Category: Exercise Tips

Lean and Mean – FAQs

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 08/05/2024

Lean and Mean: The Ultimate Boxing and Strength Programme to Build Muscle, Lose Weight, and Stay Accountable

Who’s It For?

This programme is perfect for anyone looking to lose weight, build muscle, and gain consistency in their fitness routine. If you’ve struggled with sticking to a plan or staying accountable, Lean and Mean is designed for you!

What’s Different About This Programme?

Lean and Mean combines the power of boxing training with strength workouts and a tailored nutrition plan to help you achieve your goals faster and more effectively. This programme is packed with personalized guidance, small group attention, and expert coaching.

Strength Training:

Strength training is a crucial part of building muscle mass. More muscle means a higher metabolic rate, which accelerates weight loss. Our Lean and Mean Strength sessions focus on targeted strength exercises to maximize muscle gain and increase metabolism. Whether you’re working on squats, deadlifts, or other compound movements, you’ll notice the difference in both strength and physique.

Boxing Circuits:

Boxing isn’t just about throwing punches—it’s about combining cardio and skill to push your fitness levels. In Lean and Mean Boxing, you’ll focus on high-intensity boxing circuits designed to boost cardiovascular health, burn fat, and improve overall stamina. These fast-paced boxing drills will keep your heart rate up while honing your coordination and mental toughness.

Nutrition:

We all know you can’t out-train a bad diet. This is often the hardest part, but we’ve got you covered. With Lean and Mean, you’ll learn exactly what to eat to maximize your results. You’ll receive a PDF guide and recipe book, and weekly check-ins with your coach will keep you on track and accountable.

Small Group Training:

This programme offers a small group setting, so you get the personal attention you need. Whether you need extra coaching on boxing form or strength training technique, you’ll receive hands-on guidance from our expert coaches. Plus, this first intake is being offered at a highly discounted rate!

Personalised Training Plan:

At the start of the programme, you’ll undergo an assessment to determine the exact training plan for your goals. You’ll also get a take-home PDF training plan, so you can stay consistent even when you can’t make it to class.

Training Times:

You’ll have 3 core sessions per week with the flexibility to choose morning or evening slots:

Lean and Mean Strength: Monday 8am or Tuesday 8pm
Lean and Mean Boxing: Wednesday 8am or Thursday 8pm
Lean and Mean Circuit Training: Saturday 9am
You’ll also have access to one free session from the 12 Rounds Gym Timetable for additional workouts.

Miss a Session? No Problem!

If you can’t make a core class, you can easily make it up by attending another session from the timetable or by following your personalised strength training plan during open gym hours.

Want 1-on-1 Attention?

Can’t commit to the group training schedule? No worries! You can opt for a 1-on-1 programme, tailored to your availability. This option includes 3 personal training sessions per week for 8 weeks plus nutrition coaching. The cost is £1080, ensuring you receive focused, personal coaching every step of the way.

Book Now

Ready to transform your body? Join Lean and Mean today—where boxing, strength, and nutrition combine to deliver real results!

Benefits of Pad work

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 12/12/2022

Pad work is an effective training method used to help get boxers fight ready, but did you that
know it has heaps of mental and physical benefits for people of all ages and fitness levels?
Check out our top 5 benefits below:

1. It helps to reduce and/or manage stress

It’s no secret that exercise causes the release of endorphins, the feel-good hormones! It’s
also a great mood booster generally, it works as a form of meditation, and improves sleep.
All of which helps to reduce and manage stress.
When you’re focusing and pushing yourself through a couple minutes of high-intensity
punching, you don’t have much mental space left to worry about work or stress about
relationships. Punching the pads can help you release any pent up negative emotions you
might be storing, so if you’re not in a great place, it is a great way to transform your mood.
Trust us, those endorphins will be flowing for hours after your workout too!

