To the personal trainer (and our clients), nutrition can be the most confusing aspect of our jobs. As we have all realized, if you exercise but don’t pay attention to the foods that are eaten, then the changes in body composition leave everyone disappointed. But this is where it gets confusing: do we count calories or not? Do we count grams of carbohydrate of not?

Hardly a week goes by where I don’t hear from a client “I need to lose an extra 2kg, so I am cutting out carbohydrates”. I rarely hear “I’m reducing my caloric intake lower than my expenditure”. Even my butcher said to me a short time ago, that calories didn’t mater as long as I cut grains out of my diet (I had asked him to trim the excess fat off my oyster blade).

But do calories count? Can I eat all I like as long as I control my insulin levels? Is it the carbohydrates in our diets making us fat? All these questions are answered in the new book by professors Nestle and Nesheim, Why Calories Count.

Are all calories created equal? Are some diets more effective than others? Why do some gain (and lose) weight more easily than others? These are some of the questions that the authors tackle. The book is extremely well researched, immensely readable and makes a must-read for personal trainers.

Who should read this book? Those who:
a) Don't think calories count;
b) Calories are not created equal;
c) Want to lose weight;
d) Are afraid of calories coming from carbohydrate;
e) Want to know more about the complexity of weight loss.

I have posted a few research papers over the last year on the growing data that is accumulating on the chemical BPA, which is found in some plastics and toilet papers, tin linings, and cash register receipts . Here are links to a summary of a new study just published and the actual paper, demonstrating that even small amounts of BPA tell your body that you're eating more than you really are, which results in almost double the amount of insulin released. As usual, fresh is best.

Actual Paper:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0031109

Summary in Huff Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/bpa-chemical-hormone-obesity-diabetes_n_1276996.html?ref=green

The first edition of Research Updates has just been posted. Studies on fat burners, fat loss aids, diets to lower lipids, fat loss diets and strength training methods to improve power have been reviewed. I hope you enjoy.

I had actually not heard of the muscle biologist, Dr Anders Nedergaard, until reading his rebuttal to Charles Poliquin's view on cardiovascular training. I have already recently posted my perspective on the subject and how I believe Poliquin's viewpoint to be erroneous and extremely misleading to the many students he has around the world. If you are interested in a more detailed rebuttal, you may wish to read: http://www.kropblog.dk/en/rantings-en/what-have-you-been-smoking-charles-poliquin.htm 

Every day in our jobs, personal trainers use knowledge from several different disciplines: strength training, aerobic exercise, nutrition, and anatomy. It is a time-consuming and daunting job to stay up-to-date in all of those fields, to read scientific studies in each discipline and to apply them in a practical way in our work with clients. Many trainers do not know where to find (or understand) scientific literature, which is the starting place for the investigation into evidence-based personal training education.

Research Updates for Personal Trainers has been designed to give personal trainers, and those in similar or related professions, a monthly instalment that reviews recently published scientific literature in strength and aerobic training, program design, nutrition and sports nutrition and anatomy. Where possible, I will aim to include a short interview with a leading scientific expert or a personal trainer and a book review.  

Each month, we will look at many of the current trends and theories popular in personal training, including optimal training methods and recommendations, the effectiveness of nutritional and training supplements, the varied ways to fat loss.

2012. My favourite year in a quadrennial cycle: the year of the Olympics. Very exciting. But now to other news: educational courses for personal trainers return for 2012.

It is a very, very rare occasion if I am seen without a cup of tea in my hand! Maybe it's the British start to my life - I was born in Oxford - but it is a bad day if I have not had 12 cups of tea. Lately, I've been drinking more Chai tea. 

Chai is a fantastic way to get several different spices into your diet in one go. So it's a double tick: healthy spices and healthy tea. This recipe can be severed with soy milk or regular milk. I try to do one cup of each. If you are a male and you think that soy was created by the devil to turn you into a female, you may wish to read some solid science on the subject, a good starting place is here: http://jn.nutrition.org/content/140/12/2289S.full.pdf+html 


If you would like to know more about spices and their health benefits, then the best book is Healing Spices by Professor BB Aggarwal and my favourite cookbooks are Great Vegetarian Dishes and Vegetarian World Food by Kurma dasa www.kurma.net

Anyway, here is my Chai recipe. Enjoy

2cm piece of fresh ginger
5cm cinnamon stick
4 whole peppercorns
3 whole cloves
3 whole cardamon pods
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon of good quality CTC assam or other indian tea.

