HOW ARE YOUR LIFESTYLE CHOICES AFFECTING YOU

Did you know that your past and present lifestyle has an immediate effect on your future self? What you do today, will have an impact on who you are tomorrow, and that goes for many things whether it be future personal development goals, personal growth, weight loss goals, health goals, wellbeing goals, whatever it might be. The choices that you are making today are affecting your tomorrow.

This is a six part series and today we are going to look at your immediate lifestyle focussing on nutrition choices and how they may be affecting your

-        Weight

-        Health

-        Wellbeing

-        Aging process

-        Mental Clarity

What constitutes a healthy lifestyle, and what can we do to achieve “Optimal Health?” Just recently I started holding weight loss and nutrition seminars as well as creating fitness and lifestyle tours which runs through my system known as “The Six Steps To Optimal Health”

Optimal health isn’t just about eating right and exercising daily. There are many other choices that we make that can affect our immediate self in the future it includes:

-        Breathing

-        Posture

-        Nutrition

-        Water intake

-        Exercise

-        Sleep

Leading a healthy lifestyle to optimal health, not only improves fitness levels, general wellbeing, longevity of life, it also helps massively in the anti-aging process. Someone who leads a healthy lifestyle will have clearer, brighter skin, fewer lines and wrinkles, increase in collagen and elastin production and a glow.

So what constitutes an unhealthy lifestyle:

-        Late nights

-        Poor diet and nutrition

-        Alcohol

-        Narcotics

-        Smoking

-        Not exercising

Nutrition is one of the most important things that you can do for your inner health and wellbeing. I recently worked very closely with a nutritionist to develop my very own nutrition program known as CTS5N you can check it out http://www.weightlossadelaidects5n.com/

-        Eating organic produce

-        Staying away from processed foods

-        Avoiding deep fried and take out produce

-        Limiting red meat intake to once per week

-        Eating plenty of lean meats such as white fish, salmon, chicken and turkey breast

The reason you should choose organic produce over non-organic produce is because non-organic produce contains many pesticides designed to kill insects that may threaten to destroy crops, but what this does, is a) kills the nutrition in the produce itself, but b) pesticides are chemicals that have been proven to have carcinogenic (cancer causing) properties. The liver being the main detox system in the human body is only able to process so many toxins. When the too many toxins are within the body, the liver can no longer rid the body of the excess toxins, taking them into the blood stream causing the body to become acidic.

The ideal body should sit in an alkaline state, however when the body is in an acidic state, this is when things like diseases become present. Cancer can only survive in an acidic environment and science is now able to prove this. So wouldn’t it make sense to keep the body alkaline and in optimal health?

Not only do diseases thrive in an acidic body, this also causes stagnation, the lymphatic system becomes impaired, thus causing weight gain and cellulite.

Red meat should ideally only be consumed once per week because it is harsh on the digestive system. It takes red meat three days to digest properly, meaning that it can clog the intestines also causing stagnation and the digestive system functions to slow down.

In my next blog post I will cover the importance of drinking high quality water and will be focussing on how to alkalize the body and take It from an acidic state to an alkaline state.

Yours in health and wellness

Aaron Buchan

Founder of the CTS brand

CTS FITNESS AND LIFESTYLE TOURS

I will never forget my snowboarding trip away to New Zealand where CTS Fitness and Lifestyle Tours started as a mere thought, and then a goal.

While I was away in New Zealand it became evident to me that the access to a healthy nutritional meal was virtually nil. The food that was on offer was conventional fast food, such as pies, pasties, sausage rolls, pizza, McDonalds, deep fried foods etc.

Being in the health industry for over seven years now and developing the Cross Training System brand from training studios, nutrition programs, trainer mentoring programs and rehabilitation, I am increasingly and consciously aware of what is readily available as a food source in today’s market.

Being away was a real eye opener for me, and I realized that fast food is so readily available, that being able to make a conscious health choice when it isn’t necessarily available is really hard. When we are away on holiday, we want to relax and recuperate, my theory is a holiday is designed to refresh the mind, body and soul, so I don’t necessarily believe that coming back from a holiday means weight gain. I believe a holiday is about refreshing the body, making conscious decisions, and being able to come back fully rejuvenated.

