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Tuesday, 24th September

The subject of missed workouts is very important to me.

First of all, if you are ill you should NEVER ever train full stop. You need to rest and recover and not do anything until you’re better.

The rest of the time, missed workouts really concern me because it sets off a chain of events that lead to individuals losing progress quickly, both physically and mentally.

You have probably heard me mention that even a pro athlete who has a week off from training, can take 1-2 weeks to get where they were. So 4 weeks off, can take up to 8 weeks to get back to normal and back to the previous standard.

So if you miss the odd workout, then that’s no problem, if you miss a week, then that becomes more of a problem, miss 4 weeks and you slip back by up to a couple of months.

Missing 4 weeks also sends you backtracking mentally. When you have 4 weeks off, you are not really motivated to get back into your training, and are likely to have an even longer lay off!

Through experience, I have learned to watch people closely, and arrest the slide to mediocrity.

Let me say this, I have many people who work 10-12 hours a day, I have a lot of women who have 2-3 kids, some 4, one even 5, and not one of them has said “I have tons and tons of time to train all day, let’s do it”!!!

What they do say is that they have very limited time to train, and can I solve their time management/workout problems!!

Suggestions on how to do this tomorrow.

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 17th September

The first thing to consider when you are aiming to change your programme around is how much time are you taking in between sets?

Are you the type to stand around and talk for 5 minutes in between each exercise?
If you are, then the change around I would recommend in your workout programme will not work anywhere near as well as it should be.

So tempo of your workout is something you need to look at before anything else.

If you are able to cut down the rest in between each set you take, then this will create you to become slightly out of breath. When this happens, your lung capacity is being challenged and if done sensibly, can and will improve quite quickly.

So if you picked 6 exercises and lets say you do them one after the other.

If currently, you take 5 minutes in between sets, then you are not boosting your fitness by much at all.

Try cutting that down to one minute, and see the big difference!

Eventually, you need to aim to get it down to 45 seconds.

The main difference you will have to make is reduce the weight you use in each exercise. This will be unavoidable because you wont have the energy to go at this increased tempo and still use your normal weights.

As the weeks go by, you will find your lung capacity improves greatly and your weights will slowly start creeping back up again.

This will mean your overall conditioning levels will go up dramatically, and the thought of going back to your old ways of training will no longer enter your mind!

Twitt
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Friday, 24th June

Good news will come from your training efforts if you remember what it was like to start in the first place.

Remember the times when you thought of beginning an exercise programme, you seemed to have plenty of enthusiasm, an urge to do well, and to take onboard a new approach on how to get fit and healthy. You rigorously followed the advice given, were proud of your much healthier supermarket trolley and knew how much those foods would do you good.

You took pride in drinking more water, and you noticed how much more alert you became throughout the day, and how much better you seemed to perform in your exercise sessions.

Then as you started to progress, you took even more of an interest, and you started to question on why you did certain movements, why you did certain exercises on certain days, and why you started to perform better on some days than others.

Then you started to take an even greater interest in your body fat improvements, how your resting heart rate was coming down, how your blood pressure was coming into a healthy range, how your waist was continuing to come down, and in general how much of an incredible difference you were making to yourself!!!

If you are currently stuck in a rut, you should remember how all of this felt, and with some effort you can easily get back there look and feeling your best!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 19th june

Last great day of the week in weather terms today maybe, but you should use it to your fitness advantage.

The british lions recently played a rugby match in hong kong, and most players agreed that it was the most humid, and hottest place they had ever played rugby. Anyone who has been to hong kong will testify that to be true, and the humidity is unlike anything you will experience.

I was in hong kong in 1994 and have never felt so uncomfortable staying still even!

We haven’t got anywhere near like the temperatures of places like hong kong, and will never achieve the humidity, BUT these temperatures we have right now (likely to reach 26 degrees today) do help us with our fitness.

The lions medical team said as much with the game in hong kong on how training and playing in such intense conditions would benefit their players in the weeks to come.

If you get used to training well on a day/night like today, then when it gets cooler you should be able to train at a higher level.

The one BIG THING I can say to be cautious about all of this warm weather training is drink water regularly throughout the day, and in particular THROUGHOUT your training session. Training in warm weather without water is downright dangerous!!! Please do not train without water, I hate to repeat myself but I have to over-emphasise this!!!

Hopefully, we are now out of the stage where you avoid training just because it is sunny and warm too! Its time to have a professional approach to your training if you are really serious about your training and health, and this is what this blog is about every single day, to encourage you to be healthier, fitter and perform at the best of your ability to help you reach your goals quicker!

Twitt
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Thursday, 22nd March

Hopefully this week you have taken onboard the many different options you really have in getting fit, or if you are already have a decent level of fitness, then you are capable of substantially more!

The biggest danger to any good well thought out programme is being overly complacent.

Just because one workout programme has worked so well for you in the past, it doesn’t mean its going to do as well in the future if that is ALL you do.

If you go for a cycle a couple of times a week and that’s your entire fitness plan, then you should seriously think about doing a more rounded fitness plan.

Cycling is one of my favourite activities, but I’m not foolish enough to think that weight training, running, walking etc is not hugely important too.

Most of us know big guys who only lift weights and that’s it, taking long gaps in between sets. Whilst they may have impressive development from all of this, the horrible fact is that a 100 yard run down the road could put them seriously out of breath!!

Thos runners you see running on the main road all the time, on the same old route for the same old distances, at the same old pace, surely they can do better in terms of a more rounded programme?

Most people do not know that Paula Radcliffe for example, does regular weight training sessions a couple of times a week, as well as a lot of core stability work.

The same applies to Lance Armstrong of cycling fame, he used to do a substantial amount of strength work which means off the bike for longer periods than most people would have ever guessed.

So if you think “I’m a cyclist” or “I’m a runner” or “I’m a swimmer”, and think that to become good at one of those only involves doing that exact activity ALL THE TIME, then please think again, reassess your programme and look for more variety not just for the sake of it, but for the good of your body and for the improvement of your favourite chosen activity!!

Twitt