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When It Comes To Body Weight, Zoom Out

By |March 7th, 2024|News|

You jump on the scales and hey presto, 2 lb down, smiles all around. The following week, you weigh in and you’ve gained 3 lb. disaster. All that hard work wasted and you throw in the towel. Sound familiar?  If changing your body weight is the goal, the best thing to do is zoom out.  Weight loss is NEVER linear. It will be up and down like the Nemesis at Alton Towers. If [...]

The Pros and Cons of Fasting: Is It Right for You?

By |February 26th, 2024|News|

The Pros and Cons of Fasting: Is It Right for You? In recent years, fasting has gained significant attention as a potential tool for improving health, promoting weight loss, and even extending lifespan. However, like any dietary practice, fasting comes with its own set of pros and cons, and whether or not it's suitable for an individual depends on various factors including their health status, lifestyle, and goals. In this blog post, we'll [...]

Stay On Track With The 7-Day Average Method

By |January 23rd, 2024|News|

Consistency over time is key to improving your health and fitness long term. Using the 7-day average method is a great way to stay on track, keep you feeling positive and motivated. Let’s take step count for example. A high daily step count (or high non-exercise activity thermogenesis if we are being geeky) is an important contributor towards fat loss/weight maintenance.  Let’s say you are targeting 12k steps per day. The problem with [...]

Get Motivated With GOAL SETTING

By |January 15th, 2024|News|

GOAL SETTING TO SMASH 2024 It’s Blue Monday - the most depressing day in the calendar year according to Sky Travel. Are they right? Well this sudden drop in temperature certainly does’t help. Personally, I’m excited about the year ahead and that’s mainly because I have set my goals for the year and have a vision of where I want to be by December 2024. If you’re feeling a little blue about the year [...]

Learn How To Abdominal Crunch

By |December 19th, 2023|News|

Learn how to abdominal crunch  The abdominal crunch, a popular core exercise we often see botched. People perform crunches way too fast with not enough control and because of this they often end up doing hundreds of reps.  We rarely programme above 3 sets of 6 reps. So check out our coaching points and video tutorial below and you’ll be crunching like a pro. Perform abdominal crunches on a stability ball instead of [...]

3 Core Exercises You Should Be Doing

By |December 11th, 2023|News|

CORE BLIMEY! 3 core exercises you should be doing ABS…yes abs are the subject of todays rambling. Whilst we all love, or hate the A word depending on where we’re at on our journey. We all kind of want them, in some way, shape or form. Wether it’s a rippling 24 pack like PT Gav or a cute flat back like Simon ‘Ikea’ Jackson. But do not fear, this isn’t a post about [...]

Good Sleep – The Magic Potion For Health

By |December 7th, 2023|News|

Sleepless in The City  Fingers crossed you catch this post after a a solid 7+ hours of good sleep in the growth chamber. If that’s not the case, never fear the Proathlon Blog is here.  Sleep, that sometimes elusive necessity that we can neglect, or against our will have it stolen from us like the muscle mass that was taken from us during Hyrox training. With all of the magic potions, secret hacks [...]

How’s Your Blood Sugar Looking, Zoe?

By |November 22nd, 2023|News|

How’s your blood sugar looking, Zoe?  So, the new craze is well and truly upon us! If you haven’t seen an advert or a human with a yellow patch on the back of their left arm, it’s time for you to leave the house and get some fresh air!  Zoe is a new ish, and quite excellent continuous blood sugar monitor/education tool. Backed by top investors, it really has taken off…just like your [...]

PROATHLON Takes On Hyrox London

By |September 7th, 2023|News|

PROATHLON take on Hyrox London! What is it? Hyrox is a new “ish” functional fitness / endurance competition that is taking the fitness industry by storm. The founders created it so that the everyday gym goer…yes you and I, can have a measuring stick to check our progress and strive towards. It’s long and enduring as you might have guessed and can take between 1 hour (if you’re very quick) up to 2-3 [...]

