Sarah Melton - Fitness Life

Two of my boys.
One trained for a marathon.
One training for pro-boxing.
Both of whom I am beyond proud.

Neither training for speed. And yet here we are. Two sub-20 minute 5k runs.
A marvellous by-product of fitness is speed.

They both have what is lacking in most people’s training: self belief. A huge amount of self belief. Because no one is going to put your training in for you. They both have the mindset of ‘no excuses’. Which sounds extreme, and some would say it is, but how often do we ‘listen to our bodies’ only to realise we could have gone and done it, it was just the little voice of self doubt.
Even I have taken their mindset and applied it to my own training and you know what, it’s working.

I can’t claim any real glory for these two here as all I did and ever do is show them the way; they have to go and do the work.

If you want a phrase to say to yourself whenever you don’t think you can, repeat this: what the mind believes, the body achieves. And trust me, it’ll kick you to get it done.

If you’re interested in knowing what you’re capable of, why don’t you come and find out with me.

*Dennis completed his marathon in 3 hours 50 minutes.
Shaun’s debut pro match is pending. But I have all the faith.

HAVE YOU PLATEAUED IN THE GYM?

Or running? Or life?
Want to get it back on track? Need a little boost?
So did a client! She smashed it!
Want to see what you can do too?

Let's do it together!

MERRY CHRISTMAS my little dirt bags.

Go do whatever soothes your soul at this time of year, whether that be family, not family, friends, escaping to the Outer Hebrides or swimming in the North Sea, be happy in yourself.
No rules. You do you boo, you do you.

HAVE YOU GOT INJURIES THAT WON'T SHIFT?

You're not the only one. Injuries can. be a right pain in the a$$.
Sometimes we just need a new pair of eyes looking at the situation.
Let me have a look and we'll see what we can do together.

What have you got to lose? Apart from that niggly feeling.

HOW'S YOUR SLEEP LATELY?

With the festive *cough* party season coming up lightning quick, your sleep isn't going to be on the top of your Christmas list. Although you know it should be!

Here's some tips for you, and as you know sleep isn't just for Christmas, it's for life!
1. Nap early! A nap does not mean a full on slumber!
2. Get Up! Get Out! Get some sun in your life early doors. If that means moving to Tenerife, then who am I to stop you!
3. Be your own child! Go to bed and get up at the same time (or as close as dammit!) each night! Get your bedtime routine NAILED!

There's more to sleep than that, but it's a start!

*seriously, you don't have to move to Tenerife, just get up and get outside!

The diary is OPEN! Make the most of this rare opening and get in quick before the slots fill up again!
Message or email for booking.
https://sarahmeltonlife.com/
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I. Can’t.

Can’t.
I can’t do it.
I can’t.

Can NOT.

I recently had a conversation with a client about the word can’t and how the use of the word shuts us down instantly.

I was asking her to perform a new movement for some mobility and she struggled. She said ‘I can’t do it!’ And stopped.

When we use the word can’t we subconsciously stop all effort from there on in. Can NOT quite literary means out of our ability. It’s a definitive STOP sign.
But when we change our language we change our inclination to try. We recognise our CURRENT ability and our potential FUTURE ability.
The difference between ‘I can’t’ and ‘I struggle’ are poles apart in attitude and definite end positions.
‘I struggle’ shows that we know we’re not brilliant, but we’re trying. We haven’t quit, we’re still learning.

Instead of: ‘I can’t talk to my partner’
Try: ‘I struggle to talk when I’m angry’

Instead of: ‘I can’t deadlift’
Try: ‘I struggle to deadlift, but I’m still learning’

So next time you say ‘I CAN’T’, take a breath, ask yourself if that language is helpful to you, and remind yourself you’re trying, and it’s ok to struggle.

It’s not very often I ask for anything in return for what I give you all.
I’ll be honest, there’s no personal story behind this, there’s no heart break, nothing like that. What there is though is education. As with everything I do.
Those who know me and work with me know how passionate I am about hormones and educating about them. The pituitary plays a pretty big role in that. It’s a carrier pigeon of messages, the flight control centre between various hormone excreters and the brain. Sounds pretty hi-tech. And it is.
So I’ll be running a half-marathon in aid of The Pituitary Foundation. May not sound like much to some especially those who now I do a bit of running. But I’m not a distance girl, I’m a ‘get it done hard and fast’ type girl!
So please, if for no other reason than to make me stand at the start line, give what you can and send some love my way. I’m going to need it!

Sarah's page Help Sarah Melton-Whitelam raise money to support The Pituitary Foundation

Let’s talk sleep
*Yawn

I’ll paraphrase for a moment:
‘More than half a million men and women of varied ages, races, ethnicities across eight different countries… with progressively shorter sleep, was associated with a 45% increased risk of developing and/or dying from coronary heart disease within seven to twenty-five years.’

Or maybe, this:
‘The relationship between short sleep and heart failure remains strong even after controlling for other known cardiac risk factors, such as smoking, physical activity, and body mass.’

Perhaps this instead:
‘Adults forty-five or older who sleep fewer than six hours a night are 200 percent more likely to have heart attack or stroke during their lifetime, as compared with those sleeping seven to eight hours a night.’

And that’s just how shortened or disturbed sleep can affect the heart. Now think about how it affects your brain. Your decisions. Your rationality. Your temper. Your food choices. Your reaction time. The list is endless. There is not one single aspect of life that is not affected by sleep.

Pick an aspect of your life that you hold dear and sleep will will either hinder it, or help it, depending on how you value sleep.
Beauty? Get some sleep.
Dieting? Get some sleep.
Nailing work? Get some sleep.
Mental health? Get some sleep.
Physical health? Get some sleep.

I could do probably do another three or four posts about sleep, from how the sleep stages change from inception through to childhood, adolescence, and old age, to how the reaction times of sleep deprived drivers compare to drunk drivers, about how Alzheimers and old age are massively affected, the list could go on.

Plus of course there are the posts I could do about how to ‘hack your sleep’. I hate the phrase ‘hack’. It implies you can cheat your way out of it. You can’t. You can be an adult about it and do the work.

Speaking of being an adult, why do we insist as parents that our children have sleep and wake routines but as adults we think we’re beyond that level? Maybe I’ll leave that for the next sleep post.

Let me leave you with this:
‘Without exception every animal species to date sleeps…’ There is a reason sleep has never disappeared through evolution and takes up such a huge part of our 24hr life.
If it wasn’t important Mother Nature would have done away with it.

*quotes taken from Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker. If you haven’t read it, save your life and read it.