Being sensible with food choices is your best bet to healthy eating. We generally know what is good for us and what is bad and simply being conscious of our choices is the first step. There is an interesting model that shows the path to making a change, which actually relates to anything in our lives but its interesting to note here.

The idea being presented, is that we can not make a change until we have made a conscious decision too change and it is very easy to fall back into previous state if there is not enough motivation to keep us in changed state. So once you have made the decision to change we need to educate ourselves and motivate ourselves to stay in our new ways.

It is very difficult to advise on nutrition as a generalisation because everyone has different needs, but here is some general guidance.

We need to stay clear of too many sugars, fats and simple carbs. We should try and gets as many colours on our plate as we can, so all the fruits and vegetables in varied colours give different vitamins and minerals which are really important in our diet.

For those of us who train a lot during the week, its important that we fuel our bodies for training. After a long training session, trying to get some form of protein in is a good idea to help with muscle repair. Also a complex carb based meal within two hours of training is also important to replenish glycogen stores and generally help us keep going. Many diet plans will take out carbohydrates, I personally disagree with this method as advice for someone who is training regularly. Our bodies need this to give us energy, in order to do well at our sport we need a lot of energy and we tend to be burning carbohydrates when we play Roller Derby as we tend to be using the lactate energy system. If we don’t therefore fuel our body correctly its not going to be working efficiently. So instead of cutting out I tend to advise getting the right ones, always go for wholmeal rather than white and try and replace bread and potatoes with pulses, lentils, bulgar wheat and such things. A lack of carbohydrate in the muscles during training, will also effect our concentration levels as well. It will still need to get it from somewhere and if there is not a sufficient store in our muscles it will take it from else where (generally this comes from our liver which holds the store for our brain, this is the main reason for confusion when we over train).

I am obviously just touching the surface when it comes to nutrition there are a lot of different areas to look into and also a lot of different theories out there. I am personally a firm believer of eat smart and clean, rather than diet and panic or worry to much about your diet. It’s so easy to get into a bad relationship with food. I am a food lover, but I am lucky that the foods I love tend to be the good ones. I love fruit and vegetables and eating healthy isn’t to difficult for me. I am not super healthy, measuring out my portions or counting calories however. Maybe I should pay more attention to my diet, but I know when I’ve had a bad day and I can recognise when I need to tidy up my diet. So my advice is, put back the donut and have a think about what is a healthier option.

Also to note, is when its difficult to make the right choices, is when we are pushed for time or being influenced by others. This tends to be early morning rushing off to work and lunch time, eating at the desk or popping out and grabbing fast food because we didn’t plan ahead. Here are some of my favourite quick breakfast and lunch options. I will note here, I pre prepare my food. However it doesn’t take a lot of time and it simply a case of building a habit. I shop on a Sunday and cook for the week on a Sunday evening after training, so they are generally quick to prepare. Occasionally I may do it on a Monday if I have run out of time.

BREAKFAST

Simple Fruit and Greek yogurt

Tinned pineapple (make sure its in juice not syrup)
Grapes
Grapefruit
Blueberries
Any fruit will work really
Can add granola as a topping and some honey to sweeten if you prefer

Smoothies

Your choice of fruit
Then I add half a cup porridge oats to bulk it up a bit and make it keep me fuller for longer.
I use Greek yogurt in mine too.
I make it the night before and leave in fridge for the morning, as I tend to have my breakfast after my morning clients. I will be leaving the house at 6:15 for a 7:00am client so don’t really have time to eat, this way I can eat either on the train or quickly between clients or even during training a client if they don’t mind

Bircher Muesli

Preparation time: 15 minutes
You will need
150g rolled oats
50g dried fruit of your choice
50g shredded coconut
A handful of pistachio nuts
150ml milk
150ml apple juice
150g organic plain yoghurt
1 tbsp agave syrup or honey
1 apple, grated
50g chopped hazelnuts, fresh blueberries, raspberries, passion fruit, pomegranate or any fruit of your choice really, to serve

This made enough for a three days for two, so would probably be enough for a week for one

Porridge

With toppings
Apple and cinnamon
Banana and honey
Raisins or blueberries or raspberries mixed in with honey on top

