Monday, 5th December

So if you have already lost the battle of good eating in the run up to christmas, all is not lost!!

High calorie food can be addictive, as well as nights of heavy alcohol for some. This is exactly the time to do something about it then!!

One great way to bust all of this wide open is to get stuck into interval training.

In recent studies, students who completed 7 workouts over a 2 week period had amazing results through high-intensity interval workouts.

They upped aerobic capacity by 13%, fat burning capacity by 36%,  and boosted key aerobic enzymes by 25%!!!

The programme consisted of 10×4 minute high intensity cycling blasts, they went at 90% of capacity with 2 minutes rest in between each set. This is a lung buster of the highest order as many of you could imagine!!!

Long term studies confirm that high intensity cardiovascular workouts increase fat burning DRAMATICALLY compared to low intensity traditional work on bikes and treadmills.

Most people still perform the low intensity stuff because thats all they have ever known.

With the higher intensity workouts, you tend to use mainly carbs in the workout for fuel, but the rest of the day you set your body up for using fat as a fuel, which is ultra-important when it comes to the most important thing, getting rid of the fat!

So high intensity interval workouts ARE harder work, but they are SHORTER in duration and you can use a ton more variety in your workouts! I talk all the time about doing interval workouts with weight training and trying to attain more of a non-stop tempo.

This is the stuff that really gets you fit and healthy AND quickly!!!

The easiest way to start interval training is to walk one minute on treadmill, then run much faster than normal for a minute, then walk a minute, then run faster again for a minute and so on. You may find that ten minutes of this type of interval work is more than enough!!!

Its all about quality rather than quantity so give it a shot!!!

Friday, 2nd December

Finishing off a week should always be a celebration, and a big one for us tonight with a big gym christmas night out!

Its time of the year to celebrate with all the christmas festivities and get in the mood for christmas!

Its important to recognise those people who have trained hard all year long, have shown up in cold, rain and all of those times when a lot of people seem to throw in the towel.

Most people who train hard all year will also realise the importance of going for a run, cycle or long walk tomorrow morning after a few beers and a big meal!!!

Most hard trainers will realise the folly of staying in bed all morning after a big night nursing a hangover!

The best way to get over a hangover is to make sure your last drink is a pint of water, dehydration will cause much of your hangover so this is an excellent strategy!

Then the following morning, get your kit on straight away around 7am or earlier and get out there and exercise!!!!! I mean as simple as that too!!!!

These tactics will clear your head completely-after around 5-10 minutes of pain first of all with all the booze and sugar working its way out of your body!!! Then after ten minutes, you will even begin to enjoy your workout and its all downhill from there!!

You should even begin to ENJOY your workout from there and i usually feel like doing a bit more than i had originally planned, and i hear a lot of other people saying the same thing who have got up and used this ultimate hangover cure!!!

You get back to feeling yourself straight away when you get back in for a shower and a good breakfast!!!!

So good luck to everyone who is out on a big night out tonight and remember saturday morning can be used as the perfect cure to your headache!!!!

Thursday, 1st December

A great chance meeting this morning with a gentleman Roger Rees, a 65 year old pensioner who has always like a pint (or three!), liked a smoke every day and thought exercising should be banished from society. He always believed that somehow things would “turn out okay” in health terms.

Then after being diagnosed with blood pressure problems, he was prescribed blood pressure tablets for which he stayed on for a couple of years.

Then he decided to exercise!!! It was sort of a “light bulb” moment and he discovered the massive benefits of exercises.

He has taken to exercise like a duck to water, although he has stuck to cycling as his first love.

Since he bought a bike, he has had the best 12 months of his life he says!

His blood pressure tablets have gradually come down, and with the doctor’s approval, has literally just been signed off medication as his progress has been so remarkable.

He had a big weakness for bacon, he now says he cant remember the last time he had it.

He drunk a few times a week. Now he has a couple of pints once a week, and he says he enjoys it this way far better, and doesn’t wake up with a hangover anymore!!!

His smoking is a bad memory from a distant past he says. He says it was the worst thing he ever did, but since he is now smoke free, his lung capacity is far more impressive which has been backed up by all the tests hes been having with the doctor.

The bottom line is that hes changed his life completely with exercise and eating well.

 Hes lighter than hes ever been. Hes far more energetic than I have EVER seen him and all of this shows exactly what can be achieved by a healthy lifestyle change!!!!

Wednesday, 30th November

The end of the month and a time for celebration or throwing your chips in and calling it quits for christmas?!!!!!

Depends on your current level of fitness and conditioning i suppose!

If you are in good shape, you will raring to go in december and really make further inroads into your body fat and strength levels, i certainly see a lot of people in this situation.

If you are struggling to get workouts in and shop well for good food, then chances are you will be glad to see christmas coming, so that you make a “new year resolution” and lose all the weight after christmas!!!

This is following typical behaviour by most of the population.

I always tell people that december is one of the most important months to train hard and eat relatively well. Of course, you will be having lunches out, evenings out when healthy food may not be on top of the list, and you will be drinking alcohol a lot more too.

Despite all of this, the exercise and effort you put into it will be worth heck of a lot to you.

If you want a wheezy chest, then don’t exercise.

If you want to lower your immune system, then don’t exercise.

If you want your clothes to feel much tighter, then don’t exercise!

If you want to stagger into christmas and face a herculean challenge in the new year again, then don’t exercise!!!

So in december, everyone knows you may well drink more than you should, you will almost certainly eat much more than you should, and your sleep may well be lousy, but despite all of this, commit yourself to exercising throughout the month. This is the greatest christmas gift you can give to yourself, you are nothing if you haven’t got good health so lets keep this uppermost in your mind please!!

Tuesday, November 29th

The tragic loss of Gary Speed has had everyone scratching their head and numb with shock.

Whatever happened, nothing will really make up for his family’s loss and football’s loss in general.

People have started to speculate on the reasons for it all but the simple fact is that nobody knows for sure.

Depression has been one train of thought, the other he was being blackmailed by the newspapers to all sorts of wild rumours and accusations.

Depression is a very common problem in society and is often known as the silent killer. There was a german goalkeeper dead a couple of years ago after experiencing clinical depression, yet nobody knew. They call it “the curse of the strong” because you have to be mentally strong to hide it from everyone when you think about it!!!

Depression can start as something small and build up to something that literally takes over your life.

What can you do? The first thing i think is to consult your doctor to put you in touch with a professional in the field, you are not going mad, you shouldnt be ashamed, its just a fact of life with many, many people and needs help as soon as possible.

Exercise can be a great help for the individuals i have dealt with who have experienced these issues.

Exercise will automatically raise your spirits by releasing endorphins (a feel good hormone) in your body. If done every or most days, exercise will have a hugely positive effect in battles with every disease and ailments. Depression is a hugely complex problem that is multi-layered, and im not pretending to be an expert.

But, i do know that eating well and healthy, avoiding alcohol (a depressant) and working out in fresh air have long been proven to have very powerful effect against depression.

Its always better to do something about it than ignore any problem, whatever your situation, these three things will work for you no matter where you are right now!!!