Having fast food so readily available doesn’t allow us as individuals to be able to make that health conscious decision, especially when it is really hard to find good nutrition. The moment I got back from my snowboarding trip in New Zealand, I went straight to the drawing board. I had an idea of fitness and lifestyle tours designed to give individuals the opportunity to take a weekend away, learn the importance of good nutrition, have set exercise and training programs, as well as adventurous sports. A complete rejuvenation for the mind, body and soul, where I could teach people the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Mission accomplished, I planned and structured my first fitness and lifestyle tour in Robe South Australia, and it was an absolute success. It ran from Friday through to Sunday. The schedule looked something like this

-        6:00am wake up and jog along the beach

-        Team strength endurance training throughout the day

-        Hiking

-        Kite Surfing

-        Personal chef cooking my new nutrition system CTS5N

-        Cooking demonstrations

-        6 Steps to optimal health seminar

It was the best weekend I had had in a long time, and the feedback from everyone who took part was amazing. It means so much to me to know that I am changing lives by teaching people the importance of leading a balanced and healthy lifestyle to increase longevity of life.

 

I believe that education is key to helping people achieve their weight loss, health and wellness goals. The fitness and lifestyle tours are designed to do just that, but on a level that is fun, motivating, action packed, nutritional. My aim is to have people not only joining my fitness and lifestyle tours for the education, but to get away for a weekend, unwind de-stress, become more motivated to achieving goals, and best of all going home with a couple kilo’s lost to keep the momentum going of leading a health and active lifestyle.

We are living in a health conscious era, and we are more than ever being influenced to become healthy, and I am glad to be at the forefront teaching this to you, and also to aspiring personal trainers out there, that share the exact same vision.

If you would like more information on my fitness and lifestyle tours please contact us by visiting www.crosstrainingsystems.com.au/contact-us/ and send an enquiry over. One of our professional trainers will get back to you as soon as possible, and let you know of upcoming dates of these exciting and new fitness and lifestyle tours to hit South Australia.

Until then, keep reading, become educated and stay healthy 

Yours in health and fitness

Aaron Buchan

HOW TO LOWER HIGH CHOLESTEROL

It’s becoming increasingly common, and we are hearing more each day of high cholesterol, heart disease and stroke, especially amongst those in the early 50’s and above.

From my findings when working with my clients and when I was working on my nutrition system, I found that it wasn’t necessarily that people were oblivious to high cholesterol; it comes from a lack of understanding what cholesterol is – the good and the bad.

I have had a lot of clients come to me thinking that cholesterol itself is bad however cholesterol plays a vital part in the body’s chemistry as it is used to produce steroid hormones for normal development and functioning. The hormones it is used to produce include:

-         Oestrogen and Progesterone in women and testosterone in men. These hormones trigger development of the physical traits characteristic of adult women and men; they also play a role in reproduction.

-         Cortisol, which is involved in regulating blood-sugar levels and defending the body against infection, and aldosterone, which is important for retaining salt and water in the body.

-         Vitamin D, the vitamin responsible for strong bones and teeth, when the skin is exposed to sunlight.

Cholesterol itself is not bad, it is a normal part of the body, however what is bad is lifestyle and lifestyle choices. We have a choice to naturally control our cholesterol levels for overall health and wellbeing.

So what is bad cholesterol?
Cholesterol itself is a fat and is insoluble in water; therefore it is transported in the blood plasma within protein particles also known as Lipoproteins. The Lipoproteins are categorized into different classes ranging from very low density to high density. High density Lipoproteins are protective and can prevent heart disease however low density lipoproteins are associated with an increase in heart disease.

Although high cholesterol can be hereditary a majority of high cholesterol is associated to diet and lifestyle choices such as:

-          Smoking

-          Excessive drinking

-          Eating processed and fatty foods

-          Not exercising

Steps to lower high cholesterol

1)      See my blog on juicing – it’s important to do a detox to help your body eliminate toxins and clear the liver, as cholesterol is produced in the liver. Giving the liver a good clean out by doing a detox will help your body eliminate waste and regulate your lymphatic system and how your liver detoxes itself

2)      Start a regular exercise program. You should exercise for one hour per day.

