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Weeks 9 & 10: Stress and resistance

THE Amazing 12 is a program designed to create transformation. At first glance it seems all about the photos and change in physical shape. But, delve deeper, and it’s about a lot more, as was the case with Reg, who recently completed an eight-week version of the program.

It boosts conditioning, optimises strength and can get people, otherwise stuck, functioning properly again. As Jemma, now at the end of week 10, will probably tell you, it can enhance the spirit, strengthen the mindset and increase confidence.

I’ve found, though, that it will work as well as you allow it to. Some people on the program are more resistant than others.

To resist is to create suffering. Take running a marathon, for example. If with every stride you are wishing the race is over, you will suffer. However, if you surrender to the process and stay in the moment, the whole experience – and your results – are likely to be considerably different and more enjoyable.

DECEIVING: Looks easy, but so many struggle with this crawling variation

Jemma had a lot of resistance to begin with – and it was hard – but I’ve watched her surrender – and flourish – as the weeks have gone by.

Fact is, if you drive with the brakes on, you can’t reach top speed.

There are now just two weeks remaining on my current wave. Two weeks to make the best of the transformation.

STRENGTH: Jade almost down to the ground

Jade this week decided to discontinue. She felt she was becoming too muscular and it was a look she wasn’t happy with.

It’s a shame as she was making outstanding progress with her strength in particular. But I have to respect her feelings and decision.

Jemma, however, is thriving. She’s definitely moving towards top speed. She signed up for the program because she wanted to become leaner as well as achieve other goals. Getting leaner is primarily about fat loss.

In some cases, though, when it comes to fat loss, it can be difficult to shift.

RESOLVE: Jemma’s become better at digging deep

You need to get the nutrition/diet right and nail the exercise/training/movement element.

We’ve heard the expression “You can’t out-train a bad diet” and it’s largely true. There will always be the odd exceptions – the individuals who can eat garbage and still look incredible. But that’s more to do with age and genetics than it is lifestyle. It won’t last forever.

As you get older and life becomes busier and inactivity begins to triumph over activity, shifts start to happen in the body.

Beyond the nutrition and training there is also recovery and sleep, which are vital and I have talked about previously.

For the best possible results you need to have all four working for you.

However, in some cases – and I have seen this quite a few times – when the eating and training is perfect or nearly spot-on, the fat still refuses to budge.

So what is this additional fifth factor?

It’s called STRESS.

You might think the opposite – that stress burns energy. But, on a metabolic level, it doesn’t have that effect.

DEPTH: Jemma couldn’t even squat properly when she started, but has improved immensely

As Dr. Jade Teta, who has worked with thousands of clients and specialises in metabolism and hormones as well as health and fitness, explains: “If you’re eating right, training well and still not shifting fat, there’s a high possibility stress – and too much of it – is the obstacle or cause.”

Stress is generally regarded as a ‘bad’ word, but it’s not always the enemy. Stress raises cortisol and our bodies need cortisol. But too much of it becomes problematic.

In the world of lifting weights and training, for example, stress is a crucial factor in bringing about change.

The key, however – just as with food, drink, exposure to sunlight and practically anything – is in THE DOSE!

It’s when stress or food consumption or being inactive or watching TV or being glued to your phone or worrying or being negative or feeling angry and irritated becomes excessive that problems begin.

BREATHING: Learning when and how can make all the difference

The trouble with stress is when it reaches the chronic stage. And, because we are all so different, how much we can tolerate will vary.

No matter who we are, though, the human body can withstand only so much and, often without warning, decides to down tools.

It’s as if the body is saying ‘you didn’t do anything about it, so now I will’. We don’t want to wait until we get to that point.

Every time you go to the gym and train, your body is being subjected to stress. This stress, when combined with adequate recovery to follow, is what brings about an adaptation and makes us stronger and/or fitter.

There’s a fine line, though, between pushing our bodies hard or challenging ourselves in order to create an adaptation response and doing it so often and beyond what we can cope with that something eventually snaps or breaks.

Getting the measure of how hard to train or how heavy to lift is a critical part of effecting change. The poison, as they say, is in the dose, which is why more is not always better.

We need to manage the stress rather than allow the stress to manage us. In the gym environment, that’s where having a coach can be particularly useful.

Stress, though, comes under many guises. It is around us all the time, as I have explained earlier. Many of us are under stress and don’t even realise it because our world is filled with stimulation.

Any time you resist life you are effectively fighting and in stress mode. Complaining, as I’ve written about in previous blogs, is an example of resisting.

So let’s go into more detail as to how this can derail fat loss. Dr. Teta calls our metabolism a “stress barometer” in so far as it is always trying to get us back into balance. When our bodies are out of balance is when the metabolism is kicked into action.

