uphillbattlefitness

Let’s get into it…

Posted on Jan 8, 2020 by uphillbattlefitness

Okay so, lets delve a little deeper shall we?

What’s holding you back?

It’s got to be something…

Something that’s preventing you from reaching your goals

What’s in the way of you achieving what you want to?

Maybe as you read this you will talk to yourself in your head and start to realise whatever the barrier is, why don’t you get a notepad and jot some bits down when it comes to mind if at all?

Right…

So you’re stuck.

Welcome to The 2020 Rut.

Christmas has gone, new years happened and you really want to make this the year to count for something great, and there is no reason it cant.

If you’ve made a New Years resolution write down what it is but more importantly why you want that particular goal.

Is it for a better quality of life?

To make you happier in general?

Cut back on Smoking, Drinking or Eating Rubbish Food?

Saving for that mortgage you need?

Whatever it is… it’s important to you and it means something.

So how do we make sure you attack this goal?

Lots of ways you can put new habits in place.

Was only yesterday I was talking to someone about replacing “bad” habits with slightly better ones.

Its all about small changes and little wins or victories

You don’t climb a flight of stairs by going straight to the top, you get there one step at a time.

that’s what a lot of people tend to forget.

Currently I’m sat in the middle of PureGym on my MacBook Pro and as I look around I can see lots of people on various bits of cardio equipment,

just knowing they default to the big 3 (Treadmill, Bike & Crosstrainer)

why is that? Probably because most people have this illusion that those 3 are what fitness represents or that’s just what you do at a gym.

They all have their place but I cant think of a more boring cluster of machines.

My point is people will come in and automatically stick to these comfort zone machines

It’s a habit they have created probably without even realising.

After all what is a habit?

When you go and put the kettle on chances are without realising you always use the same hand to switch it on, the same hand to stir the spoon with etc.

Or any other task like brushing your teeth, bet you always use the same hand.

Its ingrained in your mind. A process.

Like a computer program.

All you need to do is create a new version of this.

Drinking more water is a massive hurdle people struggle with.

What about instead of eating a whole pack of jaffa cakes while watching Tv at night,

You only eat 4 or 5? yes still not ideal but like I said small changes.

Hopefully this gives you a bit more of an insight into Habits and how to adhere to one.

Setting you a task now.. write down those goals and underneath try and bullet point a few action steps.

“Drinking more water” this can be achieved by :

Setting a reminder or an alarm on your phone nudging you to drink half a pint of water

You can even buy these water bottles with times on now indicating if by a certain time you’ve drank enough.

Like I said Small victories.

Thanks for letting me ramble on and I hope this helps in some way.

If you need help with little things like this then send me a message and let’s see how we can put an action plan in place.

Let me know if this has helped

-Alex

It’s been a while

Posted on Dec 7, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

Hey everyone,

Sorry it’s been a while!

The blog and podcast have been on the backburner as things got super busy for me August onwards.

So how have you all been?

What do you have planned for Christmas or whichever holiday you celebrate?

This is where someone tells me they are flying to Iceland or something incredible and I regret asking as I’ll be here in Northampton haha.

Well whatever you’re doing or whoever you’re spending it with Hopefully you will have a great few days.

For some people it’s not an easy time of year so for those of you out there especially my military brothers and sisters this can be a tough isolated time no matter who you are.

That’s really why I wanted to write this new blog update. Just to say…

I’m here,

Genuinely.

Whatever you need, whether it’s a chat,

A coffee or something to distract your day.

Don’t be that person that bottles things up and does something silly or drinks themselves into oblivion.

Life is for living so let’s bloody well do it.

Thank you to all my face to face, my online clients and everyone of you that have supported me especially this year when I decided to ramp up the PT game and went fully self employed.

You are all bloomin amazing

Alex.

COMPETITION TIME!

Posted on Jul 14, 2019Jul 14, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

cookbook poster

Hi, just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and support these. Also to everyone of my clients who love the cookbook and those non-clients who have purchased it. it is massively appreciated.

So… The competition!

The Winner will get a free copy of the Recipe Book, The 5 Eat Out Guides and another secret little prize which will only be revealed to them!

what do you have to do to enter?

Repost This on whichever social platform you use and Tag me in it so I see it.

also If you could please share this post and my website around to your friends and family

I will also be bringing out a new podcast episode very shortly

Thanks for supporting me and my business as my only job I rely on you amazing people to keep spreading the word.

The winner will be announced Sunday 21st!

(If you simply wanted to purchase the Cookbook & extras For Only £10 please get in touch)

Many Thanks and good luck!

School Days

Posted on Jul 13, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

Hey guys Me again, so i just overheard a conversation where a kid just said to their parent I hate school.

See this got me thinking.

Why do you go to school And to anyone reading to this why are you here?

You think it’s because you have to be here or you’re forced

And do you know why I know that it’s because I was there once counting down the hours to finish the day and you can go home.

The harsh truth is people do that all their lives.

In jobs when they’re adults.

They call it clock watching and sit at their desks and beg for the weekend.

Most people wish their life away ,

Monday blues cant wait for Friday.

Those days are no different it’s just how you see it.

It’s really not as bad as you think it is

Yes things might be hard, ask for help. I wish so bad I had asked for help more when I needed it.

You’ve got to look at school from a different point of view.

You’re here to arm yourself with skills education self confidence etc for later life. I would kill to have a time machine and be back where you are kid!

Trust me on this you have no idea how much potential sits before you until it’s too late.

I don’t want to scare you about life. But I nearly died in a car crash a few years ago. And it was at the point I realised now is the turning point if I don’t make a difference now I will die for nothing.

