Hi and welcome to another week,

Thanks for everyone’s support during the last week.  I know a heap of people are doing the October Challenge and are therefore COMPELLED to be in the gym (I have 13 classes down in two weeks!  How are you guys going?) but even taking that into account, numbers have been great and effort/enthusiasm/energy in the gym have all been amazing.  If everyone keeps having a real go in the way of the past couple of weeks, then results will definitely be headed in our direction – either in the form of strength gains, fat loss, overall fitness…

Just on numbers in the gym, please remember that if you are NOT a member of the gym, you do need to BOOK in for classes held during PEAK times.  These are 5pm and 6pm Monday to Friday AND 8pm Tuesday/Thursday (Beginners).  If you ARE a member, you don’t need to book…we will figure it out!

Has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster for me over the past week or so.  On the plus side, it was my 21^st wedding anniversary – so that was nice.  Hopefully Ness will put up with my laziness and lack of help around the house/with the kids for a little longer yet (though, truthfully, I am amazed she has put up with it for this long!).  On the negative side of the ledger I had been hoping (well, planning is the right word) to get back involved with some football coaching in 2016 and last week was also the time I found out that I had missed out on the position I had been hoping to win.  To come second in any race is a horrible feeling – to come second when you really have ‘laid it on the line’ is just, well, it is just.

Whenever you are feeling a bit flat, tired, emotional, whatever – it really does take a bit of a toll on your life.  If you are anything like me you will find yourself dwelling on things – which impacts both productivity at work AND sleep.  It can also lead to some disconnections in your personal relationships (it is hard to have a conversation when your mind is elsewhere), it challenges your eating (when you are unhappy, who cares if you eat chocolate instead of carrot sticks) and it impacts on your physical training (you are tired from the lack of sleep and poor food which is NOT helping you get your butt to the gym).

In other words, whenever you suffer a bit of an emotional let-down the impact can extend to ALL areas of your life – and the impact of someone else’s actions/decisions can really take a toll on your level of personal happiness.

Funnily enough, my life hasn’t been completely smooth sailing and I sort of know by now (I am, after all, very old!) how I was going to react.  So I have been able to put in place a bit of a plan to help myself ‘get on with it’.

1. Make a ‘To Do’ list – and DO IT.  I have a daily list of ‘stuff’, and some times I treat it as a ‘to do’ list, whereas at other times it is more like a ‘would be nice if I got around to it’ list.  Whenever I am struggling a bit with my place in the world, I make every item on it a ‘To Do’ and I make sure I cover off on them before I hit the pillow.
2. Be ACTIVE – but don’t be competitive about it.  When I am struggling mentally, the last thing I need is to get into a competition at the gym…that is stress I JUST DON’T NEED.  So, I do the classes and go at my own pace.  That pace will naturally increase as I start to feel better and those exercise endorphins will help me feel better.  But don’t force it – just get to the gym, jump in the class (I don’t try to train by myself – my head would be all over the place) and just work through the exercises on the wall.
3. Be SMART with your food.  I plan out my meals, I make sure I have access to the stuff I need to eat well because I KNOW that if I don’t bad decisions will result.  When you are a bit down, making emotional eating decisions becomes really easy so take them OUT of the equation.
4. Spend some good times with your close family/friends in a fun environment.  If you are stuck just ‘hanging around’ the house, then it is unlikely you are going to be doing much more than laying around thinking about what has happened.  Get out and about – I was lucky in that I had plans to get out and play super-golf with the kids in the Swan Valley on Saturday…best thing I could have done.
5. Go to SLEEP.  Don’t sit up late watching mindless tv or playing computer games because you “aren’t tired”.  That is not going to work.  I know you aren’t tired, but I guarantee the best place to go to sleep is IN BED with the LIGHTS OUT.  And the sooner you can get to sleep, the better chance of waking up with some energy when the alarm goes off…and therefore the better chance of entering the next day with a positive attitude.
6. Don’t sook about it!  Whatever it is, there is not much you can do about it now…and whilst telling someone just to “get on with it” is not particularly helpful (particularly given our developing understanding of mental health issues) you do need to remember that you still have a lot of living to do and other opportunities will present themselves as time moves on.

See you in the gym,

Michael.

p.s.  Jump to it and join our Round One Fitness ‘MOVEMBER’ team!  We want to get as many people as possible all trying to raise some money for Men’s Health in November – and have plans to finish it all off with a special “Man’s Workout” (though no idea when or what that will involve just yet).  Get involved – Boys and Girls are both needed – and you can join the team HERE:  https://au.movember.com/register/join-team/id/1997129

p.p.s.  Please (please) don’t forget the Halloween Party at the gym this Saturday night…show up anytime from 7pm.  Bring whatever you are planning on drinking, make sure you have a ‘way home’ organised and we will enjoy one-anothers company outside of session times!

p.p.p.s  Please have a read of the Beach Bodies section if you have been a participant in either BB#1 or BB#2.  I want to run a 1RM testing day at the end of November for anyone who is keen.

