ForeFront Fitness Blog - Helping you to be your best

Wednesday, 22 August 2018

Holidays over?

We will soon see all the familiar faces back as you return from your holidays. We went away last weekend and took our kit in our bags – and there it stayed! The gin might have had something to do with that!

We know that some of you will feel quite unfit when you get back. Different (more) food, less activity and the odd drink or two all go together to make it imperative that we get back to the gym.

And its not all in the mind. Research carried out by the University of Liverpool, published in June showed the results of what happened when volunteers were told to stop moving. Previously fit students were told to cut their daily steps to below 2000 a day and to sit for at least 3 ½ hours a day. They did this for two weeks.

After 2 weeks blood tests showed raised blood sugar levels, decreased insulin sensitivity and less healthy cholesterol profiles. They has also lost muscle mass in legs and gained fat round their abdomens. It really does happen ! Happily, most quickly returned to their normal base line when they started to go back to their 10,000 steps a day and normal activity levels. The same experiment on older people (over 65) showed similar results but a slower return to normal levels.

So, two weeks does make a difference, for the most part reversible, but the next time your activity tracker tells you to move – remember – its doing you a favour !

Wednesday, 15 August 2018

Personal Training - Special Offer

For a limited time, Tommy is offering Personal Training for 2 or more people.

Thursday, 26 July 2018

Is sleep impacting on your weight loss?

How much sleep to you get? Somehow, somewhere along the line, we have come to view sleep as an optional extra. We boost that we ‘get by’ on 5 hours or some such number. For years that’s what I have done.

The latest research ‘Why we Sleep’ by Matthew Walker, tells us very clearly that insufficient sleep is catastrophic for all sorts of reasons.

There is a long list of dangers associated with too little sleep:

· Increased risk of cancer

· Increased risk of sports injury

· Increased risk of Alzheimers

· Increased risk of diabetes

· Increased risk of stroke and heart disease

· Increased risk of immune deficiency

· Increased risk of a number of mental health problems

· Weight gain

It’s the last one that we are focussing on today.

Leptin and Ghrelin are two hormones that together work to control and regulate food intake.

Leptin lets you know when you are full and Ghrelin triggers a sensation of hunger.

Research has shown (proper research, under controlled circumstances by Van Cauter at the University of Chicago) that people who have only four to five hours of sleep opportunity a night have higher levels of Ghrelin and lower levels of Leptin than those who had eight hours of sleep opportunity. Sleep opportunity means time in bed, dark, cool room, no screens. This means that sleep deprived people crave food and really struggle to feel full (sound familiar?).

So, you can cut the calories but without adequate sleep you will really struggle to lose weight. So, cut the caffeine, drop the alcohol and get to bed. Make sleep a priority, not an optional extra – I guarantee you’ll feel better.