Our bodies are wired to deal with any stress as a starvation response. If your body thinks it is starving when under stress, it will try to bring you back into balance. It does this by making you hungrier, craving foods and diminishing your motivation to exercise.

Why? Because eating more and moving less enables you to store fat around the liver, giving the body easy access to fuel for when the next stress attack arrives.

As Dr. Teta explains, “if you want to know if your metabolism is under stress look for these signs: increased hunger; unpredictable energy; mood issues; cravings; sleep disruptions.”

I’d bet that the vast majority of us can identify with these characteristics. Our lives are filled with pressure in the work place and family life and general survival (paying bills etc). And if, when feeling hungry and faced with cravings, we then add to the mix poor food choices, we are doubling the stress attack.

When stress levels are high, we need to redress the balance.

So how do we do this?

Try to increase or introduce the following into your lifestyle: Exercise in the right amounts; play sports and games; walk daily – this is not just critical for activating the lymphatic system (which is a whole other subject), but great for relaxation; take time out to read books; have a massage; go to a sauna; spend time with animals; take hot baths; listen to music; meditate; have sex; laugh; spend time in nature and outdoors.

The Amazing 12 Chichester is a holistic training program that maximises in a specific time period changes to physical composition, strength and fitness by applying intelligent progressions and teaching good movement techniques. It focuses also on healthy and sustainable eating practices. But I try to take it further and address the other components in life that are required to enable us to function to the best of our ability. If you are interested in uncovering your full potential, can be committed to the program and want to be a part of the next wave, starting on September 18, or a future wave, email me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk

Week 8/6: Where has complaining ever got you?

HARD AT IT: Catriona is all business here

THE Amazing 12 Chichester is now at the halfway stage for Jemma and Jade, whereas Catriona and Reg have come to the end of their eight-week version.

This weekend, when they have their photos taken, I’ll see, visually at least, how much progress Catriona and Reg have made. It’s already quite apparent, though.

A few moments stuck out for me this week during training at Core Results Gym. One was when Catriona deadlifted 65kg for multiple reps and sets with good form and stayed strong throughout. She weighs only 51kg (having lost 4kgs since beginning the program – that’s the lightest she can remember being).

But considering she had zero lifting experience when she started and a few weeks back had struggled with a weight that was significantly lighter, it was quite a proud moment to see that sort of progress.

STEP AHEAD: Reg is moving faster and better

The second was during a warm-up when I had Reg push the prowler. Instead, though, he started jogging with it. So to have seen Reg go from a hobble to struggling to crawl to walking quickly to a light run was quite a staggering transition given that at a starting weight of 25st-plus, he had issues with his knees and heel that caused him to miss a few sessions.

Those were the highs. But there were some lows. This week more than any other I noticed the level of complaining reach a new level.

Complaining is nothing new to a gym environment or my waves of the Amazing 12 Chichester for that matter. This program isn’t exactly a walk in the park – and it can’t be to get the results that are achieved. I’m used to listening to grumbling.

It’s also quite a British thing to moan, especially about the weather and traffic and whatever else.

But it made me think about how self-defeating complaining really is.

I understand some people complain to let off steam or to deal with fear or to get attention or without even realising how much they do it. But I can only reach one conclusion.

Complaining is simply a waste of energy.

Here is my question: how does complaining enable or help you to become the best version of yourself?

UP THEY GO: But Jemma frequently faces her doubts

I hope that if you try to answer it sincerely, it stops you in your tracks and makes you take stock of how pointless complaining is. At the very least it should make you assess for a moment how much you might be complaining about things and how much you are selling yourself short by doing so.

When I look at successful people or high-achievers or people we generally aspire to be like, I don’t see complainers. I see doers. I see people who take action. I see people who are effective and, more importantly, decisive at making changes.

I see people who get on with things. I see individuals who refuse to join in the drama and are focused on what they want to achieve. I see people who use their energy to inspire, motivate and encourage rather than blame or complain. I see people who find solutions rather than moan about the problems.

Most importantly, I see people who have the antidote to complaining: gratitude.

That’s to say that if you complain, you generally see things negatively and if you are grateful, you see things positively.

This isn’t something you are born with. This is learned and practiced behaviour, which means it can be reversed or changed – if you want it to be.

However, I still catch myself complaining. We all complain. But the degree to which we complain and the time we spend complaining is significant and varies.

The key to my statement is that I ‘catch myself’ complaining, meaning I realise it’s something I do from time to time almost unconsciously or habitually. But I’d rather not and I try not to.

