Sticking to your diet and exercise program

Well say goodbye to January - that's approx 1/12 of the year gone already. How have your resolutions to finally get in shape this year been going? Resolve starting to fail you? Is your diet getting too restrictive and your new gym program too boring?

Well it appears you're not alone. By the end of this week hundreds of thousands of broken souls around the world will be back on their processed carbohydrate diets, and never darken the door of their gym again - many of them locked into long term payment contracts. Why is it that so many people know how good healthy eating and activity is for them, and are even prepared to pay some globo-gym a hundred bucks a month and only get a 'free' t-shirt to remind them of their failure?

The answer, I think, is because they hate it.

They hate making tuna salad every day to take to work in a tupperware container for everyone to say 'Ooh are you on a diet', and 'WHAT are you EATING?!'
They hate being in a gym where everyone seems to know what that machine with the cables and metal arm thingy seems to do except you. And between the meatheads dropping weights, the plastic surgery addicted cardio bunnies and the personal trainer who wont help you unless you sign up for 10 paid sessions, you don't really feel comfortable here, especially when you've just busted your ass at work for 10 hours.

As I said before, everyone knows diet and exercise is good for you. So how does the person in the above example get around these issues?

They need to find a way to enjoy it.

Okay that's not very revolutionary is it? Sorry, what did you expect? Because if you want to be fit, lean and healthy there is still no magic pill on the market that will take the place of eating right and exercising - Big Pharma is trying to find it though, believe me.

So until then, the only way to continue with your New Years resolutions all the way till next January, and beyond is to find a way to enjoy yourself.

• If you hate the gym join a bootcamp or group fitness class.

• If you have trouble sticking to a diet, do some research and find out how to compromise your tastes with a nutrition plan that meets your goals.

• Take up a new sport, find a workout buddy to keep you company and motivate you. Learn a language, or listen to an audiobook on your ipod while you are jogging.

• Buy a dog and walk it. (I better not see it at the SPCA in a year though!)

• Learn a new recipe or try a new healthy food every week - invite friends to participate in a healthy pot luck once or twice a week and share nutrition tips you've learned.

There's no way around the fact that you need to move more and eat better. But if you are hating the process, you're doomed to failure.

Find a way to enjoy it.

Kickstart 2009

So we're almost three weeks into 2009 - but are your exercise and dietary habits still on holiday? If you drank a little too much and ate a few too many Christmas chocolates over the holidays, you may be finding it hard to rediscover your discipline - I know I am. That's why I've kicked off the year with a detox.

Now before you think I've gone all Oprah on you, I'm not recommending the type of detoxes pushed by most of the so called diet gurus out there. I'm simply suggesting going cold turkey on all the junk in your diet. I'm spending 2 weeks eating only protein shakes containing lean protein, healthy fats and a ton of fibre. After exercise I'll have a solid meal of lean protein and lots of veggies.

Why not try something similar? You don't have to do what I'm doing. How about you cut out all processed carbohydrate, sugar, alcohol and fast food for two weeks? Come on it's not that tough to do just 14 days is it? Trust me you'll feel great at the end, you'll eliminate the hold that the Xmas Crap Food has fastened on you, and maybe you'll continue for a little longer into the new year once you feel the benefits.

Train like Lance Armstrong

Endurance athletes don't need to lift weights right? It'll make them all muscle bound, heavy and slow wont it?

Guess someone forgot to tell one of the greatest endurance athletes ever........

This picture of Lance was published in the New York Daily recently.

It highlights perfectly a few principles I push regarding fitness training.

Get out of the gym
Lance trains in his garage at home. This way he has no excuse for not being able to get to the gym. It's right there morning or night. Even if you only have a few minutes, you can put them to good use. Avoid the crowds, the boofheads and the queue for equipment. Or why not get along to a nearby park for a workout. The change of scenery and fresh air will do you the world of good.
Hey, I OWN a gym, and I still think it's good advice. We always get our big roller door up for a bit of 'outdoor flow'.

Forget about machines
Lance is swinging a kettlebell in this pic (a favourite tool in our Crossfit NZ workouts), and in the back ground is a squat rack and a glute ham bench. NO MACHINES in sight!! Many cyclists are convinced they need leg extensions and leg presses to build strength specific to their sport; but functional exercises such as squats and deadlifts have much more carryover to sport even they don't resemble the sport at all.

Lift heavy
Sure you're an endurance athlete, but that doesn't mean you need to do hundreds of reps in the gym. Take care of that side of things on your bike, and when you're lifting, lift heavy to build the strength and power that will carry you up hills and over the finish line in front of a bunch sprint.

Workouts that include more time in the anaerobic energy systems will also allow you to cut down on junk miles while still improving your aerobic capacity.

And if those aren't enough reasons for you to lift free weights.......take another look at the six pack you'll get........

Keeping fit during an economic downturn

With the local and global economy being somewhat depressed many well meaning authors are urging people who are feeling the pinch to, among other money saving ideas, quit their gym memberships. The alternative according to these money experts is to go for a walk instead. Well you and I both know how ineffective walking is for keeping fit and healthy. And unfortunately, you know that I think a gym membership isn't that great either - seeing as most people don't even use theirs, or waste their time with ineffective training programs.

I say do the opposite. If you are under a lot of stress you can either let yourself get out of shape, which will magnify the effect that stress has upon you, and let your now failing health become another problem to deal with, or you can meet the financial crisis head on and make sure that you are fit and strong enough to perform well at your job and maximise your earning power.

Personally I think that everyone has a responsibility to their families to be as healthy and fit as possible - anything less is unfair to your children, spouse or parents. Why should they have to see you die early from factors that are completely preventable?

Sure hiring a trainer for 3-4 sessions a week could cost a packet over time. If I was training you one-on-one you would have handed over about $1500 before the month was out. You’d be in bloody good shape mind you……….but as this post is about money – why not hire a personal trainer to just write you a good program and progression plan each month and meet up with them each month to have someone to answer to, get a review of your progress and a new plan. Now it’s looking more like $150 a month, and you should still get some decent results.

Or why not find a gym that offers semi-private (one instructor to 2, 3 or 4 clients) or group sessions? If it’s well run, you will find you get just as much attention from the coach and the extra people around will make you lift your game a notch. People tell me they’re not competitive, but once they’re side by side with someone else, they end up working harder than ever before.

The best news of all – small group fitness is more affordable than private training. So you get a more effective workout, a social interaction (which let’s face it, we all need if under a bit of pressure at work), for a bargain price. What are you waiting for?