DCSfit

We know our health & fitness is important. And there is a desire there to take action. Yet, we don't!

Why is that?

There are things that fully justify our focused attention for short periods.

But when we keep saying we're going to eat healthier, be more active, hit the gym or get out more, yet it never happens for anything other than a few weeks or even days at a time, then it's worth looking at why.

🤯 Our minds work in very strange ways and can trick us into believing we are doing the right thing (in the moment) because it is the thing we feel more pressurised to do.

Yet, even if the cost is a critical hit to our health, we still don't feel it as a priority.

This is likely because we are wired for short term survival rather than long term nurturing.

Yet what we perceive as 'threats' these days no longer have the same weight as they did thousands of years ago (when our very lives were in danger).

Regardless, it's what happens.

💡However, by understanding why, we can be better prepared to react based to make smart decisions rather than reactive ones.

This video outlines why our brains react the way they do.

But how can we get a good balance of self-care when the pressure is on us and time is short?

Fortunately, I've got you covered.

💥The full video this info was taken from is called "Too Busy for Fitness Focus! What to Do" [🔗Link in 1st Comment Below]💥

Check it out. And start making positive changes today!

One of the most simple, basic and undervalued improvements we can make to our health, fitness and well-being is to drink more water.

However, it is something we all take for granted.

💥Currently, 1 in 3 people does not have access to safe drinking water the way we do.💥

🚰Yet, though we have it "on tap" (literally) many of us fail to consume enough because we "forget" or "don't like the taste". 🤔

A clear marker for just how lucky we are, regardless of the daily irritations or annoyances we face.

🚨As such, for 2022, the growth of the DCSfit YouTube Channel will be linked to donations of clean water, through organisations that specialize in this.🚨

(As I'm still learning about the individual bodies, I'm not tying this to a specific charity yet. Though if anyone reading this has detailed knowledge of such organisations, please get in touch).

I'm not going to link to the channel. There are plenty of links through this page (and FB throttles exposure when you do it).

But the name changed, at the start of the year, to DCSfit. So it is very easy to search for.

I hope you find the content useful. And you can feel good consuming it as you are helping someone else who has less than you do in doing so.

But please take this as a reminder of what a privilege it is to have clean water so readily available and make it a bigger part of your life.

Many people do drink enough (or at least think they do), so who is willing to post their current average daily intake?

How much (or little) do you focus on your health?

Given everything that has happened over the past 2 years, there has been a huge focus on preventing hospitalisations and worse.

And given the numbers of people affected, that's understandable.

💥 However, it has long been acknowledged that there is something that could be done. Something simple. That would save more than DOUBLE the number of lives lost to this virus. 💥

[▶️ This video is a modified clip from a longer video - Link in 1st comment 🔗]

No research, restrictions, drugs or anything complicated is required.

Just a little more deliberate movement.

Unfortunately, many of us look at movement as something we do to "lose weight" or as part of a physical improvement programme.

Be honest, how many of you think about your health when it comes to exercise or movement?

And when the movement involved is little more than getting up and moving around once or twice per day (for a total of around 25mins), it doesn't feel impactful.

Yet, globally, if followed by everyone, it could be more than twice as impactful as having saved every life lost to Covid.

For that, we shut down businesses, closed schools, stopped people leaving their houses, distanced from one another, didn't see our families and spent Billions on tracing systems (that didn't work) and vaccine development etc.

Yet there is no effort to encourage basic movement.

💭 Imagine if sanctions were put in place to force employers to include a 15min of movement for every 4hrs of someone's working day.

(Not necessarily formal exercise - it could be walking meetings, rather than sitting at a desk; space designated to walk whilst talking on the phone; or something as simple as ensuring people take a break and get off their chair and move as company policy - though it could include a formal group activity if that seemed suitable).

That might sound ridiculous or OTT but think back 2-3 years.

How ridiculous would it have sounded if you were told you would be wearing masks everywhere, you would be quarantined to your home with only emergency travel and an hour of exercise time available to you, you would be doing all your socialising through zoom and touching another human, even to shake hands, would be a no-no.

