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Movember 2021 Feeling Top of The World

movember

Movember 2021 Report Written by Stephen Law Lyons – Team Training Northwich Member

I have been raising funds for and awareness of men’s health issues for 9 years with Movember UK.  The last 2 years, the covid years, I have had the honour of enlisting the support of men in Team Training Northwich through my gym with Paul Connor, and Northwich Round Table.

In 2020 together we had Rowvember where we indoor rowed and ran more than the Land’s End to John O’Groats distance, 1,500,000m and raised almost £6,000.  It helped us all with the lockdown and gave us a purpose to build up our kilometres together, virtually.

Inspired by that success we wanted another challenge for 2021.  FEELING TOP OF THE WORLD – Individually virtually climbing the equivalent of Everest as a month-long goal.  As part of the Everest challenge, we included a standalone real climb team activity goal of climbing Snowdon.  Paul Connor raised the bar and challenged us to carry weights up and down.

The team rose to the challenge and 10 of us climbed Snowdon with around 15kgs each in our backpacks.  The weight had a significance for Movember – it was to be in total at least 130kg which is the total weight of the prostates (11g average) of the men who die each year from prostate cancer.  That is 1190 men that die each year from a treatable cancer.

We all had our different motivations – one team member shared “My motivation is that I’ve always wanted to climb Mount Snowdon but more so ever since my wife was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer and my brother with testicular cancer. I also know family members and friends who have prostate cancer so this trek was in honour of them.”

The climb was spectacular, we climbed the Pyg Track and descended the Llanberis path.  The weather was as good as we could have hoped for and visibility was great.  We had a very special remembrance service at the summit “For me the best bit of the hike was getting to the summit 5 minutes before 11am on Remembrance Sunday and witnessing an emotional tribute and 1 minute silence on the top of Mount Snowdon above the clouds” said Amit.

Prosecco, thanks Ben, and samosas, thanks to Amit’s wife, were consumed at the top to fuel our descent.

We raised a huge amount of money again, and it is still coming in.  Last count we were at £3,650 raised for Movember and a further £2,319 for Macmillan Cancer support.  In total it will be another £6,000 raised from a small group of men.  Thanks to my company APC Cardiovascular Ltd too as it matched funding to a pledge of £500 per fundraiser, a total contribution of £1,000 this year.

It is amazing what we can do when we have a challenge, and we gang together as a team.

Thank you to all our sponsors and of course the team:

  • Amit Patel
  • Andy Firth
  • Ben Flynn
  • Ed Jackson
  • Glyn Knight
  • James McEwen
  • Kris Ellis
  • Matt Westmoreland
  • Paul Connor
  • Wayne Hasselby

In 2022 I hope to be a Sports Ambassador for Movember and we aim to raise more money and awareness for this fantastic charity that helps men’s physical and mental health issues.

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Xmas Presents to get you fit for life in 2022

fit for life

Would your ultimate Christmas gift be to get fit for life?


We all know that’s going to take a bit of effort to be fit for life, but we have a few ideas to ease you in gently and help you on your way this December.

If you are lucky enough to have people asking what you would like for Xmas, and you are still struggling to think of anything – this article is perfect for you!  Well, we say that….. but these presents are going to be items that might change your health game for the long term.  So, if that is something that you really don’t want, then ditch this article now and get yourself back on the Selfridges website!!

At Xmas even the healthiest of us like to let our guard down and overindulge just a little bit.  Even if daily exercise is still a big part of December, it is a very impressive person who shuns the special edition Xmas crisps and Quality Street, and turns their nose up at the pigs in blankets and Yule tide log!

We think here at Team that December is all in the planning.  When you are fit for life, you keep your exercise game strong every month, but you don’t forbid yourself fun.  At team we say let your hair down and have a little bit of what you fancy, because it really does you a lot of good…..and come January hit the ground running with a healthy positive outlook and surround yourself with people who have a similar mindset.

To really start 2022 with a great health and fitness plan and on your “fit for life” journey, here are our top 5 Christmas presents we think you should ask your loved ones for:

1. Nutri Ninja

Anyone who has been part of Team for a while will know that Catherine loves her smoothies, and we agree. 

Benefits of smoothies:

  • Very quick and easy to prepare
  • Great for taking to work or on your commute
  • Simple way to eat lots of veg (we even tried raw courgettes and broccoli)
  • Add protein powders and good fats like avocado for a really filling meal
  • Smoothies include all the skins from fruit and veg – so plenty of fibre too stopping the sugar spikes.

