Hi and welcome to another week,

Thanks to everyone who got along to what was a fun week of sessions last week.  My favourite (of course) was the 6-minute rounds on Thursday with the 3x long duration cardio stations.  The targets were the perfect mix of challenging but achievable – you know as soon as you got on the bike/rower/ski/SPARC that there was no time to stuff about and you COULD make it if you were prepared to push…we don’t do too many of those ‘5-minute +’ cardio efforts in boxing (or body work to be honest though the TANKS guys do cop a fair bit of it!) and based on how ‘HARD’ most of us found it I think we might need to get a bit more of it on the menu for the next 2-3 months just to really balance the ‘power’/’endurance’ focus points in our sessions.

So.  Blog today is a bit all over the place because I had a ‘plan’ of what to write but then I had to go to footy training this morning and now it seems I have a ‘new’ plan…which isn’t much of a plan at all – it is really a rambling, meandering idea.

First off, I was chatting to a couple of the other coaches when I got there (this is not the subject) and one mentioned he had been out to breakfast because it was his daughters’ birthday.  Which sounds nice!  He went on to point out that he behaved himself and didn’t order the pancakes…which was met by a fair bit of laughter and some comments about ‘I bet you ate the bacon and eggs instead’…

Like I said, this isn’t the blog but Bacon and Eggs – as long as you get some veggies as well – is a GOOD, HEALTHY breakfast.  You are getting some good protein, some healthy fats and – with the added veggies (spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, even a bit of sweet potato) enough carbs to get you through the day.  (Yes, spinach is a carb – it sure isn’t a FAT or a protein!  Same for mushrooms!  Same for every veggie you can think of!).  Like I said, this isn’t the blog topic of the day but as long as you don’t go over the top with quantity, a couple of slices of bacon, a couple of eggs and some veggies makes for an awesome, balanced, healthy meal.  So don’t mock it – embrace it.

Anyway.  Onto the topic of the day which I guess is all about attitude.  Or attitudes.  And how if the work is going to be the same whether you decide to be happy or sad, well, you may as well just get on with it and try and have as much fun as you possibly can along the way.

We have some testing to do at footy and one of the tests – the main test in fact – is a 2km run.  There are various standards that the players need to achieve with the test, but in simple terms they need to record a time of 8:00 or less if they want to remain part of the program.  We have just come off a mandated 3-week ‘break’ – during which time time everyone had a a running program that would have kept them on the straight and narrow if they did it…upon returning to training last week, we repeated the test and (as I am sure you have guessed by now), several of them missed the target time.

Rather than simply cut them from the squad – which was a consideration – I put together a ‘running only’ program for those players.  Basically, they are expected to attend training but will not be permitted to ‘train’…instead they will do nothing but RUN until they retest their 2km and achieve an acceptable time.  The running program is an extract of our running club program so those people who participated there will know what was in store…suffice to say in 38 degrees it was not a bundle of fun.

Anyway, I am still in rambling mode but getting to the point.  The guys who had to do the running were sort of split down the middle into two camps.  Camp 1 was “This sucks, but I guess it is my fault…let’s get on with it”.  Camp 2 was “This sucks and it isn’t fair”.  But regardless of what they had decided their attitude would be, off they went to do their running.

The guys who had just decided to do it had a MUCH easier time than those who thought it wasn’t fair.  Because they only had to fight to push through the running – they didn’t have to battle the little voice in their head that kept saying “This isn’t fair, you shouldn’t have to do this” and “This isn’t fair, you are just being picked on” and “This isn’t fair – it is just stupid”.  Those who had decided to accept their fate and get on with it were chatting away after every ‘effort’, encouraging each other and trying to make the best of it.  The others were complaining to each other, asking the coach “How many more?” and making each other ever more miserable.  Remember also, that each of these kids was doing extras because they were struggling…they were all at a pretty similar level of performance – the attitude they came along with was of their own choosing…we were not asking Wile E. Coyote to try and catch the Road Runner without the aid of ACME Corporation ‘Triple Strength Fortified Leg Muscle Vitamins’!

Let’s face it, doing the running is hard enough without having to battle with your self every step of the way.

To be fair to the kids, I kind of see this same thing happen every day at Round 1 – and it impacts so much on both the enjoyment and SUCCESS each of us has not only in each class, but in each station.  Worrying about how many calories you have to do on the bike/ski doesn’t help you do them.  The only think that helps you do them is DOING THEM.  And since you have to do them one way or the other, you may as well just get on with it…or rather, get AFTER it, finish as quickly as you can and make sure that you give yourself due credit when you ARE done!

