Bad coaches/Trainers/ people on social Media/anyone who doesn't out the years in.

Hey Guys,

Today I want to share an article with you about bad trainers.

Now most of you know that the quickest way to get me ranting is to talk about kids coaching on Social Media without putting the hours in. I must have wrote massive rants on this at least 5 times then deleted them as I hate being negative on here.

Now everyone has the right to chase their dreams and I highly encourage everyone to try to make a career out of their passion. The problem comes however, when people want to go straight to selling £1000 worth of coaching without going through the process (putting work in for YEARS).

Doing a successful diet yourself does not qualify you to coach anyone.

Until you have coached for at least 10 years then your opinion isn't worth shit. Put the fucking work in.

I want to rant more than this put THIS ARTICLE says it much better than I ever could.

let me know what you think!

Stay healthy,

Mike

Great Video on the HORROR OF GLUTEN!!!

Hey Guys,

As you all know I really don't like many of the current buzz words in fitness and nutrition as I believe that they always cause more harm than good.

Well last week South Park hit the nail on the head and decided to take make fun out of the current gluten fear.

Here is the video, hopefully this will give you a giggle on a Monday morning :)

Stay healthy,

Mike

Chasing goals or chasing dreams.

Do you know the difference between a goal and a dream?

A goal is something that you are actively working HARD for while a dream is just something you wish would happen to you.

I bet that many of you reading this are sat there thinking "I'm working hard for my dreams". I bet many of you post how dedicated you are on Facebook and Twitter and love the odd motivational picture on Instagram (don't we all).

I love that, I really do. I'm all about people working hard towards a specific goal that will help them live the life they want.

However there seems to be a growing number of people out there who have forgot what HARD WORK actually is.

There seems to be a large number of people who have an entitled out look on their goals. People who seem to think that just because they are good at something, that people should support them and financially fund them towards their goal. Or even worse, that success will magically happen if they just keep doing what they love.

This is not the case.

I don't care how good you are, how many medals or shows that you have won or what kind of champion you are.

YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING.

It is your responsibility to finance, fuel and provide the hard work necessary to achieve YOUR goals.

They are no one else's.

Let me give you a hypothetical example of what I am talking about.

Say we have an athlete that is very good at their sport. They live at home with their Mother and Father and have no job except becoming better at their sport.

They practice every day, working on the sport that they love. They don't consider it 'work' as it is an activity that they love with all their heart. Now say that this individual has had some success on the competitive circuit. They have won a few local torments and placed well at a few international ones as well.

They then decide that either a trip to a well established training centre, a trip abroad to compete or some other kind of trip that costs a large amount of money will benefit them and their goal. The individual does not work but decides to set up a Just Giving page or something similar to gain the funds necessary to make the trip. They then ask all their friends, family, training partners etc to give them money so that they can continue to chase their dream.

They are basically begging for free money to take a trip.

I'm sorry but this just isn't right! Where is all the 'hard work' you said you were putting in? Where is the 'Grind' you talked about on Facebook? Why should anyone help you when you won't even help yourself?

People like this are just plain lazy. If you are not willing to put in hard work to support yourself then any should anyone else?

Here is a list of things that an athlete I know did every week so that they could save up to travel to New Zealand to train. The individual is a full time student living in privately rented accommodation.

• Train 11 sessions a week.
• Study full time (second year University student studying Biochemistry)
• Work 2 jobs. 1 weekend job, 1 night time job.
• Cleans the training facility 3 times a week (to train for free)
• Cares for his two dogs.

He also asked for zero money to take take the trip. Not a penny. Not from parents, friends, training partners or sponsors. He did it all on his own.

Now I'm not saying that dreams shouldn't be chased. I'm a firm believer in chasing the life that you want. I tell all the kids in schools when I give talks that they CAN have the life that they want but they have to work for it, that their goal can be their reality.

Most of the time it won't come through traditional channels, or even come at once. But the deciding factor in realising any goal is that you must work hard (harder than you think). There is always struggle, there is real sacrifice. There is always a huge amount of failures before success.

There is always HARD WORK!

We seem to have forgotten that to achieve any dream you must WORK HARD. This involves doing things you don't want to do. This is early mornings and late nights, finding a way to support yourself and not ask for handouts, finding a way to turn DREAMS into GOALS and into reality.

If you can't put the work in then you can't have it. Everything has a price whether you like it or not. Not willing to pay the price? Can't have it. That's the universes law not mine.

No one should be supporting your dreams more than you.

Work hard.

Mike

Being a professional or being a bitch.

Hey Guys,

This is going to be a bit of a rant so I apologise. I've tried to turn a blind eye to this a few times but lately it's just getting worse and worse.

What I'm talking about is other coaches bad mouthing, bitching about and generally slating other PTs and coaches on social media and even worse, to clients.

It seems like it has become a statues symbol in the fitness world. You're not doing well unless you can point your little bitchy finger at every other coach and telling the world that they are stupid and wrong.

Is this seriously a good use of your time?

Surely if the coach you are bitching about really doesn't know what they are talking about then surely that will be reflected in the results that they get with their clients? Before long they will be found out to be clueless and get no more clients.

This happens in every industry on planet earth and seems to work quite well as a regulator.

Be shit = No results.
No results = No business.

Why do you feel as though that it should be your personal crusade to right all the wrongs in the fitness world (you better have a lot of free time if that is actually your plan)? Are you really that narrow minded to think that your own personal way of nutrition and training is the ONLY effective one in the entire world?

Even if you were that much of a lunatic to think that you were single handedly revolutionising the entire fitness world, what makes you an authority to tell the world?

What true fuck ever happened to being a professional? To work hard and let your results do the talking? That the reviews and words of your clients be all the shouting that you need? When did people decide that it was a positive business move to slag everyone else off?

