Tanita BC-543 Innerscan Body Composition Monitor Review

Hi everyone and welcome back to the blog, just a quick post before I get today's training done & set about getting this weeks results video filmed.

So, today my long awaited (well, 4 days over Christmas!) Tanita BC-543 Body Composition Monitor arrived! I'm really looking forward to putting it to good use; Helping me track and record my progress as I get fitter and look towards competing next year. I know it's something a lot of you may be interested in so I have made a short video to show the unboxing, setup and first use of it.

I hope the video is helpful & if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to pop them below & i'll do my best to answer them for you.

Just to let you know, since making the video I've read the manual (typical Man eh - reading it after i've had a go?!) and with the amount of exercise i'm doing and my resting Heart Rate now around 45, i've changed the setting to 'Male, Athlete'; Since doing that (and making sure i'm not touching any of the filming equipment whilst being measured... Oops! :D ), the Body Fat % is right smack bang where I would have expected it to be after a few weeks of over indulgence in the run up to and over Christmas; around 12% rather than the 20% in the video when I was holding the microphone etc, so I guess they must be pretty accurate!

I'm off now to make a very geeky spreadsheet to track all this lovely new 'data' i'm going to get!

Take care and train well,

Matt

Elite Volare Mag Cycle Turbo Trainer Review

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas again!

As many of you know, I have been using my new Elite Volare Mag Turbo Trainer for a few weeks now whilst the weather outside has been too bad to get out and ride... And (despite one minor incident last week - see 'Turbo Trainer Danger...!') I have only got good things to say about it! I had a couple of hours to chill out today after finishing up on all the leftover Turkey from Christmas day and decided to make a fairly in depth video about it. It covers how to set it up, the noise levels it creates and I mention a few pros & cons I have found with it so far...

So, why not sit back, relax and check it out? It might even convince you to shell out a few £££'s on a similar training tool and set you off on the right foot for your New Year's Fitness/Training resolutions! :)

There are more videos and reviews coming all the time so be sure to check back regularly or subscribe to the YouTube Channel stay up to date!

Until next time, enjoy the remainder of Christmas. Look forward to New Year and train safe!

Matt

23rd December 2012 - WLB & Training Update

Hey everyone, it's been a while since the last video went up onto the Weight Loss & Training blog (WLB) and for that, I can only apologise... It's been quite a busy few weeks since I posted the last update, I finished work for the year (and have got an extra week off in January, boom!) but was immediately struck down with flu the day after. I spent pretty much the following week in bed & am just starting to fully recover... That put paid to any hopes of smashing straight into serious training unfortunately although I did utilise the time to best effect and managed to get this blog up and running and tie up a few other loose ends! I'm getting there now though and have tried my best to make up for my losses in the last week; been smashing the Turbo Trainer hard & putting in as many miles as I can muster (When i've not been falling off it - see blog post below; 'Turbo Trainer Danger...!')!

I'm really looking forward to heading home this evening to spend a couple of days over Christmas with the family at my Parents' house... It's always good to catch up with everyone - once the dreaded Christmas traffic has been beaten! A few days off training will do me good i'm sure & copious amounts of Cheese, Port & Quality Street/Chocolate Oranges never hurt anyone eh?! :)

Anyway, as long as I can avoid further illness then it's into serious training mode as of Boxing Day... My aim is to do a minimum of Insanity in the morning and 1 hour on the Turbo in the Evening every day from here on in; More if I can manage it! I'm really looking forward to hitting it hard and not being embarrassed taking my shirt off on the Honeymoon next August. Oh... And being able to race on the bike too! :) I'm also going to finally get round to trying 'intermittent fasting', eating a more healthy diet and taking a few supplements as and when required. I'll document it all and as soon as the videos are done they will be up on the YouTube channel; be sure to check it regularly for updates!

In the meantime, here is the latest WLB update video;

Have a great Christmas everyone, travel safely and enjoy the mince pies & mulled wine... The diet can always start after Christmas! :)

Matt

Turbo Trainer Danger...!

