Just As Well, The Women's Health Podcast - Fit in 30 Days: Courtney Black’s Do’s and Don’ts for Lasting Results

Episode Date: April 6, 2021

Let’s get one thing straight: health, fitness, wellness - this stuff is a long-game pursuit. You eat well; you train hard; you rest - in mind, as well as body - to get the most out of this life as you can. But sometimes, we get it, you want to take things up a gear to be able to perform and feel at your best. And what we’re hearing from you guys at the moment is that this spring - after the longest, bleakest winter - is one such time. So, what works when it comes to getting results faster? And what should really be avoided? They’re just some of the questions that we’ll address in today’s show. Bringing the know-how and all the sunny, perk-you-up energy is personal trainer Courtney Black. Renowned for her seriously tough HIIT workouts and adored by her 800k-plus Instagram followers, her message is all about embracing challenge. So, who better to offer a spring time pep talk. In today’s episode she talks to our digital fitness writer Morgan Fargo about making the most out of your home workouts, how low-impact doesn’t have to mean low-intensity and why, when it comes to fuelling your fitness, there are no ‘bad foods’. Courtney also shares her exact formula for setting realistic goals - and her tips for varying your workouts, so that the process of reaching for those goals becomes one you love too much to quit.  Join Courtney Black on Instagram: @courtneydblack Join Morgan Fargo on Instagram: @morganfargo Join Women's Health UK on Instagram: @womenshealthuk   Like what you’re hearing? We'd love if you could rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, as it really helps other people find the show. Also, remember to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you’ll never miss an episode.   Got a goal in mind? Shoot us a message on Instagram putting ‘Going for Goal’ at the start of your message and our experts could be helping you achieve your health goal in an upcoming episode. Alternatively, you can email us: [e-mail] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let me tell you this. It's got to be consequences. Mayor of Kingstown, new season now streaming on Paramount Plus. Let's get one thing straight. Health, fitness, wellness, all this stuff is a long game pursuit. You eat well, you train hard, you rest, in mind as well as body, to get the most out of this life as you can. But sometimes, and we get it, you want to do.

take things up a gear to be able to perform and feel at your best. And what we're hearing from you guys at the moment is that this spring, after the longest, bleakest winter, is one such time. So, what works when it comes to getting results at home faster? And what should really be avoided? They're just some of the questions that we'll address in today's show. Hi, I'm Roshin Dev Shokane and this is Going for Goal, the weekly Women's Health podcast. On this show, we chat to our favourite celebrities and wellness heavyweights about what they do,

to feel and function at their best. And on episodes like this one, we call on top experts to share the tools you need to make good on the health goals that really matter to you. Bringing all the fitness know-how and sunny perk you up energy this week is personal trainer Courtney Black. Renowned for her seriously tough hit workouts

and adored by her 800,000 plus Instagram followers, Courtney's message is all about embracing challenge. So who better to offer a springtime pep talk? In today's episode, she talks to women's health digital fitness writer Morgan Fargo about making the most out of your home workouts. Why low impact doesn't have to mean low intensity and why when it comes to fueling your fitness, there really are no, and I'm using air quotes here, bad foods. Courtney also shares her exact formula for setting realistic goals and her tips for varying your

workouts so that the process of reaching for those goals becomes one that you love too much to quit. Over to Morgan. Courtney, I'm so excited to talk to you today. I have done your plan. I am a proper convert of the Courtney Black School of Fitness, and I'm very excited. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited as well. I'm excited to have a little chat. So I think let's kick off with, can you tell me a bit about how you became a PT and your journey to what Courtney Black is now? It's actually quite crazy to be honest with you, because when I, I had no intentions of ever getting into the fitness industry or ever being a personal

trainer. It wasn't something that I wanted to do. I actually was an accountant at the time. And I studied maths, economics, history and accounting at college. And I got a full-time accountancy role. And I was doing that. And I simply become a personal trainer and started doing my personal training course because I wanted to feel better in myself because I suffered from an eating disorder. So I knew that something wasn't quite right, but I wanted to learn a bit more about health, more a bit more about training. And I sort of just wanted to educate myself. So that was the whole point of doing the course. So I've done it on weekends as well as my actual job.

