Hi and welcome to another week,
How good was that Body Work class last week. I really do love the partner style format (Lloydy often does this on Sunday when our numbers are a bit lower) and find it quite motivating to know that my partner is doing something ‘uncomfortable’ until I get my reps done! It somehow stops me from taking an ill-advised rest after rep 17 and just pushing through to the end of the set. The Boxing sessions were great as well – I really enjoyed the 90 second rounds last Monday, the 2:30 minute session (goblet squats and heavy bag combo) on Wednesday and 1-minute rounds are always a lot of fun. What about this week? Well, Body Work is kettlebell based, we have a barbell circuit in the class on Monday, Tuesday is all tabata, Wednesday sees combination hooks/body weight exercises on all the bags, Thursday is a challenging 1-minute circuit with Wall Balls and Med-ball pushups and Friday is ‘a special surprise’!
The blog is up late today because I have been away on camp with the state u18 footy team this weekend – our carnival starts next weekend with a game vs Tasmania in Launceston. We have spent a couple of nights sleeping on camp beds in an aircraft hangar up at the SAS Campbell Barracks and generally doing things that made us all a bit uncomfortable…certainly for me sleeping (or rather, NOT sleeping) in a freezing cold hangar made everything else that happened on Saturday and Sunday a challenge!
We played a game on Saturday and the players performed exceptionally well in difficult circumstances – but for me the highlight of the weekend was watching the players try to work through a series of primarily mental challenges in order to achieve a pre-determined outcome. Now, I guess everyone is wondering why I might think this is interesting however the groups that were able to successfully complete the tasks essentially followed a pretty simple plan that everyone could use to achieve their goals in the gym (be they either fitness or weight loss related).
1/.They clearly defined what they had to achieve. Saying out loud – or in one groups case, writing down – the required outcome seemed to add a LOT of clarity to the task and enabled the group to keep ‘coming back’ to the outcome they were looking for when things got tough (as they invariably did).
2/.They defined roles for everyone – and then made sure those people were comfortable with those roles. From a gym perspective, this might seem irrelevant – after all, you do the classes by yourself. But the reality is that all of us have people we depend on/who depend on us and they will play a role in whether or not we can achieve our aims. Dinner still needs to be cooked, kids need to be looked after and – most importantly – we need to spend time with our partners, families and friends. Making sure everyone is ‘on board’ with you spending time in the gym before you embark on your program is key.
3/.They developed a plan – then practiced it – then reviewed step 2! This part was interesting. There were a couple of exercises where you really had one chance to get it right – and some groups discussed their plan and then went and tried…others, discussed the plan, tried it ‘offsite’, refined it, THEN gave it a go! It was this last method that worked most effectively – it made sure that everyone could perform the role that they had been assigned and that any little ‘quirks’ were ironed out before making the plunge. Now – a couple of groups skipped this step and still finished the task – good for them. But the ones who took the extra time to run through the tasks in ‘test’ mode first were ALL successful.
4/.They acted with Integrity. As with (almost) everything in our Round 1 lives, cheats never prospered at the Campbell Barracks. Trying to take shortcuts is never a great plan – you might still achieve the final target but have you REALLY achieved the goal that was laid down? Interestingly enough, the players today never started the task with the intention of taking a shortcut – but if something went wrong along the way and a ‘cheat’ seemed to be an obvious way to get back on task, a couple of them took that opportunity. They got caught. They got penalised. It ended badly! It really is the same with your training life – don’t miss sessions, don’t mess with your diet. And when you are in the gym, don’t look for the ‘easy’ way to do something because the ‘easy’ way might help you finish but it DOESN’T help you achieve your goals.
Anyway, overall a successful weekend though I guess we wont know how successful for a few weeks yet. This is my last year as coach of the WA side – the appointments are only for two years – and if you are interested in the progress of the team a link to the carnival program is here!
See you in the gym,
Michael.
The latest Round 1 Challenge is GO – ‘8 Days a Week’. It works like this:
Part 1:
During the month of June, you must complete a session on each ‘day’ of the week – meaning one session on a Monday, one session on a Tuesday, one on a Wednesday etc. These sessions do not have to be consecutive but by the end of the month you must have done a class on each weekday.
