Hi and welcome to another week,
I am writing this an hour or so after running club on Sunday morning – the first session I have actually ‘joined in’ – my sore calf muscle is not going to thank me tomorrow. To the crew who dragged themselves out of bed on Easter Sunday to run sprints up and down the oval at 7am – well, I am impressed. Then I roll down to the gym to check things out there – more than 60 people getting it done between the 8:15am and 9:15am sessions on a day where chocolate eggs and sleeping in the usual plan? Again, I am impressed. Lots of people out there would suggest we are all crazy – that today is just for relaxing and resting – but I think we all understand that you can relax, and rest, and still get it done.
After referring to a book in my blog last week, I thought I might do the same again this week – I have been reading a terrific book by Dan John called ‘Never Let Go – A Philosophy of Lifting, Living and Learning’. (Yep – I read a lot of books. I try to read a new one every 2-weeks.) Lots of the things Dan talks about resonate strongly with my own training philosophy, but he makes a point that really does cut the heart of things: ‘If it is important, do it every day. If it isn’t important, don’t do it at all.’ Now, whether or not you are trying to get stronger, lose weight or are working towards something a little more specific – the statement holds true. But how many of us actually follow this philosophy. How many of us KNOW that if we want to lose some weight that extending our cardio by spending 15mins on the treadmill after each class will help…and how often do we actually follow through and ACT on this knowledge?. How many of us know that we need to get stronger (not for training – but for life) but instead of spending time trying to do some chin-ups after each class, we stay far, far away from the chin-up bar because we aren’t good at them? We know that they will help, but we STILL don’t do it. We know it is important in order to improve, but we STILL don’t do it.
Work on your foundations. Work on them every day. And if you are really brave – follow Dan’s advice and extend the same philosophy to other aspects of your life. If it is important, do it every day. If it isn’t important, don’t do it all.
Well things are getting tough for me. Between football commitments and instructing sessions, it is proving a little difficult to actually DO any…but Running Club this morning brought my total up to 6 – not too bad after 8 days. If I can sneak one in tomorrow (going to be tough – need to be at a football game in Bassendean by 09:15’ish) then I will be right on target. How are you going?
Rules? We got rules!
1/.25 sessions must be completed within the calendar month. Double sessions (more than 1 per day) can only be used twice in determining the final total.
2/.Tanks counts. Running club counts. PT does NOT count.
3/.Each person must nominate one additional personal ‘challenge’ that must be completed to the satisfaction of the trainers each WEEK during the month. The challenge must be determined by the participant, but can be modified by the trainers if they consider it to be too easy or too hard.
Get thinking. Plan out your sessions. Get a contingency plan together. Get it done.
Runners club next week will commence at the later time of 07:30am and will be held up in Bold Park rather than the usual location (Anning Park – just down the road from the gym). I understand this is a bit of a drive, but it is time for us to do some continuous running – and the hills at Bold Park make the course a unique challenge in the Perth area.
We will meet in the Tuart Car Park, accessible from Perry Lakes Drive.
A further reminder that the ANZAC Day Run is almost upon us. For more details and entry information, please visit the Athletics WA webpage at waathletics.org.au or go directly to the entry link at https://sitedesq.imgstg.com/eventsregform/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_event_detail&EventID=11548&OrgID=199.
We will be heading out to Cannington Greyhounds on April 21st to enjoy a beer or two and watch skinny dogs run around an oval shaped track. If you are interested in heading along, no need to let me know – just get there on the night!
Just a quick reminder that our full range of leather gloves is available at the moment – all sizes and colours are in stock and available for $45. These really are a terrific product – I use them in every session except 1-minute rounds (when I use the MMA-style gloves) and doing 5-8 sessions per week they are good for around 6 months of training…pretty good if you ask me. Comfy, nice soft leather and a long wrist wrap for extra protection? All good.
Further, our latest product – leather weightlifting gloves – are now also in stock and available for $25. For those of you who have been spending some time lifting / doing some kettlebells outside of class time, these might be the perfect solution for calloused, blistering hands.
I have been very pleased to see some new faces in the TANKS training sessions lately. The sessions last week were particularly ‘challenging’ and it was exciting to see a few regulars make some break throughs in terms of both the weights they are lifting AND more importantly with regards to the whole idea of the TANKS sessions.
They aren’t like Boxing for Fitness. They aren’t like Body Work. It isn’t JUST about doing the repetitions as fast as you can and getting to the end. TANKS is about doing a bit EXTRA – challenging yourself with more weight, to use better technique, and to really keep pushing when your body just says no. Interested? Let me know next time you are in the gym.
It is tight (as you would expect) at the top of the tipping contest, with Craig, Nick, Brad and Barry all tied up at 13 after last night’s games. Me – sitting pretty in 64th spot. After all, everyone knows all the best people come 64th – not that I can think of any examples of that right at the moment!
Similar to last week – loads of conversations and questions – not too many links! I promise to add a few more this week!
Skippity Skip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HehXCFLhPTE&feature=digest_mon
Ab wheel – extended: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm24Pe-QdNc&feature=digest_mon
Others topics included Easter Eggs, Hot Cross Buns, Runners club, TANKS, more on the 5am class time-slot, people struggling with colds – and Sledgehammers! The daily activity on the Facebook site will help keep you focussed on your training. Get involved!
Courage, Motivation, Dedication, Endurance…and a little bit of CRAZY!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80NUghyPbNk&feature=youtu.be&a
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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