Posted on

Wednesday 2nd November

One of the biggest misconceptions about exercise is what you need to do, and what is considered enough!

There are a lot of people who dont do ANY exercise at all, and unfortunately never will, perhaps because they think that they “know better” somehow??!!

Then there’s the people who think that just walking is enough, they think that walking is the ultimate exercise, is the most enjoyable exercise and you would be a lunatic to do anything more than this!!! I agree that walking is a very good exercise indeed, but to say it covers all your body and health needs is at best misguided and to be frank, downright wrong!!!

Fitness is about so much more than having a walk, walking is part of it no doubt because its a great activity, but isn’t there so much more?!!!

Of course there is more and what about resistance training? Weight training of all kinds strengthens your joints, bones, tendons and ligaments, it tones your body and in particular muscle tone, it speeds up your metabolism because lean muscle tissue burns far more calories per 24 hours, for instance one pound of fat burns around 2 calories a day, one pound of lean muscle tissue can burn up to 50 calories a day.

Then there is walking as we have previously mentioned here and there are great walks all around us.

You can also take part in running on many of the great coastal paths around the county, and cycling gives you an opportunity to do the same routes, but a lot quicker and no strain on your joints! Swimming is a favourite for many and again doesn’t stress your joints and can become a serious part of an individual’s day, i know many whpo participate daily and absolutely love it.

Then there is stability, balance and endurance work which anyone who has ever trained with me, will know an awful lot about!!! This will solve any back trouble, hip weakness and most joints problems if done cautiously, and can apply to a pro athlete or an absolute beginner!!!

There are a million and one options so please don’t restrict yourself just to walking please!

Twitt
Posted on

Graveyard of ambition?

Was it DylanThomas who said that Swansea was the graveyard of ambition?

This may or may not be true depending on your point of view of course, but here’s my experience with the surrounding area, and probably goes for all of the country.

You will always get someon with ambition, it probably starts with being a child in primary school and being asked what you want to become when you grow up.

Most people give examples of jobs/professions that have some status in society and roles that usually do the community some good.

Then we get into secondary school, and depending on the crowd we hang out with, we either get more ambitious and get more excited, get less ambitious and more cynical, or we feel a sense of hopelessness, not knowing the direction our lives are going to take when we leave school.

Then when we leave school, we either go to college, we get a job which is hard to do in the current harsh economic climate, or we simply “sign on”, or go on a course.

You can see by taking any of those paths, our ambitions are going to vary greatly. If you hang out with those who have no jobs, the ambitions discussed every day are likely to be minimal, and standards are going to be fairly low to begin with. A lot of people are in this situation, because of the jobs leaving the ecomony seemingly all the tie, this is truly tragic and i feel sorry for al those put in that situation, working your way out of it is incredibly difficult, but can be done. I’ve seen many do it, and achieve great respect from it.

When it comes to exercise, the facts in the UK are that most people DO NOT exercise regularly 3 times per week. This means that when most people have conversations about exercise, the likely tone is bound to be negative.

If you speak regularly to people who want the best for themselves, their health, their fitness, just about everythig, the tone is likely to be very upbeat, and the tone is likely to be about possibility, not negativity.

So you can see that swansea could indeed be the graveyard of ambition, but it could also  this amazing place of possibility too, and to be honest, i see this a whole lot more than the negative side. I also see negativity from time to time, but choose not do dwell on it and try to see the possibilities out there, and with people’s health. Those of you who know that being fit and healthy is an absolutely fantastic place to be, and im here to help you get there!

Forget the downsides and the doomsayers you hear each and every day, lets prove them wrong, even in these very difficult fiscal times!!

Twitt