Tagged: gym

2 Tips for better Lateral Raises (actually it’s double that)

If you train at the gym or have ever watched a video of sweaty guys grunting (at the gym, in almost full clothing), then you are probably familiar with lateral raises aka side raises aka shoulder fly (that’s what Wikipedia says, I’ve never heard this one before).

 

This is the exercise I hated the most when I started training, as I’ve never felt anything, weights were small and it hurt my neck.

 

Well, even though weights are still small at least I know how to perform side rises effectively and I will share that secret aka magic formula aka mid delt buffer template with you below.

 

I think the best way is to use one dumbbell, or even better, cable pulley. Middle deltoid runs from the back to the front, so the best tension I feel is achieved when you train one arm (shoulder) at the time.

1. How to stand

 

First tip if you are using a dumbbell is to lean towards the wall/handle so the muscle is lengthened before you start. Elongating the muscle by even 10% has significant impact on the shoulder, so lean away.

2. How to hold it

 

Second tip is to grip the dumbbell not in the middle, but have your thumb and index finger by the plate, like this

 

Offset-Thumb Grip

Offset-Thumb Grip

This will cause shoulder to do extra work to stay neutral or go into internal rotation, which will get more work done from the middle delts.

 

If, however, you are using a cable pulley, you don’t have to lean towards the machine as cable provides constant tension – you can just stand or lean away. This will depend on the type of cable pulley you are using.

 

As you pull the arm away from your body remember to provide a small twist inwards at the end.

 

Try it out, do a set of 40 second on each arm, 3-4 times with 60 seconds rest in between. Next time you will be doing shoulders

 

 

Enjoy and make sure you visit www.PTFolder.com, software for exercise enthusiasts and personal trainer, to write, manage and keep your programmes, packed with videos, tips and easy to use interface.

 

Greg Mikolap

 

References:

  1. Favre, P. et al. (2009). Changes in shoulder muscle function with humeral position: A graphical description. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 18(1):114-21.
  2. De Wilde, L. et al. (2002). Consequences of deltoid muscle elongation on deltoid muscle performance: a computerised study. Clinical Biomechanics. 17(7):499-505
  3. Alpert, SW. et al. (2000). Electromyographic analysis of deltoid and rotator cuff function under varying loads and speeds. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. 9(1):47-58.
  4. Yu, J. et al. (2011). Shoulder muscle function depends on elbow joint position: an illustration of dynamic coupling in the upper limb. Journal of Biomechanics. 7;44(10):1859-68.
  5. Kuechle, DK. et al. (2000). The relevance of the moment arm of shoulder muscles with respect to axial rotation of the glenohumeral joint in four positions. Clinical Biomechanics. 15(5):322-9.

 

 

 

 

How Many Sets Workout Programme Should Have

Creating a sound exercise programme can be more challenging than many people think before they actually sit down and do it. I will try to give you a head start to good programme writing.

In post named ‘5 Tips to change your workouts for better!’ I covered basic joint movements that every sound programme should include, CLICK HERE

Now, let’s focus on how many sets a comprehensive programme should include. Today only sets, not repetition, which will be a separate blog post (You have some of it mentioned in my blog post about Tempo…HERE).

So how many sets a programme should have?

That depends. On a very basic model if you train up to 3 years and don’t feel confident in writing your own programmes, try to aim for minimum of 18 and maximum of 30 sets per training session.

So, if you do 3 sets per exercise, you would do between 6 and 10 exercises.

In PTFolder.com you have an automatic counter that changes on the amount of sets/reps/rest time and tempo input by you, that should help you in the design stage.

Click Here to Sign Up for Free or Buy Full Individual Subscription and have a week free!

Variables come from training goals, whether it is Hypertrophy (putting on muscle), Increasing Strength, Conditioning, Circuit, Anatomical Adaptation, etc.

Also, times are significant here. If you do an exercise and one set takes you 1 minute to do and this is followed by 1 minute rest, you can do 20 sets in an hour’s training, excluding warm up and cool down and unknown unknowns (strangers on ‘your bench’, etc.).