So it was quite intense and it was quite a lot of work on top of my actual workload. But I started to fall in love of it and I started to fall in love with learn about training. And there was so much that I found that I didn't know and that I was so interested in, like way more than what I was doing work-wise. And it took me about a year and a half of actually having my qualification to go full-time as a personal trainer because I was doing it after work. So I would go work in the city. I'd go home after and then I'd have personal training clients of an evening, of a morning, of a weekend, on bank holidays. It was literally crazy. And I just thought, you know what, this is definitely the job for me.

And I decided to do it full time. So it sounds like you've always been a very hard worker because obviously you're such a hard worker now and it sounds like that's just something you've carried through the whole time. Yeah. What has it been like building the brand through lockdown? Because it has boomed your audience through lockdown, I would say. To be honest with you, it's been mental. I wouldn't actually say that my workload is any more than it was before, because anyone that knew me before lockdown would know how much work and soul I actually put in.

And it was quite draining, to be fair, because I was quite, I just built my app and I just didn't quite understand. Obviously, I was doing really well before lockdown, but I just, I've always said that I needed something to help me. And it was helping people throughout lockdown that done that. And it helped me get obviously a bit more noticed to help people on a larger scale. which then obviously got me busier. And throughout lockdown, it was mental. Like, there was some days where I was literally working non-stop. I was, like, write packaging T-shirts.

I think I packaged like 20,000 T-shirts and I hand-wit them all because there was no one sending anything because it was lockdown. So I had to hand write every envelope to get the T-shirts out to the Warriors. It was like, I was writing a book. I was doing these live workouts every single day. I didn't turn up not one day. So it was definitely crazy. crazy, but it was worth every single minute. The thrill that I got from helping people and the

amount of amazing messages that I got throughout lockdown genuinely got me through. I don't think I would have got through lockdown as happy and as positive as I did without people with me every single day because it was literally my get up and go and living on my own, it was hard. And it just felt like I had friends with me every single day. So you mentioned the Warriors and I, as I said, have followed you on Instagram. I see the love you have for your community and that they have right back to you. What has it been like nurturing a fitness community like that? Oh, it's actually been incredible. Like, honestly incredible. So when I first said the word warrior, it sort of, it wasn't even, it wasn't planned or anything. It just come out my mouth. And

I could have, like, worried about people laughing at me for calling people warriors because it's not, obviously, it's not something you call people every single day and people are quite nasty these days. But I knew that that's what these people was. Like, they turn up every single day, no matter what, how they're feeling, no matter what they might be going through, and they push through. And I really do think that training is hard and to get through a whole workout is tough. You know you've done them. So they are hard. So to get through it, it's a lot.

So it is being a warrior. And I love seeing people that tell me that they've reduced their heart, like their resting heart rates better, like they're healthier overall. Someone is now able to have IVF because she's healthier overall. people have had cancer treatment and they're now training people have like really improved their mental health people have like reduced their diabetes like problems it's just crazy like the amount of amazing amazing people I mean there's one girl that's a warrior and she's literally got one arm and she smashes out press ups and stuff and it's just it's mad to see how many different people are doing so much in this fitness community and I literally love there's obviously the Facebook group there's the Instagram group and I do

honestly try, get back to as many people as possible. It's physically impossible for me to get back to everyone. And I was doing that throughout lockdown, which got way too much for me. I was literally getting back to every single message. And now I just make sure that I always, always read every single request. And anyone that's got an issue or an amazing story or needs to really talk to me, I always make sure that they know that I'm on the other side by sending them a message or sending them a voice know. And it's just really important that I give that back. And I never really understood that before lockdown. I never really understood how giving back to people on Instagram and through social media is so, so important. And it makes me a lot more committed to my job as well, because

I feel like they're my friends and they're literally like my family. I think you can tell that, though, because you often are sharing people's stories to your Instagram story or you're calling out people for these amazing achievements. And I think it makes them feel really seen, because you have hundreds of thousands of followers and you're still taking the time to be like, I am your trainer and I'm here for you. It's exceptional. So hats off. Amazing. Thank you.

