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3 Dimensional Personal Training: Success Through Synergy

By Craig Burton – Founder ‘3d Personal Training Systems’ – www.3dpts.com

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

In the field of health and fitness, there are many effective techniques to help us achieve our optimal weight, appearance and fitness level. When used in isolation however, many such techniques provide only short term results and often produce a yo-yo effect (think fad diets). In the following article I would like to show you how such goals can be effectively achieved through a synergistic approach.

A synergy can be described as “the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.”

I firmly believe that the success of an individual’s health and fitness goals depends on a 3-dimensional synergy that includes the right mental approach, physical training, and supportive nutrition and lifestyle.

1. Mental Approach

Effective goal-setting is where the road to success begins. It is essential to understand where you are now in terms of your personal goals, where you want to be in order to obtain clarity and purpose, and to be able to visualise your ultimate goal. Your goals need to come alive, so I encourage you to take the time to complete the following exercise and write the answers down in order to realise them.

• Be bold - What is your ULTIMATE health/fitness dream?
• Be honest - WHY do you want to achieve this, what will this outcome GET for you and allow you to DO?
• Be connected - What will you SEE, HEAR and FEEL when you have it?
• Be courageous - WHEN will you achieve it?
• Be realistic - What are you WILLING to give up in order to get what you desire?
• Be creative - How can you ENJOY the process while doing what is necessary to achieve this?

The secret to achieving a positive mental approach lies in how often you can be connected and aligned to these thoughts and feelings.

2. Physical Training

I believe there are three aspects of physical training that need to be addressed:

1. The need for muscle: muscle is one of your best friends if you want to lose body fat, because it is an active tissue that directly increases your rate of metabolism. Unfortunately, around the age of 30, our muscles begin to shrink, so it is imperative to regularly maintain or build them. When it comes to training, I highly recommend avoiding fixed resistance machines as they allow no freedom for the muscles; literally boring them senseless with the same pattern and decreasing neuromuscular awareness. So choose free-weights or cables instead and try incorporating Swiss Balls (aka Physio Balls) to increase the neuromuscular demands. Additionally, think training “movements” not “muscles”; pushing, pulling, squatting, lunging, bending and twisting are the basic movements of day-to-day life and we should try to mirror these during exercise.

2. Cardio in moderation: it is important not to overdo the cardiovascular exercise (e.g. cross-trainer or jogging), as this can lead to a decrease in muscle mass which reduces your ability to burn fat. I am by no means suggesting that cardio is bad, as it allows nutrients to be transported to the cells via the bloodstream. When fat is released from storage centers (adipose cells) it travels through the bloodstream to be “burned”. However if there is a decrease in muscle mass, the body’s ability to burn fat is also decreased. As such I recommend short-duration, high-intensity cardio to limit the possibility of losing muscle.

3. Flexibility: Not only do our muscles shrink with age, but gravity begins to take its toll as well, drawing us down to earth. Adding to that, our seated culture is a major contributor to the current epidemic of poor posture. Faulty posture can lead to injuries and regular bouts of associated pain. The details can be complex, but suffice to say there are muscles in your body that naturally become short and tight and others that get long and weak by nature. The required response to correct this is to stretch the shorter, tighter muscles and strengthen the longer, weaker muscles. For example when someone has a posture that resembles the Pink Panther – protruding head and rounded shoulders – the chest is one muscle that needs a good stretch. However only stretch what is tight, as stretching the long and weak muscles will lead to further imbalances.

3. Supportive Nutrition and Lifestyle

This part of the puzzle is without a doubt the most confusing and neglected. What you eat and drink daily and the amount of rest you have are vital ingredients towards optimal health.

• Eat to boost metabolism. Largely, this means minimising your intake of simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, but consuming frequent meals (no greater than fours hours between each one) consisting of quality proteins (preferably free range, chemical/hormone free animals), fibrous carbohydrates (above ground vegetables), starchy carbohydrates (sweet potatoes, brown rice), and good fats and oils (seeds, fish, olive oil). When it comes to the specific ratios of each macronutrient (especially the amount of starchy carbohydrates), it’s a case of listening to your body after each meal in order to account for bio-individuality and stress levels. I recommend using a food diary and recording after each meal (or at the end of the day) what you ate, including proportions and the respective reactions, e.g. satisfied, not satisfied, bloated, hungry, mentally-focused etc.
• Drink plenty of water. The body is made up of around 75% water. Water is crucial when it comes to health by playing a role in transporting nutrients, digestion, elimination of waste products, detoxification, etc. Beware, a “dry mouth” is not a safe indicator of thirst; it is actually a sign that the body is well into dehydration. How much water should we drink each day? That depends on several factors, including your weight and how active you are. But without complicating it with litres or ounces my rule is to start the day with two big glasses of filtered water and then take a water bottle everywhere you go, sipping throughout the day.
• Get sufficient sleep. Sleep is another factor that has huge ramifications on the body. I consider sleep a major tipping point as many times I have personally seen clients who are addressing the above points, but only once they get to bed earlier and sleep a little longer do they achieve significant results.

Finally I would like to share the story of a recent client to illustrate the value of considering synergy. Fathima came to me because she wanted to change the way she looked before returning home after moving to London to study. She had previously tried all the diets and the personal trainers who took her through workouts, but she achieved no lasting results with these individual approaches. So our first task was to realign Fathima’s mind-set with success which we did through the goal setting exercise. The next step was giving her the framework to achieve success by teaching her the process of synergy. Here is an extract of an email she sent me recently (used with kind permission from Fathima Maniku, 12/9/2006).

“First of all, I must tell you that I have been absolutely showered with complimentsever since I got off the plane here! I’ve had people come up to me and ask me what I’ve been ''taking''!!! Its crazy, and quite a few people weren’t able to recognise me at all...I’ve also tried on my old clothes...and well...I’ve had to take in at least 5 inches on some of my shirts (which has been VERY satisfying indeed!!). The weirdest thing is that most people don’t believe me when I say it’s all down to a healthy diet, exercise and decent sleeping hours!!”

I hope Fathima’s example and this article has sparked new life in those of you who have been unsatisfied with your past health and fitness efforts, so that you can now stand back and see how each of the parts to the health and fitness puzzle contribute to the bigger picture. As human beings we are 3 dimensional, consisting of body, mind and spirit. Neglecting any one of these three aspects prevents us from truly experiencing our full potential as human beings. Wishing you all the best in your health and fitness endeavours.