Why BP@Home is so effective

Going into lockdown gave us the huge challenge of devising something quick, simple and effective in order to keep you guys engaged in what was set to be an uncertain and tough time in any circumstance. Now we’ve had a chance to slowly ground ourselves and adapt the way we train online, here’s an explanation behind the how’s and why’s of our new online group training programme. How it’s done, and why it’s effective.

In order to reap the greatest rewards from our new BP@Home package you’ll need to understand the following four points below.

1 – Establish new routines and healthy habits.

2 – Challenge your abilities regularly.

3 – Structure is better, but why?

4 – Consistent – Bringing it all together.

 The first step in any lifestyle change or fitness journey is to set out your stall. Sort out what you’re going to do, and when.

Due to the nature of how we’re delivering our sessions online, you’ll never miss a session again. You have the flexibility to undertake these 40 to 45 minute sessions, at the most convenient part of your day, removing the stress of when to exercise, and what to do because the session leader is with you, every rep, every exercise.

Together with our nutrition strategy, you’ll know what to eat, how much and when. We even provide a shopping list so you know what you need to buy. All you need to do is a little bit of prep work, again at your convenience removing the stress involved with what and when to eat. The plans are calorie controlled like any diet plan out there, but rest assured there’s enough food on each and every day to make sure your body is able to safely function, and steer you towards the goals you want to achieve. Along with the food and exercise plans, we advise trying to consume 2 to 3 litres of water per day. Teas, coffees and cordials can contribute to this fluid intake but like anything else too much can be damaging, especially alcohol. So bear this in mind when your name is being called from the bottom of the bottle!

To summarise, all you have to do is follow the sessions and follow the food plan and replace some old diehard habits with new heart healthy ones. These vary from client to client.

The common mistake with any training plan is taking your foot off the gas. Early on you can expect to achieve ‘beginners gains’. These are basically where you are, as it says a complete beginner to exercise, or you’ve been so stuck in your old ways the plan you’re doing has become ineffective. When you do something for the first time, or something you’ve not done for a while your body is inefficient at performing this task. This in a nutshell means you’ll use a lot of calories. However, as you improve, your efficiency improves meaning that 8kg Kettlebell you struggled to snatch 3 weeks ago is less effective than it was 3 weeks ago. This means you have to do either more safe repetitions, more weight or take less rest between. If you keep doing what you’ve always been doing you’ll keep getting what you’ve always had.

The point we make here is, it doesn’t get easier in a sense because you keep challenging the levels you get to. The weights do start to feel lighter but you do more advanced things with them. You take your body just outside the comfort zone you’re used to, and allow it to recover fully, repeatedly.

The way our new BP@Home programme is structured allows you to do just that. We’re well aware that everyone on the plan are of different fitness levels, but 45 seconds of constant repetition with an exercise is the same for everyone whether you’re an ambitious beginner or defending champion, we’re all equal on this point! The plan is structured to build an adequate foundation in week 1 to move on to weeks 2, 3, and 4. All the weeks are different and have different types of training underpinning the session, some exercises may recur, but as you’ll soon see, the way you do such can make all the difference. Our advice on this point is hit every 45 minute session like you mean it. Give your body that reason to be stronger, or leaner or be able to move faster by creating the stimulus which will force the adaptation.

We’ve always said that a 4 to 6 weeks programme is the optimum length. While this can be looked at as sales bumf to keep us in a job, allow us to bust that myth.

My example here is going to be a four exercise program done three times per week with the same weight. Pitched right, at the beginning of the program the starting weight may feel challenging. It will bring about enough progressive overload to create the stimulus and bring about a level of change. The individual might even ache or suffer ‘Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness’ which is perfectly normal. These aches are a sign that your nervous system has received, and understood your message (the training session you’ve done to help achieve your goal), the aches are a result of short term damage you’ve caused during the session. The symptoms can last a few days and should subside, leaving you with stronger, more durable muscles even just from that one session. Session two comes along, same weight and exercise protocol, you’ll notice it’s still taxing but you don’t hurt as much following the session, or you weren’t as tired in the session. This is because your efficiency has improved and each rep takes less energy and therefore burns less calories, which means it has done its job in one sense but has become ineffective in another sense. Obviously if you repeated this cycle and you did the last session of the programme the exact same as the first I’d be surprised if you even felt anything more than a little warm, due to how strong and efficient your body becomes versus how ineffective the same session and exercise protocol becomes.

It is for this reason we have planned the weeks of the programme to be different to each other, but relevant to your goal. This means every session will challenge your abilities, you’ll continue to get the best out of every session and to be honest, developing this system and applying it to multiple people of varying abilities is nothing less than an art form.

The great thing with a structure is you can identify clearly the steps you’ve taken. When we weigh and measure on day one or as close to, and again towards the end and followed the food strategy to the letter, we can look at the difference and clearly identify the types of training that have carried you to that point. We can also identify areas of weakness for example if there are things you found more difficult than others. There are four phases of the programme, some people will be suited to phase one and be able to keep going and going, some will be able to push out a few more reps in the power phase and some may handle the intensity phase better. Without the structure, we don’t know what has and what hasn’t worked. This is the real reason why it’s imperative to change every four to six weeks.

Reading this far is an endurance feat in itself, I realise I can go on sometimes.

By bringing it all together we simply mean keeping on top of your new found routine, and habits and making sure it sticks. If something isn’t quite right, try and identify why it isn’t, and act accordingly. By making the commitment believe it or not, you’ve done the hardest part. You. You’ve laid it down with yourself and told your oldself how it’s going to be from now on. We’ve all been there. We’ve been there because we all know people who know us, and this change you’ve committed to by their standards and their understanding of you can be deemed as somewhat radical. 16 and a half year old boy states ‘I’m going to be a Royal Marines Commando’ everyone in the pub dispels it as nothing more than a drunken ramble. Mother of three declares war on her waistline and everyone who knows her thinks, yeah, ok. We’ve been there and done it countless times, with our own experiences or with our clients. We firmly believe that you totally will achieve all that you set out with our BP@Home programme by completing the sessions and following the food plan. We have the experience, knowledge, understanding and application in training and nutrition to get you there. If you feel like you’re out of your depth, just ask away.

We are here to help. That’s the bottom line. We decided to build this programme, this particular way, because we know it works well in a group environment, with our individual PT clients whether we train at our home, their home or in the park. We know it’s going to be effective in your home too, especially if you understand the four points above and apply them to the best of your ability. We’re not saying it’s going to be easy and we’re not making false promises either. This is a scientifically backed process that will not fail you, if you don’t fail the scientifically backed process.

Keep in mind the above points, and let the results come to you!

For anything else, you know where to find us!