THERE are no bad experiences, only opportunities to learn and grow.
As a finance man, Ian Barnett understands fully the path of progress – that in the world of stocks and shares, for instance, there are many fluctuations and no guarantees.
In the gym, where he is making a comeback to fitness and investing in his strength and health on the Amazing 12, it is much the same. There will be fruitful days and there will be difficult days. It’s what is achieved over the long haul, not day to day, that counts most. The idea is to cover a lot of ground with small steps rather than boldly taking giant, often unattainable, leaps.
IN THE BAG: another session complete for Sue
Sue Crabtree, also on the Amazing 12 Chichester, discovered how this process is one of ups and downs also. This was her second week and she was struck off entirely with a cold that literally took her voice away.
When things don’t go to plan, you can do several things: wallow in your misery; give up entirely or pick yourself up and keep going.
So Sue, determined not to be outdone and to complete the program in its entirety, is going to extend her training by a week to make up for the lost days and give herself the best possible chance of maximising her results.
“I just don’t want to miss out on training as I’m loving it so much,” she said. “I don’t get sick often, but when I do, I go down hard.” This week she was hit hard.
SET-UP: Sue prepping her deadlift
Sue is on the mend, though, and ought to be back in the groove for week 3. She’s a nutritionist by profession, so I don’t have any concerns about her following instructions on what to eat and drink.
However, Sue is new to lifting weights – or at least the type of weight training I prescribe. Her previous experience was with light weights only and she found them dull to work with and got bored.
Before beginning the Amazing 12, I taught her and Ian the basics. Then we use the program to make improvements. Every session at Core Results is an opportunity to refine technique, learn and develop experience.
ON THE CRAWL: warm-up time
So while it could be better for Sue – and getting ill is one of those things you can’t legislate for – it’s going well for Ian.
He has been buzzing all week and feeling changes in his body, which is hardly surprising if you have been inactive a long time and begin training again (so long as the introduction isn’t severe).
As a father of three and business owner, the stumbling block to taking part on this program for Ian, 46, was finding time in his busy life.
Most mornings we are in the gym, ready to go, by 6am. And with the weather being as chilly as it has been, the early rising is an additional challenge.
MECHANICS: seeing if Ian’s squat has been affected by years at a desk job
However, on the final day of his first week, Ian said to me, “It’s freezing cold, 6am, but it’s so good we’re doing this. I didn’t think I’d be able to find the time, but I am.”
Anything is possible. Really.
Ian has found some of the training challenging this week. But when I pointed out to him the progress he had made in just a matter of days, he was blown away.
It’s not unusual, in the beginning, to make rapid strides. Ian used to do a fair amount of sport when he was younger, before work and a family took over. He’s put on about 2st (28lbs) since getting married five years ago. My job is not only to get him back into that type of condition, but go beyond.
RUNS TO GUNS: building some muscle
Sue, 48, wants to become strong. She’s a runner, though isn’t afraid of muscle.
“I know I have to change my exercise according to my body and age,” she said, meaning that she understands the need for having a stronger body.
I don’t doubt for a second that Sue and Ian have the commitment that’s needed to succeed. They also both have a maturity, realistic expectations and understandings of how the process works.
That’s a great starting point because, as I’ve said many times previously, one of the greatest impediments to making progress is a lack of patience.
RETURN: It’s been a while since Reg has deadlifted
WHEN things seem impossible or insurmountable, what do you do? How do you respond?
For some the reaction is to dig in deeper and fight. For others it’s to abandon ship.
It’s easy to quit or not get started. The only guaranteed way to fail at anything is to give up. And the best way to not achieve anything is to not attempt it in the first place.
If you stay in or enter the race, you always have a chance, so to speak. When people quit at something, quite often it’s at a critical time – when they are about to reach an important turning point. They just don’t know it. So always hang in there.
The next time things feel or get hard, ask yourself why you started in the first place.
A great example is David Goggins, an ultra distance runner I have mentioned in previous blogs. He posted a story on his Instagram feed this week that made me think about Reg and Catriona, now at the end of week 2 of an 8-week Amazing 12 Chichester program at Core Results.
