Friday, May 29, 2009

5 Tips for Marathon

What you can do to enhance your 1/2 or full marathon run!

1) Drink 3ltrs of WATER!
You will want to drink 3lts of water on Saturday and at least 2lts on Sunday before the race! Don't ask why now, there's no time for "understanding" you ought to just DO! :-)

2) Breakfast before you run!
This can be a tricky one because if you aren't a natural breaky eater then you will struggle to put some food in your gob!

Here's how you can plan it out on Sunday:
  • Wake at 6am to 6:3am (start drinking a glass of water, this will also help you go do poo's :-)
  • Eat at 7:30am (porridge or spaghetti on toast with eggs, super smoothie,) something high in carbohydrates with some protein and fats)
  • 8:15am at EHP Studio
  • Run at 9am
3) Go for a light jog/walk on Saturday
This is merely to get rid of any nerves you may have or to lighten the mind of any "stuff" you may have.

4) Ensure you have drank 3ltrs on Saturday and 2ltrs on Sunday morning
I know it's a repeat BUT it's huge :-)

5) Pre pack your gear Saturday night!
You should "know" that you have to do but encase you don't let's go over it.

  • Meeting at EHP between 8-830am (turn up in running gear i.e. shoes, socks, tape on blisters, thermal just in case it's freezing, vaseline for shaving (nipples/groin), water bottle)
  • Bring change of clothes for shower
  • Bring some recovery food i.e. fruit/energy drinks
  • Bring your family and friends to catch up after wards (from 2pm onwards)
There is soooooo much more to your first marathon BUT this is a great place to start, don't overwhelm yourself with "stuff" just follow this list and if you forget something. So what? We'll make do with what we got!!

See you on Sunday!

P.S I would wish you luck, but I belive more "luck" is ALWAYS around, it's just more if you 'notice' it and make something of it! :-)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Do you want a Personal Trainer for FREE in Christchurch?

Watch the video to find out how you can get FREE personal training in Christchurch!




So where to next with this?

First, I would greatly appreciate if you let everyone in Christchurch know about this "crazy" personal trainer who is breaking the realms of Recession and finding a way for money to NOT be the limiting factor!

Don't hold this close to your chest, let's think abundance rather then "scarcity"!

Thanks heaps for watching and make sure you continue to watch this space to see what is "required" for you or someone you know to create a "new you" in tough times!

Bookmark and Share

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Choosing the Right Personal Trainer for you in Christchurch!

Christchurch's only Personal Trainer and Personal Training Studio that Guarantees you Fat loss Results or you will receive 100% of your money back!

Congratulations on embarking on a new journey of Health & Fitness. In this article, I'm going to provide for you 3 Tips on choosing a Personal Trainer in Christchurch (or the world for that matter)!

3 Must Do Tips for Choosing the Right Personal Trainer for you!

1) Clientele Results:
As a customer embarking on a new fitness, fat loss journey. You want to hire a personal trainer that has results behind their name! The Personal Training Industry is booming right now, however that doesn't make the industry "equal"!

So my suggestion to you, is make sure you ask:
What kind of results can I expect if I was to follow your methodology?

Who have you got that is a living example of this?

2) Values:

This is an "old school" term and even a over played one, however the reality is you will want someone that values health, fitness and you to the point that the personal trainer will also give you a "kick up the ass" when needed.

While you may perceive this to be "hard", for me as a personal trainer in Christchurch you need to "Value" your health, fitness, life.

If you do this, you will be more truthful to yourself and therefore to the personal trainer you hire!

3) Male or Female?:

The gender of someone you hire DOES NOT matter, what matters is will the personal trainer provide me with the right training for me to get my goals in the time frame that I have, given what I'm prepared to give?

Qualifications don't matter either (to a point), however if you are going to determine who you hire on gender or qualifications then you are cutting yourself short.

Look at results and then look at the values of the personal trainer.

In Christchurch we have an abundance of Personal Trainers, there is an 8wk course creating more personal trainers then ants!

So while qualifications aren't everything make sure they have got some results behind their name!!
Bookmark and Share

Friday, May 22, 2009

Women have it all wrong!

