5 simple ways to increase the intensity of your workout

Do you ever sit there wondering to yourself, is this program ever going to work? Do you even think to yourself could I have worked harder or pushed myself a bit more? If the answer was yes then the chances are you could increase the intensity of your workout to get more out of it.

So here are 5 ways in which you can do this:

1.Change the tempo of your reps: instead of doing a tempo of 1 sec down and 1 sec up, try doing it slowly for a count of 4 secs down and then hold for 2 secs then explode to the start position. Keep changing the tempo every time to mix up your workout and also take the boredom out of it.

2.Do super sets: with super sets you can save so much more time and get more done in your session. You can do an upper body exercise then followed by a lower body exercise and keep alternating them for the required sets. While one body part is working the other is resting. Due to no rest between sets this will increase intensity.

3.Reduce your resting time: This sounds obvious but how often do you see people do a set and then wonder off for 2-3 minutes, come back have a chat, then pick the weights up to do another set. You are better off staying at home if you do this unless you are lifting extremely heavy weight. Let your rest be 20-30 seconds if you dont want to do super sets

4.Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): On a scale of 1-10, you got to be honest with yourself here, rate yourself how hard you are actually working. 1 being no effort and 10 being maximal effort. Aim to always be around 8-10.

5.Do your Personal Best(PB) ever time:This is my favourite. Try to do better than your previous workout. Push your boundries to see what you can achieve. You would be surprised how much you would be able to do.The more you push yourself the better you become, the better you become the closer you get to your goal.

Train like an athlete or better yet train like a warrior.

'The more you sweat in training the less you will bleed in battle'

Until next time....

Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Keep Faith

www.pspersonaltrainers.ning.com

Weight training for women

Many women think that they will end up muscle bound if they lift more than the lightest of dumbbells.

Actaully you WON'T!!!

Unless you make it your life's mission to do so and possibly resort to measures that I would not say.

It is OK and safe for women to lift heavier weights on resistance machines or better yet on free weights. Women are much more likely to get better and quicker results from increasing the amount of weights they lift. It will improve their body shape, funtional strength to do daily activities, and reduce body fat.

Just what every woman wants!!!

Why is it better to add weight exercises to your fat loss program?

You have probably read all sorts of things in mags and heard various ways to lose weight from friends and the so called experts in the gym, but you are not going to like this, long slow slow boring cardio takes forever to get results.

After a cardio session, the body recovers very quickly, so the only time you are burning calories is actually when you are on whatever machine you are on. Instead of doing long boring cardio try some high intensity interval training (HIIT). A simple 20 minutes of intervals work wonders. When you do your intervals make sure it is a very high intensity of about 80-90% of you MHR (max heart rate) or on a scale of 1-10 and ten being hard you need to be at least 8-9.

When you add your resistance program to your HIIT workout, you can burn calories up to 24hrs later from this same workout.

Isn't that great!!

Because you are working in your anaerobic threshhold, your metabolism reamins elevated when you have finished your workout. This afterburn is called excess post-exercise consumption (EPOC). So while you are relaxing on the sofa you can be still burning those calories from your session earlier that day.

Why free weights?

• free weights are more funtional than fixed weights
• you go through a greater range of movement
• greater selection of exercises
• can be adated to any person
• quicker results

What should I do?

Women should lift heavier weight as I said earlier. For greatest results you should change your program every 4 weeks and vary the reps and sets each week. This will keep things fresh and you would not get bored.

Variety is the spice of life!!!

Your reps and sets over a 4 week cycle will look like this:

Wk 1: 3 sets 8 reps
Wk 2: 4 sets 6 reps
Wk 3: 6 sets 4 reps
Wk 4: 3 sets 12 reps

Make sure to work to overload your muscles. Overload refers to the point when you find it difficult to do your last couple of reps without cheating or using bad technique. Doing this will chalenge your muscles to get the best results.

Lastly, working bady parts, like your tummy, in an attempt to reduce fat is not the best workout strategy. You CANNOT 'spot' reduce fat. You will get teh best results from a workout program that work your large muscle groups, such as push ups, squats, lunges, dead lifts.... All these exercises recruit more than one muscle group working at the same time.

