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Wednesday, 26th November

Pain is a sign from your body that you need to stop what you are doing, do things differently and plan how you are going to still achieve your goals, whilst still feeling good and pain-free.

Individuals come to me all the time with aches and pains before they start.

I see lots of back problems, knee issues, and joint weakness.

As you get older, you need to relent on the movements that put unnecessary strain through your body.

If you are doing movements that you know are painful for your back and knees, then you need to stop immediately. Anyone who tells you to work through pain is frankly a fool and very dangerous to you-and has no place in the fitness industry.

I see many squash players for example in later years, developing knee problems from all the stop start nature of the game and years of wear and tear. If and when this develops, you need to develop a plan to still get really fit WITHOUT putting strain on your knees.

Many of you find it hard to change your mindset from a “run will solve everything” mentality, to training more sensibly if you have knee, back and hip injuries for example.

We have many members who once played a lot of squash or tennis, took part in triathlons, were distance runners, all the way through to people who have been inactive all their lives and now have week knees, backs and hips.

This is why everyone needs a different programme to suit their current situation.

With proper care and planning, everyone can get a stronger back again, more manageable knees and flexibility in their hips which is vital.

Many people in their 40’s feel as if they are finished. Life can really start gain if you rediscover how your body really
works, and the never ending array of options you actually have.

Twitt
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Monday, 24th November

32 days until Christmas and many of the general public will have stopped exercising and eating healthy until 2 weeks AFTER Christmas too.

Can you really afford those extra 32 days plus another 14 on top to get even more unhealthy? Forget about being unhealthy for a moment, wouldn’t it be much better just to FEEL better, to breathe well, not get out of breath even doing the most simple of tasks? Wouldn’t it feel better to have a lot more energy in your life-all the time?

All of you must remember that awful feeling of your first workout two weeks after Christmas, the tight chest, the breathlessness, the inability to move without pain the morning after, the gloom of January and the prospect of “trying” to get fit again.

Then the “groundhog day” feeling comes of reaching the end of January and giving up again.

Most people’s exercise commitment lasts until January 28th according to recent studies, despite the fact that they may have signed up to a 12-18 month contract with a gym that doesn’t care if they show up or not.

The next 32 days are an opportunity to change all of that, because at the moment you must feel relatively okay, the Christmas parties haven’t hit yet and you are probably living your “normal” lifestyle without the excesses of Christmas usually bring.

Most of our members train throughout the year, even when it’s dark at 4pm, even when it rains and its freezing, even when it would be easier to go home and sit on the settee all night, even when maybe their work colleagues say they should give it a rest for the winter, even when they are asked “why do you even do it”?!!!

Of course we have many, many individuals trying to look better all the time, but the overriding factor I find all the time, especially at this time of year, is the desire to FEEL better in all ways.

To have the energy to function in everyday life, and usually out-perform is a very powerful reason in itself.

The “added benefits” of losing body fat, being stronger and moving without pain, having more endurance, having much better balance, not having to hide under a big baggy winter jumper all the time, all will happen, but if you focus on just having a good end to the year right now by moving more and watching what you eat more, then you’re going to FEEL much better and start next year with a real spring in your step that you may have never had before!

Twitt
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Sunday, 23rd November

It’s always great to talk about being successful all the time, but often you learn more when you don’t succeed all the time, when you don’t win every time, and when you stick with it when it would be far easier to give up.

Learning from our mistakes is all important, and being able to climb out of a hole is character building, and makes you a far stronger person.

Our most successful members have a real “life story” to tell, how they overcame adversity, many hit rock bottom and somehow they managed to fight again, find new resolve, dig very deep and start climbing out of a very bad place. These individuals become leaders who constantly encourage other members.

These life stories inspire me and all of us every day, and having brand new examples on a daily basis of how someone has become successful using real life strategies helps us encourage and develop others, so they become the next real life success story.

Putting continuous effort into getting into shape isn’t for everyone, because it is hard work, often requires you to dig deep, and makes you look at yourself far more deeply than you ever thought, it’s then you really see what you are made of.

Being humble and never giving up despite everything else going on at the same time are the most valuable traits you can develop.

Setbacks are going to happen along the way in your fitness and health journey, but if you keep putting the effort in no matter what, everything soon turns around and you will always make a strong comeback as long as you keep an eye on the finish line.

We have no “show offs” or “posers” at the gym, we have no room for people who don’t want to encourage others, a very positive environment is vital to lead others to success, and help everyone fulfil their true potential to create a huge quality of life in every area.

Twitt
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Thursday, 13th November

The critical moment for some of you this week is when you leave work, you’re on your way home and you’re planning to hit the gym as normal when the climate this time of year starts to have an effect.

Now it’s dark, wet and cold and suddenly little doubts may creep in maybe due to the negativity of others.

You may work with people who head home, feel sorry for themselves, put on their onesie and try to keep warm on their settee, “being active” often for them is going to make another cup of tea.

A quick remedy is to ask yourself if you have the same goals and ambitions as them? Are you ambitious, do you want to look and feel amazingly good? Are you prepared to work on your mindset to become stronger mentally too? If you overcome this test you definitely will.

Do you go training then? You know you’re going to feel better as soon as you get to the gym, and much better when you get your session in, but it’s the process of arriving home, getting changed straight away and back in the car to the gym that are the vital moments that you have to get through.

It’s often said that your destiny is shaped in your moments of indecision.

Making the right call at key moments will make the difference between you being ultimately very successful or not.

The people who make their sessions with a “no matter what” attitude are the ones who arrive at Christmas and at the start of
January in incredible shape, they are incredibly positive by overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way, they know it can be tough, and often become leaders at our gym, the ones who always lead by example and inspire plenty of others to take the same path.

Twitt
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Wednesday, 12th November

So many people spend wasteful amounts of time and money chasing things that they are unlikely to attain, and not really worth attaining.

Most people think lottery tickets are the answer to all their problems.

Is it really worth it chasing a dream that has odds of around 13 million to one?

Chasing a dream that is found to make many of its winners unhappy, and lead to many broken relationships and a lower sense of self-worth?

How about investing in your health and body, improving your strength of resolve and develop yourself on a continuous basis in all ways.

You can’t do anything worthwhile without good health, anyone who’s had poor health will tell you that.

When you invest in your health, and do it CONSISTENTLY, the quality of life improvement can be staggering.

You will develop way more energy, you will get leaner and much more toned, you will become much more optimistic, you will find out what it’s like to overcome challenges physically and how great it feels to overcome them mentally.

Your life will become much more positive, and you will tend to shut out the negativity around much easier that may be holding you back.

Nothing better than feeling good full stop. This is what regular exercise and eating right gives you every single time.

Invest your time and money putting yourself first and getting your health in good order, easily the best investment you will ever make and literally life-changing.

Twitt