3)      Nutrition plays an important role in anything, this goes for weight loss, lowering cholesterol, preventing heart disease and other health ailments – go to www.crosstrainingsystems.com.au/subscribe to subscribe and get step one to my CTS5N nutrition program which will help you to better identify your metabolic typing and a diet that is right for you

4)      Start taking super foods such as Maca powder, bee pollen, coconut oil, cacao nibs and cut out coffee. See my blog healthy coffee alternative that works wonders (you can even request your free sample)  

Yours in health and fitness,

Aaron Buchan

HEALTHY COFFEE ALTERNATIVE

An all new alternative to coffee has been created for my nutrition system CTS5N using super foods to give the exact same feeling as coffee without the associated symptoms such as caffeine addiction, irritability, sleepless nights and dehydration.

Macachino was developed in Adelaide as an alternative to coffee to provide not only short term benefits but long term benefits as well. Customers have reported an overall improvement in both energy levels and improvement in health, without feeling the need to drink coffee.

The main ingredient in coffee is caffeine a stimulant that can have adverse effects in individuals, including coffee addiction. Macachino is made from super foods rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidant which has many proven health benefits. The main ingredient being maca powder a well-known super food that is:

-          Rich in vitamins B, C and E. Also rich in Calcium, Zink, Iron, Phosphorous and amino acids.

-         Promotes sexual function increasing libido in both males and females and also balances hormones increasing fertility

-         Relieves menstrual issues and menopause.

-         Is widely known to give instant energy and increase stamina, Maca powder is widely used within the sporting community

-         Helps skin ailments such as acne, dryness and skin sensitivity

Macachino is designed to give the same feeling that coffee does without the adverse side effects and a feeling of energy and wellbeing after drinking it. Developed in Adelaide’s very own health and wellness entrepreneur who has created the Cross Training Systems brand including personal training studios, trainer mentoring programs, health and wellness seminars and just recently his very own nutrition system CTS5N which is teaching people the importance of incorporating health and nutrition to live a well-balanced life. 

I had just been on a five day juicing detox to cleanse my body when on the morning ceasing my juicing detox diet I decided to have a coffee. Having cleared the caffeine from my system I was no longer dependent on it, meaning that when I finally did have a coffee I could feel what the caffeine was doing to my body, I felt awful, and decided there has to be a way around this, something that can be used as a substitute that has health benefits. That’s when I developed Macachino. It is made from all organic ingredients such as maca powder, palm sugar, cacao powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and sea salt. Within the first day of releasing Macachino, I sold out, it is flying off of the shelves and the feedback I am getting is phenomenal.

 

To organise a FREE sample to be sent out to you, visit http://crosstrainingsystems.com.au/contact-us/ and use the code Macachino with your delivery address and we will have your sample sent to you free of charge.

 

Yours in health and fitness,

Aaron Buchan 

HOW TO IMPROVE BREATHING & CORE ACTIVATION DURING RUNNING AND STRENGTH TRAINING

It worries me when I’m out running and I see so many people running with very bad posture and running technique, and I actually ask myself, “Does their inner unit (core) actually function correctly?”

It’s an almost identical situation in the gym when I see people doing squats or dead lifts with weight belts on, with their stomach pressing out hard against their belt?

But what does all this mean? In a nutshell, the transverse abdominas (TVA) shuts down due to injury, poor diet, poor training techniques, stressors, or all of the above. That’s when the rectus abdominas (6 pack abs) and erector (back muscles that get tight) take over. This is what we call a ‘faulty recruitment pattern’. In my experience, 80% of clients I start working with have a faulty recruitment pattern and need to reinstall the motor patterns to get the TVA to function properly again, reducing back, hip, leg and some times neck pain. This is only one part of the inner unit, which consists of TVA, multifidis, pelvic floor and diaphragm, which work together to create intra abdominal pressure.

If one of these muscles is not working with the team (muscle listed) there will be an imbalance through the chain, causing injury/pain and even incontinence.

Changing a faulty recruitment pattern can sometimes take days, weeks, months or years depending on how long the muscle has been inhibited for. I have designed a step-by-step procedure to get the quickest possible way to reinstall the motor patterns to the TVA, to get you running and strength training pain free, and to prevent future injuries.

