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Thursday, 8th November

Short termism is never usually a good idea, but there is one area where you may need to reconsider!

One of the biggest reasons i have found that people fail in their health and fitness plans is sometimes looking TOO far ahead.

If you tell people from the outset that they HAVE to eat well for the rest of their lives, they HAVE to exercise for a certain amount every day for the rest of their lives, then the reaction usually can be somewhat negative to say the least!!!

When i have set different challenges up for people i train, the overall best participant is usually the one who tells me that the key to success for them was simply taking one day at a time.

They found that even looking one week ahead was often too much of a challenge. One day was the most they could think of, as there was so much going on in the rest of their lives, they didnt was diet and exercise to overtake their lives!

Taking one day at a time also helps you get into routine, and keep routine.

By that i mean you get used to eating well and exercising sooner than you think, and it can get an addictive feeling.

You will recognise the different feeling you get between being idle and exercising.

You will know the feeling you get when you eat well, and when you eat junk!

So what you are doing the whole time is presenting an alternative lifestyle to yourself. One is refreshing, makes you look and feel better. The other makes you feel lethargic the whole time, and makes your appearance deteriorate pretty quickly, as well as hurt your internal health, probably the biggest consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle!!!

Practice the one day at a time theory, it seems to work in a big way for your longer term success too!!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 7th November

A big congratulations to the 44th president of the united states, and one thing that has been consistent of the last few presidents is their priority on their exercise programmes!

Obama is a super keen sports fan, he lifts a lot of weights, he run, he loves cycling and likes nothing more than a game of basketball when he can with staff and friends at the white house, or wherever he is in the world!!!

George Bush senior and junior were very keen weight trainers. George Bush junior was known to be surprisingly strong with bench press his favourite lift, and was thought to be able to lift in excess of 250 pounds, no mean feat as most of us would know!!!

George Bush in 1992 was a very keen runner too, preferring distance work and he often said it allowed him “thinking time” away from the pressures of being the most powerful man on the planet!

Bill clinton, who in many people’s eyes was the country’s greatest ever president was famed for his running WHEREVER he was. He would often have his entire entourage running with him, and clinton loved having a white towel around his neck to mop up the sweat!!!

Clinton again knew the value of weight training and always hit the white house gym, and often hired out entire private gym’s in various cities around the world.

We have talked about the presidents, but the stafff underneath are just as keen to train, almost the entire list of vice-presidents over the last 30 years have been and continue to be extremely keen exercisers.

The reason for all of this is much more than vanity. Exercise increases one’s concentration levels 100%, it makes you think clearer and gives you energy 24 hours a day. These leaders were/are famed for existing on not a lot of sleep, it takes a lot of energy to lead the most powerful nation on the planet and they will use every advantage known to man to make a success of it!!!

A key element of people who want to be successful is making sure they are fit and healthy, goes without saying surely!!!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 6th November

The US election takes centre stage today for most of the world, and the effects could be dramatic for the strongest and most powerful nation on the planet.

Unfortunately, that last statement has less and less truth in it as the years go by.

Too many people have become disillusioned with any government to make a real difference in people’s lives-and this is very sad and makes too many in society give up hope.

Of course some people have to rely on the government for help, often with good reason, not everyone is a “scrounger” as perhaps the daily mail/express would have you believe. Government is a good backstop for many people that society chooses “not to help”.

When it comes to becoming healthier, we in the UK and in the US of course, have a tremendous obesity problem that is a ticking time bomb for our NHS and ObamaCare in the US.

Despite the government trying to help through public health campaigns which are admirable, the obesity percentages seem to be continuing to skyrocket!

The plain simple facts are that it is almost all down to us as individuals to be healthy, to get in shape, to turn our lives around and to eat well.

We secretly know if we are overeating, a year in year out weight gain will show us we need to eat less and food less in refined sugars and saturated fats.

If we are then aching from all of the extra bodyweight we have accumulated over the years in terms of aching joints and limbs, then isn’t it time we took responsibility for our own actions and got an exercise plan together?!!!

Every single person i have ever trained who has been in a deep hole to begin with, has benefitted IMMENSELY from taking on a healthy, active lifestyle, has usually lost quite a lot of weight, has reduced significantly their body fat, have strengthened their heart rate considerably and from all of this, have become a much more confident and energetic person that have gone on to set and usually achieve much bigger goals in their lives!!!

So the election doesn’t really matter so much anymore, its about what responsibility you take on, and how you responnd to my/your own challenge to finally take control of your own health!!!

Twitt
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Monday, 5th November

Benchmark workouts are a major consideration when it comes to all sorts of situations in your life.

Life isn’t always the same, things crop up, trips happen overseas, layoffs can happen for whatever reason, and the last thing you want to happen is not know where you are in physical and health terms full stop.

Easy ways off checking your health including buying a blood pressure machine, i like to do it every 4 weeks for everyone i train, sometimes more frequently for those who i am really concerned about.

In physical terms, you can measure your waist and hips once a month, you will need to be alarmed if your waist does go up, and then you can alter your diet and training programme to bring it back down.

The “benchmark workout” idea is one which i use every week on most people, and this lets us know straight away exactly where we are.

Someone i train who has been touring america for 3 months got his first workout in today. I put him on one of HIS benchmark workouts, and the results were quite staggering!

Bear in mind that this workout is one which he normally gets through without too much of a problem. It consists of around 300 press ups total in the workout split into 20’s at a time, some step sprints, some backward running up hills etc.

Today, he found it extremely tough indeed!

He has been used to doing 3 shows a day, which is demanding physically of course, but got used to the sugary cereals and breakfasts in the states, and the lack of genuinely plain, sugar free nutritious food that he was accustomed to has hurt his energy levels now he’s back to normal.

This has led to him becoming not so energetic now he is back home, and the benchmark workout reminded him exactly where he was!!!

If you don’t have standards you can measure against, then you will never know or appreciate where you are!!!

This is something to consider when you work out what level you want to be at!!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 1st November

New York is certainly in the headlines this week, with the devastation of probably the biggest storm in the last 100 years hitting it extremely hard.

The destructive power of water and wind is very much in evidence and we wish all the best in their recovery efforts, I have friends there and hope they come back strong soon!

The only downside about visiting the states in my experience, and a lot of people’s experience is the abundance of sugary foods there. Breakfast time for example is traditionally a choice between pancakes full of sugar and sour cream, there are traditional fried options although never as good as our versions, and a marathon of strong coffee options!

Then the cereal options are very high in sugar, and it really seems a tough job especially in eastern states to get something plain and simple. Southern California can be a refreshing and a very healthy change!

The problem is if you fall for all of these options, its easy to get addicted to sugar again!

It can take weeks when you get back from a trip to get your taste buds back to normal, but you won’t shed the weight until you do.

This country is catching it up quickly though, as most of us know, you can forget most of the aisles in the supermarket because they are filled with sugary rubbish!

Obesity is continuing to get higher and higher, because there is a point when some people simply “give up” and can’t be bothered to eat well anymore, or try to eat well, because they have fallen for so many faddy diets that have never worked in the longer term for them, their attempts at exercise have often been futile and this has been caused by all the false information out there, which often destroys people’s health and lives when they get to this unfortunate “giving up phase”!

Its vital then that your food consumption should be a plain and simple as possible, especially when cooking. Cook from scratch when you can (you will know what’s going into the food!), eat natural and fresh when possible and avoid anything high in refined sugar and saturated fat.

This vital strategy will only help your training efforts, and keep your taste buds healthy and not attract you to food that ultimately will pile the weight on and possibly bring diabetes on!

Twitt