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Take the bull by the horns…………like rafa!

Nice to see the end of  the tennis semi-final yesterday, and whatever side of the fence you stand, you will either be happy or a little sad this morning. Sadly i have to say that rafael nadal stirs far more passion in people than andy murray. I think its not only nadal’s great play and almost inhuman supply of energy, its the way he pulls off seemingly impossible shots when the odds are all in his opponents favour.

Murray on the other hands seems to like beating up the also rans but seems to have a mental block when it comes to federer and nadal on the biggest occasions.

Does he take the risks needed to win these mega-occasions?

Has he the bottle and nerve to use his emotions to destroy his opponent?

Does he now do more punching of the air than tim henman ever do?

The bottom line now seems like nadal is on another planet, and whether murray can make that next step up seems in doubt? Then again, i don’t think that anyone else can make that step up to the standard that federer and nadal have created!!

So hows your training going? Are you going for it like Rafa does or are you still talking a very good game?

Taking  the bull by the horns is heck of an attitude if you can get into this mentality!

Showing no fear, not caring what ANYONE else thinks is a very powerful state of mind and will take you to places you never thought possible, doubt is a killer for anything you want to ever try. If you can take the doubt element out of things, and just simply have a go anyway, you may be pleasantly surprised how good you actually are.

As we discuss all the time, showing up, going for it, doing it, making an attempt, believing in yourself, thinking big, are all the most valuable ways of achieving the success you originally out to do.

Lets have a big weekend, the great outdoors is waiting for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twitt
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Showing up or kidding yourself?

Now the muggyness has gone a little bit from the weather, hopefully all of you are stepping up your workouts?!!!

I admit I have been a bit sluggish for around a week or so, finding it harder to get the same standard out of myself. Those of you who have got through this week should applaud yourself getting through the hardest of times, and push on to new levels when it gets cooler.

Nice to see gareth davies posting in a previous topic, he is keen to get back into his training after a break, and that’s exactly what he needs, to show up and get back into it as hes a strong lad and can achieve an awful lot is he shows up 95% of the tine.

This is always the theme through the blog, the “showing up” is proving to be the hardest thing for most of you.

Most of you have had breaks, whether intentionally or not but most of you miss your training and when you DO get back into things, you realise how much you missed your workouts, and the great way the training made you feel.

None of us are perfect and doing the workouts are not always the first things on our minds but getting through them 50 out of 52 weeks a year would be a monumental achievement I can tell you.

We all look for short cuts now and again, kidding ourselves that there really is this short, easy and magical way to get into shape, but isn’t it the case that the longer we kid ourselves the easy way exists, the more overweight and unfit we become.

Workouts shouldn’t become like walking in quicksand either, you should always start off slowly working within your limits, and don’t try to be ultra-ambitious too soon. You need a good foundation in your physical condition before you look to break your outer limits.

So what’s your situation this week? Have you had a great week’s training? A fine week’s eating? Or have you given up your training for the world cup or wimbledon, or both even?!!!

Surely I don’t have to tell you that you can easily fit your workouts in around these great sporting events, if you cant spend less time watching TV or spend less time in bed and start getting a grip on what you need to do, because every possibility is out there for you, life is waiting for you to take advantage of the opportunities you have.

If you have any questions, please click on subscribe and ask away.

For the rest of you, lets finish off the week strong and look to have a huge weekend!

Twitt
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Murray through

Great to see andy murray getting through in the tennis, know some people dont like him and some on here, but a great semi-final awaits with nadal surely. I will be backing him for one, and i know nadal is a favourite for everyone but would be nice for murray to upset the form book.

Bit disappointed when i heard federer making excuses for losing. He complained about his back, then his leg but he still gave “respect” for his opponent, who still “played well” he said! I have had enough of federer’s excuses and his lack of grace when he loses, very sad from a great champion but ive noticed he does it every time he loses. You never get nadal doing that.

The fitness on these guys (and gals) is simply amazing! How many of you have ever tried playing even 3 sets, leave along the 5 sets these guys play. Then add on the heat on court, the standard of play, the ferocious serves you can hardly see around your ears, the pressure at this level, and the unbelievable standard, simple as that it is terrifying!!!

I give all the players who even reach wimbledon the utmost respect, and they have to PLAY all year too, its literally a 11 month season, and then they have to spend the last month preparing for the start of the new one in australia!!!

Whoever you want to win, hope you enjoy the last few days, and this is when it gets REALLY exciting!!

Twitt
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Fresh attitude

Sometimes the best way to feel fresh and enthused about your training is to look for new standards and take a look at all the sport going on at the moment.

Some of you cycle a lot, and the main event is about to start this saturday, the tour de france of course. Lance Armstrong says its his last tour and although the 3 weeks can seem like a bore for some, i will be glued to this game of chess on a bike. If you watch it every day it can be addictive as you learn about tactics and why certain riders don’t do the obvious things at times, saving energy for later even more incredible feats.

All of this will add to your own performance in your cycling. You will take notice of your own bike more and its maintenance, how to improve your own performance and how to get faster and eventually use less energy, that has to be the goal.

Whenever you follow a professional sport, and you see athletes do it better, most of us are inspired to get better ourselves.

It could be the world cup, and what youngster doesnt want to play magical football like the Brazilians.

Its always good to strive to be the best we can be, and all of this interest you may now be showing in sports, Wimbledon, the world cup, summer rugby internationals, the tour de france etc will give you a whole new fresh attitude that will put fresh vigour into your training and eating.

Twitt
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England are out!!!

Apparently, England are expecting a heroes welcome today, their flight home has been diverted to Glasgow airport! That was on Talk sport this morning which is an english radio station but thought that was really funny!

Jean asks why was Rooney looking so slow etc and i think that most of us are fed up of the “bigging up” by the press, the england team are either rubbish and unpatriotic, or they are world-beaters! Clearly they are no world beaters so this probably leaves england amongst the weaker nations when it comes to international football.

The question that has been asked is why these players play so well for their clubs and they are so poor at international level.

There are a number of reasons i suppose and im not an international football coach, but playing players out of position doesnt work, the english players are not technically as good as the germans, the germans “wanted it” much more and were prepared to run all day to make opportunities to win the game.

The likes of rooney, terry, gerrard are obviously over-hyped and were taken to the cleaners by this relatively unknown German team, these unknowns are now household names now in germany and is a testament to their youth policy. You have to say they were the best team.

In this country, the focus seems on getting the best foreign talent in and not developing our own. This probably means that club football is far more important than the international game, and really exposed when england gets such a hammering and end up being a disgrace.

A lot of people are saying get rid of Capello and bring in Harry Rednapp.

As i stated before on here, Rednapp seems a much better man manager and seems to have the knack of getting the very best out of players, many of whom were previously heading to the scrapheap! He is also full of passion and drive, and its great to see he is getting the recognition he deserves.

Getting people to believe in themselves is more than half the battle, Rooney doesn’t become a terrible player overnight, after all he was voted the player of the Premiership this year. He clearly has lost confidence, perhaps his injuries caught up with him, whatever the reason, there was no excuse for not chasing every ball down and no trying your best, at times it did seem many of the English team were not as committed as the Germans clearly were.

England need a huge inquiry into their performance and need to create a centre of excellence, like most successful nations have. However it appears the FA are about as pro-active as the Lawn Tennis Association, plenty of talk but on the results front, pretty useless and a national disgrace, always have been and always will be.

Twitt