LUNCH

Salad (a real good one)

Chicken – I tend to buy chicken thighs as they are a cheaper option season to taste chuck in the oven and then refrigerate for the week. Simples

In my salad I usually have a selection of leaves. I like spinach and its got good lot of vitamins in it plus iron
Cherry tomatoes
Sweet peppers again all the colours
Carot – I like batons
Butter beans – you could do a mix of beans you can usually buy a tin pretty cheap
Avocado

Then I will have either cous cous, rice or a small amount of pasta

Good way of making your cous cous more interesting, make it up with chicken stock, then squeeze a lemon into the mix and add raisins or a mix of dried fruit. I quite like some herbs or spices mixed in to. Cinnamon and cumin work well for a Moroccan vibe. Or paprika and chilli with fresh coriander.

This is real easy to put together i will just cook a bulk of chicken and rice or cous cous on a Sunday evening and then put the salad together each evening ready for the next day. And why not add some nuts and seeds to the top of your salad too. With the change between seasoning on the chicken the choice between rice, pasta or cous cous this can keep you going for a couple of weeks before you get bored too.

Thai style burrito (my own invention)

Ginger and chilli chicken
Coconut rice
Tomato and sweet pepper salsa
Salad
All in a wrap
=
Delicious

This week I have made a big stew

Moroccan theme (bit obsessed with Moroccan style food at the moment)
Chicken, parsnip, butternut squash, apricot, spices, chilli and then pomegranate and fresh coriander stirred in at the end yummers!!

Quite basically put the boring sandwich away and get inspired. If your not a great cook simply google for a recipe its pretty easy food. The hardest part is getting yourself to get in the kitchen and prepare it all without eating it there and then

Available Now!!

Want to improve your stability on the track? or your agility? or perhaps get that six pack to show off at the after party? well I have just what you need…

…The ‘Core Blimey’ Training plan

Core Blimey is a core focused exercise plan, consisting of 12 sessions based on a two week rotation. The body is a master adapter, so in order to keep it working in a progressive stage we need to keep changing up our exercise routine. This Core Blimey program works on a two week rotation to do just that and can be adapted to suit any level. Ideally suited to three sessions a week, but for maximum results couple with the included Daily Blast session. After 4 weeks you will not only have a greatly improved core strength but will also have a vast wealth of exercises to continue your training. Each session has been kept to between 15-30 minute sessions, so that they can easily fit into a busy schedule.

“I have been following the Core Blimey training plan and have noticed a massive improvement in my stability and agility on the track , I would definitely recommend it.” Total Frey-hem (Totes Frey Frey) LRG

 The Plan comes with an easy to use level guide, to ensure its suitable for all fitness levels. A training program planner to help you plan your sessions around your day to day life. And pictures and videos to explain and demonstrate all the exercises.

so what are you waiting for click the buy it now button below and get a step closer to a stronger, fitter, better derby you!

So this week we have a good workout session, it’s a gym based one.

First we have Step Up’s with heavy weight. I am using 10kg

Next we have over head squats with medicine ball.

Next exercise, lunges with barbell. Again go big here.

Next we’ve got, squat jumps with dumbells. I’ve gone for 5kg in each hand.

Lastly we have a bit of resistance training using the treadmill. Put the incline up to 4, don’t turn the treadmill on but push the belt round.

Run each of these exercises for 30 sec and break them up by 30 sec of abs exercises of your choice. X3 sets enjoy

Medicine ball medley

This week we have a workout to do using the medicine ball. I quite like this piece of equipment for mixing up your usual routine. And it’s easy to get hold of too and a good piece of equipment to have at home. So here goes…

… Exercise 1
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, back straight shoulder back. Hold the med ball in outstretched arm in front of you, now slowly raise the ball up over your head then slowly back down to your thighs. Repeat x10

Exercise 2
Same position as before but this time, draw a large circle with the ball. Nice and slow and controlled. Repeat x10

Exercise 3
Same position as first two, but this time we are moving the ball from side to side. This should cause our torso to twist, but we want to keep our hips facing forward. Repeat x10

