Firstly I would like to say a big thank you for those that came and helped me out for the Tuggeranong Hawks Pre Season training camp. I am a bit disappointed you didn’t join in the fitness session at 3am though….

Well I have to say that it was a taxing weekend for all involved.

My hat goes off to all Tuggeranong Hawks players.

Not once did I hear them whinge or complain about what was required from them over the weekend.

 I had them up training in the pitch black in the early hours of Saturday morning, allowed them to go back to sleep for an hour then had them up going again on and off for close to 14 hours, which is a great effort from all the Tuggeranong Hawks Players.

Everybody really dug deep and the team bonding and effort was amazing from all grades.

The weather on Friday and Sunday was attrocious and yet the players continued without as much as a wimper of complaint from them.

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all Tuggeranong Hawk players for their efforts over the weekend. They all took on the challenges I set and came out the other side stronger in both mind and body.

Here is a small clip of a few of the players relaxing after 14 hours of hell:

Scott Williams

Owner, Succeed Personal Development

Tuggeranong Hawks Strength and Conditioning Coach

The success technique to which I am referring is visualisation. I guarantee that “visualising your results is the key to realizing your results.” Visualising is one of the most important techniques you will ever learn and one that is utilized by all high performers.

Visualising is your key to success for two reasons: Your mind thinks in pictures and images; Your unconscious mind drives your behavior.

Your unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between something that is real and something vividly imagined. Whatever picture (goal) you consistently think about will drive your actions to create that exact picture. When you continually see yourself in possession of your goal, your unconscious mind will move you into actions that align with the mental image you hold.

Here’s a quick visualisation overview to assure your goal achievement:

1. Create a clear mental picture. You must associate a picture to your goal. You should picture yourself in your vision, rather than watching yourself achieve your goal. This “fine point” separates the masters from the masses. You must create a picture that is so real you believe you already have achieved your success.
2. You must “experience” your vision. You must be in your picture, looking through your own eyes… seeing, hearing and feeling everything as if you have already achieved your goal. You must create the emotion of the moment in your own body.
3. Visualise your goal at every opportunity. Bring up your mental picture while waiting at a stop light, when you’re on a break, before your next meeting. The more frequently you plant your picture into your unconscious mind, the more rapidly you will begin to realize increased results in your life.
4. Visualise first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The best time to visualise is in the morning right after you wake up and just before you go to sleep. These are the times when your unconscious mind is most open to influence. When your conscious mind relaxes, your unconscious becomes very receptive to your thoughts, dreams and ideas–particularly ideas with high emotion.

So make a commitment right now to create your picture of achieving your goal. All great masters have taught that we become what we constantly think about.

For me, I personally believe that a basic meditation C.D is the best way to sit and relax and visualise. Head to your local music or go to itunes to purchase. If you are in Canberra I would head to the Heirophant at the Griffith Shops for a huge range of C.D’s to choose from.

Scott Williams

CEO, Managing Director

Succeed Personal Development

Well I thought I would give another of the benchmark Cross fit girls a run.

This time around I did CINDY (sounds wrong I know)

Here is the run down on the session:

5 x pull ups

10 x push ups

15 x air squats

All you have to do is complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as possible.

My total : 15 complete rounds (last attempt I got 9)

As you can see I have done this in the Club Lime Tuggeranong Health Club, but this is one session that can be hit up outdoors if you do not have a gym membership.

I will be putting some of my Boot Camp Canberra clients through this workout for sure.

Here is a demo of the exercises for you:

THe highest record I can find of this routine is 32 complete rounds ( I am not that far away…)

Scotty

Just wanted to give you a quick update on how everyone is going thus far with my training & nutrition trial.

To give you a rundown every single person that has stuck to it has lost at least 2kg in the last two weeks. I think that is a fantastic effort guys well done.

Some of the more notables are:

Narelle - 1.8kg (only been going ONE week)

Jules - lost 2.8kg in two weeks

Craig - lost 2.6kg in two weeks (with AC/DC concert in the middle)

A.J - lost 3.6kg (still to be weighted this week)

Myself -  88.2 NOW 85kg (lost 3.2kg in two weeks)

Here is a bit of insight into why this meal plan is working so well:

Humans are genetically conditioned to store fat. It’s part of the survival mechanism to see us through times of famine. The problem now is that we rarely experience famine. As a result, we store fat and never burn it off.

