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Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

The HARDEST exercise you will ever do!!

The HARDEST exercise? What is it?

What is the HARDEST exercise you have ever been asked to do? Sometimes as trainers we ask a lot of our clients. Run here, jump there, pick up this heavy bit of iron, now pick it up again….. and again…and again. I have asked clients to do “burpee’s” for a whole hour, asked them to sprint up hills until they couldn’t stand and attempt lifts they never thought possible. However, sometimes I ask clients to do one thing that seems so hard that many, even after years of training, are reluctant to do. They shy away from it and come up with excuses.

So What is this incredibly hard exercise that scares so many????

Keeping a food diary!

“So what are you eating?” the conversation usually starts.

“Oh! Er…. I eat quite healthily,” comes the reply.

“What sort of things do you eat?” I ask.

“Oh the usual stuff, salads, some chicken. You know.”

“No, actually I don’t know. Do you drink?”

” Er…Occasionally. Not too much,” the nervous client replies

“Do you snack? Eat out a lot? How much protein do you eat?”

” Er ….a decent amount I think”

It’s about this time the conversation falls apart and the dreaded request comes from me:

” Okay, for the next 2 weeks I want you to write down all the food and drinks you have. Then we can get a baseline of what you are fuelling yourself with, so we can help you make adjustments to support your training regime”

Most people think this is a good idea, but inevitably this is the last we hear about it. It never happens.

Sure you may be busy and yes you may have forgotten about it but I think the real reason so few people do this is because they feel uncomfortable examining their lifestyle, nutritional habits and being honest about how poor their diet really is.

Do you want those results or not?

As Personal Trainers we can give you everything we have for your hours training but we cannot stand with you in your kitchen for the other 23 hours a day. As good Sherpa’s we can guide you up the difficult mountain path but we need to know where you are starting from. We will show you the best routes and the pitfalls to avoid but a map is useless if you don’t know where you are or where you want to end up?

So it is time to stop living in denial and start being honest with yourself. Get out a notebook or keep a record on your phone. For the next two whole weeks  write down EVERYTHING you eat and drink and at the end of those two weeks come and show us. We will help you with those changes so you can fuel yourself correctly and make sure your macro nutrient’s are suitable to support your goals. Diets are a short term fix that do not work over the long haul, but good lifestyle nutritional choices for the rest of your life do work 100% every time.

Its time to grow up and eat your vegetables!!!!

It’s a bitter pill to swallow for many but it’s time to take your medicine. Writing a food diary should NOT be the hardest exercise. So pens and notepads at the ready….

Three two one GO……..

RAB 

 

Hydration and I.T

Firstly apologize for the huge gap in blog continuity. I had a computer glitch. I seriously hate computers. For me they never do the same thing twice, that is a bit of a lie, sometimes they do the same thing with the same instruction and then just as I think I have got the hang of it….. f*** UP…the bastard thing just goes all random. Its me of course, I understand that it is me that is the weak link. Since September I have been fighting the computer. Last week I gave up and bought myself a shiny new lap top. I hate the f****** thing just as much as I hated the last computer, because of course the same retard is working it. Such is life.

So to this blog on hydration. Why hydration again?

Over Xmas I saw all the shiny new push bikes being wobbled about on by born again bikers, squashed into Lycra. They were being chased down by the day glow clad spangly trainer joggers huffing and puffing, smugly getting a head start to their new year new ‘them’. My thoughts were all about how they had set themselves up for this NEW YEAR new you exercise activity.

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Also all this personal physical activity was being self promoted ALL over social meedya, right next to the same persons late night antics. Very impressive! Or is it?

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Well I think not. I am  a Pro P.T.I. My primary objective is to instill fitness in others. Why then am I not impressed by physical activity in the previously sedentary? Firstly I would not take an inactive semi alcoholic (Xmas drink specialist) far over its design weight and think it was a great idea to take it on a 20 mile pedal. Or for that matter a 10k jog. I was fairly inactive myself over Xmas and I was definitely more active in the pub.

Look I am not knocking enthusiasm, I love enthusiasm. I have observed enthusiasm and the over enthusiastic over MANY years. Its a bit like being VERY enthusiastic about having sex with someone you really fancy. Sadly it generally doesn’t last long. Of course It doesn’t have to be like that, with a little prior preparation the rewards are HUGE.

