real life

Can you really keep up with the rings on your watch…

Let’s head down the rabbit hole of digital and real life shall we?

What do the metrics on our watch show and do they really tally with real life?

I’m a big fan of tech and it has a place for sure, it can help us understand many metrics, including pacing, distances, patterns and lot’s more on top.

I deliberately missed out heart rate as that’s the top question we get asked about wearable tech, it is now such a vast market that I could write many pages on all of the nuances, so we are going to talk generally and I encourage you to read reviews on any device you like the look of.

Accuracy – Most modern and well regarded heart rate recording watches are within 4-6% or 2-5 beats per minute, this is more than accurate enough for the vast majority of us.

Erroneous readings – there have been a number of studies released across different brands, for the most part they were found to be accurate (within the listed tolerances above) and align with ECG readings within the same tolerances. There are a number of factors which can affect readouts, these include sweat, tattoos, higher impact activity such as heavy footed running which can offset the readings. Important to note that as the algorithms improve so does the overall accuracy and the removal of erroneous readings.

Challenges or goals – many devices now offer a step/calorie/floor goal, these are great incentives to keep us moving and active. One of themes we have noticed is that the goals are increased as a wearer starts to complete them early in the day, on a more frequent basis etc. This leads to a continuing upward rising of the goal, over training then becomes a concern, along with the time/distance require to complete these.

When looking at exercise time, starting with a 30 minute exercise goal per day may not seem that bad, in fact it broadly fits in with the general guidelines for healthy adults. So a little while back I started asking some our members about their goals, very interesting feedback, this clearly doesn’t apply to everyone but offers some insights into what happens in the real world.

I leave the goals the same, that way I feel good completing them – very valid point and you could argue that it keeps everything ticking over.

I used to up the goals using the suggest ones, but it got too high, so I manually changed to to a fixed number – interesting, how much extra does the algorithm think we can do?

I don’t use the goals I just measure my steps and workouts so I know where I am – awesome works for you and makes total sense.

Some other comments from interactions during sessions:

My watch says warming up – half way through circuits, and yes a lot of effort was being put in!

My watch says my heart is 180 – we checked and had it placed at 135 (so between 125-145 with a large margin for error).

To be fair these are a small number in the large use of the wearables, and I think generally display the use case for them being more helpful with monitoring progress and performance.

When looking at the goal side of things, we should consider what is achievable for ourselves and look to keep moderate increases. Look at keeping the increase on the smaller, more sensible side and be aware of the extra time and distances/volumes required to met those daily goals.

We can’t continually increase the goals without end and progress is never as linear as the data would suggest it can be, especially when starting out.

Do we think wearables help, obsoletely, should we be cautious of how they work out what we should be doing, very much so.

Stuck on how it works and what we should be aiming for? Give a member of Team SF a message to help you out info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Understanding the role calories play in our body

What do each of the macro nutrients do for our bodies and how do they affect the balance?

Macro Nutri-whats?

Macro nutrients, or as we commonly see them, Protein, Carbs and Fats. They make up our food, in various percentages depending on the type of food.

Why is the make up important?

What does that mean for our bodies?

Why do we need balance?

Great questions!

The make up of food, or the macro nutrient content us important for our bodies balance, in that if we were to have lots of fat dense foods then we would (subject to overall calories) be likely to gain weight.

It’s worth noting that balance is a very individual thing, so we will use some stock examples, more to understand how the macro nutrients can and are split down.

Let’s first understand what they do for the body.

Protein, the building blocks. Proteins are essential in the building and repairing of muscles, skin and tissues they also help transport oxygen and other important nutrients around the body.

Carbohydrates, the preferred fuel of the body, Carbs are easier to convert into fuel than protein or fats, this fuel is needed for all cells and in particular the brain and our muscles.

Fats, they get a bad rap, but they are essential for protection of the organs and cell function, it also helps with insulation. Good fats need to be included in our diet, just in appropriate amounts.