Most of our excess weight comes from the highly processed carbohydrates found in baked goods, breads and other sweet snacks that we all love so much. Simple equation, you eat too much of these you store body fat.  Eat too many of these foods and your body starts to change the way it processes food.  The insulin you need to convert carbs to energy becomes less effective and instead of burning the food you’re eating, you start to store more and more fat.

The goal of my eating plan is to get your insulin level back under control, which is done by cutting carbs in your meal plan. Not all the carbs, just the ones your body uses the fastest. This means saying goodbye to a list of foods you generally eat all the time: potatoes, most fruit, bread, pastries, rice & some cereals.

Now don’t think you have to give these foods up forever, just for a few weeks here and there. Just long enough to lose some weight and recondition your body to use insulin more effectively.

Things you should be looking for are: salads, zucchini, tomato, peas, beans, broccoli, asparagus, cucumbers, lean meat cuts, turkey, chicken, fish, eggs, raw peanut butter and seafood.

All of these foods are have a less effect on blood sugar, and hence they break down slower in your body.  As the weeks progress you then start to incorporate other carbs back into the diet.

I have found it has given me much more energy on a daily basis, and I am creeping closer to viewing  the six pack that has been hiding underneath all those years….

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert 

As some of you may know I have been doing Cross Fit training now for about 6 month (P.S. I am 9kg lighter since starting).

 There are a few benchmark Cross Fit workout that work as a gauge to see how you are progressing with your training. I thought it was time I revisited one of the first one I ever did.

It is called ‘FRAN’ and goes like this:

43kg Thrusters

pull ups

Now you do three sets of each, starting with 21 reps of each the first set, then 15 & then finish with 9

Previous Time: 8.46 (with jumping pull ups & 40kg thrusters)

New Time:8.15 (with unassisted pull ups & 43kg thrusters) - to let you know how far off the pace I am, the fastest time I can find to complete the FRAN workout is 1.53 by Jason Caplan

Burnt 144 cals with an Avg HR of 155

Here is a quick demo of the exercises:

If you haven’t tried this session, give it a go, it is harder than it looks…

Stay tuned for an update on week two of the fat loss trial tomorrow

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert

Then why not try your hand at boxing?

Research has proven that boxing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to change your body composition, in conjunction with a healthy eating plan.

Starting Thursday 18th March

Lunchtime Boxfit with Australia’s Best Fitness Business at Tuggeranong Town Park

For more details or to register, contact Shaun on: 0431 939 215

Well after a flood of emails wanting more fitness training sessions posted for people to do, here is the latest Succeed Personal Training Canberra fitness session for you to try out and challenge yourself:

6 x 43kg Thrusters

6x Pull Ups

6 x 32kg D/B Swings

x six rounds for time

My Time: 10.03

Didn’t find this one too bad today, still got a bit of work to do on the pull ups, but I am getting much better.

Here is a video of the exercises:

Have a go and let me know what you think in the section below.

Also a big congrats to all the Canberran’s that went to the Cross Fit Sectional Games over the weekend.

I know three of the guys I train with have all qualified for the Australian Regional Finals, and a Canberra girl in Megan Smith WON the women’s overall event, with Kylie Lindbeck, my neighbour coming a fantastic fifth. Well done guys. I hope to be there next year….

Scotty

In saying that, it may be one of the most valuable piece of dietary advice that I EVER give you.

I am human like you, and last night around 10:00 PM while watching 40 year old virgin, my appetite decied that it was hungry and the cravings began to creep in.

Within a matter of minutes, without even thinking about it, I found myself in the kitchen looking through the fridge and pantry looking for something to end my food cravings (yes, I’m human and I deal with cravings, too).

After scoping out what was available, I ultimately ended up eating a hand full of almonds and some cottage cheese with vanilla protein mixed in to it(if you missed my recommendations for late night snacks, I will post something up soon, so stay tuned).

As most of you know my weakness is ice cream. Do you know what stopped me from having a bowl of ice cream (cause I certainly would have), or a piece or two of chocolate?

Besides the fact the fact that each serve of ice cream has around 295 calories (equivilent to around 30 mins of a spin class or a body pump class):

Simple.  I don’t keep these foods in my house!!

Do you want to end your struggle with late night snacking (with the wrong foods) and increase your chances of nutrition adherence ten-fold?  Then here it is, the best diet tip I could ever give you:

Keep your house free of the “off limit” foods.

