ARE you no longer feeling comfortable in your own body? Have years of poor choices taken a toll on your health? Do you need to do something about it and get into shape, but you don’t know how?
Or maybe you struggle with motivating yourself and need a challenge – something that will give you focus, help you knuckle down and bring about the results you deserve?
Perhaps it’s too easy to cut corners when you are calling the shots. It’s too simple to not get up to run or go to the gym. You want to be held accountable.
Or do you desperately feel the need to shift excess body fat, change a poor diet, but don’t know what you should be doing or eating? Do you need some guidance?
You’ve heard that lifting weights is one of the best ways to drop body fat and get stronger. You’d be absolutely right. It gives you muscles and having muscles is like having fat-burners. Muscles and lifting weights are also essential for good health. But you don’t know how to lift well or safely? You want to be taught properly and have someone watch your technique and guide you carefully?
Even if you know how to lift weights, just picking up barbells and dumbbells isn’t necessarily going to do the trick.
For example, if you know how to drive, have a car and want to get from England to Germany, a map would be handy. Without it, reaching your destination could take forever. You may even never get there. Training without a program – and especially one that works – is pretty much the like being in a car without a map or compass.
The Amazing 12 is a map for getting into shape and regaining your health and vitality. That’s why I’m offering an eight-week version of this program, starting in May.
To participate, you need to be willing to train with me five days a week on consecutive days for eight weeks. That’s all.
I say ‘That’s all’, because two months isn’t a long time for what you’ll get in return. It’s nothing to get back ownership and control of your body. It’s nothing in exchange for being able to move better and be healthier. I’m offering a way for you to whip yourself into shape for summer and make your results the beginning for the health and body you deserve.
What I need from you is two things: commitment and consistency. Be committed enough to turn up every day – regardless of how you feel – and train as I ask, to eat the foods I advise you to consume in the quantities I recommend.
There are no tricks involved. It’s just an intelligent way of training combined with a smart, sensible and healthy way of eating. But, when combined with effort and commitment, it works and works brilliantly.
You’ll not just feel like the person you were always supposed to be – but got derailed by lifestyle choices – but you’ll most likely be stronger, fitter, feel more confident and have the knowledge and skills to better take care of yourself.
You’ll become an asset to yourself, your family, your work, your friends…
You will be fending off illness, ageing, lethargy, inefficiency.
But how much do you want it? That’s the real question. How much do you want that change?
Think about what the future holds on your present path and what the future would hold from two months solid commitment and the platform that would provide.
Believe you can do it? Contact me. I’m looking to hear from committed individuals. My pledge is that I’m prepared to give all I have in experience, knowledge and teaching to help those who want to help themselves.
To register or find out more, send an email to Claude@Intelligentstrength.co.uk
BOXING used to be my sport. I spent years – decades, in fact – around boxers and observing them. I saw the very best and the worst.
Most boxers train sometimes up to 12 weeks or more to be in the best possible condition. Then, when their contest is over, some don’t go near a gym until their next fight is scheduled, while the smart ones – and the ones who tend to have the longest shelf life – tick over, keep their weight down and are always in a place from which it doesn’t require drastic work to be ready for action.
Life’s the same. Many of us visit the gym or exercise in bursts. We apply ourselves only for special occasions. Our weight and body fat fluctuates and, consequently, our health stumbles along.
Resting between sets, Stacey and Adriano
But who wouldn’t want to function at their best and feel and look good all the time? The benefits are boundless. But it takes effort, consistency and application.
That’s what is required to complete the Amazing 12 in its entirety. The final week of the Amazing 12 is a bit like the countdown to a big fight, culminating in a workout and a photoshoot just like a boxer has to be ready for the weigh-in and then the contest.
There are more parallels between the life of a boxer and an Amazing 12 graduate. After the Amazing 12 do you switch off until it’s necessary to go into a gym or exercise again? Or do you continue training – to be ready for life and all that it throws at you – and maintain or improve the physique you have created?
I know which I would choose. I know which I did pick after I completed my first Amazing 12 more than two years ago. And, to be honest, it doesn’t require much work to remain in shape – but you need to be disciplined (make the right choices) and consistent (turn up to put in the work).
Picking up the pace, Ben and Stacey in the final week
Food and diet plays an essential part, of course. Ponder this, because it is true: every molecule of food we consume has an impact on our genetic expression – meaning it affects the way our genes perform.
I’ve made choices that support a healthy body. That’s always been my priority.
Why? Because health matters – not only to me, but to my wife, my children, my clients, my world, my aspirations, my desires, my bank balance, my friends, my enjoyment of life…
Why would I not choose health over pain, discomfort, sluggishness, premature ageing, limitation, low self-esteem, unhappiness?
No walk in the park: getting into shape and being healthy requires more than just exercise
I’m thankful I made that choice many years ago. I don’t feel as if I’ve missed out on anything. Quite the contrary. Being healthy and able has allowed me to take advantage of the opportunities that have come my way.
I remember as a child loving sweets and chocolates and spooning sugar straight out of the sugar bowl and drinking Coca Cola and eating hamburgers and Pizza from fast food restaurants and loads of biscuits and fish and chips. But somewhere along the road I made a choice – an informed choice.
I’m trying to push home the point that there’s nothing that sets me apart except the choices I have made. Those choices have a massive impact on the outcome of our lives.
We can either be the architect in our lives or a spectator. You choose.
COMMITMENT: Jamie and Stacey showing up for more curls
The five people I’ve put through the Amazing 12 Chichester the past 12 weeks now have an important decision to make: build upon what they have created and developed or revert to a perhaps more convenient, less disciplined lifestyle.
But I know that what comes with the former choice is more growth, a greater assurance of well-being, the freedom that is having better odds at being able to function every day with energy, strength and confidence.
The world of convenience has its place, but largely it is responsible for enticing many, many people in the opposite direction to where they would rather be.
With the A12 over, there is going to be a shift in accountability. It’s going to be easy to slip into the old patterns of eating and living that are so problematic in our world today.
PROGRESS: Just 12 weeks ago Ben had no idea how to squat properly
I’m hoping they have learned and experienced enough about themselves, the importance of choices and planning ahead to be able to shape a lifestyle that involves an effective and healthy balance of movement, training and eating.
Ben says he’s determined to continue training, that he’s going to sign up at a gym and workout with a friend three days a week. He’s more aware about food intake to know what’s healthier and what is not. The challenge is to make the right choices and do it consistently.
From just one week eating exactly as I told him, he has noticed a difference. Over the 12 weeks, he’s realised which foods don’t sit well with him and which ones do. He’s learned to drink more water daily and that he doesn’t need sugar in his tea and coffee.
STRONGER: Adriano’s done better than he did two years ago
For Adriano, Stacey and Jo, we’ve all discussed a training plan moving forwards. They all have more in the locker and are keen to progress.
And for Jamie – my wife and second time around the Amazing 12 – she succeeded in her goal to get stronger, fitter and leaner.
She comes from the US, where a life of fast food, type-2 diabetes and meds is now becoming the norm. Jamie is living proof that it doesn’t have to be.