So there you go. You know what you need to do so get cracking. Go have a great workout now.

Until next time.....

Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Keep Faith

www.pspersonaltrainers.ning.com

My workout....

Ok so was up early today and had my day planned.

I recently done my Kettlebell course and enjoyed every moment of it. It was a great expereience and I was looking forward to using them and mastering the technique of it. I orderd 2 Kettlebells and received them over the weekend.

So this morning bright and early I was up and doing my workout. This is what it consist of:

30 swings
30 push ups
30 squats
30 snatches
30 windmills
30 swings

I was half dead after that but felt great.

Until next time....

Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Keep Faith

www.pspersonaltrainers.ning.com

Are you Still focused on your Goals???

Ok so here is what is happening with me.....

I have been loosing focus on my goals a bit over the last 2wks. Last week my nutrition has not been great. Honestly it has been terrible!!! I think I might have even put on few pounds.....

Hmmm not good :(





The good thing is I have put a stop to it by going back to some fundamentals. I have made my grocery list for the week and also planned what I will be eating every day this week. Monday to Sunday, exactly what time and exactly what I will eat. Its all about preparation.This will keep me focused and also get me back on track again and not eating the things I know I should not be eating.

We all lose focus of our goals at times. We are human after all. When this happens sit back, accept that you have gone off track a bit and do whatever you need to do to get back on track. Going back to basics usually works. Remember what you want to achieve from your goals. Your goal is only achieved once you have achieved the desired results.

Until next time....

Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Keep Faith

What The Secret Didn't tell you

Have you seen the movie The Secret?

If you have you'll know that it practically became the goal-achievement 'bible' overnight due to it's very simple, yet very powerful message about how you can be, do and have practically anything in life that you want as long as you do one or two key things.

They are:

1. Think about what you want on a regular basis

2. Think about it positively

That was it really.

That was the 'secret' of The Secret!

Now, I'm not knocking this at all, far from it. First off, most people (myself included) can be really unfocused and unclear about what they want and spending some time focusing can be really beneficial, right?

And thinking positive, well, that's just obvious isn't it? After all, going through life with a dark cloud over your head is not really going to help you feel good about even STARTING your goals, let alone achieving them is it?

So I've no real problems with the advice that The Secret shares, it makes sense and, truth be told, thousands of people have already gone on to achieve great things as a result of following this simple advice, but again, there are a lot of people who couldn't seem to make it work for them and are now dismissive of the who goal achievement 'thing'.

Maybe you're one of them?

I certainly used to be.

I tried thinking positive and holding my goals in my thoughts but still, the bills piled up and the same old hassles that were always in my life before were still there so I did what most people would do. I gave up the whole goal-setting thing as a waste of time.

That is until I came across (yet another) goal achievement program that was saying some things that were very different to what I'd been hearing from the thoughts become things crowd.

In fact, this program said that thoughts DON'T become things, but rather, they could become things, but not necessarily.

It jokingly explained that if thoughts really did automatically become thingsthen most teenage boys would materialise pretty young girls into their bedrooms. After all, this is what's on their minds most of the time, right? : )

Sounds funny, I know, but it struck a chord. After all, if thinking clearly of something that's important to you, holding it in your mind and thinking about it a lot works to bring goals to life, then it should work, right?


And as to thinking positive...

I'd always been told that thinking positive was a critical step to making your goals come to life, but again in this program I was told that this simply wasn't true. After all, if being positive made your goals come to life you should be able to sit in the middle of a busy road, smile and say 'I won't get hit, I won't get hit, I won't get hit" and sure enough, all the trucks will completely miss you.

Not a strategy that I think I'd like to try : )


It all makes sense doesn't it?

The idea that you can't just put on a happy face, think about your goals and have them come to life?I think so anyway : )

So what's the real 'secret' to goal achievement?

Well, I guess it's simply that there isn't one. Not as in one hidden thing that once exposed will bring your goals to life. It's more a case of having a strategy that is proven to work rather than relying on hope or wishful thinking.