TVA is the most common muscles of the inner unit, but it is also second to none that the multifidis, pelvic floor and diaphragm are also weak or inhibited. During our initial assessment at CTS, we undertake a full core assessment to identify theses issues.

MOST IMPORTANTLY,  if the digestive system has a disfunction of any sort (e.g.: leaky gut syndrome, extended vicera, bacterial infection, excessive stress or intolerances to food, the TVA will gain no strength or activation, no matter how much you try and strengthen it. To identify and to get yourself on track with nutrition and lifestyle, firstly go through the STEP 1 process (FREE) under the CTS5N tab on this website.

Step 1: Learning how to breath and release the diaphragm.

1) Lying on your back with knees bent up, place one hand on your stomach and one on your chest. As you breath in through your nose, push your stomach out like a big full belly. As you exhale, let your belly sink down in to your spine (for 10 breaths)
To give you a better understanding of why we do this and how, I explain it to clients as this: Imagine your diaphragm as a pump and your stomach as a pond. If the pump stops pumping, then the pond will go stagnant and start storing toxins/fats, and slowing down the digestive system.

2) In between every 10 breaths, we now are going to release the diaphragm. You should be able to get your fingers under your ribs. If not, your diaphragm muscles are tight. To release these, you will put your hands under your ribs and slowly massage in small circles for 3 min.

3). Now repeat 10 breaths and massage the diaphragm in between. This will be started at 3 sets and then progressed up to 10 sets. When comfortable at 10 sets, it’s time to move onto Step 2

Step 2: Reactivating the TVA with progressing to breathing while TVA is active


2): In the horse stance position and with a neutral spine, take a big diaphragmatic breath, pushing the belly out. As you exhale, draw your belly button into the spine (be cautious not to change your spinal position, especially thoracic). Holding for 10 sec in this phase, your breath is held. Imagine a piece of string around your waistline getting pulled tight from your belly button to your lumbar spine L345 vertebras.

2A): After mastering 2 can you progress to 2A, which will seem quite difficult at first. In the horse stance position, take a big diaphragmatic breath in, pushing your belly out, and then exhale drawing your belly into the spine (you should be aware of postural position now). Hold this for 20seconds while keeping TVA tight. Try to breath through diaphragm in the first instance. You will try to push your belly out (which you don’t want to do!) You need to keep the belly drawn in, and get your pump to pump. Obviously you wont be able to belly breathe like step 1 with TVA active, but you will get better the more you practice.

Start with 20 sec contractions x 3 sets, progressing up to 10 sets. When you are comfortable at 10 sets, move onto 2B.

2B): After mastering 2A, in the horse stance position take a big belly breath in, pushing your stomach out. Exhale and draw the belly into the spine, now holding for 60 sec. You should be able to master the TVA contraction and the diaphramic breathing together.
Start with 3 sets progressing up to 10 sets.

Spend approximately 2 weeks on each phase, completing a minimum of 4 days of the week. To get the best results practice every day morning and night.

Step 3: TVA activation while weight training and running
Weight training: The best exercise to practice this at first would be dead lift with a light weight (probably just the bar). As you set your dead lift position, draw the belly into the spine. As you lift the weight, breathe out. Holding the TVA as you come to the eccentric phase of the lift, breathe in, pushing the diaphragm out, and then continue desired reps.

As you get in to any max strength training, you will change your breathing pattern to only breathe in on the completion of the concentric and eccentric phase, and exhale through the concentric and eccentric loading of the movements, keeping TVA switched on.

Running: After completing the 3 steps successfully, now it’s time to introduce running and diaphramic breathing while contracting the TVA. You should now have the motor patterns to successfully hold this. The best gauge to see if you’re improving while running, is to time how long you can hold this on for. You will find when you get tired or fatigued; you will switch off and go back to your old recruitment patterns. The goal of this exercise is to hold that TVA and breathe through the diaphragm for the whole run, without switching off…gauge your time and improve on your next run.
Cross Training Systems, Lift bigger and get stronger fast.

