Simplify, and Improve

Many people struggle with motivation at this time of year. You feel as if you are not only no longer progressing, but actually losing ground as well, getting worse. One of the main reasons I have seen for this is too many goals. If you try to do too many things, you end up not being able to truly focus on any of them, and your training just goes nowhere.

If you find yourself in this predicament, make it simple again. Choose ONE goal. Don't be afraid that you'll lose everything else, because you won't. Pick one goal, something like deadlifting twice your bodyweight, performing a chest height standing jump, 10 minutes of kettlebell long cycle clean & jerk without stopping, anything really - but focus on only one of the physical goals you do want to achieve.

You will find that as you progress towards and eventually reach that one goal, not only will your motivation return, but your physicality will increase in other areas alongside your chosen goal.

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

Alex Kay Grimmer

Contact me for Kettlebell classes and Personal Training in Southend-on-sea.

Contact & location details are on my website: BODYQUESTPT

Diets

So many people out there want to lose 'weight', (really what they want is to lose fat, but let's not split hairs for now), so they go on a diet. I have lost count of how many people have told me that they are on a diet, and for every single one of them, it is not the first time that they are “on a diet”.

Now don't get me wrong, watching what you are eating and doing your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition is a great idea, I am all for it. What I am against is diets. Diets do not work. It is that simple. If you tell me they are, because you lost x amount of weight the last time you were on a diet, you are fooling yourself. Unless you have maintained and will continue to maintain your new size, shape,weight with ease, your diet failed. A diet will never work, because it is designed to be temporary. The minute you go back to your old habits, you will re-assume you old size, shape, weight, etc.

Think of diets as training wheels. They are an aid to help teach you how to do something on your own – without thinking about it; without having to draw up a complicated plan. You learn something by using them, then you go on and do it on your own, without the training wheels.

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

Alex Kay Grimmer

Contact me for Kettlebell classes and Personal Training in Southend-on-sea.

Contact & location details are on my website: BODYQUESTPT

Choices

One of the biggest problem we face nowadays is choice. When there is no choice, you go with whatever is in front of you, and think nothing of it. Whilst sometimes having a choice can be great, when you have too many choices, it just makes life unnecessarily complicated and stressful. 30 years ago having a television was a big deal (South Africa only started a television service in 1976!). Today if you don't have a television you are living in a cave, and how many different choices do we face when buying a television? Flat screen, LCD, Plasma, HDMI, HD, 3D, etc... We live in a consumer driven market, and not only are more and more companies trying to get a share in the market (for your cash), but existing companies are trying desperately to expand their market-share by offering additional products and also more diversity therein. We don't need more! All this 'more' is there to try and lure you into making an additional purchase that you didn't yesterday. The choices (more often than not) exist not to benefit you, but the line the wallets of someone else. What has this got to do with health & fitness you might say? Everything!

How many different diets are out there? All 'scientifically-proven' to work, all saying that they are the only way to being healthy & looking good. From Vegan to Paleo to Atkins – who do you believe? Exercise is equally confusing. Should I be using an elliptical in a commercial gym, or should I be battling ropes like John Brookefield? Should I be curling and pressing barbells, or swinging and cleaning kettlebells? Maybe I should just be using my own bodyweight and training outdoors, or should I use resistance bands in a pilates studio? In the fitness industry we are bombarded with more and more information. We are suffering from information overload – enough already!

So what's the answer? Well the choices we have won't go away, so the answer is simply not to get bogged down in trying to decide which is best. Pick what appeals to you and go with it. Forget about wondering if you should have picked something else. Just make sure you pick something that suits you, your lifestyle and your needs. If you just want a great beach body, lift iron like Arnold. If brutal, sweaty sessions are your thing, try Crossfit. If you need something to balance a hectic lifestyle, try yoga or Tai Chi. If you want a great all-rounder, try Kettlebells. As far as nutrition goes, just cut out the junk & processed foods and you're pretty much there.

Keep it as simple as you can. In the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

Alex Kay Grimmer

For BodyQuest Kettlebell classes and Personal Training in Southend-on-sea, you can contact me HERE

The Importance Of Recovery

This post is directed at those of us who love exercise, who exercise regularly, who can't get enough of it. We thrive on the pump, the burn, the sweaty state we are left in after a grueling workout. Of course we are rewarded with the increase in performance, our bodies getting stronger, fitter, more mobile & flexible, greater endurance, and of course, we love to look better too! Whilst I love exercise as much as the next athlete, too many athletes fail to realise (or just forget/don't think about) is that exercise is catabolic – it breaks our bodies down. In order to achieve the anabolic effects we are really after, our bodies require rest in order to recover. We don't change or grow in the gym, we do so afterwards when we are resting. Too many athletes train too often. 

