M-Power Fitness

M-Power Fitness App:

Every member at M-Power Fitness has access to their own personalised / bespoke programming through our M-Power Fitness App.

Whether you are looking for 1:2:1 Personal Training, or our most popular Hybrid Personal Training model you can access all of your workouts and keep track of all your training data and progress on your own mobile device.

Online PT clients are also supported with virtual or face to face check in’s depending on their preference…

If you’re thinking about taking your training, health and fitness to the next level, get in touch 🙌

Anyone interested in joining us for a 5km walk / park run at Wimpole Hall on Saturday 13th July…

Our PT Lyndon has been working towards running a continuous 5km after rehabbing his injuries post motorbike accident and spine surgery whilst living with Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also called chronic fatigue syndrome or ME/CFS.

‘After setting a date to try and hit this personal milestone, I feel it’s a great opportunity to get people together and enjoy some of the local countryside, have a chat and a catch up - even if you don’t fancy walking or running it would be great to see some friendly faces’

If you would like some help yourselves getting back to some running or starting it up for the first time - let us know and we can support you with a couch to 5km programme with home bodyweight exercises included using our M-Power Training App.

The week before a big event, control the controllable’s so you don’t overwhelm yourself and you can focus on enjoying it and performing at your best.

Nutrition wise, stick to the plan try not to change things last minute that may cause gut sensitivity or discomfort as the body is under enough stress without having to process or digest something it’s not familiar with.

If you have a specific carbohydrate loading strategy
(6 Day, 3 Day including depletion phase or a 48-24hrs ) implement it wisely and don’t over complicate things.

- Consume adequate carbohydrates before, during and after exercise (During your high training load hopefully you have achieved this)

- Plan to consume 7-12g/kg of carbohydrates each day for at least 24-48 hours before the event to maximise glycogen storage. (Start on the lower side if this is something you have not yet done or experienced)

- Keep things familiar and eat little and often - perhaps changing your levels of macronutrient intake rather than unnecessarily exceeding energy needs

- As you get closer towards the event 48-24 hours you may begin to reduce your fat and fibre intake, the day before especially your macronutrient intake may be 70% carbohydrate based depending on which carbohydrate loading protocol you have used.

- Keep things simple and continue to enjoy your food choices.

Keep your eyes peeled during the week for some more tips and ideas 🙌💪🫶

- You got this!

Weekly Wisdom: seasonal food options; Spring.

Being aware of some of the more seasonal options when we do our food shopping can help us keep a balanced and nutritious diet whilst having some variety and enjoyment with our meals and appetites.

Food in season may be cheaper.
Fresh
Tasty
Nutrient packed

It’s also a good way to support local and perhaps help with reducing the environmental impact of food production and distribution etc.

Fancy trying something different?

Check out some of the spring season options in the infographics 🙌🫶

Individuals are often short on their fibre intake and the daily recommended amounts vary from 25g for females and 38g for males.

Soluble Fibre benefits…

• Lower total LDL cholesterol (may decrease risk of heart disease) - It can bind to cholesterol particles. It can prevent its absorption and help remove this compound from the body.
• Possible weight loss - It can delay gastric emptying (from the stomach) and it promotes an overall feeling of fullness, thereby potentially reducing caloric
intake.
• Improved bowel movement and intestinal health - It attracts water and it promotes bulk to the stool, which can safeguard against constipation.
• Potential diabetes protection - This carbohydrate is not absorbed. It can,
therefore, reduce potential blood sugar spikes.
• Improved food absorption - It slows the movement of food through the small intestine. It can enhance nutrient absorption.

Insoluble Fibre benefits…

• Enhanced digestive health - It adds bulk and draws water into
the GI tract. It improves regularity in the large intestine to avoid
constipation and other bowel-related health problems
(e.g. haemorrhoids).
• Reduced risk of cancer - It improves movement through the
large intestine. It reduces the risk of colon cancer and other large
intestinal diseases (e.g. diverticulosis).
• Possible weight loss - By delaying gastric emptying (from the stomach), it promotes an overall feeling of fullness, reducing caloric intake.

If you would like some support with your own nutrition plan get in touch 🙌🫶💪

On International Womens day we celebrate all the amazing Women in our lives, community and beyond ❤️

You inspire us all.

Cambridge Half Marathon Runners…

How are we feeling?

Awesome work yesterday - now it’s time to focus on your recovery.

Try to prioritise your Nutrition, Hydration, Sleep and Rest or Active Rest.

That first 48 hours post event is important.

Allow yourself to recover sufficiently before you get back into it - hopefully your training plan supports that.

Especially for those of you that are perhaps building to Marathon distance.

After all it is quite literally a Marathon not a sprint.

Cambridge Half Marathoners have a great day!

