Get Back on Track with your Fitness Training

Recently I’ve been doing quite a few posts on fibre.  My plan was to continue writing about diet and nutrition but because of what has happened to me over the last week I decided to write about something different for this post.

Let me explain a little further.  I took this week as a holiday from work.  Since I live with students in a student area, I imagined that there would be quite a bit of partying happening during my week off.  However, I thought that although I might be consuming a little (or even a lot) more alcohol my diet and exercise regime would not suffer.  Sure, maybe I would have a lie in and miss one of my mini meals in order to sleep off any hangover but I thought overall I would still be able to eat reasonably well and get myself to the gym at least four times per week.

That was the plan.  The reality was that I got myself into the gym on Monday and managed to eat reasonably well.  Then from Tuesday onwards my diet and exercise regime started to suffer big time.  As a result of partying hard and drinking far too much I really didn’t feel like eating or exercising.  I didn’t go to the gym or do any exercise with the exception of a few short walks to the shops and when I did eat it was in the form of low quality, processed, junk food.

So why am I telling you this?  Well as regular readers may recall, I previously made a light hearted post about it being OK to have an off day so long as “you do not let these off days get you down and have them turn into a full weekend or a full week where you do not train properly and you do not eat right”.  But isn’t that exactly what I have done?  The answer is quite simply…YES.

When I wrote that post I never envisioned that I would have a week where my fitness regime fell apart in the way it has this week.  However, given the circumstances there was a certain inevitability about it.  I train alone most of the time and so would have to rely on myself for motivation.  On top of this being around the party atmosphere and other temptations such as junk food and alcohol, made it much more difficult to exercise than if I were at work and walking past the gym every day on my way home.  Overall, the lack of structure to my week off coupled with the temptation means I probably should have planned my weeks a bit better.  I should have made plans to prepare all my days food the night before, I should have made plans to go to the gym at a certain time on certain days and I probably should have exercised greater willpower BUT I didn’t.  It’s all in the past now and short of finding Bernard’s Watch I can’t change what happened last week.  That is what I want to talk to you about more in this post.

Ideally, my original message that we shouldn’t let off days turn into off weekends and off weeks is a valid one.  However, with hindsight I have discovered that life isn’t that predictable.  Although in this situation the circumstances were within my control, a lot of the time our fitness regimes may collapse for a few days or even a few weeks, despite our best intentions.  Whilst I still believe it is OK to have an off day and we should do our best to make sure these off days don’t affect our future fitness efforts, I now realise this is not always possible.  What is possible is to make sure that when we do slide we get back on track.

So how am I going to be making sure that I get back on track this week?  Quite simply by replicating my diet and exercise from before my weeks holiday and also making some additional improvements which are discussed below:

1) PREPARING MY FOOD:- I still strongly believe that preparation is the key when it comes to diet.  If I had prepared wholemeal sandwiches for my week’s holiday in the same way I do when I am at work then I would have been much more likely to reject offers of junk food during the week.  The main reason I went for the junk food was convenience and if I had something healthy prepared, the junk food would not have been any more convenient.

So quite simply I will be planning and preparing everything I eat next week.  For breakfast I will either be eating a bowl of Fruit and Fibre, a banana, a slice of wholemeal toast with peanut butter or a protein shake with milk.  For my mini meals at work I have prepared my wholemeal sandwiches for tomorrow and will continue to do so every evening this week.  For my evening meals I have a number of meals that I have cooked previously in the freezer and I will also be cooking a lasagne later this week.  Doing this will ensure that I have much more control over the foods that I eat.

2) GOING TO THE GYM AT A SPECIFIC TIME:- Like with diet I believe planning and preparation are very important when maintaining an exercise routine.  Although I cannot guarantee it, I am quite sure that I would have got to the gym more frequently last week if I had said to myself “today I am going to the gym at this time and it is a priority”.

Therefore, I will be going to the gym at 6.30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday plus at 10am on Saturday.  On the week nights mentioned above I know that I will be getting off my train home from work at this time and therefore will be in the gym shortly after 6.30pm.  For the Saturday morning session I am partially relying on myself getting out of bed early.  Whilst getting up when I don’t have to be up is not one of my strong points, it is something I am working on.  Hopefully, by putting it on this blog in writing and getting to bed by 11pm on week nights (see below) I will be much more likely to achieve it.

3) GETTING TO BED FOR 11PM ON WEEKNIGHTS:- This is not so much an action that will help me get back on track because even before my week off I very rarely managed to get into bed before 11pm.  Really it is more of an action that will help me improve my existing fitness regime.  Whilst I never feel overly tired during the week I do believe that part of the reason I struggle to get up when I don’t need to be up (i.e. on the weekends) is that I’m not getting enough sleep on week nights.

So to improve on this I will try to make sure that I am in bed for 11pm on most week nights.  To be honest there is no reason that I cannot achieve this.  Most of the time I don’t get to bed early enough I am just watching a DVD or browsing the Internet.  In the future I will try to make sure I switch off the computer or DVD player and get myself in bed for 11pm.  I am also planning to write more on the topic of getting enough sleep so keep your eyes peeled for future posts.

