Lessons learnt from 2017

Applied knowledge is power! Before looking ahead to 2018 we thought it would be a good idea to consolidate some of the lessons learnt over the course of 2017.

Here at CoActive Health we fully understand that if you’re not striving to improve, learn and grow then in this industry you’ll soon be left behind. This is the reason we put such stock on hosting courses and working alongside fellow coaches who are at the forefront of the industry.

Here are the 3 most prominent lessons learnt from the last year:

Mind Set

Early in 2017 we had the pleasure of hosting world renowned ‘body transformation’ specialist Christiaan Maurice. There were many key lessons learnt from this course which we previously covered in this article. However perhaps the biggest thing was how important mind set is when it comes to making progress.

It is vital that you completely believe in the steps and measures you are taking when striving towards a new goal. This relates to the power of your subconscious, and its ability to either keep you on the desired path or self-sabotage your efforts.

When it comes to training, this is the difference between simply turning up at the gym and going through the motions to arriving wanting to get everything out of your body and smash past last week’s numbers.

With this in mind, it is important we ask ourselves the following questions:

• ‘What are my health and fitness goals?’
• ‘What will happen if I fail to reach my goals?’
• ‘What will happen if I achieve my goals?’

Once we are clear with the above then it’s simply a case of fully committing to your goals and completely trusting and believing in the process.

The importance of Squatting

Over the last year, I have had the pleasure of being coached by Tom Hibbert of Winning Health Solutions. Back in February Tom came to us to host a seminar exclusively designed around squatting – Roan was in his element!

We wrote an in-depth article you should check out called How to fix your squat.

Many of the programs and techniques taught during the seminar I have had the pleasure (and pain) of experiencing over the last 10 months. The result is that my back squat has gone from 160kg to 190kg and every other major lift has also improved too.

During this time Roan has been getting coached by Wofgang Unsold of ‘Your Personal Training Institute’ or YPSI. Wolfgang is well known within the industry for his love for squats and his famous squat holiday program. He is another who has really helped us understand the different techniques and programs around squatting.

This reinforced to me the importance of squatting and it’s many benefits:

• Huge central nervous system stimulation leading to massive strength gains.
• Excellent flexibility and joint mobility.
• A strong ‘core’.
• Great lower back strength.
• Performance carry over to all other major lifts.

This is why we program squats into your workouts as often as we do!

Gut Health

Both Christiaan and Tom are huge proponents of good gut health and its effects on your health and fitness goals.

Only now are we starting to appreciate the importance of gut health and diversity. This has been a huge area of research within health and fitness over the last year and it is only set to grow in 2018.

It is no coincidence that while the populations gut health and micobiom diversity is declining the rates of auto immune diseases, allergies and obesity are all rapidly increasing.

Our bodies vary entirely in how we respond to food and exercise. This is why there is no such thing as a perfect diet or exercise regime. The reason one person puts on excess fat on a certain diet yet another loses fat is down in part to genes but also the different microbes that populate our guts.

We now know that certain microbes protect individuals against many diseases and against weight gain while others increase susceptibility to these factors. Despite the fact that everyone responds differently, there are key factors that we can control to improve our gut health:

1. Diets high in processed foods and sugar are bad for our microbes, another reason to cut these out.
2. Diets high in fresh fruit and veg are good for our microbes, the more variety the better. This is one of the reasons we encourage you to rotate your diet regularly and also to eat with the seasons where possible.
3. If you can moderate then a little dark chocolate, red wine, quality coffee and fermented cheese can be beneficial to your gut health. Warning, this is not an excuse to eat your body weight in chocolate and wash it down with 3 bottles of red wine, I said moderate.

Gut health lies at the forefront of robust good health and any gut and digestive issues need addressing asap in order to make progress in the gym.

In light of the above lets apply what we have learnt in the last year to make 2018 our best yet.

Remember – if you’d like additional support achieving your goals, or are considering working with a personal trainer, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Additional Support

If you have have any questions or would like to book in for a complimentary discovery call to learn more about how we can help, get in touch using the form below.