Exercise 4
Plank with hands on the med ball, make sure your shoulders in line with hands. Hold for 20 sec

Exercise 5
Roman twist. Sit on the floor feet off the floor, knees at 90 degrees. Keeping a straight back lean torso back, hold the med ball at sternum height and twist torso side to side. Repeat x20
(For beginners keep feet on floor)

Exercise 6
Sit ups with med ball over head. Normal sit ups but start with med ball in hands and arms above head, do sit up and fish with med ball above head. Repeat x20

Exercise 7
Press up with hands on med ball. Have one hand on med ball one on floor, perform a press up then roll the med ball to other hand, press up. Repeat x10
(For more advance try with both hands on med balls, don’t roll obviously).

X3 sets (now repeat the whole lots three times, 30 sec rest between each set)

Here are some exercises I tried earlier this week, not for the faint hearted

Inspiration for a New Year

After a long break its always difficult to get back to training, especially as its always shocking how much we can have lost in the period off. So in light of the New Year and the Christmas break, I thought today’s post would be purely about inspiring change. Getting that fire back for the new year of new goals, more work and pushing all that much harder to achieve all that we want for 2013.

My goals are pretty simple this year, be better! Last year ended up being a lot of changes, so this year I really want to push that step further, get stronger, fitter and be a more technically adept skater.

With all that in mind I have started back to training with some good hard sessions. Here’s a workout for you to try, my second of the new year:

10x intervals on treadmill
90 sec @ 12kph incline 3
12x TRX pistol squats each leg

Lunges with kettle bell held at 90• 3×12 on each leg 90 sec rest

Press ups
Push press
Row TRX
x10 reps of each x3 sets

Here’s a video I found recently and thought was pretty inspiring for women in a sport.

Beauty in Strength

Good luck with the new year and I hope you achieve all that you want to.

;

This week we have a Workout Wednesday for those of you that use a gym. First of all find the freestyle area in your gym and get yourself a gym ball, a VPR, a step and a medicine ball.

You’ll need a bit of space for this.

We are going to do a circuit of 5 exercises, each station lasts 20 sec and you do the circuit 3 times. Why don’t you keep count of repetitions and then you can try and better it each time.

Station 1

Side to side shuttles over step. Put the step down to its lowest setting, stand to one side of it. Step onto the step sideways (don’t cross your feet over, foot closest to step first then other steps to meet it), then off the step the other side and back. Do this as fast as you can for 20 seconds.

Station 2

Squat punches with VPR (if you cant find a VPR, or your gym doesn’t have them then use hand weights, VPR is a rubber tube with handles in varying weights).
Hold the VPR in both hands, at shoulder height out in front of you laterally. Sit into a squat, extend one arm out at shoulder height punching the VPR out, then bring back and punch the other arm out. This should be fast again, try and maintain a straight back and a good squat. You should feel this working your core and shoulders.

Station 3

Plank on medicine ball. Hands on the medicine ball, makes sure that your shoulders are over your hands (so there is a straight line from ball up to your shoulder). In a good plank you should have a straight line running from your shoulders to your toes, try tilting your hips forward engaging your abs and keeping your back flat rather than arching your back.
If you find this too easy try taking one hand off and taking your arm straight up to the side hold for half the time then swap the arm.

Station 4

Jack knifes on the gym ball (if you gym has TRX then use these instead).
Put your feet on the gym ball, so you are in a high plank position (again make sure your shoulders are over hands and you’ve got a good straight back). Keeping your legs straight pull your feet towards your hands (your bum will raise up into the air so you create a V shape) then roll them back down to plank position. Keep repeating nice and controlled, for the 20 seconds.
If you struggle with keeping the balance for this exercise, try just bending knees and pulling knees to chest instead.

Station 5

Last station
Medicine ball sit ups
lye flat on your back, legs straight. Hold medicine ball in hands, arms outstretched above head. keeping legs straight sit up, keeping ball above head arms outstretched toward the ceiling. Try and make sure when you sit up, you keep straight back. this exercise is best slow and controlled try and focus on maintaing good form.

Each station for 20 sec and repeat 3 times, good luck.

