GB Personal Training Ltd

Health, Fitness & Wellbeing

8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Food Preparation to Maximise Health

By Greg Brookes

 

Using the freshest and best quality ingredients you can find when cooking is vital but preparation can also have a huge impact on the nutritional quality of your meal. Follow these simple guidelines to get the most out of your ingredients:

8 things you need to know about food preparation
Image by Oxfordian

1. Don’t Over Boil

When you boil vegetables a large proportion of the nutrients leeches out into the water. If you do boil vegetables then ensure you use minimal amounts of water and then use the water for soups and stock. Also, avoid leaving prepared vegetables in salted water for long periods of time for the same reasons.

2. Start Steaming

Steaming food is a much better option for maintaining nutrients. Some nutrients are still lost into the steaming water beneath so again save this water for stocks and sauces. I use an electric steamer because it frees up space on the cooker to prepare other food. Bamboo steamers are also a great all natural option.

3. Go Organic

Although sometimes more expensive organic food certainly has its advantages. I have an Organic Box of  meat, fruit and vegetables delivered once a week. From the moment fruit and veg is picked it starts losing its nutritional value. So the more seasonal and the less time the food is ‘out of the ground’ the better.

There are many conflicting arguments about the additional nutritional value of organic foods. I personally believe that foods that are grown without the addition of pesticides and other chemicals are better. Washing non-organic foods will not remove the nasty chemicals because they has been designed to be resistant to rain.

4. Cooking With Oils

Heating delicate oils like Olive Oil at high temperatures will cause them to denature and go rancid. Olive oil should only be used for low temperature cooking and for dressings. For high heat cooking coconut oil is a far better option and makes great roast potatoes. Avoid all other oils like linseed, rapeseed, corn oil, and vegetable oils.

5. Avoid Microwaves

When you heat food using a microwave it causes the molecules to oscillate at incredibly high speeds. During the microwaving process the molecular structure is totally changed. Once a food has been microwaved it is left in a denatured form that is unrecognisable to the gut.

You may be interested to hear about a recent school girls project that involved watering 2 similar plants. She watered one plant with cooled water that had been boiled in a microwave and the other with cooled water she had boiled in a saucepan. The results would shock you when you compare the health of the 2 plants after only a one week.

6. Raw food

Eating raw food ensures you get a very nutrient rich meal. A good proportion of your daily diet should consist of raw food. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that all food should be raw. In the great book Catching Fire the author argues that it was with the advent of cooking that our evolution accelerated. Cooking food does mean we can consume more of it and digest it easier but ensuring the body performs its natural function and breaks down raw food is also important, especially for your metabolic rate.

7. Avoid Caramelising

Making food crispy and browned around the edges can make many foods taste better but unfortunately this process leaves the food with carcinogenic properties that are best avoided.

8. Choose Your Pan Wisely

Non stick teflon pans and especially aluminum pans that have been linked with many diseases including Alzheimers. Use stainless steel, cast iron or glass as a safer alternative.

 

What food preparation methods do you use? Share below…

 

5 Movements You Must Include in Every Workout

By Greg Brookes

1. Squat

We all squat when we sit and get up off the toilet or a chair. In many countries people still work and play from the squat position. Squatting is a natural movement that takes the hands to the floor. Squatting involves using the Buttocks (Glutes), the Thighs (Quads), the back of the Thighs (Hamstrings), the Core muscles both front and back. There is a huge amount of muscle activation during the squat. For fat loss or just developing pure brute strength you cannot beat the squat.

2. Lunge

Whenever you walk up some stairs you are lunging. Lunging is like an exaggeration of the gait pattern. During sports you lunge all the time, watch a tennis player and see how they lunge for the ball as they run backwards and forwards. Lunging is a bit more tricky than Squatting because there are more balance requirements and you tend to overload one leg more than the other. All this makes lunging very demanding both physically and neurologically. Again the lunge is a great tool for fat loss and highly underused. For more sports specific strength then you can’t beat omnidirectional lunges.

3. Deadlift

Have you ever picked up a box from the floor? This is the deadlift pattern. It is highly dependent on the back of the body (posterior chain). What I don’t mean here is just the back, rather the Buttocks (Glutes), Back of the Thighs (Hamstrings), and also the Spinal Erectors. Basically the hips do the work and the rest serve just to stabilse. Deadlifts are a real strongman’s exercises. Great for overall strength, muscle development, and improving posture. It is one of the great full body pulling movements. If you only had to do one exercise then this is the one!

4. Push

We can divide the push into 2 separate categories: Horizontal and Vertical. So a Push Up would be a horizontal push and an overhead press would be Vertical. Most pushing exercises require strong core stability. The only time you won’t really use your core is if you are lying on a bench. So to get more “Bang for your Buck” don’t lye down when exercising! Most men spend too much time pushing, trying to develop a good looking chest. Too many pushing exercises can make drastic postural changes to the body. Ensure you match ever pushing exercise with a Pulling exercise!

