First and foremost I love cricket for all the small battles within the main battle played out in a team environment. They are the battles that only those that have played the game will understand. I gave up trying to explain my love of cricket to girls decades ago. Now when girls say to me cricket is boring I don’t even bother to explain the enjoyment of watching your mates go out to open the batting with the sole purpose of seeing off the new ball (see how would I explain that) so that their mates will have a better opportunity to preform (score runs) a few hours later in the day. The enjoyment of sitting with 9 other blokes for up to 6 hours and chatting about anything and everything. The sun is out and the beaches are calling  but none of us would want to be anywhere else than in that grandstand watching the battles that go on every ball.

Going out in the field as a unit to do battle is even more fun, especially if your team is lucky enough to have a big fast bowler. That’s when the laughing and sledging bonds everyone even more. When a fielder yells to a teammate this bloke is shitting himself (referring that the batsman does not like facing the big fast bowler) the whole team will laugh and carry on and bond that little bit more. Let me tell ya when 10 blokes are clapping and chatting over a dot ball victory is just around the corner (how in the hell could I explain that)

And lets not forget the 6 or so hours after the game. Those hours are for more bonding through stories of the days play and post mortems of what could have been done better. So, for me cricket was the closest thing to going into a battle with a group of mates you wanted to go into battle with. And win, lose or draw (yep there is draws) you are going to give 100% for yourself and your teammates and have a great time doing it.

In this fast past society where everyone is trying to climb over everyone to make money at whatever cost I do miss those small battles within the battle out on the cricket field. I couldnt be bothered with playing them in the real world…

 I’m sure that for those of you who travel on business and even for everyone else who has gone somewhere on vacations, you will agree that it’s often quite a challenge to maintain healthy habits while away from home. Many people end up either gaining weight or losing weight after their trips and I’m not talking about desired weight changes either. Here are some ideas that may seem obvious, but I’d challenge you to think back to your last business trip. How many of these did you really follow?

These commercials would stop me in my tracks when I was a young kid growing up (to be honest watching them again now they still do). In 61seconds they would tell the story of sacrifice, adversity, team spirit, giving it your best, over coming the odds and having fun with your mates. Enjoy..

Why do I love burpees so much? Well, in a nut shell they are a take anywhere, muscle building, cardio taxing, time efficient way to train. I’ve spoken to customs officials and they are happy to let you take your burpees away on holidays with you.
Burpees like with all exercises you need to build up. Recently some friends and I did the 100 day burpee challenge where you add an extra burpee each day culminating 100 days later with doing 100 burpees pretty much in a row. Whilst doing this I remember us all saying after 40 days “how are we ever going to do 100 burpees”. Then after about 60 days the burpees didn’t seem that bad at all. We had all conditioned our bodies over the previous two months. Since doing the 100 day challenge none of us would ever do a burpee without punching out 100.
How to preform a burpee-
*Begin in a squat position with your hands on the floor in front of you
*Kick your feet back to a push up position
*Immediately return your feet to the squat position
*Jump up from the squat position
*Repeat movement. Keep your abs engaged throughout the whole movement so as to work your core and support lower back.

The main point I want to get across here is that “YOU ARE THE CEO OF YOUR OWN HEALTH”! If you think back pain or sports injuries are going to go away all by themselves you are kidding yourself. (If you are under 25 and lead a healthy lifestyle ignore the above comments as there is a fair chance your body will just heal itself depending on extent of injury). I’m more talking about people like myself (39) (look 35) who when they get injured either do nothing but rest or think that seeing a physio once a week is going to fix the problem. Sure it may over time…But who wants to spend extended time on the sidelines?? I certainly don’t!!
An example is the common back injury. First thing people do when they hurt their back is lay on the couch for days and sometimes weeks and wonder why they are not getting better. And when they do start moving again are one wrong move away from re injuring themselves again. Why? Because they weren’t the “CEO OF THERE OWN HEALTH”! The majority of back injures are either slipped discs or stiff joints L4 L5. Now common sense needs to prevail here but if you can tolerate the pain get out and get moving ASAP and start to rehab that injury! Motion is great for stiff joints! Laying on the couch isn’t! Combine that walking with a modified stretching program every hour or so, trying to get those joints as supple as you can.Once feeling better ease back into training. Never start up where you left off! Build yourself back up to that level. I see so many people wanting to start up again without building there training back up. Hamstrings are a great example. The key here is to park your ego at the door. A few light training sessions is not the end of the world. It’s the start of the journey back to full fitness.
So my advice when injured is to take control of the injury. Get on the front foot and rehab it every chance you get. Look at the injury as a way of proving to yourself how important exercise and a healthy lifestyle is to you. Get it fixed and keep moving forward.

This is a photo of me sitting at one of my best mates desks today. He was out of his office and didn’t know I was coming in so I got his secretary to take this photo and I sent it to him on his mobile. Im not sure if this shows that small things amuse small minds……but what I will say is that we both had a laugh about it. I really think that laughing with people closest to you is one of the best and most enjoyable things you can do. I always make sure it’s a part of my everyday.

I allow myself two cheat meals on average per week as I don’t want to be one of those self obsessed health nuts that has to say no to everything and never truly looks happy. My cheat meals usually consist of chocolate or Chocolate n ice cream. Doing this stops me having cravings during the week as well as keeping my sweet tooth in check. It’s also a great way to catch up with friends and have a laugh.

Copper Park Stairs times 10sets. Did it tough but I never feel worse for doing them. If your time poor or would prefer to spend your free time doing other things than exercise this is a great high intensity time productive way to train.