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Sunday, 13th July

I always get asked “what happens when I finish the 12 week challenge”?

I have to say it’s going to be very unlikely that you will go back to your old ways when you complete the 12th week, you will definitely be a changed person by then.

You will have a new version of what your everyday life is now.

Your cravings will have gone or mostly gone, you will put exercise near the top of your “must do’s” most days, you will have a new lifestyle, you will have an unbelievable amount of energy, your outlook and ambitions in life will look totally different, and you will tend to be an optimist instead of not being bothered about doing worthwhile things.

Plus you will have a new body with a much improved level of health, both inside and out!

The pain in your body will have long disappeared, because you will be moving so much better now in all ways.

Maybe in the past you used to go in the garden for a couple of hours and couldn’t move for a few days. Everyone has had that feeling. Because of the training we do, you will be used to many of those movements and your body should be ready for anything.

Whenever physical activity you may have done as a one off in the past will have made you feel too old and stiff, those days should now be well and truly over as you now embrace physical effort, and you will be very aware of the benefits you get from it.

I find those who set new goals after finishing their first 12 weeks absolutely fly through the second 12 weeks because of their new ability and most importantly, a newly found self-confidence and a much higher self-esteem.

Overcoming the first 12 weeks was the hard bit, developing healthy habits for the first time in years and finally discarding bad habits that were holding you back, both with your body and mind.

Ending your first 12 weeks is only the beginning and definitely not the end!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 9th June

One of the least productive ways of training you can do is concentrating on certain fancy exercises that never really give you a great return on your efforts. These are all over the internet and on certain magazines offering “new” exercises that REALLY are the “secret” to get into shape.

This advice usually confuses people even more, and can push you further and further away from getting into shape.

I have seen lots of people waste huge amounts of time doing some obscure cable movements, perform exercises that look technical but will give you very little development and not stimulate your body in the way you want it to.

Sometimes the best individuals to train are the ones who have never done any training before because they can learn the right way to start with.

Many people who have gone to different places before us, usually develop bad form in many exercises, and this poor performance of exercise can take some time to work out of them.

Performing movements the wrong way can also lead to overuse injuries and longer term pain problems. Sometimes you need to strip things back down to basics to move forward.

Most people get it wrong with exercise selection, the way they perform the exercise and men in particular try to use too much weight on that exercise, and perform it way too quickly just to get the weight up.

Women before they get to us usually have not challenged themselves with weights like their potential really allows. Once they do, their progress is always rapid and their body responds very positively indeed.

The best advice is to stick to a few powerful tried and tested exercises that have a history of delivering huge results.

They all take proper instruction to learn how to do them, and they will get you out of breath when you perform them. They are hard work but you need to perform them consistently and you will progress.

Keeping it simple, not getting distracted and following through on your plan is a guaranteed way to be successful.

Twitt
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

Tuesday, 6th May

Determining your best workout should be thought of in terms of what does it cost your body in energy terms. This is the real way that great things are going to happen for your body.

A lot of men tend to measure their workouts on how good it makes them look, or think it makes them look. For many men for example, they tend to make Friday night “chest and arms” night because the chance are that they are going out later and want to look their “best pumped up”!

We like to think that we have changed that thinking completely.

Many women think that as long as they hit the treadmill and spend endless hours on the bike, that the fat will be “stripped away” and they will get their “beach body” far quicker this way.

Weights many females think are for the “bulky look” and they really don’t need them, in fact many females never hit the weight room. It should be obvious by now that we train with huge variety, and mixing strength training up with everything else is the way to go.

Many of our women are stronger than many men in certain tests, and all of those women are getting leaner, would certainly never be classed as “bulky” and are reaching new standards of fitness on a weekly basis.

Energy cost of workouts are a good way to think about your efforts, and will have a direction relation to lowering your body fat, getting you leaner and sending your fitness levels through the roof!

The tyres, the prowler, sledgehammer work with little rest in between, has a lot more energy cost than doing curls and leg extensions with very light weights for example.

It may be nice doing a couple of light weights exercises, and chatting on the bike for half hour at low intensity, but your time in the gym should be as productive as possible. Your weight sessions should be high on energy cost too, just like the ones I keep showing all of you all the time, and all of you are doing very well on them.

Use your gym time wisely, and you will always deliver far more impressive results.

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 10th April

After coming out of a long dark and wet winter, it’s vital you come into the spring as fresh as possible.

Many of you train 5-6 times a week with us, and this will usually mean that you are in great shape, that you have improved substantially over the winter and there’s a very strong chance that your fitness is at its all-time best.

Sometimes though we all hit a wall and we don’t know really what to do about it.

Our motivation goes down a bit, we can’t get a constantly good performance out of ourselves, and we wonder whether we can hit the heights anymore.

We may see people who we have been training with pull slightly ahead of us, and we may lose our enthusiasm to stay with them. This is a sign that you need to step back a bit.

A great answer to these problems is to train LESS for a while in terms of days.

Cutting back to three days a week for a month or so can make all the difference.

On your days off, try doing different things, enjoy yourself whatever you want to do, and you will give your mind a good rest from your programme.

The result from this type of approach is that you start enjoying your training much more again.

When you hit those three sessions a week, they tend to be of much higher quality again because you will realise again what you are really capable of.

You will start to make gains again and your body will thank you for getting off a schedule that you needed a break from.

I usually find that a month is usually enough, and then most of those who have cut back feel ready to step it up again and hit extra days again.

You can feel the rest has done them good, and most people go on to reach new personal highs in their next cycle of training.

Training in different cycles is very common with professional athletes, who find it an absolute must to peak for their events.

Training smart and taking days off when you need them will always keep you close to your peak, and keep you mentally fresh just when you need it.

Twitt