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Week 8: What’s your driving force?

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

Week 7: Hormones, fat loss and cholesterol

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.

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.

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.

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, 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

Week 5: It’s all a confidence trick

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.

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.

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

Week 4: The numbers game

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)

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.

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

Week 3: The key to success

I’M in the business of producing results. That’s what separates something that works from something that does not. In the fitness industry, people want results and more often than not in an unreasonably short time.

The Amazing 12 goes beyond fitness because it develops strength, conditioning, mindset, technique, discipline, confidence and a host of other attributes. However, the main reason the Amazing 12 has a stellar reputation is from the results that have consistently been achieved by its trainers on individuals of all shapes and sizes and athletic backgrounds from around the world.

Aside from the Amazing 12 program itself, what, though, is the key ingredient for success?

I’ll tell you: consistency. And to have consistency, you have to show up. Every day – or however many times the program you are on demands that you attend. In the case of the Amazing 12 it is five times each week on consecutive days.

One of the main reasons I have observed for why fitness goals are not achieved is that people don’t see through to the end whatever program they start and/or that they don’t follow a program precisely as it was written.

Inevitably, there will be days when you simply don’t feel like training. There will be days when it’s cold or raining outside and you have to get up early to run. There will be days when you feel below par. There will be days when you feel run down and stressed. There will be days when you feel emotionally drained. There will be days when you lack confidence, self-worth and strength…

But training – and following a program like the Amazing 12 – is an opportunity to develop the resolute mindset that, come what may, you’ll be there. Don’t let the little voice in your head that’s good at talking you out of things prevail. Showing up is an ability that not only can be learned and cultivated and yields results from training, but it also spills over into all other fields of life.

Being consistent effectively means you never stop trying and it’s through trying – practice – that we improve and make progress. If you keep showing up, no matter what, I know you have a far greater chance of succeeding than if you don’t. That’s a stone-cold fact.

Stacey on one of her more energised days

Every time you summon the strength or drive or courage to overcome the obstacle in your way, you make yourself stronger, more determined and self-driven.

However, there are some instances when it’s better to take a day off training and this can be difficult for many people. You may be exhausted or injured or sleep-deprived. In those circumstances you have to learn to listen to your body – become good at identifying when it’s better to ease off or push on.

Reasons for not showing up are not the same as excuses. Reasons are legitimate. Excuses, though, get in the way of succeeding.

I ask a lot from my clients on the Amazing 12. After all, they want results and I am as invested as they are in achieving them. If they don’t succeed, then neither do I. We are, effectively, a team.

Stacey gets a bit of massage therapy to ease her neck pain

This week, Stacey sent me a message one morning complaining she’d slept awkwardly and hurt her neck. I told her to come in anyway and that I’d get my wife, Jamie, who practices Thai Yoga Massage amongst other things, to work on the tender area. Stacey got through the session without difficulty.

“Normally, I’d have just not come in with something like that,” Stacey told me. “But, actually, it was fine.”

By the end of the week, though, following two nights where she didn’t sleep at all after a week of looking after her six-month-old son by herself, Stacey was completely shattered and understandably so. Reading the situation, she had a day off to recover.

Ben and Jo hard at it, but concentrating on technique

Ben’s had a lot going on in his personal life and admitted there have been some nights he’s felt worn down. But on those evenings he drags himself in for training regardless.

“I know I really enjoy it [the training],” he said. “I’m not the type of person who gives up. I intend to see this through. I can feel the changes. It’s given me a lot of focus when I’ve needed it.”

Getting your food organised…the most important workout of the week!

Jo’s been on-song this week. At the weekend she sent me a photo (above) of her food prep. I was most impressed. She spent a few hours cooking for the week ahead and then divided all her food into containers. Job done.

“It’s made such a difference and saved me so much time,” admitted Jo, who confesses she’s not the cooking type.

Her consistency is working. Her fitness and strength is improving. She is changing shape. Her recovery from strenuous activity is much better. And we are only a quarter of the way through the program.

No time to waste, Adriano flew in for the final session of the week

Adriano was away most of the week working in Africa. It’s not ideal for following the program, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. He fitted in a few training sessions while he was away. He returned to Heathrow airport Friday morning and, though a little tired, was in for training later that evening.

