BEFORE the final day of training of week 7 of the Amazing 12 Chichester, Ian Barnett entered the Core Results gym at the usual time, just before 6am. I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn’t his usual breezy self, but by no means grumpy.
Normally, he’s up for the challenge – ready for whatever I throw at him with his ‘I’ll-do-my-best’ attitude. But this day was a rarity. Ian, a father of three girls, wasn’t quite feeling ‘it’.
THE GRIND: Sue fighting for every rep
Nutritionist Sue Crabtree went through an entire week (week 6) feeling off-colour. She’s amazed how Ian seldom has days like that.
We’re all different. That’s an important factor to consider and one reason why comparisons are often pointless.
On those days when our biorythms (for want of a better expression) are low, everything can feel unpredictable. But Sue, for example, had her best week in terms of performance when she felt at her lowest.
COMFORTABLE: Ian showing much-improved form with his deadlift
And I told Ian how on many occasions I’ve had clients come in not feeling up for the job and somewhat mentally defeated, yet go on to have their finest workouts.
That’s pretty much how it transpired for Ian that day. Once he started warming up and the blood began to flow, he was ready to go.
LOVE-HATE: Ian’s relationship with this particular drill
In fact, the entire week (7), Ian was solid. Very solid. He put in a good shift every time. He never complained.
Even after he’d taken a seat for several minutes to recover from a little concoction I put together for him involving the punchbag, which is doing wonders for his conditioning, Ian still grinned and said, “I love it.”
Sue’s similar. She gets on with it despite the entire week being a grind for her. She’s had to fight for practically every rep and has shown me how much grit she possesses.
Ian’s still at a stage where he’s eating up the weights. But the time will come when he will have to dig even deeper. I believe in him, though. The first six weeks have got him ready for what’s to come.
I half-anticipated that Sue would moan at how challenging it’s become, but, almost with a smile on her face, she responded in the opposite fashion.
GETTING READY: prep work for her next session
“I like it,” she said. “It [the increased weight] is good. It shows I’m progressing.”
Ian’s developing well also, but a few days off for a long weekend at the end of week 6 served as a timely reminder of how easy it is to slip into decline – staying up late, watching movies, eating too much.
This is the real challenge that awaits every graduate of this program. To keep the momentum going, you have to continue with the good habits.
IN THE BAG: another circuit complete
When he returned after that weekend, Ian was itching to train again. It took him a few sessions to get back into the training loop. He’s determined to build on the work he’s already put into the Amazing 12.
Unquestionably, Ian’s fitness has improved dramatically. He went out cycling again over a weekend with friends and was once more impressed by his stamina.
“I can see why athletes do strength training,” he said. “I’m delighted with the results I’m having so far.”
GETTING THE HINGE: technically, Sue is so much better than when she started
Sue’s in the same camp. “I feel so empowered and I can only put it down to weight-lifting,” she said.
“This [lifting weights] is so addictive. I wish I could do it full-time.”
There’s still a long way to go and the back end of the Amazing 12 is where the serious development occurs. But it doesn’t come easily.
It’s important to keep that mind, otherwise it comes as a shock. Remember also that the challenging moments are nearly always the times that produce the greatest growth.
Sue admitted during her back squats this week, “I felt scared.”
I was encouraging her to squat deeper by placing a box behind her as a depth target. But she was going just shy, fearing she wouldn’t get back up. Mind games. That’s all it was. I knew she had it in her.
“The mind is so powerful,” she said.
We have conversations about it throughout training every week. I know that with Sue, as with most people, the only limit to her potential is the thought in her head.
NICE PLANK: Sue keeping her body rigid for these push-ups
As soon as I said I wouldn’t recognise or count any squat that failed to touch the box, Sue squatted to the required depth!
There’s already a world of difference between her now and when she started – physically, technically and mentally.
Sue is vowing to stay focused. “I’ve worked too hard to get this far,” she assured me. “I’m loving the weight-training and each week I get to challenge myself.”
Setting a challenge is what this program is all about. However, make it too hard and you risk injury and/or discouragement. When it’s too simple, there’s the possibility of boredom or a lack of motivation.
What I like about the Amazing 12 is that it seems to get the balance just right.
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Sue going from strength to strength
YOU’VE got to want it. I’m talking about change, specifically, but it also applies to many things, like being healthy and fit.
In the vast majority of cases you cannot force change. It won’t last. Forcing will usually be met with resistance. Then you have a fight on your hands and resentment follows.
IN THE BAG: another session over for Ian
Change, therefore, has to start with the individual. It has to come from within the individual. And, as a coach, I’m there to help that person along.
The moment they stop wanting/desiring it (change), it’s effectively over. I can’t run the race for them, so to speak. I can’t push them uphill either.
Take Sue Crabtree and Ian Barnett, now at the end of week 5 of the Amazing 12 Chichester. Sue signed up because she wanted to get stronger, but she certainly didn’t need to. I’ve written it this way to differentiate between wants and needs.
For Ian it was different. While carrying extra timber (as he likes to put it), he probably needed to start some exercise regimen and make alterations to his diet, but the process could only begin when he decided it was time.
GETTING TO GRIPS: Sue’s improving her technique by the week
When I look at my regular clients – the ones who come week in and week out – I see individuals who want to be there and value what training can offer them.
For the more sporadic trainers it’s a case of having to when their shape or health begins to get out of control. Or they just don’t see exercise as being a valuable enough component to their well-being.
However, the latter group tend to yo-yo, whereas the first group are consistent.
COMMITTED: No stopping Ian now
But you can trick yourself into wanting to train – if you can find the right bait. Find something – anything – about your training that you love. The wanting will come if the motivating factor is strong enough.
It could be the way your muscles feel afterwards or the people at the gym or the time to yourself or that each training session takes you closer to your goal or staying in shape or how it makes you better than you were the day before or that it will make you look and feel younger or that the consequences of doing nothing will come back to sting you later in life or it makes you feel great.
PRACTICE: correct repetitions lead to improvement
Get creative (though remain honest) because I understand not everyone enjoys training, but I often ask why? What’s their thought or story or experience about exercise or training that deters them?
Ian wants to be the sort of father who can play actively with his children and be around for them as they grow older. As a conscientious parent, that’s enough driving force to keep him going on the Amazing 12. He’s doing it for himself, but also his family. He’s setting a standard, being a positive role model. He’s trying to reclaim the body he should have in his mid-40s. He’s on a mission to stop and reverse the inevitable decline that comes from neglect and sitting for hours at a desk each day. He’s looking at this as the first stop on his ticket to a better and healthier future.
GRIMACE: battling through the tough sets
Luckily, he’s enjoying the training so far. He is seeing and feeling the differences to his physique. He is noticing how much better he is moving. That certainly helps keep his dedication levels high.
But Ian may not be enjoying getting up at 5.23am each morning to drive to the Core Results gym and if he thought only about the wake-up time and losing sleep and how cold it is outside at that time, for how long do you think he’s going to remain committed?