The larger Ninja also comes with a bigger jug attachment where you can blitz raw cauliflower which works so well as a filling substitute to rice.

2. The Book: Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker

Paul is sleep obsessed and if he has not mentioned this book to you – then you are lucky – because he really really loves it!

At Team we really believe that everything starts with sleep, and if you read this book then you will probably start to understand why.

In the quest to be fit for life then sleep is the cornerstone of success.  If you are currently not sleeping great, or consistently sleeping after alcohol or too much sugar thereby impairing your sleep quality, and you are really finding it a challenge to lose weight, then please read this book. It may change your life or certainly get you back on track to achieving success.

Of course, it’s a double whammy when we read.  Not only are we learning loads of great things, but we relax and have some “me time”, which is too often neglected in the modern world of technology, schedules and 24-hour communication. This January we recommend falling asleep with the sleep book.

3. Metcon Trainers from Nike

We really do love these flat weightlifting shoes at TEAM.  So many people are a little intimidated by weightlifting, but as you age the benefits for it are unquestionable.

  • Makes you stronger
  • Burns calories efficiently
  • Decreases abdominal fat
  • Can help you appear leaner
  • Decreases your risk of falls
  • Lowers your risk of injury
  • Improves heart health
  • Helps manage your blood sugar levels
  • Promotes greater mobility and flexibility
  • Boosts your self-esteem
  • Makes your bones stronger
  • Boosts your mood
  • Improves brain health
  • Promotes a better quality of life

Weightlifting as you get older is important for your bone health.  By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.  The osteoporosis risk skyrockets following menopause for women (oestrogen is needed to help lay down bone) and as we get older for men, strength training is especially vital.

Strength training exercises will help to build bone and muscle strength, burn body fat, and rev up your metabolism.

The more muscle mass you have the more calories your body burns at rest.  The more muscle mass you have the easier it is to keep doing the simple things in life like walking up a big hill and carrying the shopping and digging up the garden, and it’s all these great activities that are going to keep team members fit for life and therefore living long and healthy lives.

Anyway, we digress……back to the trainers!  These beauties last for years and just perfect for all the strength training activities that we do in the gym.  They are not cheap but a definite must for the Xmas list. 

A word of warning is not to buy these for your partner who you think “should join a gym and lose some bloody weight!”. Probably best instead to save your money for the January divorce papers and get yourself along to team sessions with us when you are single and ready to mingle and ready to start the rest of your life!

4. Hiking Gear

The age old saying there is no such thing as bad weather – just the wrong clothes, is so true.  As the winter hits it can be really tempting to stay in a curl up in front of the fire with the Deliveroo man’s number on speed dial wearing elasticated trousers and a smock top!

However, come the spring as you try on your jeans and reality hits, and you realise that you just compounded your COVID stone with another one! We say don’t flaming do it! Set yourself some simple achievable goals right now to get out walking everyday come rain or shine. 

Some great walking shoes or boots, a reliable waterproof coat and some waterproof trousers can really change the way you see a Sunday afternoon. You can even go a bit posh and get some expensive waterproofs if you want to feel stylish while you are bracing the elements.

At team we never say that the joys in life such as drinking red wine on a Sunday afternoon or having a chippy tea on a Saturday night should not happen. We just talk about ways to allow life’s pleasures to be a regular occurrence by committing to regular high-level exercise to get fit for life for the long term.  There really is no better feeling that a walk in the pouring rain followed by snuggling on the sofa with a nice glass of red and if you haven’t done it – then get the waterproofs on the list for Xmas and join us in learning one of life’s new pleasures.

5. Protein Powder

Who doesn’t love a banana milk shake or a cinnamon danish from the coffee shop?! Who also doesn’t love defined arms, ripped abs and a peachy behind? How can you possibly have both we hear you cry!?  These two protein powder flavours from My Protein really are the best that they do and can be a great quick go to snack to stave off the hunger pangs during the day.

Protein powder is not something that we recommend you substituting real food for, but it can be a handy go to, to have in the cupboard.  Protein powder can be expensive, so why not ask for a bag for Xmas and see how you get on?

Suggestions:

  • Protein powder with full fat milk as the perfect post workout snack
  • Mix with unsweetened almond milk and a dash of double cream as a low carb evening sofa treat
  • Stick a scoop in your smoothie as part of a filling balanced meal on the go

If you are looking to build muscle and lose fat, then introducing more protein into your diet can be a real game changer.  Studies suggest that eating 0.7 – 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is what is required to gain and maintain muscle.