FOCUSED: Catriona slamming it
Goggins used to be a huge, heavy guy and was recalling the day when he decided he was going to become a Navy Seal. But first he had to lose the extra weight he was carrying (106lbs in two months).
With all the will in the world, he stepped out of his house to go for a three-mile run at 6am. He made it a quarter of a mile down the road and then, with his head hung low, lungs aching and feeling like a failure, walked back home.
If you know anything about Goggins, he’s a man who embraces every challenge in life and uses it to create a stronger version of himself. He’s one of the greatest competitors on the planet. He doesn’t quit at anything. But he wasn’t born that way.
SLOWLY DOES IT: Reg back under the bar squatting
When I see Reg walk into the gym each day, he’s practically shuffling. Part of the reason for that this week was down to the soreness in his legs from our first squat and deadlift workout (pretty common response when you’ve not worked a particular body part for a while).
But it’s also because Reg is carrying a lot of baggage he needs to lose. The extra bodyweight tires him out quickly, especially with any kind of aerobic activity. Even walking upstairs. But it will get better.
What’s great to see in Reg is that he shows up every day (well, nearly, as he had to skip a session this week to play in a golf tournament), gives his best and, little by little, is making improvements in a very short time.
It’s when you see someone perform an action or movement more easily, with better form and a greater load that you know they are making progress.
CARDIO QUEEN: Catriona’s strength is endurance
I’m seeing the changes in Catriona, too. She’s someone who once never believed she’d be able to run far. Until she was 30, she did no training at all. And when she first started running, she, like Goggins, only made it halfway down the road before being out of puff.
In eight weeks, she lost 2st.
She went from a deconditioned starter to someone who (before the Amazing 12) was training every day and sometimes twice daily. She has energy to burn.
Taking that step into the world of lifting weights, though, was also a scary proposition, particularly for someone who generally avoided what she’s not good at.
ALL OUT: working hard with the battle ropes
“I’m loving the training,” she told me. “I can’t believe we’re already at the end of two weeks. I still get frustrated with myself [Catriona is impatient and a perfectionist], but I’m seeing and feeling the progress, which is nice.”
When working with Catriona, I’m often reminded of a film clip of a guy I once saw who used to be a paratrooper and badly damaged his legs following a jump. He was told he’d never walk again because he was wheelchair-bound.
BUILDING: one rep at a time
But he refused to accept defeat. Every day, mostly through yoga to begin with, he tried to get moving. Every day, he would fail and fall flat on his face, literally. But he kept going. And then, as he began to lose the weight he had gained through inactivity, he regained strength and defied what all the experts had said.
His mantra was: “Just because you can’t do it today doesn’t mean you can’t do it tomorrow.”
That phrase has always stuck with me and I’m reminded of it when I see Catriona getting frustrated at her inability to nail a particular movement first time and Reg gasping for breath or straining to bend down to pick something off the ground.
I know the breakthrough is down the road. It’s a matter of time. Experience gives you patience.
LOOKING UP: Reg is improving with every workout
I know if Reg keeps showing up, working hard and following the eating advice I have given him, he will see results.
Reg and Catriona are already getting stronger and fitter. They are both determined and successful people. Next week they will be joined by two new starters doing a 12-week program.
What was hard for Reg in the first week is less difficult now. But they are at opposite ends of the spectrum: Catriona is aerobically super-charged and Reg isn’t…yet; Catriona is discovering her strength, while Reg, who used to play lots of sports when he was younger, is uncovering his.
The message for the week is…give it time and cultivate patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a strong, healthy body.
IT’S a minor miracle Stacey Satta finished the Amazing 12 Chichester program or managed to attend 92% of the gym sessions or did the extra training I prescribed her or got the incredible results that she did.
For years, Stacey, 37, has got by on minimal amounts of sleep. I’m talking literally a few hours here and there.
Somehow she looks fantastic for it.
Also, eight months ago she became a mum and her sleeping got worse. Prior to giving birth (by C-section) she hadn’t done any training for months. By her own admission, she basically sat around eating what she liked and put on weight, took it easy and that became her life pattern.