I don't actually think that it won't. It won't ever stop because people are always like, oh, what's going to happen when lockdown's over? Like it's not going to stop. It's literally my job. It's my calling. Like I always try to plan my shoots around things. I plan everything around. I'm never going to get too big, as people would say, or like, forget about people.

Because it's what I love to do and it's what's built me. And it's just, it's not that I don't like doing it. I love doing it. So it's like, why would you stop going on holiday if you love going on holiday? So why would I stop training people and stop training the community and being with them every day if I enjoy it? I'm not going to. Headline, Courtney Black is not going to stop. Even when she's 80.

I'll still be there. I'll still be there doing the devil's presses, don't you worry. How your training style, like you said, is done by so many different people, whether you're a beginner or. or they've been with you for a while, or they've been exercising for years already. What would you say is your signature training style? How would you describe the Courtney Black workout experience? Just chuck yourself in at the deep end.

Give it all you've got. So I always just say, look, I'm not superhuman. I can't film 10 workouts a day. So I can't do a body weight, a low impact, a beginners, a advanced, a hit workout and a leg workout all in one day. This workout that you've got to me is the only training that I do. because it wouldn't be sticking to my guns by over-training, doing double. I do the only things that I post.

So that means it needs to accommodate everyone. So when I say to people that anyone can do it, I mean it. Like my mum's got slip discs in her backs. She's got bad knees. She literally can't do certain things. And it's just about adapting it. So I always say, I always give low-impact alternative to people that need that. I always tell people, always go at your own pace,

which I think is super important when you're training. Because I've been in classes before, and I would personally rather the class be really, really hard and me just go a little bit slower than it'd be way too easy for me and get bored. So I think just people need to really remember that it's okay to be a beginner and it's okay to push yourself as well

because training's not supposed to be easy and I've said that every single time that I train for the last five to six years of me being a trainer, I've always said, if I've got an easy session in front of me, it's not going to make me any better, it's not going to make me any stronger. And sometimes you need an easy session. So sometimes just take it easy.

but when you've got that energy and you've got that momentum and you're ready to go, then give it all you've got and really push for it because that's what's going to get your results and that's what's going to make you feel amazing. Absolutely. And like you say, all the time, what doesn't challenge you doesn't change you. Exactly. And it's true. Yeah.

It's true. How important is it for people to trust in you as their trainer? Because I know you say that a lot as well. So important. So people, like, I think this is a big thing. me because I never trusted anyone as a trainer for me. Like, never ever trusted anyone. They could have been the best trainer in the world, but I wish that I did trust them.

Because they would tell me you need to eat more of this. Why are you cutting out carbs? Why are you doing this? Why are you standing on the treadmill for an hour? You really don't need to be doing that. And I didn't listen to anyone because I thought I knew best because I'd like Googled every single magazine, not women's health. I'd Google every single article.

I'd literally read everything online. How to lose my weight? Drink 15 cups of green tea. How to lose my weight? doing hours cardio on top of your weight workouts. And I believe in everything except what the experts were telling me. And it's so, so important to realize that I am an expert for a reason. It's, I've tried it myself, I've tested it myself, I've got out of an eating disorder.

I eat a lot every day and you don't see me being out of shape, being unfit. I only train the amount that I do. You don't see me over-training. You don't see me making myself go out for walks. And it is so important that you actually listen to me because I do know my stuff. I've helped so many people and if you don't look if if you don't get results from me

move on do something else but I promise you you will so it's just it's just a level of trust that you need to have in your trainer and in me to get your results and make you feel happy and healthy 100% and you can see that from the amount of people who have got amazing results

following your plans following your apps one of the things that your programme is slightly different in is that you never repeat a workout and that is an incredible achievement because like you say you're doing them every day and they're never the same why is that i honestly like i've got notebooks in front of me like i've got every single notebook here i never chuck them away you but i think it's just an achievement i love it because and why would i want to chuck it when i look back at my first ones i think oh that looks rubbish compared to my ones now but every day i schedule time into my diary to write this

workout and i'm always thinking of new ideas okay so how can i put a squat with that and that and to make it a full body combo. How can I make this hit workout a little bit different? This exercise is a little bit different, a little bit more fun. Look, sometimes I'm in workouts and I'll go to my warriors. I hate that one. I'm not going to lie, can we swerve it? Can we do something else?

