Browsing Tag:

muscles

Balance

5 Ways to Cure Sore Muscles after the Gym

Do your muscles ache the day after the gym?

Struggle with the stairs?

Does it put you off going the next day?


5 Ways to Cure Sore Muscles after the Gym

Here are 5 tricks I use to make sure I keep on track of my workouts and to keep those sore muscles at bay.

Rehydrate

This one is a bit of a no-brainer. You must replace the water lost in workouts so your body continues to function. When you put your body under stress it needs to be consistently hydrated.
Make sure you are getting at least 2 litres of water a day. You can make this more funky by having herbal teas (my favourite are Pukkaany flavour) or by putting lemon and mint in your water to add flavour!

5 Ways to Cure Sore Muscles after the Gym


Foam Rolling

Foam Rolling lets you roll out those tight muscles. This is crucial when training with weights when your muscles are getting stronger. Foam Rolling allows you to take the pressure deeper – really working into those tighter areas. This allows you to work the tightness and get you back in the weights section quicker.
If you don’t have time to foam roll in the gym (plus you can look and sound very strange when you find the tighter spots)

I recommend buying a roller for home and spending 20 minutes when catching up on your favourite show.


Massage

There will be times, especially when starting a new routine, when you may need to bring in a professional.

Massage not only makes you feel better and relax but it also helps with muscle recovery. Knots and tightness can really impact your workout – so getting a professional to relieve the pressure can really help.

Having a massage can really help you identify injuries or potential problems which could be exacerbated by certain exercises.

I recently have been having trouble with my legs and neck. My neck and legs were stiff, sore and it was affecting my sleep.

I was recommended to get a massage ASAP!

I booked a sports massage to my house (amazing – I know!) using Urban Massage App!

The masseuse worked through all the layers easing the tension. I had no idea how tight some of the larger muscle groups were. Her hands were magic and by the end of the massage, my muscles had melted.

If you don’t have the time to go to a spa or are nervous about booking a massage – try using Urban Massage App
I have the app on my phone and have now started booking massages every couple of months to help re-align from training

For a little treat click here and get 10% off your First Massage!


Warm Bath

Grab those Epsom Salts and Lavender Oil and fill up the bath with warm/hot water and soak those muscles. If you have time the optimum time to relax those muscles and detoxify is 30-40mins.

If you find it hard to sit still for that long and wind down… take in a good book or listen to a podcast while you unwind.

5 Ways to Cure Sore Muscles after the Gym


Sleep

The vital ingredient to any recovery!

No excuses: if you are not getting 8 hours you are not allowing your body to recover.

Sleep and hydration allow your body to work at its best.

Switch off your phone, turn off the tv, get into bed an hour early and read…meditate…relax and wind down and give yourself enough time to get in those 8 hours.

5 Ways to Cure Sore Muscles after the Gym


For More Stress-Free Workout Tips Click Here: Stress-Free Workout

Recipes

Pumpkin and Chia Seed Protein Porridge

 That Protein

Let me introduce That Protein

Natural and organic, cold pressed and pure. Never processed by heat over 40 degrees. 

Dairy free, no added sugars, non-GMO, no sweeteners, free from anything artificial – this is the range you have been waiting for! Developed by nutritionists with a true passion for plants and how to get the best from them to help you look and feel your amazing best!

Its perfect to combine into your daily life to hit those protein goals to build lean muscle, have luscious hair and keep yourself fuller for longer!

That protein 2

I literally could not have been more excited when my pouch came through the letterbox. Pumpkin seed and chia protein powder tick…

To have vegan, organic and supernatural protein powder is always the best option.

My brain started racing and the internal recipe maker switched on… what can I create to make this powder pop!

The below recipe is gluten free, dairy free and vegetarian…(sounds like dust!)… seriously it is beyond tasty!


Pumpkin and Chia Seed Protein Porridge

That Protein

Ingredients:

That Protein I heart Pumpkin Seed Protein Powder: 1 scoop

Sprouted Oats: 1 Cup

Coconut Milk: 3/4 Cup

Water: 1/4 Cup

Toppings of your choice

Method:

Put all the contents (except the toppings) in a pan and put on low heat

Gently stir until consistency is how you like your porridge

Serve and add your toppings… I went for blueberries and honey – simple and delicious.

If you don’t have time to eat this before work – package up in some Tupperware and take with you to work.

Splash a bit of water on the top and microwave at work

That Protein


For More Stress-Free Recipes Click Here: Nourish

Recipes

Protein Pancakes!


PROTEIN PANCAKES

Shrove Tuesday has landed and we are getting ready for a day of pancake indulgence…

But instead of filling your plate with grains, gluten and sugar – why not try two ingredient Protein Pancakes…

pancakes 2

You will need: (per Pancake)

  • 1 egg
  • 1 banana
  • Scoop of Protein (I use neat protein)
  • Toppings of your choice (blueberries, cacao, raspberries, honey…nuts!)

 

Method:

Beat the bananas into a pulp and as this as possible using a fork.

Try and get out as many lumps as possible to ensure a better texture. Whisk the egg and add to the banana.

neat protein 2

Heat a frying pan with some coconut oil.

