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Stepping Your Way to Fitness

Want to have buns of steel? Maybe tighten your hamstrings, quads and calves too? Then try running up steps because it is an intense activity both for your heart and legs – you’re moving your bodyweight up the steps against gravity.

If you want to burn a large amount of kilojoules/calories in a relatively short time, running up steps is the way to go. Other benefits of running up steps include:

• It is great cross-training activity.
• It requires less time to do the same intensity of a workout.
• It is an overall body workout – cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

Here are a few tips for running up steps:

• Start slowly and gradually increase your speed and/or the number of steps as you get fitter.
• Run at even pace – don’t go out too hard.
• Pump your arms to help you up the steps. Keep your elbows in, shoulders down (not shrugged) and your arms semi-flexed (like a sprinter).
• Run on your toes and make sure you don’t completely extend your legs – this puts too much strain on your knees.

Why You’re Not Reaching Your Ideal Weight

If you’re trying to lose weight, a reasonable and healthy weight loss should be between 0.5 to 1.0 kg per week. As with any goals, your success will depend on a number of factors, with the most important one being motivation.

Here are some of the more common issues that can impede your weight loss success.

Not eating breakfast or eating breakfast too late

Skipping breakfast might sound like a quick way to cut kilojoules, but this can lead to unhealthy snacking by mid-morning or eating too much at lunch. Studies show people who eat breakfast are more likely to maintain a healthy weight. An ideal breakfast should be high in protein and fibre. To get your metabolism firing early, aim to eat your breakfast before 8am.

Eating dinner too late

Eating too close to bedtime can interrupt your sleep (as your body is busy digesting, it can’t do what it needs to do to prepare you for optimal rest). If you’re regularly eating dinner after 8pm, aim to reduce the portion size at dinner and have a larger lunch followed by a healthy snack (fruit, nuts) at afternoon tea. Allow at least 2 hours between your last meal and sleep. Some studies have shown that having dinner too close to bedtime may result in weight gain as your metabolism slows down when you sleep.

Eating too fast

It takes your brain about 20 minutes to register that there is food in your stomach. Therefore, you’re more likely to overeat if you tend to vacuum down your food. Make sure you chew your food properly to help with its digestion. You will enjoy your meal more if you slow your eating down.

Not enough salad/vegetables at lunchtime

Ideally you will need at least 1-2 cups of salad or vegetables at lunchtime to get the bulk and fibre you need to keep you full throughout the afternoon.

You’re drinking everything except water

Beverages (including those that seem healthy like fruit juices) are probably the biggest hidden source of kilojoules in our diets, especially those that are packed with sugars. Some fruit juices actually have more kilojoules than a can of Coke. And a regular cappuccino has more than twice the amount of kilojoules as a skim cappuccino. For more information, read our recent newsletter.

Your plate is too big

If you tend to eat everything on your plate (probably because you were “brainwashed” by your parents to do so when you were growing up), switch to smaller plates. When you have finished eating, wait 20 minutes (see above) and if you are still hungry, then go back for seconds.

Eating out too many times

For people with a busy lifestyle, eating out is no longer an occasional treat. When you don’t prepare your own meals, you have no control over the ingredients and cooking process.

Eating out and an expanding waistline usually go hand in hand but you can limit the damage by:

• splitting the entree with your partner or a friend;
• order an entree as your main and include a side salad;
• go for less fattening dishes, for example, if you are eating pasta replace cream-based sauces with tomato-based sauces (such as marinara or Napolitana).

You’ve got junk food in your pantry

One of the quickest way to start eating more healthily is to do a pantry makeover. While you are ”de-junking” your pantry (before you succumb to temptation), throw out anything that has either: too little nutritional value (fibre, vitamins, minerals, protein) or too much fat, sodium/salt or sugar.

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About the author: Andrew is the owner and principal trainer of Health Jigsaw. He has trained hundreds of clients of all ages with varying levels of fitness, from beginners to professional athletes and performers.

