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Friday, 30th March

Now that the extra hour has been more or less got used to, or certainly I have, it’s a great time to realise what gives you that great feeling you have in you right now hopefully, or at least at times this week anyway!

I was talking to a gentleman I train last night who used to lead a very unhealthy lifestyle when we first got training together, but now is perhaps one of my most studious clients, even after 15 years, when it comes to attention to detail he gives his lifestyle.

He realises now what makes him tick and what has allowed him to be so successful in exercise, health and his life in general.

He loves salads in this weather, compared to his other previous favourite steak and chips! He uses spring onions, beetroot, tomatoes and cucumber with either white meat or fish these days. This is a staple for him in this weather especially!

This array of vegetables will clean your blood, energise you and set you up for long term success with your health.

Breakfast now for him rolls in a different way too. Six different fruits cut up in a bowl, topped up with natural yoghurt first thing in the morning again makes him energised, and sends a direct message to his body that he means business and EXPECTS a big performance until the moment he gets him!!

Lunch is usually full of veg with a white meat or fish again.

All of this is washed down with regular sips of water and absolutely alcohol 6 days a week, with a little bit on a Saturday and that’s it.

The bottom line is now that he regularly has superior medicals, a far cry from what he USED to have and is now proud of his health and what he has achieved, all at the age of 62!!!

Keeping life simple works for him and this familiar message could easily work VERY well for you!

Twitt
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Thursday, 29th March

The positive feeling you get from exercising is an old cliché but one thing is for sure, it can never be underestimated.

If you’re just relying on the weather to get you feeling good about your life, then I wouldn’t hold out too much hope!

Exercise is something you can literally do any day of the year and it will make you feel better.

A walk up steep hills may seem intimidating to start with, but when you are able to do it and ACTUALLY do it, there is never a better feeling of wellbeing. This is both from the buzz you get from the walk AND the deep feeling of satisfaction you get from reaching such a good level of fitness. Again this example is something you can achieve ANY DAY OF THE YEAR!!

The same goes with eating well and healthy, if you have done this for any appreciable length of time, then you will know about having a lot more energy already, and I won’t have to tell you about that.

Eating well also gives you that inner feeling of wellbeing that you are doing your best for yourself internally. If you eat well then you are likely to be avoiding serious disease, your skin is going to glow and all your vital organs are going to really appreciate the good care you are giving them!

For all of this positive evidence, a lot of people still ignore this and find ways to avoid the fundamental ways of staying healthy.

I have heard virtually all the classic excuses and the way people rationalise their unhealthy lifestyles is often hilarious, and sometimes deeply saddening and even disturbing.

I started this piece off talking about “positive” feelings, and unfortunately, an unhealthy lifestyle will bring you nothing but negativity.

Food and lack of exercise will offer you the exact opposite of the positives I gave you earlier on. Most people don’t realise the chemical reaction that food and exercise gives the body, and its consequences.

The bottom line is eat and move to stay positive, eat poorly and lead a sedentary lifestyle and prepare for negative consequences over time.

Twitt
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Wednesday, 28th March

Hate to bring this subject up so early in the year, but people are already seeing the effects of warmer weather training.

I know some people who will actually give themselves some time off training completely, simply because it is so warm and there may be “better things to do!!”. Its a free country and a democracy so good luck to them on what they want to do!

To those of us getting  or at least wanting to get into great condition, we need to find ways of countering these temperature issues!!!

Number one thing to do is treat the situation in a professional manner, even if you do not consider yourself a pro athlete!! Doing things the professional way is just another word for doing things the “right way”!!!

Plan to take onboard more water, your body’s core temperature can go up quickly when exercising in this weather, and drinking water in moderate amounts throughout the day will counter this. No need to overdo it but water will work for you in a number of important ways.

Wear sunscreen!! I remember, and perhaps many of us remember being on the beach when we were kids, and not wearing ANY sun protection!! We are wiser hopefully and i slap on factor 50 every single day now that the seasons have changed!

Try and exercise earlier in the morning or after 5-6pm, when it gets cooler. This will encourage greater performance in exercise, plus simply it will be a lot more pleasanr than exercising in the midday sun!!!

ENOUGH OF ALL THIS NEGATIVITY!!!

Exercising in the sun can be joyous and make you want to get out in the first place, it certainly works for me so why not give it a crack!

This weather also reminds us its time to get into great shape!!! No excuses any more, no time to waste and all of those new year’s resolutions should be about to come true IF you have stuck by them and done all the hard work over the winter!!!

Still not too late so lets get ready for a monumental effort right up the summer months!!!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 27th March

We talked about spinning, treadmills etc yesterday and whilst they are fabulous and recommended activities, that will help you lose body fat, get your fitter, and get a great buzz from, they will not be as effective as the real thing!

The same can be said for food too. We can all pretend that a faddy diet or in fashion diet will get the job done for us but deep down we know its not going to be sustainable for the long term. We will get that deep down feeling that we are not really doing it “right”.

The “real thing” in this case would be the plain natural food we always talk about on here, and not the pre-prepared pre-packaged rubbish sold by slimming clubs and other such charlatans.

Just because a slimming club biscuit has only got 40 calories, its still not going to be good for you because it has very poor composition as a food, and it shouldn’t be welcomed into your diet, except as the occasional treat that you know its not going to be really good for you.

You cannot beat common sense and there’s no way around this.

You can either do things the right way or you will simply be wasting your time.

We have less and less time for exercise these days because everyone seems to be in a rush. This means that whatever exercise you undertake, it had BETTER be effective!!

We have less time to think about food too, this means your supermarket shop had better be effective too! So when it comes to grabbing something in the house to eat in a big hurry, the chances are its going to be healthy and good for you.

If you don’t buy rubbish in the first place, then there’s no chance of you eating it full stop!!

I am passionate about doing things the “real” and “proper” way and this pretty much will guarantee you this success you have been looking for!

Twitt
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Monday

A familiar story came my way today, and i’m sure some of you who have experienced it will feel the same way.

A lady i train wanted to get some extra training in at the weekend, so invited her friend along.

Her friend had recently joined a gym and had been telling her how much cycling she was doing, not traditioninal cycling as we know it but she was attending “spinning” classes and was raving about them constantly.

Let me point out straight away that i really congratulate anyone on going to spinning classes, and most i know will highly enjoy them greatly. Lets get that out of the way!!!

Well anyway, the two of them went for bike ride on the coastal path and got through approximately ten miles in total of cycling.

The lady i train was a little frustrated because she had to wait constantly for her friend despite her spinning experience.

The ten miles took not far off three hours, which is more than a little surprising.

Her friend was constantly complaining how hard it was, despite there being absolutely no hills.

This clearly shows the spinning classes didnt do a great deal compared to the benefits of “real” cycling!

I had another lady who used to train in another gym and the same thing happened. She claimed to be well versed in spinning and was looking forward to our outdoor cycling.

The results were more than disappointing and i frankly wondered what the heck she had been doing in these classes?

The bottom line is that you cannot beat real cycling in the outdoors, real running in the outdoors and not the treadmill, real walking and not the treadmill.

You should know by now that i am not a big machine fan, and i like to do things the proper way, i’m about hard work and no shortcuts, i’m about results and not about trying to fool you with false marketing.

Whenever you talk to your friends about training in the future, judge how hard they work by what they actually do, and not how trendy their gym is or how long they train for!!

Twitt