Conclusion – How to get fit for life?

If you are serious about getting fit for life in 2022 then the suggested presents above, can really help you achieve your goals. Regular exercise though, is really going to be the main game changer. 

The best way to incorporate exercise into your life for the long term is to find something you love doing, ideally with a group of people that you love doing it with. Team training has a supportive and fun community where you can dip in and out of our sessions as many times a week as you like while having a great laugh with a group of professional people on the same mission as yourself. 

If you are not a Team Training member yet, why not register your interest for our January classes now and take advantage of the first month half price offer? Or better still put our 3-month membership on your Xmas list too? 

This way you will already know, that as you are eating your mince pies and Christmas pudding this December, you have a plan:  and that 2022 is going to be the year that you finally make those changes to become fit for life – and what a long, healthy, and happy life it’s going to be.

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Row Series X – and why we keep entering?

Row Series X

Row Series X Report:

When people look to join a gym or have personal training, the overwhelming reason given when asked the question “What do you want?” is along the lines of “I want to look good naked.” There are others too of course such as to become fitter, stronger and healthier but most of the time we get really excited if we start to look good. And with good reason! Looking good leads to self confidence and once we have confidence we can rule the world!


A challenge both coach and client face however, is to stay continually motivated and enthused once the initial 3 months of struggle comes to an end. We have watched so many trainers fail to keep a client interested with their incessant banging on about calories and fat loss week after week. It’s boring and everyone can feel it, but client with their inexperience in how a result is to be achieved believes that is what has to be done – restrict calories and do 3 sets of 10 reps of this, that and the other exercise. Week after week, month after month. Boring! 


How do we retain interest? Ladies and Gentleman, today and for the rest of your life we give you….SPORT and Row Series X!


Sport gives us an ongoing interesting challenge and if you join our gym or train with us you will likely be encouraged to step outside of your comfort zone (remember the only way you will achieve is if you feel uncomfortable) and try something other than counting reps. 


A very simple, easily accessible and non exposed way to get involved with sport was the latest Row Series X competition and Row Series in general; an online indoor rowing competition you can perform from home if you have a Concept2 machine or in the gym. This competition is open to everybody across the world and lasts 4 weeks. Each week a workout is released and you have one to complete it then submit your scores online. The person with the fastest scores wins.

Row Series X


Why did we encourage people to participate in Row Series X?

The reasons are numerous but here are a few that might help you with your fitness goals:


  • Because this race series is online, it is 100% private. You race in the gym or at home either with your friends or on your own. No crowds, no public exposure. It is completely away from watching eyes so is a wonderful sport to introduce you to competition.
  • You might think you work hard when you train in the gym. When you are racing however, you will go to new levels you never thought you were capable of because yours and the team’s pride is at stake.
  • By studying the data from your performances you get to realise your limits. It feels incredible when you burst through plateaus.
  • It feels good to see which people are placing close to you. You have your own private battles and attempt to beat your rivals who may come from anywhere in the world.
  • Sport teaches discipline and commitment.
  • It will take you out of your comfort zone and make you feel uneasy. I’ve said 100+ times, you won’t achieve anything unless you feel uneasy along the way.
  • We work hard together for the team prize.
  • When the 4 weeks is over you get to celebrate with your fellow team members who have all worked so hard too.
  • Fitness and being healthy is for life, not for 12 weeks. This breaks up the year!
  • You will row yourself into tremendous fitness. As well as racing, Row Series is also 1st class training. 

So what happened in Row Series X?

So many outstanding results came from it. From our team, our own Andy Firth won the open male lightweight category. He beat athletes from all around the world to do this. It was an outstanding achievement.

But beyond winning categories there was so much more achieved by everyone who took part on a personal level. Two of our members who had not entered before gained their prestigious TEAM tops from not only competing in the full four weeks – but actually by pushing themselves to new limits of excellence. Both members are always amazing additions to any class, but by challenging themselves through this competition they both took themselves to another level.

Anyone who has ever taken part in a challenge such as this will know that the growth in self esteem and confidence that comes from achieving outside of your comfort zone is immeasurable in the benefits gained in all aspects of life going forward. Often when we work together through a competition such as this, the priority is that of individual growth, team bonding and confidence building. There is plenty of time to focus on technique and perfection for those who want to outside of the competition.


What made us even happier though, was that our own gym – Team Training Northwich came 3rd in the overall competition. We were the 3rd best team in the world. Little old us! This was amazing and it happened because everybody worked so hard to achieve it. Well done to our amazing team at Team Training Northwich.

