Another fantastic year is coming to an end….

As I write this I am looking out of the window waiting for the snow we have been promised and thinking about the weekend men’s camp that is starting this Friday! It’s going to be a little bit chilly down in Devon that’s for sure!

Our October and November camps were a great success and I want to thank the entire team for putting together such amazing weeks of activities!

The feedback I have received has been amazing and I personally enjoyed those weeks very much, despite the sideways rain!

I know that many of you have been downloading and cooking up the recepies from the UBC Members Area so there really is no excuse to let it all go to pot in the run up to the festive celebrations!

Speaking of Christmas, our resident nutritionist Rebecca Amey is featured in Zest Magazine this month where she has tried and tested some Christmas puddings so take a look, it might help you to choose a healthier alternative this year!

With all the parties, work do’s and manic Christmas shopping it can be tricky to keep up the healthy lifestyle but hopefully you will remember some of the tips you learned at camp and keep going! A walk in the fresh air, a jog round the park or even a class or two at the gym will keep you on track as well as sane! If you get stuck, you can always contact UBC for some inspiration.

Well, going forward into 2011 we have some exciting new plans! We are shaking up the boot camp market and looking into how we can do things differently and even better. We will keep you all updated about our plans so do not panic that you cannot see any dates for next year as yet. We are focusing on quality over quantity next year and we really want to give you all something new!

I doubt that I am the first to wish you a happy Christmas as the whole world seemed ready for it in October but here it is anyway ‘Happy Christmas!’

I wish you all a great break and a successful, fulfilling New Year!

Until next time…

Stay fit, stay happy,

Sam x

Summer has been and gone…(although I seemed to have missed it!)

We began the summer with our ‘Women’s Fitness Magazine’ weekend which was amazing! The sun shone on our Devon location and we had a great group of girls that really embraced the experience. Working with such a great magazine was fantastic for us and the partnership worked really well, we hope to do more of the same in the future so watch this space!

July and August took us to a new location and new accommodation in Herefordshire. The camps were an intimate affair with a maximum of 11 girls on each which was great for us because we all got to know each other really well! The results in terms of inch loss and weight loss were fantastic and I have lots of happy memories from those camps (including a stint in the rowing boat – but that’s a whole different story…) :-)

We are keen to get our girls together for a challenge or an event and Andy (The Fear Master) Duncan has been looking into what we can get involved with. Perfect opportunity for a reunion and to see how everyone is progressing with their fitness regimes! Email us if you have any suggestions.

Rebecca Amey the UBC Nutritionist is now the Nutrition expert for Zest Magazine – Well done Becky! They are lucky to have you! Check out this months issue to see what Becky recommends for healthy cinema snacks!

Here at UBC HQ we have been using the month of September to take a look at next years plans and I know many of you are waiting on dates for 2011, we will get these posted as soon as we can. We are focusing on quality over quantity next year – Your feedback has given us such valuable insight into what you love about UBC and what you would like to see added. We have taken this on board and we are SO looking forward to providing you with the best quality boot camps for next year. Any more suggestions are always welcome, whether it is location, training elements or nutrition information so please do pick up the phone (Dawn loves a chat!) or drop us an email!

We are currently gearing up for our October weekend which as we speak is almost full – due to a few late cancellations, two have become available, so if you want a boost now that summer is over, have a think about coming along!

We have another week long camp at the end of October as well as in November and we finish this year with another Ultimate Men’s weekend! These are always good fun so if your other half/brother/dad/son needs a bit of motivation to adopt a healthier lifestyle, then sign them up! They wont regret it – just have a look at the testimonials from previous male recruits!

This month I qualified as Holistic Massage Therapist, the course was hard going, but amazingly interesting and fun so I am looking forward to incorporating this into our week long camps next year – just another element that we wanted to bring you to enrich your week!

The Cancer Research 10K races are starting up this season all over the country, it’s a great way to keep fit and having something to aim for really gets you focused so if you are taking part please let us know - I will be!

Sadly the summer is over and yes it wasn’t the heat wave we were predicted but there is something special about autumn. I don’t know if it is just the start of a new season or a drop in temperature but it makes me reassess things and want to get out their and enjoy the days – so wrap up warm and hit the pavements!

Stay in touch everyone and I will see you all soon I hope!

