Posts Tagged ‘giving your all’

The Truth Will Set You Free – The Lies that are keeping you from your goals

Monday, September 2nd, 2013

Probably the biggest reason most people fail to achieve the results they are looking for is down to the lies they tell.

They are not conscious lies, but their words and actions simply don’t marry.

If you ask most people who start out a health and fitness plan how focused and serious they are about their desired goal, the answer is usually “completely 100% committed”. And to them that is the truth. They really do WANT to achieve these goals, but wanting something and being committed to achieving it are two separate things.

Everything in life has a cost. If you want an expensive car, you either have to work to improve your income or you have to do without other luxuries in your life. If you didn’t need to do these things, you would have the car already. You have to be committed to the changes needed.

So you might look at a Ferrari and think, I wish I could afford one of those. But how much do you wish that? If it really was the highest priority in your life, you would find cheaper accommodation, you would NEVER go to the movies, or to a night out, you would cancel any satellite subscriptions you have, in fact your TV license money could go to the car if you did away with your TV, which you could sell to add to the pot. No more eating out, no magazines, no snacks, no expensive clothing, just what is practical to allow your survival. And all that extra time you have now that you are not in front of the TV or involved in any pastimes could be used to further your career or build a new one. If this truly is your biggest life desire, you will find a way to achieve it.

It would take quite an empty life for such a thing as a car to play such a big part in anyone’s life, but it is just an example.

Switch that to health and fitness. Around 99% of the planet would like to improve something about their health, fitness or physique. Very few people would wake up, take one look in the mirror and think ‘Perfect! As always’. So everyone would WANT to make a change, but many people simply accept, rightly or wrongly, that they want a life of indulgence more. They would rather go out drinking every weekend, have a takeaway every night, or live off pizza and chocolate and simply suffer the consequences when they arrive.

But a large portion of those who start a fitness plan lie to themselves about this fact. They say they want a six pack, more energy or improved muscle tone, but then every weekend the posts go up on the social media sites about how it’s nearly pub time, or time for a bottle of red, that the fridge is stocked with booze, it’s party time etc.

Then you get the cries of regret come Sunday or Monday morning. “Never drinking again”, “Why did I eat that?”, “That’s it, no more for me, diet starts today” and so on.

In actual fact, what is really happening is, through the week, when it life is a bit more regimented and anything is better than work, getting to the gym maybe isn’t such a chore, it’s a relief. But come the weekend, being popular and accepted by your peers becomes more important than the fitness goals.

The reason being, in most cases, the goal is also about the acceptance of others. It is buried in a belief that if you look better more people will like you or compliment you and that will make you feel good and happy. But come party time, getting drunk or indulging in fast food and junk food also gets you acceptance, only the result is instant. It happens right there and then. Everyone tells you how you are a great laugh, they are having a great time in your company etc and you will do anything to conform.

Then on the Monday, you remember your goals and you announce to the world your regrets, that way they all forgive you or tell you that one little indulgence won’t hurt. And again you get your social acceptance fix.

But always there is this internal struggle. You have a goal, but you never reach it. You blame the diet. You blame your trainer. You blame your workout. You seek out a new diet approach or a new workout routine. The latest fitness classes and start drinking that detox drink everyone is raving about. You sacrifice for a few weeks, and of course you tell everyone how hard it is, but you are sticking to it (to make sure you get your social acceptance fix as they applaud your efforts, though only if it’s for a few weeks, because that party at the end of the month is HUGE and you HAVE to drink at that).

And so the cycle continues.

Until you unlock the truth, there is no chance of moving forwards. You might make some progress, but it will be short lived.

And what is the truth?

Well that will take some real honesty, not with others but with yourself.

How much do you really want to make a change? What change do you truly want to make? And what price are you willing to pay?

Only by discovering the truth can you truly accept who you are and what you are doing. And self acceptance is much more fulfilling than the acceptance of others.

Your Ferrari is yours to have, but the price must be paid.

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Why Count Reps? – Every Rep Counts!

Monday, September 19th, 2011

If you have ever spent any time in a gym, lifted weights or even if you have only read the odd magazine or internet article, you will invariably have seen some kind of rep prescription. 3 sets of 10 reps; 5 sets of 5 reps; 2 sets of 12 reps…

But what does it mean? Why would you want to stick to those reps? Why do you need to count reps at all?

There are a couple of reasons why a set number of reps are commonly used in the creation of training programmes.

The first is to develop progression and give a target.