2. Improves Hand-Eye Coordination

If you have good hand-eye coordination, you’re likely to have quick reflexes and reaction
times. This is an important skill to work on, especially as we age, as coordination and
balance become compromised, increasing the risk of falls.
Pad work is a fantastic way to improve your hand-eye coordination because when you’re
hitting the pads, you must be able to see, react to, and hit the constantly moving and
changing target. Pads provide a much smaller target (than a bag) so require maximum
attention from the boxer to punch on target. It is therefore a must for anyone wanting to
develop their accuracy in boxing.
It’s certainly challenging, but with practice on the pads, your hand-eye coordination will
improve considerably!

3. It improves your cardiovascular fitness
Cardiovascular exercise is any vigorous activity that increases your heart rate and
respiration and raises oxygen and blood flow throughout the body while using the body’s
large muscle groups. Cardio offers a plethora of benefits from reducing health risks to
lowering blood pressure.
The combos strung together in pad work effectively ramp up your heart rate in a short space
of time. It is a high intensity, low impact form of interval training that is guaranteed to improve
your stamina and fitness levels. Punch your way to a healthy heart at 12 Rounds Boxing!

4. Improves Total Body Strength

All that jabbing and hooking requires a surprising amount of strength! Participating in regular
pad work sessions will lead to a significant increase in body strength in a fairly short period
of time!

5. Increases Muscle Mass and Promotes Weight Loss

As pad work simultaneously decreases fat mass and increases muscle mass, it is great for
both weight loss and improving body composition!
It perfectly combines muscle-building, strength training moves and intense, calorie-burning
rounds of cardio. Regular pad work sessions will therefore result in changes to your body
shape whilst helping you shed those unwanted pounds – win win!

6. It’s a fantastic mental workout too!

Rest assured pad work isn’t just a great physical workout. It’s also fantastic for improving
concentration and cognitive skills, as the boxer is required to remember punch sequences
and link combinations which is a tough mental workout!

7. It’s the fastest way to improve technique

Lastly, it is one of the fastest ways to improve technique due to the one-on-one time with the
coach. So if you’re looking to step into the ring or want to perfect your angles and punching
technique, hitting the pads is a non-negotiable!

Essentially, pad work is a fun and versatile way to improve fitness for people of different
ages, strengths and fitness levels! Give it a try soon at 12 Rounds Boxing!

Exercise Tips Fitness Regime mental health Mindset Motivation Uncategorized Weight Loss

Alex’s journey

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 24/09/2020

Find something you love and get consistent with it – the physical results will come as a by product of feeling good

After battling with depression and piling on weight Alex decided it was time to make changes. Last April he walked into 12 Rounds Boxing and started our boxing fundamentals programme. 18 months later he’s worked his way through our skills levels and is itching to get in the ring and have his first fight. Oh and he’s lost over 4 stone in the process. Check out his before and after pics below!

Results don’t always happen Instantly, they take time and commitment and Alex has certainly put in the work. We are so proud and inspired by him that we interviewed him to hear his full story.

Here’s what he had to say:

What got you into boxing?

I’ve always been really interested in combat sports, boxing and MMA. What also interested me was the mental side of it, the chess game that you play with your opponent in the ring is unlike any other sport I’ve played.

What do you enjoy about training at 12 rounds?

The atmosphere at 12 rounds is amazing, everyone is there to have a good time and really put in work, once you’ve been there more than a couple of times, the coaches know your name, they’re joking around with you and that laidback atmosphere couple with really focussed and high quality training is a winning combo.

What’s been your highlights/biggest achievements?

I did my fundamentals last year in April and around that time I was about 19st 7lbs, I was able to work my way up through the programs, all th way to sparring which I love, and as off the last time I weighed myself I am now 15st on the dot. Losing all that weight is great, but the mental focus has had a huge impact on my mental health and my outlook on life. So really, I suppose my biggest highlight has been all of it, because it’s really helped to transform my health and life 😊

What’s been biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge for me has been getting my head around footwork, anyone can throw a punch but it’s being able to move around and create angles and opportunities that also come with the mind games. It can be quite difficult to wrap your head around, but once you pull of your first pivot and angle out of a combination, it makes it all worth it.

