May 26th Thursday

If you are developing momentum, you’re into your training, you are even more careful on what you eat, you are ultra positive on your health, you are beginning to receive compliments and life is on a roll.

Isn’t it much easier to be on a good path? There’s been enough chat on here about being on a downer,  being negative and puzzling how to get back on track. Life has changed for the better for some I am glad to report.

Being on a good track is a massive positive, and enables you to exercise without too much bother. Motivation is never a problem because you feel you’re close to the top of your game. Life is going to going to be good and you’re confidence is high. There is no better feeling.

Remember this feeling when you fall out of shape in the future, because you’re in the groove now and its easy to remember how it is right now. In fact, if you are feeling good now, it’s a good idea to write down how you feel in your diary and you can look back on how you did it in the future if you ever get  into trouble again with your health and weight, because they are very much interrelated!!!

We all say that we wish we were 21 again, but no all of us were in amazing shape at 21. I know lots of people I train are in better shape at 51 than 21. I have many individuals who would certainly out-perform most 21 year olds, and I have some 60 year olds entering marathons and triathlons for the first time ever!!

People are living longer these days and with a far better quality of life. The ingredients will always be eating as much healthy and natural food as possible, and training smart with a real purpose. Throw in plenty of good sleep and a good amount of water every day and you have the perfect formula.

You may deviate from it from time to time, be sucked into faddy weight loss methods/clubs from time to time, but you will always need to come back to this perfect formula so why waste time?!!!!

Monday, January 17th 2011

If you have started the new year with a bang, then good luck to you but its important to keep your structure going throughout January and beyond.

For example, if you haven’t trained for a while and started off 3 times a week training, then thought if 3 is good, then 6 times a week must be much better, possibly twice as good!!!

While you may get great results for a couple of weeks doing it this way, the likelihood of you reaching a plateau will be extremely high, or even getting an injury because your body will not be used to all of the extra work, I am talking 6 high quality workouts, not 3 good workouts and 3 good walks.

If you ask most people about their training, they seem to be pre-occupied to telling you how MANY times they have trained that week., the actual performance is usually never mentioned.

We never mentioned last week about 4 minute workouts, and the possibility of going from around 5 press ups in week 1, to easily 25 press ups in week 6. This way of training has to be totally focused on performance and focus on making measurable progress, this is what creates improvement in your body.

The ability to make improvements training 6 times a week is reserved for those who have excellent sleep every or most nights, those who are extremely good with their eating and have been training at a high level for a long time. Not saying that you can’t get there, but it does take a while and a lot of dedication to living a healthy lifestyle.

Bottom line this week is to make your workouts count in a big way. I you’re doing sprints up hill and you’re currently managing 4 sprints up a steep hill and 4 sprints backwards, then that total could easily be up to 8 sprints forwards and backwards by now, if you have been consistent since the new year.

If you have been cycling and had to keep it flat cycling, then it won’t be long before you’re strong enough to attack some hills, in the process becoming a much better and stronger cyclist.

If you have been doing some circuits in the gym or at home, then not only will they feel a lot more comfortable but you should be looking at adding some extra weight to a few of the exercises, creating a much more intense workout.

Assess your progress in training terms once a week, and look to make small gains every week, however small, and try not to get in a rut and don’t go through the motions.

Improving can become a very good habit, just as staying the same can become the norm. Always look to change things around and keep your body guessing. Keep your programme fresh and you will become a much better athlete full stop!!!