Becoming champions of the world is not an unrealistic target and it is what we will be striving for next time. 


YOU could help with that. YOU could be part of a team that becomes the best in the WORLD. 


To conclude, this is what we talk about with sport. IF you become champion of the world, what do you think you’re going to look like? What do you think you’re going to feel like? Where will your confidence be? How magnificent will you become? Exactly!


Row Series XI will be coming soon. If you feel like giving it a go we’d be delighted to welcome you on board, just drop us a message today?

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Health and Wealth. Does anyone excel with both?

In my research for writing this piece, the articles I’ve read come largely from the financial media and associated economists. The general narrative talks of statistics relating to longevity, GDP, the age of the population, NHS funding, socio economic status and taxes. Mostly matters in which I have no expertise. The advice then follows to have your health and wealth assessed annually by suitable professionals and after that to take action on the advice you receive. The final point there being extremely important – taking action!

Where I will come from is to talk about what I see going on with people who are similar to me. How shall I describe this bunch? British, middle class, middle aged, suburban, German car driving types! Will that do? Not offended anyone yet have I? If you’re reading this then you probably fall into that bracket, at least with two of the entry requirements anyway.

So what is the state of your health and fitness and how much money have you got? It’s worth knowing because it’s likely that these two will most influence what you are able to do and how long you are able to do it. Or, how long you can keep doing everything you love for as long as possible before you snuff it. Sounds like a pretty good idea to me. A lot better than “Get a beach body for the summer” or “Triple your wage in just 3 hours a week from home” that’s for sure!

Not 5 years ago I would have ran a mile from talking about health and wealth and the reason was because I had tons of one but not the other – you can probably guess where the scales tipped. I’m still a lot healthier than I am financially secure but the reason I feel confident to talk about this now is because yes I know lots about health and fitness and I action it to help me daily but I now understand money more and I have a plan to get more of it. For 45 years I winged it. “I’ll be alright. I’ll have money for my future, it’ll happen sooner or later.” I spoke like this (if I was forced to think about it) but honestly? I had no clue how to get money or what to do with it if I got any! I never had any advice and felt too embarrassed to seek it.

My biggest fear was picturing the future me, strong as an ox, indestructible but at the same time 100 years old sat in a council flat in front of an electric fire with only enough money to set the heat to one bar. The fear increased and became the third force that kicked me into action to DO something about it. So I did.

As I mentioned, I still haven’t got sufficient money, not enough to support the lifestyle I want in my old age, but I now know how much I need, I have a plan on how to get it and how to make what I’ve got grow.

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The Easier Life Gets, The Harder it Becomes


Every single invention that ever happens is designed to make life easier for us. Why would anything ever be invented to make life more difficult? Let’s go back to what is considered the best invention ever – the wheel! Can you imagine the joy when that one arrived in everybody’s cave! Revolutionary. The spear, the shield, the plough…I promise you as I’m typing these words, a truck has pulled up outside with a fork lift truck attached to the back.

Everything is invented to make life easier and we keep going at an alarming rate. If you don’t agree with me, perhaps this evening you could think it over while you’re eating meat and plants that somebody has hunted, grown, prepared, cooked and delivered to you in a car after you’ve pressed a button on your phone!

Is it so good on every level that we do this? Is there a cost? Is it so amazing that we keep making life easier and easier with every single idea that materialises?

Let’s look at what’s happened to us as a result?

  • We are fatter than ever.
  • We are more sick than ever.
  • Cancer is at an all time high.
  • Heart disease is killing us more than ever.
  • We are more depressed.
  • Suicide is up.
  • Childhood obesity is rocketing.
  • We aren’t as happy.

I haven’t put links to studies with all those facts but they are there. Go search for them and you will see they are all on the up. You may even be in one of those categories or have a loved one that has died as a result.

All that of course is correlation and not necessarily causation but we could use an example to illustrate my point. Take what I said earlier about someone delivering cooked food to your door. This cooked food by the way is ALWAYS highly processed, highly calorific junk. Nobody has ever had broccoli and cauliflower cooked and delivered. Compare that to growing, picking, hunting, carrying back home and cooking that food and you’ll see so much energy expenditure goes into the latter option. It’s clearly obvious then that we will be fatter as a result and if we keep eating nutritionally devoid foods then we will be sicker too.

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Lockdown Results in Increased Obesity?

