Category Archives: Motivation

May 13, 2024

THE POSITIVE POWER OF PLANTS.

Did you know that houseplants can reduce stress, boost our mood, increase productivity and improve oxygen levels in a room?

And that’s not all… looking after our plants generally makes us feel good, giving us a sense of purpose and joy when we see them thrive.

The more houseplants you have, the more air-purifying benefits thay may bring. Plus potting soil is full of microbes which could increase your serotonin levels helping to make you feel more relaxed and happy.

Try easy-to-grow, good-value varieties, such as Boston ferns, and enjoy the positive effects of s leafy living space for yourself.

August 7, 2023

IS HAVING A PERSONAL TRAINER FOR ME?

Are you thinking about getting a Personal Trainer, but you’re not sure if it’s for you? Do you feel confused as to what they can offer, or are you worried about making sure you find someone who is qualified?

The following article from the National Register of Personal Trainers will hopefully help to answer some of your questions. Plus their website can help you to find a qualified trainer in your area.

The Benefits of Hiring a Personal Trainer:

You may have seen personal trainers operating in your gym or seen adverts for them and wondered if there was any benefit. Here we explore how hiring a personal trainer could make all the difference.

Helping You Achieve Your Goals
One of the first benefits of hiring a personal trainer is to help you define what you are trying to achieve. This can be really helpful if you aren’t sure what you are doing and why you are doing it. The personal trainer will then design a programme to help you achieve that goal. It may be your goal is too ambitious and you need to build up to it with smaller goals along the way.

Goal setting is really crucial because it dictates your fitness programme but also your motivation. Your personal trainer will want to get this first stage right. Examples of common fitness goals include losing weight, building muscle or getting fit for a specific sport.

Fitness Programme Design
From your goals a personal trainer will then design your fitness programme. The real advantage of this is that your personal trainer will know of exercises that you may not but will also understand new techniques and also enough about the human body to be able to advise you if you have any injuries or illnesses.

The personal trainer will also be able to take into account the time you have available to train. This fact that your programme is bespoke means it is more likely to yield results.

Inspiring You
One of the main reasons people drop out of fitness is boredom and not achieving goals. Your personal trainer will motivate and encourage you to do the training session, give you feedback and praise but also keep that programme full of variety so that you won’t get bored.

Working out with someone next to you is completely different to working out alone after a long day of work.

Learning How To Exercise Properly
Apart from some instruction when you first join a gym it may have been years since someone commented on how your push-ups are or whether your sit up was done correctly. Poorly performed exercises can lead to injury but can also be ineffective.

Your personal trainer will ensure that you know how to perform each move and that you do it properly. This ensures that if you are then working out at home you know exactly what you are doing.

Holding You To Account
This is similar to motivation but is really about ensuring that you keep to your side of the bargain. This is really important if you are someone who really lacks commitment to your training and is easily led astray. Your personal trainer will ask why you missed a training session and will charge you for a session you cancelled without notice. This alone can provide the motivation you may need to get fit.

Combatting Boredom
A personal trainer will ensure that your programme is varied enough to keep you motivated. They will use equipment, free weights, balls and other equipment to ensure that you are constantly being challenged.

An example is abdominal workouts. A personal trainer will know that having to do the same sit ups each session can get boring so why not perform your sit ups on a ball which really challenges your core? Or what about some stability exercises that also get the core going?

Time Management
Many people often complain that they don’t have time to work out. If your time is really stretched then a personal trainer can really come into their own. They will ensure that your programme can be performed in the time you have and that it cuts to the chase.

Specialist Work
Many personal trainers have qualifications in nutrition so can also advise you on not just the exercise you do but also what you should be eating and what portions are correct. In addition many personal trainers are qualified to work with people who are obese or who suffer from illnesses where fitness is important but care does need to be taken.

For this reason working with a well-qualified personal trainer is essential.

By Ian Duncan

July 4, 2022

WORK WITH YOUR INNER CLOCK.

You’ve probably heard of circadian rhythms – our natural sleep-wake cycle, which can be influenced by things like noise and daylight hours.

Closely connected to this is our chronotype, a more constant in-built preference for when our bodies naturally want to sleep and wake, determining whether we’re an early bird or a night owl.

It is now believed that exercising in sync with this natural preference may help us perform better and feel more energised.

Research indicates that individual athletic performance can vary by as much as 26% depending on the time of day.

January 1, 2021

OVERINDULGED THIS CHRISTMAS? GET BACK ON TRACK WITH MY TOTAL CORE EXERCISE GUIDE.

For many, Christmas is a difficult time of year to keep to a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Lack of time for exercise, meal prep and eating healthily can give way to exhaustion, unhealthy food and lifestyle choices.

If you’ve been treating yourself more and exercising less, this can often result in feelings of guilt, especially those of you who have recently started on your journey to better health.

Don’t despair! The key is to accept this and move on…

Try my Home Workouts: Total Core exercise guide to get you back on track. This simple guide provides easy-to-follow exercises which target all muscles of the core and help you to build strength and tone. Visit my shop page for further details.

In addition to this guide, it’s essential you introduce yourself back into your previous routine slowly. Don’t take away all treats, as you’ll feel deprived. Eat well balanced meals that include all three macronutrients – protein, complex carbohydrates and good fats.

