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Benefits of being strong!

Back on my schedule today again, the 6.10am run and the day off yesterday did me no end of good so im hitting this message today with no end of energy too!

 I like to talk about balancing your schedule throughout the week, and how important it is to have your week planned in a broad sense to make sure you are successful each week full stop.

You always need to be doing some strength work a minimum twice a week to boost your metabolism, increase the rate your body burns calories 24 hours per day, really firm you up all over, get you stronger and fitter all round.

For many years, doctors argued that weight training and resistance work of all kinds would simply give you a heart attack if you pushed it too hard and would give you high blood pressure too. We all know now that the opposite is true.

Making gains in your health and fitness plan is impossible without having resistance training in your plan.

Another myth that used to be put around was that strength training slowed you down a lot.

The heaviest users of weight training in the running world are always the sprinters. Try telling someone who can run under 10 seconds for the 100 metres that weight training/resistance training slows you down!

The realities are that the athletes were the ones finding out first what worked before the doctors. The doctors would then research the claims made by athletes and then verify all the amazing benefits that they were constantly reporting.

Now any sport from tennis, to football, to squash, to canoeing all use strength training as vital parts of their weekly training, year round!! None of this rubbish “i don’t want to get too big”!! If only that was possible that easy!!! Sportsmen are discovering the benefits of strength training in all sorts of different ways for their chosen sport, and are not “getting big and slow”, they are getting sharper, fitter and lasting a lot longer into their 30’s than ever before.

A lot of strength training is about avoiding injury too. Most people dont know that you are strengthening your bones and joints when you use resistance too. This makes your body work together in harmomy more, making the chance of injury much less.

When you get in old age, you want strong tendons and ligaments, as well as strong joints and bones to avoid falls for instance, and to do things that will still give you a high quality of life. We all want to be active into old age but you have to create a strong base and foundation first.

You need to do your strength work AND cardiovascular work (running, walking, cycling, swimming etc), thats a perfect balance!!

Have a great sunday and thanks for visiting!

Twitt
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day 1

Day 1 of the 12 week challenge and are you making the most of your efforts to start off on a good footing?

Today in the news, is classed as “blue monday”, apparently today we are more depressed than ever, and the realities of christmas and early january are hitting us. Christmas is a long way off, summer is a long way off and things are supposed to be, well, depressing!

The perfect time then to get going and do your best over the next 12 weeks. For starters today, i would look to do a resistance based workout, for example an inside circuit would be a first class start today, wednesday and friday. Then i would look to do a cardiovascular workout tuesday and thursday, have saturday off to do what you want, and maybe do an activity you really enjoy on sunday. This schedule will depend on your fitness levels of course, and many of you won’t be able to train hard 6 times per week of course. Doing 3 inside workouts may be enough for you, but nothing stopping you doing 3 walks too on the other days?

Remember this is about changing your lifestyle, and if you’re already at a certain standard, it’s about raising that bar several more levels. It’s about paying more attention to your eating, it’s paying more attention to your workouts and actually doing them without fail, and really setting a higher standard for yourself so you can’t have the best quality of life possible, you have the power to do that.

From today, start writing down your workouts, and promise yourself that you’re going to try and beat this week’s levels next week. It’s all about making improvements from week to week, that means you are capable of making 12 big improvements by april as long as you’re consistent, and are motivated to bring huge benefits to your health and beyond.

There has been a lot of posts over the last few weeks, most of them are information you can use every day to get fitter, healthier and stronger mentally. It’s all here for you and feel free to ask questions along the way!

Keri

Twitt
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Not learning lessons

I am the guilty one today, i am the one who said last wednesday, after being snowed in, that i was glad i didn’t get in my car and try my luck on the roads. I have spent too many needless hours on the roads spinning up hills in the snow and ice. I had sworn never to do it again!

After looking outside this morning very early, i was confused as there seemed more snow than promised, but some sleet in the air too. The bbc had say it may wash away with rain, after promising a couple of hours before that it would dump it down with snow! I decided that i would give it a go, and be an idiot! To cut a long story short, i got into serious difficulties in swansea, and a 35 minute trip turned into a 100 minute trip, after having a couple of slides and bumps into the pavement in my car! I eventually made it to mumbles and discovered i couldn’t get up the side roads! I could only then make it home by the M4, which is the long way around to say the least.

The point i am making in all of this is that we are all guilty about not learning lessons, and sometimes doing the wrong thing time after time, even if causes us pain and stress each time. The same could be said about our eating, all of us binge from time to time, there are various reasons for this but most of them involve stress of some kind. Then we get stressed because we have eaten so much and so badly!

