It’s getting cold and dark…
Oct0
If you are living in the Northern hemisphere…you will know what I mean with the title above..
It’s getting to that time of the year that when you get up in the mornings, it is dark and when you get home in the evening it is dark again. Not to mention that temperatures are dropping and you start getting your wintercoats out of the mothballs.
So when I turn to my friends and ask them to come out riding or running with me, they kinda give me that look that says ... Read More
Setting Goals!
Oct0
This week I have two friends who will be running marathons – separated by some 15,000 miles! Coen van Schijndel will be running the Eindhoven marathon – hoping to run it in exactly 3 hours (wow!) and Mike Kelly will be aiming to finish in 3:30 (wow2!) in the Chicago Marathon…
I love the fact that both these guys have been keeping me motivated with their stories of their training. I know what it takes to run a marathon – you are out there for hours just running ... Read More
Sleep your way to lower weight…..
Oct0
Now here’s a study that will make a lot of people happy – it has been clinically proven that if you sleep well, you can lose more weight then if you don’t! Or reversely – if you do not sleep well – you will gain weight, but let’s focus on the positive!
It’s all to do with a couple of hormones, one that helps you feel full and one that makes you feel hungry. The akward thing is that as you get more sleep deprived, the one that makes you feel ... Read More
The 9 Edges Endurance Run
Sep0
Having reported a few weeks ago on the great challenge my friend Roddy and his two mates were undertaking for Charity – I just have to share with you how they fared.. Although I wasn’t there myself – it is the kind of gruelling run that you can feel in every fibre of your body just looking at the pictures – and since a picture tells more then a thousand words - ... Read More
Do you know your body type?
Sep0
I usually don’t pay too much attention to body types, because at the end of the day – you will simply have to work with the one you got! No use crying that you want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger if you really are more like Danny de Vito after all.
I was in conversation yesterday though with Nando, Personal Trainer (www.1-2-1-trainers.com) and he pointed out that it does make a difference what material you work with and that it helps understanding your body type in ... Read More
high revolution
Sep0
I have been cycling like mad. With that I mean, I have been cycling and anyone looking at me must have thought I was mad (more so then usual even) or at the very least, I suspected them of thinking that based on how I was feeling.
The reason is that my schedule for this week told me that I needed to cycle at a lowish heart rate (that bit I can do easily!) but at an ever increasing high amount of revolutions per minute (RPM for short). And I tell you, when you are pedaling at 100 RPM on ... Read More
How to avoid Calories in food….
Sep1
Women all know this particular bit of wisdom and use it to their greatest advantage….
Ever noticed we women love to eat of your plate? When it is time to order, we tell you to go ahead and have those chips, or that dessert whilst we order the mixed salad or maybe some fruit for afters, feeling very good about ourselves. But when those wicked chips come out, ofcourse we have to have one, oh go on, maybe even two or ten or half your portion.. and the icecream obviously is meant for ... Read More
Easy Days….
Sep0
After a few weeks of training like mad, it’s time for an easy week. I really like the three weeks increasing the intensity of your training and then actually taking a step down and having a week in which you simply let your body absorb and recover. During a week like that, you can still work-out, it definitely is not a good idea to sit down on the couch (if you were so inclined…) and do nothing. Your muscles would just go into shock and become stiff and then when you pick up again ... Read More
Keep that Fuel Tank topped up!
Sep0
By Guest Blogger Coen van Schijndel, Topvorm - www.topvorm.com
Keep your Energy Tank fuelled!!!
An important concern of cyclists, as well as marathon runners or triatletes and all those that go for the longer nuance races is their energy supply. The energy sources which you have available to support your effort, are your body fat store and the storage of glycogen (carbohydrates) in your liver and muscles together with whatever you manage to consume and add during the actual ... Read More
It’s a crazy world
Sep0
Maybe this has nothing to do with exercise…then again, maybe it does. It does have to do with feeling good so I figured I might as well add it.
Sometimes you have to do things you enjoy, just for the sake of the enjoyment itself. I recently have been thinking about all those things you love doing, which really you don’t do often enough, maybe because it scares you a little, because your ego gets in the way, because you are supposed to be all grown up etc. I have written ... Read More
Exercising for a good cause….