Start to move more. This doesn’t mean you have to get straight back into training for your 10k run or head off to the next sweat-inducing spin class. Do the things that you enjoy, like taking a walk in your local park or dancing around the living room with your family.

The key is to be kind to yourself and move forward. And here’s to a happy and healthy 2021!

January 3, 2020

HOW TO MAKE ANY WORKOUT FEEL EASIER.

How you feel during training is not always a reflection of how fit you are. If you know just how to manage it and use a variety of mental tricks you don’t just get to feel better than you would otherwise, you will be performing better, doing more and working out harder.

Fitness is, mostly, inside your head. It’s first of all a mental battle to win in order to make yourself train, make yourself train at the level you need to, and then to continue doing it time and time again. Here are a few tricks you can use to make the whole process easier on yourself:

Don’t think about how hard it is
The more you think about yourself not being able to cope, the harder it will feel. Keep telling yourself that what you are doing is no big deal and you’ll find that you are capable of achieving much more.

Take yourself elsewhere for a few seconds
If where you are is less than comfortable, imagine where you would like to be right now and take yourself there in your head. It will help you reset your brain and take its attention away from thinking about the tough training session.

Lie
Tell yourself that you will never do this again or will take a long break…after this time. The lie works because it re-programmes your brain to stop complaining and simply focus on the time training will end.

Work out with music
Evidence shows that listening to music during your workout, due to its calming effect, can lead to reduced muscle tension and more efficient oxygenation. We are not just able to do more and feel less exhausted, but the exercise itself feels less taxing.

October 31, 2014

OVERCOMING THE DREADED PLATEAU.

Beat_Stress

There are two opposite tactics here that can both work.

  • Plan A: Increase your intensity – add intervals to your cardio or intense strength circuits two or three times a week. This shoves your brain and muscles out of cruise control, and your body will start burning stored calories to do the activity.
  • Plan B: Take a day off. If you’re exercising too hard or too often, you may be overtraining, causing your body, which thinks it’s under attack, to shift into preservation mode and stockpile resources, especially fat.
September 20, 2013

BREAK OUT OF YOUR CARDIO RUT.

Bored

Are you bored with your cardio workout? Are you already dreading the stair stepper workout that you have scheduled for tomorrow morning? When you’re in a rut, it’s easy to fall off the fitness wagon because motivation and excitement are gone.

So how do you get your aerobic mojo back? You shake things up! Here are a few super-simple ways:

1. Change Your Soundtrack.
Downloading new songs is a fast way to bust out of your cardio rut and get you happily moving. When you have your headphones on, no one else knows what tunes you’re playing, so play whatever you want! Studies have shown that music is motivating, but if you’re bored at the gym, it may be time to shake that playlist up.

2. Change Your Location.
If you’re a regular gym-goer, maybe it’s time for a change of scenery. Move your workout outdoors or create your own home gym. Even a new DVD or two can mix things up!

 3. Change Your Intensity.
Try a longer, less intense workout: If you can usually only set aside 10 to 20 minutes for exercise, make those minutes intense, switch it up by setting aside extra time to make your workout longer and less intense. By doing a longer, less intense workout, you’ll give yourself time to really enjoy the activity without rushing or trying to burn as many calories you can in a short amount of time. Pick an activity that you love—dancing, walking, hiking—and enjoy it!

OR…

Try a shorter, more intense workout: If you’re the type of exerciser who would rather walk for an hour than run for 5 minutes, then maybe it’s time for you to swap your low-intensity sweat sessions for shorter, more intense workouts. This is an especially good trick if you spend most of your mental energy watching the clock wishing your long workout was over.

April 15, 2013

GYM MEMBERSHIP V’S PERSONAL TRAINER

The average gym-goer pays a hefty £20-£25 per session due to the infrequent use of their membership!

If you need some motivation to kick-start your exercise regime, I may be just the person you need.

I will help you to focus on realistic and achievable goals, giving you support and advice on the best way to train.

So, rather than wasting money on a gym membership that never sees the light of day, why not invest in a Personal Trainer that will have you seeing phenomenal results.

For more information please don’t hesitate to contact me.

February 3, 2013

COULD YOU BENEFIT FROM HAVING A PERSONAL TRAINER?

If you answer yes to one or more of the questions below, you could benefit from having a Personal Trainer to help you with your exercise programme:

1. I want to lose more body fat and tone up my muscles more than I have been.
2. I want to improve my diet and nutrition.
3. I want to get as much out of my workouts as I possibly can and not just ‘go through the motions’.
4. I want more motivation and be more consistent in my workouts.
5. I want to have more energy, endurance and enthusiasm.
6. I want to look better and feel better.

January 26, 2013

EXCUSES, EXCUSES…

Weight

Think you don’t have time to workout? Find it difficult to put aside time just for you? Well you may be surprised that you don’t need an hour – or even half an hour – a day to lose weight or get into great shape.

Studies have found that 15 minutes of resistance training is just as effective at boosting your metabolism as 35 minutes. It also found that women have a better chance of sticking to a plan if they only had to commit to 15-minute sessions.

All it takes is 15 minutes, four to six times a week. You will soon see the many benefits, including increased calorie burn (body-sculpting resistance training builds muscle which in turn burns calories).

This type of training will also help you to decrease your stress levels, sleep better and can even fend off cancer and diabetes. So why wait? Get on and do your 15 mins today!