Do The Work Coach
Back in April this year I completed a trek to Machu Picchu in Peru. I’m not quite sure exactly what it was that encouraged me to book that trip. I just seemed to find myself on the website and before long I had paid the initial registration fee then the rest was history. Now I want to tell you about my next challenge – Everest Base Camp.
As I write this latest instalment of the #PrepForPeru blog, I’m beginning to feel the excitement. There was a point recently when the trip to Machu Picchu was in doubt due to low numbers. This went further into doubt when two people dropped out at the last minute – well actually it was after the deadline but we’ll not get into the nitty gritty now. I started to worry that all my training, all my fundraising and preparation would be in vain and I wouldn’t be heading to Peru with over £4,000 raised for charity – notably for Mental Health Foundation
However the news came through that although there had been dropouts, they were still going to go ahead with the trip. This left me in jubilation that I could follow through with what I said I would do, it meant I wasn’t letting anyone else down and I wasn’t letting myself down.
The #PrepForPeru continues as the dates moves ever close to the big Machu Picchu trip. With that in mind it means my level of training has to continue to be increased if I am going to be one of the leaders of the group for the trek. It’s been a while since I’ve managed to get up to the Lake District, which I believe was back in July when we tackled Great Gable as a group. This one I wanted to tackle on my own. The task ahead was to conquer Old Man of Coniston.
Old Man of Coniston sits 802m above sea level, these are the kinds of challenges I’ll be taking on much more frequently now. Although the work on the stepmill is useful, nothing can really compare to being out there in the mountains with a backpack on your back having to tackle the multiple different types of terrain and gradients that come your way.
As I write this blog, I’m 134 days away from the biggest event I’ve probably ever done. I’m not quite sure how I’ll feel when I board the plane to South America, I’ve never even been out of Europe before. There’ll be a whole lot of excitement for sure with a dose of nerves, intrigue and maybe a little fear. One things for sure though, I’ll be prepared. Machu Picchu, I’m coming for you.
If you know me already, you’ll know that I love a challenge. In fact, I’d go as far as saying I need challenge in my life. I think we all do. A life without challenge lacks meaning. I feel at my best in terms of energy, motivation, mood and mental health when I’m on a mission, whether that be in my own fitness journey, with my business or a particular life goal.
This one was not in the initial plan, but I’m so damn glad I changed my mind on it. I’ve heard about Skiddaw but I had never really read up on it, partly due to it being so far up North that I’ve avoided it due to travel time which turns out to be a bit daft…
After reading up on it the night before, Skiddaw towers over the north of the lakes and has views on a clear day of the north western fells including Scafell Pike to the right and then the Helvellyn range to the left with Blencathra behind. I couldn’t really resist it and the drive from here was only 45 minutes. So I committed and locked it in, the only decision I had to make was which route to take up this fine mountain.
I decided I couldn’t do a week in the Lakes without tackling the highest peak in England. I had conquered Scafell previously which happened to be in a very different climate. It was in November and as we climbed around half way it was covered in snow, at points in was knee deep. This was an incredible experience and something I would 100% do again, it was like being on a different planet, as you can see from the pictures below.
However today was a very different task, so much so that the previous outing had given me what I found to be a false knowledge of the task ahead. Having done it previously I just decided to take on the same route without any research as I knew the path.
After 15 long months without any holiday/annual leave, it was finally time for me to get away and switch off for a few days, something I find very hard to do, but I love doing and I do it best when I’m away from home. I normally like to visit different cities around Europe and of course my beloved Ibiza, but this time due to COVID (of course) it’s a little different. I booked 5 days in the Lake District staying at White Cross Bay in a lovely lodge with the hound, Nala. One of my other favourite pass times is hiking. It’s actually something I encourage all of my clients to get involved with too.
I wrote a blog on the benefits of hiking that you can read here.
I’ve also embarked on a big challenge next year in which I will be taking on a 7 day trek in Peru, South America on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. This will consist of 7 days of consecutive trekking of up to 6-10 hour each day – sounds a bit crazy right?
Sleep has to be one of the most under managed parts of our overall health so in this blog I want to give you 5 clear ways that you can improve your sleep duration and sleep quality. For some reason a lot of people do not place enough importance on their sleep management.
Sleep plays a pivotal role in managing health in so many ways. This includes your ability to manage your energy, your stress, your appetite, your recovery, your ability to grow muscle and of course simply to rest from our hectic lives. Yet most people still don’t manage this magical and important part of our life very well. In this blog I want to give you 5 actionable points that you can take away and implement into your own sleep routine to improve your all round health markers and possibly even be in a better position to aim for your weight loss (if that is your goal.
I have to say that recently it has been an absolute pleasure taking on new clients who have previously not had experience or at least regularly used weight training as part of their exercise regime. There have been many people who have previously used classes as their sole means of training. Seeing these clients strength and also their love of this type of training grow is incredibly satisfying.
Exercises classes can provide a foundation to a solid fitness level for sure. However, they can often lead to long plateaus with results. This is due to the fact that past a certain point it is tough to include the principle of progressive overload (to make it harder) and especially tough to measure that. This is why weight training offers that simple solution to being able to do exactly that.