Hi and welcome to another week,

I really enjoyed my training last week.  The sessions were challenging but fair and the renewed focus I have been showing to my cardio over the past month or so has resulted in me getting through the classes a little better.  It is amazing how much a bit of attention to detail when it comes to the boxing stations (technique and power) leads to some positive performance improvements – for me it is about being mindful and really trying to concentrate rather than going ‘through the motions’.

I wanted to zig rather than zag in my blog this week and talk just a little bit about my life outside of Round 1 – specifically my coaching life.  Since 2004 I feel like I have spent every waking minute outside of the gym coaching 16, 17 and 18 year old footballers.  I have been pretty lucky in my coaching as my only coaching experiences have been with the ‘elite’ – players engaged in either state level competitions (WAFL in WA, TAC Cup in Victoria) or national level (u18 National Champs).  This year I have done something else – I have tried to honour a promise I made to my 13year old (Marshall) and I have coached his team down at the local club – Jandakot Jets.  The State Talent manager tells me that this is my first ‘REAL’ coaching experience!  Whatever!  Anyway, with just one-week to go in their season I thought I might share a few of the things I have learned.

There is no doubt that “kids these days” are way different to the way ‘we’ were (I am nearing 44 years old).  This isn’t to say that they are ‘bad’ or ‘worse’ or whatever – it is just to say that they have a lot more options with regards to the way that they spend their spare time.  They seem way (way) older than ‘we’ were at the same age – and at the same time, a whole lot younger.  I know this sounds contradictory but bear with me.  The ‘older’ part comes with regards to social interactions – they can talk to adults, stand up in front of the group and speak, all the things that had me and my friends looking for places to hide.  BUT.  With regards to physical pursuits, they are very (very) young.  Half of them are already 14 years old and struggle to do a ‘proper’ push-up.  Running a lap of the oval is a BIG ask.  And they are very keen to take short-cuts wherever they can find them – why run all the way over there when I can get away with going only 2/3’s of the way…after all, who will know?  (Whether or not the short cuts occur in other parts of their lives I can’t say – but I do know that habits, both good and bad, are generally pretty persistent).

As for dealing with consequences, well – generally speaking they haven’t had to do that so the ‘consequences’ of not doing things ‘right’ don’t really hold any fears for them.  And – when it comes down to it – there is no trouble that they can get into that either Mum or Dad can’t get them out of anyway.

I also wanted to mention just how hard it is to get them excited about, well, anything! They are all too cool for school!  Trying to get them upbeat and excited on game-day is a bit of a challenge – let alone at training.  They are all pretty happy with the idea that they need to ‘train’ – but aren’t generally too happy with the idea that the training they do should be HARDER than the games.  That the training they do should be when they build the armour that will see them through on game day.  That the training they do is something to be celebrated and not something to be endured…not something to be avoided every time they can find an excuse to ‘get out of it’.  Training should be exciting – you should be looking forward to training days as the BEST days of the week – not as the days where you don’t get to play your X-Box after school.  It should be exciting to kick goals at training – you should be pushing hard to succeed.  You should want to finish one place higher up in the sprints – to be getting better and faster and stronger.  You should be desperate to beat your team-mate to the ball – to compete and win at every opportunity.  And the boys really aren’t – in the main, they work within themselves.  They take nights off.  They take short cuts.  They don’t always fight the fight.

Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to have a heap of kids suffering over-use injuries because they kill themselves at training every night – that isn’t it.  I certainly don’t want a heap of parents berating their kids and screaming at them from the sidelines to ‘get in there’.  But I do wonder if we are getting the right balance between being protective/supportive versus challenging them to achieve/succeed?  And how are those attitudes flowing across to ourselves?

Just so you know I don’t really know where I am going with this – the kids I have been coaching are a fantastic bunch who seem pretty well adjusted and all tell me that they are doing great in school.  So that’s all good – and probably means that they will be pretty well-adjusted adults who contribute to society in a few years time.  But I also know that ‘Iron sharpens Iron’ and it is a pretty tough world out there, and there is going to come a point where if they want something – a job, a place at uni, a promotion, sporting team selection, a personal best in the gym – that they are going to have to be prepared to really, really, REALLY fight for it.  Are we preparing them for it?  And further to that – are we prepared for it ourselves?  Are we really challenging ourselves to become better, stronger, faster, fitter?

Remember – Iron sharpens Iron – Push HARD!