6 Exercises To Improve Posture

By |August 21st, 2023|News|

6 exercises to improve posture ‘Stand up straight’, ‘Stop slouching!’, alright mum, calm down! Yes, it’s annoying, but to be fair, none of us really want to walk around looking like Quasimodo. So, stand tall Esmeralda and let’s crack on! As humans we sit more than ever and of course many of us have it built in with our work lives but fear not. There is a way to exercise and build lean [...]

The Hidden Cost Of A 12-Week Transformation

By |August 14th, 2023|News|

What type of progress is more important to you; Immediate progress that’s less easily maintained, or maintainable progress that may not be as rapid? Society has driven us towards wanting things done quickly, done efficiently, done NOW. This is great for productivity and profit but, when it comes to the human body (both physically and mentally) fast isn’t always better. The 12-week transformation is both popular and big business in the fitness industry. [...]

Protein Shakes – Are They Needed?

By |June 13th, 2023|News|

PROTEIN SHAKES. ARE THEY NEEDED? Important note to begin with team; You don’t need to get your protein from a supplement to increase muscle mass. Protein dense whole food sources like meat, poultry, eggs, and even some nuts are all great protein sources that we will always recommend. That being said, how many of us leave our gym class or personal training session and can quickly consume a well balanced high protein salmon [...]

Rethinking Breakfast For Fat Loss

By |June 6th, 2023|News|

Quick and convenient are two words that pop to mind when we think of breakfast, especially during the working week. It’s no surprise that two slices of toast with butter, porridge or cereal tend to make up a large percentage of what people eat for breakfast. They’re quick, convenient and cheap. But these ultra processed, carb heavy, protein low breakfast options are not fuelling your day optimally, nor are they what we recommend [...]

Keep It Simple Stupid

By |May 31st, 2023|News|

Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Repeat. It’s simple! It’s Wednesday afternoon and I’ve just had a great discussion with PT Ryan and class member/everyday hero Sandeep. Typically Ryan was getting geeky with Sandeep about his hip hinge but Sandeep was more excited to tell us how great he’s been feeling recently. I remarked that he’s been very consistent and he agreed. He’s managed to attend lunchtime class at least [...]

I’m Injured – See You Next Month?

By |May 30th, 2023|News|

I’M INJURED - SEE YOU NEXT MONTH? So, I’ve broken my toe and heavily bruised the rest of my left foot. I love running most days and I can’t play my sport for 4-6 weeks. Send help, this could get ugly.. Don’t worry, less ugly more beautiful here. Just because I can’t squat, lunge, put more than 25% weight through one of my feet, it doesn’t mean I can’t train. I could sit [...]

Exercising Whilst On Holiday

By |May 19th, 2023|News|

Holidays are on the horizon. It's bikini and boardies time. The desire to workout and eat well is strong. The countdown is on, it's time to look and feel our best! The holiday arrives - we feel awesome about ourselves ... but how many of us stop exercising as soon as we get there? What a waste! Keep it up! I absolutely love exercising whilst I'm on the road. Whether it's travel for [...]

Stiff Back & Sore Neck? Try Locomotion Drills

By |May 12th, 2023|News|

Stiff back, sore neck, tight shoulders?  Try out these 3 locomotion drills - with practice we promise they will help you move and feel better. Locomotion drills strengthen the whole body and really engage your core. They especially work the shoulders, back and legs. An increase strength and range of movement can alleviate pain and discomfort in those areas.   Look a bit crazy?! Believe me your body will thank you for doing these [...]

How To Beat Late Night Snacking

By |May 5th, 2023|News|

BEAT LATE-NIGHT SNACKING We all start the day with good intentions - what we’re going to eat and what we’re going to avoid. We know we need to be good to reach our goals. Yes to eggs, no to the croissant. Yes to the water, no to the diet coke. Yes to the veg, no to the crisps. But often when you get home you’re tired. It’s been a long day, You’re a [...]

