K I S S Group Training Club

MACHINES OR FREE WEIGHTS? Part 1

Keep in mind that the following is my experiences and opinions.

There are different levels of fitness hence in this first part I will talk to beginners/intermediate people.

Beginners should stick to machines mostly for at least a few months. Learn How to achieve Muscle-Mind-connections. This really can have an astounding affect on your progress. By using machines, which are more for isolation of muscles within a muscle group and beginners can thus focus only on how to target specific muscles and connect to the workings of the muscle, with more control. Visualize in your mind how the muscles stretches and contracts at the top of the movement. It's always a good thing to learn the basics about anatomy so that you can know where muscles are located, how many muscles there are within one muscle group, that you need to isolate and perhaps priotize in order to achieve a balanced physique.

Once you got this down, start adding some free weight exercises. Focus on form, not on "look how strong I am" that is ego-training, no one really cares, take advice from someone that knows how to help. Employ a PT for a while and create good neurological paths with strict form, it's better than needing to change what you learned to do incorrectly in the first place. Reps should not be performed mindlessly, the last rep is as important as the first rep. Good form helps limit injuries and optimizes progress.

Keep your rest period inbetween sets short enough to recover about 25%. Tired muscles work better and harder. Longer rests between sets is important on strength training days though.

Once you got the free weights worked out you can start working on your strength a bit more. Start doing a couple of weeks with compound exercises and still maintain good form with heavier weights and lower reps. I used to train 6-8 week cycles and the 3rd and 4th week I'd do some strength training and then back to my usual more intense workouts. It worked best for me. You need to experiment on different splits and training methods to learn what works best for your body. Keep a journal and go on 3 -4 months cycling periods and try different ways of training cycles/splits and after a year or 2 you will have a great record to show you where your body reacted best. Same goes for Nutrition, see what your body prefers by keeping a journal.

Doing more is not always better and often in the first week we should stick to a couple of sets with like 8 reps each even when you know you can do more. You will regret it the next few days and maybe you just can't train the next day because you are in real inflammatory pain. Limit the use of anti-inflammatory meds as they are not kidney friendly. I know at times they are necessary. Do some light cardio, treadmill, cycle, etc to help recovery don't just do nothing because you are hurting. You are going to hurt the first couple of weeks but it gets better. Rest and recovery is as important as training. Adequate Nutrition is top of this list for muscle repair and growth as well.

Leave your cellphone in your bag. This is your hour and you should be focused on your workout and nothing else. 99.9% of stuff can wait an hour I'm sure.

Health should always come first. Cold muscle are prone to injuries so warm up well. It is always a good idea to take 10 min to stretch and cool down afterwards.

Build a strong foundation so you can avoid unnecessary injuries and can achieve optimal results.

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BASAL METABOLIC RATE?

Here's how:

I use the Mifflin-St Jeor formula to calculate BMR:
My BMR = 1700 so that is the minimum calories I need to stay healthy and functional.

Male BMR = (9.99 × weight [kg]) + (6.25 × height [cm]) − (4.92 × age [years]) + 5

Female BMR = (9.99 × weight [kg]) + (6.25 × height [cm]) − (4.92 × age [years]) − 161

None of the calculations are 100% accurate, it is guaged around 10% difference either way.

Once you established your BMR you can calculate your required daily caloric intake much more effectively.

PART TWO.

Personal journeys towards health and wellness.

SIMPLE CARBS VS COMPLEX CARBS.

AN EXAMPLE:

WHITE RICE VS BROWN Carbs (rice) have the exact same energy value as protein (chicken), 4 calories per gram. Brown rice (complex carbs) 82 calories, white rice (simple carbs, i.e. sugar) 68 calories. Brown rice 17.05 g of carbs and white rice 14.84 grams. Brown rice has a GI of 50 and white rice a GI of 89. This means that white rice increases blood sugar levels much faster than brown rice. This makes white rice a good pre workout meal. White rice is highly processed, missing its hull and germ. Therefore, it lacks a lot of vitamins and minerals that are present in brown rice.

Sugar in itself is not the only sugar in foods.

Processed foods usually contain loads of sugar. My motto is that if it has a shelf life I best check the nutritional information first.

There are indeed healthy options of simple carbs such as fruits and some veggies.

Keep in mind that "healthy" doesn't mean it has fewer calories.

So, maybe next time swop that chocolate for a peach.