In some programmes you have supersets, stretching, mobilization and that all affects the amount of sets performed.

Try to strive for an average of 25 sets per workout and you should get optimal results.

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Enjoy your workouts!

Greg Mikolap, BSc in Physiotherapy and a Qualified International Personal Trainer based in South East England. Founder and Director of www.PTFolder.com, training solution for people who want to get fit or for people who help others get fit and UK Partner of ProDiets.com at www.Prodiets.com/vip/PTfolder

Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud

Did you ever have a bad day? I know I did, Actually I am having a bad week so far as I write this down, things are taking a long time and many plans have to be amended, again…

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Point being, you know your bad luck is not going to last, right?

After a bad day, bad workout or bad phone call, there is one day where everything falls into place, where weights are going on the bar and you can smash your PR, where opportunity for extra work just came up, and you are ecstatic – you know that will happen….

Then we go back to normal, average day, with average opportunities and challenges being thrown at us.

 

We decide how different events affect our attitude. I am obviously talking about everyday stuff, because there are times where everything stops and life reminds us that we can’t always be under control of it. But for general day-to-day stuff, we choose the way we interact with people; we choose the way we react to news, being good or bad.

 

So why are we so excited about good things and so miserable when things go wrong? Why we let it get to us? Should we consciously choose to block out those feelings and take everything with stoicism?

 

Why would we do that? Experiencing feelings and being aware of them is part of being a human, so enjoy all the feelings you have! Let the joy fill your heart when things fall into place, let the down-phase play out in you, play that sad songs you always listen to on a bad day, why not?

But after initial sensation always look at everything afresh. Know that this is part of our life, sink those feelings in, ponder in good and bad times on what things mean to you.

Sometimes something good isn’t really good for you, something that sounds bad initially isn’t really a bad deal for you, so be aware of your feelings and as every cloud has a silver lining so every silver lining has a cloud.

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Cherish That!

Greg Mikolap, BSc in Physiotherapy and a Qualified International Personal Trainer based in South East England. Founder and Director of http://www.PTFolder.com, training solution for people who want to get fit or for people who help others get fit and UK Partner of ProDiets.com at http://www.Prodiets.com/vip/PTfolder

First Q&A with PTFolder, cramps, stitches, protein, plank and BodyPump

We recently asked you on Twitter and Facebook what you’d like us to write about. The response was great, especially from women (the boys were perhaps too proud to ask).

Your questions were:

  1. The more protein I take the more water I have to have, regardless of the 1litre per 4 stone of body weight, right?
  1. Are carbs necessary for packing on muscle and only protein for getting the ripped look?
  1. Why do you get stitches when running?
  1. Why do you get cramps and how can I prevent these when working out?
  1. A request from a lady: could I get tips from guys on how to increase my upper body strength? I can’t increase weight when lifting as I’m worried I won’t be able to hold it for long, even after years of body pump.
  2. Is plank good for you?

I’ll try and keep the answers short and sweat but hit us up on Facebook or Twitter if you’d like more info

1. Let’s get away from the water-protein ratio and talk hydration. You need to be hydrated: 1litre per 4stone/20kg/55lbs of bodyweight is optimal. If your urine is a dark or strong yellow colour or has a strong smell that’s a sure sign of dehydration. You also need to recognise that you may be over hydrated! Believe it or not, hyperhydration could be more dangerous than dehydration, as you are flushing out salt and other electrolytes. You could be overhydrated if you’re going to the loo in less than hourly intervals, if your urine is completely translucent or you’re thirsty despite drinking lots of water. Optimal hydration results in urine the colour of pale straw with toilet stops every 90 to 120 minutes. Here’s a tip: add a pinch of salt to your water.