Well done to everyone involved, runners, spectators, volunteers and all those people in the background 🙌🫶

You’re in the gym and you are following a plan and you’ve just started your workout.

Here’s a few self checks to ensure with each exercise you can make the desired progress you are looking for.

It may sound simple but if you get caught on autopilot and aren’t aware or particular about certain intentions of training variables, you’re missing out on actioning those intentions and getting the most out of your individual and cumulative workouts.

Keep it going and keep moving forward, step by step, rep by rep.

You got this 🙌💪🫶

Weekly Wisdom -
Fluid Intake for Training.

We know how much water and hydration levels can affect performance but it’s often an overlooked piece of the puzzle by individuals.

It’s a tricky subject to generalise and give amounts for because it really depends on each individual and their training intensity / duration / environment own estimated fluid loss etc but there are definitely a few factors you can begin to consider.

Enter training sessions euhydrated so in a state of fluid balance - your bodyweight, levels of thirst, urine colour etc may help identify this.
As a guide 300-500ml intake during an hour before exercise.

Hydration strategies pre / during and post exercise aim to provide fluid intake levels to prevent dehydration levels especially greater than 2% of bodyweight which would impair performance.

Try to keep your fluid levels topped up during each hour of exercise, higher intensity / longer endurance sessions may require more attention to levels and also electrolyte balance such as sodium etc.
200-300ml of fluid each 15/20mins.
Roughly 600-800ml in total per hour.

Replace your fluid loss after exercise - if you are aware of how much that is, you may want to replace 150% of fluid loss as to prepare for your next session. The addition of sodium to this fluid may assist the retention of fluid in the body and reduce total urine output.
E.g An individual has a 1l fluid loss so they may look to consume 1.5l in the few hours following training - this also supports fluid loss from post exercise excretion etc.

Lastly with all of the above in mind based on exercise related levels you should in conjunction consider your total daily water intake ensuring that is appropriate to support your overall health.

Perhaps you have an event coming up yourselves?
An increase in training load…

If you’d like some support with your own training, nutrition and hydration strategies.

Send us a message and we can help you dial in your individual specifics 🙌💪👍

Weekly Wisdom: Post Workout Nutrition…

Your training and outcomes / adaptations can be affected by how well you’re refuelling your body.

Carbohydrate intake is important to refuel and replenish your glycogen levels and energy stores.
* if you are an athlete performing multiple sessions a day this can be important to optimise performance in subsequent sessions.

Ensuring you replenish glycogen levels early to utilise the heightened sensitivity of cells and glycogen uptake. (Up to 4 hours post exercise)

Perhaps less important if you have 8-12+ hours recovery and appropriate carbohydrate intake needs are hit throughout the day.

Protein is key to ensure you optimise tissue turnover and are repairing damaged tissue after your training sessions.

Although the post training ‘anabolic window’ may not exist it can aid glycogen replenishment and supports your overall protein daily intake being met.

Anti oxidants and polyphenol rich foods may support the recovery process and damage caused by training sessions.

Individuals needs and training demands are specific and some individuals may be implementing a nutritional strategy specific to their own needs / desired training adaptation outcomes.

Intra Workout Nutrition..

When is it wise to consume extra carbohydrate during your training sessions?

Well we know that we can deplete our glycogen energy stores within roughly 1hr 30mins of exercise depending on intensity etc so as soon as those glycogen levels diminish our performance is going to be effected with the onset of fatigue etc and our output decreasing.

We can provide energy throughout the workout in the form of carbohydrate to help maintain glycogen levels and provide readily available glucose both to help keep us performing at our desired intensity.

If we are focusing on longer endurance based sessions regularly throughout the week it’s important that we do not dis regard the bigger picture in terms of replenishing glycogen post session and meeting our energy and nutritional demands.

When performing sessions for longer than an hour at a moderate to high intensity and when training for hours at a time it may be prudent to take onboard carbohydrate at a rate of 60-90g / per hour.
(Individuals most likely need to build this up slowly to reduce any potential GI distress)

Its also important to note that we are limited to being able to digest around 1g glucose / per min so if we are going to consume more than 60g of carbohydrates an hour we would benefit from an intake of multiple transportable carbs like glucose and fructose so we can optimise absorption and amounts.
*Ratio 2:1 so Glucose 60g Fructose 30g.

Practical applications are to ensure that where you are sourcing your intra workout carbohydrates from are simple sources (glucose, fructose etc.) that are not affected by other macronutrients ingestion like fats or high in fibre which would affect digestion.

Be considerate to your own gut health and tolerances, find a strategy that works for you around timing and frequency of intake etc.

Weekly Wisdom : Pre Workout Nutrition

It’s no secret that nutrition has the significant ability to affect performance.