It would have been easy for Adriano to have taken the night off, but instead he was committed. And he did well.

As I said, if you don’t show up, you can’t make progress. It’s that simple.

Think you have in you the commitment to complete the Amazing 12 program and achieve extraordinary physical results? If you do or want to know more about the program and what it entails, send me a message to Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk

Week 1: If you don’t use it, you lose it

TWO days into the first week of another wave of the Amazing 12 Chichester and Stacey Satta turned to me after I had her do a series of lifts and said, “I’m shocked. I can’t believe how much strength I have lost!”

In fairness to Stacey, she’s spent the best part of the last 18 months in pregnancy and, after a C-section, focusing on being mother to her child, now just seven months.

Therefore, the journey back to regaining fitness can be a long one. But the most important part is that Stacey is doing something about it, realising fully that when you stop using your body fully or become less active, those parts of the body will adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle.

The road back isn’t an easy one.

Stacey’s husband, Adriano, who graduated on the Amazing 12 nearly two years ago, is also on this wave. They are supporting each other through the experience.

Adriano, 41, continued to train after his graduation, working out a couple of times each week in London. He’s moved around to a few different gyms, but admits his diet hasn’t been strict and he’s lost some strength. He’s aiming to shed some weight, get fitter and regain the look he had in 2015. He knows, from experience, that the Amazing 12 works.

For Stacey, 37, it’s less about the aesthetics and more to do with regaining strength. She’s someone who not too long ago, when training regularly, was able to deadlift close to 90kgs for reps, power clean around 60kgs and always had a good squat.

It can be a tough mental space to be in at (what feels like) ground zero. But, on the positive side, there is only one direction to go – up.

“I’m not that bothered by my appearance,” said Stacey before she started the program. “I’m not happy about my physical fitness. I want it back. It’s a bonus if I look good at the end. I’m more unfit now than ever.”

Stacey and Jo Walsh, the third member of the group, used to train together in their CrossFit days. They were also part of a women’s lifting group. That’s what they each enjoy most.

I’ve worked with them both previously. Jo, a physio who specialises in older persons, has always been tenacious when training, but somewhat erratic in attendance – and she would be the first to admit it. Jo’s an all-or-nothing type.

“There’s two parts to me,” she explained. “There’s the very motivated and the one that hates myself and says, ‘why did I do that?’

“In the past I’d lose motivation and one day then goes to another.”

Jo’s not a morning person either and what I’ve prescribed her has meant rising while it’s dark. It will be a true test in developing her fortitude and discipline.

“As long as I’m up I’m fine, but it’s getting up that’s hard,” she said. I’m sure a lot of people can identify with that.

Having fun with battle ropes, though they won’t admit it

Jo, 32, hasn’t done any training for over a year, but she was always a good lifter. She’s 5st overweight according to the BMI (although I’m not a big fan of the BMI).

Jo wants to shed 2st as her goal. She also knows the benefits of training regularly.

“My mood becomes more regulated and I have more energy,” she said.

Diet is also a critical factor in achieving results. I don’t prescribe anything radical – it’s mostly about eating whole foods – but if your diet isn’t great and crammed with processed junk it can feel extreme.

“I’ll miss chocolate, pizza, ice cream, cookies and baked food,” admitted Jo before we started.

For me, as the coach, I want my group to experience and see for themselves how eating a healthier diet and combining it with training regularly, smartly and progressively can impact their lives.

So it’s vital on the Amazing 12 to stick to the script – not only for the best results, but to give themselves a fighting chance of succeeding and attaining the best possible results and getting value for their investment.

Unlike the others, Ben Brundle, a digger driver, has practically never set foot inside a gym in his life. He also loves his sugar, like Stacey loves her cakes.

But the results he’s achieved in a week are quite startling.

I gave Ben a few extra sessions the week before we started, to ensure his technique was where it needed to be and to allow his body to adjust to the sheer shock of training. Sure enough, he was sore. That was going to be unavoidable. But he now understands more how the process of adaptation works. Ben’s ability to learn and process new movements has been admirable and remarkable.

“My fitness was always letting me down,” said Ben, 31. “I was feeling a bit self-conscious about my belly, unhealthy and lacking stamina.