Latest tv commercial from the NHS begins…

“After the year we’ve had, many of us are carrying a few extra lockdown pounds. All that comfort eating and treating has made a mark.” It then goes on to say “Now’s the time to turn things around. Let’s shop smarter, eat better and move more. For free help and support to lose weight search better health.”

Hold on a second. Rewind please. What was it she said at the start? “After the year we’ve had, many of us are carrying a few extra lockdown pounds. All that comfort eating and treating has made a mark.”

Does that mean locking down has increased obesity? Sounds like that to me? The one condition that is crippling the NHS has increased because of lockdown? Locking down was to lessen the burden on the NHS and we’ve long term increased it as a result?

Don’t forget the stats:

  • 30,000 obesity deaths in the UK a year. That’s 82 per day.
  • 78,000 smoking deaths. That’s 213 per day.
  • 7,500 alcohol deaths. That’s 21 per day.

Because of lockdown this has INCREASED???

We’ve tried to lessen the burden on the NHS by stopping people working, keeping them indoors and sending important key workers round with kebabs, chips and San Miguel? Obesity has increased as a result of this? Whoops! Didn’t see that coming!

Here’s the thing (and I’m qualified to speak on this because it’s what I do for a living. I’ve got like thousands upon thousands of hours experience in dealing with it). Simply saying “It’s time to shop smarter, eat better and move more” ain’t as easy as that and if you are overweight or obese you only know it too well. YOU are the authority on this as well. Once you get to that state, all sorts of stuff happens like you withdraw, you lose confidence, your mental health suffers, you can’t cope. And what do you do to feel better? You take more drugs (pizza, chocolate, alcohol, cigarettes) to cope because that’s what you know gives you a high.

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My New Hobby – Rucking – What is it?

rucking

First off, what is it? Well we have standard “walking” which I’m not going to explain what that is. Hiking – going for an extended walk in nature and then we have “rucking” which is going for a hike with a rucksack on but it is with the intention of loading that rucksack with weight for the purpose of carrying a heavy load.

At time of writing this article, I am a novice to rucking so what I write here today is by no means the bible. It is my thoughts on my new hobby plus what I know as an experienced fitness coach. I’ve only been out probably 10 times with weights ranging from 16kg to 35kg and times from one hour to 4 but in that time I’ve experienced a few things and I know this hobby is here to stay because of them.

On the 5th of June 2021 I met my daughter Fern by Tegg’s Nose Country Park, Macclesfield. I got there half an hour before her and parked at the bottom of Buxton Old Road in order to walk up and meet her for when she was due to arrive. Cyclists reading this will know the start of Buxton Old Road is steep! I heaved my 18kg rucksack on and began the ascent. After the first few steps I thought “Whoops! Might have made a mistake here!” Immediately ascending with a heavy load was certainly an introduction to this kind of walk and I knew the day was going to be tough. Those of you who know me though will know one thing – I like tough! Tough is where happiness lies.

After about half an hour I met Fern and we meandered our way, one direction or another up to the Cat & Fiddle, turned around, came back and stopped for a pint of Diet Coke in a pub we passed along the way. That was my first ruck and I learned several very valuable lessons that day. The first…

All are equal

All are equal in this case means everyone is on a level playing field. I wanted a workout that day and I wanted it to feel tough. I also wanted to see my daughter. If we’d have gone for a walk together it would have been very nice, but I wouldn’t have gotten all I wanted from the day. This way we both got to hang out and I had a workout. What I discovered here was that everybody can have it the same way.

You want to walk with your kids and you’re frustrated it’s too slow? Sling some weight in your pack?

You want to walk with your mum but she lags behind? Load a few more kilos in then you’re both the same!

You want to workout today but you feel mean not walking the dog? You guessed it!

Sociable

This reasoning can apply to every single hike or walk you do from now on because rucking is extremely sociable. You can have great conversation with whoever you’re with above what you would achieve from other endurance sports; running, cycling, rowing, swimming etc. Yes of course you can talk during those (maybe not swimming) but conversation can get hard and groups can get split. With the ruck you can stay together easier and interchange between walking partners more frequently along the route depending on how many are out. This reason becomes especially important given our changing world at the moment and the amount of time many of us are spending isolated at home. Human connection is vitally important. It is actually a matter of life and death as many studies show people literally die from loneliness.

Fitness

Almost daily I see people out walking for fitness and I can see a frustration on some of their faces. The frustration is that they want just a little bit more out of that walk but maybe running hurts or maybe they feel self conscious running or maybe running is just horrible. Now they can have more. As much as they want. The feeling of self consciousness is removed with this approach. Many people feel embarrassed running because they are breathless and slow and don’t look graceful. Another problem with running is if we stop we feel like we’ve failed and every motorist is laughing at us. When rucking a heavy weight, nobody gives two hoots if you stop or not, plus you will be less likely to stop because it isn’t as aerobic as running.