Pre workout snacks and fuelling can help optimise performance in training.

Within high intensity training sessions our primary fuel source is glucose and we provide ourself with glucose from a dietary perspective through carbohydrates.

30mins - 1 hour before training we may benefit from ensuring we can utilise these carbohydrates quickly in the form of consuming simple based carbohydrates that are fast digested and made readily available.

Individuals may want to consume between 30-60g of carbohydrate pre workout depending on their own individual needs. Keeping fat and protien intake levels low/ moderate at this time.

Training or competing for longer than 1 hour / 1 hour 30mins may require intra workout carbohydrate intake which may also be multiple transportable carbohydrate forms to optimise performance depending on intensity and individual goals etc.

There are situations when endurance athletes specifically may be using nutrition protocols to have a long term effect on how their body utilises different energy systems and fat for energy etc and therefore protocol’s like ‘train low, compete high’ are specific to an individuals needs and goals relating to specific long term performance goals.

If you’re unsure on your own nutrition for performance or would like some individual support, get in touch 🙌💪🫶

Starting an exercise routine in 2024…

Here’s a few things to consider to support your success.

Start small and build slowly, allow yourself to adapt and adjust to the new routine, start with sessions shorter in duration, lower in intensity, fewer in frequency and then build over the forthcoming weeks and month.

Be realistic, set your expectations in line with your current capacity and with a plan and SMART targets to reach your desired developed levels of health and fitness. Adaptations take time and patience.

Recovery is Key, make sure you are taking enough rest, prioritising your sleep, nutrition and hydration to meet the demands you are putting on your body. Training + Recovery = Progress / Adaptation.

Aim to be consistent over time rather than striving for perfection now and again. Tick the workouts off regularly as they are planned and you’ll begin to see and feel the progress and development 🙌🫶💪

Need help with finding your routine and dialling in your training.

Come on down and reach your potential.

Wishing you a Merry Xmas Eve…

Stress free shopping (if you’re part of the lastminute.com gang)
Safe Travels
Smiles with your family and friends.

High Intensity Ho Ho Intervals

Day 11 is all about letting off some steam - working hard for 1min and then recovering for 1min. Repeat between 10-20times for a total of between 20-40mins workout.

The key is to gauge / pitch your intensity of each effort in respect of how many repeats you are going to perform, try to be consistent with your efforts rather than the first couple being max efforts and then the next eight dropping off the face of the North Pole and asking Santa for a lift home.

Work: Rest ratio is 1:1 so if you want to work for a little less or more you adjust the rest period as the same equal time duration.

Day 9 how can we help and support ourselves to get a ‘Silent Night’s Sleep’

Check out the infographics to see if some of these strategies can help you sleep like a baby 🙌🫶

Day 8 is working on some aerobic conditioning and keeping the intensity at zone 2.

You could use a bike, rower, swim, jog, brisk walk… anything where you can focus on continually moving at a steady state pace.

The key is to be able to maintain the effort for the time duration of between 20-60mins whilst not letting HR creep up too high:

Zone 2 is roughly between 60-70% of Maximum Heart Rate if you wear a monitor or you could try and work at between A 2-4 out of 10 on the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale.
You’ll be working at an effort that allows you to be in control of your breathing - Nasal breathing would be manageable, being able to have a conversation with short sentences.

Frosty the snowman doesn’t move too fast because he will melt 🤭🤪🙌

Day 7 is all about rest and recuperation.

Make sure you are taking time to slow down, recover and enjoy spending some time at a slower pace 🙌🫶🙏

Day 5 is about enjoying some fresh air getting some steps in and also enjoying a tasty treat.

If you’re feeling a little stressed, lethargic walking can be a great tool to help change your mindset and invigorate some positive energy.

Likewise if you fancy a tasty treat whilst you’re working hard towards your Christmas break then be sure to allow yourself the enjoyment and satisfaction food can give you.

Try to avoid offsetting calories through exercise and appreciate exercise for all of the factors and positives it can bring you - likewise enjoy food as a catalyst for improving mood, health and wellbeing, understanding the amounts, portion sizes and energy balance that is fit for purpose for you as an individual and matches your needs 🫶

Day 3 involves completing our ‘Reindeer Run’ although you could follow this wave like interval sequence on other cardio equipment.

The session involves transitioning through three different paces in a wave like sequence across 9mins (1min for each of the reindeers)
*see infographics

Depending on how many presents you have to deliver you can repeat the sequence another 2 or 3 times.

Pacing;
Slow - steady and comfortable able to hold a conversation normally but may be recovering during this session.

Moderate - beginning to turn it up a little bit but still in control of your breathing and working aerobically. Could say a sentence or so.