The facts are that most of us are never going to stop making rash decisions, mistakes with our foods after giving in to sudden urges, the difference between being successful and constantly tripping ourselves up must be making “less” mistakes, and doing the “right thing” more. Hard to do but sounds simple. Next week’s start is about practicing good habits constantly, and not making so many emotional decisions on food that usually end up with us ingesting mega-calorie foods!

I am promising myself to do better than ever next week, and never to risk driving in so much snow again!

Keri

Twitt
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Awaken the giant within!!!!!!!!!!

Next week is an opportunity to finally get it right, get yourself out of the slumber of christmas and january, and finally reach the physical condition you’ve craved for all this time. Not only physically, but mentally too. You’ve always known its more than a diet, its more than an exercise programme, its the mind that in fact may be the most important part.

How long have you put up with faddy diets? What about those rubbish exercise equipment you have bought off satellite tv or a sports shop? Was it really a good investment or did that piece of equipment simply become anothe coat hanger?

Are you going to give yourself 12 weeks this time to get it right, to give yourself the opportunity to finally be in shape for summer? This is when the hard work starts, and this is the time when you outlast those who will be giving up their faddy programmes by valentine’s day!

Making this commitment for 12 weeks will also give you huge mental strength as previously mentioned to take on anything in life you want. If you develop self-discipline, and its all a matter of practice, you can apply that to life’s difficult challenges too. You’re going to develop a lot more energy too, and when you have that energy, you’re automatically going to feel a lot better too, it’s natural.

Are you fed up of being written off, and never letting your potential come to the fore? Are you fed up of people doubting whether you can get fit and healthy at all, this is the time to prove everyone wrong, and finally gets some huge compliments back in your life too, and they will continue if you manage to lay down a solid structure in your life, and theres no reason not to!

My first tip is to take a photograph of yourself this weekend, then again in 12 weeks, there should be a big difference, try and wear tighter fitting clothes as baggy t-shirts wont show your progress as well. Then measure your waist and hips, and write down your height in inhces, the goal is to get your waist under half your height in inches. You’re also going to keep a diary too, every day jotting down all your hopes and aspirations, and the reality of doing these 12 weeks, then after  the 12 weeks, you need to write a short essay on your experiences, and brutally honest as possible, and we will post those who want to post them, these will be valuable in helping others.

Plus you will get everyday help from me, and all the pointers and examples of exercise programmes to help you along.

More to come this week but this is an idea of what we need. Also, if you have any blood pressure issues etc, may be a good idea to get yourself checked out by your doctor, so he can check your progress out at the end, plus you can buy cheap bp machines in chemists these days. It is advisable to get your doctor’s approval before beginning any exercise programme. Safety is always my number one concern.

Speak soon,

Keri

Twitt
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Successful………..but happy?

How many people do you know that have climbed the ladder of success, but they have found out that when they have got to the top, they have been climbing the wrong wall. I have met a few, and they have been some of the unhappiest people i have ever met.

There was the story about the millionnaire business owner sitting in a restaurant with his protege, who became very successful himself. He had a large home, a parking place close the front door, and a brass nameplate on his office door. As they were back slapping each other on how well they had done, the business owner asked his protege “how he would define successs”? He replied he couldn’t really answer. Then, the business owner told him that being successful for most people was achieving and having the things that were important to them.

The protege then started to list all the things that were important to him and made him happy, he never mentioned his job. The boss then asked “well, you’re happy right?”, “well no” came the reply. And then the boss asked “well, you’re successful right?”, he didn’t have a reply. The protege just sat there thinking.

To cut a long story short, the protege quit his job two months later. The boss begged him to stay, but there was nothing he could do. He reminded his boss of the conversation he had, and thanked him for pushing him into doing something with his life that he actually loved, and was important to him.

He used to be in telecommunications, he now has a roofing company! He always loved working with wood and now he’s hammering shingles on roofs and building porches and guess what? He’s happy.

I have a post way back called Your drving force, look it up and you will be asked to list those things that really get you out of bed in the morning, those things that are really important to you and drive you on to achieve great things. Once you make a list, you will realise that being fit, strong and healthy is a major part of you achieving all of those things, and most importantly, being happy. It’s a good idea to fill it in, as the 12 week challenge starts next monday, and this will help you keep motivated and strong.

Give it a go,

Keri

Twitt