Posted on

Tuesday, 14th August

The Olympics continue to make the headlines for all the right reasons, and when you delve into the successes some more, you can see why a lot  of these athletes have improved so much

Any athlete who wants to be at the top of his/her game, now has to work harder every day, every week, and every year if they want to become successful in the next Olympics in Rio in 2016.

If you apply the same level of detail to your own training as previously discussed, then of course you can reach new highs and fairly quickly.

For example, you don’t need to accept that just because you are getting older, then the famous, or make that infamous “middle aged spread” will definitely happen! This is not the case.

While it is indeed true that you cannot eat as much and as uncontrolled as you did when you were 18, with a bit of thought and a bit of control, you will be able to control new successful strategies in your life that will offer healthy low levels of body fat and increased workout performances.

This is true of ANY AGE, not only do I see it in the “middle aged spread” category, but I see it with teenagers and senior’s in the 70’s.

If your diet is all over the place at the moment and you lack direction, then its time you stopped putting up with this lack of strong mindset and re-programmed yourself for success.

You don’t have to be this incredible Olympian either to do it! All you have to do is start paying more attention to the way you live your daily life. Model yourself on those who are successful with their weight, their body fat levels and their performances.

Whilst Jessica ennis will likely be very, very strict on her diet, and has been for many years, you can create a stricter version of yourself which will automatically take you up several different levels if you give it some time to work.

Consistency of eating well and training hard and regular can never be underestimated and is the true secret of champions.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 13th August

The Olympics have ended which brings a big gap in TV viewing for most people over the next week or so! Most people have been addicted to it, and some more obscure sports have found plenty of new-found respect from the general public. If it encourages more people to exercise, then this will be the true lasting legacy for me.

The problem  comes from where to start for most people.

Most people don’t automatically run down to their local athletics track, and suddenly ask to become the next Mo Farah, unless they are usually 11-15 years of old and already a pretty good runner!

Many people feel that most athletic events are beyond them, especially when they may be 40-60 years of age, and perhaps they haven’t exercised since school!!! This is part of the important generation to get exercising again, the generation that may have totally given up on themselves, and without any major action now will become more prone to serious disease and ill health.

This is why starting an exercise programme should be done with caution and safety as the number one concern.

If one goes at it like a bull at a gate, then injury will surely follow. Most people will realise that they can’t do what they did when they were 16, but some don’t realise this and go at it so hard that they get injured, and then their ego gets so crushed that they never try and exercise every again. This is a sad situation but so true of many people i see.

If you listen to good solid advice, and do indeed start off slow with a good plan, then you are HIGHLY LIKELY to succeed if you give yourself enough time and set some short term goals that are attainable. 1-2 pounds a week would be realistic, instead of the 5-6 pounds a week that faddy diets often promise. Also, don’t make the scale your number one indicator, this is setting yourself up for failure.

A plan that is sustainable that develops all the time is what you need and we will talk about this the rest of the week!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 10th August

Another friday and a very good one because its 25 degrees and sunny-for a change!

Hope you’re not one of those to write off your workout for the day just because its warm? I’m all for slacking off a bit in performance terms during this weather, and cutting some time off your workouts, that’s only sensible advice, but cancelling all together is definitely not on in my book!! Especially if you’re after great results, this weather should be seen as part of the challenge and should be embraced!

Look on the positive side, if you lived in certain parts of australia for example, this would be a nice winter’s day!!! And what excuse would you make then?!!!

The positives are that a day like today requires very little warm up, your muscles are already warm and the workout will be over fairly quickly!

Another great way of working out in this weather is to combine it with your day out of beach/mountain activities.

Playing games on the beach is always fun, and all of that running around can be draining, but a great workout. All you have to do is make sure you take onboard plenty of water to make sure you don’t get dehydrated!

I know plenty of people this year who have been on tent or caravan holidays, and there are usually plenty of trails this time of year to trek on, full of ups and downs that can and will test you to the limit, whilst taking in some great sights along the way! Don’t forget the terrain under foot will also test you further, due to the soft sand in places and uneven surfaces, it also burns a lot more calories!

Another key tactic in this weather is do try and workout your hardest first thing in the morning, or in the evening obviously because its a lot cooler, this simple thing to remember will save you a lot in terms of feeling far more comfortable when you train.

All in all, no excuse to skip your programme, embrace the nice weather as another challenge on your journey to being in your best shape!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 9th August

So if we are looking at 1% improvement in everything we do, then we need to examine what areas we need to look at, both to increase our performance and health in general.

First thing is quality of food.

Are you eating healthy at least 80% of the time?

Are you eating breakfast every day?

Do you have mid-morning snacks and mid-afternoon snacks?

Do you have a good nutrient-packed lunch each day?

Do you have a variety of vegetables with your lean proteins and good carbs in the evening?

Do you drink enough water throughout the day?

Do you sleep enough to recover both from your training and get up for the next day’s training?

Do you keep your portion sizes sensible to make sure you’re not overeating?

So after your weigh all of these things up and you have answered of all these questions honestly, how much in percentage terms do you think that you can improve in all of these areas, or at least most of them?

I will bet that most of you can improve hugely in percentage terms in most of them.

So imagine after i have made that statement, how much does it all add up for you? I will definitely bet with any of you that it adds up to MUCH MORE than 1%, that’s for sure!!!

There should be 10, 20, 30 or even 50% improvements in there if you really put your mind to it!!!

So when we set the original 1% goal, it must amaze you how much you’re not really doing at the moment to maximise your potential!!! It’s all a matter now of really putting your mind to it and executing a good game plan, designed to fully support your nutritional needs that a demanding training programme will absolutely need!!

This should be a daily and weekly list and a great reminder for you on how to eat well, and gear you up for putting in consistent performances and add huge percentages to your overall progress!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 7th August

The success of the olympic cycling team and indeed, the Sky cycling team has one important philosophy.

They aim to improve 1% every week, and if they can do that, then they have calculated that they are going to become very successful.

1% at their level can be pretty monumental, and 1% for anyone once a week can be spectacular over a period of a few months.

Remember when i always talk about improving every four weeks, and this is why we measure this way without fail? This is the reason!

If i try to get everyone to concentrate and improve just one per cent every week, this will already lead to a 4% improvement each and every month. To tell you the truth, in the beginning stages of any programme, most people are capable of more than 1% a week with a sound training programme.

This is why most people i know are capable of staggering progress if they stay consistent with their eating, training and rest.

The 1% figure was an illustration of elite athletes at the very highest level! So can you imagine the effect that a well-designed professional programme would have on the average person?!!!! This is when results get really interesting and this is why people  never stop surprising me with the levels that they are capable of attaining!

If you think of yourself when you started training, and assuming you have been training for a while now, then you should be significantly further down the track than when you first started! This is a more than 1% improvements and its important to remember that!

So if the pro cycling teams can get that 1% improvement out of every area of their performance, this is why they have done so well for so long in the olympics and now the tour de france of course. The last statement said it all, a 1% improvement out of EVERY AREA OF THEIR PERFORMANCE!!! This is what we will talk about tomorrow and how you can achieve the same improvements in relation to your own ability!!!

Twitt