Hi and welcome to another week,
Some great classes last week – sorry about all of those walking lunges but it was ‘time’. At least Friday’s session offered a little bit of respite (from lunges in any case!), but I imagine anyone who got through Boxing sessions 3 or 4 times between Monday and Thursday would have just a little bit of soreness in their legs. The week ahead looks quite a bit different – there are a heap of challenging body weight circuits on the schedule, we have a fun new squat drill to try out as well as a ‘task’ based session. We do quite a bit of task focussed drills in Tanks and Body Work but haven’t done it much in Boxing…this week will be the time that we give it a go and I hope everyone gets some benefit from it!
With the Muscle Plan underway there has been a bit of a ‘magnification’ of something that has been happening in the gym for a long (long) time – people who want to do something (in this case, build some muscle), but become so completely frozen by their doubts that all they do is ask questions about it. It is almost as if they are afraid to do the very thing that is standing between their current selves and the goals that they are trying to achieve. Basically, they want to make some changes in their lives (food, training, etc) but are somewhat suspicious of the processes those changes involve – and rather than ‘just doing it’, they decide instead to ask a LOT of questions, read a lot of books/websites but in terms of action, the really just maintain the status quo.
I guess this is a pretty common phenomenon – all of us have a friend (or three) who have been complaining about how much they hate their job for as long as we can remember, yet we know (and I suspect that they know as well) that they are NEVER going to leave it no matter how ‘terrible’ it is. The safety of their current role is preferable to the uncertainty of what else might be on offer. I could say the same thing about people who wander into Round 1 wanting to ‘lose weight and tone up’ but don’t want to commit to coming to an actual class, or others who come to the gym regularly and exercise hard, but can’t reach their ‘lose weight/tone-up’ goals because they can’t/won’t seem to make changes to their diet etc.
The problem is – whether it is food changes, training changes, relationship changes, work changes or anything else changes that in order to make the change, you have first got to move. And in order to ‘MOVE’, you have to be clear about what the move will look like AND be confident that you have the capability to execute it. This confidence often only comes from ‘DOING’ of course (confidence is an ACTION – it isn’t a ‘FEELING’) and when you are unsure of yourself you are reluctant to try something new/different in case ‘someone’ sees you and you aren’t executing the task ‘perfectly’. (As if anyone else is!).
The reason I did the food/diet presentation as part of the Life Plan kick-off was to try and help people struggling with this very issue – it was intended to provide everyone with some CLARITY around HOW to manage your diet without bread, without added sweeteners etc. My hope was that this would give everyone enough CONFIDENCE that they knew how to do it which would enable them to move forward. I wanted to try and avoid the “I just don’t know how to shop this way, I just don’t know how to cook this way” sentiment that has plagued the last couple of challenges. The YouTube videos we have been putting up for the Muscle Plan have the same intention – provide you with the clarity on what actions you need to take so you can just give it a go. Unfortunately though – as some of you might recall – even walking through the front doors of Round 1 (or any other gym) was once enough to cause a stress reaction. Now you have been training at R1 for a while, ‘breaking out’ of your existing training pattern to do something new – even once a week – is not easy…but the only way to do it is to just have a try. Once you give it a go (and this is true of things like Body Work, TANKS, No Rules and even Boxing for those people who have been doing Beginners for an extended period of time) and find you are ‘OK’ at the end of it, you will have developed the confidence to try it again. It is just taking that very first step that is the hardest thing.
The point is I guess that if you want to make a change, you must start not by talking but by doing. Not by reading but by moving. No matter how slowly you move, the important thing is that you just get started. Now, you might find that you pick up speed in some spots but slow down in others – and that is ok – as long as you just keep putting one step in front of the other you will eventually get to the ‘next step’. Progress might not always be steady – and you might never get to the final destination you had imagined – but as long as you are still making forward progress, isn’t that what matters?
See you in the gym.
Michael.
The Life Plan and Muscle Plan are now three weeks in – and it is time to get ready to get measured up! If you come in to the gym on either Thursday or Friday night (from 4:30pm until 7pm) we will do your Body Scan – otherwise Sunday morning is the time (8:30am – 11:30am). At this stage only two people have mentioned wanting to have another food discussion with an extended q+a so that wont be proceeding. The new Life Plan worksheets/Muscle Plan booklets will be available in the gym from FRIDAY.
Please stick tight to the rules of the challenge – and do the work-outs properly. You guys doing the muscle plan really need to push HARD through the assigned workouts in order to make the progress you are after. Any time you are able to ‘comfortably’ complete the assigned reps, the weight is TOO LIGHT. And if it is too light, you are not going to make the progress you are chasing. That last rep should be a bit of a battle – you should have a little bit of doubt in your mind as to whether you can actually complete the rep…it should make you uncomfortable, it should make you feel like you might have bitten off just a little bit too much.
I have directed all of that to the Muscle Plan crew, but there is something in there for Life Planners as well. There is a big difference between attending three classes and really having a go three times each week in the gym. Make sure you understand the difference AND that you are on the right side of that equation.
OK – the treadmills have been moved and I know it isn’t awesome running along looking at a wall. A new Audio Visual solution will be installed in the next week (scheduled for Thursday) – stereo upgrades (office, gym and weights room) and TV upgrades in the gym – including 4-new 58” screens on the wall in front of the treadmills.
The next phase will involve installing a rubber floor in the area cleared by the move of the treadmills – as soon as the flooring arrives, we will be on with that. There has been a bit of a delay in the arrival of the flooring – it was expected on the 19th (last Friday) yet now looks like we will be lucky to get it before the end of September…unfortunately until that brick ‘falls’ we cant proceed with the rest of the project.
Those with keen eyes will have seen a couple of new Concept II rowers kicking around the gym. Hopefully, I will get my act together and draft these into action in the next couple of days. Also on the way are a whole pile of ‘quick wraps’ – effectively inner gloves combined with a wrist wrap. I know I have been a bit dismissive of these in the past (I just don’t think they provide the same level of support as ‘proper’ hand wraps) but as heaps of people ignore my advice and get them anyway, I figure we may as well have them ‘on hand’. They will sell for $15 per pair.
I know – the Life Plan is going. I know – the Muscle Plan is going. But if you aren’t DOING them and you are interested in really lifting the bar as we head towards summer, you might be interested in trying our October Kettlebell Mini-Challenge. This is based on the ‘Perfect Pair’ challenge and is to be completed THREE Days each week in October, starting from Wednesday October 1st. What is involved? One VERY simple workout!
20 Kettlebell Swings
10 Push Ups OR 10 Goblet Squats
20 Kettlebell Swings
9 Push Ups OR 10 Goblet Squats
Complete 10 circuits reducing the Push Ups/Squats down my 1 each round until you reach 0.
To answer a question, you can do Pushups one day and Goblet Squats the next but you cannot alternate between the two in the same workout!
That’s it. Simple as! 3 times each week. Ready for summer! I will be setting the white board up ready to record names as we move closer to the kick-off time!
Perkville is awesome. It is a rewards scheme that gives you ‘credit’ in the gym for every time you pay for your membership/every time you scan your membership card at the front counter. You can then turn that ‘credit’ into TANKS classes, InBody Scans, Personal Training, Protein, new Boxing Gloves etc – whatever you want really!
Signing up really is simple – go to www.perkville.com , enter the same email address that you have registered at the gym and everything else is done for you.
Free stuff at the gym just for turning up? Sounds alright to me!
10 Healthy Eating Habits:
http://www.blitzmag.net/training/fitness-strength/382-10-healthy-eating-habits
See you in the gym!
Michael.
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