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Thursday, 12th September

The forgotten athlete we often miss out on in general life is the senior athlete.

Today, I am talking very much about the senior athlete over 70, and I do train quite a few, and most of them are remarkable for their age. The term “remarkable” for their age is often said in a patronizing way, but I can prove people wrong by comparing the stats with some of the over 70’s to my 40 somethings and 50 somethings.

I have people for instance who can bench press what many struggle to do in their 40’s-this is a fact.

I have senior athletes who can cycle for an hour no problem.

I have senior athletes who are far more flexible than some 20 somethings I know.

The bone density tests that a lot of senior athletes have done, come back remarkably well without fail. A solid well structured resistance/weights programme for the over 70’s is not only recommended, its essential!

All the senior athletes I train retain a high level of physical confidence, which is vital going into the autumn of one’s life.

Quality of life is everything and the worst thing I have ever seen is someone in their 30’s, 40’s or 50’s give up on themselves and say “they can’t be physically active anymore like they used to”!!

The senior athletes are a great example on how to do it, they compare very well in terms of strength and endurance levels compared to most people, and the last thing they want is ANY KIND of patronizing comments. Being 70 plus is not the life-ender it used to be, we have a new breed now fighting for new levels of strength, fitness and overall outstanding health!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 9th July

The temperature has relented just a little bit today, which makes it a little bit more enjoyable to train in than yesterday’s conditions which reminded me of training in some kind of oven!

If you watched andy murray on Sunday, then you will have seen someone who takes full advantage of the heat and the humid conditions.

When he first broke on the scene, he tried playing a 5 setter versus Nalbandian. Despite taking a two set lead, he then run out of steam and was overcome by his far more experienced opponent.

Murray knew then that he needed to be able to cope with the heat and all the demands it brought.

He employed a big team of nutritionist, fitness trainers, yoga teachers, psychologists to get him into the real big time.

A key factor was re-locating to Miami. Anyone who has been there realizes that you are unlikely to get anywhere so humid as Miami, especially in the summer, this is where murray still calls his training base, and has obviously benefitted immensely from it!

He of course plays tennis all over the world, and although the rumoured 50 degrees on court was tortuous even for him, he at least has a lot of experience of those conditions and his experience of it was critical when it came to the crunch.

He was seen putting ice on his shoulders and neck in between games, he took longer to get out of his chair, he made sure he was fully hydrated and the extreme amount of work he put into his body paid off even against a supremely fit champion like Novak Djokovic!

So as we feel a little sorry for ourselves training through the extreme heat (for us anyway), we shou.ld realize that as long as we are sensible, and we take the proper precautions, we should be able to work our way through it, and year in year out, we are likely to get better in how we deal with it just like our new Wimbledon champion!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 4th March

Commitment to making a difference to yourself starts by making your first workout, and promising to make every single one thereafter (providing you’re not ill of course).

You can often tell the individuals who won’t be successful in reaching their goals, due to level of excuses they make not to make their sessions, and the lengths they go to avoid working hard and eating well.

Lets make no mistake about it, I really believe that everyone is full of good intentions at the start, but you soon find out who’s who as their programme moves along.

I like to think 99.9% of people I train are committed, and when periods of doubt enter their heads (which is perfectly natural), then I am able to work something out so they stay on course and they re-focus and are able to keep progressing at the pace they want.

Those people are unable to reach any level of commitment and use excuses more than once such as “my alarm didn’t go
off”, “ I was up all night”, “I had to work on”, “I have a slight sniffle” etc etc and always blame other people are gently let go and are told that they are not ready for big success in their programme, and to come back in the future when they have sorted out their true commitment levels.

If im giving 100% to someone and they don’t give it back, then we are both wasting our time.

Perhaps that person would be better off going through the process of fad dieting, so called wonder results and lose some weight, and then put all the weight back on (plus 5% more according to scientific studies), then they may appreciate that doing in the RIGHT WAY does take some commitment if you want to get REAL RESULTS.