Contact us if you want to make positive changes to your health, lifestyle, self-confidence and general outlook in life.

Get The Most Out Of Your Workouts

Some of us train within our comfort zones, but if you keep doing the same thing all the time you won’t see any improvements. If you’re not trimming down, toning up, or feeling any fitter, it could be because you’ve hit a plateau. There are many reasons why this can happen, but you can change things up and get back to achieving results.

Vary your workouts or activities to avoid boredom.

You Always Run at the Same Pace

If you want to increase your speed, interval training is the way to go as you’re teaching your muscles to use energy more efficiently so you can go faster.

If you’re running on a treadmill, start by warming up at a easy pace, then run at your normal pace for one minute followed by running at slightly faster pace for a minute, back to your normal pace for a minute, and so on. If you’re outside, you can use telegraph poles as markers – run at your normal pace past 4 poles, then increase your pace past 4 poles and back to your normal pace past another 4 poles.

The aim is to gradually lengthen the faster-paced intervals and increase the tempo.

You Do Whatever

Do you walk into the gym and then decide what what exercises you’re going to do? Do you know the reps, sets, tempo and rest you’re going to use? To achieve results, what you train, when you train, how you train and even why you train, should be included in your program (which needs to be specific to you and your goals).

You’re Doing the Same Weight Circuit as Last Year
If you’ve noticed that the circuit seems easy, it’s because your muscles have adapted to the circuit and are bored with doing the same exercises. To become stronger, you need to continuously challenge your muscles by mixing things up, such as using machines, free weights, resistance bands or your body weight. You can also play around with the number of sets and reps, amount of weight, length of rest periods between sets and the overall number and order of exercises.

You Only Cycle or Do Yoga

There is nothing wrong with cycling or yoga but if they are the only form of exercise you do, then try other activities. It’s all about challenging your body and keeping your regime interesting. Choose something that you and your family/friends will enjoy. Or set yourself a goal to do the Sydney to Gong Ride, City to Surf or a half marathon for the first time.

See A Personal Trainer’s Week for more ideas on what you can do or get involved with some of the social events that Health Jigsaw organises each month.

Eat What You Want

Just because you’re doing some exercise it doesn’t mean you can eat McDonald’s or KFC everyday. As discussed in The 70-30 Rule, your diet is the most factor in a healthy lifestyle. Eating not only involves what you eat, but also how much you eat and your emotions play a big part as well.

Your Recovery

If you are constantly smashing yourself you can end up overtraining, which can sometimes be worse than under training. Your body needs sufficient time between workouts to recovery properly.

Recovery also involves getting enough quality sleep each night. Try not to be watch TV or have bright lights on just before going to bed as it could taking you longer to fall asleep. The body uses the time while you are asleep to recover, both physiologically and psychologically (see Keys To Better Sleep).

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Please note that before you begin any fitness program, consult your doctor first, especially if you are over 40 years old, have health related issues or have not exercised for an extended period of time.

City to Surf – Before, During and After

There are now just 10 days before the City to Surf. Hopefully you’ve got time set aside for one more long training session to prepare you for the day. Here are a few tips to help you before, during and after the big day.

The Day/Night Before the Run

To ensure that you have enough energy to get you through the race, it is recommended that you eat a low-fat, carbohydrate-rich meal the night before. You can’t really go wrong with pasta with tomato-based sauce. And definitely NO ALCOHOL!!

Make sure you drink enough water so that your urine is pale to clear throughout the day.

The Morning of the Run

Get up early to eat (at least 2 hours before your starting time) and maintain your hydration. Examples of a good breakfast include:

• Cereal or porridge with low-fat milk and fruit.
• Toast or muffin with honey, jam, marmalade or Vegemite.
• Sandwich with banana and honey.
• Smoothie with low-fat milk, low-fat yoghurt and fruit.
• Low-fat cereal or sports bar.
• Fresh fruit salad with low-fat yoghurt.

Wear some old clothes to keep warm and then you can discard them before the start. They will be collected and given to charity.