4) GOING JOGGING IN THE MORNINGS:- Jogging in the morning is something that I have tried to do in the past.  When I do manage to get myself out of bed early enough to go for a jog before work (which as I already mentioned I do struggle with) I find it fantastic.  The first few minutes are a real struggle but then after that I feel much more awake and alert and this feeling carries on for the full day.  However, I’ve never managed to keep it up consistently so again it is really an action to improve my current fitness regime.

By getting early nights more frequently I hope that I will be able to get myself up and go jogging before work.  This in turn will allow me to focus on resistance training during my time at the gym and do my cardiovascular training in the mornings.  Jogging is another area I plan to do more reading and writing on as stamina is one of my strengths and I would really like to test myself further in this area so look out for future posts on this topic too.

5) STRETCHING DAILY:- Another fitness area that I have been neglecting for quite some time is stretching to improve my flexibility.  I used to be quite flexible but have really let my flexibility slip over the last few months.  Therefore, this is yet another action to improve my current fitness regime.  The best time for me to do this will be after my early morning jog.  So once I get back from my jogs I will also try to incorporate some stretching in there too.  Like with the above topics I also plan to do a few posts on the topic of stretching once I get back into it because I believe it is a particularly important aspect of fitness since we lose a lot of flexibility as we age.

So to conclude, next time your fitness regime starts to suffer, make plans to get back on track as soon as possible.  Life often throws obstacles in our paths and our fitness may suffer because of these.  However, by making plans similar to the ones I have discussed above you can ensure that you get your fitness regime back on track and perhaps even improve upon where you left off.

What do you guys think?  Have you ever let your fitness regime slide?  How did you get back on track?  Do you have any additional suggestions?  If so I would love to hear your thoughts.

My Top 5 Gym Annoyances

Hi there everyone. Sorry that I haven’t posted for a while. I have exams coming up so my main focus is on them. My last exam is next Friday so after that more regular posting should resume. Anyway, today’s post is on annoyances at the gym.

Regular gym goers will know that in the gym there are little things that can really get on your nerves. When I was doing my workout today there were a number of things that really distracted me. This got me thinking and the more I thought about it, the more I realised just how annoying certain things at the gym can be. Now don’t get me wrong – going to the gym doesn’t make my blood boil so much that I go home angry. This post is just meant to be a slightly humorous look at the little distractions and annoyances that I encounter in this part of my life. So without further ado I present to you, in chronological order, from least annoying to most annoying…My 5 Top Gym Annoyances.

5) GRUNTERS:- Grunters is the term I use to refer to those people who let out a grunt, shout, shriek or other random noise whilst lifting weights. Granted, grunters do usually lift heavy weights, work themselves to their limit and generally perform a good bodybuilding workout. However, that’s no excuse for some of the strange noises that come out of their mouths. Not only is it distracting but some of the sounds are just downright disturbing. Besides in some gyms grunters even run the serious risk of setting off the “lunk alarm”.

(Note: This is taking the issue way too far but it does make a point about how annoying grunters can be.)

4) CELL PHONERS:- Cell phoners refers to the people who chat away on their phones mid-workout. It is not specifically people chatting on the phone that gets on my nerves here. The problem comes when the gym is busy and all the benches, machines and weights are taken. You would expect most people in this busy gym to complete their exercises quickly, allowing the people who are waiting to use the limited resources. However, as I stand around waiting for a free bench or some free weights, I regularly see some people sitting on a bench with the weights at their feet, chatting away on their phone. What’s worse is that when I have been waiting for some time and go over to ask whether I can use the weights for one set or quickly use the bench whilst they chat, I am dismissed with comments such as “Excuse me, I’m on the phone”. This can get rather annoying because people are compromising my workout time by chatting on their phone. If they want to chat fine, but why not do it on their own time or go talk somewhere in the gym where they are not disrupting other people’s workouts?

3) STARERS:- Starers are the people who glare at you whilst you work out in the hope that you will abandon your equipment and leave it free for them. I understand that at busy times people will want to use the equipment I am using. However, it can get really distracting when you feel their eyes burning a hole in the back of your head. In fact if I am exercising in front of a mirror and see someone doing this I find it almost impossible to continue. I would much rather the person staring at me would come over and ask whether we can share the equipment and do alternate sets.

2) BANGERS:- Bangers are the people who bang, clang and drop their weights regularly whilst working out. I am not so bothered about people banging weights whilst they are performing the exercise as this is sometimes difficult to avoid. It becomes a problem when people finish their set and then drop their weights with an almighty crash. The noise this makes is not pleasant and very distracting. Plus, there is absolutely no need for it. If these people can control their weights for multiple sets then surely they can control them for a few more seconds whilst placing them on the floor?

1) ANNOYING MUSIC:- This is the one that really grates at me in. I understand everyone has different tastes in music so I am not going to cause an argument by listing the music my gym plays here. However, the music played is constant, repetitive and loud so if you are not a fan of this genre there is no escape unless you bring your own portable music player. Thankfully, I recently got myself an IPOD so this is no longer a regular problem for me but on the days I forget my IPOD it is a disaster. Unlike the other distractions listed this music is there all the time. I would much rather the gym played no music. This would then give people the choice to listen to their own music without disturbing other people in the gym.

