Hi and welcome to another week,
Great week of sessions last week. From last Monday with all the tabata, inch-worms and good mornings to the 3-minutes of lunges on Tuesday right through to Friday’s 90-second cardio blast, the sessions offered a lot of fun, a lot of variety and a lot of pain. Those good mornings have left my hamstrings screaming and it has been an uncomfortable couple of days.
The plans this week look pretty cool as well. Body work (as always) will be interesting, Boxing features a couple of 3-minute round sessions, a 5-minute round day as well as the usual 1-minuter’s on Thursday where we have scheduled a wide variety of stuff from kettlebell swings to bentover flyes and a real cardio pummelling. As for TANKS, well I have already mentioned the HSPU’s on Facebook – we will also be doing some Cleans and Hang-Cleans depending on which class you are joining.
You will read a little later on in the blog that we are installing some new fans at Round 1 this week – the change in the weather is already noticeable and the ‘turn the fans on’ cries are getting a little more insistent by the day. Now, rather than wax poetic about how maybe focussing on what you are doing rather than worrying about the fans, the volume of the music or whether or not you “can’t do” the bikes would be beneficial (though I just did I guess), I thought I would try to remind everyone that if you have a ‘get in shape for the beach’ plan then now is the time to get started – we are a couple of weeks into spring already!
Now, a bunch of us are doing the life challenge which is driving us down a bit of a ‘in shape for summer’ path whether we like it or not. In sitting down and doing my own planning for the challenge I have come up with three things that I hope will help me be successful in the challenge that will apply to everyone who is training who wants to get a touch fitter and look just a little better in their bathers in a couple of months time:
1/.Get organised. Bad food choices are normally forced upon us – we haven’t got anything prepared so fast food or easy to cook processed food becomes the decision. Plan your meals and only put things on the plan that you KNOW how to prepare and have TIME to prepare. Putting stuff on there because it sounds/looks cool but will take a couple of hours to prepare is a strategy that is sure to fail. I have to admit, I love reading all the recipes that are being posted on the ‘Round 1 Fitness Life Challenge’ page – but for me it is going to be grilled chicken and steamed vegies because it is quick, easy and I could literally do it blindfolded.
2/.Establish a training routine and STICK to it. I have said 1000 times that 1-2 classes per week is maintenance, 2-3 is some progress whilst 3-4 is ‘progress’ mode – so long as even when you are doing your 4 sessions you understand that you still need to do ‘something’ (walk the dog, walk the kids to the park, whatever) every day as well. And if you KNOW you have something on which clashes with a ‘regular’ training session, make sure you have a contingency plan for missing a class and get that one done as well. You will find that missing one session can quite easily lead to missing two, or three, or four and getting back on the horse is tougher than just hanging on when you feel yourself starting to slip.
3/.Have regular conversations (our Facebook site is a good way to do this) with people who are positive, supportive and trying to be good…just like you. If all your conversations are with people who aren’t “getting it done” you will find it really hard to maintain focus on your own goals and journey.
That’s it. See you all in the gym.
Well, the Life Challenge is on and starts TOMORROW. For everyone who is in, you should have paid your money and had your measurements etc done by now…if you haven’t – get a move on! Everyone who has had their measurements done is now ‘in’ the spreadsheet and should have been given access to the tracking sheet…check the link to try it out (R1 whole life challenge tracking sheet). I am happy to deal with a couple of ‘late’ entries over the first couple of days as we work the access out on the proviso that if you cannot do the update yourself I receive an email letting me know what your scores (exercise, diet, and stretching) were for the day.
A reminder of the rules! Here they are:
1/.Measurements and Skinnies must be recorded prior to starting the challenge, once more during the challenge and again at the end. This needs to be done by making an appointment with the gym.
2/.The Challenge sheet MUST be updated prior to 9pm each day. A print out of the Daily sheet will be performed at 9pm each day and only points entered before then will count towards the final result.
3/.Mid- challenge testing/measurements to be completed by appointment between October 1st and October 7th.
4/.Final testing/measurements to be completed on Friday, October 26th between 4pm and 7pm OR on Sunday, October 28th between 8am and 11am
6/.Training points are awarded as follows: 1 point per day – independent cardio/conditioning session (30mins minimum), 2 points per day – structured group class or PT session. Maximum 3 points per day, Maximum 15 points per week. For a session to count for ‘2’ points it must be a Round 1 Fitness session – sessions at other gyms can only count for 1 point (let them do their own challenge!).
