Hi and welcome to another week,

Summer isn’t coming…summer is here.  For all of us (like me for example) who had forgotten what it was like training when it is ‘HOT’ we got a bit of a stark reminder during the week…and again realised the huge difference in temperature between a 30degree and a 38degree day.  Don’t get too stressed out – embrace the discomfort, it IS good for you – but keep your water bottle with you and use it liberally!  If you need two (2) bottles to get through a session, well, so be it.

The arrival of the hot weather also signals the arrival of easily the most chaotic month on our calendar – December.  Now, we aren’t there yet but given the way my inbox is starting to fill up with invitations to events and dinners and bbqs and drinks and all sorts of stuff – from family, from friends, from companies we work with at R1, from seemingly everyone in my address book (and a few who aren’t in my address book).  I guess the easy thing to do is just say ‘NO’ to everyone and go on about my usual business, but as I think everyone would appreciate that just isn’t realistic…nor is it a great way to keep friends and build relationships.

So you need to acknowledge now that come December, things are going to change and maintaining your diet and training routine is going to be super hard.  But you can do it – but you have to take on a ‘FLUID’ approach to your life.

Now Bruce Lee (who may have made a couple of pretty decent movies in his day!) had a great quote about this – it goes like this:

“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

Of course, I am pretty sure Bruce Lee didn’t mean ‘Be like water to fit in your training around all those Christmas parties you have been invited too’ but I am also pretty sure that he didn’t NOT mean it to apply to fitting in your training around Christmas parties.  So take on Bruce’s advice and ‘Be water, my friend’.

Christmas party on Wednesday night and another one on Friday night?  You need to be S-M-A-R-T.  Not every event needs to turn into a late night of bad food and loads of alcohol.  Sure, some might (and will I have no doubt – good for you, enjoy yourself).  But they don’t all need to be like that.  As such, maybe take it easy on Wednesday night and make sure you are up early and in the gym the next morning.  And if Friday is going to be a big drinking night, maybe make sure you eat PROPERLY before you go rather than relying on the plates of hors d’oeurves for sustenance throughout the event…you know that can only end badly.

I guess all I am saying here is that a really busy social month is approaching and having watched how hard everyone has worked in the gym all year I don’t want to see those hard earned gains (and hard earned losses!) thrown away by a lack of thought during one short month.  ‘Be water, my friend’.  Squeeze in your training sessions whenever you can.  If that means getting up early – but you normally train in the afternoons – well, that might be what you have to do on a few occasions.  ‘Be water, my friend’.  And don’t think of it as a sacrifice – think of it as making ‘adaptations’ to your usual plan in order to maintain the good habits you have developed over the last year or so!

See you in the gym,

Michael.

p.s.  A few of us are now sporting dirty great moustaches all in the name of Men’s Health.  If you can spare a couple of bucks for our fundraising, the link to donate is here:  http://moteam.co/round-1-fitness

p.p.s  Please stay tuned for a special announcement in the next couple of days relating to a sports strapping/taping session we will be running at the gym within the next couple of weeks in association with the great folks at Aubin Grove Physio.  The session will go for approx. 90-minutes and will mean we need to make some minor timetable adjustments…but the benefits will far outweigh the fact that we need to close down 1x class on our timetable.  Details via email when full details are available…

Gym Update #1– Special Offer from South Lake Podiatry

Our friends over at South Lake Podiatry have created a special offer for everyone who trains at Round 1.  They are offering a free initial assessment at South Lake Podiatry.  Noela has explained to me that this may involve the use of TOG Gaitscan and x-ray/ultrasounds to diagnose any existing pathology issues or it may be footwear advise (valued at $80).

It’s important that if people are experiencing pain in their feet, knees, shins and ankles they seek attention to ensurecontinuity of training. Please make sure they tell us that they train with you to receive this exclusive offer.

If you are interested in taking up the offer just either give Noela a call at the practice on 9417 9727 or email through to info@southlakepodiatry.com.au.  If you are wondering where they are located, the clinic is in the Jandakot Medical centre on the corner of North Lake Rd and Berrigan Drive.

