Jan 23: What do you want this year? Plus squats, squats, and more squats!

Welcome to 2023!

To get up and running here’s some information about our training, and some ideas to make the most of this month. 

Part 1: What do you want for yourself this year? 

Goal setting can be simple, but can sometimes trickier to find what you want to head towards, but I really think having a clear intention of what you want is essential. 

It also will give you direction for your training and nutrition, which will help both of us make the best plan and give the best chance of achieving it. 

Also when you want extra dessert, or to skip a workout, or to continue on Netflix rather than getting to bed (all these are fine occasionally, just not cornerstones of a good programme!), then having a sentence in your mind of what you want can be so powerful. 

It’s obviously a very personal thing, but I think fundamentally we need to chase something we don’t have right at this moment, we need a date for it, and we need a visual element to it, as well as a feel element. 

For example;

What do you want? 

Why? 

When? 

What does it look like in your mind? 

What does it feel like? 


This may be more health focused, if perhaps you haven’t felt at your best, then a plan to get back there. 

A plan for this would include a balanced diet with plenty of healthy fats, not too much caffeine and alcohol, plenty of steps and fresh air, plus some regular stretching, weight training and light cardio. Ideally also with a focus on sleep.

If perhaps you want to get a bit leaner and in better shape, then these would work better.

Creating a calorie deficit by having a little less fat and a little less carbs. HIIT / Heavy weights a few times per week, hardly any alcohol, plenty of sleep. 

If you want to get stronger, then plenty of protein and sleep, with sufficient recovery that you can concentrate on your gym sessions so you’re lifting fresh. Plenty of protein and healthy fats.

You’ll notice these are all very simple but actually quite different. The best targets I think are 2 - 6 months long as we can change an incredible amount in that time, but we’ll then likely need a maintenance phase. Your goal could also to be to maintain which is fantastic, perhaps to maintain but improve my health could be a great one. 

I’ll share mine with you but it is more shallow than I’d like to admit! 

I’ll also admit that although I absolutely love training, I probably have at least two workouts a week that I just simply don’t want to do. This is where I think about the below and get my trainers on. 

In May, I want to be with my new football team in Galway, Ireland (our first match) in our team vests looking in my best shape, and to love all the photos from the trip. 

It’s a clear what and when, with the reason being if I’m to lead the new team I want to start the journey at my absolute best. It’s double edged, as to do this I’ll have to successfully create the team, which is definitely outside my comfort zone, so it’s using my training to push something outside the gym too. I’m very excited to start a community football club, but of course nervous of stepping into new territory! 

I want to feel strong and light on the pitch, so lots of strength and power training, lots of protein, with hardly any days of overeating in the next few month. 

Every day I’m thinking about this, I’ve even mentioned it to players in my team to add some social pressure. 

It doesn’t have to be something about how you look, but if it is really don’t be embarrassed. 

We can do so much to feel, look and perform better.

If we can choose our goal then we can visualise it, and give focus to it, so get thinking, what do you really want this year? 

Part 2: A simple meal plan structure 

Two things that will really help your diet:

A, 15 - 25g protein every 3 - 4 hours 

B, Eat meals and not snacks (a high protein snack would be a small meal)

I’ve been doing this recently and it works a treat for fat loss, with perhaps the only decision of whether to have a morning or afternoon snack, or to split it in two. Essentially it’s three meals, a high protein snack and a small dessert. 

Here’s what I recommend with a few example options. 

Breakfast 

  • Overnight oats / porridge with fruit and peanut butter 

  • Eggs and avocado on toast 

  • Protein pancakes (2 egg, 1 banana, cinnamon, half scoop whey protein)

Snack

  • Protein bar

  • Protein shake with milk and bowl of granola 

  • Sushi 

Lunch 

  • Chicken stir fry wrap 

  • Smoked salmon and avocado bagel

  • Chorizo and Beans on toast 

Dinner 

  • Homemade chicken katsu curry 

  • Meatballs in tomato with diced potatoes 

  • Fish with pesto, veg and rice

Small dessert

  • 30 - 50g dark choc

  • Popcorn 

  • Dark Chocolate mousse 

The structure helps as if it’s outside of that then unfortunately it’s not happening, and keep the focus of eating proper meals. By reducing our snacks and making most of our food it’s easy really. Also having three or four options for breakfast, lunch and snack, and keeping dinner flexible works great too. 

So have a think about what you’d like to aim for, and about how to simplify your diet. 

Part 3: This month 

Without revealing too much, this year I’m giving each month a joint theme, and this January we’ll be starting with…

Squats and Core stability. This means every type of squat you can think of and lots of core holds, from dishes to a few new ideas i’ve been experimenting with!

Basically I want you all to have the most beautiful squats and strongest cores in the gym, so although we’ll work on your personal goals, as well as overall athleticism, our training goal will focus on improving these two things, both in strength and technique. 

I hope you like squatting!

Let’s get after it, see you soon!

Will

Will Purdue