Loading the searchable article library…
Browse published articles attributed to Richard Clarke, with full-archive search.
Do you feel as if your workouts are lacking something? Or maybe you just feel like you’re doing the same thing all of the time. In order for me to be a successful personal trainer then it is so important that I keep my client’s motivated, and improving using a variety of new equipment and training methods.
It has been something which I have felt strongly about for a long time – how I achieve my goals! Anyone who knows me will say that I’m a pretty motivated person, a bit more motivated than most. In this article I will discuss strategies which have helped me “get going” on numerous occasions. I will tell you the simple ways in which I have gone from feeling like I can’t do a thing to feeling like there is nothing I can’t do!r
I may have surprised you with the healthy burger and chips title. Healthy burger and chips? Is that possible. This isn’t even one of my cheat meals. This is just a healthy burger and chips recipe that I wanted to share with you, honestly it's delicious! One of the top reasons people HATE diets is they get BORED they feel like they’re stuck eating the usual salads, meat and veg again and again. It doesn't have to be that way and this recipe is proof of that.
I hate vegetables. More specifically boiled veg. They just make me gag. For someone like me (a fitness and nutrition guy) you may be surprised that I’m telling you this. But I have to be honest with you, I hate them, especially boiled cabbage. It all started in my childhood… My mother used to crucify the veg and boil it to within an inch of its life. I have memories from a young age of eating my Sunday dinner at the table with my brother and sister and actually crying and begging to be able to leave the table and not eat my veg.
So today I want to talk about those nasty looking black fillings, or mercury amalgam fillings. I can guarantee that many of you reading this today have 1 or probably more mercury fillings in your mouth, if you do then you really want to be reading this. Before going onto fillings and the controversy surrounding them, I just want to talk about the substance Mercury. History of Mercury Mercury was used as ointment by 10th century Arabian physicians, it then made its way to Europe by the 13th century and was widely used by the year 1600.
Cancer is devastating. It’s a terrible disease that ends the lives of millions and ruins the lives of our families and friends. My family have been affected and it’s made me think about lots of things I would maybe not of had to think about. In a strange way, via a mixture of fear and anger its motivated me to, help the people closest to me more and further improve my health, for now and for the future. I thought twice about writing an article about this very sensitive, and for me personally, emotional topic.
Yes that’s right, I’m giving more of the fitness industry secrets away – for FREE! This information has massive financial value and some personal trainers will be cringing. Some personal trainers have actually said to me “Rich why are you giving away all your inside secrets?” and I say “these are not my secrets to keep, this information is readily available, if you just know where to look, I’m just sharing my experiences with people and speaking in a language people can understand – plain English!”.
The world has a problem, obesity levels are through the roof. In some parts of the UK around 57% of people are either overweight or obese and in the US its 67%. By 2020 its reported to be around 70% and 80% respectively – now they are crazy statistics if you ask me. There is a human time bomb waiting to go off, I believe there are lots of people walking around with life threatening illnesses like cancer AND THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW IT! They are just weeks and months away from the big tap on the shoulder from the grim reaper which will change their lives forever.
Paunch belly. Pot belly. Pooch belly. Pouch belly. Call it what you want but its does not change the fact that you want rid of it! This problem has become the focus of many women’s energy in the gym, spending large amounts of time trying to flatten that lower tummy area. The most obvious situation that brings on pouch belly is pregnancy, as many women reading this know. Pregnancy and C - sections bring many challenges to women who want a flat tummy - post baby - but it is possible with the right amount and type of work.