RING MASTER: Ian holding it together as he cranks out the reps
Shifting his attention to how the workouts make him feel, the start it gives him to his day, how it puts him in a more positive frame of mind, gets him closer to his goal of shifting body fat etc makes getting out from under the duvet far easier.
At the end of week 4 Ian went cycling with a group of friends. He said he was “astonished” by how much easier the ride was and when he hit the hills, which are normally tough, he had more strength and energy in his legs.
Holding on to thoughts like this can help us through any sticking points we may encounter. But if we instead think about our favourite sugary foods that we are giving up or aches and pains we feel or the late night TV program we are sacrificing, the potential for being derailed increases significantly.
THE SET-UP: so important, especially with the back squat
Sue had a particularly rough week on week 5, not that you would have noticed from her performances in the gym, mind you. But she told me that, mentally and physically, her moods were low and that she couldn’t have felt worse – that she wanted to go home and keep herself to herself. Yet she still came to the gym and, remarkably, put in her best week of training so far.
How she did it was by changing her focus. I’m impressed with that type of commitment and her improvements are beginning to show. I’m not necessarily talking just aesthetics, but more so Sue’s lifting techniques, breathing and concentration, which, to me at least, is equally if not more vital.
LIGHTER: Sue looking for more speed on the prowler
The better her technique, focus and breathing becomes, the more weight she will be able to lift and, consequently, her body will change and adapt faster.
Thankfully, Ian and Sue don’t require a lot of motivating. They are, for now, all in. But not all my clients are this way. And often it’s down to where you place and hold your thoughts.
BACK TO LIFE: Stacey during one of her more high-spirited sessions this week
MY best friend and I, when we were much younger, used to play this game when things didn’t go according to plan. It was called “10 good things”.
How it went is that no matter how bad the situation or circumstance, we had to come up with 10 good things about it.
This game used to annoy the hell out of a girl I was seeing at the time. But in spite of the eye-rolling glances she used to give me, I’m grateful we discovered it. Yes, I could come up with 10 good reasons why!
It could be my friend’s influence or that game that’s helped me to see the proverbial cup more as half full than half empty.
ANOTHER GEAR: Turning it on
Like anyone, I have my moments when the world seems bleak, but, thankfully, most of the time I’m optimistic rather than pessimistic, hopeful rather than in despair, searching for solutions rather than fixated with the problem.
The fact is that in life we’re going to be served with curve balls and sometimes demolition balls and we need to know how to deal with them. Avoiding or running away from them just isn’t always possible, realistic or even productive.
As I mentioned in my last blog on the Amazing 12 Chichester, Rich Evans suffered a knee injury in practically the last exercise he did during that week’s training at Core Results. He’s had surgery on the knee twice, first from when he played football over 20 years ago and then from playing tennis. He’s had to give up both.
Periodically, the knee has flared up and caused niggles here and there. But last week, as he started pushing the prowler, it ‘went’. He was stopped in his tracks and couldn’t continue, grimacing.
He had it checked out. It got better after a few days’ rest, but then Rich inadvertently caught his foot while walking and the sharp pain instantly returned. He felt as if he was back to square one.
TWISTS AND TURNS: injured Rich having to adapt
Determined as he is, Rich still came to train as week 10 commenced. We did what we could. He could barely bend the left knee or put much weight on it. That’s a massive limiting factor. So he and I had to adapt.
It would be easy – and understandable – to want to give up. Rich admitted those thoughts ran through his mind. He had a mini-slump, when he felt the world on his shoulders.
But Rich is a resourceful guy. He’s a creative rather than reactive man. So he quickly pulled himself together, contacted people who could help diagnose the problem and started mapping out a road to recovery.
BALANCING ACT: finding a way to continue getting fitter and stronger without worsening his injury
We continued training, modifying the program almost exclusively for the upper body. After his final session of the week, early in the morning on his 49th birthday, Rich said: “I actually feel really good after that. It was so good to know I could get a good workout without using my legs.”
The crux of the story is that we focus on what we CAN do rather than what we CANNOT. It’s the underlying thought that drives all these incredible athletes who compete in the Paralympics and events of that ilk. They can take on the role of victim or decide to make the best of what they have.
It’s like owning two pairs of glasses. Through one we see everything as impossible (can’t) and the other everything appears possible (can). The question is which glasses do we choose to wear.
Again, as I’ve written about a lot on this blog on the Amazing 12 Chichester, it’s a mindset thing. Yes, Rich’s injury is physical. But how we best cope with it is mental. Where we place our attention is mental.
WHERE THERE’S A WILL…early morning training this week
Rich’s injury looks like cartilage wear. Until we have a clearer idea to the extent of the injury, Rich will be training mostly upper body from here on. We have no option.
It wasn’t a smooth week for Stacey Satta either. At least not to begin with. Her lack of sleep has continued to plague her. She missed two days training on week 9 and still looked shattered at the beginning of this week. I had to scale back parts of the program to compensate for her lack of recovery, meaning she’s not progressing as well as she could.
For two weeks her weight or body fat percentage hadn’t shifted much. And while Stacey has made massive progress from day 1, those numbers not changing has bothered her. The data is not surprising when you consider an estimated 60 per cent of our fat-burning occurs when we sleep and Stacey barely sleeps.
LOADED: Stacey during warm-up for her squats
However, by the end of week 9 she was the same weight and body fat percentage as when she finished her first Amazing 12. The difference is that she’s much stronger. And that’s where she could place her attention.
Rich looks at her in amazement sometimes because shifting fat is his primary goal. However, as Dr Jade Teta, who specialises in knowing about metabolism, points out, women have an advantage. They burn 65 per cent more fat during exercise than men; they can process carbs by between 50-100 per cent times better than men and, finally, they produce almost double the fat-burning hormones than men do.
But Stacey’s fat-burning potential is reduced by (a) her lack of sleep and (b) potential to train optimally through being tired.
NIGHT SHIFT: full of bounce, somehow
Nonetheless, just as we can focus what we can do rather than what we cannot, we can also reflect on what have HAVE achieved rather than what we HAVEN’T. Thus far, Stacey has accomplished a lot – in fact, an incredible amount considering her circumstances.
By the end of this week Stacey had rebounded from her slump. She admitted, “I’m really pleased with where I am so far, considering the sessions I’ve missed the the sleep problems.”
She put in two great sessions this week, in one back-squatting during a warm-up more weight for reps than she could manage as a maximum after the first Amazing 12! Then, when deadlifting, she topped what she achieved on the first Amazing 12 and, on a few occasions when she found her groove, looked at me in astonishment, saying, “that felt so easy.”
IN THE SWING: making up for lost time
That was a lightbulb moment for Stacey – the realisation that with the right technique she could make deadlifting – or any other movement – feel simple and, because it appeared so effortless, she now knows her potential is much greater.
What we’re really talking about here is the difference between efficiency and inefficiency and the secret is to be consistently efficient.