During the Run

Have at least one drink at each of the 6 drink stations spread out over the 14 km course:

• Station 1 (water only) – Cranebrook Rose Bay (at about the 3.5 km mark).
• Station 2 (water & Gatorade) – Lyne Park Rose Bay (just after the 5 km mark).
• Station 3 (water & Gatorade) – Vaucluse (at about the 7.5 km mark).
• Station 4 (water only) – Kimberley Reserve Vaucluse (at about the 9 km mark).
• Station 5 (water & Gatorade) – Dudley Page Reserve Dover Heights (at about the 10 km mark).
• Station 6 (water only) – North Bondi opposite golf course (just after the 12 km mark).

While Heartbreak Hill gets all the attention, don’t forget about the rise up through Edgecliff and the incline not long after Heartbreak Hill. When you run up hills keep upright, do not bend over at the waist thinking that you are leaning in to the hill. Make sure you run with your shoulders relaxed, chest up, pushing your hips through, this will allow your hips to get full extension and get better leg drive.

After the Run

Stretch, re-hydrate and eat (this does not mean sit on beach, alcohol and McDonalds). To help your recovery, jump in the surf to “ice” the legs. This will constrict blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Once out of the surf the underlying tissues will warm up, causing a return of faster blood flow, which helps return the by-products of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body.

Most Important Tip

Have fun – it is a FUN RUN, so soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the day!!

City to Surf – What to Eat

There are now less four weeks to the City to Surf. How is your training going?

Less than 4 weeks to go now.

So far we’ve covered how to get started and training for Heartbreak Hill. Another important part of your preparation is what you eat before and after your training. Running is a fantastic way to shed some unwanted kilos – you can burn between 2,000 and 3,500 kilojoules (kJ) per hour, depending on a number of factors such as your weight, sex and pace.

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your training.

1. If you’re planning to train before breakfast, you need to eat some carbohydrates the night before. There’s been a lot written about carbohydrates but your body needs carbohydrates for energy, especially if you are training for the City to Surf. You can get away with a low-carbohydrate diet if you are sitting in front of a computer or TV all day, but not if you are exercising.
2. To stay hydrated, water is your best option. You don’t really need sports drinks, energy drinks, vitamin water, soft drinks or fruit juices, especially if you’re trying to watch your weight. A bottle of Powerade (600 ml) has around 800 kJ, Red Bull (250 ml can) has 500 kJ, Lucozade (300 ml bottle) has 880 kJ, Coke (375 ml can) has 680 kJ and Boost Juice (450 ml cup) has 545-880 kJ.
3. After your training session, you will need to re-hydrate your body. Weigh yourself before and after your session and for every kilogram of weight loss, drink that amount in litres as a minimum (1.5 times is optimal).
4. Some research has shown that combining carbohydrates with protein in the proportion of 4:1 (four grams of carbohydrate to one gram of protein) and within 30 minutes post exercise is critical to recovery and improves your ability to train consistently. Protein provides the amino acids needed to rebuild muscle tissue. Some quick and easy recovery snacks include: low fat chocolate milk; small tub of yoghurt; poached egg on wholegrain toast; peanut butter sandwich with wholegrain bread; sushi roll.

City to Surf Training

Whether you’re walking, jogging or running the City to Surf, hopefully you’re well into your training as there are now less than 6 weeks to go. As mentioned in our newsletter last month, interval training is one of the best ways to increase your fitness. Set yourself targets to achieve in each training session and train with a friend to make it easier to stay motivated.

Don't forget to train for Heartbreak Hill

For most people, the hardest part of the City to Surf is the 2 km ascent from Rose Bay to Vaucluse, otherwise known as “Heartbreak Hill”. To best prepare yourself for this, you should incorporate some hill training. If you’re training outdoors, choose a route with 1 or 2 challenging hills. If you’re training on a treadmill, set the incline at around 5%.

Don’t forget to take it easy when you’re starting off as hill training can be hard on your calf muscles. Then gradually build up to longer durations as you get fitter.