So there you have it. My top five pet hates at the gym. Still, it could be worse. I could have this guy disrupting my workouts.

(Note: I’m not associated with Hagadone Directories. Just thought the video was funny and relevant to this post.)

As I said at the beginning of this post I’m busy with my exams till next Friday (May 9th). After that normal Free Fitness Tips service shall be resumed meaning a post every two or three days. In the meantime, why not reflect on this article and think about what annoys you at the gym? If it’s not on this list leave me a comment and let me know what winds you up while you work out.

5 Hilarious Excuses for Not Exercising

Hey everyone. Friday is here again. As I mentioned last Friday I was having a bit of an off day. This Friday was different and I managed to get to the gym and complete my workout with no motivation problems whatsoever. However, it got me thinking about the excuses some people use to avoid exercise. There are literally so many that I could probably use what I have heard to start a new ‘Exercise Excuses Blog’. A lot of the excuses people use are pretty standard e.g. “I am too tired to exercise” or “I am too busy to workout” but some of the excuses are much more unique. Since it is a Friday and everyone enjoys a giggle after a long, hard week I have for you today five of the most ridiculous exercise excuses I have ever heard plus a bonus exercise excuses video above.

1) I AM ALREADY THIN SO IF I EXERCISE I WILL WASTE AWAY:- Yes just like alien abduction there are also some people who claim that they have wasted away as a result of exercising. Quite how they managed to make these claims after wasting away is beyond me but apparently they have.

2) I DO NOT NEED TO EXERCISE BECAUSE MY FAVOURITE TV SHOW IS CELEBRITY FIT CLUB:- Just seeing all those celebrities exercising is enough to make anyone break into a sweat. If you combine this with lifting up the remote and making regular trips to the kitchen and bathroom during the commercial break you have the ultimate workout plan.

3) I ALREADY GET MY DAILY EXERCISE BY WALKING TO THE DONUT SHOP:- Yes, ladies and gentleman new research has suggested that you will burn away those 1000+ calories contained in a pack of donuts in 10 simple minutes just by walking to your donut shop. Plus, the more sugar you get on the donuts the more calories you can burn.

4) I EXERCISE IN THE OFFICE BY SWIVELLING ON MY COMPUTER CHAIR, TYPING AND CLICKING MY MOUSE:- If this is you then there is no need to exercise at all. This highly intense office workout must be burning at least 5 additional calories per day. Combine it with the workout discussed in point number two and you are on your way to becoming a perfect fitness specimen.

5) I CANNOT EXERCISE BECAUSE THE NIKE AIR TRAINERS I NEED COST £150:- Very good point. I have difficulty walking without having a pair of expensive trainers strapped to my feet. It is far, far too risky to attempt any physical activity until you can afford the adequate gear.

If you have not gathered already this article has been sprinkled with a heavy dose of humour and sarcasm. You can read even more funny exercise excuses by clicking here.

However, there is a serious point behind this article. If you want to become fitter and healthier or lose weight, you will need to ditch the excuses and start exercising. Diet is one half of the equation but exercise is essential too. Do whatever it takes to avoid the excuses and start exercising whether that be making a dedicated exercise plan, finding a workout partner or even budgeting for a gym membership. Have a great weekend everyone.

It’s OK to have an Off Day

Well Friday is finally here which for many means the end of the week and time to enjoy the weekend. Unfortunately today was not my best day in terms of fitness goals. I did not eat very well today, felt tired for most of the day and in the gym I just seemed to have no motivation and ended up cutting my workout short. I was not feeling very good about myself as I had been so good all week and then let the ball drop today. However, then I came across an interesting article which made me feel a lot better. It included eight excellent fitness tips including the following gems;

Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?

You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass, green leafy vegetables). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.

Aren’t fried foods bad for you?

You’re not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?

You can read the full article by clicking here.

If you haven’t already figured it out this article is a joke and not meant to be taken seriously. Since it’s Friday I decided to make my post a little more light hearted and humourous. However, the point I am trying to get across is that all of us will have off days where we feel unmotivated, don’t train very well and eat the wrong foods. And this is OK. You are not a machine and cannot operate at 100% all the time.

What is important is that you do not let these off days get you down and have them turn into a full weekend or a full week where you do not train properly and you do not eat right. Becoming healthier and fitter is a long term process and the occassional slip up is not going to affect your efforts BUT if you let the off day get you down it will affect your long term motivation and this in turn will affect your long term fitness. Simply accept that you have had an off day and look to get back into your proper fitness routine the following day.

I’ve made this post short and sweet because it’s a Friday and also because I’m a little pressed for time. However, I hope you’ve still enjoyed it and absorbed the message behind it. In the future I plan to make my Friday posts a little more humourous because we all like to have a good chuckle at the end of a hard working week. I hope you all have a good weekend. What did you think of my post? Do any of you have any stories you would like to share about your own personal off days?