So with that covered, lets talk about balance, we tend to look at balance as a percentage breakdown, so as an example

50% carbs
30% protein
20% fat

This is a popular one, and is a great starting point offers a good amount of energy, still offers a level of fats for essential purposes without being overly restrictive.

From here we can adjust the mix to suit our own needs, that might be slightly higher carbs on intense training days or before an event.

For some individuals a high fat content is desired, this could look like:

40% carbs
30% protein
30% fat

The main take aways from this is adjustment should be done slowly to give our body time to adjust, they can be finicky – slow and steady wins the race and when looking at the examples (and most of the other connotations are high in protein….

If you would like some guidance on macro nutriants give one of the Team at SF a message on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Setting challenges

Setting challenges is a great way to motivate yourself to reach your goals. What’s the best way to choose what’s achievable for you?

The world is your oyster as they say, anything and everything is out there, so where to start?

Let’s have a look at where we are currently, what we enjoy doing and what we would like to be better at, all great words but doesn’t really point us in any direction!

So, maybe we’ve started walking, without changing what we do, measure how many steps we do in a week and add 10% let’s hit that target every week for the whole of next month. This will give us constancy, increase in effort and burn few more calories.

We can apply the same logic for most exercise challenges:

Aim for consistency, this is great if we need flexibility for time, doing the activity gets something done, we can work on volume later on.

Looking at distance, awesome can we add small amounts each month to slowly increase our body’s tolerance and keep us feeling great.

For those wishing to increase weight, having a program that includes progressive overload to increase is a must, this will also require consistency ticking that box as well.

Looking at calories, why not have an old school calendar on your fridge, big tick for everyday we ate well and kept on plan.

Challenges also need to be fun, working backwards from them can help break down large goals into smaller missions, let’s say we are looking at swimming a mile, long way and a daunting task.

First off, we just need to get in the pool, and we can see where we are at, lets use our imaginary person and they have managed 4 lengths without stopping, wicked start and gives us a great foundation to build on.

How can we use this to plan out our challenge?

Quick couple of examples:

Break down 1 mile into 4 length chunks – that’s 15 sets of 4 lengths, quite a lot still, can we do 5 sets of 4 lengths with some breaks?

Once we get comfortable with 5 sets of 4 lengths, add an extra one in, still with the breaks, until we get to the 15 sets at which point we are covering a mile.

From here we can lessen the rest time between and soon enough we will not need them.

Another option would be to cover the distance with breaks in as many chunks needed, we could also break this into a half mile if needed.

We then try to reduce the amount of breaks required.

As with all tactics, they are variations on a theme and you’ll know what motivates you, so if breaking it down a certain way appeals to you, go with that.

Tracking our progress is a great way to see how far we have come, it also allows us to keep up with the given routine, holding ourselves accountable with our plan.

Don’t forget to celebrate your success, hit a milestone treat yourself to a new item of workout gear or something similar.

It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all. The best way to set fitness challenges depends on your individual goals, fitness level, and preferences. Experiment and find what works best for you.

Need help with setting yourself a challenge? Why not speak to Team SF to see how we can help on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Forward planning

Busy, busy, busy – how often have we skipped the gym to finish off some work?

Then one missed session leads to another and another and we all know where that leads to….

So how can we help streamline the process?

Planning ahead is key, and I know its cliche, but it also works – we just need to understand how to make planning ahead work for us:

Like a good schedule? – pop your workouts and travel time into your calendar, remember to include travel time.

Can you schedule it for the same time on each day your want to work out? – if so this creates a great habit and routine for your body.

Additional simple steps:

Pack your bag/put your training clothes out the night before, I have a client that wakes up and gets changed into their gym gear so they can go straight for a run during there morning break, zero friction, just what they need.