In what was an up-and-down week for her, Stacey can either reflect on the tougher moments or her successes. I think I know which I’d go for.
Rich, for example, half-joked this week that when he said to me earlier in the program that his weight was going up, I replied that it was good as it signified he was putting on muscle. This week he said his weight was going down and I replied that it was good, because he was getting leaner.
HANGING IN THERE: often times you have to in order to see the gains
“How can it be good when it’s going up and good when it’s going down?” he said.
My answer is that it’s always good, meaning that you have to find the good (or the positive) in everything. It’s about feeding ourselves with information that’s going to nourish and grow our confidence and not deplete it. It’s also about receiving feedback and using that feedback to improve us, not destroy us.
I could see Rich’s spirit was lower than usual after the injury. That was understandable. He’d invested a lot in his training. And, sure, getting injured is annoying, especially at this stage. But it’s not the end.
You know I like a mountain analogy, so here’s another. Climbing a mountain, you hurt yourself as you near the peak. Do you turn back and return to base camp or find a way to reach the summit?
DETERMINED: can’t keep a good man down
If you turn back, you face frustration and disappointment. If you soldier on, finding a way to safely continue, you achieve a sense of accomplishment and sometimes even a greater sense of accomplishment from having overcome an impediment.
Life is going to continually present us with hurdles and unexpected challenges and we have to be ready for them. We need to be trained for them. Every time we soldier on, we are teaching and reminding ourselves that we CAN. We’re strengthening our resolve. We’re creating a habit. That’s progress.
Yes, the Amazing 12 Chichester is primarily about physical change. It’s about gaining strength, developing fitness, creating an optimal physique, but in reality, as Rich and Stacey are discovering, it is more far-reaching if we recognise all the opportunities for growth that come on the path to completing a dedicated program like this.
GRAINY: when our thoughts lack clarity, like this picture of Rich, the body can become confused
IN the world of high-level sports the difference between first and second is often what takes place between your ears.
The inner game – that ability to stay calm and focused amidst chaos; to put out of our minds a mistake; to rebound from a lost opportunity; to forgive ourselves; to overcome failing to meet an expectation, to cast aside doubt when times are troublesome; to deal with pain or discomfort or injury; to cope with pressure; to ride in the face of fear…
However, when it comes to skill and mastery – and this may sound like a contradiction – often the execution of a given movement or skill to a high standard doesn’t involve much thought at all. It’s instinctive. It’s reactive. It’s something that has been practised so frequently that it just happens. The mind is off. The timing is exquisite. The body knows what it needs to do.
There are two entities: the body and the mind. When working together, they can be formidable. When there is friction, progress or function seems sticky or stationary even.
Just like our muscles have to dance between tension and relaxation to enable us to operate at our highest, our mind has a yin and yang of its own, too.
In terms of lifting weights, for instance, we take in the information, process it, instruct and remind our bodies what to do and, using our senses, practice until we get better and it becomes easier.
There comes a point when we do more feeling and less thinking. This is having the intuition to know when everything is positioned as it should be and then it just flows perfectly. That takes repetition. Lots and lots of repetition.
REPETITION: that’s how improvement is achieved
The inner game also takes years to tame for most of us. Maybe ‘tame’ isn’t the right word, because I’m not sure we ever fully tame our minds. But we can definitely train our thoughts. As I wrote in my Week 5 blog of the Amazing 12 Chichester, we are all programmed uniquely, be it athletically or academically or creatively, and it is this that gives us an advantage or puts us at a disadvantage depending on our circumstances.
To change and improve is a process – a process that is as applicable to the mind as it is the body.
As coach Vic Braden wrote in Mental Tennis, a book I read many moons ago, “You should approach the process [of change] with the understanding that the brain does not change a software package quickly.”
Some of us, when learning a new or unfamiliar task, have to work harder and think harder, too. That point was highlighted this week on the Amazing 12 Chichester, as Rich and Stacey reached the halfway mark.
Midway, Rich had a frustrating night when practising the deadlift, a movement that has confounded him for many years. He was so consumed by frustration that it left him more listless than normal for the exercises that followed even though he was determined to make amends.
And the next day, when we resumed training, he was still mulling over the events from the night before, perplexed by how he just ‘couldn’t get it’.
BETTER SPIRITS: Rich getting back into full flow
As a questioner, Rich wanted to know ‘why?’ Was it a lack of mobility? Was it a lack of strength? Was it poor balance? Was it a weak core? Was it because he doubted himself?
What made it more frustrating was that the previous week Rich had made sizeable strides in the right direction and so he felt like he’d taken a massive backwards step.
As Braden explains, “in motor learning you might know what you want to do, but the brain replies, ‘Well, that’s fine, but I’ve still got a package up here and I’m hanging on to it’.”
Braden adds: “We get accustomed to functioning in a certain way and, psychologically, that way becomes very comfortable for us…bear in mind that psychological comfort is a very powerful quality for all of us. You might have to get a little uncomfortable before you can make the change you are after.”
There are several more tiers to Rich’s situation. (a) The expectation of thinking that we should be able to accomplish something in a given time when often our forecasts are unreasonable. How can we know how long it takes to learn or improve something when we are all so different?
(b) Sometimes we have to accept we can’t always have our questions answered or that we can’t have them answered in the way we want. There are times when we just have to let go – take the situation for what it is, move forwards and keep practicing, knowing the next day provides a new opportunity and that, with persistent effort, the breakthrough moment will come.
(c) We can view setbacks as positive and as learning and defining moments in our development. As I wrote in week 3, the path for progress is seldom linear. Often we take two steps forwards and one step back. We shouldn’t be disappointed on the occasions we don’t feel as if we are advancing.
(d) Each setback provides the opportunity to change a pattern of thinking: to bring awareness to a response or reaction that doesn’t enhance our experience. From there we can work towards introducing a new pattern/way of thinking – overwrite the old software, so to speak.
(e) There’s the overthinking. We can try so hard to work it out that, with too many thoughts flooding our brains, nothing works at all.
(f) Injury prevention. Rich has hurt his back in the past. When our body senses a threat or fears danger or the brain is sending a message of concern, the Central Nervous System goes into preservation mode and the body can tighten up to protect itself and thus make it harder to follow instructions or perform.
Rich can see how the ‘inner game’ plays a critical role when the stakes are high in top level sports, but what about the everyday athlete?
MOVING UPWARDS: every opportunity and experience provides learning
Put it this way: every top athlete was once an everyday athlete and the ‘inner game’ of a champion had to be cultivated from early on. He or she, using experience, had to train his or her thinking, just like muscles.
We need the inner game for everyday life, too. The gym is a place, like many, that allows us the opportunity to get better at it.
Having one ‘bad’ session on the Amazing 12 is like losing a point in a game of tennis. Don’t let that point lose you the match.
What determines the healthfulness of our bodies and minds is what we put in our mouths and heads respectively.
