As October fast approaches my excitement levels are rising! Why you ask?! 

Well, the 1st October sees the launch of my brand new online platform: The LiveFitNow Club!

​The LiveFitNow Club will help you become the best version of yourself. It is a monthly fitness and lifestyle online membership. 
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Giving you the structure and guidance to create healthy habits and be stronger, fitter and a more confident you. 
If you are looking to workout with the support and guidance of an experienced personal trainer but need the flexibility to workout around your own schedule, plus the interaction of joining live classes then The LiveFitNow Club is for you!

The LiveFitNow Club gives you structure and guidance to your workouts, as well as helping you create and follow a healthy lifestyle, that lasts.
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No quick fixes or fads but fun, progressive and realistic workouts and tools to build a fitter, stronger and more confident you.
The Club gives you flexibility to use the elements as and when you need it, you can use all of it to the max or change your focus to fit your personal goals and life!
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What’s included in the standard Club Membership:​​
- 24 structured workouts each month, designed and/or led by Vicki Brown (an experienced PT!)
- 2 live morning classes weekly (7am Monday and Wednesday)
- 2 live evening classes weekly (6pm Tuesday and Thursday)
- A pre-designed workout program on the LFN app (2 workouts per week, you choose home or gym option) ​
- Access to a growing library of online classes you can follow 24/7
- Tools: Templates for goal setting, weekly planner, monthly planner, habit tracker, meal planner and more!
- Community: You will be part of the Club Group on the LFN app. This is where members can chat, ask questions and support each other daily. 
- Optional additional personalised support ​(Premium Membership)

Membership runs monthly (starting on the 1st of the month) You can sign up at any point in a month and will be able to download the app straight away once you sign up.  You will gain access to the membership portal at the beginning of the month and receive the welcome pack through the post. 

We have created a club to give you the guidance, structure and support to build healthy habits for life.
"The club gives you the interaction of weekly live classes and community via the app group. Structure and guidance through the resistance program and video library. As well as the tools to set goals and organise your week by using the templates that we have created for you. Helping you progress every month."


We have created the tools and community to support you in creating and living a fitter, stronger and healthier lifestyle, for life. 
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Are you ready to commit to your fitness, health and wellbeing, and want get started?
​Join the LiveFitNow Club today! 

 I thought I would take the opportunity to talk about group training and the benefits that you may get from participating on the week I start my new mornings in Highclere. Two new classes and a coffee morning, building and extending the community of LiveFitNow. 

This form of exercise can be a great way to increase enjoyment of exercise and the likelihood of you attending and stick with it for the longer term.

What is group exercise? 

• an exercise class, with a leader or instructor, setting a routine for a number of people, the participants, to partake in. They may be doing the same thing or something different. There are numerous kinds from formal to informal affairs. 

Benefits of group exercise

• motivation - an organised event, that you have signed up to, increases the chances of you going, its an appointment with a set time, you can build it into the routine of your week and you don't have to decide what to do. You will also have the support and encouragement of the instructor and other attendees. 
• structure - you don't need to worry about planning your workouts, you can simple turn up to a class and follow along. 
• competition - with yourself and with others, as much as most classes involve people pushing themselves, it is often the case that people will try that little bit harder when they can see how hard other people around them are trying. It is motivational to see other people putting effort in to a class (rather than it being a competition to "win").
• accountability - if you are meeting with a friend or have booked a spot in a class, you need to turn up, if you don't show up chances are someone is going to be checking up on you, supporting you to keep it up!
• progression - you have a greater chance of progressing with your fitness, strength, stamina or flexibility if you have a workout to follow.
• social interaction - a great way to meet new people and catch up with old friends.
• fun and enjoyment - some people far prefer working out with others, rather than alone, this in itself can increase the chances of the workout taking place and enjoying doing so.
• support - from the trainer and the other class members, you are in it together, taking care and challenging yourself

It can sometimes seem a little daunting and there are factors that may make it all seem a little scary. But remember, the teacher is there to help and welcome you, everyone starts as a beginner, there are always adaptations that can be made, maybe choose a "leveled" class so you can build up your confidence and fitness, because if you go to an advanced class and you've never done anything like it before you may feel overwhelmed. But if you choose a class that you feel that is achievable you are far more likely to enjoy yourself. 

