The first LIVE Face to face podcast and what a guy to do it with

My very good mate Chris Heath.

This is always a contentious topic

So many people love HIIT that they can’t have anything bad said about it

But just because you love something, doesn’t mean you should always do it.

Loads of people love a drink but if you do it everyday, it becomes a problem

HIIT while not on the same level as alcohol, can also become a problem for a lot of people.

Listen, I get it, the industry is pushing HIIT like it is the saviour for all, and for some, it is

But for the vast majority of men 40+ who are out of shape and undertrained, it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Like all training protocols, HIIT has its place but that place is NOT in the main block of training

It should be used as a finisher (though I don’t like using that term as most refer to it as a way to destroy you, I rather think of it as a way to finish your session) or as a stand alone day in a structured program

If you apply is STRATEGICALLY 

AND you understand the reasoning behind why you are doing it 

AND you are capable of such workloads

Then it is a good addition, if you are doing it for doing it sake or because your inexperienced PT tells you to, then maybe it is time to reevaluate your thinking.

If you could do me a favour?

https://linktr.ee/DadBodBible

Most men around their 40’s get yo a point in their life when they realise they have allowed themselves to fall too far.

The lack of moving, lifting and over indulging in beers and “tasty” foods, has resulted in a belly and concern for their health

So they do what most men my age do, join a gym or get a PT & jump into the good old faithful 3x10 split routine, pushing to failure that we all did back in the 90’s

Sadly though this is NOT what our bodies are craving!

Our bodies want to be broken in gently!

It needs tome to adapt.

The more time spent allowing it to adapt, the greater the lasting results will be

Our goals are simple

Improve our quality of life

This means

•Improving strength

•Improving mobility

•Improving fitness

When you focus on these three thing in your training, the byproduct of it is the body you are after

In today’s podcast I discuss the principles I use to facilitate these changes

If you were to accept that what you are doing in the gym PROBABLY isn’t what you need and you were to change this and focus on what actually need, you will find that the chances are, you will start to get what it is you actually want!

Most of us men around my age NEED to focus on mobility

Most of us men around my age WANT to focus on strength and muscle

Most of us men around my age end up injured BECAUSE of our ego and desire to LOOK good and FEEL like a man

But consider this, what if you were to focus on improving your mobility, what would happen?

Well you would be able to move pain free and get yourself into positions that allow you to lift more weight and do so safely, thus reducing the risk of reoccurring injuries.

What does that equate to?

More effective and consistent training

What does that equate to?

More strength, more muscle, more confidence. Better habits, better focus, better life all round.

The key for us all to improve is to admit where our problems lie and ADDRESS THEM!

We all hate mobility because we are all shit at it but if we were to acknowledge this and then take action towards fixing it, we would soon find, we no longer suck at it and when we FEEL the benefits of regular mobility, it would soon become the foundation of our training

Today I speak with BJ Rule, a coach who originates from Australia and now lives and works in London. 

He was actually the guy who gave me my first kettlebell certification (and was still one of the best certs I ever attended) and helped to get me to where I am today. 

We talk about the early days of the industry and how it has evolved to the monster it is today

Why do we always blame someone or something else for our lot in life?

How different would our lives be if we were more willing to accept responsibility for our actions?

What can you do to make the changes needed to get your life back on track?

What lessons can you take away from your failures to help push you closer to success?

Failure is inevitable!

It is normal!

It is human!

But it is also a teacher!

We can learn from every mistake made

If you are smart about it, you can become successful from the lessons failure teaches us.

The one sure way to never succeed though, is to blame others or situations for your failures.

Once you embrace failure as a natural process of learning, you are free to change yourself and become the man you have been trying to become

It is very easy for us to justify living the life we have lived for the last 5-10 years

Even though we KNOW this life is not the one we really want for ourselves, it is familiar and in that familiarity, we find a sense of comfort and safety

Sadly it is this comfort and safety that has brought us to this point that we KNOW is not what we want for us and more importantly, for our family but the fear of change can be overwhelming and paralyse us into inaction, but inaction is still our daily action and our daily actions dictate our children’s earliest influences!

This habit of just accepting this life as "how it is" is laying the foundations of our children’s perceptions of what they can and cannot achieve in life

As parents we aren’t here to live our children’s lives for them, we are here to guide and influence them so it is imperative that we reflect on our daily actions and question them

“Am I the man I want my son to become?”

“Am I the kind of man I want my daughter to marry?”

If you are honest, you can find traits you both like and dislike about yourself and you are then in a position to change the parts of you that you don’t like.

Life is always teaching us lessons and if we open our eyes and minds, we can see them and learn from them. The only other option is to continue being reactive to life and that only leads to more if what we have already got

We are getting closer to the gyms opening again

This is gonna mean more people clambering to sign up to a new program in order to lose the lockdown belly

But before you do, I want you to stop and ask yourself a question.

“What is it you are actually after?”

Are you wanting to just lose that stone and then go back to your old ways or do you actually want to change yourself long term?

So many are going to be bought into 4-6 week programs with low calorie diets and high intensity workouts that are designed to get the results short term but the reality is, they don’t last!

I know this

You know this

EVERYONE KNOWS THIS

And yet the majority of you are destined to make the same mistakes you’ve been making for years, condemning yourself to staying on the weight loss hamster wheel, always chasing a longterm result with short term programs

Listen, if you want a kickstart, then these are great BUT you gotta know by now that they aren’t gonna get you to where you want to be in 12 months?

Those results take effort, commitment and consistency!

No one wants to hear that but it’s the truth

Walk 7 days a week

Lift 3 days a week

X 52 weeks a year

Combine that with a nutrition plan you can follow that contains the calories and macros for your goals and the results, adequate sleep and recovery and it

WILL HAPPEN!

That there is the true secret to success

When you are at the point in your life that staying where you currently are is more painful than changing, you will embrace the change, you WILL make the changes

But what happens when you move out of that discomfort zone?

When you have dropped the stone that made you unhappy?

Unless you have focused on building new habits and digging down to discover the REAL, UNDERLYING reason WHY you started, there is a good chance you will fall back into the old self destructive habits!

You are using the surface layer why, to do the work.

“Why are you here?”

“I want to lose a stone”

So you lose the stone and the goal has been achieved, so you go back to the old you once again

But when you use this time to focus on creating NEW habits and the self discipline required to get you to do the work even when you aren’t motivated, thats when the man you want to become, starts to come into view

Now IMO, trainers ask too much of their clients

They are influenced by an instafamous coach who has a mentor group or email list they have signed up to and they have been told that getting up at 4.30am is the best way to

“OWN THE MORNING”

And as they are 25 and living at home, it’s easy but not so much for their 46 year old, father of 4, client.

This is probably the fastest way to failure for both the client and trainer.

The key for the client and coach, is, through conversation, try and find the routine that best suits the client.

Once you discover that, finding the routine and self discipline is so much easier

Our sense of belonging is founded from birth.

From the moment we are placed in our mothers arms, and gathering of family who celebrate your arrival, to our own development and meeting of our own friends, the underlying feeling we get is one of belonging, and belonging equals the perception of safety.

THIS is what has been slowly eroded over the years and accelerated over the last 13 months, to the point where so many of us feel lost and confused.

The number of children suffering from mental health due to separation from friends is increasing massively and has been largely ignored?

I can’t understand how this isn’t been seen as a impending crisis?

These children are the future of our society and it is our duty as parents and guardians to ensure they are given the best chance possible.

We need to find a balance.

A balance between containing the virus and ensuring our children have the best chance possible