Simply put, if it’s not in the house, it’s not a temptation, and usually at 10pm at night you won’t bother going to the shops (I hope).

Do you find that having “off-limits” foods lying around is messing with your nutritional intake? 

What is your favourite treat that usually brings you undone?

Respond in the comments section below!

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert

Diet sneak is what happens to a great diet when you get a little too confident and a little too lazy. It happens to a LOT of  people who start off strong with our Succeed Boot Camps and then start sliding back into their old habits.

It doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve found I am even guilty , going from 90% perfect to 85% and down to 80%. Time to do something about it.

(I already have a few, but hey, if you want to give up a few things this month, just let me know in the comments section…we can support one another!)

Now I know that because of my workouts I’m still gaining muscle and not gaining fat, but as a role model to you and hundreds of other Succeed clients and readers, I’ve decided to get strict and lead the way this Month.

So for the next 30 days, I’m kicking these foods out of my diet:

• Added sugar
• Alcohol
• “Processed foods”
• Dairy
• Most Fruits

Let’s take a look at why I’m removing each one of those…

1) Added Sugar

The main source of added sugar in my diet was the raw sugar in my coffee and the occasional ice cream, I am cutting it out.

And then there was also a little bit of diet sneak going on as well…last week I had a gatorade after a run + a few snakes…

But I know that’s not setting a good example for you, so let’s get back to square one and cut out all added sugar. I have others doing it so I need to lead by example.

2) Alcohol

I have let a few regular beverages creep in over the last few months. Not that I drink a lot, but can’t hurt to take it out either.

3) “Processed foods”

Alright, this is a tough one to define, but here’s my definition:

a) No added sugar

b) No refined flours

4) Dairy

This isn’t a big deal because 90% of my dairy intake consists of milk in my coffee, so I figured why not throw it on the list. Sometimes I add a small amount of cheese to my morning omelets, but I’ll give that up for now.

5) Most Fruits

Why am I giving up fruits you ask, aren’t they good for me?? Well yes and no, it depends on who you talk you really. A nutritionist might say you need at least 2 - 3 pieces of fruit a day, but I tend to disagree.

The reason why is that most people don’t understand and realise the amount of sugar they are already consuming in a day wihtout adding the sugar contect from fruit. I am not saying my way is the right way either, but I am going to try it for a month and see what happens, along with 15 other people.

So what’s staying in my diet?

- eggs, meats, fish, raw nuts, and dozens of different kinds of salad and vegetables.

Pretty simple, and of course, regardless of your dietary preferences, your food foundation should feature a lot of salads and vegetables - so your diet shouldn’t be much different from mine even if you eat dairy and meat.

Overall, a nice little “diet depletion” for the month.

What is your biggest weakness?

Is there at least ONE food or ingredient you could give up for an entire month?

Let me know what it is by commenting below…

Here’s to your dieting success,

Scott Williams

PS - C’mon, don’t be shy…

…commit to giving up one thing this month and tell me what it is below…

I will keep you posted each week with the results:

So far a I have had 8 of the people on the trial weigh in and ALL have lost at least 1.5kg (some have lost over 3kg in the first week).

Myself - I started at 88.2kg and and 86kg even (a loss of 2.2kg in one week…)

 1. No focus: you didn’t set goals, you didn’t put your goals in writing, and or you didn’t keep your goals in mind daily (by reading them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

 2. No priorities:  you may have set a goal, but you didn’t put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

 3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

 4. No Accountability: you didn’t keep score for your own accountability - with a progress chart, weight record, measurements, food journal, training journal, and you didn’t set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results to someone else)

 5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations.  You expected 5 kg a week  or 2 kg a week, so the first week you lost “only” 1/2kg or hit a plateau, and you gave up.

 6. No planning: you winged it.  You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn’t plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn’t have a menu on paper, you didn’t make time (so instead you made excuses, like “I’m too busy”)

 7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, “I want it now” route instead of the moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

 8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn’t suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

 So there you have it - 8 mistakes that cause most people to fall off the wagon. Are you guilty of any of these? If so, the solutions are clear and simple:

 Focus on what you really want, prioritize the order, get support, don’t try to do it all on your own, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have anything else you might like to add that causes you problems?

Scott Williams

CEO, Succeed Personal Development