AT LAST: the elusive chin-up is finally conquered…many times over
A vegan, mum of two and yoga teacher, she’s the only one doing the program on a plant-based diet.
Yet her strength has increased quite dramatically. This week Jamie, as well as Ben and Stacey, hit a goal of getting her first chin-up. None of them could do one before we started. All of them were able to do multiple chin-ups and with reasonable ease, too.
NEXT UP: Stacey nails her chin-ups, too
That’s just one example of the strength improvements accomplished in the past 12 weeks. I’ll go into more detail in future blogs.
But it underlines that this program is not just about ‘the look’. Even Jo, who found it hard to change her diet, achieved tremendous strength and fitness results.
I will then be planning ahead how to help some of them continue to improve through personal training sessions. And I shall be focusing on my next wave, which will be over EIGHT WEEKS and starting in May. It is hard work and requires devotion and commitment, but the rewards are exceptional for those who stick to it. The most challenging paths are always the ones which teach and improve us the most.
Do you want results? Are you prepared to challenge yourself to get them? Are you ready to make a commitment? Contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk for more information and details or any questions you may have.
THE greatest changes in appearance and increases in strength on the Amazing 12 program come towards the end. But here’s the catch: you need the first 10 or so weeks under your belt in order to maximise and trigger those benefits.
Everyone nowadays seems to want to take shortcuts. We want to gain in five minutes what normally requires much longer.
But many things are worth waiting for. Why? Because otherwise we miss out on the process and it’s in the process that we learn and grow the most.
Jo pushing that prowler and herself
When I look at the Amazing 12 program, I don’t just see the difference between the starting photo and the end one. That’s just the cherry on the cake – a visual display of hard work and dedication. It’s the cover on the book, so to speak. But the words on the pages tell the true story.
Having nearly guided my Amazing 12 Chichester crew through their journey at Core Results Gym, I see how they’ve grown stronger or overcome different challenges or learned from their failings or developed a different mindset or understood the importance of eating and sleeping well or noticed that it takes more than just training to reach optimal health or realised how vital it is to move well or they feel a sense of pride in having lasted the course or improved their technique in one or multiple lifting/movement skills or have proved to themselves they are stronger and more determined than they thought possible. I could go on and on.
The real you: Ben has so much untapped strength and fitness
It’s not just a program to enhance appearances. Amazing 12 boss Paul McIlroy says it best. “If you’re looking into the mirror and who’s looking back is someone not in shape, with low self-esteem and weak, then that is NOT the real you.
“The real truth is that the transformation took place a long time before the Amazing 12 – and took years to achieve by eating tons of junk food and being doggedly determined to move as little as possible. So what you see in the mirror is NOT you.
“What the Amazing 12 program does is transform that person back into the virile human being they were in the first place!”
That’s why my motivation and desire as a coach is to instill in my clients and those who read about my work the importance of leading a healthy life and what that actually entails.
Fully extended, Stacey slamming the ball
I understand that there is genuine confusion as to what ‘healthy’ really is amidst the mass of conflicting information and advice and that the average person’s comprehension of nutrition and movement and the negatives of their lifestyle choices is as limited as their motivation to change even when awareness is increased.
The Amazing 12 is about building confidence (for self-esteem), muscles (to make us leaner and protect our joints and heart), endurance (for resilience and usefulness), discipline (to take on the jobs we have to do even if we don’t want to), knowledge (so we are equipped to continue when it’s over and make informed choices in order to improve our healthstyle) and emphasising commitment (the turning up no matter what).
The Amazing 12 Chichester is now coming into the final week, the time where the emphasis is on reaching a peak. And the challenge now is to be focused and pay attention to the little details I have given them in order to achieve the best possible results.
In the zone: Jo’s almost meditative approach to battle ropes
They have worked hard and should want to see and feel the full extent of their efforts. There’s no crash-dieting involved or use of synthetic products or dehydration.
From Day One the priority has always been to eat as cleanly as possible, drink lots of water, exercise intelligently and sleep abundantly.
Even though a few of them haven’t followed the program exactly or have struggled with sleep or have missed too many sessions to say they’ve done the Amazing 12 as prescribed, week 12 is worth experiencing. With the exception of Adriano, who graduated in 2015, none of them has been through it before.
Squat queen: Stacey getting good depth
But that’s what life should be about: new experiences. It teaches us new things about ourselves. Getting to know ourselves and evolving is, for me at least, part of life’s fascination and joy and purpose.
Some new experiences are greater than others. Some of my group dislike any change. So I purposely move things around – for example, I try not to do back squats in the same place each week or set equipment up exactly the same way or use the same bars for lifting. And I’ve encouraged them to try new foods and ways of eating and strategies for continuing with a healthy diet and challenged them to break patterns of thinking and behaviours/habits that don’t serve them well.
Recovered: Ben showing no signs of being restricted by injury
The Amazing 12 changes throughout, but often in too subtle a way for it to become a concern.
However, what they can do now is vastly different from what they could do when they started in January. They’ve taken micro steps. It’s one reason why the Amazing 12 works so well. It encourages you to allow yourself to become stronger, because while strength is a skill – and therefore must be practiced and honed – ultimately it comes down to whether the body feels a given task is too great a threat or not. Confidence is key and confidence can be destroyed by being overly ambitious or impatient.
When I look back through my records of what Stacey, Ben, Jo and Adriano have achieved, it’s quite astounding.
Jo knows she’s become much stronger – in spite of skipping sessions and falling off the wagon with the diet for several weeks. So has Ben, who was set back through injury briefly, and Adriano, who has already surpassed what he achieved two years ago. And Stacey, who at the beginning said she was “shocked” by how much strength she had lost after becoming a mum, is now doing for reps more than what used to be her maximum when she was in full training.
Making steady progress deadlifting
However, irrespective of the physical successes and changes, it’s going to be easy after the Amazing 12 has finished to slip back into making the choices and living the lifestyle that prompted the need for change in the first place.
There will be a sense of now-it’s-over-and-I-can-do-whatever-I-want. But I can’t stress enough the importance of resisting those urges, for obvious reasons.
Lifestyle matters – GREATLY.
I’ve spent a lot of time talking about it because it is such an critical factor in how healthily we evolve and perform and how we look and, most importantly, our susceptibility to disease and illness which dramatically impacts our quality of life.
Getting harder: it’s more challenging in week 11, but everyone is fitter
Some of us may be at a genetic disadvantage but Dr. Sara Gottfried, who I’ve written about previously and has studied over 2,500 research papers on our genes, says that “90 per cent of the time” our illnesses and sicknesses and demise is caused by poor lifestyle choices.
If that isn’t a clear warning to take more seriously how you choose to live and take care of yourself I don’t know what is.
It means we’re mostly not genetically predisposed to certain illnesses or being overweight. We have the power, through choice, to determine what path we take.
And, in my opinion, a massive and integral part of any plan to stay well should include exercise/movement and resistance training in addition to resting and eating healthily.
