High Intensity Vs. Fat Burning Zone

The popular ‘FAT BURNING ZONE’ is based on a mistake. The mistake is a misinterpretation of the sports science research, and is based on the fact that the body preferentially uses fat as a fuel source during low to moderate exercise intensities.

· While this is true ‘metabolically’ it does not influence the degree of overall weight or fat loss from exercise.

· In terms of weight control, it doesn’t matter which fuel source is used as long as calories are expended.

· It is essential that clients get the most out of each training session. Interval based training is more effective than low intensity steady state exercise as more total calories are used in the same amount of time. Take a look at the figures.

Exercising at a low Intensity (60% MHR) for 30 minutes will burn 200 kcal, with 50% of calories from fat (100 kcal). If you increase the intensity to 80%MHR then you will burn 500 Kcal with 40% of claories from fat (200 kcals). So for the same workout time you are getting more bang for your buck, and that is before we even start to consider how many calories you continue to burn post workout! So to summarise:

· High intensity interval training will maximise weight loss and fitness results.

· High intensity interval training forces the body to become conditioned to more intense exercise.
· Increased levels of fitness will make a given level of exercise feel easier and you will be able to exercise at higher intensities which ‘burns’ more calories.

· High intensity interval training will increase Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), resulting in more calories ‘burnt’ 24 hours a day.

· High intensity interval training strengthens the involved muscles to a greater degree than regular aerobic exercise.

. Slow steady state training is not as effective as high intenisty intervals.

. If you take part in a sport that requires an element of speed and power then intervals are far more effective, not just for fat loss but for increased sport specific fitness…..unless you want to become slow and steady.

EXF Visit the Falcons

The Functional Training Summit is only 6 weeks away and EXF came up to Newcastle last week to go and see the facilities first hand. It was a really useful chance to catch up with Charles and Nik from EXF at the Newcastle Falcon’s stadium.

I know both Charles and Nik were were very impressed by the stadiums facilities. With plenty of room for both discussion and practical, the venue should help ensure that the Functional Training Summit is a success. If you haven’t yet booked your place there are still a few spaces available, please visit http://www.smartfitness.org.uk/ for more information.

EXF have a fantastic offer for all delegates attending the summit. The team at EXF are offering all delegates a 20% saving on all of their Sports Performance equipment ordered over the weekend of the Summit. That is a fantastic offer, and another reason why this event is a must do for anyone working in the fitness industry.

If you have booked, then we look forward to meeting you there.

The Smart Fitness Functional Training Summit earlybird discount ends today!

Book online now at Smart Fitness and SAVE!

The seminar will be taking place on April 25th and 26th and will be hosted by Smart Fitness, with EXF providing vital support throughout the event. We have a great venue, Kingston Park Stadium (home of the Newcastle Falcons).

This will be the first time Coach Dos has presented in the UK and I know it is going to be a fantastic seminar. In addition to Coach Dos I have managed to line up some great home grown talent. Full details of the event and registration details are on available online at Smart Fitness.

Speaking, Speaking and More Speaking

It's been a really busy couple of weeks for me. I've been delivering a number of seminars and it's been great to get out and speak to so many coaches, athletes and students about what strength and conditioning can offer to sports performance as a well as general health and wellbeing.


On February 14th I spent a couple of hours in the company of a group of enthusiastic triathletes. This was the first session in a 4 part seminar series looking at various aspects of strength and conditioning and how to improve performances without having to spend endless hours out on the bike, in the pool or pounding the streets.



During the first 2 hour session Itook the group through the underpinning theory and concepts of strength training before moving into the gym to put participants through their paces. The practical element really brought the theory to life and gave participants real world training techniques that they could go away with and start using straight away.

The icing on the cake was a group ride led by Phil Gray from Total Racing International Coaching. For more details of the remaining events visit the multisportlink website

I then had a 05:00 start on Tuesday to make sure I could hook up with Neil Parsley down in Manchester to start putting together our presentation on Total Training for Combat Sports which forms part of the Smart Fitness Functional Training Summit. I spent the morning with Neil at the English Institute of Sport in Manchester (a place I used to frequent often when I worked for the EIS!) and we spent the whole morning throwing ideas around. The end result is what I think in my humble opinion is going to be a superb presentation, between the two of us we have some great concepts and Neil can bring some 'behind the iron curtain' training techniques that have to be seen to be believed. I can't wait until April and I know we have a number of top ranked MMA athletes attending the seminar, so it will be great to see what they think and have to say about our presentation.