This message from Rachel is very powerful for our woman of today!! It NEVER sounds the same coming from me saying EXACTLY the same thing, I understand that...I'm a 'man', what do I know ;-), I just don't understand.....

Anyway, Ladies, ladies, ladies. It is your PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to read this and at least try to "understand" it on a intellectual level or even better experiential level!

Lastly, ladies! I urge you to hire a fitness professional that LIFTS THE TIN as per below and if that means a male, then so be it!!

Women have it all wrong!

By Rachel Cosgrove

Women have it all wrong when it comes to weight loss. The average woman when she joins a gym looks at how many treadmills there are and the aerobics schedule to see if there are classes that fit in her schedule. When women want to lose weight they torture themselves with repetitive movement for hours on end spinning their wheels or running to nowhere like a hamster in a habitrail! If you take a look at all of the women walking on the treadmills you'll notice none of them have the body most women want.

The problem is that most personal trainers haven't figured it out yet either. They get a female client who hires them to change their body and they think, "Oh man...another one of those stupid toning programs in the ladies only section with the pink dumbbells doing lots of reps..." Most trainers don't realize that they need to challenge women to get their bodies to change and to stop being afraid of pushing her to gain muscle to boost her metabolism to change the way her body looks, permanently.

Weight Loss Program the average woman does:

  • Endless hours of cardio or aerobics classes
  • Avoids strength training because she doesn't want to get "big and bulky" or maybe she uses some rinky dink pink dumbbells to "tone" for lots of reps
  • Cuts back her diet to practically starve herself
  • Focuses on the scale weight and a number she wants it to say

What works about this plan: NOTHING!

What is wrong with this plan: EVERYTHING!

She will lose weight but it will be a mixture of muscle, water and maybe some fat so she'll end up looking like a smaller version of her same self but in the process she will have dropped her metabolism so there will be no way she can keep the weight off and will gain it back guaranteed. This is the cycle most women have been through many times throughout their lifetime. Yet, when they want to lose weight they do the same thing again. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.


Weight Loss Program the average Women SHOULD do:

Metabolically demanding full body strength training program lifting challenging weights. This should be their priority workouts 2-4 days a week.


Boost their intensity and drop the duration on their cardio sessions performing interval style workouts for no more than 30 minutes at a time.


Fuel their body with healthy food every couple hours getting their metabolism revving.
Focus on how her clothes fit and how she looks and feels and not on a number on the scale. Focus in Fat Loss, not Weight Loss.


What works about this plan: It will boost her metabolism, it will change her body, it will make her feel confident about herself, she can eat and she will be able to maintain her new body!


What is wrong with this plan: NOTHING!


To really change their bodies permanently women need to start checking out the strength training floor. They need to get out of their comfort zone and push their bodies beyond what it is used to. No more walking to nowhere on the treadmill! I am not talking about bodybuilding routines where you split up each body part and bomb and blitz the pecs or pump up the biceps. It is not necessary for a woman to isolate any muscle group to get the defined look she wants.


Instead a woman should do a full body, metabolically demanding program in which she alternates between an upper body compound movement such as a push up or chin up with a lower body compound movement such as a squat or lunge. Keep the rest periods short and use a weight that is challenging. Use 3-4 pairs of exercises working out for no more than an hour at a time.


The woman with toned arms and defined legs looks that way because she has the very thing most women are terrified of, muscle. They are so afraid to lift weights in fear of bulking up that they never get their bodies to look the way they want them to. They have it deeply seeded in their subconscious that as soon as they touch anything over 10 pounds, they will sprout humungous muscles! Even if they do use weights, they probably still aren't lifting heavy enough and pushing themselves hard enough to get the look they want. Most women don't know what their bodies are capable of and tend to not push themselves hard enough. There was actually a research study done on this where they showed that women when left to train on their own, lifted loads below what they were capable of.


Maybe it is because women have been conditioned our whole lives to exercise from the point of view of what we "can't" do, rather than what we can do. Women grew up doing "girl" push ups, because we were told we "can't" do actual push ups or hanging from the bar instead of a chin up because girls "can't" do chin ups. The first woman to run the marathon had to sneak in dressed as a man because women "can't" run a marathon, and that was only in the 70's, not that long ago. Women "can't" lift too heavy, they will hurt themselves.

