5 Things You Didn’t Know About Your Personal Trainer
Yeah we know, we're Personal Trainers so we're uber disciplined, love protein, hate carbs and generally live a lifestyle that no mere mortal could hope to achieve, right? Well, not so much actually. Our philosophy at Bottoms Up! is about living a healthy, balanced lifestyle and for us that means a few small tweaks to what 'normal' people eat and training to be healthy rather than hardcore.To give you a little insight, here are 5 things you probably didn't know about your Bottoms Up! Personal Trainers...
1. We have cheat meals
Ever been to a restaurant, ordered the dessert then thought, "imagine what my trainer would think if they saw me eat this??" To be completely honest, this happens to us too, although it's usually more like "imagine what my clients would think...!"The fact is, we LOVE food just as much as anyone and we don't miss out. A common rule you may have heard us talk about before is "eat right 80% of the time". So, if you eat 21 meals a week (7 x 3 = 21) then having a cheat meal for 4 of those meals is absolutely fine.However, we do try to make conscious decisions when ordering. For example, we might opt for a flourless chocolate cake or a goji berri protein ball rather than the hot fudge waffle with extra cream!
2. We love a vino
Alas, we love a glass of wine... however it doesn't happen very often (special occasions mostly) and we usually stop at one, two at the very most! We also try to stick to red wine (it's a little better for you). Your trainers will be the first to tell you the repercussions alcohol has not only on your training but also on those last few kilos you’ve been trying to shed post winter!
3. We have rest days
Even the best athletes in the world have days off! Not only do your trainers take rest days but we actually schedule them in. This gives our mind and body the chance to recover, which is important if you want to get the best results. The biggest favour you can do to yourself is to listen to what your body needs. If you’re feeling really run down, you’re better off in a bath than a bootcamp!
4. We weren’t always this fit and healthy
We've all had times in our lives where we've been out of shape or lacking in motivation. When I became a trainer, the first thing I learned was that consistency is the key. You don't need to be training hard all the time, just being consistently active will ensure your body doesn’t yo-yo with weight gain/loss throughout the year. I like to use the mantra, ‘sweat once a day’ and you can use your own interpretation of what kind of exercise that might mean - choose whatever you love most and make sure to mix it up so you don't get bored.
5. We really dislike running! (well... some of us do...)
For me (and I speak for myself here) the thought of a 2 hour jog makes me want to......zzzzz! Long, slow runs aren't that effective for weight loss anyway (if that's your goal) but for me I feel like my muscles have predominantly fast twitch muscle fibres, which means they respond better to sprints, agility, plyometric and aerobic types of cardio training. If you’re like me and you are really discouraged by the idea of ‘going for a run’ or using running as your exercise, do what I do and create your own workout on a really juicy set of stairs, do interval running (try 1 min slow, 1 min fast, repeat!) and use music as your motivator. We’ve even got a few tracks you can download for inspiration!