Kettlebell Article in The Times on Saturday!

Kettlebells are getting more and more press these days - if you are an avid 'Heat' or 'Closer' reader you will no doubt have seen some reference to various celebs using kettlebells - last year it was all about Geri (check out those abs!).

I was pleased to see an article about them and less 'conventional' training methods in The Times at the weekend. I am sure traditional gym training is on the decline and it won't be long before we're all training in the way we were born to move!

Loads of Hollywood celebrities have have all been 'spied' using kettlebells: J Lo, Katherine Heigl, Penelope Cruz, Kim Cattrall, Matthew McConaughey, Kim Basinger amongst others.

Celebrity trainers are notoriously secretive about their training methods and celebrities all like to spout the party line: 'I don't diet - I even eat cheeseburgers! I do extra cardio and crunches when I need to get in shape for a movie'. Hopefully you are discerning and well educated enough to realise this is a load of rubbish - unfortunately many of the poor people tied to the cross trainer and ab curl machines in the gym are more gullible!

You do not get a hot Hollywood body without hard work! In fairness, this does not mean what we usually think it means - hours and hours of work. It means intense sessions with plenty of recovery and a nutritious but 'calorie conscious' diet.

Intensity is the key to fitness - our bodies adapt to the demands imposed on them and it is this adaptation that equals increased fitness. If we overload our bodies the shape and form will change accordingly. This will give us a higher capacity for future work and also increase our metabolism so we burn more calories after the exercise is over - in the short term as well as in the long term if we 'replace' fat weight with lean muscle weight (looking smaller as we do so as muscle is of course denser).

Celebrities don't have time for hours and hours of cardio at the times they most need it - so they use time efficient and effective proven methods. Kettlebells are of course one of the best tools you could possibly have for time efficient, full body blasting workouts. You can hide in your dressing room for a workout and then tell everyone you haven't had to work out to look as great as you do and no-one would be any the wiser!

Nutrition really is key too, though. If you are currently eating at a maintenance level then adding intense workouts alone may be enough to shift the few pounds. But most people are putting on weight - so you will need to tweak the nutrition to at least a maintenance level as well as adding intense workouts if you want to shift the bulge - we can't expect to eat all we like and be in great shape!

The fitter we get the more healthier foods appeal, so usually this is not such a hardship. And we notice how much better we feel with maximum nutrition.

I don't consider food as 'fuel' in the traditional and boring 'energy' sense (as Michael Phelps must do to to get 12,000 cals in a day!) but rather as nutrition. I want to have as much goodness as possible without too many calories, so load up on veggies and lean protein, with the addition of good fats (nuts, olive oil, coconut oil, krill oil) and good carbs. I limit carbs personally, sticking to mostly lower sugar fruits & starchy veggies to get my daily intake to about 100g, if I'm having more carbs I'll have oats, quinoa or sweet potatoes (and of course odd treat such as a glass or two of wine and some super dark chocolate!).

It is a simple equation - and it is NOT: cheeseburgers + cardio + crunches = Hollywood Bod!

Rather it is: INTENSE EXERCISE + NUTRITIOUS (+ delicious) EATING + REST AND RECOVERY = Hollywood Body + Supreme Energy + A Sense of Wellbeing + Great Skin / Hair / Nails + so much more....