Pre-book your classes ahead of the week, want to do circuits 3 x week, book them all on Sunday and then you just have to show up (maybe following the reminder from your calendar…)

Buddy up, I’m sure there is a statistic somewhere about training with a buddy, you’re less likely to want to let them down.

There are many other tips and tricks, these are just a few ideas to get you started.

How easy can we make it to work out? – planned sessions, whether that’s by a PT or a program, shorter workouts for home (check out the workouts in the newsletter for some ideas) are all great ways of removing friction and barriers.

It can also make time management easier, if we have something crop up (who doesn’t!) we can switch to a home workout saving some time and still getting the workout in.

Lastly be kind to yourself, sometimes with the best will in the world we have to shorten a workout, skip one or leave mid way through – that’s ok, it happens, allowing it and resetting the next day is the key.

If you would like some help setting up workouts to help plan your week out, fit everything in or just want to guidance give one of the Team at SF a shout (nicely) on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Cardio before or after weights

Which is best and how it can shape your success.

Well, where to start – spoiler alert – it depends!

It depends on a lot of different factors, both from a goal perspective and a human perspective.

Rather than layout what the different permutations are, let’s look at the main area’s that can affect the choice:

Goals – these are are targets, our aspirations, our wants – no point being able to deadlift a horse if you’re training for a marathon.

Energy levels – how are we feeling, super well rested, then more options are open to us, not so cloud nine? – wiser choices should be made.

Schedule – let’s not get to hung up on how we fit workouts in, just that some days we don’t have the same available time, and that’s ok – again the workout can be tailored to suit.

Personal preference – important to make sure that our workouts cover all of the above but also that they tick the box for us personally.

Important to note that there is no on-size fits all, and it also is set in stone, there will be times when we feel like changing or that it makes more sense to switch weights and cardio up.

With all that covered, let’s dive into some specifics

Goals

So nice easy one to start us off, if our aim is to complete a cardiovascular based event, making that the focal point of our workout makes sense, we can then undertake specific strength work after as this is likely to be more around endurance and stabilisation rather than raw lifting power.

So the reverse of this is when our goal is a strength based one, in this scenario we would look to complete our strength workload first. Important to note that having a warm up routine is still essential, this may be mobility based or even some light cardio prior to starting.

There are some other options such as splitting cardio and weights over different days to allow more time to focus on each, but given we are looking at which to do first, I’ll leave that for another day!

Energy levels

We’ve all been there, getting to the gym or training session was effort, firstly don’t beat yourself up, many just don’t go, your showed up!

I like to have a good go to session for these days, that’s as nice short targeted workout, what is the main goal of this workout? – from there pick 2-3 exercises that tick that box.

Example – Weightlifting, do the compound movement, then 2 supporting exercises at a lighter weight and with a bit more volume.

If we have a cardio based session planned, can we work on something specific for a shorter duration (hills, speed etc) or can we adapt by using another exercise, cycling, stair master, incline walk. Slower paced exercises fit well if energy is low and time is still available, consider adding a longer set at the end, great for the muscles ready for the next session when our energy levels are back in the normal range.

Feeling golden? – this might be the time to push the envelope a little, there are many ways to do this, we could increase pace (cardio), reduce rest for resistance sets or increase the weight, all dependent on the program we are following.

Schedule

With everything fighting for our attention, it can be easy to find ourselves with less time over the week to workout, it’s all to easy to say ‘you can find an hour’ etc, sometimes we just got to work with what we got!

If time is short, combining sessions makes sense, extending our cardio warmup can ensure it gets done, whilst preparing us for a bit of resistance work after. This might be an extra 10-15 minutes of cardio followed by specific and targeted workloads.

There are also other ways to get a bit of both – classes, Boxercise, bootcamp and circuits to mention a few give a good balance of each side of the coin and tick the box nicely.

If we are really pressed for time, a shorter HIIT style session or and EMOM (every minute on the minute) will keep the time down and the heart rate up!

