BEFORE the final day of training of week 7 of the Amazing 12 Chichester, Ian Barnett entered the Core Results gym at the usual time, just before 6am. I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn’t his usual breezy self, but by no means grumpy.
Normally, he’s up for the challenge – ready for whatever I throw at him with his ‘I’ll-do-my-best’ attitude. But this day was a rarity. Ian, a father of three girls, wasn’t quite feeling ‘it’.
THE GRIND: Sue fighting for every rep
Nutritionist Sue Crabtree went through an entire week (week 6) feeling off-colour. She’s amazed how Ian seldom has days like that.
We’re all different. That’s an important factor to consider and one reason why comparisons are often pointless.
On those days when our biorythms (for want of a better expression) are low, everything can feel unpredictable. But Sue, for example, had her best week in terms of performance when she felt at her lowest.
COMFORTABLE: Ian showing much-improved form with his deadlift
And I told Ian how on many occasions I’ve had clients come in not feeling up for the job and somewhat mentally defeated, yet go on to have their finest workouts.
That’s pretty much how it transpired for Ian that day. Once he started warming up and the blood began to flow, he was ready to go.
LOVE-HATE: Ian’s relationship with this particular drill
In fact, the entire week (7), Ian was solid. Very solid. He put in a good shift every time. He never complained.
Even after he’d taken a seat for several minutes to recover from a little concoction I put together for him involving the punchbag, which is doing wonders for his conditioning, Ian still grinned and said, “I love it.”
Sue’s similar. She gets on with it despite the entire week being a grind for her. She’s had to fight for practically every rep and has shown me how much grit she possesses.
Ian’s still at a stage where he’s eating up the weights. But the time will come when he will have to dig even deeper. I believe in him, though. The first six weeks have got him ready for what’s to come.
I half-anticipated that Sue would moan at how challenging it’s become, but, almost with a smile on her face, she responded in the opposite fashion.
GETTING READY: prep work for her next session
“I like it,” she said. “It [the increased weight] is good. It shows I’m progressing.”
Ian’s developing well also, but a few days off for a long weekend at the end of week 6 served as a timely reminder of how easy it is to slip into decline – staying up late, watching movies, eating too much.
This is the real challenge that awaits every graduate of this program. To keep the momentum going, you have to continue with the good habits.
IN THE BAG: another circuit complete
When he returned after that weekend, Ian was itching to train again. It took him a few sessions to get back into the training loop. He’s determined to build on the work he’s already put into the Amazing 12.
Unquestionably, Ian’s fitness has improved dramatically. He went out cycling again over a weekend with friends and was once more impressed by his stamina.
“I can see why athletes do strength training,” he said. “I’m delighted with the results I’m having so far.”
GETTING THE HINGE: technically, Sue is so much better than when she started
Sue’s in the same camp. “I feel so empowered and I can only put it down to weight-lifting,” she said.
“This [lifting weights] is so addictive. I wish I could do it full-time.”
There’s still a long way to go and the back end of the Amazing 12 is where the serious development occurs. But it doesn’t come easily.
It’s important to keep that mind, otherwise it comes as a shock. Remember also that the challenging moments are nearly always the times that produce the greatest growth.
Sue admitted during her back squats this week, “I felt scared.”
I was encouraging her to squat deeper by placing a box behind her as a depth target. But she was going just shy, fearing she wouldn’t get back up. Mind games. That’s all it was. I knew she had it in her.
“The mind is so powerful,” she said.
We have conversations about it throughout training every week. I know that with Sue, as with most people, the only limit to her potential is the thought in her head.
NICE PLANK: Sue keeping her body rigid for these push-ups
As soon as I said I wouldn’t recognise or count any squat that failed to touch the box, Sue squatted to the required depth!
There’s already a world of difference between her now and when she started – physically, technically and mentally.
Sue is vowing to stay focused. “I’ve worked too hard to get this far,” she assured me. “I’m loving the weight-training and each week I get to challenge myself.”
Setting a challenge is what this program is all about. However, make it too hard and you risk injury and/or discouragement. When it’s too simple, there’s the possibility of boredom or a lack of motivation.
What I like about the Amazing 12 is that it seems to get the balance just right.
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Sue going from strength to strength
YOU’VE got to want it. I’m talking about change, specifically, but it also applies to many things, like being healthy and fit.
