Tag Archive: goal setting

1. What is the best way to lose weight and get fit for parents?

   22nd December 2022 11:08 am Leave a Comment

   Parents are keen to get healthy

   

   In the last month, I have been asked by three different parents of young athletes ‘what is the best way to lose weight and get fit?’

   Excelsior Athletic Development Club was set up to help young people develop their athleticism and skills but adults wanting to get fit have different requirements. Earlier in my career, I was a manager at three health clubs where 90% of the members wanted to lose weight or get fit.

   I shall give some ideas to help you get started below. I am approaching this from what will work for you. I am not selling you anything, nor am I a zealot who says that you must do, ‘Activity X because that is what I like.’

   If anyone tells you that you must do something, beware. Just because the Park Running, Kettlebell- swinging or Zumba-shaking enthusiast enjoys their activity does not mean that it is right for you.

   • No single exercise or activity is the answer to all your needs.
   •  But any single exercise or activity is better than nothing!

   

   Where to start?

   1. Don’t feel too bad: only 1 in 5 adults meet the current guidelines for aerobic exercise and muscle-strengthening exercises() worldwide. (Aerobic exercise means activities that are continuous, raise your heart and keep it there for several minutes and get you slightly out of breath).

   2. Consistency is key: so only start something that you can keep doing. What is the least amount of work that you can guarantee that you can do every day? Is it 10 minutes, or is it 1 minute? Most people fail to create an exercise habit because they overreach at the start. They quit within days (or weeks if lucky) because they try to go from zero to hero in one gigantic leap.

   Stacking success leads to a sense of achievement and a positive feedback loop:

   ‘I did it. I can do it again.’

   You then keep going and might be able to add more later on. This allows your body to get fit gradually. Of course, exercising for 20 minutes a day is better than 1 minute a day, but you have to be able to keep it up.

   3. I think walking is a good place to start for most people (and underrated) If you are overweight and unfit then trying to run will lead to misery: the shuffling pace that beginners set leads to injury and misery. It is better to walk briskly than to slog. Again, as you get fitter and your weight decreases, running might become an option.

   

   When the weather improves, cycling is another great way to lose weight with minimal impact on joints. You don’t have to wear lycra or buy carbon-fibre earrings, just get on a bike and enjoy the countryside.

   4. Muscle-strengthening exercises are as important for your health as aerobic exercise. Bodyweight exercises are a great start because they require no equipment and can be done at home. Here are some ideas that our club members use for warm-ups.

   Start off slowly and do them regularly. Don’t worry if you only do 2 or 3 reps at the start. Again, once you get into the habit and build confidence and strength you can add dumbbells or other tools to get stronger. Don’t forget all the equipment in the park that you can use too.

   5. Controlling what you eat has to be part of the plan to lose weight. This video explains how I lost 8kg and have managed to keep it off for four years.

   Find a training partner

   Having someone to walk around the village with or to help with recipe ideas is a proven factor in success. You may not feel confident in joining a class yet (and you have to pick what is right for you) but having a friend who walks or squats with you helps to keep you going.

   Conversely, avoid those with bad habits who constantly seek to drag you down.

   You are trying to make a positive change in your life. Well done. Keep going and good luck.

2. Do a Health Diagnostic in 2020

   31st December 2019 9:38 am Leave a Comment

   Are you healthy? How do you know?

   

   There is more to measuring health than being able to squeeze into your summer jeans. (Although, if they are from the summer of ’87 that might be as accurate as anything else).

   If you check the tyres, water and oil in your car this winter, or you get your boiler serviced, how about doing it for the most important thing in your life: yourself?

   (I know the carers amongst us say our dependents are more important, but if we are unhealthy we risk becoming a dependent ourselves).

   Rather than launch into some short- lived exercise or diet fad, try doing a health self-diagnostic and make 2020 the year you look after your wellbeing.

   

   Some people spend hours researching the best tyres to put onto their new car, meanwhile neglecting the spare one around their midriff.

   Some people spend hours watching sport on TV, but pull a rotator cuff reaching for the last mince pie in the cupboard.

   I am no body fascist, but I think that you should be able to negotiate the stairs in your house without wheezing and puffing. The problem is that in our auto mechanised society, there is no standard of health, except the absence of disease. We can avoid any accountability until it is too late.

   We have now the extremes of narcissistic 6- pack or bubble butt selfie takers on the one hand, and the mouth-breathing, thigh- rubbing, takeaway junkies on the other.

   What should your health diagnostic include?

   The four pillars of health are:

   • Movement
   • Nutrition
   • Rest
   • Rejuvenation

   I have put movement in there rather than exercise. Dancing, climbing and playing frisbee are all active, without being a competition. Better yet, do a little of all three.

