As an experienced personal trainer in London, I meet plenty of new clients this time of year who tell me they want to be fitter than they’ve ever been before. But getting into the best shape of your life isn’t a great goal to set.
Whether it’s a goal for your new years resolution or any other time of year, success requires two things:
A clear understanding of what you want and why;
A structured plan of how to get there.
I’ve written more about point 2 here, so for this article I’d like to focus on getting specific.
By Jon Tyson on Unsplash
No one else can tell you what your goal should be. Goals based on external pressure tend not to be very powerful motivators. That being said, you might still be struggling for inspiration. I’ve made this list of potential fitness goals that might help you narrow things down.
Everyone “knows” that new years resolutions are meant to be given up on within two weeks of the new year. In fact, new years resolutions are often met with such scepticism and negativity that it’s a wonder the tradition still persists. But if you think about the pattern that leads to making new resolutions, it makes sense that these goals should fail most of the time.
Goals usually require 2 things to succeed:
A high level of motivation;
A sensible, structured plan.
Unfortunately, when we make our new year plans, we’re riding high on the spirit of the season. Motivation is so high that we don’t even bother to make plans. Why bother with planning your approach when you feel like you could just run through every obstacle in your path?
By Ivan Pergasi on Unsplash
New Years Resolutions aren’t just for New Year
As I’ve written before, motivation is constantly in flux. This means that, no matter who you are, you will inevitably hit a period of low motivation. The Christmas/New Year season is so different to our usual routine that there’s no way you can maintain that level of enthusiasm all year round! So when your motivation crashes, you shouldn’t feel like you’ve failed. You DEFINITELY shouldn’t feel like your resolutions were a waste of time.
Those January 3rd vibes. By Christian Erfurt on Unsplash
However, this inevitable crash is exactly why you need to make a plan now. This plan should help you mentally prepare for the obstacles that sit between you and your goals.
Think of goal-setting like a marriage. You can have a lovely wedding full of celebrations, partying, and teary-eyed speeches, but if you can’t handle the bad times with your partner then you won’t make it past the honeymoon.
With that in mind, here are some steps for making ironclad new years resolutions.
2022 is almost over. As cliché as it may be, I always like reflecting at this time of the year – I find it’s a useful way of remembering what you’ve achieved, what you’ve learned, and what to aim for in the new year.
I’ve been quiet on social media for about 2 months whilst writing and filming stuff for next year. I may not be regularly posting on Instagram in the new year, so if you’d still like to stay up to date with Ready Steady Strong in the future, you can:
Just before the COVID lockdowns started, I weighed around 90kg and was 5 weeks out from a kickboxing fight. I really felt like I was in the best condition of my life in terms of strength, fitness, and health.
At the end of the last lockdown I weighed 107kg, was exhausted after 30 minutes of shadowboxing, and my calves/knees hurt just walking to work. I was keen on getting back to the gym, but also a little daunted by the challenge.
By Danielle Cerullo on Unsplash
I don’t tell this story often because I don’t want it to sound like some kind of horror story. I believe it’s totally normal for your relationship with fitness to change during a significant life event. Nonetheless I think this story holds some useful lessons for anyone thinking of going back to the gym after a long time off.
As a personal trainer in the Liverpool Street area, I’ve met my fair share of clients who are trying to train around a busy work life. If this is you, then you know that the fitness industry platitudes of “no excuses” just don’t solve your problems. In fact, I would argue that going to the gym isn’t even in the top 3 priorities of most people that I train.
So how is it possible to get results in the gym against this backdrop?
As a personal trainer, I always meet people looking to improve their bodyweight exercises. While a lot of people are working on getting their first pullup or pushup, the work is far from over once you reach that milestone – it’s time to make your bodyweight exercises harder.
By Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash
The post is for those of you looking to progress your bodyweight exercises to the next level. If this is you, well done! We focus so much on getting our first reps on these exercises, that it’s common to be unsure of what comes after that milestone. I often meet people who have been stuck doing the same number of reps on pushups and pullups for over a year, without being sure how to progress these bodyweight exercises.
To make further progress, we need to introduce some progressive overload into your bodyweight training. This essentially means making your bodyweight exercises harder. There are lots of options at your disposal to make bodyweight exercises harder, including:
Changing the tempo (speed) of the movement;
Adding pauses;
Altering the training parameters (sets, reps, rest periods, etc.)
However, I don’t want to focus on any of that. To keep things simple, I’m going to focus on one of the most straightforward ways of progressing pushups and pullups: adding weight. This may seem simple in theory, but I still see plenty of people making it more complicated than it needs to be. I’m hoping this post will work as a resource for you to add weight in the safest, simplest ways possible.
Believe it or not, you can gain strength without gaining weight in the gym. This is great news, because so many people avoid strength training for fear of becoming “bulky.”
By Scott Webb on Unsplash
Luckily, the gym has evolved so far past the point of being a bodybuilder’s playground, and we understand so much more about getting stronger, healthier, and better at physical activity without gaining lots of muscle.
For more information on the difference between strength and muscle gains, read this post.
Around the world, the concept of a four-day working week is gaining popularity. The list of countries that have trialled the four-day work week, or plan to trial it within the next two years, is growing. According to Euro News, it includes:
England
Scotland
Wales
Iceland
Spain
New Zealand
The US
Canada
Japan
Sweden
Germany
By Diego Ph
These countries often trial a model that provides 100% of usual pay, for 80% of the usual work, with a commitment to maintain at least 100% of previous productivity. Of countries that have already trialled a four-day week, there are almost always some companies that continue the practice even if it does not become law. Suggested benefits include increased productivity, better work:life balance, and a reduction in environmentally harmful activities.
One survey found increased employee satisfaction, reduced employee sickness, and savings of £92 billion a year. By John McArthur on Unsplash
There are certainly critics of this initiative, but it does seem to be slowly becoming more of a reality. With this being the case, it’s worth speculating how you could harness the four-day working week to improve your health and fitness.
If you’re planning on starting personal training, it’s important that you get as much from your relationship with your trainer as possible.
The most important thing about personal training is that it’s a two-way relationship. I’d love to take full responsibility for 100% of my clients’ successes, but the fact is that personal training success is the product of great teamwork with clients.
After more than a decade in personal training in London and Essex, there are definitely clients who stand out as having achieved fantastic results. They all defined their successes differently, for example:
Improving training consistency;
Setting powerlifting/Olympic weightlifting personal bests;
Feeling stronger for day-to-day life;
Weight loss and muscle gain;
Improving sports performance;
Returning to training after an injury.
Regardless of these goals, my most successful personal training clients had these three things in common.
Note: you could be nailing all of these habits, but if your trainer cannot match your values, your training relationship will not be as good as it could be. That’s why it’s so important to choose the right trainer for you.
Once you’ve been training for a while, you will be tempted to plan your own workout programme – after all, you know yourself better than anyone. While I think everyone should get help from a personal trainer or strength coach, I fully understand that your budget or curiosity may drive you to write your own training routine.
By Alexander Redl on Unsplash
However, there are some common pitfalls that come with designing your own training programme. When programming for yourself, it’s easy to take certain factors for granted and over/under-estimate ourselves. These tips will help you design your training programme to the highest standard.