If you were able to lift a set weight for 10 reps last time round, perhaps you want to force out 12 this time. That’s progression, you have lifted more, so you have improved and you will force your muscles to develop. By having the number in your head you know what you have to achieve. There is a finish line in sight. So when you get to 8 reps and it starts to burn, you can tell yourself you haven’t made your target yet and force through to find the additional 4 reps.

The other reason has a more academic foundation.

There have been a number of studies carried out on the effects of different rep ranges on muscular development. Although each study used differing parameters, the general conclusions were that, lifting in the lower rep ranges (below 6 reps) is optimal for strength increase and mid range reps (8-12) were best for hypertrophy.

The higher rep ranges (12+) resulted in differing conclusions depending on the study. Strengthening of tendons; lengthening the muscle fibres; endurance within the movement etc. All these have been shown as optimal reasons for using this rep range.

So when someone is devising a programme they will generally use these rep ranges as a guide depending on their primary focus.

Both reasons are perfectly valid and can happily be used as a tool within your training regime. The problem comes when these reasons become gospel. They are the rules and there is no deviating from them.

There is no doubt that progression is important for development when training and that utilizing reps as a method of tracking your progression is a useful tool. Having that target in mind is certainly a way of ensuring you push far enough to promote progression.

What you should remember though is development is never linear. You can’t force a one or two rep progression with every workout. You may be able to for a few weeks, but eventually that progression will stop. That doesn’t mean, as is often claimed, that you have hit a plateau. More likely you have just spent the first few weeks becoming anatomically adapted to the movement, which made it look more like muscular progression. But it is often at this point that the real development starts.

In other words, constantly changing your routine whenever you appear to plateau is not as good an idea as it may appear.

Also, just because you can’t do more or even as much as you did previously, doesn’t necessarily mean you have gotten weaker. You could be just as strong, or perhaps stronger, but if you’ve had a long, stressful day or a poor night’s sleep, you can’t expect your body to perform optimally.

[intlink id=”979″ type=”post”]See this article for more on this.[/intlink]

Not only that, but what if you are particularly invigorated on a particular day? Setting yourself a target could be very limiting.

Say you managed 10 reps last time, so today you are going to push out 12. What if you actually had enough in the tank for 15 or 16? You start to struggle at 11 so stop at 12, after all you made your target, you have just lost the opportunity for an additional 3 or 4 reps.

So, you can see, using reps as a target is generally not the optimal way to train.

Not all reps are equal.

How you lift is crucial to the return you get. As I covered in [intlink id=”1047″ type=”post”]This Article[/intlink] you should be looking to give your all in every rep. Either you should be lifting explosively with full contraction and constant tension on the muscle or carrying out controlled negatives enforcing your mind muscle connection etc.

Regardless of the technique you are employing, every rep requires you to give it your full, undivided attention.

If you are busy counting reps, that is just another distraction you don’t need and most likely you will start to think about how many you have left rather than making the most of the rep you are on.

It is for that reason that I generally prefer to work in the lower rep ranges.

Which brings us to reason number 2 – Different rep ranges should be used for different results.

It is issues like this that show the difference between pure science and real world application.

In a like for like situation it may well be mildly optimal for each result to be in the rep range described earlier. But regardless of your target, all rep ranges will show some kind of improvement. Low reps will cause hypertrophy and high reps will increase strength (assuming you are nutritionally set).  However, working in the low rep range will allow you to maintain focus on each and every rep.

Generally I have found that, above 6 reps, most people lose their intensity and focus and start looking to get through to the end.

You should always aim to do is as much work as you can.

Your muscle fibres will always fire in order (smallest to largest) and the way to get to the larger fibres is to apply as much force from the muscle as possible.

The most common route for doing that is to add weight. But if you remember your high school physics, weight (or mass) is only part of the equation.

Force = Mass x Acceleration

So the other factor is acceleration. If you accelerate a lighter weight faster than you would a heavy weight, you are potentially generating the same amount of force. To that end, the optimal movement would obviously be to accelerate a heavy weight fast.

If your target is hypertrophy, the convention might be to do 3 sets of 10, but what if you did 10 sets of 3? What if you just kept the rest periods short and gave your full focus to every one of the 3 reps? You would be able to use a heavier weight, but you’d still do the same number of reps. The volume would be greater and you would have lifted with greater intensity. And if you are lifting at that low rep range, you don’t need to count. 3 is easy to track. And if you only do 2 or you do 4, so what?

Just keep your focus on the individual reps, not the number.

If, on the other hand, your training requires you to be working in the higher rep ranges (8-12), you still don’t need to count. If you end up doing 15 or more, you will be very aware that the set has gone on too long and you need a heavier weight. If you only managed 5, you will know it wasn’t enough without counting the reps out and that your weight is too heavy.

