How are you at handling pressure?

We all have good days and not so good days and how we handle the not so good days often has an impact on our health. Sometimes it can even be a direct reflection of our state of health.

Yesterday turned out to be a series of unfortunate events for us, hence this blog. The recent extreme cold weather has been turbulant for so many and it hit us in force. A frozen pipe burst early on, then the freezer broke, then the pipes leaked in about 5 or 6 places flooding the back place and firing water in all directions and then the central heating decided to break down. Whilst it was fairly inconvenient and frustrating, panic just isn't one of my traits. Through the course of the events, there was always tasks that could help reduce the damage or make steps to a solution. In my experience, panicky people make poor decisions and tend not to think straight, I'll elaborate. I am fortunate enough to have served the country twice in the Middle East. Both visits were fairly intense times with a lot of missile attacks on our locations. It got to the point that some people became complacent that the assaults were inaccurate. To be fair, they often were as they were often poorly planned and rushed incidents. As a lead interpreter, I was given a task of showing a new 'terp' the ropes and taking them on an orientation of our base. Whilst at dinner in the mess tent, we came under heavy mortar fire with large shells landing within the camp and extremely close to our location with shrapnel ripping through the tent. The tent provided no protection whatsoever, the problem was that the tent was filled with over 100 soldiers and the exit was a single doorway. You can imagine the situation as dozens panicked running for the entrance, forgetting their armour, running back...it was chaos!

For me, the situation was my first of this kind but I managed to stay calm and get myself and the new and stunned 'terp' to hard cover quickly without panic.

I guess I'm particularly fortunate having this as an experience as I find it easy to put things into perspective. That situation could have been extremely different but I like to think I handled it pretty well.

Things go wrong, expectations get crushed, incidents happen and sometimes it's crucial to act quickly but being able to keep calm and a clear head will help you keep an awareness of what you can do. Panic is fuelled by worry which is focussing on the problem - this can really hamper reaching a solution.

You always have choice and options, make sure you use them.

I know in hindsight, the jets of water flooding our back place will become quite an entertaining story.


- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Chapel Ln,Leeds,United Kingdom

The biggest mistake in Fitness

As a coach, I guess you can expect me to say that the specifics of the exercise are easy when it comes to staying in shape. It really is though. Even the nutrition can be relatively straight forward providing you don't have specific requirements. If this is the case, why don't that many people seem to achieve the results they so desire? Exercising 4-5 times a week is absolutely ample to either maintain shape or make the changes you want. Yet many people who do commit to this and in many cases even more, what stands in their way of achieving?

When I started out as a coach, I was so excited with all this knowledge I'd recently taken on, all I wanted to do was help people by giving them effective conditioning programmes yet, whilst all this knowledge was great, without one very important thing being right, it wouldn't really make a blind bit of difference. It's mindset!!

I'm not going to profess to always having been the most confident and empowered person. This isn't true. I was never the most physically able at school, in actual fact, chips, gravy and sausage took it's toll on me in my teenage years and everything I'm saying comes with personal attachment.

The thing is, we've all heard about the intrinsic link between mind and body. If you're aware of it but haven't really ever taken notice of it then it may be time to stop and take note. Think about it, in sport, how much does confidence affect performance? In football, when a team concedes a goal, you see their heads go down and this completely disaffects the way that they then play the game. It takes the real leaders / management and coaches to then pick their heads back up. A losing team can often start thinking about not letting another in rather than scoring another.

The good news is, in fitness, you're not having to compete against anyone else. It's just you versus you...you're body versus your mind? Yet, strangely enough, many people have a habit of looking around themselves in a gym or a fitness class and being intimidated by someone else. We've all heard those voices "I'm not that fit / I can't lift that much / I look awful compared to them / I'm never going to be that fit" Don't get me wrong, it can be motivating to work against others in a group context but do you really listen to those voices? If you do then prepare to not enjoy the benefits you should be getting. Those voices don't inspire, make you work as well as you can do or give you the confidence in yourself that you need to be at your best.

Approaching everything you do with focus, self belief and absolute certainty in yourself will make sure that whenever you're training, you're present in not just body but mind as well. It makes a difference...trust me!

