Hi and welcome to another week,

Thanks to everyone who trained with us over the past week – classes have been amazing (with ANZAC Day an obvious highlight) and I know I have really enjoyed both running and participating in the sessions.  A special congratulations to everyone who finished off their ‘All Class’ challenge during the week – 25 sessions done in 28 days is really something to be proud off…

I know what I want to write about this week and I hope I can pull this off.  Apologies in advance if I miss the mark I am trying to hit here.

If you follow us on Facebook (and you should, we put awesome videos and stuff up every single day!) then you would have seen a little video mid-week where some of the lunch time regulars gave a bit of a get well shout out to one of the regulars who had suffered a bit of a health scare during the week.  I certainly hate thinking of myself as ‘old’ (or even as getting old) but I do feel like more than a few people I know (or know of) have gone through similar things lately and I guess that means I am at the very least, middle aged – and that has implications for my health.

So, what happened during the week was that after completing a class, our long term member – who has trained with us 5/6 days per week for probably 6 years and – in all honesty – is in great shape…he trains hard and regularly, eats well, doesn’t really drink, doesn’t smoke etc – started suffering from some chest pains.  They lasted 5-10 minutes or so (and the pain was pretty bad) but then it all settled down and he felt OK.  His wife convinced him (and by all reports there was quite a bit of convincing required) to go to the E.D. and he was admitted.

Suspicions were initially that the pains were a hold-over from a virus he had been suffering – but they put him in for an ECG anyway…and to the surprise of the cardiologist and other hospital staff, there was a 90% blockage in the main artery – a stent was inserted and (hopefully, fingers triple crossed!) everything in this story is happy from this point forward.  But I guess it leaves me with a few take-aways.

First off, having a great lifestyle doesn’t protect you from this sort of stuff.  I feel that I am regularly reading about situations where people who are dedicated in their pursuit of a healthy lifestyle (just like our gym member) die suddenly from a heart disease related incident.  I guess all I can offer here is that in this case our member had been saying over the past couple of months that the sessions were ‘getting harder’ and that he “couldn’t keep up anymore”…I have to admit not thinking much of it  – like me, he likes to complain a bit during sessions – but no doubt he was struggling and it was due to a physical issue.  If you are feeling like something is becoming a struggle – don’t just DEAL with it – get it checked out!

Second off, if I was the main character in this story I am pretty certain I would be dead since I wouldn’t have gone to the hospital no matter how much Vanessa nagged me.  But I have to admit what has happened during the week has really gotten to me – particularly going in to the hospital and seeing all his kids by his bedside.  If people around you are concerned enough about your health to be asking you to get checked out, well, do the right thing by them and get checked out.  Not only would mates like me be missing him terribly if he hadn’t gone to the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, I am pretty certain the loss felt by his 3x boys is something that would never leave them.

Lastly, don’t leave these things to chance.  I am not sure when I last went to see a doctor but it would be years ago rather than days, weeks or months ago.  Further, I don’t think I have EVER gone to the Doc for a ‘check-up’.  Hell, if I need a check-up I jump on the rower and see how long it takes me to row 2kms – if that number is too high, well my response is generally to train a bit harder!  BUT – there is such a thing as a Heart Health Check when the Doc checks your blood pressure, takes blood tests for a cholesterol check (RDL and LDL) and does the family history assessment etc.  It looks pretty simple and painless on the website and it is something we should probably ALL be getting done if not every year then every couple of years from – I don’t know – age 35 or so (apologies to everyone reading through this for whom that age is off into the distant future!).

We all have people who love us and need us around – do the right thing and look after yourself.  This means get to the gym, it means eat right AND it means seek help and assistance when you need it.  I am so relieved the story I have told here today has had a happy ending and that I will get to keep spending time in the gym for a few years yet with someone who I really value as a friend.

See you all in the gym!

Michael.

Gym Update #1 – “All Class” Challenge is DONE!

