“Words mean nothing. Action is the only thing.
Doing. Thats the only thing.”-Ernest Gaines.
Quote of the day
January 11th 2011
I didnt see it but the story on The One show last night provoked some reaction. To cut a long story short, the studies they had on the show said that shorter, more intense periods of exercise were more valuable or at least as effective as longer drawn out exercise. The study i think they used was the one when 4 minutes of intense exercise was demonstrated to be as effective as 20 minutes of moderate exercise, in fact the results were better when studies were conducted over a 6 week period, in terms of lost body fat, increased volume of oxygen and weight loss.
I must first comment that i wouldn’t recommend anyone go into a 4 minute programme of high intensity straight away, this is for experienced trainers only, and we did a piece on 4 minute workouts some time ago in this blog if you look through past month’s blogs.
The whole point was that you can make a whole lot out of not much time, its the performance that counts and not how long you exercise for. They had Johnny Wilkinson on saying he only trains for 30 minutes at a time now, but at ultra high intensity and he finds the results much, much better!
Most people who have trained with me will know i have always liked to work in shorter, more brief sessions myself, due to not only superior results but more convenient sessions too. Nobody has the time to be working out all day anymore as we have busier lives these days and it seems to be getting busier every single year!!!!
It shouldnt really have taken the scientists all these years to figure this one out. WE, the athletes and fitness professionals knew this for years that more intense sessions are the way to go, it doesnt take any doctor to tell us that what we have done for years really IS working and producing amazing results.
The great news is that those of you who say you havent got time really havent got this excuse any more, the advice you have been given all these years is actually true, you CAN get it and healthy in a fraction of the time you thought you need so what are you waiting for!!!
It is great to know though that after all of these years, that the medical community is finally jumping on board and backing our experiences and results up.
10th january 2011
The start of the first full week for many people this week and thats great news if you thrive on routines and being busy. Life is busier for most people these days and that means you need an ever increasing supply of energy. With the general population getting more and more overweight, something needs to give here and if you keep following the majority of this country, living a normal life is going to become increasingly tough. Your new refreshed attitude will be key in determining how successful you are this year.
Since this site is not about january gimmicks, january is a month either to get fit and healthy properly for the first time, or build on the success you had last year, or put right where you went wrong last year, and maybe many years before that.
Joining a fancy gym is NOT enough to get you into shape and their fancy salesmen techniques. You can get fit in the most modest of surroundings as long as you work hard and keep putting in that work all this year, in fact by the end of this year you could be in incredible shape if you really want to!! Most people think perfection is impossible and of course it is, but you CAN get pretty damn close if you apply yourself more than you have ever done, 2011 can be that exciting for you as long as you show constant self-belief and develop an action plan to make it happen!!! Its about being YOUR best and nobody else’s!!!
I have been with several people this morning who have already promised to give their best again. The habits that developed over christmas again, alcohol more often than usual, chocolate for the first time in a long time, more processed food, more party food, less exercise, less sleep, less time for exercise etc etc ALL have to be rectified if these individuals want to get back to their massively high standard!!!!
Im pretty fired up and its only monday, but creating an energetic monday for yourself sets the tone for the rest of the week. I always have a great week if i have a good monday, so lets make sure you get out there and have a great workout today, some fresh natural food too, plenty of water throughout the day and some good sleep. You won’t do better than that on a dark and gloomy january monday!!!!
Set the tone right now and make it happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Explore the site and see how you can change it right now!!!!
January 8th
A huge weekend to get some workouts in, no excuses out there right now!! I have even trained on a saturday this week, which is highly unusual for me but i feel so much better for it. The reason was i didn’t get a run in yesterday, again highly unusual!!
Lots of reasons to get fit this year and start right now. In my own, mind, next week is a full week so its an ideal opportunity to get a full week of training in too. This means a whole week of fat-burning workouts, fat-burning foods and maybe alcohol free week for you?
Most people are trying to be healthier right now and its an ideal time NOT to against the crowd for a change! Feel lucky you have the opportunity to be fit and healthy and use it to do your very best!!! Have a look at the rest of the site in sections to see what you can do in training and dietary terms, see how you get on!!
January 7th, 2010
So how’s your first week back going? Was it tough like for most people? Did you take it easy? or did you not even get going and feel totally sorry for yourself?!!!
Whatever your answer was, as long as you got going in the first place, then that was the main thing. Those of you who were not sure how to exercise, how much, how long, how many days etc, will have now got a week under your belts and realise that for the first month or so, its just important to go steady and get your body used to exercise. Confidence comes with experience and as long as you have a good guide, then you are likely to experience very good things.
In general terms, i would say that 3 times per week is enough for a beginner, someone who is used to exercise but wants to take it to another level would be advised to go up to 4- 5 times per week. An individual who has specific aims or wants to exercise at a high level AND has a lot of exercise experienced, could possibly workout 5-6 times per week quite comfortable as long as that person was experiencing good amounts of sleep and particularly good with their food.
Most people don’t realise that exercise is a stress on your body but a very positive stress. To regularly experience this good stress without any problems, you have to replenish your body with adequate nutrition and that mainly comes from an abundance of natural foods. You can do all of that and if you don’t get enough sleep, you can still fall down and fail to progress. The triple whammy of proper exercise, eating well and sleeping well has to be in place or there’s not much point in trying to get amazing results in your health and fitness programme.
No matter on how people to try over-complicate their programmes and do the latest cutting edge routines from the latest faddy magazines, unless you have strong fundamentals underpinning your helath, progress will be brief if any at all.
People ask me all the time “shouldn’t i be on this machine, this routine or this way of training?”, all valid questions but i tell people all the time it always comes back down to the basics. You can train in the most fancy gym in town, but if you’re not doing the basics right, then results WILL NOT come your way full stop. In fact in my experience, most of the fancy gyms have the least results with usually “instructors” who have been “qualified” in a couple of weekends.
I trust you don’t want to continue going round in circles so let’s keep it simple, hit your training hard, never miss a session unless you’re ill, eat well, rest well and leave your body experience great results!!!
The weekend is supposed to be dry so no excuse for you not to get out in the fresh air!!!