We still subconsciously hold ourselves back when it comes to training whether we realize it or not. We need to start training from the standpoint of-
What CAN you do?
How much CAN you lift?
How strong CAN you get?

And stop letting "can't" enter our vocabulary. As women start to push themselves in the gym, lifting weights and building lean muscle tissue, their metabolisms will be revving and they will be the toned, defined body they have always wanted.



So how do you get your body to change? You have to lift enough weight to build muscle to increase your metabolism, fuel your body with healthy food and turn your body into a fat burning machine. Stop pounding your body with hours of cardio and stop starving yourself!

Train hard and stay focused!

Your Coach,

Rachel Cosgrove
www.rachelcosgrove.com
www.fitchickcoach.com- Coming Soon!
Follow me on Twitter: rachelcosgrove
Bookmark and Share

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

3 Must Do Rules of achieving your Fitness & Fat Loss Goals!

These 3 Rules of goal achievement are NOT discussed amongst your peers! Why? Because if they were, you and YOUR friends would be more successful!

I'm not trying to be a prick, I'm just speaking a reality of truth for me right now when I embark upon achieving my own Goals!!

So when you embark on achieving your goals in Fitness, Fat loss, Strength, health etc...(or what ever) make sure you start with these Must have 3 Steps for Goal Achievement!!


Bookmark and Share

Becoming A Bull!

Becoming a Bull

By Geoff Thompson and "stolen" from his blog! :-)

One of my friends complained to me that he was not earning enough money, he was worrying about not making the mortgage - it was all he could think about.

Another friend is always ill, always! And every time I see him he tells me the same thing, ‘I can’t get rid of this bad chest, I just can’t seem to get myself right’. He tells other people too, because it’s worrying him.

Another is writing screenplays, but thus far he has not successfully sold one. He thinks the industry is against new writers, he says that television is not kind to the neophyte, ‘and don’t get me started on cinema!’

A fourth friend is scared. Like Messner half way up Nanga Parbat he is too frightened to go up, too frightened to go down and he is too frightened to stay where he is. My friend is scared of life, and in his search for relief all he talks about is his fear.

I read this lovely old Zen tale once, about a student that can’t find enlightenment, and the fact that he can’t find it becomes an obsession, it’s all he can think about. He goes to see his master and he tells him his story. The master tells him to go to his cell, lock himself in, and spend the next week thinking about one thing and one thing only; becoming a bull. ‘Think about becoming a bull, meditate on becoming a bull, talk to yourself about becoming a bull and imagine becoming a bull. Spend every waking hour in this contemplation.’ The monk does as he is instructed and a week later the master visits him in his cell. ‘Come out here,’ says the master, ‘and tell me what you’ve learned.’ The monk shakes his head, dismayed, ‘I can’t come out there master,’ he says, ‘I’ve tried already, I can’t get my horns through the door.’
The monk finds instant enlightenment.

What you think about obsessively, what you input all day long you will become. If you are tired of only earning a pittance, stop telling yourself (and stop letting others tell you) that you are only worth a pittance. If you want to be healthy, stop telling yourself (all day long) how unhealthy you are. If you desire success, stop talking failure and blame, and never allow others to keep you in an unsuccessful place with their negativity. And if you don’t want to be fearful….stop telling yourself how scared you are! If you keep telling yourself how scared you are of course you’re going to be scared.

Do you want to become a bull and get stuck in a small room because of the size of your horns? If you don’t, then stop thinking about becoming a bull, and stop letting other people tell you that you are a bull because you’re not.

(No bulls were hurt during the writing of this article)

Be Well

Geoff Thompson

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Kids just dont' get hurt!!!

THEY DON'T GET HURT!! This may not go down well but oh well!

Rugby NEEDS to bring back tackle for kids. Tackle is FUNDAMENTAL part of the sport & is MORE important then stepping or ball skills!

It teaches safety, confidence and SIGNIFICANTLY reduces fear! So then WHY would we not give it too our kids of today?

Because, rugby has got so bloody PC that we want them to play "tag" & justify it with "safety"!!!