Healthy foods doesn't mean boring food.

Enjoy your healthy meals.

Next week Part 3 follows.

Visceral fat ensures that there is some distance between each organ. Too much visceral fat creates can lead to inflammation and high blood pressure, which increases the risk of serious health problems. This is also know as central obesity. Another problem with visceral fat is its impact on adiponectin or 'fat hormone'.

Having visceral fat in the belly is a sign of metabolic syndrome, a collection of disorders that include high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. Together, these increase the risk of stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The single most important thing people can do to prevent the buildup of belly fat and get rid of existing belly fat is commit to physical activity, and better yet, a physical lifestyle. For both men and women, the first fat you lose when you exercise is visceral fat.

Measure both your waist and hips, divide the waist by the hip measurement. A healthy body should have less than 1.0 for men or 0.85 for women.

*Disclaimer. If you need more than this basic information please do research more.

PART ONE.

Personal journeys towards health and wellness.

*How many calories does an average person need a day?

Guidelines on Complex Carbs.

Complex carbs; needs to be approximately 45-65 % of your daily caloric intake. Around 130g per day, this will vary person to person.

Men over 50 an average of around 2200 calories per day. Complex carbs for men in the region of 950g per day.

Woman over 50 an average of 1600 calories per day.
Complex carbs for woman on average 700g per day.

These numbers will vary, as activity levels and goals vary and usually activity levels decrease as we age.

Younger and more active men and woman will adjust these numbers.

There are many factors one needs to address to personalize nutrition.

Complex includes starchy carbs like potatoes as well as green veggies such as green beans or spinach.

*I refer to healthy individuals that do not suffer from RA, Lupus, Chrone's disease or any other medical ailments. You need personalized nutrition plans and I personally suffer from RA which is becoming a real hindrance so, I understand specialized needs. With you also I can share what helps me personally.

My posts consists mainly on my own experiences and what knowledge I have acquired over decades.

I do hope that you will find everything helpfull.

PART 2 of Your journey towards health and wellness next week.

Here is a few training principles to try out when you go to gym next :

* Super sets : working opposing muscle groups eg. push ups and pull ups, performed back to back. Rest 60 seconds between each super set.

* Tri Sets: 3 slightly different exercises that work same muscle group back to back eg shoulder press, side raises and front raises. Rest 90 seconds between each triset.

* Giant sets a circuit of 4 plus exercises for one body part done back to back...example 10 shoulder press, 10 side lateral raises, 10 bent over lateral raises, 10 upright rows. Rest 90 seconds-2min inbetween giant sets

* Drop sets....start with a weight you can do 6-8 reps, reduce weight by approximately 10% until failure, repeat this for 3-5 drops. Rest 60-90 secs between each tri set.

*Staggered sets, train a smaller body part during "rest" period whilst working bigger body part. example Chest & calves, Back and rear delts etc. Make sure that the smaller isolation exercise will not take away from the compound exercise. Rest 1-2 min between staggered sets.

Keep your form strict and controlled reps.

Hope you enjoy trying these out.

22 January will be my next 8 week program for young and old, fit or unfit. Body Assessments and individualized eating plans. Let's enter 2024 together with like minded folks on a healthy note.

Happy New Year.

The difference between Fat Burning- and Fitness/Endurance cardio.

Weight/Resistance training:
The source of energy that is used to power the movement of contraction in working muscles is adenosine triphosphate (ATP) – the body's biochemical way to store and transport energy.

Proteins, fats and carbohydrates are all possible sources of fuel for exercise and muscle contraction. During moderate-intensity exercise, roughly half of the energy is derived from glycogen, while the other half comes from glucose in the blood and fatty acids.
Vs
Fat Burning cardio:
So, the only difference between fat-burning mode and cardio mode is the intensity of the workout. Fat burn mode aims to get our heart rate up to 65% (depends on fitness level as well ofcourse. I work on 75%) of its maximum, while cardio mode lets us go up to 85% or a bit higher depending on personal fitness levels. So, it's a given that we work less hard in fat-burn mode than for endurance/fitness cardio.

How to calculate your HR:
220 minus age
Approx. 65% of that will be your ideal HR for fat burning.

*Educational post on my own knowledge and experiences and not aimed at any one person in particular.

