Saturday 25th May – Normal hours

Sunday – Closed

Monday 27th May – 7am – 2pm

Tuesday 28th – Normal hours resume

Enjoy the long weekend!

Whilst not something most people would want to wade into everyday, all of the ingredients are all ‘good for you’ and and there’s no absolutely no processed crap included.  In fact, there’s probably more reason to eat these than not to.

Note: I pinched these from a guy called Scott Jurek.  Scott has written a couple of books on Ultramarathon running that I would recommend.  You won’t find me competing across 135miles, nor eating a strict vegan diet, but there’s plenty in these about mindset in particular, and indeed nutrition, that is worth reading.

I imaginatively call these ‘Chocolate Balls’.

Put to following into a blender (preferably a small, good quality one):

• 1/2 cup raw cacao nibs
• 10 or so medium dates (get decent ones)
• 1/2 a cup of raw cashews
• 1/4 teaspoon dried cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes (a pinch)
• 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt (a small pinch)
• 2 teaspoons of coconut oil (in liquid state)

Blend thoroughly.  The blending can be a bind with the dates sticking if your blender is not great but persevere – scoop it from the sides and blend again.  You might need to do this a couple of times.

Roll the blended mix into balls and stick them in the fridge for 15mins or so.  Will make 12-15 balls.  Note: I use two tablespoons to make quenelles – I’m a bit OCD about cleanliness.

Simple, healthy, ridiculously tasty and will last in the fridge for a couple of weeks.  Enjoy.

Saturday – Closed: W10 Tough Mudder Event

Sunday – Closed (as normal)

Monday – 7am – 2pm

Tuesday – Normal hours resume

For those who are not coming to the event, remember that there is some (tbc) social schenanigans planned for afterwards so be sure to ask social seceretary Adam for details!

Read the full article here>>

Eat for energy

“Nutrition is as important as training. You need adequate nutrients now to optimise both your training and after the race, for your recovery. Many people make the mistake of thinking that they can eat ‘what they want’ because they’re training more, which often leads to poor training, recovery and often weight gain. The fact that you are training hard probably means that you need to eat better, not just ‘more,’ to help the body recover,” says Vacassin.

Find a running buddy

“A good running partner or social group is worth their weight in gold in those long runs when your head is telling that you’ve had enough” says Jean Claude Vacassin, founder of W10 Performance.

Stretch out

“The repetitive nature of long distance running will lead to muscle tightness. Stretching will help keep the system in balance and go some way towards keeping potential injuries in check. Common areas are the calves, quads and adductors. It’s tedious, but worth it,” adds Vacassin.

“A foam roller will work wonders for keeping muscles healthy and joints functioning optimally. Focus on the entire body, but particularly the calves, thighs and the thoracic spine (mid-back region). It will likely be uncomfortable, but it’s worth the effort!” says Vacassin.

Run for fun

“If you’ve stuck to the training you’re good to go. Now just make sure you actually enjoy the very thing you have trained so hard for,” says Vacassin.

“But how oh how does she get her body looking quite so perfect, we hear you cry/whimper. Well, Ashley is a former Doll – and they weren’t exactly known for being flabby – but recently she revealed on Twitter that she’s been getting a bit of fitness guidance from West London personal training gym ‘W10Performance’, saying “Booty officially kicked”.

Read the full article here>>

There’s a discernible difference between temporary weight loss and permanent fat loss.  Weight loss is actually pretty easy to achieve (manipulate).  Ask any boxer who’s had to make weight, losing and re-gaining several kilos in as little as twenty-four hours.  Same goes for most women during their cycle, weight fluctuates – perhaps not to the extremes of our boxers, but 2-3kgs is not uncommon.  In both of these cases, it has little to do with losing or gaining fat.

Ever been on a low/no carb ketogenic type of diet where you’ve dropped five to ten pounds in as many days by cutting out carbohydrates, only to regain the weight back is soon as you get back on the your regular diet?  Likewise.  Why?  Pretty simple: you stripped the body of glycogen and the accompanying water and hence lost weight.  You then ate carbs, replenished glycogen and regained the necessary water.  Sure you probably dropped a bit of fat as a result of cutting out some of the crap etcetera, but you lost weight, not fat.