Here's off the NZRU website for under 7's. What individual skills do I teach each grade?
U7
  1. Running with ball
  2. Swerve
  3. Tap kick and pass
  4. Basic pass
  5. Receiving pass
  6. Ball familiarization
NONE of this matters if you are scared shitless to tackle, kids get bruises NOT breaks! This in my mind is teaching kids to "be the star", we have only ever had 1 Jonah Lomu but we have had more Buck Shelford's!

Actually, Ritchie Macaw is SHIT at swerving, passing & in my oponion "ball familarization" BUT, BUT, BUT! He is one of the MOST devasting people at ruck and maul time and in the tackle for getting the ball EVER that the game has ever seen! This is from a "workers/tackling" mindset not a swerve, pass/catch skill set!

Tell me the last time you saw a kid under 8 break his leg or neck from rugby or league?


Here's what I think, parents are inflicting fear into the kids about tackle in particular the mums, (there you go I said it!!). This is why we need more coaches like Marie who supports tackle!

If your a mum and don't want to see your little Tommy or Tammy get dirty then don't watch him/her play & DON'T pass on your fear to your kids, "oh be careful, they so much bigger then you"!

So what, Maaori or Island kids are bigger, the more reason tackle is so important!!

I love sport & BELIEVE every kid should do "something"! Ur thoughts?

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Body Building sucks for Health, fitness, fat loss & Life!


Listen into Wammo and I talk shop about Body building and why I think it is NOT ideal for optimal training for life, health, fitness, fat loss!

We also discuss chop chop chicken, in a can? Tuna in a can... Milk and the benefits of it, if there are any!

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Does Meditation really work?

Meditation holds many meanings to many people and today I write just after I have meditated from 6-7am on a Saturday morning.

To some it may come to some surprise that I meditate, to others it may come as no surprise at all.

I'm going to give you an "insight" into my experiences meditating and the programme I use to meditate!

I first started meditating in November of 2007 with Holosync Solution.

I did this with out any REAL UNDERSTANDING of meditation, basically I just jumped off the cliff and learnt to fly on the way down!!


If you had of asked me what meditation is at that time, I would of said something like, "You sit there and say/do nothing" and then followed it up with "F*** that"!

Now look at me, I meditate pretty much EVERY DAY, actually in the last 126 days I've meditated 114 of them, that's only 12days I've missed!! Another way to look at "how" much I've invested is to say, I've done a total of 114hrs of "living" study i.e. not book study (that's on top of 114hrs) real life in the trenches "doing" study!! You just can't beat that kind of study!!

So let's bring it back to, "What is Meditation?"
Here's what the dictionary says;
Noun
1. the act of meditating; reflection
2. contemplation of spiritual matters, esp. as a religious practice
Collins Essential English Dictionary 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers 2004, 2006

Thesaurus:
Noun: meditation - continuous and profound contemplation or musing on a subject or series of subjects of a deep or abstruse nature; "the habit of meditation is the basis for all real knowledge"
2.meditation - (religion) contemplation of spiritual matters (usually on religious or philosophical subjects)

That's what the dictionary says, which to me is very "closed" to what it REALLY is!!

So then what is Meditation "really"?!
Before we get into it, I must let you in on a little secret. This is just my interpretation of how I see things currently and trying to describe "meditation" in the written word or even in dissucssion is extremely difficult, because to describe something is to put it in a box which is not giving meditation it's true outlook.

The actual DOING of Meditation:
The meditation that I do is to sit quietly and put head phones on and listen to the tracks on the CD. Then what?
Well what ever enters your head through thoughts or your body through emotions, you just let it "be" i.e. just observe without clinging to anything special that may or may not happen!

Kind of like just "accepting" what ever happens... Now before you box it up into what you "perceive" what ever happens to happen. Let's just dive deeper into that for a 2nd. Sit there and LET what ever happens in thoughts to be just "OKAY!"

Now, that means the most joyful, happy, euphoric, enlightening thing you can think of and let that be Okay. To the ugliest act to the human spirit that you can think of and let that be okay too! Hmmm, easier said then done, I can assure you!

