Posted on

Thursday, 27th February

So some of you have gone through some tough sessions this week with me, and found it new and you have been aching in places you do not normally work.

These movements have been in my private training for years, now I am fully
incorporating them in the gym.

You may not work these areas of your body in your workouts usually, but you certainly do in everyday life. From making food in the kitchen when you turn side to side, bend down and then up, you may play sport and these movements will certainly apply to you as the one certainty on a sports field is UNCERTAINTY.

How about having a potential fall when you slip on something, how about the time when you have heavy bags from a supermarket, how about when you are lifting a small child from the car, how about the times when you have to lift or help out with an elderly relative or you may work with them, how about the time when you have to dig a garden, how about the time when you have to tidy your garden up now its spring?

I could go on and on with these possible everyday scenarios in your life, and its vital that you are prepared for them!

A lot of people go on about rehab with certain injuries, and that is something we do a lot of.

However, what I am talking about right now is prehab, this means the PREVENTION of injuries before they develop hopefully. Nobody can predict what happens, but making yourself stronger in every single area is very valuable indeed!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 2nd August

Catherine’s comment again that “everybody seems to be on protein shakes the days” is a very relevant one, because protein shakes seem to be very much in vogue at the moment and have been for a while.

The problem comes when something seems like the the all encompassing “saviour” and its all in a shake, which makes things a lot easier for many people.

You don’t have to cook anymore at certain times of day, you will feel full for a while longer than your traditional shake, which often contains simple sugars just to make the shake taste better.

Protein shakes actually work too! They will make you feel full, they will discourage snacking needlessly, and they will give some people stability when they are all over the place with their eating habits.

So these can be big positives for a lot of people in the busy lives we all seem to live these days.

The only problem comes when people go back to eating properly, and by that I mean proper food and real meals.

If you rely just on protein shakes, then you are not really learning how to eat properly for a lifetime, there are no learning processes such as which foods work well for you, and which foods are full of hidden sugars and fat but you don’t realize it yet.

I know people who take protein shakes for a few weeks, lose weight and then say they will never come off them, but I can assure you THEY DO! Then if you come off them and as I said eat real food, then the whole trap of losing weight and piling it all back on happens all over again!

Summing it, protein shakes can be a viable tool, but use them as a balance in your day and week, don’t let them become an overwhelming factor.

Protein shakes are a million times better than the charlatans who sell other powdered drinks and bars, such as herbalife, lighter life who create longer term misery, but there is no magic solution out there apart from eating sensibly and using portion control so you don’t overeat.

Everything must balance and you need to adopt a longer term sustainable plan.

Twitt
Posted on

Friday 5th August

Your way of thinking dictates how you look, how you perform, how you feel, just about everything you do will be affected.

For example, if you were trading on the stock market the last few days, you would probably be seriously worried by now, in fact you would have been severely tempted to sell all your stocks because your personal wealth was quickly being destroyed.

The last stock market crash happened in 2008 of course, and the feelings are familiar now, so what do you do, sell or hold? Its all to do with emotions and your longer term view, market psychology makes millionaires every day, it also destroys them!!

So with your health and fitness, isn’t it true that the shape you’re in is decided by emotions?

You eat chocolate if you’re emotionally upset by some event in your day, you have a drink if someone upsets you, you have a drink to celebrate something, you pig out sometimes because you are happy, you go out for lunch and write off the entire day because it just “felt good”!!! All emotions that will help you get into shape or destroy your ability to be in shape.

Your emotions can be influenced by bad influences in your life. Perhaps your best friend is an all weekend drinker, so thats what YOU do?

Your emotions can be greatly supported by very good influences, perhaps your friends are all into keeping fit and healthy, and you’re able to train with them and shop with them for good healthy natural food? This support system can be very valuable for you and give you sustainable results in the way you look and feel!!!

Your emotions need to be steady above everything else, and stop the roller coaster weeks when you have two good days, then write off the rest of the week, then you have a good week, then someone upsets you and you have a terrible week again, thats no way to have sustainable results.

Emotions and controlling them can be one your most valuable assets!!!

Twitt
Posted on

May 7th

Your saturday treat may be happening right now, and you very much deserve it if you have been tight all week on your food. I don’t mean really small portions and missing meals either, i mean sensible sized portions of good quality food.

If you have made a good effort all week, then having a treat today will not matter at all will it?

If having a treat is just like another day, then making another excuse to have a treat today is just like another day for you, and you’re not really treating yourself, and getting or being in shape is not a very serious proposition for you.

Saturday is the day to let go a bit if you live a healthy lifestyle, because it switches off your mind a bit from the rigours of working out and being in shape, living a healthy lifestyle can be easy if you practice it a lot, but it can also wear you down if you don’t give yourself a break.

Whatever you are doing today, its a time to relax, eat of a bit of what you fancy, have a drink if you want and reflect on what has probably been a tough week.

Tomorrow is sunday and a workout early on would be the perfect remedy to your day of relaxing in all sorts of ways today!!!

Twitt
Posted on

February 25th 2011

You have around 5 weeks until the clocks go forward and the already lighter nights become even longer and  the weather becomes warmer hopefully. You then have around 11 weeks until its may, when it definitely should be warmer and light until at least 8pm.

This all means that its the best time of year to be in shape. You cannot hide in big jumpers at this time of year. You cant wear big coats and the colour black can make anyone look slimmer, but it can’t make miracles!!!!

Being in shape by may will be a great challenge for you, and having the confidence to wear anything you want will and should be a huge incentive for you. If you’re in shape, then anything will look good on you, you don’t have to be so fussy because you’re in shape, your body fat is low and all of that strength work, resistance work has paid off throughout the winter!!!

May will also be a good time for you to get compliments too. Your hard work in the rain right now may seem unrewarded right now, but another 11 weeks of effort will bring a raft of compliments for sure, especially from those people who don’t see you so often. Theres nothing better than that feeling of being told you’re in shape, you’re looking so much younger because you’ve lost the weight, you’re looking in so much better shape because you’ve been workout out with weights etc etc!!!!!

Every day now you should be telling yourself that you’re getting better and better, your food is getting even better in terms of quality and you are setting new records in your training. Theres no alcohol in the week any more and health may have gone from bottom to top in your life!!!

Once your priorities involve health, being fit and energetic, and looking and feeling your best, then good things should be about to happen in your life!!!!

Twitt