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The unexpected rewards

STANDING TALL: feel-good factor after working out

WORKING with people interests, fascinates and motivates me. No day is ever the same. No person is the same. It’s challenging, but satisfying.

Essentially, I’m in the gym to teach and guide. But I’m also the student. I’m always a student, because I don’t know everything there is to know.

It’s a mutual existence. With every client I put through the Amazing 12 Chichester program, I discover new things about myself, how to coach, human psychology, techniques, formulas, people’s strengths and weaknesses…

Sue Crabtree and Ian Barnett have completed three weeks. That’s a quarter of the program gone already.

Twelve weeks may seem like a long time to some. But it flies by. And, probably because you are nearing the finish and want to squeeze every ounce out of the program, the final six weeks seem to always pass in the flash.

It still feels like early days for these two, but it’s not. I see changes. Sue’s keeping an eye on Ian even though they train at different hours. She’s noticed how his face has altered and his upper body, too.

Sue’s observed how her shoulders have taken on an appearance she’s never seen before. Best of all, though, she’s walking around with confidence. Yes, real confidence.

“I don’t know what it is,” she said. “But lifting weights has really made me confident in my body.”

There’s genuine surprise in her voice as she says it. I’m not surprised. I see it all the time. But to hear it from a one-time weight-training skeptic is somewhat satisfying.

IMPROVING HER SKIP: a chance to warm-up and practice at the same time

That’s not all. Whilst we’re in confession mode, Sue also told me how surprised she is by the way weight-lifting has made her more mindful.

“It really is,” she said. “You really do have to be more mindful. It’s amazing.”

There’s a saying: ‘Where focus goes, energy flows.’ You need your energy when lifting weights and you need it to be channelled in the right direction. If your head is somewhere else, you could be in trouble. You won’t perform. The connection between mind and body is weaker. Sue’s learning this. She’s open-minded, though, and that’s essential.

She added, “Mentally, I feel brilliant.”

Oh yeah, I shouldn’t forget how she’s come to understand also the importance of breathing – not just breathing, but WHEN and HOW.

Ian’s reporting similar feedback. Even though he does the early-morning shift (mostly 6am) and is dripping sweat while most of you are still tucked in bed, he walks out of Core Results gym with a wry smile on his face, the sort of look that comes with getting your day off to a great start and leading with a sense of accomplishment.

This week I played around a little with Ian’s program. It was at his request, to be honest, because, as someone who’s done some martial arts, Ian asked for some boxing and I obliged, without compromising the essence of the Amazing 12.

AGONY AND ECSTACY: often real joy is hard-earned

It’s made training a tad tougher for him. He’s been breathing harder, but it’s going to accelerate his fitness levels.

“It feels like hell doing it, but, I must admit, I feel brilliant afterwards,” Ian confessed.

As you can probably tell, the process is one of ups and downs. You get good days and then there are tough days. There are workouts and movements you like and there are ones you do not. That’s how it is in the gym. That’s how making progress works.

If you don’t understand or realise that, it can feel alarming, so I try to explain the process as much as I can.

I like most those moments when someone walks away from the weights and feels they’ve performed poorly and I reveal (by looking at my numbers) how well they have actually done. It happened with both Ian and Sue this week. Funny how instantly what seemed or felt like a disappointing effort can be turned on its head with a different perspective or some data.

It proves that satisfaction is a totally mental construct, a matter of how you choose to look at something.

FAVOURITE: Ian’s enjoying pulldowns right now

The best way to navigate the Amazing 12 is day by day, moment to moment and without conducting a deep enquiry into every repetition and training session.

“For me it’s about the journey,” said Sue, which sounded like music to my ears when she uttered those words.

To get the most out of the ‘journey’ requires the utmost presence. It reminded me of something I read this week about how there is nothing more important than what we are doing and experiencing in the moment.

“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”

Week 10: Are you giving away your greatest power?

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.

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?

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?

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

Braver, freer and stronger

SSP_3326 — The end product…after 12 weeks training

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Double kettlebell front squats are not for the faint-hearted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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