Stay fit, Stay Happy,

Sam x

Fear of Failure by Andy "The Fear Master" Duncan

Do You Suffer From A Fear Of Failure?

If you think you have a fear of failure that is holding you back, here are a few questions you can use to determine if you have a fear of failure.

Will You Work Harder To Avoid Failure, Than You Will To Succeed?

Those who suffer from the fear of failure are often motivated to work harder not to fail, rather than work harder to succeed. Failure is something that is always in the back of their mind, as a result the actions they take are done to avoid failure, rather than gain success. Characteristically this involves “playing it safe”, not taking too many risks and staying inside your comfort zone. On the flip side, people who do not suffer from the fear of failure are motivated to work hard in order to win or be the best. As a result their actions are much more audacious and they are prepared to take greater risks, and get beyond their comfort zone.

Do You Work Harder To Protect What You Presently Have? Or Work Harder To Get Something Superior?

If you work harder to keep something you have, this may be because you have an unintentional fear of failure. Since you are always apprehensive about loosing what you have, you are consequently motivated to keep what you presently have, rather than try to get something better. Again, this involves staying in your comfort zone, and not taking a lot of risk.

Are you Living Beneath Your True Potential?

As you can see from the two examples the fear of failure causes people to live in mediocrity, far below their true potential. Fear of failure stops people from ever beginning to work towards a goal, because they perceive the risk of failing is worse than the taste of success! Often these people have an attitude of “if works don’t fix it”.

Where Does The Fear Of Failure Emerge From?

Fear of failure usually results from a childhood experience, the stories you hear from family members, other people or films that you have seen which greatly embellish the real life consequences. All of this stimulus can introduce a fear into the mind, causing you to become more precautious and reserved than you normally would be. Characteristically this effect is continuing and develops over several years. However when a fear of failure does become evident, it tends to become a downward spiral, at which point the more fear you give into, the more apprehensive you become in life. The extreme of this would absorb someone who fears the outside world and does not leave their house. This is known as agoraphobia.

Overcoming The Fear Of Failure

A simple technique you can use to help overcome the fear of failure is to use something called Forward Positioning. I haven’t got time to discuss this here but I will cover it on future newsletters as this is an awesome technique for eradicating the Fear of Failure and Anxiety! Generally when people have a fear of failure it becomes habitual, consequently they give into fear without really thinking about it.

If you can identify this trait in yourself, you will be able to discover periods when you are persistently steer clear of doing something because of the fear you connect with it. Yet by persistently going ahead and doing the activity you fear, in time you will break that negative connection.

The key point here is that the more you give into fear, the more fear will be in command of and restrain your life. The easier you command fear, the less fear will command your life. The question remains do you command your fear or does your fear command you??

Hi everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed the bank holiday weekend, lots of BBQ’s and beers maybe? Shame about the weather but there you go!
I thought I would post up our UBC top ten tips for you all to take a look at!
Happy Reading and see you soon!

Sam x

Ultimate Boot Camp
Top 10 Tips


1. Keep a food diary and be HONEST! An additional 500 calories per day (over requirements) could lead to a 1lb weight gain in a week. A ‘skinny’ peach and raspberry muffin and a ‘Tall’ café latte from Starbucks will cost you 497 calories!

2. Drink plenty of water. It keeps you feeling full and helps the body flush out toxins making it work more efficiently. Aim for 2 litres per day and more if exercising.

3. Eat every 3 hours to keep your energy levels consistent. This will prevent the slumps that can lead you reaching for that muffin. Choose snacks that combine protein and complex carbs such as a banana with a few brazil nuts.

4. If your aim is to lose weight, reduce your calorie intake gradually to 1500 per day for women or 2000 for men. Reducing your calorie intake by 500 per day will result in a healthy steady weight loss of 1-2lbs per week, which is sustainable and will not leave you hungry, miserable and dashing off to the chip shop!

5. Incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the lift, get off the bus or the tube a few stops earlier and walk. Its basic but it works!

6. Schedule exercise into your diary as you would a business meeting. It is just as important. Aim for a minimum of 40 minutes 5 times a week to see results.