So if you’re interested in my next Amazing 12 wave (over eight weeks, starting in May) or want to learn to lift and join one of my ladies weight-lifting groups on a Sunday morning or are interested in an upcoming course on using kettlebells or would like personal training sessions, send a message to Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
Jo and Stacey on the bench press, one spotting and one lifting
YOU spend years in the gym and don’t get results. You ask yourself why and reach a conclusion: exercise doesn’t work.
You go on a diet, fail to lose weight and determine that diets aren’t effective.
Or you take up weight-lifting, pull a muscle and decide that weight-lifting causes injuries.
Those are real life situations and common reactions. But there’s some missing data. How many people regularly visit the gym and don’t actually follow or stick to a progressive resistance program?
Or how many people go on diets, but either adopt a diet that is fundamentally flawed (in the long term) or cheat on the details?
Pressed for time, Adriano working hard to make the most of the final weeks
And when it comes to getting injured lifting weights, how many of us have failed to listen to instructions or ‘switched off’ at that all-important moment? To then say weight-lifting is dangerous is as illogical as a parent who hurts their back picking up their children saying they will never lift their children again.
In each of these real examples – and there are thousands more – I’m highlighting how we, as people, outsource responsibility for our mishaps or lack of success. I’m as guilty of it as anyone else.
There is an often uncomfortable truth we are trying to avoid: we are where we are largely because of choices WE have made.
Unleashing strength through deadlifts
The day when we start to reverse this trend is when we take ownership of the problem. It means to admit the only way to achieve lasting results is to recognise fully we are the ones in charge.
One of the greatest powers we have as human beings is knowing we can change things and that we have choice, because in the absence of choice we have hopelessness. The moment we blame others or circumstances we relinquish our power.
An artistic (10 and 5-year-old) impression of transformation
If you keep blaming and looking outwards instead of inwards, you are developing a practice – the practice of becoming better at blaming and squandering your powers.
“The body becomes what you teach it.”
Simply put, if you don’t own the problem, you can’t change the problem.
Who is in control when you pick up your phone at bedtime and start scrolling through messages or social media? Does the phone control you?
Who buys the food that goes into your fridge and cupboards that, when consumed, cause your health issues?
Taking a walk, farmer’s carry-style
The Amazing 12 is a unique program that offers the opportunity for change and, as you will know if you have been following my blogs, food and sleep should play an integral part of any healthy physical transformation.
You have to follow the program. That’s not a catch. It’s a requirement for it to work.
A reason people come to me or have personal training is because they want/need to be held accountable. They pay me to take them through the program, show and instruct them how to perform the movements, organise what weights to lift, how long to recover, watch their form etc.
Paying for my services and having me pull the strings helps motivate them to turn up when they don’t feel like it and do the exercise even if they dislike it.
So here we are, 10 weeks into the Amazing 12 Chichester at the Core Results Gym. The ‘end’ is in sight and some will be satisfied and some will not.
Whether the group are content or not at the end largely comes down to three things: mindset, expectations and honesty.
Are they a glass-is-half-empty or half-full type of person? How honest are they with themselves about what they have put into the program? How realistic were their expectations?
Adriano putting everything into the heavy battle ropes
Irrespective of the results, here’s the truth as I see it: this is just the beginning. Here’s another truth: what they do next and how successful they are going to be moving forwards is ALL down to them. We need to own that reality.
Stacey told me, “I don’t think I’d have got back into shape had I not done this [the Amazing 12].” She’s lost over a stone in weight and returned to her pre-pregnancy bodyweight.
I’d like to think, however, that Stacey is also much better equipped and informed now than when she started.
Still, Stacey feels disappointed whenever her scale weight hasn’t budged even if her strength and fitness has increased, which raises the question of what means of testing we are attached to for determining how well we are doing. Again, this is something we need to take ownership of by understanding it is a choice.
Finishing the week strongly with the prowler and kettlebells
Jo’s admitted she hasn’t been following the diet for weeks and that she’s really been struggling at times. But she was committed this week and, when she puts the work in and eats correctly, I’ve noticed big changes.
I can’t fault Adriano for commitment. Some days he gets stranded in London coming back from work yet busts a gut to make it to the gym on time. Occasionally, we’ve had to reschedule his sessions and started super-early.
The bottom line is he’s made his training a priority. If we can do the same with sleep and diet we have the winning ticket!
Ben, who is almost back to full fitness after a recent injury, has been working practically two jobs in recent weeks and after training in the evening has had to then do a night shift. Therefore his sleep has been massively disrupted and, as I’ve written about previously, it’s through quality sleep that the body does its restorative work, growth and majority of fat-burning. That’s a biological process that can’t be short-circuited.
At least Ben’s been following more rigidly the diet I gave him last week and has noticed almost immediately the difference (and I’ve seen it) which has made him – and me – wonder just what his results would have been had he nailed it from the beginning.
However, what these past 10 weeks has taught me (and I’m always learning from the people I coach) is that motivation only goes so far for some and that over the longer duration you need to have a plan for when the wheels come off.
Plans are systems or frameworks that help keep you on track with your goals. “Fail to plan, plan to fail” is how the saying goes.
Upping the stakes, Adriano, Ben and Jo going through a conditioning workout
Plans don’t magically appear. You have to create them. You have to foresee where you have gone wrong previously and determine what is necessary or helpful to avoid that bump if it comes up again.
If you don’t plan, you’ll wind up repeating the same actions and you know what Albert Einstein said about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome?
Stacey showing her deep back squat
So the big lesson for this week is to recognise you – and no-one else – are in charge. Stop blaming anyone or anything. Take command. Make a plan. Stick with it. If you don’t like it, know that you can change it.
It requires discipline and discipline can be learned and practiced. As Aristotle once wrote, “Through discipline we find freedom.”
My next wave – an eight-week version – starts on May 8. If you’d like to be considered and think you have what it takes to commit to training, following a healthy nutritional plan, want to dramatically improve your strength and fitness, change your physical composition and learn how to lift and train efficiently and effectively, contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
Sometimes – but not always – an all-out effort is required
HOW many times have you wanted to try something but decided not to because you are afraid to fail?
The nine-week mark of the Amazing 12 Chichester is the point at which I notice most drop-outs on this transformation program occur (although it is a very small percentage). I can’t really imagine why you’d go this far and not finish, but one reason is the fear of failing.
Sometimes that fear of failure can be a tremendous motivator, but often it can also provide crippling pressure.
But let me say this – failure is a state of mind. And in the right state of mind, failure does not exist.
Stacey continues to surprise herself
That my group of four training at the Core Results Gym have advanced to the three-quarter mark in tact speaks volumes for their sticking power and physical resilience.
I must admit one or two have wavered at various times. The Amazing 12 asks searching questions. But they can all be proud for getting this far. They should recognise in themselves the fortitude that’s required to be this dedicated.
Untapped potential, Ben just needs to sort out his diet
Ben has had a few shaky days and Jo’s faced her demons. But they have come through the other side. They are still in contention. They are still working hard and giving everything I ask of them when in the gym.
This week was a tough one and has left them all flat out a few times. But, from my experience, these are the weeks when the greatest changes happen.
