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Monday, 2nd April

Planning your week starts here and how you have lived your weekend is probably critical to that.

Personally, I had very little sleep due to little children not sleeping, but it still didn’t stop me getting some good exercise sessions in, I just adjusted the way I do things.

Instead of going on my normal 35 minute run, I turned it into a 15 minute slow climb up one of the nightmare hills that overlook Burry Port. I actually see it as “wonderful training route” and not something to be scared of in any way.

This hill gives me high intensity for 15 minutes, and the results are always tremendous. I feel fresh oxygen flooding my body all the way up, this gives me more power and energy for the day, and the weekend it was really needed.

If any of you have been in hospital for any reason that you require an oxygen mask put on you, this will make you realise how important it is. The jolt this can give your immune system can be very valuable, so any time you can try to create this in a natural environment makes perfect sense.

So its Monday all of a sudden after a tough weekend, but the way you have treated your body the weekend, whatever your circumstance will be critical on how you get through today’s workout, to my mind the most important workout of the week that will undoubtedly shape the rest of your week!

Most of us like to have a bit of what we fancy the weekend, whether it’s a couple of glasses of wine, a couple of beers, our favourite “cheat” meal, our favourite cake etc etc. This is good in my view because you would crazy if you didn’t have what you fancied now and again.

Its been proven time and time again if you deprive yourself of treats TOO much, then you are likely to crash and burn, and end up in some almighty that will blow all the good work you have been doing over a period of time.

So if you have these treats on a Saturday, your Sunday morning exercise becomes even more important, in terms of flushing out the toxins and “re-booting” your body in time for today’s workout, in other words getting you primed for a big performance which propels your body into fresh improvements, which after all is what we are all after!!mjn

Twitt
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Monday

A familiar story came my way today, and i’m sure some of you who have experienced it will feel the same way.

A lady i train wanted to get some extra training in at the weekend, so invited her friend along.

Her friend had recently joined a gym and had been telling her how much cycling she was doing, not traditioninal cycling as we know it but she was attending “spinning” classes and was raving about them constantly.

Let me point out straight away that i really congratulate anyone on going to spinning classes, and most i know will highly enjoy them greatly. Lets get that out of the way!!!

Well anyway, the two of them went for bike ride on the coastal path and got through approximately ten miles in total of cycling.

The lady i train was a little frustrated because she had to wait constantly for her friend despite her spinning experience.

The ten miles took not far off three hours, which is more than a little surprising.

Her friend was constantly complaining how hard it was, despite there being absolutely no hills.

This clearly shows the spinning classes didnt do a great deal compared to the benefits of “real” cycling!

I had another lady who used to train in another gym and the same thing happened. She claimed to be well versed in spinning and was looking forward to our outdoor cycling.

The results were more than disappointing and i frankly wondered what the heck she had been doing in these classes?

The bottom line is that you cannot beat real cycling in the outdoors, real running in the outdoors and not the treadmill, real walking and not the treadmill.

You should know by now that i am not a big machine fan, and i like to do things the proper way, i’m about hard work and no shortcuts, i’m about results and not about trying to fool you with false marketing.

Whenever you talk to your friends about training in the future, judge how hard they work by what they actually do, and not how trendy their gym is or how long they train for!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 21st March

We talked about the value of training yesterday, and by that we meant “quality” training.

I have bumped into people today also who have talked about the importance of different types of training and activities, and how they will bring you yet more results.

This lady i train is suffering from shin splints, and i advised her to keep off the walking for the moment, even though she has a walking marathon in london in 8 weeks. She is now doing a variety of other work with me, so she gets in incredibly good shape, without straining herself.

She has become a very good cyclist in the meantime too, so her fitness levels have reached new highs even though she has an injury. On the weekend, i have told her to go to the pool and use a float again, and just use her legs to complete widths or even lengths. Anyone who has done all of this will find it incredibly tough, but will give a super workout that tests you to the limit without putting any undue strain on.

Another workout i have scheduled for her is underwater walking, which again is very difficult but will bring her some impressive fitness gains. There is ALWAYS a way around an injury, all you have to do is use your imagination and the sky’s the limit!!

Another person i saw today is a policeman, and he had to chase down a criminal this week for the first time in a while.

When he caught him, he had to wrestle and that means grappling with this criminal and using muscles he hadn’t used for a while. He found it okay if a little tiring at the time, but for a couple of days later he was incredibly stiff! Again this is down to challenging your body in a completely different way!!

 The great news is that your body will get huge benefits out of changing your programme around continuously, also it can be a lot more fun.

Give it a go and see how much you enjoy it!!!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 20th March

The number of exercises is definitely not important in your workout.

You could do 30 different exercises in your workout, yet perhaps you wouldn’t have worked out close to your potential. You could do just 4 exercises in your workout and you could have the biggest and best blast you have ever had!

It all comes down to how much you put into your workout, and good exercise selection DOES help.

If you pick the biggest and best exercises that require most effort, then you’re not going to go far wrong.

Some of the exercises invented around 50-100 years ago are often the best, and require the most work and effort. They are like the cabbage of exercises, you don’t really like it but you know its going to be good for you!

Most youngsters for example when it comes to packing on muscular size, will become obsessed with all the fancy machines and they think that in these machines lies the answer to looking like the incredible hulk!

 Nothing could be further from the truth and I often steer them away from these machines on to a tried and tested programme of 6-8 exercises, that if done regularly, will bring truly massive results!!!

When it comes to running, I try and get people away from long tedious run on concrete surfaces on to sprints up tough hills and nicer surfaces such as grass, and more demanding surfaces such as sand. The difference can be incredible!!!

When it comes to long boring swims, I set length targets designed to beat previous bests.

When it comes to cycles, I set specific courses, push for more interval training and get some hills thrown in, variety is the key here.

When you think variety and performance, you don’t have to do a ton of different exercises, its all about the effort you put in and the thought you put into your programme when you’re looking for superior results.

Twitt
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Monday, 19th March 2012

Another monday and you know that should mean a great workout to get you fully into your week, get you movitated and get you fired up for the monday to friday days that are essential for getting a good block of training in.

Whatever way you care to do it, just make sure you do. If you rely on a training partner, then make sure he or she turns up and that they are reliable and never let you down, a common training partner problem!!

If you have a certain ritual that you do before training that makes it a successful one, then please keep it up and keep it going.

You have more light than ever now this time of year, its around 645pm before it gets dark and its very light at 6am when you get up, you do not have any excuse now surely to get yourself going. Take all your excuses out of your life and i find the best way of doing that is exercising early before work, that gets the job done early and you will start the day in a very positive way!!!

Its a monday and hope you have planned things well. If you are working with weights tonight, then plan your other weights sessions for wednesday and friday to give your body a rest. Your cardio work can be done on tuesday, thursday and sunday ideally to make sure you make the most out of every session.

If you plan properly, then you will leave absolutely nothing to chance and you are pretty much guaranteed a good week!

Same with your food, plan to eat fresh and natural foods from monday to friday and have a big of what you fancy at the weekend. This will easily mean you eat well 80% of the time or even more, guaranteeing yet more results and big benefits.

Dont over-complicate it and make good things happen in your life, simplicity will always work for you!!!

Twitt