Picture: No Equipment Required - Part IV

No equipment required, requires stabilisation strength for those supporting their training partner.  This is also not just an ab or core exercise, but works all muscle groups.

Picture: Using Your Environment as a Gym : Part II

"Piggy-Back Car Push"

"Piggy-Back Car Push"

Was challenged to this during Primal Playout class whilst doing car-push drills.  It certainly was a challenge and I decided to accept it!

News: McDonalds No Longer Welcome in Bolivia

McDonalds is conquering the world right?  Stores opening and growth even during a global recession.  Well there are some countries where fast food is not so graciously received.  After 14 years in Bolivia, McDonalds has been forced to close its stores due to not making much of an impact in the local market.

According to the first article below:  "one commentator reflected that the large food vendor didn’t make the type of food that most Bolivians would consider good food."

It also reveals there are seven other countries that are also affected by closure.  It appears profit, not just consumer choice dictates the organisation's operations - not too much of a surprise.

You can read more about this here (the original article I read): --> http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/12/mcdonalds-close-all-their-stores-in-bolivia-making-bolivia-the-only-latin-american-free-mcdonalds/

Here is a more informative article with less of an overtly political slant (it also states the stores closed in 2002) --> http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/bolivia-already-happy-their-meals-rejects-mcdonalds.html

Motivation: Be SMARTER in 2012

Here is an update to an article I posted last year about goal-setting.  

This time of year many of us choose to create a list of resolutions we wish to keep for the short, medium or long-term.  One key to success for any of this is to use a formalised method to get there.

We often choose goals that are quite vague such as 'I want to lose weight' or 'I will get healthier'.  As I mentioned in a recent post 88% of New Year's resolutions fail so any help we can get making positive changes to our lifestyle is useful.  What does getting healthier mean?  How do we know if we are successful or at least going in the right direction?

Well making yourself accountable is one key to success.  One method that can help is the use of SMART goals.  This is not restricted to the start of a year, but useful at any time and for any project.  It's a tool useful in managing business change and there are no reasons why we can't apply it to lifestyle change.

SMART is an acronym for making goals - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed.

Specific - specify exactly what you want from your goal, be precise here.  Think about what you really want down to the last full-stop.

Measurable - can you measure and track its success?  It is useful to provide a feedback mechanism that will monitor progress.

Achievable - set an objective you can realistically attain, use whatever resources to ascertain what this realistic level should be.

Relevant- is this a suitable goal for YOU and you alone?  Is it realistic?

Timed - set a time frame for this goal.  Set regular intervals to record and check progress before the start and finish.

Here's a couple of SMART goal examples:

“I will lose 7lbs of body fat, decrease my waist size by 2 inches and improve my body fat percentage from 18% to 13% by 31st March”

"I will increase my deadlift from 1.5 to twice my bodyweight by the end of 2012"

Other ways to increase success: 

• make your goals public and enlist the help of friends and family to encourage and provide support;
• set yourself small, measurable sub-tasks (think baby steps rather than huge strides) so it is easier to accomplish;
• write your goals down, create a checklist and mark these off on completion; 
• think about several reasons for making this change and focus on these when you lack motivation;
• once you have set your goal, recognise this isn't enough, nothing can be accomplished without taking action!

 --Darryl