The goal is to keep the goal the goal !

You've joined a fat club that's a household name, you've bought your pedometer and you've downloaded the APP that calculates how many calories you ingest and how many calories you burn for every activity from snow boarding to needlepoint.  You are going to start next Monday (it's always next Monday isn't it?) with a guaranteed fat loss, nutrition plan which consists of a cup of liquid pixie dust every 4 hours that has the RDA of all the vitamins and minerals a healthy body needs.

So what's your actual goal?   Do you know what your goal is??

It could be fat loss or muscle gain or increased energy and better health or stress reduction.  Regardless of what the goal is your behaviour(s) will determine the level of success you attain.  Several empirically researched studies have found that making one habitual change at a time has an 80% success rate.  Double that to two changes attempted simultaneously and the success rates plummets to 35%.  Three or more changes attempted at the same time rates at less than 10%.

I recommend that you read the last paragraph again and all the first paragraph again.  If you want a new habit to stick then the goal is to keep the goal the goal, by changing one step (goal) at a time.  Too many balls in the air can result in broken toes and if something is worth doing, it's worth doing everyday.  Is looking after your health and vitality worth doing everyday?

Takeaway point : Pick a habit you can sustain, at a level you can sustain easily.  When you perform it without thought (unconscious habit), then increase the level or begin a new habit.

New Year, New You?

By Guest Blogger : Jim Etikett

Today's title is a tag line taken from a New Year's marketing campaign for a world wide health club chain.  It could easily have been lifted from the cover of any of the following publications: Cosmopolitan, Zest, Men's Health, Men's Fitness etc.  The list is endless.  As the end of this year rapidly approaches, the festive season looms, with all it's excesses of gluttony, sloth, hangovers, parties and so on.  Is this different from last year?  For most of us, I doubt it.

Many of you will once again be at least flirting with the notion of marching down to your local leisure centre or health club in early January with high hopes and a fistful of your hard earned.  You have my admiration and good wishes, for you will need them.   A mind numbing 98% of us (this is not a typo) will have failed in our quest for a leaner, healthier, happier lifestyle by April Fool's Day (prophetic perhaps?!).  Those in the health and fitness industry know this all too well.  That is why, when New Year boom time arrives, they love you to pay a lump sum for 6 or 12 months membership in advance.  Because they know after March, the statistics show that you won't show! Are they losing sleep over this?  Not likely, as they have their pound of flesh and you will likely be stuck with a few of these yourself.

The present economic downturn has sharpened our focus on how, when and where we spend our currency much more so than in recent times.  I recommend you delay your decision this year until you have visited RetroFit (or somewhere like it).  This place is unique.  "How is it unique?" I hear you ask.  Well firstly there are no membership fees, no enrolment fees and no admin fees: you simply pay as you train. At RetroFit our clients are educated in the necessary skills for a leaner, stronger, healthier you! This is (hopefully) a lifelong endeavour for us all i.e. think twelve months a year, for many many decades, rather than January to March every year.  Bristling, pain free, vital health is beyond value, so I recommend that you invest your time, money and energy wisely. Look beyond the obvious and try a different route to success. 

http://www.retrofit.me.uk/
www.facebook.com/retrofit.tameside

Eat fat, get thin.....?!

Coconut oil is my favourite fat, closely followed by olive oil.  I consume it daily, usually carved in hunks straight from the jar.  It has a high melting point so is ideal for frying and roasting too.  It blends well with other oils particularly olive oil (another 'good' fat).  Coconut oil is a saturated fat, like bacon rind, meaning it is usually a solid mass at room temperature. LIKE BACON RIND.....?! I hear you exclaim. Now  before you have an anxiety attack take a look at these facts www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html

Kettlebell swing - the most important movement 'not' in your fitness kit?

The kettlebell swing and its derivatives (high pull from hang, snatch etc) is a movement which quite frankly, totally revolutionized the way I train and subsequently how I look and feel as an individual.  The first time I witnessed a kettlebell swing being performed on Youtube University (very poorly performed, as I was to discover later) I instinctively knew that this old school, hard core fitness tool was for me. A true lightbulb moment.

Now, fast approaching 44 years old, I am more or less the same weight as I was at age 19-23 years, when I was representing GB as a light middleweight muay thai boxer.  The difference now is (over 20 years later) I am leaner, stronger, better conditioned and less prone to injury than all those years ago.  This is a cast iron fact (pun intended). The kettlebell has been a focal point of my lifestyle since January 2009 ("your other children" as my wife terms them) and they are so much more obedient than the flesh and blood variety!

Every year, at least once, I journey north to Edinburgh to bolster my education (and those I subsequently coach) by investing my time and money under the tutelage of world renowned strength coaches like Steve Cotter (IKFF) and Mike Mahler (Aggressive Strength).  To improve at any endeavour you must spend time with those further up the ladder than you.  It is all too easy to rest on your laurels and get all nostalgic about what you have achieved rather than what you intend to achieve.  Take a look at the following bullet points and ask yourself which of these you would not benefit from by adding this essential exercise to your fitness regimewww.facebook.com/retrofit.tameside:

• weight loss/body fat reduction
• increased metabolic rate (ie heightened calorie expenditure during training and away from training)
• gains in lean muscle tissue
• improved aerobic/anaerobic cardio function without comprimising joint health
• teaching your body to function as a whole fluid unit, not a collection of disjointed, misfiring parts.
• improved lower back stabilization while reducing/eliminating aches and pains.

Kettlebell Training for Females?

Many females are under the (misguided) notion that lifting kettlebells is not for them as that it is something that big, strong boys do. This is correct and incorrect simultaneously - in that big, strong boys do lift kettlebells but so do savvy, fit, healthy,lean, strong females.

There is no piece of fitness kit that can melt fat, shape, tone, strengthen and condition like the kettlebell (except perhaps some suspension trainers,  but they make very poor door stops!). 

I repeat there is no piece of fitness kit..............

Traditional female fitness often includes endless (and mindless!) cardio, back to back classes and a few sets of tricep kickbacks to tame the dreaded bingo wings.  Strength training (with built in cardio) does not figure in most females training, mainly because they think they will end up looking like the guys on the front cover of Muscle and Fitness. This doesn't happen because you ladies do not possess the testosterone levels to build lean muscle  like some men. Simply put, to gain a pound of lean tissue requires the following ; approximately 3,500+ calories, 10-12 times more testosterone than you produce and a lot of hard work.

To kickstart your fitness revolution, get your rear in gear and join us for our bi-weekly get togethers at RetroFit, Ashton-under-Lyne.  Setantii Kettlebell club meets are at 7.30pm, every Monday and Thursday.