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Monday, 1st July

July brings a fresh batch of challenges in terms of training improvements.

You will be usually be in one of two camps.

The first one is the attitude of taking it easy just because it’s july and july is a month of holidays, finishing school for example, stop fortnight for factories, and the weather is usually much warmer and sunnier too (sometimes!). This camp will usually miss a lot of workouts, start drinking alcohol in the week, generally eat much more poorly than normal, and justify all the weight gain on “the time of year”.

The other camp is the one where you have people either who are about to go on holidays, or have just been away. They are now dead keen to get back into their training, they are hitting their workouts hard, never miss a session and maybe about to start pre-season rugby or football. This camp associates july with hard work, tough workouts, and have got accustomed to working out in warmer temperatures, and have got to the stage they actually relish it.

The first camp end up piling on the weight, and often take a long time to get back into their training after their holiday. These are the inconsistent ones who never achieve anywhere like their potential.

The second camp are the more serious trainer, who are used to seeing results and are prepared to keep putting the results in.

July is a critical month for you to change your attitude and mindset to set yourself up for a month of great results, and the months to follow after that. Don’t settle for a lazy july, instead change the course for the rest of the year right now by showing up all the time this month and making every workout count!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 19th june

Last great day of the week in weather terms today maybe, but you should use it to your fitness advantage.

The british lions recently played a rugby match in hong kong, and most players agreed that it was the most humid, and hottest place they had ever played rugby. Anyone who has been to hong kong will testify that to be true, and the humidity is unlike anything you will experience.

I was in hong kong in 1994 and have never felt so uncomfortable staying still even!

We haven’t got anywhere near like the temperatures of places like hong kong, and will never achieve the humidity, BUT these temperatures we have right now (likely to reach 26 degrees today) do help us with our fitness.

The lions medical team said as much with the game in hong kong on how training and playing in such intense conditions would benefit their players in the weeks to come.

If you get used to training well on a day/night like today, then when it gets cooler you should be able to train at a higher level.

The one BIG THING I can say to be cautious about all of this warm weather training is drink water regularly throughout the day, and in particular THROUGHOUT your training session. Training in warm weather without water is downright dangerous!!! Please do not train without water, I hate to repeat myself but I have to over-emphasise this!!!

Hopefully, we are now out of the stage where you avoid training just because it is sunny and warm too! Its time to have a professional approach to your training if you are really serious about your training and health, and this is what this blog is about every single day, to encourage you to be healthier, fitter and perform at the best of your ability to help you reach your goals quicker!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 18th June

Psychology plays a vital and all important role in everything we do.

If we think we can achieve something, then we are right.

If we think we really can’t achieve something, then we are also right.

That sounds stupid but nothing has ever been more true.

If you think you can do something, then your body and mind will do everything it can to do so. Your brain will send signals to your body to work a little harder, to engage yourself in a more positive way, and you will be likely to take constant action in order for you to get there. You will be building on positive stepping stones all the time, and you will take massive encouragement from your little successes along the way to create one big massive success!

You will hardly miss a workout, your supermarket shop will be full of good food, natural when possible and full of nutrients that will help your body become more energetic, and develop a level of vitality that you have never had before. You will make sure you hit the sack early most nights making sure you are well rested, and ready to give it another big effort the next day. Success is coming your way if you adopt such habits.

When you turn it the other and you never believe you can do anything, in fact you flat out believe you can’t do anything, then you will definitely go out of your way at times NOT to do things.

For instance, if you are wanting to get into great shape but believe there is no way you can do this, then you will practice unhelpful habits. You will start missing workouts, you will start putting junk into your shopping trolley as “one won’t really matter” when it always leads to several. You will be down on yourself frequently and this downward spiral will usually lead to you eventually quitting your programme, only to start it a few months later again and without success if you still keep the same negative belief system.

You can that whatever you believe to be true is where you are likely to head. Leave yourself one option and that’s the positive one!!

Twitt
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Friday, 14th June

A common misconception with different training methods and different exercises is that you are only “supposed” to do certain movements based on your goals.

For example, if you are trying to lose body fat, trying to increase your speed, then you don’t need to do much weight training, and power exercises are totally not necessary!!

This is the big mistake that many people walk into.

Power and speed are very closely related, and you cannot have one without the other. This is why i always put these power movements in every programme, because of the strength it gives you all over. Bodyweight exercises for example involve total power. Your core has to take a lot of the strain and will deliver a lot of power throughout your body.

Boxing requires a lot of power, and this is one great discipline for getting you a lot faster and gets you shedding body fat quicker than just about anything else. Boxing is a great addition to your training programme for speed and power without a shadow of a doubt.

People used to say that weight training slowed you down, we now know that the opposite is in fact true! If done properly, weight training can revolutionalise your speed and power.

One of the best training techniques is sprinting, and if you have done it you will realise its all about power. Why do people sprint? Because they want to get quicker of course!

Power exercises should be embedded in your programme and never leave if you want to be stronger and faster in just about anything you want to do!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 13th June

The bad rap that carbohydrates have got over the last few years can be seen as totally unjustified.

You had the atkins diet some years ago banning “everything carb” related with the focus very much on protein only.

This fad lasted longer than most people thought, and at one time jacket potatoes were seen very much the enemy, and pasta was like the anti-christ!

Fortunately though, sanity prevailed and the atkins diet crashed and burned for many people, and some people had horrendous experiences from going through it.

Carbs can be a problem in weight gain if you eat too much of them and the wrong type. By the wrong type I mean the simple sugar version. White pasta for example contains a lot more sugar than wholegrain pasta does.

Brown rice will be better for you than white rice.

Wholemeal bread is a million times better for you than white bread and so on.

So the type of carbs you eat is all important in giving you the energy you need without all the simple sugars that will put weight on you.
Then the serving size becomes all important. Most people put weight on with carbs because they eat too much of them, plain and simple! Eat too much of anything and you will have a weight gain problem.

Your carb serving should be the size of your fist, so a plate full of pasta is overdoing it. This is why you should combine your pasta with a protein source, not only to bulk up your meal to keep you fuller for longer. Some vegetables chopped up will also will go very well with your meal, and give you endless benefits.

So please see that carbs are never the enemy, but it’s a matter of picking the right ones and in the right sensible
amount.

Twitt