Hi and welcome to another week,
Great sessions last week. Our first ever 9-minute round session ran last week with the ‘punching – body weight – punching – cardio – punching – strength’ progressions at every station – feedback has been pretty positive so we will try it another couple of times before deciding whether to work similarly styled sessions in to the program on a regular/semi-regular basis moving forward. As I noted on Facebook last week, we have now got 220x Tanks Plans, 219x Body Work sessions, 179x 1-minute rounds, 81x 90-seconds, 288x 2-minutes, 38x 2:30, 241x 3min, 146x 4 minute, 100 5-minute and 2x 9-minute classes on the books. Oh yeah – and there are 58x Starting Strength and now 54x new ‘Challenge Squad’ sessions AND 36x NEW ‘Starting Strength’ sessions. Talk about constantly varied training!
This week’s blog is all about the Life Plan/Muscle Challenge – we have been doing the third set of measurements (so 9-weeks are down – just 4 to go) over the last few days and we are seeing some amazing results. We have also seen some ‘solid’ results, some ‘ok’ results, some tears and some no-shows. The InBody Scanner really can be an evil piece of machinery – whatever you have done in the past month, all the things you have eaten and drunk, all the training you have and haven’t done, your sleep, your stress…it is all on display on the page in front of you. And the numbers you read aren’t always the ones you want and – in some cases – they aren’t even the ones you deserve. But you have to remember, they are just numbers, and it is just information. And information that will help you move forward.
Trying to change your body – just like trying to change anything in your life – is really, really hard. It is sometimes the simplest things that are actually the most ingrained habits and the hardest ones to break. Imagine working through that, making the changes that you were told you ‘had too’ – and STILL not getting results. Or getting results, but not the results you wanted. Or not the results you thought you had deserved given how much work you had put in. Imagine the feeling of doing everything you can to make a change, and yet still being disappointed when the results are in. Imagine what you might do?
I am pretty certain that high on the list would be ‘give up’. I am pretty certain that if going to the gym twice per week and eating chocolate every day and drinking wine every weekend gave you exactly the same results as hitting the gym three times per week AND finding time to do a barbell circuit AND watching your food like a hawk that ‘give up’ would be crossing your mind. I am pretty sure that ‘people’ will be telling you it isn’t worth it and, it would be pretty easy to believe them…after all, there is probably a voice in your head saying exactly the same thing. But before you do decide just to give it all up, ask yourself this – if you don’t make the commitment now, then when will you make it? Because at the end of every challenge, people ask me when we might be running the next one – next time, they are going to go right through to the end…
Whatever your results so far, whether or not you did your scan last week or not – I would really encourage you to jump back on board for the last few weeks and FINISH the Life Plan/Muscle Challenge. The things you will learn about yourself will be amazing and just having the guts/determination to finish something you committed to will give you a real surge in self-confidence and positivity. If you are feeling stressed and uncomfortable about the whole thing, if you are wondering how it all applies to ‘life’, well, the thing everyone needs to understand is that NOT eating bread is not really about not eating bread – it is about making food choices for an extended period of time that excludes all processed food and learning how to shop and cook and eat given those restrictions. None of this stuff is worth entering into a religious debate over – the Life Plan is about eating fresh, real food and looking after yourself through physical training and rehab sessions! Think about the food elements in those broad strokes and you will find it all a lot easier to process.
In a similar vein, doing a barbell circuit as well as a boxing class isn’t about getting ‘bigger’ or being forced to spend ‘more’ time in the gym – it is about developing the skills to train independently so that when the Life Plan is over, if the only time you can get to the gym is between (for example) 5:20pm and 6pm which means that you can’t jump into a class, you can put together an effective, structured training program that does a bit more for your body than spending the time walking/jogging on the treadmill. It is about giving you the skills to train independently for the rest of your life…everyone on the muscle plan has learned this lesson and (hopefully) those lessons will pay them back 10000 times.
There a reason you have signed up for your gym membership. There is a reason you have committed to getting up at an ungodly hour to train, or squeezing it in between work and dinner, or whilst the kids are at basketball training, or whatever it might be. There was another reason you decided to jump on board with the Life Plan/Muscle Challenge. If the results haven’t quite gone your way so far, remember, you could be literally inches away from turning the corner and moving ahead…seeking help and assistance to make the ‘next’ change is what you need to do – not just giving up. It might all seem impossible right now – you might be feeling that it is never going to happen for you. I can only assure you I have been there. I have been a sedentary, 92kg office worker who just couldn’t fully commit and couldn’t see how changes would EVER happen…but they can. And they will. But it all starts when you take the path of persistence.
