Lenda Murray....is the greatest

Again, not to everybody's taste, but as an athlete she is unquestionably the greatest female bodybuilder of all time. One of the few able to combine muscularity and size with beauty and femininity. This is a body created by years of sweat, hard work and plenty of sacrifice. This is why it's sooo soooooo frustrating when women worry they will look like this after a few weeks of lifting medium sized dumbells. Very few women could achieve this even if they tried as very few have the genetics. Lenda Murray retired after 2003 and was the last popular female bodybuilder as in the last five years or so, female bodybuilders have come to be considered far too masculine to be appealing even to supporters of the sport.

ULTIMATE ABS WORKOUT!

Hysterical laughter is a great way to stimulate your core muscles!!
It's not boring!
No expensive equipment is needed!
No complicated technique!
You can do it any time, and anywhere!
You can do it every day!
Endorphins are released!
All you need is something funny............

Thirteen things about 'SYNERGY'

Thirteen Things about SYNERGY

1. We work in Synergy!

2. There are 3 of us, one is a girl one is a boy and one is a bear!

3. Synergy means behaviour of whole systems unpredicted by the behaviour of their parts taken separately.

4. (Syn-er-gy) the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

5. We have discovered that if you do enough star jumps, you become a star.


6. Exercise and good nutrition work in synergy to BUILD a healthy, strong body and mind, ready to take on ANYTHING that may come your way!!

7. Synergy comes from the Greek word 'synergia' meaning joint work and cooperative action.

8. Synergy is when the result is greater than the sum of the parts.

9. Synergy have travelled all over the world and will be heading to Vancouver, Canada is 6 weeks time. The bear gets free plane tickets, but the girl and the boy have to pay!

10. We train 6 days a weeks, eat 6 meals a day and drink 3L - 4L of water per day. It's not always easy but the results are well worth it!!

11. We want to help as many people as we can to lead a healthy lifestyle and pursue their personal best. We are constantly seeking to learn more ourselves, for ourselves and to pass on to others.

12. The girl is the 'Trainer' and main author, the boy is her partner and 'the big dog' who co-writes this blog and is also a trainer and the bear is the 'poster boy!' The Fit Spot is the name of the blog and SYNERGY is the name of the team.

13. Our favourite gym is Gold's Gym, Venice Beach , California where our heroes used to train!


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Cory Everson

By todays Ms Olympia standards she would be considered far too small to compete. She is probably my favourite female bodybuilder of all time. very muscular yet still maintains feminity. Not to everyones taste I'm sure but it keeps me motivated to workout! Not sure about the dance routine, but hey...she won 6 times!
J.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome!

SUMMER IS COMING!!!!!!! Part 2!!

So! We have established that one must drink plenty of water the next thing to tackle is the food!

Food needs to be your friend and not something you are constantly trying to battle with. I'm going to assume that your goal is to lose a little body fat and achieve some muscle definition (this is what I assume clients mean when they ask about 'toning up').

As mentioned in my 'Golden Rules' the key is to eat frequently, i.e. every three hours commencing within 1 hour of waking. Breakfast and the second meal (call it brunch is you like!) are the key's to revving up your metabolism. If your go for long periods i.e. longer than 4 hours without eating, your body assumes that this is the start of a famine and begins it's highly irritating defence mechanism of storing fat! This would be great if we lived in caves and jungles and had to chase our food with sticks, however we need to let the body know that there is plenty of food available! Once the body is confident that there are nutrient rich foods coming in ON A REGULAR BASIS, then your body will relinquish those fat stores and let you use them for fuel!

3 REASONS TO EAT FREQUENTLY!!!!

1. Eating burns calories!
the process of digestion requires energy, so the more you do it, the more energy you use. This is especially true if you consume foods which are more difficult to break down such as protein and complex high fibre carbohydrates. Simple sugars like sweets, white bread, cakes etc. are easily digested and use less energy to break down so this on top of the fact that they are high in calories make them foods to avoid.

2. If the body is regularly fed then it is more willing to release fat as it is not then worrying about the possibility of a famine. If you regularly go for long periods without eating your metabolism slows right down making long term fat loss harder and increasing the likelihood of future weight gain.

