Brando's Blog

Zeitgeist Addendum

Normally, I use this blog to inform you of information on how you can improve your health. From time to time, I may also inform you of some personal things that are going on in the life of Brando.

However, this blog post could be the most important I have ever sent.

Next time you are thinking which movie to watch, I urge you to watch the Zeitgeist Addendum. If you're interested in what is going on with the financial crisis and what may happen in the future, then I highly recommend you watch it.

If you have children and have any interest in their future lives, then it is essential you watch this. In fact, I would suggest you make time to watch this film, this weekend.

Click here to view the film.

Feel free to comment on my blog, what you think of the film. 

August Update

Hi Everyone,

Unlike most in the health and fitness arena, August has again been the busiest month of my year.

The month began by finding out I had successfully completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Sport & Remedial Massage.

I also completed the summer tennis season with my team mates and I winning our division by some distance. Well done lads!

Last week, I was assisting Mark Buckley from New Zealand teaching the new and improved CHEK Exercise Coach certification at Kingston College. Mark has done a great job restructuring the course and making it really easy to use such great information. I also managed to catch up with an old friend, Nick Hudson, The Training & Development Manager for Virgin Active Health Clubs who kindly put me up in his lovely new flat for the week. Thanks mate!

The last week has been very busy back to seeing clients and it has been a non-stop week. I'm now off for 10 days to take some time out and show some friends from Miami around London and the UK.

Until next time...

August Update

Hi Everyone,

Unlike most in the health and fitness arena, August has again been the busiest month of my year.

The month began by finding out I had successfully completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Sport & Remedial Massage.

I also completed the summer tennis season with my team mates and I winning our division by some distance. Well done lads!

Last week, I was assisting Mark Buckley from New Zealand teaching the new and improved CHEK Exercise Coach certification at Kingston College. Mark has done a great job restructuring the course and making it really easy to use such great information. I also managed to catch up with an old friend, Nick Hudson, The Training & Development Manager for Virgin Active Health Clubs who kindly put me up in his lovely new flat for the week. Thanks mate!

The last week has been very busy back to seeing clients and it has been a non-stop week. I'm now off for 10 days to take some time out and show some friends from Miami around London and the UK.

Until next time...

Baby Brando

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would share these pictures of me and my family taken in the early 1970s. For those of you who know me, you should find them quite amusing! Yes, I was cute once.

 

I hope you enjoyed them!

Barcelona v Real Madrid at The Camp Neu

I returned back to the UK on Christmas Eve after my holiday in Barcelona. The evening before my return I was very fortunate to see the biggest football match in Spain and perhaps the biggest game in Europe, Barcelona versus Real Madrid.

Packed in to the 90,000 all-seater stadium were more than 90,000. Many people did not have a seat to sit on and therefore were sitting in the stair wells of the stands.

It took me some time to find my seat as there were so many people sitting in the aisles that I could not see the row numbers of the seats. Once I finally found my seat (which someone was sitting in) I settled down to watch the game and soak up the atmosphere. I was amazed at the anger the home fans showed towards the Real Madrid players and supporters. I understood there is strong rivalry, but I hadn't fully appreciated the intensity of the hatred between them.

The game itself was full of high skill, but ultimately Real Madrid set out to stifle Barca's beautiful passing game. Indeed Real did stifle Barca and they reduced them to just a few chances. A short while before half time Real broke away and with their first shot, Batista scored a great goal.

Barca failed to recover and never real looked like scoring. I have liked Barca since I was a small child watching Johan Cruyff playing for them in the seventies and it was a little disappointing to see them play and lose to their bitter rivals.

All in all, I am very grateful to have seen 2 great sides play in such an amazing stadium. I am already looking forward to visiting my good friend Rob in Barcelona in 2008.

Zeitgeist Movie

I highly recommend you check out 'Zeitgeist' the movie. It is available online for free at http://zeitgeistmovie.com. It covers some very controversial issues including religion, wars and financial institutions and governments.

How much of it is true I don't know, but my guess is that most of it is. Without doubt the same kind of untruths and corruption is involved around your health.

I enjoyed watching it so much, I watched it twice one after the other and after the second viewing I had to buy a DVD too.

Enjoy!

Feeling So Good

The last three months have been unbelievably busy for me with a huge increase in the number of clients I have been seeing and beginning to teach courses for The C.H.E.K Institute.

I always try to practise what I preach and manage to about 95% of the time. However, these last 3 months had begun to take their toll with long days and lots of travelling.