   Thomas Cureton had a battery of exercises that he used to assess an adult’s physical well being. In the video below I am demonstrating three of them. These can be practised at home and are designed for normal active adults. Step 1 of your diagnostic is to try these. If you can do them, well done. If you find them hard, practise.

   Nutrition is simple and can be sustainable. Yet, people try to make it complicated. In yesterday’s Twitter poll, those people going on Vegan diets are the most annoying to share an office with, mainly because they insist on telling everyone about it.

   Years ago, P.G. Wodehouse wrote an article for Vanity Fair about people doing fad exercises.

   “A man who does anything regularly is practically certain to become a bore. Man is by nature so irregular that, if he takes a cold bath every day or keeps a diary every day or does physical exercises every day, he is sure to be too proud of himself to keep quiet about it. He cannot help gloating over the weaker vessels who turn on the hot tap, forget to enter anything after January the fifth, and shirk the matutinal development of their sinews. He will drag the subject into any conversation in which he happens to be engaged. And especially is this so as regards physical culture.”

   Or as Mike Tomlin said in simpler terms,

   ’Don’t tell people about your problems, because they’re either glad you got ’em or don’t want to hear ’em’

   Rest and rejuvenation are not synonymous  

   Rest is sleep and the absence of work. When working with athletes, I concentrate on relaxing activities that help them get a good night’s sleep. That includes, eating well, getting off the screen and doing something that takes your mind off your sport.

   Rejuvenation is adding something to your life that enhances your spirit, soul or emotional state. The little things that help you get out of bed in the morning.

   Tip: Getting a fist bump on Strava, or cycling with pretend friends on a computer screen are different from doing a shared activity, that requires no boasting

   

   Instead, think about: learning, fun, having a purpose, and creativity. It might be baking cookies, singing, trying a cartwheel or fixing old bicycles.

   Maybe dog walkers and gardeners have got it right? Regular moderate exercise, in the fresh air and purposeful. Repair Cafes and pantomime groups seem to have the group rejuvenation thing down.

   Maybe it is their connection with other human beings.

   So, if in 2020 you can move well, eat sensibly, get some quality sleep and try something that collaborates with others, your health diagnostic will score higher than in 2019.

   Just don’t tell everyone about it.

   Join us

   If you want to get healthy and learn some new skills alongside other people then join our club. You could do the adult gymnastics or weight lifting. No heroes, just ordinary people trying to do extraordinary things.

   I am currently working on a project that will help adults like you enjoy movement in the comfort of your own home. Watch this space, or get in touch if you would like to take part.

3. How to live on 24 hours a day

   7th June 2019 11:34 am Leave a Comment

   Time is precious, how do you budget it?

   We all have 24 hours a day; it is one thing that unites us as humans. How we spend them differs vastly. Two Arnolds (Schwarzenegger and Bennett) have recently influenced my thoughts on how to spend my time. Here are some ideas on making the most of your time.

   

   I shall use quotes from the following:

   • Arnold Bennett’s excellent little book ‘How to live on 24 hours a day.’
   • Cal Newport’s ‘Deep Work’ which offers very constructive advice about maximising your time.
   • Arnold Schwarzenegger’s motivational video (see below) about achieving your goals.

   What do you want to do?

   Before you start trying to be more productive, you need to know what it is that you want to do with an extra hour a day.

   

   • Look at more kittens on skateboard videos?
   • Practice your drawing?
   • Learn a new language?
   • Get fit?
   • Research your family tree?
   • Read a book a month?

   Far be it for me to judge what your interests are, but if you don’t know what you want to try and achieve with an extra hour, you will lack the incentive to make changes.

   “I’ll live the focused life, because it’s the best kind there is.” Winifred Gallagher

   Waking up every morning with a purpose will make a difference.

   • Step 1: Think about what it is you would like to do if you were given an extra hour a day.

   Or maybe for work related tasks, ‘Think about what you would like to do if you ONLY had one hour in the day.’

   ‘Busyness as Proxy for Productivity: In the absence of clear indicators of what it means to be productive and valuable in their jobs, any knowledge workers turn back toward an industrial indicator of productivity: doing lots of stuff in a visible manner.’ Cal Newport.

   Eliminate the unnecessary

   Once you know what you want to try and do, then you can free up some time.

   

   ‘Eliminate meetings, emails, social media, or put them in boxes. Have a digital sabbatical or a digital sabbath.’ Cal Newport.

   20 years ago no one checked work emails at home; now a day off means only checking your emails twice. This means that valuable head space is taken up by thinking about work, rather than what you want to do.

    ‘If a man makes two-thirds of his existence subservient to one-third, for which he admittedly has no absolutely feverish zest, how can he hope to live fully and completely? He cannot.’ Arnold Bennett.

   Bennett allocates 8 hours a day for work and 50 minutes each side of that for travel.  Even if you hate your job, he suggests it shouldn’t ruin the rest of your time.