Fast - transitioning towards threshold and perhaps beginning to work anaerobically towards the end of the min - hard effort not much talking.

Run like the wind Reindeers 🙌

Weekly Wisdom: seasonal food options; Winter.

Being aware of some of the more seasonal options when we do our food shopping can help us keep a balanced and nutritious diet whilst having some variety and enjoyment with our meals and appetites.

Food in season may be cheaper.
Fresh
Tasty
Nutrient packed

It’s also a good way to support local and perhaps help with reducing the environmental impact of food production and distribution etc.

Fancy trying something different?

Check out some of the winter season options in the infographics 🙌🫶

There is often a confusing narrative that you need to choose a side towards your approach to nutrition -

Quantitative or Qualitative.

However like many things in life finding a balance or a mix of the two may provide you with the perfect blend.

If you have a health or performance goal relating to a desired bodyweight / body composition, we know that nutrition plays a pivotal role towards achieving your goal.

How you best build the necessary behaviours and habits to achieve your goal will be down to you as an individual.

Some people may like to track calories and measure food etc regularly, for some that may create too much pressure and even at times disordered behaviours / choices towards their own diet.

You have to find what works for you, a process that supports sustainability and allows you to adhere to something healthy allowing you to build a positive relationship with nutrition.

One thing that you can always benefit from is having the knowledge and understanding to make the informed choices for yourself.

It’s all about perspective…

How we look at things as individuals, how we approach each day, each week.

The way we look at that challenge, how we endeavour to conquer that next task is all down to how we perceive things.

The lens you decide to look through can be governed by you.

As we slam into another week, fast approaching Christmas, remember to slap on those positive shades, and gaze towards greatness.

Workouts are waiting to be smashed 🙌

Go get it peeps 🙌💪👍

Heart rate zones can not only indicate how hard you are working but they can allow you to develop different attributes towards your health and fitness.

When you go for a walk, run, cycle or perform any type of cardiovascular exercise you may find yourself getting into a bit of a routine of staying in the same gear.

Allowing yourself to work within a range of HR Zones and taking yourself through the gears at times enables you to develop particular parts of your health, fitness or performance with some intent.

Looking to get faster? Go for longer? Utilise a certain fuel source over another for a specific reason; certain HR zone training can facilitate this.

If you’d like some more support and guidance with regards to your cardiovascular training and developing your own levels of fitness, get in touch and we will be happy to help you get things dialled in.

5km, 10km, Half Marathons, Marathons, Triathlons, Cycling, Swimming, Functional Fitness, Hyrox, Tough Mudder events etc.

All can be optimised with some HR Zone Training.

November is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

We’d like to let you know that we are always here for you if you need someone to talk to.

No matter how small or insignificant you think it may be, it’s worth telling someone.

Let’s break the stigma of ‘soldiering on’ and just ‘getting on with things’ if in actual fact we are feeling overwhelmed and being pulled under.

Look for support, offer an olive branch…

Be a talker, Be a listener….





🫶

November is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month.

We’d like to let you know that we are always here for you if you need someone to talk to.

No matter how small or insignificant you think it may be, it’s worth telling someone.

Let’s break the stigma of ‘soldiering on’ and just ‘getting on with things’ if in actual fact we are feeling overwhelmed and being pulled under.

Look for support, offer an olive branch…

Be a talker, Be a listener….

🫶

Daily protein requirements are specific to the individuals activity demands and goal.

Here are some total intake daily amounts relative to bodyweight in kg to help you gain an understanding.

Consideration must be given to individuals with pre disposed health conditions in which case guidance from a registered dietician / nutritionist would be advised.

Rep Ranges can specifically help ensure you are reaching your own goal and desired outcomes.

Performing exercises across different rep ranges can help you focus on developing power, strength, hypertrophy (muscle building ) and endurance.

What is important is that your intensity matches the training intent and adaptation so be sure to check in with your loading, tempo and reps in reserve or rate of perceived exertion.

If you want some help planning your own training and taking it to the next level, get in touch.

1:2:1, Hybrid and Online Personal Training all available.

Weekly Wisdom - making the most out of each session, using your time wisely and seeing progress with your training.

- Have a plan when you turn up to train.
- Hit your sessions fuelled and hydrated especially if performance is being prioritised.
- Warm up with intent and don’t waste time.
- Don’t get sidetracked when you need to take the hard work seriously.
- Time it right - be efficient.
- Write things down - data is helpful.
- Look forward and be mindful of the sum of all parts, the next workout to come is as important as the one your doing…
- Remember to reflect on your sessions and ensure your happy with results…

If your not something may need to change..

Don’t get caught in the twilight zone or being in a Groundhog Day loop.

If you need some support or guidance you may want to try our online personal training 🙌👍💪