Hi and welcome to another week,
Cheers again for the big numbers in our classes this week. I had a long time member ask me about my constant “big numbers” comment last week suggesting that I might say that even if no-one showed up for the sessions just to try and generate a bit of excitement and enthusiasm. Whilst not wanting to confirm or deny that statement, I am quite happy to say that we DO actually track this stuff – and so far in August 2016 we have averaged 194.50 people per day ‘checking in’ to the gym…whereas in August 2015 we had 155.55 people per day in the gym. I know that when you run a line across our ten (10) sessions per day (yes, I know some days there are 12 sessions but on Sunday for example there are only 4 so saying there are 10x classes per day is ‘good enough’) that the extra 40 people translates to an extra four people per class…but that all adds up. All in all, so far this month (August 2016) has had our second highest daily attendance of any month since we opened the gym – 2nd only to February this year. I know that I for one am super happy with the efforts we have been undertaking over the past couple of months to really ‘drive up’ the level of ‘ENERGY’ in the session (have a read of this blog if you want a refresher on what I am talking about) and I am hoping that it is these efforts that really have everyone switched on and keen to get into the gym!
As always I am sitting in my home office on Sunday night trying to figure out what to write about. This is proving doubly hard today – probably because I have just had the laziest day I can pretty much ever remember…slept in, lazy breakfast, laid on the couch all day. I did head out for a bit of a walk for Dempsey’s football wind-up/presentation day, but that is pretty much it. I have played my guitar, watched some football and made a few too many pots of coffee! Not sure why the day has turned out this way – I am blaming the weather! – but I am trying to justify it too myself by saying that everyone needs a ‘break’ occasionally…the little voice in my head is saying that I may have taken that a little far today though and that maybe doing a ‘little bit’ of exercise and a ‘little bit’ of work certainly wouldn’t have hurt (and in the case of the ‘work’ even a little bit would make for a less stressful Monday/working week!).
So trying to come up with ideas I have decided to write about one of the books I read recently. A few people know that I try (yep, I’ll take the penalty for using one of the forbidden words!) to do about 20 minutes of reading before I turn the light off at night. I try to read something ‘good’ under the theory that ‘You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.’ So I try to read stuff that will make me a better, more interesting person…whether or not that is working is totally up for debate.
Anyway, an interesting book I read recently was by Phil Knight and is called ‘Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike’ and I would really recommend it to anyone interested in reading a story of David vs Goliath and a group of guys (and girls) who overcame some pretty monumental odds to create a massive global company. It is an interesting and compelling story and I am sure if you take the time to read it you will love it – but I am here to try and give everyone something to think about not to try and add to Phil Knight’s multi-million dollar personal wealth by generating book sales…so here goes.
In the first chapter of his book (towards the end of the chapter he calls ‘DAWN’) he makes the following statement: “…just keep going. Don’t even think about stopping until you get there, and don’t give much thought to where ‘there’ is. Whatever comes, just don’t stop.”
Now, I do my reading on a Kindle these days and one feature it has it to show the number of times other readers may have highlighted, saved or underlined a certain passage or sentence. In the book, there are lots (and lots) of stuff that lots (and lots) of people have underlined, but no-one seems to have underlined the passage I just quoted to you. Maybe I just see things differently but to me it is just the best advice in the book and probably the best bit of advice that any of us can get (or give to ourselves) when it comes to anything in our lives that is meaningful and worthwhile. And of course, when it comes to your training, your diet and achieving any goals you might have related to those aspects of your life, it is just the most important piece of information you can ever tell yourself – “Just. Don’t. Stop.”
If you want to be a bit fitter, a bit thinner or look a bit better this summer when you are down the beach with your shirt off, it is all within your control – and the key element is to just keep on going. I always find it so amazing when I talk to people at the gym who complete things like the ’28-days Later’ challenge and lose 5kgs inside a month by exercising 4x per week, cutting out sugar, sweeteners, bread and pasta and limiting alcohol who 6-months later tell me that they have ‘found’ every one of those lost kilos! The key to ongoing success is to take Phil’s advice and just keep forging forward…after all, you have NEVER crossed the finish line (as he says, don’t worry too much about where the finish line might be!), just be consistent in your habits and keep doing things ‘right’ and amazing outcomes are headed your way!
That’s it. This blog felt more like a sermon than a blog so apologies for that…I just thought there was a little bit of ‘gold’ in what was a pretty simple statement from Phil Knight and wanted to share!
See you all in the gym,
Michael.
‘Summer Bodies are made in Winter’ and the August Challenge is now Three (3) -weeks down.
So – I have come to the realisation that this is an amazingly cool challenge. The variety on offer with the extras is absolutely awesome and I have plans to integrate some of those little mini-workouts into our boxing classes once it is all over. I have to say, the whole ‘get some calories, do some strength activities, get some more calories’ style of training really is a great way to train and reinforces my opinion that a combination of high-intensity cardio and strength efforts is the best strategy possible for improving general conditioning.
Personally, I have done all of my classes (actually, I have over-achieved here but decided to redo any class when I forgot to grab a signature rather than run the gauntlet of getting a penalty!) but still have 4x challenges to do. I know I am going to miss the focus of having a challenge to complete during September BUT already I am excited about what is planned for the month of October!
Lastly, I know we are missing 3x t-shirts but there are still a few to be picked up…please come and grab them if you are waiting on yours so I can finalise the order for anyone who has missed out all in ‘one hit’!