How To Use Tempo In Your Workout For Maximum Results

By |April 26th, 2023|News|

Using tempo and creating time under tension is so effective for increasing strength, muscle mass and overall performance. We know the feeling. The set is 10-12 reps, and we’d love to get them done as fast as possible. It feels great to rack up the numbers and hit those targets without a shake or a wobble. The truth is, for certain training styles that is totally fine and effective, so why do we [...]

New Gym, New Equipment, New Colours, Same Excellence

By |April 20th, 2023|News|

We're excited to show the world our new gym and state-of-the-art training facility near St. Paul's, London. Over the past few weeks we have undergone some changes. A facelift if you will, and no, we aren't talking about the addition of Mitch's shiny teeth. We decided we wanted a new and more energizing appearance and we’ve had our eyes on some new gym kit! So we set an attainable target, stuck to our [...]

Are you over fat and under-muscled?

By |February 21st, 2023|News|

OBESITY – OVER FAT AND UNDER-MUSCLED? Almost three quarters of people aged 45-74 in England are either overweight or obese. (Health survey conducted in England 2021) This probably won’t come as much of a surprise, but what other changes are associated with this increase in fat mass? Are we over fat and under-muscled? A hormone associated with muscle growth and maintenance is testosterone. It is produced in the body in response to [...]

Mood Booster – 5 ways exercise helps you feel better

By |February 13th, 2023|News|

MOOD BOOSTER - 5 WAYS EXERCISE HELPS YOU FEEL BETTER Exercising when you are highly motivated is easy (if only every day was like this). It’s the days when we are tired, stressed, too busy or just cant be bothered that really challenge our decision to exercise. So next time you have one of these days (and we all get them) approach your workout from a different angle, with the aim of [...]

A New Physiotherapy Clinic Opens in EC4

By |October 25th, 2022|News|

A New Physiotherapy Clinic Opens at PROATHLON A new physiotherapy clinic, Life Physiotherapy, has opened here at PROATHLON, offering a full range of holistic physiotherapy services for busy City workers in and around EC4 and St Paul’s. The clinic offers expert help for spinal injuries, back and neck pain, sports injuries and recovering from surgery, as well as providing acupuncture and treating headaches and migraines. Roberto Colombini, who owns Life Physiotherapy, has [...]

Six Ways to Manage Stress

By |October 11th, 2022|News|

Six Ways to Manage Stress To help us manage stress it’s useful to understand the autonomic nervous system and its two component parts, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.  The autonomic nervous system is a system within our bodies responsible for largely involuntary bodily functions like digestion and heartbeat. “Fight or flight” When we experience stress, the autonomic nervous system is activated and the sympathetic nervous system triggers a “fight or flight” [...]

What is Small Group Personal Training?

By |August 23rd, 2022|News|

What is small group personal training? We think our small group personal training programme is one of the best in London. We also think the level of coaching you’ll receive is miles better than your average 1:1 personal trainer.  Yes, you could say we are biased but, we have our reasons. So let us bring you up to speed with what small group training actually is… WHAT IS SMALL GROUP PERSONAL TRAINING? [...]

Benefits of Power Training

By |July 19th, 2022|News|

Why power training is important, whatever your age - and how to get started If you’re struggling to run for the bus or your legs are shot to pieces after walking up the escalator, then it would be a good idea to incorporate some power work into your training. There are many benefits of power training, and it's something that we encourage everyone to build in to their training with us, whether [...]

Are steps important for weight loss?

By |July 12th, 2022|News|

Why are steps important for weight loss or fat loss - even if you work out. When we start a new fitness or fat loss plan, our first thought is usually to increase the number of gym sessions or classes we attend each week.  And that’s a smart strategy: more exercise = burning more calories, and if that results in a calorie deficit, hey presto, weight or fat loss occurs. But what many [...]

How much water should I drink each day to support fitness and health?