Just focus on each individual rep, make every rep count and continue to push until you have truly failed (assuming maximum reps were the purpose of the exercise).

That way, you are more likely to be focused on your form, your technique, your contractions, your range of motion and you will be getting much more in return from your workout. If you have given up time out of your day to go and make improvements, then why waste reps?

Stop getting hung up on numbers. Yes it’s good to see progression, but if you are giving your all at all times, the progression will come. Feel free to test yourself every few months, but don’t get caught up on bean counting.

Numbers are meaningless for most people. You want your body to look good, you want to feel good, you want to improve, so make the most of every element and don’t get distracted by reps, weight or time. They are simply distractions and you have enough to focus on.

Make the most of your workouts. Stop counting reps and make EVERY rep count!

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Exercises and Nutrition you Simply Don’t Like.

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Last time we looked at the problem of having [intlink id=”901″ type=”post”]too much work[/intlink] and how it really is a choice and an excuse not to achieve the results you are looking for.

And although that is an extremely common excuse these days, the self sabotaging doesn’t end there. So the excuse I want to explore with today’s article is the “I just don’t like it” excuse.

If you read my previous article [intlink id=”402″ type=”post”]How Hate Can Be Turned on its Head[/intlink] you’ll already know that working with an exercise you don’t like is often one of the most beneficial things you can do. If all you ever do is workouts you enjoy or you ‘like’ then you are almost certainly hindering your progress.

Generally people don’t like doing workouts because they are not very good at them or they feel uncomfortable while doing them. The reason for this is you will be using muscles that are lagging or your range of motion is not good enough. Therefore, by not improving these areas, you are drastically limiting your potential and likely making yourself more prone to injuries through muscular imbalances.

Training can be enjoyable at times and the sense of satisfaction at the end of a tough session is hard to beat, but if workouts were easy or comfortable, everyone would do them. But if they were comfortable then they wouldn’t be challenging for your body and so you are not giving your system any reason to respond and develop.

Similarly, when it comes to diet, if something is good for you and is really going to make a difference, then just suck it up and get it down.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “I don’t like vegetables” or when you hear the veg intake it consists of only carrots or the occasional salad.

Occasionally I will recommend some kind of peri-workout nutrition in the form of a shake, or some kind of supplement if their lifestyle is making nutritional intake a problem. To then refuse to drink it due to not liking the taste is a poor excuse indeed.

Remember what you are training for. Remember how important that result is to you. Is it really such an issue to eat or drink the odd thing that doesn’t 100% agree with your pallet?

If you are not nutritionally fuelled, your workouts will suffer; your energy levels will suffer; your recovery will suffer. In short, your results will suffer.

I’m not saying all your meals have to be boring or bland. There’s no need to be forcing down chicken and broccoli for every meal. There is a world of variety available without eating garbage and if you have a bit of time, you can really make some exceptionally tasty options (I’ll be adding a few recipes in future articles). But if you are already using the ‘time is short’ excuse, don’t add another one if you have to use some kind of supplement. You can try out different flavours as you go, but if it is your only option, just get it down you. Saying you don’t like something and then chomping on a bar of chocolate, heading to McDonalds or starving yourself.

It may only feel like a ‘just this once’ moment, but these small moments can have huge effects on your results.

So always return to the emotional reason for making the change in the first place. Remember what you want to achieve and why. Think of how you will feel and what it will mean to you to achieve your new physique, to feel healthier, stronger or more vibrant. Remember those changes are for a lifetime and the thing you ‘don’t like’ will only last a few moments. Now ask yourself, which is of greater value to you? Feeling good about yourself or avoiding that one thing?

And just like your exercise choices, you may well find that, by trying foods you didn’t previously like, you may develop a taste for them long term. Then you get the results as well as a healthier pallet to go with it, so further improvements will come much easier in the future.

“I don’t like it” is a child’s response – be better than that! Be the best you can possibly be. So, until next time, when we will be covering another highly common excuse, go prep some greens to go with your next meal.

[intlink id=”979″ type=”post”]Part 4 – The Too Tired Excuse[/intlink]

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Priorities, Motivation and Excuses – Why do you Work Out and Why do you Work?

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

If you are the type of person who is looking to be Healthier, Fitter or Improve your Physique (the fact that you are on this site means I would hope that you are) then you are likely either working towards it through training – in the gym, at home or outside – or you are, at the very least, watching what you eat and trying to be a little more active. Even if you haven’t started yet, you are likely planning to make some kind of commitment to change.

If you are looking to make a difference, there was likely something that sparked that desire to change.

