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Tuesday, 17th September

The first thing to consider when you are aiming to change your programme around is how much time are you taking in between sets?

Are you the type to stand around and talk for 5 minutes in between each exercise?
If you are, then the change around I would recommend in your workout programme will not work anywhere near as well as it should be.

So tempo of your workout is something you need to look at before anything else.

If you are able to cut down the rest in between each set you take, then this will create you to become slightly out of breath. When this happens, your lung capacity is being challenged and if done sensibly, can and will improve quite quickly.

So if you picked 6 exercises and lets say you do them one after the other.

If currently, you take 5 minutes in between sets, then you are not boosting your fitness by much at all.

Try cutting that down to one minute, and see the big difference!

Eventually, you need to aim to get it down to 45 seconds.

The main difference you will have to make is reduce the weight you use in each exercise. This will be unavoidable because you wont have the energy to go at this increased tempo and still use your normal weights.

As the weeks go by, you will find your lung capacity improves greatly and your weights will slowly start creeping back up again.

This will mean your overall conditioning levels will go up dramatically, and the thought of going back to your old ways of training will no longer enter your mind!

Twitt
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Monday, 16th September

Following a fitness programme where you just do, let’s say some work on a cross trainer, some treadmill maybe and a short spell on a bike could be described as very popular in the big clubs, and you would be one of many doing the same thing.

This programme undoubtedly has some health benefits and well done to you on exercising regularly.

If you do the same aerobic type of work, and you throw a little weight training in, then you will do even better. This is a better balance than the first example definitely.

Unfortunately, this is where even the most ardent exercises’ variety of training programmes ends, stuck in the 1980’s and not a thing has changed since! I have highlighted the fact that if you do indeed follow this way of training, then I congratulate you on actually training, instead of talking about it like most people do!

The point here is that exercise programmes have moved on so much more since then. A lot of people aware of the “core” these days, and the importance of working it, but most of these people haven’t a clue on how to work the core, and don’t know a thing about the different tools you should be using to strengthen your core.

They don’t know because they usually are not shown, not given a programme with a great deal of variety, and this is a great problem of the big gyms, when 3000, yes you heard it, three thousand people have to join for them just to BREAK EVEN!! They cant afford to get the quality of staff in, and you could never hope to service 3000 people anyway. This is why 90% of the big clubs are deep in debt or in bankruptcy already, both in the UK and US.

This week we will talk about different ways to make your programme work for you, come into 2013 finally in terms of training science, and actually enhance every area of your body in strength, flexibility and getter leaner than ever, plus reducing the risk of injury right now and in the future!

Twitt
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Thursday, 12th September

The forgotten athlete we often miss out on in general life is the senior athlete.

Today, I am talking very much about the senior athlete over 70, and I do train quite a few, and most of them are remarkable for their age. The term “remarkable” for their age is often said in a patronizing way, but I can prove people wrong by comparing the stats with some of the over 70’s to my 40 somethings and 50 somethings.

I have people for instance who can bench press what many struggle to do in their 40’s-this is a fact.

I have senior athletes who can cycle for an hour no problem.

I have senior athletes who are far more flexible than some 20 somethings I know.

The bone density tests that a lot of senior athletes have done, come back remarkably well without fail. A solid well structured resistance/weights programme for the over 70’s is not only recommended, its essential!

All the senior athletes I train retain a high level of physical confidence, which is vital going into the autumn of one’s life.

Quality of life is everything and the worst thing I have ever seen is someone in their 30’s, 40’s or 50’s give up on themselves and say “they can’t be physically active anymore like they used to”!!

The senior athletes are a great example on how to do it, they compare very well in terms of strength and endurance levels compared to most people, and the last thing they want is ANY KIND of patronizing comments. Being 70 plus is not the life-ender it used to be, we have a new breed now fighting for new levels of strength, fitness and overall outstanding health!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 11th September

If you are struggling for time to do any training, then you must realize that this reason (lack of time) is the number one reason I hear daily because people cannot train.

If I told you that 99% of the people I train are very busy people, running their own business, bring up young children, have got very challenging careers, some if not all have to work extremely hard for their last penny, most work long hours every day, and most of them could say “I haven’t got any time for a workout today, that’s the last thing I need to do”, but when they think about it and realize what a good workout really means in their life, the thought of cancelling never becomes a serious consideration for them.

The flexibility of being able to shorten your workouts to suit your lifestyle should never be underestimated, and just this morning I got through a great workout for someone and his daughter, who was in a huge rush, and the workout took…………..9 minutes!

The person concerned is very fit but probably never had a more lung busting workout, his daughter is even fitter and she put more in during the 9 minutes she said than a normal one hour workout she does when shes away in college!

The secret is to do the exercises that have the highest energy cost, in other words often the toughest exercises will do you the most good. In a 9 minute workout there is no rest, and the intensity is very high indeed!

It must be said that this type of workout is not for everyone, only for more experienced people who work under the supervision of an experienced exercise professional.

So you can see time is never a problem for even the busiest of people with only ten minutes to spare on occasions! Don’t miss any opportunity to exercise!

Twitt
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Friday, 6th September

Once you finish the marathon, you may think that’s it but its really not.

After the aching has subsided, and your toes, blisters and back has recovered, you still will likely stay in this very positive mood and state of mind for around 3-4 months afterwards.

The marathon often gives you a thought process where you start to think that anything is possible.

Six months later, you may develop an urge to do a marathon again the year after the last one you did. This is not uncommon.

The shorter runs you get back into after a marathon are both a relief and make you think that maybe you are cheating yourself.

The lack of injuries and minor niggles are great, but somehow you get to miss the aches and pains of the ultimate challenge.

All of these thoughts and deliberations are likely to go through your head for a year or two after the marathon, after all you have accomplished so much by going through the marathon in the first place, and you have overcome so many obstacles, then maybe it is true that nothing really is impossible!

Twitt