Ben showing his hand speed on the battle ropes
Now, with only three weeks to go, it’s about buckling down and maximising what can be achieved. Tunnel vision is needed.
It’s much easier to hold that focus for three weeks instead of 12. But those who are able to stay organised, disciplined and mentally strong for the full three months get the best results. It’s a simple fact.
As I’ve said before, you get from the Amazing 12 what you put in. The magic is in the detail. Progress, like change, is so incremental the participant sometimes doesn’t notice. Often they will say they don’t feel as if they have changed much, but when they get to the finish they are blown away by the results. It’s easy to forget how they were at the starting point.
Even if visually there isn’t much to shout about, I can assure them all that the gains in strength and physical performance are already quite staggering and that’s what is worth reflecting on.
Ben may be rueing the fact he’s not got his head around the diet and Jo’s been brilliant when she’s been consistent, but overall has missed a lot of sessions.
Jo’s a good lifter who just needs to be consistent
Then, just when she was on a roll this week, Jo dropped her purse getting out of her car and pulled a muscle in her back, causing her to miss one session and move a little uneasily in the others. The positive outcome is that Jo didn’t allow it to set her back. Similarly, Ben, after his chest injury, appears to be where he was before he suffered the freak damage a few weeks ago.
I’ve written out a diet plan for Ben for the final three weeks which, if he follows it to the letter, may help him shed some excess pounds that haven’t yet come off. There’s no question he’s become stronger and fitter and everyone has noticed. For someone who hasn’t ever been in a gym or taken much care of himself, Ben’s displayed impressive potential.
“I’m quite shocked, really, at what I’ve been able to do,” he said on reflection.
The Amazing 12 experience has shown him that when it comes to getting into shape, the diet has to be addressed first and foremost. That’s his weakest link.
Highlighting areas that need attention the most is also what the Amazing 12 is about. It’s easy for us to stick to what we are good at, because it makes us feel good and we’re not intimidated by it. But to neglect what we don’t find so easy not only can cause physical imbalances, but also be the result of us being fearful of not looking or being good at something.
If Ben – or any of the others – gets to the end of 12 weeks and isn’t in great shape it doesn’t mean he has failed, however.
As martial arts supremo Bruce Lee used to say, “Defeat [or failure] is an education”.
Pushing hard, Stacey can still smile her way through it
When we falter or fall or fail or struggle, we have a choice – to be upset and resigned OR take from it important information to enable us to become stronger, wiser and better. It’s YOUR decision. You have to listen to the experience and by that I mean open your mind to what you have learned about yourself. The information is valuable only if we use it and are completely honest with ourselves.
That’s why the ‘don’t be afraid to fail’ mantra is so important. We need to progress without an ego. Fear keeps us from moving forwards, from doing, from challenging ourselves.
It’s in the adversity that we make the most progress. It’s in the process of practicing over and over with sufficient resistance and without harsh judgement that the body adapts and develops and becomes resilient and refined.
That’s not to say I push my group to their limitations. The idea is to challenge them in a safe way – to lift their confidence and to empower them, physically and mentally, to see what they are capable of.
Digging deeper on squat day
I can’t recall precisely the number of times Stacey has said to me “I don’t feel very strong today” and then had an outstanding session. She did it to me again at the start of this week when she turned up with a stuffy nose and having had little sleep after her son kept her awake all night and I then revealed to her after she had finished that she was lifting comfortably a weight she had struggled with on the previous session.
Adriano, her husband, has been consistent also. The experience of having done it before (2015) has held him in good stead. He’s much more in command of the diet and understands the process of the training. All being well, I’m hoping to take him further than he was able to go two years ago.
Working on his form, Adriano has had a shift in focus
What’s particularly satisfying about Adriano is how he has shifted his attention to why training needs to be a continual process and quality of movement trumps work capacity.
Ben’s much newer to the business of training and was a little gung-ho in the beginning, eager to see what he could do, but has learned this lesson through the injury he sustained.
So the message from this week is to soldier on and understand, as the saying goes, “we either win or we learn”. The only way to lose, I suppose, is to fail to learn anything.
The process of strength and fitness training, done correctly and with the right mindset, should promote health, confidence and physical ability. That’s why I’m passionate about what I do. If you want to experience the Amazing 12, but in a shorter version – over eight weeks – send me a message. I am taking applications for a two-month journey beginning in May. Contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
Goggins running through Death Valley to cover 135 miles. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist Seaman Brandon Rogers
MAYBE you have never heard of David Goggins, but he has an incredible story.
He may seem like a superhuman, because he’s the only man ever in United States armed service history to complete training for the Navy Seals, Army Ranger school and Air Force tactical air controller. If that were not enough, he set about taking on the challenge of completing the 10 toughest endurance events known to man, often placing highly. And if that’s not impressive enough, he set a world record in 2013 for the most pull-ups (4,030) in 24 hours.
Doesn’t sound like an ordinary man, does he?
But he built himself up from practically nothing. Consider this. Goggins was abused as a child, obese, a self-confessed coward with no self-esteem, subjected to racism, full of insecurity, has a hole in his heart, suffers from sickle-cell anemia, is scared of heights and deep water and hates running!
So how on earth did he do it?
His answer is plain and simple: he wanted it badly enough.
Usually, when I have people sign up for the Amazing 12 Chichester, it’s because they want change or to discover how far they can go. They are like Goggins. The desire is strong. There’s a driving force.
But can they – Jo, Stacey, Adriano and Ben – stay the course? Can they keep the driving force alive with only four weeks to go? The Amazing 12 will challenge them. It’s not just the training, but also the discipline, commitment and change to their normal routines.
Some of my current group have had to answer and deal with searching questions. This week in particular was tough for Ben and Jo.
Ben is all smiles here, but it’s been a frustrating week
Jo missed most of the week and Ben has been nursing an injury that has left him feeling frustrated. But he admits, “it was a wake-up call.” He understands better now the need for good technique and breathing.
It is all a part of the journey as far as I am concerned. The value of any experience is what you want to take from it.
And if you adhere to Goggins’ philosophy, “failure is information on how to succeed”. There is no downside – as long as you keep going and learning.
What really separates Goggins from most others, though, is his mindset. While many of us don’t pay attention to how we think, Goggins has trained himself to think his way out of any sticky situation that comes his way. And anyone can do it.
Stacey staying strong during her back squat routine
Where many will say “I quit”, Goggins says “I’m not stopping”. Where some say “this hurts”, he says “it’s making me stronger”.
Goggins converted himself – over many years – from that shy, meek, overweight, frightened boy into a man of steel who now proclaims with confidence that there is nothing he cannot achieve.
I believe most of us would like a piece of that, but how many of us want it badly enough? And where Goggins says we need to focus our energy (and I’ve touched on this in previous blogs) is in our thinking.
“We change everything in our lives from our cars to our underwear to our shoes to what we decide to eat,” he says. “But the one thing many of us never change is our thinking.”
Therein lies the secret. Really, it’s no secret. It’s common sense. But it doesn’t happen by accident. It took Goggins years of failure and setbacks and trying and persevering. He is not afraid to fail and never gives up!
