Hi and welcome to another week,
I am very happy to announce a couple of things.
1/. The October Challenge is now over and the gym’s artificial grass will be wearing out a LOT slower moving forward…overall the participants in the challenge have lost a little more than 250kgs!
2/. Supported by the challenge (no doubt), we have recorded our highest EVER monthly attendance since opening the gym in April 2010 with more than 6500 boxing + body work + B+ + Beginners classes being completed during October. 6500 people doing classes in one month…unbelievable.
So basically I am sitting here writing stuff completely impressed with everyone’s efforts!
Some more stats from the challenge:
Average weight loss (Girls): 2.4kgs
Average weight loss (Boys): 3.7kgs
Average Body Fat % change (Girls): 2.6%
Average Body Fat % change (Boys): 3.8%
Average muscle change (Girls): -0.09
Average muscle change (Boys): -0.19
As we have seen in the past couple of 28-days later challenges, holding muscle mass when in weight loss mode is a real challenge however I am pretty happy with the relatively small drops in muscle mass seen during this challenge. The reality is that if you lose up in that 5% of total body mass that some of it is going to be muscle (and we certainly had people losing more than 10% of ‘themselves’ during the 35 days of the challenge).
The thing that is so compelling about all of this is that we have now run challenges with fairly ‘SIMILAR’ rules (3-4 classes per week, 3x sets of ‘EXTRAS’ each week – approx. 1 hour of work, no bread, no pasta, no alcohol, no sweeteners of any kind) and the results achieved are remarkably consistent. I have to admit to always being surprised by a few body scans – like Jamie Oreb putting up a 10kg weight loss and Carl Acquado topping 11kg weight loss in just 35 days! – but I honestly feel like I know what is going to happen. Most people are going to lose about 3% body fat, the scales will drop by between 2% and 7% (this depends so much on initial body fat %) and the times recorded in their extras will improve from around 20% from week 1 to week 2, then by another 10-15% over the remainder of the challenge.
This stuff is just so simple. But at the same time it is just so bloody hard. We all have had numerous moments during the challenge – and I know for me I sat drinking water at my end of season function for all the coaches at Perth Footy Club and again at a friends 40th where it was cocktails and wood fired pizza all night – where we just want to ‘cheat’ and regretted being ‘ON’ the challenge. But when you wake up the next morning feeling 100% rather than (at best) a solid 85% AND you wake up thinking that getting to the gym seems like a GREAT idea rather than a fate much worse than death…well, you know you have made a great choice. And because you do get back to the gym the next day, those benefits of your good food choices multiply…And on those two (allowed) cheat days when you did enjoy a beer/wine/ice-cream, how good did it taste???
People (you know, we all have these ‘people’ in our lives) tell me a lot of things. They tell me that having these challenges that go for a month are ‘stupid’ because ‘you have to be able to enjoy life’. And I get that. I do. But if you want to (regularly) eat your cake/drink your wine then the outcome on the scales/body scanner is not going to change too much no matter how much you are in the gym. The challenge teaches you that – and I feel like we have proven to be true at Round 1 again and again now – through 3x 28-days Later Challenges and now 1x Summer Slam – what makes the difference to people in terms of their gym results are:
Doing a minimum of 3-sessions (preferably 4) in an instructor led environment. This is what (for most of us gym goers) is called ‘the easy part’.
Taking REAL control of their diet and being accountable for it – no bread, no pasta, no alcohol, no sweeteners with only 2x cheat days allowed in 30.
Making the time to get ONE EXTRA HOUR of concentrated effort (which works best as 3x 20minute blocks of high intensity training – e.g. The ‘Tres Hundo!’ workout) in the gym every week.
If you are determined to get results these things will do it for you. The data is there now – 100% there – and the outcomes are consistent. Which leads me to my shameless plug…if you have friends, relatives and work-mates who need help – and are prepared to play their part in the process/take ownership of their outcomes – then we CAN HELP 100%!!!
Let me know if any of this sounds good (or not) with an email to Michael@round1fitness.com.au
See you in the gym,
Michael.
p.s. Shoutout to the competitors at the 3-vs-3 up at Domain Stadium on Saturday. I loved getting up there to watch Di, Sheena, H, Jem, Kelly and Sarah lay the smack down! Well done to all of them for having a crack at it and it was awesome to see the girls in Beginners win their heat (running, burpees and situps) whilst I was up there!
We are one week away from our M.S. Fundraiser day – it is THIS SATURDAY (November 11th) – at the gym. Formal Festivities kick off from 10am with the WARRIOR WORKOUT (Elie is programming this) followed by the ‘TRAIN THE TRAINER’ event from 11’ish.
You will see some of the Trainer “Profiles” up in the gym and on Facebook during the week (below is a sample put together by ‘someone’ on behalf of Lauren!!) and these will continue to be posted on Social Media throughout the week. If you are keen on participating and making a ‘BID’ to take charge of the trainer for 15minutes, I really would encourage you to get a few people together in a syndicate…
As well as all of that, there will be cake stalls operating all day (luckily the challenge is OVER!!!!) and a sausage sizzle from lunch-time.
Get along and help us out guys – it is all for a good cause.
So the Developing Athlete Program team(s) have just finished their first week of ‘proper’ training and have come through pretty well. There is no doubt that their confidence in using the power racks/navigating their way around the gym is improving and that alone will provide them with some long term benefits.
Whilst both groups are still struggling with maintaining posture and position under stress (load!) they are definitely getting better – and if they can maintain universal athletic position with a 100kg bar on their back (overhead??) then they will certainly be able to do it when under physical pressure whilst participating in their sport of choice.
3-weeks to go!
Our amazingly cool new 10o.z. gloves are now in stock and they are everything I had hoped for. They look cool AND they are super supportive – I would really love to see anything on the market anywhere challenge these for quality and support for the $55 price tage.
As mentioned last week, most people training at Round 1 use our bag mitts and those are an awesome solution – decent protection/padding, good price ($25) and easy to get on/off – but if you haven’t tried a ‘larger’ set of gloves with greater hand/wrist protection, I would encourage you to try a pair of the new 10 o.z’ers on.
So – all of our new Speedballs are now UP and hanging (thanks to those amazing guys at Committed Gym Equipment lol) and for the first time in forever I feel like we have a genuine solution for our Speedball issues! Only time will tell I guess but I at least feel like our days of being the crash test dummies for leather thickness, strap lengths, strap thickness, number of panels, valve location etc might be over.
Next thing to address – the steps we stand on to hit the things! Watch this space.
I found this blog thanks to a link in the latest CrossFit journal and have been enjoying it – some pretty inspirational stories in there:
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.