What’s next for you?

For me I’m preparing for when COVID restrictions are lifted and the fight school is back on, my goal has been to fight and before lockdown went into effect i was getting ready to sign up. Now that I’m down to a more natural weight for me, I’m hoping to continue working on my strength and do ruining to get in the best shape possible for a training camp.

What’s your fav class and why?

I have a real love/hate relationship with the bag and burn sessions 😅 if you want a good all body work out, those are the sessions for you; Rich and Chloe are always their to push you to your absolute limit. I also love the technical sessions, learning more about boxing and how to chain all the skills you’ve learned together is really satisfying.

We love Alex’s story and how boxing gives you the mental clarity, focus and feel good factor to keep going. To get results in anything requires consistent practice. Luckily boxing is something that’s easy to get addicted to :)

Boxing tips Exercise At Home Exercise Tips Fitness Regime Mindset Motivation

What is the best workout for me?

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 19/05/2020

Ever have that over whelming feeling of not knowing what class to do? What way to train? Doing everything possible then doing nothing? .
.
.
We feel ya!! Especially in this time when there are more free classes than you’ve had hot dinners and everyone’s saying that they will come out of quarantine shredded blah blah… let’s remember this isn’t a weight loss competition or the cross fit games!!
.
.To start with do something you enjoy. Why would you chose to start running if running is something you hate? Be nice to yourself during this crazy time.

We know that the best workout is always the one you actually do CONSISTENTLY. So instead of thinking which workout will burn more calories, think about which workout will keep you interested enough that you want to keep doing it.

Once you’ve decided what to do. Find a trainer that inspires you. There are literally thousands to choose from online, find one or several that you want to tune into regularly.

At 12 Rounds we like adding a bit of fun and humour to our sessions to keep you entertained as you workout :)

So our No 1 training tip is CONSISTENCY IS KEY! With that you need to:

1. Pick you goal- make it achievable and have more than 1. Think about how you are going to know when you reach your goal eg your clothes fit better, you have more energy, you can complete that run in a certain amount of time, you can finally do a set of press ups….Be SPECIFIC and be clear on how you will MEASURE you’re on the right track.

2. Work out a way to reach that goal. Plan the sessions you’re going to do. Make a training diary. Don’t overdo it though and plan rest days too. Rest is just as important as the actual workouts, this is when the body changes and adapts.

3. It’s a marathon not a sprint. If you don’t see results in a week that’s normal, have 4-6 week blocks and go from there. Go back to your goals and do a check in. If you are not on the right track after 4-6 weeks then look at what you can change. More often than not it’s diet related as most of us find this the hardest bit to stick to, but that’s a whole other blog……

If you have any more questions, get in touch. And check out our workouts on the 12 Rounds instagram (@12roundsboxing) you might find that boxing is something that gets you hooked.

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://12roundsboxing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Copy-of-Dan.png[/author_image] [author_info]Chloe Montgomery is a fully qualified Sports rehabilitation therapist, Personal trainer, Level 1 England boxing coach and APPI pilates matwork instructor, armed with 6 years professional experience working with a number or England rugby players and full time at Harlequins rugby club, Chloe has firmly cemented herself in the sporting industry. Chloe has had 10 boxing bouts, which include coming second in the Haringey Box Cup 2019 and also becoming National Champion in the amateur National Development Championships 2019. [/author_info] [/author]

Boxing tips Exercise Tips Latest mental health Mindset Motivation Weight Loss

Join our Open Day for World Mental Health Day

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 04/10/2019

At 12 Rounds Boxing, we’re a small boxing gym with big dreams of showing everyone how boxing can make us all better at dealing with life’s inevitable punches.
Our #BoxingMakesYouBetter Campaign launches on World Mental Health Day (10th October 2019) and encourages people to share their experiences of what boxing has done for them.