We “kind of” have two components (there are 8 more) to exercise which are strength and endurance. Power lifters have strength but lack the other, marathon runners the opposite. What often let’s us down running is our lack of endurance. Rucking gives a lot of structural strength but it isn’t so hard on the lungs which means you can go for longer. What I discovered though is if you ruck uphill you are able to put a jog in if you want and by golly! If you put an effort in there you’ll be blowing your heart and lungs out by the time you finish.

Since that day, another ruck session I’ve done is to visit a hill that takes around 5-7 minutes to ascend – Old Pale in Delamere Forest. I ran/jogged/rucked up it as fast as I could and walked down. After doing that 5 times I could barely watch tv the rest of the day! So aerobic junkies you can have a hit from this no problem!

Extra bonus! All this aerobic work is accompanied by permanently carrying a load. That interval session at Old Pale had me carry 18kg for 2hrs and 3mins, removing only 3 times for a drink for around 4 minutes each. Just think of the calorie burn going on here. I don’t have evidence to publish right now but look at it from a common sense standpoint. You can run up a hill unweighted and hit high heart rates blowing hard or you can run up a hill, reach the same heart rate AND be carrying an 18kg load! It’s another “6 Pointer”.

Price

It’s affordable to everyone. I’m a cyclist. It frightens the hell out of me when I add up the money I’ve spent on bikes and the stuff that’s “needed” to accompany bike riding. It’s actually obscene at times.

Rucking: strong rucksack perhaps £40

20kg Bag of dry kiln paving sand £5

To begin with you already own enough clothes and shoes to get started so we can move right into this for £45. There isn’t a fitness hobby that comes cheaper. Let’s move on!

Get Outside

In my early days of rucking, the final benefit I can think of is to be outside. There is no argument that the world’s health is worsening. Despite improvements in medicine, we are becoming fatter, sicker and more depressed than ever. A large reason behind this is similar to I mentioned before, we are isolated in rooms with artificial lights, electronics and screens that are taking all our attention. Forget human interaction, even if you get outside on your own you will be improving your physical and mental health no end.

Vitamin D is a buzz at the moment. You don’t get it just because the sun’s shining and you pop to the shop in your car for a loaf. You get it by exposing large areas of skin to daylight for prolonged periods of time. Ruck!

And for mental health, try performing this experiment on yourself with the task of finding out what makes you feel happy and content. Walk or run on a treadmill indoors then walk or run outside in nature. You will find the latter makes you happy for reasons such as you are away from all stressors and are exposing yourself to clean air and seeing wildlife.

One major benefit of feeling happy is that you are then less likely to seek pleasure from other substances such as alcohol, sugar or drugs because you are content.

For now then, there we have it. Fill a rucksack, get outside and get marching. I guarantee you will love it. And if you don’t, you can always give me a shout and we’ll go together. You can’t fail to enjoy yourself after spending time in my company!

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What I do for Exercise and Why

personal training cheshire

I think the first point I’d like to make is that everything I do I enjoy immensely. I wouldn’t do any of it if that were not the case. Exercising the way I do makes me FEEL amazing. The fact that I look good as a result is a bonus. Think about it – we do the things we do with our leisure time because they make us feel good. Where I win over overweight unhealthy people is that what they do to feel good, comes at a cost to their health and most importantly there is always a negative come down e.g. hangover or remorse from a binge.

Unfortunately, not enough people say the same as me when it comes to why they exercise and they do certain things because they feel they have to or have been told to. This is what I do and why I do it.

  • I lift heavy stuff.
  • I move fast over various distances.
  • I combine lifting reasonably heavy stuff and moving fast.

Those 3 points above sum up what I do.

What is lifting heavy stuff?

Lifting heavy stuff is using as many muscle groups as I can to shift a heavy object. Squat, push, pull, lunge, bend and rotation are all the movements involved in moving heavy objects. The possibilities and number of exercises literally is endless. Not 30 minutes ago I finished a workout in my garden and invented 6 new exercises I’ve not done before in that workout alone.

Why do I lift heavy stuff?

