Posted on

Thursday, 14th March

Anyone who trains with me will know that we work on the latest scientific research of training all of the time. Things change and there’s always exciting things happening.

Then you will know we focus so much on balance, brain muscle communication, agility, strength and speed in particular, which will lead to endurance, very good conditioning and outstanding health (which is the most important thing!).

Which leads us to the much discussed conversation on which is better? Free weights and natural movements or machines?

Free weights and natural movements will always win because they go with the body needs to NATURALLY move. The movements we do mimic movements we do in daily life, and this is of vital importance to get you through the rest of your life in good shape and avoid serious injury or immobility problems, which unfortunately affect most people as they get older. Prepare well by doing a whole host of natural movements on a daily basis and weekly basis, and your long term health will seem much brighter.

Machines on the other keep you working on one plane of motion, and can lead to repetitive strain if done over a long period of time. Machines because of their limited range of motion will give you exactly that, LIMITED results, limited mobility and limited flexibility, all far more important than you think.

Its a shame that when these machines started being really popular in the 80’s, that most gyms still consider them viable.

The science of training has moved on light years since then, and most machines apart from a couple needs to be thrown in the scrap.

The sooner you get out of machine based training and get into whats happening in the real scientific forms of training, then you will improve in every single area of your body, your balance, your reaction time and your strength and agility!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 12th March

Spring has formally started for me in terms of getting outside and working out hard in the fresh air. You may find that a strange comment on another brutally cold day, but the facts are that it is light at 610am to get some great cycling, and running workouts in. It is light also to around 620pm which opens a whole host of outside options in the evening!

I love using the agility ladders outside, hurdles, harnesses, cones and markers to create all sorts of new speed and agility workouts, and this fresh weather is great for getting the parachute on and testing our sprinting prowess to brand new levels and limits.

If you have been stuck in an office or a car all day, then there is nothing more liberating that flipping tractor tyres, getting the sledghammer out to give your core a thorough going over, and all of this work will certainly blow away all the cobwebs you would have built up from being stuck in an office all day!

All of this outside training we do at the gym in burry port in particular, is the best for stress relief you can get. This is the feedback i get all the time, FROM MALES AND FEMALES.

Its a shame, a big shame that many women restrict themsevles to “traditional” female training in most gyms. Doing the cross trainer or the treadmill or the bike, and maybe a couple of sets with some dumbbells is criminally unimaginative in this day and age when exercise science has moved on so much!!!

I tell people all the time that the majority of individuals i train are women, and the hardest trainers are usually women too, often putting the guys efforts in the shade!!!

This is why training outside is great for men and women, and the exercises i mentioned will bring massive benefits to both, and this is what matters to all of you!!!

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

Tuesday, February 19th

A lot was made yesterday in the press, about certain cereals and high fibre foods not actually telling us the total number of calories in the product.

This is another example to avoid foods that contain chemicals that we don’t really know anything about.

Muesli is a great example of this. The full sugar and full fat version are a nightmare for you if you are tryiing to drop body fat, in fact they are bad news if you are even trying to maintain a healthy weight!! They will drive body fat on to your frame quicker than you can say excess sugar and salt!!

You shouldn’t bundle all of these products and cereals into the same pile though!

I have always said that products such a weetabix and shredded wheat will always be good, because all they contain is wheat and the keep you away from dangerous chemicals and needless extra chemicals. You can’t go wrong with these.

You do need to avoid though variations of these products, when sugary coatings or/and sugary versions of fruit are added to the products. This is a perfect example of how to mess up a good cereal and make it no longer healthy for you!

Same with porridge, one of my favourites! I love porridge and eat it twice a day! Plain rollled oats with no additives are great and will give you long lasting energy, no catches with this one and no sugar, salt or saturated fat!

The problem starts when we add the sugary versions of sugar, the apple pie and blueberry pies versions for example. Al NO GOOD for you!!!

You need to keep it plain and simple with cereal, stick to the intended natural version and add natural ingredients to it, such as chopped fruit and or dried fruit with no added sugar.

Twitt