<![CDATA[Lean with Luke - Personal Trainer and Online Coach - Positivity & Motivation]]>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 00:06:07 +0000Weebly<![CDATA[How To Eat and Train Like Ronaldo!]]>Wed, 17 May 2017 19:52:27 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/how-to-eat-and-train-like-ronaldo
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Not only is Cristian's ronaldo one of the most famous football players ever, he also looks and performs like a machine! So what does he do?

According to ronaldo7.net Cristiano Ronaldo is known for being obsessed with his training routine. There's a particular quote from Sir Alex Ferguson, which illustrates this phenomenon perfectly: "There's no fluke about it. I see Ronaldo practising all the time in training." Besides the mental motivation needed, there's certainly another very important attribute that CR7owns and that everyone need to keep in mind when attempting to get in shape: Discipline. Common or trivial quotes such as "No pain, no gain" are indeed true, but Cristiano Ronaldo and other top athletes are well aware of how important it is to set training routines and follow them without slacking.

Cristiano Ronaldo Daily Workout Routine

​Cristiano Ronaldo practices around 5 times per week in Real Madrid training camp, depending on the games schedule they have that week. On average, he trains around 3-4 hours per day and consists of:
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  • 3 to 4 hours of daily practice that assure a very low body fat level (<10%)
  • Several periods of running for endurance cardio (25-30 mins)
  • High intensity and "explosive" sprinting drills (short-period exercises)
  • Technical drills to enhance skills and ball control
  • Football tactical exercises to improve understanding with teammates
  • Gym exercises to develop specific muscles but also his total body strength.
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​Gym Exercises Performed:

Similar to myself, although I like to look lean and muscular, I need to be able to perform with my job! Which means I need to be able to run, jump, swim and remain extremely flexible and active as well as looking aesthetically pleasing too. You may be surprised how little weight is used in his training plans, but he need to be able to move effectively as well as look good!

From watching training videos of Ronaldos, the top 5 exercises in the gym he most commonly performs is:

1. Squats - these would be used to increase power and strength as squats are a great exercise to build strong and explosive leg muscles.

2. Exercise ball jack knife - this is an advanced core exercise which helps core control, balance and abs development too.

3. Resistance band side lunges - as football uses many planes on movement Ronaldo would need to be effective moving in all directions, hence a side lunge, the resistance bands added to make the leg muscles work harder.

4. Treadmill sprints - HIIT training would be used to practice explosive sprint power and keeping his body fat low as well.

5. Dumbbell press up rows - this includes the upper body and core plus co-ordination. Another exercise to emphasise a strong core and upper body strength too.

​A Cristiano Ronaldo Diet Plan

There's no secret behind the fact that a great workout routine won't work well if you don't combine it with a good diet plan. Cristiano Ronaldo is well aware of this need and he surely pays great attention to what he eats.

One of the most important factors is how often he eats during the day. He has a recommended period of 2 to 4 hours between small meals/snacks, which could result in around 6 meals per day. Eating less, but distributed over more meals during the day will help your body become stronger with more food intake and also keep your metabolism high.

It's no surprise...

Following these training exercises, drills and tips can help you become healthier, leaner and stronger since they are based on Cristiano Ronaldo's workout routine, but you'll need to be strongly motivated and disciplined. 
Take Ronaldo example, as he has always worked hard from a young age and he's mentality strong too, allowing him to keep focused on his health and body composition, as well as his football ability.

]]><![CDATA[How Being Comfortable In Your Environment Helps Achieve Goals]]>Mon, 06 Mar 2017 14:41:56 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/how-being-comfortable-in-your-environment-helps-achieve-goals
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It can be at times too easy be distracted or unmotivated when you set goals to achieve over a period of time, whether it is a short or long term goal it very common to feel as tho you aren't getting anywhere. However, those goals you set yourself can be very achievable with motivation, the correct support network, and being in an comfortable environment. But how do you achieve this?
What are your goals?

Planning your goals is super important to allow yourself to actually know exactly what you're doing, its 100x worse to step into a gym or class and have no idea what you are doing or what you want to achieve. Setting goals or workout plans prior to going to the gym allows you to get on and do something no matter what environment you're in. Create short term goals first, these will be a stepping stone in order to help achieve your long term goals that you've set too. This way your motivation can stay consistent and you can start seeing results quickly!
The environment​

It can be extremely worrying to go into an environment you are unsure of, many gym goers still worry and overthink when going to the gym! Its hard to go into an environment where you are not comfortable. Making an effort to talk to those new people around you, also staff members which are usually very knowledgable and friendly, will all be more than happy to help you get on the right track and make you feel more at home. That staff member could be a Personal trainer who could be the right guidance to support your goals and give you the best advice not only for your goals, but helping motivate you for your training environment. Also, set times you prefer training where your mind will be clear and you'll feel in the right mind frame, this way your insecurities wont be as high, giving you a better workout.