Visceral fat ensures that there is some distance between each organ. Too much visceral fat creates can lead to inflammation and high blood pressure, which increases the risk of serious health problems. This is also know as central obesity. Another problem with visceral fat is its impact on adiponectin or 'fat hormone'.

Having visceral fat in the belly is a sign of metabolic syndrome, a collection of disorders that include high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and insulin resistance. Together, these increase the risk of stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The single most important thing people can do to prevent the buildup of belly fat and get rid of existing belly fat is commit to physical activity, and better yet, a physical lifestyle. For both men and women, the first fat you lose when you exercise is visceral fat.

Measure both your waist and hips, divide the waist by the hip measurement. A healthy body according to WHO should have less than 1.0 for men or 0.85 for women.

*Disclaimer. If you need more than this basic information please do research more.

Designing your individual training program.

"Mary" and "Jackie". Similar height and weight and same goal, to lose a bit of bodyfat and adding lean muscle mass.

1.
Mary has an average shaped body, though she has "weak" legs and she needs calfs she also has narrow shoulders and back.

2.
Jackie has stocky legs and skinny arms.

Even though they ultimately have the same goals their training needs are different hence they should not train on the same training program for optimal results.

Take pictures and study your physique, see where there are imbalances and prioritize them by doing the correct exercises to isolate the muscles you want to target.

For example, if you have narrow shoulders and you want to widen your shoulders, start your workout whilst you have plenty energy and strength with exercises that isolates your side deltoids.

If you have weak hamstrings, start your leg workout with hamstring exercises, prioritize those muscles and then follow with quads.

For a long time I used to split my leg workout as my hamstrings and calfs have always been a weaker point though I had skinny legs all round my quads responded very well to training. I trained hamstrings and calfs on Mondays and Quads, calfs and biceps on Fridays. This way I could spend the needed time to work on better balance in my leg muscles all round. I will never have the biggest hamstrings or calfs but I did make great improvements on them.

So, design a program that suits your needs best.

GHRELIN HORMONE: P2 Often known as the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin has numerous functions in addition to telling your brain you're hungry. For example, ghrelin: Increases food intake and helps your body store fat. Helps trigger your pituitary gland to release growth hormones.

The types of foods you eat affect ghrelin. For example, eating foods high in protein or healthy carbs lower ghrelin levels more than eating foods high in fat. Ghrelin is a hormone produced in your stomach. Your stomach releases ghrelin when it's empty to signal your brain that it's time to eat. No specific food suppresses ghrelin. In general, eating foods high in healthy carbohydrates (such as whole grains) and protein can lower your ghrelin levels.

In addition to increasing appetite, ghrelin plays an important role in mediating whole-body glucose and energy homeostasis (i.e. balance).

It also signals your pituitary gland to release growth hormones, plays a role in insulin release and protects your cardiovascular health.

Ghrelin also stimulates the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland, which, unlike ghrelin itself, breaks down fat tissue and causes the build-up of muscle.

This post is not directed to anyone but merely an observation of mine. I am not here to offend anyone. Just sharing my experiences.

Doctors/GP's and/or Clinic Doctors- how many of you have visited a doctor with whatever ailment, excluding flu and the likes. Moreso on the mental ailments we suffer at times, which can be awful and debilitating for many. Feeling totally stressed out, feeling low and unhappy with yourself and your situation, and not sleeping well most nights. Maybe you get diagnosed with high cholesterol or high BP even high sugar levels or depression. These times Doctors know diet is important to fix. Being told we need chronic ice meds even adds to our stress level because health is everything right ? And doctors know best 🤔 because there is a pill for everything. Sometimes the side effects from meds are scarier than your condition/s is, but doctors always know best. 🤷‍♀️

Have you ever been to a GP and after diagnosis of say depression or insomnia, he then asks about your diet and explains to you that better nutrition will fix a whole lot of your mental ails. Sometimes meds really are needed, I understand that. But instead of antidepressants, maybe try and eat enough complex carbs so that your CNS can have the fuel necessary to switch on and work. Will your doctor spend half an hour with you and explain to you that a balanced diet could remedy you rather than taking meds ? I doubt it very much. Sadly our world is about money. So long as big pharma exists and can make trillions on "our mental ailments" Doctors will sell it to you rather than start you off on nutrition first before turning to meds. No one makes money if you are healthy and staying healthy through good nutrition and thus it is what it is. So maybe it's up to you to educate yourself on your own mental health remedies and possibilities first and only turn to meds when that is the only option left to keep you okay.

