The Flex Podcast with Anna Martin Fitness | Podcast on RSS.com

The Flex Podcast with Anna Martin Fitness

The Flex Podcast with Anna Martin Fitness

by Anna Martin

Health & Fitness

Season 1

Add Before You Subtract: Another way to look at your nutrition

When we decide it's time to sort our nutrition out, what's the first thing we usually think about? What do I need to STOP eating? Less chocolate. Less booze. Less cheese. Fewer snacks. No more of whatever we've decided we've been “bad” with lately. But what if, before we start taking things away, we looked at what might be missing instead? In this episode, I'm talking about a different way to approach improving your diet: add before you subtract. Maybe you need more protein. More fibre. More vegetables. More water. More plant foods. Or maybe, like me and my former ability to grate approximately half a block of cheese onto anything vaguely edible, you actually need more flavour and variety. 😂 We'll look at how adding something useful can sometimes create a knock-on effect across the rest of your diet — helping meals feel more satisfying, introducing more variety and making healthier choices feel like something you're gaining rather than another list of things you're not allowed to have. Because improving your nutrition doesn't have to begin with restriction, a dramatic overhaul or solemnly swearing you'll never look at a family-sized Dairy Milk again. Particularly now they've messed with it. Livid Cadbury, livid. This week's Flex This Week Challenge is simple: identify ONE thing you'd benefit from getting more of and concentrate on adding it this week. Protein? Fibre? Veg? Seeds? Water? Something completely different? Pick one. Make a plan. Add something good. And if you'd like a bit more structure and support around your fitness, you'll find dance fitness, resistance training, mobility and full workout programmes inside Flex by AMF: Check out Flex by AMF Real-life fitness for real life. 💜

You don't just need gym strength... you need life strength!

Resistance training can sometimes feel like something that's only relevant if you love the gym, want to lift enormous weights or get very excited about your squat PB. But what if we stopped thinking about gym strength and started thinking about life strength? In this episode, I'm talking about why resistance training has such a huge carry-over into the things we do every day — and why building and maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important as we get older. Because the movements we practise when we train aren't really that unusual. Squatting helps us get up and down. Hinges help us pick things off the floor. Pushing, pulling, carrying and bracing are things our bodies need to do all the bloody time = from lugging suitcases around to carrying the shopping, playing sport or attempting to clean the shower through that stupid tiny gap between the doors. 😂 You don't have to become someone who lives in the weights section of the gym either. Resistance classes, simple home workouts, bodyweight exercises and beginner-friendly gym sessions can all give your body a reason to get stronger. I started out as a complete cardio bunny, so I know that venturing into resistance training for the first time can feel like entering a completely different fitness world. But give yourself time to learn, get some support and stick with it, and you might be amazed by how quickly you start to feel stronger — not just during your workouts, but outside them too. Because ultimately we're not training to be good at the gym. We're training to be good at life. And future-us would quite like to be a bunch of capable old-lady ninjas. 🥷💜 If you'd like to get started with resistance training at home, you'll find beginner-friendly workouts, Flex On-The-Go sessions and structured programmes inside Flex by AMF: Flex by AMF Real-life fitness for real life. 💜

Cardio isn't about making your body smaller..... It's about making your life bigger. 💜