What's the strategy?

It's coming... I promise!

In fact, I've persuaded Dax Moy, author of The Magic Hundred to spill the beans right here on my blog over the next week so DEFINITELY stay tuned.

Speak soon!

Gavin De Souza


P.S - Don't forget to leave your own comments about this post. What do YOU think are the not-so-secret secrets to achieving success?

Make a change

Hi

What were you doing 77days ago?

I know, funny question, but there is a point, you see, today is day 76 of 2009 which means that 77 days ago you were celebrating New Year’s Eve and, like most people, you were setting up your New Year’s Resolutions and goals.

And look, here we are at day 76 already.

Time goes by pretty quick, huh?

But I’m not just mailing you to act as some kind of timekeeper or clockwatcher, rather I wanted to share with something that I’ve been thinking about a lot this week.

You see, it recently dawned on me that, we’re already approaching the end of the first quarter of 2009 and that many of the goals I’d set for myself this year haven’t even been started. In truth, many of them haven’t even been thought about.

It’s not like they’re not important to me. They are, many of them would REALLY change my life for the better if I could bring them to life but, well, I just haven’t seemed to get around to them.

I bet you’re the same right?

I bet you have a huge list of things that you KNOW would absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt change your life for the better, yet you haven’t taken a single, solitary action on them, right?

Weird isn’t it?

For instance in my own life I know that these goals are important to me:

1. To get my body fat to under 15%. This is important to me as it will keep me in tip top shape

2. To learn to do presentations/public speaking. This is impotrtant to me to create more clients for my my business

3. To do a new course every 3-4 months. This is important to to keep me updated with what is happening in the industry and keep my workouts fresh. I actually completed this on day 20. I have just completed an Extreme Kettlebell course

4. Prepare meals for the wk on a Sunday. This is important as its all set out and I know what i will be eating on any day and I dont have to worry about eating things I know I should not be eating.

5. Drink 2-3L of water a day. This is important as it will keep me hydrated.

Most likely you’ve got a bunch like this too haven’t you?

For example, what financial goals did you set for yourself on New Year’s Eve?

What about your health goals? I KNOW you had a bunch of those!

How about adventures? We all want to travel more and experience more and I bet you had set some goals in this department, right?

Not to mention relationships, education, family and career goals.

I bet you had a bunch, yet where are you with them?

That’s not a rhetorical question, I mean it. Where are you with these goals?

Did you achieve them as you said you would?

More to the point, did you even START them?

I know that I didn’t even BEGIN many of the goals I set at the start of the year. I know they’re important to me, I know they’ll change my life in more positive ways than I can even begin to tell you but for some strange reason, I haven’t even begun to chase them yet.

Like I said, weird.

So look, I’ve got this mad, crazy idea.

I want to help you achieve YOUR goals over the course of this year and I want you to keep ME on track. Sound like a fair deal?

It starts today.

Tell me what your most important, most pressing goals are and I’ll tell you mine and (hopefully) together we can see 2009 through in great style.

Of course, you could simply ignore this and pass it off as silly but, well, that’ll just mean that the next 76 days are just like the first, and the ones after that, and the ones after that.

I need help to bring my goals to life.

So do you.

So let’s do this!

Gavin De Souza

http://www.pspersonaltrainers.ning.com/

The MAGIC Hundred

P.S – I got my idea for this email from my friend Dax Moy, Author of The MAGIC Hundred. I’m glad he kicked me in the butt today : )

25 Randam Facts about me

Hey how are you all.

Just a few facts about me. Are you brave enough to put yours up. Step out of your comfort zone and list your 25 Randam facts.