I spoke to a woman on Saturday who said her slimming class had already gone empty after the initial rush in January had long since gone. The leader of the class said though don’t worry, some would be back in may to lose weight for summer, then gone by june, and back by late November to lose weight by Christmas, and this was the SAME EVERY YEAR!!! An example of a bad and unsustainable business lacking in integrity if ever I saw one!

No wonder these slimming classes never work long term and only create misery for people as 97% of their members out all the weight back on and more.

The folly of this is good for some to go through as I said to appreciate the right way to do things, and this is why I will forever offer long lasting, real results that last a lifetime. The good news is also I will continue to show these diet club charlatans up for what they are.

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday, 27th February

I train a lot of people who sit around for 8 hours a day. I don’t mean they do not work hard, what I do mean is that this sitting around lifestyle in the work environment can have a harmful long term effect on one’s health.

Apart from our exercise sessions together, here’s some tips I have offered them to increase their healthy experience at work.

a. Instead of sitting on a normal office chair, some of my clients will sit on an exercise ball at their desk for 30 mins at a time. This will engage their core far more, strengthening key areas and can be great to break the monotony of life in an office.

b. To start their day, I tell them to make sure they have a bottle of water right by them. Living on coffee, tea and diet coke is no way to spend those 8 hours by the desk. Not drinking enough water will decrease performance in the office and your workouts, it will ruin your concentration and in general your body wont work so well. This is a fundamental area you may need to improve.

c. Try and get a small fridge in work. This helps you keep your foods fresh, and gives you more variety in your food choices at work. Eating foods that are fresh is far more appealing and keeps you firmly on track in your healthy eating. Water also tastes better and fresher cooler, especially on the summer days to come. A small fridge is an excellent investments between a few of your work colleagues.

d. Keep your training shoes under the desk. Everyone needs a break, and going for a 10-15 minute brisk walk will do you far more good than a diet drink or coffee! It will refresh you, make you feel better and you will come back to your desk with renewed energy and concentration.

Working in an office is no excuse to put weight on, most jobs are sedentary these days, so this makes your workouts even more important!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 22nd February

One of the most popular questions I get asked is “which exercise is best, or my friend just goes to spinning classes and she has lost a stone, or my friends just runs and he feels and looks amazing now, or my friends just do yoga and they swear by it”! You get the picture but here’s the answer!

They are all partly right but entirely miss the point when it comes to constructing a valid programme that will serve you well for the short and long term, and keep you getting sustainable results.

Spinning is great for example, but to say it should be 100% of your programme is misguided, delusional and you will be missing out on much better results if you put more variety in your programme.

Spinning should be 10% of your programme.

The running should be 10% of your programme (assuming you have good knees and a sound back or you could run into problems).

Yoga is great, but again should be incorporated into your programme, rather than become ALL of your programme.

Weight training and body weight training should be a fundamental part of your programme, but doesn’t need to be the overwhelming part. You should work your entire body every workout, therefore needing just 2-3 workouts a week maximum.

You also do not need the 4-5 sets per exercise, and you don’t need the 3-4 exercises per body part like some do.

Choosing one exercise per body fat for 2-3 sets of 8 reps will work very well for you, IF done with real intensity and progress keeps happening for you, which it WILL if you are doing it properly!!

Bosu ball, balance work, fitball work should also be a big part of your workout plan, and done a minimum of 2-3 times a week, but doesn’t by any means need to be the whole of your workout.

Same with boxing, a big part of everyone’s training I teach, but done at the end of most workouts but very valuable all the same.

We work hard with ropes in the gym that will bring amazing results, and so do sandbags and tyres, as well as sledgehammers.

My job is making people’s workouts brutally efficient, saving lots of time meaning you can concentrate on the exercises that REALLY count, and you can get much variety than you every imagined!!

So a little bit of a long answer, but that’s the truth when it comes to which exercises you should/could be doing for amazing results!!

Twitt