   It is easy for me to say as someone who is self-employed, but I have always resisted the urge to have meetings and send emails. I joke that those in the public sector often say ‘I’ve had a busy day with meetings and emails.’

   Whereas I say ‘I got nothing done because I had to go to meetings and reply to emails.’

   If you are employed by an organisation that likes to have meetings to discuss the next meeting, then good luck. Otherwise, think about how you can say ‘No’ to things that won’t immediately impact on your work.

   Newport recommends the digital Sabbath- taking one day off a week from electronic communication (including skateboarding kittens). For more important pieces of work: books, revision, articles or projects, then take a digital sabbatical for several weeks.

   This will be extremely hard for those people who insist on sharing every meal they eat or every dog walk they take on Instagram. Hence the need for that burning desire in step 1.

   Step 2: Eliminate the unnecessary from your work life and social life.

   How much time is left?

   It is worth watching this video featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quote ‘Sleep faster’ on how to allocate time in your day. Arnold Bennett in 1908 came to a similar conclusion; 6 hours a sleep is enough, and the rest is just habit.

   If you have 10 hours for work and travel, 6 hours for sleep, that leaves 8 hours for you. Take away two for household chores, ablutions and meal times and that leaves 6 hours for what you want to do. 

   Those of you with newborn infants, or caring for the Aged Relative will have additional responsibilities. This will eat into those 6 hours considerably.

   When I had two children under 4, my brain was a fog and I learnt to exercise in 15 minute chunks as and when I could. I read Graphic Novels instead of books because I was so tired all the time. Relentless was the word constantly coming to mind.

   Step 3: Work out how much time is left.

   You will find an hour at least.  If you can’t find the hour, sleep faster. Ninety minutes is a good amount of time, any more than that and you are likely to lose focus.

   Newport talks a lot about having ninety minute focus periods throughout the day, with no more than four periods (6 hours) total. It is very hard to do high quality work all the time.

   When are you at your best?

   Are you up when the lark is on its wing and the snail is on its thorn? Do you enjoy the peace and quiet once the rest of the family has gone to bed?

   

   When I started being strict with my 6 hours of sleep a night, I realised I had a choice: stay up later, or get up earlier. When I looked at what I achieve in the day before 0700 compared to what I achieve after 2100, the choice was clear. Get up earlier.

   I get a head start on the day before the family awakens and descends down the stairs placing their various demands. You may prefer having your time at the end of the day. What is important is that you find the fit that works for you.

   Then plan your hobby/ task at your best time of day.  You want to start easily and build up. This is very important.

   ‘A failure at the commencement may easily kill outright the newborn impulse towards a complete vitality, and therefore every precaution should be observed to avoid it. The impulse must not be over-taxed. Let the pace of the first lap be even absurdly slow, but let it be as regular as possible.’ Arnold Bennett.

   If you are trying to learn to play the piano, then Chopsticks rather than Chopin may be the best place to start. Gain some satisfaction in making time for yourself, and achieving step one.

   If you compare yourself to a more accomplished / experienced practitioner, you are likely to quit. If you say ‘I could never write a short story as good as Margaret Atwood, so I won’t try,’ how will you ever improve?

   The ridiculous comparison is an easy way to avoid failing at a task (I see it in athletes all the time).

   ‘I will not agree that, in this business at any rate, a glorious failure is better than a petty success. A glorious failure leads to nothing; a petty success may lead to a success that is not petty.’ Arnold Bennett.

   Step 4: Start simply and gradually, build on small successes.

   Enjoy the Journey

   ‘Life is a destination, not a journey‘ was my motto when I was competing. I was so focused on the outcomes, results and selection for squads and teams that I spent little time enjoying the moments.

   That is the only thing I would change if I had the chance to repeat the experiences.

   Once you have the inclination, the time and the purpose for your new task, set yourself up to enjoy the process. It may mean having a separate room, converting your garage to a gym or creating a ritual to transition from life to hobby.

   

   ‘The proper wise, balancing of one’s whole life may depend upon the feasibility of a cup of tea at an unusual hour.’ Arnold Bennett.

   I ease my way into the day with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, thanks to my automated coffee machine.  Once that is drunk, I can then start creating or doing, rather than consuming.

   You may like to celebrate completing minor tasks with something rewarding. I would suggest matching the reward to the task, or at least not contradicting it. There is no point celebrating losing a kg of weight by eating a chocolate orange.

   Step 5: Enjoy the journey, celebrate minor successes and learn from the failures.

   Remember that you will stumble and fall, that is normal.

   ‘The path to Mecca is extremely hard and stony, and the worst of is that you never quite get there after all.’ Arnold Bennett.

   Good luck with finding out what excites you -that is the hardest part. The rest is just logistics.

