Monday, 28th April

For most of you who join our gym initially, the way we do things is 99.9% different to anywhere else you have been, to treat people as individuals is the only thing we know and it works best. We don’t do classes, we don’t give you a sheet to follow that has been photocopied hundreds of times, that never changes and you get bored of, and was never designed for you in the first place.

Everyone has a purpose, and has a unique capability of achieving it.

For many of you, you have begun lifting things you never thought possible, and running and moving in all sorts of different ways.

When you saw what went on outside of our place, and heard what went on inside, you maybe really wanted to try it, but never thought that you could possibly do it, or you didn’t want to be embarrassed when you eventually tried it.

That sense of confidence that many of you now possess cannot be bought, and the sense of a swagger in your step only comes from overcoming challenges that you thought impossible.

The best part about it all is that it doesn’t stop there, it continues and continues and never stops.

Overcoming and changing your body so much opens doors that you never thought existed.

You find that once you hit certain levels that you see others reaching, you not only want to go on and achieve much more, but you become an inspiration to others too.

Your family will view you as much more of an athlete and respect your achievements, you will go on to inspire others at the gym too who are only just starting out on their journey, and you will begin to set new horizons for yourself in all areas of achievement in your life.

Sunday 27th April

Best bit of advice I ever had was to make sure you get some sort of exercise in on the Sunday morning after a few drinks the night before.

If you don’t, you are likely to feel like rubbish all day on Sunday, and you don’t really recover until the Wednesday as the booze and excess food will sit on your stomach for a couple of days.

You may try to train it off on a Monday but in all likelihood you will still be feeling rough, be able to put in only a light session if at all, because you will want to hit the sack early after your first day back in work as your tiredness will hit a peak!

Then Tuesday you will want to put a big session in, you still feel exhausted but you do your best, and then have an early night, so it’s Wednesday before you are actually 100% again!

Starting your week mid-way through is always going to put you on the backfoot, so this morning is an ideal time to try and make up for a Saturday of excess. Monday then can be a great productive session and you are all set up to get a quality week’s training in!

Sunday should be your version of going to church for your body, feeling much better immediately and getting all the rubbish out of it.

Saturday, 26th April

When any individual starts training with us, it’s vital we collect the evidence of their current physical condition, their past medical problems, their current mental strength and willingness to change, and their current ability to move forward through a series of tests that we carry out on everyone no matter who they are.

It’s at this stage that EVERYONE goes on their own different path with us, and responds in all sorts of different ways.

I find that everyone will respond at a DIFFERENT rate, sometimes you have a super fast responder to exercise, sometimes you have someone who finds most things a little more difficult but the crucial and key thing I find is you HAVE to spend time with them finding this out.

You need to spend time with them finding out the best way to overcome any obstacles, and spend time with them adjusting their programme all the way making sure they always get a first class measurement at the end of the month.

Show urgency with everyone’s training and nutrition, and I find we always get a positive response in terms of an individual’s effort. The results from these efforts always speak for themselves in terms of the evidence we are able to gather from their workouts and their eating habits.

Much lower body fat, healthy blood pressure ranges, a strong heart, much better waist and hip measurements, healthier stronger bone density, much great movement ability, a much stronger back, much better balance and coordination are all pieces of the hard evidence we constantly collect.

Put all of this together with far greater mental strength, and you will find that anyone is capable of achieving a dramatic and life changing transformation no matter who they are.

Saturday, 19th April

Bumped into three individuals yesterday.

One has had two heart attacks by the time he was 35, now had a child and was unable to play with his child for any length of time because he would get out of breath. His partner confirmed this to be true.

The next has a severe bad back, and couldn’t stand for any length of time. She was a good sportswoman in her time, she is now 42. She couldn’t go anywhere anymore because of the embarrassment of not being able to walk far, and always needing to sit down. She had trouble keeping up with her kids and was depressed about her condition.

The third was 32 years of age, been a big drinker with the medals to prove it, and was suffering from very high blood pressure. He wouldn’t talk to anyone about it because he felt embarrassed, because his sporting past was so good, and he didn’t want his employer and his friends to find out about it.

They all asked for help due to their various ultimately unsuccessful ways of trying to solve these problems. All of these people could be classed a relatively young and in the prime of their lives.

They explained that they had been to gyms before, but the recurring theme of being shown around machines once, then they were left to their own devices. Their “programme” consisted of treadmill, bike, and rower IF they could do it.

They felt alone, and soon the feeling of hopelessness flooded their minds again, and led to them quitting their very limited “programme” almost before it started.

The big question has to be asked, all of these examples have been badly let down before and forgotten about in the “system”.

Their progress HAS NOT been followed up, their needs haven’t been considered, and proper care was not taken.

One of the most common questions we get is “do you look after us all of the time, EVEN after the first session?!! All of you who train with us now know we do of course we do. New members still ask us that question and we still have to keep giving the same answer of YES until they find out that we do ALL of the time. Yes we do measure all the time too, with several tests every month no matter what.

This will always make us the complete opposite of any other gym.

I like to answer it another way too, we like to DEVELOP everyone because you don’t really know how everyone will react to exercise, and ALL of you will improve and reach new standards and new highs and physical development, balance, coordination and mental concentration, plus significantly improving any health worries.

All of those three examples at the start can be helped enormously and their lives can be turned around, but a lot of care and attention must go into them first.

Wednesday,16th April

Rest intervals are highly important for your workouts, and can make the difference between having very effective sessions, or just going through the same old thing which will sooner or later put a halt on your progress.

Many of you must have been to a place where they have 5 minutes in between sets, have a chat in between sets and generally there is “no rush” on the training session.

Look at those who do it, then decide whether you want to emulate them.

This feels a really comfortable place to be for all the wrong reasons.

Staying in your comfort zone is fun but not very challenging. The longer you stay in your comfort zone, the longer you are not going to get the results you want.

Simply reducing your rest in between sets can be the smartest thing you do this week.

You may get a bit out of puff, you may even have to lower the weights you use, but you will be all the better for it, and become a lot fitter too, reduce your body fat and feel a lot, lot better in 4 weeks or so.

We challenge all our members on their rest periods, and there’s never much sitting around not doing anything. We want everyone to keep on improving, so stay ahead of the game and reduce your rest periods!