2. This is a question without a definite answer: some people do very well on high carbohydrate based diets while others pack on fat by simply looking at a bowl of tuna pasta! It’s important to have adequate protein intake (25%-50% of daily calories) as well as vegetables (which are carbohydrates). Remember that carbs are fuel, so if you’re training hard you should be eating more of them than people who don’t exercise. Without carbs, muscles will look flat. Too many will make you fat. Calculate your individual macronutrient intake (which will be explained in the 21Weeks Body Challenge Phase 2 post below) and see how your body reacts. If you’re putting on fat, cut down on the carbs. If you’re hungry or lethargic, increase it.

 

3. Your organs are attached to your diaphragm (breathing muscle) and they create considerable weight when you run. There’s a small ‘earthquake’ inside your stomach which can cause your diaphragm to get cramp, which you then experience as a stitch. Sometimes right shoulder pain is caused by the connection with nerves in the neck. It’s best to slow down, rather than stopping altogether when you experience stitches as stopping doesn’t speed up the recovery process.

4. These are usually brought on by low sodium and potassium levels. Have a banana during the day and add a pinch of salt to your water.

5. Women have a different number of muscle fibres and the cross-sectional area of fibres differs. This, together with lower levels of testosterone, may explain the weaker upper body ratio in women compared to men. Average upper body strength for women is around 25% of total strength, whereas it’s 55% for men. Body pump is a great class to focus on strength endurance rather than maximum strength. You need to add weight and start lifting heavy!

6. Yes, Plank’s a great exercise to get you going with your core exercises. You need to build stability in your core before you go all fancy (for instance: situps😉 ). Remember to add progressions, ie. 3-point plank, forward roll, etc.

Plank, when done properly, is the best thing you can do for your stomach muscles combined with proper diaphragmatic breathing. See below for an explanation of plank.

  • Lay in a prone position on the floor resting on your elbows directly below your shoulders
  • Brace your core and breathe out as you raise your hips off the floor
  • Form a straight line from shoulders to ankles
  • Hold this position and remember to breathe with your core braced
  • When finished just lower your hips to the floor
www.ptfolder.com

http://www.ptfolder.com

Hope this has helped. Keep your questions coming.

Ps: we’re doing the 21 Weeks Body Challenge, it is free and is happening right now on www.PTFolder.com google #21wbc

Greg

21 Week Body Challenge week 4, Phase 2 explanation, food, recipes, etc.

21 Weeks Body Challenge: Phase 2 (18 weeks left!)

Hi there

We are now three weeks into the challenge. How did you find Phase 1? Feeling any stronger? Did you manage to write your food diary? Have you identified any changes that could be made to your lifestyle and workouts? I’d love to hear from you on Facebook and Twitter.

Phase 2 is now upon us. Diet will be slightly stricter, so you need to think about how much you want to weigh as what you’ll be eating will depend on your weight goals (see table below). Keep an eye out for recipe ideas on Facebook and Twitter in the coming days.

You should be working out between 2 and 6 days a week, alternating between the Day 1 and Day 2 programmes. The more often you workout, the better the results. Workouts are available to download from www.PTFolder.com from the pre-made section and are named 21WBC;Phase 2;Week 1/3;Day 1 and 21WBC;Phase 2;Week 1/3;Day 2.

I’m providing some alternate exercises to the original suggestions (not all exercises are mentioned below, only those who we did alternative versions for) in case you don’t have some of the equipment needed:

Day 1

Original: KB Squat

Alternate: BB Squat, DB Squat, BB Front Squat, MB Squat, PB Squat, Leg Press

Original: RM Seated Leg Curl

Alternate: RM Lying Leg Curl, Standing Leg Curl, S-Ball Hamstring Pull

Original: DB Clean

Alternate: BB Hang Power Clean, KB Double Clean

Original: RM Lat Pulldown

Alternate: Pull Ups, Assisted Pull Ups

Original: CL Reverse Flyes

Alternate: DB Reverse Flyes, RM Reverse Flyes

Original: RM Leg Press

Alternate: Prisoner Squat

Original: CL Tricep Extension Rope

Alternate: CL Tricep Extension, DB French Press, BB French Press

Day 2

Original: DB Incline Chest Press

Alternate: BB Incline Chest Press, BW Press Ups feet on the step

Original: DB Bench Press

Alternate: BB Bench Press, Press Ups

Original: DB Incline Bench Chest Flyes

Alternate: KB Incline Chest Flyes, CL Incline Chest Flyes, RM Pec Dec

Original: DB Shoulder Press

Alternate: BB Shoulder Press, BW Handstand Press

Original: DB Reverse Flyes

Alternate: CL Reverse Flyes, RM Reverse Flyes

Note 1: For Step Ups (Day 1) you should be holding same dumbells you use for Reverse Lunges.

Note 2: Supersets (exercises with no breaks in-between) have been linked to the next exercise.

Below is a table of calories and a breakdown of the Carbohydrate/Protein/Fat ratio you should be consuming on a daily basis:

Example for 4 workouts a week

Breakfast Ideas:

  1. Scrambled Eggs, smoked salmon, asparagus and toast.
  • Heat up some butter in the pan
  • Place smoked salmon in the pan
  • Beat eggs, pour on top of salmon and scramble for 4 minutes
  • add asparagus tips and cook for another 2 minutes
  • Spread butter on toast
  1. Banana Pancake
  • Mash the banana with eggs
  • Pour into heated pan
  • Flip after a couple of minutes, heat on the other side
  • Spread Organic Honey
  1. Protein Porridge
  • Use your favourite porridge
  • Mix milk with a portion of Whey Protein of your choice
  • Add Blueberries or Strawberries
  1. Smoothie
  • 100g blueberries
  • 100g raspberries
  • Glass of Pineapple juice
  • 100g yoghurt
  • Ice cubes

Lunch Ideas:

  1. Chicken Sandwich
  • Between 2 slices of bread
  • Put Romaine lettuce, roast chicken breast slices
  • Spread with salsa
  1. Salmon salad
  • Pieces of salmon fillet (cooked in the oven for 15 minutes) mixed with
  • Sliced beetroot, avocado, cherry tomatoes, green leaves and new potatoes
  1. Chicken salsa couscous
  • Cook chicken for 10-15 minutes until juices run clear
  • Pour boiling water over couscous until it covers it and leave it for 5 minutes
  • Mix chicken into couscous and spread salsa on it
  1. Tuna egg salad
  • Combine in a bowl, drained canned tuna, sliced yellow peppers, sliced red onions, cherry tomatoes, olives, chopped parsley and handful of spinach
  • Mix 1tablespoon of olive oil with 1teaspoon of lemon juice, season
  • Mix all together

Dinner Ideas:

  1. Beef Steak
  • Heat up the frying pan, without oil
  • Rub the oil on one side of the steak, season with salt and pepper
  • Once pan is smoking lower the heat to medium and place the oiled side steak on the pan
  • Heat up 1 min to raw, 2 min to medium raw, 3 minutes for medium, 4 minutes to well done
  • Oil and season other side and flip
  • Take of the pan onto the plate and wrap the plate in cling film, leave for 5 minutes
  • Serve with grilled asparagus and mash potatoes / home-made chips
  1. Chicken Pilaf Rice
  • Chop boneless, skinless chicken thighs into bite size pieces
  • Fry them until they will lose the pink color in a deep saucepan with 2 tbs of olive oil/ coconut oil
  • Add rice
  • Add Curry Sauce, stir everything together
  • Add 300ml of beef stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes
  • Add bag of frozen vegetables, boil for 5 minutes
  • Add the chopped bag of spinach, for 5 minutes.

In terms of quantities just stick to your daily calculated portion.

Remember, when you sign up as Individual, you can track your workout progress and write your Training Diary. You can also find alternative exercises explained with videos – for only £4.99 a month!

Good Luck and keep us updated on the progress towards your amazing summer body!