Change is not something that comes naturally to any of us and any forced change is usually resisted by your internal psyche, which is where the excuses are generated from that give most people licence to fail.

Your body is comfortable as it is. It likes the known, the familiar. Change is considered dangerous and is to be avoided at all costs (regardless of whether it is good for you or not). Willpower alone will never overcome this long term. You can’t just push through indefinitely. Hence why so many people join gyms with great intentions and after 3 or 4 weeks suddenly have something more important to do.

So if you have made the decision to make a change, tone up, get rid of the beer belly, build a huge chest, improve your speed or lung capacity or get a phenomenal six pack, there was likely some kind of emotional reaction that sparked that desire for change. Maybe you just saw yourself in the mirror one morning and the visual made you feel sick and the determination suddenly hit you. Perhaps you had a few people comment on the size of your gut, or some of your clothes no longer fitted. Maybe it was something more severe like a heart attack, either your own or someone close to you, which brought home how important your health actually is.

Whatever the reason – that emotional response is key to your attaining your goal.

If you are a subscriber to my newsletter you will have received 3 articles not available on this blog. One of them goes into this issue of goal setting in great detail, so I’d suggest giving it another read through. And if you haven’t signed up to the newsletter already, it would be worth your while doing so.

Keeping that motivation fresh is critical.

There is a reason why gyms are full of people who train consistently yet look no different week after week. There is also a reason why one of the most common things you’ll hear in the changing rooms of any gym is “I’ve not been in for a few weeks (or months)…” and it is a phrase that you will doubtless hear from those same people several times throughout the year.

Either something else becomes a priority, their training intensity isn’t high enough or their focus is not where it should be.

Over the next few articles I’m going to have a look at some of the most common problems, to make you both aware that they are happening as well as to suggest solutions that will hopefully help you dismiss your tired old excuses and start making some real progress.

And so you don’t reel out the excuse of not having time to read them, I’m going to divide them up into bite sized chunks and post them over the next few weeks rather than all at once. So again, if you are not signed up to my newsletter, do so now to keep informed as to their arrival dates and give yourself 10mins to have a read through.

Regardless of what you have on, if you really want to make progress, you simply don’t have the time not to read them.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this.

Have a think about what you actually want to achieve. What do you want to change about yourself and more importantly, why?

You may think you have already thought about this, but if it has been a while, take the time to review. Are your goals still the same? Is the motivation that got you started just as strong? Are there any new motivational factors you can grab on to?

Really think about this. Get right to the heart of it. Then keep a hold of that thought.

And for now, just look to keep the excuses to a minimum. Stay focused, make the most of your training time and of the nutritional input you do give yourself.

Remember, it’s OK to be yourself, just be your BEST self.

[intlink id=”901″ type=”post”]Part 2…  The Too Much Work Excuse[/intlink]
[intlink id=”943″ type=”post”]Part 3…  The I don’t Like It Excuse[/intlink]
[intlink id=”979″ type=”post”]Part 4…  The Too Tired Excuse[/intlink]
[intlink id=”1018″ type=”post”]Part 5…  The Injury Excuse[/intlink]
[intlink id=”1047″ type=”post”]Part 6…  Are You Giving Your All?[/intlink]

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How do you run?

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

It’s simple isn’t it? One foot in front of the other at a brisk pace!

But that’s not really the issue here.

Every commercial gym in the land is lined from wall to wall with treadmills. Running is the most calorie intense of the CV stations, so if you want to burn lots of calories, get on that treadmill, you are told.

But there is a road outside the gym, couldn’t you just run on that? It’s free and at least you feel like you are getting somewhere rather than putting in all that effort and not actually moving.

So why then are there so many treadmills in these gyms? And why are they always full? Even on the occasional bright summers day we are garnished with in the UK it is still common for people to be taking their summer stroll or jog on the mechanical device, under the air conditioning in front of a big screen TV.

Surely it’s just a question of taste? After all, it’s the same thing and you get the same results, so whatever feels more comfortable should be fine.

For many the advice would be that is not the case. Fitness advisors will often sing the praises of the treadmill over road running.

Road running is a heavy impact activity which can cause long term damage to your knees. Treadmills are cushioned to absorb the impact so it is a much safer option. You don’t have to deal with the weather, running in the wind & rain (despite the fact the forecast said bright sunshine for the next 3 days). The surface is even and true. And you don’t have to be mindful of your own safety from muggers after your ipod or inattentive drivers when you cross the road.

Yes, treadmills are the way to go – technology over antiquated methods are clearly the more sensible option.

Well lets look at this a little deeper.

What happens when we run?

