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Tuesday, 5th February

The power of exercise can never be understated.

I hear strong anecdotal evidence of this all the time.

I was with one lady this morning who has been ill for a couple of weeks, yet today after her first session, she felt so inspired that she has already plannned the rest of the week’s workouts, and she feels fantastic purely because she feels energy coming back in her life for the first time since christmas!

Exercise clearly means a lot to her.

Without seeming like a sexist comment, how many of you have felt like doing the housework after exercising because of the abundance of energy you felt come through your body? I have met a ton of people who felt exactly like this.

How many of you have been a student of some sort, and done markedly better in exams and your studies in general after you discover exercise for the first time. There is more than anecdotal evidence on this, there is scientific evidence on this matter in schools and colleges up and down the country!

How many of you feel low in energy if YOU DO NOT do your workout?!!! I know i do for one!!!

How many of you feel a huge sense of accomplishment if you run up a hill for the first time, especially if you consider most of you probably couldnt even run 30 yards when you first started?!!! These signs and evidence of progress are huge for your self confidence and self esteem, and spur you on to go and achieve even more!!!

How many have you experienced the exercise “high” during your workout? This is very common especially when you are having a great session, and is very much part of why we train. Anything that tends to make us feel better we tend to do more of, this is why workouts should be a normal and regular part of our lives!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 24th January

We have talked a little about training differently, such as bosu balls, medicine balls etc.

This is a highly productive form of training, and will guarantee good results as long as you know what you are doing.

Now its time to re-visit traditional cardio.

I’m talking rower, treadmill and bike. We also have a device called an Ultraslide at the gym, a wonderful platform that not only gives you a great workout in 5 or so minutes, but i can add substantially to your speed and agility.

So going back to the rower, first of all its important just to get used to it, rowing properly wth good form. Once you are able to row for 12-15 minutes, then its a great idea to set some targets.

2000 metres and 2500 metres in particular are my favourite targets.

These distances give you something to aim for, set your standards at and constantly let you know where you are in fitness terms. These are more intense rowing efforts, and will be far more challenging than just rowing at one easy pace.

I would row these distances just one a week maximum. They will take a lot out of you if you are putting your best efforts in. So once a week, even once a fortnight is always a good idea, and designed to keep on improving you!

Same with bikes, don’t enlessly try to stay at one boring pace. Set targets!

Keep your revolutions per minute at 80. RPM is the measurement on the bike. This has been proven to be the most efficient level to ride bikes for maximum results.

I also like to put clients on spin bikes, encouraging them to stand up on the bike for intervals.

So that could be 60 seconds sitting down and 15 seconds standing up, 60 seconds down and 15 seconds up and so on until you feel as if you have had enough. This is a very effective form of training, and as you get fitter, you can stay up riding for longer.

More on this tomorrow!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 22nd January

With a bit of luck, you have got through your big workout yesterday to set the tone for the week, and maybe you are thinking how you can replicate that impressive start to the week.

Variety then should be your number one way to keep your standards high, your workouts fresh and therefore your progress high too!!!

This is why your workouts apart from weight training and the usual cardio should incorporate so much more!!!

If you have read this thing for a while, then you will know only too well that i love medicine ball work, bosu ball exercises, swiss ball work, and boxing workouts.

These exercises will work your body in a different way and often reach the hard to get areas that traditional exercise doesn’t seem to get near!!!

All of these different forms of exercise tend to hammer your core much more deeply than a more traditional workout. They are so successful that i consider these forms of training as my “traditional” form workout!!!

Once you have your traditional form of training change, then its at this point when exercising becomes “exciting again”, which is down to the variety AND effectiveness of your training, which in turn produces the big results that we are all after!!!

The best way to incorporate these types of training is to package various exercises into groups of 3.

For example, you could do medicine ball press ups, with alternate squat thrusts, and then finish it off with rope work we like to do at the gym all the time. Let me straight away that the group of three just mentioned may well be the hardest combination you could pick.

Of course, exercise selection depends entirely on your fitness ability and what you can handle.

It’s always better to start off cautiously and we will be discussing much more of this tomorrow!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 28th December

Glad to be right back into it all and get a great couple of workouts in yesterday, and some today too!!!

The great energy that these bring can be fantastic, and being back in routine again will make you realise all of the energy you have been missing, especially when you were not training, and eating badly.

For all of you who are back on track, or at least partially so, will know what i am talking about!

For those of you who are yet to get into it, i strongly encourage you to do so. The new year is going to hit you like a truck otherwise. The last thing you will feel like is making a flying start to the new year when you feel all groggy and sluggish. Feeling this way can give you a major disadvantage in anything you want to do.

Just think of what job you have? You have to give effort to make a living, and if you have no energy, that’s going to be a challenge.

The prospect also of losing the body fat and weight in general can be daunting. That’s why once you decide to muster up all of that effort, it’s important to make the right choices!!

They were talking on the radio this morning about the latest seaweed diet! Apparently Victoria beckham is an endorser, as well as Brittany Spears. Seaweed is a superfood but relying on seafood to drop all your weight and feel better has to be one of the most desperate measures you can undertake?!!!

What’s wrong with eating sensible natural food, in moderation? What’s wrong with drinking enough water at regular intervals throughout the day? What’s wong with getting enough sleep and not drinking too much alcohol? What happened to these reliable common sense methods that really work ALL of the time?!!!

I urge to avoid the faddy diets, the weight loss clubs who only help for a very short period, then they pile all your weight back on (plus 5% more according to reliable research). You should know by now that these products make me feel sick, and they should be exposed for the frauds they are, and the long term misery they create.

Lighter life, herbalife etc? The ultimate waste of money and con artists! Save your money now and use your common sense this year to avoid these disgusting products!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 12th December

While we were talking about different alternatives for exercises yesterday, the number one thing you must do is just concentrate on doing SOMETHING!!!

The time it takes you to think about doing it, the facts are that you could have done something in your time.

If you have a dog for example, and typically walk the dog for 20-30 minutes a day, then what is wrong with running your usual course so it only takes you 10-15 minutes?!! This will qualify as a big workout for you.

If you constantly pass your training shoes in the hall way every day feeling quilty about not putting them on, then how about JUST DOING IT and putting them on and just get out there and run, even if its for ten minutes! Chances are that if you plan on going just for ten minutes, that will then turn into 20 minutes!! You willl enjoy yourself much more when you get going!!

Instead of waiting for the famous christmas jumper or whatever new clothes you get for christmas that you usually start wearing on boxing day for that famous “walk”, how about doing it now!!!

Now is the time and time waits for no man or woman as the saying goes, stop wishing your life away and stop making excuses for piling on body fat. You know those excuses are not going to wash on here!!!

The power of DOING far outweighs any talking about how you need to get fit, how you could have been a good runner if you only had tried, how you could have been a good cyclist only if you had the right bike etc etc!!!

If you always talk about how good things “could have been”, then you become one of those people who forever live in the past and you can be termed as a “couldhave wouldhave shouldhave” type of person.

Christmas is a week tuesday, please do not make the big mistake of giving up right now because its going to be twice as hard after christmas!!!

Twitt