Personal Training in Liverpool Street

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?

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.

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:

• Subscribe to my Youtube channel;
• Sign up for direct updates.

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

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.

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.

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.