7. Make the exercises count. Perform compound exercises using big muscle groups (i.e. bum and legs) to save time and really work the body, here are some examples:

• Lunge walk with front raise (works legs, bottom, shoulders and arms)
• Sumo squat with shoulder press (whole body)
• Bent over row to dead lift to upright row (Upper body)
• Biceps curl to Arnold press (Front and back of arms, shoulders and back)
• Press ups (whole body)
• Burpees (whole body including heart and lungs)

8. Resistance work with weights, bars or bands will not increase bulk. Go for lighter weights and increase repetitions for long lean muscles. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so increasing the muscle in our bodies, increases our metabolism. Its good for the bones too so include resistance work in your routines.

9. When you are exercising ask yourself 3 questions:
• Am I out of breath (It should be a bit of a struggle to hold a conversation)
• Am I sweating (You should need to wash your kit after a workout!)
• Could I do more or try harder (On a scale of 1-10, 1 being relaxed, 10 being about to fall over with exhaustion, you should be working at a level of 7-8)

10. Have a goal and make it CSMART (C – Challenging, S- Specific, M- Measured, A- Attainable, R-Realistic, T-Timely). Believe that every day you are working towards it because you deserve to be fit, healthy slim and happy!

Hooray summer is here! (Almost..)

Well a lot has happened since my last blog update!

Lets start in February where we ran an ‘Ultimate Men’s Weekend’ camp! A great bunch of guys all there for different reasons and who all achieved some truly amazing results! The photos really do speak for themselves… A brilliant time was had by all. :-) Well done to everyone involved in that hugely successful weekend.

March took us to the Vitality show at Earls Court. Four days of meeting and greeting potential new recruits and also catching up with previous recruits who had come along to say hello! We loved seeing you all again and thank you to those that joined us on the fitness stage!

We held a competition during the Vitality show to win a weeklong place at UBC. We were inundated with entries but as always, there can only be one winner and Dawn had the fantastic job of picking the lucky entry out of the hat at the end of the show.

The winner of the place was Debbie Hawkins who is joining us in August. We are thrilled for you and cannot wait to meet you and put you through your paces!

We held another weekend camp in March but this one for the ladies. We were so excited to see some familiar faces at this weekend. Some of our recruits (and now friends) from last year joined us for a top-up weekend to see how it compared to the weeklong experience. You can read Sue Lawrence’s’ testimonial from her week and also the weekend on the testimonial pages on the website. It was great to have you back girls!

The results for the March weekend in terms of inch and weight loss was pretty amazing but more important than that – the girls all had a brilliant time and have gone on to explore new ways of keeping fit. I know that a few ladies have taken up climbing following a very successful afternoon at a climbing wall at camp! It just goes to show, you don’t necessarily need to pound the pavements to keep fit and healthy.

Well done to all our March recruits – it really was a fantastic weekend.

Well those of you that receive the newsletter will know that I was due to run the London Marathon on 25^th April. I was in fact stuck in Tenerife following the volcanic eruption in Iceland. Obviously I was sad about not getting back for this amazing event that I had trained so hard for but it was one of those things that just could not be helped. I was running for Asthma UK and all those very kind people that sponsored me should be pleased to know that the money has gone to the charity and they have guaranteed me a place for next year (this years sponsorship already collected will go towards my target). Thanks for all your support despite the fact that I did not cross the start line!

One lady that did in fact cross the start line (and the finish line!) was Sue Lawrence who completed the Playtex Moon Walk in London on 15^th May. Sue attended a camp last year and came back for a top up weekend in March this year so the whole team were keen to support her in this amazing event. As I write this I am waiting on a photo of Sue (in her bra!) so that I can post it on the website. Well done Sue, I know that an event like that takes a huge amount of training and dedication, we are all very proud!

As always we have been busy, busy, busy at UBC HQ preparing for all our summer camps and our very own Nutritionist Becky Amey has been sorting out the nations eating habits (and a certain Ms Hurley’s as well) in the May issue of Zest magazine Page 102 - 106. Take a look, its brilliant – well done Becky!

We also had some returning recruits to our April camp! It was great to see you again! We were blessed with sun-shine all week (apart from the last night!) which made for a great week, let’s face it, beach circuits always work better with blue skies!
Jon and Andy put together a programme that really worked the girls hard and the results at the end of the week really did show just how much everyone had put into the week.

Becky was joined this week by Jane Lawson who ‘shadowed’ her in her role of Camp Manager extraordinaire! The two of them did a great job and I am sure we will see Jane at some more camps later in the year.

A big thanks to Becky, Jon, Andy, Mandy, Jane and Warren for a great April camp.

