Fitness Blog: Week 1

Hi all fitness enthusiasts! For our first blog post we thought it a good idea to introduce you to some of our recommended health and fitness resources. One of our strongest recommendations is for you to allocate some of your spare time to learning how you might be able to lead a healthier life. There is a wealth of material out there, from healthy-eating books to recipe-sharing websites, from weight-training magazines to online programme suggestions, not to mention blog-posts, podcasts, and webinars aimed at providing healthy-living information. Such a vast amount of literature is, of course, rather daunting, particularly if you are only just starting out on your health and well-being lifestyle. With this in mind, we have decided to help you out! See below for a number of our recommendations.

Books
For all-round health advice:
How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy! by Paul Chek / “Whether you want to lose weight, change your body shape, overcome a health challenge, or optimize an already healthy lifestyle, this book will teach you how to achieve all your goals!”
For programme design and training advice:
Men’s Fitness 12 Week Body Plan by Nick Mitchell / “The 12 Week Body Plan is the complete guide to building the body you have always wanted… No stone has been left unturned to give you the definitive guide to transforming your physique in record time.”
Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe / “Properly performed, full-range-of-motion barbell exercises are essentially the functional expression of human skeletal and muscular anatomy under a load.”
For dietary and nutritional advice:
Living Low Carb by Jonny Bowden / “In straightforward language, weight-loss coach Jonny Bowden rates and discusses the differences between the top-selling low-carb diets - from Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution to The South Beach Diet to Sugarbusters and more - providing readers with the facts they need to make informed choices.”
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain / “Dr. Loren Cordain demonstrates how, by eating your fill of satisfying and delicious lean meats and fish, fresh fruits, snacks, and non–starchy vegetables, you can lose weight and prevent and treat heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, and many other illnesses.”
Websites
For all-round health advice:
/ “Providing bespoke nutrition & training strategies to the individual that wants a lean, strong, fast, toned & muscular physique that performs on & off the field whether a gym goer, weekend warrior, mum or professional athlete.”
For programme design and training advice:
/ “The best strength training and bodybuilding articles, workouts, and supplements to help you get bigger, stronger, and leaner!”
/ “Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most successful strength coaches. He continues to optimize training methods for professional athletes and Olympians worldwide.”
/ “We are your personal trainer, nutritionist, supplement expert, lifting partner, and support group. We are the technology and tools you need to burn fat, build muscle, and become your best self.”
For dietary and nutritional advice:
/ “We know many of you are concerned about healthy eating, so we send them to a qualified nutritionist for thorough analysis too.”
/ “Anna Sward is the creator of Protein Pow and one of the world’s leading experts on protein powder-based cooking.”
/ “Dr. Layne Norton'sblogabout nutrition, training, news, appearances, and general topics.”
/ “Dedicated to rooting out the low fat insanity behind the obesity epidemic. Eat real food and improve your health.”
Podcasts
For all-round health advice:
/ “Ben Coomber is a performance nutritionist, coach, presenter and owner of Body Type Nutrition… Podcast is co-hosted with Anna Sward from Protein Pow.”
For programme design and training advice:
/ “Learn from Scott and many top coaches, authors, and fitness experts with in-depth, practical interviews to help you get the results you're looking for.”
/ “The Strength of Evidence Podcastseeks to separate the fact from the fiction in health and wellness, strength training and fitness.”
For dietary and nutritional advice:
/ “Abel James of FatBurningMan.com answers your questions and interviews leaders in the paleo, primal, evolutionary, and ancestral field to share secrets about losing fat, building muscle, and improving your health.”

These sources will contain a lot of useful information, but it is up to you in terms of what you use and how you use it. Don’t take anything as gospel - what works for some might not work for you, and cross referencing is always the best idea to validate what’s out there. Try to take an holistic approach - a little nutritional information, a few nice-looking recipes, some exercise advice and a touch of lifestyle guidance might all add up to quite a change for you and your body. And remember, you can also refer to our future blog posts, read our tips of the day, and ask the RHUL Fitness Team for more information!

Healthy regards,

The Fitness Team