Posted on

Tuesday, 11th December

A very relevant question today is from a lady who is wondering if she cannot get to the gym before christmas, will the weight come piling back on after making outstanding progress lately? And is there any alternative?

First of all, in replying to this, i have said many times that i think it is an extremely bad idea to stop exercising before christmas for all sorts of reasons that have been well documented on here. So let’s get that out of the way and i don’t want to keep repeating myself!!

Anyway, let’s look at the solution so you don’t put the weight on.

Option number one is trying to make your sessions no matter what! 15 minute blasts are far better than wondering what might have been! Anyone who has done them with me will know their value.

Option two is if you really can’t make the session, then you should workout at home no matter what!!
How long does it take to put a pair of shorts on and tshirt, and just go for it.

The workout

Just pick 5- 6 exercises.
Example

Press ups

Arm dips

sitting up and down on chair

alternate squat thrusts

plank

try your best on each exercise for a maximum best

So if you do 20 press ups, then your workout figure should be 10 when doing 3 lots of it.

For example
Press ups max-20
then workout number should be 10

arm dips max-10
then workout number should be 5
and so on

So you do the workout by doing all the exercises one after the other, have a rest, then do the other two lots for a total then of 3 lots.

This should last for around 20 minutes in total.

This time investment should be available to everyone, and will also have the added benefit of making you eat better, because you will not want to blow all that hard work!!

Hope this helps a lot of people in the same situation!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, December 10th

We need to understand why we put weight on during the christmas period, and what we can do to get away from this situation that affects most of us every single year.

Most people in this country put on 7-14 pounds, and new year’s resolutions usually last 14 days on average!! This mean you are likely to hit 2013 in an overweight mode!

It’s particularly cold today so guess what happens? We don’t move around much and tend to wear warm baggy clothes. This makes us “comfortable” and being in shape always gets put on the back burner!!

It’s a deep human instinct within us to eat more and move less, something thats been around for thousands of years, but there are ways to get around it.

A good tactic is to keep an eating diary for example this week, when its likely to be cold. Also, try and plan your meals in advance, and try to keep your portion size as normal as possible, all of these things will keep your eating under control and you will be thankful by the end of the weak that you still look and feel lean.

The problem this time of year also is that food is the centre point of things when people get together and meet up.

Even if you have several parties to go to, you should try the tactic of eating before you go. This way you will feel full and be unlikely to pig out in the party.

The christmas season can be stressful at times too, and what’s the first thing a lot of people do when they are stressed? Eat excessively or eating the wrong thing is a typical trait for most, and drinking more alcohol is a close second!! These two habits are going to be guaranteed to put weight on full stop. The less excess food and alcohol you have in the house the better!!!

Fight the weight gain, and with a bit of smart thinking you can do it!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 6th December

All of us get in a rut from time to time,but we have to make sure we get right back out of it!

First of all, one of the best ways of changing is to change what you do.

For example, if you ideally do 8-10 reps of each exercise and have done for years maybe, have 4 weeks of doing 12 reps per set. You will have to reduce the weight of course, but the extra reps will bring your body a new challenge and you will be pleasantly surprised at the results!

If you do a split routine, in other words you may be doing chest and arms in one workout, shoulders and back the next and then you do this twice each which means 4 days a week with this type of training, then i always find it beneficial getting individuals on whole body workouts that can be done just twice a week with a three day gap in between. This is well proven to bring some spectacular results in a short period of time.

Do drop sets! Say you do a set of curls with your best weight, do 8 reps and instead of ending there, pick up a lighter weight and hit another 8 reps, then pick an even lighter weight up and do 6 reps with that. This will absolutely crucify your muscles and you will find that if you pick just four exercises to do this in a workout, then that will be enough to get the job done in super-quick time!!!

When is the last time you kept an eating diary? This is one of the most overlooked things i see every week, and often explains why many of us don’t get into the shape we really want! Unless we realise how much we eat, what we eat and when, its tough for us to find out whether we are sticking to our plan or not?!!

No time for getting stuck in a rut, reaching a plateau or getting medicore results, you have the chance right now to turn it all around!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 5th December

So we have discovered there are two sides of the fence in december, those who have given up and those who remain on track to have their best december in years!

The best thing about that statement is that as long as you continue to read, its never going to be too late to get out of the “given up” crowd!!

We have talked a lot about food, but how’s your workouts going?

Are you going through the motions? Are you watching the clock all the way though, can’t wait to get it over with?

If you are one of these individuals, then please stop what you are doing right now, there is much more to learn about your workouts, there is much more to learn about what it means to be fit and how you manage your heart and lung capacity, there is much more to learn about creating a lot more variety and interest in your workouts, and you ought not to waste one more day!!!

Not having a plan and not having any standards in your workouts is a sure fire path to failure, and at best mediocre results so its time for you to pick up the pace!!!!!

Try moving away from doing the treadmill and bike for example, these two things can be excellent parts of your workouts, but there’s more, much more in fact!!!

Please make sure you do an all over strength/resistance workout twice a week with a 2-3 day gap on between, gap in between each set needs to be eventually 45 seconds.

Don’t spend more than 45 minutes in the gym, one hour very maximum. You can have some great workouts in 20-30 minutes if you hit it hard and have a good plan!!!

Always use proper form, no cheating, no swinging and no bad form on any exercise!

Don’t train to impress others, try and impress yourself by constantly improving each week on one exercise. Little improvements over a few weeks can lead to one massive improvement, you know you have it in you!!!

We are going to concentrate on really shaking up your programme this december, no “settling” for mediocrity, get into the crowd who are interested in their strongest december yet!!! You will enjoy christmas far more when it comes and you will be glad you have put the big effort in!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 4th December

If you followed my advice yesterday and made breakfast a priority, then you are less likely to snack in the morning on rubbish foods that will eventually destroy your dreams of finally getting into shape!

If you are focused on results, you had better look at the rest of your day and exactly what you are snacking on!!!

I see that mince pies are already entering people’s diets judging by the stories i am hearing.

The problem with mince pies are that once you start on them, you usually can’t stop.

The other funny story about mince pies is that not a lot of you like them!! Not only that but you feel you have to eat them because “its christmas”!!!

If there’s one thing guaranteed to blow your progress, its got to be starting on mince pies this early in december. When you eat them, not only are you going to put on weight, but your exercise performance will go straight down the toilet!!! If you want to really stay on track, then the toilet is probably the best place for the mince pies, as they are definitely not going to help you get into shape or help your health in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER!!!

We talked about this last week, eating foods that you think you should eat JUST BECAUSE its christmas is an old classic i used to tell myself too!!! Those stories i used to tell myself resulted in me being around 20 pounds heavier than i am right now!! It’s not hard for me to make the better choices now because i REALLY don’t want to go back to those old days when after eating foods such as those, i would frequently feel out of breath, my training sessions used to be so much harder and its was hell of a job after christmas getting the weight off!!!

Now is not the time for mince pies or anything else you think you SHOULD be eating. Keep making the right choices and you will keep on being in shape!!!

Twitt