With Rich’s head in a muddle, I decided to take a gamble midweek. At Core Results, where we train, there is always a monthly gym challenge and I had Rich do it a few weeks ago as a finisher and as a marker to see where he was, fitness-wise, so I could have him try it again later. It involved goblet squats and heavy ball slams. It was a relatively short but high-intensity workout with low risk for those who aren’t so technically blessed.
BALANCE: we can train the mind as we can the body
I had Stacey do it as well a few weeks back. Typically, Rich attacked it with everything he had, finishing in 5 mins 48 seconds and, given how he went at it, I thought it would be a challenging time to beat.
Low and behold, someone came in the next day and knocked a good chunk off it, reducing the leading time to 4 mins 21. And then it went down further, to 3 mins 28.
Stacey also went for it with all she had at the end of one of our normal sessions and got the job done in an impressive 4 mins 58, but it took everything out of her.
This week, without prior warning, I had them both retry. Stacey didn’t want to. She said her legs were aching from the night before and that there was ‘no way’ she’d better her time. I just told her to do her best.
LEADERBOARD: A12 duo doing well in first and third
Even with a couple of no-reps, which she had to repeat, she registered an emphatic 4 mins 33 (25 seconds improvement in 13 days).
To sum up just how her mindset had shifted afterwards, Stacey, who doubted herself beforehand, said confidently, “I think I can do it faster.”
My ‘gamble’ on Rich was in order to lift his spirits. I felt, in spite of his funk over the deadlifts, that he could beat his goblet squat/ball slam time to at least remind him he was getting fitter and stronger. I was confident he could do it. If he didn’t, though, he might beat himself up further and conclude he was going backwards rather than forwards.
“I’ll give it a go,” he said. And he did, finishing in 4 mins 53, which is a staggering 55 seconds quicker than his first attempt two weeks previously, the one I thought would take some beating!
DRILLED: Stacey on her back squats
These are just little finishers, but they reveal progress. They tell me if someone is getting fitter and they can also help form a stronger mindset. In training, there are small victories to be had all the time if you are prepared to see them.
Battles are won this way. Change is difficult, but takes place incrementally. However, we need to know how to handle the moments that don’t go as anticipated or desired. Failure only exists when we fail to learn from our setbacks. Nothing is a waste of time, because every situation offers an opportunity to learn and develop.
To be at our best, we should perhaps take a leaf out of the book of the finest. Braden explains that the great tennis players (and this applies to most top athletes) “respond to their momentary failures and mistakes on court by pushing and willing themselves toward mental recovery. They never submit to their cycle of self-doubt, the cycle that starts with the silent cry, ‘I’m finished’.”
You’re only finished if you believe you are finished. Belief is a thought about something. And we can always change our beliefs if we permit ourselves to.
So here are a few questions to ponder: what beliefs do you hold about yourself that aren’t true? How do you respond to setbacks and what language do you use with yourself in those instances? Is your attitude to change and transformation a positive one and, if not, what can you do to improve it?
MIND ON THE JOB: Believing in yourself can make all the difference
DO you ever find your mind continually straying? It dwells on the past or drifts into the future. But how often are you present and in the moment? I mean, REALLY in the moment.
Jemma, now 11 weeks into the Amazing 12 Chichester at Core Results, has a classic case of a wandering mind. And it’s at the root of her anxiety and worry. She knows it.
She’s much better at dealing with it now than when she started the Amazing 12. Jemma admits her stress levels have dropped significantly.
Jemma laughs that I “always bring her back to reality”. Sure enough, without fail, in EVERY session there comes a point when I remind her that all that matters is where we are now and what she is doing in that very second. Not the set she just completed or the next exercise or what she is going to eat next week or what she’s going to wear for her photo shoot or a conversation she had at work that day.
Anything that takes you out of the present moment is a distraction and diminishes the quality of what you are trying to achieve.
There has probably never been a harder time to be present. In this highly technological age, we are continually distracted and our electronic devices are doing precisely that – training and honing us for distraction.
We pride ourselves on being multi-taskers in order to get more done, but it’s been scientifically proven that multi-taskers are actually less effective. It stands to reason that trying to do more than one thing simultaneously means quality will suffer. The focus becomes the doing rather than the experiencing.
SWEATY NIGHT: But Jemma’s still going strong
The gym or exercise/training arena is a great opportunity to turn off the ‘noise’. For me, training is like moving meditation. It’s why I’m against my clients having their phones on or accessible when they are training. The moment they check in with the phone their mind is diverted elsewhere. If you are on the phone, you can’t be training. You might be doing something, but it’s not training.
When it comes to lifting weights or attempting anything that has an element of risk or complexity, concentration should be paramount.
Sometimes Jemma will try to carry on a conversation with me while training and, with my eyes, I’ll point to the equipment as if to say, ‘concentrate on what you’re supposed to be doing’.
If you are talking while training there is no way the exercise can be executed with complete focus. You’re missing the opportunity and limiting your results.
Ever notice why some repetitions feel easier than others? It may feel accidental or random, but I reckon it’s because sometimes you are more centred and focused than at other times.
The harder or more challenging the exercise/movement, the more dialled in you need to be.
When I get Jemma to crawl with a foam roller on her lower back as part of her warm-up, initially she may start complaining. But when I tell her she will start again if it falls off, suddenly her complaining ends and she goes into a different mode. In those moments I see what she is really capable of.
This week we had another example. I had Jemma slamming a ball and hitting a tyre with a sledgehammer. Halfway through, she started complaining her back was feeling tight and sore.
CONCENTRATED: Jemma’s in the zone
It’s not uncommon for Jemma to complain and I know she likes a bit of drama, but, nonetheless, I told her we would stop if the discomfort was too great.
With Jemma I’ve come to identify the difference between hurt and pain. Her use of the word ‘hurt’ is when her muscles are being worked with some degree of intensity. Pain is when she has damaged something. Nearly always, she is dealing with hurt. I wouldn’t ever encourage her to train through pain.
Not wanting to short-change herself, though, Jemma elected to carry on. She is driven to get the best results possible. And what was brilliant was that she not only went silent, but connected fully to her body, corrected her positioning and channelled her concentration into every repetition for the remainder of the session.
The outcome: improved form; no discomfort; greater workrate; better workout; higher feel-good factor; more energy.
Training clearly is a way to bring about more focus and enable us to practice being in that ‘now’ moment. It’s a skill that can be taken into our outside-the-gym-training-area life, too.
It is a massively important skill to have, though far from an easy one to sustain, never mind master.
FOCUS: the main difference between a good and bad lift
To execute a movement to a high standard in the gym, for instance, you need to be switched on and in the zone. For starters, the mind has to stop chattering and firing at you messages that are defeating and unproductive.
When you are completely in ‘the now’, no fear or worry or pain exists. How do you get there? Like anything else, it comes with practice.
When I watch tennis or world class sports people in action, I see that it is not necessarily the advantage in technique or skill that makes the difference at the highest level, but the ability to return to the ‘now’ for each point or second.
