Inspiring Year!

It's been a while - i wonder how many blogs find themselves starting out with those lines or something similar all too frequently!

With Sussex Bootcamps doing fantastic things this year i mentioned not being able to update as often on here.

So with the snow outside at the moment i thought i'd take a few minutes to do a brief update.

I see a big part of my job being to deliver inspiration. In order to do this i have to take the time to stay inspired myself.

For me this comes from a number of sources, especially reading, learning and attending courses.

I've invested in quite a few course this year and i've enjoyed the regular exposure to some fantastic teachers and trainers.

After 'using' kettlebells on and off for years, it's been great to finally learn more about the competition style of lifting and apply this to my own training. Along with this we've started to teach kettlebell classes -

www.sussexkettlebells.co.uk



Personally, i've had a great mix of training over the past few months - integrating some gymnastic strength, kettlebell training, olympic lifts and heavy basic lifts.

We are looking to finish the year by giving something back! We have a charity week of bootcamp on December the 13th, 15th and 17th. People simply need to bring a food donation which we will pass on to local homeless charities. Come and find out why we are the best bootcamp in the area!

You can register for your limited place at

www.sussexfreefitnessbootcamps.com

Hope you have a fit and fantastic festive season! Look forward to an even more awesome 2011.

Here's another link to the frequently updated Sussex Bootcamps blog

www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk/blog

Steve Cork

We Now Have A Sussex Bootcamps Blog!

Yes, i will still post on here from time to time, but our bootcamp website has a blog attached to it at last.

This will be where most of my content will be added on a regular basis.

I'd love to see you over there at Sussex Bootcamps!

http://www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk/blog

Have a great and active weekend!

Steve Cork

10 Minute Outdoor Fitness Session With Some Fun Toys!

Rush hour traffic in Haywards Heath left me a little late for a planned workout on Whitemans Green.

Rather than miss out altogether, Ben and Katie joined me for a 10 minute blast and then carried on while i taught a kettlebell induction.

We just went with some big bang movements for maximum effect - the best way! Tools for the job were kettlebells and ViPR's.

Kettlebells you have no doubt started to hear about, but ViPR's are pretty new on the scene. This are rubber tubes which come in different sizes and weights which have some handles for different use.

They are a great tool for loading some athletic and multi-dimentional movements, and are really nice to use outdoors.

Anyway, first round was 30s of kettlebell snatches per arm, 30s rest and then 1 min of a ViPr move - step with an uppercut.

Then it was back to KB Snatches, then a ViPR shuffle and shovel movement.

Last was 50s per arm of clean to push press, followed by ViPR flips.

This added up to a great 10 minutes that left my whole body feeling good. Ben and Katie carried on to a point that maybe they started to not feel so good!!

The kettlebell induction was followed up with a great session. People are really getting the hang of the bells and finding them to be a great complement to bootcamp.

These sunny evenings have been awesome to get some outdoor exercise and Whitemans Green in Cuckfield provides a fantastic view to enjoy at the same time.

Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk

Kettlebell Classes Launched!

(Not a great shot - playing with a KB circuit before the class!)

That's right - this has been a few years in the making!

Just one of those things we haven't got around to doing until now. We've been playing around with Kettlebells for quite a few years now along with introducing them into our Personal Training sessions and some of the earlier Bootcamp sessions too.

We always intended to have more of a dedicated class to really let the participants explore the benefits of adding kettlebells in to their training programme a little more fully than just doing a few sets of swings now and again.

Remember, a kettlebell is a tool - it doesn't do anything magic by itself. Like any other tool it's all about how you use it, how you integrate it into your programme and learning correct technique in the first place.

There are a variety of approaches to using kettlebells out there and we can draw benefits from most of them depending on our goals and situation.

To many people, learning how to be stable and strong while moving a weight around will be a new experience. Some people really have to re-educate their major muscle groups to do the work they should be doing to safely and athletically move the kettlebell.

It's in learning how to integrate the legs, hips, and 'core' efficiently that many of the benefits of using kettlebells are realised. Your ability to move is improved, along with your ability to use your whole body and therefore burn a load of calories.

Many people will improve pretty much every fitness quality. Kettlebells do lend themselves to being great for improving strength endurance and tend to be great for shifting body fat!

We are currently offering sessions on Tuesday nights at Whitemans Green in Cuckfield near Haywards Heath. These are currently fully subscribed but we will be adding more times soon.

