River Surfing

Call me a naïve city lad but who knew there was such a thing as tidal bores, let alone those who surf them! News to you too? Then read on…

Choosing the right pair of running shoes – Part 1

At Home

These steps only take a few seconds and you can do them at home. They’re not 100% essential but when you come to buy your shoes this info might be handy – you’ll have a general idea of what you may be looking for, know what the heck the salesman is on about when he throws in “under/over pronation” and can narrow down your options.

Your first pair of running shoes

Unless you fancy making a salesman’s day don’t bother spending out on new running clothes. Compression tops, leggings, lightweight jackets and all that jazz will come later. At this point an old pair of tracksuit bottoms and a jumper will do just as well as long as you feel warm and comfortable during your jog.

However, there is an A1 piece of kit you need in your life and that’s a decent pair of running shoes. Why? Because when you run, effectively you’re hammering your feet against the ground and we want all of that impact force to be absorbed by the shoe and not your legs, knees, joints and feet. Also we want as much grip as possible not just to give maximum speed and traction but also when the weather takes a turn for the worse the last thing you need is a nasty slip – suffice to say an old pair of converse won’t cut it.

Everyone’s feet and how everybody runs is different and there are hundreds of shoe options to choose from. So how do you go about finding the right pair for you? Check in to our next 2 posts to find out.

Motivational Music

We know you’ve done it, cos we’ve done it too – embarked on a particularly strenuous workout humming ‘Eye of the Tiger’ under your breath. And with good reason; 

Winter Blues

Ah Winter – it’s a tricky time of year. Ironically the time we decide to make a new year’s resolution is exactly the same time when the weather is completely crap. Conjured excuses like “It’s too dark out” or “I could slip on a leaf!” pitched at any other time of year would make us sound pathetic but because we’re in winter they sound like life or death. Best to stay in eh? Who wants to risk being eaten by a polar bear on an early morning run anyway? Far better to kick back in the warm, binge watch Breaking Bad and hibernate til spring.

But consider this, if you can tear yourself away from the warm it’ll give you a head start on everyone else – remember the slowest pace still outruns the bloke lazing on the sofa. The cold will mean you burn more calories and if you can face doing it now you’ll be able to do it any other time of year - just wear a hat.

Running

There are many ways to go about cardio. Swimming, cycling, rowing, spinning, dance classes, anything that gets the blood pumping, your heart rate up, the body moving and some sweat on the brow. However I’m making a case for running. For me it just doesn’t get more basic than that. It’s probably the most accessible cardio exercise out there; everyone can do it (that means you!), it’s free, you can do it anytime, go at your own pace, decide on your own targets and is probably better than cycling if you don’t feel confident using a bike on busy roads.

Stretches - they're bloody important

Let’s talk warm ups and stretches. Usefully, for every site on the internet that says they’re beneficially important you’ll also find others claiming research that they’re not. Likewise, should you stretch then warm up OR warm up then stretch? Both? Neither? What about afterwards? Professor from X University says one thing while a research team from institute Y say the opposite. So what to do?

Goals

First things first, let’s start with goals. Walk into a gym and one of the first things they’ll ask (if they’re a gd’un) is what it is you actually want to get out of it. Do you want to lose weight? Slim down? Tone up? Go for definition? Build muscle? Odds are, if you’re anything like me during my first gym encounter the hesitant answer will be ‘Errrr – all of the above?’.

Seriously though, knowing what you want out of all this and having an image of how you want to look is important. Firstly it’s a great motivator – you can’t start without something to aim for. Secondly it’ll highlight what you need to focus on - if you’re aiming to be a long distance marathon runner you’ll focus on other areas and exercises than say a professional body builder, this is a bit of a sweeping example but you get the drift. Identify what you want and that’ll streamline the next steps – even if at this stage it’s quite general i.e. I want to lose weight/ I want to tone up my upper body/ I want to get fitter overall. Give yourself that goal!

It's time to get fit!

We’re hitting the gym at Avant-Garde 

Whether it’s getting rid of those last few pesky pounds or a complete lifestyle overhaul  we've dedicated ourselves to nailing our ideal body target and to look at ourselves in the mirror with a thumbs up  (maybe even a growl) of approval.

There’s tons of advice out there on how to go about this, shortcuts and explanations abound, but if there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the past few months there’s no single ‘sure-fire’ way to success. Everyone’s different: that includes their fitness levels, their aims, the kind of workouts they’ll enjoy and the one’s they’ll hate. There will be trial and error, exhaustive experimentations, dedicated time, serious sweat and extensive effort employed, but guess what?  There’re millions in the same boat and the lads from this blog are among them.

Me? I’m just your regular bloke – vices include boozy weekends with mates and movie nights in with Pizza Hut on speed dial – so if I can do it, anyone can. As we forge through the quagmires of uncertainty to find the methods that work for us I hope this segment of the blog can be used to inspire you to work towards getting fighting fight – after all anything worth getting is worth fighting for. But it’s not just about getting fit, it’s about feeling good about yourself on the inside too. It’s time to get fit…or die trying!