Like, I'm going to give you something else. It's all about trial and error, but I always make sure that my workouts are fun. They're never the same. They've always got a good structure, and people are not going to turn it off because I hate that. Like, it's my worst, my pet peeve is when I used to go into a workout and I'd turn it off and I'd be like it would just make me feel like I'm not getting anything from the session because how many workouts do I have to go through before I get the workout that I like

and then what are you going to repeat the same one every day? You've got to have a new one every day. It's a high bar. I know you're doing it if it is a high bar. When it comes to exercise, a lot of people are advocates of seeing how you feel and going of what you feel like doing, but there's also so much benefit to be gained from a structured plan or some sort of structure. Where do you fall on following a plan or seeing how you go with how you're feeling? I really agree with both. Okay, so if you're a sort of person that needs plan and you're quite slapdash and you're not going to stick to something unless you've got a plan, then totally go for it.

But I'm so far you do you with fitness. If you wake up and you don't fancy doing one of the workouts that I've put up and do one of the other ones, if you wake up and you just fancy going for a walk, then do that. As long as you're getting your body moving, and if you wake up and feel like you need to rest, then you need to do that as well. But the way that I put my schedules and my plans for my warriors together is I really think about it. Okay, so if their legs are going to be really aching me, it's going to really be demotivating if the next day they have to wake up and do a leg session.

So I try to plan it around how I would feel because I know I've got to give it my all in these sessions as well and how they would feel. So I do try to plan the schedules as much as possible going by how people are feeling on Fridays. They might feel a bit annoyed. So you might want to do a boxing workout. So I try to schedule them like that. then I always do say to people, there is hundreds of workouts to choose from. If you wake up and you don't fancy doing that, just do another one. Even if it's not one of mine, do someone else's.

But as long as you're getting yourself moving, then that is the most important thing for me. And there is such a variety because when I go on your app, you know, there's resistance band workouts, there's upper body, there's lower body, there's boxing, there's strength. There's such a range of things that people can choose from. And like your 28-day plan, for example, that's... They're amazing because they've got so many... different things into them. There's some straight strength workouts.

There's some hit workouts. There's some low impact, no jumping stuff, which my downstairs neighbours really appreciate. I love low impact. I love low impact. My knees love low impact. So that is a double one. You know what as well?

Because some days I really love smashing out burpees and tuck jumps and stuff. Sometimes I just think, I don't want to do that today. So I want to do a low impact. And it's great because low impact does not mean low intensity, as I always say, and I would never have done a low impact workout before, because I would have thought that is not even going to make me sweat, because the unstructure of, the bad structure of low impact workouts normally, but this is why my workouts, not to big them up, so much better.

But there's so much more coming to the app as well, which I'm so excited about, because obviously, as I said before, I'm just one person, but I get asked all the time about prenatal, postnatal, which is a massive thing for me. I'll get asked all the time about more mal-focused strength workouts, and I'll get asked for more of the time, body weight workouts and beginners workouts. And obviously we've got the yoga teachers on the app, but I'm actually bringing in three new trainers to add extra onto what I'm doing. So they'll have their own trainer profile.

So there'll be pre-posed natal trainer, there'll be a male trainer, and there'll be a beginner's trainer. So even if they don't want to do one of mine, they can do one of the others. Courtney, I think you're about to take over the world, maybe. You know this, you know this. We know it. Okay. That's a first.

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Get the new iPhone 17 Pro at tellus.com slash iPhone 17 Pro on select plans. Conditions and exclusions apply. Your 28-day plans are the things that people, I think some people start with you on them and they see it initially as 28 days and then I see them coming back for the rest of your workouts and then another 28-day challenge and then maybe a two-week challenge. Is it possible to really get results you can see and feel in 28 days? 100%. Now I'm not telling you you're going to lose 10 dress sizes.

So this is not the point of the 28-day challenge. The 28-day challenge is not selling people a dream. So it really despises me when other trainers can be quite nasty and be like, well, how are you doing this plan? It's not a complete body makeover. It's a mind, mental fitness. I have people that start the 28-day challenge on me on day one. They message me, oh my God, I am in so much pain.

