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Sunday, 15th February

I get a lot of rehab questions because I have helped a lot of people get back doing what they love doing, when perhaps they thought they could never do it again. Most people know we differentiate ourselves from every gym because we create intensive programmes that always account for any movement/injury/limitations the individual has.

If the person I am training asks me for advice, then I will of course give it. If they say that they cannot do a movement because it hurts, then I tell them definitely don’t do that movement until they can move freely without pain again.

If people ask me if I’m out somewhere in a supermarket for example for advice, they usually will make what they want of the advice, and find what best suits them out of my answer because they are usually looking for me to validate what they already think-they are shocked when I never do that.

Some people will tell me their pain goes away when they warm up, but comes back the next day. I tell them again, if something hurts when you do it, YOU DO NOT DO IT UNTIL THE PAIN GOES AWAY!!

If you are injured, or are having a lot of pain from exercise, then your exercise programme is SERIOUSLY wrong and DAMAGING your health.

You have to distinguish from what is normal and what is dangerous.

You should be in some discomfort at the end of set of weight training for example.

This shows you are advancing and pushing yourself.

You may get a 1-2 days of soreness after a particularly tough session now and again, but it doesn’t need to happen every time!
YOU SHOULD NEVER have prolonged muscle soreness or joint soreness though.

If you cant do an exercise normally, you have reduce your range of motion for example, then you are in trouble already.

The rule I always use is that I want to keep the individuals I train HEALTHY and free from injury, and to move in ways they never thought possible.

Please use common sense and work with someone who is used to doing rehab without hurting you!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 11th February

Everyone wants to practice things they are good at, what they excel in and its human nature to look at your strengths.

Our training should make us think what we are struggling on, what our weaknesses are, what we need to really improve. What our injuries, our past injuries or breakages when it comes to joints and bones? All these things need addresses before old age comes, because it gets even harder then but still great advancements can be done even then!

This is not a negative, its only going to improve what we like doing in the first place.

If we like to play rugby or football to the best of our ability for example, then working on our weaker areas will only enhance our performance.

Just being stronger with weights or just being better on the treadmill won’t guarantee a better sporting performance, it will help A LOT, but all the stuff we do in our training will give you all the little “add ons” that will make you the difference between okay at a sport, to excelling at it.

The top athletes are the ones who do the little things to improve, this what separates a great athlete from an average one.

You have every opportunity to use the latest science of training to take you wherever you want to be.

The only thing stopping you would be falling for the trap of doing the same old thing all the time. If you do the same old thing, you’re going get the same old results.

We are looking to get the very best out of you, so start searching where you can get even more from your training, more out of your nutrition, and how you can get an even more positive state of mind to see you through the ups and downs of getting into top shape!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 8th January

I have already got through an awful lot of measurements with individuals in 2014, and the range of emotions has been dramatic.

My easiest measurements were the ones who trained all the way through Christmas, some even hit personal bests through the holiday period, and to actually improve substantially during Christmas is staggering!

My toughest measurements were the ones who stopped training perhaps 3-4 weeks before Christmas, and ate much more than usual, didn’t train, and some drank too much alcohol a few times a week.

When you are measuring someone all year long and they get used to dramatic results every four weeks, then to undo a chunk of that progress can floor someone who has become to regular victories in their training challenges.

The psychological let down usually makes people go one of two ways.

Either they stand up and fight, and really promise themselves that they are going to eat well again, get right back into regular training, cut right down on alcohol, and although there is a tough month to get through, that they are going to stick with it and make big inroads on the excess body fat they have gained.

Most people can’t stand feeling all the extra weight on them again anyway, especially after feeling so fit and well at their peak only weeks before Christmas, so its usually a matter of simply wanting to feel their best again anyway!

However, some people take it really badly, and a lot of the hard won confidence levels they developed through successive positive physical improvement can be damaged.

This is when the individual concerned needs a mixture of big emotional support from friends and family, from myself and regular exercise to get their body remembering how good it felt to be at their best.

The support system for the individual is all important, and will make the difference between long term sustainable success, or becoming someone who once did well, but loses self-esteem and hits a long slippery slope when body fat gain becomes the norm, and one’s self-worth hitting an all time low.

This is exactly the time of year to stand up and fight, really accept you do not want to feel overweight, unfit and lacking in ambition.

Really, whatever your situation, this is exactly the time to stop talking about it and get on and change yourself right now, because all of you have the resources and power to change and reach your absolute potential once again!

Twitt
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Thursday, 2nd January

Making a lifestyle change right now is obviously very much in the news at this time of year, but many people get confused with what a lifestyle change REALLY is. I have been through this time of year in a professional capacity many times of course, and its heartbreaking to see many people fall for the same false promises year after year.

In exercise terms, a lifestyle change can be defined as simply moving more, having some sort of exercise plan, however simple. Showing up regular for exercise can be the most powerful thing you do this year.

Even exercising three times a week can change your life this year, and affect positively all of your medical key indicators such as blood pressure, heart rate, body fat levels etc.

If you try just to jump in and get into exercise without knowing what you are getting into, then the chances of injuring yourself are high, and the dangers to your health can be very real. Nothing can crush your morale quicker.

Getting evaluated by a health and fitness professional is critical to you knowing where your starting point is, and how you are going to improve and at what rate. If you show up to exercise not knowing a thing about it (like most people), and then typically just get shown around once and forgotten about, then you are already in a dangerous position.

Not doing things properly is the chief reason why a large percentage of the population will give up on exercise by the end of the month. This is heartbreaking after usually signing a 12 month contract. The sad thing is that many gyms spend all their efforts trying to get you signed up, and very little effort in helping you navigate the first few months of transforming your body and mind.

If you don’t train right, then you’re not going to get any results.
Without results, your incentive to carry on will vanish.

January 2nd 2014 and surely it’s time to spend time researching the best way to do it this time.

Twitt
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New Years Day

It’s time to explode some “myths” of training, and answer a range of questions I seem to get at regular intervals from a surprising amount of you.

MYTH NO1 “The best sign of a great workout is how exhausted I am, and how sore I am the next couple of days!”

Many people I meet regard a great workout with being totally exhausted and sore.

When people come down the gym for the first time, they assume that because they didn’t feel “sick”, that they weren’t training hard enough!

I always have to put them right on this straight away because “feeling sick and exhausted totally” is the exact opposite of what we are about.

I always tell clients that making them sick all over the car park would be easy.

I am FAR MORE interested in getting them stronger, more flexible, being more agile and balanced, and dramatically increasing their speed and endurance.

Being sick from training is one of the worst things you can do for your body, causing great internal distress that your body takes a long time to get over.

If you’re measuring your training progress on being exhausted, and you are doing a speed and agility session with me, then you’re quickly forgetting why you are doing the session in the first place.

Teaching people to run properly and move in multi-directions requires the individual to use their brain power, their reaction time, as well as physical effort.

Last of all, there isn’t one scientific paper out there that says you have to be dramatically sore after a workout to get maximum gains from it, not one! You may get sore now and again from changing your training around and using different muscles, and who wants to be sore all the time anyway!

Always remember that anyone can get you tired, but it requires a far more professional approach to get you much faster, stronger and much better conditioned for absolutely anything you want to do.

Twitt