Yet it happened.

Unfortunately, there is no money in promoting basic healthy living (the way there is in vaccines, PPE, tracing apps and the like) so this is never likely to come to fruition.

But there is nothing stopping individuals from taking their lives into their own hands.

🚨 Remember, without your health you are capable of nothing. 🚨

So, rather than looking at fitness from the aesthetics, consider looking after your health first.

What you do with that health and wellbeing is then down to you

Breathing is something we all do but mostly undervalue.

Generally, we don't think about it. It just, sort of, happens.

And with so many other things requiring our focus and attention, why would we spend time on something that we can do without thinking?

Just because we do it well enough to exist does not mean we are doing it well.

🚨 Under stress, in particular, we tend to lose control.

Holding our breath without noticing.

Taking shallow breaths.

Breathing erratically.

When we tax our system (as with exercise) often people revert to mouth breathing. Trying to gulp down air in an attempt to combat the feeling of suffocation the activity is creating. 🚨

But breathing has a huge part to play in every aspect of our being. And to neglect it is asking for trouble.

Common side effects of poor breathing:

💥 Fat burning suppressed
💥 Muscle development inhibited
💥 Poor concentration
💥 Frequent unexplained headaches
💥 Poor endurance levels (getting out of breath faster than you feel you should)

These could all be down to how you breathe.

On a physical level, poor breathing can have a detrimental effect on:

🪞 Skin Quality
🪞 The Straightness of your Teeth
🪞 Your jawline

Along with your general mood, it is possible to generate improvements by improving how you breathe.

If you want to know more on how breathing impacts these elements, how yoga ties in to this (and why this is more associated with the true spirit of yoga than acrobatics or contortionism), and why, taking some time on breathing focus can make improvements to your health, fitness and wellbeing, without the need to move from your seat, check out the full video, "Is Yoga Worth Considering" here:

▶️ https://youtu.be/DwUNJDQqCGA

Now take a breath and lift your life with it.

Could there be a conflict of interests between a Personal Trainer's needs and their client's?

One of the reasons hourly rates is a flawed system is because it doesn't benefit either side and can lead to bad practices.

From the client's point of view, if there is a choice between a slow & a fast route to the same result, it would be extremely rare for the slow route to be preferable.

With Personal Training there is certainly a balance required.

Clients often want fast & the PT is there to ensure they don't do anything drastic.

Their role is to optimise progression.

But PTs are people too. With their own issues.

And whilst it is rarely deliberate, subconscious choices can be made based on what is best for them, rather than the client.

This is more common in the early years of PT's career.

There was an expectation that upon qualifying they would move, immediately, to a solid income.

But getting those first few clients can be extremely difficult & time-consuming. Meanwhile, the bills continue to accumulate.

🚨 In such a situation, irrational fears of showing a client so much that they may not need them anymore can take over.

Or, they may push their clients too hard because they want the before & after pictures or the testimonial and now their client is nothing more than a marketing tool. 🚨

You see this a lot with "challenges". The PT offers a cheap service for an 8-week transformation (or similar).

Get enough people and there is a decent cash injection. Plus, the law of large numbers means some will achieve spectacular results.

🧮 Let's say 50 people sign up for their group PT sessions. Maybe 5 are genuinely inspired and extract everything they can from the sessions. Another 5 didn't really need the sessions, they just needed the accountability of signing up.

Of those 10 people, half have solid genetics hormonal functioning that allows for rapid change.

At the end of the 8 weeks, their change has been spectacular. The other 5 of that 10 are seeing solid results & feel positive about the experience.

That's 10 testimonials and 5 eye-catching before & after pics making that PT look great. ✔

But what about the other 40 clients?

Maybe 7 ended up injured. 10 ended up jaded & dropped out. 8 pushed so hard their depleted immune systems caused them to pick up a bug, missing 3 weeks of training (so they blame the illness, not the protocol that got them there) and the other 15 worked their butts off, but it just didn't do anything for them. ❌

So, on balance, was this challenge in the best interests of the clients or the trainer?