I'm sure you all like to hear a nice story. (I read this story online) After the breakdown of her first marriage Brenda started putting on weight. When she reached 20 stone, she decided to go on a diet. Brenda now weighs 9 stone 9lbs and can finally fit into a size 10 dress. The interesting thing was – Brenda was 77 years old It had taken her 50 years to do it! She started her diet in her 20’s and reached her goal in her 70’s. Brenda said “The diet went well over the first few years” “but for the past 40 years I’ve been struggling to lose the last three stone.”r
Just like saturated fat, salt has a very bad reputation. Just like saturated fat, salt is actually needed in the body for it to work optimally. Salt is not totally harmless, but it’s not the devil in disguise either. Confused? Most people are. Basically our body needs salt but at the same time research has proven that too much of it can also be bad for us. Today I will explain why this confusion has arisen and what you need to know and what you can do about it.
Here are the top 5 exercises to remove from your program right now. 1. Anything done with a rounded backr It doesn’t matter if you’re squatting, deadlifting, straight-leg deadlifting, rowing, or even doing triceps kickbacks, you must STOP doing these exercises with a rounded lower back. That’s a one-way ticket to a herniated disc. And you do not want to go there. So make sure that you brace your abs, and keep your back in the neutral position – and even with a slight arch in your low back – as you do dumbbell rows, deadlifts, squats, and Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs).
Being a personal trainer exercise is one of the most important parts of my life. I experience the massive benefits of an active lifestyle which is the reason why I turned it into a career so others can experience the same benefits as me. Every so often people fall out of their exercise routine or maybe just need that little kick to start exercising regularly again! This week’s short and hopefully valuable post will give you ten TOP exercise tips for those of you who want to start going again or just need a bit of new advice:
Hi Everyone, I read this article, by Dr. Sam Bakhtiar and just knew you would benefit from it. Your belly fat is ruining your life – literally. It may look bad in the mirror and it may make your pants fit just a bit too tight. However, what it is really doing to you is causing an increased risk of developing conditions like heart disease and diabetes. The good news is that you can do something about it. How can you make your belly fat go away and get that toned, flat stomach you had when you were younger? It makes sense to make this your goal. #1 - Take Fish Oilr
Is obesity a disease or an addiction? I have been pondering this one recently disease or an addiction. Obesity is now classed as a disease in the America. This has obviously raised a lot of questions on whether this is right. Do the people have no choice about their diet and what they eat? I would agree that “traditional” approaches including diet and exercise have FAILED for so many obese people as the obesity figures across the western world are worrying to say the least. We need alte atives to the obesity problem and a "magic pill” would be welcomed by many.
Fat loss! Many people have wracked their brains trying to find out the best ways to lose fat, as a Personal Trainer my research into fat loss has brought me many great strategies and nearly as many ridiculous strategies. I believe one of the reasons why many diets and dieters fail to reach their goals is by over complicating things, clearly there is a degree of intelligence needed to choose and follow the right fat loss strategy but you don’t need to be a rocket scientist.
Most people can afford a celebrity personal trainer. Most Welsh people can’t even afford a gym membership and healthy eating, but you can get the extra help and motivation you need from a personal trainer even on a tighter budget. I will explain how: Here are some tips to help you stick to your budget without compromising the quality of your results. Set a Fitness Budget - And Stick to It
This week I will be discussing the effects that changes in our hormones have on us. As we age our hormone levels change and with that our lives and relationships can start to change. Men and women become less horny (that’s serious stuff in any relationship if you ask me!) Men especially and women become grumpy (even grumpier) and irritable and have mood swings. Men and women also have memory problems Men and women gain fat and lose muscle Men and women have trouble sleeping
So you have had a bit too much to eat and drink lately and want to quickly get back into the swing of things I thought you may enjoy some quick detox and weight loss tips. There are so many distractions that can slow down your progress through your diet, it is vital that you don’t slip out of your habits for too long. So follow these simple steps should ensure that you are back on course straight away!
Most people actually choose to die than to change their behaviour - fact. I know that is a strong statement but after reading this short article hopefully you will be able to see where I am coming from. So what about you? Are you UNABLE to stop eating or drinking booze? If so, don’t sweat, you are just like the majority of people in the western world today, they also ultimately choose death rather than to change their behaviour. Personally I can’t think of anything worse than being “just like everybody else” and just letting it happen. Many people in the Western World are:r
I am on the subject of health, specifically people who suffer from Diabetes. It’s useful even if you don’t, because you may know someone who has it or you may get it in the future (statistically). Having been in the health and fitness industry for over 15 years, I have learned lots. To be perfectly honest I never thought I would be talking about some of the things in today’s article.
