Thursday 28th July

Back down to cooler temperatures today, and for me that’s a great excuse to work harder than ever on my workout!

If you didn’t make any excuses and got through the last couple of humid days, then you should be raring to go today.

You have to face up to the fact that all sorts of things happen to encourage you to train, and on the opposite scale of things, it seems as if things conspire against you to stop you training from time to time.

Keeping things on an even keel is vital if you want to be productive. So this means you still train no matter what (unless you’re ill) through the times when you think the world is against you, as well as taking the good times and finding it easy to train then.

The more breaks you have in your training, the more you’re going to struggle.

The more you accept that you should somehow stop training when weekends come, when bank holidays come, when Christmas comes, when easter comes, when valentines day comes, when summer holidays comes, when half term comes etc etc is frankly pathetic!!!

Its pathetic if you pretend you really want to be in shape and talk about it a lot, because if you continue to have this attitude it AIN’T GOING TO HAPPEN!!! You will be writing off most of the year if you continue to make excuses like this, but then if you do, then you have become accustomed to making excuses and that’s a normal way of life for you.

This blog is all about being and developing a commitment to being and getting into shape, as safely and as quickly as possible through tried and tested means.

The truth hurts sometimes that’s why its better to spell it out, so lets knuckle down again and hit it hard!!!

Wednesday 27th July

The weather has hit new heights again, making harder training sessions more and more difficult.

The first obvious change you need to make is either workout first thing in the morning or in the evening, this will be the biggest temperature difference you can make to enable you to have a more pleasant training experience. There can be real advantages to this and i prefer an early morning slot myself, but its all down to personal choice.

Number two obvious thing to do is up your water intake on the day you train, being dehydrated on a day like this is not only undesirable but its plain dangerous! Also, remember to drink water THROUGHOUT your workout with little sips and often, as well as afterwards. This weather is not just about putting a decent workout in, its about doing things in a safe and sound manner.

Number three is to keep your workouts shorter than normal and in a shaded area if possible. There’s an old saying that says that “only an mad dogs and englishmen go out in the midday sun!!”. We have already talked about avoiding midday workouts if possible and you need definitely to limit your time in the sun. Don’t worry about the shorter workouts, simply doing a workout is very valuable on a day like this.

Number four is not to write off the day unless absolutely necessary. Most people will write off workouts on days like these, but hoepfully you’re not like “most people” anymore. You still want good results whatever the weather, and you will be willing to work around any hot or freezing weather, its just another challenge that you need to work around and you will be fine.

If you follow the first three guidelines, then you should be able to put a good short workout in, have a nice shower and get on with having a great day!

Tuesday, 26th July

The issue of post workout nutrition has never been so important.

If you are currently going through a tough pre-season for sport for example, what you put back into your body is going to be of extreme importance.

If you train very hard and then don’t care what you eat, then you’re not making things very easy for yourself at all.

There used to be a saying in the 80’s, 90’s and still sometimes today, that “as long as you train hard, then it doesn’t matter WHAT you eat afterwards”!!! What rubbish but what’s even sadder is that some people believe this!

Let’s look at it logically.

When you train hard, you break down your body.

You will lose a lot of nutrients out of your body.

You will break down muscle tissue down.

You will disrupt the chemical balance of your body and lose vital nutrients that need to be replaced.

So does a takeaway really cut it as an after workout meal?

Does the chip shop meet all your needs?

Is a bottle of wine really going to help you replace what you have taken out?

Is a couple of pints of lager going to repair your immune system or help destroy it?

So let’s get one thing completely straight. YOU CANNOT EAT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT AFTER A TOUGH WORKOUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO GET IN SHAPE!!!

Okay, i’m glad i have got all of that off my chest.

So what should you eat?

White meats, lean red meat once a week, any fish as long as it hasn’t got batter, eggs, cottage cheese are all EXCELLENT protein sources!!!!! These are vital!

You don’t need a bucketload of carbs after either.

A moderate amount, the size of your fist will do and avoid white bread, white pasta and you will be fine.

Vegetables will provide a lot of the nutrients you need to replace in your body, you will be so much better off by having a good variety of veg in your meal after training for all sorts of reasons. This along with proper hydration will be vital in your athletic goals.

I have tried to make it plain and simple, lets just do it!!!!

Monday 25th July

This is probably a very quiet period for a lot of people, certainly the next two weeks are known as “stop fortnight” when a lot of factories and businesses shut down to go off on their summer holidays, as well as schoolkids all over the country of course.

In terms of exercise, it shouldn’t really make a difference if you are at home and not on holidays, there is no reason to give up on progress and write off your improvements to come.

When we talk about the year in general, we flag up certain times of year as hotspots for exercise and eating well. January is a famous one straight after christmas. Spring is another one where people want to get into shape for summer, and then you have a bit of a surge in late november for the christmas parties.

Apart from these times, you would assume that most people the rest of the year have “normal” weeks when it comes to exercise wouldn’t you? Well not according to my experience!

There is no such thing as a “normal” week in my book.

Individuals have good times and bad times, people have injuries and aches as well as times with no aches and strains. People will eat well and eat very badly. They will drink too much and sometimes not at all.

There will be very hot weather periods as well as the coldest  weather we have ever experienced such as december last year, the whole month in fact!!!!

Friday 22nd July

The publicity that the diet firm called Lighter life had this week was in my book, staggering to say the least!!!

Birds of a feather actress Pauline Quirke has become the new face of the product after losing around 6 stone or so.

I am normally the first to congratulate ANYONE on losing weight, especially that monumental but there’s a lot more to this story.

I am familiar with the product because of the feedback i get from people i train who know people who have been on it, and from people who have had lets say “eventful” experiences while taking it, and have now approached me to get them back on the right path of doing things the correct way.

Most people i know have lost weight on this product, but thats where the good news ends.

ALL not most, ALL of the people i know have put the weight back on and more again. The individuals i know were paying £300 a month for their shakes and bars, this seems to be the average price paid.

This was the most startling, shocking, annoying, horrible, disgusting part of it for me when i read about the actress taking it. I quote “i survive on 560 calories a day”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No wonder people are losing weight on this, you SHOULD be losing tons of weight in a hurry but look at the strain on your body.

Go to any doctor or dietician and they will tell you the MINIMUM, and i say again, the MINIMUM an adult should take in every day is 1200 calories just not to become MALNOURISHED!!!!!! The recommended amount is 2000 for a female and 2500 for a male.

So here it is again, 560 calories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111

Thats around 40% of what you need just to get by every day and thats classed as a starvation diet, what a disgrace!!!!!!!!!!!!1

And people are paying £300 a month for this. Again, what a bloody disgrace that they are allowed to get away with this!!!!!! This producr should be banned because of the dangers and the long term misery its going to cause!!!!!!!!!! It really makes me mad!!!!

Great for those who lost weight, but keep an eye on them in the near future and see what happens!!!

This is the exact opposite of what we are trying to do, so lets look in the diet section to see some proper common sense!!!