7/.Stretching points: 1 point per day for completing a stretching program. 10 Minutes minimum and this must be in addition to any ‘group warm down’. Not sure what to do for your stretching – try this 10 minute foam roller workout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEIZvEzs2U0
8/.Weekly challenge points: Receive 1 point for each day during the week the ‘challenge’ was completed. Maximum points = 3 per week.
9/.Diet points: Maximum of 3 points per day. Each time one of the ‘RULES’ are broken, you will deduct ‘1’ point. ‘0’ is the lowest score for any given day.
Any item with MORE than one violation – Pizza has grain (crust) and dairy (cheese) – counts for only 1 point deduction.
As noted in the rules for the Life Challenge, each week there will be a challenge which will enable you to order 3 bonus points for the week. The challenge for the week will be announced in the blog each week…and, the week one challenge is a simple bodyweight progression:
Monday: 50 Squats, 50 Pushups, 50 Situps
Tuesday: 70 Squats, 70 Pushups, 70 Situps
Wednesday: 100 Squats, 100 Pushups, 100 Situps
Thursday: 140 Squats, 140 Pushups, 140 Situps
Friday: 190 Squats, 190 Pushups, 190 Situps
Saturday: 250 Squats, 250 Pushups, 250 Situps
Sunday: 320 Squats, 320 Squats, 320 Situps
You get ONE point for each day you fulfil the requirements of the challenge up to a maximum of three (3) for the week. My sincere advice? If you are keen on getting the points, don’t miss any days early in the week…by Sunday it is getting HARD!
Couple of changes in the gym this week. We are getting a few more fans installed as we start moving towards the warmer weather – one in each of the back corners, one up towards the front of the gym (near the TANKS area) and a replacement for the broken fan near the heavy bags. In addition, we will be adding a pedestal fan out the front of the gym with a water spray attachment for particularly hot (35 degrees +) days/sessions.
Despite the issues with the latest protein order, there will be more in the gym within a couple of days along with a new supply of foam rollers, weighted vests and ab rollers.
Just following up my notes last week about session times etc.
1/.We are considering adding in a 7:15am class on Saturday mornings. Please express your interest in such a session via email (info@round1fitness.com.au). So far I have heard from 6 people on this…we are happy to add the session, but I really need a bit more enthusiastic response than this!
2/.Two of our Three busiest sessions last week were the Beginners class on Tuesday at 8pm and the Beginners class on Thursday at 8pm. Now whilst it is great for us for the gym to be so busy late at night, please remember once you have done 4 or 5 beginners sessions, you really are ‘READY’ to give a ‘normal’ Boxing for Fitness class a try. So if you would prefer to train at a different time of day and you have done a few ‘Beginners’ sessions, please don’t be scared to make the jump.
Still no sign of our bags yet – hope to see them in the gym within the next couple of days.
As I mentioned last week, our new Sparring gloves are also on the way and will be a good solution for anyone looking for a little bit more hand protection.
The 2012 Hands on India Ball is on Saturday October 20th at the Hyatt Regency Perth. The ball is a fundraiser to help the Chiropractic students at Murdoch University travel to India to provide free chiropractic and medical care to the Siriguri community – find more details HERE.
Tickets to the ball – which features a three course meal, four hour beer and wine package and entertainment including music, Bollywood dancers and Henna tattooing – are $175 each. If anyone would like to be part of a table and help the students out, please let me know via email and I will look after the admin side of things.
A great week on Facebook which also saw a separate group set up for the ‘Life Challenge’. Some highlights:
Why people quit exercise: http://sociallyfitblog.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/why-people-quit/
Relationship between exercise and diet: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jonny-bowden/exercise-benefits_b_1777630.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
Shoulder touches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1idaL1Lo_VE&feature=em-subs_digest
Sports drills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYHOQpT7gbo
5 Ways to get stronger: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/5_ways_to_get_stronger_you_didnt_already_know
Make sure you join us on the site (click HERE) and get involved with the daily conversations – it really does help keep you focused on your training and diet.
There was a bit of a ‘Navy Seal’ thread on Facebook this week – here is a training video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyb2dMBHDsU&feature=related
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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