The hardest part at the beginning of any journey is to "do" more then you "think" and my experiences are no different in Meditation at the beginning and sometimes still today.

Before you pull your Ace card out of, "bro, sit there for 30-90mins and do nothing, f*** that I'm just too busy!!"

I've used that card and understand where your comming from, I sometimes pull that card out myself although no where near as much as I once did!

1hr out of 24hrs isn't a lot to ask when you get minimum 100X back now is it?...
If I asked you to give me $100 and I promised you a minimum of $1000 back, what would you do??
  1. Invest the $100...
  2. Ponder on the $100 investment?
  3. Say no thanks, I've got other investments going on?

If your being honest, 90% of people would actually choose from #2 or 3. Don't take it to heart, this is just human psychology 101. People are "scared" to take the plunge to the unknown!!

Here's some of the boxed up ways I've received my return on investment and I can PROMISE you 100X return is being conservative so you don't think I'm full of s***!
  • Greater concentration
  • Improve Depth of Sleep
  • Healing of Emotional wounds
  • Decreased stress
  • Greater Understanding of "things"
  • Greater self love
  • Connection of left and right side of brain
  • Increase awareness of "what is"
  • An understanding of your own Bullshyt (and others)
  • A detachment of your own bullshyt (and others)
  • Increased Energy
  • Greater Creativity
  • Detachment from emotional drama, either mine or someone elses
  • Clearer thinking
  • An ability to "let go" of old programming of the mind
  • An ability to create new programming of the mind
  • Increased patience
  • Increased happiness
  • Plus so much more then words can describe.....
Remember this is just the "tip of the ice berg" to what "can" happen. These things and more can happen and the meaning they have will be different for everyone. On the flip side to the above benefits, I should let you in on what happens when you DON'T "let go" and hold onto "old mental/emotional programming"!

You WILL wear yourself out!! You won't hand yourself over the unconscious mind and say "sweet as" take me on a journey of some nature even though I am scared S*** less, and I'll do my best to not "hold on" to anything I perceive to be 'positive' or 'negative'. Be honest, it's really scary to "let go" of your perception of control isn't it?!!

So what practice do I follow in meditation?
Now, I have NO idea about other practices of meditation, only what I've done through Bill Harris (he featured in the hit DVD The Secret) Holosync Solution programme.

He promotes the programme as Lazy man's Meditation and Get deep meditation at the touch of a button! I can guarantee you that these 2 things will happen!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the biggest investment you can make is in yourself! Meditation is one form of investment I make into myself, you obviously know the other, Exercise :-)

Many things can help you in life to reach for more, but I'm prepared to say that Holosync Meditation with exercise will IMPROVE ANYONE'S life if they want it too and QUICKER then ANYTHING else on the market today!!!!

If you are looking for a way to reach higher states of development at the push of the button, why don't you click the pic to get a free demo of his Holosync Meditation and begin the journey I started almost 2yrs ago!

But Spida what about Science?
Here's a birds eye view on how the brain functions for more click the picture above to direct you to all the information you'll need to get a better "understanding" i.e. think more then you DO!


Image of Four Brainwave Patterns

Beta
(14-30 Hz)

Concentration, arousal, alertness,
cognition

Higher levels associated with
anxiety, unease, feelings of
separation, fight or flight

Alpha Brainwave Patterns

Alpha
(8-13.9 Hz)

Relaxation, superlearning,
relaxed focus, light trance,
increased serontonin
production

Pre-sleep, pre-waking
drowsiness, meditation,
beginning of access to
unconscious mind

Theta Brainwave Patterns

Theta
(4-7.9 Hz)

Dreaming sleep (REM sleep)
Increased production of catecholamines (vital for learning and memory), increased creativity

Integrative, emotional experiences, potential change in behavior, increased retention of learned material

Hypnagogic imagery, trance, deep meditation, access to unconscious mind

Delta Brainwave Patterns

Delta
(.1-3.9 Hz)

Dreamless sleep
Human growth
hormone released

Deep, trance-like, non-
physical state, loss of body
awareness

Access to unconscious
and "collective unconscious"
mind, greatest "push"
to brain when induced
with Holosync®

So you tell me, Does Meditation really work?

Bookmark and Share