O.K. so you slacked off ...and the weeks have flown by in a flash

 For those of you who’ve fallen off your exercise program, and want to get back in, here are my tips:

• Re-focus and commit yourself again. Often we think that, because we already were on a program, we can just pick it back up, no problem. But in reality, we need to condition ourselves for a new habit (although it should be easier this time since we’ve done it before), so we need to start (almost) at the beginning. That mean starting with making a commitment. Write down your goal and tell people about it, put it on your blog, post it up at your home and workplace. If you can’t take this step, it’s likely that you will falter.

• Focus on just this one goal. If you’ve got other stuff going on, it’s hard to add a new habit while working on others. It’s hard, but it’s best to be patient and work on one goal at a time if possible. Too many goals at once spread your focus too thin. The key is to focus yourself as much as possible on that one goal, and maintain that focus for as long as possible.

• Do it for one month. You don’t need to start at the beginning of a month — you can start right now, today. But do it for 30 days. Commit to that, and once you’re past that, it will get much easier.

• Do it at the same time every day. If you tell yourself that you will exercise when you find time, there will be many days when you don’t find the time. Set a time of day when you can exercise every day — in the morning, lunchtime, after work are the three best times. Do it at that time every day, and it will become a stronger habit.

• Start small. We have a tendency to do too much at first, especially if we’re used to a certain level from our old exercise program. But in the beginning, it’s best to hold back, and just do a little, and then progress slowly back to your old level. If you’re used to running 5 miles, run 3. If you’re used to swimming for an hour, do half an hour. If you’re used to lifting 12 reps of 200 lbs., do 8 reps of 160 lbs. You get the idea. Start slowly, or you will have a harder time sticking with it. Once you’re back in the habit, you can increase your workload.

• Learn from your mistakes. There’s a reason you stopped your exercise program. Figure out what that was, and plan to beat it next time. If not, it will happen again.

• Celebrate every little success, in the beginning. The first few days are the most crucial. Reward yourself often during this time, and celebrate everything you do! The first week is the next most important period. After that, it gets easier. But after about 2-3 weeks, you’ll face a crisis. Re-focus yourself during that crisis, and you’ll get through it. After a month, you’ll be golden.

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Start, Revise or Refresh Your ... LEAN BODY BASICS

The LEAN BODY BASICS

Get a Lean, Strong, Healthy, Well-Toned Body

Whether you are brand new to exercise, or just want to refresh what you've been doing, today's post will help you design your ideal weekly exercise program, so you make sure you are focussing on the right sort of cardio and strength training techniques that will actually get you lean without wasting time, money and effort. Are you ready for maximum success? ...read on.

As you probably already know, strength training is the bread and butter of a perfect exercise program. Well it's, the meat and fat, if you follow the nutritional advice on this blog. If your goal is to live in a lean, strong, healthy, and well-toned body, then weight training is an absolute must. When performed regularly and at the appropriate intensity, it increases your lean muscle mass, which in turn raises your metabolism and helps you to burn fat all day long and even while you're asleep! Strength training even increases your bone density, so it's a great way of protecting and supporting your body for the long-term.

Designing THE IDEAL Training Program

STRENGTHENING

The ideal program includes a minimum of 3 days of stength training, and up to 5 or even 6 cardio sessions. These sessions should be 40-60 minutes. No less, and certainly not more.

There are many approaches to strength training, and I'm not going to get into them all here.

If getting lean is your goal, then one of the best approaches is to superset (2 exercises back to back ) between upper and lower body exercises. This efectively stimulates the release of muscle building and fat burning hormones. Rest time after each superset should be 60-90 seconds. If you're pushing yourself hard enough, you'll have your heart racing, and your nose dripping sweat.

Circuit Training is also excellent for fitness and fat loss. This requires 3-6 exercises, ideally targeting different body parts, and all performed back to back. Rest for around 2 minutes (less if your recovery is good), and repeat 3-4 times.

WANT RESULTS LIKE THESE?

Always prepare for results by performing The Parameters Sequence TM. Then warm-up by performing the first set of each exercise with no or low weight, and cool down by stretching and performing The Complete Breath TM after each session. It goes without saying that you should only choose exercises you are comfortable with, and confident that you can perform correctly.

STRETCHING

This is an activity that is easily forgotten, particularly if you're someone who loves intense training. Personally, 'in the old days' I used to think of stretching as a waste of time. In my early twenties I ran competitively, and I'd train for it day in and day out. Mile after mile, uphill, downhill, indoors, outdoors ...there wasn't a challenge I'd turn down. Unfortunately, my approach to stretching and recovery was nonchalant, and I paid the price for a time with constant knee and hamstring pain. Because hard training naturally puts a strain on your muscles, joints, and ligaments, warm-up and cooldown stretching will help prevent strains, pulls and injuries. And while some people are more limber than others by nature, and can 'get away with it', all of us definitely need some flexibility work.

I'd recommend at least 10 minutes for every 45 minutes of tough training.

If you can't motivate yourself to stretch, or aren't sure where to start, then do what I did and commit to a stretching class of some type. With a yoga studio on nearly every street corner you really don't have an excuse. I recommend, as you move into the stretch, breath in, as you 'feel' the stretch activation, then gently breath out as you move into and 'enter the stretch zone', then hold the posture as the body releases it's elasticity. Hold each stretch for 10-60 seconds, while breathing slowly and gently.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

It's up to you to decide which days best suit you for training, and how many days each week you can commit to working out. Always remembering you need at least 1 or 2 days off from super tough training (sometimes, I stretch on my days off, other times, I make it a total nothing day, but I always perform The Complete Breath TM to start my day, and once again to start my evening).

Here's an idea of what a typical week might look like:

Monday 45 minutes weights, 15 minutes interval cardio, 10 minutes stretch

Tuesday stretch class

Wednesday 45-60 minutes weights, 10 minutes stretch

Thursday 20 minutes interval cardio, 10 minutes stretch

Friday off, or stretching at home

Saturday 45 minutes weights, 10 minutes stretch

Sunday off

EXCEPTION: If have an exceptionally slow metabolism, or have been been doing regular cardio sessions and are not happy with your progress, I recommend you perform The 20 minute high intensity, interval Program for 2 weeks to reset your Cardio Receptor Thresholds. Keep in mind, I don't know your particular goals and exercise history, so the above is really just an outline. You may find it completely unrealistic to put aside that much time for exercise, in which case I'd recommend you start with whatever you can fit in. Your progress may be slower, but trust me, you most definitely will be progressing even if you're only investing 10 minutes of quality exercise each day.

While I do believe that the above outline is ideal, I also know that it's better to start with some exercise and build up, rather than wait for the time when life gives you the freedom to do whatever you'd like.

If the above weekly exercise schedule looks very familier, then well-done!

If you'd like to add more training, start with 1 or 2 additional strength sessions, and a maximum of 1 more cardio session of around 15-20 minutes. You might also like to try setting a day aside for a sport or outdoor activity. Exercise doesn't have to be 100% structured, and many people find the greatest enjoyment comes from challenging themselves with something new outside the gym. My 'outside the gym' activity of choice is Karate.

I hope today's post has helped you dis-cover more of your potential

Pete

If you have any questions about further fine-tuning your exercise program, or would like to suggest some tips for how best to incorporate regular exercise into a busy life, then please comment below. In fact -

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