By |July 12th, 2022|News|

How much water should I drink each day? The human body is approximately 60% water and the health benefits of staying hydrated are well-documented:  Improved energy and brain function Lower blood pressure Better skin and hair Relief from headaches and even constipation. Let’s face it, we all know water is good for us and we all know we should be drinking it...  However, studies have suggested that many people are actually chronically dehydrated. [...]

Social Events and Fat Loss

By |July 16th, 2021|News|

You are on a fat loss mission and you’ve started well. You’re 3 weeks in and you’ve started to see some changes in body shape and some movement on the scales. But, you have a big social event coming up in two weeks, all of your friends are going to be there who, you haven’t seen for ages. You know it is going to be an indulgent night, you want to enjoy yourself [...]

Benefits of Vitamin D

By |October 28th, 2020|News|

What are the benefits of Vitamin D? The clocks have gone back - winter is officially here. Sadly we now have less sunshine each day and therefore less chance to top up our Vitamin D levels. How to get more Vitamin D Vitamin D is synthesised by the body in response to sun exposure. Research suggests that the majority of people are chronically deficient in vitamin D because they rarely get full body [...]

3 Simple Steps to Improve Your Posture

By |October 28th, 2020|News|

3 simple steps to improve your posture We all know that sitting down for long periods of the day is not good for posture. Standing desks are a small improvement, but even when standing for long periods we tend to shift and slump. Enter a global pandemic forcing millions of people to work from home in poorly set up work stations and less overall physical movement and it’s no wonder that shoulder and [...]

Ten strategies to help you get better sleep

By |October 27th, 2020|News|

10 strategies to help you get better sleep. You need approximately 8hrs of uninterrupted sleep everyday. Fact. If you are getting less than 8hrs and waking up more than once per night then this is an area of your lifestyle that needs improving. Lack of sleep can: Drive up inflammation within your body. Inflammation is something you do not want more of as it can aggravate other conditions and diseases. It can also [...]

Improve your digestion with these easy tips

By |October 27th, 2020|News|

Part 2 – Digestion The digestive system is complex. We could write pages and pages of detailed information, which would quite frankly bore you to tears. Instead, do a simple assessment of your digestive health and then follow our basic tips to improve your digestion, day in, day out for a number of weeks and see if this makes a difference. For the majority of our clients it works. Assessing your digestive health [...]

Are you breathing correctly? Try these breathing techniques to alleviate stress

By |October 27th, 2020|News|

In this 3 part series of Get Healthy, we talk about the foundations to good health: breathing techniques, digestion & sleep. Before you read on, understand that all 3 areas are closely linked and can easily affect one another. Part 1 – Breathing I know what you are thinking. I breathe, If I didn’t I would die. So why do I need to read on? Well, It is how you breathe that we [...]

The Top 6 Benefits of Strength Training for Women

By |September 8th, 2020|News, Training|

What are the Benefits of Strength Training for Women? A regrettable fact: women are more likely to underestimate what they can achieve physically than men. And societal expectations, although slowly changing, remain unbalanced. A man capable of lifting heavy weight demonstrates physical prowess. A woman doing the same is  often seen as misplaced. Why does this prejudice exist? Should women lift weights as men do?  What about turning into a She-Hulk? Let’s find out... [...]

YOUR SAFETY, OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

By |July 23rd, 2020|News|

IN-PERSON, ONLINE & ONDEMAND We are super excited about reopening our doors on the 27th July and can’t wait to welcome you all back into the gym. It’s time to turn 2020 around, focus on you, your health and finish the year fitter, leaner and stronger. Our number one priority is to #protect all members and staff. We have gone above and beyond the guidelines set out by Government and UK Active [...]

The Single Most Important and Overlooked Factor For Increasing Muscle and Strength

By |June 11th, 2020|News|

Have you ever wondered why despite training in the gym 3 times per week consistently for 5 years, nothing ever changes? You switch up your program every few weeks, follow the routine, but there is no progress. It’s quite likely that you may have overlooked the single most important factor in getting positive results from your training - progressive overload. You can have the perfect training program, with all parameters optimised for obtaining your [...]

