Hi and welcome to another week,
I know I say the classes are awesome every week – but in terms of positive feedback received last week really did set a new record. The ‘new’ plan for 90-second rounds was really well received (even by people who ‘hate’ 90-second rounds), the walking lunges were a hit and the combo/KO ‘mash-ups’ (repeat a set combo 5 times then go hell for leather) also went over really well. The starting strength people learned all about Drop Sets (and adversity!) and the Tanks crew developed a new appreciation for just how many bench press/plyometric pushups they can do in 60 minutes.
I want to let everyone know about a new training/lifestyle initiative we will be starting up during 2014 – R1 6-month Life Plan. So…what does that mean? We have put together a 6 month training program (well, it is a training pyramid actually) that slowly increases the training/diet commitments over time to help people achieve long-term results. The question is, why have we done this?
What we see so often at Round 1 is that people starting training with us and are SUPER gung-ho. Jumping in to 3, 4, even 5 sessions per week and going ‘all out’. After 2-3 weeks of this – and quite often, not much in the way of tangible results – their enthusiasm begins to wane and by the time six weeks has passed, they are coming in 1-2 times per week (very ad-hoc) and – if anything – have started to go backwards. This is clearly not what we want – the gym should be somewhere that people come to feel GOOD about themselves and that helps them achieve their goals – not somewhere that they avoid because it reminds them of their ‘failures’.
The pyramid starts SLOW! It introduces a bit of exercise and some diet modification in month one – and slowly ramps things up over a period of six months. Why does it include diet modifications? Because the best ‘bang for your buck’ results we EVER see at the gym is during our whole life challenges where people are compelled to manage their food types as well as their training AND their rehab (stretching). Do the Whole Life Challenges ‘work’ for everyone? Well, for everyone who finishes them – YES. But we see a big drop-out rate at around the 10-day mark as the diet components become too restrictive for people to deal with…the Pyramid will SLOWLY introduce food restrictions over 6 months to (hopefully) make the transition one that everyone can deal with.
What is the end point of the Pyramid? A few classes, a couple of stretching sessions, a couple of lifting sessions each week and a diet based on fresh meat and vegetables. That is it really it – nothing remarkable – just a slow and steady build up to a point where you are regularly in the gym, doing a couple of classes, doing a few weights, doing some stretching (prehab/rehab) and eating a consistently healthy diet. The changes from month-to-month are minimal with the idea being that a gradual increase in commitment is something you will barely notice. We have also been careful to structure the pyramid so that even at the ‘peak’ you don’t need to get to the gym for more than 4 sessions per week.
To answer the question I know is coming – ‘What if I have been training at Round 1 for two years? Can I still do the R1 6-month Life Plan?’ Well, of course you can. If your current level of training exceeds that specified in the first month of the ‘PYRAMID’ you will need to have a discussion with us to determine what a suitable ‘starting point’ is (and no, a class each day is NOT a starting point so you might need to make a couple of compromises on your current schedule!).
Interested in getting started? Send me an email (info@round1fitness.com.au) and mention you want to have a go at the R1 6-month Life Plan. The requirements for month one are pretty simple and all we really need to do is make some time together to do some skinfolds/body measurements in order to get it all going! What does it cost? Nothing. I need to know you are ‘IN’ so that I can manage the emails (plan is to send one out every 10 days or so to keep people who are ‘in’ on track!), skinfolds, etc but if you are a member of the gym you are eligible to do the plan. If you have New Year’s resolutions that are based on ‘finally’ getting ‘there’ in 2014, maybe the R1 6-month Life Plan is for you?
Nothing else from me this week. I hope you all have the happiest of happy times over Christmas and get to enjoy a break from work/study in the company of your friends and family.
See you at Round 1,
Michael.
With just one week to go until Christmas, we will be offering a great special on our 10-round passes until we close the doors on Christmas eve (2pm). From the 16th December (Monday) until Christmas Eve (Tuesday, December 24th) the passes will be available for $99 (usual cost is $120).
This is a great special – and allows non-members to access our classes for less than $10 per class. The passes remain valid for 12-months.
How do you buy them? Well, coming into the gym is the best bet! But we can process payments over the phone if that is the only way you can make it in. If you want the passes mailed out to you though that will cost you an extra $1 to cover the cost of postage, time etc…otherwise we will hold the passes for you in the gym.
Can you buy one of the passes for a friend as a present? Sure – but I would prefer we do that as a gift voucher if their names aren’t already in our system…if you buy a $99 gift voucher during the period of the special we will honour that with a 10-round Pass after Christmas.
The details of our Christmas opening hours are all over the gym (and have been blogged about for 6 weeks now), but if you have somehow missed it:
Classes as normal on Monday 23rd.
Last session on Tuesday (Christmas eve) will be at 1pm.
Closed Wednesday (Christmas Day).
Thursday (Boxing Day) classes at 08:15am and 09:15am ONLY, gym CLOSED at 10:30am.
Classes as normal on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Last class on New Years eve at 4pm – gym CLOSED at 5pm.
Closed New Years Day (Wednesday).
Back to Normal on Thursday.
Again, my advice is to take a picture of one of the timetable sheets with your phone and that way you wont have to worry about getting it wrong!
It has been great to see the support given to the healthy range of drinks and bars from Emma and Toms we have added to the gym lately…and to acknowledge this we have grabbed another set of products from the E&T range to trial. The ‘Well Being Water’ range – E&T’s answer to sport drinks – are designed as a training supplement (I guess similar to Gatorade) yet have approx. half the calories of ‘similar’ drinks. In short, they are a good product – healthy and tasty – and just $3.50 in the gym.
School holidays are officially here and this (usually) means more kids in the gym. This is fine – we basically have zero problem with you bringing your kids in whilst you train. But please understand that when they are in here they remain your responsibility – it isn’t up to the gym staff to look after them/entertain them…that is not something we can do. So – bring them along – but please also bring their iPods/iPads/DS players…whatever they need to remain entertained. Playing chasey in the office area is NOT an option.
Now – when it comes to kids food and snacks etc, please again be respectful. If your kids make a huge mess and food is scattered everywhere, then please take a couple of minutes to clean it up before heading out the door…and if the food you bring to the gym is McDonalds or some other fast food variety, please expect a lecture from me – I put it in the same category as you doing a class then heading outside for a cigarette.
Last week we promised a KrankCycle would be in the gym (albeit ‘on trial’) and…it is! Please take the time to give it a go. If you are uncertain how to use it, please have a chat to me and I will run you through it. It is a great way to get an upper body based cardio workout if you are recovering from a lower limb injury – as well as build some strength. You can use it in both standing and seated modes – one arm or two, forwards or reverse…lots of options, give it a try.
Some great stuff on our FACEBOOK this week – if you missed any of the links I have copied them all below:
Scaling Cross-Fit WODs: http://breakingmuscle.com/crossfit/how-to-scale-diane-and-tame-the-wods
Powerful Words: http://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/vision-quest
Jingle Hoops: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYEHUOpwNvE
Farmers walks: http://www.t-nation.com/training/farmer-s-walk-cure
Stretching for lifters: http://breakingmuscle.com/yoga/dear-willow-which-yoga-stretches-are-best-for-strength-athletes
Death by Desk Job: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829232.200-workouts-are-no-antidote-to-death-by-desk-job.html
Enjoy!
Great little blog about healthy eating this Christmas – point 8 is number 1 for me…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-lisa-young/holiday-health_b_4441757.html
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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