Using weight as the sole marker of progression is a one way ticket to frustrationville.

Too many people are fixated with their weight.  Perhaps understandably so given that in most cases weight is the marker used to measure body composition, but it shouldn’t be used as a standalone measure of progress.   Sure, you probably associate a certain weight with when you were looking your best, and that probably does have some relevance, but you need to switch your thinking away from weight, and towards fat loss and improved body composition.   How much you weigh is less important than what your weight is made up of (fat, muscle, water, other lean tissue), or your body composition.

By body composition we’re essentially referring to the relationship between total bodyweight, muscle mass (total lean mass) and fat mass.  Lets say you weigh 65kg for example, with 25kg of that weight being muscle mass and 15kg of fat mass.   You go on a ‘diet’ and lose 10kg of total weight, all of which is fat, happy days.  But, what if you lost say 4kg of fat and 6kg of lean mass?  You did lose some fat, but you also lost a significant amount of lean mass.  Not good long term.  This second scenario is the reality of what happens with diets.  You lose lots of weight, but relatively little body fat.

And what happens when you return to your regular way of eating and drinking?  Well, being that you can only shrink fat cells – your body has a kind of  ‘fat memory’ and remembers with fondness those fatter times – your are likely to regain most, if not all, of that fat.  Oh, and that lean mass you lost?  Unfortunately, that’s not quite so accommodating, you need to earn that back.

But, focus on improving your body composition – that is losing fat and maintain or better still adding some muscle (lean mass) and you’ll look and feel very different, both acutely and in the longer term.  The example below show’s just this.  This person has only lost 2kg of total weight, but has lost 8.4kg of fat and added 4.2kg of muscle.  So whilst 2kg (broadly 4lbs) of weight loss is nothing of particular note, the change in body composition is hugely significant.

Note the change in the shape of the curve from C-shaped to D-shaped. A D-shaped curve indicates a positive relationship between fat and muscle relative to weight.

Focus on fat loss, not weight loss.  It will seem like you’re progressing more slowly (your weight won’t drop so quickly, especially if you add some lean mass), but surely it’s better to get leaner rather than simply smaller?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>

We got a say on seven of the ten…..

“Fat makes you fat”

Not so. “Good quality fats are essential for health and should always make up part of your diet,” explains top trainer and founder of W10 Performance , Jean Claude Vacassin. “Fats have been vilified because they are calorie dense, at nine calories for every gram, but they are essential if you want a better diet, and a better body.”

“You have to do cardio to lose weight”

“It’s lean muscle mass that’s critical for getting and staying lean and excessive cardio neither helps build or maintain muscle mass. A better alternative for many people who are trying to get into shape would be resistance training coupled with a good diet,” explains Vacassin.

“Women shouldn’t lift weights”

Don’t let body builder’s bodies put your off weight training, “when done in extreme amounts and combined with a diet that provides a significant excess of calories (something women very rarely, or never, do!) it does of course trigger muscle gain,” says Vacassin.
“But doing two sets of twelve reps and following it up with healthy eating won’t bulk you up,” advises Vacassin. “You need to train and eat with the specific purpose of gaining muscle for it to happen. Burn fat as you build muscle and you’ll never feel ‘heavy’ or ‘bulky’.”

“Carbs are the enemy”

“Carbs are an important part of the diet and a major player in cognitive function, mood, energy levels and overall wellbeing,” warns Vacassin. “Following a diet that is low in carbs for too long not only negatively impacts your mood, sleep and mental clarity but also your ability to lose weight, and fat. Low carb diets are also often very low in fibre which have massive implications for long term health.”

“I need supplements to be healthy”

“Putting supplements of any kind before a good diet is not going to work. Besides, most people only need take the basics (a multivitamin, probiotic, vitamin D and omega 3 fish oil) anyway,” explains Vacassin, who also recommends getting tested before taking on any extra supplementation

“I can eat as many ‘clean’ foods as I want”

“Watch it. Just because a food is ‘good’ or ‘clean’ doesn’t mean that you should, or can, eat it in unlimited quantities – more is not better. Too much of anything will make you gain weight. Typical offenders here are nuts, avocados and fruit,” explains Vacassin.