As a Personal Trainer in Swansea my day starts at 6am every morning, this does not mean that I do not get a good night’s sleep. We all love the great feeling of waking up from a great night’s sleep; it gives you the perfect start to the day. We’ve also all felt sluggish for the whole day after a bad night’s sleep, so we need to make sure we are getting enough sleep in our lives. Getting less than 6 hours a sleep can not only leave us feeling tired and unable to function properly for the day but can also be bad for your health. Here are some other benefits of a good night’s rest:
There are some days when I will not be following my normal eating plan. For example a day in the school holidays where my son is off school and I book the day off work to take him and the family somewhere for a day out. I will definitely have a coffee or two and will probably have at least one “treat meal”. I could have anything like a pizza or a burger, with a few chips and a coke of course. I tell you this so you know I’m normal, I eat bad food too, so do my clients. The big difference is, it’s usually in context. This type of indulgence has been planned in.
Did you know obesity is now an actual disease in America? The American Medical Association voted to classify it as a disease last year. Ove ight millions of Americans became officially “diseased”. Is this a crazy or clever move? I don’t really know. Basically they are saying being fat is the same as being sick. I’m not going to get into the pros and cons too much but you can safely say it has split people's opinions. People have come out and said it's gonna be a licence for people NOT to diet and to take pills.
First came low fat then came low carb. But which one is better? I saw a programme the other night on the TV comparing an extreme high fat diet to an extreme high carb diet. They used two doctors who were actually twins, in the experiment which lasted a month. The results may surprise a few people. One thing that would certainly surprise most people is that both doctors had no idea what the effects of the diets were going to be. To quote one of them:r
I was recently talking to a lady who I met in the gym she was telling me about how it was a new week and she was going to get herself back on track and lose the weight she wanted to. Firstly it is great that the lady was in the gym on a Monday and a bit fired up to start her week on the front foot with some healthy eating and quality exercise. She was making the NORMAL decision to start things off on a Monday (again). Its the beginning of the week. The best place to start don't you think? Well maybe not. Let me explain why Monday is probably not the best day to start a new diet.r
When people say they want to ‘lose weight’, what they are usually trying to say is that they want to lose their body fat (bf). The difference, however, is crucial. Losing weight is far easier than losing bf. In this article I will explain what I believe is a very important area that anyone who is overweight needs to understand.
As a personal trainer and nutritional expert, personally I would say that going organic is definitely worth it. Yes, it does cost quite a bit more but you are making an investment in the future. What do I mean? Well by buying organic food you are getting more benefits that a nicer tasting meal, by making a stand against processed food and purchasing organic food you are saying no to the chemicals, hormones and toxins which are being pumped into our meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables. You are showing that you actually care about what you are putting into your body on a day to day basis.
A personal training client of mine recently got on the scales and was disappointed by what she saw. She was feeling positive and thought everything was going well until she got on the scales and had not lost a single pound. Of course she then went from feeling positive, to the complete opposite, disappointed, gutted and a bit angry that she hadn’t been “rewarded” for her last week or so’s efforts. We have all been there. It feels like its not fair.
A lot of people will find it hard to believe that exercise will give you energy. How can an activity which depletes so many of your body’s stores give you more energy? Well as a personal trainer for many years I can tell you that it really does. I know if you’re tired the last thing in many people’s thoughts would be to go to the gym or to go for a run, but if you do go for it you will feel just as energized if not more so than you would if you had taken a nap.