Too many Doctors tend to favour quick fixes with meds because you very likely will become a client/patient/a set monthly income for life for your doctor along with many others, taking these meds for years and then at last maybe trying to wean off meds and sometimes you need more pills to wean off the meds you want to quit 🤦‍♀️.

When your CNS doesn't have fuel to work you will become forgetful or moody, tearfull, short tempered, negative, it's like you in a permanent bad PMS state and menapause combined 🤦‍♀️. Your senses, like your eyesight can be affected as well. So many things are being controlled by our CNS in order to keep us alive and thinking clearly and functioning optimally both mentally and physically. Slow release carbs are required for this fuel and you don't necessarily going to need that pill once your brain has fuel to work well. You actually just need to experience eating better before turning to meds. Every food group has a function to fulfill in order for us to be physically and mentally well. Thankfully there is a great variety of food types available in each group to please everyone's taste.
That pill that the doctor prescribes for you, to feel better and that you could very likely get addicted to, may not really be necessary if you eat to keep your mind and body healthy.

When we do not feed our CNS sufficiently and efficiently, our bodies that are "made for survival" will do what is necessary for you to stay alive. Functions like short term memory, mood control, irritability, impatience, a short fuse, etc. these functions are not necessary to work very well in order for us to stay alive. Hence, our body will favor fuel to keep our hearts beating, to fuel involuntary actions like breathing, blinking, for organs to do their jobs, these are first to receive fuel and your body could not care less if you can remember right now where you left your water bottle or car keys or whether you could control your temper or not for a minute or whether you are feeling overwhelmed with life or even if you feel a little light headed. It doesn't care, it's too busy finding energy for you to stay alive right now. Our CNS can not use stored fat as an energy source like all other cells in the body can. Brain cells, called neurons, cannot. The brain uses ketones when glucose and insulin levels are low, your liver produces ketones from fatty acids. So, if the body isn't getting calories from other nutrients, protein is broken down into ketone bodies to be used for energy. We do not want that to happen, we want protein as cell food so that muscles can heal and therefore grow so that we can meet our goals.

Protein = cell/muscle food.
Complex carbs = CNS fuel and physical energy. Slow digesting for longer termed energy and will not spike blood sugar levels.
Both at 4 cal/g.
Simple carbs = digests faster and delivers quick energy and will spike your blood sugar levels and load glucose and store glycogen which is great for a pre workout or even for a really busy afternoon. Simple carbs digests quicker and will cause a spike in blood sugar levels. 7 cal/g.
Fats = our brain for one is made up of 60% fat. Fats are essential to maintaining joint health and control or stop inflammation. Fatty acids are among crucial molecules that determine your brain's ability to perform optimally.
9 cal/g.

I experienced for decades what the lack of carbs do to the brain functions as well as for the level of physical energy. Every time I prepped for a competition, and at the time I go through prep with a extremely low decarb phase, the lack of enough bodyfat and carbs, its like I am being plunged into depression and permanent PMS state with so little physical energy as well and for sure the loss of my sense of humor🤦‍♀️. It's like my brain is working on fumes only as there is so little carbs for fuel. My eyesight gets blurry, senses definitely get affected by low or no carbs and along with a temporary very low, below 5% bodyfat, it's a tough couple of weeks. Now I start my carb loading for a couple of days and the process of dehydrating for a vouple of days starts now, which also affects organs and brain as they need water to work properly.

After the first half a day of carb loading every hour, I start to literally feel my brain switching back on even though not on full power yet due to low bodyfat and lack of water but my eyesight clears up a bit, my sense of humor returns, less impatient and moody. Physically, I have a bit more energy at last, not quite ready to sprint around the block yet, but I look the part and ready for stage and positivity and self belief is back as well. Life is good again.

In the end a healthy mind is the catalyst to a healthy body.

Don't be scared to eat in order to reach health and fitness goals.

We have the best team !!! Body Physique is where families meet. I will say though there are 2 pics missing here Mr and Mrs Rust!!!!

Hard gainers.... this is often due to under eating, in my experience. Most people, men included, that need to loose 10, 20 plus kgs, become "afraid" of eating/food especially after some significant fat loss.