With lifting weights, successes are made or broken by our state of mind. Anyone who has been on the Amazing 12 Chichester and is self-aware enough will discover this. Jemma this week had a tough time deadlifting, for instance. Admittedly, she was lifting a heavier weight than ever before, but it wasn’t a weight that was beyond her (or else I wouldn’t have prescribed it). I know that because she was able to lift it.
But in difficult moments her thoughts got the better of her. She couldn’t turn off the internal commentary.
“It’s too heavy,” she moaned. “I can’t do it.”
“It’s not the weight that’s too heavy. It’s the weight of your thoughts that is too heavy,” I replied.
As Eckhart Tolle says in his brilliant book, The Power of Now, “When you are full of problems, there is no room for anything new to enter, no room for a solution.”
Jemma had lost focus. She became consumed by her grip, the previous set, the difficult repetition, the stressful week she’d had, the heat and a host of other thoughts that got in the way of her completing the lift.
DRAG FACTOR: pulling the sled
Remember, it’s our Central Nervous System that calls the shots. The CNS will protect us if it senses a threat too great. The more we keep feeding it messages of concern or worry or fear or doubt, the less chance we have of being granted the strength to fulfil the task.
Here’s the take-away: challenge yourself to stay in the ‘now’ moment. Give your training complete focus. It doesn’t mean you can’t socialise with those around you. It means that when the time comes to actually train or spring to action or pick up the weights, put ALL of your attention into what you are doing.
Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t maintain it for even short periods. But notice what happens when you do. The mere action of noticing will restore you to the present.
In that space, though, you are not only free of worry, but your actions are more deliberate, movements far more precise and, most importantly, the risk of injury much less.
This wave of the Amazing 12 is now nearly complete. The next one begins on September 18. If you want an experience that is challenging, educating, rewarding and, above all else, will deliver results provided the program is followed precisely, contact me at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk. Places are limited, but the potential for growth is great.
THE question of ‘what do you do when you are finished?’ to an Amazing 12 graduate is about as standard as the ‘where do you get your protein from?’ query to a non-meat-eater.
Jemma tells me that she is often asked what happens when the Amazing 12 Chichester is over for her.
It’s a question I have written about in previous blogs and continues to – and probably always will – surface. Obviously, people are curious to know what is the next step beyond the Amazing 12. It’s a valid question.
Jemma and I joke that her answer should be, “Well, I thought I’d go back to doing no exercise, drinking alcohol and eating whatever I liked.”
Clearly, Jemma has no intention of doing that.
In fact, she said to me this week: “I don’t want to stop [the A12]. I love it.”
Jemma is clear on what she doesn’t want to do, but uncertain as to how to continue moving forwards in her training.
A starting point, though, is to have a vision. That’s what is driving Jemma right now. It doesn’t have a time frame. It’s a goal and a mental impression of where and how she wants to be. The Amazing 12 is a vehicle towards that goal.
When the Amazing 12 finishes, the task is then to continue making progress towards the end goal, in whatever shape and form that may be, and that could mean enlisting the assistance or expertise of whoever can help, if need be.
Without a vision, though, you won’t know where are you heading?
Jemma’s vision is to regain her body, confidence and the strength she’s always had but just hasn’t ever realised it. The clearer and more defined her vision, the greater her chances of succeeding. If the vision she now has fades, she may lose impetus or motivation. If her vision changes, she may take a different direction.
But my point is: first find your vision. Make that your focus. Use your vision to drive you onwards and leapfrog all the bumps and obstacles that come your way. Be committed to the vision.
BIG LEAPS: Catriona started with no lifting experience
Catriona succeeded in her goal to learn how to lift weights and now she wants to maintain the physique she has built.
She and Reg have finished their eight-week stints. Jemma and Jade are now into week 9.
Catriona continued to train with me and Reg returned to action after a 10-day break.
In just over a week of inactivity, big Reg could feel the difference. “My God, I’m glad I decided to train,” he said. “I needed that.”
But now he’s off on holiday and that can be a pivotal time. It’s good to get rest and allow your body to recover after a long training stint. Sometimes, though, too much rest can lead to laziness, a loss of motivation and deviation from healthy eating habits. Before you know it, you could be back to Square One.
NATURAL STRENGTH: Reg deadlifts 100kg like it’s nothing
Reg, though, has a vision, which is to get himself closer to 18st from the 25st he started at. That vision is what spurs him on.
Week 8 was a particularly good one for Jemma, having missed her first session (during week 7). She was annoyed about that, because she wanted to finish the 12 weeks without skipping a single workout.
But these things happen and it’s not worth beating yourself up over. Jemma moved on and quickly.
UP AND DOWN: Jade’s gaining fitness and strength, but finding the eating a challenge
For Jade, who hasn’t missed any, it’s been an up-and-down couple of weeks. She’s been battling with the nutritional side of things and admitted to me she’s strayed several times from the plan. Also, with the training there are clearly some days she prefers more than others.
It happens. Some people find the eating guidelines hard to follow and some do not. Catriona strolled through. Jemma had some issues to begin with but now admits, after getting into her stride, “it’s not complicated and there are loads of options. I now find it quite easy.”
With the training, though, I often say it’s usually the movement and training your least enjoy that you need to do the most.
TECHNIQUE: Jade and Catriona holding form
Let’s remember what the Amazing 12 is: a program designed to bring about the best possible results in a given time period.
Sometimes the training can be a hard slog or deeply challenging – mentally as well as physically – which is a necessary part of making improvement and bringing about adaptation. You just don’t want to go there too often.
The real examination is to see how you respond in situations like that. Do you rise to it or shrink away from it?
Jade’s least favourite day happens to be the one Jemma likes best. And while the program feels like it is sailing by for Jemma, Jade feels as though it’s dragging. That’s just how it is. We’re all different.
PROGRESS: Jade nailing those chin-ups
In spite of her moments of impatience and missing eating certain foods, Jade’s making progress. There aren’t too many people on this program – men or women – knocking out 65 chin-ups in 15 minutes at this stage. In most of her lifts, she is well ahead of the curve.
But Jade can be difficult to please (which she admits) – except for when you play Country and Western music during training! She can be quite tough on herself. I keep reminding her that results come from being patient and following the script – precisely what she finds difficult to do.
DRIVE: Jemma’s focus and commitment is paying off
Jemma’s been on the ball and, to be honest, I’m staggered by how her fitness and strength has improved. She has also dropped more than 1 1/2st in weight.
“I want to give it everything I have,” she said. “I don’t want to finish this and be left thinking ‘what if?’ I’ve made a lot of sacrifices and don’t want to let myself or anyone else down.”
The question you want to ask yourself is ‘have I done everything possible to give myself the best chance of achieving the results I was after?’
As you can tell, attitude plays a big part in success. And on programs like the Amazing 12 – and challenging circumstances in life – your attitude is pivotal.