Dry fry all the spices in a pan for a few moments to release their aroma. Then grind them in a mortar and pestle. Bring to the boil 4 cups of water. Add the tea, water and ground spices to the brewing vessel and steep for 5 minutes. Serve with milk or soy.

And now for the final fat loss program for the year. I hope you enjoyed the previous workouts and made some real progress towards your body composition goals.

This cycle uses two days in the weights room, two interval sessions and two continuous cardiovascular workouts. All sessions are important. Don’t be tempted to do more interval work, as it will do little more than increase the risk of getting sick. This is a hard cycle of training. So be sensible with your nutrition, sleep and the amount of Christmas functions you allow yourself to go to. Enjoy.

DAY ONE
Strength Session
A. Deadlifts from a podium with chains, 4 x 6, 8, 10, 12 (ascending straight sets), 30X0, rest 60 seconds
B. Bench press with chains, 4 x 6, 8, 10, 12 (ascending straight sets), 30X0, rest 60 seconds
C1. Hack squat, 4 x 8+10+12 (drop set), 20X0, rest 90 seconds
C2. Lying dumbbell press, 4 x 8+10+12 (drop set), 20X0, rest 90 seconds
D1. Heels elevated dumbbell squats, 3 x 25, 1010, rest 60 seconds
D2. Standing shoulder press, 3 x 25, 1010, rest 60 seconds

DAY TWO
Interval Session
10 minute walk warm up
5 x 50m accelerations up the hill the main session will be done on
2 x 1 min up the steepest, longest hill you can find, rest is the time it takes to walk back down
2 x 3 min up the steepest, longest hill you can find, rest is the time it takes to walk back down
1 x 5 min up the steepest, longest hill you can find, rest is the time it takes to walk back down
10 minute walk cool down

DAY THREE
Continuous Session
10 minute walk warm-up
60 minutes running at 145-155 beats per minute
10 minute walk cool-down

DAY FOUR
Strength Session
A. Back squats with chains, 4 x 6, 8, 10, 12 (ascending straight sets), 30X0, rest 60 seconds
B. Chin ups, 4 x max reps, 30X0, rest 60 seconds
C1. Lying leg curls, 4 x 6+8+10 (drop set), 30X0, rest 90 seconds
C2. Close grip seated rows, 4 x 8+10+12 (drop set), 20X0, rest 90 seconds
D1. Back extensions, 3 x 25, 1010, rest 60 seconds
D2. Lean away underhand grip pulldowns, 3 x 25, 1010, rest 60 seconds

DAY FIVE
Interval Session
10 minute walk warm up
5 x 50m accelerations
2 x 600m, 2 x 1000m, 2 x 1200m around an oval at best pace fitness allows with 2 minutes rest in between
10 minute walk cool down

DAY THREE
Continuous Session
60 minutes at 140-150 beats per minute on the bike
40 minutes at 145-155 beats per minute running
10 minute walk cool-down

The most comprehensive study ever done looking at the association between lifestyle and cancer has just been published in the British Journal of Cancer. For those in our industry who eat large amounts of meat, and who recommend that way of eating to their clients, might want to read Cancers attributable to dietary factors in the UK in 2010 II. Meat consumption found free here: http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v105/n2s/pdf/bjc2011478a.pdf

It was found that the consumption of red meat and processed meat was positively associated with the risk of both colon and rectal cancer, although the association with red meat appeared to be stronger for rectal cancer.

This should not be interpreted to mean that no meat should be consumed, but it should certainly caution us against eating large amounts of meat, or even eating meat every day. The World Cancer Research Fund recommends that consumption of all red meat not exceed 500g a week.

I have often heard in our industry that a vegetarian diet is great, as long as you add meat to it. The findings from this study suggest that a vegetarian diet is great without the addition of meat! I don't think that personal trainers should necessarily become vegetarian. However, the results of large studies like this one should certainly make us look for suitable non-meat and vegetarian sources of protein to compliment the diet and to have several meat-free days a week.

I have a pile of bumper plates on my gym floor that must go prior to Christmas. They are not IWF standard. One set of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 3 more sets of 10s. Save now and email tonyboutagy@gmail.com