Hi and welcome to another week,

Cheers to everyone for the support over the past week – and right throughout October.  As it turns out, it has been our busiest month in terms of class attendance since way, way back in February this year.  Yep, the weather has been getting a bit nicer and yep, we have had a challenge running but when it all comes down to it, more people in the gym = more work being done which can only be a good thing…aren’t all of us going to be in amazing shape this summer.

Special thanks to everyone who supported our fund-raiser for the ‘Love for Lachie’ foundation.  No matter whether your support was registering for the coaching workshops (which were pretty darn cool), buying a protein ball or something in between we really appreciate it.  There is a bit more about this below but – a big (big) thanks to everyone for an amazing day.  As for the Halloween party that followed – well, it was a great night and rather than talk about it I think the best idea might be to let the stories of all the antics become distant memories…when we have zombie cheer-leaders taking off for bin runs at 11 o’clock at night then it is probably best that stories from the night are kept to those who were here on the night. Saturday sure was a massive day  – first classes, then ‘Love For Lachie’, then the Halloween party – and backing up on Sunday for classes and the challenge body scans has made for a busy weekend at the gym for all of us.

Looking ahead, we have some cool classes in the schedule.  7-minute rounds are back on the agenda this week, there are a heap of abs on the schedule and the early part of the week features an arms focus (getting all the boys ready for the beach).  We are also continuing with our focus on adding some endurance efforts to the cardio stations – this means RPM on the bikes plus distance on both the skis and rowers.  As noted a couple of weeks back, our programming for the cardio stations had become very ‘power’ focussed – with small time limits and calorie targets – with endurance elements being over-looked.  I am trying to address this imbalance at the moment and you might find there is a ‘weighting’ towards the endurance efforts over the next couple of months.

So – on that pretty serious note (programming for endurance vs power, reviewing and revising our sessions and how people are progressing etc) it is probably a pretty good time to add a general reminder about something completely different…your training is supposed to be FUN.  And it is OK to laugh, joke around and mess around.  Remember that the trainer who is taking the class probably suffered through the same session you are about to do earlier in the day – or will be suffering through it later in the day.  They were just as bad at all of it as you will be – and more than that, they suffered equally as much as you are about too…so it doesn’t hurt to remind them of their own short-comings, hassle them during the demos (be respectful of course but I think we all know where the ‘line is’) and just have some fun with the whole thing.  The thing about group training that makes it so great is the community that comes along with training alongside others.

I guess I am not sure when everything that happens in the gym (not just in our gym either – just have a look on the interwebs to see all the earnest articles about improving and working hard!) had to get so serious.  Remember, we are here to get fit and look a bit better in our board shorts (or bikini) – we aren’t here preparing for Olympic competition.  Sometimes I wonder though – I look around and everyone seems so ‘serious’…it is supposed to be F-U-N and about having a bit of a sense of pride and accomplishment about what you were able to achieve in your 45-minutes.  You know, you finish, you think back through all the stuff you completed and think to yourself ‘I DID THAT.  ME.’  Then you high-five the person next to you, share a quick smile and head off home…then we turn up again and do it again tomorrow (again, with a smile on our faces).  And if a mid class high five with the person next to you – maybe you got through the bikes successfully and want to share the achievement – is what it takes to keep you ‘on track’, then you should go for it by all means.  If you want to share a story with the person next to you about how hard a ninja roll is, or ask if there is a trick to doing one exercise or another, well, you should definitely do it.  If the trainer ‘busts’ you for “talking too much” or whatever, laugh at them, do the 5-burpees you have been given, laugh at them again and get back too it.

After all – if you are at the gym to work hard and get great results, what’s a few burpees between friends?  Do them with a smile on you face and with a few choice words for the trainer.  And if they give you another 5, keep the smile on your face, do the burpees and share a few more of your feelings!  F-U-N.

