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Monday, 5th August

Monday is the day when most people get really back into their eating, and by that I mean eating good healthy clean food every meal.

At the weekend, your food choices are likely to be haphazard with the word “treat” creeping into your conversation!

So it’s Monday today, the day you are truly 100% committed to eating healthily.

You will notice the difference in performance you have today when you eat well.

At the weekend when your food is not so good, you will usually feel far more lethargic and you will want to nap and sleep more in general. This is due to feeding your body foods and drink that don’t go through your body well, in other words you don’t and cannot digest inferior foods that are very low on nutrients.

Foods low on nutrients are not meant for people who want to exercise well, who want to stay healthy, who want to feel good and feel the benefits of being healthy. Those foods do not fit the bill AT ALL!

This is why today is ultra-important. You want to be on track today and be able to deliver for your body in the way it looks and you want to feel as energetic as possible surely?

This is not a time to gamble with your health, or settle for mediocre results.

This week and today is the start of another big week for you and you MUST eat well every meal today, and most of the week to get the best out of yourself! Drink enough water, get energized and the workouts will take care of themselves as you will be bouncing with lots of energy to get through your week!

Make it happen today!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 2nd August

Catherine’s comment again that “everybody seems to be on protein shakes the days” is a very relevant one, because protein shakes seem to be very much in vogue at the moment and have been for a while.

The problem comes when something seems like the the all encompassing “saviour” and its all in a shake, which makes things a lot easier for many people.

You don’t have to cook anymore at certain times of day, you will feel full for a while longer than your traditional shake, which often contains simple sugars just to make the shake taste better.

Protein shakes actually work too! They will make you feel full, they will discourage snacking needlessly, and they will give some people stability when they are all over the place with their eating habits.

So these can be big positives for a lot of people in the busy lives we all seem to live these days.

The only problem comes when people go back to eating properly, and by that I mean proper food and real meals.

If you rely just on protein shakes, then you are not really learning how to eat properly for a lifetime, there are no learning processes such as which foods work well for you, and which foods are full of hidden sugars and fat but you don’t realize it yet.

I know people who take protein shakes for a few weeks, lose weight and then say they will never come off them, but I can assure you THEY DO! Then if you come off them and as I said eat real food, then the whole trap of losing weight and piling it all back on happens all over again!

Summing it, protein shakes can be a viable tool, but use them as a balance in your day and week, don’t let them become an overwhelming factor.

Protein shakes are a million times better than the charlatans who sell other powdered drinks and bars, such as herbalife, lighter life who create longer term misery, but there is no magic solution out there apart from eating sensibly and using portion control so you don’t overeat.

Everything must balance and you need to adopt a longer term sustainable plan.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 31st July

Two obsessions with people trying to lose weight that can be counter-productive, are how many calories you burn in each workout and how many calories you take in during the day.

Two examples of a workout can bring surprising results would be the following.

If you just do 300 calories of work on a stationery bike, and then you do 300 calories walking on a treadmill, then obviously this should lead to a 600 calorie workout.

If you worked out hard with weights with real intensity, and you did some boxing afterwards, you may only burn 400-500 calories.

So which one best? Both I have to say are very good for you!

In terms of OVERALL calorie burn, it is easy.

Aerobic only type of workouts such as the bike and treadmill will burn extra calories when you stop exercising for 12 extra hours.

Weight bearing and higher intensity exercise will burn calories when you stop exercising for a further 36-48 hours!!

So you can see which one gets your metabolism going higher and for longer.

The same with your food. You can eat a curry and a pint of lager a day only and take in 1200 calories.

If you take in a higher quality of food and drink, such as fruit, whole grains, vegetables, lean protein sources such as chicken, fish etc, then you can easily take in 1800 calories and still look far better, and feel better too!

So you can see its about the quality of your calorie burn, and your calorie intake will make ALL the difference!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 29th July

Due to various questions and requests I have had over the last couple of years writing this thing, I have decided to start uploading videos and showing some demonstrations on how to do certain exercises.

There is often a variety of ways to do the same exercise, and I wanted to take that doubt away from many of you on how exactly you need to be doing certain movements.

Then there has been a lot of questions about all the outside activities we do outside the gym.

I am talking about all the speed and agility we do with ladders, and what variations are best to use to get your speed improved greatly.

Then what are the benefits of running with parachutes and how to use them?

How do we use bungee ropes to their full benefit, and what combinations should you use?

Why do we use so much variety with those big tractor tyres?

What about those big girders weighing 60kg per hand?!!

What’s the correct way to sledgehammer? How high do you need to go, and which tyres do you smash them on?

What about the new Prowler 2 that everyone seems to be setting new records on? How beneficial is it and what exercises should you do on it?

What about the work on swiss balls? What are its true aims and what is the complete exercise range?

These questions are just the start so look forward to video guidance as soon as we can get it together!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 23rd July

Now that the very warm weather seems to have subsided a little bit for the moment, its time to focus on your own personal best’s and standards you have in training.

For example, if you have managed to train through the extreme temperatures, then the first thing you will notice now is your ability to work a lot harder than usual.

I had several sprint sessions last night, and everyone seemed to be performing better than ever, even though it was hot but not quite so hot as it has been, and there was a lovely breeze last night which meant conditions were far better than at any time for the last 3 weeks or so.

The weather has cooled down a lot today, with the threat of flooding! You should look at this as a further opportunity to get back to your highest standards, and start hitting your big numbers again.

In most cases, the last 3 weeks of extremely warm weather has been about simply “surviving” the weather, now is your chance to feel the boost to your body that a period like that will give to your body is done sensibly. As I said at the time, many top athletes in the winter purposely seek out warm weather destinations so they can actively boost their performances by training in very warm weather.

When they come back, they not only feel invigorated, but they feel that their performance level has been raised considerably.

Warm weather can be a benefit and a nightmare.

It’s a benefit when you hydrate properly, be sensible about training in extreme heat, and generally get through it steadily rather than going over the top.

It is a nightmare for many when they don’t drink enough water, don’t eat enough food and do over the top efforts in extremely hot temperatures.

So see the last 3 weeks as your very own warm weather “camp”, and you should begin to see the benefits very soon in your own personal performance level.

Twitt