Female beginner guide to training and nutrition.

I have had a lot of emails from women looking to get in shape regarding training and nutrition.

So this is to get you guys started…

Lets start with what most people (men and women) do when looking to get in shape.

‘A day in the life of a gym newbie’

8am – Have breakfast, usually cereal and fruit.

10am – Buy new gym wear, including sweat bands *cool factor 10*. Lol.

1pm – Lunch – Salad and more fruit

2pm – Time to hit the G-Y-M…. Feeling pumped!!!

In the gym you head straight to the treadmill for 30mins then leave….

Sound familiar? I think you get the gist. Now just from this half-day scenario there are many mistakes.

So lets talk training first. Many women starting in the gym seem to segregate areas of the gym. The cardio area is the nice area, no screaming, shouting, or grunting. Nice and peaceful but still able to get ‘your sweat on’.

Then there’s ‘The Jungle’ otherwise known as the free-weight area where the screaming, shouting, and grunting occurs.

Ladies you need to overcome this fear of ‘the jungle’, because whatever your goal, ‘the jungle’ is what will help you get there faster.

Just before you say anything… No you won’t look like Arnie if you lift weights, and here’s why. Women don’t naturally produce enough testosterone to be able to achieve this. What you will achieve is slim, slender and athletic physique as you will burn tons more energy and build stronger muscles than what you do a treadmill.

Metabolic circuits are a great way to get started with weights and burn that dreaded fat. (I will include a sample circuit at the end).

Moving onto nutrition.

Now as you will be burning more energy, you need the right nutrition paired with this to maximise your fat loss.

Many of the most recent diets will tell you ‘Carbohydrates are bad”, in my opinion, this is wrong and just a quick fix that is hard to sustain.

Carbohydrates are your first source of energy and your brain needs them to function properly, so it’s about choosing your food sources carefully and avoiding the media’s crap guidance.

So here are a my 10 commandents of healthy eating:

1. Create a calorific deficit. Weight loss and weight gain is all down to ‘Energy in VS Energy out”. You need to burn more energy than what you’re eating to strip that fat.
2. Stop avoiding meat and fish, your muscles are made up of protein. That lettuce and rocket salad wont cut it.
3. Cut out refined sugar intake, this source of carbohydrate is the main cause of gaining fat, so check the label, because you Muller “fat free” yoghurts and Salt and pepper snacka-jacks are loaded with sugar.  Yeah you heard right, salt and pepper snacka jacks. Which leads me to my next rule 
4. Fruit = sugar, so limit the amount of fruit you eat in a day, and try and have them either in the morning, pre or post workout, as these are the time they are put to use best.
5. Choose clean carbohydrate sources such as rolled oats, sweet potato and Basmati rice BUT… avoid bread.
6. All fats aren’t bad; make sure your diet consists of healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado, cashews and almonds.
7. Eat every 2-3 hours, with slightly smaller portioned meals. This will get your body used to burning energy faster and use the nutrients efficiently.
8. Drink plenty of water. Try and drink 2 - 3 litres per day.
9. Don’t forget to eat your greens, such as Broccoli, Spinach, and Asparagus. These are loaded with many vitamins and minerals needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle. It also helps with your digestive system. 
10. 40% of your plate should be protein, 30% Carbohydrates, and 30% from a leafy green vegetable source and healthy fats.

Try adopting these changes along with the metabolic circuit shown below for 4 weeks and see the change in your body composition.

Sample Circuit

1.     Press ups
2.     Dumbbell bent over row
3.     Burpees
4.     Ab crunches
5.     Dumbbell Squats
6.     Kettle bell swings

Perform 10 reps of each exercise one after the other with just 15 seconds rest in-between exercises.

Once you have completed all 6 exercises take a 2minute rest and repeat for up to 4 rounds.

**Make sure you ask a fitness instructor how to perform these correctly**

Enjoy!!! Be sure to stretch after and remember "Strong is the New Sexy"!

For questions, custom Diet and Workout plans, feel free to contact me:

Gabriel@iam-fearless.com

Written by Gabriel Sey WBFF Pro & Personal Trainer

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