Enjoy and achieve.

The hardest part of your new journey has more than likely started, you have gone out your comfort zone and into a new environment. You will slowly start seeing confidence build and goals being achieved with consistency of being confident in yourself and using that alongside your aims. Even if you are going into a gym for 30 minutes during the day, that 30 minutes is so much better than doing nothing, it’s also 30 minutes more than you would have probably done when your confidence was lower! With confidence you'll feel more comfortable in surroundings doing actives you didn't realise was possible, wether it be weights, cardio or classes. As you notice that your in a setting where endorphins are being realised which are making you happy and making you feel better about yourself and what you can achieve, it will emphasise the importance of enjoying the idea of achieving goals, and how that makes the environment more inviting and more of a place you want to go to, instead of fearing it.
Summary

It may seem hard and impossible to achieve anything in a place you're not comfortable in, but its your choice! The gym is going to be a huge help to achieving your goals! Talk to some members and familiar faces, and use both members and the staff to gain more tips and advice to help you along the way! The environment that was once so uncomfortable will soon become your happy place. Always remember what your goals are, and you'll become a new happier you. Everyone was a beginner once, so keep on keeping and go get them goals!

Anything is possible. 

WRITTEN BY CHARLOTTE EVANS

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]]><![CDATA[Overcoming Mental Blocks]]>Fri, 03 Feb 2017 15:33:57 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/overcoming-mental-blocks
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It can be so hard to overcome mental blocks. Everyday someone has the struggle of overcoming a block. Wether its going to visit a certain place, achieving a certain goal, or even overcoming a block in the gym! So how do we push past this?

​Don’t listen to others!

It is easy for people to tell you to "get over it" or "i don't see why your worried" however if your trying to overcome the worry it can seem impossible. Setting your own small goals to overcome that block is the perfect start. Find out what is causing the mental block? Is it the fear of not being good enough? Or the fear of failure? If so, always remember someone starts somewhere, the professional was once a beginner! For example: If your thinking of joining a gym? Think of what is setting you back. Write down what is worrying you. Look at different gyms and after finding one you feel would be your kind of gym. Take the moment to email the staff explaining how you feel and see if you can place a tour in a comfortable time for yourself. 
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Think less, act more!

Using that example, don't sit on it! Go and do it! The day of you looking around the gym will come around, and you may soon be questioning why you are doing it and thinking of excuses not to go. However, to have a tour around the gym, get a feel for your surroundings and the staff members will ensure your feelings that you have taken the hardest and biggest step. Once the tour is done, you don't have to commit to anything and can see how it feels, talking to the staff members would help. However you have started your way to battling your own thoughts, battling that mental block. You are in a situation you never thought you'd be in. How does that feel?  The greatest success for your mental block will be creating small steps achieving them along the way.

The benefits

Success of mental block can be extremely rewarding. Any kind of mental block is extremely daunting and can be something that can cause lots of worry and anxiety. However, as previously stated, setting goals will be extremely useful. The small targets will soon turn into bigger targets, and the rewards will be flowing. The pride you'll feel to succeed will be a great sense of accomplishment. 

Summary

Getting over a lot of mental blocks may be incredibly scary, which is totally understandable. Many suffer for so many years overcoming mental blocks. There really is no better feeling than realising how far you have come, and realised you no longer suffer from your mental block. No matter how long it may take, the day you have overcome the block, and stand realising you have achieved your dream goals. You’ll never look back! 

Remember, anything is possible. 
WRITTEN BY CHARLOTTE EVANS
With a background of dancing and competitive cheerleading, fitness has always been important to Charlotte. But now her love for  running and weights has taken over, leading to a interest for a career within the fitness industry.
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]]><![CDATA[How To Avoid Failure in 2017]]>Mon, 16 Jan 2017 20:56:19 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/how-to-avoid-failure-in-2017
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Every year we have a vision of what we want to do differently, what we want to improve and what we want to change. However a large amount of people never make these visions a reality, let's find out why.
Insanity

"Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"

This is one of the biggest occurrences leading people down the path to failure. It isn't very hard to understand why either, it's very easy to get a boost of motivation starting the new year, and also very easy to SAY what you're going to do. In fact, it's also fairly easy to take ACTION and do it too, but what about when it's not working? This is where we find a problem, each year people use the same approach to lose their extra weight, to get back into shape, but your body is clever, it knows what's coming! But people will still try and repeat the same process over and over looking for a dramatic change, and when it doesn't happen, they fail.