So why not give it a try!? Grab a friend and join a class or find a class you like the sound of and go and see if you can make some new friends! Push yourself out of your comfort zone :) 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on group exercise, especially if you go and give a class a go for the first time! 

It's funny because more often that not we do not think about ways in which we can relax but instead we can all think of a thousand ways in which we can fill our time.
In 2018 YouGov published statistics that stated "74% of UK adults have felt so stressed at some point over the last year they felt overwhelmed or unable to cope."
This shocking statistic shows that this really is an important area to address. 
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What do you do to relax? 
This may just be a matter of some quiet time. Ideas include: 

• reading a book
  
• taking a bath
  
• going for a stroll through the park and connecting with nature
• journal
• listen to music
• meditation
• stretching
• close your eyes
• dance
• talk with a friend 

We all relax in different ways but it is something that is so useful for us all to make time for. And find your own favourite way to relax!

Why?

• For out overall mental health and well-being
• Improving productivity
• Physically it can help to slow the heart rate, lower blood pressure, breathing rate slowed, improve digestion, reduce stress hormones, reduce muscle tension and chronic pain to name just a few. 

Action Point
Try and take 5 minutes each day for yourself, think of something that makes you calm and relax. There is no right or wrong answer, but rather what works for you. 

Even though it was just last week that I found myself talking about the mind, I feel compelled to talk about it again. Which is representative of the fact that I talk about the mind and in particular mindset most days. 

I don't think it is possible to overestimate just how big a part mindset can play in our day-to-day lives. 

The words that we say to ourselves and to one another can be so powerful in a positive or negative way that we should all practice. Practice speaking with kindness and positivity not only to those around us but to ourselves. 

The power of words is linked so closely to how we live our lives and performance. For example, if I set an exercise up and have put more weight on the bar, sometimes people will say "I can't do it". At this point, the set will be delayed because, if you start by saying to yourself that you can't do something you are dramatically reducing your chances of doing it. Of course there are exceptions to this rule but it can have a massive impact on performance and success. Trying something with the belief that you can do it is an extremely powerful, give it a go and see what happens. 

Sportspeople

I'm sure we have all seen rugby players like Jonny Wilkinson and Colin Farrell, getting ready to kick the ball at goal. They look from the ball, to where they want it to go, they use visualisation techniques and they see themselves scoring. Seeing yourself achieve something is very powerful, as is seeing yourself not be able to do something. 

Don't let it stop you.
If you believe that you can't do something, how often do you attempt to do those things? Not often I'm betting, because the mind will protect you from things that it considers not safe, such as doing something "you can't do". So if you are trying to do something, start out by saying to yourself that you can, even if you don't truly know you can yet. 

It would be great for you can try and add more positivity into your daily activities and workouts and see if you notice any difference in the outcomes. 

Start every day by saying "today is going to be a great day!" Making such a positive affirmation to begin your day will increase your likelihood of having one. 

Have a wonderful day! 

This week I want to talk to you about mind-muscle connection. It is a subject that I talk to people about a lot and I thought it would be great to simply share with you all what it is and how it can help you and your training. 

I will look at what it is and give you some examples to help you quantify it. 

Mind muscle connection can help you understand form and technique and is also a great way of increasing intensity of training. Having a basic understanding of it will hopefully help you benefit from using it. 

One way of describing what the mind muscle connection is: a conscious, deliberate muscle contraction when you are focusing on the tension created whilst performing an exercise on a specific muscle or muscle group. The brain releases a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine to communicate with the muscles in the body. The connection takes place at the neuromuscular junction, crossing the synapses, binding with receptors on the surface of the muscle fibres, leading to muscle contractions. 
Improving communication can allow you to recruit more muscle fibres whilst performing exercises. 

There are primary and secondary muscles involved with many exercises, there will be the main target muscle but secondary muscles may help a movement be performed. It is useful to do a combination of compound and isolation exercises for this reason. If you know which muscles that you are trying to work or primarily focus on, you can concentrate on that area whilst you are performing a movement. 

This can also be useful in checking form, if you are struggling to feel the muscles that you are targeting whilst performing an exercise it may be because your body is compensating in some way. This is a great opportunity to either double check your own form or get someone else to take a look at it for you. 

Focusing on quality of movement and contraction can help you make progress with training. Really testing this out may mean lowering the weights you are using, if they are too heavy you may struggle to focus on controlling and squeezing the muscle in comparison, making the weight a little lighter may allow you to create the connection we are talking about. 

