Posted on

Wednesday, 17th October

Besides handling a lot of workouts from a lot of different individuals all week, one of the biggest challenges is handling all the different emotions that all of these different people experience on a daily basis, affecting their moods, affecting their workouts, and definitely the way i approach them in the workout.

If you have someone who is in a mightily bad mood, then you can be sure there will not be much conversation going on early in the workout! Then usually, because much of the stress is relieved during exercise, there tends to be a far happier person at the end of the session, both of us in fact!!!

If you have someone who is particularly jolly, then you know you are likely to achieve a huge amount that day, and its time to take advantage of the situation by trying to reach fresh highs in terms of workout performances, which will naturally bring on better results, which at the end of the day is something we are all looking for!!

Then you will get the individuals who are the “undecided” how they feel, their moods could go either way, they can be a litte up and a little down, these are the people who need the most emotional support that day!

I always point out the positives to these people on how far they have come, and by the end of the session, the mood usually is massively positive, because once you explain the details i have taken every 28 days for the individual, the blood pressure improvement, stronger heart rate, less body fat, tigher waist and hips etc, the evidence is overwhelming in dictating that this individual should be very pleased with their progress, after all the measuring equipment never lies!!!

So you can there are a lot of emotions to handle all day long, but thats what makes my job so great, and re-affirming an individual’s progress is always very powerful and gets that person well and truly back on track!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 11th October

The subject of goal setting is often underestimated. In the workplace you have often over zealous managers doing their often boring, non-effective management speak telling you on your annual report that you need “to set goals” for the year ahead.

The result in practice is often that those so called goals never get reviewed until the next year, every 3 months at best. This is very inefficient at best!

I try to get everyone to set new goals every week at the most.

This sounds a bit over the top to many, but those who go through it always see the huge benefits of doing so.

Real meaningful goals that matter to individuals are always important to write down!!

I have found too that through my own research, that people often lose their focus on their original goals very quickly indeed.

Either that or they reach their initial goals quickly, and often just go through the motions after that, not raising their game because they do not know the next level that they want to get to!

When you think of life, most people’s lives change on a weekly basis, a daily basis and an hourly basis when you think how quickly events can change, so if you really want to improve you had better get used to reviewing your progress and changing it to suit how fast you are progressing!

Also, the reason why I get everyone writing their goals down is that automatically become more meaningful when you write them down!

A study by Harvard university showed that goals are 80% more likely to happen when you write them down, rather than just “talk about them”.

We have a white board in the gym for this very process, and its already very productive, helping everyone who want big changes for the better in their lives!!

Time to stop talking about it all, write it down and you will get there quicker!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 10th October

Being optimistic about your progress is one of the most important habits you need to get into, or you will forever be like the economy, you will be going through “boom and bust” for the rest of your life, in health and fitness terms.

For example, you can do really well in your training, and be really pleased with your progress.

Then all of a sudden it may take one thing to doubt your progress.

You could have an illness, an injury or just go through a period of training when you’re not able to reach your previous highs in terms of performance in your training.

During all of these times, you still could be losing inches off your waist, losing body fat, and your heart rate may still be getting stronger all the time.

Despite all of this, you will doubt your progress somehow!!!

I have encountered many individuals like this, and I think it’s a human trait to doubt ourselves even when evidence suggests we should never doubt for one second!

This is when hard numbers have to take over!

If your waist measurement is coming down or already in healthy range, then you are DOING VERY WELL!!!

If your body fat is coming down or in a healthy range already, then you should be very pleased at your level of conditioning.

If you have a healthy strong heart rate 72 beats per minute or less, then you are doing everything right, and you are performing and recovering well from exercise.

Like I said, despite all of this overwhelming evidence, people sometimes still doubt themselves. This is exactly the time to change your mindset and start celebrating where you are, and be optimistic that not only can you sustain this progress, but you can actually improve it each month!!

Justified optimism is the one big thing that will take you forward, and keep doing so. Doubt is the only thing that can hold you back!!

Reinforcing your optimism on a daily basis is vital so get practicing right now!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 8th October

Shortcuts are always there for you, but you secretly know they aren’t the way to get what you want with your healthy and body.

If you cheat in an exam, copy someone else’s homework, you know its not really sustainable and your long-term progress will end up in tears.

Shortcuts end uo creating more work and ultimately more disappointment. Your long term development is always based on putting a lot of hard work in and reaping the benefits on a consistent basis.

Instead of taking shortcuts, start making yourself much more accountable.

Try training with someone of a similar level, if they’re willing to push you.

Make your goals public, and tell your closest friends and training colleagues what you really want to achieve, and you’re not going to rest until you get there! When you make your goals public, you will find that you will get more support than you ever imagined.

If you train in a supportive environment, then nothing is out of bounds and its great to talk about your frustrations, goals, disappointments, great moments with people who have more than likely been through many of those experiences themselves.

For example, i have had experiences when people have told me that they want to be pushed, that they want to achieve big things with their body and health, and for me to give it everything in order to get them to that amazing level. On every occasion, that person as long as he or she was committed to his/her training, then lofty goals were indeed achieved.

When someone wants to start training, one of my main questions is how committed they really are to achieving their goals? If they seem disinterested in the whole thing, then i am not going to waste my time on getting involved with someone who is not willing to show any committed, in fact its obviously going to be a waste of time for both parties!!

If you show commitment to your goals, and listen well, then you are 100% likely to achieve something very special!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 4th October

It’s metabolism all the way this week, and here’s some more ways to get it fired up!!

If you eat 5-6 times a day, then you are raising your metabolism nicely, as the act of eating alone will make you burn more calories.

Its vital these meals though are not over-sized, and are smaller in general as you will be eating every 3-4 hours. The idea is to eat breakfast, lunch and evening meal, with mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks keeping you full and energised in between.

So if you eat three meals a day, you will be raising your metabolism 3 times a day, instead of 5-6 times a day with the smaller meals and snacking method.

Another benefit of eating multiple times a day is that you never get hungry, your body will expect food regularly and this will make sure you are not tempted to binge!

Another great way to raise your metabolism is to eat real foods. That may sound strange but eating real vegetabls, real fruit and most importantly, AVOIDING PROCESSED FOOD whenever you can.

Most of the processed food you get in the supermarket these days doesn’t take much digestion, therefore burning less calories and also playing havoc with your digestive system.

If you eat fruit, real vegetables, real oatmeal for example, your body’s whole digestive system is working at its full capacity to break down the food, then use it as an energy source.

This process will not go on when you eat processed rubbish, that seems to fill most of the aisles in supermarkets!! Ready meals are the most guilty example, but anything that takes a minute or so to heat up and eat is usually going to be very poor for your internal digestive system.

Eating natural isn’t always possible, so try to use processed foods before your training session. This way you can at least use the food as energy and get it out of your system as soon as possible!!

Twitt