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Tuesday, 13th November

We talk about the struggles of getting into shape here all the time.

It is often difficult to keep going when “life gets in the way”, and definitely even harder to keep your performances at their peak for any length of time.

There are different ways to overcome this and i recommend the following.

First of all, make your weight loss, fat loss. muscle gain, endurance efforts whatever you are looking for in other words PUBLIC!! Tell you close friends that this is the path you are on, and you would appreciate their support when times get tough, because you’re definitely going to need someone who bats for you in your corner!!

It may be something like your closest friend measuring your waist every month, and hips too.

You know by now hopefully that i do not consider the weighing scales a true record of your progress.

Put up a calender in your kitchen and mark off your workouts AS YOU DO THEM!! If you start skipping your workouts, make yourself accountable to your friend, and ask them to kick your behid if you start slacking!!!

Try this old classic, put a photo of yourself on the fridge, you know the old photo when you looked terrific!!! That should be a constant daily inspiration on how you really can look!!!

This getting in shape “thingy” is an ongoing process, and you need a structure right behind you thats going to help you in the tough times, as well as pat you on the back all the fun, fat loss get in shape moments start to happen!! These times are just as important!!!!

By making yourself truly accountable to yourself and at least to one person you trust and respect, you are far more likely to achieve those goals you promised yourself in the first place!!!

Twitt
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Monday, 12 November

Monday is always the best workout of the week, or i should re-phrase that, it NEEDS to be the most important workout of the week.

I have said many times on here that monday needs to be the marker you set down that determines the rest of the week for you. Start off poorly and you have a problem, you have no momentum if you don’t expend a lot of energy on monday.

Excuses often happen much easier when you don’t train, your inspiration to train/train hard goes down and down until often it turns out that great training sessions become some kind of “distant memory”!!

Unless you have some kind of training schedule in place that is actually going to progress you, then you are going to end up having medicore results at best, and you are unlikely to keep training for any length of time.

November is easily on the hardest month’s to keep optimistic too, its hitting the darkest period of the year in terms of actual light, the weather is a lot wetter and colder, november seems to be some kind of in between month, where most people don’t tend to excited about too much, and waiting and talking about christmas seems to be the order of the day.

The reality is that every month as just as important as the last, and four weeks missed training will take around 8 weeks minimum to recover. If you missed 4 weeks training now, then you will be going into december low on motivation, feeling a bit sluggish and with little energy. Then you hit the season of excess in bad shape, putting further strain on your system by drinking and eating too much!!!

There’s all the negatives i have spelt out for you, but you really don’t have to go down that road.

You have it in your power right now to go down the opposite road in terms of benefits, and it all starts with tonight’s great workout to send a statement on how you want the rest of the week to go!!!

Twitt
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Friday, 9th November

Getting an individual to put their health first is much harder than it seems, and i find that especially true in women.

Let’s face it, there’s usually a million things to do for most people before they feel the need to get into a workout programme, that’s a sad situation for most because unless you put a workout programme and a healthy diet at the top of your list of priorities, you won’t have the energy to keep going and actually do those million things!!

The reason why women in particular find it hard to do is because socially there has been general thinking in ways things happen in life. Without seeming sexist here, spouses, children, errands etc seem to want a women’s time before anyone else. This usually leads to time slipping away in the day, and this way the workout never ends up getting done.

As i said earlier though, unless you prioritise your workouts, then you won’t be able to solve everyone else’s problems because you are likely to run out of steam well before all the issues on your daily/weekly list are solved.

When i explain this to the individual concerned, and how important they actually are to others AND to themselves, its only at that moment do they realise that they have to give themselves “persmission” to get on a good health and fitness programme!!!

A good sensible exercise plan will always give an individual far more than the effort it takes to train in the first place. The first step is committing one self to stating, that’s all it takes and you’re off to a new beginning in your life that will bring endless benefits!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 8th November

Short termism is never usually a good idea, but there is one area where you may need to reconsider!

One of the biggest reasons i have found that people fail in their health and fitness plans is sometimes looking TOO far ahead.

If you tell people from the outset that they HAVE to eat well for the rest of their lives, they HAVE to exercise for a certain amount every day for the rest of their lives, then the reaction usually can be somewhat negative to say the least!!!

When i have set different challenges up for people i train, the overall best participant is usually the one who tells me that the key to success for them was simply taking one day at a time.

They found that even looking one week ahead was often too much of a challenge. One day was the most they could think of, as there was so much going on in the rest of their lives, they didnt was diet and exercise to overtake their lives!

Taking one day at a time also helps you get into routine, and keep routine.

By that i mean you get used to eating well and exercising sooner than you think, and it can get an addictive feeling.

You will recognise the different feeling you get between being idle and exercising.

You will know the feeling you get when you eat well, and when you eat junk!

So what you are doing the whole time is presenting an alternative lifestyle to yourself. One is refreshing, makes you look and feel better. The other makes you feel lethargic the whole time, and makes your appearance deteriorate pretty quickly, as well as hurt your internal health, probably the biggest consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle!!!

Practice the one day at a time theory, it seems to work in a big way for your longer term success too!!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 7th November

A big congratulations to the 44th president of the united states, and one thing that has been consistent of the last few presidents is their priority on their exercise programmes!

Obama is a super keen sports fan, he lifts a lot of weights, he run, he loves cycling and likes nothing more than a game of basketball when he can with staff and friends at the white house, or wherever he is in the world!!!

George Bush senior and junior were very keen weight trainers. George Bush junior was known to be surprisingly strong with bench press his favourite lift, and was thought to be able to lift in excess of 250 pounds, no mean feat as most of us would know!!!

George Bush in 1992 was a very keen runner too, preferring distance work and he often said it allowed him “thinking time” away from the pressures of being the most powerful man on the planet!

Bill clinton, who in many people’s eyes was the country’s greatest ever president was famed for his running WHEREVER he was. He would often have his entire entourage running with him, and clinton loved having a white towel around his neck to mop up the sweat!!!

Clinton again knew the value of weight training and always hit the white house gym, and often hired out entire private gym’s in various cities around the world.

We have talked about the presidents, but the stafff underneath are just as keen to train, almost the entire list of vice-presidents over the last 30 years have been and continue to be extremely keen exercisers.

The reason for all of this is much more than vanity. Exercise increases one’s concentration levels 100%, it makes you think clearer and gives you energy 24 hours a day. These leaders were/are famed for existing on not a lot of sleep, it takes a lot of energy to lead the most powerful nation on the planet and they will use every advantage known to man to make a success of it!!!

A key element of people who want to be successful is making sure they are fit and healthy, goes without saying surely!!!

Twitt