Part 2:
In addition to completing a class on each ‘weekday’, you must also complete a pre-defined number of classes to complete the challenge:
Level 1: Must complete 21 sessions during June.
Level 2: Must complete 23 sessions during June (including at least ONE Body Work class).
Level 3: Must complete 25 sessions during June (including at least THREE Body Work classes AND one TANKS session).
You must complete part 1 in combination with part 2 in order to successfully complete the challenge. For example, to finish the Level 2 challenge you must have finished ONE Body Work class and 23 total classes – including at least ONE class on each of the seven days of the week. If you have finished 23 sessions but have not done a class on a Friday (for example) then the challenge is NOT complete until you have done a session on a Friday. Challenge tracking sheets are available from the reception desk.
What do you get for completing the challenge? Well – nothing really…but you do have the right to wear a “GET IT DONE” t-shirt which you can order from reception for $30. These shirts are ONLY available upon completion of the challenge…if you don’t finish the challenge, you don’t get the shirt!
Just on that, everyone who you see in the gym wearing a ‘Get it Done’ t has successfully finished one of our challenges in the past…I know that I have 3 of the shirts (so far, I have done every challenge myself though I haven’t always ordered a new ‘T’) and have to admit I wear the things like a badge of honour…getting through the challenges takes planning and commitment and is truly something to be proud of.
We momentarily ran out of backpacks for the 12-month membership packs…but the new stock (which are pretty cool looking ‘slingbags’) arrived in the gym on Friday last week. I might even get one of these myself.
Remember if you are taking out or renewing your 12-month membership you are entitled to a bag, some bag mitts, some hand-wraps and a gym towel…
The May Special (10 classes for $99) sold out early last week – we only offered 100 of these packs at the special price and hope everyone who wanted one managed to pick one up.
Remember that whilst the 10 for $99 is a great value offer, nothing beats a 12-month membership when it comes to value. For basically the cost of one casual session per week ($15) you can train as often as you like – classes + full gym access – without the hassle of having to book in for sessions.
Our May timetable trial has been a success and we will be making the changes permanent. The changes are:
5pm Friday is now a Beginners session.
10:15am Saturday is now a Body Work session.
I will be getting some new timetable cards made to reflect the changes but in the meantime remember that the most current timetable information is always on the website at round1fitness.com.au.
…and so are new bag mitts and hand-wraps. Most exciting though are the tank-tops – the ‘Is there any Danger’ tops, which will be selling in the gym for just $15. As usual, I have tried to get in a wide range of sizes/colors but the most popular size/color combos will sell out quickly…if you want one, please get in quick when they arrive.
Well, after a few good weeks my DreamTeam fell apart this week – substitutions and poor numbers saw my score fall and I was easily beaten by David in the end. Aaron had a great week though – pushing 2300 points and moving his team up to the fringes of the top 8.
In the tipping, the results were pretty ‘vanilla’ – apart from my mighty Bulldogs knocking the Saints over – and most tipsters seemed to pick 6 or 7 correct out of the 9 games. At the top of the leaderboard Ross came slightly back to the field, seeing his 3 point lead drop back to 2 with Leigh, Lloyd and Kim heading up the chasing pack.
It is the last week of the May ‘mini-challenge’ and I for one am very glad of that! I am tired of pedalling that bike – pushing through 100m in each gear from 14-24 and back is tough stuff! That said, I am convinced I am better on the bikes and fitter / stronger than when I started the challenge back on May 1st.
What was the challenge? Each time you come to the gym, complete 100m in each gear on the bike from 14 to 24 and back down again. This takes around about 12 minutes to complete and really gives you a bit of a ‘blast’ before/after your session.
There will be no mini-challenge for June…the ‘8 days a Week Challenge’ is more than enough.
Some more great links on Facebook this week:
Manmakers are very tough! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gx4ZEQizUQ
Its about respect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf_6Klln34Q&feature=youtu.be
Halting clean deadlift: http://www.catalystathletics.com/media/video/video.php?videoID=609
Clean and Press and other stuff: http://www.catalystathletics.com/blog/blog.php?blogID=1786
Ronnie Vargas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nMtenrmsSk
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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