Gym Update #2– MOVEMBER

There are a heap of people from the gym who have all signed up for the Movember fundraising – so if you see some particularly ‘dirty’ looking moustaches around the place it is not (well, not NECESSARILLY!) a fashion statement but an effort to raise awareness and funds for Mens Health.

If you are interested in donating we would LOVE to have you – the gym’s fundraising site can be found here:

http://moteam.co/round-1-fitness

We will be finishing off our MOVEMBER efforts with a special “MAN’S WORKOUT” in the usual Body Work timeslot on Saturday, November 28^th.  I actually have no idea what we will be doing in this workout but I envisage us coming up with as many ‘manly’ activities as we can…perhaps dis-assembling a carburettor followed by using a remote control to change all of the tv channels to different games of football.  Or something.

Gym Update #3 – Assault Bike Update

So the Assault Bike saga continues but I am happy to report that as of yesterday afternoon we have 11/12 bikes (rather than 9/12 bikes) functioning fully.  Whilst the reliability of the bikes has been a bit disappointing there is no doubt that both the manufacturer and the reseller (Australian Fitness Supplies) have been trying to help us resolve the problems.  Unfortunately I am not much of a bike mechanic (but I am getting a lot better it is sad to say) so even when the parts are available it takes twice as long to get everything back up and running.

I guess my only message is please be gentle with them.  The screens keep ‘breaking’ (by that I mean they wont reset properly) because of the incessant hammering the ‘START’ button gets when people jump on and off…the ‘Start’ button wont help you (unless you have programmed in a 2000m time trial for example) so don’t press it…

Yes – the bikes need to be a little tougher and yes, we need to get a bit better at maintaining them but if you can help keep them operational by being just a ‘little bit’ more gentle then that will hope no end.

Gym Update #4 – Strength Testing Day

As mentioned a little while back, when the current Beach Bodies cycle finishes we will be doing a ‘1-rep max’ testing day in the gym.  This is scheduled for November 29^th (a Sunday) and the plan is to test the maxes as follows:

–       12pm Bench Press

–       1pm Squat

–       2pm Overhead Press

–       3pm Deadlift

For everyone who has jumped into a Body Work class, Tanks class or No Rules class and had ‘no idea’ what to set the barbell at for their strength set, well, this might be the day for you.  If I am super motivated we might even cook a few burgers throughout the day!

If you are interested in testing, please let me know by return mail to info@round1fitness.com.au.  You could also register online HERE – now that link will tell you registration is $10 (it is free if you do it via email or at reception) but because I cannot create a ‘No Cost’ registration link (the software doesn’t support it) I made it $10 and will give you a set of R1F Lifting Gloves (usual cost = $25) for your trouble.  The day itself should be a lot of fun…it isn’t about setting records, more about spending some time in a pretty supportive environment at the gym and enjoying the chance to see what your training has made you capable of.

In addition to the testing listed above, we will also be giving people the chance to test their 500m row AND their 30calorie assault bike throughout the day.  

Gym Update #5 – Beach Training and Christmas BBQ

Here we go – Beach Training day number ONE will be on Sunday December 7th and will kick off at 09:30am.  Our plan is to spend 60-minutes or so doing a beach workout and then follow-up with a bbq and a bit of a get together from 11am.  We will be meeting down at C.Y. O’Connor beach (there is a grassed area where the kids can play plus a couple of bbq’s)…save the date, get along and lets have some fun in the workout then spend a bit of time enjoying one another’s company.

Gym Update #6 – Beach Bodies#2 – Week 12 is Up

Week 12 is up and it is a bit of a ‘DeLoad’ week.  Week 13 will include a whole heap of heavy stuff – specifically some max rep testing – and in order to be ready for it we just need to wind things back a touch.  You will see that the BB#1 and BB#2 strength stuff all defaults back to 3×5/3×8’s throughout the week and the conditioning efforts aren’t quite as tough as they were to this point in time.

Remain consistent in your training – get the sets done – and let’s all be ready to set some huge PR’s during Week 13.

Link of the week

Great blog by Ross and a great video link (that goes for around about 20mins).  Enjoy.

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2015/10/16/overnight-success-in-business-and-sport/