Why bother about REPS?

Reps stands for Register of Exercise Professionals. What is the point of joining this register?

The answer is; this register is there to protect the public against cowboy personal trainers and should you decide to join this register you have to first provide documentation that you are fully qualified. In addition to this you need to every year register 20 CPA points. This means that you have to attend roughly 5 days of further studies every year to make sure that you develop as a personal trainer. Furthermore there is code of conduct that you have to follow and should you not do so, any member of the public can report you to Reps and that can lead to different sanctions, the worst being you being struck off the register.

Obviously if you are not on Reps you would not be able to work in any major gym chain in the UK and I think you would also face an uphill battle to sign up for Liability insurance. I mean; who would trust a trainer who is not on Reps?

I heard one story of a trainer who sold a client a block of sessions then moved to USA before his client finished the block. The client got in touch with Reps who traced the trainer and found out that he was working at a gym in the US. And guess what? Reps have got influence in the US as well so the trainer ended up losing his job. That is what happens when you mess with Reps.

Personally I endorse Reps and I make sure I get my 20 CPA points every year, by attending lectures, workshops and conventions. It is all very good for my personal development and if a new client ever doubts me it is a very potent argument to tell them about Reps. The fee we pay is very modest and it does give us trainers more credibility when we have an organization like Reps.

By: Abdi-Karim Berleen/ Personal Trainer in Loughton

I am not going to sell out!

In the past few weeks I have been approached by at least 3 different companies asking me to sell supplements. I think being a personal trainer would give you lots of credibility and you could easily sell lots of supplements to people wanting to improve their health. Obviously there would also be some good money to make. Food supplements is a thriving business

The truth is, I don’t believe in taking any food supplements. Real food is what I believe in and I am going to stick to that. I am not going to sell out!

I am not going to name and shame anybody but a lot of times personal trainers and nutritionists are forced to sell out. For example if you work for a TV station that also has its own brand of protein powder. Do you think the channel would be happy if you went on air telling people not to buy protein powder? Likewise most magazines and newspapers are being paid lots of advertising money by companies selling supplements. If you for instance wrote a column for one of those magazines and wrote that supplements are unnecessary, what kind of reaction would you have from the publisher?

Supplements may not be harmful but I am of the opinion that they are unnecessary. Nothing beats the real thing. A well balanced diet is much better than artificial foods made in laboratories. Saying that your diet needs to include the best ingredients there are. If you can afford it buy organic and free range. The fish should be wild fish and not farmed fish.

The money you save from eliminating supplements should instead go to buying the highest quality food and I believe you will be much healthier than you would be if you ate 20 different pills and shakes a day.

There are many people with much more knowledge than myself who believe that supplements are essential, so I can’t prove that I am right. This is my personal belief. A balanced diet is a much better way of obtaining good health. It may not work for everybody, depending on your circumstances you may require supplements.

By: Abdi-Karim Berleen/ Personal Trainer Loughton

3000 views!!!

Since I started my blog in April I have had 3000 views. It makes it more enjoyable for me to write knowing that I do reach somebody.

Why is functional training superior to traditional training?

What does this mean?

A functional movement would be flipping a big tyre over. In such a movement you will have many different muscle groups working together to produce enough power to flip the tyre over. Traditional gym training would be leg extension and hamstring curl. One muscle at a time. Isolating one muscle at a time.

Why is there so much talk nowadays about functional training?

Mainly because it is a superior way of training. You train your body for real life situations. Your body does not move by contracting one muscle at a time. The body moves in unity. Therefore it has multiple benefits to train your body the way it is intended to move. For example if you are to lift up a suitcase, you don’t generate power by flexing your bicep (unless you are a robot). It is rather a whole body movement involving a squat, stabilizing your core and upper back muscles, maybe even a rotational movement. Or even resisting a rotation.

Likewise a football player does not generate power to strike the ball by contracting his Quads. It is rather a process of different muscle groups working together, in different planes of motion, to give him enough power to strike the ball.

Therefore I can tell you that if you are currently doing your weight training by isolating different muscle groups you are setting yourself up for failure and you need to look into different ways of training for maximum benefits.

One good way to start is to make sure that your training takes you through 3 different planes of movement. Most traditional gym training is in the Saggital Plane. So what is going to happen to you if you only strengthen yourself in one plane of movement?

You should do rotations, move sideways and front and back in your resistance training. This will give you additional benefits. Your body will become much more resilient and strong both if it just for general fitness and sport specific.

By: Abdi-Karim Berleen/Personal Trainer in Loughton

Personal trainer to the rich and famous

This would be a “title” that most personal trainers would like to have. It simply means that you have somebody famous on your books. That would give you lots of hype and credibility. If you are a Personal Trainer to the rich and famous it means that you can charge higher rates and make more money. It would also put you in the mix, once you train one, it is highly likely that you will train another one, provided that you play your cards right. . At the same time it is important that you keep your feet on the ground. You may now out price yourself from your old clients, some who might have been with you for years. It is about finding the right balance, sometimes in life you have got to move on, but do you really want to turn your back on people who have put you in business for years only because you have started to train a couple of celebrities?

