Effort Vs Struggle

Here is a concept that came to me during a few sleepless hours last night.

Approaching what you do in your training as giving it energy and effort seems pretty positive and proactive.

Being aware of the difference between putting in the hard work or effort that you can today vs going through a struggle might well be a worthwhile distinction to make.

(Not quite what i wanted to illustrate!)


If we cross the line into 'stuggle' i think we are more likely to experience a mental or physical 'panic'. It won't necessarily be a state that many people want to expeience on a regular basis to build an enjoyable and lifelong habit of exercise!

Occasionally, i think we may all have training sessions where we decide to push the envelope or get taken a bit by surprise and go through more of a struggle - it may even be beneficial from time to time or you may derive mental strength from such an experience.

I would suggest however that most of the time we focus on putting in the effort and energy at a slightly more sustainable level that we can continue to build on over the long term. This will also allow for better focus on technique.

I think this is especially true for people just getting started or coming back to exercise. I've seen people cross the line into struggle way before they were really ready to do so and it doesn't look like a happy, positive, or healthy experience!

For the more experienced, the actual work being done may be the same, but the approach to it and internal state of the athlete or participant may be quite different!

A Simple Formula To Get More Out Of Your Fitness...

The vast majority of people could benefit from enhancing the following areas.

Mobility

(do mobility to avoid the above version)

Movement Skill

(Balance being one example)

Strength

(Get off the hamster wheel and get stronger!)

Play

I think that spending a good chunk of your time in the above areas (including combining some or all of them at the same time!) will take you a long way.

It may even transform your experience of movement and fitness well beyond what you currently do.

Unfortunately a lot of people's first thoughts are still about how much 'cardio' and 'ab' training they are doing.

Have a thought about how you can get more of the above in your day and continue to develop more of it in the future. I'll share some more thoughts soon.

Looking In The Mirror and Stepping Up....

Sometimes you've just got to take that honest look in the mirror and let the truth of where you are at stare you in the face.

If you are not where you want to be, you don't have to feel bad about it (unless that helps - and lets face it sometimes it can!), but you might want to do something about it!

We all choose our daily priorities and they either lead us to the kind of results and life we want or they don't.

So, how about looking back at the year so far and how you've got to where you are at today? Can you do it, can you be completely honest with yourself?

I truly hope you are happy, fulfilled and excited with where you are at - and when i say look in the mirror i'm not just talking about the looks - how about what you can actually do!

If this isn't the case the cure is largely action - correct, consistent, committed action, physically and nutritionally.

But, inspired action is even better - as in knowing your personal reason why you want to do what you are doing.

Get under the surface a little and discover the fuel that can really take you a long way.

Then go for it! And remember to re-visit that 'mirror' on a regular basis..

Get Moving!

I have been busy recently moving house. What a joyful experience it is!

It has taken out - or i have allowed it to take out - quite a few training days. The day itself was probably physical enough though!

For those of you local to the area, i've moved from Haywards Heath to Plumpton Green.

Moving to this area is going to be great for me for a couple of reasons in particular. I love being so close to the Downs, and also the peace and quiet it brings.

However this is partly due to the noisy traffic on the road i've lived on in Haywards Heath.

If that was my only consideration, i could have achieved it by moving 100 yards in the right directions off this road rather than 6 miles!

How does this relate to your fitness training or nutrition?

Well, have you ever felt that the only way for you to make significant progress was taking some massive change of direction? Maybe you have actually done this. Maybe it was exactly what was needed and maybe it got you exactly the results you were after.

However i think that all too often people make drastic changes in their health and fitness approach, when they could have achieved the same or even much more by staying much closer to home and making some less drastic changes in the right directions.

Ever heard someone say that squats make their knees hurt - and then seen them squat! Is it the squat that should be banished from their routine or the technique that needs to be fixed??

The same can be said for diet or nutrition. Big sweeping, drastic changes are rarely the answer for long term health and success.

Luckily i'm not left feeling that was my only criteria for moving and i made a mistake!