Three reasons:
  • To build a lot of muscle and become strong. The more more muscle that is built, the more fat I will burn at rest. The stronger I am, the healthier I will be with a greater chance of increased longevity. The moves I do help by saving time on the amount of exercises needed to be performed. For example, if I perform a clean and press with a kettlebell, barbell or sandbag, the amount of muscles used is tenfold the amount used if sitting at a machine using one limb.
  • To promote mobility. By lifting heavy objects in such a variety of planes of motion, I take my body into many different shapes. The human body was meant to get into lots of shapes. Believe it or not, we were built to do more than sit looking at a screen!
  • It makes me feel good. By lifting heavy things multiple times, feel good chemicals such as endorphins are released and make me feel happy. There is a distinct difference between happiness and pleasure which I could go into much more in depth but basically if you are happy you do not need to seek as much pleasure. If you aren’t so happy, you are more likely to seek pleasure. Pleasure seeking most often comes in the form of eating and drinking.

So in summary as to why I lift heavy things: it makes me feel good, look good and it increases my health and lifespan.

Why do I move fast over various distances?

Here is should explain what that means. Rowing, cycling, running, swimming and cross country skiing are great examples. I like to get from point A to point B as fast as I can. It does not mean going as FAR a distance as I can although this is also good when I have time on my hands.

  • To increase the strength of my heart and efficiency of my lungs. As with strength training above, the more heart healthy I am, the longer I am likely to live. It’s no good having a heart attack if you haven’t got a heart that isn’t ready to defend itself!
  • To test myself and see if I can become better. Achieving a personal best or beating somebody in a race basically shows “I’m the man!” and “I’ve still got it!”
  • It makes me feel beyond amazing. High intensity aerobic training feels so good because evolution designed it that way. Think about it – a lion chases you and you evade it. Wow! That felt so good I think the next time a lion chases me I’ll run fast again! The whole “cardio” system the world is sucked in by – to travel slowly for a long way is boring to so many. Look at children playing – they will race, not try to run a long way slowly!

Why do I combine lifting reasonably heavy stuff and moving fast?

  • Camaraderie. It’s a type of workout we often do as a group. We may race individually or in teams and all these sessions are tremendous fun that leave us discussing what we’ve done at the end for a long time. They bond and strengthen our community.
  • Variety of workout. The possibilities for these types of workout literally are infinite so there is never a chance of getting bored with a gym visit. This is such an important point as so many people hate exercising. The primary reason for this is because what they are doing is about as entertaining as watching paint dry.
  • Makes me feel amazing. Yep! Here’s that reason popping up again. The one that has zilch to do with how impressive my chest and arms look but the more I do all of these things, the more the mirror rewards me!

So there you have it. That’s what I do and why I do it. It is the basis on how I coach everybody who comes into contact with me and is the foundation for our Team Training programme. This model delivers outstanding fitness results and virtually everybody who trains with us reaps the rewards for doing so. It is a system I am highly unlikely to change but continue to evolve and I would recommend it for anybody to try.

Give me a shout if you feel like having a go.

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Is long term fat loss as rare as unicorns?

We all get excited when somebody loses weight and are quick to pat them on the back but what we don’t talk about or publicise is what they are like 3 months after the target has been achieved.

The important thing to note about fat loss goals is that they are outcome based and not focussed on what we are going to DO and the process involved in achieving them.

I’ll explain and give an example:

If we want fat loss as a goal, losing a stone is not the statement of what we are going to DO. Losing a stone is a result, a side effect, from what we have been through.

The weight loss industry is evil and full of false promises and false hopes. It tells us that when we have lost weight we will be happy. Their directive is to change nothing about our lives other than to eat and drink less. They want us to experience no discomfort along the way but achieving targets and goals will always involve some discomfort. Only by experiencing discomfort do we succeed.

The facts are that 95% of people who lose a significant amount of weight, regain that weight and more within 5 years!

Some of you may have a lot of experience with this?

Read that last line again – Some of you may have a lot of experience with this? You may be an expert in weight regain. A specialist that someone would seek out in order to receive advice on how to gain weight.

I guarantee that if your goal is to lose a stone, you will regain that stone quicker than you’ve lost it the second you’re happy the scales reveal the number you’ve been chasing! I see it all the time.

Here’s an alternative and is what is happening with me to illustrate what I mean.

I want to lose 5kg of weight in order to be a faster bike racer.

My goal is not “I’m going lose 5kg”. It is:

“For 6 weeks I commit to 3 x Team Training sessions per week. Without my phone I will walk 30mins first thing in the morning and I will walk for 45mins in the evening at my danger time where I know that if I sit in front of a tv I will consume the food and drink that I’m fully aware is holding me back. I will do that 5 times per week. I commit to this routine and by doing so I will develop long term good habits that will enable me to drop body fat and maintain the life I want. I will report to my Team to hold myself accountable.”