Our aim is to encourage more people (especially those who would never normally consider it) to find a club and give it a go.

To help you get involved and try us out we are holding an OPEN EVENING on Thursday 10th October from 6-9pm

6pm-6.45pm – Come along and meet the team and hear our member stories of how boxing has helped them cope with different life situations.

7pm-8.30pm – Join a beginner level boxing session and experience for yourself how a boxing session will boost your mood instantly. The session is suitable for both new and experienced boxers and will finish with a cool down and short talk on mindset strategies to boost mental well-being.

8.30pm-9pm – Join us in the bar for smoothies and win prizes in our raffle to raise money for The Frank Bruno Foundation, a charity that provides boxing sessions for people experiencing mental illness.

To book a space on the boxing session head to the link below. You just need to make a small donation The Frank Bruno Foundation on the night

https://goteamup.com/p/68830-12-rounds-boxing/e/20577529-open-day-beginners-class/

We hope you can make it along to experience the magic of boxing

To hear our member stories on how ‘boxing has made them better’ follow our insta campaign at link below or search the hashtag #boxingmakesyoubetter

Boxing tips Exercise Tips Fitness Regime Mindset Motivation Uncategorized Weight Loss

13 Reasons why you should learn to box

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 13/12/2018

There seems to be a trend at the moment in 13 reasons why blogs. I don’t know why it’s 13 but it seems to be popular so I thought I’d continue that theme in my blog today.

Yes you guessed right, 13 Reason why you need to start boxing

I’m sure I can think of more than 13. Boxing has changed my life for the better. At 12 Rounds we are all about changing lives too. Our members continually report that since they’ve been training with us that they not only feel fitter but they are happier in general.

Here are 13 reasons why you should bring boxing into your life in 2019

1. Ultimate fitness. It will vastly improve your cardiovascular fitness. Think you are fit already? Boxing training is unlike anything you will ever do. Where some forms of fitness like running or cycling will only work the aerobic system. Boxers work in short explosive bursts meaning you work all the energy systems and the body has to adapt to generate power quickly. It will challenge you and condition you like nothing else.

2. Improved physique. Now who doesn’t want a boxers physique? Boxing will give you lean and defined muscles and it will tone and condition the whole body. Don’t be fooled in thinking you are only working your upper body when you punch. Punching power comes from the legs upward therefore leg and core work are a big part of training. Sprints, shuttle runs and leg exercises are all part of a boxers conditioning to build the explosive power needed to throw those big shots.

3. Improved strength and power. Building on the point above, not only are you going to look better but there is no doubt you will be physically stronger. At 12 Rounds all our beginners start wth a press up test and everyone reports a massive improvement within just 4 weeks.

4. Positive mental health. This is my favourite one as it’s what I personally get most out of boxing. If you struggle with low mood, stress or anxiety, boxing instantly changes your brain set by brining your attention back to the present with the focus on technique. Combine that with a natural endorphin rush and you will instantly feel better after a training session. I’m not saying it solves all your problems, but it will definitely lift your mood and allow to take action on whatever is bothering you.

5. Lower stress levels. There is no doubt that punching stuff is one of the best forms of stress release ever. When we are stressed our nervous system releases adrenalin and cortisol to help us get us out of danger by running from it or fighting. These days most of our stress is mental and we have no way of utilising those stress hormones. Boxing helps you literally ‘punch it out’ At the end of a session you will feel lighter and more relaxed. Again it won’t stop you getting stressed, but it will give you a positive way of releasing it.