An example of how people find it easy to get to grips with is when there are imbalances. One side is stronger than the other and one side is easier to control than the other. Your leading side is usually far easier to control than the other, this is because the pathways from your brain to the muscles is far stronger. If you then focus your energy on the weaker side you can often find a little more than it naturally wants to give. It is also easier for your "stronger" side to keep going a little longer without any focus because communication is so stronger. 

Hopefully this has given you an idea about what is meant by mind-muscle connection. If you have any questions please do get in touch, I'd love to answer any questions you may have. 

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During this blog I am going to discuss the best place or places for you to workout. 
I guess some of the big questions here are: Where should you workout? 
Where will you get the best results? 
Where do you need to workout? 



Places You Can Workout:

• gym 
• home 
• home gym (more extensive equipment)
• outside 
• classes
• with a friend 
• personal training

​Factors to take into account:
Where and what you have available to you. 
This is something that you may or may not have control over, what you have available to you now may be the only option that you have. Or you may be able to change what is available to you, for example you may be able to get a gym membership, personal training, go to a class or buy some exercise equipment. This does not matter necessarily, as you can workout with no equipment, at home or outside. Or you can go to a specific location as mentioned before. If you want to move more, for fitness and/or strength you will be able to make any of those locations work. You just need to utilise what you have available to you.  

Where you are most likely to workout. 
It is also important to consider what is currently appealing to you. For some the idea of going to a gym or exercise class fills them with dread. It may not be the best place to start. Looking at how you can increase you fitness, strength and confidence may be more easily achieve at home. Some people prefer a class environment or at least working out with someone else. For many this accountability takes the pressure off themselves and also gives some responsibility for their friend whom they would not want to let down and are therefore more likely to partake in the planned exercise regime. 
For others the joy in exercise is the opportunity for solitude, some quiet time to themselves where they can immerse themselves in the activity at hand. 
There is no right answer, again, it's about what works for you, is appealing and makes you carry out the planned movement. 


What your goals are.
The nature of your goal can play a big part in which place is the best for you to workout. For certain goals there may be some prerequisites that mean at least at some stage you will need to be in a particular environment. 
If you have a simple overall goal of moving more, there are few limits to this, it really can be done anywhere at anytime. You just need to start! 
If you want to take part in some form of body building via lifting weights, you will need either access to a gym or you could get the appropriate equipment to be able to do that style of training at home. Equipment rather than location is more important, although you may find it easier to do it in a fully equip gym. 
Group environments are fairly easy to find, within gym memberships, classes at local halls in the heart of the community. It could also be as simple as meeting up with a friend in the park or going for a walk. 
Think about the equipment you need for the goal and establish which way you can best access it, this may or may not be dependent on a location. 

So The Best Place To Workout Is...

The truth is, there is not the BEST place to workout, but the place that you are most likely to go to, most likely to carry out the exercise and is most suitable for the goals that you have. 
This may be the gym, outside, a class, personal training, or at home or a mixture of several at different times of year.   

What is your best workout location/environment? 
Has it changed over time? 

I started my journey by joining a small independent gym but how I exercise as evolved over the years and can change depending on goals and desires at the time. I enjoy different places for different things and I think it is great to experiment and try new places. Some you may like, some you may not, others you may come back to at a later date, it can even be dependent on the weather and time of year!

I'd love to hear your favourite places to workout (and have they changed!?)

Until the next time...

Vicki x

I know I talk about habits a lot. It's because I know how important it is to achieving long lasting change. I know that I refer often to this so wanted to go into a bit more detail. Although this of course applies to every single aspect of life, I will mostly only refer to health related habits within this blog post. 

What is a habit? 
​A routine or practice performed regularly; an automatic response to a situation. 

Examples of habits: 

• Getting up when your alarm goes off
• Washing your teeth
• Drinking a cup of tea or coffee every morning
• Drinking 8 glasses of water every day
• Getting at least 8 hours of sleep 
• Getting up at the same time every day
• Daily meditation 
• Having a movement routine
• Going into nature at least once a day
• Eating 3 meals a day
• Eating at least 5 fruits and vegetables every day

How you can create a new habit

Simplicity will always win. Keep it simple and it will be easy to do. Keep it simple and you will find it easy to be disciplined and complete it, regularly and it become a habit. If it's easy to do it won't take much motivation, obstacles in the way will make it harder to carry out, thus making it less likely that you will. 
It should be easy and obvious to do and satisfying once done to create and build a new habit. If you are trying to break an old habit you no longer want you need to make it difficult, remove your cues, make it unsatisfying so it is harder to do it and you don't want the results of what doing it means for you. 