On the 16th 17th and 18th of November Bear City played host to the first ever European WFTDA tournament Track Queens and if you were lucky enough to be there, then you will understand completely my excitement when talking of it. What a tournament!

I didn’t really know what to expect going to the tourney. It made me realise how out of touch I had become with the rest of Europe.When I started derby, I used to go to every game I could. Every weekend would be spent watching or playing a game. But over the years my bank balance cant take the battering anymore and my training has intensified, so getting to games is much more difficult. So when asked what my predictions were for the weekend, I realised my ideas of leagues were completely outdated and I simply couldn’t guess. All I hoped for was an exciting tournament, I love to route for the underdog. As it turned out we had a tournament full of upsets, close games and just some really good roller derby.

What did I take from the tournament, well (other than a medal and team trophy)

something I hope everyone participating and watching took and that’s, inspiration. It was so great to see tactical game play, skillful skaters and really close games. These teams had been working so hard and all I hope is that this level of European Roller Derby will keep rising. I really want to see more European teams taking it to American teams, its all about dreaming big. Have that slightly unrealistic goal, for your league that can push you all forward as a team and make you reach your best.

The best upsets from the tournament were the two teams ranked 10th and 9th. Go Go Gent and Helsinki, finishing 6th and 5th both jumping 4 places. These two teams were so fantastic to see, and clearly goes to show that with a great attitude, a team can advance really quickly.

Helsinki have been one of my favorite teams for a while now. I love they’re passion for the game and their dedication to training hard to get good results. They were ranked 9th and finished 5, one of their skaters collected MVP Jammer and they generally really impressed me throughout the tournament. They won their first game against Crime City Rollers and so proceeded to play us. As a jammer I found Helsinki’s walls the tightest and so toughest to break through, they’re defense really stood out to me throughout the tournament. I had been to coach them a few months previously and could really see how they had improved, seriously driven by their goal to play against LRG at the tournament. I spoke to Lady La La from Helsinki recently and asked for her account of the tournament and her’s teams progression.

Track queens was one of those events we will remember for years to come. It will be remembered especially by members of Helsinki’s All-Star Ninja Turtles. The weekend itself was amazing for the fact that there were so many people there all with the same passion. The turtles will remember it as a weekend of achievement and smiles. Our team came into the tournament originally ranked 10th and then upped to be seeded as 9th. We came out of the tournament with the best possible result. We are now ranked 5th AND we got to play London Brawling. We actually achieved all of our goals and we couldn’t be prouder.

How did we do it?
The whole squad of 20 trained incredibly hard and put our heart and souls into the team. We worked on our skating skills, fitness, strategy and anything else that we could think of to improve our overall game. We always knew we had solid skaters, but the trick was really building our game as a team.

To do this we pulled all of the best resources you can imagine! Team USA held a boot camp in Helsinki (woop!) which really opened our eyes to what it takes to be the best, and we shipped Rogue Runner over to work especially with the squad in areas we felt really needed improving. I can’t explain how much this one on ‘one’ time helped our team and our game. It really opened our eyes, gave us ideas and ways to achieve results.

With the advice from our friends the remaining training sessions had so much purpose. We also had a dedicated bench crew jump on board. Having an injured head ref as our line up manager, a 3rd base coach willing to learn everything and our injured ex captain bench coaching. Having people in the team that weren’t skaters themselves really showed us another perspective on things and proved valuable.

With all this combined our walls became something that opposing jammers complained about, and our overall game (strategy, knowledge of the game) changed for the better.

Now that the tournament is over it’s hard to grasp that it’s ended. Our goals were for filled and we had fun, danced and smiled while doing it. Now it’s time for new goals! what happens next?

So I can safely say I have only just recovered from that weekend and I think La La is correct we wont be forgetting that one for a long time.

I often find myself in this personal battle, with roller derby and my day to day life. Trying to make the two con-inside without loosing sight of either one. Getting the right balance between spending enough time on each without running myself into the ground.

I recently completely overhauled my life, moving cities, changing career, moving derby leagues trying to do stuff to build a career rather than the dead end job that I had found myself in. But because of this I have barely had time to come up for air since the end of May, I have quite literally not stopped.