If you're interested finding out more about motivation and simple things you can do to improve your mental focus then drop me an email phill@creatingchaos.co.uk

The Ultimate Stomach without sit ups - Part 4 of 4

Ok, it's been a few months since I started this series and hopefully long enough for you to have really embedded the fundamentals that I spelled out in:

• Part 1 - Internal function
• Part 2 - Functional stability
• Part 3 - The perfect squat

If you haven't read through those then please take the time to and go through the suggested exercises.

This final step is simple. The golden rule is, use all the tips and techniques you've learnt from the previous articles and apply them to all exercises you do. It is easier to apply the principles for strength training or circuit training but you should still be able to engage them through many forms of CV training.

The most effective exercises that will really engage your abdominals like never before are compound movements that use the entirity of your body and in a variety of directions, movement types and circumstances. If you have a relatively good control over your body then why not try our own Primal Flow system. This is specifically based upon the workings of your stomach and hits every single major and minor muscle group giving you the most rounded conditioning of your stomach possible. No equipment needed. Follow to links to give them a go:

Upper and core conditioning and weight loss - Excellent for toned arms, chest, back, shoulders and one ripped stomach

Lower and core endurance - Perfect to tone legs, bum and stomach

If you find them tricky then try our free online facility which gives you the choice to select your ability level.

Please leave comments and let us know how you get on.

Safe exercises when it's snowy and icy

The winter showers seem to have painted the UK white over the last few days and hugely affected peoples plans, work and home life.

If you're finding that the snow is hampering your activity levels at the minute then make sure you read the 3 top ways of staying fit despite the big white outdoors:

1. Get stuck in - You're never going to defeat the weather so you may as well accept that it'll do it's thing until it decides to do otherwise. Whilst it can be disruptive, snow provides a completely new dimension to training that other weathers just can't provide. Make sure you're wrapped as much as possible (waterproof gloves are best) and try some of the following. (30-40 minutes is plenty):
• Make a snow man, why not make the biggest snowman/woman you've ever made and better yet, if you are near to another thumb twiddling person, get them involved. Either race to see who can make the biggest and baddest or make an almighty beast together. Incorporating deadlifting, pressing, pulling, twisting and squatting, this task hits all the major movement patterns.
• Clear the path / drive of snow. It is probably best that you do this one when the snowfall has stopped to avoid frustration but shovelling your paths will not only provide you with a safer thoroughfare but it'll get you working pretty hard. Don't have a driveway? There must be a road nearby, clear a good 10-15 meters of it.
• Go for an arctic hike. Make sure you are well wrapped up and take some water too. This is better and safer than running in the snow as it is not just slippy but hugely uneven and every step is a gamble whilst not being completely certain of what lies below the snow. Not only will hiking in snow get you working even harder than normal hiking with the deep surface but it'll engage your stomach more with every step having to come higher and further to the front.
• If you're wanting to be a little more adventurous then try sleigh pushing. Our outfit members love these, killer exercise but don't half get your body working like never below. We use powerbags but a small badger on a sledge would prove a fantastic alternative

1. Do a home circuit. You really don't need equipment to get the best workout. The truth is that a lot of the fitness based equipment can distort posture, just check the following video of my brother on a pec dec for some evidence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wWrLA_LT8s. The best tool we all have is our own bodies. Weight can be good but only once you've mastered using your body first. There are loads of programmes out there, from yoga, pilates, simple circuits and all have benefits. However, we've found that whilst each style of bodyweight training has it's own benefits, there is no single style out there that gives you strength, stability, flexibility, body conditioning, aerobic fitness, balance, power and so we put together our very own Primal Flow. Why not try one of our circuits and subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive all our coming programmes. They're short, sharp and maximise using all of your body:
• Upper toning and stamina session
• Lower conditioning and weight loss session
• The sessions are no longer than 30 minutes including rest periods and if you need different variations of the exercises then just drop us a line info@creatingchaos.co.uk. If you find this style of circuit a little too advanced then sign up for our FREE online fitness programme which allows you to pick your level and goal for your programme. 
2. Sort the house out. It could be cleaning, DIY or doing those jobs that you never seem to do. You'll be suprised at how much of a workout spending a morning hoovering, washing, polishing, ironing or cleaning the oven can be. Whilst at Jenny's house recently, my mother-in-law made a very true observation about the rising level of overweight and obese people. People just don't have manual jobs anymore. Spending some time on your feet doing jobs will not only kill the calories but it'll fill you with satisfaction after doing such a great job. 

 Hope this helps!