Why ‘WORKING OUT’ isn’t enough when you’re over 40.

This thing that we do (or thing you may be thinking about starting) –  ‘going to the gym or fitness studio’ is given a casual name by many – ‘working out’.

The approximate 87% of the UK population who are not a member of a gym/health club/fitness studio have a view of the type of exercise that goes on in these places as getting hot, sweaty, red faced, tired and sore – maybe that’s what puts them off as it certainly doesn’t sound very appealing.

In November 2018 I attended the Strongfirst SFL course (which is a 3 day Barbell Certification). At one stage over the 3 days the Master Instructor who was leading the Certification (Fabio Zonin) sat down and gave an important talk – some of which is inspiration for this article.

What follows are lessons I have learned from over 20 years in the health and fitness industry working with everyday people (and on myself) In the last decade I have worked overwhelmingly with everyday people over 40. When you’re in your teens & 20s you’re pretty much bullet proof. Life hasn’t taken a toll. You most likely still live with parents, don’t have children to look after or a career or business to dedicate a healthy (or unhealthy) chunk on your life to.

The following 5 Categories of gym session are targeted towards men & women over 40 specifically, although those in their 20s and 30s would do well to get ahead of the curve and adopt some of these practices early.

#UR31DayChallenge

Following the success of our first 31 day nutrition challenge and an amazing upgrade to the system, we will be running another challenge during the month of October.

The UR Nutrition System is a great online tool which allows you to easily plan and monitor what you are eating via a simple points system. It allows you to create weekly meal plans which can then be converted into a shopping list making it easier and saving you time when it comes to doing the food shopping.  All of the recipes are easy to prepare, are nutritionally balanced and are super tasty.

The Mind Is A Powerful Thing

Today’s blog has been written by Nikki Fischr  – Admin Manager and Personal Trainer here at Unique Results.

My blog is about MINDSET and ties in nicely with our January and February blogs on Goal Setting and Motivation.

So what is MINDSET?

The dictionary definition is – the established set of attitudes held by someone.

There are two main types of mindset – FIXED and GROWTH

Most people have a FIXED mindset and these people believe they are or aren’t good at something, based on their inherent nature, because it’s just who you are.

However, those people in a GROWTH mindset believe anyone can be good at anything, because your abilities are entirely due to your actions.

Happy New Year From The UR Team!

This weeks blog has been written by Mel Anderson.

Traditionally, this is the time of year for people to set themselves new goals, especially those related to health and fitness, and the team at UR are no exception.

In 2017, I used the UR process of goal setting to successfully gain my SMK1 certification and I’d love to share this set of tools with you to help you achieve your own milestones this year.

But first, let’s talk a little about goal setting. What does it really mean and why do so many people get it wrong?  Goal setting is the process of deciding what you want to accomplish and devising a plan to achieve it. Following the steps outlined at the end of this blog will prevent the January Resolution becoming the February Disillusioned!

Gamma Radiation, Bat-copters & The Origins of Unique Results.

Recently while I was training a member she asked me out of the blue “Why did you set up UR and why do you do what you do?”

I thought this was a bit of a deep, probing question but it turned out she had just started a programme of executive coaching herself and was doing lots of work on her own life in terms of vision, values, mission, goals etc to help her set a course for the next phase of her career. This was a period of self reflection and analysis for her, hence she asked me the question possibly to get some context or perspective for her own ‘homework’.

At the time, I said something like ‘Well, there’s lots of reasons really that go quite deep and probably too much to go into with a quick few second answer’ as we were stretching off towards the end of the session. So, I thought I would put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) and share my own journey and that of the origins of UR.

Strong Women

Here at Unique Results, we are excited to be hosting two events in October – the Tactical Strength Challenge and the UR Strength Challenge, the latter being our in-house event for members needing a stepping stone to TSC.

The introduction of these challenges has prompted some of our female clients to add strength training to their programs – and they’re loving it! However, many women are still apprehensive about lifting heavy for fear of becoming ‘too bulky’.

Move Well. Move Often

Having been in the health and fitness industry for nearly 20 years now I’ve seen many trends come and go, and some come and stick around.

Like fashion, everything seems to be cyclical – if you keep something in your wardrobe long enough it will eventually become ‘trendy’ again (or so I hope).

However some things always remain constant and unwavering. These things could be described as ‘the fundamentals’ or ‘the basics’. Those principles that are universal in nature and will endure the test of time. If you were being philosophical you could almost call these things ‘the truth’.

As Dan John says: ‘You lift weights a lot and you get stronger.’ Amazing.