We all know how challenging it is to keep an active and healthy lifestyle in such a fast-paced city like Dubai with long working hours. Personal Trainer Jevais lets us in on his top tips for training and eating smart to make the most of your time!
Okay, so who has heard of any of the following: The Grapefruit Diet, The Cabbage Diet, The Raw Food Diet, The Hollywood Diet… and the list goes on - all of which are fad diets. The problem? Where to start… lack of nutrients, lack of variety, unsustainable and boring. Let’s wave good bye to the latest fad celebrity endorsed diets by simply training and eating smart for long lasting results.
Top Tips to Training Smart
- Lift weights: Include resistance training in your fitness program, this is essential! Ladies, don’t worry you will not grow huge arms by lifting weights. Guys, if you’re not currently lifting there is a high probability you have previously… Get back to it! Start resistance training 2 to 3 times weekly. Lifting weights is the best way to get a lean and toned body, as it will be difficult to challenge the muscles without it. Resistance training helps improve posture, reduces stress and anxiety and also helps you shape up!
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training): Instead of your boring continuous cardio sessions, mix it up by introducing HIIT. It consists of intense bursts of exercise, followed by recovery periods. This method of training keeps your heart rate high and in return burns more fat in less time.
- Active Rest: Between sets at the gym, avoid looking through your social media feed and do some of what we call “active resting”. It’s simple, instead of resting your entire body in between sets, start performing an exercise on another muscle group so that when you go back to working out the first muscle group, you would have rested it. For example, if you are performing squats, your active rest could be some core moves; and once the active rest period is complete, go straight back into your squats. Active rest allows for more movements to be done in the same amount of time as taking rest between sets.
Top Tips for Eating Smart
- Eat regularly: The timing of when you eat is very important, ensure that you are eating every 2.5 to 3 hours throughout the day, by introducing healthy snacks here and there. This will keep your metabolism high, thus causing your body to burn more calories during the day.
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Include protein in your diet: Eating protein is eating smart, because it:
- Prevents muscle atrophy (muscle wastage).
- Prevents overeating and excessive snacking.
- Promotes a healthy brain and heart.
- Slows the aging process - yes that’s right!
- Eat whole foods: Go for un-processed food options; this can be difficult in this day and age but it is possible! What are processed foods? They can be high in added sugars, low in fiber, processed with sodium and also high in fat.
So the next time you head to train, consider maximizing your time spent in the gym with my three smart training tips. And the next time you choose a meal, consider the benefits of that meal and what it actually contains - make the smart choice! Lucky for you, Eat Clean is here to help you with that :)
Author: Jevais Christie, Personal Trainer.
