I'm still standing - health benefits of standing vs sitting



Woman looking in mirror
Standing instead of sitting promotes fat loss

Weight Loss




Improved Posture





What does help, is taking short stand up breaks.



Your Internal Organs Work Better

Internal organs align
Standing aligns your intermal organs





Your Muscles Get In Top Shape

Fit woman sitting
Sitting less keeps your muscles in top shape







Writing Things Down




Writing goals down moves you closer to your goals

Write it down.







Is it corny? Yes. Is it effective? Yes.

Start With a Specific Goal






Don't be too ambitious with time frame or size of goal

Avoid being rash or trying to achieve things too quickly.




Word It Right - be positive

It's all possible if you're positive!

Only use positive sentences in your goal.










Put It Where You Will See It





Break It Down Into Mini Goals






The Top 7 Ways People Waste Time At The Gym



I don’t want you to make those mistakes!



Long Slow Cardio





Pink Dumbbells

Pink dumbbells do literally nothing - give them up




Time under tension is a must for your weights workout.

The Recumbent Bike

Chilling out in the gym is a chronic waster of time



Hip Adductor /Adductor Machine

More time wasting


Checking Your Phone

Don't be tempted to check your phone in the gym!



Not Recording Your Workouts


3. After the workout, review how you feel.


Going In Without a Plan




Stop wasting your time and make each workout count!

Good luck.


The Overlooked Benefits Of Stretching - You Will Be Amazed When You Try It

Let's face it – stretching is the least glamorous and the most overlooked part of your workout. You probably hear mixed messages around stretching and whether it's all a bit outdated now. Some professionals prioritise so called mobility techniques and using foam rollers, but I’m still a big fan of stretching and in this article I’m going to discuss the amazing health benefits of stretching!

Improve your flexibility, optimise your health


This might seem obvious but a well-designed stretching routine is the best way to improve flexibility. Because most of my clients work desk jobs, they tend to have problems with muscle stiffness, back pain, and headaches that can all be tracked down to poor flexibility. Having a sedentary lifestyle means that over the years you will see your flexibility decrease much more than it naturally would for an active person.

Low flexibility means a smaller range of motion, less effective workouts, and a higher risk of injury. The stiffness in your neck muscles can lead to a poor circulation to your brain which then translates into excruciating headaches. Finally, as you get older, you are more likely to experience postural problems which is why I always encourage my clients to do plenty of stretches to free up their lower back and hips as they can effectively prevent lower back pain with the correct approach.

Improved Blood Flow

When you perform dynamic stretches before a workout, you increase the blood flow to your muscles. This improves performance significantly and it also reduces the soreness afterwards. The benefits of improved circulation go even beyond that. It also promotes cell growth, function, and recovery in your muscles even post-workout. Not to mention that an increased blood flow is great for your brain and it will boost mood and productivity throughout your day.

Decreased Stress

Stretching can be a powerful way to decompress. I usually tell my clients to always stretch after a long day, even if they don't do any other workout. Stretching helps you tune back into what your body is telling you. When you are busy, you can often get too worked up about all the things you need to achieve. A nice stretch once you are back from work allows you to unwind and notice those tight spots in your body that have developed throughout the day and to work on releasing that tension.

Stretching helps you stand taller and straighter, and makes you look leaner!

Better Posture

Stretching lengthens your muscles and soothes the tension buildup. When your muscles are more flexible, they are less likely to pull you into unnatural positions. An example I like to give for this are the muscles in your shoulder region. The ones responsible for rolling the shoulder inward are much stronger than those that roll it back. In some athletes, the muscle imbalance causes a visible change in posture.

Even if you are far from that point, chances are you still have your shoulders more hunched than they should be. This can be helped quite easily with a few stretching and lengthening exercises. An improved posture can prevent so many health issues and it will even make you feel more confident and productive.

How to Build a Stretching Routine?