Do you ever get “Fat ugly days”? Days when you just feel fat and ugly and don’t want to leave the house? My wife was having a fat and ugly day yesterday according to her. She said it’s very common amongst women, especially at a certain time of the month. rn(and some men too of course) To be honest “fat ugly day” is not a term I had ever heard until a few years ago. I first heard it from a comedian and my wife thought it was hilarious and said she could relate to feeling like that.
I was in the gym with a client doing some squats the other morning. He was telling me how he was feeling a bit “bloated and wobbly" around the tummy area and had put on half a stone in a matter of days. He lifted up his shirt to prove it, and he looked to me, to be holding water. Now this chap is like a racing snake, he is quite slim, so I knew a diet is not what he needed. But as I said he was holding water – BIG TIME - he was like a pregnant woman. He knew why, he had been a naughty boy he just wanted me to help him get it off as quickly as it had come on.
Our brains are wonderful things, when they work properly. They say we have two voices/people inside each of us. Your brain and thoughts can make or break your success in anything you choose to do. Not sure if you are aware but your brain has two levels of function. Things are either done at a conscious level or the subconscious level. They are two very different mental places. Subconscious (or unconscious) stuff is usually done without you realising it. Like driving a car. Ever make a journey and arrive at your destination and the journey was a blur?r
I have dedicated a substantial part of my life as a personal trainer from Swansea reasearching and trying to find the best weight loss methods, the best exercises and the best ways to treat your body. Recently I have delved into the body of research surrounding ‘Detox’, my findings have lead me to believe that every person should go through a period of ‘detoxification’. Most herbal doctors and health practitioners actually recommend a detox at least once a year. So why do you need to detox?
Have you heard the one about the man who had a patch stitched into his tongue so he could eat less food? I’m afraid to say there is no punch line and it’s not even a joke, it’s true. Some people are so stupid. They would rather opt for crazy surgery than do so basic things right. The procedure involves a tongue patch being SEWN onto your tongue to make eating and swallowing so painful that people with it will only be able to eat liquid foods. People with the tongue patch are then given an 800 calorie a day liquid nutrition programme to follow.
In the last few weeks I have been watching a story unfold online and I just have to bring it to your attention. It involves a new online service called the Fat Information Service (FIS), which has been set up to help people better understand the role and benefits of dietary fats, primarily the difference between good and bad fats or as it is put on the website “understand the facts from fiction when it comes to dietary fats and oils.”
Countless well meaning individuals eat and exercise well and get into a great routine and then something happens. It could be anything from a night out, a flat tyre, a holiday, Christmas! Anyway this event throws out your healthy eating plan/regime sometimes only for 1 day but it can have a big effect.
If you continually do something again and again then it becomes boring, exercise is no different. Being a personal trainer in Swansea I can assure you that it is vital that you don’t let your training go stale. I love exercise, it is one of the biggest parts of my life but not even I could enjoy 100 sit ups a day 5 days a week, every week! By adding new exercises and types of training to your workout program you are ensuring that it never gets boring, as well as allowing yourself the opportunity to try out new potentially great exercises.
1. Cut out soft drinks. They are useless calories. If you have to have a fizzy drink then mix fizzy water and squash or juice. The removal of soft drinks alone has been credited as removing the insulin-related belly fat of many a dieter. 2. Stop eating processed foods. Processed foods have so many additives, sugars, and other unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients that it really isn’t a worthwhile addition to the diet.
Last Monday during a session with my personal training clients I was talking to the girls who have just joined one of my new group programmes. The group is there to teach exercise primarily but I would never train anyone without at least informing them of the basics of diet in relation to exercise. So there we were at the end of the session having a chat about food/diet/weight loss etc.
Every year where I live and around the UK many people get the flu jab in an attempt to ward off the flu like symptoms for the dark cold winter months. Let me explain why, unless you are in a “high risk” group you should not bother with the flub jab. They advertise Flu Season like it is a party. Balloons and banners everywhere up the surgery and supermarkets. The "good news" this year is, that 4 year old’s can now get it! I think it's wrong. 1. The vaccination is full of TOXIC chemicals which are dangerous for your body. And B I personally don’t even think it works.
