24 Hour Muscle

Everyone wanting to put on muscle knows you have to eat more protein to make sure you keep supplying your body with the amino acids it needs. So many of us will get up and start our day with protein, then 3 hours later, more protein and so on. The reason many people find they stop building could be at night. At night when we sleep our body will go into a catabolic state and can start to break down your muscle for an energy source. Many bodybuilders will wake in the night purposely to have a shake but for the people who want a good 8 hours sleep then I suggest you get a source of casein protein to fuel you. Casein is a slow release protein and will release its protein to your muscles gradually throughout the night to stop catabolism and keep your muscles in an anabolic state. The best natural sources of casein are cottage cheese and milk or you can buy a casein powder instead. So make sure you still have you glass of milk before you go to bed. Just make sure you leave the cookies in the cupboard.

Keep mixing it up

How many people do you see coming in the gym everyday and they do the same routine week in week out?
I see my fair amount. Then they moan they aren't seeing changes and they "hit a wall". The Reason?
You need to keep mixing it up! Your program for you fitness goals should change every 6-8 weeks. The reason is that your muscles get used to what you do after about 6-8 weeks so they need to keep having new reason to get bigger and stronger.
Things you can do are:
- Changing your reps each week. So cycling between 1-5 reps one week going heavy, 6-8 a little lighter then  12-15 reps with again less weight and keep rotating the cycle each week
- Change the speed of your reps so you go slow one week then go fast the next so hit all your different muscle  fibres
- Do whole body workouts or circuits instead of just doing split routines all the time. It will mix things up and increase your cardiovascular fitness too.
- And finally changing the exercises you do. This will find weaknesses you never knew you had.

Key Fitness Tips

Just a quick post with a few tips to keep you fuller for longer and how to get you towards your better body quicker:

1. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day
2. Eat 6 small meals a day and don't go for 3 hours without eating
3. Have more protein as it keeps you fuller 30% longer
4. Do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach to burn abdominal fat quicker
5. Reduce carbs after 3pm and get majority of carbs in you breakfast and lunch
6. Get more than your recommended 5 a day but limit fruits to just 2 because of the sugar content
7. Get a daily multivitamin as a safety barrier to make sure you get em all in!
8. Have a cheat meal or if your not as strict a cheat day once a week. Your metabolism can slow down after a  
    week of health eating and your motivation will be hit too so treat yourself every now and then.

Dieting for your Sport or Goals

There are so many different diets out there depending on your sports or goals and some do work but some don't. The main thing I want to talk about today is the three macro-nutrients:

Protein

Carbohydrates

Fats

Protein is the main building blocks of muscle and helps for growth and repair after those long tiresome sessions in the gym. Made up of amino acids protein will help give you lean muscle, helps your gain strength and size, help you recover for your next session and keep you fuller for longer. If you are training for endurance events etc you should be looking for 1.2g of protein per kg of body weight. For strength you need 1.4-1.6g per kg of body weight and for hypertrophy you will need 2g per kg of body weight to support your needs.

Carbohydrates are you main energy source. This will help supply your muscles with the energy to power your workouts and help to get the protein to your muscles after a workout and throughout the day. Just make sure you are using low GI carbs. High GI carbs like chocolate, sweets, crisps and even white bread and white rice have a high GI index. Now the GI index is the speed at which the energy from the food is dispersed to your body. If  you eat a lot of white bread for instance or potatoes and you aren't exercising and using the energy then you body will store the excess energy as fat! We need low GI foods like oats, wholemeal or even better wholegrain bread, wholegrain brown rice, wholewheat pasta and sweet potatoes to release energy slowly through the day to keep you fueled. The only time good for High GI carbs would be after a workout to help restore your glycogen levels for your next session. This doesn't mean a big ice cream binge though. A banana and a protein shake will do nicely. If you do long endurance events remember you will need more carbs to keep you fueled but if you are only doing 60 minutes in the gym 3-4 times a week and are going for that ripped look you wont need energy drinks with excess sugar and you don't need excess carbs throughout the day. Try to get your carbs in at morning and lunch and a palm size portion if needed at dinner. 