Not all stretching exercises were created equal. There are numerous different stretches you can incorporate into your routine. When I work with clients, I always customise their stretching routines to their particular needs and goals. However, even if you are not working with a professional trainer, you can build a basic set of stretches that works for you. Here are the main types of stretches to include:

Static Stretching

Static stretching is your most basic sort of a stretch. You extend the muscles as much as you can and maintain the position for at least 30 seconds. If you are using an outside force to help with the stretch, then this is passive static stretching. This outside force could be anything from gravity, to an elastic strap, or even a partner. Active static stretching is when you are contracting the muscles that do the opposite movement to the ones you want to stretch. For instance, if you contract your triceps, your bicep will stretch.

Static stretching is perfect as a cool-down exercise. After a workout, your muscles are warm and very elastic. If you continuously challenge yourself with stretches after a workout, over time you will see a very impressive increase in your flexibility as well as overall performance.

Incorporate dynamic movement into your stretching routine

Dynamic Stretching

Dynamic stretching is geared around sports specific training and all about controlled movement through an exercise that mimics what you will do during the rest of your workout. I tell my clients to focus on control rather than speed when they are doing these stretches. The point here is to condition your muscles to maintain proper form as well as to improve range of motion, circulation, and mobility.

Some of my favourite dynamic stretches before a workout are twisted lunges, inchworms, and variations on the sun salutation. On rest days, I recommend doing relaxing yoga flows as they provide great full-body dynamic stretching.

When Should You Stretch?

Whenever you feel that you need it. Stretching comes naturally to animals and humans alike. Stretch right after waking up, when you start to feel stiff at your desk, and definitely before and after your training sessions. Stretching in some way will always make you feel better and if anything makes you happy do more of it!

If you have any questions about stretching please leave them in the comments below.




Are you doing it wrong? For quick results, slow things down

Here is the harsh truth: you could be working out for one hour every day, watching your diet like a hawk and yet getting little to virtually no results.

How many people have you met or seen at the gym who always seem to be there, week in week out, year after year but don't actually ever seem to change? There's a lot of them.

There are many, complex reasons for this but a big piece of the puzzle is a lack of focus on 'time under tension' training (my preferred method of generating maximum results in as little time as possible).

First, watch this video:

Fortunately, science allow us to understand what actually happens during a workout and crucially, what makes actually makes a difference and what is simply a waste of your time and accomplishing very little.

The Conventional Workout Wisdom

First let's take a look at where most conventional workouts are going wrong. For most people, going to the gym typically involves one of two things:

  1. an aerobics class such as Zumba, Spinning or something similar;
  2. 30-60 boring minutes of low intensity treadmill work plus some wasted time on the resistance machines.

While neither of those are inherently bad, and moving your body around is better than not moving your body around, people quickly become discouraged with the lack of results on the scales and in the mirror.

Being physically present in a gym or a fitness studio does not, in an of itself, produce any results whatsoever.

Pounding out hours of steady state cardio on the treadmill or the spinning bike tend not to produce a positive adaptive response

I know people that go to the gym seven times a week, eat clean and still aren't getting the result they really want.

In fact, contrary to what might be instinctive, more time in the gym or placing your body under a lot of stress from exercise day in day out can in fact harm your results, not improve them.

Focus on quality, not quantity or duration. But how?

Time Under Tension Training to The Rescue

Time under tension is the opposite of conventional exercise regimens which tend to focus on low intensity, steady state workouts. It is about slowing things down, maintaining correct (perfect) form, and triggering as much change in your muscles as possible. Most people have twigged that weight training is good for you by now (even if you're a woman).

BUT most people are doing it wrong for various reasons. The main reason? People are going too fast and not spending enough time under tension to generate a positive change.