Tools to use at home to help you monitor weight

By |June 11th, 2020|Nutrition, Lifestyle|

If you want to lose fat and build muscle, our guide to the best tools to use at home to help you monitor weight and track your progress could help. Without a shadow of doubt, it is HARD to maintain the right habits for fat loss in our current environment. Everything is against you: Technology increasingly reduces the need for movement Tasty junk food temptation abounds Processed foods are easier and cheaper to access [...]

How much protein do I need?

By |June 11th, 2020|Nutrition|

Why all the fuss about protein and how much protein do I need? If you’ve ever been on a quest to lose body fat or build muscle, chances are your coach has emphasised protein ad nauseam. Why? What’s the big deal? What’s wrong with your toast and fruit for breakfast? Especially with the growing vegan sustainability movement, you may question whether it’s worthwhile. Seems like a lot of animal-product to consume. Time to clean [...]

The Missing Piece To Performance: 7 Steps To Establishing A Morning Routine

By |June 11th, 2020|Nutrition, News|

If you want to improve your whole day, the missing link might be getting your morning routine right. The blaring alarm shocks you out of a deep sleep, you snooze a couple of times with a feeling of dread, finally manage to drag yourself out of bed in a whirl of anxiety. You rush to the bathroom, checking WhatsApp and Social Media en route, and frantically get dressed for work. You may or may [...]

The ONLY Way to Lose Body Fat

By |June 10th, 2020|Nutrition, News|

How many times have you jumped on to the next fad diet, or high-intensity exercise boot camp, only to find you’re spinning your wheels? Read on for our guide: How to lose body fat Everyone intuitively understands that eating less and moving is probably a good idea in order to lose weight. In practice, though, many people find these concepts difficult to implement, especially over anything more than the short-term. With the abundance of [...]

The best kit for home workouts

By |May 11th, 2020|News|

Get equipped with the best kit for home workouts. See our space saving recommendations and options to suit all budgets below: Dumbbells A pair of adjustable dumbbells will give you the biggest bang for you buck. This versatile bit of kit is our number one recommendation for home gym equipment. Depending on your budget we would recommend the following... On a budget? Go for a pair of adjustable dumbbells with a screw pin collar [...]

Leaner Life: Healthy Vegetarian Breakfast

By |May 11th, 2020|Nutrition|

I'm always on the hunt for a breakfast that gives you some kick in the morning. Packed with protein this Veggie Eggie Breakie doesn't disappoint and will keep you full until lunchtime (or you can have it anytime of the day). Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan and add the finely chopped leeks to start to soften. Add the chopped courgette and red pepper when the leek has started to cook. Give them a couple of minutes to soften before adding the tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. When they have wilted a little spread your feta evenly and make 4 little circles in your veggie mix...

Leaner Life: Spicy Aberdeen Angus Burger with Sweet Potato Fries & Salsa

By |May 11th, 2020|Nutrition|

Low calorie and low guilt burgers full of protein are this weeks nutritional inspiration. Great for the kids as well. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees °C Cut the sweet potatoes into long chunks leaving the skin on. Place them on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chilli flakes then place into the oven for 40mins. Finely chop the onion and soften over a low heat in some olive oil. Add the finely chopped/grated garlic once the onion has started cooking.

Leaner Life: Thai Salmon Curry

By |May 5th, 2020|Nutrition|

This is a really simple, quick and delicious dish. One for the week. Follow the instructions below for a mouth watering meal. Cook the tender-stem broccoli for 4 mins in boiling water. When you drain the broccoli keep the cooking water and run the broccoli under cold water. In a wok soften the onion in a good dollop of coconut oil. Add the garlic and the grated ginger and half of the red chilli. Cook for about 4 mins until everything is soft. Add the pepper and courgette and cook for another 3/4mins.

Helping you choose the best gym near St Paul’s for you. Our members have their say…

By |May 4th, 2020|News|

Weighing up which is the best gym near St Paul's for you and your training needs? Here are some of our members explaining the benefits of being part of PROATHLON. We are really proud of our members and the feedback we receive from them as we continue to push the limits with fitness, strength and nutrition. GET FIT. GET LEAN. GET STRONG.

