I believe that we should feel as fit and young as possible for as long as possible. I love all kinds of fitness that involve an element of play and fun put are challenging. 

We took a few minutes to catch up with one of our Precision Nutrition Coaches, Rochelle:

One type of client we see on a regular basis is the person that used to be very sporty in their younger years or before they had children. You know before life and paying a mortgage got in the way!

I’m a personal trainer with eight years’ experience and a degree in sports science. My background is in strength and conditioning before I moved into movement based training, corrective exercise and calisthenics.

Not everybody who works at EPT is a personal trainer. The successful business needs people behind the scenes to keep everything ticking along and ensure everyone is happy. Tarynn, EPT’s Studio Manager, is one such person:

The trouble with our day and age, is that we see food as the enemy. It’s vilified for ‘making us fat’. We feel guilty for wanting the ice cream that is so powerfully marketed to us. There is so much processed food around and let’s be honest, most of us do not have an occupation or lifestyle as active as our ancestors did 100 years ago. Most of us rarely think about nutritional value we think about what tastes good.

We know, we get it. You’ve just spent the last 9 months, for the most part, feeling like you’ve been in an episode of invasion of the body snatchers. You’re just itching to start feeling like you again, to get a bit of time for yourself, as well as being on 24 hr call for your little one.

You’ve spent the last 5+years putting yourself second, third or even fourth, but now you are mindful that you are getting a little older and you want to build fitness and energy to last into your middle age and beyond. Maybe you have a little more time on your hands now your little ones are in school for at least half a day and you’d like to put it to good use, losing some fat, building some muscle and getting more mobile.

Overweight and obese children generally don't like to exercise as the extra weight they are carrying sometimes means they tire quickly. They may often be too self-conscious too run around or may not to want to keep up with their peers, as they have often failed in the past. Sometimes some exercises may just be plain too difficult for them, because of their extra baggage, like burpees and ab crunches as well as high impact exercises. Strength exercises are perfect for overweight kids, especially as this is the most effective way to improve bone density.

EPT’s Personal Trainer is a corrective exercise specialist, he talks here about the things that matter most to him:

Just like adults, children need to be motivated to exercise and eat the right things. Here is the EPT guide to ensuring buy in from your youngster:

I’m an advocate of strength training for children and teenagers, however I also know that, as with adults, adding a heavy load too quickly, or having poor form or technique, can cause many problems for children.

Nacho is EPT’s strength and conditioning specialist.

“Ooh kids can’t strength train! It’ll stunt their growth! They’ll get injured!”

Ever heard this? I have. But what’s wrong with teaching children how to squat, lunge, push, pull, press, bend and gait (sprint, run, crawl, walk)? These are all functional movements that even many adults can’t do. Ensuring good functional mobility begins in childhood, and a great age to begin bodyweight strength and conditioning training is seven years old.

I’m really not sure where this idea comes from, I guess partly from the idea that if adults stop weight training, then their muscle will ‘turn’ to fat, which of course is just not possible, as muscle and fat are created differently.

So this morning a client of mine looked a bit hesitant when I asked him where he was going on holiday. “Well, I’m heading to Thailand for some R&R with the family”.

Do I Need to Supplement with Protein Powder?

Protein is important to repair muscle and maintain metabolic function especially if you work out and strength train. Some people don’t want to rely on meat all the time, because a) they might not want to eat it, b) their body finds it hard to digest c) they want the convenience of a protein shake. But look a little closer…not all protein powders are created equal…

They often attend a gym or go for a run a couple of times per week when they have time, but it doesn’t quite solve the issues that they are becoming more aware of.