“I didn’t want to get to an age where I said, ‘I’m past it’ or say ‘I should have done that’, but didn’t.”

Since turning 30, Ben said he’s noticed himself standing out in the crowd as ‘the unfit one’. He does motocross and want to get fitter and stronger for that.

“Motocross made me realise just how unfit I am,” he admitted.

Ben’s been a revelation so far in the gym. He’s focused, turns up on time every day and is good at paying attention and understanding movements. The test week he couldn’t deadlift at all or perform a push-up. This week he’s nailed it.

The advantage Ben had as a complete novice was there were no poor habits to change.

So that’s my introduction to this current wave: four starters, all here in different circumstances but shooting for a goal and using programmed training and healthy eating to achieve it.

Check in next week to see how they’re getting on.

And if the Amazing 12 is something you’d be interested in signing up for, drop me a line at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk. I am aiming to run another wave in April or May.

Braver, freer and stronger

SSP_3326 — The end product…after 12 weeks training

EARLY in 2016 I made the decision to dedicate 12 weeks of my life to getting as fit as I possibly could and in April I embarked on The Amazing 12 program run by Claude Abrams at Core Results by Intelligent Strength, Chichester.

For three months I trained five days per week, sometimes twice a day, adopted a strict eating regime and, under Claude’s careful guidance, built my body into the kind of machine that I’d previously only thought possible of elite athletes.

The incredible results that the Amazing 12 gets from regular people like me is now getting noticed all over the world and, yes, amazing is the only word for it.

But for me, it was what happened afterwards that I’m truly grateful for because the Amazing 12 gave me so much more than muscle.

Before A12 I was grieving. I’d recently lost my dad and felt adrift without him. He was my rock, my safe place and my moral compass. I never made a big decision without consulting him. Without him there, suddenly I was the grown up and it scared the bejesus out of me.

I have always been a worrier. I hate admitting that because it’s the thing I dislike most about myself. I am strong-willed and forthright and don’t mess about, but I worry underneath. I get anxious and fret. My dad used to be my safety net… he’d catch all my worries.

In the past, I’ve primarily used one method to deal with worry – avoidance. I found my comfort zones and stuck to them. I think a lot of people do this, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. We tend to stick to what we know even when it isn’t working.

To undertake my A12 training, I had to completely and utterly trust someone else with my health and fitness. That was a tough one for starters (because, like most worriers, I try to minimise anxiety by retaining control). I then had to unlearn pretty much everything I’d ever learnt about how to how to eat and train.

So 25 years of mental conditioning needed to go. Basically my comfort zones were a dot on the horizon.

To say the A12 tested my metal is the mother of all understatements. I worried, I doubted, I questioned, I stressed and, for good measure, I worried some more.

But after all that, I stepped up to the bar and lifted the damn weight.

Double kettlebell front squats are not for the faint-hearted

Did the worry go away? No, most of the time I was terrified! But I did it anyway. And that’s the single most important thing I learned: that you can be afraid and do it anyway.

You don’t need to be confident in order to try: you grow confident by trying.

I have spent a large chunk of my adult life resisting change but in the months following the completion of my A12 program, I have changed my job, put my house on the market and cut my hair (this may not seem radical but I’ve been growing it for over a decade. Believe me, it’s BIG!)

I have been able to do all this because the A12 taught me that the things that scare me the most are usually the things most worth doing.

To complete the A12 I had to embrace change, put aside my doubts and push myself through a multitude of fears.

The Amazing 12 challenged my perceived limitations on every level and as a result I am braver, freer and stronger, inside as well as out.

Although I am proud of my physical achievements, that is the real A12 legacy for me. I know I can change and I know I can handle it and that feels good.

Sue websize (1) — Sue Saunders, Amazing 12 Chichester graduate

Before A12 I would say that I ‘don’t do change’ because I never felt ready. It took a 100kg deadlift to make me realise I’m as ready as I’ll ever be! I think my dad would be proud.

*If you would like to become an Amazing 12 Chichester graduate, discover your super-human qualities like Sue and experience the transformative benefits of this program, the next wave begins on January 9, 2017. For more information and/or to apply, send an email to Claude@Intelligentstrength.co.uk

The Amazing 12 – what are you REALLY getting?

