"I can't recommend them enough", this is my sound-bite for the IFBB education courses and it's completely true. Over the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have attended (and passed!) the majority of the IFBB educational courses. These courses are organised by the IFBB and the British federation (UKBFF), held at Panther's Gym (near Uxbridge, West London) and are delivered by the most experienced lecturers on the planet. I owe a large chunk of my success to the information provided by the IFBB courses and would hastily recommend them to anyone wishing to improve their own knowledge. I had already trained for 8 years prior to attending the IFBB "Weight training prescription specialist" course (suggested to be the first "training" lecture from which to build knowledge). After learning the scientific approach and understanding to weight training (basic kinesiology) I then progressed to the advanced version and finally to the personal trainer course (recognised in 183 countries across the globe). Since then I was able to design my own training program to focus on weak points, allow for the recuperation of long-term injuries and to generally approach training from a scientific understanding instead of "my buddy told me so" knowledge.

In the world of weight training people tend to get set in their ways and think there is nothing new to learn, think again! If you are an athlete, trainer or otherwise involved in the world of strength training you really owe it to yourself to invest in these courses. This really is something special people. As if that wasn't enough reason already, you will also have the chance to meet some of the pros and celebrities in the world of bodybuilding and fitness; Alvin Small (IFBB pro), Neale Cranwell (Mr. Universe), Trevor Chung (Multiple title holder) and Carly Thornton (celebrity fitness model) to name but a few.

For more information on the upcoming 2012 course schedule please see the education home page here - You need to hurry though, I know they are getting full for this year.

You can also contact me directly for more information via email.

Hope to see you there!

James

Sport Kitchen instant meals – Not sure how I ever lived without them


Many people struggle with eating 6+ meals per day. I can understand that nobody really wants to be tied to the kitchen, not everyone can find the time to prepare all these meals – or eat 3-4 meals during their work day. It can be time consuming, not just in terms of preparation but also cleaning plates and cutlery, heating, seasoning etc. If only there was a product that you could just add hot water to and eat, and I’m not just talking about a sachet of whey and oats. Sport Kitchen is a UK based company who have brought to the nutrition market a product range of instant meals, made from real food: pasta, rice, chicken, beef etc. The best way I can describe them is “like a pot-noodle, but good for you”.

I’m not plugging this product for any other reason than I use it myself and truly believe in it. I often don’t have time to prepare all of the meals I need, or I may find myself stuck in a situation where I can’t get to plates and a microwave. The Quick Sports Meal range from Sport Kitchen only needs some hot water, a stir and 5-6 minutes to hydrate (it even comes with a handy spork). It really couldn’t be more convenient.

Each meal is nutritionally balanced; around 35g of protein, 33g of carbs and a very moderate 3.4g of (healthy omega-3) fats, low sodium content (136mg per meal just looking at the Mediterranean chicken) and they even include digestive enzymes. Each meal is around 300Kcal and they have two ranges (breakfast and savoury), I hear that R&D is also working on low carbohydrate options too! (I can’t wait).

In summary I can’t recommend the Sport Kitchen product range enough to anyone, even if they just sit in your food bag for emergencies (they have saved me from skipping meals many times). You can find them in the store area and I do suggest you read through their own website over at www.sportkitchen.com .

Lawrence writes: A question for your website/blog - what is your take on whole milk used as a training supplement in modern times?  

 
This is a double-edged sword, I have an interesting discussion with John from TailoredPT.com about this exact topic. There are two sides to the argument, while whole milk does contain extra goodies that are missing from pasturised milk (certain enzymes and friendly bacteria). Whole milk also contains a higher fat content than most milk available “off the shelf”, remember fat is not the enemy like so many magazines  would have us believe - just don’t overdo it. So it’s essentially understood that whole milk contains a better nutritional profile than pasturised milk. The  issue (and argument against whole milk) is that there is a chance that the milk  will contain a contaminant (usually bacterial) that will cause harm to you if you drink it, while the studies about the chances of contamination vary in their risk assessment we can assume that healthy cows will not have  contaminated milk (this is the consensus).


