Posted on

Monday,15th July

With a slight cooling temperatures this morning (although temporary), it gives us a chance to see if training through the warm weather has had a positive effect on our fitness or not.

Those of you have got through the last two weeks and performed your usual workouts will have benefitted immensely from that effort and tonight you are very likely going to be able to put in a top performance tonight. The relief in temperature will give your body’s internal temperature a breather too, meaning you don’t get as hot internally when exercising as you would in extreme heat.

Warm weather training for around three months has long been used by professional athletes. California, Australia and Florida used to be the main destinations for training camps, along with Tenerife and Lanzarote becoming more and more popular very recently with the likes of Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky Cycling, along with the England rugby team.

Former rugby union and league player Jonathan Davies was asked yesterday about the league game in Warrington being brutally hot, he agreed but said it used to be far hotter in Papua New Guinea and Townsville in Australia, when temperatures frequently soared well over 100 degrees! He did say though that it took him many weeks to get used to it.

The lesson is that you can train in warm temperatures, but take your time to get used to it, drink plenty of water throughout the day, never do more than you think you can, don’t train any longer than usual (in fact train for less in terms of minutes) and always stop if you feel dizzy or unwell.

So if you have been sticking with it all, then you will find yourself in great condition going into this week, and achieved a period of warm weather training of your own in preparation for a renewed period of progress coming your way!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 11th July

Eating enough is a problem for some people and for different reasons.

If you need to put on muscle for example, then it can be quite a feat to get used to eating more food, more often in bigger quantities each time. It is not comfortable at the beginning and I remember going through the same thing myself many times.

Eating more food usually goes with your training schedule being upgraded. If you are training a lot harder and for longer, then its absolutely critical to be eating more calories, and more importantly more QUALITY calories!

The secret of success in going through this process is simply sticking with it!

Many people haven’t the patience to go through this, and are forever looking for the “wonder supplement” that will somehow slap a ton of muscle on their frame.

So it’s a simple equation, you need to up your portion size a little bit, and eat every 3-4 hours max to stimulate lean muscle growth in your body.

Then when growth happens (and it will given time), then you will notice your poundages in certain exercises in the gym tend to start going up.

Another vital ingredient would be your sleep. You can be training your guts out, you could be eating a ton of food, but if you’re not getting to bed early every night, you’re not going to experience the growth in your body you should be getting.

If all of this sounds pretty rigorous, and requires a lot of discipline, then you would have guessed right! Putting muscle on is not as easy as those advertisements make it sound or promise you. It can be done though IF you show the consistency required more or less every day of the week. You can have one day off from the relentless nature of the eating, training and eating, but you had better get back on it the very next day.

This is the type of attitude you need and as I said sticking to it no matter what is the true secret to muscle gain!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 8th July

As I write this, it is 26 degrees and I have already experienced getting through some tough sessions this morning.

The usual protocol must be followed in this very warm weather.

Regular water intake is the most important by far, and I am talking about drinking THROUGHOUT the day and not just your workout. This will enable your body’s core temperature to stay in a healthy range, it will help you workout for longer and help you recover from your session a lot quicker.

In this weather, like when you are abroad, it will be a great idea to train either first thing in the morning or later in the evening, when it goes a bit cooler and it’s a bit more pleasant to train in.

A massive test of exercising in the heat was Andy Murray’s wonderful performance yesterday. It was said to be up to 50 degrees on centre court yesterday would you believe! No wonder murray looked as if he had already played 5 sets than the 3 he already played! He looked out on his feet when he had the winning point and with good reason.

Playing in 50 degrees is extreme and most people could never get through such a match, and this shows the extremely good condition that both players were in, and both can now be regarded as the great champions they are!

They are constantly hydrating themselves, constantly eating throughout the day, before and after the match, and sometimes taking on calories through gel’s and various products. Djokovic consumes a protein and carbs shake straight away after his match as he leaves the court for example.

Good water intake, good nutrition all round is vital for these players who often play in extreme heat, and if you adopt some of their habits, then you too will be able to train harder and longer even when it’s a lot warmer than usual!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday 3rd July

Great workouts are the results of a variety of factors, and don’t “just happen” by accident.

They definitely don’t happen due to a “pre-workout formula” you can drink before training, they don’t happen just because you psych yourself up and shout at yourself, they don’t happen because of the fancy training gear you have on, they don’t happen just because the gym you train in looks “pretty”, and definitely don’t happen because you have a direct debit for a gym and never go!!!!

If you fit into any of these categories and have tried such a strategy, then I am probably preaching to the converted and this means you have been constantly disappointed with your results, and probably spent a ton of money in realizing this in the end.

This is not putting you down for making a bad decision, and I sincerely hope you have learned from all of those people trying to make a quick buck out of you and delivering extremely poor results if any at all!

Great workouts happen over a period of time.

Great workouts will happen time after time if you keep eating well for the vast majority of your week, week in week out, month in month out etc!

Your fluid intake will always dictate how well you perform and feel, a key element that needs to happen throughout the day, every day!

If you sleep well most nights, then you set yourself up for success, if you don’t then you won’t feel like doing much!

Great workouts will also happen over a period of incremental workouts, in other words, you will gradually get better over a longer period and this is when your capabilities are there to cope with great demands.

You can achieve these workouts if you stay consistent in all the key areas, and when you get there you will know how you achieved this great level of ability.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 1st July

July brings a fresh batch of challenges in terms of training improvements.

You will be usually be in one of two camps.

The first one is the attitude of taking it easy just because it’s july and july is a month of holidays, finishing school for example, stop fortnight for factories, and the weather is usually much warmer and sunnier too (sometimes!). This camp will usually miss a lot of workouts, start drinking alcohol in the week, generally eat much more poorly than normal, and justify all the weight gain on “the time of year”.

The other camp is the one where you have people either who are about to go on holidays, or have just been away. They are now dead keen to get back into their training, they are hitting their workouts hard, never miss a session and maybe about to start pre-season rugby or football. This camp associates july with hard work, tough workouts, and have got accustomed to working out in warmer temperatures, and have got to the stage they actually relish it.

The first camp end up piling on the weight, and often take a long time to get back into their training after their holiday. These are the inconsistent ones who never achieve anywhere like their potential.

The second camp are the more serious trainer, who are used to seeing results and are prepared to keep putting the results in.

July is a critical month for you to change your attitude and mindset to set yourself up for a month of great results, and the months to follow after that. Don’t settle for a lazy july, instead change the course for the rest of the year right now by showing up all the time this month and making every workout count!

Twitt