Nick Mitchell's Ultimate Performance » Greater London

Active Release Techniques – London

Nick — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:45:59 +0000

Active Release Techniques (more commonly known as ART – spoken as A.R.T) is a form of rehabilitation / massage therapy that has taken North America by storm but has been sadly lacking here in London. I know what works when it comes to rehab, after all my old broken down body has been through more than its fair share of hard work, and our London personal training gym is staffed with personal trainers who have picked up various injuries throughout earlier sporting careers (to name but a few we have an Olympic swimmer, an Armed Forces boxing champion, an international bodybuilding competitor, a British ice hockey player…the list of niggling pains is endless), so when I rave about a treatment then you know it must have some serious credibility.

I first encountered ART two years ago when Charles Poliquin treated my dodgy shoulder and since then have been hoping to find the right person to offer it as a service to our clients as I found it to be the most effective form of rehab I have ever tried. I now have the pleasure of announcing that we are now offering Active Release Techniques here in London from our City of London personal training facility. Already all of our trainers have made good use of it so I am epxecting to see some new weights records posted soon!!

If I am describing to a personal training client what Active Release Techniques can do for them I tend to talk about pain relief, increased flexibility and the removal of trigger points and adhesions from muscles. I am however not an ART expert and instead would refer you to some words recently sent through to me by Heather Pearson, our new Active Release Techniques therapist at Ultimate Performance London:

ACTIVE RELEASE TECHNIQUES

Active Release Techniques / ART® is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based manipulation technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. ART® sessions are a combination of examination and treatment. There are over 500 treatment specific protocols (treatments) for the whole body which are unique to Active Release Techniques /ART®. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar faciitis, knee cartilage issues, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with this technique.

Soft tissue conditions can either arise from sudden traumas initiating muscular tears, adhesions and scar tissue or from an insidious or build-up of chronic tightness. Both causes often result in a reduced range of motion, loss of strength and stability and induce pain, weakness and sometimes numbness.

Most ART® practitioners are fully trained therapists who once trained in ART®, have to take a yearly course retain their certification. Although ART® is still fairly new to London it is a successful method used in Europe and America in professional sport as well as the general population.

Active Release Techniques /ART® is patented, because it is different from any other treatment. The patent protects the public by ensuring practitioners are fully trained and certified to the highest standards and strict criteria of its founder Dr. Michael Leahy.

Beat Stress with Nutrition & Smart Supplementation

Nick — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:56:46 +0000

I have often written about the best ways to alleviate stress through exercise, and in fact we have a whole long article dedicated to Stress Beating Workouts over at our main London personal training website as well as several relevant personal training blogs in this very site. The importance of creating a proper programme to deal with stress is paramount and to think that it is possible to just go into the gym and blow off steam is simplistic at best and can more often than not make a bad situation worse.

One aspect of dealing with stress that is often overlooked is proper eating – get your nutrition right and you can mitigate stress and function better, get it wrong and all the negative hormonal cascades that are caused by stress can be significantly magnified. This makes sense and is hardly cutting edge stuff, but I feel that it is something that we need to keep reminding ourselves of as it is our natural instinct to reach for the cookie jar under times of stress and take solace in comfort eating. I know that I myself am hugely guilty of dealing with stress by eating, and whereas some of you may cope with bad news and difficult times by turning to cakes and pastries, I find that when I am overworked (100hrs plus a week rather than my customary 80hrs!) I get lazy with my good nutritional habits and have Domino’s on speed dial. This has happened more than a few times in the last few weeks due to the opening of our new London personal training gym and although I can get away with it due to a certain level of leaness it is certainly not something I would recommend if you value either vanity or clear headed thinking. Nothing will make me lazier, less productive, and consequently more stressed than going crazy in one evening on 2 large pizzas, 2 servings of waffles, and 3 serving of double chocolate chip cookies! Yep, it would seem that my very guilty secret is out of the bag.

Nick's invoice from Domino's leaves him reeling!