   Further reading:

   How to change habits part 1

   Recommended reading list for teachers and coaches

4. How to change habits: part 3

   2nd January 2018 7:30 pm 1 Comment

   “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference”

   Aristotle gets it right again. In the 2 previous blogs we have looked at the importance of lifestyle in athletes’ lives and how to use goal setting to set plans.

   Today we will look at some useful tools that can help change your goals into habits.

   Specific is best

   The more specific you can get, the more accountable you will become as it is easy to measure whether you have done what you said you would.

   “Eating right” is vague. “Eating breakfast every day” is better. “Eating a breakfast that consists of organically reared chicken eggs, spinach soup and flaxseeds that have been harvested by a Zen monk on the slopes of Everest” might be a bit too much to start.

   “Getting 8 hours sleep” might seem specific, but it is dependent on other factors.”Getting into bed by 1030 every night, switching off all screen devices at 1000” is better.

   Organisation

   The next thing to do is to get yourself organised. If your goal is to “eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day” then you had best make sure you go shopping so that you have them in the house. That goal is easier to achieve with an apple on your desk than without.

   That is why online shopping is useful: you can just leave your favourites entered so you never forget.

   If your goal is to “run 2 miles every morning” then you had best have an alarm clock, wet weather clothes and a pair of running shoes.

   A smartphone app  such as runkeeper is also useful to help plan your training runs (special report here)

   Timescale

   It takes about 21 days of continuous effort for a task to become a habit. If you break this down into 3 x 1 week sections, then it suddenly becomes very achievable.

   In order to get this done use our Checklist pdf (here) to write down your set of tasks that you want to get done this week. Set yourself a reward for the end of the week once you have managed to do them for 7 days in a row.

   Do that for 3 weeks and you suddenly have a new habit formed.

   For example:

   My last 3 weeks were set for “5 Healthy behaviours” which included: daily flossing, static stretch in evening for 15 minutes pre bed time; walk 30 mins a day; 5 portions of fruit and veg a day; pre breakfast exercise routine of 8 mins.

   I fell off the waggon twice, but got back on it and now all those little things have become habits.

   The next set was: no alcohol (quite easy); eat Vit D / fish oil capsule each day (easy); avoid foods with processed sugar (very hard).

   For BHAGs, which take longer to organise and achieve, you might try Day Zero which has a 1001 day (about 2.75 years) count down tool. Here you can plan bigger projects or challenges and break them down into manageable chunks.

   Where would you like to be in 1001 days time?

   Accountability

   Don’t try and do this on your own. Let other people know what you are doing, get the household engaged (don’t bore your team mates with the “I am eating lichen after my foam roller conditioning session” though), and write it down.

   This means having the family support your efforts (note to wife coming home with chocolate digestives!) and hold you accountable accordingly.

   I use Habitforge which is a free online tool for reminding you about your tasks for 21 days at a time. It also allows you to share and be accountable with people who have similar goals.

   Fatsecrets (hate the name, but good tool) is good for any food/ diet related goals. You can monitor food and exercise and it also reminds you of weigh in dates or other goals. You can share this with friends too who can help you keep on track.

   Rewards

   I know that “success is its own reward” but think of the rewards as milestones. Every week or 3 weeks have a reward scheduled; but not a destructive one.

   For example, if you are “doing my knee exercises daily” then the reward could be going to the cinema.

   If your goal is “cut out chocolate” then the reward shouldn’t be “a chocolate orange” (I find it weird that people who can manage 6 weeks of behaviour change in Lent ruin it all in a chocolate binge over Easter).

   Summary

   • By making small incremental changes over time, you can achieve your big goal.
   • Conversely, your big training goal is unlikely to be achieved if your lifestyle is detrimental to the overall plan.
   • Habits and behaviours take time to form. Recognise this and think of how many “3 weeks of modifcations” you can fit into a year.
   • Change things one at a time, or along a theme (i.e healthy behaviours, sleep, breakfast, warm ups).
   • Recognise that you will not succeed all the time, but it isn’t a catastrophe, get back on to it, or find the reason why you keep failing at it (lack of sleep might be due to your facebook addiction).
   • As a coach, help your athletes along the way and be patient.

   (Those of you on the Sports Training System and those being coached have access to more resources to help).

5. How to change habits: part 2

   7:25 pm 3 Comments

   “Living without an aim is like sailing without a compass.”

   Alexandre Dumas.

   In part 1 I set the scene of how athletes need help in adopting behaviours that will improve their sporting performance. Today I will look at how to set goals that will get them started.

   “The difference between a wish and a goal is the act of writing it down.”

   That is paraphrasing something I heard years ago. In order to make changes, a plan has to be put in place. The initial goal setting is where most people fall down in my experience.

   This has come from years of working in a Health Club environment of the “I want to lose a bit of weight” clientele (really meaning “I want to look good naked), and the “I want to be bigger” from young rugby players (really meaning “I want to look good naked”).

