It’s vital to keep and stick to your targets and goals when following a fitness routine, and if you’ve not got any, then why not?!

Write them down and log exactly what it is that you want to do. But how do you make something like a goal realistic? Simple solution. Add a time constraint!

I always overlooked the fact that when I was busy swimming all my goals and targets automatically came with pre determined time constraints. If I wanted to be national champion as one of my goals then I’d only have the national championships to be able to achieve that, so my training was geared towards achieving that.

Since finishing my swimming career I lost track on my time constraints within my goals, it’s all well and good saying “I want to get fit”, it’s better than nothing, but if you say, “I want to get fit by losing 1 stone by March”, you’ve got much more chance of achieving your goal, if you’ve not set yourself a time limit it’s always going to be put onto the back burner.

It’s also OK to fail, but just remember it’ll make you work harder, more efficiently and generally better! We learn from our mistakes and failure. No one can ever hit their every goal 1st time round. Right, I’m off for a run as time is ticking before my next goal!

Good luck!

While I am not currently able to be working out in a gym it’s slightly frustrating! In a gym it’s much easier for me to get a broad range of exercises done, working out my whole body or targeting specific areas to improve my overall fitness, but as I’m not able to currently get into a gym, then I guess it’s easier to try and think of all the good things about gym training and why I want to get myself back in. So to make myself feel a bit better I thought I’d come up with a list of my own personal top 5 gym annoyances in no particular order, to try and make me not miss being there so much.

#1 – Mobile phones in the gym.
There is nothing more annoying (to me) than someone during their so called “fitness routine” chatting on the phone. Why bring your phone to the gym?! Surly if you can’t leave the phone for half an hour you should really consider if you have the time for a gym workout. Plus it really annoys others, someone shouting down a phone when you’re there to just work out.

#2 – Gossiping
This phrase makes me laugh, as my old maths teacher used to use the phrase “Stop Gossiping!” But when you’ve got two people who think that they are doing a “serious fitness routine”, and yet all they’re able to discuss who looks hot, how fit and healthy they’re getting (not visual), or even what not wear on Friday night when out on the p*ss, then you have to question what’s the point in them actually being in the gym in the 1st place. If you’re able to have a comfortable chat it’s not even cardio, you’ll be better off going for a walk.

#3 – Badly performed exercises
I’ve seen people that think they’re doing sit-ups on a Swiss ball but actually their just bouncing up and down on it. It’s like watching one of those naff “text these girls in your area” crappy adverts on television, as they are simply bouncing up and down on the Swiss ball! Ok it’s not always the gym members fault, the instructors should be telling them “that’s wrong” but still you’d like to think they must wonder why they’re not seeing any fitness gain whatsoever! Technique is vital!

#4 – Not putting weights away
These people must be incapable of reading, every single gym I’ve ever been to has a sign “could you please return the weights after using them, thank you.” Or something along these lines, I don’t see the impracticality of this, it allows you to find where the specific weight is, or see if it’s being used if it’s not on the floor it’s also generally much safer. Some of these people must be used to being weighted on hand and foot as they refuse to return any fitness equipment they use whatsoever. It’s so annoying and also dangerous as people can trip over the strewn weights all over the gym floor. You have to question; if these people are so lazy NOT to return weights to where they got them from, then do you actually think they’re going to be bothered to maintain a regular “fitness routine”? These are perfect gym customers, well for the gym’s bank balance at least.

#5 – Use another machine!
People that cannot use their initiative and HAVE GOT TO USE the machine you’re on?! Why not find something else to do until I’ve finished? I mean I’m not one to “hog” a certain item in a gym all night long, but if I’m using it, then why not find something else to use? I'll not be more than 10 minutes and you can ALWAYS find something else to do!

That’s my top 5 gym annoyances in no particular order, but it's still not enough to put me off wanting to get back in, especially as it’s now getting dark and cold outside. But as training outside is working and the only option for now then I’m sticking to it.

Today I found that you can get a “Powerball” for under £20! They are said to really help to improve many different sporting activities and general fitness. As I am a keen indoor rower I think it may make a difference to my rowing stroke when working out on the concept two indoor rowing machine. Once I'm up and running with my gym membership through work I can put it to the test and let you know if I’ve seen any improvement on my personal best rowing times.

The Powerball requires no batteries, has no motor and works solely off of “gyroscopic” power. It just requires spinning your wrist while held tight in your hand to start the device off, the Powerball can then get up to spinning 15,000rpm at which point it's exerting almost 40lbs of pressure on your limbs and is travelling at nearly 250 revolutions per second.

You can use a Powerball as a fitness product to either tone or help build substantial power and strength in the wrists, forearms and shoulders. The Powerball is also a great rehabilitation product to mobilise and gently rehabilitate the lower forearm arm.

With payday looming I’m already spending the “virtual money” in my head. I would love a good holiday due to the awful summer we’ve had here in the UK, but that means I need some luggage! If it’s not one thing it’s the other :)

But what about my fitness routine?! That can’t go out of the window?! So this raises the question, what should I take with me for maintaining my fitness levels and keeping up my exercise routine if I go away?

Well here at home I live by one item of awesome fitness equipment; a skipping rope! This is one vital piece of equipment you can’t overlook in your training arsenal.
Any sort of weights equipment is a big no, no, until I get my own private jet I’m not paying excess baggage for something that’s not vital! This brings me onto a handy little tip.

When you go abroad, you can buy HUGE water bottles from most local supermarkets! Go get a couple of those and there you go! Two instant dumbbell/kettleballs for your holiday. They’re not going to be very heavy, but still, boost up the repetitions and you can get a good workout done! And it’s better than nothing!

I’ve also had a look at the “Powerballs” that you can buy online, from what I’ve seen these condition your arm by vibrating and you’ve got to try and hold the “Powerball” still as it vibrates in your hand. They certainly look interesting and work along the same lines as the powerplate machines.

Maybe I’ll invest in a powerball sometime this week!

At the weekend I received an email from a reader of the blog Kelly. She wanted to know where to buy or where to find an exercise wall chart to maintain and follow a good exercise routine.

As I’ve been a subscriber to many different fitness magazines I’ve managed collect a fair few of these “wall charts” during my subscription base, many of which proved quite useful when working out at home.

Fitness magazines such as Men’s Fitness (this is the best by a long way for wall charts), Men’s Health and many other fitness magazines always include these handy wall charts in their monthly magazine, and if no wall chart is included then you will always get an exercise routine with photographs in the back few pages.

I’d advise leafing through this month’s fitness magazine editions in WHSmiths to see if you can find a fitness wall chart with a program that will suit you.

The dumbbells I recently bought online also included a large wall chart which helped with my exercise routine. Most home gym fitness equipment includes wall charts and wall planners to help you with your home fitness routine. The wall chart I got with the dumbbells was more of a large list of exercises you can do with dumbbells, rather than an exercise program, but it’s still proved helpful.

I also found a website that sells the fitness wall charts online:

Fitness Wall Charts

If you cannot find any that are what you’re looking for here, or not willing to pay a premium for a fitness wall chart, I’d recommend buying a large wall year planner to track and write up your fitness program. You could buy a few fitness magazines, cut out many of the different exercises they demonstrate and compile your very own customised fitness wall chart!