“Protein is good, so more must be better”

Getting your RDA of protein is key to health, “but as will all things, we don’t need to consume it in excessive quantities,” explains Vacassin. “Diets very high in protein are a by product of the new carb-phobia trend (we have to replace the calories with something right?). But we reallly shouldn’t consume it in quantities that exceed our requirements if we are following a balanced nutritional programme.”

“I have lost 6kg of fat and have put on a 1kg of muscle. Thank-you to the cracking team at W10 for helping me drop 2 sizes and get back into my favourite jeans.”

Here’s MB’s story in her own words:

“Through-out last year, I tried a variety of different exercises – I ran, I danced, I posed, I even found myself eyeball-to-eyeball with an over-zealous MMA devotee on the odd occasion.  All of this and my jeans were still sitting rather snug to say the least.  Then came along December holiday of complete over-indulgence and those jeans could no longer get over my hips.  It was time to take action.

After spending some time online, I settled on two places which looked like they may be able to help and I mailed both to make an enquiry. From the one I got a page-long response of complex options and marketing bumph. From W10 I got a friendly response inviting me in for a chat.  After meeting Adam to discuss my goals, diet, exercise and sleeping habits (I never replied to the former), I signed up for the 8 week jeans challenge.  It was obvious that the guys at W10 know their stuff.  They are super knowledgeable about fitness and in particular nutrition.

Having never done any strength training before I was a little apprehensive at first. However, the programme was simple to follow: two weekly PT sessions and two metabolic sessions a week.  Okay fine I thought, but the sessions themselves were really tough, probably amongst the toughest thing that I have done before, but what I loved about the training sessions is that you are in and out of there in under an hour, half an hour for the metabolic sessions. No sweating away for hours at a time.  During the sessions, Rob, JC and Adam are all so helpful and attentive, correcting my posture where I go wrong and kicking my butt where I need the odd bit of encouragement. The vibe at the gym is also great.  Plenty of buoyant banter and pumping tunes to keep you moving.

Probably the biggest surprise for me was my diet. When I signed-up I was quite shocked to hear that I was generally under-caloried.  This turned out to be the reason why by late afternoon I was on the scavenge for biscuits and chocolate and at night I sustained a cereal post-dinner breakfast habit. So I had to learn to eat more… and eat more I did!  I have a really busy working day and don’t have a lot of time to eat, nor do complex food preparation, but Adam designed a nutritional programme that was easy to follow.  My new diet (lifestyle!) is delicious and very fulfilling and I no longer get any sweet or chocolate cravings, which was another big surprise for me. Also, there were quite a few girls at the office, who came over to admire my healthy lunches.

I completed a food diary and had weekly weigh-ins, which really helped to keep me motivated, especially since I saw my fat levels come down steadily each week.  And don’t think you can get away with ‘forgetting’ to submit your food diary for weekly scrutiny and advice.  There were a couple times when Adam politely reminded me that he hadn’t received mine and was waiting to see it!

If you are looking for sympathy and lenience towards your need for a packet of the nation’s favourite chocolate-ensconced tea time treat, then this is not the place for you.  But if you looking for real results, then look no further than W10. I heartily recommend them, which says a lot from a girl who is hard to impress.  The guys are probably reticent to admit it, but they also run a beauty salon out of W10… me having received quite a few compliments about how great my skin looks!  I am also sleeping much better (I have always been blighted with sleeping issues) and really seeing the benefits from a regular, post-work routine.

I have lost 6kg of fat (not weight, actual fat!) and have put on a 1kg of muscle.  Thank-you to the cracking good team at W10 for helping me drop 2 sizes and get back into my favourite jeans.”

Our next Jean Challenge start date is 15th April 2013.  Click here for more information>>

]]> http://www.w10performancegym.com/2013/04/jeans-challenge-success-story/feed/ 0 http://www.w10performancegym.com/2013/03/my-8wk-transformation/ http://www.w10performancegym.com/2013/03/my-8wk-transformation/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:47:29 +0000 Adam Jones http://www.w10performancegym.com/?p=2795

My 8 Week Transformation