The number one way to get fit quick is to set realistic goals

IF YOU want to shape up for summer and actually notice a difference in your body and fitness then there is one piece of advice all good trainers know.

DO YOU remember what the goals were that you set for yourself on New Year’s Eve 2013?

No? That’s all good, most people don’t. But IMAGINE if you had followed through on those goals and how DIFFERENT your life would be right now.

Here’s the thing: Life throws THOUSANDS of curve balls at you each and every year and does whatever it can to distract you from achieving what you set out to achieve — and with so many ‘shiny objects’ (damn you, Facebook!) it’s easy to get distracted regularly.

But I want you to succeed. I want 2015 to be different and for you to achieve your goals — so, without further ado, here are some ideas to help you stay on track for 2015.

See it. If you write down your goals and SEE THEM on a regular basis, you are a lot more likely to achieve them. Can you put your biggest goal down on a piece of paper and have it on your desk? What about a visualisation board? Those things work wonders! A visualisation board is a board that is comprised of pictures of the things you want and that motivate you to achieve your goals. If you want to lose 10 kgs, you might add a picture of someone in a bikini that you think has an incredible body, and if you want to run a marathon it might be a picture of the New York Marathon. Having these visual reminders of what you want helps you picture yourself successfully achieving the accomplishment, which keeps you motivated.

‘Ok team, let’s do this together.’

Talk about it. The interesting thing about setting a particular goal is that once you say it out loud, to someone else, it becomes REAL. A goal kept in your head, all to yourself, is an easy way to become flaky with it and pretend it’s not real — but to get it out there and have people know about it holds you more accountable. The thing about having a goal (especially a BIG CHALLENGING one) is that it’s not going to ALL be smooth sailing — if you really test yourself there are going to be moments where not everything goes according to plan and you may even want to give up. It’s nice to have support and it’s nice to be surrounded by positive people — so make sure you choose wisely who you tell and who you want to have around you as you look to take on this big hairy goal!

Focus on it. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But I’m telling you now that so much gets in the way these days that it’s incredibly easy to get distracted. Let’s say that over the next year you want to lose 40kgs. In that time you’re likely to get sick a couple of times, maybe go on holidays, probably have a few things in your personal life that are challenging, have some stressful times at work, etc. These are all moments where you can easily fall off the bandwagon and struggle to jump back on it — but it’s important to ride the storm and get straight back on that bandwagon. The longer you stay off, the harder it is to get back up on it.

Cycling is a great way to stay fit.

Break it down. Here’s the thing: If you’re going to set an awesome goal, it’s going to be scary — and if it’s going to be scary, it’s easy enough for you to abandon it before you’ve given it a really good crack. So one of the most important things you can do is break it down. At the moment I’m training a young fella who wants to lose 40kgs. He’s a great kid who wants to do it all, and he’s very motivated — but it’s still pretty overwhelming. So, as cliche as it is, we’re taking it one week at a time. I don’t care about what things look like in 10—20 weeks’ time; I want to focus on this week and him hitting the goals for this week — which are nailing his breakfast and dropping the first few kilos. Progress doesn’t have to be anything outrageous — but it does have to be consistent.

Be realistic. This young kid who’s looking to lose 40kgs came in wanting to flip his WHOLE diet upside down and follow the food plan I’ve created for men to a tee. But that food plan is designed for someone looking to lose the last 5—10% body fat and who already has pretty good eating patterns. For someone his size, and who has been eating the diet he’s been eating, all we need to do is focus on his breakfast for the time being and that will help him lose the first 10 kilos. If you try to make changes too large right off the bat, you’re setting yourself up for failure. There are many reasons why 97% of diets don’t work — and one of them is because they aren’t realistic.

Set a date. A goal without a date and an action plan is really just a vague thought you’re having that you’re hoping you’ll achieve — and chances are you won’t. You need to set a specific goal and you need an end point. For example, there’s a big difference between ‘wanting to lose weight’ and ‘wanting to lose 7kgs by March 17, 2015, so I look my best for my wedding’. Guess which one is more motivating?

Be committed and get on with it. Each and every day I have people come to me and get really pumped up about achieving their goals — and as strange as it sounds, those are the ones I’m weary of. In my 12 years as a personal trainer I’ve seen a common trend among those who ‘talk it up’ and are over the top zealous about their goals — and that’s that they’re the ones who tend to crash and burn. The reason is that the initial excitement and motivation wears off pretty quickly, and what actually gets it done is steady long-term commitment and passion toward your goals. Those I’ve seen be most successful are still excited about reaching their goals, but they don’t need all the ‘hypey’ behaviour — they tend to just get on with it. That’s not to say you shouldn’t get excited about your goal (it’s awesome if you do!), just keep in mind that the initial excitement will wear off and if you’re not committed to the goal even during the non-excited times you’ll find it harder to see it through to the end.

Set a goal this week to do this workout 3 times over the next 7 days! Good luck!

Your workout this week is the 6-12-25 workout.

The idea behind this is to exhaust one group of muscles before going on and working the other muscle groups. For example the first combination is mainly chest and triceps. So you’ll do the following 6 reps of push ups, 12 reps of the incline press and 25 of the bench dip. Repeat 4 times for each block of exercises with 45 seconds break after the exercise of 25 reps!

Blake demonstrates push-ups.

If you want to make it easier, do them on your knees.

Combination 1:

Push Ups

Incline Press

Bench Dips

Blake shows you how to bench jump.

You can do this using a park bench.

Combination 2:

Hamstring curls

Bench Jumps

Deep pulse squats

Blake shows how to work your arms.

If you don’t have weights, try using bags of flour.

Combination 3:

One Arm Cable Row

Cable Pulldown

Cable High Row

WEEK 1 FITNESS PROGRAM

WEEK 1 MEAL PROGRAM

WEEK 2 MEAL & FITNESS PROGRAM

WEEK 2 HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED

WEEK 3 CUT BACK ON SUGAR

WEEK 4 HOW TO EAT OUT

Find out more information from Blake Worrall-Thompson at www.wellbeingbyblake.com and the online 6 Weeks to Sexy program www.6weekstosexy.com / @wellbeingbyblake