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Monday 11th March

The recent wave of illness is a stark reminder on why we do this thing in the first place.

When we feel ill, we will do anything to feel anywhere like normal again! When we feel ill, its a sharp reminder sometimes of how much better we could have eaten, in terms of fruit and vegetables we could have consumed to have fought the germs that have invaded our bodies. We have a large level of bacteria in our bodies anyway, but im talking about the germs responsible for getting us a fever, the flu or stomach bug or whatever we may have now.

This is why we talk about our immune system so much on here, its times like these that talking about our health as a whole becomes so important.

If you think that all there is to talk about all day is simply losing weight and looking better, then you must be greatly mistaken and you need to re-evaluate what you are doing, and why you are doing it.

You have to accept the facts that the foods you eat have amazing qualities, and a whole range of benefits.

Of course, you want to look better, thats of vital importance. More important than that though is your overall health, and eating as many natural foods in their natural state will serve you very well. The right foods will revitalise you, will energise you, will make you more resilient in the face of illness and infection, and help you recover from even the most demanding workouts!!!

If you make sleep a priority too, because this is when you truly recover and replenish your energy stocks, replace and repair your broken down tissue after a long day and maybe a tough workout, then you will be very much on the right path to having an extremely tough immune system!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 7th March

There sometimes is confusion of what I say in terms of food recommendations, most people seem to get it but its worth me going through it again with a few basics, and giving you what some people have “thought” I meant. Its easy to make mistakes on foods, so im bring some clarity here so there’s no doubt!

When it comes to milk, I do mean skimmed milk and at worst semi-skimmed milk. I DO NOT mean full fat blue top milk as some have thought. This choice alone can make a big difference to your diet, fat gain/fat loss, general health so sort it out and you advance quickly.

When I say tea and coffee is fine, I mean up to 3 cups a day, I do not mean several which can make you more irritable, dehydrate you and make poor snack choices such as biscuits with tea etc.

When it comes to red meat, its got to be once a week maximum, and the butcher will not mind at all giving you the leanest cuts, with most of the cut taken out.

When I say alcohol is fine in moderation, I mean once a week. I don’t mean a couple of glasses every day, I don’t mean drinking hard liquor just to cut calories such as gin, vodka, whisky which can be highly toxic to your body when drunk in excess. Wine may be more calories, but it travels easier through your body and is far less toxic.

When I say sip water throughout the day, and aim to get at least 1.5 litres a day in, I do not mean just drink one small bottle a day, this is only 0.5 litres and if you are training, you will easily need more than 1.5 litres. Get in the habit of drinking water throughout the day, and definitely through your workouts, your performances and wellbeing depend on it!

Just a few here but many more to sort out tomorrow!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 4th March

Commitment to making a difference to yourself starts by making your first workout, and promising to make every single one thereafter (providing you’re not ill of course).

You can often tell the individuals who won’t be successful in reaching their goals, due to level of excuses they make not to make their sessions, and the lengths they go to avoid working hard and eating well.

Lets make no mistake about it, I really believe that everyone is full of good intentions at the start, but you soon find out who’s who as their programme moves along.

I like to think 99.9% of people I train are committed, and when periods of doubt enter their heads (which is perfectly natural), then I am able to work something out so they stay on course and they re-focus and are able to keep progressing at the pace they want.

Those people are unable to reach any level of commitment and use excuses more than once such as “my alarm didn’t go
off”, “ I was up all night”, “I had to work on”, “I have a slight sniffle” etc etc and always blame other people are gently let go and are told that they are not ready for big success in their programme, and to come back in the future when they have sorted out their true commitment levels.

If im giving 100% to someone and they don’t give it back, then we are both wasting our time.

Perhaps that person would be better off going through the process of fad dieting, so called wonder results and lose some weight, and then put all the weight back on (plus 5% more according to scientific studies), then they may appreciate that doing in the RIGHT WAY does take some commitment if you want to get REAL RESULTS.

I spoke to a woman on Saturday who said her slimming class had already gone empty after the initial rush in January had long since gone. The leader of the class said though don’t worry, some would be back in may to lose weight for summer, then gone by june, and back by late November to lose weight by Christmas, and this was the SAME EVERY YEAR!!! An example of a bad and unsustainable business lacking in integrity if ever I saw one!

No wonder these slimming classes never work long term and only create misery for people as 97% of their members out all the weight back on and more.

The folly of this is good for some to go through as I said to appreciate the right way to do things, and this is why I will forever offer long lasting, real results that last a lifetime. The good news is also I will continue to show these diet club charlatans up for what they are.

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 1st March

If you have had an inside dominated programme all winter, then that is totally understandable given the cold, wet and icy weather we have had this year.

Doing the same kind of training though all year round is a recipe for getting stale, getting medicore results, and not reaching your potential.

I love to mix all of my training up, and give a nice split between inside and outside training, both of these have their big advantages.

The inside training means you can always get a session in, no matter what the weather in a safe, usually warmer environment.

There should be a range of options available inside too, at the gym in burry port we have lots of different options, and we are exactly the opposite of the traditional gym where you either to cardio on a treadmill or bike, then maybe a little bit of weights.

Of course, we love to do weights still, and we love traditional cardio too. Now though, we love to mix it all up, throw in some rope work, medicine ball work, bosu ball exercise, a range of aggressive and rehab work on roller’s and other balance related exercises.

Then the gym moves outside, especially this time of year with tyres, sledges, and a whole range of speed and agility work with some sandbags thrown in too.

This time of year is absolutely perfect to start if you haven’t yet, to get the fresh air into your lungs again, to appreciate what it feels like training outdoors and the intoxicating feeling that can bring.

By changing this around, you will freshen everything up, be working with the latest science of training, and getting incredible and never seen before results for your body.

March 1st should signal the start of a new challenging but rewarding period in your physical development.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 27th February

I train a lot of people who sit around for 8 hours a day. I don’t mean they do not work hard, what I do mean is that this sitting around lifestyle in the work environment can have a harmful long term effect on one’s health.

Apart from our exercise sessions together, here’s some tips I have offered them to increase their healthy experience at work.

a. Instead of sitting on a normal office chair, some of my clients will sit on an exercise ball at their desk for 30 mins at a time. This will engage their core far more, strengthening key areas and can be great to break the monotony of life in an office.

b. To start their day, I tell them to make sure they have a bottle of water right by them. Living on coffee, tea and diet coke is no way to spend those 8 hours by the desk. Not drinking enough water will decrease performance in the office and your workouts, it will ruin your concentration and in general your body wont work so well. This is a fundamental area you may need to improve.

c. Try and get a small fridge in work. This helps you keep your foods fresh, and gives you more variety in your food choices at work. Eating foods that are fresh is far more appealing and keeps you firmly on track in your healthy eating. Water also tastes better and fresher cooler, especially on the summer days to come. A small fridge is an excellent investments between a few of your work colleagues.

d. Keep your training shoes under the desk. Everyone needs a break, and going for a 10-15 minute brisk walk will do you far more good than a diet drink or coffee! It will refresh you, make you feel better and you will come back to your desk with renewed energy and concentration.

Working in an office is no excuse to put weight on, most jobs are sedentary these days, so this makes your workouts even more important!

Twitt