Category: motivation

In the late 90’s, I started training someone at 35 who had a heart attack. He was overworked, over stressed, over everything!! 

The doctor who came around had a grave threat for him after reading his post operation analysis.

The doctor told her it was “impossible” to have such arteries in a young body, and what had he been doing to get in such a state?

Instead of giving him medication and some vague advice like many doctors, he was much more specific with him. 

He asked him did he have children, she said yes, a new born boy and an older girl. The doctor asked him if he planned on walking his daughter down the isle? He said “of course”, the doctor replied that he would definitely would NOT be doing so IF he didn’t change his lifestyle and start exercising and eating right.

Also, the doctor said he had better get used to having another man in his house, as he wouldn’t be around to carry out his fatherly and husband duties. He was upset, but things began to hit home.

I’m happy to say he did turn his life around, and over achieved with his health and never looked back, BUT the warning did him a world of good or probably he would have sleep walked into even more serious health outcomes..

My sunday sessions have taken a sharp turn in the right direction, as you get older you think of things different. I hit farmers walks up the hill with the 56 pounders by the front door three times, used more weight on the leg press than I have for a long time.

None of us should ever look back and say “that was what I ‘used’ to do, the time is NOW and we all need to actively challenge ourselves TODAY, because we are either falling back or going forwards in life.

An inconvenience makes all the difference.

Those of you who are super consistent are always in the flow, or pretty much.

There are times when inconvenient things pop up in your life, threatening to sabotage your progress, BUT you still make it to the gym, because unless you make it, your day “doesn’t feel right”.You don’t have the same mood, you don’t feel in any kind of flow, you struggle to get anything done, and in general you just don’t feel the same, but it’s because you let “stuff get in the way”.

Expect inconvenience, you are tired, you didn’t sleep well, you haven’t eaten as well or as much as normal, someone called and upset you, work is stressing you out, a relationship could be going through stress, you are feeling overwhelmed and you feel the easiest thing is to break your consistent streak of training and give in to “circumstances”.

Overcoming these moments and inconveniences will MAKE YOU and your health great, will radically increase your resilience and prove to yourself and others that you are into taking care of your health for the long term and nothing will get in your way.

Everything you want to do and NEED to do depends on your ability through your workouts.

Go on a nice walk on day like this? To experience great views, to enjoy the ups and downs of terrain along the way? AND to make it all the way back after lunch/coffee somewhere? You NEED leg strength, you NEED endurance, you NEED good balance to steady yourself along the way, and you need good joints that are stable under pressure at all times, plus you can’t be very mobile if you are constantly in pain!

As you age, you appreciate your mobility and energy that much more, don’t compromise your lifestyle, continue to put big efforts in at the gym, and pay extra attention to the way you eat and drink, because if you do, your options in life will continue to be endless.

Your best contribution this week in the gym is showing great example and leadership to others.

If you train with one or more other persons, then occasionally you may be having “one of those days”.

Taking it easy though can be infectious, so one of you needs to raise the standards.

Times like these should dictate that one of you needs to raise the “temperature” of the workout,.

By that I mean escaping the slumber and putting in a big shift of effort and snapping out of any temptation to go through the motions..

Suggest lifting heavier dumbbells up the hill, suggest doing one more up the station steps, suggest running up the hill faster for example.You will have noticed this week that we have “turned up the temperature” again by bring in a new way of training that’s upped the ante again.

Don’t rest on your laurels, be the one that sets the pace and encourages others, never accept mediocrity and keep your standards super high ALWAYS.

We have brought yet another new technique of training in this morning. Just when you thought you are at your limit, we bring you back to earth and set you a new mountain to climb.

The exercise is important, but HOW you perform it is even more important. What you thought was hard before is now reset to a new level well above what you are used to.

We flat out invested in getting you better so I found zero reason not to bring this new way of working in as soon as possible.

This will guarantee even better results, better performances overall and you will be developing amazing strength you may not have realised you had in you!!