We live in a society where there are so many on some fad diet. Everyone swear by the way they had success that it is the best way. The diet industry is a very lucrative business because many are always looking for "an easy way" and that is what keeps it such a lucrative industry. They prey on our desperation and ignorance with offering magic potions and powders or pills. A high % of the same successful people do not sustain or maintain long term.

Starving, or to have a consistent deficit of intake vs output in energy/food, will unlikely result in long term success.

Majority people put all the bodyfat + more back in a few months.

Cell memory, that many refer to as muscle memory.

The hippocampus is where episodic memories are formed and indexed for later access, the prefrontal cortex and badolateral amygdala. These are all memories that are stored throughout our lives.

Now, muscle memory is stored in the Perkinje cells of the cerebellum. This cell memory "wakes up" when we get back to training after a break from exercise. Due to this cell memory our body responds quicker to exercise than someone that has never exercised and thus do not have this cell memory as yet.

This also makes it important to learn good form with exercises from the get-go so that those neurological paths that are being set are set correctly as it is difficult to change habits that are now stored memories and to re-learn good form can be tiresome.

*Please remember I speak firstly from my own experiences and what I have learned through decades and some are just proven facts.

Now, cell memory, we are born with between 25 and 35 billion fat cells. Over time and unhealthy life styles this can increase to 100-150 billion of these little buggers. Once your body gets forced into making more fat cells than the ones you born with, they are there to stay for ever. Unless you have them liposucked out they are there to stay. We can only shrink or expand them through diet and exercise. Cell memory has been set that first time of your body needing more space to store fat, now it "knows how to do this" and it gets easier to get fatter. Our job is to stop our body from having to repeat this process because those empty fat cells are waiting for you to fall back onto old habits. This is why it is important to set up a lifestyle that is sustainable for yòùr body and genetic make up, both with eating and exercise. Health should always be on the top of your list. Eat a balanced diet. Set up a routine. Our bodies thrive on routine. Eat often and fresh foods. Drink water. Every food group has a job to do in order to keep our body and mind healthy. Try carb-cycling. This means, every so often (for me it is Sunday or a week I have a function to attend). I have a high carb day, I eat just about anything in fair moderation. It is a wonderful shock to the metabolism to have more calories to burn in the same time period that it has become accustomed to do every day. A great kick start to keep your metabolism boosted. I do however still avoid processed foods. But I do indulge in some simple carbs like icecream or chocolate as well as complex carbs that I dont usually have, such as garlic creamed potato bake in place of boiled potato. I would have chicken-a-la-king instead of grilled chicken breasts.

High calorie days does not mean eat crap all day. I still eat healthy foods mainly I just prepare my meals differently than usual. It is good for my metabolic rate, body type and mind health. So in the end there is nothing I want that I can't eat. I just don't eat it every day.

Hard gainers need this kind of eating daily. You already have a fast metabolism so you want to slow it down and then still need more calories towards energy, strength and muscle growth.

Many people under eat rather than over train. I remember during my first competition, my boss said many times that he can't understand how I am losing fat but every time he sees me I am eating.... go figure. We have to eat to lose fat. We are much more likely to lose muscle weight than fat weight with insufficient feeding.

It will always amaze me how we are able to manipulate our bodies to do what we need it to do, through what we put in our mouths.

I can talk all day about food and training but will leave it here for now.

Enjoy your life and don't add to your stress/cortisol levels by setting yourself up for failure, in the long term.

Well on our way to IBFF comp 5 August.

Pinetown, Group- Personal Training:

8 weeks R1480
4 weeks R 690
Includes regular body assessments and personalized eating plans and 24 hours assistance.

Casual rates:
1 week R 180
Per class R 60

*Bootcamp
*Insanity
*Pyramids
*Super Circuit
*Weight training
*Strength training
*Calisthenics
*Taebo

Next 8 week training program starts today! 18h15 in Pinetown. WA me if you would like to join my group with wonderful people.

Virtual Midmar Mile
So great to see you take on challenges. Proud of you both. Well done to all🥂

Not saying "I cant", has results like this...

Pyramids .....hard work but so effective..

Final weigh in today with great results. Congratulations to all of you. See you Jan 2021...

Join our amazing group of people and secure your spot by 28 Dec. 2020. Incredible what can be achieved.

Such a wonderful group of people im blessed to have in their journeys to a healthier life. Keep a check, next 8 week program starts first week of Jan 2021. We based in Pinetown. Whatsapp and book your spot now. Limited spots still available.