Break the pattern

That leads us on to breaking the pattern, if you suffer from what was just mentioned above, the only way you're going to progress is to BREAK the pattern, switch it up and take a new approach. So what stops us from doing this anyway? The Comfort zone, breaking a pattern requires planning, adjustment, experimenting and fear of the unknown, these factors are all too much for most people to step out of what HAS worked before in the hop it will sustain for this new year. But let me tell you, it was work initially, however you will plateau and in order to achieve your vision, you will need to break the pattern.

Laziness

So you've got a vision, you've realised what patterns you need to break, great. But then there's actually doing it! It's all good knowing and thinking about what you know you should be doing, Howe we if there's no action, nothing gets done. A lot of the time this is down to laziness. For example: come home from work, you're very tired and you've had a long day, which is understandable to not automatically want to train as soon as you get in. But a lot of the time this ends up happening all 7 days of the week and you never end up getting a workout done. Although you're tired or there's things going on, it's about finding ways around it to enable your routine to adapt to your goals. If you keep thinking to live everyday the same and hope it fits in this takes us back to insanity! Don't be lazy, get stuff done and make no excuses.

Don't let yourself fail

Everyone situation and circumstances are different. It can be hard, and time consuming, however your goals and aims are very important both physically and mentally. Don't let this year be another where you regret not doing more to make stuff happen, be pro active and break the pattern. The key is to remember it's always down to you, don't blame other people or situations, no matter how hard you have to find a way around it.

Summary

Goals and aims, write them down, save them on your phone, whatever way works for you. Allow yourself to analyse these and figure out what barriers might arise and hold you back from achieving them, from there you need to make sure you have a strategy to get around those barriers in order to succeed and not fail.
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]]><![CDATA[​Is It Unrealistic To Be Positive All The Time?]]>Tue, 29 Nov 2016 22:11:24 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/is-it-unrealistic-to-be-positive-all-the-time
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Positivity is something which is emphasised now more than ever through social media and different Internet personalities, but is it realistic to be positive all the time?
What Is Realistic?

This first question helps define the mind frame and perspective of others, and where they stand with their beliefs, for example: If an individual sees the world as an accident waiting to happen, and there's no point to be positive only to be let down, they are a negative person. On the other hand, someone who likes to use the negatives to progress and maintain positivity, to keep a good frame of mind is obviously a positive person. So why does this matter? The examples are to show that YOU set what you see as realistic and unrealistic, depending on what you choose can limit how positive you can be.

Many of the best things in life that we now granted for example: phones, planes or internet were all unrealistic ideas, but the creators remained positive and look what an impact they have had today. Many doubters and negative thinkers limit themselves to mediocrity as their outlook cannot surpass their limited perception of the word realistic. 

What's Bad About Being Positive?

Successful or not, a positive mind frame is always better to lead you through a journey, if something is going wrong, it's very easy to give up and suddenly forget just how important being happy is, but this will have an impact on everything else you still have to do on a day to day basis. Now this doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't ever be annoyed or angry, but if you can increase the amount of time that you're mainly positive in comparison to negative vibes, you'll save yourself stress, unproductive time and gain more time doing things you enjoy.

People tend to criticise individuals who are positive or always happy. They assume things like acting like that is a mask, that it's odd or will end soon. If this sounds like yourself, isn't it quite sad you think that? Why aren't you happy? Why does someone being happy and positive trigger you to question it? Seems like the person questioning has more of an issue and should be spoken about, not the fact someone is actually happy.

The Bigger Picture

Regardless of your thoughts or views, the truth is that whatever you do or think will affect someone else, people at work, people at home and even your friends. You spread a vibe when you're in a good or bad mood, people see it and feel it, do you want to be known as negative one? Why not be the one who always helps when people are down, brings good energy to the office when things are tough, people feed off this, it's motivates them, and emphasises to yourself how your positive mind frame helps you to push in tough times and help others to do so as well. 

You either win or you learn, never lose.

Let People Be!

To answer the title of the article, No, it's not unrealistic to be positive all the time, it's a great mental and physical skills that will help you survive through both good and bad times whilst learning more about others and yourself along the way. However, it isn't to say that it isn't realistic that negative things will happen to us all, but how we deal with them and support others around us represents your vibe and energy you share with others and how you let that shape your future. Stay positive, and avoid negativity as much as possible.
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]]><![CDATA[Why Not Achieving Goals Can Be Positive]]>Tue, 08 Nov 2016 22:33:59 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/why-not-achieving-goals-can-be-positive
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Read what you can do to turn a negative experience with a goal into a positive!
Everyone has goals, aims, and things they want to achieve, but sometimes we don't reach the goal, or achieve what we aimed for. But this can actually be a really positive thing, so how does that work out?