If you’re feeling fancy add some blueberries into the mix when you put it in the frying pan.

pancakes

Eh voila – 65 calorie pancakes at the ready!


Smiles all round for Shrove Tuesday!

ⓘⓝⓢⓟⓘⓡⓐⓣⓘⓞⓝ 5 WAYS TO GET THE BEST START TO YOUR DAY As we come into the Autumn the mornings are getting darker, wetter and cooler. This means snuggling up in the duvet is a far better option that hopping out of bed for some sunrise yoga. I've written a little guide to my Morning Routine for starting the morning as I mean to go on. Check it out on CynCity #health #healthy #morning #bed #london #yoga #september #autumn #fall #workout #coconut #healthblogger #fitfam #fitspo #fitness #lifestyle #style #smile #girl #girls #london #bronde #tgif #Friday

Next stop LENT! 

Whats are you doing for lent?


Balance

BOXING: Work Out like Gigi Hadid


 

GIGI HADID

Right…who hasn’t heard of Gigi Hadid? The beautiful blonde with legs up to the heavens who turns her middle finger up to those who fat shame!

This gorgeous goddess – daughter of Yolanda Foster – is the focus for this blog post.

One of the things that is inspiring about Gigi is that she is not your average model. She walks high end fashion runways and is a Victoria’s Secret Model yet she sports a curvy lean physique with strong thighs.

Hell Yes – a real woman!

This world is full of images that lead us to believe that our shape isn’t good enough. Unrealistic images are pumped into our day to day lives. It is refreshing to see someone strong bold and well relatively normal – storm the top runways.


So I dug a little deeper and looked into what this young lady is doing to look so gorgeous yet remain lean and strong

The answer: BOXING!!!

Boxing as a sport requires a high level of athletic prowess: strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, endurance, nerve, and power, just to name several required attributes.

Gigi trains with a boxer to burn through calories, shed excess fat, and remain agile which all leads to her lean physique.

Boxing can be off-putting as it is deemed a male sport – but this empowering exercise really can attribute to some serious body changes!

Here are some reasons why you should try out boxing


Total-Body Strength

All that punching, kicking, and jumping requires a surprising amount of strength. Think about it – most professional heavy bags weigh at least 100 pounds. During a boxing workout, you may punch or kick a bag hundreds of times, requiring your upper body, lower body, and core to engage as you make contact with the bag.


 

Cardio

You hear it all the time: You need to do cardio to protect yourself from heart disease, burn calories, and lose or maintain your weight. But “doing cardio” doesn’t have to mean hopping on a treadmill to log your required minutes – how boring is that?

The whole point of cardio is to place a moderate amount of stress on your heart and lungs so that they’re challenged enough to make beneficial physiologic adaptations to support the higher level of physical activity. As long as you keep your heart rate up during your workout, there’s no reason you can’t punch, kick, and jump your way to a healthy heart at your local boxing gym.


Body Composition

Boxing is great for improving body composition – and some might say it’s great for weight loss. The technique means you are pushing your body burning up to 13 calories a minute!


Less Stress

Almost any form of moderate to intense physical activity can decrease stress. Exercise increases endorphins, boosts mood, works as a form of meditation, and improves sleep, all of which help reduce stress.

Boxing is a great outlet for stress! You can literally fight your way out of the stress zone!


It’s a win win situation!

Be inspired by the strong women in this world and learn from their tricks. If she can do it so can you.

Go and find your nearest boxing centre or get into the gym find those gloves and get practising!


Speaking of BOX – ing… I am very excited to open my new FITTY London box!

FittyLDN

Packed to the brim with Healthy Goodies to start February the right way!

From Spiralizers, to coconut oil to delicious superfoods to sprinkle on my breakfast. This perfect little box never ceases to surprise me. So chic and beautiful – its really does give you that monthly buzz to keep on track!

fitty box

Delivered to my door every month (along with my Vogue) its like my birthday happens every month!

Happy February!


Check out Fitty London here


Recipes

Skinny Rebel Workout | Train Dirty London

London’s Toughest Workout?

Set in the Gym at the Conrad London St. James Hotel lies a workout that is not for the faint hearted.

I was invited by Dean (Director) to try out “Skinny Rebel Workout”. I strolled in with my gym kit ready without a thought that this could push me further than I have been pushed before in a workout.

Skinny Rebel Workout is Train Dirty’s signature high intensity, full body workout while wearing an altitude mask.

Wearing an altitude mask!?!
Yes you read that correctly… By wearing an altitude mask, the skinny rebel workout exposes the body to reduced oxygen levels.
With less oxygen available in the air and less oxygen therefore circulating in your blood, the body makeso captive changes as to how it uses oxygen as well as its available energy stores.
The main benefits are an increase in lung capacity, energy production, anaerobic threshold, mental focus as well as re-training the way you breathe during high intensity workouts.

This is extreme!

I began my workout with high hopes for my fitness level. That and I also thought I looked awesome in this gang style mask which was a cross between predator and some inner city motorbike organised crime gang!

Jokes aside…within minutes I was seeing the colour of my face change, by heart beat was racing, my head was light and “glowing” doesn’t quite describe the level of perspiration.