The more you focus, the more you benefit
When people think of training in the gym, though, they often think of just lifting weights and doing exercises. Some turn up and merely go through the motions, as though they just want to get it done and then move on with life.
They are not getting the full package. They don’t realise how training allows for so much more. We’re not just training movement patterns or developing strength or increasing mobility and stability or working our cardiovascular system. Every training session and challenging situation affords the opportunity to work on our thinking and breathing as well. You just need to think of it as practice.
Deadlift day is not just about picking up a weight, but also practicing the technique
You have probably heard the expression “practice makes perfect”, which is not really spot-on in my opinion, because if you practice something poorly, it is unlikely you will become perfect.
A better version is “perfect practice makes perfect”, which shifts the onus of practicing to doing it properly, mindfully and with patience instead of just doing it for the sake of it or with our focus elsewhere.
Perfection may not even be attainable in most circumstances, especially when it comes to movement and weight-lifting, because there’s always something that can be improved upon. This is what makes it challenging and enjoyable, yet also frustrating. Perfection is the distant – and perhaps impossible – goal that keeps us going.
But the only way to make progress is to put the time in. Show up (see week 3 blog). Make the effort. Keep going – no matter what.
Ben’s new to training, so was entitled to question one evening why the training was “repetitive”.
The answer is that good, purposeful and beneficial training is repetitive. It has to be. You don’t get good at something by doing it only once.
Adriano’s squat has improved in leaps and bounds from when he first did the Amazing 12
It’s all about the practice and I express this daily to my two young children – probably much to their dismay – in the hope they, too, get the message one day.
To create change, we have to do movements over and over to hardwire the patterns until it becomes easier and our bodies adapt faster and better. Initially, it may be difficult. But don’t give up.
When my children achieve something they had earlier said was impossible or too hard, I try to make them see how the magic of practice and perseverance made the difference.
They are growing in a world where everyone seems so impatient for results. Because of this, we struggle more with the art of practice.
So much is available to us at the click of a button and life is generally more comfortable that I suspect we’ve lost the ability to be ‘up’ for the fight when success doesn’t arrive easily.
One of my favourite boxers, former world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler, once famously said: “It’s hard to get up to run at 5am when you wear silk pyjamas.”
Quality of movement should always reign supreme
It was when I started to look at training more as practice than exercise or a workout (ie changed my thinking) that I saw changes, both physically and mentally. That’s when training stopped being about how gassed or fatigued I could get and shifted towards quality of movement.
When it comes to longevity, well-being, injury prevention and quality of life, how well I move wins every time.
I also stopped seeing training as a short-term fix and took a long-term and lifelong approach, because, as I’ve touched upon in previous weeks, the older we get the greater we need to consider how we move and live and what we eat in order to apply the brakes to the process of ageing and deterioration.
The Amazing 12 lasts only for three months, but I can only take my A12 Chichester group as far as they allow me to. I do my bit and turn up every day (unless, like next week, when I have to attend a funeral). But my students must still put in all the leg work. This is why I’ve never offered a guarantee on this program, even though I know it works.
I supervise and guide the training and manage the process of the Amazing 12. But I can’t know for certain if my candidates are doing EVERYTHING I ask them to do when not in the gym.
It again comes down to what Goggins says – wanting it badly enough. Develop a strong mindset. Surround yourself with positivity.
Focus on what motivates you, not what demotivates you.
Is it better to focus on how tough it is or what’s to be gained from completing the task?
Here’s a simple example of that: each week I put my group through a short but intense workout (they know what it is). Some dread it (demotivating), while others may instead choose to think of the benefits of doing it (motivating).
Master your thoughts and your world will change. Isn’t that worth working hard for? The Amazing 12 gives you an opportunity every day to practice it.
Think you have what it takes to complete the Amazing 12? Do you have that driving force to achieve your goals and transform yourself through intelligent training and eating? Contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
I’VE heard it said by women hundreds of times in relation to lifting weights that they don’t want to get “too bulky” or “develop big muscles”.
In my week 2 blog update I went into some detail about the importance – for women and men – of having muscles.
And when you consider that from the age of 30, when testosterone levels begin to drop, most of us will find it more difficult to retain muscle mass (on average we lose about 10% every 10 years as we age) and the importance of lifting weights as part of our lifestyle becomes even more critical.
The fact is – no matter what you’ve been led to believe – that for women to become “too bulky” or “develop big muscles” is incredibly difficult and, in many cases, impossible unless they take growth hormone or are genetically advantaged.
Resistance training, for men and women, is essential for healthy muscles and bones
Why that is so comes down to one hormone in particular, testosterone. This hormone not only determines, pre-birth, whether we are female or male (we all start out as females, hence the nipples), but it’s the hormone which boosts metabolism and keeps us leaner.
Adult males have about seven-eight times as much testosterone as adult females. It’s a steroid hormone that in men is naturally secreted from the testicles and in women the ovaries. A small quantity comes from the adrenal glands.
The many functions of testosterone
Ben, one of my crew on the Amazing 12 Chichester program out of Core Results Gym, asked me the other week what testosterone does and so I’ve put together a chart (above) highlighting its many functions.
I’ve also created a second diagram (below) which shows what can cause our testosterone levels to fall, what are the possible consequences of low testosterone and the many natural ways in which we can increase testosterone.
What causes low testosterone and ways to boost it
I wouldn’t recommend taking testosterone (steroid) supplements unless medically advised to do so. It can cause health complications and a list of side-effects. Testosterone is one of many hormones in our bodies and these hormones – estrogen, insulin, cortisol, leptin, testosterone, thyroid and growth hormone – all work together.
If one set of hormones is unbalanced it will affect all the others.
Take even more seriously that everything – from how we perform physically, our moods, our strength, our thinking, our health, our digestion – comes from optimal, balanced hormonal function.
So if you think hormones don’t matter, think again. They are in charge!
For those of us who overeat or have weight and excessive body fat issues, it is not because we can’t stop ourselves eating, but more a case of the hormones which regulate that decision-making being out of balance.
As doctor Mark Hyman says, “Our hormones have been hijacked by Big Food – the giant food corporations.”
Hormone expert Sara Gottfried, a doctor and author who overcame her own weight issues and is an expert on the subject, adds, “hormones dictate what your body does with food.”
So if you can’t get leaner or crave sugar or lack sleep or have fluctuating moods or often feel overwhelmed, the chances are that your hormones are out of whack.
Stacey has a sweet tooth and for years has struggled with sleep
Extra belly fat can be an indication that one or more of hormones is out of balance. These hormones regulate our metabolism. When the metabolism is broken, our bodies go into fat-storage mode as the food we eat is stored instead of used for energy.
Sleep plays an important role here, too, because when we sleep well it influences positively the hormones which control our appetites and increase metabolism. No hormone is more adversely affected by poor sleep than testosterone.
Another reason for lowered testosterone is the massive exposure in today’s world to estrogenic compounds. Many of these comes from plastics and pesticides and chemicals found in our food sources (particularly meat and non-fermented, genetically modified soya), the water we drink and pollution.