An induction must be attended before regular sessions can be joined.

Please e mail info@sussexbootcamps.co.uk to register your interest.

Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk

I Love It When A Group Comes Together!

Yes, we had a new bootcamp start this week and i do love the way our Bootcamp groups take on the challenge and achieve their goals.

I have a new appreciation of this from being on the 'other side' several times in recent weeks. Being in various group training situations gave me a fresh perspective on the atmosphere, expectation, camaraderie, and energy available.

It also gives me a good look at how someone else is teaching which is always valuable to reflect on.

Personally i've always loved teaching groups, and yet i've always spent the big majority of my own training time alone. I guess part of this comes from having very specific goals and ways i want to achieve them, which are not always compatible with other people being around!

In recent months i've enjoyed spending more of my training sessions with other people involved. Even more recently i took part in several practical sessions at a youth fitness convention, at an athletic training gym, and a weekend on a kettlebell instructor course.

There is a lot to be said for rising to the challenge as part of a group, and if you're lucky enough to be surrounded by people of a good standard or a lot better than you, then you have some great examples and maybe targets to aim for.

Many people on the kettlebell course commented they wouldn't have completed a particularly challenging sequence of squats if it hadn't been for doing it with a group.

I commented on this kind of thing on our members forum today and it seems they agree, this is a very valuable part of bootcamp.

Are you using this to your advantage?

What results might you achieve if you did?

I've been using kettlebells for years now, and this was my 3rd different instructor course. Look out for our kettlebell group sessions coming soon in Haywards Heath!

Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk

Haywards Heath Charity Event

Wow did i really not post on this! Very slack of me - what can i say, organising events back to back and then going away shortly after the second one didn't leave much time!

Sussex Bootcamps teamed up with the Perrymount Clinic to build on the success of our event last year.

Again the whole idea was to provide some great information for how to make 2010 your healthiest and best year ever. Haywards Heath residents got the benefit of the same speakers as last year covering different topics related to their expertise. The Clair Hall venue worked perfectly for our numbers and the stall holders we also had in the room.

Jo Bareham - Nutritionist, covered what you should be doing to raise your energy levels.

Christian Bates - Osteopath and Naturopath, covered what your body type reveals about how you should be exercising and eating for individualising results.

Steve Cork (me) - Fitness Professional, covered what you need to consider to be fit for life.

Pete Cohen - Life Coach, presenter, weight loss guru etc! Pete covered lots of things and made people think and laugh!



We ended up giving away some great prizes and we raised £1200 for St Peters and St James Hospice!

Thanks for everyone's support and involvement that made this a wonderful evening.

Steve

Time Is Ticking!!

We're already a chunk of the way through the year! Well January at least.

Have you kick started your health and fitness programme, did you set those resolutions?

I really hope you have and have had some great successes already.

Getting started right can set you up for a successful year - and it can make it all easier too. What once might have been a struggle has become part of the routine.

This is true of individual sessions also - just give yourself the permission to get started and chances are the full session you had planned will take place anyway.

If i've got a workout scheduled but i'm wondering if i have the energy, or if i've recovered enough from previous exercise i'll always do it. I figure that if i'm trying to decide whether or not to do it i'm actually ok.

If i really am stuggling or overtrained then it's going to be more obvious and there won't really be the debate!

Want to know how to get started the right way and then stay on track?

Get along to our charity events - the first of which is this Thursday night. Drill Hall, Denne Road, Horsham, 7-9. Remember this is for the Dame Vera Lynn Trust. Please register your place at http://www.sussexbestever.com

We're sharing all the best health and fitness tips and secrets in our talks and free prizes. We're raising money for charity, so it's going to be a great, positive evening all round. My business partner here at Sussex Bootcamps, Ben Davis - will be among the speakers.

Spaces are filling up fast - this really is going to be a great Horsham event.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Steve Cork
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk

Big Health And Fitness Charity Events!!

It's that time of year again!

Sussex Bootcamps had a very successful charity event in Haywards Heath last year, and we're doing it all again this year!

Only this time we have an event in Horsham as well as Haywards Heath.

This time it's called 'How To Make 2010 Your Healthiest And Best Year Ever'.

The focus is all about your health, fitness, well-being, and all round how to improve your life.

It's our way of saying thank you to our Bootcampers and Personal Training Clients, and a way for us all to do something wonderful for local charities.