To spice up the training I added a little competition into the mix. At Core Results this month there has been a gym challenge that involves pulling a sled up and down the gym six times for a given time. It’s a 50k load for ladies and 70k for men. I decided to incorporate it into the program.
SPEED: Jade sprinting for a quick time
Jade, unsurprisingly, has notched up one of the best times and Jemma, incredibly, isn’t far behind!
But to give Jemma’s accomplishment some context, the first time she tried (at the end of week 7), her time was 2:18. Four days later she did it in 1:37 – a difference of 41 seconds!
In fact, everything is beginning to look easier for Jemma even though it should be tougher. Why? Because she’s getting stronger and her mental resolve has shifted.
GRAFT: Catriona, typically, working hard
Catriona also made huge improvement with the sled time from 2:25 to 2:09 to 2:04 – which is 21 seconds in a week!
When I compare Jemma now with the girl who started two months ago, I see someone not only leaner, but more confident and positive and undoubtedly better conditioned.
What makes Jemma trainable, in spite of her propensity for complaining (which I addressed a few weeks ago and, admittedly, has reduced), is that she’s open to learning and making changes.
Jemma takes it in. She gives it a go. She doesn’t always get it first time. She doesn’t always remember. But she is willing.
As I heard someone say this week, “You’re either in or in your way”. Which are you?
The next wave of the Amazing 12 Chichester begins on September 18 at Core Results. Do you want a life-altering challenge? Have you got the commitment to see it through? Are you after results from your training? Do you want to learn about how to eat to get leaner? You’ve seen the results the Amazing 12 can deliver. Make your application today. Places are limited. Send all messages to: Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk
I CAN recall quite vividly a conversation I had back in my teens at a gym where I regularly used to train. During that exchange I said to whoever it was, “my goal is still to be training when I’m 50.”
Back then 50 seemed ancient. When you reach 50, you still feel young at heart – or at least I do. So now, if asked the same question about why I train, I’d add that I hope to still be lifting weights and working out when I’m 70 – if I get that far!
And without the lycra shorts!
Longevity has never been my aim. But for as long as I am alive, I want to be in good health. As the saying goes, “the idea is to die young as late as possible.”
Sports, athletics and training has always played a significant part in my life. Thank God I discovered it.
Growing up, I never got into excessive drinking or smoking or drugs because (a) it didn’t make sense to me (b) I took my sport (boxing at the time) seriously and (c) I valued my health enough to not want to subject my body to abuse (ironic considering the sport I chose).
It wasn that way from the beginning. As a child and young person I had a sweet tooth. I’d spoon sugar straight from the sugar bowl and spend my pocket money on chocolates and fast food. Then, over time, I realised the relationship between food and health and human performance and that to have any advantage, I needed to make the right choices.
So while many of my friends were dealing with peer pressure growing up, I was always largely excused. I was in training. That was my escape.
Amongst my peers I was always known as the one who didn’t drink. I designated myself the driver on nights out, which again gave me an ‘out’. When out on the town and, inevitably, asked why I didn’t drink alcohol as though I was someone from Mars, I always felt confident and comfortable in saying it didn’t interest me, that I didn’t ever feel the need for it and wasn’t fussed on the taste.
BACK IN THE DAY: feeling invincible in my 20s
Without thinking about it too deeply, I cherished being well far more than I did the experience of getting drunk or intoxicated or out of my mind. It wasn’t that I was ever a sick child and scared of being ill again. Quite the contrary. But maybe I saw enough sickness and drunkenness and hangovers around me to make me decide ‘I don’t ever want that’. And the occasions when I was unwell or injured, I remember the feeling as being less than enjoyable.
Let’s face it, being unwell is pretty miserable. Why would I choose that?
As you get older, it becomes more important to stay ‘fit’. The odds begin to stack against you.
We only have one body, which has to serve us for a lifetime. It’s senseless to destroy or weaken or abuse it.
It’s difficult enough as it is, with the best intentions in the world, to remain impregnable against the cascade of attacks on our health. There’s no way to fully avoid all the pitfalls of living in a modern world. But we can limit the damage.
Life can throw curve balls at you at any moment. You have to be ready. I know that the stronger and healthier I am, the better I can respond and the greater my chances of survival.
We have an epidemic in western and First World culture of people crumbling and dying from over-consumption of food and, more precisely, foods deficient in nutrients and laced with toxins and substances we’d often prefer not to know existed. This epidemic is made worse by a consumer culture driven to make life as comfortable and convenient as possible which, consequently, has resulted in populations of individuals becoming ridiculously inactive, physically.
REASONS TO BE HEALTHY: playing with my children
The advent of the technological age now threatens our children and younger generations, many of whom no longer aspire to play freely in the fresh air, but instead would prefer to be fixated, with limited movement, looking at devices that provide all their entertainment.
Additionally, we walk mostly on concrete, wake up to alarm clocks, work in artificial light, live in heated and air-conditioned buildings, wear our feet in tight shoes, over-use prescriptive drugs for illnesses which, largely, can be avoided, find ourselves continually filling the space of every spare second of the day (thus increasing stress levels), all the while no longer really needing to employ much energy or guile to locate, collect and prepare our food in the way we were originally designed to.
It’s not a mystery why many of us are ageing well ahead of time. And so many people look and seem helpless to protect themselves.
It’s easy to fall into the trap. Although I have always been active and gone to the gym or trained at least four-five times a week since I hit puberty, I was for much of my adult life – without even realising it – what they call “active sedentary”.
WRITING DAYS: travelling the world, meeting elite athletes
If I knew at 18 what I now know, I’d have possibly made some different choices in life and career. For instance, I worked as a journalist for more than 20 years in the heart of London. My job required that I commute by train practically every day. I sat at a desk for hours in an office and on a train and in my car. Now the idea of being pinned to a desk all day doesn’t appeal at all. Back then, though, I never gave it a second thought.
I believed, as many of us still do, the one hour or so of exercise each day could offset the endless hours perched on and hunched in a chair in a soul-less building and away from the elements we were supposed to be in contact with. It can’t.
I travelled the world, meaning I spent hours glued to a seat on aeroplanes, breathing cabin air, going across time zones, disrupting my internal body clock, all of which steadily takes a massive toll. The experiences I had may have seemed priceless, but they most likely came at some cost.
It’s all a trade-off. But is it a fair exchange if you don’t know all the risks – if you’re not made aware, for instance, that sitting at a desk for years, as our children do in schools, is likely to wreak havoc on your posture and body later in the life? We still don’t know – because it is a relatively new invention – the full impact of how our addictive mobile devices are affecting us.
Trying to uncover the truth within the war of information isn’t easy. Those that feed us the ‘facts’ have ulterior motives or a strong bias. Sometimes you have to dig and we’re all too busy to do any digging, so we listen to conflicting opinions and messages, wind up confused and, consequently, do nothing.
However, doing something is better than doing nothing, even if it’s the wrong thing. Why? Because if you recognise you’re going the wrong way, you can always change course. It’s never too late.