I found that so hard. And I went, don't panic. I went, why are you panicking? I went, relax, calm down, do the low impact. chill out, take it slow, stretch out. If you need another rest, stay, have another rest day. And then that same person will message me next week and they go, you were so right within a week. I feel so much fitter. I couldn't do five sit-ups. I'm now doing 10. I couldn't do five squats. I'm now smashing out the whole workout. And with that comes confidence. And when you've got confidence in training and you enjoy training, you're more likely to stick to it.

Yeah, them same people that was messaging me on the first day saying how, like, literally like, bad they was feeling. and not even bad. They was obviously really proud of themselves for finishing the workout. They was like, can I do this? Is it for me? And I was like, yeah, like, don't stress. I was like, there's no, fitness is not meant to be stressful.

This workout's not meant to stress you out. And I always tell people that while they're training, just relax. Take it easy, but I don't want you to turn it off. I always tell people don't turn the workout off because even if you stop 15 times, next week it's going to be five times. And that exact same person always messages me going,

I did it today without stopping. I've done the whole workout. I feel strong. I'm not aching as much. I feel so. much fitter and with that comes confidence and with confidence you start enjoying your training and then with the enjoying the training you're more likely to stick to it and then you're moving more you're sticking to your diet more because you're feeling healthier you're realizing you don't have to

restrict foods because part of the 20th day challenges when they're on the app they realize they're allowed to eat pasta chocolate all the things that they like in moderation their recipes are not boring and this is where the transformation comes from it's confidence in training it's enjoying training and with that they get amazing results because they're sticking to it it's not a mature and if their goal is to lose weight, they're very likely to lose weight. And this is where these amazing transformations come from. If you're more likely to, you want to gain weight, you're more likely to stick to it and gain weight and really put on that muscle because you're enjoying it and because it's fun and because it's not daunting. I think what you said about people doing a few

sessions and then building confidence, it's so true because once you get a few under your belt, you've got a bit of trust in yourself as well. Like, I can do this and I can stick to it and I'm going to do it. So, because I did your 28 day challenge. I was just about to say this to you, because in the first article that you put up, I was like, I'm going to change Morgan's mind. And then I give you the, give you the app thing. She was like, this is really hard. And I was like, no, she's doing the challenge. Oh my gosh. And now look at you, smashing them. It's honestly, I did the first one because it was the one that started at the end of December going into the new year. And I did that first one. And then the next day, like, I had doms. I had real

doms. And I did the next one. And I did the next one. And I did the next one. And I was. And I did the next one. And I was. And I did the next one and then I did the next one after that and then I think there was a rest day because it was a Thursday and I just I was like I'm so proud of myself for getting to the rest day I'm going to look after myself and then I got straight back into it on Friday and it felt amazing mentally as well see you're now a warrior I need one of those t-shirts I need like a warrior t-shirt we'll get you on with people doing home workouts obviously you can't be with them 24-7 you're not seeing them person to person and the way that you might have been with clients before lockdown. Yeah.

What are the key changes people need to make if they're exercising at home and trying to reach a goal? If I'm being honest with you, I don't think it's actually any different to seeing people because it's so easy if you're seeing a person, you're only with them for that hour and then they go and like they can be doing whatever they can be doing. They can be going home and completely going off plan.

They can be going home and not doing anything else. Obviously they're sticking to the workout with me, but I think it's actually a lot more motivating and me doing it with them. Like when I look back at my old PT sessions, okay, what are you getting out of a trainer standing next to you going, three more, good form, two more,

it's draining. It's literally draining. I actually can't believe. I actually started not enjoying personal training because, okay, I'm doing 10 people like that. By the 10th first thing, I've had enough. But why can't, when I'm doing it with you guys, like I would much rather if I'm going to someone,

them sweat it out with me, see them doing it with me, and it's like you're doing it with a mate. it's so motivating and obviously I then always make sure that I talk about form throughout the workouts obviously sometimes people are still going to have not the great form so that's why I make sure I then take it onto IGTV to make sure they've got the form videos on there because I can't keep saying the same thing throughout every single thing because the workout wouldn't get done but I always make sure that people say I always say to people either video yourself look in a mirror make sure