I'm looking forward to getting some seriously great sessions on the Downs. The worst thing right now is the fact my pull up bar does not fit any of the door frames in the new place!

Now that is a criteria worth moving for! Maybe i need to get out more??

Hope the moving in your life is getting you where you need to go.

Until next time....

Steve Cork

Is Chicken Mostly Protein Or Fat?

I've been enjoying the recent adventures at River Cottage on Channel 4. I love watching people who are good with food get all excited and passionate about their subject matter.

Even when i was a vegan, i often thought i'd eat pretty much anything Hugh created! The enthusiasm is infectious!

I've long been a believer in good food providing the building blocks for a good healthy body. Not only your body but also your mental fitness and your moods / emotions etc.

Therefore i was intrigued when a standard supermarket chicken was analysed against a free range organic chicken.

From what i remember, the organic free range chicken had 25% less fat, and 10 times the amount of Omega 3 fat!

Considering we want to make the most of our lean protein sources, and get a good amount of essential omega 3 fats, the choice is obvious to me when it comes to your health and fitness.

I haven't seen the full studies that were done, but based on the lifestyle and diet of the animals it makes good sense.

I'll admit that when it comes to price i don't have to feed a family of four, but like my fitness training, i'll take quality over quantity any day.

We are lucky in West Sussex to have some great choices for quality local food. Personally i have enjoyed organic veg from Laines Farm in Cuckfield, with Lower Laines Farm also supplying meat and eggs.

There is a great butcher in Lindfield, and a lovely farm shop in Ditchling.

No doubt i've just scratched the surface as to what is available on my doorstep. How about you?

Steve Cork

Gym, Home Gym, or No Gym?

(There was a picture of my barbell here but it squashed all the text together).

Running out of room in my home gym!

One of the limitations of a home gym is usually the amount of space you have, or the amount of kit you have - or both!

Above is my poor 5ft standard barbell nearly out of space for nearly all the weights i own. It is loaded up to 184kg's, which was my new deadlift pr on Sunday.

The point here is, whether you are a personal training client, come along to classes or bootcamps, or none of the above, it really helps to have some home training options.

First what do you need? Answer - nothing!

You need the correct technique and application of basic exercises first and foremost without needing to resort to any machines or gadgets.

The world already has far too many useless or unused pieces of exercise equipment in it for you to start adding to that pile!

Now consider what you want to be able to do? What type or types of training are going to be most useful and enjoyable for you to do at home. This will guide your choice of if or what you decide to invest in.

As a teenager looking to enhance my strength and add some muscle mass - it made great sense investing in some free weights. However, if i'd had a bit more money at the time, i would have made the more stupid choice of one of those horrible multi-gym things from Argos!

They do seem to stock some better quality kit these days though.

Other times i have decided to shun training with weights in favour of all the bodyweight resistance exercises i used to do in martial arts classes (luckily did not get rid of my trusty weights though).

A few years ago, i decided i got plenty of aerobic training in all of my classes, so any time and energy training at home would be geared towards more strength training. Therefore i again sought to add to my weights, plus some sandbags and kettlebells etc.

So, choose what you want to do. Then decide if any equipment or kit can help you achieve this.
The more weird and wonderful and 'too good to be true' claims that are made for something - the less likely i would be to trust it. Especially if it's available in your local supermarket!!

When it comes to your fitness training programmes, and any equipment you buy, saving pennies initially can cost you pounds later on (in both senses of the word).

Your time, energy and money are worth far too much to be thrown away on ineffective solutions.

Your health and fitness truly are worth investing in. Buy quality training that will help to set you up for a long healthy active life. Buy quality equipment (if you decide you need any), that will be far more enjoyable and safe to use. It will also have a better value should you decide to re-sell it if it's not for you after all.

Sometimes the right bits of kit can help to keep you fired up and enthused for your fitness training, with just enough variety to keep it interesting.

This is one of the best reasons to invest in kit, as if you don't enjoy using something, it's never really going to get you the results you want.

I've had some of those weights for over 15 years now. They have enabled me to get some great, time efficient and energy packed home training sessions. Definitely a good investment!

