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Wednesday, 1st February

Nice to see that hill training is coming back into fashion these days with most of the world’s top athletes telling us that this form of training has been their cornerstone for years.

Dai Greene, the world champion hurdler from Llanelli, admitted the other day in the press that he credits hill sprints and in particular, sprints up sand dunes as the most important part of his training to develop him into a world class athlete.

Andre Agassi was famous for doing 900 yard runs up Las Vegas sand dunes to bring him back from the dead in terms of his pro career, he made it back from 141 in the world all the way back to number one by working so hard in his time going up sandy hills!!

Whatever goal you are looking for when it comes to fitness, hill sprints will work in a big way for you.

If hill sprints are beyond you, try and start on hill WALKS instead, but still trying to get up the hill as soon as you can.

Here’s the way it should go.

First of all, try picking the very worst hill you can find!! I mean the steepest, nastiest hill you can choose near to your home ideally and try to master it if possible. You never actually “master” it, you just get better at it, its ALWAYS going to be a challenge that’s for sure!!!

Aim to start off doing 5 walks going forwards, the try 5 walks going backwards. This forwards and backwards type motion will confuse your body a bit, and give you a far more thorough workout, and there’s nothing like it for give your legs heck of burn!!!

Each sprint should be around 30-40 yards a time, and do each one once you have got your breath back.

Start off small and slow, and then each week try and build it up a little more and see how you go.

If you manage to get up to 10 forwards and 10 backwards at a very good pace, you know you will be in great shape!!!

Twitt
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Tuesday, 31st January

The very end of the month and some of you i know have had excellent months, some of you have hardly got going for various reasons, but its never too late and theres absolutely no time to waste.

A hidden danger of inactivity and not eating so well is blood pressure problems.

A lady approached me today saying hers was going up to borderline figures, and the doctor had ordered her to do something about it.

I have had great success in the past with individuals with blood pressure issues, and i always try to apply a simple formula that works pretty much every time!

The three things you need to address are the following.

Number one is exercise. If you are not active, you are not keeping your circulation going, you are not bringing the fresh quantities of oxygen in, and your body will not function quite so well without it, this is a fact so you have every incentive to get going!

Number two is salt and salt ridden products. For example, if you cook with salt, you need to stop it right now as this will be a big help. You definitely need to stop adding salt to your food, this is a massive no-no when it comes to eating, this will push your blood pressure right up over time.

Another factor is food already prepared such as ready meals and fast food. These are always loaded with salt that will destroy you over the long term, and contribute to blood pressure problems in a big way. Take this rubbish out of your life, replace it all with fresh natural food and you will be amazed at the difference!

Number three is alcohol. If you are trying to reduce blood pressure, please either eliminate or certainly keep your alcohol to an absolute minimum!!! This will have a tremendous effect on your blood pressure, and get your internal system working far more efficiently.

I know i have been brief but change these three vital things straight away, and your blood pressure problems will significantly improve!!!

Twitt
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Monday, 30th January

Time is extremely limited for us all so you had better be making the most out of every workout you undertake!!!

Most of us never get around to everything we planned to do unfortunately, and a set of weekly workouts are definitely part of that category!

How many of you plan to exercise 4, 5 or even 6 times a week actually DO train all of these times EVERY WEEK?!!!

I think unless you’re very dedicated and have been training a long, long time, you are  not going to appreciate how tough it is at times to get through a schedule such as this.

This is why i always try to emphasise how vital it is to train at least THREE times a week, and working your WHOLE body each time you train.

Forget all of those “let’s do one body part” excuses for workouts, they DO NOT work and never really worked even in the 70’s and especially 1980’s when they were the in fashion thing to do! The people who did make them work were usually loaded up on drugs, therefore creating an uneven playing field.

Every time you hit the gym, or you do a workout outside, or you do a workout in your living room, you HAVE TO MAKE IT COUNT EVERY TIME!!!

I guarantee that if you do make it count each time and really hit it hard, and try to improve nearly every time you train, you will get the results that most people tend to get after working out 5-6 times a week of training moderately.

It’s a myth that the more you do in terms of duration the better, this simply is NOT true!

It’s the quality of work that counts and nothing else, but you have better make sure you are exercising the minimum of 3 times a week as i said!

Its nearly the end of january, so the end of excuses is here too and if you’re serious, set yourself the realistic target of training 3 times a week minimum, hit it hard during these sessions and let the big results roll in!!!

Twitt
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Wednesday, 18th January

With the weather a bit up and down, or mostly down this time of year, you have may have been faced with inside options most of the time this winter!!!

This is not always a bad thing and it will help hammer home the importance of strength training, using resistance works full stop for a million and one reasons.

I was dealing with an individual today who has had a snowboarding accident and badly damaged his shoulder.

You may think that strength training is out of the question in this case, but its never been more important for him.

We can still work the legs very hard, and this often helps bring a weak area up for most people because you can give it much more of a concentrated effort.

The shoulder has calmed down a lot now, so i have introduced some fantastic shoulder exercises. This gentleman can normally use 30 pound dumbbells for his shoulder work, i have stripped it down now right to 5 pound dumbbells! This allows me to concentrate on building up the strength of the tendons and ligaments around the shoulder, and very gradually build his strength up again.

You can never be over cautious in this type of situation, but its imperitive to get back the strength and integrity of that shoulder joint!

Contrast this with an elderly lady i train who is looking at the same five pound dumbbells, but using them in a lot of different exercises to develop her strength, and she is well into here 70’s. She is getting tremendous benefits in every area of her life now from being fitter, stronger and healthier!!!

I am not going to put an exclamation mark after that because i find these days my clients in the 70’s are usually stronger than most 40 year old’s i know, and thats no exaggeration!!!

I try to treat each and every person on their individual abilities, and not discriminate against anyone on their age in particular!!!

Whatever their age, strength training will remain paramount in my plans for them!!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 12th January

Im finding that people are now really blowing off the cobwebs in 2012, and are pushing on to new targets already.

I love getting in the first measurements in at the end of January to prove to people exactly how much progress they have made in the first month of 2012.

Having your progress assessed constantly is paramount in my book, and gives you fresh inspiration to push on to new targets for the month of February!

This January seen the best month ever for me in terms of client performance, and by that I mean my running, cycling, walking, at home, in the gym workouts have all surpassed expectations from more or less every individual.

This is what creates the adrenalin in my day and makes everything worthwhile.

I try to encourage everyone not to settle for decent results either. Of course, celebrate in the moment of good results but new targets have to set month to month, to ensure you have a great year with your health, and this ensures a fantastic quality of life!

So we have done an awful lot of talking this year, and how we are going to change things around once and for all.

The big question must be “are you the type to talk about things all year long, and waster another year, or are you the type to get things done, follow through on your promises, dare to imagine greater changes in your body and mind than you ever thought possible?””!!!!!

These are the brutal questions you should be asking yourself if you haven’t started yet, and what internally will drive you to get off your behind and get active!!!

Im here to help as usual in a truthful, tried and tested manner, even if that advice sometimes hurts your ego!!

Its 12th of January already, no time to waste in your quest for a physical transformation that will change your life!!!

Twitt