Category: Uncategorized

As I said at the start of the week, this has been a week of separating the hard trainers from the people who will often miss a week like this due to the warm weather.

This has been my all time best week in terms of the number of individuals wanting to work hard. This has been due to a strong start to the year, and regular and fast improvements for all of those people concerned.

The tactics I have used this week is to combine outside and inside workouts. I will spend say 10 to 15 minutes outside, then bring people inside to cool off and do some work in a different environment.

The most important thing is to keep people drinking water, and have them bring the water outside. This makes sure your body’s core temperature is kept more constant, and never gets into dangerous levels. Anytime your body’s core temperature rises too quickly, then your health will be severely compromised, and in extreme cases death for those who workout in extreme temperatures, such as deserts and those which have extreme humidity in the summer such as Miami and hong kong as we shown in the British lions rugby match last Saturday!

The precautions of taking onboard enough water are lifesavers for professional tennis players for instance, who perform great feats in ridiculously humid temperatures. These precautions apply in every single sport now.
If you keep adopting habits that professional athletes treat as commonplace now, then you wont go far wrong and will keep on performing at a high level, even in the most testing of temperatures, and humidity which is often overlooked but always unpleasant to exercise in.

So this week, make sure you cover all bases, adopt a professional attitude and you’re likely to still have great workouts without any ill effects.

If i am starting off with an individual for the first time, or trying to keep helping someone i have been training for 15 years, then the principles have to remain the same.

When i first meet someone, one of the important things i tell them is to change their running shoes every 6 months, or 500 miles.

This will ensure that they stay injury free (events that we can control anyway), and put less strain through their knees, ankles, back and spine.

If you ask any foot specialist, or running expert, or anyone who makes a professional running shoe, then they will tell you that the constant and regular changing of running shoes is absolutely paramount. I change mine every 8-10 weeks, but i do wear out my running shoes a lot quicker than most people.

You don’t need to go to a specialist shop either. As i said, i just change my regularly, and it seems to work just fine for me!

It also puzzles me when i tell some people to change their trainers regularly, that they protest so much, even though that they may have ten pairs of stillettos!!! You don’t have to spend a fortune, just make sure you get a decent pair of running shoes, NOT cross trainers and remember that the running shoe is the shoe with the most technology spent on it in terms of millions of pounds!

Mark out on the calendar right now when you need to change!!

Just to recognise melanie bowen for her excellent post the other day, and the very positive reaction from you, here is her blog address.

www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/melanie

I am sure she has a big future in front of her.

Melanie is currently a Master’s student with a passion that stems from her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis. She often highlights the great benefits of alternative nutritional, emotional, and physical treatments on those diagnosed with cancer or other serious illness. To read more from Melanie, visit her blog for the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance. In her spare time, you can find Melanie trying new vegan recipes, on her yoga mat, or spending time with her family.

A guest post today from a lady called Melanie Bowen, see what you think. It’s high quality and i am sure you will find it fascinating.

Regaining Physical Health and Fighting Cancer

Fitness is extremely important at any time, but can be especially vital for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Exercise and breathing techniques can help with relaxation. Physical fitness has been shown to increase the immune system and makes treating cancer easier. Each stage of cancer has different fitness techniques that be more appropriate than others. From light to advanced exercise, these fitness techniques can help to alleviate cancer symptoms and make treatment run more smoothly.

Breathing Exercises

This lighter form of exercise is great for improving lung function. It increases blood circulation in the body, reduces fatigue and is a primary form of self-care. Individuals who have lung cancer may find it difficult to do even simple forms of exercise, but breathing techniques can still help. Prolonged, slow breathing can increase oxygen flow and make it easier to stay active while at home. Those with mesothelioma prognosis or other lung-related cancers need to increase their breathing abilities through simple, daily techniques. The goal at this point of treatment is to gradually increase fitness levels at home. Breathing techniques help this by making the patient slowly increase their physical activity levels.

Water Aerobics

As cancer patients enter the recovery process, they can begin to transition from light exercise to moderate fitness programs. Water aerobics is a great moderate fitness routine because it helps to build cardiovascular endurance and increase the circulation in the body. Since it is performed in the water, it is easier on the joints and reduces stress to the body’s limbs. Water typically has 12 to 14 times the resistance levels of land-based exercises. This factor helps water aerobics to increase the patient’s flexibility and strength. In addition, water aerobics helps with weight maintenance. Since the patient is submerged in water, they can easily control their body temperature and prevent overheating during exercise.

Weight Training

When patients have entered the later stages of recovery, they need to focus on returning the body to good health and maintaining it. One excellent exercise for this vigorous level of activity is weight training. By lifting weights, patients can increase their muscular endurance and improve their cardiovascular system. Weight training is also great because it naturally boosts energy levels. The NCI actually recommends using weight training during the later stages of cancer because it can help regain muscle tone.

Patients who have developed more fat tissue during their treatment process can begin to decrease the fat tissue naturally with weight training. Cancer of the prostate, stomach, head and neck are all known to decrease the amount of muscle mass in the body. In order to battle cancer, patients have to regain their muscle mass and increase their fitness levels.

There are different physical activities for each stage of cancer. Patients need to start slowly with light fitness programs as they try to regain muscle mass. Through consistent work, cancer survivors can increase their blood circulation, regain muscle mass and improve their cardiovascular system. All of these factors make it easier to regain physical health and boost energy levels. In the battle against cancer, exercise is key to returning to good health.

Following on from today’s comment, please don’t think that these ways of training are just for the pro’s or every experienced trainers, they are for everyone!

I have seen a lot of so called “not so talented” athletes and everyday people become extremely good at these ways of training, and often master many of them.

The reason i put them into people’s training again is for results, plus the enjoyment factor, plus the realisaton that anyone can train like a pro athlete as long as they go at their own pace.

Again, i strongly encourage you to think about the way you train, and why most people’s training is stuck in the 70’s and 80’s!!