In their training stables in Japan, sumo wrestlers are taught to eat in a manner that leads to massive weight gain. Here’s what they’re taught:

1) Skip breakfast.

2) Eat lots of mostly unhealthy food and drink lots of alcohol.

3) Eat only two or three giant meals a day.

4) Go to bed right after eating a big, high-carb meal.

Does that list look familiar? Yep, the average overweight person in the UK eats like a sumo wrestler whose goal is to weigh 500 pounds!

In fact number 4, which nearly everyone I know who is overweight does (eats a meal containing pasta or rice or potatoes then goes to bed) is so effective at storing body-fat that the sumos do it twice a day!

To be honest, Sumos probably get more activity than the average 9-5 office worker too! Is it any surprise our nation is the fattest it’s ever been!?

We can learn several lessons from this:

First, going to sleep after eating a high carbohydrate meal seems to be VERY popular with the sumos. Maybe, just maybe, we should avoid eating too many carbs at night if we want to have a fairly flat tummy?

Second, if these guys, who are trying to get massively fat and as large as possible purposefully skip breakfast, drink booze, and eat only two or three large meals a day, maybe it would be a good idea to do just the opposite to these 500lb monsters!!

How about this?

Start each and every day with a nutritious breakfast, lay off the booze and junk food, and consume five or six smaller meals per day?!? Not too hard right?? Just general advice.

Just a thought …

If you read this article nodding your head, then it’s fair to say you may need to make some changes – unless, that is, you plan on donning a large nappy and trying to push a pony-tailed man the size of a small elephant out of a ring??

If you have friends or relatives who are behaving like this just ask them “Are you training to be a sumo?” – make sure you wear a gum shield whilst doing so!!

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean Martial Art. It means The Way of the Hand and Foot. There are four pillars to the art: Toning, Sparring, Forms, and Self Defense.

Tae Kwon Do encompasses muscle toning, stretching and flexibility, increasing strength and stamina through aerobic sparring, and mental challenges through becoming proficient at the patterns or forms.

Most classes start out with warm-ups. These exercises are the calisthenics such as push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, trunk rotations, squat kicks and various stretches. Just the warm-up exercises alone will give you a good workout. Progress is usually quick. Tae Kwon Do will definitely help you to become or to stay limber.

Sparring is fighting in a controlled environment. All participants wear protective gear: helmet, gloves, shin guards and feet guards. Usually you will spar in three minute rounds. Then a minute rest; switch partners, then spar again and repeat. Jab, punch, upper cut, side kick, reverse punch, round house, hammer fist, bob and weave and repeat. It’s an excellent aerobic exercise.

Learning the forms or patterns can be a mental exercise as well as physical. Many of the forms have over 26 different movements. It’s up to you to remember them, in order, and learn them proficiently. In theory, by learning the forms, it’ll help you to become a better fighter. The patterns are complex. If you master forms, when it comes time to spar, you can implement some of these patterns into your match.

Many people enjoy Tae Kwon Do because it is an all inclusive exercise program. It’s fun, it’s challenging, and it’s an excellent way to stay in shape. As with any exercise program, start slowly have fun. If you haven’t participated in much physical exercise in a while, your muscles will definitely be very sore for the first few weeks. Don’t be intimidated by the other students may appear to be in better shape than you.

Remember this, Everyone started out as a white belt. The key is to have a blast and continue to progress. One day a newbie will be looking up to you!