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Thursday, 21st November

So if you have had a good week so far, you need to be concentrating on having a big end to the week.

The training you don’t really feel like doing on a Monday will feel possible on a Thursday or Friday.

Your performance should be good if you’re attitude is up for it.

How about a time trial for a mile on the treadmill? What about 2500 metres on the rower? How about spinning for longer on the bikes and use a really fast gear, instead of the easiest gear?!!

I used to do this myself every week on a Friday evening at the same time, and gradually my time would come down. The result after around 2 months of doing something like this can be quite dramatic.

Also, it doesn’t really seem like your training for the sake of it and takes away the boredom factor.

If you are weight training for instance, start keeping some kind of journal to record your sets and weight lifted. This can be a very powerful tool, and lift your performance for good as you wont want to go back at all.

Putting a little bit of pressure on yourself to make small improvements every week is a good thing, and again over a 6-8 week period, you are likely to have made sizeable gains.

How about your running? Instead of keeping to easier, flat roads, how about targeting some hilly terrain for a change and this can work very well on a treadmill too.

How about all those medicine ball/wall ball exercises you see me giving everyone else but perhaps you have ducked and dived on for a while? They do work in a big way so all depends if you want the results or not!

How about getting outside and getting stuck into the fresh air work outside? It may be cold at first, but your lungs will soon get used to it, and most people get to crave it after a while. Those of you who work inside all day should DEFINITELY get outside, do some speed and agility work, hit the prowler, work with the sledge, hit some steps or flip some tyres for a change (a big one people avoid!).

It’s nearly the end of the week and the easiest time to make it happen!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 20th November

Post-workout snacks

Whether you are hungry or not, the quicker you eat food or drink after a workout, the quicker your body will recover. The enzymes responsible for making glycogen are most active immediately after your workout, leaving you with a 2-hour window to reload your muscle glycogen. Carbs are converted into glycogen one and a half times faster than normal during this post-exercise period.

Begin refueling with a high carb snack preferably with a high GI which will pass into your muscles much quicker than a low GI food.

You will have to watch portion sizes as eating too much carbohydrate will be stored as fat and not turned into glycogen. To help with recovery it’s a good idea to combine protein with carbohydrate for the post workout snack.

1. A couple of pieces of fresh fruit eg bananas, with milk.

2. 1 or 2 cartons of fruit yogurt such as Yeo Valley or Rachel’s.

3. A smoothie made with crushed fresh fruit whizzed in the blender with small handful of nuts.

4. A homemade milkshake. Use milk, yogurt and fruit such as bananas and strawberries for an excellent mixture of protein, carbs and antioxidants.

5. Tuna or cottage cheese sandwich. Choose wholemeal rolls, bagels, pitta or wraps.

6. A couple of rice cakes with jam and cottage cheese.

7. A handful of dried fruit and nuts.

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 19th November

Heading into Christmas is a sign to switch off for most people. This is the biggest mistake you can make for many reasons.

If you sink into this slumber before Christmas, imagine how hard it’s going to be getting rid of the Christmas excess?!!

One big attitude difference can be to work extra hard on your training before Christmas. If you’re going to be taking in extra calories, why not use them as a positive and see them as extra energy for more training, or more energy for more intense training.

Set higher targets and goals, aim to get out there more and be more active. Just don’t fall into the trap of doing less and less exercise coming up to Christmas and eating more food! This is a sure way of putting more weight on, and then compounding it by all the Christmas excesses. This is what MANY people do and it’s always painful to watch!

Motivation can seem to be better too if you have a plan. You know you’re going to have to train more in the next few weeks so plan for it, and don’t let it take you by surprise.

You know that its hard to train hard straight after Christmas, so don’t get into that horrible situation and simply be much more consistent from now on in the run in.

Your body fat will be better and you will fit into your clothes much better, your performances will be better in the gym and you’ll have the great feeling over being in control over everything before, during and after Christmas.

Remember that 80% of your success is simply showing up for your workouts, so getting your kit on in the first place will be the hardest thing you need to do, and the rest will be easy!

Keri

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 14th November

Its great too see so many of you are not tempted like a lot of people to take short cuts, and follow so many easy but non-productive ways to do things that will end up in failure.

I seriously think that the true hero’s are the ones who can train throughout the year, never miss a workout unless they are ill and always look for improvements and consistent progress, this is exactly the right philosophy to have!

These super-dedicated people ARE out there and you have proven the good effects that regular workouts and good food will have on your body.

I get questions all the time about the best training programme, whether the following fads like the power plate vibration system is any good, whether the masai based trainers with the big heel’s are truly the answer, whether the vibration belt’s you put across your stomach really work, whether the latest new gym opening is really going to work this time, whether the latest fitness dvd is any good, whether the 2 minutes a day workout can really change your life, whether the flimsy machines you see on the shopping channels are really any good?!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know how I am going to answer those.

These are the questions I always get and they get the same answers!

Forget all of those usual faddy false promises that faddy diets make too after Christmas, all they bring is long term misery because 97% of them fail and you put all the weight back on, and 5% more according to all leading scientific research into that “industry”!

If you show up 80% or more of the time for training, you WILL progress.

If you eat well and healthily 80% or more of the time, you WILL progress.

If you train with purpose 80% or more of the time, you WILL progress. You know this works and most of you have experienced great results.

Why look for questions and answers and try and re-invent the wheel when you know this will work very well for you-HARD WORK that is?!! There’s no way around it.

A week off can turn to a month off, and this can turn into a huge break. Lets not go there especially with Christmas coming up, NOW is the time to make the big physical improvements, and not after Christmas when you can hardly breathe because of the cold air and all the weight you have put on!

That’s why you can be a 52 week hero, that person who achieves that (allowing for the odd cold/illness, holiday etc) really is a hero in my book. When you think about it, how many people do you actually know who make that kind of commitment in their life to anything?

Someone who achieves this deserves all the benefits they get, because they quietly work at achieving at being the best they can be.

The time for talking a good game is over, its time to go for it for the next six weeks and do your best no matter what.

Twitt