No one would remember Alex.

What impact will you have in life.

Make sure you stand for something and you are remembered

You owe it to your parents you owe it to your teachers, the reputation of the school but mostly you owe it to yourself to do well.

I had to work so hard to get to where I am today.

My point is if you put the work in now. It will set you up for a better quality of life.

Let’s put a different spin on things…

There’s a school somewhere in Gambia or wherever… they don’t have what you have.

Do you know how lucky you are?

The latest iPhone, new trainers from mum, pens and paper, clean water, a roof over your head?

I want you to realise you have the whole world in your hands and you need to maximise this opportunity and seize the moment.

I promise you life is what you make it. I spent a lot of mine down in the dumps and injured. I will never get that time back.

You will never see today again. The clock ticks away.

Make the most of now.

Write this down.

You’re going to do me a favour and put this on your bedroom wall.

There’s 24 hours in a day. Make every minute count.

I hope you walk past me one day in the street or the gym or supermarket wherever and come up to

Me and tell me you made the most of your education.

That you’ve got the job you always wanted.

hopefully that this little talk had some sort of impact on you and put you down the right Avenue

New Gym in Northampton

Posted on Jun 20, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

I have just walked past someone In a local shopping centre and heard them moan about the fact they are opening another gym in weston favell which is a small part of Northampton in case you dont know. I didn’t hear them moaning about all the new McDonald’s and Starbucks fast food places opening across the town, the boarded up places in town centre becoming charity and coffee shops

Well why would a gym be a bad thing?

There is a gym there at the moment over the road which is under the trilogy group and from what I remember it’s a bit ancient and behind the times. And yes the new one opening is a puregym and I am pro puregym but this post isn’t about brands and marketing. Surely it can only be a good thing that another gym is opening so people can better themselves probably for less money than the current gym charge. So a more affordable place to focus on your health and become New equipment and all that great stuff. The only people it might be a negative for is Trilogy. But if people are looking for something a little different to what

they currently have then you have to satisfy those needs.

Actually why wouldn’t you want someone to have a better quality of life?

If you’re a parent You want the best for your kids right?

You want people to be the best versions of themselves with every available tool and aid to their disposal.

If people leave Trilogy and go to Puregym that’s down to them and the level of service they provide. Yes some people will go and try new gyms because people like to have these tasters. People don’t know what’s out there until they try so let them. Who knows it might be the best decision they ever made in that shopping centre and will no doubt bring lots more business to the rest of the shops.

Aaron The Boxer

Posted on Mar 30, 2019Mar 30, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

Aaron “The Judgement” Day

So… where do I start?

Aaron is one of my PT clients who came to me to start building up his fitness to aid his Lacrosse and also because he had signed up for an Ultra White Collar Boxing match for charity.

So over the last few weeks we have been pushing boundaries and testing his limits physically and mentally through various methods.

I came up with the TEMPEST programme (which is still ongoing development at this stage)

I won’t go too much into what the different phases are and what it entails on here, cant give everything away for free.

Basically pure cardio conditioning and testing how far you can push your body and mind, it certainly isnt for everyone but Aaron is one of my more Elite clients.

Aaron worked mega hard and what I will share with you is it was broken down into Two main stages.

Stage 1 – Cardiovascular Fitness

Stage 2 – The Mental Game

We built up his levels of fitness with some unorthodox techniques which aided his recovery times and found himself getting fitter, faster and generally better overall, The bigger obstacle was making sure he didnt quit when things got hard and im sure Aaron will tell you my methods are a bit vicious at times. We really only are at the tip of the iceberg.

but results are results and winners win.

(he really did all the hard work)

By pushing him to new limits and making him comfortable in these zones he was able to utilise this in the boxing ring.

If you’ve ever done a HIIT, ZUU, Boxing or whatever session with me you’ll know its about not stopping when times get hard. Quitters quit and thats all they have to show for it
You can be as hyped up as you want but that first punch to the face will either make or break you.

(Trust me I beat myself up for years when I got injured in the Army thinking it was just because I was weak and mentally switched off when really my spine was trying to escape my body)

I know how to train people to get through dark times or whatever because I had to do it myself.

But anyway!

Aaron raised over £600 for charity

he is also an absolute machine as you can see from my Youtube video of all three rounds.

Basically this blog was just to say a massive well done Aaron!

(I hope the video link works if not please visit my Youtube channel Uphill Battle Fitness)

Scary world of Fitness

Posted on Mar 28, 2019 by uphillbattlefitness

Do you feel anxious or intimidated walking into a gym full of people?

Sick of people on their phones hogging equipment?

Most people are self conscious and aren’t happy with how they look. For a lot of people gyms make this worse it can be counter productive.

If someone doesn’t feel good going into this place because of how they look or whatever then that will domino effect and you’ll feel worse about yourself

All these things are what I call a barrier to exercise which in your head stops you wanting to work out

I remember when I was training to join the army and I was a bit shy. Then i hit a point where I thought.. Fuck this

I’m paying for the gym im going to go in there and no judging people or whatever will stop me.

Truth is I wish everyone had this attitude where they don’t care about what anyone else thinks.

Especially overweight women and men who comfort eat etc but not everyone does which is where I come in.

I provide one to one or group sessions where people can feel they aren’t being judged by some skinny 18 year old gym bunny or that angry looking bloke who only stays in the freeweights area glaring at people.

Im now based at Puregym Northampton, alternatively I can come to you. In the comfort of your home, garden or outside in a local park. Outdoor fitness has its own benefits too.

Thank you for reading my blog, if you like please let me know and share to others.

Thank you.