Sep0
In this case, YOU are not the good cause I am referring to in the title, even though that may be equally true of course. I rather meant that from time to time it is a superb motivator to support a charity with your exercising.
I used to pick one event every year for which I would go out and get sponsorship from friends, colleagues and family. Once a year not because I wouldn’t love to do it more often, but simply because you don’t want people to get fed up with you asking ... Read More
The Corkscrew
Sep1
Although the implement this exercise is named after, also may have relaxation as a result – this version is only a great, simple exercise that was explained to me by my physical therapist earlier this week. It is one of the few exercises that stretches all the tendons that keep your skeleton together. And as you will notice when you do this one, it tells you exactly which areas you may need to concentrate on for a while!
Lie flat on your back on a soft mat or rug – stretch ... Read More
the Art of Falling….
Aug0
As I am a keen mountainbiker these days, I regularly run into things. Literally. Mostly the things I run into are of a material that is a lot tougher and harder then me – like trees, trunks, roots and occasionally another biker. The latter always results in a discussion which one was the hardest…. I usually win. 
The softer materials you can run into consist of sand ... Read More
Anaerobic Capacity
Aug3
Today a guest-post by Coen van Schijndel, fitness expert and trainingscoach. www.topvorm.com
When the aerobic system (meaning: with oxygen) cannot cope, because the effort is too high, the body switches to another system: the anaerobic system.
Anaerobic literally means: without oxygen. Physically, it is the moment that you r body cannot cope with the conversion of glucose from carbohydrates as it has to do so without oxygen. Without oxygen, glucose is transferred with the help ... Read More
Grief and fitness
Aug1
Where do you start when discussing how sudden loss impacts your fitness and training? There are so many aspects, I have noticed.
Whereas you may think that an event like a death in your family mostly has a mental and emotional impact, it actually goes way beyond that and has an immediate impact on your physical being. For me, against anything I had anticipated, I didn’t lose my appetite but am ravenous half the time and mostly for sweets. Despite that I lose weight – ... Read More
Life is unpredictable…
Aug0
The realisation that life is the most unpredictable thing ever has just hit me with the utmost force. My beloved brother-in-law, Edmond Spanjersberg, a fit and healthy man – passed away earlier this week, suddenly and without any warning.
This sad event obviously means I will not be writing this blog for the next few days… but I have found several great guest writers that will post their thoughts on training over the coming week.
Life is too short – enjoy it ... Read More
Max Training
Aug0
Having written about testing your maximum heart rate a little while ago, it occurred to me that it had actually been a long time since I did check it myself. In fact, I soon enough discovered it was 6 years ago! I have always trained and roughly know my limits but still – it’s good to test your max more regularly then every 6 years since your age changes (arrggh) and your circumstances change too. So to keep your training at the most effective levels, do a check once every 2 years ... Read More
Building up your training
Aug1
It’s not always easy to know how to go about building up your training, rather then doing the same thing day-in-day-out, week-in-week-out. It’s hard enough to simply train at least 3-4 times each week.
Ofcourse, your training schedule depends on what you are training for. If you are aiming for a certain race – your goal is pretty fixed and you will need to make sure you get to your best performance around that time. But your goal could simply be to lose some weight, ... Read More
Big bike ride
Aug0
I have said it a hundred times, and I’ll say it again – I love the summer. In fact, I love THIS summer in particular, although I will probably claim the same sentiment next year and have done so the past years too… This summer is special, simply because it is NOW.
Training gives you focus – and focus means you can seriously enjoy the moment. Have you noticed how often we are told at the moment that you “should be IN the moment”? It seems the new ... Read More
Summer sweetness
Aug0
It’s summer fruit time! I love it – lots of sugar and sweetness and you can always pretend you are eating your five portions of vegetables and fruit in one sitting because it is GOOD for you
So two great sorbets* I like to make because they are totally refreshing and ofcourse wickedly sweet…
Pomegranate Sorbet
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup ... Read More