For instance, about 12 years or so ago I made the choice to stop eating animal products. It was controversial in my inner circles. I’ve never regretted it for a second, though. I feel better for it. I’m not advocating it for everyone. But it was right for me and it still remains so.
I didn’t exactly go about it in the right way, however. But making mistakes is how we learn. Initially, being the only non-meat-eater in my family and amongst my friends, I was defensive of my choices, sometimes fiercely so. I think I offended some people.
I’m a lot more now of the thinking that everyone is entitled to make their own choice. But, armed with the information and feelings I now have, I’d have probably changed my eating much sooner.
TYPICAL MEAL: vegetables and greens
Overnight, I went from being a meat-eater to raw plant-based. That was a shock for my body. I lost a lot of weight and fast (not that I wanted or needed to). I tried to say I felt good, but I didn’t – at least not always. I knew the food choices I was making were healthier, but not the healthiest. How I transitioned wasn’t the best.
After I heard people discussing and being concerned for my health because of the weight loss, I made a U-turn and then, in a more sensible manner after educating myself some more, eliminated the foods I no longer wanted to consume.
I’ve found more balance now with how and what I eat. It takes time. I know a lot more about it. I became informed. I’m not obsessed. I just realise it’s important because it affects everything. Much of our immune system begins in the gut. What we eat is therefore critical. For that reason it gets my attention and is a priority.
I feel healthier, stronger, fitter and more nourished and energetic than in a long time. I’m more flexible and mobile even if I am still lacking in flexibility and mobility. I’ve always got work to do, because the work is never over.
As gymnastics coach Chris Sommer says, “You’re not responsible for the hands of cards you were dealt. You’re responsible for maxing out what you were given.”
Had I known sooner about the philosophies of people like Sommer, I probably would have changed my approach to training a long time ago. I didn’t grow up in a world where, unlike today, information was at my fingertips or Youtube existed (technology does have its advantages!).
I did a lot of fumbling around to find a system and methodology that made sense and worked. I made a ton of mistakes. I did a lot of experimenting to figure out a way of eating that also worked and was sustainable.
SHARING: coaching enables me to help others to grow
Doing the Amazing 12 program and learning from Paul McIlroy about training and food has revolutionised how I approach strength and conditioning.
I read a lot and I’m considered in what I read. I listen for hours to podcasts on inspirational and from informative people. I’m a sponge for learning more from the many incredible individuals out there leading the way in that market of the world today.
DISCOVERY: kettlebells and smarter ways of training came late, after much experimentation
I’m older now and don’t have the drive to compete like I used to. I’m happy with that, though. I wasn’t a world-beater as an athlete, even though I had aspirations to be. I’ve let go of that. I’ll leave it to the youngsters.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter to me greatly whether I’m first or last in something. It matters if I try my hardest and if I’ve executed a task with the standards I have set for myself and if I’ve made progress. I’m more at peace with any need to attract recognition for my achievements and exploits.
Of course, it’s nice to be applauded or revered, but it’s not essential or, for me, even required. What’s more important is how we feel about ourselves.
The real challenge is how to find equilibrium in our world with all the demands and distractions it places upon me and my well-being.
We are being bombarded by stressors from every direction. That’s why now the simpler things bring me the most pleasure.
I’m determined to be conscientious for the future of mankind and healthy, to serve and support my family, to be active and fully able to participate and play and interact with my young children for as long as possible. I strive to share what I know with others who feel there is something to learn from me and to help them to help themselves discover the promise that each and everyone of us has the right to.
MY TRIBE: women’s weight-lifting on Sunday mornings
The emphasis has shifted from what I can do for myself – as it does when you are younger – to how much of a positive impact I can have on other people.
And while I feel more selfless now, I still make myself a priority. That may be a paradox, but I’m of no use to anyone – in fact, I become a burden – if I’m not fighting fit for life and operating from a place where my essential needs have been met.
Life is, indeed, a journey of twists and turns and falls and delights and anguish and ecstasy and heartache. But it’s also an amazing place and with so much to explore and learn and experience. Sometimes I feel as if I will run out of time to fully appreciate and discover all I want to.
Many years ago my best friend, Bob Lesson, and I were in France on a beautiful sunny day and he said to me, “I’ve probably only got another 25-30 summers left.”
I’d never thought about my life in terms of summers. But, being a summer person, that’s one way of viewing how, potentially, little time remains and how precious each moment is.
I don’t know how, but I’ve been fortunate from when I was very young to be able to seek, find and go after what it is that really brings me to life. I almost have an inability to settle for less. I hope I don’t lose that.
AMAZING 12: a way of training and eating that I wished I’d have discovered years ago
Sure, I’ve had some jobs and periods where I felt listless, frustrated and as if I was heading nowhere, but the reality is that those moments served a valuable and essential purpose in getting me to and preparing me for where I did want to be. It nearly always does.
I’m far from perfect. But I try to work on my many imperfections. I’m patient because I have to be and because I know and have learned and understood that’s often how a process works.
If there’s one thing getting older gives you that should be really valued and cannot be ordered on Amazon, it’s experience.
Life should be a long and enjoyable journey. But, even when it’s not, I remind myself that change is constant and the most arduous paths eventually lead to some type of promised land.
I’VE seen it happen again and again on this program. Changes. Physical and mental.
Take Reg – all 25st of him. When he first walked through the door, he moved uneasily. He was carrying a heavy load – a load he had got tired of lugging around and needed to ditch. His movement was laboured.
So where do I often start? I get my clients crawling. Some like it and some do not. But I have them do it, because it’s basic and effective. It resets the body. It boosts the brain. It’s good for co-ordination, core stability etc. That’s why children first learn to crawl before walking and running. It develops their motor skills, strength and balance.
Seriously, Reg could hardly crawl more than five paces forwards. In reverse, he couldn’t move – at all!
BENCHMARK: Reg is lifting and moving so much better than when he started
But now, at the end of seven weeks on an eight-week version of the Amazing 12 Chichester at Core Results Gym, he can cover 30ft in one go without stopping. It’s a clear, measurable display of progress.
I use the prowler a lot as well. For those unfamiliar with this bit of kit, it’s a type of metal, weighted sled. You push it. It taxes you. You feel it and sometimes hard. But it can work wonders – IF you get the dose right.
So I had Reg cover 10 lengths of the gym with the prowler in the first week, his instructions being to give it his best and not stop. But he did stop…several times. It took him 4 mins 32 seconds. His legs hurt. He was breathing hard, a reminder of how lacking in condition he was. “My God,” he said repeatedly.
Roll on seven weeks and at about 7am with the sun shining. “Let’s do it again, Reg,” I said to him. “I’m curious to see how long it takes.”
FEEL THE FORCE: working hard under the dusk sky
Reg had been moving so much better that I felt he and I both needed to know the difference.
