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Annette goes on a journey

Annette James of Picton Sports has just got back into her training, after a break of around ten years or so!

 It’s always important to see how different people react to exercise, and in this case, after a very long lay off, with the responsibilities of two children, and a busy business to look after.

Annette got her first session under her belt last night, so i thought you’d like to hear in her own words, how she found it.

“Hi Keri

My first proper workout for at least 10 years with you yesterday and it was hell!!!.  Mixture of feelings before, during and after.  A bit anxious before we met up because I haven’t done anything for a good while apart from walk the dog which I thought would have kept me pretty fit.

  Boy was I wrong!!!!.  During the workout I felt awful.  Thought I was going to be sick and was completely defeatist the whole time.  I couldn’t wait for the workout to end and all the way through I was thinking there was no way I was putting myself through this again!

  Afterwards though on my drive home I felt pretty good and went straight to do my food shop before I changed my mind (bought loads of healthy things for me and my family). I felt a  bit disappointed with myself for having such a negative mental attitude throughout the workout.  I think if I had been more positive I could have done alot better (being weighed and measured for the first time in years didn’t help)

 Woke up this morning not aching much but feeling very tired.  There is no way I am giving up and having to go through that first workout all over again in a few months time. I am taking my eating and exercising one day at a time.  The only way is up!

Annette

This is a highly encouraging start and the most important thing now is to keep going after a tough start.

Annette realises that food is key too and she hs already set out to get a good shopping list in.

She has every chance of getting back to where she was 10 years ago, and a whole lot more in my view.

All she needs is to be consistent, start believing in herself again and focus on making slow but gradual improvements.

This is her big chance to do it again, feel better, look her best and achieve big things once again.

Annette will post regularly, so it will be fun to keep up with her progress!

Twitt
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Your type of start to the week

So how do you face this monday? Is it in good shape or bad shape? Lots of energy or no energy? Full of enthusiasm or down and out? Intent on having a big week or don’t care either way? Proud of your achievements or given up on yourself?

Whatever your situation, you can change it for the better right now.

How many of you have had a heavy drinking session on friday, saturday or sunday or all three? If you have, perhaps you are in not the greatest moods to have a big week for your exercise. Scaling back your weekend drinking will help a lot, and im someone who likes a few drinks from time to time at the weekend, so i know how it feels to struggle through the day after, it hurts!!!

We always like to talk about how important monday is, how pivotal it is to us to getting momentum for a big week, so its vital we set the conditions in place to get you all off to a flier!

If eating healthily on the weekend goes against the grain a bit for you, lets try and fix that on monday. The most simple thing you can do right now is drink just water the rest of the day. This will clean your system out and the toxins built up on the weekend will leave and create a great base for the rest of the week.

Now that your system is primed for improvement, its time to flood your system with nutrients, im talking fruit and vegetables, im talking good carbs and protein, all designed to give your body the best possible chance of having a highly energetic week, not only that but giving your body the best chance of repairing its broken down muscle tissue, from all those workouts.

This is a highly underrated process and if you want this whole thing to work very well without any unnecessay pain, you have to get  with the programme and lets do it rght now!!

Give yourself that chance today, come on lets do it right now and get active, give your body all the nutrients it deserves and lets have a bet right now.

I bet you right now that if you are willing to give this programme everything right now, and im talking today MONDAY, you will feel significantly better in yourself by the end of the week, leading to even more expectations next week. Its that easy and its that rewarding!!

Let’s make it happen!!!

Twitt
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Day 56 End of week 8!

End of week 8 would you believe! 8 weeks at the start probably didn’t sound that long, but now you know it can be quite a long time to get your eating right, your training going well, and the most important part probably, get your mind right in order to give the effort required.

Had my first sunday morning run for a while today, as the demands of two small children over the last few weeks have taken over. Back to normal now that the first 6 weeks of a new baby are over, and this was the best sunday morning in some time, and the temperature was good enough to run in a t-shirt and shorts, the first time since last summer! The run felt great, and once you get a run in for the first time in a while, you realise how much you missed it!

The temperatures in january and february just gone will have actually done us good, however icy and snowy they may have been! If we can find a way to get our workouts in during the coldest time of the year, and the coldest temperatures in the last 30 odd years, then the current weather will only allow more activities, and it should be a breeze from now on to get more workouts in exactly when you want to.

