NEW YEAR'S RESOLVE

NEW YEAR'S RESOLVE

No, not that kind of 'resolve', although I'm sure this particular 'morning after' product will be selling triple time this January 1st!

It's the other kind of resolve that I'm talking about, the one that has much longer lasting effects than a sachet of funny tasting powder…in fact your resolve for 2012 could and should last a lifetime.

Never has there been a better time, a more important time, never before have we known exactly what we need to do and how to get it done.

Our western world's health and fitness levels have never been worse yet we have amazing opportunities to be the fittest and happiest that we have ever been…all we need is a little help. As they say, it's not what you know but who you know - if you want to live a certain lifestyle you need to surround yourself with likeminded people and find inspirational guides and coaches to help you achieve your health and fitness goals.

What are those goals? How about more energy? A lean body? Less headaches? Less stress? More happiness? Less aches and pains? More strength? More 'get up and go'? More time with your family?

Pretty much all of our western world's complaints come down to a couple of simple words.

Nutrition and Exercise.

Get these two elements right and you can do 'N' 'E' thing!

Let's break these down even more and turn the clock back to when all that mattered was hunting, gathering and surviving - we would have eaten far less than today but what we would have eaten would have been mostly fresh, raw, organic veg, fruit, nuts and seeds with the odd bit of fresh, lean game meat or fish…and we would have spent hours each day walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping in order to find this food.

Our bodies and minds would not have been stressed by worrying about how to negotiate the morning rush hour or meet our work deadlines or by consuming huge amounts of processed toxic foods. Instead we would have had the life that today's professional athletes strive to replicate. A clean diet with plenty of varied and functional exercise with lots of necessary rest, probably lying in a hammock in the sun! (With one eye open for predators…)

While life in 2012 is very different from hunter/gatherer times, we can still be extremely fit and healthy and life a long and happy life.

Nutrition and Exercise.

Make 2012 the year you learn two new skills:

1 - How to EAT clean.

2 - How to RUN efficiently.

So what are you waiting for? All you need is the right help from the right people…and a little RESOLVE!

www.barefootrunningcoach.co.uk

Facebook - RAW Fitness Concepts

ONLINE TECHNIQUE COACHING CLINICS

ONLINE COACHING

Due to popular demand I will be starting an Online Technique Coaching Clinic in January 2012 - this will open up the benefits of good running biomechanics to the everybody, not just the few that live near a barefoot running coach!

Email if interested otherwise watch this space!

NUT ROAST RUN

Nut Roast Run

My vegetarian version of the turkey trot! And nothing like it to clear your head after a five-year-old induced 5am start followed by a morning constructing all his toys!

Focused on technique today, table football shooting technique as well as my running tech - posture, rhythm and relaxation the key to both sports. I tried explaining the technicalities of foosball to my son but it all ended in tears - I tried to lose, honest!

I guess all those evening foosball comps during my many snowboard seasons have hardwired my brain - interesting how skills and habits stay with you even if you don't use them for a while.

The problem with the skill of running is that so many of us spent so many years running with the wrong technique that now we have to re-wire our brain with the new skill…and it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, means slowing down and focusing on that posture, rhythm and relaxation…thank goodness I don't have to teach my son how to run - he's lucky enough to have spent his young life barefoot or in VIVOBAREFOOT shoes so he has a great running technique. In fact he delights in reminding me that he has already won two triathlons while his Dad can only dream.

So anyway, my run was awesome, I now feel alive and ready to tuck into my nut roast and RAW veg Christmas lunch. Power food for the afternoon table football tournament!

Running is a SKILL

Here are several examples of why most of us need to learn how to run again. It's definitely not as simple as just taking off your shoes or putting on a pair of minimal or barefoot shoes.

The following video shows joggers wearing Five Fingers that are heel striking and barefoot joggers that are over striding.

The majority of the techniques on show here will result in injury and are definitely not biomechanically efficient.

Running is a skill - contact the Barefoot Running Coach now to learn how to run faster and further with fewer injuries.

Elites

Recent converts to the barefoot technique include Elite Triathletes Neil Eddy, Michael Birchmore and Matt Pullen - proof that runners of all abilities can improve their biomechanics and benefit from an efficient technique.

2012 will see a paradigm shift in the running world with the realisation that we have forgotten how to run since the advent of cushioned running shoes.

Every runner from the beginner through seasoned amateur to champion elite can move one step closer to their optimum performance level by perfecting the skill of running and using a barefoot shoe.

To book your PB for 2012 contact the Barefoot Running Coach now!

How to combat the effects of festive feasting

It's that time of year again - festivities galore, rich food a plenty and free flowing alcohol. Throw in plenty of lazy days being couch potatoes and suddenly you have a recipe for disaster...in terms of fitness.

So what's the answer?

Well there are many alternatives to the above debauchery but one simple addition which would counteract some of the damage being done is to RUN!

But not the kind of running that you may be used to - the vast majority of people that think they are runners are actually not, in fact they are joggers. So what's the difference? Huge. Jogging is a hybrid form of locomotion and not at all natural. Apart from being very injurious due to the shock of landing on your heels, it is also metabolically very efficient.

What does that mean?

In simple terms, jogging is a speeded up version of walking - walking is a very efficient way of getting around in as much as it doesn't burn very many calories and doesn't increase your metabolism (i.e. the speed at which you burn calories). Thus jogging doesn't burn many calories!

Conversely running (with a biomechanically correct technique) will boost your metabolism and burn a shed load of calories even when you are crashed out on the sofa recovering from yet another day of Christmas dinner left-overs.

So your best option if you are planning to switch over to the dark side for a couple of weeks is to learn how run the barefoot way and practice all through the festive holidays.

If that's not gonna happen, at least you know that you have a plan to fall back on. If things go awry with the mince pies just get in touch with your nearest VivoBarefoot Certified Coach in the New Year and make 2012 the year you finally get lean and reveal your six pack!

For more details on boosting your metabolism through improving running technique, contact Jonno now!

Running Re-evolution

Word has it that all the big (and small) running shoe companies will base next season's shoes on barefoot or minimal designs.

The re-evolution is well and truly happening and now is the perfect time of year to improve your running technique with a Vivobarefoot Coach. Plenty of time for your body to adapt to the new skill before the next run/triathlon season...get ahead of the rest and shock them with PB's in 2012!

Contact the BRC now for clinic availability.

Running Technique

Whether you advocate being barefoot in all walks of life or sometimes barefoot and the rest of the time in a barefoot shoe, technique is still the key factor.

And more often than not it's the missing link preventing us from walking and running at our most efficient level.

A lifetime of having our feet restricted by tight and supportive shoes means that we both walk and run incorrectly - we are so used to operating this way that just taking our shoes of is not going to automatically correct our gait. Sure it will help but the number of people out there still complaining of injuries proves the point.

For example if you are a heavy heel striker in cushioned running shoes, just taking them off and running barefoot or in a barefoot shoe can result in further injuries unless your technique is biomechanically correct.

So take a huge step in the right direction and have a session with a VivoBarefoot Certified Technique Coach.