Category: motivation

Stress can be a killer or at least damaging for our health.

MANY of you use the gym as a dumping ground for stress, the place where you can shake off your troubles and those things playing on your mind constantly.

Your workout can give you great clarity in between sets, and change the chemical balance in your body and just as importantly, your brain too.

The other alternative is carrying the stress around with you, on the settee, when you are sleeping but still awake at 3am, when you’re scrolling through your computer looking for magical solutions but there aren’t any often you will get out of a computer or phone.

You will FIND lots of “enabler’s” on social media too, in the disguise of “support”. Many people pretend to be your “friends” on social media but they are often the same ones saying “did you see that one on social media last night”, or accusations you are “crying for attention”.

We all have to face the facts that at times we DO need help and support but from the RIGHT people, and a public audience is not always the best place to get that much needed help, we often set ourselves up for more heartbreak.

We also as adults have to begin to have FAITH IN OURSELVES again. Whatever your faith is, I’m sure the point of being on this earth is to continue to do something MEANINGFUL with our lives and never quit even when the going gets hard, we may continue to fail at times, but still being in the game makes us a winner every time.

That stress in you needs to come out every day before it turns into something far more toxic, the iron at the gym is waiting for you to release big stress in abundance right now so don’t look for help where it never comes, YOU have to take action, make yourself accountable again and get a firm hold on you stress before it overwhelms you and you feel helpless to its power again,

Most people who train hard, keep on improving year in year out, don’t see keeping fit as a chore, don’t see eating well as a hardship, achieve a lot by keeping a strong balance and a sense of perspective. In between bank holidays, this strategy has never been so important.

These people’s “in the week” nutritional habits are strong, their foundation is a lot of fresh food and strong efforts working out, aiming to consistently get better.

Then when the next weekend, the next bank holiday comes, the odd drink, the odd meal out, the odd takeaway doesn’t matter too much.

If we eat well 80% of the time, have treats occasionally and put the effort in at the gym/online workouts, then we have achieved a good balance in life.

Throw that balance over to 80% eating badly, hardly ever training and you will have a problem not only with the way you look, the way you feel etc, but your general health and wellbeing will suffer too.

Being on some kind of spartan regime eating strictly ALL THE TIME doesn’t work long term, but having a balance does so you appreciate those occasional treats when they come much more.

One more thing, try and be active the day AFTER you have a treat especially. 

Having a good sweat the day after not only burns a large part of the night before off, it makes you feel so much better despite the initial discomfort, and sets you up for a proper day of recovery too, meaning you are back in balance not only physically but mentally too.

This is the first proper day this week when you need to go ALL OUT to get the balance back in your life, no excuses, put the work in and feel better afterwards in all ways.

A rare Sunday post but its an important one for those who are struggling in life right now, and there are many.

I did the lookout hill again just now. Not because I had to, for the fun of it, but it follows on from the gratitude list I mentioned friday.

So I am running up that hill because I am GRATEFUL for what I have, and I don’t want to lose my health either, because unless I am healthy I will not be able to enjoy fully all those things I am most grateful for.

The minute I can’t do that hill, I will know I am on the decline. I will have “accepted” my best days are behind me, I know I will not have enough energy to do the things I do now, that’s why I keep fighting and I always put a sprint in at the end right to the bench to remind me I am still alive.

I sometimes think of people who would say my business would never last when I am halfway up, I think of those who would never back us a gym, I use that negativity as FUEL and I secretly say “thank you for pushing me to be better”.

Doing a big run on bank holiday Sunday is no hardship, it’s a gift from me to me, and I mean that in an unselfish way. I don’t want to be burden to anyone else by losing my health, I want to share my stories and experience, of victory and of defeat, because we often learn MORE when we lose, and I have lost lots of times, but as long as we LEARN, we come back stronger than ever.

Lots of you have been BROKEN in life, but I’m here to tell you that you CAN put yourself together and YOU can do that and be great again, just ask for a little help too and you can again be the DESIGNER of your own exciting future once again.

We are with you all the way!!!!

The missing ingredient is always energy.

“I don’t have enough energy to do that”, “I don’t have half the energy I used to have”, “I could never do that many hours working, I would never have the energy”.

Lack of energy holds us back in life, and often puts our life on hold too.

It means the difference between a life watching from the sidelines to a life of actually taking part full time, often for the first time in years.

Energy is sparked by our workouts, eating nutrient rich food (not dead food like ready meals), having daily fresh air and resting well (which happens far more often when we exercise regularly).

Energy doesn’t come from energy drinks (bad for the heart too), it doesn’t come from a glass of wine/beer (great for half hour then big lows), and it definitely doesn’t come from scrolling your computer/phone all day.

Energy is something you can’t do without obviously and is critical to your happiness, welfare and get the things you really want in life, your habits will always dictate how much energy fills your day and what you actually feel like getting done every day too..

Re-wiring your body and mind has been ultra-important over the last few years, and doing nothing has NOT been an option.

Some of you worked from home, some still are, some of you retired and life has never been the same again.

Re-inventing yourselves has been the key though and some of you have been re-born.

Some of you have launched businesses, some of you have been grandparents that has filled your time and purpose, and many of you are doing the things you mostly put off during your working lives.

Then you have the other side of the fence, after the first couple of weeks of retiring, working from home, things became a new way of living and not for the better. 

Your sense of purpose may have gone and the initial celebrations, parties and well-wishing you soon may realise that you are wondering “what now”?!!!!!!

Slowing down is good is it means not moving much anymore, slowing down and ignoring working your body is the biggest trap for your mobility, you wellbeing, joint and muscular pain and your mind.

You can go from optimistic to being the pessimist, life ”was better in the good old days” but facts are there were bad times back then too.

All that free time you have now NEEDS a fully or at least mostly functioning body to maximise these golden years.

For every victory we have at the gym daily, I have to tell someone they have to pull their socks up, they have to sort their eating out because you can never out-train a bad diet, I have to encourage them to hit the gym more often and quit making excuses.

In short, the truth CAN HURT but long term will be the kindest thing we do for people, because if it sorts someone’s health out, the rewards and life-changing improvements are very much worth it.

Re-invent yourself, re-wire yourself, realise that you can’t stop in life, only keep moving and finally put yourself first to ENJOY many great years to come.