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Sleep Hacking: tips, tricks and my routine for a kick ass sleep

Apr 27, 2017 RobertComment on Sleep Hacking: tips, tricks and my routine for a kick ass sleep

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Latest articles:

10 tips to nail your nutrition
Don’t let fat loss be your only metric of success
Adjusting the dial
Fitness Myths That Need to Die
Sleep Hacking: tips, tricks and my routine for a kick ass sleep

rob.ftafitness

🚀 I help people who are fed up of dieting their life away focus on getting stronger and improving their lifestyle habits.
👇 Work with me here:

If there was a supplement that was proven to incre

If there was a supplement that was proven to increase your energy, improve your mood, increase your performance and help improve your physique, then I can guarantee people would happily spend money on it.

And yet sleep has been proven to do all of these things, but so many people still neglect it.

Sleep should not be an afterthought if you are looking to improve your quality of life, but a priority.

This clip is from the podcast episode myself and Sophie (@soph_powerbreed) recorded this week where we talk about how to thrive during the winter months, and make sticking to your fitness and nutrition goals easier when the days get dark, cold and gloomy.

Part 1 of 3 on Stress Management is out today.

(There's so much to cover we decided to do a topic at a time, and this topic alone there was so much to cover I decided to cut it up into shorter episodes!)

Just search 'FTA Fitness: The Podcast' on Spotify 🎙️

The most important change you can make to your nut

The most important change you can make to your nutrition to improve your quality of life as you age.

Protein.

Because it isn't just for bros.

Maintaining muscle mass is THE most important thing to focus on if we want to keep moving into our older years.

And there are two things that help with this:
1. Resistance training
2. Consuming enough protein

The problem is that as we age we encounter Anabolic Resistance* which means our bodies become less responsive to exercise and protein as a stimulus.

This means in order to achieve the same result with our nutrition, we have to eat more protein.

So it's important that we start practicing making our meals as protein-centric as we can.

Because it's not only something that will benefit us now.

But it's also something our future-selves will thank us for.
---
This is point #2 from the podcast episode '10 tips to nail your nutrition'.

Search 'FTA Fitness: The Podcast' on Spotify to take a listen.

(*in the video I say Leucine resistance. I've heard both terms used. Either way, the message is the same. Eat more protein so we get more Leucine)

You don't need a stupid amount of exercises to get

You don't need a stupid amount of exercises to get a solid workout in.

In fact you'll see better results by focusing on fewer exercises but doing them with a good amount of intensity and progressing them over time.

This is especially true considering we know that you gain the majority of the benefit from resistance training in the first few sets, or first couple of exercises, especially if those exercises are compound exercises.

Here are a few more reasons why the workout above is good enough:
1. The intensity of these exercises is high and the exercises themselves use the whole body. High intensity = high stimulus.
2. This is just one workout in the week. I train 4 days per week, and the other workouts have more variety.
3. My goal right now isn't to gain as much muscle as possible. It's to get stronger and feel my best.

Now, am I saying only do 2 exercises every workout?

Definitely not.

Ideally you'll have a selection of exercises throughout the week that cover all of the main movement patterns and enough volume for your chosen goal.

But it can be enough for a solid workout when time is short or you're simply not feeling it.

The key thing to understand is that you don't need a ridiculous amount of exercises for each body part or stupid complexity to see and feel results.
---
If you want some help simplifying your training so you can get stronger, feel stronger, and look stronger, all without spending your life in the gym, then DM me 'COACH' and let's have a chat.

Crap days. We all have them. Sometimes life gets

Crap days. We all have them.

Sometimes life gets in the way.

Sometimes it's illness or injury.

And sometimes there's no real reason.

You'll get to the gym and have a shitty workout.

Or go through a period where your food choices aren't the greatest.

I can tell you now that this is 100% normal.

Despite what social media will show you, no-one is perfect 100% of the time.

The problem is most people give up at the first sign of that 20%.

And forget about the other 80%.

But having a crap day doesn't mean you're 'failing'.

It's often a normal part of the process.

And understanding this means that instead of beating yourself up and giving up at the first sign of a bad day.

You can simply carry on.

Knowing that a shitty day is just a very small part of the bigger picture.

Strength training is amazing for your confidence.

Strength training is amazing for your confidence.

But not because it gives you abz.

(though it is instrumental in making that happen, if that is your goal)

Here are three reasons why it's so good for your self-esteem, that have nothing to do with the way your body looks...

1) Saying you’ll go to the gym is like making a promise to yourself.

When you follow through by actually going, you build trust in yourself.

2) Strength training is challenging.

It raises your self-esteem by building your belief in your ability to do challenging things.

Doing hard things builds confidence.

3) Getting stronger, seeing the numbers go up, and doing things you couldn’t do before builds self-belief.

It makes you feel more confident in your ability to achieve things.

It often leads to “if I can do this, then what else can I do?” thinking.