PTFolder Team

21 Weeks Body Challenge, Week 2

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Hi there

Here’s an update on the 21 weeks Body Challenge.

Workouts can be downloaded from www.PTFolder.com only, in Pre-Made Menu and they are called called 21 WBC; Phase 1;Week 2/3;Day 1&3 and 21 WBC; Phase 1;Week 2/3;Day 2&4 for Day 1 and Day 2 respectively.

We’re still in phase I (anatomical adaptation), but I wanted to introduce you to 2 different workouts, none of which involve circuits. Here’s some guidance on how best to do these:

– If you workout 2 days per week you have Day 1 and Day 2.

– If you workout 3 times per week: do Day 1 then Day 2 then back to Day 1 again

– If you workout 4 times per week: alternate between Day 1 and Day 2

– If you workout 5 times per week: do Day 1 then Day 2 then have a Cardio day for 45 minutes, then back to Day 1, Day 2

– If you workout 6 times per week: Day 1, Day 2, Cardio, Day 1, Day 2, Cardio.

Remember to always focus on the quality of movement: you should feel muscular tension throughout all the exercises.

The workouts are designed as follows:

– 1st exercise: done on its own so you perform 3 sets with a 60 second break in-between sets

– 2nd and 3rd exercises: is a superset, meaning you don’t take a break between them. You break after the 3rd exercise for a maximum of 90 seconds (I recommend 60 seconds for better results)

– 4th, 5th and 6th exercises: do these one after another with no or minimum breaks. Rest for a maximum of 90 seconds and repeat

– There are no strict rules for cardio days yet: have fun and break into a sweat for 45 to 60 minutes.

Workouts can be found ONLY on www.PTFolder.com in the Pre-Made Workouts section.

In terms of food, this is still pretty flexible for the time being. I hope you’re continuing to fill in your food diaries. These should help to identify if anything’s making you bloated or nauseous. Now’s the time to eliminate these. Last week’s challenge was to eat protein and vegetables with every meal and to drink 1litre of water per 4stone/25kilograms/55 pounds of current weight. Did you succeed? Feeling any better as a result? Your challenge this week is to give up all alcohol (yes you heard correctly) and to try and eat as much fresh produce as possible (that means no food that comes in tins or jars).

Are you also thinking about your target weight at the end of June 2013? What’s your goal? What’s your dream weight? Take a few more pics of yourself from the front, side and back so that you can visibly see your progress over time.

Can you do all the above? Then let’s get to work – amazing bodies and feeling great won’t simply come from reading this (sorry – I’m good but not that good!)

Workouts can be found ONLY on www.PTFolder.com in the Pre-Made Workouts section.

Greg Mikolap

21 Weeks Body Challenge Phase 1 Week 1/3 #21wbc

21 Week Body Challenge

21 weeks is a long time, I know. But every change starts with small steps and I’m going to be with you on this journey from the get-go. Starting with small daily steps in the right direction will snowball into massive changes in the last 8 weeks and you’ll lose a ton of fat & gain muscle along the way. Foundation is the key to a great structure and, man, you’re a superstructure!

Phase I (the first 3 weeks) is what I call ‘Anatomical Adaptation’. This phase prepares the muscles, tendons and ligaments for the hard work to come and corrects the imbalances in your body. Don’t be fooled – it won’t be an easy ride – but it will certainly be easier than the remaining 18 weeks (with the last 8 being a hardcore fat loss journey)!

In the first 3 weeks focus mainly on training a minimum of twice and maximum of 4 times per week with weights. If you want to train 6 times per week, you can do stretching and cardio sessions.

In terms of food, this phase is easy as you simply need to eat protein and green vegetables in every meal. So, eggs & asparagus for breakfast and chicken, pasta & salad for lunch and salmon, new potatoes and spinach for dinner. The choice is yours. Remember to drink a litre of water per 4stone/25kg/55lbs of your weight.