Time under tension workouts can be performed using a swiss ball

So if you've already converted to weight/resistance training over workout DVDs, the following might apply to you:

  • As weight/resistance workouts become more challenging, people tend to speed up the set as it progresses and 'bang out those last few reps to get it done'. This is a false economy and you are in fact cheating yourself. Your body does not know the number of repetitions, only the amount of stress you place it under;
  • While this is a natural response, quick reps are actually easier. This is because you are cheating by using momentum. I'd rather see one of my clients perform a movement at a slow controlled pace for one minute with a light weight than perform 10 fast repetitions of a heavy weight.
  • Let's take an example: If you do a set of 10 repetitions in 20 seconds you have probably only properly fatigued the muscle for a very short amount of time. In other words, you haven't used up all the fuel in the muscle.
  • Compare that to slowing things down and doing a single rep in around 15 seconds - with a slow speed (cadence) of raising and lowering whatever weight you are moving.

The Do's and Don't of Time Under Tension Training


  • You do prefer compound movements instead of isolation exercises.
  • You do focus on 'time under tension' (around 90 seconds is an optimal point to reach failure).
  • You do focus on failure, not repetitions;
  • You do focus on the negative part of the movement rather than neglect it (the part where you are working with gravity in moving the weight in a controlled manner).


  • You don't stop with your arms or legs locked out at the top or bottom of the movement;
  • You don't 'swing' the bar or the weight;
  • You don't cheat by using other muscle groups to get the weight up and down;
  • You don't perform the moment so quickly that you're relying on momentum;
  • You don't 'bounce' at the bottom of a movement.
Compound movements are far superior to isolation exercises to produce maximum results

For more guidance on this, see the Can DO Plan.

It can be difficult to understand what proper time under tension training looks like, so see this video to see a proper time under tension set and how hard it can be.

If you're honest with yourself - you know when you are 'cheating' and you know how you could physically make the exercise more difficult - you need to be honest, make it hard for yourself to get results. Training with your ego doesn't work.

By placing the greatest possible demand on the muscle, we trigger the optimal amount of positive change. What is more, we reduce our risk of injury because the movement is controlled and the form is good.

Time under tension is not about counting reps, it is about making every rep count. By 'in-roading' your muscles as deeply as possible, you achieve results faster than ever.

Crossfit and other recent exercise fads are not consistent with time under tension training principles

Why Cross fit sucks

This is also why things like Crossfit (whilst better than sitting at home eating pizza) are not particularly good for you. They focus on quick reps with poor form and often weird, uncontrolled movements. Stay away from the fad diet/exercise regimes. Your body is an ancient machine that likes conventional, familiar movement, not complex 'innovations'.

Pressing the failure button

Once you've hit the 'failure' button once, there is no point pressing it over and over again. By this I mean, once  you have completed one proper time under tension set in which you have reached failure, there is no need to keep pressing the button with more sets - your body got the message the first time.

You've damaged your muscles sufficiently for them to respond and repair and for you to come back next time even better and stronger (and leaner!).

It's a bit like pressing the button to call the lift - once you've pressed it once, there's no need to keep pressing it. You'll generate more muscle mass through using this approach and that's great because more muscle mass = greater fat loss and a stronger leaner physique.

If you've reached true failure once, your body will adapt - performing multiple sets of the same exercise doesn't get you any further along the road to change


If you want to check out the full science behind the above approach, read Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week (NTC Sports/Fitness)







The Power Of A Workout Partner - Accountability = Results

The Power of Having a Workout Partner

In my opinion, most people don't hire a personal trainer for his or her knowledge and experience, at least not at first.

They have often tried numerous times to get fit on their own, had multiple gym memberships (that have rarely been used!) and obsessed over online diet plans, training programmes and social media "gurus" but little has changed. They just can't stay focused on their goals and sadly, never achieve their dream body.

It's not that they don't have the resources to succeed, it's all too often, the persistence that they tend to lack.

Those that have personal trainers know that they serve the key role of increasing PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY - which I believe is the key ingredient in the success of your health and fitness goals.

If you don't have access to a Personal Trainer at present, there is a very simple thing that you can do right now to increase the likelihood that you will not fall back into your bad habits and quit after two workouts... Find yourself a workout partner!