I'll post a little more on this soon.

Steve Cork
http://www.everydayathletes.co.uk/
http://www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk/

Fitness Training Ups and Downs - Starting is Hard!

Fitness training has taken a bit of a back seat for me in the last couple of weeks. Life just got busy, and i attended a couple of courses. My training routine was not possible and therefore progress has been sliding slightly.

I'm usually pretty good at managing this. I enjoy a certain amount of structure and routine to my training - but i'm not a slave to it. Sometimes a bit of extra rest is welcome. Other times i just manage to cram a lot in to whatever time i have.

You really need these quick solutions available to you so that time is never the issue. We can always find between 5 and 20 minutes in our day.

'Life just got busy' - the excuse i used - is no justification. Otherwise i'd never have any clients!

Once you make your training a priority (and it should absolutely be a priority), then you just decide to fit it in to your day.

The best personal training clients i have are those that realise this. They realise that not making changes to their health and fitness will significantly negatively influence their lives. The time invested is well re payed.

They commit to their goals and rearrange their day if necessary to fit their training sessions in.

Personal Training keeps you very accountable to showing up - physically and mentally, and doing the work. Accountability and support is key to fitness success.

However you do it, getting started on improving your fitness is going to be hard work. This does not mean that it can not also be fun and satisfying, but let's not kid ourselves, it will be hard at times.

This applies to getting back into training after even a relatively short lay off. However, you already know there will be effort, and you know how good you will feel in no time at all once you are back on the programme.

This takes us back to what got me started talking about this. As i said, my own routine had been allowed to slide for a little too long. I was far from inactive, but the focussed, intense training needed to progress was missing.

All i had time for yet again was just a few minutes of exercise. At my home in Haywards Heath is where all my best training gets done. So i put up my pull up bar, which also has some rings attached to it.

First set was 15 pull ups and 10 ring dips. Second set was 12 pull ups and 12 dips. That was it! I was done already.

Yes i had to save some energy from the sessions i had already taught and those still to come, but even so, pretty weak effort!

Oh well, it's the starting that counts. Getting back on track and just doing those first few hard sessions. At the same time i realised i was feeling something like so many of my clients feel - the new personal training clients, the bootcamp startups, the people who come along to circuit training or boxercise for the first time.

A good realisation to have!

Onwards and upwards. Is your training adding life to your years??

Be an Everyday Athlete!

Steve Cork
http://www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk/
http://www.everydayathletes.co.uk/

The Joys of a Failed Internet Connection!!

Hi,

In the unlikely event that you have found your way to this page and happen to be someone subscribed to my newsletter - this is for you!!

Also if you have sent me an e mail and received no reply, this is for you too!

I'm really sorry for my lack of communication. This has purely been down to a terrible 4-5 weeks of service from my broadband supplier - tiscali. This has dragged on and on seemingly without any urgency to get it fixed. I hope to have this resolved asap.

Everything seems to be firing on all cylinders otherwise. Classes are still popular and packed. I'm busier than ever with personal training (http://www.everydayathletes.co.uk/), and the 3rd round of bootcamps has just started well (http://www.sussexbootcamps.co.uk/).

If you have dropped out of the loop for any reason, had your fitness habit interrupted, or just want to get started - let me know how i can best help you

I am truly here to help, and if you are serious and committed, i believe i offer some of the best health and fitness resources available.

Choose from group classes, personal training, and bootcamps to get you where you need to be. I'm located in and around Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.

Whatever you do, choose something and take action, action and more action!

Even after over 10 years of being a fitness professional, i still like to learn more every day and keep up to date. I recently enjoyed attending the Fit Pro conference in Loughbrough, where i somehow ended up joining in with a ketllebell demonstration - fame at last! Much of the rest of the time was spent learning from the best people in the industry from around the world.

I also completed my Advanced Kettlebell Instructor training in March.

I just mention these to say that i'm committed to getting the best results for my clients in the safest and most effective ways possible.

More soon......

Steve