The trouble with meat that isn’t from grass-fed animals or animals consuming a natural diet is that the toxins in their diets enter ours. Our livers don’t know what to do with these toxins and put it aside as fat.
Pressing ahead…Adriano’s on a mission
The more abdominal fat we have the faster we are likely to age and the greater we are at risk of heart disease and diabetes. Tummy fat can indicate that we have either high estrogen or low testosterone or low DHEA (adrenal gland hormone) or high insulin or high cortisol (the stress-induced hormone).
Estrogen dominance makes overweight women store more fat instead of burning it. It does this because our microbiome, the collective DNA of the microbes living in our gut, begins to extract energy for storage instead of fuel.
Also, the higher our insulin levels, the more fat we store and the more inflammation in our body.
Cooking and then consuming industrial seed oils, for example, is incredibly inflammatory. What this means in relation to testosterone is that we end up producing more of what are called aromatase enzymes that in men cause testosterone to be upgraded to estrogen and the opposite in women.
What’s also interesting is that testosterone is produced from cholesterol, which is manufactured naturally in the body but also derived from eating healthy fats (like coconut oil, avocados, unheated olive oil, ghee, nuts and seeds etc. As said already, avoid vegetable oils like soy, canola, safflower, cottonseed and corn).
The real enemy is inflammation although there is still mass contention in the science and nutrition world on the subject of what causes it.
Interesting story in this week’s edition
For example, the cover story on this week’s New Scientist magazine is all about cholesterol and whether the war on cholesterol has been in vain.
The article talks about how for “30 years, cholesterol-reducing statins have become some of the most widely prescribed drugs” after the connection between cholesterol and heart disease became widely accepted in 1984.
However, one independent Danish researcher claims, “the cholesterol campaign is the greatest medical scandal in modern time.”
What’s clear is IF cholesterol is associated with heart disease, it’s not the sole contributor. Half of all heart attacks and strokes occur amongst apparently healthy people with normal or low levels of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.”
Studies have also shown that the side effects of taking statins have caused patients to become more sedentary and adopt less healthy diets, mainly because, thinking they are cured, they become complacent.
Adriano slam-dunking his way to fitness
Complacency can, of course, affect us all. It’s the beginning of the slippery slope.
There is no way around it. Mistreat or neglect your body and, eventually, it will hit you back.
Practice makes perfect…Adriano is hyper-extending here, whereas Jo’s form is solid
Adriano is determined to not allow that to happen when he finishes the Amazing 12 this time (he did it first in 2015). He’s driven towards staying fit so he can keep up with his young son. So we’ve been devising a plan for a continued training and nutritional program after the A12 has finished.
Ben, too, is eager not to see his hard work go to waste. He has aspirations to take up boxing. But Ben’s biggest challenge is getting to grips with eating and diet. So far he’s struggled with the A12 guidelines and preparing food as it is not something he has ever had to do.
A lack of understanding of what foods do, where they come from and what to do with them is at the root of why we make poor food choices.
This week has been Ben’s toughest by far. He’s felt tired and that’s most likely down to (a) not eating enough and (b) not eating enough of the right foods. Ben also struggles with sleep.
Don’t try this at home…Ben showing his strength
Unquestionably, he’s getting stronger, but not eating according to the A12 guidelines will not only limit the effectiveness of the program and losing fat, but he’ll end up burning muscle, too, and his recovery between sessions will suffer.
“I’m just not feeling it,” he said earlier this week. “I feel weak.”
As off-colour as he felt, Ben still performed well. The reality is that the Amazing 12 program doesn’t get easier as it goes on, but you get stronger. That’s how most good training programs work.
To cap his week, Ben ended up pulling a muscle in his chest, which I am hoping is not serious. I prescribed rest until it was assessed. He missed his first session and was gutted.
Jo working hard and holding her form
Jo, too, had an up-and-down week. At the end of week six, however, she had lost 11lbs in weight, 4% body fat and told me she could fit into a pair of jeans she hadn’t been able to wear in ages.
Stacey had lost another 3lbs and was only 2lbs short of having lost a stone from the start of the program. “I’m one happy lady,” she told me.
To stay happy and healthy, we need to be like our hormones and work together on all fronts and not just those we prefer. It means, for starters, consuming the right foods and in the right proportions and quantities, moving our bodies often, doing some form of resistance training and drinking lots of clean water.
The Amazing 12 Chichester offers more than just a training program to enable you to uncover your true self and physical potential. It’s a journey of learning not only what you are made of, but also about the importance of progressive resistance training and a healthy lifestyle. The next Amazing 12 Chichester wave will be in April/May. Want to know more or book your place, contact me at Claude@Intelligentstrength.co.uk
I HAVE conversations with my 10-year-old son about what life was like growing up without electronic devices and he looks at me in disbelief, like “how could you have existed like that?”
The phone-dependency in the gym is somewhat similar. Yes, believe it or not, there were days when people went to the gym without a phone and you never saw one for the duration of a class or training session and our accomplishments were not broadcast all over social media.
This week in my Amazing 12 Chichester class at Core Results gym, I had to impose a restriction on mobile phones.
In truth, I saw it coming a long time ago. I should have insisted on it from the beginning. For any other coaches out there reading this, I’d strongly suggest you do so.
Paying the price for breaking the phone restriction
Also, it’s mainly the men – Adriano and Ben – rather than the ladies, Stacey and Jo, who are the culprits.
When I saw the use of phones getting in the way of training and maximising performance, it was time to clamp down. I could see concentration slipping.
With six weeks gone and my group making progress, I don’t want anything to get in the way.
In the gym they are all doing very well. Outside of it there are tweaks here and there still needed – mainly with regards to following the food guidelines. But, slowly, we are getting there.
Trimming up, Stacey on the battle ropes
As of the end of week 5, Stacey had lost 9lbs (from the beginning) and is steadily dropping body fat. She was only 3lbs more than what she weighed pre-pregnancy – close to achieving one of her goals and we’re only halfway. Jo, too, has dropped body fat, is changing shape and was down 11lbs in weight from day 1.
Working hard, Ben digs deep towards the end of the week
Weight isn’t so much the issue, though – as I explained in my Week 4 blog. For the guys, most noticeable in Ben has been his strength gains and in Adriano improved fitness.
With that progress in mind, I didn’t want any curve balls. So it was time to tackle the most pressing problem this week – the use of phones.
Chilling out between sets
Instead of talking to one another or focusing on recovery or assessing their form or mentally preparing themselves for the next set or grabbing some water or stretching or just hanging out by yourself to steady your heartrate or thinking, between sets the phones would come out…and then they would be lost in the world of either surfing the web or sending text messages. There’s no place for it in the Amazing 12 or any other program.
If someone comes to me for the best results – and is paying for it – then my job is to deliver. Phones in class get in the way. They hinder focus and, as a result, performance.
Stacey concentrating on arm curls
I’ve been guilty of it myself, so know exactly how it undermines the quality of training. Now, unless I need my phone for filming (for technique) or as a stopwatch or to monitor my heartrate, I put it away.