If you want to get stronger, ditch a bit of body fat, and generally feel more badass without it taking over your life, then chuck me a 'COACH' in my DMs and let's have a chat 📨

The ability of the human body to adapt and become

The ability of the human body to adapt and become stronger will never cease to amaze me.

It's why I love strength training so much.

Being able to do things you never used to be able to do.

Feeling day-to-day tasks become easier.

*Chef's kiss*

But the best part?

It doesn't matter who you are, what your current ability level is, or your experience.

Whoever you are, wherever you're at, you can get stronger.

And I think that has to be my favourite part.

(205kg, 4 sets of 2)

The latest episode of the podcast is out! 🎉 In

The latest episode of the podcast is out! 🎉

In this one I give you 10 simple tips to help clarify your nutrition.

Listen to it now on Spotify, 'FTA Fitness: The Podcast" 🎙️

Your results are the average of your actions over

Your results are the average of your actions over time.

Imagine understanding that the occasional indulgence won't destroy your progress.

Imagine how freeing that would be.

Do you think it would stop you from constantly giving up and starting again?

And do you think that would mean that the consistency would lead to better progress and better results in the long-run?

Imagine being able to see results whilst still living your life.

Not feeling guilty just because you wanted to enjoy a meal out.

One of the biggest things I help clients understand is that the occasional indulgence doesn't ruin your progress or undo the work you've done.

If this is something you want help with, then send me 'COACH' in my DMs and let's have a chat 🚀

I still remember the days when I felt like the exc

I still remember the days when I felt like the excess body fat I was carrying was a reflection of how "good" or "bad" I was with my diet.

Unsurprisingly this left me feeling like crap.

It made me feel like I was a failure, like I lacked self-control and it caused me to create a story in my head that "I was just someone who couldn't lost body fat".

It also led me into a period of my life where I had some really disordered eating habits.

Cooking chicken with no oil.

Not using any sauces or spices.

And only ever eating steamed veg.

It sucked.

But I also remember when I eventually learnt that body fat was simply stored energy.

And how freeing that was.

Knowing that it was simply an energy balance problem and not a morality issue helped me to feel so much less guilty about the food I ate.

The space that created then allowed me to approach not only fat loss,but food in general from a much better place.

Because it meant I knew I could eat food I enjoyed without worrying that if I ate a "bad" food I'd gain body fat.

So if any of this resonates with you, then please remember...

Body fat is simply stored energy.

Not something you're punished with because you made the "wrong" choice, gave into temptation, were "bad" or any other morality-based judgment.

If you struggle with motivation, then it could be

If you struggle with motivation, then it could be because you need to dig a little deeper.

Having a goal is a start, but it alone isn't going to drag you out of bed on those cold winter mornings.

So ask yourself...

"Why do I want this goal?"

Then take that answer and ask:

"And why do I want that?"

"What would achieving it provide me with that I don't currently have?"

"How will my life be different if I achieved this goal?"

Typically what happens as you explore is you'll find the real reason behind your goal.

Something with more emotion and drive behind it.

And it's this that should drive you.

So even when you have days where you struggle (which you will).

You have something that is bigger than your reasons stopping you from doing the thing you should be doing.

Progressive Overload - AKA doing a bit more each t

Progressive Overload - AKA doing a bit more each time.

If you want to make sure you're seeing progress in the gym, whether that's gaining strength or gaining muscle to achieve that toned physique.

Then you need to make sure you're constantly increasing the stress you apply to your body.

This is because strength and muscle are adaptations your body makes when it encounters a specific form of stress.

And in order to keep seeing progress then you need to constantly challenge your body in some way.

Fortunately when it comes to resistance training there are a few ways we can do this:
- Increase the weight
- Increase the reps
- Increase the number of sets
- Slow down parts of the reps to increase time under tension
- Reduce rest periods

The important thing is that every time we step in the gym we are increasing the challenge to our bodies (even slightly).

The easiest way to ensure this is to track your workouts.

Write down what you did, and then the next time you do that workout try and beat it in some way.

This way you'll ensure you're constantly challenging your body, thereby driving progress.

(also as a bonus, seeing your numbers go up week-to-week is super motivating).
---
If you want some help getting stronger, gaining muscle or to simply gain some confidence with your training, then chuck me a 'COACH' in my DMs and we'll have a chat to see if I can help! 💪

Don't let the odd blip derail you. You're still i

Don't let the odd blip derail you.

You're still in a much better position than if you hadn't tried.

Fitness and nutrition is a long-term pursuit.

And no one gets it 'right' the first time.

Or the second.

Or the third.

And a slip up doesn't undo the work you have done.

People beating themselves up unnecessarily is one of the main reasons people give up.

So give yourself a break.

And if you feel like you've 'messed up', be sure to remind yourself of what you have done.

And that you're still closer to your goal than the version of you who did nothing.

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