CONSISTENCY AND PROGRESSION
"The hallmarks of successful training are consistency and progression". I use those two words often! Sometimes people believe that the level of commitment and effort that is required to get results is so severe that they can never attain or endure that intensity. That is why we encourage you to train consistently and progressively. Small and regular changes will often yield the best, most enduring results with the least amount of torture and discomfort. Radical changes can often be too much to overcome and lead to feelings of failure when they are not maintained. Small and regular fine tuning of one’s lifestyle, training and nutrition leads to success upon success! The key to attaining this success is to set a plan and program that is realistic enough that you can imagine yourself doing it forever! The only realistic way to approach your health and fitness is with a long term approach that is maintainable and enjoyable. It does no-one any good to establish a hard core routine that gets results in 4 weeks if those results cannot be maintained for the next four years or even four months! Plan consistent and progressive changes that can become a part of your lifestyle - forever!

TIP = TRAIN CONSISTENTLY
"There will often be times where you don’t feel like a workout but rarely times you regret having had one" RF.

TRICKS =
1. Plan it in - Make your routine part of your lifestyle - book it in like an important appointment that cannot be negotiated.
2. Be selfish - before you can be best for others you must be best for yourself.
3. Use Variety - Have 2 or 3 different workouts to use to keep it interesting.
4. Be Passionate - Put a little heart and soul into what you are doing - therein lies real strength and motivation and challenge.
5. Keep it brief - A 20 minute workout 3 times per week is better than 2 hours once per fortnight
6. See a Personal Trainer - Having a real appointment really does motivate you to get there and also helps you be more accountable to get yourself there at other times.
7. Have a motivated workout buddy - Not a de-motivated workout buddy. Agreeing to go with someone to the gym makes you more accountable also.
8. Try classes - great for variety and a social atmosphere and accountability
9. Ask for support - ask your work or family to help you get there. What’s good for you is good for them
10. Employ force of habit - NIKE! Just do it! Sometimes you have to do it even if when you don’t feel like it - you’ll never regret you did but you will regret if you don’t.

TIP = TRAIN PROGRESSIVELY
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything" George Bernard Shaw.
TRICKS =
1. Be open to change - physical progress requires mental progress and an attitude of belief and acceptance of what must change, why and by when.
2. Baby Steps - Plan small steps towards your goal. Don’t aim to achieve everything in the first month or you will feel that you have failed. Allow yourself small successes and build upon your success towards your ultimate goals.
3. Write it down - This is a must to know if you are progressing. If you ran 1km last month and 2km this month you know you are on track. Internal change (fitness) happens before external change (fat loss) so be patient and stay consistent.
4. Expect Obstacles - If you miss a week you haven’t failed. You have never failed unless you give up. It is perfectly normal to try to change several times before succeeding.
5. Have a support Network - Find a personal trainer, workout buddy, friend, family or colleague that will help you will stay accountable to your goals
6. Challenge Yourself - Sometimes just turning up is enough - BUT - sometimes you have to push through barriers and do things you didn’t know you could!
7. Set Training Goals - Don’t just focus on your body. Set some goals for what you can do (run 5km, lift 50kg). Form follows function so if you create a body that can perform better - it will also look better.
8. Train with someone stronger than you - Try to keep up with someone that currently performs better than you. They will naturally challenge you.
9. Get your butt kicked - Try a boot camp or ask your personal trainer to kick your butt. No matter how many magic pills, potions, diets or machines come along - there is no substitute for good old fashioned hard work. Form follows function.
10. Measure your progress - What gets measured gets done. If you want better fitness - do fitness tests. If you want to be smaller - take measurements.

"From Sacrifice, bliss" RF

1. Take Control - I understand this may not be easy for some but the fact is that we are all responsible for our own thoughts, feelings and emotions. Except in extreme circumstances - we can take control of these things and train our minds (just like muscles) to become stronger, more durable and more positive.

2. Make a habit of exercising - "Healthy body, healthy mind". Not only does exercise make you feel good physically and emotionally it also encourages positive hormones to be released in your body and brain.

3. Eat right - "You are what you eat" A diet of junk and nutrient poor food starves your body and brain of nutrients they need to function properly and feel good.