Gym Update #1 – Halloween

Halloween Party is THIS WEEK!  Use your imagination and come dressed in the scariest thing you can find…remember, if you can’t think of anything that Lloyd is petrified of CLOWNS so if we had a whole heap of people dressed up as CLOWNS on the night that wouldn’t be such a bad thing!  We are kicking off from 7pm…bring whatever you would like to drink!

Gym Update #2 – October Challenge:  Week 3 starts NOW

Our October Challenge has just gotten SERIOUS.  On top of the ‘No Sweeteners’ restriction (week 1) and the ‘Healthy Breakfast’ challenge in week 2, we now have the ‘Good Night Sleep’ challenge to deal with as well.  Now – I KNOW that you just can’t ‘make yourself’ go to sleep…and I get that.  But this week (and next week), you must be IN BED with the LIGHTS OUT at least EIGHT (8) hours before your alarm is scheduled to go off.  For people like me who have a 4am alarm, that is going to be tricky…for people like me who don’t get home from work (sometimes) until 9:30pm – and still have to deal with a 4:00am alarm, it is going to be almost impossible.  BUT.  You only have to manage it FIVE (5) times during the week…so get your calendar out, and make a plan to REST as well as a plan to train, and a plan to eat…it is all connected and for more than a few people out there, your lack of SLEEP will be what is holding you back from getting the results you WANT.

For anyone still uncertain about what might be what, specific details of the challenge include:

–       Complete 21x classes within the challenge time-frame (Monday October 5^th until Sunday October 31^st).  Double sessions are permitted.

–       As well as having a ‘food restriction’, each week of the challenge will include a food challenge!  An example of this is to ‘Eat a healthy, balanced breakfast every day this week’.   We have recipes ready to go to help you here that include some portion size guidelines.

–       The October challenge will feature our first ever ‘SLEEP CHALLENGE’.  Now, we cannot regulate how LONG you sleep for, but the challenge will be a simple one – be in bed with the LIGHTS OUT and TV OFF at least EIGHT (8) hours before your alarm is scheduled to go off….shift-workers might need to have a chat to me on this one!

–       Remember, the details of the 2x weekly circuits can be found on the YouTube Channel.

Gym Update #3 – Hand Wraps (Black and Blue)

Hey everyone – I know we have been down on the two most popular colours (black and blue) for a couple of weeks now but our new order has shipped and will hopefully be in the gym by the end of this week.  We also have new deliveries of Boomers, Progenex, back-packs (and a new duffle bag), Rebel coffee and what seems like every other product under the sun on the way!

Gym Update #4 – Summer Program – Monthly Beach training

We are planning to include a monthly ‘beach workout’ in the planning for this summer – starting in November.  I would love some feedback here on what you would like in terms of details (day?  Time?) to help in the planning.  At this stage we are looking at a Saturday morning around 09:30am …the idea will be just to have a bit of fun and do something a bit different.

Gym Update #5 – Beach Bodies#2 – Week 8 is Up

Week 8 of the program has been published and should be accessible to all participants.  As per my comments on the Beach Bodies FaceBook page today, I will be continuing to program both a linear progression (called BB1) and a supportive exercise progression (BB2) right through to the end of the program this time.

On other Beach Bodies news, I am also proposing to plan out a ‘Week 14’ testing day – we will be running this on the FINAL SUNDAY of the current Beach Bodies program (which I work out to be November 29^th) when we will do 1RM Testing for anyone who has participated in either Beach Bodies#1 OR Beach Bodies#2 programs for Back Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press and Overhead Press.  The testing sessions will commence from the conclusion of the LAST CLASS on November 29^th (or just after 12pm).

Gym Update #6 – Hylete Gear

We have a new delivery from Hylete and a new logo ready to go…these will be getting printed up in the next couple of weeks.  As anyone who has tried the gear so far will attest, it is amazing and – more importantly – amazing gear to actually TRAIN in.  Get yourself into some of the Hylete wear – you will not regret the decision.

Link of the week

I have been putting together the plan to give everyone the chance to ‘Test their Best’ in the gym towards the end of November…to answer the question that everyone who rocks up to Body Work or Tanks lately has been asking me which is ‘How much weight should I be putting on the bar for this lift because I have no idea?’.  Which always makes me laugh because if you have no idea, how do you think I might have any idea???

Anyway, this is a cool article about keeping a training log:  http://breakingmuscle.com/smart-strength/the-one-element-of-your-training-that-cant-be-forsaken