So with my own occasional terrible eating in mind I decided that it was high time to remind myself of the crucial role that smart nutrition has in mitigating stress and enhancing our ability to work hard, work long, and work under pressure. There are some basic rules that we must all follow, plus a few tricks that will ramp up your overall stress coping mechanisms:

1) Control blood sugar with small, frequent meals

2) Eat protein, eat good fat, avoid simple Satan sugars and junk such as sweets, pastries, and yes waffles, pizza and cookies!

3) Stay hydrated

4) Use “smart supplements” such as phosphatidylserine, adaptogenic herbs such as Rhodiola Rosea and Holy Basil, and always take your extra omega 3s.

There is a full in-depth article on this subject (How to Beat Stress with Nutrition & Supplementation) at our main London personal training website where I go into detail as to exactly how you need to eat in order to deal with the stress of modern living.

I am now off to our Liverpool Street personal training gym to do some anti pizza weight training and sled pulling!

New London Personal Training Gym means a quiet few weeks of blogging!

Nick — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:25:53 +0000

This is just a lightening quick post to apologise for my blogging silence. I know it must have been torture for thsoe of you who await from my words with baited breath but sometimes life gets in the way of my time and inclination to write. In the present circumstances the inclination to write my usual personal trainer bon mots is still sky high, but the time just isn’t there.

The reason for my total lack of time, and it is no exaggeration to state that I am currently working in some form or another from the moment I wake up unti the time my head hits the pillow 18 hours later, is the opening our new personal training gym in the City of London.

Those of you who follow my exploits will know that this gym has been a long time in the coming and we have had to overcome many obstacles to create what I am proud to boast is a truly unique personal training gym. Quite a few personal trainers in London have their own studios, but our new operation is a genuine gym. It boasts the heaviest range of dumbells of ANY gym in the City of London (up to 70kg / 155lbs), has an array of machines that mean every body part can be trained in a huge variety of ways and almost all injuries can be safely worked around, plus we even have our own 20 metre indoor sprint track. All of this from within a gym that we plan to never allow to get too busy by imposing a restriction on the number of personal trainers who are permitted to use the facility.

I have written more about the ethos and layout of the new gym in the “London personal training gym locations” section of our main website, and we can be found at Ultimate Performance Personal Training Gym, 44-48 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4LB. Please do feel free to drop me a line and come by, I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed!

PS – there is lots more information, photos, and videos of the new gym to come and I will be actively publishing these as and when anything is ready to be seen.

Ultimate Performance in the Press this month

Nick — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:54:40 +0000

Although receiving press attention isn’t an accurate barometer of how good we are as personal trainers (I can think of one well known London personal trainer who is actually quite a terrible trainer if the feedback I have had from his clients is anything to go by) it is always gratifying to see / read about yourself in various magazines. And I like to think that we must be doing something right as all of this press attention has been unsolicited and come to us based upon the work that we have been doing and the results that we have been getting for our personal training clients.

I had one of my regular supplement pieces on how to use digestive enzymes to assist your fat loss and muscle building goals in Men’s Health magazine. Please note that my preferred option for HCL therapy is Poliquin Perfomance HCL 4.0 and that this is a KEY supplement that almost all of our clients use when they start out with us.

I was also lurking in the background in a couple of pieces in the Sun newspaper and even the East London Advertiser, so true fame has come at last!

We had a nice piece on our unique Bridal Boot Camp (more details on this to follow soon as we are doing some very exciting things here) in Perfect Wedding magazine, and most importantly, and the real reason why I am writing about this month’s media work, I wanted to extend my thanks and appreciation to senior Ultimate Performance personal trainer Glenn Parker for his sterling work in Men’s Fitness and an excellent article on why spot reduction is possible with BioSignature Modulation. Glenn is not just a great trainer and BioSignature Coach, he is also a tremendous character full of resilience and energy and I am very lucky to have him as part of my team.

The secrets of a healthy gut

Nick — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:18:54 +0000

How to Improve your Gut Health and Immune System by BioSignature Coach, Anthony Castore

The health of your gut and proper digestion are intrinsically linked to your overall health and the proper function of your immune system. It has actually been estimated that the gut is responsible for over 80% of your immune system response and a gut health check should always be the first thing checked whenever an ongoing illness or a negative health condition hits.

