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Your Heart Story The cardiovascular system is compromised of the heart, blood, and blood vessels and at times of high impact activity, the whole system is pushed to its limit. We’re going to take a look at which exercises offer us the greatest cardio workout, but before then, did you know…?  The circulatory system is long! If everything was laid out end to end, arteries, capillaries, and veins, it would stretch 60,000 miles! And all of that fits inside your body.  If your heart beats 80 beats per minute, 4,800 times an hour, that equals to 115,200 times per day. So when you’re 80 years... Read more

An Easter Treat Even those on a strict meal plan, may enjoy a chocolate fix this Easter. And there are ways to do this without smashing your healthy diet.To help you out, we’ve done some research to find Easter eggs to suit every diet and help you find the perfect Easter egg out there for you:Low Sugar - Hotel Chocolat has brought out an Easter egg which isn’t quite 100% sugar-free but is a hard-boiled dark chocolate egg which is 100% dark chocolate!High Protein - Cocoa Plus’ High protein milk chocolate egg has over 40g of protein and also comes in dark chocolate... Read more

Can you be a vegan and totally ripped? The word is changing, and the vegan v meat debate is rarely out of the media spotlight. Nutrition is important for every bodybuilder and what you put in your mouth has an impact on your muscle, strength and mind. Yet plant-based fitness is becoming increasingly popular every day.  Eating vegan has become much easier in recent years, with the increase in awareness and more supermarkets stocking natural and organic whole foods and meat-free alternatives. But does following a vegan lifestyle mean you will struggle to achieve an impressive physique? No it does not, but it does require some careful planning... Read more

Feel Like Working Out In The Winter? Is this cold winter weather making you feel lethargic? Still motivated to go outside? Well hang on, before you turn on the tv or curl up in front of the fire, there are some benefits to working out in this weather. The average winter weight gain ranges from 5 to 10 pounds, so a little bit of snow shouldn’t put you off exercising outdoors or getting to the gym. Think of the sunlight too, which can help to improve even the grumpiest of moods and boost your vitamin D intake. The winter chill might even make you feel more awake... Read more

Trendy new protein-rich foods Protein rich foods are a big trend and are now hitting our supermarket shelves. Until recently, high protein diets were a main focus for bodybuilders, who used tubs of whey powder to build and maintain muscle. But now, even popular brands such as Weetabix and Snickers have brought out some High Street protein boosters.Today you can buy everything from protein-enriched bread and breakfast cereals to smoothies, milk, pizza and even chocolate. Without sufficient protein, we not only lose muscle mass that helps us burn calories efficiently, we also snack more, because protein quashes hunger more effectively than any other kind... Read more

Pizza for breakfast? Elite Body Squad has come across some recent research, in which a nutritionist claims that a slice of pizza in the morning could be ​healthier than a bowl of frosted cereal.  Speaking to the Daily Mail, registered​ ​ dietitian Chelsey Amer said, "You may be surprised to find out that an average slice of pizza and a bowl of cereal with whole milk contain nearly the same amount of calories." And with more media reports that a bowl of supermarket sugar-coated cereal might not be the healthiest start to the day, she might not be wrong. Unbelievingly, an average serving... Read more

The Power Of Street Running There are more people pounding the streets than ever, and it’s easy to understand why so many of us have turned to street running – no gym fees and loads of health benefits!  New Elite Body Squad ambassador Lily Curtis started a 12 week street running course as one of her new year resolutions, and is training hard to take part in a 10k race later this year. So if you’re looking to build muscle, shed fat and calories or just boost your overall health, there are loads of reasons you should give it a go:  You’ll be hooked: There’s... Read more

Gym gloves Do you wear weight lifting gloves while training?  Wearing weight lifting gloves is a personal choice, based on your workout style and exercise preferences. Some gym goers swear by them and wouldn’t even think of lifting weights without protecting their hands, others don’t see the benefit. Our Elite Body Squad weight lifting gloves have always been a popular choice for both men and women, and here are 5 good reasons why:  Better grip – this has to be one of the main benefits for wearing them, especially when your hands get sweaty and you’re holding heavy dumbbells or barbells, perfect... Read more

