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Friday, 16th December

Using anger and stress as a viable workout tool can make a hopeless situation turn into your best performing workouts!

How many of us have hit a workout in no mood to train, only feeling stress and anger at whatever situation presented itself that particular day?

Those of you who decided to carry on with your workout will usually feel ten times better at the end of the workout. All that anger and negative feelings can usually be absorbed into the workout, and sometimes your best performances are achieved.

I have seen people in gyms who work shifts, and after some night shifts have approached the gym with little or no sleep, and really hit the workout hard, and you can visibly see the anger subsiding after a few tough sets of high intensity weight training. They always leave the gym a different person, and they use the workout as the ultimate de-stresser!!!

I sometimes dont wake up in the best of moods after a night of little sleep with the kids,  but after my first run, i always feel 200% better, and its usually the same with the person i am running with.

If you want to categorise stress into different sections, think positive and negative.

Negative stress would be work pressures, money worries, relationship problems, family problems, job security, personality clashes, etc etc.

Positive ways to deal with it would be exercising, eating well, avoiding alcohol, avoiding negative people, sleeping better and more regular etc etc.

If you follow these rules, then the anger and negativity is likely to subside. We all have these feelings, lets not pretend otherwise, but if some sort of exercise is a daily part of our lives, we have the ultimate natural medicine for it!!!

Have a great weekend, the weather is clear and snow free so lets get out there in the fresh air and enjoy the benefits!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 15th December

We talked about interval training last week, and how to develop it from a simple treadmill exercise, or outside running exercise of walking for one minute, running for the next minute, then walking one minute etc, all the way through to non stop training in all sorts of ways.

This week I have already taken a number of individuals through to the next stage of training, that can be brutally hard but extremely effective in terms of benefits.

It’s a simple concept but again, you really need to be very conditioned to do this.

All it involves is light running and press ups and arm dips at various intervals in your run.

For example, a lot of paths such as the one in mumbles or parks in Llanelli, burry port and surrounding area have park benches.

So the concept is to run for say 30-50 yards before you come to a park bench, then you do 10 arm dips (lowering yourself down on bench working arms/shoulders).

Then run again for another 30-50 yards and get down for 10 press ups, or 5 press ups or whatever your capability is?

Then its 50 yards and hit the next bench with 10 arm dips and so on.

The first time you do it, you will probably only be able to hit 3 benches and you have to stop. Then you will need a rest. Start up again when you get your breath back and go for it again.

To give you an example of progress with individuals who have been of average/to good fitness levels, they sometimes started of being capable of doing a total of 50 press ups/arm dips on one run, that typically went up to 1000 and the record was 2500, and this was a 58 year old!!! I am totally serious and the numbers although seemingly unbelievable, can be achieved by a lot of people as long as they eat very well, rest well and are very consistent with their training.

This type of progress could take 6-12 months and would apply to someone of a high standard of fitness and capability.

The results as I said are phenomenal but this workout should only be done under supervision by an exercise professional.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 14th December

Making fresh goals in the run up to christmas may seem alien to most, but it may be exactly what you need!

If 2012 seems a long way away, you may be shocked to hear its only 18 days away!!! 18 days left until the end of the year!!!

If it seems stupid to look forward  until then, you may be glad you did in a couple of weeks.

Only once did i decide not to train for a couple of weeks over christmas, and i suffered like never before!

My asthma came back in a big way, i was wheezing like i was on 40 a day! My first run back nearly half killed me and i felt as much out of shape as i have ever done!!!

After that run, i decided there and then NEVER to stop training over christmas again!!!

I have spoken to many, many people since and they have been through the same thing.

I have even been running christmas day, thats not to impress you but it was more to do with my desperation  to rid myself of that wheezy stodgy feeling that comes with over-eating, over-drinking and under-exercising!!!

This is to potentially save you those horrible interal feelings of no energy, and literally no get up and go.

So whatever schedule you are on now, i would try to still keep it up to some degree. If you currently workout 5 times a week in some form, i would still try and do 3 times a week even if its light to moderate intensity. This will take care of all the excess calories and help you feel more like your normal self.

The big thing it will also give you is a flying start to 2012!!! Just when everyone else will be going through the Groundhog day of starting to exercise and eat healthy, you will already be making fresh goals from a very strong position!!!

If that sounds attractive, lets get going and keep on going!!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 13th December

If funds are low and you’re out of a job at the moment, then you can still get around it all and spend absolutely nothing to get fit!

I love sessions outside myself, and you have some great hills and trails all around us. If you still have a bike, get it in shape and let it take you to whatever you want to go. You can walk/cycle/run for free, so theres no excuses there.

If you’re broke at the moment, this may also suit. You will have no money for “treats” and luxuries that will harm the bank balance, this should enable you to shave a few inches off your waist no problem!

If you’re having relationship problems or family problems, then alcohol is the number one way NOT to go!! Alcohol is the number one depressant out there, so avoid at all costs! Plus it likely to pile a lot of weight on and make your situation a whole lot worse!

A better route would be to exercise and eat well, exercise is the best ANTI-despressant you will have in our life! I suggest you get an early morning workout in to manage your stress levels well and set the tone for the rest of your day!!

If you find that time disappears for you, then its time to re-assess what exercise does and can do for you in the future!

If you commit yourself to exercising 5-6 times a week for 20-30 minutes a day of quality training, your life will AUTOMATICALLY take an upturn for the better!!!

I know a lot of individuals who get anxious and frustrated if they DON’T exercise on a daily basis, this is the number one way to become a moody, snappy individual!!!

Life is full of making the right decisions, all of us will get some of them wrong throughout a lifetime, nobody’s perfect, but the ones i have mentioned today will make a hugely positive difference to you and life’s different situations EVERY DAY!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 12th December

The pressure of christmas has really started peaking with all the people i deal with, and with that comes a distinct lack of time!

This is when having a plan for your workouts becomes of paramount importance.

This is no time for “going through the motions” or your motivation levels will disappear without trace. The calls of “give it up now its too close to christmas” will become more and more acceptable, even if they are given by people not into being fit and healthy themselves!

The last two weeks before christmas need to include high quality workouts, of short duration, and of maximum intensity. Some of my best workouts tend to be the shortest! When someone is in a rush, usually that person will hit their training hard and try to get the very best out of themselves in a very short period of time, when this happens the intensity levels go through the roof and great workouts are always the result.

When you add a bit of fat and sugar to your diet, its never really a great idea. But accepting that you will over christmas, use it as a tool for the extra energy and this means going the extra mile in your training. You will burn a lot of that extra energy in your workouts as long as they are going in! That is the main point of this piece today-MAKE SURE YOUR WORKOUTS ARE GOING IN FULL STOP!!! Dont accept the fact that everyone puts lots of weight on at christmas, it really doesnt have to be that way and being active will be a prime reason you don’t!!!

So time is short for you accept that, strip down your workout to the bare bones, in other words what is ESSENTIAL to get you working towards your capacity, and all the exercises that give you great value. When you do this, you will get rid of the not so important exercises, get rid of longer rest periods, and you get a great workout in a record short period of time, and you’re talking maybe 20 minutes!!!

No excuses, lets make the most of the next couple of weeks!!!

Twitt