Personal preference

This is all about you, do you like hitting the weights, then cooling down whilst getting your steps in?

Maybe you like to get the blood pumping and the body ready with cardio before finishing up feeling nice and strong with the resistance work?

Plot twist, you like to change it up and mix them up each time?

The choice is very much yours and there is no right or wrong, the most important part is that you are moving, progressing and feeling good about working out.

Not sure how to structure your training? – speak to Team SF to see how we can help info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

How calories are calculated

Protein, Carbs, Fat, Alcohol, how are calories calculated? What makes up our foods and why is it important to have a balance in our diets?

Calories are a measure of energy, the number we see on a label is how much energy will be given to our body when it is digested (metabolised) by the body. That number is made up of protein, carbohydrate and fat collectively called macronutrients or macro’s as they are commonly called.

These macro’s each have a different calorie value, and it’s worth noting that the labels are an estimate as measurements for food can alway vary (by unto 10%) when calculated.

So how do we know what is in each?

One common way of measuring food is using a device called a bomb calorimeter, this is an airtight chamber filled with pure oxygen and then placed in water, the food source is ignited and the change in water temperature measured to calculate the energy of the food source – all very cool. We should note that chemical analysis and the Atwater method are also used.

That calculation is not perfect as we work in a slightly different way to the chamber, this is because we use energy to replace muscle tissue, skin, hair and even mucus.

Tracking back slightly, I mentioned that each macronutrient has different energy value per gram:

Protein – 4 calories
Carbohydrates – 4 calories
Fat – 9 calories

And we’ll also include Alcohol at 7 calories.

The actually amount can vary, this could be down to the way it was measured, the structure of the food that was tested and even the way the food is prepared, as there is no guarantee that what we have matches the original test exactly. This is where the 10% deviation comes in.

Let’s take a look at each individually as they are not all created equally:

Protein – helps keep us satiated, feeling full for longer. Look for leaner options, these could be skinless poultry, fish and legumes. Protein helps to preserve lean muscle and is important in stabilising blood sugar. look for protein to be just over 1/3 of our plate.

Carbohydrates – Bright colours for the win, these typically have more fiber which aids with digestion, regulating blood sugar and help to lower cholesterol. Normally these should be about half of our plate – Carbs are not the enemy!

Fats – lot’s of talk about fats, good fats, bad fats the list goes on, healthy fats such as nuts, seeds including options like avocado and olive oil are all good choices here, fats help us to absorb nutrients whilst keeping us full, the key is to keep them to the last 10th of our plate, they can be very good for us but portion size is very important.

Whilst calories play a huge role in our weight loss or gain, ensuring we are moving and using that energy also helps.

Changes to diet should be steady and allow our body time to adapt, small changes lead to the best results over a longer period, that is true for both weight change and keeping that change.

Would you like some help with calorie intake? Speak to a member of team SF on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

How to workout on a busy schedule

We get it, life is busy and finding a slot for a workout can be difficult.

It’s easy to get wrapped in everything else that’s going on and be tempted to just get this or that finished a skip a workout to get ahead in another area.

So what can we do to help keep us on track?

Being flexible with the time we have can help, maybe we haven’t got time to get to the gym, so can we:

Use the stairs at work/home to get some reps in?
Go for a walk around the block to up our step count?
Do one of the short workouts from our Newsletter?

Along with this, having our gym kit ready to go is another good idea, if it’s out ready we won’t find ourselves hunting for our left trainer.

I’m reminded of a great idea from one of my clients, which is they got into their gym gear when they get up before work, then went for a run during their morning break, now that’s being prepared!

Making exercise a priority, whilst we may not feel like it when we start, feeling good after is always a bonus, book it into your calendar, set a reminder or arrange to go with a friend, whether that’s a walk, run or a gym session.

Having it written down will help to keep it in the forefront of our minds and feeling good once we have completed it and ticked it off the list.

