7 Types of Squats and Their Benefits

Post author By Kim
Post date February 27, 2021

7 Types of Squats and Their Benefits

All squats have their benefits but which type is good for you right now? Here’s my progression guide and just to give you a heads up it’s not about going straight to barbell back squats!

If squats are something you struggle with or if you’re want to work on your technique then watch this video and put it into practice.

Squat Benefits & Why You Should Do Them

Be sure to keep an eye out for more youtube videos appearing on my channel and blog page! I’ll posting lots of fitness videos and exercise demonstrations this year. A big focus of mine is getting people to perform exercises properly. So, I do have pretty long explainations in my videos. But it’s worth learning the correct movement patterns from the get go!

Want more help with your exercise selection?

Check out my membership site – Barefaced Fitness On Demand – for inspiration for your workouts. If you want even more help with your fitness, check out Online Personal Coaching.

Your squat challenge!

Try out the squat variations in the video above and let me know how you got on! Even better, if this video helped you then tag me @barefacedfitness on Instagram in your story or post.

Keep challenging yourself too! If you feel like you need to work on technique or squat depth, there is nothing wrong with doing a counter balance squat to work on this. You could even do this as a warm up before you main squat.

Just because these are progressions doesn’t mean that the other options are a ‘lesser’ squat. They all have their place and they’re all important and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t change things up every so often.

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Fitness Advice & Exercise Ideas

10 Quick Ab Exercises You Can Do at Home

Post author By Kim
Post date February 18, 2021

10 Quick Ab Exercises You Can Do at Home

Need some inspiration for core exercises you can do at home? You’ve come to the right place!

I don’t tend to give people regular planks unless we’re testing core strength, because 1) they’re boring and 2) I believe dynamic plank variations to be more effective.

I never really give people standard crunches or sit ups because they can put a lot of tension on the neck and they aren’t actually as beneficial for recruiting multiple areas of the core as some other exercises.

So watch through the video and see what new exercises you can add to your home workout!

Watch the video - How to do effective ab exercises at home

Want more help with your exercise selection?

Check out my membership site – Barefaced Fitness On Demand – for inspiration for your workouts. If you want even more help with your fitness, check out Online Personal Coaching.

Your ab workout challenge!

Try out the exercises in the video above and let me know how you got on! Even better, if this video helped you then tag me @barefacedfitness on Instagram in your story or post.

Keep challenging yourself too! So if something is too easy, slow down the tempo, increase reps and sets and really be on top of your technique for maximal core engagement.

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Diet & Nutrition

How to Make a Simple Meal Plan to Lose Weight

Post author By Kim
Post date February 14, 2021

How to Make a Simple Meal Plan to Lose Weight

I always say, nutrition is so overly complicated by people! You don’t need to be so strict or buy fancy expensive ‘superfood’ to lose weight. So if you want to create a healthy meal plan to lose weight, then keep reading!

Keeping your healthy meal plan simple

One of the things I always urge people to consider, is including foods that they enjoy in their meal plan. There’s no point in planning to have porridge every morning if you cannot stand it. Just because it’s healthy doesn’t mean you HAVE to eat it, there are so many more options.

How to structure your meal plan

I would suggest starting with ideas for breakfast lunch and dinner that. Focus on sensible portion sizes of single ingredient foods or whole foods primarily. Try to include lots of fruit and veg as well as a decent amount of lean protein every day, not just on training days!

This is so you’ll feel fuller for longer and more satisfied and less likely to eat things that you don’t actually want, just because you’re feeling so hungry. The key to a sustainable diet is making sure that you’re never feeling so hungry from eating too little in terms of volume and calories.

Your tasks for creating a healthy meal plan!

Plan your meals and make sure you’re buying foods to make those meals
Keep your kitchen stocked with lots of healthy snacks so you can make easy healthy choices
Include fruit and vegetables in your meals whenever possible
Stick to simple foods like complex carbs, lean proteins, quality cooking oil and lots of vegetables.
As for protein, some supplementation might be necessary, particularly for breakfast!

Need more help?

I run a 90 Day Nutrition Club that teaches you all the elements of a healthy sustainable diet and lifestyle. I also offer personalised nutritional guiance to my Online Coaching clients!

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Fitness Advice & Exercise Ideas

How to Do a Fitness Test at Home

Post author By Kim
Post date February 14, 2021

5 Fitness Tests You Can Do at Home

I always suggest performance based fitness goals to clients. It’s a great way of taking the focus off weight loss alone! So to measure your progress, it’s a good idea to do a fitness test every so often.

These 5 fitness tests cover various types of fitness including cardiovascular, bodyweight strength and mobility. The best thing is that you can them all at home!

Watch the video - 5 Fitness Tests to do at home

(For the sit to stand test, you can opt for how fast you can do 10 sit to stands. Men under 35 should be able to do it in under 10 seconds, with women under 35 aiming for under 12 seconds. Men aged 35-55 should be able to do it in 13 seconds with women aiming for 15, and people over 55 should be able to do it in under 19 seconds. For older age groups, click here)

Want more help with your exercise selection?

Check out my membership site – Barefaced Fitness On Demand – for inspiration for your workouts. If you want even more help with your fitness, check out Online Personal Coaching.

Your Fitness Test challenge!

Try out the fitness tests in the video above and let me know how you got on! Even better, if this video helped you then tag me @barefacedfitness on Instagram in your story or post.

Make sure to keep a note of your accomplishments. So after every test, even the first one, write down your results. Then after 4 weeks or so, try the test out again and see if you’ve made an improvement!

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Fitness Advice & Exercise Ideas

Perfect Your RDL Movement Pattern

Post author By Kim
Post date February 8, 2021

Perfect Your RDL Movement Pattern

The movement required for any deadlift or deadlift variation (including RDLs – Romanian deadlifts) requires you to perform a hinge movement pattern. Perfecting your hinge pattern will massively improve your lifting technique for deadlifts!

This is a tried and tested drill that requires minimal equipment and you can even do it at home. Watch the video and try it out, don’t worry if you don’t get all 3 points of contact straight away, just keep working on it!

Watch the video - how to improve your RDLs

Want more help with your exercise selection?

Check out my membership site – Barefaced Fitness On Demand – for inspiration for your workouts. If you want even more help with your fitness, check out Online Personal Coaching.

Your Romanian deadlift challenge!

Try out the exercise drill above and let me know how you got on! Even better, if this video helped you nail the movement then tag me @barefacedfitness on Instagram in your story or post.

Remember the tips I mentioned in the video – focus on the 3 points of contact, the head, between the shoulder blades and lower back. Tilt forwards and try not to maintain a constant gaze as you move, let your head come down with you.

Once you feel like you’ve nailed this drill, try it out by doing a weighted Romanian Deadlift and notice the difference!

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