Posted on

Friday, 4th May

Moods can sometimes dictate your workouts.

I find i have to change my workouts to suit an individual’s mood many times.

For instance, if someone has been all-consumed with work pressures for a week or so, and has a lot on their mind, then a longer run on the beach getting a lot of fresh air will work particularly well for them.

If someone has had a terrible day and comes to our session in a nasty, angry mood, then i find its great to get them hitting sprints on steps, doing a lot of resistance work and hit things at 90 miles an hour! This really gets the job done i find and relieves tension and anxiety like nothing else!

Other types of stress can be relieved with strong bike rides on the coast due to the abundance of fresh air, and relatively low concentration levels required, although its always best not to leave your mind drift too far on a bike!!!

Moods can develop for all sorts of reasons, but if your diet isnt very good, then you are likely to develop moods for NO REASON!! Food can have a very negative effect on your mindset, and foods high in refined sugar in particular will have you up and down like a yo-yo!! Don’t forget that all of these ups and downs will play havoc with your blood sugar too, which is bad news for diabetes of course if carried on for a longer period of time!

Most people i train who eat very well tend to have less dramatic highs and lows than those who do not train and eat poorly.

Managing  your moods is more within your control than you thought!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 3rd May

Getting out of your comfort zone regularly when it comes to your training should be your number one priority but most people are either scared, cant be bothered or don’t know how to change the programme they initially started with the first day they were shown how to train.

This is almost a “silent killer” when it comes to progressing year after year.

Do this experiment-think of all the people you know who regularly exercise and perhaps they have been for many years.

Then think of in terms of a percentage, how many of them have actually IMPROVED year in year out over those years.

If you get 20% you would be lucky.

Then, another experiment for you to try!

If you know a couple of these people well enough to ask, then trying questioning them on how they train, and then ask them on the last time they actually changed anything substantial with their training?

I’m not talking about one or two exercises, I am talking about their speed or tempo of their workout, their rep ranges, the workout frequency, whether they just use weight, just do cardio, mix them both up, and do they do any core stability work, and what lengths do they go to in the core strengthening?

Do they use medicine balls, bosu balls, swiss balls for example, and what variations of these exercises do they use?

If you carry on with this line of questioning and they soon get agitated or fed up that you want to know, or just dismissive saying they are on the “best programme and that’s that”!!! Then you know they are becoming all defensive and they know deep down that they are now unwilling to change at this “late stage” seemingly in their “training career”.

The truth is that everyone needs to change regularly and test themselves in different ways. This not only keeps things fresh and fun, but will give you the regular results and health benefits we are all looking for!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 2nd May

Its amazing to hear how many of you are changing your diet for the better, and not at all missing the “old days” of eating badly, eating fast food and for some, drinking to excess. The change in some of you has been remarkable, not only visual but in attitude and this means total mindset change in many cases.

This proves you are not doing mindless training sessions, you are actually challenging yourselves by taking on new exercises and movements, and reaching new levels of intensity on a regular basis. This is a formula for long term success.

You will also realise by now how important eating is, and how junk food used to make you look and feel.

Where once you may have scoffed at all of those healthy aisles in the supermarket, and you were proud you ate food that simply tasted nice with all that sugar and fat in it, you have turned full circle now!

Now you look with nostalgia at those aisles full of ready meals with a touch of sadness, how your life “used” to be and how much life you missed out on because you were constantly giving your body fatty and sugary foods. Now that you have educated yourself with food, you know how your big energy levels come from, how you are looking leaner, exactly how you are performing so much better with your exercise sessions, and in general, you are far more positive about your life in general!

Change doesn’t happen by accident, if you are successful with your health and fitness programme, then its extremely likely you have a plan and you take action every day to make sure it is implemented.

Those who take action in life are the ones who get things done, and congratulations to those of you who are making it happen!!!

Twitt
Posted on

May 1st!

Start of the month and although you may not think it, it is after all MAY!!! Wild winds and rain may be greeting us but this is, in my experience anyway, THE best month when it comes to good weather, sunshine and warmer temperatures!

You may think the rest of the summer is in front of us, and it is, but may is usually the big statement when it comes to announcing the summer to come, or at least giving us a couple of weeks of fantastic weather.

May is also the month when we realise if we have been working hard throughout the winter or not! I have been banging on here all winter long about how much you will appreciate all the hard work gone in…………..by the time may comes around and now we are finally here!

May on the opposite side of the scale is the month when people panic, go on all sorts of crazy diets and try to lose weight very quickly and this means usually TOO quickly. Faddy diets are waiting to steal your hard earned money again, a kind of a “smash and grab” situation that they are used to doing, because they know their diets are not sustainable and this is why their classes go up and down so much.

May is the perfect month for you to put in your calendar so that you can remind yourself how important it is to train all year round, and how it is virtually impossible to get to may and somehow be in shape in two weeks flat! You know it can’t happen secretly and as long as you learn this vital lesson, then you know you will improve from this day onwards.

This is what life is about, constant improvement and looking to better yourself and find ways how you can become a better version of yourself, in all sorts of ways!

Start May well and stay positive for a big summer!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 30th April

One  big reason to practice functional training instead of “run of the mill” workouts is sheer range of movement and “real life” application.

You aren’t going to get as many meaningful benefits from just using machines compared to the multi-benefits of functional exercise.

For instance, a simple test i do on individuals and turn it into an exercise is simply standing up and down on a chair.

Most people can do this, some cannot however and will really struggle to get up. This shows a lack of mobility and underlying strength.

This shows a lack of strength in the core more specifically, and this will give me significant clues about the programme that needs to be prescribed.

How many people do you know who need a lift up from a chair? Quite a few i would imagine especially after the age of 50? When you think about it, this is FAR too young to be experiencing mobility problems and work needs to be immediately done on this vital source of power and movement for the body.

Every exercise i give an individual, i will be looking for “real life” benefits from it. Every workout should help the individual live a better quality of life, that’s my mission every time.

So you can i get more than a little frustrated with people whose sole focus is “losing weight”! This means the individual doesnt really know the vast and true possibilities and opportunities that correct exercise selection brings.

Yes, you WILL drop some weight, body fat from the exercises i give you, sometimes a substantial amount if needed, but appreciating the big picture will make your health and fitness programme far more rewarding for you.

 This is why i really despise weight loss clubs and their false claims. They only focus on the weight, usually done in an unsustainable way too, so in my book they will always be a total “no no”!

Enjoy your training and the many real life benefits it brings.

Twitt