So when she decided to do the Amazing 12, I had to be sure she was ready – that her body was ready, that her mind was ready.
The sleep was always going to be an issue. Stacey worries a lot. And as sleep is a vital component in helping the body recover and grow and allowing the brain to replenish, I couldn’t be certain how Stacey would fare day after day for three months.
Sleep also is a massive cog in the wheel that drives fat loss. That Stacey was able to go from 10st 2lbs (before the program started) down to 8st 10lbs at the end is a grand success. She hadn’t been under 9st since her teenage days!
Even better was how she went from 26% body fat at week four to 21% at the finish. I’d confidently say that with a better sleeping protocol her results would have been even more spectacular.
A few snippets of Stacey’s training journey
She did the Amazing 12 with her husband Adriano. They would work out separately at Core Results Gym. Only once – in the final week – did they co-train.
So while one looked after baby Leo, the other would go to the gym. Then they’d hand him over. That’s pretty much how it worked.
Instead of saying, “we can’t do it with a young baby,” Stacey and Adriano found a way. They really wanted to do this.
I’ve trained the pair of them on and off for several years. Stacey used to get a lot of migraines (still does) and that would make her miss training. This was another concern. But her attendance and commitment was first class. More often than not when she came in looking spaced out from a lack of sleep and said ‘I’m not feeling great today’, I’d just tell her to do her best, but inside I was always thinking ‘Stacey seems to perform better whenever she says that’.
Stacey must also be one of the few people I’ve ever coached who can maintain a great grin even when she’s up against it. I’ll take that any day.
She didn’t just transform the way she looked physically, but just as importantly – if not more so – Stacey grew stronger and fitter.
Less than a year on since her wedding day
She sent me a photo of herself pregnant on her wedding day last year so I could compare it with how she now looks. It’s extraordinary.
When I think back to the first week of training it seems almost laughable. She was struggling to move 15kg for reps on her bench press, but eventually reached 40kg for multiples, which was more than her previous 3-rep maximum.
Similarly, when I had her shoulder press with 8.5kg, she found it hard and I recall the moment when, flabbergasted, she said “I’m really shocked at how weak I have become”.
But the Amazing 12 did wonders for her shoulder strength and at the end she was pressing 30kg for multiple repetitions, again better than her previous 3-rep best.
Stacey’s always had an excellent squat and though it was also challenging to begin with, her body grew stronger. In the final week I had her warming up with a back squat weight equal to her previous best for three reps. She put the bar back in the rack and said, “I felt I could have done more.”
Stacey worked hard for those muscles (photo: Sue Saunders Photography)
In terms of conditioning, Stacey’s first effort with the prowler, which is one implement I used to measure conditioning improvement, was an agonising 4 minutes 8 seconds. Stacey was able to bring that down to 2 minutes 30 seconds and, in the future, wants to go below two minutes which I have no doubt she can.
And then there were the chin-ups, which she’d never been able to do, not even in her CrossFit days two years ago. But in the final week I asked her to go for it. She gave me an unsure glance and then pulled herself over – not once, but, over 15 minutes, nearly 40 times!
“I was totally amazed,” said Stacey. “I could hardly believe my own strength!”
When I think back to before Christmas, when I sat down to talk to Stacey about doing the program, her priority then was to regain her fitness. “I’m not as bothered about my appearance,” she said. “It’s a bonus if I look good at the end.”
Photo: Sue Saunders Photography
Also, Stacey had never previously stuck to a clean-eating diet. She loves chocolate cakes, biscuits and sugary stuff. That was her biggest concern going into the A12. But the results speak for themselves.
“You’ve been amazing, Claude,” she said in appreciation, which is nice. “We couldn’t have got to where we have without your support and guidance.”
But, as I’ve said before, though, I can guide, but the participant still has to do the work. Stacey followed instructions, came to train and stuck to the eating plan. She’s now going to join my ladies lifting classes on a Sunday morning and continue training with me so we can continue to build on her progress.