Most would probably never have even considered doing what I have done, if I told you the ins and outs and logistics you would probably think I was clinically insane (perhaps I am). But it had got to a point that I had to make a drastic change. The problem was that because there were so many changes all at once, I have kind of found myself swept up and completely lost in it all. I occasionally feel a bit like I have absolutely no control over any aspect of my life now. I should probably be a nervous wreck, never quite sure what’s coming next, but I actually feel pretty calm in it all.

Finding the balance between, which gets the most attention. Life and career or derby career?

Life and career
So I changed my job, I trained to become a personal trainer and in six weeks my training was complete and I was thrown head first into a new job. Not just a new job, a new job in a new city and not just any city, London. Not just London but Oxford Street, right in the centre of London. I went from working in a pretty boring mundane job in a fairly quite city (for its size) to the crazy manic streets of London. Not just that but I was also to come to terms with being self employed, having never been the best a dealing with money I now have to manage my own earnings. On top of that my boyfriend was not moving with me straight away, he was doing the sensible thing of staying in his job until he had another and would join me once it had worked or failed and I fled back with my tail between my legs.

Derby career
Adjacent to this I moved roller derby league, anyone who doesn’t know our sport would not understand how this would effect anything. But to us, we’re in deep. This sport becomes a part of you, it’s something that defines me now. When asked what I do, it’s difficult to choose which to respond with, PT or play Roller Derby and I can’t count how many times I have signed of the end of a works email Rogue rather than Jess. I guess it’s safe to say that, because it was LRG that I was moving to it was a bit of a bigger deal than any other league. Now before you tut or hiss at me and think that I am disregarding the rest of the uk roller derby scene, know that I am not! But what I mean is that (and I am sure many of you feel the same), it is sort of like joining the big kids playground at school. You want to be there but you not fully convinced you can manage to keep up with them. Also because of the time I was joining them, during the lead up to eastern regionals! When I joined I really didnt expect to make that roster. Of course I hoped it, who wouldn’t? Being a skater who always strives to be the best I can, in that league of course I wanted to make it. I am competitive naturally, I think it’s been ingrained in me from such a young age to strive to be the best that there’s no way I could not try to make that team. But anyway back on track. The whole ordeal of joing the league then making the roster and having to adapt so quickly to a new group of skaters, team mates, friends and all at such an important time. Had me swept up in another whirl wind.

So where does someone in this crazy mass of new, find the balance?

Some days the enphasis is on making practice, attendance points. Other days it’s being at work for a client or because I am on shift and so have to be in the gym. And of course on top of all that theres the constant worry of money. That irritating constraint that controls us and our lives even if we don’t want it to. Practice doesn’t earn me any money, work does. But if I don’t get to practice I will go stir crazy and no one will want me as their personal trainer because I’ll be this stressed out ball of mess.

So there you have it, my life in all it’s manic glory for the past 5 months. What I have come to realise is that the balance comes from realising that without one the other wouldn’t work. If I don’t go to derby practice and see team mates and improve at this skill that I love, then I am generally unhappy and find I have no focus and for me to live to work is not my lifes ethos. But if I don’t focus on work, how am I suppose to afford all these great experiences that Roller Derby offers me. I guess for me my personal well being and happiness is paramount to my success in my work. I have to be the irritatingly positive person who drives others to succeed and so in order for me to be that I have to be happy and succeeding myself. And the way I do that is through my hobby, roller derby.

Of course this is all easy to say, but what if training has stopped making you feel happy? Your not feeling like a success at practice, more like a failure?? Well then your balance is wrong and you need to address why you are feeling that negative way. Because that negative is simply a state of mind and it’s only you who controls your state of mind. So therefore you need to stop focussing on the negative and start looking for the good. Get your balance back, if you had a bad day at work, then make sure you have a great practice. Use your derby to offset your work and vice versa.

In which case I sort of think the balance is pulling the two together a bit more. I have also started trying to find a way that they can feed into each other more and using my career to find ways to better my derby. Ok I do have that a bit easier than most, I work in a gym so coming up with new ways to get fit for derby is really just me training in a gym not a bad job really. But it helps to keep focussing on both and the more I experiment the more interesting I can make my sessions with my clients and the better my business becomes.

