HIGH KNEES

 BURPEES

As obvious as it may sound, some of us still seem to need a short reminder of why summer is the best time of the year to start a fitness routine.

1. You will naturally have more energy

My sport idol Rafa Nadal once said "Sun is energy" and he was so right - the moment some warmth of sunshine touches our skin, we tend to immediately crave some outdoors activities, and that's when we should understand the gift of our natural ability to feed off this powerful resource. No matter your fitness level or goal, you are going to achieve better results. If there are some of you thinking right now...I actually feel very sluggish on a hot day... it's not the sun, it's the situation you are unfortunate to find yourself in...snap out of it quickly by distraction, like an  "all out" run, or chasing after seagulls...

2. Days are longer

I know this may not be the favourite for the spontaneous types but if you want to get anything done in life, it takes some planning. Guess what though.... summer means we have a day extended to some ridiculous measures, you have any time from 5am up until 10pm to squeeze your exercise- again, trust me it won't be a pain or chore...that rejuvenating run or cycle after work hours. Do it.

3. You will be more creative with your workouts

With sunshine, and more fresh air in our lungs we become more active mentally as well as physically. Make the most of  this fantastic opportunity of higher brain alertness to create sets of exercises that you enjoy doing, discover new routes for your endurance training or... find courage to try a completely new activity. Military training challenge anyone?

4. You are more likely to develop good habits you will stick with throughout winter

This is by far the most important reason out of  the lot because it creates positive changes to your whole life for the future. Just imagine yourself getting excited about a sports' packed weekend instead of a sofa slouching in front of TV with soul draining soaps on. Don't do this to yourself, you are born to do much more. There are many of you that are still not motivated enough, thinking, "when summer sunshine is gone, what is going to give me my energy?" My answer is...YOUR RESULTS AND EFFECTS OF YOUR SUMMER TRAINING...and believe me..you will notice them in your body and mind, just put some heart to it.

Straight to the point...

1. Change the reason you want to train for.

Let's face it, majority of people don't like exercise and only do it to look good or to loose weight. These two are the reasons that can motivate you short term but in the long run, you are likely to be pushed to a standby mode. You therefore need to sit down and think why you wish to take up some training or sport. The reasons should reflect values you believe in, they should be a part of  your own personality, they should also be supported by passion. There are no set patterns for to use as a template but I can give you my reasons so that you have the idea what I am writing about here:

1. Moving means LIFE to me

2. It brings me tons of enjoyment and satisfaction

3. It strengthens my character by sticking with my decisions

4. It  teaches me discipline and focus (for other aspects of life)

5. It makes my body more agile, stronger, faster and more resilient (therefore life is that much easier)

2. Pick up heavier weights in your circuit training.

Once you have established what you are moving yourself for, do it properly, and use every minute of your training time to your advantage. Yo can do this by training with heavier weights compared to what you have used in your previous sessions. Also, aim at doing your repetitions more dynamically, increase the number of repetitions or just race with your set time. You will rapidly improve your metabolism, your muscles will gain definition and you will see the results quicker than you think, simply because you will have trained your body cells to stay fit, even when you are at rest. This advise is to all those who do exercise fairly regularly but don't notice any results any more. If you are a complete beginner, you should stick to the safe route by assessing your general health first. 

REMEMBER though that I am not talking of heavy weight lifting the way you tend to see around in the gyms. Leave it for body builders who train for their specific body shape. My advise is for those looking to bring back spring in their step again, wanting to be full of general stamina and strength. 

3. Think sweaty, dirty, shameless, aggressive, angry and all out 

You may be  raising your eyebrows with disgust at the moment but with the attitude of well behaved prince or princess you are not going to achieve your results - fast, if at all. Fitness training is a great way to relieve all the frustrations of life and channel any anger onto some positive actions, like proper training sessions. The results will show if you allow yourself to get sweaty, muddy and let go of any fears (fear of being tired, smelly, ugly etc.)  that stop you from going all out. It does take some work on your  mind to begin with and after that it's only pure ecstatic breath of fresh energy, every time. Be proud of your effort and  no respect for those brand new flashy trainers any more. 

You can pin a photo of your muddy shoes proudly presenting them on this board - PINTEREST