The word overload triggers a degree in caution in most people I would say. As a personal trainer in Swansea I have planned and designed thousands of exercise programmes and worked with thousands of different clients of all ranges and abilities. In order for my clients to improve I need to structure my training programs in a progressive manner. Build people up as it were…. In order for the body to improve it needs to be pushed to its limits, however I can’t stress enough that this needs to be done gradually over a period of time.
I was having a chat with a lady in the gym recently. She was “starting back” (AGAIN). I said “how’s the training going?” She said “its ok at the minute, but ask me again in a couple of weeks”. I said, “Why, what do you mean?” She said “every time I try to get fit and lose some weight, I do really well for a few weeks and then I usually get ill” This is something which is VERY common. So as always I thought I would share some practical advice to make your life a bit easier. Here is the scenario…
So the cold weather has arrived a tad early and it has left many people wanting to “hibe ate” through until spring. Get the shopping in, close the door, put the TV on and don’t leave the house all day, sound familiar? In the UK at this time of year, the amount of daylight we get is less than half of what we get in July, 8 hours per day in December compared to 16.5 hours per day in July. Due to this, many people in the UK suffer from a vitami D deficiency. So do you just accept it as the way it is or do you do something about it?
I wonder what you are all thinking, McDonalds maybe, KFC, Burger King, Pizza, Chocolate I would imagine would be the most common answers to this question. Quite surprising that these things spring to mind and are probably consumed more than most in the world today. Being a personal trainer one of my primary aims is to educate my client’s and readers, on how to eat healthily. Eating healthily is one of the primary factors in determining one’s health. A bad diet = bad health a good diet = good health more often than not.
The work place is a competitive environment, and is even more competitive in recent times. With promotions becoming all the more important, people are willing to do whatever needs to be done to keep their jobs or get a new one. To get the “bit extra”, you need to do that bit extra, right? Starting work earlier. Finishing work later. Working through your lunch hour. Eating in the car or on the run. You have kept this routine up for years. You are putting in 50-60hrs a week, your boss is very happy. You are doing well. This is how a lot of us live our lives.
We live in a high paced, high stressed world. Most of us suffer from some sort of stress, myself included. Busy busy busy all of the time. Not even enough time to stop and take a deep breath and relax for a moment. Everyone working full time, longing for each day to be over so you can go home a rest, maybe with a glass of wine or a beer. Financial worries, work problems and family and social issues seem to get the better of a lot of people in the world today and understandably they struggle to cope. High levels of stress can lead to a whole host of serious health problems.
We’ve all been there, pigging out at the weekend, had a stressful day in work come home and ordered a curry, this is life I’m afraid. As a personal trainer I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve been there myself. Many people train and train, they improve their fitness but the reason that their results aren’t as impressive as they should be is down to their nutrition programme. Often the toughest part of a healthy life is choosing the foods you eat, you only need to dedicate about 5 hours a week to training whereas you need to commit to eating well 24/7!
Body shape and how you feel in your body is a really important factor which influences peoples moods, feelings and their life. Making sure you have firm, toned and great looking legs is a priority of most of us. With the holiday season fast approaching and the weather already starting to improve, it won’t be long until we are faced with the dilemma of taking our shirts off and exposing our bodies. Something some people dread where as other people will dread. To give yourself a fighting chance, start now with these 3 great exercises
Through life as a personal trainer and health coach people often look up to me and see me as a role model when it comes to exercise and healthy eating. People often ask me questions like what do I have for breakfast, what do I do in the gym every day, why don't I ever fall off the 'health wagon' and a lot more! I'm happy to tell people the answers. For the record for breakfast I have a green vegetable smoothie 3-4 days a week. Training days I have fruit, nuts and bio/greek yoghurt, or sometimes I skip breakfast, or I have bacon and eggs or similar.