In the vast majority of cases you cannot force change. It won’t last. Forcing will usually be met with resistance. Then you have a fight on your hands and resentment follows.
IN THE BAG: another session over for Ian
Change, therefore, has to start with the individual. It has to come from within the individual. And, as a coach, I’m there to help that person along.
The moment they stop wanting/desiring it (change), it’s effectively over. I can’t run the race for them, so to speak. I can’t push them uphill either.
Take Sue Crabtree and Ian Barnett, now at the end of week 5 of the Amazing 12 Chichester. Sue signed up because she wanted to get stronger, but she certainly didn’t need to. I’ve written it this way to differentiate between wants and needs.
For Ian it was different. While carrying extra timber (as he likes to put it), he probably needed to start some exercise regimen and make alterations to his diet, but the process could only begin when he decided it was time.
GETTING TO GRIPS: Sue’s improving her technique by the week
When I look at my regular clients – the ones who come week in and week out – I see individuals who want to be there and value what training can offer them.
For the more sporadic trainers it’s a case of having to when their shape or health begins to get out of control. Or they just don’t see exercise as being a valuable enough component to their well-being.
However, the latter group tend to yo-yo, whereas the first group are consistent.
COMMITTED: No stopping Ian now
But you can trick yourself into wanting to train – if you can find the right bait. Find something – anything – about your training that you love. The wanting will come if the motivating factor is strong enough.
It could be the way your muscles feel afterwards or the people at the gym or the time to yourself or that each training session takes you closer to your goal or staying in shape or how it makes you better than you were the day before or that it will make you look and feel younger or that the consequences of doing nothing will come back to sting you later in life or it makes you feel great.
PRACTICE: correct repetitions lead to improvement
Get creative (though remain honest) because I understand not everyone enjoys training, but I often ask why? What’s their thought or story or experience about exercise or training that deters them?
Ian wants to be the sort of father who can play actively with his children and be around for them as they grow older. As a conscientious parent, that’s enough driving force to keep him going on the Amazing 12. He’s doing it for himself, but also his family. He’s setting a standard, being a positive role model. He’s trying to reclaim the body he should have in his mid-40s. He’s on a mission to stop and reverse the inevitable decline that comes from neglect and sitting for hours at a desk each day. He’s looking at this as the first stop on his ticket to a better and healthier future.
GRIMACE: battling through the tough sets
Luckily, he’s enjoying the training so far. He is seeing and feeling the differences to his physique. He is noticing how much better he is moving. That certainly helps keep his dedication levels high.
But Ian may not be enjoying getting up at 5.23am each morning to drive to the Core Results gym and if he thought only about the wake-up time and losing sleep and how cold it is outside at that time, for how long do you think he’s going to remain committed?
RING MASTER: Ian holding it together as he cranks out the reps
Shifting his attention to how the workouts make him feel, the start it gives him to his day, how it puts him in a more positive frame of mind, gets him closer to his goal of shifting body fat etc makes getting out from under the duvet far easier.
At the end of week 4 Ian went cycling with a group of friends. He said he was “astonished” by how much easier the ride was and when he hit the hills, which are normally tough, he had more strength and energy in his legs.
Holding on to thoughts like this can help us through any sticking points we may encounter. But if we instead think about our favourite sugary foods that we are giving up or aches and pains we feel or the late night TV program we are sacrificing, the potential for being derailed increases significantly.
THE SET-UP: so important, especially with the back squat
Sue had a particularly rough week on week 5, not that you would have noticed from her performances in the gym, mind you. But she told me that, mentally and physically, her moods were low and that she couldn’t have felt worse – that she wanted to go home and keep herself to herself. Yet she still came to the gym and, remarkably, put in her best week of training so far.
How she did it was by changing her focus. I’m impressed with that type of commitment and her improvements are beginning to show. I’m not necessarily talking just aesthetics, but more so Sue’s lifting techniques, breathing and concentration, which, to me at least, is equally if not more vital.
LIGHTER: Sue looking for more speed on the prowler
The better her technique, focus and breathing becomes, the more weight she will be able to lift and, consequently, her body will change and adapt faster.
Thankfully, Ian and Sue don’t require a lot of motivating. They are, for now, all in. But not all my clients are this way. And often it’s down to where you place and hold your thoughts.