6. Learn a skill. Boxing training has a purpose. You may or may not wish to take your skills into the ring and compete but you will have learnt a new skill nevertheless. See your progression in mastering that skill leads me on to my next point – self confidence

7. Improved confidence. So you feel better in your body, you’ve stuck to something consistently and you’re seeing yourself progress in a skill. Think this might improve your confidence? You bet it will. Confidence comes from doing and taking action. If you’ve taken on the challenge of learning to box, you’ve made a positive commitment to yourself and your health. You’ve started to value yourself and your body. These are the building blocks to confidence and self esteem. Walking into a boxing gym to begin with can be scary but once you’ve got past this and got comfortable with being uncomfortable, your confidence will grow and theres no limit to what you can achieve

8. Better mental focus and concentration. In todays social media scrolling age many of us have lost the skills of concentration and focus. Learning boxing skills requires a lot of this. The more we practice and utilise the skills of concentrating and focussing the more we develop those neural connections in the brain. It then becomes a more developed neural pathway and will help us be able to focus and concentrate better in our daily lives.

9. Meet new friends. Boxing communities are extremely friendly and supportive. It may seem intimidating to walk into a venue where people are punching each other in the face, but I can assure you after the rounds it’s all smiles and hugs. Particularly at 12 Rounds we strive to create a warm, friendly and supportive atmosphere. Boxing might be a lone sport when you are in the ring but the training is very much about team work. You often work in partners with pad work and bags so you have to communicate and work together. Training is very much about team spirit and encouraging and motivating each other through the tough rounds. We love seeing the close bonds and friendships that form with our members at 12 Rounds

10. Community support and involvement. Boxing brings communities together. Get to know local people and getting involved with your community. We love finding out what our members do and supporting there local businesses. Look out for our local business net-working event coming soon!

11. Better relationships – So your health has improved, your confidence has improved, you feel good in your body and your less stressed. Think this might help your relationship? Many, many people report that they have just become a nicer person since starting boxing and have a better relationship with their partner.

12. Give yourself a challenge – stepping out of your comfort zone is how we grow. If we don’t change anything then nothing changes right? Start by challenging yourself to learn the basics and commit to a month a training. See where it takes you. Many of our members loved it so much they’ve gone on it compete in our white collar shows in front of hundreds on people. Imagine what that does for your confidence.

13. It will make you happier. So bringing all that together, you feel better, you look better, you are full of confidence with have great relationships and are taking on new challenges. Think you might be happier? We do. In fact we swear by it. We fully believe that boxing makes you better at life.

If you are ready to take that first step and join us in 2019 get yourself booked on to our boxing fundamentals course in January here

We also have gift vouchers available in you are looking for a unique Christmas present idea just email us for full details

A huge Merry Christmas from all of the team here at 12 Rounds Boxing. We hope that 2019 is a knockout year for you

Boxing tips Exercise At Home Exercise Tips Fitness Regime Motivation Uncategorized Weight Loss

7 Essential Exercises to Build a Boxers Physique

Post author By Admin12Rounds
Post date 11/04/2017

Want to know how to get the body of a fighter? Todays blog comes from guest writer Jamie Stewart at www.warriorpunch.com

Fighter’s bodies make the average guy (or gal) on the street extremely envious. I mean, these guys walk around cut up while packing serious muscle. A fighter’s body is the epitome of fitness and good health; strength, speed, flexibility, functionality – it’s all in balance.