Yours in Health & Fitness,
Aaron Buchan

JUICING DETOX

In my previous post I spoke about why we should detox and why it is so important. In today’s blog post I am going to inform you of the perfect detox and why this detox is so beneficial to not only the digestive system, but also to the body to aid in a feeling of wellbeing.

There are many detox remedies all over the internet and it seems everywhere we turn we are given different ideas behind detoxing. In my very own nutrition system CTS5N I teamed with a nutritionist to offer a detox that is proven to be beneficial.

My preferred method of choice for the perfect detox, that gets quick results is juicing. The difference between a solid detox and a liquid detox is massive.

The idea behind detoxing the body is to stop the digestive system from working hard on processing and eliminating solid foods, meaning that it can’t actually get to work on eliminating the toxins effectively and efficiently.

A juicing detox is usually started with a two to three day stint, and then on the second or third detox you are able to push it out for around five days. Juicing is a beneficial way to detox becomes it stops the digestive system from having to break down solid foods, meaning that it can get to work on ridding the digestive and intestinal tract of built up waste.

By taking the pressure off of the digestive system, it then helps the body to start eliminating toxins, the body breaks down stagnation, the liver becomes cleansed, and that extra water weight and stagnation around the belly, legs, thighs and cellulite starts to get broken down. The lymphatic system is then able to start flushing away all of those pesky toxins that make us feel sluggish and tired.

At the beginning of the detox to around day three you will most likely have little energy, you won’t feel good, and you will most likely be moody, a lot of people allow this to deter them away from completing the detox but what is important to understand and remember is your body is eliminating toxins, so you will feel ultimately like crap to begin with, but after day three you start to become more energised and can feel a massive sense of wellbeing come over you, realising just how bad you were actually feeling, only being so used to it, it became normal.

Obviously not just any old juice will do, and you do need a particular juicing diet that is designed to keep you full and well nourished, and to also provide your body with the essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients that it needs in order to stay in an optimal state.

I have developed my very own three to five day juicing detox recipe which has been developed by myself and studied from a certified nutritionist to ensure that you are gaining the very best detox around.

Head over to http://crosstrainingsystems.com.au/subscribe/ to take our step one to optimal health questionnaire where we will provide you with the perfect juicing detox for FREE which is usually valued at $97.

Yours in health and fitness

Aaron Buchan

WHY SHOULD WE DETOX

You may have heard about the new craze of detoxing the body. Just recently studies have shown that detoxing the body has numerous health benefits, from losing weight, feeling rejuvenated, having more energy and many health ailments dissipating.

Why should we detox and why does it have many health benefits is a question that many people have when looking into detoxing.

Over the years the body accumulates many toxins. Toxins come from an array of things such as:

-        Pollution

-        Chemical substances such as alcohol, cigarettes, drugs etc

-        Preservatives in foods

-        Pesticides from non-organic produce

-        Hormones from eating generic store bought meat

-        Eating processed and refined foods

-        Thinking and feeling negative such as negative thoughts

The list is long and almost endless. The body has a natural detox system, which is our liver and lymphatic system, however the liver is only able to process so much toxins before they accumulate and get into the blood stream and present themselves in many health ailments and disorders such as:

-        Feeling bloated and sluggish

-        Weight gain

-        Tiredness

-        No energy

-        Constipation

-        Diseases or better known as dis-eases

When toxins accumulate in the body, the body becomes stagnant and the lymphatic system is impaired. An example of this can be likened to a blocked drain. There is an accumulation of mould, food, crap per se, which means that the water cannot drain properly leading to say a blocked kitchen sink. Often having to use Draino or even having the plumber come out to unblock the drain.

This is very similar to how the body works, when we have stagnation it cannot drain through the lymphatic system properly. This is why many people who have trouble losing weight even though they are dieting and exercising. There is stagnation in the body that cannot be drained properly.

So the question is, how can we break down stagnation and get the liver doing its job properly again to lead to a better life filled with ease and grace.

A detox is the best way to rid the body of toxins, break up stagnation and have the lymphatic system draining properly while the liver can detox itself and rid the body of toxins naturally.

In my next blog post I will be giving you the perfect detox remedy that will get your metabolism kick started and have you feeling more alive in as little as three days, with my very own three day juicing detox.

Stay tuned.

Yours in health and fitness

Aaron Buchan