Don’t let the little voices get you down.  So what if the target seems beyond you today…you aren’t training for ‘TODAY’…you are training for ‘LIFE’ (for forever).  All you have to do today is get just a bit better than you were yesterday and do just a bit better than you did yesterday…that’s called progress and that’s really all we should be chasing!

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.  We have a pretty cool announcement re- sponsorship we want to make ‘SOON’…really hopeful we can do it this week in fact.  Suffice to say we should have some positive roll-models in blue and gold floating around the gym with a bit more frequency, smashing the sessions out alongside the rest of us!

P.P.S.  Australia Day is THIS FRIDAY.  We will be running classes at:
7:15 am – Boxing
8:15 am – Boxing
9:15 am – Australia Day No-Rules Workout
10:30am – CLOSED.

Gym Update #1 – 28-Days Later Challenge (Coming Soon)

28-Days Later is open for registration.  As I said last week, I am 1000% confident this will be the best challenge we have EVER done.  That is because:

– It is SCALED for performance and beginners JUST LIKE the classes you do in the gym every day.  This means that people new to challenges can get started and work through a simple, effective, weight loss focussed challenge whereas those people who have done it a few times before can elect to follow a route more focussed on muscle growth…

– It includes a goal-setting sheet that we will be more than happy to help you with.  So you will be participating in the challenge with a CLEARLY DEFINED target in mind.  The goal-setting sheet is cool.  It has been set up so you can identify possible road-bumps and plan a response, so you have some room to ‘plan out’ your timetable…it is a great addition.

– It includes a ‘meal prep’ plan.  So not only do you get the 10-day meal plan and recipes, but for those of you wanting to adopt a meal prep based approach there is a complete ‘how to’ guide for making your daily ‘lunch boxes’ – this of course will be of most use to experienced participants who have decided to go down the ‘muscle gain’ path.

– For the first time in ANY challenge, you can ‘buy’ a cheat day.  Now – you can only buy one – but you can buy one.  And you might not like the price – but you CAN buy one.

And all of that stuff is in addition to everything that was included 12-months ago…which was a big upgrade on 2016, which was an upgrade on 2015…truthfully, I don’t know where this will end up in 12-months time!

Early Bird Registration can be accessed HERE:

28-DAYS LATER PORTAL

Gym Update #2 – New You Membership Special

This week is the FINAL WEEK of our ‘NEW YOU’ membership special.  Remember it works like this:

Join Round 1 on a direct debit membership before Australia Day and receive:

• Free Body Scan
• Free Diet Consult and Eating Plan
• Free 30-minute Get Started PT session
• 1x 30-minute Massage

If you want to make a change in 2018, well, have a think about coming to train with us at Round 1.  At our gym you wont be walking around trying to figure out what to do – an instructor will guide you through every workout. And we program our own sessions – they change EVERY SINGLE DAY – so you wont get bored or tired by doing the same routine over and over again.

We believe a great gym is made up of is supportive members and caring coaches – not by ‘rows’ of equipment that no-one knows how to use. We believe a positive change comes from taking positive action – and everyone at Round 1 (staff and members!!) are here to help you on your journey.

So if you are looking to get off to a new start this year jump onto our NEW YOU special.

Gym Update #3 – New STUFF

So – it was a week of new gear everywhere.  There are now 8x new heavy bags, 12x new floor to ceiling balls and new storage racks in the space behind the treadmills and behind the power racks.  I am very happy in saying that just 3weeks into 2018 the gym is already a better place than it was at the end of 2017.

What’s next?  Well, the next challenge is one that SHOULD have been simple but has proved a little difficult to solve – new SEATS for the ASSAULT BIKES.  BUT it is finally solved, they have been paid for and have shipped…we are simply waiting for them to show up at the front door.

Link of the Week

So – I am linking to our PERKVILLE points program today.

We operate a rewards program at our gym where showing up to classes/spending $ on memberships gets you POINTS that can be redeemed for products in the gym.  Now – we pay for the scheme but to use it, you guys need to manage your accounts…you do this by REGISTERING with www.perkville.com using the SAME EMAIL ADDRESS that you have registered with at ROUND 1.  As long as the addresses are the same, every $ you spend will get you 1-point, every time you check-in will get you 2-points and every time you mention us on social media you will get 50 points.

You can then use your points for 50% of the cash value of Round 1 badged merchandise (like hand-wraps, quick wraps, boxing gloves etc) and services including personal training and body scans (but not memberships or challenges sorry).

We pay for this service guys and we WANT you to use it – but we need you to take charge of your account…login to Perkville, make sure your points are accumulating, download the vouchers to your phone (or print them off) when you want to use them…you will find it is pretty easy once it is all organised but it will seem impossible if you are not…

WWW.PERKVILLE.COM – get amongst it!