Hi and welcome to another week,
Loved my training last week. I thought there was a great ‘balance’ in the classes between cardio conditioning and strength work – plus I really liked the bear crawls. As for those of you who want abs, abs and more abs I hope that the 24 minutes dedicated to ab work on Friday left you all with a smile on your face and cramping muscles in your gut.
I have blogged about diet stuff for the last couple of weeks and wanted to go in a different direction today. In the last three (3) days, five ‘old time’ Round 1’ers have walked back into the gym and recommitted to their training. When I asked them what brought them back, they have answered with a version of ‘Tired of being slack’ / ‘Want to get back to doing something’ / ‘Time to lose a couple of kgs’ responses that most people have when they first come to the gym. The difference is of course that each of these guys were pretty dedicated gym goers and – if you had asked me – were going very well with their training the last time we saw them. Were they ‘perfect’? Of course not – but training consistently and making good progress with regards their fitness and strength is pretty OK as far as I am concerned.
This has gotten me thinking about what might cause someone to ‘throw their hands up in defeat’ and just ask themselves ‘Why, Why, Why am I doing this?? I come here to lose weight/get stronger/be healthy/whatever but I am tired, not getting results and just jaded by the whole thing….AND I QUIT’. Of course, there are varying degrees of all of this and for each of us it is important to recognise the ‘signs’ and re-ignite the passion BEFORE throwing it all away.
Personally, I have found that making my training part of my ‘personal brand’ – the way I want to define myself to others – is the key for me staying positive about things. My training is about results but not only about results. It is more important than that – I train because I want to be a healthy person and set a good example to my kids. Training is not what I do – it is part of who I am. I want to be healthy, therefore I know I need to exercise. For me, I like doing a variety of training types – Running Club was awesome this morning for example – but interval training is the basis of my training regime and therefore the Boxing sessions at Round 1 suit me perfectly.
If you do feel like your time in the gym is making you feel like you are ‘flogging a dead horse’, keep in mind there is no shame in breaking up or shifting the focus of your training. In other words, it is important to keep playing the game – but every now and then you might need to swing your bat in another direction. Have two weeks away from classes – just lift some weights and run. You might just find you like the weights and it might give you a way to vary your routine for the longer term. Or maybe just change the time of day you come – you might find that simply being around some different people for a while gives you some new energy and inspiration…and aside from that, the change of time (whether from morning to night or night to morning) will cause your sleep patterns to have a ‘bump’ which might just give you an energy spike. It might not of course, but if you don’t try, how will you ever know. Or commit to do a Body Work class, or do one session each weekend, or book a PT session with a ‘learning’ focus (I want to know how to do a deadlift properly), or book into ‘TANKS’, or buy yourself a new training outfit (or two)…change something!
Whatever you do, don’t throw it away in frustration. Myself and the other trainers are there to help and support you. Not feeling the progress? Let’s take your measurements and check out your diet…help is there if you ask for it. Stick at it – persist. If you do, the results will come.
See you at Round 1,
Michael.
Well – 10 days in (11 actually!) – how are you going?
Me? I have done seven (7) classes so far and successfully finished all of my road-work sessions. So I am pretty happy with that. I have had to drop a Body Work class in order to do this but have so far managed to keep doing two x lifting sessions per week…not sure I am going to be able to keep these going over the next two weeks with the City to Surf on the program as well. Oh well – I guess there is no such thing as over-training, there is only under-eating! If I can manage to get five (5) classes in this week I will be in a good position to finish the challenge.
If you need a reminder of the ‘RULES’ for the challenge, please check the blog from last week!
On the 2nd of September – at the conclusion of the 5pm class – we will be conducting a 15-20min presentation from the team at Aubin Grove Physio on the very general topic of injury prevention and pre-hab. The presentation will run in the front area of the gym and will mean that the start time of the 6pm class will be ‘pushed’ 5-10 minutes on that night.
I am really looking forward to having the AG Physio team in the gym – they do a terrific job at their clinic – and really believe the skills and experience they are coming along to share could help a lot of us at R1.
The proposed changes for September are still on the agenda – I will hopefully be able to circulate a ‘draft’ timetable this week for people to look at. I will post it on FACEBOOK if I get the chance.
In the meantime, remember to let me know if you are interested in the ‘Starting Strength’ classes which will be on the schedule at 6pm Tuesday and Thursday.
As followers of the Facebook site will know, we had some equipment ‘borrowed’ from the upstairs weights room during last week. If it was you who ‘borrowed’ the gear, please return it – other people need it to complete their workouts!
The final (for now) piece of the new power rack puzzle was installed during the week with the ‘insert’ on the back to back rack allowing the rack to be connected to the lifting platform arriving. This means it is now MUCH easier to use the bench on that rack – as well as slide the bench right out of the way in order to use the platform for deadlifts, cleans etc.
The LifeFitness Cross-Trainer also received it’s new console during the week – whilst it has been back and fully functional for a few weeks now, the new console does make it shinier and a little easier to use. Remember though – please don’t press too hard on the buttons – if they aren’t working, just let me know rather than jabbing at them repeatedly and breaking the circuit board permanently in the process.
Anyone who has been using one of the 2013 Scoopons, please remember that they must be used before the 19th of August – which is just one week away. If you have any sessions left on your Scoopon they will not be honoured after that date – so if you have been thinking about getting back to the gym get back to the gym NOW to avoid disappointment later.
Good news – for the first time all year my name is on top of the tipping ladder…and with Adelaide beating North and the Dockers beating the Giants as I type this, it looks like I might actually WIN a round. I think a mini-celebration is in order! Where I finish doesn’t really matter though – all the action is up at the top of the leaderboard where chaos has struck. Dayle has split the field and jumped out to a one game lead over Ross, with Leigh and Lloyd around abouts but depending on a North Melbourne comeback to keep in touch!
Dream Team finals started this week and and our top two teams (Travis and Clint) look to be well on victory and a week off next week in games against Matt and Lloyd respectively. Unfortunately for Aaron and Roly, it looks like the finals series will be short-lived with both struggling to keep the pace in what are knock-out finals against Tony and Dale.
Some more great links on Facebook this week:
Pistols: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfGi3NdrIsY
A Kath and Kim video to celebrate James Dickinson’s (aka Kel) performance doing farmers walks in last weeks TANKS session. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_G4wkzT6Vc
Sarah Fragosa talks girls and paleo: http://blog.paleohacks.com/sarah-fragoso/
Members profile – Jahn Geldenhuys https://round1fitness.com.au/rn_profile/jahn-geldenhuys
Tribe: http://www.catalystathletics.com/blog/blog.php?blogID=1797
Knee pain relief: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULRNLY8K9fY
Bold park map: http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/images/stories/boldpark/docs/bold_park_trail_map.pdf
5 Training Rules you must obey: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/5_training_rules_you_must_obey
Some bar-work fun on Venice Beach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW-f3Ks_fn4
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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