4. Be realistic/flexible - Accept that there will be setbacks, successes and failures. It is natural to go and up and down with one’s motivation and emotion and it is natural that the best laid plans with often be interrupted. Accept frustration and find solutions or just keep moving forward despite them.

5. Develop disciplines - Change requires change! Meaning if you want to be more positive - you have to do something that will result in more positivity - like reading a book! You need to develop disciplines of learning the things you need to learn or exercising or eating better or sleeping better or all of the above! Just be careful not to try to do it all at once! Take baby steps.

6. Baby steps - Sometimes when we look at what we can improve - numerous things appeal to us or confront us! Pick the one or three most important things you want to change and start with - trying to do too much can be a recipe for disaster.

7. Be grateful - an attitude of gratitude attracts positivity! Gratitude involves positive thought and therefore creates a state of mind of looking for more positives. Find anything to appreciate - your time, body, friends, things, weather, life!

8. Smile - "when you smile the whole world smiles with you - when you’re sad you are alone" quite simply you get what you give - if you can give some positivity in a smile - you will get some positivity back!

9. Use Positive affirmations - Positive affirmations can be a great way to train your mind and change some thought patterns. Try to choose your three most self-limiting thoughts and train yourself to turn those thoughts into uplifting thought! (e.g. instead of "I’ll always be fat" - affirm to yourself "I am getting fitter and leaner by the day and I will be proud to achieve my goal weight of 80kgs by July 30 2011"

10. Relieve stress/anger - It is hard to avoid stress and anger so it is important to have some mechanisms to relieve these negatives. Have some strategies in place - talk to your partner/friend/trainer, go for a walk/swim, do a weights or boxing session - find something you enjoy and have it available when needed.

11. Remove stress - This may not always be possible but quite often it is! If you can avoid a stressful situation then do! Or if you have a problem hanging over your head - deal with it. Sometimes delaying confrontation can be more stressful than the confrontation itself.

12. Find passions/talents - We all have something special about us. Find and develop your talents or passions. You don’t have to be the best in the world in what interests you but if you can find something to do that you deeply enjoy doing - this can be a great outlet and can build great peace and strength.

13. Act - don’t react - Being proactive can mean taking the imitative in different circumstances. (e.g. instead of waiting for ill-health to inspire you to get fit - you can get fit before ill-health comes. On a deeper level being proactive means realising that "Between what happens to us - and how we react to what happens to us - is our ability to choose our response". To me this means that in any given situation we have the ability to control what we do - no matter what happens to us - we can choose how we will act.

14. Look for humour - "Life is too important to be taken seriously" A little humour and laughter will lighten your day and those around you - but make sure it’s not sarcasm or at your own and anyone else’s expense.

15. Learn something - Read positive or inspiring books, learn a language, learn about health and fitness or positive mental attitudes. A little time learning can be both developmental, inspiring and relaxing.

16. Prioritise yourself - before you can be best for others you need time to be best for yourself. This may mean time out to go to the gym or see friends or read. If you are giving too much of yourself and not enjoying it - then you need to make time for yourself first!

17. Find meaning - You are in grave danger when you get me started on "meaning" but basically this means find yourself some "philosophy". This could be a religion or it could just be some guiding thoughts that help you feel connected to yourself, your life, this world and those around you. Find yourself a purpose for living - it could be to help others, be the best? you can be or just to live a happy life. Be careful - if you don’t seek a philosophy - you will get one by default!

18. Use audio books - Listening to audio can be a great way to learn, relax and grow and you can do it almost anywhere - whilst driving, riding, walking, cleaning etc. If you don’t enjoy reading - try listening!

19. Wake early - Wake up with a purpose for the day! Sleeping all day 10 -12 hours or more can be as harmful as not enough sleep and is certainly not motivating. Don’t over-sleep.

20. Sleep well - Try to get at least 7- 8 hours of sleep per night. This is the minimum for good health but you don’t need any more than 10 hours in most cases.

21. Make plans - Plan your life, plan your year, plan your month, plan your week, plan your day! Having plans let’s you decide what you will be doing and why and can keep you on a positive path! If you don’t choose what you want in your life - somebody else will choose for you.

22. Connect with positive people - Sometimes you need to put yourself in a position where you will find good influences. Visit a church or a social group or sports group or gym.

23. Get better, not bitter - realise that we can’t always control what life pushes our way but we can always control what we do with what we’ve got!