There’s some important homework for you to do: buy a small diary and write down everything you eat or drink – even bite size snacks count. Write down how much you had so you can review and see for yourself just how much you’re eating. No excuses – you need to jot down everything.

You also need to think about how much you want to lose or gain. This will be important as you need to have a clear goal of how you want to look in the next 21 weeks. Take a picture of you standing in front of the mirror, to the side and to the back as well. What do you want to see on 1 July 2013?

Ready? Go to www.PTFolder.com and download your pre-made workouts (workout name is: 21WBC Phase 1 Week1/3).

If you’re a TRIAL user you can download the workout onto your phone or print it out.

If you’ve signed up as an INDIVIDUAL you can set this workout on your calendar and write a Training Log and comments after each workout. I strongly encourage you to do so.

Your workout during the first week will be circuit training, which you can do 2 to 4 times a week (the more you train, the better the results will be). If you go to the gym more than 4 times per week, do steady cardio for 45-60 minutes on those extra days.

At this stage, 3 trips a week to the gym is fine.

In summary:

  • This is the first easy phase of the Challenge
  • Do this programme 2-4 times a week
  • Eat protein and green vegetables with every meal
  • Drink 1l of water per 4stone/25kg/55lbs of your current weight
  • Have a CLEAR goal of how much do you want to weight, ready for 3 weeks
  • Have a food diary and log what and how much you eat and drink
  • Download workouts from www.PTFolder.com
  • Best to register as Individual User, it will save you stress and time later.

Good Luck

Greg Mikolap

Are you Fat much?

I’m regularly asked whether people carrying significant excess fat should be doing lots of interval training. The answer, quite simply, is ‘no!’

Fitness tends go through phases: even stretching had a bad rep at some point when it was considered to be ineffective as muscles are too warm after a workout. Well, you’ll be pleased to hear it’s back in fashion. Go figure.

The same is true about aerobic exercises. Ask most trainers these days about doing aerobic exercises and chances are they’ll say that these cause your cortisol levels to rise and your stomach could become bigger. While there is an element of truth to this, we need to look at what type of fat the person has.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, chances are you’ve got fat underneath your belly. This is visceral fat, is located under your stomach muscles (yeap, you’ve still got those) and sits on your organs. The good news is that you can lose visceral fat quicker than the fat under your skin (subcutaneous fat). The good news keeps on coming as the best way to lose visceral fat is not through a torturous intervals regime but through steady aerobic exercise.

So, if you’ve just started going to the gym and have a lot of fat to lose, don’t worry about cortisol yet. Hop on a cardio machine for 30 to 60 minutes (you should be slightly out of breath after the workout but still able to talk). Or you could do weights: 15-20 repetitions per set, 3 sets with 60 second rest between sets.

Good luck!

For exercise selection go to www.ptfolder.com and register for free.

5 gym manners to follow

As the New Year is upon us, many people will turn to join their local gyms to get fit and stick with their New Year Resolutions (I wrote earlier how to make that happen CLICK HERE). Gyms are the kind of places with their own unwritten social rules that many newcomers may not know about!

So these are 5 most important points to remember:

  1. Wear appropriate clothing 

When you are training make sure to wear appropriate trainers/barefoot trainers, shorts or tracksuit bottoms and a comfortable training top. Gym is not a fashion house, so you can forget your make up. Please don’t wear bomber or ski hats! Also, your colours or brands don’t have to match. But more importantly, don’t train in flip flops, jeans and a sweater (yes, it does happen!). You will look like an idiot and will feel like one.

  1. Don’t shout/ swear with/ at other gym members / talk loudly on your phone 

Someone talking very loudly can be intimidating and/ or irritating, so please drop the conversation to a minimum level or at least keep it to yourself. No one else needs to know what you and your friends want to say to each other. Same with the mobile phone. It is very off putting for other gym users, so please switch it off before your workout or use it only to check what is your next exercise, for example, downloaded or created in www.PTFolder.com.