The Horsham event is on Thur 28th January at the Drill Hall. We're raising money for The Dame Vera Lynn Trust, and simply suggest making a donation on the night in exchange for your seat at the event and chance to win some great prizes.

Speakers are Fitness Professional and Sussex Bootcamps co-owner Ben Davis, Life Coach Sharon Knight, Oils and fats expert Durwin Banks, and GMTV's success coach Pete Cohen!

The Haywards Heath event is on Thur 4th February at the Claire Hall. We're running this one in conjuction with our friends at the Perrymount Clinic. All donations go to St Peters and St James Hospice.

Speakers are Fitness Professional and Sussex Bootcamps co-owner Steve Cork (me!), Osteopath and Naturopath Christian Bates, Nutritionist and Reflexologist Jo Bareham, and once again Pete Cohen.

We're going to educate, entertain, and importantly send you away with some great action steps.

There will be over £1500 of great prizes at each venue also!

Go here to register http://www.sussexbestever.com

Did You Engage With Your Effort Recently?!

I was enjoying a final week of a 12 week training programme last week. It was a good variety of whole body movements, but loaded pretty heavy (for me at least).

I've always enjoyed this sense of challenge where you are literally stepping up to the bar - and hopefully raising it!

It's all there in black and white - the numbers that have been done before. The inner conversation, the rallying cries shouting out any doubts, bringing emotion to the cause.

There can be beautiful moments of heightened aliveness and really zoning in on just the task at hand.

And at times there are the defeats that can seem crushing for a short while, but soon enough i look forward to testing myself again and simply offering the best i have. It's all i can ask of myself. The best i have on this day, engaging with the sense of effort, giving it my all.

If i can do that, then deep down i know i've succeeded, i've not hidden from the challenge, i've not settled for warmth, comfort, television, hot tea and sweet chocolate! Not for that hour anyway!

I'm stronger for trying, for embracing my strength ritual.

I shared with a friend that i felt a certain fear in the final week. I had already done 2 weeks of similar work, established some bench marks and targets, and knew deep down the effort required to produce them. That final week is my chance to at least match the previous weeks efforts and hopefully exceed them.

It's usually possible to realise an improvement on something, and i think it's important to attempt to do so. But this won't happen by going through the motions. You need to get stuck in - mentally and physically.

Engage with the effort, look it in the eye, feel the joy and the emotion of using your body the way it was meant to be used - again and again and again.....

Is it time you brought your inner athlete out to play?

Steve
www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk

More Resolution Thoughts....

What do New Year Resolutions mean to you?

Do you set them every year? Do you achieve what you set out to do each time, or is initial progress soon ground to a halt as old habits kick in?

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. Personally i like to consider the year ahead, also break it down into quarters, and sometimes set specific challenges like 100 days. I always have a sense of my targets and goals and therefore times like New Year or Birthdays etc, don't seem like such big deals. It's a constant process of awareness and improvement or challenge.

I think this is a successful approach - consistency of effort, goals and challenges seems to work pretty well for exercise and nutrition too. Rather than endless cycles of frustrating stopping and starting that tend to go no where, a constant awareness of where you are and where you want to be along with consistent effort and tweaking over time will go far!

While i will no doubt come up with what could be considered some resolutions, i think the idea of New Year Resolutions have a sense of failure built into them. Just in terms of culturally there is an assumption of badly set goals not lasting 3 weeks into January! Or maybe that's just my impression, but from what i've read the statistics on successful resolutions seem to back it up.

So why not consider resolutions of a sort - every month rather than every year? Committing to this gives you a great chance to review and reassess what you want and celebrate your successes. It gives you a chance to simply start again on something if that's what you want or need to do.

There is no way to 'blow it' because it's a constant process rather than all or nothing!

As mentioned in the previous post, to really become a goal getter check out the Magic 100 programme - Click Here

I do get a commission if you buy it through this link.

Steve
Sussex Bootcamps

It's New Years Resolution Time!

Have you set yours?

Are they just dreams or wishes or actually things you are going to do and make real?

How are you going to need to be in order to achieve what you want?

What are the reasons you might fail? How can you overcome them?

Are you dreaming too small?

On the right of this page is a link to the Magic 100 programme by Dax Moy.

It's a proven system of goal achievement and life changing action!

If you are serious about turning your dreams into reality you should click the link and check it out.

Here is the link again http://f4c69pnejrvhztfysh0pn0umxj.hop.clickbank.net/

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Have a great 2010

Steve Cork