See you in the gym.
Michael.
Month 3 is underway. Everyone who has been scanned should have their new forms…for the rest of you, you will get them when you do your scan. As per my comments last week, if you show-up at the gym to do your scan without bringing your other ones with you – well, we can only really talk about ‘bits’ of it. Yes – the print out will give you a progression chart, but it wont tell us where the muscle has grown, where the fat is disappeared from etc…we need BOTH scans (new and old) to really paint the picture.
New rules this month? Well, the barbell circuit changes – and I would really encourage you guys to push the heaviest weights you can when completing it. Remember though, if you are putting the bar/kettlebell down and resting half-way through your set though, that isn’t completing the circuit with a heavier weight – that is manipulating the reps so you can use a heavier weight…There is also a nasty little conditioning circuit to complete once per week – you have your choice of doing some sprints on the treadmill, bike or rower. As it says on one of our new signs, ‘cardio only works with intensity’ – so go AS FAST AS YOU CAN! You will find the conditioning section to be the worst, most uncomfortable thing you have done since starting the Life Plan – that’s OK – you are in the home stretch and this is one of the last things you need to learn in order to be able to train more independently in the future.
With the diet, there is a limit on rice intake, breakfast cereal and dairy this month. I am continually asked ‘well, what is wrong with this?’ and ‘what is wrong with that?’ whenever we make food restriction changes. The answers – as always – are that in principle nothing is WRONG with having some dairy – and I certainly don’t want to enter into a religious article about whether you should eat dairy or not…But at the same time, learning to live without the two cappuccinos every day is something really worthwhile – from a pure calories perspective you drop from 220 to 9 when you change from a cap to a long black. For ONE MONTH you can limit your dairy input and assess the impact it has on YOU. Once you have that information, you can then move forward and determine whether it is something you want to live with or without for the long term…
The next phase of the project will (hopefully) kick off in the next few days. The carpet through the middle of the gym (under all the bags) is a little worn and tired and will be replaced by artificial grass. This should be a great solution for us – but in the short term (whilst the silicon sand ‘settles’) I am a bit concerned we will all finish our workouts feeling like we have been training down at Coogee Beach!
A reminder that the ‘Starting Strength’ reboot AND the new ‘Challenge Squad’ program will both kick off this week. Times are as follows:
Starting Strength: 5:45pm Tuesday, 5:45pm Thursday and 8am Saturday (pretty much as it is today).
Comp Squad: 8pm Monday, 8pm Wednesday and 7pm Friday.
What are they? Well, Starting Strength has been designed to assist people to correctly complete each of the lifting components used in the Boxing/Body Work/Tanks classes at Round 1 Fitness correctly whilst also providing a structured pathway for improving their fitness/strength. The workouts will be challenging but achievable – it has been designed as a ‘pathway’ class – and upon completion you will be able to participate in Body Work, TANKS or do your own independent weights training with confidence. ‘Challenge Squad’ has been designed to assist people who are interested in competing in Fitness competitions – it will include a structured strength component AND a timed ‘workout’ where all participants will compete ‘against the clock’.
There is one spot left in Starting Strength and two in Challenge Squad – if you are interested, please send me an email entitled ‘Starting Strength’ or ‘Challenge Squad’ to info@round1fitness.com.au if you are interested in either of the new classes…
Our backpacks/sling bags were temporarily out of stock – but are back in stock now. If you have missed out on one as part of your membership, make sure you get your name ticked off at reception and grab your bag.
We have a heap of new gloves on the way as well – bag mitts AND leather gloves. These will be the same basic template as the current ones but with a slightly new design feature…they do look cool! Should be in stock in the next week or so!
The October mini-challenge is OVER! Very happy to have finished – and doing my kettlebell swings this week was a little bit like going to the dentist…I knew I had to go (but I really didn’t want to) but when I started it wasn’t quite as bad as I feared (but was certainly worse than I hoped!).
Our next challenge will be a ‘Get it Done’ challenge – with all participants who finish being entitled to a ‘Get it Done’ t-shirt. It will be our second ever 12-days of Christmas challenge – this one a little different to the last. On December 1 we GO – I will begin collecting names and t-shirt sizes on November 10th!
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!
A great article on getting better at pull-ups…please note the comments about assisted pull-ups if you are addicted to the power bands. They are helping in the short term but hindering in the long-term.
http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/the-proof-is-in-the-pull-up-10-tools-for-getting-better-at-pull-ups
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.
Subscribe below to join our tribe.
You'll receive email updates about the studio, special events, and membership option sales!
