Hi and welcome to another week,
As always, a big thankyou to everyone who got along to the gym in the last week. As the weather has turned a little bit cold and nasty – and it starts to get a little harder to get up every morning – it really is time to remind yourself that done is done, and just getting out of bed and into really is a ’10 minutes of discomfort for a long-term benefit’ situation…once you have gotten out of bed, you will find there really isn’t that much difference between June and January…
I was really happy with the way the classes turned out last week and – of course – the Friday team challenge was my favourite. Hard to define exactly why the structure of these sessions encourages/inspires everyone to work just that little bit harder…they just do. In the week ahead we have some fun sessions planned with our first 6-minute class for a few weeks planned for Friday. Thursday also has a ‘long-cycle’ rowing effort which we haven’t done (outside of TANKS and No Rules) for quite a few months now…can’t wait.
It is cold and flu season at the moment – or at least it is in my house! – and I just wanted to talk a little bit about how to handle things should you be ‘dragged down’ by illness.
First off, when you have a runny nose, sore throat, headaches etc – well, you often just don’t feel well enough to get into the gym…at least for a few days. Oftentimes, you might feel the symptoms ‘coming on’ and think you will be OK – but then feel devoid of energy when you do get to the gym. Be SMART in this situation. Finish your workout, but maybe drop back from the performance targets to the fitness options. Take a bit of extra time throughout the session for water breaks. Get through…but look after yourself. Most of the time, us fit, healthy, gym-going people only ever get those ‘first level’ symptoms…looking after yourself and living a fit and healthy lifestyle generally means you recover quickly from illness.
If the cold/flu has been dragging on for a few days, the question then becomes ‘should I go to the gym?’. Well, you don’t want to make anyone else sick – and you don’t want to make yourself any worse/impede recovery. So the rule here is usually a pretty simple one – if ALL of your symptoms are ABOVE the neck (sore throat, runny nose etc) you should be FINE to train (albeit in a modified way). But if you have issues below the neck – flemmy chest, upset stomach, temperature, aching body etc…well, you are NOT right to train. Stay home and get better! There is just no point in pushing things if you have symptoms like those – you will only do yourself more harm and probably take a few innocent bystanders out on the way through!
The next phase of things of course is returning to the gym after missing a bit of time. Now this might be because you have been recovering from the flu or have had some ‘stuff’ going on that has held you out of the action for a bit. When you are first back – particularly after illness – you cannot just expect to be ‘back to normal’ on day one. Don’t even think about things in those terms – set yourself small, achievable targets throughout the session whilst making allowances for your recovery (extra drink breaks etc). Don’t think about the end of the class, just focus on finishing each station to the best of your ability then move, reset and refocus. Oftentimes when you are returning to the gym after illness, you are feeling better but still aren’t quite better…and what you might find ‘easy’ in the normal course of affairs will be a challenge for a session or two after you first get back.
So there you go. In the meantime, keep up the healthy eating, get some good sleep (tired, rundown people are more likely to fall victim to illness) and I will see you all in the gym!
Michael.
So – in the next couple of weeks we will be cutting all of our gym lighting over to LED-type globes. Not that I think our lighting is terrible – but the LED lights are both better and (hopefully!!!) a LOT less expensive to run. When we do get them in, would be really keen to hear your feedback.
OK. Lot’s of questions lately about where this is at and it will all be kicking off on the first Sunday in June (June 3) at 7am. Apologies for the early start on a Sunday morning, but with the gym open from 8am it is kind of the only opportunity we will get to do it…plus, most of the events we are talking about will be early Sunday morning starts and you may as well get used to it.
As noted last week, in week #1 we will meet at the gym and will base ourselves there for a couple of weeks – longest run in week #1 will be 200m (but there will be a few of them!). As time progresses towards the City to Surf, we will be increasing the distances we cover each week…to support that, we will be putting up some running work ‘to do’ in between our group sessions and will publish it here.
Just a couple of points to note:
There is no charge for the running club but it is for members only. Please don’t ask if your significant other/brother/sister/friend/whomever can come along…it just gets uncomfortable saying no to good clients.
If we aren’t consistently getting 10+ people to the sessions, we aren’t going to run them. Happy to get out of bed extra early on a Sunday to run the sessions, but it is a demand based system…if there is only one or two people who are interested, let’s just give it away and I will write up a couple of individual programs for you to follow.
As mentioned last week, our new challenge ‘The ONE’ will be kicking off in May. This challenge is a bit special as participating gives you a 15-minute ‘sit down’ with one of the trainers to work through your food and training goals/plans – remember, it is all about getting BETTER at one training element and SACRIFICING one food element.
I am thinking that my ‘get better’ exercise is going to be barbell front squats – I tend to avoid them because of the stress on my wrists but the real solution would be to do them MORE not less…let’s see how it goes!
Week 4 of our strength/muscular development program is up and rolling. Hopefully everyone who wants in has asked all the rack set up questions etc that they might have had…if not, track down a trainer and ask them this week!
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. Pretty simple – add between 2.5kgs and 5kgs to the bar from the weight you used last session.
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. As with the squat, add between 2.5kgs and 5kgs to the weight you used last week.
Day 3:
Squat: Repeat the warm-up from Day 1 (light squats and Pull-ups).
Pull-ups: Complete 3x sets of 5 strict pull-ups (10x fencepulls) to prepare your back for squats.
Day 3:
Squat: Repeat the warm-up from Day 1 (light squats and Pull-ups).
Deadlifts: Perform 3-5 warm-up sets (slowly increment) then get 3x sets of 5-reps each. As with our efforts back in week, these don’t need to be super heavy but I want them to be a ‘challenge’…you should finish your 3rd set with a little bit left in the tank though.
So a bit more of a ‘spread’ amongst tipsters this week. Only 8 games on offer and a couple of people (Dodge and Rhino) were able to nail 7 of them – with only the Melbourne/North game and West Coast/Bombers games holding them back from perfection!
Michael Campbell has now taken a clear lead in the competition – he is one point ahead of Peter Brear and Clarke Osborne.
Over in the fantasy competition there were some massive scores recorded – 7 teams topped 2200 points and one topped 2300 points. Two teams actually topped 2200 points and LOST (so it must suck to be them!).
Brendan was the top scorer of the week with 2308 points whilst Ash remains clear on top of the ladder.
Great video on IT Band issues – have had a couple of people reporting on these in the last week or so and had to hunt way (way) back in the Mobility WOD archives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdHah3xPx6E
We know this can be a daunting time. You’re probably wondering if we really are the right fit for each other. And it’s OK! Many people before you, have felt the same, and that’s why we want to offer you something special – our $29 Health Check.
Let’s work out together to see if we’re the right fit. Just hit the button below to let me know if you’re ready to see what’s included.
Subscribe below to join our tribe.
You'll receive email updates about the studio, special events, and membership option sales!
