Before I started my fitness business I used to rent out exercise bikes and rowing machines to individuals along with an exercise programme. I would deliver the product to the excited customer who would tell me all about their plans to lose weight, working out every day until they could fit into the LBD or the size 32 waist jeans that they used to wear 10 years ago. 2 months later I’d return to collect said fitness product. Usually the same person would greet me at the door. By this I mean exactly the same person, not just in name, but in body shape waist size etc. Two months and no sign of any change at all in body shape. Next would follow a 10 minute hunt around the house until the exercise bike, in exactly the same place as I had left it, was finally located under a pile of coats, washing and towels!
No wonder they hadn’t been able to use it; I forgot to leave them a map along with the fitness programme!! This is exactly the same fate that will await 99% of the fitness gifts this Christmas.

So, if you really want to get value for money from giving a fitness product this Christmas, based on 17 years of personal training, fitness coaching and human observation, here are my top 3 choices, which I’ll be unveiling in the traditional reverse order;

The number 3 Best value fitness gift for Christmas 2009 is ….an allotment
OK, so you may have to wait a bit longer for one to come up in your area (and it might cost you up to £1 per week in rent!!) but having your own allotment has many benefits. The obvious benefit is that you have to work on the allotment. Assuming a body weight of 150lbs (10st10lbs or 68kg) for every hour of allotment work you’ll burn 272 calories, so with 2-3 hours per week you’ll burn the same 700 calories as you would walking the dog and lose the same 10lbs per year. You may find that because you have a task to complete rather than a workout, you’ll keep going for a lot longer than in the gym and have much more satisfaction upon completion. Of course there are other benefits. Growing your own vegetables will save you money at the supermarket and you’ll probably be eating healthier food as well as spending more time outdoors breathing healthy fresh air!

Ignore the Wii Fit, Ab Cradle, PowerPlate, the number 2 Best value fitness gift for Christmas 2009 is ……..a dog!

Yes that’s right, a dog! They need walking at least twice a day, every day, come rain or shine. They won’t let you hide them under a pile of coats. They’ll live for years, be extremely loyal and give you and hours of pleasure and company, for years to come. In terms of calories burned, assuming a body weight of 150lbs (10st10lbs or 68kg) for every hour of dog walking you’ll burn 204 calories. So if you walk your dog for just 30 minutes every day you’ll burn 100 calories per day or 700 calories per week.
There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat so even if you don’t change anything about your eating habits, every 5 weeks you’ll shed 1lb(0.5kg) of fat. So in 1 year you’ll lose 10lbs (4.5kg) just from walking the dog!

And finally my number 1 Best value fitness gift for Christmas 2009 is, and you would expect me to say this…a personal trainer.

For most people  gym membership just isn’t enough. After the first few weeks of enthusiasm, getting to the gym will become just another hindrance in an otherwise busy week. A personal trainer on the other hand is someone you make a commitment to. Not turning up is like letting down your best friend and in most cases a lot more expensive than not turning up at your gym. Alongside this commitment, you’ll have constant attention for your whole workout as well as an experienced eye making sure that you perform the exercises with the right technique and with the right amount of weight. It may seem a big investement but it will be worth it. £3000 per year with your trainer will yeild (if you follow their advice to the letter) at least £3000  worth of fitness benefits. I guarantee that the results of 12 months training will be longer lasting than the same money spent with your plastic surgeon!

Hopefully you’ll agree with my recommendations but if you don’t then please leave your comments at the bottom of this posting. In themeantime have a happy Christmas walking the dog down to the allotment after an hour with your PT

Having a few clients away on holiday meant that they were “flying solo”. By that I mean that they weren’t coming to the gym on a regular basis so there was no regular anchor point for them, no one to answer to.
When clients “fly solo”, one of 2 things can happen.
1. They do no training and forget all about the good lifestyle and nutrition habits we’ve been working on for months. The end result is they lose fitness, gain weight and go back to square 1
2. They keep up the training, maintain the good habits and return to the gym in good shape and ready to move to the next level.

#1 is probably the most common situation and the one most trainers dread. After all they only have to worry about two situations with their clients - What they do when they are with them in the gym (which they can control) and what they are doing when they are not in the gym (which they can’t control).
Given that the second example probably represents 99% of the week, then as a trainer this is the bit I try to work on the most (the lifestyle and nutrition habits I mentioned earlier).
Exercise alone won’t help you to get your body into shape (well it will but not if you only do a couple of sessions per week in the gym). To be truly successful in achieving your goals you need to take personal responsibility and look at your whole lifestyle I.e. what you do in the 99% of time when you are not at the gym.
A trainer can only guide you in a certain direction - like SatNav. Its up to you to drive the car to your destination. And I’d be willing to bet that no one has successfuly avoided prosecution by saying “it was the SatNav wot did it!”
So if you’ve come back from your holidays overweight & ot of shape. Don’t blame your trainer. Take personal responsibility then take action

In a previous posting we talked about What Grandma Knew and also going Back to Basics. If you read those then you’ll find lots of ideas for staying fit for very little if any expenditure. if you didn’t then here are my 5 top tips for staying in shape for FREE.