As some of you will already know, Jon has decided to move on from UBC to concentrate on his personal training business. We have had a great year together as a team with many happy memories! Good luck Jon for all you do in the future.

Andy (The Fear Master) Duncan is taking control of the June camps and is shaking things up for all those that have signed up! Women’s Fitness Magazine is the Official Media Partner of the first June Ultimate Boot Camp Weekend and it is going to be such good fun – I can’t wait!

There’s the update from me! As I tap away at my keyboard, the sun is shining and we are predicted the hottest week of the year yet – well, we’ll see about that but if you are starting to worry about exposing a bit more flesh as summer approaches – don’t! There is still time to tackle any problem areas, drop some weight and tone up and remember this…. “Don’t put something off because of the time it will take to achieve it – that time will pass anyway”. Go for it and have the best summer ever!

Stay fit, stay happy

Sam xx

January – Ice, Rain and some rather fabulous make up!

January was a brilliant camp week! It was bitterly cold but the atmosphere at camp was warm and inspiring!

We had our fair share of mud and sweat this week and an extra dose of fun and laughter…

I have never seen camo cream applied with such precision! The photographs are just so funny and bring back great memories.

Andy joined Jon again this week and between the two of them they provided a fantastic programme that had the girls on the move the whole time. The climbing was a great success and the endurance course proved to be a highlight of the week again. It never ceases to amaze me the courage and determination that the girls show during their time at camp. It was a privilege to be part of it all again.

The food was lovely again this week and Mandy worked so hard in the kitchen – Mandy, we LOVE you!

Becky was a brilliant camp manager again and definitely led by example. The nutritional information was great and I know that the girls have all been busy cooking up the recepies now they are back at home.

The Catlin Arctic Survey team also joined us this week so they could give their fitness an extra push before the next big expedition. This team of people really are amazing to be around and we are so glad that we had the chance to spend time with them – I have a feeling they will be back again at camp in the future and we can’t wait. We raised a few eyebrows on the hikes though with Martin and Ann dragging a tyre behind them the whole way – ‘a dog would be easier to walk’ was a comment that we heard more than once!

Well its February already and at UBC HQ we are busy preparing for the Men’s weekend. We are pretty full for this weekend and we are looking forward to putting the men through their paces J

The Vitality show is on at Earls Court from the 19^th to the 22^nd of March and the whole team will be there so please come and say hello!

From me to you all, stay fit, stay happy and GO HARD or GO HOME!

Over and Out!

Sam

The last Camp of 2009 and what a CORKER!

Oh it might have been grey, wet and muddy in Devon for the November camp but that did nothing to diminish the smiles of our recruits!

A truly inspirational bunch of ladies that really got to know what Ultimate Boot Camp was all about!
I was down with our recruits for the first part of the week and I really did not want to leave! They were all so funny, amazingly supportive of each other and simply a pleasure to be around. Becky ran the camp with military precision this week as well as imparting all her nutritional knowledge on our eager recruits!

Andy Duncan joined Jon again for this camp and the two of them had the girls working hard each and every day! There was sweat and a few tears but an overall sense of immense achievement.

To quote one of our ladies “I am still flying high – I am on the ceiling – come and get me down if you dare!” I love that!

Well done to you all. The weight loss and inch loss was very impressive this week as well. One of our ladies lost an amazing 10lbs and 19.5 inches!

You know that we do not harp on about the scales here at UBC, its about a life changing experience and becoming mentally and physically stronger - but ladies – in the run up to Christmas, I know how important it is that the LBD fits in all the right places…. So lets celebrate those pounds melting away!

The November Camp was the last of 2009 but the good news is we are back in force for 2010 Woo Hooo!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our recruits from 2009. I have the best job in the world and it is because I get to spend time with people like you. I love meeting you all and seeing the journey that you take when you come to UBC.

Hearing about your achievements after the camp week is also brilliant and truly inspirational. Thank you all for your hard work, determination, support and smiles throughout this year. I am looking forward to hearing from you in 2010 and seeing a few familiar faces back to visit Boot Camp!

I would also like to thank my amazing team who make all this possible. I have learnt so much from you all this last year and I love working with you all. So thank you (you know who you are!)

Here’s to a healthy, happy Christmas and a fit and fun New Year!

Go Hard or Go Home! Whoop! Whoop!

Sam xxxxx