Getting a body that is muscular and combat ready requires hard work, but it isn’t out of reach for the average Joe. Even if you never have any intention of stepping into the ring, it’s still possible to have a physique comparable to these modern day gladiators.
And you don’t need any specialist training or fancy equipment; you can get ripped by doing simple bodyweight exercises. Stick to the basics, and do the basics well.. just like boxing.
The following seven exercises are the bread-and-butter of any fighter’s routine. They’re not glamorous – and you’ve probably done them a thousand times before – but they are highly effective. If they’re not already part of your routine, you know what you’ve got to do.
The Dreaded Burpee
Everyone’s favourite… not! Although you may cringe whenever your coach shouts the dreaded B word, there is no better body weight exercise for building stamina and burning calories.
You should be grateful for the punishment (honestly), as this whole-body movement works several major muscle groups while building the cardiovascular endurance required to go the distance in the ring.
Squats for Punching Power
With boxing being all about an exchange of fists, the legs are often neglected and replaced with upper body strength development. Leg training is often substituted for press ups, sit ups, or training that has a more direct payoff for the fight game, such as smashing pads and bagwork.
However, strength conditioning for the legs will provide that strong and stable base required to absorb punch impact while also loading power into your punches. Yes, power is generated through the torque in your shoulders and hips, but it also comes from pushing off the ground. Uppercuts would be nothing more than a slap without the upward thrust generated by the legs.
Add squats to your routine, and you’ll notice the difference in your balance and power.
Get Explosive with your Push Ups
Push ups work way more than just your arms as they also engage your chest, back, shoulders, and core. They’re part of every boxing coach’s arsenal and rightly so. They help to build upper body strength and that all important arm endurance required for the sport.
But if you want maximum impact from push ups, try clapping push ups. This plyometric exercise mimics the explosiveness of punching instead of the longer time under tension associated with weight training. The result? Snappy, knockout punches!

Build Highly-functional Upper Body Muscle with Pull Ups
Pull ups suck at first, but it’s worth persevering as this compound exercise utilises nearly every muscle above the waist.
Using your body weight as resistance is highly effective for building lean, functional muscle. Meatheads that are all about loading up the barbell on the bench press may have an inflated chest and be gym strong, but it comes at a price; mobility. As a boxer, you want to pack power behind your shots but remain supple; which is where pull ups come into play.
Sit Ups – My Arch Nemesis
If there’s one exercise I hate, its sit-ups. There’s no pain like the crippling pain you get from crunches. Yet, as much as hate sit ups, I regularly do them.
A strong core is vital for boxing. The muscles in your stomach and back are responsible for generating a lot of the force behind a punch, and mid-section muscles are also necessary for absorbing body shots.
Make sure you do every variation of sit ups you can think of to target the upper, mid and lower stomach muscles as well as the obliques.
Improve Footwork with Jump Rope
There’s nothing like jumping rope for building endurance, cardio, cutting weight and improving coordination. Jumping rope builds the fast twitch muscle fibres in the calves which leads to an increase in responsiveness and faster footwork.
Varying the intensity of jump rope also means you can use it as a warm up and cool down, or a frantic, calorie-burner between rounds.
Are You Doing Your Roadwork?
While it takes you away from fight training, road work (or running) is still one of boxing’s most essential training tools. Roadwork is imperative for fight conditioning. Fail to put in the miles, and you’ll be gassed in round two on fight night.
To get the most out of your roadwork, you need to vary your intensity and duration. That means doing those slow and steady five mile jogs in the morning as well as hill sprints. Including both aerobic and anaerobic training will prepare you for the rigorous energy demands of a fight.
Wrapping It Up
Contrary to what you or anyone else thinks, it is possible to have a boxer’s physique without having it out in the ring. Building lean, functional muscle is as simple as performing these movements properly, frequently, with high intensity, and of course, while sticking to a healthy diet.
If you want to get the most out of these exercises, my advice would be to combine them all in a circuit. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is the fastest way to carve out the body of a fighter.
Author Bio
Jamie Stewart is a muay thai fighter and boxing enthusiast with a passion for martial arts and fitness. When he’s not training, he likes to write about martial arts, health and fitness, nutrition, and mindset.  If you would like to learn more, you can find him blogging at www.warriorpunch.com.

Exercise Tips Fitness Regime Motivation Weight Loss

Are the stories you tell yourself keeping you fat?

Post author By Kat
Post date 01/07/2014

Most of you probably think at 12 Rounds were all about hard training and restrictive diets but here’s a few thoughts I’ve been sharing with my clients recently.