Over on our main London personal training website we are lucky enough to have published a new article focusing on “gut health and the immune system” by Ohio based personal trainer and BioSignature Modulation coach Anthony Castore. Anthony is as smart as he is strong and powerful in the gym (in other words, very) and meticulous in his attention to precise detail. He has studied nutrition, fat loss personal training, BioSignature programs, and of course gut health, with some of the leading brains in the business such as Charles Poliquin and Dr Eric Serrano and it shows in the protocols and explanations given in his new article.

I won’t spoil your fun by rehashing Anthony’s words here, but my take home points on enhancing gut health for the immune system are:

1) Focus on establishing and maintaining healthy bacteria via a pro biotic (I like the pro biotic product put out by Welsh nutritional supplement company Aliment) and a pre biotic (most easily found in a good fiber supplement such as Poliquin Performance’s Primal Fiber series).

2) Establish your stomach HCL acid levels and where necessary add a product such as Poliquin Performance HCL to your list of essential supplements. In fact I have a piece on this in May’s Men’s Health magazine.

Gut health is absolutely essential to the support of a healthy immune system and let’s not forget just how critical that is to both living longer and living beautifully! You can train like a Mr Universe bodybuilder and diet for fat loss until the cows come home but you will never make any real progress until you are healthy and functioning properly.

101 Tips to lose fat and get lean: Set goals

Nick — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:44:07 +0000

Tips to lose fat and get lean: Set goals

“He who travels without a map gets nowhere”

Not quite Confucius I know, but I hope that you get my meaning. To set out on a journey of any kind, especially one as potentially arduous, painstaking, and with countless distractions as a fat loss journey is just plain foolish. You need direction and clear benchmarks to keep you motivated and your eye on the prize and rewards that come with having a leaner and more attractive body.

Here is what you need to do:

If you have a good personal trainer

Does your personal trainer help you plan your workouts and goals?

, work with him / her and write down a series of goals, make them short and long term. So if your overall goal is to lose 20lbs of body fat decide with your personal trainer how long that will reasonably take to achieve and have that as your final marker. In this example we could say 12 weeks to drop 20lbs of fat.

Then divide this down into smaller, bite sized chunks that make the whole fat loss process that much easier to contemplate.

This is our fifteenth tip on how to lose fat. Over the coming months we will be detailing a host more fat loss tips that we know will be useful to you in looking your very best. For those of you interested in online personal training or even how to access the best London personal trainer for you please visit our main personal training website.

The Secrets of Fitness & Personal Training Success

Nick — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:02:32 +0000

We are very fortunate to have recently put up an article in our main London personal training site by top Melbourne personal trainer Kat Eden. Too often we get wrapped up in the best way to train, the perfect way to eat, or the ideal supplement stack when in reality SO much of your fitness / body composition success emanates from one place only. Your mind.

Kat Eden, top Australian personal trainer and blogger extraordinaire!

Kat expands upon the importance of focus and dedication in a very interesting article on “The Secrets of People in Fantastic Shape” and I highly recommend that you all read this to refresh your mind on the real secret to success in both the gym and in life. Over the years I have witnessed scores, if not hundreds, of genuinely world class athletes and bodybuilders as they prepare for competition. It would only be a small exaggeration to say that I have seen nearly as many different training and eating philosophies as I have top competitors, yet they all have one unifying trait in common. Each one of them possesses a drive, focus and determination that sets them ahead of the also rans.

They are the wolves of this world and the rest are mere sheep. Which are you?

Fit & Ripped at Forty – The Men’s Health Transformation

Nick — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:37:51 +0000

Many of you will have read the cover article in last month’s Men’s Health magazine detailing my work with Fitness Editor Wesley Doyle where I helped him drop from 20% to 10% body fat and achieve the very best shape of his life at 40 years of age.

You can read more about this dual feat of fat loss and muscle building at our main London personal training site, with the main articles being found in our fat loss training articles section.

