Starting over again?

So you trained hard for awhile,

Got some good results,

Fell off the wagon and now your dreading starting all over again right??

Heard it before. Hell, I've even said it before.

But what's the alternate to not starting over again..?

Staying where you are now?

Never progressing?

Never reaching goals?

Going backwards?

Screw that!!! That shouldn't sound appealing to anyone!!

There's one big difference people never seem to remember when it comes to starting over again.

Your not not starting from scratch again,

Your starting from experience!!

You've done it before, you know what it takes, you know your body can do it, so your starting in a much better position then when it was new to you!!

Is it going to be hard?

Bloody oath it is!!

But it always was hard,

And it always will be.

You won't lose all your fitness or strength in afew weeks or months, but the longer you do leave it, the harder it is mentally to get back on the wagon.

Muscle memory is a beautiful thing tho,

Your body will remember how to move again, it will remember how strong it is and if you can convince that brain of yours, then I guarantee that you can get back to your prime.

Its just going to take some hard work and dedication once again

If your not where you want to be fitness wise, then I suggest signing up to my online coaching team and letting me help get you back on track!!

Craig Hamilton

Craig Hamilton Fitness

Mental health & training!

I'm constantly approached by people either directly dealing with mental health issues or someone close to them is struggling, and they want to know how I managed get ontop of my own mental health issues. 

Firstly it wasn't easy, nor was it a magic pill from the doctor. 

My mental health was the worst, when my physical health was also the worst and my daily routine was sh!t.

Funny that!! 

When I changed my physical health and my daily habits, my mental health followed. Since then I've had to keep at it and keep

working on it every week of my life. 

Before I suggest anybody goes to the doctor solely for medication to solve their problems, I say give these 10 natural suggestions a go to help not only your mental health, but your life.. 

1) Move your body more!! 

Start walking 30 minutes MINIMUM every damm day. Either listening to your favourite music or listening to the wind, the birds & purely the sound of nature. 

Walking helps get the blood flowing, releases endorphins and if just generally makes you feel better! 

2) Log off your phone!! 

People these days wake up in the morning and the first thing they do is check their phone, how toxic is that. 

We live in a world of social media and notifications, we use our phones more than ever and we also have more mental health issues than ever. 

Try going 30 days social media free and tell me how you feel. Log off your facebook, delete your Instagram app and live your life without the likes, fake photos or attention seeking status's, live AUTHENTICALLY!! 

You'll be surprised just how addicted to social media you probably are, and addiction is huge cause of mental distress. 

Log off your phone and log into your life again!

3) Eat more fruit & vegetables!!

Gut health is directly tied to physical health, which is directly tied to mental health. So if your eating fast food all the time, wasting your money, it's no wonder your feeling like shit. Feed your body the healthy wholesome foods it craves and start cooking for yourself which feels good in itself. Once again.. Turn on some music and fall in love with cooking yourself dinner while dancing around your kitchen . 

4) Start drinking more water!! 

Your body is made up of 80% water yet most people slam down soft drinks or alcohol everyday like a good thing, IT'S NOT!! Try going a month of no booze & no soft drink, upping your water intake up to 3-4 litres per day and see how you feel when you give your body what it actually wants.

5) Take up a sport or hobby!! 

Have something to start looking fowards to each week, something that challenges your mind & body, something that has a social aspect so your getting human interaction every week that's outside of your usual partner or kids. Take up netball, football, yoga, pottery, do a paint class or even sign up to your local bootcamp (Yes that's a cheeky self promotion) 

6) Get more Rest!! 

Can't sleep?

Try turning off your TV and phone 1 hour before bedtime to let your brain switch off. Try going to bed everyday at the same time to set your body clock so it knows its bed time. You should be aiming for 6-8 hours of sleep every night. If you really struggle to sleep I'm a fan of trying a sleeping aid like melatonin for a week or two to help reset your sleeping pattern, but don't rely on them for long term sleep!! 

7) Read some self help books!

I'm a big fan of self help. These days whatever your feeling or needing, there's a book about it at your local library. Reading about somebody else that has the same issues you face, yet overcome it with certain methods is very empowering and helpful. Learn about your authentic self, learn about healthy habits, learn about dealing with depression and learn about everything that might help your situation!! 

8) Start strength training!! 

Resistance training not only releases all the good hormones your body makes naturally, but it also helps with body image, self esteem and self pride. Follow a plan for 12 weeks, get stronger, build some muscle or lose some body fat and I guarantee you'll feel better about yourself which will help your mental health. 

9) Get some professional help!! 

Have you ever spoken to somebody about your issues? 

First step is your local GP, speak to them and they can put you on a mental health plan which gives you 5 or 10 free psychological appointments. You can talk in depth about your issues/feelings and a qualified professional can help you with techniques to deal with or overcome problems, also they can diagnose anything that you might be experiencing that nobody else had picked up on. 

10) Remove toxic people from your life. 

Sometimes we are surrounded by toxic people without even realising. It could be a close friend, partner, parent or work college, and the way they make you feel or the way they treat you is a constant downer and the complete opposite of what you want in life. 

We've all seen that friend who keeps getting back with his ex, then complains about how miserable they are. 

Sometimes you need to cut people off who are toxic to you. Period. 

Try these 10 steps, 

Give it 100% of your effort for 30 days and see how much your mental health changes. 

Our lives are the direct result of our daily habits, 

Not happy with your life, 

Then change your daily habits!! 