However, in true stubborn nature, I continued the workout. You are told at any point you are able to remove the mask but I wanted to see if I could do this… with or without Oxygen.

45 minutes and approximately 1000 calories down

I reached the end of my workout. There were times during it when I thought I could not continue. Everything was being challenged from my brain, co-ordination, muscles and breathing – it really engaged my whole body in way no other exercise I had tried before. The Personal Trainer encouraged me at every second pushing me when I needed the encouragement and providing the very needed countdowns to take me to the end of each circuit. At times I wanted it to end – but the positive vibes and the boosts motivated me to push through to the final 45 minutes.

Ending with sprints on the bike – the burn set in.

My body had been pushed, my fitness level questioned and my endorphins rushing! I had never experienced this kind of push before. I was exhilarated and exhausted both at the same time.

skinny rebel workout

So lets find out a bit more about the origins of Skinny Rebel Workout

Skinny Rebel Workout…. Where did the name come from?

We want women to rebel against being skinny and focus on being becoming strong and fit. So we decided Skinny Rebel.

How long have you been based in London?
We have been based in London around 5 years.

How long are the workouts?
45 Minutes!

What are you likely to expect from a session?
Full body, high intensity functional movements. Basically all the exercisers we avoid doing in the gym.

How many calories are you likely to burn?

Between 900/1000

Does SRW separate the Fit from the Skinny?
Absolutely our aim is to convert women from being skinny into being fit. We also want to make fit women even fitter and stronger by doing the SRW.

So there you have it. A workout that will smash through calories, while making you strong, lean, toned and fit! For 45 minutes you blitz through a 1000 calories and push your body harder. These sessions cost £40 for a single session or you can buy a 6 week training schedule that will help you reach your ultimate goal. For more information and prices check out their website Skinny Rebel Workout

Get in touch with the team and see if you have what it takes to be a skinny rebel

Please let me know if you try and what you thought!

Recipes

Todays Clean Meal: Coconut Scrambled Eggs

Love creamy scrambled eggs but want to get rid of the cow’s milk?

Why not try these Coconut Scrambled Eggs.

Very simple and very tasty and full of great fats and protein to start your day.

Ingredients:

  • 3 Eggs
  • Coconut Milk (2 tbsp)
  • Coconut Oil
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Drop of water

Method:

  • In a skillet – heat a knob of coconut oil till hot.
  • Meanwhile beat the eggs, coconut milk and seasoning. Add a drop of water
  • Turn the heat OFF on the pan and add the eggs
  • With the heat of the pan fold the eggs till cooked all the way through – the heat generated should cook the eggs all the way through

And voila – a nutritious and delicious breakfast ready to go 

Balance

Today’s Workout – 3 month progress

Snap3

This is my 3 month progress pic.

I have been doing:

Monday: Yoga

Tuesday: Circuits and Body Conditioning

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Power Pump and Advanced Pilates

Friday: Rest

Saturday: HITT

Sunday: Personal Training

Getting a routine has really helped achieve these results. Before I was so sporadic and wasn’t keeping it simple and consistent

Recipes

Today’s Clean Eat – Sugar Detox

I decided to go on a sugar detox following all the recent articles on how much sugar we as a nation consume! It was phenomenal reading about all the sugar that is out there.

sugar-detox

Big celebs are advocating it such as the new couple Millie and Professor Green.

 millie and prof

I have been working out loads recently and wondering why my hours were not paying off – as they say its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise…

So lets get down to business – the detox

For three days no sugar:

  • no fruit
  • no wheat
  • no grains
  • no dairy
  • no sugar
  • no sweetener
  • no starchy carbs
  • no carbs

So to make it a little easier instead of listing what I can’t have I will list what you can

  • Protein
  • Good fat
  • protein and fat

Here is my meal plan for the 3 days

Breakfast: Two boiled eggs

Snack: M&S crispy bacon slices – 55g

Lunch: Itsu Chicken “low carb” on a bed salad

Snack: 100g of Smoked Salmon

Dinner: 150g of any meat or fish with cup of dark green veg

Drinks: Green Tea, Water, Fruit Tea, Lemon in hot water, Lime in Sparkling water

By the way – the above meals total to 1300 calories! I am hoping by the end of the detox my body will go in to Keytosis – which is where is burns fat for energy rather than glycogen (as there is no glycogen there).

Negatives of the sugar detox

  1. Seeing friends for dinner – you get weird looks
  2. 2pm in the afternoon – the haze/ brain fog
  3. When someone eats an orange next to you and it smells like someone orgasm’d in your nose
  4. Office temptations

Benefits of the sugar detox

  1. Sleep amazingly well
  2. NOT HUNGRY AT ALL
  3. No cravings “ohh I really want a piece of chocolate”
  4. After meals you are totally full
  5. If something is going to burn my fat for energy – crack on
  6. You get to eat a lot of meat – yum yum yum

I think I am going to extend my detox to a week and then after a week swap some of the “meat” snacks for blueberries or celery and hummus and incorporate more greens in my evening meals

Wish me luck – and any questions please ask!

before and after