I can tell you something, if I was about to hire a builder and all he did was bitch about other builders, there is no way I would be giving him my money. Not only is it unprofessional, it just makes you a shitty human being.

I actually know the reason. It gets you traffic.

People can be bitchy. It gets you likes, shares and retweets. It gets your name out there in a VERY competitive industry.

But do you really want such a negative side of yourself (and therefore business vales) to be shared around the globe?

I know people are trying to build 'tribes' and get a passionate customer base (we all are) but surely this is measured by people who actually love your stuff not how many 'haters' you can acquire?

Also I know that this post will only be used as fuel to the fire because I'm a 'hater'.

Well no. I'm sorry but I don't hate anyone or their persona on social media (no matter how ridiculous). However I reserve the right to think you're an arsehole if you go around slagging every other coach off. Because you're being an arsehole, not because you're some fitness savant sent back from the future to save us all.

Have you ever noticed that the top coaches in the industry actually talk to each other, work with each other and generally get along? One day I hope to be able to talk to some more of these guys on a regular basis as their wealth of in the trenches knowledge is insane! Think that they would ever talk to someone who just bitches all day on social media?

I know I wouldn't.

How about we stop making a joke out something we all supposedly love? How about we actually act like professionals?

Or even just like decent human beings.

Stay healthy,

Mike

Coaches and who you should listen to.

Hey Guys,

The other day a friend posted this article on his Facebook wall.

I am a fan of the site and the author so I read the article. After reading it I concluded that I agreed with pretty much everything the author said with a few minor objections.

I then started to write this post.

I wrote out a long and detailed post about how (especially in combat sports) people need to pick their coaches and trainers wisely.

It seems that everyone is now an MMA or BJJ coach and I even bet that your local gym has a few classes along these lines. it seems like every PT in the land is now an expert on how you can get 'MMA conditioning' or are Strength and Conditioning Experts.

I even wrote a big bit about how I thought that some of it applied to me and how results speak for themselves.

I however deleted it all and wrote this instead.

Yes people pretend to be something that they are not. Yes people try to get your money from you for things they have no experience in. And it's your fault.

That's right, it's YOUR fault.

If people did the correct amount of research and asked the right questions then all of this Mickey Mouse trainer bullshit wouldn't happen. People would get found out for the frauds they are and have to go actually learn the craft before getting clients in it.

Coaching is a skill set and it is your job to make sure that you get the right person for you. Not every PT can help you achieve every goal (just like no nutritionist knows all sports).

We need to be careful who we give access to helping us achieve out dreams.

Do the research!

Stay Healthy,

Mike

After yesterdays Post

Hey Guys,

Yesterday I posted an article on the benefits of having a game plan and using specific practice to get better.

GripHouse and Dinky Ninjas Coach Paul McVeigh did a better job than I ever could of this.

Take a look HERE

Stay Healthy,

mike

Great article on weight cutting.

Hey Guys,

Here is a great article on weight Cutting for combat sports from client Rosi Sexton.

Well worth a read, especially if you are a woman in combat sports!

You can find it HERE

Stay healthy,

Mike

The difference between science and the real world.

I love science.

I especially love it when science takes a look at weight loss and nutrition.

Science helps prove, validate or add weight to theories and arguments that allow me to help my clients become champions.

However science isn't always right. Science (just like anything) can just be one view of a topic that can be taken out of context because of how it is presented.

In the nutrition industry people like to make camps. People like to anchor themselves to a way of thinking then completely disregard every other method and principle with cult like narrow-mindedness. This leads to crazy internet arguments, people being confused and lots of hate mail for me.

People like to pick up on studies, articles and videos and then run around telling everyone that what they are doing is wrong. The other week it was the article on protein, this week it could be this video.

The title of this video really intrigued me as I thought it was going to be about metabolism health. Instead its a video on how all dieting is bad, we are wasting our time and there is a better way to eat.

Now I agree that using fad diets is a bad idea and I am assuming that this is what the video is aimed at as it doesn't mention people who train, lifestyle changes and their effects on fat loss, that weight loss is different from fat loss and weight gain coming from an increase in muscle mass.

In fact, if people don't exercise at all, then this would be a pretty good place to start.

I also highly agree with helping young children to have a healthy view on nutrition and not use the scale as a be all and end all on health and happiness.

The problem I have with the video is on set points and metabolism.

I have seen in many cases people resetting their set points and changing how their metabolisms work. I have seen countless people lose fat and keep it off while eating MORE than they were before.

The speaker on this video knows about metabolism health (also known as adrenal failure) as she touches on it. However she seems to leave out the fact that a metabolism can be improved or fixed with a correct nutrition plan.

I agree that following a fad diet or a diet this is highly restricted in calories and macro nutrients for a long period of time is a bad idea. I agree that most people put back on the weight they had lost after they stop after a fad diet.

However this comes down to having a poor nutritional plan in place and making poor lifestyle choices after the diet is finished, not the fact that their body rebelled against them because they eat a bit less.

This is the type of video that just confuses people and perpetuates the thought of 'I'm not meant to be thin'. The truth is that fat loss is not easy. In fact it's fucking HARD. It does take will power and dedication. It does take discipline. It does take being uncomfortable.

I dare anyone to find me something worth having that came easy!

The presenter says in her closing statement "If diets worked, we would all be thin already". That's like saying if education worked we would all be doctors and rocket scientists.

As terrible as some of the diets are in this industry, at some point we have to also look at the individual that is on them (agreed this is impossible for a presentation).

We need to have a flexible, full filling way to alter people perceptions on nutrition. A good nutrition plan should support the persons life and goals while improving their health, performance and get results.

Stay Healthy,

Mike