Leaner Life : Pure

By |March 23rd, 2020|Nutrition|

LEANER LIFE : PURE Updated by Rachel Surgeoner: Pure offers a wide variety of food that is all cooked/prepared fresh onsite everyday. Out of  all the local eatieres we have reviewed, Pure has the most amount of dishes that work within our guidelines. Pure have a number of environmental and social programmes/processes in place. To name a few, all Pure stores are powered by 100% renewable energy,  they also donate any unsold [...]

DAILY 15-MINUTE HIP MOBILITY ROUTINE

By |March 19th, 2020|News|

For those of you that have been asked to work from home it is likely that your step count and daily movement will be severely reduced. This is going to leave you stiff and immobile. To combat this we have put together some simple hop mobility exercises incorporating 4 hip stretches and 1 movement flow for you to run through each day. Stretching is also great for activating your parasympathetic (rest & digest) nervous [...]

Leaner Life : Pret

By |March 17th, 2020|Nutrition|

THE HEALTHIEST OPTIONS AT PRET Updated by Rachel Surgeoner: Coffee shop or sandwich shop? It doesn’t really matter. Sandwiches, soups and salads make up the majority of the menu. The majority of food is prepare fresh on site everyday. Pret are committed to animal welfare and a reduction in plastic waste, which is good to see from a business of this size. Pret also have an amazing food waste program, in which [...]

Leaner Life : LEON

By |March 17th, 2020|Nutrition|

LEANER LIFE : LEON Updated by Rachel Surgeoner: Good tasting, mediterranean inspired fast food. Leon’s menu is based around the fruit and vegetables that are in season. Not only does this add to the taste of the food, it is also better for our environment (should we really be importing vegetables from half way across the world?). Leon also source fish, meat and poultry responsible and sustainable suppliers. Here’s our recommendations… [...]

Leaner Life : Lunch with Itsu

By |March 17th, 2020|Nutrition|

LEANER LIFE : LUNCH WITH ITSU Updated by Rachel Surgeoner: Asian inspired food, all made onsite, including the sushi. The salmon is ethically sourced from Scotland and the Norwegian fjords and they have 50 dishes under 500kcal. Here is Proathlon’s recommendations for this tasty lunch on the move… LEAN CHICKEN ZERO SALAD PROTEIN 19.3 CARB 8.4 FAT 6.1 FIBRE 9.2 LOW CARB [...]

The One Piece of Fitness Tech You Should Own

By |December 18th, 2019|News|

With so many health and fitness apps, products & services on the market it can be hard to know which one piece of fitness tech you should own. Sleep apps, mindfulness apps, DNA testing, blood work, heart rate variability (HRV), the list goes on. All of these products and services are effective; they focus the consumer’s attention on their health and fitness, with the hope that the user makes positive lifestyle changes. This can [...]

Are you getting enough Fibre?

By |December 5th, 2018|News|

Are you getting enough fibre in your diet each day? We recommend the following fibre intake: Women 30-35g per day Men 40-45g per day What is Fibre? There are two types (both are important): Soluble fibre Relatively indigestible, water-soluble carbohydrates found in plants that undergo metabolic processing to enhance bowel health. They include: Oats, dried beans and peas, nuts, barley, flax, fruits like oranges, bananas and apples. Vegetables such as artichokes and carrots. Insoluble [...]

Hotel Room Workout

By |December 5th, 2018|News|

Short on time, have no equipment but need a full body workout? Then look no further. Try our FIT hotel room workout below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBcNZZKcI2M ROUND ONE 1 Slow jog 2 Shoulder tap press up/ shoulder tap kneeling press up/ kneeling shoulder tap press up 3 High knee jog at 60% 4 Double lunge double squat 5 Sprint 10s each at 80%, 90% & 100% 6 Travelling front support 7 Hop to [...]

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