2018 Fitness Trends Every fitness fanatic likes to keep motivated and focused, and with new gym and workout trends appearing on a regular basis, it’s good to interchange your regular routine with new fitness challenges to keep enthused, engaged and on track with your goals.  We’ve looked at what’s going on around the country, checked out the thoughts of health and fitness professionals and made a note of those classes and predicted trends you should be doing this year to keep your body moving.  High-intensity interval training (HIIT): Lose fat and not muscle with this popular training – it’s efficient and effective, even... Read more

Broken Resolutions Already?  Make A New Set Now Get on track with your fitness goals and kickstart your healthy workout plan for 2018. The new year is an opportunity to recommit to your health and well-being. Are you ready to welcome the new year with open arms?  Remember those New Year Resolutions won’t keep themselves! Psychologists have found that we're more likely to succeed if we break our resolutions into smaller goals that are specific, measurable and time-based.  Only 8 percent of people actually keep their New Year's resolutions, according to one commonly cited statistic. There are many reasons people can't stick to their resolutions, from setting too... Read more

Weight Training - Why Bother? Some people avoid weight training because they fear they’ll become too muscular in appearance. Others simply don’t see the benefit if they’re already doing cardiovascular exercises. But the benefits of weight training go beyond simply building muscles, it also is a great way to improve overall health and can help improve cardio performance as well. It also improves your ability to perform activities of daily living too.  Check out these fun facts and give it a go…!  Stronger core results in better posture 60% of people who weight train benefit from improved sleep with an average of 7 hours or... Read more

Recipes - Lots Of Protein & Highly Nutritious - Courtesy of Emma Larson Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding (makes three) 1 cup homemade cashew milk 1 tablespoon peanut butter 1 teaspoon honey 1 scoop chocolate protein powder 3 tablespoons chia seeds Mix all ingredients together in blender, except chia seeds, add those last and stir (don’t blend). Pop in fridge and take out periodically and stir, as seeds sink to the bottom.  Leave overnight and share between three jars in the morning.   Breakfast Muffins (makes six) 4 eggs 2 slices bacon (optional) 50g low fat cheese Mushrooms, spring onion, peppers Mix all together, grease muffin tin, bake at 200 degrees for 15-18 mins... Read more

An Average Day in the Larson Household Firstly let me start by saying we are defiantly not your average family, don’t get me wrong, we are not exceptionable by any means, but we are far from run of the mill!   Both myself and my husband work full time, which puts great pressure on us to make sure we run as a well-oiled machine.  The Larson motto is ‘be prepared or prepare to fail’.  To pull this off efficiently we do spend a lot of our ‘downtime’ prepping meat and veg, this can be really time consuming, but it saves time in the long run.  I cannot... Read more

Advent Calendars For The Health Conscious Healthy advent calendars It’s nearly that time of the year when it’s socially acceptable to eat chocolate for breakfast! But if you’re looking for something different this Christmas, we’ve done the research for you and here’s our countdown to some of the healthiest and alternative advent calendars on the market:  My Protein For £4.99 My Protein has launched the ultimate - with 25 individual high-protein chocolate pieces with added whey protein in a festive advent calendar. So even the most serious gym fanatic can enjoy the build-up to Christmas with a sweet treat every day but still manage to keep... Read more

15 Fun Facts About The Body 5 fun facts about YOUR BODY  How much air do you think you breathe every hour? Astonishingly it’s about 2.1-3.17 gallons of air per minute while resting, which is 126-190 gallons per hour. Of course if you’re exercising, then you can expect this amount to increase to almost 2377 gallons per hour for the average person. Your heart pumps almost 2000 gallons of blood each day! Your brain and heart are both about 73% water. Blood circulates through your body very quickly. In fact, it only takes about 60 seconds for all of your blood to circulate through your entire... Read more