Posted on

Monday, 2nd June

This is bananas!!

Everybody and their mother knows by now that sugar and saturated fat is bad for us and can make you pile on the weight quickly. Sometimes it’s hard to visualise and accept just how bad they are for us. And worse of all, those little biscuits and cakes are so damn tasty, sometimes it’s just too hard to resist. How many times have we been in the office or an auntie’s house and someone has offered you a biscuit with your coffee. One or two won’t hurt right? I mean you can always work extra hard and burn them off in the gym tomorrow. Think again. Answer this quiz to get you
back down to earth with a bang!

How many bananas can you eat which are equivalent fat wise to 2 chocolate Hobnobs?

26 bananas!!!

Yes, at 0.3g fat, bananas are virtually fat free. Whereas the Hobnobs are 4g of fat each!

Those two little biscuits don’t seem so tasty now, best pass me the fruit bowl…

Eat to train.

Twitt
Posted on

Sunday, 1st June

Watching the person you are training in how they move is often far more important than what they have to say.

Anyone I train will know I often ask excessively “how they are feeling” and how was that movement they just did.

Did it work for them? Was there any pain? Was it too much?

When anyone I train doesn’t know me too well, they will often tend to agree with everything I say. Then when they get to know me, they will tend to answer me back and question a lot of what I say-THIS IS A GREAT SITUATION!

Take a movement that’s causing you pain for instance.

When I get someone doing a new movement for the first time, there is a small chance that this new movement may cause them some discomfort.

The person I am teaching may say they found it “fine” but may walk away rubbing their shoulder. This is a clear sign that everything wasn’t fine and that movement we tried was a problem for them.

This is when observation of the person I am training is vital. The person I am training for years will always tell me straight if something was causing them discomfort, and they know I would stop right there.

When new people come to the gym, I always explain how your body works and is supposed to move, and avoiding pain is key for us. Their past experiences of exercise though have often not included this philosophy.

PAIN DURING EXERCISE AND NOT BEING ABLE TO WALK AFTERWARDS ON A REGULAR BASIS IS WRONG, DAMAGING AND IS GOING TO CAUSE LONG TERM PROBLEMS FULL STOP.

There is said it!

This is why how people move often gives more tell-tale signs than what they say.

The potential for new members to make mistakes in their training early on is huge, this is why I need to spend so much time developing them and not leave them after just one session left to their own devices.

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 22nd May

Judging your progress just on the weighing scale can be very destructive in terms of how it destroys self-confidence.

Everyone knows now we regularly have individuals who lose 2, 3, 4 even 5 inches off the waist in a month.

Most people would be and should be thrilled with that progress, because you usually look and feel heck of a lot better too.

The ones that aren’t have been conditioned to think of the scale as the ONLY measure of success. This is simply untrue but the media has told us that weight off the scale is the one thing we should worry about!

The medical profession will tell you that 1-2 pounds a week is the recommended weight loss, and this is the sustainable way to do it and keep it off.

When you hear of people losing 5 or more pounds in a week, this is usually due to drastic cuts in calorie intakes (usually faddy diets/shake and bar diets), and this may carry on for a couple of weeks until it eventually reaches a screeching halt.

When the individual gets frustrated and starts eating properly again, the weight piles back on quicker than ever before and usually leads to that person ending up at their all-time heaviest weight, and this can lead to low self-esteem and confidence.

What would you rather look and feel like? Clothes feeling really loose, changing sizes at regular intervals (perhaps down to sizes you haven’t been since you were in your early twenties), everyone complimenting you on how great you look, you start feeling full of energy and your workouts step up to your best ever levels,

OR

Just losing weight on the scales, feeling hungry all the time and even when you lose weight, you still have saggy skin left?

Then inevitably put the weight back on and 5% more-numerous In depth research of the diet industry says this is true.

Forget about the scales, your clothes and how you feel will always be a better guide. Your waist and hip measurements will be vital.

We test body fat professionally too, so this test will always confirm your progress.

Be realistic, and always look to lose weight and body fat sensibly.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 19th May

There are all different types of people who join gyms, and whoever it may be, it’s important to get them back down to basics to make sure they improve.

People who dabble in this and that, need to start buckling down to a proper programme and develop real strength and endurance.

For example, you often get individuals who have tried a bit of everything.

They have done weight training before at times, they sometimes have used the latest machines and convinced themselves that somehow they were “better”, they may have tried endurance training such as longer runs and longer cycles and bought all the latest kit and looked like a pro, they may have tried yoga and pilates, and more than likely swore blind that each of them was the best form of training at one particular time.

These people are willing to try anything, and many of these individuals have developed some strength and some endurance, which is a great start when it comes to our programme.

However, when it comes down to it, they usually have never done enough training to develop the skill, strength and power that comes with more specialist programmes that REALLY transforms you!
When many people come to us, they lack the strength of someone who trains consistently and has developed real strength.
Their tendons and ligaments haven’t developed the strength to learn a new way of training.

Our programmes are transparent, well-thought out and may look easy on paper.

If they were really easy to do though, you are doing them wrong or not putting enough into them!

We build everyone up gradually, and with time you will develop into an impressive athlete.

To start with though, you have to learn to do things right, to follow through with a programme for the first time ever, and to test yourself constantly.

You have to take your nutrition seriously, you have rest properly and you have to come in with a positive attitude.

Nobody gives a damn what you wear in the gym or how much make up you have on, but you better be prepared to work hard!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 5th May

Anyone who has gone fishing for crabs could probably never guess that this story could be related to getting into great shape, but here goes!

When fishermen go out trapping crabs, they bring them back to shore, and put them all in a big bucket of water.

All the crabs surprisingly stay in the bucket even though they could climb out as there is usually no top on the bucket.

The crabs are usually then left in an open bucket all night.

If one crab tries to get out of the bucket, the other crabs would pull him back down, and if he kept trying then the other crabs would pull one of his legs off so he would be made to stay in the bucket.

You would think that the other crabs once they see that one of the crabs can get out, they would want to get out too, but this is not the case. They were more interested in keeping everyone in the bucket.

This story relates very closely to human nature.

When anyone is doing something to improve themselves like exercising or eating healthy, there will always be those who want to drag that person back down and stop from them being successful.

Think of the times you are out when people give you a hard time for not having a few drinks, or they give you a hard time for eating healthy or they want you to do anything else apart from train? There are people within your circle who won’t want you to succeed, and you have to break out of this.

If you are trying now to make a drastic change for the better in your life, then you are probably experiencing these scenarios right now. Just think that you are one of the crabs trying to get out the bucket, but some of your friends will do anything to keep you stuck in there just like them!

It’s important to surround yourself with people who are going to support you no matter what, this is a key element for being successful.

I have seen it many times, someone I am training is really keen to change their body, but someone in their immediate circle is intent on stopping them adopting the habits that are going to let them be successful.

It could be not supporting them eat healthy by continuously eat junk in front of them, it could be putting them off making their exercise sessions by constantly giving them other options and saying things like “missing workouts here and there won’t matter”, or a general lack of support or kind words, even when that person may be doing amazing things! This lack of support WILL drag you down.

Ask which people are supporting you, and which ones are sucking the life and motivation out of you?

So you have to decide which one you are, the one trying to change everything and escape mediocrity or the one who really wants to stay with the rest of the crabs as the fisherman story goes!

Be conscious about the time you spend with negative people, if those people are giving you constant negative thoughts, then see these people as poison to your chances of being successful.

Surround yourself with as many positive supportive people as possible, it will make all the difference.

Twitt