Think about the habits you want and the habits you want to remove and implement that simple idea. 

Keep it simple. 

It's going to be my first blog of 2020 where I focus my energy and enthusiasm for one of my favourite things. Weights. I love training with weights, I also love teaching people how to lift weights and I really enjoy being able to help people of all ages and abilities to lift weights. 

It gets me excited. Because I know how beneficial it is, for everyone. 

There are few exceptions to the fact, that lifting weights or doing some form of resistance training will be beneficial to all. 

Age is not a restriction, if anything the need to lift weights increases as we age. My current oldest client is in her 80s so please don't feel that you have left it too late to start. Everyone's journey is unique when it comes to lifting weights because everyone's starting point if different, as are the ultimate goals. 

Benefits of weight training include: 

• getting stronger
• burning calories and aiding weight loss
• increasing flexibility 
• increasing bone density 
• decreasing chance of osteoporosis 
• improving cardiovascular fitness 
• reducing risk of heart disease 
• increasing self confidence 
• it can reduce stress
• increasing your energy levels 
• changing shape, improving overall aesthetics
• feeling good
• it can help maintain adherence to nutritional goals 
• gaining immediate reward from increasing strength in a session

Of course everyone responds differently and it is also important to factor in the quality of training and progressive overload, this is something I will go into more detail in another blog. Today it's just about the benefits and why I would love it if everyone lifted weights! 

If you have any questions or are unsure about where to start when it comes to lifting weights please comment below or contact me, I will happily answer any questions you might have to get you started!

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When we are busy in the day to day I think it can be so easy to lose sight of the progress we are making. 

Big goals and hard work are fantastic but whilst we are in the midst of these things, but not having reaching them yet, it can sometimes become a problem. 

I think it is a great practice to take the time perhaps daily but more likely weekly for most. Take a moment and think about the good things that have happened during the last week. 

These can vary in significance but are all important in order to move forward and enjoy the process. 

What you need to try and do is see what is important to you, because the chances are if you have a goal that you are focusing on there are hundreds of little choices that you are making each day that are getting you closer to the end goal. But, because you are not there yet you don't feel like you have achieved. 
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• Think about good things that have happened during the day or week 
• Small things count!
• Identify things that give you a little boost of motivation

So, have a think, write it down and let those close to you know! Shout about the small things, so you can really enjoy the journey along the way. It's not about that distant goal but enjoying the small steps of progress and wins! 

Until next time,..

Vicki x
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I love a to do list. I find it very satisfying as I work my way through. I love an opportunity to use stationery and I know I always get more done when I do them!

I have a daily to do list and then I have the big one, all the stuff that needs to be done, ideas, jobs to do etc. Some things are on the everyday list and then I can add other tasks from the bigger picture list.

I like to schedule blocks of time in my diary for completing different tasks. Including work, training, house stuff, down time. I will always have busier and quieter days to strike the balance. Sometimes you get stuff done because you want to and are in a good routine rather than having to force every task.

Interestingly, I often find myself falling into a groove, a routine, but I still make a note of it in my diary and I plan items in my scheduler because it is good to hold yourself accountable and get the small reward of ticking off an item. Because its easy to stop counting the small daily habits as things and forget how much you have accomplished!

I am ready for a busy day working through this list as it always feels great to start the week as you mean to go on!

Some Top Reasons Why Do A To Do List:

• To Remember Every Task That Needs To Be Done
• To Prioritise The Order Of Tasks
• To Maximise Time Available By Choosing The Most Important And Time Appropriate Task
• To Get The Immediate Reward Of Ticking The Task Complete

To Do lists are not for everyone and its important to make them work for you! It's all very well making to do lists but if you don't execute them then is it worth spending time writing them? For some, simply listing the jobs for the day may work perfectly. For others it may be more effective to schedule time for specific jobs. I quite like general to do lists for different areas and then I will plan out my day by prioritising and allocating time slots for all the things of the day, including time for doing a little bit of something I find relaxing!

I'd love to hear from you and how you feel about To Do lists...

 I hope you have a great day and work through your to do list, or perhaps start one! 📃💖

​Vicki x