In case you have been hiding under a rock and wanted to know about the August challenge, the details are:
Classes – There will be 16x Boxing classes (or Body Work, or B+, or TANKS, or Beginners) to slog through during the month…it works out to a touch over 3 sessions per week.
Extras – There will be 8x ‘EXTRAS’ to complete during the month. We will be setting this up so that you have a choice of 15x extra workouts to push through – some will be as short as ten minutes of effort, a couple of them will take a fair bit longer. There are no ‘extra’ points for doing the longer challenges (you can do the same one eight (8) times if you like!) but it is about matching yourself to the challenges that best suit your own weaknesses/strengths AND the time that YOU have available.
The AFL Grand Final is almost upon us and we are looking to have a bit of a day at the gym to watch the game. Stay tuned for details but if you are looking for somewhere to watch the game, we have heaps of room, heaps of TV’s and there will be some sausages and burgers on the go…more info over the next couple of weeks.
A bit of a teaser for a new program that will be ready for release in a little over one month – Round 1 ‘FOOD MATTERS’. This is an instructor led, one-on-one eating program which aims to teach all participants how to make ‘better’ food choices for the rest of their lives. Each participant will receive:
A one-hour initial consult to complete a body scan, eating assessment and set an initial plan.
3x follow-up consultations (again, one on one sessions) where fortnightly eating ‘goals’ will be set in consultation with a trainer.
A planning guide where your eating goals will be set, where you can record the challenges you have overcome (and the ones that tripped you up) and set strategies in place for the ‘next time’ such a situation arises.
Our plan at the moment is that the program will cost around the $200 mark – this will include the 1x 1-hour consult, 3x 30-minute follow-up consults, 2x body scans and the guidebook…which seems like pretty good value to me. More info in the next couple of weeks as we firm up the offering, finish off the guide book and get the program ready for release.
So – our product of the week is all of the Rock Tape cream’s and lotions and sprays. These are awesome and I have to say that I use two of the products from this range every day and they ‘live’ in my gym bag.
Rock Sauce: This is a heat rub that does a great job of relieving ‘sore spots’ and getting muscles prepp’ed to train.
Rock Rub: This is a hand repair cream that I use on my callouses. I have found that this works really well and since I have been using it I haven’t suffered any split/bleeding hands (which is a nice change over the previous 12-months!).
Rock Sauce ‘Chill’: This one is the same as the ‘Rock Sauce’ but has a cooling rather than ‘heating’ focus. I use this a LOT – it is constantly being rubbed on my sore knee and – whilst I do take fish oil every day as well – I have found since regularly using the ‘Chill’ product the joint inflammation I used to suffer at seemingly ‘random’ times has been much reduced.
Our newest gear – the ‘Earned Not Given’ singlets and muscle-tee’s are now on the shelves and ready for sale. This is pretty cool gear from AS Colour with a new and uniquely R1 logo…I love the idea that everything you are has been ‘Earned’ and not handed to you (and like to think that my kids are growing up understanding that but who really knows??). $35 for this gear.
It looks like there will be one more release of hoodies this year – same as the ‘#committed’ ones but potentially in a new colour – I am just working through the details at the moment.
Really want to congratulate Eden on putting together such an awesome program – watching the guys go through their session on Friday where they covered another solid group of accessory exercises I can see how they will get to the end of the program with all the knowledge needed to squat well AND with a clear understanding of the methods you can use to increase strength in order to ‘blow past’ what would otherwise be ‘maximum’ lifts. Really pleased with how this has turned out and I am sure the guys participating are getting great outcomes.
The new weight belts are in the gym and are super awesome. I am guessing as I write this but I am pretty sure the prices are $35 for the ‘velcro’ belts and $70 for the leather ones. Which is awesome. I actually feel a bit sick having paid a touch over $170 for a single pin leather lifting belt a little more than 6-months ago…now we have double pin belts available in the gym for less than half of that price.
No ‘perfect’ scores in the tipping this week – but we did have 8x tipsters select 8/9…each of these people were tripped up by the Carlton win over Melbourne with the exception of Amanda Dixon…somehow Amanda managed to pick Carlton for the upset – but also picked the Gold Coast to fly down to Melbourne and overcome Collingwood (which seems even more unlikely now than it must have on Friday!). Congratulations to everyone who nailed the ‘8’ though regardless of how they got there.
One of those who selected ‘8’ was Justin who has jumped up into 4th spot on the leaderboard, level with Luke and just one behind Michelle who is in turn a point behind Kristy…there is still a week to go and given that the finals series is pretty much set results next week could very well be ‘all over the place’ – make sure you get your tips in!
Over in Fantasy, next week’s Grand Final will feature Lloyd and Rocco – who were 1st on the ladder and 8th on the ladder respectively at the end of the ‘regular’ season. Commiserations to Travis and Daniel (KD) who both had awesome seasons only to bow in the penultimate round. For anyone curious, based on this week’s matches Lloyd would have won the match-up vs Rocco by just 90 points – but a couple of ‘guns’ in Rocco’s squad (Josh Gibson and Devon Smith) had terrible games so it really is anyone’s grand final. Good luck.
This week’s link had to be Phil Knight’s book: ‘Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike’. This is a link to the title on Amazon but (of course) support your local book store if you have the chance: Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-NIKE
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