you're listening to me while I'm giving you the form tips while you're doing the live and I know sometimes that can be quite hard while you're trying to train as well so go away and if you think you need to improve on something, look through the form videos and just make sure your form's correct and then you're going to get the best out of the workouts because your form's good, you're doing it with me, you're less likely to stop because I'm screaming at you, and you're enjoying it. There is a point in your workouts normally when you say something like, get up off the floor and I'm always on the floor and I'm like, oh God, I've got to get up, Courtney says so. Do you know why? Because I actually used to be a little bit evil with my personal training clients

and I used to never let them sit on the floor. So I personally think, if you sit on the floor in between your sets, you ain't going to want to get up. So you don't want to get up. So why are you sitting on the floor? You've got 10 seconds to get up, chill out. And you can't breathe as well when you're on the floor.

Ever notice that? Your lungs are all trapped. You can't breathe as well. And I used to say to my clients, why are you hunching over, laying on the floor? I need you to get up to do your next set and you're not actually breathing.

So you're going to feel worse when you get up. You're going to get up, you're going to feel dizzy. You're not going to be bruntion. breathing properly so just get up now and get it done with don't wait around and sit on the floor pet hang it's such it's such a tricky one as well i have this weighted vest and i was so knackered and i lay down on the floor and then got stuck because i couldn't get back up and i was like rolling like a sausage roll and i was just like oh my god she's watching at me telling me to get up yeah i was like i've got to get off this floor how often and how long do you suggest people

train to really get the most out of the program at home. Well, see, this is the thing. I don't actually think there's a time limit. I genuinely don't think there's a time limit. So I used to go to the gym for two hours and I'm literally, I cannot believe the shape that I'm in now and I don't train for a longer than 45 minutes a day. Sometimes don't get me wrong about it. If there's a thing on the app which ends up being an extra 10 minutes,

it's not the end of the world because it's normally abs or something. But there is workouts on my app, which are 10 minutes long, 15 minutes long. And I can tell you, I've been on holiday before with the app and done a 10 minute workout and it has been enough. Like, it is enough because it's not about the calories that you burn in your workout. It's about what you're getting from the workout afterwards. Your workout is such a small percentage of your day. If you work out and you've only got 10, 15 minutes, or you've got 30 minutes, or you've got 45 minutes, it's going to re-equal out throughout the week.

Training is going to improve your resting heart rate. It's going to improve your health conditions. It's going to make you feel better, feel stronger. And it's also obviously going to give you lean muscle mass, which is going to make your body more efficient. So it's not all about how long. or how many calories you've burnt because a 20 minute session can be way more effective than a 40 minute session if you're giving the 20 minute session 150 times more effort than the 40 minute session. So I always say make sure that these sessions are really, really efficient and effective

and you're giving it 100%. Because if you're waking up in the morning and you're feeling grotty like you don't want to do an hour, don't force yourself to do an hour. Tell yourself if you're going to do 10 minutes. After that 10 minute mark, 90% of the time you're going to want to do more anyway. So they'll go further. But just give yourself like little goals and then go from there. And when it comes to the mistakes people might make with their nutrition, like you said, some people eat like myself included, you mentioned yourself, we've fallen into that trap of thinking, I need to eat as little as possible and maybe not any carbohydrates. And you can't train the way you train and not fuel yourself properly. How do you teach people that mentality of like you need to eat enough food?

to do these workouts. You can't live without eating properly. So I always used to think that it was just about fueling my workouts. It's not, it's about living and enjoyment and mental health as well. So I used to literally tell myself, I cannot eat pasta unless I'm out for dinner. What is wrong with pasta though? What's any different to pasta than, okay, it's got a few more ingredients in it than potato. But it's going to do the same to your body. Like, okay, it might not be great of people who spite their bloodshed as or whatever. So different foods affect people differently. But in the long run, like you are allowed to eat foods you enjoy in moderation. Now, I'm not saying that you can scoff a snickers by every night and see the most amazing results or scoff a tub of ice cream

every night and see the most amazing results because obviously there is foods that have got better whole grains and that are going to make you feel better, feel good foods, but there's no such thing as a bad food. And I think restriction is a massive, massive thing. I used to restrict myself so much to a point where if you went to me, Courtney, I need you to come and do a photo shoot for women's self next week. I would even not allow myself to have salt on my food or like ketchup on my food because, and it made no difference. Like, my shoots now, I rock up now and I look 10 times better than I did then. And that's because I'm living a balanced lifestyle. If I want a square of chocolate, I just allow myself to have it and I fit it into my goals.

