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Thursday, 10th April

After coming out of a long dark and wet winter, it’s vital you come into the spring as fresh as possible.

Many of you train 5-6 times a week with us, and this will usually mean that you are in great shape, that you have improved substantially over the winter and there’s a very strong chance that your fitness is at its all-time best.

Sometimes though we all hit a wall and we don’t know really what to do about it.

Our motivation goes down a bit, we can’t get a constantly good performance out of ourselves, and we wonder whether we can hit the heights anymore.

We may see people who we have been training with pull slightly ahead of us, and we may lose our enthusiasm to stay with them. This is a sign that you need to step back a bit.

A great answer to these problems is to train LESS for a while in terms of days.

Cutting back to three days a week for a month or so can make all the difference.

On your days off, try doing different things, enjoy yourself whatever you want to do, and you will give your mind a good rest from your programme.

The result from this type of approach is that you start enjoying your training much more again.

When you hit those three sessions a week, they tend to be of much higher quality again because you will realise again what you are really capable of.

You will start to make gains again and your body will thank you for getting off a schedule that you needed a break from.

I usually find that a month is usually enough, and then most of those who have cut back feel ready to step it up again and hit extra days again.

You can feel the rest has done them good, and most people go on to reach new personal highs in their next cycle of training.

Training in different cycles is very common with professional athletes, who find it an absolute must to peak for their events.

Training smart and taking days off when you need them will always keep you close to your peak, and keep you mentally fresh just when you need it.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 9th April

Development in your programme can always happen quicker than you think as long as you are willing to buckle down and work at your fundamentals every day and not compromise.

If you don’t eat breakfast as within one hour of getting up, you are struggling from the very start of the day. This is an absolute must for all sorts of reasons.

If you try to run before you can walk in exercise terms, you are likely to get injured or lose interest in your exercise programme very early, or both things will happen.

If you have a back problem, and most of you do or will do in your lifetime, then you need to address that immediately before proceeding. Then you only advance with caution under supervision at all times but it can be sorted out gradually and for good.

If you are eating well 80% of the time, then that’s great.

If you are not eating well, then your workouts are always going to be a struggle, you won’t perform well, and you won’t recover from them anywhere near as well as you could do.

If you want to get into good shape, you have to accept that you need to make a lifestyle change full stop. It doesn’t have to be some kind of unachievable tough regime either, you have to fit it into your weekly schedule and anyone can do it.

All it needs is planning and tweaking your workouts to suit life’s everyday inevitable challenges.

Not one person I train has “all day to exercise”, we all live super fast lives now, so scheduling it in as part of your week is vital.

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 8th April

When roger bannister first broke the four minute mile, it was an achievement of stunning proportions, and literally stunned the world.

Most people don’t know that a lot of other world class runners emulated that feat during THAT year, and the explanation most commonly thought of was that once they knew it was possible then the fear factor of running quicker than four minutes quickly went, and other athletes believed in themselves that much more, KNOWING it was very possible now.

With our training , anyone seeing a tractor tyre being flipped for the first time is pretty intimidating, whilst looking “cool” at the same time!

When you first see it, you never think you can do it, but as you get stronger, and get taught the right technique, then it becomes entirely possible!

When you see people time and time in front of you doing it, and they encourage you to challenge yourself to do it, the possibility becomes very real.

Flipping such a large tyre is definitely not a beginner’s exercise, you need to develop real strength first, and all over strength at that. This is why a complete programme is absolutely vital, and your core is very strong before even attempting it.

Getting stronger is a process that ANYONE can do. You need to plan your programme properly, strengthen your weaker areas and putting it all together so you become much stronger in all areas, ready to take on ANY challenges.

You need to exercise with purpose, have a plan and continuously bring up your weaker areas. This way of training will always make you very successful in anything you do!

Twitt
Posted on

Sunday, 6th April

Shaking things up with your training means that you shake things up with your internal body too. Your body can react very positively to change in all sorts of ways, shaping your body’s destiny and take you to new levels of wellbeing and athleticism.

Results happen quicker when you challenge yourself in different ways, try things that you really thought you wouldn’t be good at, re-discover the movements that you may not have tried since you were in school, actually increase your speed as you get older, learn to move much more efficiently and without so much effort-yet still move quicker, learn that weight training is definitely not the enemy and won’t make you big if you are a female-just make you leaner, harder, re-shape your body and lose any annoying areas of body fat that keep on concerning you.

If you have limited yourself to certain forms of training, and don’t think you can change, then you are really underestimating yourself and not realizing anywhere near your short or long term potential.

I have seen people who have never been runners, become runners and move with real speed and agility.

There are girls who have become some our best athletes, and regularly beats the guys-WITHOUT getting too much out of breath anymore.

Our variety of training has never been greater, and my best bit of advice is to try them all and see where you come out the other side, you will definitely be extremely pleased with the overwhelmingly superior results!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 4th April

Once you start improving on a regular basis, it can be difficult to stop as long as you keep to a few simple rules. This momentum should never be understated. Being in a good place most of the time keeps your mindset strong and your body feeling fit and strong, and as if nothing is impossible.

Same when you start putting on weight and inches around your hips and waist. This can be a major effort to stop it happening, to reverse the process. Suddenly you will have to change what you are doing, really change your lifestyle again in order to stop the rot setting in.

So its easier to stay in shape than get out of shape.

Being in shape is associated with feelings of happiness, satisfaction, wellbeing, plenty of energy and an ability to do practically anything physically, and your mental strength is likely to be greatly increased.

Being out of shape is associated with being much more irritable, wonder all the time how you could feel and look so much better, you may tend to put off any physical challenges, a shortness of breath even on the most ordinary of tasks, and your mental strength is always under pressure.

So as it seems as if it may be a struggle to get in shape, once you get there you will automatically feel much better across the board, and perform better in every area of your life.

Twitt