If you want results like Stacey’s and to be a part of my next or a future Amazing 12 Chichester, send me an email to Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk. My next wave, over eight weeks, begins on May 8. I’m going to do another, over 12 weeks, in September.
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
THE day after completing the Amazing 12, Karien Gladman took part in the World War Run in Dorking. She was a little apprehensive beforehand as during the Amazing 12 we hadn’t done a lot of the type of endurance work she had been used to. Kari therefore wasn’t entirely sure how her fitness would hold up.
I got a message from her. “Excellent race,” she said. “Loved the mud as always. I was so strong doing obstacles. Successfully completed several I would not have attempted before. Great feeling!”
Obviously, it wasn’t as bad as anticipated and further proof what the Amazing 12 can do for fitness as well as strength and physique and so many other aspects of our being.
But I wasn’t really surprised. What I noticed about Kari more than the strength gains and physical changes was the rise in her confidence. Here was a South African mother (of a grown-up son who recently graduated from university with a masters degree) in her mid-forties who was unsure of herself in the gym and, in particular, around weights. She’d tried CrossFit, but always favoured the workouts and movements that suited her strengths – mainly cardio.
Kari was described as a ‘plodder’. Now, though, she is anything but. Over the course of three months, I watched her blossom under the barbell. And this lady has real staying power!
“This experience has made a bigger impact on my life than I thought it would,” she said.
Kari considered it a survival-type experience as it was all so new and there was the diet to adhere to.
“The last week, especially, felt that way” she said. “The Amazing 12 worked me in many ways…discipline, determination, limited calories, spurring your team members on. And, and, and…I now realise it [the Amazing 12] was not just about the fitness.”
Kari got the results she was looking for and worked hard for it. “Thank you so much for this experience,” she said.
“I look exactly the way I want to look. My body is toned, my shoulders are not too big.”
Kari had her moments of uncertainty and a few days when she was off-colour, but, generally, her consistency was her strong point.
“Although there were times when I wondered how this would work out for me, I knew I had to believe in you and the program and ride it out,” she said. “I am so much stronger now. I am believing in myself and my abilities so much more.”
And yet Kari has the potential to go much further. I took her as far as I could within 12 weeks – and the photos show clearly how she got leaner and more muscular – but, especially in the areas of strength, I feel we only scratched the surface.
“This has opened an Aladdin’s cave for me,” she said. “I love feeling strong. I am walking with my head held high.”
Kari seldom, if ever, complained. She’s the type of person you give instructions to and she tries her best, always attempting to maintain a calm exterior. And, as a coach, all I can ever ask for is that my students offer their best effort. She missed in total three days (because of work commitments) – two in week 4, one in week 9 – but was always devastated to have to do so.
I remember one particular session when Kari suddenly realised – for the first time – that she actually had muscles. Tall and slender, Kari was smitten with her biceps. But I was seeing changes in her physique, strength, movement and performance throughout.
I recall how at the start she was finding it difficult to military press for reps with 12.5kgs (27.5lbs), yet by the end she was working with 27kgs (59.4lbs). Similarly, her bench press working weight went from 12.5kgs (27.5lbs) to 33kgs (72.6lbs). Kari’s back squat for multiple reps more than doubled – from 17k (37.5lbs) to 36k (79.2lbs). Best of all was her deadlift. We started with unbroken reps using 30k (66lbs) and finished at 72.5k (159.5lbs)!
Kari was a pleasure to work with and get to know. The above numbers underline her progress and successes. The photos illustrate all Kari’s hard work and what happens when effort, improved eating and intelligent training are all combined. Now she can feel immensely proud of her achievement, enjoy her new body, put it to use and, armed with more confidence, set about attacking the many other challenges on her bucket list.
How did she enjoy the program? “Loved it,” she said. “Loved it!”
Now she’s considering doing a six-week version of the program – usually reserved for those who have already done 12 – in the New Year.
*Do you want results like Kari’s and/or to transform your fitness, strength and physique? I’m looking for a few more committed individuals for the next wave, beginning on September 5 at Core Results Gym. Places are limited. If you would like to know more about the Amazing 12 Chichester program, please contact me at Claude@Intelligentstrength.co.uk.