THERE are thousands of training programs out there. Most of them, to some degree, work. Some work better than others. So why even consider the Amazing 12?

The obvious is the extraordinary changes that can occur to your strength, fitness and physique in a relatively short time (12 weeks) to people of varying ages and body types. There are now countless examples of these transformations that have taken place around the world.

But I think it’s most important to look to what or, more specifically, WHO is the wizard with the long red beard behind all the magic.

Anyone can prescribe or devise a fancy workout and then tell you to do it. But the real value of a program or method of training is judged by its results. Nothing else matters.

Until the Amazing 12 went global, only those who trained out of Paul McIlroy’s Centaur Gym in Belfast could experience it.

To really appreciate the Amazing 12 (if you haven’t been through it – and even if you have), you should understand who Paul is, what he has done and his credentials.

For starters, he is highly qualified. While I know Paul himself isn’t impressed by fancy titles, he has a BSc degree in Sport and Exercise Science. He is also certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). As an athlete, he was gifted and accomplished in many disciplines: amateur boxing (in a tough and competitive region); track and field; swimming. But probably his greatest success came in powerlifting (bench press, back squat and deadlift). There he won regional, national and then world honours as a junior, setting world records in the process.

For most of us, excelling in one sport is an achievement. But Paul has done it in multiple disciplines.

He still does Strongman training, bends the most impossibly tough nails, runs powerlifting, arm-wrestling and steel-bending clubs and last year (2015) himself competed in the kettlebell world championships in Dublin.

However, as a coach, Paul has, in my opinion, surpassed what he achieved as an athlete. For example, 18 months ago he formed a Girevoy Sport Kettlebell Club, the prerequisite being that the participants had to be athletic but without any previous kettlebell training.

Paul wanted to see how far he could take them and in the quickest time.

Thus far, from the group of seven, there have been 15 national gold medals (two national championships are run each year), two European silvers and one gold and bronze and at world level one gold, silver and bronze. That’s highly impressive.

“So I guess the experiment could be deemed a success,” Paul told me.

The inspiration for that ‘experiment’ was the experience Paul had training his wife, who he coached out of their family kitchen shortly after she had given birth by C-Section and having had zero sporting background. With only eight months preparation, she was able to go to Russia and win gold. That’s no fluke. Actually, it’s undeniably incredible.

Fionnhbarr Toolan at the world championships

The most recent success of Paul’s was Fionnhbarr Toolan, one of the group of seven, who captured world kettlebell championship glory in Kazakhstan (October 16). Toolan’s programming was devised by McIlroy. “Paul’s coaching is world class on so many different levels,” he said.

In fact, Paul would regard his work with Toolan as one of the most exciting projects he’s worked on.

“It’s not just that he has won Irish, European and World titles in the past 10 months, but HOW he did it,” explained Paul.

“He beat a Russian and four Kazakhs in Kazakhstan! He also scored the highest jerk total in the championships irrespective of weight class, beating Russian super-heavyweight World Amateur Champion by two points.

“Bare in mind that Fionn is a kid who weighs less than 67k soaking wet and had never done the kettlebell jerk in his life prior to 18 months ago!”

Another great passion of Paul’s is the official certified bend of the IronMind Red Nail. Paul is working with three men on this, one being Barry Mairs, who has only been in training for it for FOUR MONTHS. Barry is about to certify and Paul says his progress has been “insanely fast.”

The other two are Ben Mattingly, an Amazing 12 coach in Cork, and Adam Johnston. However, Paul has added another dimension to what they are attempting to accomplish.

Dissatisfied with aiming to certify the Red Nail, on the same day they will bid to make a certified close of the Number 3 Captains of Crush hand-gripper. To give this some context, the Red Nail is a feat of extreme strength. Not more than 100 people worldwide have achieved it in the last 21 years and 200 in the past 25 years.

But only ONE man in history has ever officially achieved both on the same day.

To make it even more taxing, Johnston will try to accomplish the Red Nail with an underhand grip, which is regarded as tougher.

As you can probably tell, McIlroy’s forte is to take the seemingly impossible, see how he can up the ante and then create a way to make it possible and often relatively easy.