Imagine if, as the coach, I spent my time checking messages and texting and scrolling through pages when I should be observing, offering advice and making sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to? My clients would demand their money back.
The addictive nature of phones causes a dopamine (pleasure) rush that means the person on the phone simply can’t put it down. You then lose track of time.
Deadlift day
“I understand why you insisted on it [the restriction],” said Ben. “But it’s really hard [to stop]”.
When you are training to set timed intervals and need to be prepared properly for your next rep and/or set – mentally and physically – having phones around simply doesn’t work.
You could also be training really well and then receive a message on your phone that causes stress or concern and your workout instantly takes a nosedive. I’ve seen that happen countless times.
Ben and Adriano both improving in fitness and strength
So, for those of you who lead busy lives and spend all day attached to your phones, you need time to detach yourselves. Make your gym time that time.
I recall reading an article several years ago about the importance of time spent alone in the weight room and how that was a vital quality in strength development. Why? Because lifting well and getting stronger wasn’t just about going heavy, but also making time to recover and being patient, which often meant walking around or sitting down and waiting. Certain personality types (like myself) find that much easier than others. The impatient ones can’t do it.
If you require or have wired yourself to need continual stimulation, it’s going to be tough to ignore the phone. But all the more reason to do it, because it’s probably not happening anywhere else in your life.
Focused on the job, Ben and Adriano side by side
Adriano, who was the first to break the restriction (and everyone got penalised as a result), admitted, “If the phone is there, in front of me, I will pick it up. It’s the temptation.”
Simple solution. Either don’t bring it or put it away before class and look at it afterwards.
With six weeks to go, let’s see what difference it makes. I genuinely believe it will.
Think the Amazing 12 could be for you? Want to know more about what it entails and if you are a suitable candidate? Contact me – Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk – to find out more and for details of the next wave that I am planning in May 2017.
BESIDES muscles, strength, stability, flexibility, mobility, cardiovascular fitness and health (and I could go on), there’s something incredibly important that the right type of training offers: confidence.
I see it with my four Amazing 12 Chichester candidates every day as we train at Core Results and I notice it each Sunday when I work with the ladies in my two morning weight-lifting groups.
In conversation, I hear it expressed a lot how “when I was younger I never thought twice about…but now…”
As adults, we overthink things and, consequently, feel fearful and doubtful, all of which leads to a lack of confidence. As children, we just got on with it.
But it’s seldom a case of ‘I can’t’. More often, especially when fear kicks in, the reality is ‘I won’t’.
The Amazing 12 is about delivering confidence, enabling you to achieve what you thought you could not.
Sue Saunders, who graduated with me last year, is a classic example. Hindered by a shoulder injury, she had surgery and then wasn’t sure it would withstand the type of training that the Amazing 12 demands. Guess what? It did – for 12 weeks – and she became impressively strong and looked every ounce of it.
Last workout of the week, Adriano is stepping on the gas
When you reach the end of the Amazing 12, which is an accomplishment in itself, there should be a sense of pride from the discipline, motivation and consistency it takes to apply oneself towards a goal and stick with it.
But it requires confidence, too, because along the way there are going to be doubts and you need to find the ‘yes I can’ inside of you…over and over again. Overcoming doubt requires courage. From courage we become stronger.
Our limits often reside in our heads and not our bodies. Paul McIlroy’s philosophy is NOT to keep testing your limits.
Push your limits too frequently and you will find them. Avoid your limits intelligently and you can continue to grow. Most of the great minds in strength training understand this.
Ben running with the prowler
Hence the saying, ‘the body achieves what the mind believes’. I know each of my quartet has inside them much more strength than they believe they possess. I can only convince them by enabling them. The Amazing 12 program slowly reveals to them to what they are capable of.
Take Jo, for example. I’ve worked with her on and off for several years. During that time she’s always struggled with push-ups. It’s actually one of her least favourite movements.
Out on the town push-up challenge
Last weekend she was out on the town in Brighton with friends – on a night off from training, of course. A few drinks were shared (and allowed) and, being a little more relaxed I suspect, Jo ended up in a push-up challenge with some guy and, for want of a better expression, whipped his behind.
So there’s an example of when thinking doesn’t interfere with doing. I’m not suggesting we fuel ourselves with alcohol to remove any fears and hit our PRs (much to the disappointment of many, I am sure). But you get the point, I hope.
The reality is we each have within us untapped strength. We just haven’t learned how to skilfully and easefully release it. The Amazing 12 does that.
Stacey (above) is someone else I have worked with for several years. But even in her prime she was unable to do an unassisted pull-up. I’ve set myself the challenge of changing that.
Ben, too, can’t do a pull-up or chin-up but wants to – desperately. He’s never trained before doing the Amazing 12. But I’m confident he will achieve it.
The Amazing 12 has a method. It’s to get you from point A, where you start, to point B, your goal, in the most effective and smartest manner.
Adriano getting stronger in the back squat
What I really enjoy about the Amazing 12 is how strength and confidence creeps up on you. My clients become stronger without even realising by how much (and, in truth, I give away only as much as I need to). Patience is required.
Jo, who has both strength and technique, practising the deadlift
Week after week they are making progress. Ben’s not yet missed a session. Jo’s got more bounce in her step though had to miss one class this week through illness, Adriano’s on par with where he was when he first did it two years ago (in spite of a week off in Africa for work a few weeks back) and in Stacey I can see improvements to her form and overall strength and conditioning as she bids to regain her swagger after having a baby six months ago.
Prior to starting five weeks ago, Stacey hadn’t lifted a weight (in the gym) for more than a year and felt as unfit as she’d ever been.
Jo and Stacey focusing on the task at hand
Confidence is crucial for someone like Jo, who’s had issues with low self-esteem. But I know she likes lifting weights and she’s good at it. Getting her to be consistent – because that will make the most difference – is the challenge.
Back when she was 16, Jo gained a black belt in Kyokushinkai karate, where she had to take a five-hour test that included 60 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.
“I can’t imagine how I did it,” she told me. “But I did. I liked the routine of it.”
I like to think Jo will look back on the Amazing 12 in the same way and use it – and a stronger body and mind – to propel her forwards to take on new challenges.
Need a boost to your training or a lifestyle overhaul? Want to learn about diet and combine it with safe and effective training in order to get the results you’ve always wanted? Why not consider or sign up for the next wave of the Amazing 12 Chichester? Send me a message to Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk for more details
OUR bodies are incredibly resilient. They are wired for survival. That’s why, in spite of abuse from over and under-eating, poor nutrition, drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, stress etc, our bodies keep on going…until they can’t.
The truth is we take advantage of our bodies.
Sometimes – actually, probably quite often – we get warning signs telling us something is amiss or that we should perhaps change the path we are on. But we either ignore them or the signals go misinterpreted or we just think we are invincible. And then we end up in a situation where our health and well-being is compromised and the quality of our lives diminishes, which is not a place anyone of sound mind wants to be.