Another dilemma would be whether to charge different rates for different clients or not. Personally I am of the opinion that I think all my clients should pay the same hourly rates . I do not want one client paying a higher price because he is a celebrity or because he happens to be rich, however; celebrities are accustomed to paying more for services.

Lastly, being a Personal Trainer of the rich and famous does not make you a better trainer than anybody else. It just means that you were in the right place at the right time. It may have huge advantages but as with everything else in life comes with different challenges.

I heard a story about one trainer who was teaching exercise classes and every day after class she would hand out business cards. One day she got a call from the wife of a footballer. She had participated in the class enjoyed it and decided that she wanted this trainer.

A couple of days later this trainer went for an interview which led to her being part of the entourage. She had to relocate and travel around the world, got paid really well and all she had to do was to make sure that one person stuck to an exercise routine. Not a bad life.

By Abdi-Karim Berleen/Personal Trainer in Loughton

Picket’s Lock 5 Mile Race 13/10/2012

Eat Real Food

In a science fiction scenario, we would eat pills instead of meals. Imagine your breakfast is Oats and milk and instead of eating the real thing you just swallow a pill which would be equivalent to your meal.

Quite honestly, I can tell you that nothing can really beat the real thing. Food is always more nutritious when it is in its original form. Once you process it and maybe turn it into powder, liquid or something else most of the nutrients will disappear.

You might be shocked to hear this but eating an apple is much better than drinking apple juice. Another example would be eating Corn-on-the-cob vs. eating Corn Flakes. In Corn Flakes the corn is processed and would not be as good for you as the real thing. The Corn flakes is also very likely to have other ingredients added to it, some better than others. There may even be some sort of vitamins added as well.

A lot of processed foods also come with health claims such as “ Added vitamins” which will make you believe that you are eating something healthy. Basically what this means is that the food has been processed from its original form, then vitamins have been added. These vitamins are normally made in laboratory. The question then is; “would an artificial vitamin be as good as a natural one?” You might be shocked to hear this but a lot of times your body wouldn’t even recognize an artificial vitamin. Natural vitamins from real food would be the best option by far. Furthermore, processed foods have lots of additives such as colourings, preservatives , flavourings etc which may not be harmful but it is still a good idea to avoid.

There is a lot of confusion among people regarding nutrition and there are so many conflicting messages out there. The fact is that confusion sells. There is a massive demand for processed foods and supplements of all kinds and lots of money to be made. And there are companies that make good money selling foods that are inferior to real food at a much higher price and people who buy them and consume them, not knowing what they miss out on.

There is even a general belief that energy bars are really healthy, some even make a claim of being meal replacements.
I my opinion if it is possible, have an apple, a banana and a handful of nuts and I can guarantee you that you have had a better snack than an energy bar. These items which I have mentioned you can easily take with you in your gym bag and you might even have saved you some money as well.

Processed foods and takeaways maybe quick and easy to prepare but my advise would be to avoid them as much as you can and take your time to prepare food from scratch. Your long term health will benefit from this and you might save some money as well. If you are finding it hard finding time to go in the kitchen cook large portions a couple of times a week and store in containers in your fridge or freezer. Even if this takes longer than sticking a ready made meal in the microwave you will most likely have both short term benefits and long term benefits.

You might have higher energy levels and lose some weight short term and long term you might avoid “Life style diseases” which are becoming more and more common in today’s society. A lot of these diseases are caused by nutrient depleted food high in fat.

By: Abdi-Karim Berleen /Personal Trainer in Loughton

Sunday morning workout

Whole body working

You don’t need 100 kilos to challenge your legs. 2 x 7 kgs is more than enough for this one.

Doing a shoulder press before stepping over to the other side.

Even though it is not captioned in the picture, I can shoulder press 2×7 kgs

How your energy levels can benefit from low GI foods

Low GI foods release energy slowly which can keep your energy levels up for longer. I always aim to include as many items as I can with a low GI rating so that I can sustain my energy levels throughout the day.

Obviously I am not saying that you shouldn’t eat foods with a high GI, there is a time and place for them as well. Actually it is believed that including one item with a low GI rating in a meal will turn the whole meal into a low GI meal even if the other items are with a high GI rating. Also straight after a workout it would be a good idea to eat some high GI foods to aid recovery. This will help you to restore Glycogen quickly to your muscles.

It is definitely worth looking into this: here is a list that might be of help to you which lists different foodstuffs and their GI rating.

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

By Abdi-Karim Berleen/Personal Trainer in Loughton