Not in bad shape really...

In fantastic shape (and with a slightly better haircut too..)

The Importance of Breakfast

Nick — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 12:26:08 +0000

How many of you skip breakfast because you just can’t stomach it?

(pardon the terrible pun!)

It is a bit of a cliche, but we drill into our personal training clients that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

And no, breakfast is NOT a bowl of Special K. Try to remember that the first 30gms of protein you eat in a day goes to the support of your immune system. This should tell you that you must eat protein first in the day. “Protein” incidentally is a Greek word that means “of primary importance” – these Ancients knew a thing or two! Without a properly functioning immune system you can kiss goodbye to fat loss, muscle building, and far more importantly good health!

I know that many of you you can’t stomach breakfast, so please try to slowly add a small amount of food. Two boiled eggs and a small amount of natural, fat free, organic yogurt would be a great start to the day for many of of those who have gone years with nothing better than an early morning cup of coffee. Of course there are reasons for an early morning lack of appetite and distaste for food – it almost always has to do with impaired digestion and is something that we aim to fix immediately with all our London personal training clients.

More on Fish Oil

Nick — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:42:40 +0000

Those of you who know me will be aware that I was recently blessed with the birth of my son, Roman. The following article helps to reaffirm my decision to load up Marci with DHA, especially as our baby boy seems to be super alert and active already! Whilst I am on this subject thanks must also go to Charles Poliquin who took the time to set out a few pregnancy and post pregnancy nutritional and supplement protocols for us.

By Michael Byrd

Brain development can determine the quality of our entire life.

Human brain development begins while we are still in the womb of our Moms. It is then the responsibility of our mothers to see to it that she gets enough nutrients during pregnancy.

Want to know why? This is because an infant’s brain starts to develop even as a fetus, thus it is important that it is provided with important oils ? omega 3 fatty acids with DHA in particular.

The Moment Brain Development Takes Place

The brain of an infant develops as early as 4 weeks from the time of conception. It is good to have a solid foundation even before a woman gets pregnant to ensure that a woman has enough omega 3 fatty acids with DHA during pregnancy.

Several scientists now agree that DHA consumption is vital in brain development and it is what sets us apart from our prehistoric ancestors. It is then right to assume that back on those days, the brain of our ancestors were developed with the aid of the DHA that they added to their diets.

You are then given the idea why omega 3 oils with DHA are important for brain development.

Deteriorating brain function was also noticed amongst our ancestors who did not have enough DHA in their diets. However, as they moved to the coastal areas, and were able to eat enough fish, there was a notable increase in their brain capacity.

Scientists doubt if Homo Sapiens (yes that’s us) would have evolved without adding DHA from fish oils to their diets. [Lipids, Vol. 34:s39-s47]

What can a Bigger Brain Do For Us

The bigger our brain, the better we learn, communicate, rationalize and do all the wonderful things around us.

Brain development starts during the 25th to 28th week of pregnancy. During this stage, the baby’s brain and nervous system takes control on some of its body functions. But there should be more growth left 12 weeks before full term pregnancy.

To ensure that a baby reaches full term, omega 3 fatty acids is needed. It is also needed for the continuous development of the baby’s brain and nervous system.

It may be humorous that we have to thank the fishes in the ocean for saving us from living like apes. We should be thankful to our ancestors for discovering that we can make a delicious meal out of the fishes in the ocean.

Insufficient Omega 3 Fish Oil

A research from the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition in London, blames DHA deficiency during pregnancy as the reason for underweight babies.

Since brain development disorders can be lasting, mothers are advised to get into a diet that has abundant amount of omega 3 oils with DHA. Eating lots of fatty fish and taking supplements of high and pure quality fish oil capsules can suffice these needs. [AJCN, Vol. 57, 703s-709s]

Moms should see that it is necessary to have a daily dose of omega 3 fish oil to ensure optimum brain development of her baby. This is her assurance of having a smart and healthy baby.

Take a look at great picture of healthy pregnancy stages, got to human pregnancy week by week.

For more on fish oil, health, and fat loss please visit our main London personal training website.