Confidence In Training

Apart from intensity of effort, confidence may well be the most important factor for the production of the best rate of training progress; without confidence in his ability to produce good results, a trainee will seldom be able to produce them – and never in proportion to the efforts expended.

It is not the author's intention to go into the possible causative factors behind this situation – nor is it meant to be implied that these factors are identified or understood; quite the contrary, while a very large number of theories exist on this subject, the author has little if any confidence in any of the theories that have come to his attention – and absolutely no intention of becoming involved in a detailed recounting of such theories.

But – beyond any shadow of a slightest doubt – it is clear that lack of confidence in a particular mode of training can, and probably will, reduce the results produced by such training to a marked degree; a similar, if opposite effect is well established in the field of medicine – the placebo effect.

In some cases I completely agree with the methods practiced by coaches in attempts to inspire confidence, and in a few cases I do not agree with the methods being practiced – but my personal likes or dislikes are of no slightest importance; results are what count, and any reasonable method –and some apparently unreasonable methods – that will produce the required results should be practiced.

I could almost literally hammer this point into the ground, with hundreds of examples of cases where confidence – or a lack of confidence – greatly influenced the production of results from physical training; but no amount of repetition can make the above points any clearer.

Adapted from "The Nautilus Bulletin, Article No. 34 - Confidence" By Arthur Jones

Quotes By Jack Lalanne

Jack Lalanne is an American fitness, exercise, nutritional expert, and motivational speaker who has been called "the godfather of fitness". Here are a few quotes that are very useful if you want to embark on the journey to physical fitness. I find them useful and I hope you will too. And if you are interested in learning more from Jack Lalanne, I suggest you search his name on youtube. There are a lot videos on him, but the most helpful videos are those that are from his 1951 to 1985 television show.


"By exercise. I'll tell you one thing, you don't always have to be on the go. I sit around a lot, I read a lot, and I do watch television. But I also work out for two hours every day of my life, even when I'm on the road."

"Do you know how many calories are in butter and cheese and ice cream? Would you get your dog up in the morning for a cup of coffee and a donut?"

"Focus on your problem zones, your strength, your energy, your flexibility and all the rest. Maybe your chest is flabby or your hips or waist need toning. Also, you should change your program every thirty days. That's the key."

"I do it as a therapy. I do it as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline. Exercise is my discipline."

"I only eat fish - no chicken, no turkey, just fish. I get all my protein from fish and egg whites."

"I'd rather see you drink a glass of wine than a glass of milk. So many people drink Coca-Cola and all these soft drinks with sugar. Some of these drinks have 8 or 9 teaspoons of sugar in them What's the good of living if you can't have the things that give a little enjoyment?"

"If you've got a big gut and you start doing sit-ups, you are going to get bigger because you build up the muscle. You've got to get rid of that fat! How do you get rid of fat? By changing your diet."

"Look at the average American diet: ice cream, butter, cheese, whole milk, all this fat. People don't realize how much of this stuff you get by the end of the day. High blood pressure is from all this high-fat eating."

"Probably millions of Americans got up this morning with a cup of coffee, a cigarette and a donut. No wonder they are sick and fouled up."

"Remember this: your body is your slave; it works for you."

"So many older people, they just sit around all day long and they don't get any exercise. Their muscles atrophy, and they lose their strength, their energy and vitality by inactivity."

"The only way you get that fat off is to eat less and exercise more."

"What you need to do is get that tape measure out, and start measuring that gut. Then you start working out and you start eating properly till that gut gets down close to it was when you were in your 20's. Then you'll find out what your weight should be."

"Yes, exercise is the catalyst. That's what makes everything happen: your digestion, your elimination, your sex life, your skin, hair, everything about you depends on circulation. And how do you increase circulation?"

"You can't get rid of it with exercise alone. You can do the most vigorous exercise and only burn up 300 calories in an hour. If you've got fat on your body, the exercise firms and tones the muscles. But when you use that tape measure, what makes it bigger? It's the fat!"

Climbing Stairs - The Difference It Can Make

In a study, a group of hospital
employees were asked to make one small change in their 
daily routine.

At the end of 12 weeks, here were the results:

1. body fat decreased 2%
2. waistline measurement decreased 2%
3. lung capacity increased 9%
4. diastolic blood pressure decreased 2%
5. LDL cholesterol decreased 4%

Pretty impressive considering these were only the "average"
of all the results.  So what was the magic protocol here?
The ONLY thing these individuals did differently was to
take the stairs instead of the elevator each day.

Just goes to show you the power of that one simple choice
can make.

Adapted from 'How about these numbers' by John Wood