Sam Wood’s shares opinion on exercise snacking, carnivore diet

Fitness trends come and go – and fitness expert and former reality TV star Sam Wood weighs in on what’s worth a go and what you should avoid.

Sam Wood breaks down fitness trends. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

Welcome to You Got This, news.com.au’s weekly fitness series featuring stories and ideas from real women who’ve experienced it all.

Health and fitness trends come and go, but not every one is all they’re cracked up to be.

News.com.au sat down with Sam Wood, one of Australia’s best known personal trainers and the man behind 28 by Sam Wood, to talk about some of the biggest trends going around at the moment.

Exercise snacking

Exercise snacking is the idea of high-intensity workouts that last no longer than two minutes, which are fit into your day whenever you can.

Sam said he liked the idea, as incidental exercise in any form could only be a good thing.

“I think in this crazy busy world that we all live at the moment – and it’s not going to change anytime soon – anywhere that you can squeeze in a bit extra can only be a good thing,” he said.

Sam Wood breaks down fitness trends. Picture: Instagram/@28bySam

He said he saw wonderful results from a walking perspective when people got up from their desk every hour or so to walk around the block – and people would be surprised how it added up.

“The research shows that there is no greater benefit doing a 60 minute walk to doing 12 five minute walks. So if you have to get it in bite-size or snack exercise thoughts, then so be it,” he said.

“Another one that I really like is doing some kind of little core workout or stretching workout or squat workout in the ad break of your favourite TV show.”

Carnivore diet

The carnivore diet is essentially the opposite of the vegan diet. With this diet, popularised by people such as Joe Rogan, you only eat meat, eggs and dairy.

Sam said if the intention was to lose weight, you likely would on this diet as you’d likely be eating less.

But he said he didn’t recommend it as a long-term solution.

“The question you have to ask with all of these (diets), whether it be paleo, keto, or carnivore, is, are you now neglecting getting enough nutrients from your fruits and vegetables? Are you getting enough fibre from your grains?” Sam said.

He said people could drink and still be fit. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

“If the answer to that is no in the long term, then that is not a good solution. Am I OK with people maybe trying the carnivore diet for a month if there is an itch they feel they need to scratch? Maybe. But not having any leafy greens or grains in your diet for eternity is definitely not a healthy long-term solution.”

Sam said if people wanted to lose weight, boosting their protein intake in their daily diet was a good first step.

Can you be fit and drink alcohol?

The former reality television star said the short answer on this front was yes – people could still drink and meet their fitness goals.

Sam gave insight to stroller fitness, which he has experienced first-hand. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

But there had to be honesty when it came to a person’s relationship with booze.

“If you are one of those people who really is all or nothing, perhaps nothing, at least for a short period of time, is the best approach for you. But if you can control it and getting a few drinks once or twice a week, that’s absolutely fine,” Sam said.

“I’m actually in favour of that because I think it can important way to wind down and relaxing and can be actually really good for our social health and our mental health.”

Sam, who is not in favour of counting every calorie, said it was important to have an awareness of how many calories could be in a beverage.

Stroller fitness

Sam said stroller fitness was something he’s experienced first hand with three little babies coming along in the last five years.

“Stroller fitness is effectively going for a walk or jog with your pram with the kids,” Sam said. “But then using your stroller to throw in a bit of a mix of resistance exercises once you sort of feel up to it so might be lunge walking or squatting.

Sam Wood gave insight onto the SAM Theory. Picture: Instagram/Sam Wood

“I see a lot of people in Bayside, Melbourne, go for a walk around Hampton and then they’ll stop and do push-ups or step-ups on the little wall near the beach, and then get back on their pram and power walk for another three minutes before stopping again.”

He said it was a great way to ease back into fitness, adding sometimes things needed a “cute marketing label” to get some traction.

The SAM Theory

Sam says the SAM Theory wasn’t revolutionary but, after seeing so many questions around warm-ups, he decided to create a method people could follow – adding he’s a big believer people should stretch in every workout.

The S stands for stretch, while A is for activation of core and glute muscles and M is for mobility to get a full range of motion, adding that the last two were the most important.

“My favourites are probably little crab walks or 45 degree walks with the short band around your ankles,” he said.

“Now if you’re doing your lower body workout, getting those deep glutes is really important. “They’re such subtle movements, but the burn you get when you start targeting muscles that are often neglected really shows you where those muscles are and how important they are.”