1. Walk more - any journey of less than 1/2 mile should be walked. You wont lose much time and you’ll reduce your carbon footprint, save fuel, burn calories, get a short burst of fresh air and take 1 car off the road. Imagine if everyone did that every day! Even if you do take the car, have you ever worked out how much of your life you are wasting by driving around looking for a parking space near the door. Park further away and use your legs; that’s what they were designed for. And then leave the closer parking bays for those drivers who really need them!

2. Get an allotment - This is a double whammy. Manual labour is probably more beneficial for your fitness as working out in the gym, except that you don’t usually quit after an hour. You work until the job is done. And the other benefit is that you can grow your own vegetables, saving more money. In fact if you eat your own veg then an added bonus is that you can eat healthily as well.

3. Ditch the remote control - and all other labour saving devices. Every time you get off your a**e to change channel or to answer the phone you are burning calories. OK it may only be 1 or 2 but it is the cumulative effect of that which is making you fat. You have to reverse the process somewhere, so start with the simple things.

4. Workout with the family - Its not just the adults who are getting fatter. If you are a parent then you have a responsibility to teach your children good habits. These include eating healthy food and taking regular exercise. don’t take the easy option and send them to the local football club on their own. Take the initiative and start a bit of parental bonding by; playing football with them in the park, walking together in the country or bike riding. There are lost of things that don’t cost a penny. You just have to use a little imagination.

5. Get a dog - Now before you say "yes but you have to buy one of those" there are many dog refuge’s and kennels where you can drop in and take a dog for a walk. Dogs need to walk and they love to play. Taking a dog for a walk twice a day will make a massive difference to your fitness as well as someone who will provide you with hours of fun. Lots of my running mates have dogs as their training partners, because they never moan about the weather or getting up early to exercise

As I said before, staying in shape doesn’t have to be difficult. Just start with the easy activities on a regular basis and be consistent. Simple!

Please let me know how you get on!

Given my fondness for chocolate and the fact that it seems to be what is getting in the way of me shedding real weight as I build up to my Ironman, I have decided on my own 21 day challenge - No chocolate.

Thinbgs are going well so far. I’m now up to day 8 and I havent really had any near misses. In fact I had a couple of direct offers over the weekend and managed to refuse both times, which shows that my resolve is good. Can I maintain this willpower? I’ll keep you posted on how I progress.

And today I’ve introduced the 21Day Challenge to my clients at work and 2 have taken me up on it, choosing alcohol. Will they be just as strong? I hope so and I’ll do all I can to encourage them

If you want to do your own 21 day challenge then just think of 1 small thing you want to change and get started right away. Thats the easy part. Keeping it going for 21 days is a bit harder but you wont know until you try!!

With the bad weather we have had in the last week a lot of folks haven’t been able to get to the gym and so guess what? They havent worked out.

In fact all the snow we had actually provided them with a fantastic playground. It’s just a pity they didnt realise at the time!

So what could they have done? Here are 5 simple ideas for keeping in shape when it snows;

#1 Shift the snow - an hour clearing snow from the path or road would actually have provided a greater full body workout than you would get at the gym… and for FREE!

#2 Walk in the snow - yes it is much harder than walking on the pavement. You take 2 paces forward, 1 pace back and probably 1 pace sideways. Just staying upright is a tough task. Those leg, hip and core muscles have a much better workout in the snow than they would on a treadmill!!

#3 Go sledging - I read somewhere that the snow had caused many fathers to bond with their children because they went sledging while off work/school. On top of this you have to pull a sledge up a hill to slide down again and you probably have to drag the sledge everywhere else too. Once again a full body workout!

#4 Build a snowman - ever tried pushing an ever growing snowball? its hard work and a full body workout!

#5 Just do something outside - ever wonder how your body keeps warm? Yes you have to keep moving and this burns more calories.

So if it snows again you have no excuses when the gym is closed. Just head outside and have a ball.

I do remember that both of my grandmas’ were very active, strong and physically capable people well into their 60’s.

Most days Grandma would walk the mile to the local shops to buy bread, milk, meat and a newspaper. She would probably do this every day and carry 2 shopping bags back each time.

She cleaned the house by hand which took almost a full day. This included beating the rugs outside, brushing the floors by hand and scrubbing the kitchen floor on her knees. (No labour saving devices!)

Washing was done by hand and the items then put through the mangle to wring the water out. Then the heavy cotton sheets & woollen blankets were hung on the line. She lifted the heavy washing basket herself!

Grandma & Granddad looked after the garden together and spent most summer evenings and weekends tending to the flowers, weeding and cutting the grass (although it wasn’t a particularly big garden).

Granddad also had an allotment where he spent much of his time at the weekend, growing flowers and more importantly vegetables for the dinner table.

Whilst Grandma was busy at home all day (and believe me she never stopped) Granddad cycled 3 miles to work every morning, come rain & shine, back for his lunch spot on 12 noon and then back again to start the afternoon shift at 1pm and finally back for his tea @ 5pm.

