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Friday, 3rd August

As the Olympics slowly change to the track and field today, a new set of physical tools are required.

Special mention must go to the great performances so far, especially the cyclists who have set new highs, along with new world records thrown in against very stiff opposition.

Many people prefer track and field, and the showpiece event is usually the 100 metre final next Saturday night, with Usain Bolt favourite as long as he has recovered from his back problems.

All of these athletes specialise in one particular discipline, but this is something that you shouldn’t not do if general conditioning is your goal.

For example, if you just do cardio (cycling, fast walking, running etc), then you will lose some weight, get your heart healthier and stronger, but you wont be doing a massive amount to change your shape, or strengthen your joints to what they are really capable of.

This is where resistance/weight training is so important. Bone density is vital and weight training is a great way of improving your bone strength.

Weight training will also play a large part in changing your shape.

Using increased resistance will re-shape your body for the better, and increase your metabolic rate.

One pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day, one pound of fat burns 2 calories a day, you can see now why people carrying a lot of body fat usually stay very big and more muscular individuals tend to stay leaner (as long as they keep exercising right of course!).

This is why you need to combine your cardio AND your resistance/weight training, and this should be your fundamental training plan to get yourself in shape, and enable you to stay there once you reach your best levels.

In training terms, its always better to be an all rounder capable of a range of activities and training methods (which brings big results), rather than focus on just one way of doing things that perhaps you have become too comfortable with (which brings limited results).

Twitt
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Wednesday, 1st August

Usain Bolt says once you come out of the blocks in a 100 metres race, and out of the drive phase, then the last 40-50 metres is quite relaxing for him, and there’s nothing he can do to make himself run quicker.

If you see quotes from most world-class athletes, they try and stay away from any great strain in their efforts and rely on great technique and even relaxing at times throughout their races/competition.

This can apply to your training too of course.

Have you noticed when you start to run, it seems so much of a strain, that you may never get to the stage when you will be able to run without straining yourself.

Then with a bit of walking, a bit of running, bit of walking, then some more running, you end up getting to the stage when you can actually run all of the time. This is extremely difficult to do and its the practice you need to get in to eventually alleviate all of this discomfort and strain.

Anyone who runs now, or who has had to go through this process will testify that all of this is true.

Then the next stage to go through can be quite a pleasant one.

When your fitness gets up considerably, you eventually get to RELAX in your running stride, and this enables you to run for much longer distances.

For many of you who can run good distances,  you will experience the ability to get some serious “thinking time” in your running. This means that you can relive your day through your run or think about a business opportunity or think about your family or anything you want, as the actual process of running is not that difficult anymore, it has become more of a regular thing in your life, and the ability to relax is absolute key for you!

These are all different processes along the way of being in your best possible shape!!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 31st July

The most depressing thing for people who really train their socks off is not getting anywhere near the shape they want to be in!

I see it all the time.

Some of the hardest exercises are often questioned why they are not in better shape, and they often question themselves that!

The problem is failure to admit that they are not eating anywhere like they could be eating. Plain chicken breast often becomes fried chicken with all the skin, plain potatoes becomes potatoes smothered in olive oil or even oven chips!

One night of alcohol consumption a week can become a small couple most nights, this is when body fat gains can come thick and fast!

Our “versions” of eating well and “clean” can be quite varied, depending on who you speak to of course.

A chicken salad for most people is around 500 calories absolute maximum.

For a lot of other people though, it can be a lot different.

By the time you add in coleslaw, mayo, salad cream and other forms of dressing, this healthy choice can soon add up to over 100 calories. So if someone tells you they live on these type of so called healthy eating choices, then all may not what it seems and this is why they continue never to be in shape, despite having impressive capabilities in pure exercise terms!

The minute they realise all of this, they have a choice on how they really want to look and how much they really want to get there!

Eating food a little plainer without all the junk dressing we have discussed, can make an enormous difference to you reaching your goals, for you to be able to perform at a much higher level and for people to finally give you some huge compliments on the way you look!

Eating right is at least 50% of the equation, AT LEAST THAT MUCH! Make the choice right now on how you want to look and feel!

Twitt
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Thursday, 26th July

If you are a bit more serious into sports in terms of being a participant, you can’t beat flipping tractor tyres for a great overall workout.

You will be working everything in this type of workout.

Your legs, your stomach, your back, your hamstrings, thighs, arms and shoulders will all go through a massive amount of work when you go through this process.

Down the gym for example, we now have a dedicated area outside purely for this activity.

The same area is also used for sprints, for carrying heavy sandbags, for using a sledghammer on to tyres, and the latest addition is the famous “farmers walk” with the rubber-cased 125 pound blocks!!

All of these movements will give pure explosive power to your body-vital to perform at a high level in sports.

The great thing about all of this is that many of the participants are not sportsmen or sportswomen at all, they are normal everyday people who want that just little bit different from their workouts!!! The results they are getting are simply sensational, and although these exercises are not for the beginner, they are tremendously enjoyable and a great addition to more traditional methods!

Every exercise has an “energy cost”. By this i mean if you went for a gentle walk, then this would not have much of an exercise cost at all.

Going for a run would have much more of an exercise cost, a set of high-intensity sprints would be much more, and the tyre flipping would be right up there too.

You can see that the higher intensity of exercise definitely burns a lot more calories, a lot more fat and gets you into tremendously better shape than you ever previously thought!!Training is changing all the time, make the most of your efforts and don’t settle for second-best!!!

Twitt
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Friday, 13th July

Making the commitment to be fit, stay fit and always be fit is totally overwhelming for almost all of us.

This is why i encourage everyone to take one day at a time, and just do your best that particular day.

Chances are you will improve much quicker like this rather than somehow trying to plan your year!

I can totally see how you can plan your week,  but your month or next couple of months is extremely difficult for all of us.

If you focused on one day then, you can see from the following how it can work very well for you.

For example, if you concentrated on eating a good energy filled breakfast every morning, full of slow-release energy, then you’re not going to go too far wrong.

This can be fairly easy if you only buy good quality cereals with only natural ingredients.

If you go for the likes of porridge, shredded wheat and weetabix and stick to the basic versions of these fine cereals, then you’re not going to be taking excess sugars into your sytem, meaning you will be energised and still lose body fat.

Lunch from monday to friday for most people is again fairly simple, make sure you eat some vegetables, good carbs of wholegrain variety where possible and a good quality protein source.

Your evening meal will be fairly similar, and trying to make sure you get some fruit in the day along with plenty of water, at least 1.5 litres.

On the exercise side, try and commit to being active most days, there is a huge variety on offer and we talk about exercise all the time.

Sleep is often underrated, so make this a priority.

Get these things right and you will taking one day at a time very well indeed!

Twitt