Fats are important in getting you lean. You need to get good fats though. You need to support your body with good fats for a healthy heart, immune system, skin and if you are reducing your carbs they will help to fuel your workouts so protein wont be used. Just make sure they are monounsaturated fats that you will be having and a few polyunsaturated fats. Good sources of these are nuts, avocados, olive oil, olives, and oats. Monounsaturated fats have also been shown to help reduce abdominal fat and reduce the risk of heart disease in later life. Other good sources are fish as they contain the heart healthy omega 3. Omega 3 helps you get good skin and again can help you lose abdominal fat so make sure you get 3-4 servings of fish a week to help your training. 

Beginner Lifters

We all want to look good and doing the correct exercises will really help us achieve this. When you begin lifting whether you are male or female you need to focus on big compound, core busting moves to release hormones in your body, burn more calories and get your core muscles working for a complete whole body workout. If you are new to lifting then stay away from bicep curls or flyes and focus on The 5 Big Moves:

1. Deadlift - The king of gym moves

2. Squat - A real lower body and core killer

3. Bench Press - The ultimate strength test and ego builder

4. Bent over row - For equal back to chest strength so we don't look like gorillas

5. Military press - For boulder shoulders

These 5 moves are going to really make you grow and burn fat at the same time whilst hitting your core hard. Do all the moves standing apart from the bench press obviously and you will be growing all over. 

If you are unsure on any of these moves then ask you PT or fitness instructor in your gym for a demo. 

Beach Body Blast!

Stuck for time?
Training for a summer body?
Then HIIT it!

HIIT is High Intensity Interval Training and if your looking to lose fat for that sexy summer look then it is the way to train, especially if your short for time. It is proven this way of training will strip fat better than long hauls on the treadmill. This is because after 20-30 minutes your body starts to use protein as a fuel source resulting in a loss of lean muscle. So if your training for muscle gains and lean muscle then just think of a marathon runners build when you next go for a 2 hour jog. It can also be completed in the gym or outside and only takes 5 minutes to do.

Ways to train in the gym:
Treadmill - Start off at a jog for 1 minute then set the treadmill to a sprint pace and sprint for 20 seconds. After 20 seconds slow the speed down for 30-40 seconds or if your brave jump onto the sides and leave the belt running for 30 seconds before jumping back on for another 20 seconds. Repeat for 5 working minutes.

Bike - Warm up on a bike for 1 minute then pedal as hard as possible for 20 seconds and then pedal easily to rest for 20 seconds. If it seems to easy put the level up. Repeat this for 5 minutes.

Rower - Warm up for a minute and then set the rower to a challenging level and row hard for 20 seconds and then easy for 20 seconds. Repeat this for 5 minutes.

To train outside the gym find a distance between 2 points whether it be 2 trees or 2 lamp posts or even make your own with 2 cones etc about 60-100 metres apart and then sprint from one to the other then walk back to the 1st. Repeat this ten times to feel the full benefits or more if you fancy a challenge.

The Right Whey?

Are you getting the right whey protein?

There are many types of protein but the one mainly used by many of us is whey. The thing to question is are you using the right whey protein. The two I am on about are concentrate and isolate whey. Most cheaper versions of protein contain whey concentrate as a main product and isolate as a side product which isn't bad. This type of protein will still help to build and repair muscle after workouts so don't chuck it out just yet. If you are paying more for your whey though say £40+ then make sure you are getting isolate as your main ingredient as this type of whey gets to your muscles quicker than concentrate to start your repairing process a lot quicker so you will be better fueled for your next session.

Welcome to D.J.H Fitness

Welcome to D.J.H Fitness!
My name is Dominic Hills and I am a qualified Level 2 Fitness Instructor and a trainee Level 3 Personal Trainer.

Through my blog I can offer fitness advice, exercises and diet or nutrition advice to anyone who has just started going to the gym or who has been a regular user for many years. My site is aimed at all fitness fanatics or just people who want to be generally fit and healthy so don't be afraid to post your questions and use the information on the site to help you reach your fitness goals and ambitions.

If there are any questions to do with the page for example the links to Maxiraw or Myprotein or the referal codes then again don't be afraid to ask.