He has been at it for years. The honours roll on for those Paul has coached: Men’s Health cover competitions, EAS Body for Life (biggest transformation challenge in the world) winner in 2006. There are many more examples.

Nowadays Paul has scaled things down a little. He spends much of his time caring for his mother, who has fallen ill. He doesn’t get to train as often as he would like. So he has to be more selective in where he channels his focus.

“I work with a limited number of athletes in different sports/endeavours, which at the minute includes fighters, powerlifters, arm-wrestlers, kettlebell lifters, steel-benders and grip sport athletes,” Paul told me.

“Strength/power and its perpetual progression is my life’s passion.”

So when you consider what you are getting on the Amazing 12 – the answer is not just the world’s best body transformation program that has been churning out success stories for more than 10 years. Perhaps more crucially, you get access to Paul’s vast – and I mean VAST – knowledge, experience, savvy and expertise as a renowned training program designer as well as a man who has been champion and created champions.

The Amazing 12 is a culmination of Paul’s life’s work in the world of fitness, strength and body transformations. Anyone who knows him will recognise Paul has an extraordinary mind and talent for what he does. If you want the best – which is what I did – don’t hesitate to sign up with one of the many coaches now around the world.

All of us have been schooled in the Amazing 12 by Paul and supported in our development as coaches by him.

“The Amazing 12 has done an enormous amount of good for thousands of people the world over and that, for me, is a coaching/creative achievement,” said Paul. “No amount of weight lifted by me will ever top that.

“The achievements I have enjoyed the most have been the coaching ones – genuinely and hands down. Taking someone from a square one start and putting them on top of the world in some way never gets old. Just that moment of awe, at themselves and what they are capable of, which in some cases they never thought possible…nothing beats that!”

Sue websize — Sue Saunders Amazing 12 Chichester

My next wave out of the Amazing 12 runs out of Core Results, Chichester, starting January 9, 2017. Become the next graduate. I’m happy to discuss details. Contact me if you are serious about making some changes and uncovering your potential.

Spades and barbells…where two worlds collide

OUR bodies are like gardens. Neglect them and the weeds will grow and, eventually, run the show. But a little daily maintenance and TLC goes a long way.

I’ve been helping out a friend with some gardening lately. It’s surprising how similar his world is to mine. Instead of kettlebells, barbells, dumbbells etc I’ve been using spades, mowers, forks, hedge-trimmers, blowers and sacateurs.

So many gardens are in urgent need of work. They’ve been abandoned and are wildly overgrown. But after several hours, we can have the garden transformed and looking spectacular. Similarly, I deal with many people urgently wanting to get their ‘abandoned’ bodies into shape and condition. The Amazing 12, for example, can do that in three months.

But then what? Here’s where the gardening and get-in-shape worlds collide, because the hard work is in the reshaping and the easy part the maintenance. Really.

Those who put in a little consistent love and effort into taking care of their gardens won’t see the overgrowth return. Similarly, those who regularly follow a sensible, structured training regime and remain consistent with their healthy eating will more easily be able to retain their hard-earned physiques and a good quality of health.

I’ve met many gardening customers who just aren’t interested in doing any of the work and, guess what? It all grows back. The human body is the same.

You also have some gardens which are high maintenance and need more tending to than others. Similarly, some of us have bodies which, for one reason or another – sometimes genetic – require greater attention than others.

Why do so many of us find performing maintenance so hard? After all, we all have the same amount of time in each day. But how we choose to spend that time is key. That decision comes down to what is most important to you, because for many of us life has become a juggling act and we seek to cram so much in.

So the question may be whether our fitness and health is a higher priority than some of the other commitments we have? If it is, we need to find a way to create the time.

Long-term success will also depend on how well you can hold on to the newer, healthier habits instead of reverting back to the ones that contributed to the problem in the first place.

Forming new habits are tougher in the beginning. Do it for long enough – which means sticking with it when and if it gets tough – and it becomes easier and, eventually, routine.

For many, the urge is to sit back and relax when the hard work is done and succumb to the temptations that are always around us. But that leads to the yo-yo effect – the constant battle of getting into shape and condition and then losing it all. The key is to keep advancing, setting new and realistic targets and working towards them.