As noted in the opening stanza, a big congrats to everyone who finished the April ‘ALL CLASS’ challenge – awesome effort.  I managed to finish mine today by squeaking in for a class before getting caught in the junior sporting vortex and I have to say am feeling quite proud of myself.  With all the public holidays this month (I can’t do classes then ‘cos I am running them) plus dealing with this disintegrating shoulder joint, well, it was bloody hard getting to the end.  Everyone has their own tale to tell during challenges and everyone has things to overcome in order to get to the end.  I know for me it seems that each and every time one comes along, I really do have to push hard to get to the end and it does give me a great sense of satisfaction AND a bit of motivation for the NEXT month…

Our annual ‘THE ONE’ Challenge is next cab off the rank at the start of June.  This is the challenge where you are in charge – and you select ONE element of your diet to ‘FIX’ and one part of your training to ‘get better’…and we put you together with a trainer to put a plan in place.  Last year I decided to attempt to get better at my cardio – and Eden created the most horrific series of workouts known to man for me to complete during the month…it did work though to be fair.  Really looking forward to this one!

Gym Update #2 – New Gear, New Gear.

So – all of the new shields are now up which is awesome.  Next cab off the rank is our fleet of floor to ceiling balls which will be replaced / receive replacement rubber kits during the next week.  Pretty excited about this.  Remember when hitting the floor to ceiling ball that they should be level with your head – not your hips!  Continually tightening the straps so that they move a bit faster but are at the same height as the toddlers in your life (be they grandkids, kids, nieces/nephews, brothers or sisters) is not a great plan…

Gym Update #3 – Phase 2 1%’er

So – the conditioning ‘month’ is over – now it is on to the strength/muscular development month.  This could be a bit tricky for people not familiar with Body Works, setting up racks etc but, hell, ask some questions and answers you will receive!

Now, this program is again intended only to take up to 15-minutes of your time either before or after class…if you want a bit more, well, try the strength program (on the whiteboard in the power rack area) or the full-body program (on the whiteboard in the upstairs gym) OR get to Body Works OR get to TANKS (yes, I know it costs an extra $13.50 but it is pretty good!) or a PT session or 2.  Anyway, here goes:

Day 1:

Squat:  Warm-up with 2-3 light sets of 10 reps.  Pause at the bottom of each rep (count of 1) to work through your mobility.

Pull-ups:  Complete 3x sets of 5 strict pull-ups (10x fencepulls) to prepare your back for squats.

Squat:  Complete 3x sets of 5x HEAVY reps of back squats.  This is your starting day so don’t worry if ‘heavy’ doesn’t look heavy compared to the person in the rack next door!  Just do them…and be sure to record the weight you used.  (Same weight for all 3x sets).

Day 2:

Bench Press:  Warm-up with 3x sets of 10-12 reps of bench press.  Focus on the bar going down ‘steady’, fast UP!

Push-ups:  Complete 3x sets of 10 strict pushups.

Bench Press:  Complete 3x sets of 5x HEAVY reps of Bench Press.  This is your starting day so don’t worry if ‘heavy’ doesn’t look heavy compared to the person in the rack next door!  Just do them…and be sure to record the weight you used.  (Same weight for all 3x sets).

Day 3:

Squat:  Repeat the warm-up from Day 1 (light squats and Pull-ups).

Squat:  Repeat the 3x sets of HEAVY reps from Day 1 but increase the weight by 2.5kgs.  Again, be sure to record the weight you used.

Gym Update – Footy Tipping and Fantasy

Tipping – A few upsets this week which has seen two people (the uniquely named ‘Azdog’ and Craig Burleigh) to top the table with just 7 correct tips.  It seems everyone was tripped up by Collingwood’s surprise win, with other common ‘mistakes’ coming in the Hawthorn/Saints game and in the Derby.  This all means that Craig has drawn level with Peter Brear at the top of the tipping ladder on 40 points – but at this early stage of the season there are another 11 tipsters still within 2 points of the lead.

Fantasy – Much lower scores this week with no-one breaking 2100 points after last weeks points explosion where a couple of teams went 2300 plus.  Top scores for the week included Brett’s ‘Twitchie Dishlickers’ and table topping Ash Bachman’s ‘Never Never Land’.

Link of the Week

Well, there have been a few pushups done in the gym over the last week or so (a few too many if you ask me!).  How many of these 33 varieties do you think you might be able to do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqPe_iAm8lI