   If you are not clear in what you are trying to achieve and honest with yourself, it will not work. You will set yourself up for failure, and then this becomes a habit.

   Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs)

   Taken from Jim Collins and Jerry Porras excellent “Built to Last” book (1). These are basically very emotionally compelling and challenging goals. An example might be “play Hockey for England” or “Run a 4 minute mile”.

   When looking at how successful goal setting is and how it changes behaviour, people with high levels of self efficacy respond well to challenging goals, they are better at setting the tasks that are needed to achieve the goal (2).

   People with low levels of self efficacy do not respond as well to BHAGs, because they are less able to set the appropriate tasks.

   However, modifying the goal slightly to “try your best” rather than focussing on the outcome can help.

   SMART Goals

   Last year I ran a workshop that aimed to help young athletes plan their next 4 weeks. When asked if they new what SMART goals were, most of them nodded their heads and said they had done it in P.E. or with another coach.

   When we tried to put it in practice, I quickly saw how they may have been able to recite the “Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Orientated”but they struggled to put this down on paper.

   This shows the problems of using acronyms in coaching, they can obscure information and limit understanding (see also S&C, SAQ, BHAGs etc).

   The major difficulty the athletes found was seperating their wish (BHAG?) such as playing for England from a plan for the next month. In order to achieve their wish, they need to be able to identify a series of actions or smaller goals that can be achived in the measurable time frame of a month.

   An example.

   A junior javelin thrower wants to be able to throw 55m next year. He is currently throwing 47m. There are 6 months before the start of the competitive season. This is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Orientated.

   However, how he goes about achieving that goal is now the key part.

   He thinks he needs to be stronger and to work on his range of movement of his thoracic spine. He needs to plan each month (periodisation geeks give me a break: this is the real world) and have some goals to work on that help him achieve this.

   The overall sub goals might include: strength work, eat right (to facilitate the strength gains) and mobilise thoracic spine. Rather than test/ measure his strength, I aim to get him in the habit of strength training and programme work that includes T-spine mobility.

   If he sticks to the process, then the outcome will take care of itself. As a junior and new to strength training, I would be stupid to try and set a goal for him based on flimsy evidence now (note to S&C coaches:his aim is to throw the javelin further, not to get score x in the gym).

    Summary

   Goal setting theory is sound and has shown to be very effective. Where it falls down is in the setting of the wrong type of goal for the situation and if the goal is imposed rather than self directed or agreed.

   Once the goal is established, it is the work that has to be done to achieve that goal that is crucial. Here planning and understanding of the real world are essential.

   Do not try and do everything at once, break the plan down into incremental tasks that become habits.

   In part 3 we will look at some useful tools to help sustain the habits/ tasks that are necessary to achieve your goals.

   References

   1 Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation: A 35-Year Odyssey. Edwin Locke, Gary Latham.

   2 Built to last: successful habits of visionary companies. Jim Collins, Jerry Porras

6. How to change habits: part 1

   7:21 pm 9 Comments

   “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

   Aristotle’s quote is often used,  but it is hard to follow. When working with athletes, it is often the intangibles that make the difference to the overall outcome of the training programme.

   I often see young coaches or academics popping out and inflicting paper programmes on athletes and saying “I have shown them, now they have to do it“.

   Unfortunately (or fortunately) athletes are human beings, not artificial constructs.

   We must therefore coach the person first and then the programme second.

   Athlete’s do not operate in a vacuum

   In order to make gains in training we know that not only must the athlete work, they need to rest and recover. The two things I never assume that an athlete does well are:

   1. Sleep.
   2. Eat.

   Just saying, “eat healthy food”  and “get 8 hours sleep a night” does not recognise that behaviour needs to change, and that comes from habits.

   Very few people think that 5 hours sleep a night and eating crisps and chocolate are the way to become an Olympian.

   Some education is necessary:

   • breakfast cereals,
   • how much sleep is needed,
   • recovery drinks,
   • recovery strategies for example.

   Mostly though, it is getting the athlete to incorporate healthy behaviours and habits into their lifestyle.

    Working on the intangibles

   Changing behaviour is not easy. Education is one part of it, but people need help doing this. It might involve changing the culture of the team/ club or the home environment too.

   Part 2 of this blog will look at Goal setting and how to get started,

   Part 3 will look at some useful tools on how to help you maintain your good habits.

7. Goal setting for sport: 4 secrets to success

   14th September 2015 3:48 pm Leave a Comment

   How to get better at sport

   Goal setting can be a very effective exercise , or it can be a time wasting procedure. Here are 4 secrets that will help you achieve your goals.

   Lots of the athletes I work with have done a goal setting for sport exercise with their various coaches in the summer. This can quickly become consigned to the dustbin of history once the first three matches of the season have been played.

   “Plans are the beginning of action. But competitive advantage is gained only by effective execution.” Sun Tzu

   Secret 1: Hold yourself accountable and put a review time for each goal you set into your diary.