If you want a lawn that always looks nice, you need to nurture it. Our bodies need continual nurturing as well.

Just as gardens are shaped by the weather and conditions they are subjected to, our bodies are moulded by our environments and the lifestyle we expose them to.

To really succeed, it is vital to take ownership of your life. That means accepting responsibility for what goes into your body and how you treat it. That means simplifying your lifestyle if it’s already too complex and stressful. That also means not shipping out the blame when things don’t go to plan. Weed out the bad habits/choices and keep the good.

Because it lasts for three months, The Amazing 12 can help develop new habits and foster the discipline required to maintain those habits for when the program is over.

The Amazing 12 also gives you the tools to be able to lift and train smartly thereafter. But for it to be effective, you still need to convert into action the skill and knowledge acquired.

After all, there’s no use knowing how to cut the lawn if the mower stays tucked away!

For details of the next Amazing 12 Chichester wave, starting January 9, 2017, send me an email to Claude@Intelligentstrength.co.uk. Be bold. Take that step towards changing your life and your body, learning new skills and creating a better and stronger future.

The shift that made all the difference

WHENEVER I’m asked what I know now that I wish I had discovered earlier on my physical training journey it is this: approach your activity with the mindset of ‘I’m going to practice’ rather than ‘I’m going to train’.

It may not seem like much. But it has made a world of difference. Mindful practice shifts the focus from effort to excellence and from quantity to quality.

For years, though, I never saw training this way. I was young, felt indestructible and thought working out or exercising was something to do until sweaty and tired and out of breath or just lifting weights until you’ve had enough. In a nutshell, the emphasis was almost solely on my capacity for working hard. Often it didn’t matter too greatly what that entailed so long as I did something that could be labelled gruelling.

Many people continue to train this way…and all the time. That is fine if you are a young stallion or working towards a gold medal of some description, but, from my experience, it’s not sustainable or even worthwhile.

Progress, for me, isn’t measured in sweat or even being breathless and fatigued. But if you want to get burned out or injured, taking your body to the limit over and over is a great way to go about it.

In the wise words of esteemed American strength coach Dan John, who, believe me, knows his stuff, “Don’t act your age, but train your age. Do everything you can to increase lean body mass and maintain the right amount of mobility….Life, lard and laziness are all conspiring against you in your noble battle to keep yourself as young as you can be, as long as you can.”

Even if your intention is purely conditioning, continually reaching and exceeding the point of fatigue comes at a price: recovery gets tougher; form declines; wear and tear accumulates. When the quality of your movement suffers, you become less efficient.

Worse still, over-training, which is what it may be defined as, can lead to injuries and illness.

If you enjoy your training, you don’t want to get injured. If you value health, you don’t want to become sick.

Effective training means you have a clear, structured and intelligent plan that leads to a chosen goal over a designated period of time. It means you know what you are doing and why. It means you assign time to training and recovering and intelligently manage that balance. I ask, what is wrong with leaving the gym or your training session feeling energised, ready for the next one, rather than exhausted and on your knees in a pool of sweat?

With practice as the driving force, the shift in mindset is subtle yet profound. Practice has a purpose and the path is never-ending. I now go to the gym to sharpen my skills. I know what I want to work on and how. The emphasis is on skill and efficiency rather than output. I can better structure my time in the gym. Focusing on practice also helps me to remain patient, which is vital in this day and age, because, realistically, skills take time to improve and/or perfect.

No matter where I am, I can put in the practice. I don’t always need to think about how many reps or how hard to push. Instead, my focus is on progression and quality of movement. I think in terms of ‘how well’ rather than ‘how many’ and, for me, that’s been a healthier change of perspective.

When you are dedicated more to skill than work, you’ll also find that you move much better and, perhaps most importantly, the chances of staying in one piece increase dramatically. At my age – in my 50th year – that’s a crucial factor.

I take this approach into the Amazing 12 transformation program as well. I teach it as a skill. I want each of my clients at the end of 12 weeks to know how to lift effectively and how to move and to be mindful of that whenever they step into a gym, training environment or in going about their daily lives.

Once the skill is dialled in the rest – strength, fitness, physique – will all follow.

As Aristotle once wrote: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”