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Monday, 24th December

Christmas Eve is finally here, and a very busy time is about to kick off for a lot of us!

One unknown fact is that i know quite a lot of people who will/indeed have trained today already with me and on their own at the gym, there will be a few on christmas day and particularly boxing day. These are the people who still don’t want to pile the pounds on, they don’t want to have a shortness of breath from eating all the rubbish/fast food, and they generally don’t want to waste a lot of the hard work they have put in all year long!

A piece of breaking news from the states on the weekend i think a lot of you would be interested in. Herbalife, the company that promises quick weight loss and apparently “everyone was doing it”, has hit massive problems.

Herbalife is listed on the US stock exchange and has been “shorted” by two very big name analysts and investors. “Shorting” is when you predict the stock will go DOWN instead of up and the analysts have a new stock target price of ZERO dollars. They claim the stock is a ponzi scheme that will end up losing investors all of their money. One big pyramid scheme they say.

Not only this, but herbalife has been found selling their products in starving african countries, where you thought a weight loss product would be needed the least!! It seems as if they are having problems ethically and financially. Good on these stock market investors exposing such a company.

I have been banging on for years about how these companies fleece would be weight loss victims out of their hard earned monies. The same goes for weight loss clubs and the whole industry is fake and a sham and i urge you to show common sense in the new year and avoid these charlatans.

You can’t beat good natural food in sensible portions, with a bit of what you fancy in moderation.

Enjoy christmas and see you for more later on in the week!!!

Twitt
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Friday, 21st December

It looks as if the world didn’t in fact end today, although there are still a few hours to go!

It hasn’t been the end of the world for most people i train this year if they have made a lot of mistakes in their diet and exercising either!

Through explaining to everyone i train that they don’t have to totally blow their diet if they go off the rails now and again, this has resulted in my largest number of people training right up to the last friday before christmas. Not only that but we have record numbers scheduled to train christmas eve, the gym in burry port will see a surprising number on christmas day and especially boxing day!

The message really seemed to have worked better than ever before this year, and i would like to thank everyone for continuing to show so much dedication right up until the end of the year. The encouraging fact is that these are the people who would normally throw the towel in during early december.

So after persuading everyone to train all the way up to christmas or more or less, its heartening now to already have people tell me already how much better they are feeling in themselves, how much money they are saving by not buying all of the junk food that they normally do, how much they are saving by not buying sometimes vast quantities of alcohol etc etc, and how great its going to be NOT to wear the baggy jumpers at this time of year, because most are keen to show their new found bodies!!

I am hearing better sleeping experiences, and a wide variety of people are reporting one of their best measurements THIS WEEK!! We all try not to put on much in december, but to actually lose quite a lot of body fat and shave off 3 inches off your waist is sensational. Again, i have to say that this a big benefit of being measured regularly!

Thanks again for the huge effort, and let’s see what happens next week!!!!!!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 20th December

In an ideal world, the body of your choice would just happen, good food would be just put in front of you and getting into shape would be the easiest thing in the world!

There would be no problem getting to the gym, and all the chores in life would be done for you.

This is an imaginary world of course, especially in the week before christmas, so we had better get back in the real world!!!

We are in a world where we make mistakes and we make them often.

So what we have to do is DO what we can do!

Life shouldn’t revolve around your diet or some kind of totally strict never have a treat regime either! This will not work. Frequently i hear from individuals that they have some big party and trying to be perfect somehow, they say that for some reason that they need to avoid the party!

This is nonsense of course and there is no need to avoid ANY social occasion or bring your own food just because there’s not a healthy meal already prepared there for you! Using common sense in these situations always works and as long as you don’t pig out too much, or don’t drink the bar dry, then put it down to a one off and make sure you get a workout done the very next day!!!

I have always said that you need to just concentrate on eating healthy at least 80% of the time, this should be enough to keep you healthy and energised for your workouts. If you constantly try to be at 100%, then you will be heading for failure and such plans never work for any length of time!!

If you allow yourself treats on one day a week for example, or two maximum, then you always have something to look forward to, and your diet will never become over-bearing. Common sense will always work for you, especially right now in the festive season.

Moderation always works, and keeps your mind very fresh and positive for your upcoming workouts that should always be at least a small part over the next two weeks.

Twitt
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Monday, 17th December

Finally in the week before Christmas and how’s it going for you in terms of your exercising and eating?

It’s always a “finally” moment for all of those who have given up the ghost for their training in 2012. I must say i am lucky to train a relatively large number of individuals right up until christmas eve, as most people i am involved with now know the benefits of training all the way through.

If you expected some piece today about me agreeing with those of you who want to knock their training on the head right now, and pig out on mince pies and all the alcohol you can muster, then no, i’m really not going to do that.

I like to think i am very understanding but agreeing with people so they can feel out of breath, put lots of weight on, and feel nowhere NEAR as good as they normally do is a point of principle for me. I remember a lot of years ago that i had a couple of weeks off myself, and felt so bad that i said i WOULD never do that EVER again, the pain was really do much!!!

Those of you who are continuing to train (and there a many of you) have your monthly measurement come up. This is awfully brave of you late into december when everyone else seems to be losing their heads, but the feedback i get from most of you is that still doing your monthly measurement keeps you off the sugary and fatty foods, it keeps you exercising and in general keeps your standard very high.

If you’re involved in our way of doing things, then i take my hat off to you all who don’t want to be part of the crowd who are falling for all the christmas massive excess, and really want to fight it and stay in great shape ALL YEAR ROUND!!!

The choices are there for you, no excuses to get totally out of shape after working so hard all year!!!

Twitt
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Friday, 14th December

For more uplifting cycling workouts that you may or may not have time for this year, it’s time to get specific about your cycling efforts and with it you can save a bundle of time!!

Most pro cyclists will work at a specific revolution per minute. When you see the rpm screen on a bike machine for example, try and work out your intensity by concentrating on that particular part of the screen.

The desired number you need to look for is the magic figure of 80. If you can cycle at this intensity, then you know you should be getting some good workouts in. It doesn’t really matter on the difficulty level on the bike, that level has to match your ability to keep 80rpm up full stop!

It may seem easy or relatively easy for the first minute, but i guarantee that you will start feeling it far earlier than a normal workout!!! Keeping at the 80 rpm is extremely difficult after a while, but if you practice working at this level, you are likely to become a far better cyclist.

Another tip to become a good cyclist is work heavily on your core. Work with the swiss ball three times a week working on a mixture of back strengthening and flexibility exercises, this will enable you to cycle harder up hills and to keep up an intensity level up for longer.

Most people do not realise the amount of work that goes through your back when you cycle especially up inclines/hills of all kinds.

Working on your core is the number one to increase power, endurance and explosive strength for your cycling efforts so i wouldn’t keep ignoring this very valuable piece of training advice. Most of my programmes now put a heavy focus on all sorts of core exercises, due to the fact that you should consider internal benefits of exercise, and not just the cosmetic side. Look after your insides and your outsides will look after themselves.

Twitt