The final consideration in this argument is the risk vs. benefit. Yes,  the health risk associates with whole milk is very low, but what of the benefits? The best analogy I came up with last time this was discussed was to compare your body to a car. If (like most people) you drive a regular car, don’t really check the oil levels or tyre pressure like you should, you keep a load of
old junk in the back and don’t really care about the funny knocking sound every time you turn a corner – I’m not sure that putting high-octane fuel in the tank will make any difference (if fact it may just damage your engine). However if you drive a performance car, with a lightweight body, tuned engine and gearbox, sports suspension etc. and you add high octane fuel – you will notice a difference immediately.


It’s the same with your body, if you smoke 20 a day or finish each evening with a 6-pack of beer, or your idea of exercise is walking to the pub –  I doubt whole milk will do a thing for you.

Saturday the 19th of May, I placed first place at the Bodypower
expo for the UKBFF super-qualifier. It was an amazing feeling and I am still
buzzing two days later. All the months of dieting and planning have paid off and
now I feel I need to thank those who have helped me.

Panthers gym, Sean  and Helen O'Reilly. Sean my coach has been very patient with me, helping me out of kindness, all the tricks I learned this season have given me a level of  control over my body that I didn't think possible. I swear I won't need as much  hand-holding next time round!

My wonderful wife Natasha; without your endless patience (especially during the difficult dieting days) none of this would have been possible.

The team at work; for putting up with my moods  while starving during pre-contest diet.

Team Quest and Sports Kitchen; my two  most loved food replacements, if I haven't already told you about either of  these products you must head over to the storesection and check them out. I would never  recommend any product to anyone without having first researched and used them  for some time. I started my day at the Bodypower show with a breakfast of a sports-kitchen "oats and berries" instant meal (and placed first).

My friends Mo, Iggy, big John, Mandeep and Fran for travelling up to watch me compete (your support meant the world to me).

To Dan, Big Bob, little Dan, Nabil, Aftab, Aquib, Imran, Nathan, Kat, Raul, Richard (thanks for your  phonecall that morning lol), Trish, Ray, Denyse (and anyone else I may have  missed i'm so sorry)

Right now i'm relaxing and putting some time into the website, articles, working with clients and trying to avoid the teasing of  bad food!

Quest Protein Bars (guilt free and delicious)

  I have to be honest here,
it’s nearly impossible when dieting for a competition to have anything sweet
(unless it’s post training or breakfast). It can drive you slightly mad,
especially when you’re surrounded by people who don’t share your restricted
diet.

  Protein bars are a nice way of allowing a sweet snack into your
diet, but not all protein bars are equal! If you do a bit of digging you will
soon see that nearly all protein bars on the market are either full of sugar,
use useless gelatine to bump up the protein count or hide other nasty, unwanted
ingredients. It’s a case of “smoke and mirrors”, dietary supplements have a
habit of getting away with putting these things in and wording the ingredient
list very cleverly using terms like “patented protein blend” (which normally
means: bulked up with useless protein to save money). The deeper you dig the
more your head starts hurting, even the so called “diet bars” are full of things
you don’t really want to ingest.

  Then I ran into QuestBars… I was
delighted to see on their website that they are completely open and honest in
their ingredient listing, to the point of putting down a paragraph explaining
the reasons for every single ingredient. The team at quest has put their energy
into starting from scratch to provide a tasty, sweet protein rich snack bar that
really does contain quality ingredients – I have been eating them nearly each
day running up to competition and I’m getting dryer each day.

Head on  over to http://www.questproteinbar.com/
to see for yourself, although they are based in the US, you can buy them from
the store page here. I can’t recommend them
enough!


Enjoy, I know I do :)

J

After many requests from friends and clients I have posted a recipe section and added the first (and one of my all-time favourite) evening meals (NO CARBS!). If you check out the new Evening section under the Diet > Recipes area you can see a very simple and outstandingly tasty, healthy evening meal that won't break the bank. I will continue adding more recipes and additional content throughout the site with the intention of providing some genuinely useful original content to help you all!

If you have any specific requests for training or diet information feel free to drop me an email at jamesborne@hotmail.com or reply here :)