While the body is strong and wants desperately to stay alive and keep soldiering on, our minds can undermine that durability. Out of our minds come thoughts. These thoughts lead to actions. These actions/choices, if harmful or poor, ultimately cause our demise.
But what’s driving our thoughts is our beliefs. Change your beliefs and you can alter your thoughts and then your choices.
That’s why it is said that to change your body you must first change your mind.
Jo pulling a weight that is more than double what she thought was her limit two weeks ago
So why am I raising this subject? At the start of the week during training at the Core Results Gym, Jo had a concern because while she is losing body fat, her scales revealed no change in weight. Should she be worried?
A few days later Ben said he had weighed himself and felt disappointed – even though he hadn’t weighed himself prior to starting the program (so had nothing to compare his current weight to).
Stacey’s been weighing herself daily since her late teens. It’s now just a habit. “I jump on the scales every morning,” she said. “I’m not really bothered by what it says, but I just want to know.”
Stacey back squatting for leg development and overall strength
That all led me to thinking about the whole belief-thought-action connection and, more specifically, numbers. What numbers should we be interested in and are relevant and/or significant?
Body weight tells us how heavy we are and it could, for instance,be an indicator of whether the portion sizes of our meals are too great. But for generations we have been fed the myth that our weight is everything. And, much to our detriment, many of us believe it!
Weighing ourselves regularly doesn’t measure progress unless the aim is to lose or gain weight. But then I would ask the question: is losing or gaining weight a smart goal? (I’ll come back to this later)
Arnold in his prime – obese or not?
I don’t pay much attention either to BMI (Body Mass Index) because it seems flawed to me to determine a person’s health based solely on height and weight. By that criteria Arnold Schwarzenegger (above) in his prime was obese, which he clearly was not.
Knowing our weight would be significant if, for example, you were a combat sportsperson or take part in a competition separated by weight divisions.
Beyond those circumstances, the only reason to be concerned by where the needle falls on the scale is if you believe it matters. Ben was disappointed solely because he had in mind a weight that he thought he should be.
I’m saying your weight is the least valuable number worth tracking.
So what numbers are vital to know?
Let’s start with body fat. It’s more critical to know than weight, but harder to calculate. Too much body fat is harmful to us in many ways. But your body fat can go down while your bodyweight increases, which creates confusion if you are attached to the thought that weight equates to success.
The fact is that in most circumstances having muscle is more essential and healthier than having more body fat. And, as I’ve said, muscle mass is heavier than fat.
Jo has already lost several per cent in body fat which, at four weeks, is a healthy rate of improvement.
So if losing body fat is the goal, here are what I would regard as some sensible targets. For women, 26% would be a good start, 23% above average and 21% getting into great shape. For men, over 22% means you have work to do, 17% is ahead of the game, 14% in shape and 12% lean. Under that and you’re getting towards being ripped.
Measuring the circumference of different parts of the body can be useful and is simple. I’d say the stomach (around the belly button) and hips are the most beneficial for ladies. But it’s important not to over-do it. Take measurements infrequently for it to make sense and for your sanity!
Ben would struggle with light weights when he started, but now can comfortably press heavier dumbbells
Strength can also be measured and it’s a valuable statistic. So pay more attention to the numbers of the weights you can lift and the number of the repetitions of the exercises you are able to do than the needle on your scales.
The weights, reps and times on the Amazing 12 program assist me, as coach, to monitor progress. I can see who’s getting stronger and fitter. Even though it can’t be calculated numerically, more crucial than how much you can lift is how you lift. Never sacrifice form for reps. So when I talk about how well someone is doing in terms of weight and reps, take it as a given that I am always referring to quality repetitions (unless specified).
Adriano demonstrating good form on the bench press
Then there are some more imaginative ways of using data, like the number of times in a day that you consume healthy, fresh vegetables. Or the number of times in the week that you exercised or played sport or went to the gym or took a walk. Or the number of hours you didn’t spend sitting down, either at your desk or in front of the TV. Or the number of litres of water you consumed in a day. Or the number of times you did something that brought you pleasure and helped you to relax. Or the number of hours you managed to go without checking emails and social media. Or the number on the clock when you go to bed. Or the number of squats you completed to negate the hours you spent seated.
I could keep on going. But you should by now have the message: there are more sensible things than weight to keep track of.
Last, but certainly not least, however, make note of the number of quality hours sleep you get each night.
Numbers are just markers. And let’s not lose sight of a key goal – to complete the program as prescribed. Make note of the number of workouts you have attended or the number of times you felt like quitting, but didn’t.
If you’re going to track anything, be sure it helps rather than hinders you. Otherwise don’t do it.
I discuss some of these factors weekly with Jo, Stacey, Adriano and Ben. Why? Because it matters. It’s not just to optimise results on the Amazing 12. Getting into the habit of focusing on the important numbers will help you to stay healthy (in mind and body) and strong and vibrant beyond the Amazing 12 and into old age.
Stacey improving her curls
So how did the quartet do in week four? My statistics show steady improvement in strength and fitness. Steady – rather than meteoric – is how I want it.
Jo said to me after a tough day 3, “should I be feeling less fit?” and I explained that when the load is more challenging she’s having to work harder. That’s all.
It’s all a numbers game. Just choose which numbers are worth obsessing over and disregard the rest.
Here are some numbers for you to consider: how many years have passed training without getting the results you desire? How much money have you spent without success trying to get fit and/or strong and in shape? If you are not happy with your investment/result ratio, perhaps it’s time to consider the Amazing 12. If you are serious or curious, drop me a line at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
ARE you no longer feeling comfortable in your own body? Have years of poor choices taken a toll on your health? Do you need to do something about it and get into shape, but you don’t know how?
You’ve heard that lifting weights is one of the best ways to drop body fat and get stronger. You’d be absolutely right. It gives you muscles and having muscles is like having fat-burners. Muscles and lifting weights are also essential for good health. But you don’t know how to lift well or safely? You want to be taught properly and have someone watch your technique and guide you carefully?
For example, if you know how to drive, have a car and want to get from England to Germany, a map would be handy. Without it, reaching your destination could take forever. You may even never get there. Training without a program – and especially one that works – is pretty much the like being in a car without a map or compass. 
To participate, you need to be willing to train with me five days a week on consecutive days for eight weeks. That’s all.
You’ll not just feel like the person you were always supposed to be – but got derailed by lifestyle choices – but you’ll most likely be stronger, fitter, feel more confident and have the knowledge and skills to better take care of yourself. 
Highlighting areas that need attention the most is also what the Amazing 12 is about. It’s easy for us to stick to what we are good at, because it makes us feel good and we’re not intimidated by it. But to neglect what we don’t find so easy not only can cause physical imbalances, but also be the result of us being fearful of not looking or being good at something. 
Stacey (above) is someone else I have worked with for several years. But even in her prime she was unable to do an unassisted pull-up. I’ve set myself the challenge of changing that. 
OUR bodies are incredibly resilient. They are wired for survival. That’s why, in spite of abuse from over and under-eating, poor nutrition, drugs, alcohol, lack of sleep, stress etc, our bodies keep on going…until they can’t.
The fact is that in most circumstances having 