You Become The Person You Spend The Most Time With

It's catching

Harvard University researchers found that obesity can be contagious. If you spend time with people who don't treat their bodies right, you are more likely to overlook your own diet and fitness. The reverse is also true. By surrounding yourself with happy, healthy people you will see your own habits start to change.

Sometimes it's difficult to cut out friends and family who lead an unhealthy lifestyle but you can always add new ones that will encourage you to make a positive change.

Your chosen workout partner should be somebody that is actively working toward the same goals as you are. Seeing their dedication is often enough to make you more persistent. This sort of positive peer pressure comes in incredibly handy when you are first starting out and you need all of the momentum you can get.

Working out with friends is a great way to increase accountability

Accountability and Motivation

I often tell my clients to treat their gym session as they would an important work appointment. While this change of mindset can be incredibly beneficial, you are still more likely to cancel a workout session than a business meeting. It is much easier to cancel when nobody else is involved.

When you have a workout partner, your plans immediately become more difficult to cancel. Not only do you let yourself down, you let them down too.

Whats more, even if you choose to have a remote workout partner or a remote PT,  psychologically knowing that you have an agreement and you would be letting them down if you don't put in the time doing the work (nutrition or exercise) is a powerful motivator.

In terms of accountability, I have never seen a tool quite as effective as having another human to "answer to". There are so many progress tracking systems --- mobile or desktop apps, keeping a journal, ticking off days where you work out and trying to keep a streak etc. These are all much easier to lie to than a  person.

Simply having a living breathing person to check in on you makes you much more responsible in doing what you said you would do.

Finding a workout partner 


In an ideal world, we would all have a loyal friend willing to embark on a body transformation journey with us. Friends work well if your ambitions are aligned and you are roughly on a similar level in terms of fitness and motivation. Avoid a big mismatch in ability or fitness levels because it will just leave one of you demoralised and the other under-challenged. The great thing about working out with friends is you are less likely to ditch them or somehow escape when the going gets tough!

The gym class hero

Gym-organised workout or yoga classes can be a great way of meeting potential workout partners

We all have different routines and chances are that your current goals are different than those of your friends and family. Maybe you want to try proper weight lifting but all of your friends are stuck on doing hours of low intensity cardio.

Well, an simple way to get a fitness buddy is to simply start a conversation with someone at your gym. This tends to feel less awkward if you are taking a class together.

So perhaps at your next yoga or spinning class you might want to suggest buddying up with someone to spot you for the *really* effective stuff of weight training.

Training with a trainer

Personal trainers provide an excellent source of motivation, accountability and friendship

As I alluded to above, training with a personal trainer can be beneficial for a great number of reasons. They can help you define a proper training and nutrition  programme and increase your personal sense of accountability.

And if you are already working with a personal trainer, you could ask them to recommend a workout partner. Considering they know your personal fitness goals and interests better than anyone else, personal trainers are the perfect workout buddy matchmakers!

If you're a personal trainer yourself (or want to know what to expect from an excellent personal trainer) check out my book.

Trusted online programmes

Most of what is online and on YouTube is wishful thinking and designed by its very nature to get clicks. It's really tough to know exactly who you can trust online.

With that being said, home coaching products with accountability built in to the system itself can be highly effective. That's why my own online training programme is for those who want to get a head start but also seek credible advice from someone with realistic claims that is not just trying to make a quick buck online!

Free copy of the Can DO Plan

With all of the above in mind, I am looking for women to get an advanced free trial of my online video trainer, the Can DO Plan. There are currently four spots left so please do get in touch. This will feature not only hours of video content that comes in the Can DO Plan but a free hour phone consultation with me at the outset of the programme to make sure you get the most out of it and regular 'accountability calls' with me to see how things are going - just email me on david@davidosgsthorp.com with a short note on your fitness goals and we'll be in touch with the winners of the free places.