For years, cardio has been heavily associated with burning calories, losing weight and trying to “undo” whatever we ate the night before. But cardio can give us so much more than a calorie burn. In this episode, I'm talking about why I think we need to change the way we look at cardiovascular exercise - because cardio isn't something you do to make your body smaller. It's something you do to make your life bigger. We'll chat about building stamina, improving cardiovascular fitness, supporting our mood and mental wellbeing, and having more energy and capacity for normal life. Because fitness isn't just about being able to complete a workout - it's being able to walk up the massive hill on holiday, run for the bus, dance all night, play sport, explore new places and generally do cool stuff without your heart and lungs filing a formal complaint. 😂 I'm also talking about future-you. We don't only want enough fitness to do the things we enjoy today; we want to keep travelling, walking, dancing, exploring and saying YES to stuff for as long as possible. And the best bit? Your cardio doesn't have to look like anyone else's. Run, swim, cycle, box, dance, play sport, take a class — you get to choose the fun bit. This week's Flex This Week Challenge is to choose three 20-minute cardio sessions and get that heart rate up doing something you enjoy. Come and join in over on my Facebook and Instagram and let me know what you're doing! And if dance fitness and aerobics are your cardio of choice, there are LOADS waiting for you inside Flex by AMF, alongside resistance training, mobility and structured workout plans you can do at home or in the gym. Check out Flex by AMF: www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf Real-life fitness for real life. 💜

Your workout isn't the only movement that matters...

Ever started work at 9am, looked up what feels like five minutes later and somehow it’s 1:37pm, you haven’t moved, your water is untouched and you desperately need a wee? 😂 In this episode, I’m talking about the bitesize movement we do outside of our workouts — and why it matters. Going to a dance fitness class, lifting weights or heading out for a run is brilliant, but our bodies also benefit from moving regularly throughout the rest of the day. Especially when work, commuting and Netflix have made us extraordinarily good at sitting still for hours at a time. We’ll chat about simple ways to break up long periods of sitting, why everyday movement doesn’t need to involve gym kit or a formal workout, and how getting up regularly can help us feel less stiff, more mobile and generally a bit more human by the end of the working day. And this week’s Flex This Week Challenge makes it ridiculously simple: choose a song and use it as your movement break. Walk around, clean something, make a cuppa, do some mobility or dance around your kitchen while the bloke laying your patio wonders what the hell is happening. 😂 A few minutes might not feel significant on its own, but all those little bits of movement add up. Because your workout matters — but so does what you do between your workouts. If you'd like more workouts, challenges and realistic ways to fit fitness around an actual life, you can find Flex by AMFhere: Flex by AMF Real-life fitness for real life. 💜

Maybe You Don't Need More Motivation... Maybe You Need to Go to Bed

We talk a LOT about motivation when it comes to looking after ourselves. How do I motivate myself to exercise? Why can't I be bothered to cook properly? Why do I keep snoozing my alarm instead of getting my workout done? But sometimes the problem isn't motivation at all. Sometimes we're just bloody knackered. 😂 In this episode, I'm talking about the difference between going to bed and actually going to sleep — including those innocent little 10-minute scrolls that somehow turn into 45 minutes of watching videos about goats we didn't know we were interested in. We'll chat about some of the knock-on effects of not getting enough sleep, from appetite and food choices to energy, recovery and how difficult our usual workouts and everyday tasks can suddenly feel. I'll also talk about why recovery deserves just as much attention as our workouts and nutrition, particularly if we're trying to get fitter and stronger. Sometimes getting better results doesn't mean squeezing MORE into our lives — it means giving our bodies enough opportunity to recover from everything we're already doing. This week's Flex Community Challenge is therefore beautifully unsexy: set yourself a bedtime and stick to it — preferably without scrolling yourself into a goat-video vortex once you're there. 😂 If you'd like more support with building a realistic fitness routine around an actual busy life, Flex by AMF includes a full year's structured programme alongside resistance training, dance fitness, mobility and plenty of shorter workouts for those weeks when life gets in the way. www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf Real-life fitness for real life. 💜

Health people don't do everything perfectly - They just make enough good choices, often enough

