From Couch to Superhero – the best way to get fit, build lasting habits and succeed in the gym!

Yeah but you don’t know what it’s like being me, I have no time, no energy, I work really hard, come home tired and stressed, I don’t have enough money to eat well and go to the gym, I have tried everything and nothing works, it’s just my genetics, I have bad knees and a bad back anyway so I can’t do anything.

Have you ever said any of these? Have you ever sat down and looked at any of these and really judged yourself on these? No I know you haven’t because if you had you wouldn’t have said most of them!

I have no time – you sleep for 56 per week, you work about 40-60 hours per week that leaves you with 52 hours to do whatever you with – and in them 52 hours you're telling me you can't spare just 3-4 hours per week? Come on, I know you shouldn’t compare yourself to others however, you can compare time.

A few of my clients work 40 hours per week but commute 4 hours a day, have kids and they still have enough time for BBQ's, train 4 hours per week and whatever else they have planned, why? Because they prioritise their time. Is watching EastEnders, then corers, than Netflix for 3-5 hours a night really improving your life? Is it bettering you? Do you watch it and feel like you have been productive and you are making the most of your very precious life? NO! Said everyone I have ever asked!
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I don’t know what it’s like being you, I don’t know what you feel inside about yourself, I don’t know what problems you have or are facing being you – I know you don’t feel good about yourself, I know you aren’t what you hoped you would be at your age, I know you feel disappointed with your body and so you should feel bad about them, you could of stopped that happening  to you BUT you should feel excited about where you can go, what you can become, who you can become, excited to face a difficult challenge and think ‘FUCK YEAH I GOT THIS!’
you have to accept your body and who you are now, if you can't accept yourself you'll never be able to get passed it, you have to be comfortable in your skin! 

You aren’t good enough now, I’m not good enough now if I was I would be helping millions of people instead of tens of people, I would have a six pack, a house by the beach, a limitless bank card and would have travelled the world! we aren’t ‘alright the way you are’ – but you can be! You have to work, you have to change and become who you want to. the thought of me having to face another massive challenges scares the crap out of me, but at the same time I’m crazy excited because I think how will this challenge me, how will I become better, what have I learnt and how can I apply that, who will I meet and learn from. This is the same in your weight loss journey, who can you meet to help you, can you make friends who are in the same boat, support and help each other work hard to get to where you all want to get to!

You don’t have any energy? Do you not know what coffee is? Or even better monster ultra, energy drinks? These are energy… this one is done
Joking!… so we analyse and judge why you don’t have energy…

do you sleep well? 7-9 hours?
Are you properly hydrated? 1.5-3 litres per day
Do you eat well? Loads of veg, fibre, healthy fats, protein etc.?

Then we break them down further – what is your sleep hygiene like? Are you watching TV until you fall asleep? Do you use your phone all night? Do you sleep in a pitch black room? Do you sleep in loads of clothes? Do you wake up starving or thirsty? Do you spend all night thinking about the worst possible outcome?

Do the same for the others, find out the reason you have no energy and fix it, you need to take a good close look at your life – it's bloody horrible to do, it makes you feel like shit but if you can do it constructively then you can work to better it. Use the help of others and with plan with targets, achievements, reward yourself but not with food, you aren’t a dog. It doesn’t have to be big, I quite often reward myself with playing the Xbox, with a bigger reward buying myself a more expensive or different whiskey and the ultimate reward a holiday! You have worked hard to get to where you are so take some time off, come back with a clear mind, rethink your goals, and go and attack them again fresh and ready!

Not having enough money – this might actually be a fair comment however you need to really assess your finances, again print off your last month’s statement, go through it see what you can scrap, see what you can change and get rid of, I can guarantee you there is something you can change which will better you, for me its Coffee and Protein bars – coffee I can half and buy energy drinks instead, protein bars I can buy in bulk for cheaper than single use, I can save about 30-50 per month with this that’s enough for a gym membership and some new clothes, Primark do training gear now you can get a weeks’ worth of training stuff for a tenner, so unless you are proper skint and honestly you just don’t have enough for the gym etc. then okay, If you happy then carry on but if you aren’t maybe look at changing jobs etc. and then look at body weight home workouts, have a look to see if your local council offer free gym days, even ask your GP to prescribe you a gym membership, if you can go to them with proof that you just don’t have time and want to use a gym then they might prescribe you a membership, it’s worth a try, I personally would rather my money being spent on someone who genuinely needs help with a gym membership than paying for someone to have antibiotics for a runny nose or someone who is getting gluten free food prescribed to them, just cut the shit out your diet and carry on!

I have tried everything and nothing works, it’s my genetics –
1. you haven’t tried hard enough or you haven’t tried long enough, or you haven’t tried at all!

2. No it isn’t, your genetics don’t stop laws of thermodynamics get into a proper calorie deficit and your genetics won’t stop anything.

I have bad knees and a bad back – we'll all the more reason to go to the gym and get the issues fixed!

It’s like saying I have a broken car so I definitely don’t need a new one I’ll just keep driving mine and bash it up to the point where it can’t be fixed and I need surgery, now go to the gym, strengthen what you need to, stretch, weight train and be careful but seek advice, professional advice not the biggest bloke you know because he probably doesn’t know what he’s talking about, this could fix your problem, don’t just use it an excuse to give up, use it as an excuse to try! 

​We are currently taking on more clients for Personal Training in Sutton Coldfield, so if you're local and interested you can sign up here.