Was it a calculated act?

In most cases no.

Just (as we all do at times) self-justified to suit an immediate need (often driven by panic or fear).

Experience is often a good healer to this. But it is something worth considering & a reason why cheap often has an agenda and is rarely an indicator of value.

When you think of a Personal Trainer, what springs to mind?

▶Watch the full video here - 💥https://youtu.be/uuihC-aDIRs💥

Someone who tells you what to do and continues to shout at you until you do it?

Someone who will count your reps and write them down to ensure you do more than last time?

Is it someone who is there to write programmes for you, then watch you do them?

Or, someone to make you feel bad when you eat something unhealthy?

If any of this sounds familiar, you have likely either had a bad experience with a PT. Been in the vicinity of poor trainers working with other people. Or have only seen movies that have glorified the 'Drill-Sergeant' approach to getting results.

Unfortunately, it feels like many PTs have watched these movies or seen others and copied them.

The result - A lot of poor quality personal trainers and a tarnished view of the industry.

If you want a breakdown of what to look for in a PT. What makes a good PT and what traits to steer clear of, you can watch the full video here:

https://youtu.be/uuihC-aDIRs

What are common reasons for Hiring a Personal Trainer?
And do any of these apply to you?

▶ Watch the Full Video Here - https://youtu.be/pn_EEaT2R0Q

If you're considering hiring a personal trainer because you want to make a change and "that's what people do", then you are setting yourself up for a fall.

Firstly, if you don't have a clear idea of why you are making a choice, how can you assess if the investment was worth it?

Also, if you are going into it blindly, there are thousands of PTs to choose from, so how do you know which one to go with?

By having clarity on why you are looking for a personal trainer, you can also assess whether that particular trainer is the best person to help you with those issues.

Or, you may come to the conclusion that a PT is not the right fit for dealing with your current frustrations. Saving you both a lot of time, effort and frustration.

If you are thinking of hiring a personal trainer, are you doing it for the right reasons?

[📹 Watch the Full Video Here 🔗 https://youtu.be/uuihC-aDIRs ]

Did you simply notice the results someone else got with a PT, some marketing content from the PT (before & after pics) or that the PT looks in great shape and your envy led the way?

Without thinking through the practicalities and making informed decisions, it is likely that your choices will end up in disappointment, frustration or even set you back.

So be sure to consider all the parameters involved before making a decision.

Watch the full video and ensure your investment in a personal trainer turns out to be of the highest possible value.

https://youtu.be/uuihC-aDIRs

When we say we "can't" do something. Often that is an indicator, not of lack of time or money, but our priorities.

It is us acting from circumstances rather than for what is best for us.

💥Rather, replace the word "can't" with "won't" and see how it feels.💥

If someone asks you to do something, you might say, "I can't, because I don't have time".

That may be true. But you don't have time because the things that are taking up your time are higher on your priority list.

So, in reality, you "won't" do the thing that is being asked of you because you have higher priorities.

However, if you make this replacement and it doesn't feel good when you do it. It may be time to review your priorities.

🚨 For example:

You have found a gym you want to join. You feel it would make a positive difference and accelerate your fitness journey, whilst removing stress. But it's expensive.

You could say,

"I can't afford it right now".

But the truth is, you are saying,

"I won't pay that much because there are higher priorities in my life that require that money".

However, if you then feel a sinking feeling. Or one of regret. Then ask yourself why your priorities are lined up this way.

❔Where is that money currently going❓

If it's needed to pay your rent/ mortgage; your utilities and to feed your family. Then clearly those are high-end priorities and, on reflection, you may now feel good about it.

However, on review, if you realise that you spend more than the amount in question on takeaways each month. Or in the pub. Or on junk food. Or expensive coffees. Then it may be time to ask yourself the question:

"What is more important to me right now?"

Is it the feeling of instant gratification from these indulgences? Or is it the idea of improving your health; increasing your energy; or dropping some unwanted fat?

Only you can make that choice. And it does not have a right or wrong answer.