TRIUMPH: That moment in the deadlift for Catriona

Some of us, though, are chronic complainers. You don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to figure out that if you complain a lot you can’t be very satisfied.

If you’re not satisfied, it’s not the complaining that will change your circumstances. It’s taking action that makes the difference.

A friend of mine and former British boxing champion from the 1980s, Gary De’Roux, once said to me when I was complaining to him about something during conversation many years ago, “don’t complain. Do something about it.”

His words packed a punch. Gary’s a no-nonsense sort of guy. Sounding off doesn’t do anything but produce hot air. Your situation remains the same and you run the risk of creating negative energy around you.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Jemma taking on the weight and how it makes her hands feel

On a neurological level, though, there’s good reason to take complaining seriously. There’s a direct link between complaining and negativity. And there’s a strong connection between negativity and depression as there is between negativity and worry and, consequently, stress.

Stress affects all aspects of our health and well-being. In its most negative form, it is draining and weakening and life-threatening. Stress also raises our cortisol levels, which makes it harder for us to sleep soundly. This, amongst other things, limits our ability to grow and recover. It can also lead to weight and fat gain.

Yet research shows that most people complain at least once every minute during a typical conversation.

REFLECTION: Do we see things as they are or as we want them to be?

Complaining, though, can feel good to some of us, because sometimes you feel as if you are sharing an experience that’s bothering you and getting a worry off your chest. But every time you complain, you wire your brain to do more complaining.

Studies out of Stanford University in America have shown that complaining shrinks the part of the brain responsible for intelligence and problem-solving. This is the same part of the brain that deteriorates in patients who have Alzheimer’s.

In my world of training people to get stronger and fitter and move better, I hear complaints all the time that range from “do we have to?” to “I can’t do that” to “this hurts” to “that’s too hard” to “I’m bored with this food” to “can’t we do this instead?” etc. The list is endless.

DR. DREAD: Reg finds crawling more daunting than anything else

Complaining is a disease as well as a form of resistance – not accepting things as they are. Resistance is going against the flow of life and thus makes what you may be complaining about even worse.

Let’s not confuse complaining with speaking out. One is negative and the other positive. As author Eckhart Tolle wrote, “When you complain, you make yourself into a victim. When you speak out, you are in your power.”

Getting and achieving results more often than not doesn’t involve a process that is enjoyable or easy. You have to make a sacrifice. But you can either fight it or accept and get on with it or find a solution. I know which options make the most sense.

GETTING ON WITH IT: Catriona in work mode

Essentially, complaining is wasting valuable time. As Randy Pausch wrote in The Last Lecture, “if you took one tenth of the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised how well things can work out.”

However, if you are locked into a pattern of complaining, you’re going to have to work hard to change it.

Training the body is a process of change through repetition and adaptation. So when we complain there’s a process of practice and repetition taking place in our brains. We’re hard-wiring ourselves to get better…at complaining!

Complaining, from my experience, weakens my attitude, makes my thinking more fragile and leaves me more likely to fail in a given task. It takes away any pleasure, too.

MIND GAMES: Once Jemma tames her thinking she will go to another level

As they say, “Complaining is a zero return investment.”

If you are aware you complain a lot and don’t mindfully try to fix it, you’ll simply get better at it and the issues or problems taxing you will remain or escalate. However, if you are aware you complain and want to change, you can try to tackle it the same way you would if your aim was to change your fitness levels or lose weight or gain weight or get stronger.

You show up every day with the intention and commitment to do better than the day before. And like learning any new skill, initially, you have to think hard about and work hard at it – until it becomes your default response.

Complaining is verbalising a negative thought. Your thoughts determine your actions. It’s impossible to think negatively, act negatively and yet produce positivity.

Here’s the challenge.

Each time you complain, catch yourself and try to either think of a positive alternative or solution instead.
Don’t beat yourself up if you struggle or else you’ll just be complaining again. It’s a process and will take time.
Try going 24 hours without complaining and see what happens.

HURT: This week left Reg’s legs feeling a bit sore

The Amazing 12 Chichester isn’t just about the physical. Often our bodies are an expression of what and how we are thinking. So to make a complete transformation and get the optimum results, we sometimes have to start with the mind and our attitude.

We can only be as strong as our weakest link and often that is in the way we are thinking.

Progress requires patience, time, effort and consistency. Complaining just means you don’t enjoy the experience.

Think you have what it takes to do the Amazing 12 Chichester like Catriona, Reg, Jade and Jemma? Catriona is continuing for another two weeks before she goes on holiday and Reg is going to do the same before he takes a summer break and then embarks on another round of the program in September.

I’m taking applications for the September wave that begins on the 18th and ends in mid-December. Contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk for more details or if you have any questions.