And talking of mealtimes, they had 3 square meals a day - breakfast, lunch ( the main meal which they called dinner) and tea (usually a sandwich or beans on toast).
All meals were cooked from fresh rather than using processed/convenience foods and there were no snacks between meals.

In the 21st century, health and fitness is a massive industry and there is an abundance of information, facilities and trainers available to help us stay in shape and get rid of the fat. Yet despite this as a nation we are fatter and less fit than our forebears. We spend time travelling to and from the gym when actually we could stay at home and stay in shape just as easily. Ironically we go to the gym because we don’t have time to be habitually active and yet in all the time we waste in getting there we could easily go for a walk, attend to the garden or just play with the children.

Getting back to basics has many advantages especially in the current economic climate. If we could live like Grandma with an habitually active lifestyle, regular, well balanced, eating pattern and home prepared food we’d probably all be in much better shape as well as better off.

Maybe Grandma knew more about staying in shape than I gave her credit for at the time.

Thanks for reading. Next time I’ll show you just how you can stay in shape for pennies (or less)

Anyway, one of the recurring themes that I come across when I’m reading fitness magazines or talking with people who want to know about getting and staying fit is that everything seems to be really complicated.

They want to talk about split routines, target heart rate zones, which exercises are the best etc.

The one thing they all miss is this. Its very simple. Getting fit and staying fit is about consistently being active and eating well. Full Stop.

 Some days you’ll be able to get in a mega session and on other days you’ll only be able to workout for 15 mins. Just do what you can when you can but definitely don’t miss a workout because you dont have the full hour.

AND, it’s not just about planned workouts. Habitual activity is also very important to keep yourself in good shape. This means walking instead of taking the car, gardening etc. Everyday tasks that often get neglected in our busy lives.

Think long term, keep it simple and using a well known phrase “just do it”

Netx time I’ll talk about getting “Back to Basics” and what your GrandParents knew about staying in shape

Well when I first dreamed it up over 15 years ago my first thought was based on body movement. 3 Dimensional if you like! The body has 3 planes of movement all of which involve dividing the body in half:-

Sagittal - the most common one which involves forward and backwards movement and anything else in this line. (The front and back half)

Frontal - sideways or lateral movements. (The left and right half)

Transverse - Rotationalor twisting movements (the top and bottom half)

In reality none of these movement take place exclusively of the other and so we often move 3 dimensionally.

I guess an alternative view could be that we like to look good from the outside, that we ought to look good from the inside (ever seen arteries blocked by cholesterol? Not a good look!) and that the 3rd dimension wher we should look good is the spiritual one.

Since starting life as a personal trainer I have become increasingly aware that fitness is only one aspect of a healthy life and that to be truly fit we should workout our mind, finances, health, job, friends and indeed any aspect that can influence our happiness. We need to be fit looking in any dimension. This is more of a holistic 3 dimensional approach to fitness

So 3D fitness has actually worked out quite nicely and in coming months I’m going to be exploring at other ways in which we can get our life and not just our body into shape.

Scott Rigsby is a double below the knee amputee and last year Scott finished the Hawaii Ironman. This is the ultimate long distance triathlon that most triathletes aspire to compete in. The distances of this event, just in case you don’t know are - 3.6k swim, 180k bike, 42k run. Its a difficult enough task for an able bodied athlete but think of how much of a task it is for a man with 2 artificial legs.

And when you speak with Scott he tells of how 18 months before, his biggest problem was that he couldnt swim and he didn’t have a bicycle. No mention of his legs!! He didn’t feel sorry for himself, he just got on with the training, overcame the obstacles and achieved his goal. And you know what? He’s not the only one. Every year there are Athletes With A Disability (AWAD) taking part and not just in this Ironman.

So next time you feel a little tired when you get home from work or you tell your friend/trainer/work colleague that its difficult to workout because of….. (insert your own excuse here) take a moment to think about Scott and those like him who smash down what most of us would consider to be insurmountable obstacles.

And please never come out with a lame excuse. Just admit your lazy.

“I’m starting my diet tomorrow” or

“I’ll start my workout routine tomorrow”

What’s wrong with today?

If you asked the most successful people in this world one trait nearly all of them have is to take immediate action.

Maybe the light bulb would have had another name on it if Edison had waited until tomorrow. Virgin might never have become the giant corporation it is today if Richard Branson had waited until tomorrow to sign up Mike Oldfield or the Sex Pistols.

If you want to get fit or lose weight start right now.

Here’s how;

At your next meal put your normal portion size on the plate and then take 1/3 away again. Do that for every meal

If you have a biscuit or chocolate habit, every time you go to pop one in your mouth replace it with a portion of fruit.

Next time you park your car do not park right next to your destination. Park 2 blocks away and walk. Do this every time you park the car.

Next time you take a phone call walk around during the length of the call or at the very least stand up.

Try to follow this for the next week and see what happens.

“Consistency NOT novelty, is the key to uncommon results”