On Monday of this week I could feel I was beginning to get run down after teaching CHEK Exercise Coach for 5 days in Eastbourne and then teaching my 2 day workshop "Understanding The Core" in London.

As I always eat an organic diet in accordance with my metabolic type, I exercise in the gym 3 times per week, play tennis 1-2 times per week, drink at least 3 litres of good quality water each day and I spent 10-15 minutes each evening before bed stretching and focusing on my breath you may wonder why I was feeling a little low.

However, the one thing that has been a challenge for me has been getting to bed on time. However, since Monday of this week I have been getting to bed by 9.45-10pm and sleeping through to 6am.

After just 3 good night's sleep my body has totally recovered to the level where my energy and mood could not possibly be any higher. My workouts have been out of this world this week and I am feeling Amazing!

I cannot recommend getting to sleep by 10-10.30pm enough and sleeping for at least 8 hours per night.

Give it a go with all the other lifestyle factors above and see how amazing it can make you feel!

Paul Chek's Top 5 Successes

Following my Top 5 Successes, one of the people I asked to share theirs was my friend and teacher Paul Chek. An amazing man who I regard with the highest respect and as a living legend. The word genius is very over-used, but in my view Paul is a genius (he would probably disagree).

Anyhow here are Paul's Top 5 Successes :

1. Realising my legacy at age 12.
2. The birth of my son, Paul Chek Jr. (September 10, 1979)
3. Finding Penny Crozier, my Soul-Mate (10 years ago)
4. Seeing and feeling the changes my work as an expression of my love have made
__ in the lives of other people around the world.
5. Knowing who I really am so that I may lead others to that same Self-Realisation.

Thanks to Paul for sharing his successes! Why not write your own? It's a great way to help you feel grateful for what you have achieved and what you have in your life. Until next time.

5 Top Successes in Life

I was recently asked by a fellow blogger Lea Woodward to share what my 5 top successes in life have been.

Well that is a difficult question to answer. After much thought, I came up with the following:

1. My number 1 success has to be staying so healthy and fit over the last 14 years or so. With hardly a day off from work, very few injuries and I can still out run most on a tennis court despite being 38 years old.
2. Completing the CHEK programme in 2007. I sacrificed so much time, finances and social life to follow my bliss!
3. Changing career aged 27 and making a success of my work in health and performance. It particularly pleases me to have been successful when most around me advised against it.
4. My time as a Fitness Manager in a health club. I led a team of people to achieve great things, both whilst I was there, but also after I left. Many of my team went on to achieve senior positions in their field and I would like to think I inspired them in some way. I proved to myself that I am a good leader of people.
5. Staying positive, light-hearted and not taking myself too seriously all through my life even when the stuff hits the fan. Without this attitude, the above probably wouldn't have been possible.

No doubt I will change my views in the future. If I do I will let you know.

I would love to hear the top five successes from Paul Chek, Duncan Reeve, Graeme Marsh, Greg Smith and Greg Hollings.

Until next time!

California Beckons

This week I have been getting a little excited. One of my passions is to learn. I love to learn. I love to learn about the human body and how I can put it to use to help people to lose weight, overcome injuries or improve their sports performance.

The rewards are great especially when I am able to help people overcome problems that many other professionals and a lot of money had not been successful.

The reason I have been getting excited is because I am off next week to The C.H.E.K Institute in California to take part in the CHEK Level IV Certification programme. I am under no illusions. This may well be the most intense learning experience I will ever have in my life. The 2 previous certifications I did with The C.H.E.K Institute were CHEK Level III and the Holistic Lifestyle Coaching Level III. They were both intense, especially CHEK Level III.

The certification courses seem to me to be a bombardment of great information flowing into my brain, some of it sticks straight away, some I have to go away and read again and others pieces I have to go away and practise before I really 'own' the information.

Not only will I enjoy the course, but I am staying right on the beach. So I can escape the English Winter and enjoy a little sunshine.

There's a tennis court nearby too and I hope to have a little knock or two which will make a change from playing in the gusting winds we've had lately.

In addition to the great course, the weather and the beach, the CHEK courses are always an opportunity to meet and catch up with some amazing people. There is always such an amazing atmosphere amongst the students on a CHEK course.

And of course, the man himself, Paul Chek always amazes with his unbelievable breadth and depth of knowledge and skills, enthusiasm and sense of humour.

I hope to be able to check in with you whilst I am away and update you on how it is going and perhaps show you a few photos too.