Have some shorter workouts planned, maybe we have a smaller time window than normal, having a fall back quick workout will enable us to get something done, as mentioned above there are short workouts throughout the newsletters or you could have a mini gym gym workout planned.

Have a go to ‘nice’ workout planned ready to go, whether that’s a walk in nature, a cycle or even a 3-4 movement gym workout that you enjoy, can make for a nice and short workout to help get us over the exercise line.

There’s always other bits that are going to that pop up, the key is to fit in what we can.

It can be easy to think about a small workout ‘not being worth it’ – this is fair from the truth, small and frequent can add up quickly!

Without getting into the technical stuff, an average paced (classed as 3mph) walk of 10 minutes burns approximately 50 calories, 2-3 of these a day over Monday-Friday nets you 500-750 calories. It always amazes me how quickly short walks can add up and help get you away from the desk into the fresh air.

Bonus, if you make it a brisk walk the calories burnt jump to 60-70, adding even more to those totals!

Would you like some help with how to fit exercise into your busy schedule? Speak to a member of team SF on info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.

Athletic performance

Whether you are an endurance athlete or a power athlete, strength training can help you improve your performance in a number of ways.

Firstly, strength training helps to build and maintain muscle mass. When you perform resistance exercises, your muscles are put under stress, which stimulates the production of new muscle tissue. This increase in muscle mass can improve your power and speed, as well as help you to better maintain your form and technique during long periods of exertion.

Secondly, strength training can help to improve your overall power output. Power athletes, such as sprinters, jumpers, and throwers, rely on the ability to generate a high amount of force in a short period of time. By training with heavy weights and explosive movements, you can increase your ability to generate force quickly, which can translate into improved performance in your sport.

Thirdly, strength training can help to improve your endurance. Endurance athletes, such as distance runners, cyclists, and swimmers, also benefit from strength training. When you perform resistance exercises, you improve your muscle endurance by increasing the number of muscle fibers that can be recruited during activity. This means that you will be able to maintain your pace for longer periods of time, reducing fatigue and improving your overall performance.

Strength training can help to improve your agility and coordination. Many sports require quick movements, changes of direction, and precise coordination of your body. By training with exercises that target these skills.

Strength training for athletic performance can be enhanced by:

Increasing strength: Strength training can help athletes build muscle, which will make them stronger. This can be beneficial for sports that require a lot of strength, such as football, rugby, and weightlifting.

Increasing power: Power is the ability to generate force quickly. Strength training can help athletes develop more power, which can be beneficial for sports that require a lot of power, such as sprinting, jumping, and throwing.

Improving speed: Strength training can help athletes improve their speed. This is because strength training can help athletes improve their muscle fibers, which will make them faster.

Improving agility: Agility is the ability to change direction quickly. Strength training can help athletes improve their agility by improving their muscle fibers and their coordination.

Reducing the risk of injury: Strength training can help athletes reduce their risk of injury. This is because strength training can help athletes build muscle, which will make their bones and joints stronger.

Increasing endurance: Strength training can help athletes increase their endurance. This is because strength training can help athletes improve their cardiovascular system and their muscle fibers.

Overall, strength training can be a beneficial addition to any athlete’s training program. It can help improve their performance in a variety of ways, and it can also help reduce their risk of injury.

Here are some tips for incorporating strength training into your athletic training program:

Start with the basics: If you are new to strength training, start with the basics. This means using simple exercises that target all of the major muscle groups.

Be consistent: Strength training is a long-term process. To see results, you need to be consistent with your workouts.

In addition to the benefits listed above, strength training can also help athletes:

– Improve their mental focus and concentration

– Improve their balance and coordination

– Improve their bone density

– Improve their cardiovascular health

– Improve their overall health and well-being

Strength training is a safe and effective way to improve athletic performance and overall health. 

If you are an athlete, speak to Team SF about how strength training can help you reach your goals info@spikefitness.co.uk or 07597215652.