It's all about allowing yourself foods you enjoy it so you're not going completely off track. And I think that's why people mess up on the weekends as well. Because what difference is a Saturday to a Thursday? Like, there's no difference to it. Like, unless you're going out for dinner on a weekend or you're like going out for a night out or something, why do people feel the need to go crazy on a weekend and binge, it's because they've been so restrictive throughout the week. And because they've been telling themselves, I can't have square of chocolate because it's a Monday. I can't have spaghetti well and AIDS because it's a Monday. But there's nothing wrong with having that on a Monday. And that's why on a Saturday and Sunday,

you feel like you need to eat everything in sight. And like you say, when you don't let yourself have something, it's often all you can think about. And then you eat way past the point of being full and you feel horrible and you think, oh, this is why I don't do it because I feel so horrible. and you're thinking, no, you feel horrible because you don't let yourself have it when you want it and then tune in to feel good food when you won't feel good food, for example. And don't get me wrong, it's so easy to slip into this because sometimes I slip into it. I'm not going to be it around the bush. Sometimes, even as a trainer, I fall into the thing.

I was, oh, are they a little bit too much past? I know we haven't all this week, like, and then I think, why am I doing that? And then I'll obviously revert straight back to it, but it's so easy to do it. So everyone is human, and I don't want people to think that, okay, we need to, all of a sudden have this amazing mindset because that's not going to happen. You're going to see something online. It might be a little triggering to your old thoughts. And that is fine.

But as long as you get back on it and realize that you need to be living this balanced lifestyle because otherwise you're just going to end up failing. So when that happens to me and I've done that for a day, I end up looking at, do you find yourself ever looking at what I eat in a day in the videos, cooking videos, constantly, looking at food constantly? That's because you've been too restrictive. And you will know that because you are. looking at people's foods and why are you doing that? It's okay if you're doing it for a point

of reference or just because you think, oh, that looks yummy, I'll make that. But if it's doing it because of an obsessive or it's taken over your, it's taken over your mind and it's all you can think about, it's because you're being too restrictive. There is a certain freedom that comes when you're fueling yourself properly because you're not thinking about food all the time. And there's this whole bit of your brain that can think about being creative or connection with other people, all these other things that might normally be taken up with thinking about, oh, I'm going to have this food on the weekend because I'm not going to have it today, for example. Exactly. Yeah. It's okay to look forward to a meal and it's okay to enjoy food,

but it's not okay if it's the only thing you're looking forward to and it's taking over your whole brain. Absolutely. And you mentioned with your clients the fact that they are hitting their goals when they work with you and they follow the plan and they just understand that they need to trust in you and trust what you're saying when it comes to food and exercise. How do you teach people to set achievable goals? I always just think, I think the main point there is achievable. So don't tell yourself that you're going to run 15K next week if you can't even run 1K now because it's not, you're going to feel disheartened.

Don't tell yourself that you're going to get photoshoot condition when you're, like, not feeling great. Like, why are you setting yourself goals? Set yourself a goal that actually means something to you and not for someone else. And I think this is something that I'm still working. on today because and I've actually started seeing a therapist. I'm quite open about that and I think one of the main things is we all try to set goals to better other people or to try and make other people happy. Set yourself your goals. Why are you setting these goals? If you want to run 5K it's because you want to feel good about yourself. Not because your boyfriend can run 5k and you want to be

able to run with him. If you want to lose weight because you want to lose weight. If you want to do this boxing workout because you enjoy it and do it not to impress someone else who like might enjoy boxing. Your goals always need to be for you and I always do think they need to be achievable and you need to be honest with yourself. Like I don't set myself unrealistic goals that I know that I can't achieve because it's, I mean, you can be like apprehensive and you can really try push yourself and sometimes you might not hit all your goals, but going way off the mark is just going to really demotivate you. I'd always then say make them quite specific and I know it sounds basic, but make them specific. So how long do you want to do that in? How many miles do

do you want to be able to run? How long do you want to hold that plank for? I mean, I set myself goals all the time. I want to hold a three minute plank. I want to be able to do a side plank. I want to be able to do this. I want to be able to do that. And I think it's really, really important. Set yourself little goals and then bigger goals. And when it comes to little and big goals, for example, the 28 day plan is about four weeks. It's a month. That in terms of a long. Yeah, that's a long, yeah. Yeah, right.

