Hi and welcome to another week,
How awesome were last week’s classes? It is amazing – you train every day at Round One Fitness for a couple of years, and every single day the class plans are different and there are new exercises introduced every single month. Then, all of a sudden one of those new exercises – in my case, the frog-stands – leaves a little bit of a mark. And then you do them the next day as well, and the mark gets a little bit bigger until finally, Friday rolls around and your whole body is screaming out at you. Awesome!
Now, I know a lot of people felt the same way about the pushup coils that I felt about the frog stands – how good is it to feel that ‘pleasant’ after work-out soreness reminding you that you have again challenged yourself and your body in a way you hadn’t done for a while. I simply love the feeling of learning something new and teaching myself if not to ‘master’ the movement then at least to become strong enough to do it competently.
It is funny though – whilst I really look forward to the challenge of the ‘new stuff’ (and this week, we are doing some ‘new old stuff’ – some old exercises we haven’t done for a while) – it seems every time I add some new wrinkles and exercises to the classes there is a small groundswell of ‘what do we have to do this for?’. In other words, why do we have to change? Why can’t we just do the stuff we did yesterday or the day before? Why can’t we keep doing the things we already know how to do?
Well, on one level those people have a point. I honestly think there is a lot of value in continuing to work on the same elements of your training – particularly when you are starting out (which is why our Beginners classes don’t feature the same variety as our Boxing or BodyWork classes) – but there is no doubt that if you are not continually changing and forcing your body to adapt to those changes then you wont grow. Now – this doesn’t mean you should randomly do something new every day (which is why so much time goes into planning our sessions) but it does mean that over time you should continue to develop your skills and develop different areas of strength in your body (in your mind??).
Remember that training is not about the pain – it is not about being completely ‘stuffed’ at the end of every workout. It is about progressive growth and development in your levels of cardio fitness and strength. Some sessions you will find easier – some you will find more challenging – but OVER TIME your training will lead to improvement. Now, obviously – and I feel like I say this every week – remaining consistent (persistent??) is the key element that you need to contribute to this process. You need to remind yourself that rarely is something that is easy worthwhile and keep measuring yourself against yourself, not against the person on the bag next door.
Getting your body to adapt to the stimulus of the training you are doing – to become stronger, more durable – takes time and there simply are no short cuts to success. Persistence in both diet and training will bring results and if someone tells you about a quick fix solution or some kind of short-term success story, well, listen politely but just remain focused on taking your time and remaining on the path of long-term development.
On another note, I will be away from the gym for a few days over the next couple of weeks. This coming Thursday I am heading off to the Gold Coast for the 2013 AFL Draft and staying on to attend the second camp for this years AFL Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holders. Whilst I will miss being at Round 1, the opportunity to spend time with so many high quality coaches (and players) is one I simply cannot pass up…I am sure I will be back with a heap of new programming ideas and challenges I can throw at all of you.
See you at Round 1,
Michael.
Super excited to be able to offer a range of products from Emma and Toms (www.emmaandtoms.com) in the gym – we have coconut waters, juices and bars available. I am over the top excited about this – not only are the products great tasting – and they truly are – but they simply contain no additives and sweeteners. As evidence of this the bars are pretty much the ONLY pre-packaged food I have found that is able to be eaten by participants in the various Whole Life Challenges we have run at the gym…great tasting, nutritious, healthy products. Awesome.
Since opening the gym back in March/April 2010, we have only every offered ‘fixed term’ contracts – one month, three months, six months or twelve months. Whilst this has been a good system for us, we have been receiving some feedback lately that providing a ‘Cancel Anytime’ contract would be appealing to some people…so starting in December we will be offering a new ‘UNLIMITED’ contract.
This contract will be able to be ‘cancelled’ without notice (current packages require 30-days notice) and there will be no associated penalty clauses. To cover ourselves for all of this, the new ‘UNLIMITED’ package will also have the first ever ‘Initiation Fee’ or ‘Joining Fee’ at Round One Fitness – it will cost $75 to get started and $70 per month ongoing (12-month memberships are $65 per month and there is NO joining fee). We will be offering a one-month amnesty for existing members / members whose contract has expired in the past 30-days to switch over to the ‘UNLIMITED’ membership without paying the initiation fee.
I have mentioned this a couple of times lately but our latest order of gloves and wraps have now shipped. Once again, I am really pleased because we will have something new to offer – the black/pink ‘FIRE’ and black/red ‘FIRE’ wraps are pretty unique – and the new gloves with the ‘shiny’ logos just look so cool.
I am quite proud of the quality and – importantly, value for money – our Round 1 badged products offer…$25 for bag mitts and $30 for MMA gloves are great prices for quality products.
As mentioned last week, we are ramping up our equipment range prior to Christmas. Coming soon will be two brand spanking new Concept II rowers. This is our first move away from the First Degree range of Fluid Rowers and whilst I am still a huge believer in the quality of the First Degree product, the cost of repairs to these machines has led me to try ‘something else’…and the generally regarded ‘Industry Standard’ Concept range is as good a choice as any.
We also have some new ‘training’ barbells on the way to assist with people trying to get started with some lifting. It has taken a while to identify the appropriate size bars that will fit our Hammer Strength racks – but we have some and they are on the way to the gym.
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback last week…once again, I have listed the hours we are proposing to open below along with some contact details if anyone wants to share their feedback. I do appreciate everyone who encouraged me to simply remain closed on Boxing Day and spend it with my family (not sure they want me around to be truthful, but I appreciate that you think that they might!) but truthfully, all I am planning on doing is opening for two (2) hours and running two pretty simple classes…it is not that big a deal. Besides which, I would have to head to the gym anyway to set up the sessions for the Friday, so….
Once again then, I have listed below a proposal for Christmas opening hours 2013…this is not set in stone yet and I would really encourage you to provide feedback on the proposal to mpratt@round1fitness.com.au:
Now – Christmas day falls on a Wednesday this year so our opening hours would be:
Classes as normal on Monday 23rd.
Last session on Tuesday (Christmas eve) will be at 1pm.
Closed Wednesday (Christmas Day).
Thursday (Boxing Day) would see us offer classes at 08:15am and 09:15am ONLY!
Classes as normal on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Last class on New Years eve at 4pm – close at 5pm.
Closed New Years Day (Wednesday).
Back to Normal on Thursday.
Love to hear your thoughts about all of this…fair?? Unfair??? Too much???? Not Enough?????
Some great stuff on our FACEBOOK site last week – if you missed any of the links I have copied them all below:
Kipping: http://www.catalystathletics.com/articles/article.php?articleID=91
Bacon: https://twitter.com/xandoru/status/399392024828190720/photo/1
Don’t drop the bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbFzh44yN-s
Front rack position: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QZFQD9nUP4
Box Jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=papqJyHO_gQ&feature=em-subs_digest
Enjoy!
I got a lot out of this – I hope you do as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73htR_-B-HI
Bit of a bonus link this week as well:
http://breakingmuscle.com/beweglichkeit-erholung/3-simple-ways-to-heal-a-stiff-sore-or-injured-neck
See you in the gym!
Michael.
We know this can be a daunting time. You’re probably wondering if we really are the right fit for each other. And it’s OK! Many people before you, have felt the same, and that’s why we want to offer you something special – our $29 Health Check.
Let’s work out together to see if we’re the right fit. Just hit the button below to let me know if you’re ready to see what’s included.