Think of a fighting video game; your character has a life or energy bar, and as you burn energy (or in the game, get attacked) that depletes down until you have nothing left – and you die. Of course real life isn't quite as dramatic, but the same system is in place. You have a finite amount of expendable energy. Everything you do takes some of that energy, and not just the physical activities, but the emotional & mental activities as well. If you are stressed, that will sap your energy. Yes, exercise is great for counter-acting stress, but that is another topic of discussion entirely. If you work a physical job like a builder and then train 7 days a week Crossfit style (for example, nothing against Crossfit, but it is the most brutal system that comes to mind!) you are heading for trouble. Without adequate recovery you energy levels will never fully recover, and you will have less in the tank for the next session. Eventually you will suffer as a result. Call it burnout, call it adrenal fatigue, call it what you want - it's the same thing.

So what is the solution? Plan your workouts around your recovery. Not the other way around.

Here is a great method of assessing how well you are coping with your routine:

Every day assess how good you feel (recovery) on a scale of 1-10 (1 being horrible and 10 being super-charged), then assess your workout on a scale of 1-10 (1 being as easy as reaching for the TV remote and 10 feeling like you have melted into a pool of sweat and blood under a ton of iron). If you keep a record of your recovery and your workout intensity, you will soon see if your workouts are taking too much out of you (or maybe that you aren't working hard enough!).

If your recovery is always high and your workout always low, step it up.

If your recovery is always low and your workout always high, dial it down a notch.

Plan your workouts around your recovery always.

Challenge everything, especially yourself.

Alex Kay Grimmer

For BodyQuest Kettlebell classes and Personal Training in Southend-on-sea, you can contact me HERE

Personal Training Southend-on-sea

Are you interested in reaching your physical potential? Would you like to develop authentic strength, to be as strong, if not stronger, than you look? At BodyQuest Personal Training I train my clients, as well as myself, for authentic strength, cardio that just won't quit, and amazing mobility. My quest is for "strength-in-motion", and I can help you achieve it too. Using unconventional tools like kettlebells, ropes, Indian clubs, medicine balls, jumping platforms, tires, hammers.... etc.. you can and will get twice the results in half the time of conventional mainstream gym training.

If you are ready to challenge yourself, I guarantee you twice the results in half the time.

No gimmicks - No secrets - Just genuine results

Come & discover THE TRUTH about health & fitness

Contact me via my website, BodyQuestPT, to get the results you want!

Challenge Everything, Especially Yourself

Alex Kay Grimmer

Kettlebell Classes Southend-on-sea

Kettlebell classes are a great way to burn fat, build strength, increase mobility and develop cardio that just won't quit! If you are bored with your current workout and fancy trying something fun & challenging, come down to the BodyQuest Studio in Southend-on-sea and take things up a notch! Here is the current class timetable, although I can and do put on private classes for groups that would like to train outside of the below times.

Tuesday: 7pm

Thursday: 7pm

Saturday: 8AM - coming soon!


Please contact me to book in for the classes. Spaces are limited, classes are popular, so book in to avoid disappointment!

Contact & location details are on my website: CLICK HERE!

Challenge everything, especially yourself!
Alex Kay Grimmer

What's the most important thing in the gym?

The most important thing in any gym is Space. The minute you put equipment in a space, that space becomes dedicated to that piece of equipment. This is never more true than in a commercial gym where the piece of equipment is something like a leg press machine. Now that space can only ever be used to leg press. This is not to say that your gym must be empty – far from it. You need equipment, things like kettlebells, ropes, jumping platforms, clubs, hammers & tires. But don't get sucked into thinking about equipment first. Think about space. Space to DO stuff – swing kettlebells, flip tires, undulate ropes, throw medicine balls, do burpees, duck-walking, handstands, etc. Space is your most valuable asset in the gym. Space to DO things.

Challenge Everything, Especially Yourself!

Alex Kay Grimmer.

Thanks to Matt Schifferle, The Fit Rebel, for inspiration!