So that’s my balance, and although my life is pretty crazy and manic I can say I have it in the balance. For now!

This week is a bit of a special workout Wednesday as its a sneak peak of one of my derby specific training plans which will be coming soon to download from this site. It’s also a bit of an advert for my personal training and training plans which are available now, so if you are interested please message me for more information.

Sneak peak…

…taken from ‘Core Blimey’ Session 2

For roller derby as I have often said before you need a seriously strong core, but how do I get one you ask? Well here is a quick core blast session you can do, really quick just about 10 minuets so no excuses for not having the time.

leg raises 45degree 20 sec hold
Leg raises 6inch 20 sec hold
Slow leg raises – legs up to 45degree, slow lower down to six inches (count of 4) x10
repeat x2

Plank 30 sec
Plank obliques 10 each side
Plank leg pulses 10 each side
Repeat x2

Reverse crunches x20
Leg raise ab and adductors x20
Leg raise kicks x20

Side plank hold 10 sec
Side plank crunches x10
Repeat on other side

High plank in and outs 20 sec
High plank ab and adductors 20 sec
High plank ski jumps 20sec
Repeat x2

Like this workout, want more like it then watch this space for my downloads coming very soon.

This workout Wednesday is brought to you by the wonderful Mills from LBRG, another super fit derby friend of mine

I love cardio. I love to sweat. I love it when my heart beats so quick it feels like it’s making the room shake. You know what’s good for that – interval training. Quick bursts of short, fast, high intensity cardio with a rest in-between. I know Roguey Bum will have covered it before, but there’s nothing better than blowing your backside off, doing intense bursts of cardio and then recovering super quick before you go for it again.

Try these – Remember, it’s up to you to whack them out as quickly as you can to get the most out of the exercise. As fast as you can whilst maintaining good form.

30 secs of each, straight after each other –

Fast jumping jacks – hands touching together at the top, quick, quicker than you’ve ever done them before, (so quick that you feel a bit of a doofus doing them like that.)

Pouncing tigers – as introduced by our fitness coach Miggins and a fave. Down into a plank, pop back, spring from the floor, jump up as high and quick as you can (knees don’t need to be to chest) hands out in front as if in a tiger ‘grrrr’ position and the key part of this move is – a tiger ‘rarrrrrrrrr’. A loud one. Big rarrrrrrrrr from right down in your belly. As soon as you’ve jumped, go straight back down for the next one, quick succession.

Jump lunges – hands on head, knee almost touching the floor each time, alternating sides, fast. Remember, knee straight over ankle, don’t over stretch.

30 secs rest.

Repeat 3 times – 30 seconds of each exercise, 30 secs break.

Angry Sumos – Another Miggins introduction and another fave – squat down low, in a sumo position, hands in a fist touching down onto the floor in between your legs. From that low squatted position, spring up and turn to face the other direction and straight down into a squat, fists touch the floor. One fluid movement, keep repeating.

Mountain climbers – stand upright, head and shoulders up, kick up alternate legs and punch up with alternate arms, as if climbing a mountain. Quick. With urgency.

Donkey kicks – squat down, lean forward, arms out in front, fall onto your arms and at the same time, kick up and back with your legs. Pop back up and straight back down into the next one. Quick succession.

30 secs rest.

Repeat 3 times – 30 seconds of exercise, 30 secs break.

Once you’ve done these and start to get used to the 90 secs exercise, 30 secs break, raise the time to 45 secs of each exercise or add a further exercise for 30 seconds onto each set. Try –

Tricep kicks – Face upwards, hands and feet on the floor (as if in a reverse plank, but bent legs) hands pointing down towards your feet, elbows pointing back. Keep head up and chin off chest and quickly kick up and out with alternate legs. Burny.

Suicide jumps (or burpees, unless you add a push up with your burpees!) – Down into a plank, pop back, spring from the floor, jump up as high and quick as you can, knees to chest, straight back down and into plank to begin again. Fast succession.