Since entering the fitness industry I’ve changed my views so much on what’s important and what gets results. Most of us who want to lose weight want to do so because we want to be happy right? We’ve been told from the experts to train more and eat less. Yet for some us us it doesn’t matter how hard we train or how much we restrict out diets those numbers on the scales don’t move. And instead if moving towards our goal of happiness we end up miserable in the process. Frustrated and sad that we can’t achieve what we set out to. We tell ourselves stories that it must be something about us, we’re lazy, not working hard enough, have no will power or are greedy….

But what if it was these stories that was keeping us fat?

I get you, because I’ve told myself those stories too. Even as a personal trainer I always struggled with my weight. I had a picture in my head of how I thought a trainer should look like. I thought if I looked like a fitness model, if I had a six pack and below 15% body fat then I’d be more confident, I’d have more clients and my business would be more successful, ultimately I’d be happier. That was my story. So I really pushed myself to train hard, I consulted nutritionists and tried different diet plans. I tried to follow the rules. At one point I ate virtually no carbs and almost passed out during one of my high intensity boxing sessions. But the measurements didn’t change, I fact some weeks I’d actually got bigger. Seeing those numbers not change was so demotivating. I felt like a complete failure. Why did it work for everyone else and not me?

I knew there had to be something else as this just wasn’t working for me or so many others.

Now I truly believe that the key lies not in how hard we train or how little we eat but in brain science and how much threat we are under.

Let me explain. The more we push ourselves to do things we don’t want to do the more we push our brain into threat. Our brain thinks we’re in some kind of danger and we revert to our reptile brain that’s only concern is survival. It’s often the stories we tell ourselves that place us under threat.

How much threat we are under has a direct effect on our stress levels.

Our stress levels then have a direct impact on our hormones.

Our hormones have a direct impact on our body’s ability to burn fat.

So how we feel is so much more important than what we eat or how much we train.

Makes a lot of sense right? If we are constantly making our selves miserable with behaviours that don’t serve us, then all we are doing is telling our brain we are under threat.

Think about how you feel every time you step on the scales and those numbers don’t move. Is this how you want to feel? So why put yourself in that position and makes yourself miserable everyday?

Instead of doing something that makes you miserable and focussing on your goal, reverse the cycle and start with how you want to feel. Learn to love the journey, not just the results.

Do something everyday that moves you towards happiness and the results will take care of themselves :)

Something to think about…..

Kat xx

Tags coaching, exercise, health, mindset, nutrition, weight loss

Exercise Tips Fitness Regime Uncategorized

The Queen of Over-training….

Post author By Kat
Post date 08/04/2014

Been a while since I last posted a blog, I’ve been so busy running sessions in the gym I’ve had no time to come up with any entertaining stories (or education posts :)

It’s been two months since we opened the gym now and we are happy to say that the 12 Rounds family is growing! We want to thank all our members for their continued support and welcome in all the new faces who have joined us lately. The 12 Rounds gym was a dream for us for a long time and it’s through you’re support that we’ve made it into a reality!

And we have been getting busy! Members, bear with us over Easter. We will be updating the timetable soon and introducing more classes. If there are times/classes you want to see on please let me know. We’ll be running a limited timetable over the bank holiday weekend which will include some out door classes. All other classes will run as normal.

Also due to the demand, we will be increasing our prices after Easter so if you or any friends are swithering about joining up, nows the time to do so to take advantage of our unlimited offer.

Now for a bit of education!

Members, it’s great that you love the classes so much but we’ve noticed that some of you are training without any structure or adequate rest. This is actually counterproductive to getting results. A lot of us (me included) have been conditioned to believe that if we are not literally beasted ourselves into the ground during the session then we haven’t trained hard enough.

Believe me I used to be known as ‘the queen of overtraining’. The other trainers would laugh at me in the gym as I tried to get in as many training session as physically possible! I’d even be joining in with the burpees while teaching a class (even though I’d done my own training earlier that day)

Did I look amazing from all the extra training?