Here are mine:1.My name is Gavin Spencer De Souza

2.I was born in Hammersmith London

3.Grew up on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad where I moved to when I was about 1 year old (well I think it was about 1 year old)

4.I was born on 30th December 19765.I have a son. His name is Kaydon. He was born on 23 Feb 2004

6.I have an older brother Marc and a younger sister Kristen

7.I moved back to the UK in 1998

8. I received a part scholarship to attend Ashland University in America to play soccer as the Americans call football

9.I still don’t have a driving license at the young age of 32 (working on it though)

10.Favourite colour is blue

11.I represented Trinidad against Mexico in a game of football at under16 level and also played cricket against an England under 16 team

12.I have played sport all my life

13.I never liked to wear clothes when I was very young

14.I get very grumpy when I am hungry

15.I had dreadlocks for 5 years

16.My girlfriend Gemma passed away from Leukaemia on Christams Eve 2008 while we were in Trinidad on holiday. She did not know she had Leukaemia

17.I moved to Bournemouth in September 2008

18.I have done a multi-sport triathlon which consist of a 4mile Kayak, 10mile run and a 20 mile mountain bike ride. Took me over six hours and I burnt over 6000 calories

19.I have never done any sport on snow

20.My favourite number is 20

21.My parents live in Trinidad

22. I was a Head Prefect in High School

23.I was voted Sports Personality of the Year at my High School

24.Never been drunk…well at least I cant remember

25.I miss Gemma with all my heart

Untill next time…

Stay Strong, Stay Focused and Keep Faith

www.pspersonaltrainers.ning.com

The Blame Game

Whose fault is it that you're out of shape?

If you go by what you hear in diet ads then you believe that it's anyone's fault but yours.

The big diet companies think that if they put the blame on you, then you wouldn't buy their bogus pills. So they put the blame on your cortisol levels, your modern diet (ie fast food), or your busy schedule instead of where it belongs - which is squarely on your shoulders.

Sure, you have obstacles that get in your way - your schedule, your job, your kids, the weather, your knee injury from college...but ultimately you have the body that you accept.

I'm going to repeat that so it will really sink in.

You have the body that you accept.

Embracing the blame for your current weight is not a bad thing - it's empowering. Think about it. If it really wasn't your fault, if it really was due to a long list of variables that you have zero control over, then you'd be stuck. You'd have no way to change.

The Secret Behind 'Before and After' Pictures

Allow me to pull back the curtain for you on something that the diet industry doesn't want you to know. You've seen countless before and after pictures documenting weight loss as a result of a diet product. Well, there is more involved than just the diet product, and it's the same across the board.

Look into the eyes of any person in their before picture and you'll see that they are disturbed. The body they have is no longer in sync with the body they can accept.

They changed the body that they accept.

Now look into their eyes in the after picture - see the sweet satisfaction? They now own the body that they decided they could accept. And what a great feeling that is.

Your Time To Transform

Whether you realize it or not, you already posses everything you need to transform your body, but it all starts with taking responsibility for the body that you have today. You have your current body because until this moment you've been OK with it.

Oh sure, you aren't thrilled with it, and you even talk about losing weight and getting fit, but you haven't changed what you'll accept.

Here's how to transform your body in 3 steps:

Step One: Get Disturbed

You've heard it said that emotion creates motion. This is essential when it comes to losing weight. Just like those folks in the before pictures, to transform your body you must first decide that you can't live another day in the body you currently have.

It's time to get your emotions stirred up. Make a list of all the reasons that you must lose weight and get fit. Get disturbed!

Step Two: Get Focused

Without clarity it's very hard to get where you want to go. Now that you're disturbed with the body you have, it's time to decide what the body you can accept looks like.

I want you to think in concrete and specific terms. Just like the captions under those before and after pictures - "Suzy lost 25 lbs", "Mike lost 8 inches from his waist", "Jenny went from a size 18 to a size 6" .

Get a clear picture in your mind of what you'll look like in your after picture and visualize what the caption will read.

Step Three: Get Moving

The time spent between your inspiration (now) and your action determines whether you will succeed or fail. Don't allow yourself to get stuck between inspiration and action - there is always something that you can do right now.

Don't you agree that you'll be happier living life in a fit, healthy and attractive body, rather than the body you have today? Of course you'll be happier.

I've helped scores of clients just like you finally lose their unwanted weight. I am here to take you from your before picture to your after picture, however, you need to bring something to the table - you need to make up your mind about what you'll accept of yourself.

What will you accept?