   Other recreational athletes stumble from one week to another hoping for things to change, but never taking time to plan how. Getting sucked into the “back to school” vortex usually impedes any progress on anything apart from survival.

   “Quality does not just happen. People who believe so, are people who trust in miracles to make their way through life.  Quality excellence is an outcome of preparation and relentless practice. It is surely a given then, that there is time set aside routinely for this.” Frank Dick

   Secret 2: Set time aside for 5 minutes each week to plan on how you are going to reach your goal.

   Rather than wait until the New Year, I try and get our athletes to think about how to get better now. One unfortunate truth I share with athletes is that to get better at anything takes hard work.

   “Mastery often involves working and working and showing little improvement, perhaps with a few moments of flow pulling you along, then making a little progress, and then working and working on that new, slightly higher plateau again.”  Daniel Pink: Drive

   This can be daunting at first, but setting small achievable goals and working on them until they are finished is the way forward. There is something immensely satisfying about finishing a task, no matter how small.

   “When a task is once begun,

   Never leave it until it’s done.

   If the labour’s great or small,

   Do it well, or not at all.”

   Archie Moore (light heavyweight champion of the world).

   Secret 3: Small achievable goals are the foundation of bigger ones; start and finish small goals each week.

   Unfortunately this thing called life has a habit of throwing unexpected obstacles in our path. Very few people live in an ivory tower of just being able to do their sport with no outside responsibilities.  The rest of us have to juggle work, studying, travel, family, and financial responsibilities.

   “Something’s bound to happen to you in a tough fight, cut eye, broken nose, or broken hand or something like that. So you could make excuses out of anything, you know, but you got to keep on going if you’re a champ or a contender. This is what makes champs, I think the guys that keep fighting when they have things going against them.”

   Jake LaMotta (Middleweight champion of the world)

   Secret 4: Persevere, persevere, persevere. If you really want to get better, then you will have to learn how to keep going.

   Read our 3 part series on how to make effective changes 

8. Discipline versus liberty: how your actions affect society

   5th January 2015 9:00 am 2 Comments

   “I can eat what I want, when I want”

   Those were the famous words issued by a friend of mine through a mouthful of cake, two weeks before he was admitted to hospital with a gall stone attack.

   His actions led to other people having to look after him: his wife, nurses and doctors. His children were affected as they were worried and concerned about his health. He had the liberty to do what he wanted, but lacked self-discipline.

   This impacted our society.

   Discipline may conjure up images of either jack-booted police states forcing people to work in gulags (or scanning tourists’ eyes who are adding money to failing economies!), or being forced to stand in a corner when being disruptive in class.

   This is externally enforced discipline and the first example is dictatorship, not discipline.

   DISCIPLINE > Liberty 

   LIBERTY> Discipline  

   “Discipline is a restraint on liberty, so most of us have a very natural inclination to avoid it.”

   (Field- Marshal Slim (1)).

   Slim was talking in a post war Britain that had been economically devastated by six years of fighting totalitarian regimes.

   He then goes on to say “All history teaches that when, through idleness, weakness or faction, the sense of order fades in a nation its economic life fades into decay.”  Sound familiar? Look at the UK riots in the summer of 2011 and think about our society.

   Discipline can also come from within

   Self-discipline is for your own benefit and also for others:

   • Getting up to go to work when the alarm clock goes off (self, employer, family).
   • Eating a healthy breakfast (self, team, nation).
   • Running that extra set of laps to get fit (self, team).
   • Avoiding a fiery response to a late tackle so you avoid giving away a penalty (team).
   • Washing your hands frequently so you stay healthy (self, family, team, nation).
   • Parking your car in between lines, not across two spaces (society you selfish driver).
   • Paying your taxes (self, family, nation).

   This internal self-discipline is essential as it is that which you will draw upon in times of stress and need.

   Unfortunately, discipline is often seen as a dirty word. The discipline of finishing a task you have set out to do. One local high school allows its female pupils to quit p.e. if they want to. Ill discipline is rife there (I had objects thrown at my car, swearing amongst pupils was left unchecked, pupils walk out of class and school at will!)

   How can we build a Nation on this? The teachers are letting the pupils down.

   Politicians and coaches need discipline

   In order for our team and nation to work, those people we elect need to have discipline too. We are trusting them to act and behave responsibly.

   If they espouse “just do as I say” and then act irresponsibly we lose trust, respect and then our desire to act in a disciplined fashion.  Examples might be:

   • Spending our tax money wisely.
   • Stop fiddling expenses.
   • Setting an example with our own healthy and ethical behaviours.
   • Treating all players with respect and courtesy.
   • Avoiding nepotism.
   • Have a clear vision of what is trying to be achieved, and inform, explain and engage others in that vision.

