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Friday, 30th November

Don’t want to seem like some scrooge like character with Christmas coming up, and it’s the first of December tomorrow would you believe!

Anyway, the big question is what kind of Christmas do you think you’re going to have this year?

Apart from the presents and general giving and receiving, we’re talking how you’re going to feel throughout the Christmas period, and how you set yourself up for the new year.

Im all for enjoying myself, its great to have a couple of drinks over Christmas, and letting your hair down from time to time can be a great thing to do.

The big question is if it turns into an everyday affair, and when do you stop?

Do you buy lots of “party food” this year or not? Isn’t it true when we do, that nobody really wants it when they call round the house anyway? Isn’t it true that most people decline it (usually saying that they have eaten already) unless you have an organized party?

This is a great example then of buying rubbish, empty calories into the house that will eventually get eaten by one person usually, and that’s you! From what starts off as a “pick” here and there, will eventually end up in you consuming the whole lot!

Then you will get a taste for it all, and then you are bound to end up getting stuck into the rest of the food, you know the food that you initially bought for “other people”. This is a familiar process I think we have all gone through and it’s

REALLY hard then to get back to normal in eating terms!!!

How about saving yourself some money this year, get yourself a limited amount of treats in, stuff you may actually eat and you know you can control!

Let’s face it, if you need more food or run out, most shops are open right up until Christmas eve, and open sharply on boxing day!! It’s not as if you’re going to be holed up in some bunker for a couple of weeks with no way out, and you have to get as much food in as possible in case you end up “starving”!!!

In these times of austerity, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to buy less junk this year, buy less sugar-laden products, and those you get given to you, please give them away to someone else who hasn’t got the same high ambitions that you have, or give them away to someone who you know that these sweets will make happy!

Time for a fitter and healthier Christmas, and with wiser buying choices, you’re bound to feel and look a whole lot better for it, far better than a normal Christmas anyway and you will thank yourself a lot for it!!!

Twitt
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The Longest day, 21st June

Another situation some of you may have experienced in the past is trying to keep on losing more body fat and weight when you don’t even need to anymore.

For instance, I was training a teenager this week who has literally transformed himself from someone who could be regarded as seriously overweight (he would say that himself), to someone who looks extremely athletic and powerful, and now looks the picture of health.

So he lost all his weight, is now starting to do very well in a few different sports, and is almost unrecognisable in every single area compared to one year ago.

The danger is now that he is tempted to still cut down on his food portions. This can be a common mistake to make, and can be detrimental to his future progress.

I explained to him that the focus now should switch from cutting back, to slightly increasing portion size due to the activity levels he now has in his life.

It makes sense that someone who played very little sport before, and now plays 5-6 times a week requires more energy. The weight and fat loss has put an enormous amount of energy into his life, but the stage has come that he needs even more now to increase his performance.

This is now alien to him, as cutting back has got him to a great situation. This is where relationship with food changes his again.

Seeing food as fuel is ultra-important now to this individual, as opposed to seeing food as something negative because it may put weight back on.

It wont put weight back on because the quality of the food he eats is so much better now.

I explained that one gram of protein and carbs in just under 4 calories, and that one gram of fat is 9 calories. So in theory, he could eat quite a bit more food and still not be eating the calories he was when he was a lot overweight. Overeating is still not advised, and all I meant was an increase to cover his energy requirements.

This individual has changed his life considerably, but should now be using food in a very positive way, seeing it as a very valuable tool in allowing him to perform at the highest level possible at his chosen sports.

Everyone’s relationship with food is different, but keeping it a positive one will allow you to move far more smoothly and productively through different phases in your life.

Twitt
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Thursday, 17th November

So we have talked about how to feed your body to maximise muscle gains for the young rugby player, we have talked about how to employ the most successful training strategies from beginner to a more developed athlete.

We talked about why we do all of these things.

Then it comes to a big factor that we haven’t mentioned yet-WATER.

Most people don’t realise that water is far more important than food.

For example, you can usually last 5-8 days before you die without water.

You can lost without food for approximately 7-8 weeks as hunger strikers have proven, with often fatal results.

Another huge fact for you is that if you DON’T drink enough water throughout the day, your performance is likely to be down 33% or even as low as 40%!!

Not only your training and game day performance but your concentration too. They have done numerous studies on schoolkids when they supplied one lots of kids in a school environment water for 3 months and im talking regularly every day. The most startling part was that their educational tests result success went up an incredible 100%, and their concentration levels were proven to be 40% up!!!

So the bottom line is that you eat well all day, you can sleep well and you can train hard, but if you’re NOT drinking enough water, your performance levels and ultimately your results are likely to be down between 33% and 40%, which is an incredible figure.

If you drink water regularly too, you will burn off more body fat than if you don’t, this has been scientifically proven too.

So if you are looking to become a better athlete, as well as a better student, water should be a big part of your every day life!!

Twitt
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Wednesday August 24th

After speaking to quite a few athletes over the last couple of weeks about their training, it became apparent that theres lots of individuals and teams out there with serious deficiencies out there, in terms of physical preparation and training. Its fine for these teams to talk about how they are “the best prepared they have ever been” every season but the reality that i see is far from that.

Its not down to a lack of knowledge either, theres a ton of information out there about getting into seriously good shape, but obviously its not happening across the board.

Whether you’re an athlete or you just have general health and fitness goals, there’s no excuse now not to get there.

If you’re not working out with weights/resistance at least twice a week then why not?!!!! No other activity will contribute  more to you boosting your metabolic rate, losing body fat and firming it, strength training is absolutely critical, and even science back it up now and has done for many years.

If you’re not giving your heart and lungs a good workout every day or most days, then why not? Getting oxygen into your body will have endless great effects on your body, making you internally so much stronger and feel so much better too, swimming, running, walking, cycling etc can have terrific results for your body if done with purpose and with a good intensity!!!

Even if you’re doing these two big things, then whats happening with your other stuff? Im talking things like medicine balls, and swiss balls, you can work your core and balance to new levels by taking a more aggressive route with these two great tools. I include them in every workout with individuals and once you use them, you will never leave them out again. Its time to embrace them now and you will never look back!!!

You know what to do, lets get on and actually do it and with purpose!!!!

Twitt
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Thursday, 21st July

Knowledge is power and stops us wasting endless hours, days weeks and even years in trying to get in shape.

If we try to go too fast too soon, we sometimes get injured and more often than not, lose all the enthusiasm we had at the start.

This is because we don’t stop to learn the basics, we try to go through a programme that someone far more experienced is doing, such as some athlete in the magazines or something very advanced we see online, both are likely to be unsuitable.

Many magazines are filled with information, but a lot of it unfortunately is targeted at those who have been training for many years, and not those who are beginners or need a helping hand.

The best way to start off or pick up where you left off is to simplify matters.

Select a whole body programme where you work just one exercise for each body part, work up to doing 3 sets of each exercise over a couple of weeks, and aim to do this programme 3 times a week. That’s it, nothing complicated, nothing that will confuse you or your body, just plain old solid routines that will work each every time.

As i keep saying, unless you’re a professional athlete, please, please, please DO NOT waste your time by working one or two body parts each time you go to the gym.

There are two things going on with that last statement.

Are you really up for having fantastic results? Or are you listening too much to your friends and following their programme that’s usually very poorly designed with the no end goal in sight?!!!!

So back to the point, knowledge really is power IF applied properly and its time to start applying it properly. Think what programme is going to WORK FOR YOU!!!!! Its about YOUR progress and YOUR body and keeping it simple is the way to go, just show some effort with your training and the sky’s the limit!!!!

Twitt