No! I looked exactly the same or possibly bigger. (Its actually known as fat aerobics instructors syndrone in the industry) Trainers who do up to 30 classes a week but still can’t shed the body fat!

Why?

Because training MORE is not the way to generate results.

The key is to train SMARTER

Whether you want to lose fat, build muscle of even just improve your performance, the changes your looking for happen in the RECOVERY phrase NOT during training. Exercise is simply a stimulus for the body to respond and adapt to. It’s during the recovery phrase we burn fat and grow muscle tissue. And if you’re looking to see improvements to your technique the brain needs recovery too in order to reboot itself and develop the correct neural pathways.

If you train consistently without adequate recovery all you are doing is keeping your cortisol levels high which will actually prevent you from burning fat. All you will achieve is fatigue and most likely injury!

So forget about the QUANTITY of your training sessions and instead think about the QUALITY. You will see much more progression from 3 good quality sessions a week where you are able to give 100% than 6 mediocre ones where you gave 50-60% because you were still so fatigued from your last session!

Training smarter means sticking to a structured training programme and ensuring your body gets the right rest and nutrition.

That’s why the girls on my new 21 day kick start programme are kicking ass and getting amazing results. Instead of training more some of them are actually training LESS and still dropping inches. They are following a structured programme combining boxing training AND weight training. With rest days in between. And they’ve cleaned up their diet, which is the most important thing. (I’ll be running this again in May, if you’re interested in joining email me asap as only 6 places available)

Because if you’re spending all your time training, you have no time for food prep right? So not only are you unlikely to eating the correct mix of nutrients to fuel your body and convince it to burn fat!

For those of you who really want to see a difference to your physique we’ll be offering further programmes like this on the run up to summer. Look out for our ‘make the weight’ programme (based on a boxers pre fight and nutrition) details coming soon.

These days you’re more likely to see me stretching in between sessions than doing burpees. And I feel a whole lot better for it :)

Kat (learned the hard way) Bryson

Exercise Tips Motivation

Stuck in a room with a bipolar dude, a geek and the UK’s highest paid personal trainer….

Post author By Kat
Post date 28/10/2013

That’s how I spent my weekend

What's the result? 
Passion re-ignited. 
My mind had been totally blown away
Most of you know I've been at an event this weekend.
Here's what usually happens when I go on training course. 
I take in a lot of information, I realize there's so much 
more I don't know. I come back with a pile of notes (that 
I can't read) and then I think I need to go on another 
course to make sense of what I've just learned.
This is different 
I've learned to fall on love with my business all over again. 
I've learned what I'm good at. What inspires me. And I've 
learned a hell of a lot of things I've been doing wrong. 
One thing I've learned is that there's so much more I 
could be doing to help you all....
that's why I got into this business, to help people right? 
I've been so busy posting pictures of my food and telling 
you what I ate for breakfast...
Sending out surveys last week helped me get to know what 
your looking for. (Thanks to everyone who replied by the 
way, keep them coming!) 
The main answer I got was motivation
So things are going to change.
I've set myself a 30 day challenge. 
For the whole of November I'm going to send you an email 
every day. 
Every day I'm going to ask you to do just one thing that 
will help contribute to your health and fitness goals.....
One thing that will take you less than 10 mins
Then I'm going to tell you one thing that you didn't know
 about me (you want some entertainment too right?)
Believe me it's going to get interesting. 
You might even be a bit shocked
Cos most of you guys only know Kat the personal trainer. 
Do you think I started off eating spinach for breakfast? 
That's the message I want to get across. 
Results very rarely come overnight but most of us give up
 within weeks. 
It's taken me 5 years to get to where I am today! 
(And I'm still not perfect) 
5 years of trial and error and getting it wrong A LOT! 
But through my experience I can help you get results a lot 
faster 
I can't wait to get started
Kat (the skeletons are coming out the closet) Bryson

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