Needless to say, the guys in this clip have not influenced our training methodology!

The next day I met with a business group to discuss a forthcoming project that I'm helping develop with fellow strength coach Nick Ward. The project is still in the early stages and I don't want to give too much away but we think we have a pretty special product that we will be making available to a select group of executive business men and women in July. The Executive Athlete Performance (EAP) Programme is unlike anything else out there at the moment and it's going to be a great challenge to work with high performing business men and women and opening their eyes to the training processes used by elite atheltes which in turn will help boost their business performance.

On Thursday I had the pleasure of speaking to a group from Northumbria University about Smart Fitness. The topic was business related and I spent 2 hours with the group and discussed the reality of setting up a business and the challenges faced during a difficult economic period. It's not until you take time to reflect on what you have actually done during the past 18 months that you realise just how far you have come.

The final speaking engagement was yesterday where I spent the morning with a group of tennis coaches based in the North East. Smart Fitness have been providing strength and conditioning support for the regions up and coming tennis players since August 2008, and during discussions with the Academy Director (Chris Sanderson) we struck upon the idea of sharing their training principles with the regional coaches to help improve the overall development of players within the North East region.

This session was the first of several sessions to be run throughout 2009 and focused on how strength and conditioning can benefit young players. I explained how improvements in a players 'gross athleticism' will tranfer to improved performances on court and once the underlying theory had been covered the group moved through to the indoor tennis centre where myself and Joe Wear put the coaches through their paces, showing them exactly what we are looking for when it comes to developing strong and robust tennis players. The next session is scheduled for March 23rd and will focus on the development of multidimensional speed and agility for the young tennis player.

So it has been a pretty busy couple of weeks and whilst it is always great to meet and spread the word I still enjoy getting back onto the gym floor.

Triathlete's World

A new triathlon magazine hits the shelves this month. Triathlete's World ran 3 trial issues last year and is now publishing monthly. Aimed at newbie triathlete's like me this is, in my opinion a welcome addition to some of the more 'hardcore' tri mags currently out there.In this months edition you can pick up some top tips on bike handling "triathletes who train on their mountain bike in the winter gain a huge advantage over those who simply stick to the roads" - I'm sure anyone that attended the TRI Winter training camps at Whinlatter will agree! There's a good round up of the latest turbo trainers to hit the market with a comprehensive review of each model. I've also got a 3 page piece explaining just how strength training can make you stronger and faster. If that wets your appetite for more information then check out the Smart Fitness and TRI seminar series. The first seminar takes place next week, looking at how strength training can boost performance and you will have an opportunity to find out exactly which moves you need to perform and then have a chance to try them out in our 'hands on' session. We still have a couple of space left so check out the events section.

Ten Percent Gone

I can always rely on my good friend and colleague Alwyn Cosgrove to keep me on track. This morning I received one of his regular updates and it made me realise just how quickly time passes. Read on for a little reminder that you should be working hard toward your goals.


It's now the 5th of Feb.

We have already passed one full month into 2009, and are now one-tenth of the way to 2010.

10% down, 90% to go. Doesn't seem that long since the start of the year does it? Time flies. Whether you're having fun or not.

How are your New Years Resolutions holding up?

If you're behind schedule or have lost focus a little bit - start today. Set some New Month Resolutions!

Maybe you want to lose a stone by may Bank Holiday. Start by setting a goal of 12 weight training workouts to be performed in Feb. And get the first one done tomorrow.

It's never too late to make massive changes.

Coach Dos Seminar - Online Registration Now Available

Just a quick update to let you all know that we now have an online registration page for this great event on the Smart Fitness website! I hope that everyone in the area will make the trek up to beautiful Newcastle to hang out with us for that weekend!