I'd say that's a long girl. Yeah, it's a long goal. But your small goal might be getting through the first workout of that stopping. So 28 Day Challenge is a four-week program by which people hit their goals by the end of it. Yeah. But if someone is on a fitness journey, 28 days is actually really short in relation to how long they're going to be on it. What is the difference between setting short-term girls and long-term girls and what is the benefit of having both? Well, the 28-day challenge is a massive, massive, massive.

of milestone for someone, especially if they're a newbie. But say, for example, their goal is to say they're really, really, really overweight and it's really affecting their health. They've got kids and they can't run around after their children and it's really affecting them and they want to make a massive lifestyle change. That's not going to be done in 28 days. But what is going to be done in 28 days is they're going to feel empowered, they're going to feel confident, they're going to feel amazing, they're going to have lost weight so they're going to feel fitter, they're going to feel stronger. And then that is going to make them do the next 28 day challenge. So then their long-term goal might be

within the next year, I want to be able to run after my kids, I want to have my health a lot better, I want to be going to the doctors lower my cholesterol, I want to be doing all these amazing things for my health, but I want to do this 28-day challenge first, stick to it, and then stick to the weeks in between, and then stick to another

one, and by that end of that year, how much progress have I made on the last 28-0 challenge of the year? How much better do I feel at the end of the year? And those are your short and your long-term. And I also think it makes it less overwhelming and it makes it more achievable, which at the end of the day is the biggest precursor to, are you going to hit this goal? If it's achievable, probably yes. And they know everyone's

doing it with them. They're not doing it on their own. Like, they're real time sessions. Like, people are showing up every single day and doing it. And that's what makes me get through it. So I know it definitely helps other people. You're not doing it on your own. There is literally tens of thousands of people doing it with you. So you got this. Honestly, like, just don't worry. And then my last question would be what goal are you shooting for this year? Because I know you've got some mad plans. There's these warrior warehouse boot camps I'm planning. So my agent Luke, who does all my book deals for me and stuff, we're putting on these huge, I can't actually believe he was thinking about doing the O2. I was like, okay, let's dial it down a little bit. We're looking

into like the Excel and things like that. But it's going to be like huge boot camps. So like people can attend. It's going to be like really, really fun. It's going to be a fun day with like, we're going to do them all over. So, look. Liverpool, Manchester, everywhere like that. And it will be like, I'll be doing the workout with them. Also then having a, I don't know how many I'm going to be able to do in a day, like Q&A, like meet and greet. Because I used to do, I used to travel around the country when I was a personal trainer. So I'd set off on a Friday, I'd go to Liverpool in the morning, do two classes. I'd then go to Manchester to do two classes, Leeds, Sheffield, and then Birmingham.

And I'd plan that all myself. And there was about 50 people in a class. And I'd be absolutely knackered at the end of it. But it was the best experience. So for me to do this on a massive scale now, It's just, it's what I've wanted to do, but obviously I've not been allowed to do because of COVID and stuff. So, yeah, we're planning that for like October sort of time, which is literally just going to be phenomenal. I can't wait for that. It sounds like you're not slowing down. No.

We're only just getting started. No. Like hiring people to help me, but. Oh, well, I love it. Courtney, thank you so much for being on the podcast. It has been such pleasure hearing all about you and your incredible community. So thank you. It's been really fun.

Oh, I hope you guys enjoyed that. I'm definitely going to try and keep what doesn't challenge you, doesn't change you, in my head when this afternoon session gets tough. Remember, if you've got a different goal in mind and want to know how to achieve it, let us know and we could be helping you get there in an upcoming episode. And as ever, if you want to comment on anything that we've raised in this episode, get in touch, all the details of how are in the show notes. That's all from going for goal this week.

We'll be back next Tuesday. Bye.