Why do we need to hydrate?

That is a BIG question which I am going to break down and summarize so stay awake but ostensibly it is THE ultimate in prior preparation.

Injury prevention, digestion, performance(physical/mental) and recovery. That is it. Those four thing are your primary/only reasons to be hydrated. Simple eh.

Well no actually its not, however I am going to give you some methods to achieve hydration and experience the benefits that come with it.

45 mins before you get up, drink a glass (pint) of water. This will set up your body balance. Some of you smart arses will make reference to the ‘before you get up’ comment. Get a life.

15 mins Prior to and during each meal sip water. This will set up and then assist your digestion.

During your day consume at least a liter of water. (this is in ADDITION to the ‘before you get up’ and meal time hydration)

Prior to and during exercise take on at least 1 liter of water. (at least) Not ‘just’, you can drink more but I doubt you will find that easy.

An hour before you go to bed consume half a pint of water, this will assist your hydration state and provide a better platform for restful sleep.

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When you wake up from your restful sleep in the middle of the night needing a piss, take on a couple of mouthfuls of water from your bedside glass. Repeat as necessary during the sleep/piss/sleep phase of your existence.

My unwritten study in summary (of which I have many) on the ‘actual’ hydrated state compared to that of a hydration state is this:-

When I consume alcohol (Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening) coffee and tea plus 3 litres of water a day I am generally always thirsty but piss for England. I seem to perform OK physically and mentally but I am susceptible to injury if I push myself after a weekend with higher levels of alcohol.

When I consume less or no alcohol (January & October) and less coffee or tea but still drink at least 3+ litres of water a day I piss much less but perform physically and mentally at a higher level. I experience little or no injuries.

To attain complete hydration is quite tricky and easily disrupted. However the benefits of increased performance from hydration are a joy to experience.

Try it.

M

 

 

 

Consistency

Consistency

I was talking to my right hand man and Head of dept P.T Mr Adam Wright RM (rtd) yesterday.   The conversation occurred during our pre planned daily training session which happens everyday from 15:00 to 16:00. We were not doing the same session but working on individual aspects of our personal requirements. My session was organised around my quest to regain strength I lost after my motorcycle accident nearly 4 years ago.  Adams was a leg session designed to help him run faster.

I have been training and training with Adam for nearly 20 years now. I have been trained by others and training myself ALL my life.

Neither of us are, have been or are likely to be a world champion in any recognised sport.

I turned to Adam and said ‘you know it is sad that we are seen (by some) as impressive whilst being so mediocre, medieval man, for instance would ridicule our pathetic efforts in attaining physical superiority’. Adam nodded in understanding.

We all know of many young sporting world champions, that after their heady days ruling the world fall into the familiar spiral of personal neglect once the ‘goal’ has gone.

I do not know how many sporting world champions there are across ALL the sports. I do know that it is fractional compared to world population. Your ‘actual’ potential to be a world champion then is like mine. Very limited!

What is ‘the’ point then of physical activity if it is not to be a WORLD CHAMPION?

Being physically fit I suppose precedes being a world champion by millennium. Being fit is supposed to be part of the living experience, its uses so multiple it is unquantifiable.

To attain it and maintain it in any USEFUL form though requires ONE thing, in my ‘unwritten’ study of physical training at ‘world’ and ‘domestic’ level. One thing is either apparent or not apparent.

I know of and have trained hundreds of ‘bright’ stars.

Dieters. Fasters. Maniacal trainers.

Know all’s. Coveters. Wishers. Wanters.

Dreamers. liars. Blamers.

I then, like Adam and many others I train now are actually aspiring to our own made up world championship a world championship encompassing the ONE thing that is either IN or OUT.

This world championship comes in both sexes and in EVERY weight category that the human form can be made to attain. It also comes in ‘every’ category of exercise that has been invented.

What is this world championship you ask? Well since you ask. I call it ‘CCW’.

CONSISTENCY Championship of the World.

In fitness if you are not consistent. You will NOT reach your potential.

Is that clear?

Good.

M