When I read back through some of my recent blogs – not to mention scrolling through my twitter feed – everything ‘gym and fitness’ is just about ‘working hard’ and ‘being consistent’ and pushing ahead…which is all great, but it does kind of contradict all of the things I have just been talking about.  Remember, in this huge push for ‘being better’ that it is worth catching yourself occasionally and celebrating the little things you are doing every day, the things you are doing now you couldn’t 6-months ago and the fun you had with your gym buddies…like I said, we aren’t really ‘chasing greatness’ (well, I said we aren’t preparing for the Olympics but it is sort of the same thing) and it is worth keeping that in mind.  Training is supposed to be F-U-N.  Share a joke, poke a bit of fun and enjoy yourself.  Remember, it doesn’t matter how much the exercise you are currently doing sucks – or even if it is the least ‘FUN’ you could imagine – enjoying exercise really comes down to your mindset and remembering that whatever pain you are going through will be both short-lived and well worth it over the long haul!

To try and keep the theme going, I thought I would share with everyone my personal favourite moment of the past week.  It wasn’t someone setting a record on the bikes or going crazy on the heavy bag – it was listening to Brad singing along with ‘Born to Run’ at the absolute top of his lungs whilst doing a boxing class at lunchtime one day this week…whatever else he was doing, he was having some F-U-N.  Embrace the challenge – don’t think of things as if they are too hard – think of them along the lines of ‘how cool would it be if I could do THAT’ and give it a go!

See you all in the gym.

Michael.

Gym Update #1 – Love for Lachie Day

Thanks to everyone who did ‘a little bit of something’ for the day.  Whether you purchased a raffle ticket, dropped in to buy a burger, donated something to raffle, baked something to sell, well, we all really appreciate it.  We have nearly sold all of the kettlebell tickets (we can’t really ‘draw’ that one till they are all gone – tickets are $5) but with everything else that happened – from the coaching sessions, the Bali raffle, the ‘naughty/nice’ stall – we have raised around-abouts $6000 all up…the reality of this money is that it will pay for about TEN (10) genome sequencing processes for people suffering from GBM.  There is a bit more info HERE for anyone who wants to read about what we are trying to raise money for.  Thanks again everyone.

Gym Update #2 – Halloween Party

Thanks to everyone who got along to our Halloween bash last night.  I guess all up it was a bit quieter than last year which was disappointing (I now have enough sausages and burgers to feed a small army) but maybe that is more to do with trying to run it on the same day as the Love for Lachie event??  Regardless, a lot of fun was had by everyone who made it along and – as always – it is great to enjoy each others company outside of the ‘gym’ context (even though we were in the gym!

We are hoping to get everyone together again BEFORE Christmas and I hope to have some more details on this in the next week or so…thinking a Sunday afternoon get-together down at Woodman’s point or Coogee beach.

Congratulations to EVERYONE who has had a fair old crack at getting through the challenge.  If you got to the end you are amazing.  If you gave it your absolute best shot but fell just a bit short due to illness, injury or the worst one of all – ‘LIFE’, well, truthfully that is no less amazing and you should feel proud for giving it your best shot.

We have done a heap of post challenge Body Scans – the best outcome we have seen to this point was a 7.3kg weight loss (6.2% body fat drop) which is pretty darned impressive in LESS THAN ONE MONTH…if you are disciplined with what you put in your mouth whilst also being persistent with your training you get great results – but one doesn’t come without the other.  Going back to the blog comments earlier, it doesn’t mean you can’t have any ‘fun’, but watching what you eat from Monday to Friday followed by a blow-out every Saturday and Sunday does not equal good eating…to get results you need to take that moderation approach to your eating/drinking every weekend – with an occasional splurge for a big occasion!  If it is your best mates birthday and you have been planning the event forever – go crazy!  If you are tired after a hard day at work or maybe you just drink beers by the pool EVERY Sunday?  Well, those are the occasions where you need to show a bit of restraint and stick to the straight and narrow path if you want your hard work in the gym to translate into positive body outcomes.

Great results are there for all of us – we just have to want them enough to stay the course!  If you did the challenge without quite getting the results you were chasing – don’t lose heart or hope…rather it is the time to adjust the plan (chat to the trainers for help) and stay focussed.  It is a cliché I know, but the reason so many people have to keep ‘starting again’ is because they decide to quit or grow frustrated when the end goal is in sight!

Anyway, stay tuned for our next challenge – the annual 12-days-of-Christmas challenge.  Looking forward to this one – it will be a training only challenge (to allow for all of those Christmas parties and catch-ups to proceed ‘guilt free’) and, as always, will have a couple of cool exercise ‘twists’.  On the first day of Christmas, my true love said to me….

Gym Update#4 – 3-vs-3 Competition

Link of the Week