ALAN'S BLOG

The benefits of exercise and keeping fit have been well established but for many they feel they can no longer exercise once they become pregnant. If you’re somebody who is used to training that can be very frustrating but I’ve got some good news for you, there’s no need to stop.

Speaking to 300 people, what it’s really like…..

They had all told me of the great feeling when you cross the finish line. Some had said it’s the greatest feeling you’ll ever have. As I crossed the finish line it wasn’t there. I had refused to let myself stop running over that last mile. Everything in my body was screaming at me to stop. My mental endurance was saying “no way, not until we’re over that line”. So when I crossed the line and slowed down to a walk the initial thoughts in my head were not about any great feelings. It was “I need water, my legs aren’t working, I can barely even walk now, I need to sit down”. I was physically and mentally shattered. I took a few minutes just standing still, waiting for the body to come back to life. People passing by congratulated me, I politely muttered “thanks” to everybody but honestly at that moment they may aswell have been talking to the metal barriers I was leaning on.

One of my pet hates in this world is people looking for quick fixes and the need for everything to happen immediately. We live in a world now where everything is available at the touch of a button,payments can be made online within seconds, food can be ordered online and delivered within minutes, we have instant access to everybody through social media. And this feeds into our everyday lives. We can’t wait for anything anymore. Getting in shape is not exempt from this it seems.

With Christmas rapidly approaching we’re soon going to see a trend that occurs at this time every year. People will start to panic about gaining weight over the festive period. This will soon be followed by a barrage of tips across social media from Fitness Professional recommending that people replace Chocolate with Fruit and so on. I’ve got a bit of a problem with this. I believe in the concept of making things realistic for my clients. I don’t believe telling people to abstain from wine or chocolate over Christmas is realistic, or fair. I wouldn’t expect anybody to make progress towards weight loss goals over Christmas, let’s just focus on enjoying it without doing too much damage. So here’s my tips on how to handle the Christmas period:

For many people out there 2017 is going to be the biggest year of your life. The day you dreamed about since you were a child is happening. The day that will live with you for the rest of your life. Your wedding day. Naturally you want everything to run smoothly, you want the day to be memorable and you want to look amazing. Well guess what, I'm here to help!

So it’s now official that a Sugar Tax is on the way.

For a long time now the problem of obesity in Ireland has been spiralling out of control and it’s pretty obvious for all to see that action needs to be taken.

The Government has finally decided to tackle the problem. The question is, are they going about it on the right way?

Fitness is big business. In the last 10 years we have seen a flooding of the market with fitness professionals, new classes and new training options popping up in every town and village in the country. And with winter approaching, the rush for classes and new programmes is well underway.

Weight Loss is a term we hear bandied about every single day, so much so that it seems to have become part and parcel of our everyday lives. Everywhere we turn we’re exposed to marketing of weight loss products, be it online, newspapers, on radio or on television. But what does the term actually mean and is it really as important as we think it is for building an effective coaching and fitness plan?