  1. Don’t hog the equipment and don’t leave your sweat behind 

During busy hours there can be very little space in the gym, so don’t be oblivious to other users. If you have a 2 minute break between sets, let other people who wait to use your piece of equipment and jump in when they are resting. This will smooth the traffic, gain you allies at your gym and will make it easier to find a spotter. Wipe CV or resistance equipment after you use it. It isn’t nice to use machine glazed in sweat. You can bring a towel with you to put on the bench that you are using.

  1. If you don’t know, ask 

If you have seen an exercise online, downloaded it from www.PTFolder.com or noticed someone doing something that looks good, but you are not sure if this will help your training and you don’t want to make fool of yourself, ask a professional. Sometimes asking your fellow gym goers will leave you with more questions than answers, so seek a qualified Trainer at your gym.

  1. Don’t be oblivious and put your weights back 

If you are big and strong enough to pick up the weights you are equally equipped to put it back.

There is nothing worse than wasting time taking the weights off the bar after someone has put 300kg to do calf raises or looking for a missing dumbell to the one you have.

One more thing about being oblivious – be aware of people around you! Don’t stand next to the guy who is about to Clean or lift the bar.

Happy GYMing and I hope that you will achieve all the goals you have set for yourself!

Greg Mikolap

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New Year Re(S)olution

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New Year’s Resolutions!

 

“People need revelation, and then they need resolution”

 

And it is coming round again! Are you looking at that small piece of paper you have in your wallet?

Did you tick off your resolutions? Or did paper and strong will get forgotten after January 2012?

 

Well, let’s make a deal – you and I – how about that? That didn’t work either? Ok, its time for a different approach then!

 

Resolutions fail because we set ourselves goals that are too ambitious,and that,combined with stress of everyday life, just won’t work. This is why people join bootcamps and go away to fitness retreats when they want to lose weight, because all they have to do is listen and apply, no cooking no preparation. Just sleep, eat what is in front of you and do what your trainer said.

 

BIN THE RESOLUTION!

 

Let’s rewrite the rules.

 

You will MINIMIZE your resolution and you will do it because it will MEAN something to you.

 

Sit down with a piece of paper, take a pen and start writing a list of things, character traits, behaviours that you want this year, not wish, WANT! Just keep writing for 1 minute

 

Your list may look like this:

  • Stop smoking
  • Start exercising more
  • Work less overtime
  • Spend more time with your family
  • Deadlift 200kg (that’s mine ;))
  • Wake up, don’t hit snooze button
  • Eat breakfast
  • Read more
  • Be nicer to people on the train

 

Now choose which one is the MOST important, mark them in groups,

A – I need to do/have this

B – My life would improve

C – It would be nice

 

And now mark them accordingly and HONESTLY, no one here will judge you, so let’s run by previous example (this is an example so don’t judge my values by this ;))

 

  • Stop smoking A
  • Start exercising more A
  • Work less overtime B
  • Spend more time with your family A
  • Deadlift 200kg (that’s mine ;)) C
  • Wake up, don’t hit snooze button C
  • Eat breakfast B
  • Read more B
  • Be nicer to people on the train C

 

Ok you are almost there, now prioritize further, discard the C’s (is it rude?) and rank the A’s

 

So, for example

  • Stop smoking A1
  • Spend more time with your family A2
  • Start exercising more A3
  • Work less overtime B
  • Eat breakfast B
  • Read more B

 

And now you have it! What is most important for you is to Stop Smoking, so what you do?

 

YOU DO ONE RESOLUTION at a time! For how long? Try 1 month and then reassess the list. Are you feeling good with your new resolution now it’s in place? Good! Then move on down the list and start doing A2, and so on until B’s become A’s. Don’t stress yourself if you don’t get to B’s this year, feel good about everything that you did!

Let it be your BEST YEAR EVER! Let me know how did you get on facebook.com/ptfolder and twitter @PT_Folder

SIGN UP to www.PTFolder.com for FREE for limited workout creation and ready made workouts or save 30% and sign up now for FULL MEMBERSHIP