   “Serve to Lead”

   This is the motto of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst . When I was there, it was drummed into us that it was our responsibility as future leaders to look after the welfare of our troops. If we failed in that, then we would be negligent in our duty.

   This includes explaining and informing others of what we are trying to achieve, opportunities that exist , constraints that might stop us, and how we are trying to overcome them. It is then down to the troops, citizens, or team mates to fully commit and exhort every gram of effort into this common goal.

   This comes down to discipline versus liberty. You can eat that extra cake, you can stop that run short of the line, you can park in that disabled bay, you can turn up late to your practice and you can give that defence contract to your old college roommate… but be aware it has an impact beyond yourself.

   We are privileged to live in a free society.

   The alternative is to be told what job we have to do, how many children we are allowed to have (and what sex), and what friends we are allowed to associate with.

   “You can have discipline without liberty, but you can’t have liberty without discipline.” (Slim).

   References

   1 Courage and other broadcasts. Field- Marshal Sir William Slim. Cassel & Company LTD: London (1957).

9. How can I increase intrinsic motivation?

   28th November 2014 9:41 am Leave a Comment

   Get the vibe right and intrinsic motivation will follow

   I was training 3 athletes in the gym a couple of weeks ago, they were doing one of my usual warm ups, no music, no shouting, no distractions.

   The three were focussed and busy.  Another coach walked in, and said

   “I wish I was training now, rather than earlier, there is a good Vibe.”

   The three athletes were all teenage boys, and were good examples of how young people can train.

   What is a Vibe? Is it something we can create, or something we can enhance.? If you are training where there is a good Vibe, then you will probably find that time passes quickly, and you get better results and satisfaction from your training activity.

   

   Running in the country

   When on holiday recently I was going for a morning run on a footpath from the campsite, through some woods along a coastal path. The path was uneven, with tree roots, steps and other obstacles.

   I had to pay attention to every step that I was taking. The air was clear and fresh, the sun was sparkling on the sea, and I didn’t know what was around the corner. I was fully engaged in the run and was not thinking of anything else.

   Compare that to walking into a commercial gym, stepping onto a treadmill and plugging in headphones and watching breakfast television, whilst trying not to listen to dance music or adverts in the gym itself.

   The gym is telling you that the run is something to be endured, and that watching tv is a more beneficial activity.

   Which run is more likely to create a “Vibe”? 

   Here are some tips on creating a Vibe in your training sessions:

   Having a purpose helps motivation

   It is next to impossible to get a good training session under way if you have no plan. For me, it always starts with the warm up, if this is done correctly then the session will follow well. Avoid giving yourself or the athletes an opportunity to ease into it. Have a purpose for the session and then make sure the warm up is related to it.

   As a coach, if your programme involves sitting on a foam roller, then moving to a stationary bike, followed by some generic resistance machines and you let them wear headphones, expect your athletes to be bored, demotivated and unengaged.

   Have an environment with no distractions

   Easier said than done, but if there is a group of you, it is better to train in an empty facility with limited equipment, than a super duper facility surrounded by numpties.

   Better to run outside, away from traffic, than on a busy road. Again, we are victims of circumstance and environment, but try and do what you can. That might mean going to the gym at quieter times, or earlier in the morning.  Music can be part of it, but should be background, rather than overwhelming.

   Get good training partners

   

   Having training partners helps when it gets hard

   You can train alone, or with other people. If you do train with others, then make sure they are there to work and improve too.

   I train groups of athletes from different sports, but they work well together because they are all dedicated to improving.

   Competitive banter is part of it, but avoid mickey taking. They can afford to make mistakes in the gym, because that helps them learn. The competition is partly with each other, but mostly for themselves.

   Positive feedback

   Finish on a good note- well done, good job, and then some points to take forward for the next session. You can pat yourself on the back, and then think how that has helped you become a better athlete.

   I had never thought about creating a “Vibe” until someone else pointed it out to me, but it is something I try and focus on now.  I hope you can get the Vibe soon too.

   Further reading:

   • How to set meaningful goals for your training
   • How to plan your training sessions

10. How to take charge of your fitness training

    21st November 2014 9:50 am 11 Comments

    “If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.”

    Herschel Walker

    Training hard is one part of fitness training, but any idiot can get tired (or indeed make you tired)!

    I want to give you ideas that will help you get fit for your purpose.

    That may be to run faster, get stronger or jump higher in your sports arena.

    It may be to get you fitter so that you can deliver the goods at the end of a match, or for life in general.

    Here are the key points that I have developed over the years that work with people just like you.

    Preparation

    Knowing where you are going is essential before you start out on your journey (I have covered this previously in The power of goal setting). You need to know what you are trying to achieve this month, this week and today in your training.

    #Key tip 1: write down what you want to achieve for the month, for the week, for your next training session.