You get me?

Remember: once we lose any fat we want it to STAY OFF! Remembering that is what will set you aside from the countless failure regain stories that come from weight loss programmes.

Peace and love 

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What do you expect to achieve at the gym?

When you visit a gym, what do you honestly expect to achieve given the work you put in?

Here are two examples of what I mean and I will use a treadmill to illustrate.

Example 1:

You drive to the gym and you’re going to walk on a treadmill at an incline of 10 for 30 minutes and you’re going to hang on because when you don’t hang on it makes it harder but you want to walk uphill because you know the machine will tell you you’ve burnt more calories. You finish and drive home. You do that every single time you go to the gym because you heard somewhere that’s best for burning fat and expending calories.

Example 2:

The other example of a treadmill workout I’ll give is one that somebody might perform who wants to improve their race time over 5 kilometres. This person woke up feeling nervous because they knew this session had to be done today. Everything they ate and drank in the 5 hours preceding was geared towards completing the session successfully and the speeds, duration and rest time had been calculated three days before with the aim of this taking them to a PB in the race next week.

When this person got into the gym they went straight to the matts area to mobilise and prepare. The session was about running fast and so preparation had to be full to reduce the risk of injury. After 10 minutes mobilising they jump on the treadmill to run steady for 5 minutes and then for the next 5 minutes switch between faster runs and slow jogs alternating every 30 seconds. Walk for 3 minutes at the end of that and then the set begins properly. 5 x 1k at faster than race pace with a 2 minute slow walk between each.

The first one is completed and feels comfortable enough. At the end of the second one they know they are in a fight. The third is key because if that is completed then that’s the bulk of the work done. The third is completed but only just because the thoughts of quitting were strong in the last 400 metres. “Get through the 4th and you’ve every chance” says the positive thoughts on one shoulder. “You’re a bum and you’ll quit at 600m” says the demon. It’s a horrible set. It hurts like hell but it gets done. “One more. Just one more and I’m done” they say at the start of the 5th. With 500m to go our runner is flat out, lungs burning, heart pounding, legs shaking!

Boom! Job done! Completed with success. “Damn! I feel fantastic” they pant. “I’m confident for race day.”

Lets now return….

If we return to our first treadmill walker we can look at the risks and rewards for this session. The risks are driving to and from the gym. It is possible that a road accident could occur. Once inside the gym it’s possible there is a murderer in there who hates treadmill walkers. There’s also the risk of building collapse but apart from that I think that’s it. This session gets performed every time this person ventures inside the gym and because of that, the body is completely adapted to it. The body doesn’t worry. It knows exactly how intense it is and has primed the muscles and the cardio respiratory system accordingly. It knows exactly how many calories it burns, it has equipped our walker with the necessary food beforehand and will make them hungry enough to replenish afterwards. And because our walker has done this comfortable (and it is comfortable remember because they hang on to the bars and this limits the max speed of the participant) session so many times they do not experience a physical and mental high or sense of achievement. There is little reward apart from “going to the gym.” Ok I know I’m harsh, you know me by now. Just stick with it. I’ll leave you feeling good like I always do!

And again…..

Onto our interval runner. All the same driving and building risks apply to this person too but we now have the added risks of strained muscles and sprained ligaments through new stimuli and exertion. We have the risk of cuts, bruises and broken limbs if falling off the treadmill happens and in the most extreme of circumstances I suppose it is possible to explode the heart! But seriously, don’t get hung up on that one. It’s a non exerciser’s wet dream and it never happens! Those are our interval runner’s risks but what are his or her rewards?

Sense of achievement from reaching a personal best. Our runner has never ran this fast for this long ever in their life and they are now a better person because of it. What comes from that? Extra strength, endurance and stamina. Possibly fat loss which could happen to our walker too but less likely.

Kudos. It’s been noticed by others in the gym, especially that one who our runner has been eyeing up recently. It’s definitely noted that our man or woman is of prime physical stock and at least worth talking to!

The best reward in my opinion though is belief and self confidence because with belief and confidence, anything else is possible! What greater reward could you want?

The take home from this then is to dare a little.

Doesn’t have to be great, just to push ourselves out of our comfort zone ever so slightly to reap the benefits from doing so. Whatever your exercise choice is, have a go! Let me know how you get on too if you want.

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