Stay strong, 

Craig Hamilton

consistency is key!

Being consistent is better then being perfect or extreme!

Your health & fitness should be looked at as a marathon, not a sprint.

Generally because people who go too hard, try to be too hardcore or only have short term goals like an 8 week challenge, end up falling off after those 8 weeks.

I've seen it before and I'll see it again.

Chances are you've done it before or are doing it now by slacking off with your own training again.

It's better to exercise a little each week for 10 years than it is to go hard for 8 weeks then completely stop for the next 8 months.

People need to stop wanting an athletic physique or "fit" body with only a 8 week attitude.

These things not only take time to build, but they take effort to maintain!!

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is your fitness or physique.

Learn to prioritise exercise and training as you would paying your bills. You need to pay your bills every week or you'll get lose your house or get your phone disconnected, right?

Well you need to exercise every week aswell, or you'll lose your fitness!

You need to keep eating healthy and with portion controll or you'll put those 5 kgs you just lost straight back on!

You need to keep training your core and doing your stretches or that back pain you haven't felt lately is creeping straight back into your life!

And most importantly in my eyes..

You need to keep training and moving your body or those mental health issues that have felt manageable lately will start to feel unmanageable and take over your life again!

Stop looking for a quick fix and come to the realisation that exercise and training is a life long commitment and necessity.

I could go on all day about this topic but I'll leave you with one quote to remember..

" There is no point in our lives where we should stop working our health and fitness "

Craig Hamilton

how much should i be training?

How much should be I training...?

That's a question I hear all the time yet can have different answers, there's always one answer that is fairly universal to everybody tho...

ONE SESSION a week is better than NO SESSIONS per week!!

It drives me crazy when people tell me they are either all in or all out, when really that attitude is what gets you nowhere because 9 times out of 10 those people give up after afew weeks from setting their standards to high and unrealistic.

One session per week even though it might not seem like much, is ALWAYS BETTER than none.

Let's do alittle maths for this...

52 weeks in every year right?

So that's potentially 52 sessions per yer.

That one session per week is a opportunity for you to work on all the fundamentals every week like running, pushups, situps, squats, sleds, swings, carry and flexibility ect...

Let's say you maintain that for 3 years slowly chipping away with your mere 1 weekly session, That's 156 workouts you've done over 3 years!!!

Manage to keep it up for 10 years and that's 520 workouts you've completed!!

Imagine how much progress you stand to make from 156 workouts let alone 520!!

You would move better,

You would look better &

You would feel better!!

Consistency over time is what creates results, and more importantly...

It keeps you healthy.

So stop putting it off,

Stop waiting for the right time &

Join my online coaching team!

Stay strong

Craig Hamilton

training around injuries!

Training around injures...

It's something we all have to deal with at one point or another in our training journey!

It's happened to me many times and there's usually 3 outcomes that follow...

1) You stop training all together.

( It's easier for some to give up then it is to actually face an issue and work around it! )

2) You ignore it, keep training like normal  further injurying yourself.

( Stubbornness or egos generally drive this and the result is always more pain, sometimes lasting a lifetime! )

3) You train smart, rehab/rest the problem and move fowards when you can.

( Sounds simple right?! But so many people choose the quick or easy options over the longer, more difficult ones )

I know which one I'd rather do, but unfortunately most people choose to either give up or bury their head in the sand by pushing further into the pain, and the result is either they're back to square one of sitting on the couch or they've done further damage and that little niggle is now possibly a injury that lasts longer than it should!

I'm speaking to you all about this because I've been there and done that, trust me! 

During my 14 year training career I've had countless injures/setbacks.

Bursitis in the left shoulder

Fix: No heavy pressing movements for 6 months, focussing on legs/abs/core, lots of cardio.

Sciatica

Fix: No heavy compounds or spinal loading movements, lots of walking, gentle stretching daily, core specific rehab exercises.

Tendinitis of the right knee

Fix: No heavy leg sessions for 6 months, mostly upper body sessions.

Strained left shoulder

Fix: Again, no heavy pressing movements for 3-5 months, plenty of lower body/ab/arm work.

Ankylosing Spondylitus

Fix: No Fix for this, when my back flares up I stop loading it, daily stretching required everyday regardless. When my knees flare up, no heavy leg movements ect.. I could go on about this but I'll leave it there!

I've also had many non physical set backs... 

Kids

Fix: I've had to change my training times to either early before work or late at night when everyone's in bed.

Mental health issues

Fix: No "fix" for this as such, but during my darkest days I found walking twice a day listening to music helped keep me moving instead of laying down depressed, I would also force myself to the gym every chance I got to train for some of those natural endorphins.

Working 12 hour shifts

Fix: I would modify my training programming from 5 days per week, back down to only 2 or 3 so there was leas pressure on myself and I was still following a structured plan. Once again I was forced to train early in the morning, late at night or on weekends.

Now these are just some of the setbacks I've faced and ones that you'll possibly face aswell.

Quitting was never an option to me, sure it crossed my mind and I did take afew weeks off training here or there when I really needed to, but there's ALWAYS A WAY TO KEEP YOUR BODY MOVING!!

Theres an old saying...

You either can or you cant,

Both statements are true!!

If you want it bad enough, you'll always find a way to keep going

If you need help working around an injury or setback in life, reach out to me and see how I can help you in your journey!!

Craig Hamilton