 5. Pull

Again like Push you can divide these exercise into: Horizontal and Vertical. A horizontal Pull would be a row and a vertical Pull would be a Chin Up. Most people don’t do enough Pulling exercises. Pulling is crucial to neutralise all the time we spend sitting in a forward slouched position. Pulling will help get the shoulders back and improve posture and ultimately better breathing. Although Pulling based exercises can be more difficult to achieve without equipment they must be pat of any program.

What’s Missing?

I could have also added One Legged exercises to this list but I think these fall under the 5 movements above. For example you can Squat with one leg and Deadlift with one leg. One Legged exercises are merely a way of progressing on from the the above movement patterns. Rotational exercises could have been added too but as with One Legged exercises I see these as a progression on from the above 5. We generally rotate anyway with most movement but you could exaggerate this with a One Armed Push or Pull, or a Lunge with Rotation etc.

Do you struggle with any of these movements? Love to know below…

 

 

Top 7 Exercise Challenges. How do you compare?

By Greg Brookes

Challenge #1: Turkish Get Ups with 1/2 Bodyweight x 5 reps

The ultimate full body exercise for stabilisation and mobility. If you want to bomb proof your body against injury then this is the exercise to master.

Rumour has it that ancient greeks were not taught to strength train with any extra load until they could get o ff the ground with that same weight held over head.

By completing this test the young Greeks were able to demonstrate their ability to dynamically stabilise the weight before moving onto more prime mover based exercises. This is a lesson that is so often ignored as newcomers get injured diving into the weight stack without ensuring their body has adequate stability before they start.

Challenge #2: Push Ups x 100 reps

The Push Up is so much more that just a horizontal pressing movement, it’s a huge core stabilisation exercise too. It’s always interesting to see big bench pressers perform a push up, the core is always quick to collapse and sag. I like to think of the Push Up as a moving plank from the hands.

Ensure that you utilise as much muscle as you can by corkscrewing the arms inwards and pulling yourself down with your lats. The lowering part of the movement (eccentric) should be slow and controlled and the pushing up (concentric) phase should be fast and explosive. You can also add a Push Up plus to the top of the movement to work on the scapular.

Challenge #3: Pistols Squats x 10

You can’t find a better single leg exercise for working on pure single leg strength, mobility and stability. The Pistol or One Legged Squat requires good balance, excellent mobility at the hips and ankle, and brute strength in the glute, quad and hamstring.

Research shows that the Glute Medius, a very important hip stabilisation muscle, is more active in the Pistol than any other exercise, beating the clam and others hands down. For those who struggle with balance a counter balance weight can be held in front or a TRX can be used for support.

Challenge #4: Chin Ups x 20

This powerful exercise is where many people struggle, there is huge core integration along with scapular stability and brute pulling power. Common problems seen are a craning of the neck, over active traps that create a hunching of the shoulders, and using momentum by kipping.

To perfect good Chin Ups you can regress the movement by using bands attached to the bar and under one foot. Keep the movement strict, use the lats to pull you up by thinking about protecting your armpits, go all the way down to the bottom but don’t let your shoulder blades drop by keeping everything packed and keep the chest high at the top. Don’t crane your neck to get over the bar.

Challenge #5: Deadlift at twice bodyweight x 1 rep

The real big boy of strength training. Uses practically every muscle in the body and strengthens the posterior chain that is so good for posture as well as performance.

I managed to achieve my Deadlift record by sticking to the classic 5 x 5 once and occasionally twice per week. So that’s 5 reps and 5 sets. I increased the weight by 2.5 – 5kg each week.

Remember that the Deadlift is called a Deadlift because it is pulled from the ground from a dead position. So in theory you should be performing 5 x 1 reps. I always deadlift in barefeet and drive heavily through the heels.

Top 7 Exercise Challenges
Image my Amber Karnes

I never use straps, if my grip strength is not ready then the rest of me is not ready either, we all work together.

Challenge #6: 2000M Row in Under 7 mins

I’m very particular when it comes to cardiovascular training, not because I don’t like it but more because I don’t like to waste time. This indoor rower workout is excellent for improving your cardiovascular strength and anaerobic threshold.

Rowing is an often neglected exercise and very powerful to counteract all the slouching and anterior based workouts that are so common.

A good rowing technique heavy works the quads, glutes, core and back. I like the scapular retraction benefi ts of the movement. Give this challenge a go, the last time I completed it my legs were like jelly and I staggered around the gym grabbing hold of things to stop my falling over!

Challenge #7: One Mile Run (under 4 minutes)

I know what you are thinking, that’s a ridiculous challenge. But it’s interesting to note that when Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile back in 1954, he not only broke a record but a psychological barrier. Many thought it was not possible but following Rogers achievement many people followed in quick succession.

This challenge like all the others ARE possible, you just need to be committed and have a progressive plan. Start with a 6 or 7 minute mile, then set yourself progressive targets and see how close you can get. I’m not saying you will make 4 minutes but use it as a target.

You will be amazed at how quickly your time improves if you run consistently. Ensure you rest well and warm up well prior to each attempt. Wear a heart rate monitor and monitor your progress as your anaerobic threshold improves.

These fitness challenges were chosen because they utilise exercises that I believe improve your general health and fitness. They can all be achieved with dedication and a progressive goal setting plan. Now select one and get started.

Have you tried any of these exercises? Love to know how you got on below…