But, unchecked, we all tend to default to the instant gratification route.

So, I'd urge you, the next time you use the word can't. Replace it with won't. See how that feels. And if it doesn't feel great, then take a few minutes to review your priorities.

By making informed choices, rather than emotional reactions, you may just find things feel a little lighter as a result.

🔗Watch the full video here ➡https://youtu.be/LeWo60d4jBs

How often do you use cost to compare value?

🔶Full Video Here ➡ https://youtu.be/LeWo60d4jBs🔶

When the products are like for like, ie same make & model, but 2 retailers are selling for a different price. Often this is a good strategy. Though keep in mind, part of the cost difference may be down to the service you receive.

For example, you might be looking for a new TV.

You find a great option. And 2 suppliers are stocking it. One is charging £799 the other £999. Which do you go for?

It's the same TV, so you go £799 right?

What if I told you the first one will arrive in 7-10 days via courier (can't be more specific than that)? If you are not in when it arrives, you'll get a card to re-arrange another day. It comes in a large box with lots of secure packaging. If there is anything wrong with it, you have to contact the supplier and arrange to have it returned. But the customer service line typically has around a 40min wait time to speak to someone. And it will likely take around 28 days turnaround to get your TV back after sending.

With option 2, they use their own delivery service. You can choose your delivery day & a 2hr time window. When it arrives, the engineers that deliver it will install it (wall mounted if required) and set it up for you with the rest of your set-up and give a demonstration of it working.

If anything goes wrong in the first month, they will come and collect it (if it can't be repaired) and replace it like for like before leaving.

Some people will still feel the cheaper option is worth the risk.

Others will see the value in the latter.

Of those that choose the first option. Some will get frustrated and waste many hours during the installation. And those that find there is a fault will get annoyed, frustrated and stressed with the process of returns. (Yet most will still not realise the value of the 2nd option, they will be too focused on the poor service and their own feelings of frustration and wasted time).

However, in the fitness industry (or any service-based industry) the product is not the same from supplier to supplier.

As an example, when choosing a gym, no two gyms are the same.

They have different equipment. Different people work there, delivering different (often vastly so) levels of service, knowledge, empathy and experience.

So, to base any decision on price at the evaluation stage is rarely going to lead to the best outcome.

It's more likely to lead to ongoing frustrations.

And the emotional push that drew you to that service in the first place will not be served well.

In fact, you are likely to be wasting not just your money (though less) but your time.

Why you should never search for "Cheap [Service] Near Me"
➡ https://youtu.be/LeWo60d4jBs

Do you use filters to make decisions?

This could apply to anything, but a common one is the phrase "Cheap Gyms Near Me" (or similar) when looking to join a gym.

But could you be inadvertently filtering out the ideal solution for you?

Watch the full video here >>> https://youtu.be/LeWo60d4jBs

Keep in mind, the cost & the location have nothing to do with the reason you wanted to join a gym (in this instance). They may be important factors to you because you can't afford to overspend, or don't feel you have the time to travel far. But by mixing problems or limitations, you are not focused on resolving either.

These filters could be applied further down the line. But if they form part of your 'top level' filtration, you could possibly be filtering out your perfect solution.

Not only that, but if the filter leaves you with only sub-standard options, then your baseline for what is acceptable will automatically drop. Leaving you in a consistent loop of frustration and perceived failure.

Set your bar higher by putting the right filters in place early on.

(See the full video - linked above - for more).

Often training at home can seem like it should be the more convenient option.

But when you have important things to get done, trying to train when those things are in view or easy reach, can be extremely difficult.

Watch the Full Video Here >>> https://youtu.be/UiePk7w5ErQ

The demands of others (work, family, friends etc) can often become overwhelming when you attempt to prioritise your own health & wellbeing.

By remaining in the space where those tasks are in reach (or you can be interrupted easily) can make focused training almost impossible.

Moving your training to a dedicated fitness space, that involves deliberate travel, and with it, isolation from these demands can make a huge difference to the level of focus you can give to your training plan.