    An example might be “I want to be able to run 5km in less than 20 minutes by the end of January. This week I will do a time trial and 3 other runs. Tomorrow I will run 1km fast, walk for 2 minutes and repeat for a total of 5 times“.

    Your resistance training programme must be more specific than “best workout plans” gained from a magazine. Now you know what the aim of your session is going to look like, you can plan your warm up accordingly. Start with the end in mind.

    If your session is running, or lifting weights explosively, then by the end of the warm up you should be performing activities that resemble that.

    But, at the start, you will probably be feeling tired, stiff or lethargic after a day of school, work or from previous sessions. The picture of me is doing a pre track warm up, using hurdles to help warm up my hips.

    #Key tip 2: You need to increase the range of motion, speed, and complexity of movements gradually in your warm up.

    (Read more on how to design your warm up).

    Adaptation

    This is the meat of your training session. What changes are you trying to make in your body? If it is to get stronger, then what movements are you trying to get stronger: a push, pull or a squat? Are you trying to develop speed? Then you need to be putting fast work in here.

    If your goal is to increase speed, then what aspect of speed: acceleration, deceleration, maximum speed, repeat speed, reaction speed? 

    Here is where your exercise choice, equipment choice, rest periods and amount of work done need to reflect the aim of the session. It is a common mistake to see a new exercise or new piece of kit and then jump straight into using that, without knowing why.

    #Key tip 3: Make sure your choice of exercises reflects the aim of the session, rather than dictates the session.

    For example, you read about Mo Farah’s 120 mile a week training and you see that he does a circuit in the gym. You copy that circuit without knowing why he is doing it, or even if it helps him. Worse still, you are a 15 year old runner with very little training background, you are in danger of getting hurt!

    Here are two example session plans for rugby players (other sports can follow the same principles), one in the field and one in the gym:

    I have left the sets/reps and loads blank because that is down to each individual. But the adaptation theme is for lower body strength in the gym, and for acceleration up to 20 metres on the field.

    I usually recommend using only 2 major lifts, plus minor lifts around that in the gym. The exercises in brackets will be lighter loads and are complementary to the major lifts. This allows you to practice those movements in what otherwise would be down time. (Picture is of hurdler Becky Brown doing the power snatch).

    #Key tip 4: Makes sure you work hard on the adaptation part of the session, allowing adequate rest between the major exercises (unless work capacity is your goal and rest will be reduced).

    (See how this works in practice with young athletes )

    Application

    This is the dessert of the session, or indeed the week. It is very,very easy (and common) to get caught in a numbers trap in the gym or field.

    But, unless you can apply your new found strength, speed or endurance on the field/court/mat or track what is the point?

    An example would be squash players only running on treadmills to improve their VO2 max (aerobic endurance) score to satisfy the physiologists who are unable to measure endurance where it counts: on the squash court!

    Your body has undergone some fatigue in the adaptation part of the session. It will remember this fatigue: you will be slower, weaker or more tired after this (every time you put a barbell on your back you move slower).

    Now you have to teach your body how to apply better movement that resembles or even better, replicates movements in your sport.

    This may mean getting out of the gym to run, jump or throw things! (picture is of Modern Pentathlete Greg Longden doing some hurdle jumps after squats).

    #Key tip 5: Get your body moving faster, further or in a complex pattern at the end of your training session. 

    This video shows an example of a good application exercise: the fire hydrant start.

    Regeneration

    Finally we come to regeneration. This includes physical, mental and emotional recovery, repair and renewal. The cool down in the session should gradually restore your body to its resting state, rather than stop abruptly.

    If your training session has included a lot of one type of movement, then you might need to do some of the opposite movement in the cool down to restore balance. This video shows an example of what to do ensure your shoulders and back stay healthy.

    You need to think about what food and water you consume immediately post training, and later that day or evening (you will have prepared this previously of course!)

    You need to think about showering or bathing (I work with school age rugby players, so please forgive me as assuming this is a given is a mistake) as this can help speed the recovery process.

    But, what is often forgotten is the fact that you need time away from your sport (and especially team mates) so that you return to training refreshed and invigorated. Of course, for some of you, your sport is your time away from work/ family and is your chance of regeneration.

    # Key tip 6: The most important recovery tool is sleep, and all your post training activities should be designed to help increase the quality and quantity of your sleep.

    Read more here about our recovery pyramid and how much sleep you need after training

    Summary

    I hope this has given you some insights into how to take charge of your fitness training. These methods work with the athletes I coach, whatever their sport.

    (This does apply to females too, read more from one female coach here)

    The detail of each session is changed according to the sport, but more importantly to the individual person.

    If you would like to benefit from this type of training, then you might want to use the programmes contained in my 3 books: Run Faster, Get Stronger or Jump Higher (all are readable on tablet, or pc and contain detailed training programmes with video clips).

    Or, if you want individual advice please contact me here 

    Good luck.