Ok, so, those of you who are following my Fitness Channel over on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/signaturephotog?feature=mhee) will no doubt know that I am trying to get fit so I can get into competitive cycling next year... Will it work? I have no idea! Do I stand a chance? Well, I certainly don't if I don't give it a try eh?! 

As part of the fitness regime, I am spending increasing amounts of time on the bike & putting in as many winter 'base miles' as possible. Due to the current inclement weather and following a number of recent accidents involving high profile riders being knocked off by vehicles whilst out training (BBC SPOTY and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins being one of them), I decided to take to static training indoors on a Turbo Trainer. Fortunately, I didn't have to invest in one straight away as the Gym at work had bought a couple before we broke up for Christmas; I chanced my arm and asked I I could sign one out to train on every day and voila! My very own Elite Volare Mag to use for a couple of weeks! 

Now, all had been going swimmingly (almost literally if you could see the sweat! :S)... Until 45 minutes into today's sprint interval session! Mid sprint, the bike decided to make a break for it and jumped out of the bolts holing it into the Turbo; sending me, rather elegantly falling sideways with said bike to the floor. The result, carpet burns to the knee, a smell of burning rubber in the flat (where the wheel touched the frame of the Turbo and stopped dead) and a few bent spokes on the back wheel! Nothing too disastrous but it could have been much worse (especially if the spinning wheel had burned through the Landlord's carpet!)... The moral of the story? Well, I guess - be careful when you're on your Turbo Trainer; Even though you're anchored to the ground and it should be difficult for it to all go 'Pete Tong' it still can... And invariably will! 

Needless to say, I collected my thoughts, picked up & checked the bike, re-mounted it on said Turbo properly this time (did the tightening handle up as much as I dared) and finished the session, BOOM! :)

Until next time, take care & ride safely,

Matt

Working hard, before the 'incident'!

Make sure you do the clamps up tight enough! :S

Hello World!!!

Ok, so, it's such a cliche title but one that, potentially unbeknownst to some harks back to the very beginnings of the computer and the digital age... A guy called Professor Brian Kernighan made a program on his computer which simply displayed the words 'hello world' on the screen, kinda cool if you're in to geeky stuff but I guess also quite apt given the context of this post and the fact that it's been posted on the internet!

Anyway, enough of the geeky ramblings... Welcome to the first post in my personal blog! 

A little about me & why I decided to start blogging; 

I'm Matt Williams and i'm a Helicopter Instructor in the Royal Air Force. I'm currently exploring as many avenues as possible though in an attempt to find something I want to 'do' when I get out of the military lark. I own an Aerial Filming company and am in the process of setting up a Photography Company, both of which take up a large proportion of my time... I also do freelance Motion Graphics work using Maxon's amazing Cinema 4d, Adobe's After Effects and a program called Realflow... I have recently decided to get back in to shape and try to start competitive cycling next year - you can follow my progress on my YouTube Fitness Channel - It's pretty much just a Vlog for now but i'm hoping to actually do some Exercise Routine and Training Tips videos in the New Year along with some ideas for healthy meals to aid weight loss/training... I'm pretty excited about it but i'm not convinced my fiancee is entirely happy with me dancing around in my y-fronts doing Insanity in the Living Room every day! More on the videos/tutorials in later posts...

Speaking of whom, I guess this is the main reason i'm on here writing this blog and have started doing all my other things... At the beginning of November, I asked my now fiancee, the amazing Nat Langley (http://natalielangley.blogspot.co.uk) to marry me in the beautiful South Park in Oxford, England. Fortunately she said yes and, after a long chat that weekend, I decided to stop talking about all the things I was thinking of doing and actually get them done! We're both so excited to be starting our journey through life together & the build-up to that begins now!

Please feel free to follow my general ramblings on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/matt_williams83

And check out my (rather embarrassing) Fitness Channel on YouTube! :S

http://www.youtube.com/user/signaturephotog?feature=mhee

Thanks for dropping by and catch you soon!

Matt

On duty in a desert somewhere... Slap bang on the Equator!

The actual moment I popped the question to Nat at South Park, Oxford, England! :)