See you in the gym,

Michael.

Gym Update #1 – Crazy 88 Challenge  (3 Weeks down!)

We have hit the last week of the Crazy 88 challenge and for me it has flown by.  Big trouble in my world – I have completed 16 classes so all good…but I have done myself a bit of a back injury (I have a l4/l5 impingement that intermittently plays up) and that might cost me a few days of training.  Which means that the Crazy 88 challenge might possibly be the first challenge I have ever failed to finish.  Not good.  Not good at all!

This isn’t about me though – it is about you getting those last few classes/extras done and getting to the end and winning your t-shirt and wearing it with PRIDE!  Challenge Finisher – Get it Done.

Gym Update #2 – Beach Bodies #2 (Starts next week)

We will be pushing ahead with BB#2 and it will kick off immediately upon the conclusion of BB#1 (next week!).  The structure of the program will be similar but different – each day will consist of 2x program streams.  Stream 1 will be for those people just getting started and will (for example) include a linear progression similar to the one that we followed for nine-weeks in the current program.  Stream 2 will be more focussed on the supportive exercises etc that we are all doing now in the ‘back end’ of BB#1.

Other elements of the program – classes, conditioning, stretching and pre-hab – will be largely unchanged.

How will you know when to move from the linear progression to the supportive work?  Well – you’ll ‘know’!  As those people who did BB#1 can no doubt attest, after nine weeks of progressions they were pretty much ‘ready’ to jump across to the supportive work because ALL of their progressions had pretty much plateaued.

Costs will be pretty straight-forward:

–       $99 for new participants.

–       $49 for anyone continuing on the training pathway who participated in BB#1.

As with BB#1, these prices include monthly Body Scans for participants – if you have participated in BB#1, the price you will pay is less than 50% of just getting the four (4) body scans done!

Registration link is below:

https://tms.ezfacility.com/OnlineRegistrations/Register.aspx?CompanyID=1214&GroupID=1369966

Gym Update #3 – New Bag Mitts/MMA Gloves are here (sort of!)

The first half of our order has arrived and we now have a full range of sizes available for all of our Bag Mitts and MMA gloves.  For just $25 (mitts) and $30 (mma gloves) these good quality products are great prices and there really is no need to go anywhere else when you are looking for new gear to help you through your training sessions!

Gym Update #4 – Hylete Gear

We are a couple of weeks away from having the first lot of Hylete gear on the shelves.  It has been ‘in stock’ for a little while now – we are just playing around with some screen printing to make them a little more ‘Round 1’.  As noted last week, when they go up the t’s and singlets will be $35, the crops will be $65.

Gym Update #5 – Beach Bodies 3-month Program – Week 13 is go

Our final week of programming in Beach Bodies phase#1 has been uploaded and I think it truly reflects how far everyone has come in there programming.  We are doing all sorts of different stuff this week – everything from 10’s to singles and even EMOM’s.  We are doing deficit deadlifts, strict pressing and some pretty cool plyo stuff.  If you have gotten through this program from beginning to end I have no doubt that you will be way (way) stronger than you were at the start – and way (way) more prepared for any physical challenge life might throw at you.

Footy Tipping Results for Round 21

There was a 4-way tie for first this weekend – with the winners correctly selecting SEVEN (7) winners.  Aaron, Ethan, Justin – and importantly, Michelle – topped the pool.  This result has enabled Michelle to move back level with Shelby on 132 points – only two back from Paul who is leading the competition.

Just two weeks to go – good luck everyone.

Dream Team Results for Round 21

Dream Team is over for me for another year.  Despite a pretty good score (2311) in the qualifying final today it wasn’t enough to beat Ash Bachman’s ‘NeverNeverLand’ who scored 2332 points.  A bit disappointing but happy enough with my score and if it wasn’t good enough to beat Ash, well, so be it!  In the other qualifying final (where the bitter side of me notes the scoring was a LOT lower – 2187 to 2154 – Trav’s ‘Yangebup Pigs’ defeated defending champ Kim (Half Time Heroes) and moves on to the preliminary finals.

Link of the week

Everlast have a great series of ‘How to’ vids that I have linked to before – they are a great tool for anyone trying to get ‘just a little bit better’ at using some of the equipment you will be training with at Round 1 every day.  This one is on the floor-to-ceiling ball:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMuz15zV-0M&index=15&list=PLS8fzsA2_JAFueiTm57EYXsF7CzV92GFp