If you've ever caught yourself saying, "I'll start properly on Monday," then this episode is for you. So many of us think being healthy means eating perfectly, smashing every workout and never touching a biscuit again. The reality? Most people who stay fit and healthy long-term don't do everything perfectly... they just make enough good choices, often enough. In this episode, I'm chatting about why small daily habits matter so much more than chasing the "perfect" week, how tiny changes can build momentum, and why looking after yourself doesn't have to involve kale smoothies, misery or giving up everything you enjoy. We'll talk about practical ways to make healthier choices that actually fit around real life, why consistency always beats perfection, and how those little decisions you make today can have a huge impact on how you feel in the months and years to come. And if you'd like a little extra support, this week's Flex Community Challenge is all about adding protein to breakfast. Come and join us over on Facebook and get involved! Search 'Anna Martin Fitness' If you're looking for a simple, realistic programme that combines resistance training, dance fitness, mobility and a full year's worth of structured workouts that fit around real life, you can find out more about Flex by AMF here: www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf Because getting healthier isn't about being perfect... it's about making enough good choices, often enough. 💜 💜 Real-life Fitness for real life 💜

Fitness is forever... so let's find something we kind of like

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could exercise consistently for four weeks, tick the FIT box and then remain strong, mobile and cardiovascularly fabulous forever? 😂 Unfortunately, our bodies have other ideas. In this episode, I’m talking about why fitness isn’t something we ever really finish - and why that’s actually quite a positive thing. We’ll chat about finding forms of exercise you genuinely enjoy, why your version of cardio or resistance training doesn’t have to look like anybody else’s, and how experimenting with different ways of moving can help you build a routine you’re happy to keep coming back to. I’ll also talk about ageing, strength and why the goal isn’t necessarily to become someone who LOVES every second of every workout. Sometimes finding something you quite like - or at least don’t bloody hate 😂 - is enough to help you build a habit that keeps your body doing all the cool stuff you want it to do for years to come. Because there is no finish line. We're playing the long game. 💜 If you'd like help getting your resistance training, cardio and mobility into a routine that can actually flex around real life, you can find out more about Flex by AMF here: Flex by AMF.

Your workout matters, but here’s something that will make the other 15 hours count!

When we think about getting fitter and healthier, we tend to focus on the obvious stuff — gym sessions, resistance training, cardio classes and workouts. But what about all the movement that happens during the rest of our day? In this episode, I’m talking about why everyday movement is so underrated and why one workout can’t completely compensate for spending the other 15 hours of your waking day sitting still. We’ll look at simple ways to build more steps into a normal working day, why walking can benefit everything from cardiovascular health and mobility to blood sugar management and mental wellbeing, and why getting yourself moving throughout the day can actually make doing your proper workout feel easier too. No elaborate fitness regime required. Sometimes it really can be as simple as walking around the block, taking a lunchtime wander or creating your own little “commute” when you work from home. And this week, the Flex Community Challenge is 8,000 steps a day — so if you fancy joining us, get those trainers on and give it a crack! Because exercise doesn't always have to look like exercise. To join Flex check out www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf

Ep 50 - Your body has a bank account. Every workout is a deposit. Future You will thank you for every single one.

We all know that one workout isn't going to change our body overnight... so why is it so easy to get frustrated when we don't see instant results? In this episode, I'm talking about the compound interest of fitness – why every workout is like making a deposit into your body's bank account and how those small, consistent efforts add up to something far bigger over time. We'll chat about why falling in love with the process matters more than chasing quick transformations, why missing a week isn't the end of the world, and I'll introduce you to Jim... my 90-year-old gym friend who's still lifting weights, fixing his house and proving that looking after yourself really does pay dividends. If you've ever felt like your workouts aren't making a difference, this episode is the reminder you need to keep making those deposits. Future You will be very glad you did. 💜 If you'd like a simple, supportive programme to help you build strength at home or in the gym, take a look at Flex Membership at www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf

The Strength Equation - Part 3 - Stay motivated & see the bigger picture

Ever been pissed off at how long it's taking for you to see results that you thought you'd get in 3 months? Listen to this one. Here we discuss the results that you might not be able to physically see... and also how long it could really take to see or feel the changes that you are after. For a program that you can follow anywhere, visit www.annamartinfitness.co.uk/flex-by-amf

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