3. If you eat every 3 hours, then the chances are you won't feel hungry. You are more likely to make a detrimental food choice if you allow yourself to become too hungry. The reason for this is that the body begins to feel deprived of nutrients, so it then craves a quick fix....sugar! This is the reason office workers often head for the vending machine at 11am and at 3pm. Tradition has taught us to eat 3 meals per day but people tend to end up craving the wrong types of food in between the meals set by 'society'!! Therefore, if you plan to eat 3 hours after breakfast and 3 hours after lunch then you will combat the cravings and will be more likely to make sensible food choices!! I speak from experience here as I used to be one of the biggest chocolate consumers on the planet so if I can be converted, anyone can!!


Great! So the good news is that you get to eat frequently throughout the day, however eating 6 pizzas a day probably isn't going to be the way forward if your goal is to improve your shape.

You quite literally are what you eat! your body uses protein from food to build and repair skin hair, muscles, bones, nails, teeth etc. Therefore if you eat a lot of junk, then your body will be built and repaired from a lot of junk, and you will feel like a lot of junk and probably end up looking like a lot of junk somewhere down the line!!

The key is to include so much healthy, nutrient rich whole food in your diet that you end up having little or no room left for junk (Stop saving room for dessert!!)!! The advantage of this approach or attitude is that good diet stops being an issue of avoiding the things that you think you like. Eventually you end up forgetting about the foods which have a negative impact on your body. When you have been eating healthy for a considerable amount of time (4 weeks or more), and then eat some junk food it often tastes nowhere near as good as you thought, and often makes you fell nauseous after eating it!!!

My suggested Banned Foods List
McDonald's, BK, KFC, Pizza Hut, pretty much most takeout!!
Sweets (Candy to US & Canada), Chocolate, Cakes, Ice cream and similar!!
White bread!
Biscuits (Cookies to US & Canada)
Crisps (Chips US & Canada ha ha!)
Ready meals!
Cheese and cream!
Pretty much anything high in sugar, saturated fat, starch or heavily processed!

My suggested Approved Foods List
Carbohydrates____________ ..... Protein
Sweet potatoes_______________ ...... Eggs
Potatoes____________________ ..... Chicken
Oats _______________________..... Lean red meat
Brown rice __________________ ...... Fish
Rye bread___________________ ..... Seeds, nuts, pulses
Fruit & veg__________________ ...... Soy


The food list usually raises many questions such as: 'what about yoghurt??' 'what about alcohol??' 'what about cottage cheese????' 'what about chocolate with raisins in it, does that count as fruit????????' 'The approved list looks so boring, will I die of food boredom??
So please go ahead and ask me, and when I have a good bunch of questions I will publish SUMMER IS COMING!!!!!!! Part 3.
which will go into more detail based on the questions I get!!

Enjoy your healthy eating and water drinking!!

SUMMER IS COMING!!!! Part 1

Summer is only 6 weeks away and many will be looking to lose weight,'tone up' or both!!

To achieve this successfully you need an effective training programme alongside a nutritious balanced diet!

Proper nutrition will account for 60-70% of your success in terms of achieving the shape you desire and therefore will be discussed first!!

The first piece of advice I always give is to make sure you drink plenty of water, at least 2-3 litres of water per day!


WHY DRINK THAT MUCH WATER???

The human body typically consists of 60-75% water and it is responsible for removing waste and moving nutrients around the body. It also keeps your body at the correct temperature. Typically you can tell whether you are drinking enough water by the colour of your urine, if it's dark you need more, if it's light to clear then you are probably drinking enough!

Thirst is your body telling you that you need to rehydrate, though some suggest that by the time you get thirsty you are already in a state of dehydration so try to have water with you all the time and drink when ever you can. Try to drink your daily water intake by 6pm so that you are not having to get up in the night to go to the loo!!!

Your need for water is second only to your need for oxygen!! It serves as a building material and muscle cells happen to have one of the highest water contents 70% (Your brain is 75% water). Water lubricates your joints which is helpful to the engaging in high impact exercise e.g. running, aerobics classes etc.

Water removes heat from the body so will lead to less fatigue in any intense cardiovascular or strength programme. Water plays an important role when trying to reduce unwanted fat and it is essential to drink lots of water in order to burn fat efficiently. Restricting your water intake causes your body to retain more water and this can wreak havoc in a dieters mind when they mistake the extra fluid retention for an increase in body fat.

Not getting enough water can also promote fat retention. Due to its role in removal of waste and transportation of nutrients, the body can interpret a lack of water as a major stress. The body often responds to this by implementing it's defence mechanisms and preserving its stores of fat and water reducing one's ability to achieve that toned and defined look.