Well to begin with, Happy New Year from me and all my Personal Trainers on the body4life Personal Training Team. Right, that’s the pleasantries over with, now let’s get down to business! And that business is New Year fitness that lasts longer than the last few left over mince pies! Because that’s what typically happens with so many people.

The first week of January starts off with all the best intentions but ‘modern life’ rapidly rears its head by the time February comes around and your resolutions are excused duty until 2012. And 2013 and so on and so on. Well that’s not a solution so let’s make 2011 the year where you break the mould and do things differently.

Albert Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well if you don’t make changes, this year will be just like last year and the year before. So are you going to step up to the mark or fall into the same old, same old?

January is always an interesting month for my Team of Personal Trainers and I because it’s a month of refocusing with our existing Clients and the rush of new enquiries begins as people decide to change their lives for the better and factor health and fitness into their lives in the same way that they factor in work, family time, eating and sleeping. And this is exactly what you need to do.

Make your health and fitness an integral part of your agenda in the same way that you make time for other things. And your efforts won’t be in vain, in fact far from it.                    

You’ll enjoy a plethora of amazing benefits including more energy, easier weight management, better mobility, improved posture, increased strength, more flexibility, a stronger heart and lungs, better resistance to disease and infection and last but not least, a renewed zest for life.

Now even if I’m lying (which I’m certainly not!) and you achieve only a couple of the above benefits, you’re still getting a fantastic return on your investment. And that investment is in yourself; your life and your future. Over the coming weeks,

‘Your Personal Trainer’ will build into a library of fitness tools that you can utilise to help you improve and fast-track your health and fitness. Whether you’re just starting out on the exercise road or have been a convert for many years, each week will bring a new topic and a range of tips and workable strategies that you can use to help you get fitter faster.

So, for this week, I’m focusing upon some positive ideas to whet your appetite, get you thinking and help you prepare for L.A.C.E. (Life after Christmas excesses!!).

1. Mike’s ethos. You’re busy at work. You’re busy at home. You’ve little spare time. OK, well that’s 21st century living for you – we all have the same problems. So if I suggested that you try and exercise for five days out of the seven, whilst you might give it a try this month, I’ll wager you won’t be there a few months from now. And that’s because for a great many people, modern day living conspires against you finding the time to exercise five times a week. Now whilst I actually favour exercising five or even six days each week, I’ve recognised that for most readers (and indeed for most of our Personal Training Clients too), that’s impossible. So, I’ve created our unique training systems that maximize your benefits in the shortest possible time – because most people only have  a short amount of time to commit to their health and fitness.

2. Mike’s example. To give you an example, I’ve worked with a Client for many years and amongst other training, we run the London Marathon and all being well, we’ll be lining up again this April. Now my Client is busy. Extremely busy and so he simply can’t fit in the volume of training that’s necessary to run 26.2 miles non-stop. Now anyone who has had any experience of the marathon knows that the foundation is mileage, week-in, week-out and plenty of it. Well because my Client can’t manage that, I’ve developed a training strategy around two running sessions (yes, just two!!), per week. And he can’t always accommodate those! The first session is high quality speed endurance training and the second is a pure stamina based session. And that’s it. If we manage 20 miles in a big week, we’re doing well – but that is not the conventional way to prepare for the marathon. However, year on year we’ve got closer and closer to the magical sub-four hour mark and weather conditions permitting, we’re hoping that 2011 could be his year. The point I’m making here with this real life example is that I’ve recognised the constraints of modern day living and created successful training systems that can both fit into your life and still deliver amazing results. And those secrets I’m sharing through my column over the coming weeks.

3. Mike’s homework! OK, so hopefully you’re now thinking and starting to believe that with the correct tools, you can fit fitness into your life – after all, you’ve always wanted to be fitter, healthier and manage your weight. Now that the seed of ‘it might be possible’ is germinating, I want you to spend a little time thinking about the following questions:
a. What do I want to achieve?
b. How much time can I commit?
c. What support do I need?
d. What timescales should I work to?
There’s 51 weeks left in the year so devoting a little time to planning won’t slow down your progress, in fact it’ll give you a greater chance of success because you’re about to embark on a journey and by thinking through and writing down your plan, you’re far more likely to arrive at your destination.

4. . . . and finally,  So, week one is for preparation and the better you prepare, the better the finished product will be. Do the homework and next week we’ll focus on establishing where your fitness levels are with my Fast-Track Fitness Test. Enjoy planning for a healthier and fitter you, from all the body4life health & fitness Team – that’s me, Jane, Duncan, Dave, Alison and Tony (we’re fanatical about helping people get fitter, faster!).