The bench press is a favourite amongst people that lift weights and it's not just so we can claim how much we 'bench' (although that's part of it). I'm a big fan of the bench press being incorporated into everyone's training program and here's 5 reasons why...

I'm attempting to try something new this year - I've committed to running a marathon and I'm aiming to complete it in under 3 hours and 50min. This is very different from my typical training goals that have been very strength focused for some time now and I know in order to successfully achieve this I need the right motivation. I'm still 17 weeks from race day and a long way from claiming any sort of success but I'm laying down some mindset groundwork early and I thought I'd share the process with you. Here are 3 motivational strategies that I'm always asking my clients to apply but now it's my turn to put it into practice...

Kilojoules (kj) & calories (cal) are both used to measure the amount of energy in foods and drinks, the same as kilometres and miles are both used to measure distance. It can be confusing having two measurements for the same thing particularly when they're both commonly used. Let's unpack some of this confusion and discover an easy conversion factor to make working with both measurements easier...

The start of the year is a time for setting new health & fitness goals for many of us, which is great, but setting goals and even establishing well thought out strategies to achieve them is simply not enough. So many goals decided on the 1st of January unfortunately fail and I've noticed that it's because something important is often missing from the start. Don't let your new year's motivation fade, make sure you've considered this... 

Do you have health & fitness goals that are important to you but pushed to the side just because it's December? Should we accept that nothing great is achieved in the last month of the year and just set a new goal to begin the 1st of January? I hope not! If you're thinking about abandoning your health & fitness goals during December I want you to ask yourself these 5 questions...

Enjoying a drink (or 2) is an important part of how we socialise & celebrate. Unfortunately the energy in alcohol can drastically set back weight loss goals. Try these 7 tips to lower energy intake while drinking alcohol for better weight control over the Christmas & New Year party season. 

Staying hydrated during training is important but what role do sports drinks play and are they right for you and your goals? Unlike soft drink which is an obvious poor choice, sports drinks such as Maximus, Gatorade and Powerade introduce a difficult decision for some people. When are sports drinks required or are they are required at all?  Let's take a look..

Do you feel your motivation slowly slipping as the days get shorter & the weather gets cooler?  You're certainly not alone. Training in Winter can be hard but don't let it stop you! Here are 5 practical tips to help you stay motivated to train during Winter.... 

Do you find yourself reaching for snacks more often or serving up larger portions when it's cold? If you answered 'yes', you're not alone.

Nuts are an easy snack that taste great and best of all they're good for us. They contain protein, healthy fats (mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated) and a variety of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants making them an important part of a healthy diet. Find out more...

Being able to motivate my clients is the most important part of personal training. My training programs & technique coaching is worth absolutely nothing if I'm not able to consistently motivate my clients to turn up to training sessions. Motivation is not 'one size fits all' - you need to find the best motivator for you. Here are 10 tips that I hope you find helpful...

It's hot, you sweat more during your training sessions & you need to stay hydrated to perform at your best. I have put together some pre, intra and post training hydration guidelines to help you stay safe and train hard during summer. Here you go...

I'm going to answer this question in the first sentence - Yes, you should eat before your personal training session. What you eat. how much and how soon beforehand is often personal preference, determined by the type of training & intensity but a topic for another day. The short answer is "yes". If you want to find out why read on, if not, feel welcome to stop right here...

After 9pm? After 6pm? After lunch? When should you really stop eating carbohydrates if you're trying to  drop body fat or control your weight?

I don't want to just provide you with a personal training service - I want you to get the most out of it. Here are my top 5 tips to get the most out of your personal training.

The dead lift is widely considered to be one of the best 'all round' exercises. In a lot of people's opinion (including mine) it's the 'king of all lifts' and can safely & effectively contribute to both strength & fitness training programs if performed correctly. Check out these 5 reasons why you should dead lift...

We all know that getting enough protein in the diet is important for recovery following a hard training session, BUT, are you getting enough and do you know where to get it? Meeting your protein requirements is absolutely necessary for growth and repair of all body tissues. Inadequate intake delays recovery from exercise, interferes with muscles growth and maintenance, reduces energy levels, inhibits training and sport performance and increases the risk of injury from over training. Find out how much protein you need & what foods have it...

75% failed by the end of January and 95% by the end of the year - that's an unfortunate fate for the vast majority of news year's resolutions. Don't repeat past failures this year - check out these 7 Tips To Achieve Your New Year's Fitness Resolution. 

Surviving the Christmas and New Years party season without gaining unwanted kilograms can be tough. High fat & high sugar foods at your finger tips (all the time), bar tabs put on by the boss (how can you say no?) & parties every weekend (sometimes twice) make good food choices even harder to make than they were already. Check out this 10 Tip Survival Guide To The Christmas Party Season...

High intensity airdyne interval training is one of our favourites here at Drive Fitness. You don't see it done in too many other places (probably because it's hard work) but we're always on the look out for the most effective training methods to include in your workouts, hard or not! .Here are 5 reasons why we do it! 

Water -. It's essential.for regulating body temperature, maintaining blood volume, contracting muscles, lubricating joints and removing waste products from the body. If you don't drink enough leading up to your workout your training performance will suffer along with your results. Check out these 10 easy hydration tips to make sure you are ready to work hard come training time and get the most from your session...

Is it possible that exercising in the cold may actually help you burn more energy and lose weight? Could Winter be good for something after all? It's a popular belief that fat burning is increased when exercising in the cold but is this just another misleading weight loss myth...let's take a quick look. 

We all know (and dread) the feeling, the rumble in the tummy that signals 'snack time' and the unfortunate end to a perfect day of eating (so far). Those little cravings between meals have the power to turn an otherwise perfect diet into a weight loss nightmare.. Smart snacking for effective weight loss and weight control requires an action plan. Cakes and biscuits in the staff lunch room, the left overs in the kid's lunch box and the chocolate you have hidden away are just a few of the potential pitfalls that threaten your weight loss goals. Here is an easy to understand 5 step plan for smart snacking to help you avoid the dangers of 'snack time'. 

Knowing how to set effective weight loss and fitness goals could be the difference between the success and failure of your exercise program. A big part of what I do as a personal trainer is set goals for my clients. This requires time, thought and planning but if done correctly can significantly increase the chances of making goals possible. Here are 6 steps to help you set and achieve your weight loss and fitness goals.

When we think about eating for weight control we rarely consider vegetables as a potential pitfall. The public health message about vegetables in my opinion is far to vague. If you simply follow the general recommendation of 'going for 5' everyday with no other considerations you may end up with far more carbohydrate on your plate then you need. Starch is a carbohydrate, and as the name suggests, starchy vegetables have a lot of it.  Let's take a closer look at which vegetables are starchy, how much carbohydrate they contain and how much we really should be having. 

A slow metabolism is often blamed for failed weight loss attempts. If you fear that your slow metabolism is interfering with your weight loss goals here are 5 steps to fix your slow metabolism and maximise your body's fat burning capacity. 

One of the first things I tell my clients (after I explain what carbohydrate is and where it comes from)  is to spread out their carbohydrate intake as evenly as possible throughout the day. Instead of 2-3 large servings of carbohydrate, aiming to eat every 2-4 hours and including a small amount of unprocessed / minimally processed carbohydrate is preferred. Why is this better? For a number of reasons all great for weight loss. Let me explain...

Fruit, it's good for us, we need to eat it, but it can be detrimental to weight loss - how can we include fruit in our diet without it becoming a problem? Here are 5 easy tips to help you choose the best variety, know how much to eat, how often to eat it and what to eat it with.