Firstly we extend one leg out in front of us using our quadriceps (thigh muscles). We then bring the foot down and make contact with the ground. At this point the posterior (rear) muscles take over pulling and flexing the leg in order to propel us forward as the other leg extends out to repeat the sequence.

So very simplistically, when we run we are constantly performing leg extensions followed by leg curls, working the muscles on both sides of the leg while at the same time expending energy and working our heart and lungs.

However, on a treadmill this is not the case. On a treadmill, we extend our leg as we would normally, but upon connecting with the belt of the treadmill, it takes over and rather than propelling our bodies forward with the posterior leg muscles, the belt does this work for us by pulling the foot backwards. Essentially, as far as our leg muscles are concerned, we are doing half the work we usually would and we are only using the anterior (front) muscles to do it.

Since the uptake of pedometers over recent years, 10,000 steps per day has been a much hyped goal for improved health in most people. So imagine if you were to take those 10,000 steps on a treadmill. That would equate to 5,000 leg extensions on each leg with little effort being exerted by the posterior chain to balance that out. This means, firstly, less calories burned due to fewer recruited muscles and secondly, the imbalance is likely to cause stress, particularly to the knee.

This goes somewhat against the argument that treadmill running is safer than outdoor running as far as your joints are concerned.

But there’s more to consider:

According to a study by the University of East London (1998) the hip flexion angle increases significantly (particularly in women) when running on a treadmill. Hip and knee flexion angles have to increase to bring the hip through the stride causing a tightening and fatigue of the hip flexor muscles. As a result technique alters automatically to counter this weakness causing poor form. This fatigue and substitution pattern can also cause knee pain, compounding the issue of the imbalanced muscle development.

Further, if your goal is to become a better runner (perhaps you have decided to run a charity race or even a marathon) then specificity is extremely important. Simply put, when training for any specific event, your training should match your goal as closely as possible. The physical differences already mentioned (surface type & elements such as the wind) mean that training on a treadmill does not in fact mirror the road running involved of these events.

Not only that, but the simple elimination of elements such as the wind makes for a significant decrease in your workload (as much as 10%) meaning the workload is less efficient and in turn will burn fewer calories.

The uneven surfaces are also a contributing factor in this and can further be of benefit to your balance and neuromuscular conditioning, which is critical to your development as a runner as well as increasing that all important calorie burn.

Another inequality shows up in stride length. There are varying opinions on whether stride length is generally different when running on a treadmill as apposed to outside. One of the few detailed studies on this came up with some very interesting results. It would appear that, whilst experienced runners increase their stride lengths when running on a treadmill, inexperienced runners do the exact opposite and shorten their stride length when compared with running on the road.

It does make sense that experienced runners will utilize the additional energy they have available from the belt taking some of the workload, where inexperienced runners will shorten their stride as a result of apprehension due to the moving parts of the machine.

Whatever the reason though, it is clear that the techniques employed to run on a treadmill do not equate to those utilized when running on the road.

To add more fuel to the fire, researchers have also found that when the foot lands on the belt of a treadmill, the foot, ankle and shin, become temporarily part of the belt and move backwards from the centre mass of the body at the same speed (which makes sense). However, this means the shinbone is not as upright as with normal running and is forced into a greater range of motion, which in turn can lead to stress of both the bone and it’s supporting muscles (causing a tight feeling often referred to as shin splints or worse)

All the above is not to say running on a treadmill should be avoided entirely. As a means of warming up or an occasional CV workout it is as good as any other you might find in your gym. Also, for rehabilitation or corrective training, running in front of a mirror can be most useful in ensuring good foot placement and action.

Also, during the winter months in particular, the risks involved with running outside may well outweigh the benefits, in which case using a treadmill would be a good alternative to avoid losing ground on your training.

However, if you are training specifically for running I would suggest a good set of running shoes appropriate to your feet & running style (advice can be obtained from your local running shop) and head outside.

If your concern is burning calories and you would rather stay indoors, I’d suggest you would get more benefit from circuit style training where a good balance of muscle groups can be catered for. You can get your heart rate up just the same and ensure opposing muscle groups are equally worked, which will not only burn more calories in the long run, but will help prevent injury and make you functionally fitter.

Yes, impact is a concern for road running, but if you gave a good pair of running shoes, that should be limited. I would still advise varying your routine and like all things exercise related, keeping a healthy balance to your training.

In short though, treadmills have their place, but the next time you go to get on one, stop and have a look outside. There’s a whole world out there to explore, places you miss in your every day commutes. Why not get out there, get some fresh air in your lungs, some vitamin D and all the additional benefits associated with road running? At least you’ll feel like you’re getting somewhere

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