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Tuesday, 14th February

Valentine’s day is a big day for some of you, and its a day of vast 0ver-commercialism for others. You may either be preparing to go off your diet tonight, and you may be out of pocket after paying double money for your flowers, whatever you do, have a great evening and enjoy yourselves.

Valentine’s day is no excuse though to quit on your training, and please do not use that “lack of time” excuse, because its definitely not going to “wash” here!

No time for a run?

Not even 10 minutes?

If you swap your steady jog you were planning, then how about doing some interval running instead. You know the one, we have talked on here a lot about it, do a couple of minutes warm up run, then use lampposts as a guide for the intervals you need to train in.

You jog for one post, then sprint the next, jog one post, sprints the next and so on until you can’t do anymore. 10 minutes of this will be MORE than enough!!!

How about hitting a punch bag?

If you can manage 10 minutes on this great training tool, then you will be doing very well indeed. Even three times one minute rounds will be enough to get your heart pumping like never before, scratch the ten minutes, think THREE minutes!!! No excuses!

If you work in an office in a town or city, there must be a group of steps around the place. Just 5 minutes up and down steps can be like a 20 minute steady jog, and give your body a workout to remember, this is tough but over in a flash with a big bunch of benefits thrown in!

Bottom line is if you don’t train before you go out tonight, you won’t feel so energised, you will have to work harder tomorrow night, and you will be letting your commitment levels slide. Use time to your advantage by working out smart, instead of mindless boring long workouts control you!!

Twitt
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Friday, 10th February

If you are exercising hard throughout this very cold period, then you ought to congratulate yourself because you are getting through the hardest time of year, this is the time for those of you who have the courage to “do”.

Not only in weather terms but you have managed to get through to February, which is longer than most of the population who often quit by now after the January surge in dieting and exercise. If you are active now, you have some serious momentum in your life.

Better times are coming with lighter nights, warmer days and even more inspiration for your training simply because “summer is coming”!

The spring and summer is the time when you really hoped you were in good shape. Most people at the end of the summer promise themselves that “next” year will be the summer they finally get into great shape,  and they will be proud to show their body off.

The reality is often quite different unfortunately.

It’s a good idea on a Friday to evaluate how you have been doing, and whether you have come close to achieving your goals? You should be able to know right now whether you have come up short, or have you over-achieved this week and actually taken yourself higher than you thought?!

If you can most fridays, deliver on the promises you made to yourself on a Monday morning, then being in shape is probably a reality for you and a healthy lifestyle an everyday reality that you enjoy.

Dieting on some crazy faddy diet is no fun, never has been and never will be. Plus they never work long term.

Living healthy by eating healthy and training sensibly and often has never been more enjoyable, given all the options we all have in front of us these days.

There is more known about exercise and nutrition these days than ever before, yet according to statistics, most of the population ignores all of this research and never gets active, and constantly fall for all the foods high in sugar and saturated fat, sad but true!

You will discover that living a healthy lifestyle is not being part of the crowd, but more of an individual journey that will develop more and more the further you travel, in age and in health terms.

Its Friday and lets be honest where you are at the end of the week.

Twitt
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Thursday, 9th February

To continue about the importance of a strong healthy heart, its vital you start with a proper foundation in order to create it in the first place.

Number one is you need to exercise regularly and in general stay active.

Number two is you need to eat healthy at regular intervals, and in sensible portions.

Number three is that you need to avoid excess alcohol. Drinking a few times a week will especially put great strain on your heart, as well as other vital organs.

Number four is to avoid smoking, if you smoke you are doing the single most destructive thing against your body. You are destroying cells, ageing your body throughout and putting amazing strain on your most important muscle.

Number five is to try and cut down on stress. If you have a lot of worry in your life, self-induced or otherwise, you are putting strain eventually on your heart. It is no coincidence that exercise and eating well are the best for combating this stress.

Number six is sleep well. Sleep deprivation can literally affect everything you do. Hate to be like a broken record but all of the above helps you sleep better!

Number seven is stay positive. Being positive about life can be one of your best habits to develop, negative people are usually full of stress and never actually do anything for the greater good. If you stay positive, then you tend to take action and approach life in an optimistic way, one of the secrets of quality of life especially in old age research has shown.

Number eight is to show consistency in all of these keys to having a successful strong and healthy heart, don’t be a “flash in the pan” when it comes to your health or let a doctor tell you all of this when its too late. If you practice these most of the time, then you will reap huge benefits!!

Twitt
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Monday, 6th February

This week coincides with a lot of measurements i normally take for the month of january in terms of individual progress.

Most have been pretty good, some outstanding and a minority not up to the usual standard.

There are reasons why people get different measurements, and the truth always comes out when explaining each one.

The bottom line is when you are measured every month or thereabouts, you automatically make yourself accountable, and this is usually when lifestyle habits are examined in detail.

Unless you take this approach, then progress can be regarded as a matter of luck rather than intention.

Intention is a big word because if your intent is always there, then your lifestyle habits will always be good most of the time. If you have no goals then there is little or no intent, and there is no pressure on you eating well, training well and keeping alcohol to a minimum.

Most if not all the welsh players in the game against ireland, have been full of intention for a long time now in advancing themselves as a creditable force on the world stage, in rugby terms.

In their case, it has meant increased commitment in training, getting more out of themselves than they ever thought.

In eating terms, they have had to be even more meticulous in the preparation and timing of each meal and snack. Eating to perform at your best in sports is a big industry and nothing would have been left to chance in this vital area.

Most of the time too, you will not get these players getting trashed on alcohol every week after a game. A lot of players don’t drink so much now, and some do not even drink at all!

These players are much more professional in their outlook, their intention and delivery of performance these days.

They get measured constantly too, and this helps a great deal with their power of intention, a much undervalued way of getting the very best out of yourself at all times!

Make yourself accountable and start coming on at a much faster rate!!1

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 2nd February

Hands up who has jacked it in for this very cold spell of weather?

If you did, it probably leads to a pattern of behaviour that has stopped you getting into the shape you’re really capable of.

Did you quit last summer in the really hot spell of weather because it was “too hot” to train?

When it rains, do you find it easier to stay in the house and not do anything?

If your training is governed by the weather, then as I always say, you had better write off nine months of the year. This will be a serious obstacle to getting into any kind of good physical condition!

This type of weather usually dictates who you will see out exercising too. The coastal paths in mumbles, Swansea marina, Llanelli and burry port are always full on a nice day, full of individuals or groups dressed in the latest workout gear, and this is to be applauded.

Week’s like these though when it is brutally cold always sort out who’s serious about their training and who’s not. Im not trying to make some kind of “we are better than you because we train in the freezing cold” comment either (I actively encourage everyone to exercise as many of you know), its just that you need to realise that the weather REALLY DOES NOT and should not make a difference to your ability to train.

One less excuse is always welcome and the weather seemingly is a big excuse for many.

Your inside options in terms of workouts should really be firing on all cylinders now, and when you do resistance/strength training like you would inside, your levels of body hardness and staying lean in general should be at their highest.

What I like about inside workouts as well is that they are measurable.

5 press ups in week one can easily turn into 30 press ups in week 6, and this along can lead to a difference not only in performance, but in terms of results of course.

If you never measure your performance, then how do you know you’re improving. Most people have not got a great memory so this is why its vital you write things down, especially in your early stages of training experience.

When you write things down, your goals will become much more real and you will be focused much more on every workout, because you know the pressure will always be on to try and improve.

Use this weather as an opportunity, rather than an immovable object that stops you in your tracks!!

Twitt