Paul Mumford - The Accumulator: The Revolutionary 30-Day Fitness Plan

CONTENTS

Accumulating knowledge

GREEK PHILOSOPHER PLATO SAID THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR FLOWS FROM 3 MAIN SOURCES: DESIRE, EMOTION AND KNOWLEDGE".

YOU ALREADY HAVE THE DESIRE AND EMOTION, SO LETS START BY DISCOVERING HOW THE ACCUMULATOR CAME TO BE AND HOW IT CAN WORK TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER.

Who is this book for?

A S A SPECIES WE HAVE EVOLVED OVER MILLIONS OF YEARS TO BECOME THE MOST DOMINANT FORCE ON THIS PLANET. OUR BODIES ARE CAPABLE OF MANY INCREDIBLE THINGS WE HAVE ALL THE EQUIPMENT WITHIN US TO ENABLE US TO RUN LONG DISTANCES, LIFT AND CARRY HEAVY LOADS, CLIMB TO THE HIGHEST POINTS ON EARTH, PUSH, PULL, JUMP, TWIST, SHIFT AND MOVE IN MYRIAD OF AMAZING WAYS. WE HAVE LEARNT TO SURVIVE ON FOOD PROVIDED BY NATURE AND HOW TO THRIVE IN THE MOST INHOSPITABLE ENVIRONMENTS.

Despite all of this, we have become victims of our own success. In the modern world, the human race does not need to do many of the incredible things our bodies are built for because we have invented gadgets to do it for us. We feed ourselves on products created in laboratories and rely less and less on the natural food our bodies are used to and have evolved to thrive upon. As a result, our bodies no longer work as they were intended to and, as a species, we are suffering from a long list of health problems and diseases.

The more Ive learnt about human evolution, the more I worry about what the future holds for all of us if we continue on this path. This book is my response to the need to change. I want you to discover how to move again, and to move in a way that your body wants you to. You may already go to a gym, but are you really pushing your body in the right direction to make it work to its best potential and therefore give you the best out of life? I also want you to consider how you eat and to challenge your relationship with food. Do you put food in your mouth that will work to make you healthy and strong, or that can potentially lead to sickness and therefore make you weak? Many exercise plans, workout books and fitness DVDs on the market assume we are capable of going from zero to hero at the drop of a hat. We are all so fired up that we are ready to get up and go. We want to work out and work out hard. What often happens next, however, is that many of us find the experience to be so far out of our comfort zone that we give up very quickly and order a pizza.

The Accumulator is different. Whatever your current activity level and weight, I believe you will get something from this book. If youre on the first rung of the ladder to health and fitness, this book will get you to the top, one step at a time, day by day. If you already love the gym and consider yourself to have a good level of fitness, this book will challenge the way you think and make you see exercise in a new way for ever. It even comes with access to an online community who will be taking part with you, together with a library of resources to help you along the way.

The information and exercises in The Accumulator plan are designed for anyone aged between 18 and 65 with no medical conditions or physical restrictions that may hinder their ability to exercise safely. I also assume that you have no special dietary requirements, intolerances or allergies. When using this book, you need to be aware of your personal physical health. In order to avoid injury or health problems, you should check with your doctor before beginning any fitness regime and be aware that you follow health, fitness and exercise advice at your own risk.

cigarettes and alcohol

Ill admit I used to smoke 20 plus per day and drink regularly but giving both up were amongst my wisest decisions. Alcohol is a subject I will touch on a little later in the book but if you do drink alcohol excessively or smoke, these can both clearly have a detrimental effect on your overall health and therefore the results you get from following the advice in this book.

So now is the time to discover where this all came from, learn how it all works and then were off. Start on Day 1 and dont look back. By the time youve followed everything in this book it should look well-loved; the spine should be broken, some of the pages will be folded and torn, there will even be the odd sweat stain. Thats fine I want you to use and abuse this book.

The Accumulatorcomes with access to an online community who will be taking part with you.

About me

LEFT Me, aged 10. RIGHT Taking time out in Greece. Smoking and drinking were a big part of my life as a DJ.

I was reminiscing recently about my childhood with my mum. She told me how she is constantly amazed that I have ended up where I am now, doing what I do, when I was so negative about everything related to fitness as a child.

When I was growing up, I was overweight and inactive. I guess if I were young now I would be among the increasing number of children across the globe classed as obese. My diet was a carb-heavy horror story after I insisted on giving up meat as a 5-year-old and my mother struggled to feed me anything that was remotely healthy. The effect of this was weight gain and my total lack of interest in anything that brought about even the mildest of sweats.

Physical Education (PE) classes were a real battle for me, both physically and emotionally. I was always last, nobody would pick me for their team, and I felt humiliated as I had no aptitude or strength to have even a small hope of being average at anything. As a result, I hated exercise in all of its forms.

If I had been successful at winding my mum around my little finger (which was often) I would hand my teacher notes excusing me from participating in physical education classes. Especially if cross-country running was on the agenda.

Now health and fitness is such a major part of my life, I often find myself looking back on those days of cross-country runs, muddy knees and red faces. I have discovered a newfound respect for my old PE teacher and understand how hard he must have worked to try and motivate me and those like me.

Sadly, when I left school things went from bad to worse. Puberty had addressed issues regarding my shape to some degree, but as a young adult I continued to do as little exercise as possible and found comfort in cigarettes, alcohol and fast food. This fitted in nicely with my lifestyle as a DJ working in local clubs and eventually as a host on regional radio breakfast shows. I was a ticking time bomb. Many other guys in my situation may well have reached their forties or fifties before receiving some kind of wake-up call, but thankfully I got mine when I was only 30.