This challenge started during the most demanding time of year, and working in the toughest times gives us more skills and discipline that we ever thought. Most businesses i know have had the toughest times since the Great Depression, but most of them are coming out of this recession leaner and meaner, and better equipped to handle a change world and economic environment.

The same should happen with you, we have a lot of ups and downs from most of you in the past 8 weeks, and from that you will have developed your very own strategies on how to overcome the challenges that life always throws at you. Once you develop these skills, you won’t miss so many workouts, you won’t use the same old excuses to eat sugary/fatty food, and you won’t write whole week’s off anymore, you will tend to recognise bad habits beginning sooner than you did before, and you rectify your habits before they become destructive.

Sunday is always a great time to get out and about, and a means of making sure you start off your new week with a bang. We talked about hangovers yesterday, and now’s a great time to get rid of it, eat some decent food, drink plenty of water today and get back to feeling your old self. I never see sunday as a “let’s break some records day”, i see it more as a relaxing, and gather your thoughts kind of day, and a morning run is a key element in that process for me.

I’m looking forward to the start of week 9 tomorrow, and a big last month from all of you!

Twitt
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Walking versus running

A good question has come through from Chris, someone who like many others, has been viewing the site and has finally posted! Question is

Which exercise is better, walking or running?

There is no straight answer to this one Chris as I like to look at the big picture. The easiest to answer is this. If someone is new to training or wants to get started running, it can be intimidating and downright hard to say the least, anyone who has done it can testify to this!

Also, you may have a problem with your knee/ankle/back, and if this is the case, then I would advise walking to start with, make sure you get a good set of running shoes (although you won’t be running) as all the best technology and support goes into running shoes, they don’t have to expensive either, there’s always pairs on sale at any sports shop and sometimes you can get an excellent pair for around £40. What you want to spend is up to you, but bear in mind they mostly last for around 500 miles so you need to change them regularly, that is the true secret.

They used to say I would be a cripple by the time I was 35, however I change my shoes every 8 weeks now through picton sports in Llanelli, and im feeling better than ever at recently turning 41. I change them so often because my running would be considered excessive by many, but it is a big part of my job! So having proper training shoes is absolutely vital, or you will invite injuries.

Back to the question of walking versus running. I would say that an average person usually finds running for any length of time to begin with too difficult, so walking quickly is achievable and will soon get most people out of breath. Then, I would move them on to hills to drive up the intensity of the workout and this again, can be very tough!

Then, I find as long as there are no prior injuries or knee complaints etc, a lot of individuals want to step it up and achieve some running targets. I start with maybe running for 20 yards, walking for 50 yards, running for 20, walking for 50 and son on. Over a 6 week period, it could easily become running for 150 yards, walking for 50 yards, running for 150 and so on. People progress at different rates depending on ability, motivation, dietary habits etc, but with some well thought out and progressive training, the results will be very good.

I would only attempt to run a maximum of twice a week to start, to get your joints used to the extra load (the pressure can be 3 times your body weight). When you get up to around 20 minutes of constant running on the flat, I would suggest trying to bring in interval training (see my recent post on that), sprints on flat and sprints up hills over shorter distances (see previous posts on training for sports). These forms of training not only relieve boredom, but they cam bring you some tremendous results.

I have some individuals who are very good walkers too and just love walking. They start off on flat of course, then they work on rolling hills, and then they work up to some very demanding hills and even mountains. I have had a couple of people walk/climb up some very  famous peaks in the world, so the sky’s the limit.

So back to the question which is better, I would say both are very good depending on personal preference. I would say that most have a desire to run, but I have some who hate running and love to cycle. I have some who love to swim. I have some who hate an audience and love to work inside with weights and body weight exercises. I am fully aware that many people have ailments that make running not very attractive. It is up to me to make sure they have a programme that they can still get into amazing shape with. Anyone who has trained with me will know after a good period of conditioning, I seek out the highest hills and some of the most demanding terrains. There’s plenty of them around the Llanelli, burry port and gower area’s so take your pick and see what you can do.

Another point, I would use the level of intensity as your guide to your workout. Think 1 as very easy, and 10 as working at your max. If you can get a 8 or 9 out of a walking workout, then that’s fantastic, and the same with running. It’s the effort you put in that counts and not necessarily if its walking or running. If you have an issue with your knees, choose non weight bearing such as cycling and swimming, walking may be okay too but running may be inviting trouble.

Up to you and let me know how you get on and good luck on the challenge next week!

Keri

Twitt