Here’s the outcome: Reg marched that thing up and down. He could probably have gone quicker were he able to run. But he paced it evenly and didn’t stop. His time: 2 mins 51 secs!
The same day, but in the evening, I did the same to Jemma. She was dreading it. It was steamy and, of course, Jemma hates sweating. We’d done a full workout. She said she was feeling tired, that her legs ached as she’d done some sprints that morning. I’ve heard it all before.
THREE PEAKS: coming to the top of the deadlift
I tried to encourage her to believe in herself. Then I walked over to the prowler and uttered those words: “Let’s do it.”
Filled with nervousness, Jemma’s head spiralled into the usual chaos and doubt. Once she realised it was happening, she had to focus. “Just do your best,” I said. “I’m just curious to see how you do.” Then I added, “You know it’s going to be better. You’re fitter, stronger, lighter and faster. Just pace yourself.” She did.
First time she did it, Jemma bombed. She stopped frequently, utterly spent, hands hurting, legs burning, mind racing. You name it, she had it. Her untrained body got it done in 4 mins 16 secs.
GOT IT: Jemma nails her technique with the sledgehammer
So how did she do in the re-run – and bear in mind this was only five weeks later? Her time was 2 mins 30 secs!
Jemma almost burst into tears. She was that delighted and shocked and emotional and surprised and thrilled.
What’s even better is that she could – and will – go faster before we finish the program in another seven weeks.
FINDING HER SPEED: Jemma goes into another gear
In five weeks Jemma has lost a stone in weight, but much more has gone on.
“My muscle tone has improved,” she said. “I feel better in my clothes. I don’t feel hungry hardly at all. I feel less stressed and have had only one anxiety attack since I started [compared to what used to be at least weekly].
“I’m more aware of the choices I am now making and how organised I have been. I feel more cheerful and don’t feel the need to drink alcohol. My mental block on my pain barrier has improved and I’m more able to deal with pushing through for more reps.”
TWIST AND LUNGE: The blonde doctor blazing through the circuits
Like Reg, Catriona is entering the final week. I took her through a tough circuit session this week and thought, at 50 and all bronzed, that she looked like some sports bikini athlete. Catriona didn’t stop.
I asked her later that day what changes she had noticed and, still too tired to elaborate, she texted me, “I have abs.” This was followed by, “not a very deep answer, but I’ve been striving to find them for years!!”
HEATING AND HITTING: Banging the tyre in the sun
Catriona was fit and lean before she started the program. Now she’s fitter, leaner, stronger and has muscles she didn’t know existed.
I gave her the prowler challenge, too. At the finish, as she was lying on the floor, I asked, “how do you think you did?”
“Slower,” came her reply.
GRAND SLAM: Great way to finish the early-morning session
In fact, she’d reduced her best time from 3 mins 30 on day 2 to 2 mins 50 seconds – an improvement of 40 seconds!
Naturally, she was delighted.
Jade, on the other hand, is tougher to please. She’s one of the fittest people I’ve had start the program. Having trained and played sport for years, getting her results was always going to be more challenging.
LITTLE AND LARGE: Jade may be smaller, but packs a punch
She wants to be lean above all else. She’d sacrifice strength gains for being leaner. I notice changes already. It’s obvious to me she is becoming leaner and stronger and fitter. But Jade’s a little fixated with the scales – the scales of doom that send out a false representation of what’s really happening to our bodies and yet we still rely on them as a marker for progress.
“I’ve not seen too much physically yet,” she said. “I haven’t noticed it apart from a few inches off my waist.”
HITTING THE MARK: Jade’s on course to reaching high standards
She said she felt tired and heavy in the legs all the time. On the plus side, she was happy with making more time for herself and enjoying being able to train every day.
“I’ve enjoyed being a bit more selfish in regards to doing things for me, making sure I have time to train and putting myself first more often than I usually do.”
I’m still super-confident Jade will take a different view of her results come the end and that she’ll be doing pull-ups and plenty of them (which is what she also wants). She’s missing her comfort foods, but sticking to the nutrition. If she keeps it up, she’ll get impressive results. She’s just impatient and shining her attention on what she feels is missing without noticing the wonders of what is going on with her body. Sound familiar?
PUMMELLING: the tyre gets a bashing
Her strength is already at a level where few women I’ve coached on the program have reached in 12 weeks. And while she maintains she’s not got much endurance or bothered too greatly about becoming strong, Jade’s working harder now during the longer workouts and keeping up a good pace.
When I had Jade re-take the prowler test, she knew she had to approach it differently and she did. Her time went from 2 mins 28 in week 1 (when she shot off too quickly) to 2 mins 3 seconds at the end of week 5.
And remember, the better the athlete the smaller the changes are likely to be. For Usain Bolt, a difference of 0.01 seconds to his sprint time is as significant as, say, two seconds over the same distance for a sprinter in school.
MIX AND MATCH: Four individuals with different starting points, body types and technical abilities
You can’t argue with the the times and other feats of strength I have logged and will write about later. The ‘after’ photos always reveal the extent of composition changes.
But in terms of satisfaction, regardless of what I say or the evidence I provide or how the photos look, the individual has the choice where to cast their attention.
The formula for happiness and contentment is fairly straightforward: be grateful for and appreciate what you have rather than yearn for what you do not. By the same token, appreciate what you have achieved more than what you failed to achieve. The decision is yours.
The next wave of the Amazing 12 Chichester will begin at Core Results on September 18, 2017. I’m taking applications. If you want to see results and are committed, drop me a line at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk for more information.
YOU have to be in the race to win it. And it’s those who refuse to quit or concede who usually triumph.
I could be talking about almost anything- a marathon or studying for a degree or even life itself – because it’s easy to give up on life and pass up the multitude of chances we get to fulfil our potential.
This photo was from the Three Peaks Challenge in 1999. Great experience. Fond memories. Enormous satisfaction.
I could easily have not done it. But, firstly, it was during a period when I said ‘yes’ to nearly everything and also I believe in trying make things happen, taking opportunities and daring to sometimes go where my mind is planting doubts.
It’s overcoming the challenges in life that make us stronger and better.
In order to make progress, I find it important to pick a challenge or goal that’s achievable, but not easy. Too simple and there’s little to be gained. Too hard and it can either break (hurt) you or make you lose interest or become demoralised because it’s too daunting.
Smart challenges help us to move forwards at a sensible and manageable pace. They give us purpose and intent.
Without challenges it’s too easy not to take action at all and hence there is no willingness.
Need a challenge? Why not the Amazing 12 body transformation?
Graduates of the Amazing 12 Chichester
There are many examples on this site of the results that can be achieved (photo above) – and by individuals who lead busy lives, run businesses and have children.
I’m running another wave from January 9, 2017 at Core Results, Chichester. Message or email me (Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk) for more details.
First in the door will get a place. Take command, take action and dare to be daring, because that’s when you feel alive.
YOU have to be in the race to win it. And it’s those who refuse to quit or concede who usually triumph.