This Saturday there is the annual Tree-Athlon in London, in true spirit of a “triathlon” there is three stages to the event, a 5k run, an opportunity to tell the world what your "urban tree wish" is, and a chance to plant a sapling. There are many tree themed activities, prizes and entertainment on the day.

The event supports the Trees for cities an independent charity working with local communities on tree-planting and landscaping projects.

If you can't make this weekend don't worry as London isn't the only city hosting a Tree-Athlon, on the 28th of september there is an event in Leeds and on the 5th of October there is one in Manchester. Check out the website for more information:

I say, grab your trainers, keep yourself fit and support a great cause that will benefit us all in the long run!

Spinach contains plenty of fibre and vitamin K and is known as a rich source of iron. Contrary to the “Popeye” myth spinach doesn’t contain the most iron compared with green vegetables, although spinach still has larg nutritional values, especially (as with all vegetables) when steamed or quickly bolied.
Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, and vitamin B6. It is a very good source of dietary fiber, copper, protein, phosphorous, zinc and vitamin E. In addition, it is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, niacin and selenium. (© Wikipedia)

All in all a good fitness food to be eating along with a wholesome meal, it’s simple to prepare and makes for a healthy meal.

Weights

Weights develop and build muscle; with a good weights routine you can also work the full mobilisation of joints and muscles from each and every angle!

You can achieve things you quite simply can’t achieve on the treadmill. Weights give you a large metabolic spike after training and this lasts for

hours afterwards, even the recovery and repair process of the muscles burns calories too. The more muscle you can get, in theory, the more efficient your

body will become at burning fat. Weight training is also very good as working out a specific area of the body and allows you to target specific muscle

groups. You can alternate between quick repetitive sets, with a short amount of rest, through to the other extreme of exercising just one rep max exercises.

Cardio

Cardio allows your body to maximise calorie burn, remember; the key to losing FAT is to exercise at least 30 minutes a minimum of 3 times a week, with

cardio workouts you can simply increase the intensity and/or duration of a session. A short intense session may burn as much as a long steady session.

It’s true that weight training boosts metabolism afterwards, but cardio works in much the same way, and takes hours for your metabolism to return to its

normal level.

A great thing about cardio is all you need is a good pair of trainers so some may argue; it’s easier and cheaper to get a good workout done.
Bottom line is both Weights and Cardio have their advantages but to get any sort of progress I’d recommend planning your goals and deciding you want from

your fitness routine. You’re not going to become Arnold Schwarzenegger over night but it’s important to have a balanced training program as far too much of

one over the other won’t be ideal. A balanced routine is what you’ll see most benefit from.

If you fancy a good run this weekend and you are in or around London, why not check out the 2008 London Tree-Athlon being held this weekend, Saturday 20th September 2008 in Battersea Park, it's also good for the environment

as you get your very own tree sibling to plant and helps fund raising efforts for “trees in cities", which can only be a good thing.

Last night I entered my photos into the Maximuscle Body of 2008 Competition, via their website. I'm very confident and pleased with the images I submitted. I'd love to feature in the Maximuscle magazine as I've trained really hard through the duration of maintaining this blog and tracked my progress and training methods along with different equipment I've used.

It would be a great achievement as I feel I’ve worked very hard to get to the fitness level I’m currently at. I ran into many difficulties along the way, including currently training without a gym! But all in all feel I’ve achieved many goals within the time frame I set myself.

I’ll hope to hear something either way... we’ll have to wait and see! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

So what is BMI? In fitness and exercise terms BMI is not a budget airline, it’s actually an acronym for Body Mass Index. To calculate your BMI you need to record your height and weight and the body mass index calculator on this site will do the rest for you.

Ok, so now I know my BMI, what now? Well for starters you BMI can be worked out by both our site and, if you’re lucky enough to have one, a Nintendo Wii Fit. But remember that this is general advice for adults only and does not apply to children.

Once you’ve worked out your BMI, remember to take into account your build and current body frame, for example if you’re an athlete, body builder, pregnant or breast feeding, your BMI may not be accurate.

If you’re over 60 then your BMI may not be accurate as when you get to this age your bones actually become lighter as you reach this age.

Simply, BMI provides a simple numeric measure of a person's "fatness" or "thinness", allowing health professionals to discuss over- and under-weight problems more objectively with their patient, and plan specific training programs geared to your targets, either bulking up, or slimming down.