Sarah McIntyre caught up with the personal trainer to find out how to compliment exercise with a healthy diet, how to tone up, and what he thinks about protein shakes.
Karl is hosting a special 'Get Your Runners On' event in The Radisson Blu Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8 on Wednesday September 24 at 7pm.
Tickets (€5) can be booked online here.
Sarah McIntyre: Tell me a bit about the Get Your Runners On event, what can people expect?
Karl Henry: Because running is so en vogue at the minute we thought we’d put an event on to teach people how to run properly from couch to 5k – total beginners. Take all of the confusion out of it. Then to look at motivation and goal setting – how to keep running for life. I don't do quick fixes, I've no interest in them, I'm only interested in life-long help. If we can give people the right tools initially, you know they'll stay healthy longterm. It'll be nice and relaxed, we'll have some fun, and there'll be some lovely recipes on site as well.
One of the best things about running is that you only need a pair of runners, you don't really need any other equipment to get started. Is that a draw for people looking to get in shape?
Yes I think it's the simplicity of it, there's no gym membership, a pair of runners and a top and off you go. Once you know how to do it properly, you can get results in terms of endorphin release, weight loss, your fitness levels come up, clothes fit better. And it can happen from as little as three 30 minute sessions per week. it's not that hard. I think that's one of the barriers to fitness is time. people are so busy, but with running, all you have to do is pop your runners on and out the door. The hardest thing is the knowledge of how to do it properly. That's what we're going to provide on Wednesday.
What are they ways people can introduce new challenges once they have gotten fitter?
The key thing to remember is you have to monitor how hard you're working when you're running. The simplest way to do it is the 'talk test'. The talk test very simply states that when you're running along or fast walking you should be slightly out of breath but still able to hold a conversation. No matter how fit you are you always have to hit that point. Once you hit it, that's the magic zone where all of the benefits come from – fat burning, to aerobic benefits and no matter how fit you get, you have to hit it. So that stops the plateau you were talking about so you'll always get the benefits from it.
What do you think of High Intensity Interval Training and hill sprints?
I think it's fantastic for you. The benefits outweigh the static work, where you're working at the same speed. High intensity is amazing, but for the market that I try to talk to – is the person who's on the couch. They're afraid of exercise, it scares them and if I get them running hill sprints it's just going to scare them even further. They're very very uncomfortable. The talk test is a better way of me getting around that. it's a little bit hard, but it's going to be fine as opposed to being really really hard.
What would you recommend someone starting out, how many times a week should they train?
If you're training for a 5k you would look at generally three runs a week and maybe one long walk. The runs might be 20 to 30 minutes long and the long walk at the weekend might be in and around an hour. So you're normally looking at 180 minutes per week, and that would be the government recommendation as well, which most people can fit into their lives, it's not too scary a number. And having one rest day per week where you sit on the couch, put your feet up and watch the telly and take it easy.
Is there anything else you would recommend for toning up?
Running is one component of health. It works your aerobic system, it'll do some muscular improvements, but to get the most benefit you have to look at a full exercise routine, which will be a resistance work, which is squat or a tricep dip or a press up, all great forms of exercise which will give you more tone, more shape, and then a stretching component as well. So ideally as you get fitter you can add more of these things in. Again resistance scares people especially women, it freaks them out, they think they're going to get big and bulky and muscular, but you won't. Resistance work gives you your tone, your shape, your clothes will fit better. It can be as simple as doing some squats at home, some lunges at home. It doesn't have to mean gym membership, or a bootcamp class with a drill sergeant screaming at you. Gentle's probably the wrong word but it can certainly be very easy and very approachable.
No matter how many runs you go for, it's hard to run off a bad diet. What to you is a healthy diet?
Food is 70% of the results, and I'm the exercise guy! A healthy diet for our clients is one that's real. So real products, with a short shelf life that you have to cook yourself. Those three tips will take you away from all the starchy carbohydrates, it will push you towards the good carbohydrates. It will take you away from the trans fats, which are the dangerous fats towards your healthy fats, in the form of nuts or seeds, avocados or fish. And it's a really simple way to look at it. Those three things will get you healthier than any calorie counting diet, because you're eating real food that's home-made and it's got much better nutrients in it. We would always say on a carbohydrate level, brown carbohydrates instead of white. So brown rice, sweet potato, brown bread are so much healthier than the really starchy, refined carbohydrates.
For you what would be a healthy breakfast?
I'm a porridge fan. Porridge with full fat milk, organic jumbo oats and a little bit of honey and nuts and seeds. So when you look at it, you've got slow release carbohydrates, you've got lots of healthy fats coming in through your milk and your nuts and seeds, great for your skin, hair, nails, recovery, that's what healthy fats do. Fat's amazing for you. You want to improve your skin hair or nails? Eat more fat. Want to train better? Eat more fat. It's really really good, it's the type of fat that you eat. We do know that sugar is the enemy without a doubt. It's bad for your insulin levels, bone density, everything across the board.
If you're training and trying to build muscle – what do your recommend for getting protein in your diet?
Protein is important. When you train you tear your muscle fibres apart. Protein helps them to grow back together, it's great for your immune system as well. So it's an important nutrient to get. Your obvious sources are your chicken, fish, eggs, we would push our clients towards those but some vegetarian sources as well. Pulses, quinoa, your nuts, seeds, beans, all great sources of lean protein, especially the nuts as you're getting your fats in there as well.
If you're not getting enough fats in, we'd recommend Udo's Oil, it's full of all the omegas, again it helps them recover quicker. In terms of carbohydrates we'd push our clients towards vegetables as much as possible. Brown pastas or brown rice.
A lot of people turn to protein shakes after a workout, what do you think of them?
I think they're overused, purely because of their sugar content, they're very high in sugar. Ideally, make it real first. If you can't make it real and you have a long commute ahead, you can't eat in the next hour after your training, then lovely that's brilliant, get your protein in. but maybe look at the Avonmore protein milk, it's a new product, it's fabulous. The more real you can make it the better, maybe some hummus with carrots. But always look at sugar content, no more that 1 to 2 grams of sugar in that shake.
What are you tips for people who really hate exercise to motivate them to get out?
If you hate something it's not going to last. So don't go near any of the quick fix stuff. The main bit of advice would be that every weekend try something new. Look around, Ireland is a haven for sports. We've got surfing, hill walking, paddle boarding, you name it, it's out there. Just try something new every weekend – give yourself five or six weeks – you'll eventually find something that suits you. As an adventure sports playground, Ireland is one of the new hubs for it. So just keep trying something and find something that you like.