Not reaching a goal

Wether it's an amount of weight you'd like to lose, a time to beat on a race or even a goal at work, goals are everywhere. It's important to have goals, but I'd also say it's sometimes important that we don't reach them.... yet. There's reasons why you may not have achieved your goal, some will be out of your hands, majority of the time most will be in your control. 

People then get disheartened, upset, annoyed, thinking about all the negatives and possibly even blaming things or people as to why that goal wasn't achieved, but that is a choice.

How you react is YOUR choice

This leads me to the choice. Your choice. How you choose to accept that you didn't reach your goal and then the question is why? This right here displays what type of mindset you have, do you moan, be negative, blame others, give up and settle for less? If you do, I can tell you that you more than likely won't achieve any goals or aims worth working for as you're not taking responsibility for your own actions.

On the other hand, if you fail to reach a goal and you think about WHY you didn't reach it, what more could you have done, what mistakes did I make? And if you didn't make any, what can you LEARN from the experience to help you try again to reach it, or use those experiences to help you in a future goal. I can tell you this person will evolve, develop, learn and have a great chance at achieving anything they set their mind to.

Be honest with yourself, the choice is yours.

How to stay positive, use R.A.P

1. Re-evaluate - was the goal too big, too unrealistic? was the time frame to short? Did I have the skills or experience to aim for this goal? Whatever it is, explore the goal and re evaluate what may be the cause of the failure.

2. Adjust - when you've found things that may be a cause, adjust them! Increase the time frame, increase your experience and skills,  whatever it is, adjust it and then try again!

3. Progress - this will lead you to progression, I can't promise you when, how or a time, but I can promise that if you learn from failing, and evolve yourself to beocoke stronger, more experienced with no loss of enthusiasm, you will progress and succeed.

Summary
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I'll leave this post with a favourite quote of mine.


"Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm"

- Winston Churchill
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]]><![CDATA[How Visualisation Will Help You Reach Your Goals]]>Tue, 08 Nov 2016 22:31:43 GMThttps://www.leanwithluke.co.uk/positivity--motivation/how-visualisation-will-help-you-reach-your-goals
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Reaching your goals can be a difficult task, getting things wrong, failing over and over but there is a tool that can help which is so powerful, but often forgotten about, visualisation. So how can can this help you reach your goals?
Visualisation

Visualisation Is all about making the invisible appear in your head, having freedom and creativity of thought. It can also be used to put your mind in check before you do something, for example: if you're having a party and you visualise in your head what you want the hall to look like, you then pick what you saw in your head to make it into a real life situation. Doing this for goals is the same, if you always see yourself not being able to complete or achieve something, how will your body follow? Most probably the same way you think it! Visualising can be done in your own down time, during a training session, or before a big event to help to reach a goal.

It's so powerful!

The reason why visualising is so powerful is because your focus determines your reality, if you think of yourself in your head with the physique you would love, it will motivate you to get there, and if you really like what you visualise, your actions will have to follow in order to make it come true! Putting only a bit of effort towards a goal won't link with your visualisation, this is where you should give yourself a kick up the backside to do more! Any great idea starts off as a visualisation, and it's that visualisation which eventually turns into a reality, but keeping focus on that end goal when you fail over and over is tough.

Confidence and belief

If you have a focus and visualise where you'd like to see yourself, that's great, but in order for it to become real, you need confidence and belief. Confidence is key as anyone can Imagine what they would like to achieve, however the physical part is generally where people doubt themselves, having confidence will be one of the main factors to make your visualisation real, to emphasise that you CAN reach your goal, you can see it, so all you have to do is stay on that path and put in the work until you get there! This directly links with belief, confidence will get you started, then you really need to believe that you are capable of achieving it, believing in every workout, rehearsal, presentation whatever it is that you do, to enable your mind to see a clear pathway to the end result. If you have no confidence or belief, it's pretty obvious why you may have not reached your goals!

Anyone can do it!

The beauty of visualisation is that anyone can do it, no matter what age, if you have limitations or barriers, we all have the power to visualise, and if you can think it, you can do it! It's such a great thought to think every human can picture whatever they like, then do whatever it takes to get you there. You could be preparing for a bodybuilding competition, visualising yourself winning, how that would feel? How you would look? And let that thought and feeling give you confidence and belief to help you win! If you're a dancer before a big competition, you could imagine yourself holding the trophy, having your name called out, and let that feeling make you really work for it!

Summary

Think of your goals, and also things that will really motivate you, wether it's in your free time, before a big event, your just when things are getting tough. Use your mind to help your body reach its goals, a positive visualisation will have you already winning half the battle as you can already see the finish line! It's then down to you to fail, learn, pick yourself back up, and keep your focus on them goals. Only then will you truly reach them.
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