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10/03/2016
At Best Practice Personal Training here in Bowen hills, we see ourselves as the front line of healthcare and the future of ‘fitness or health coaching’ – this is what I and more and more professionals are calling, ‘personal training’ these days. There is a lot of talk in the fitness industry right now of where everything is headed. I don’t want to sound like a ‘know it all’, but it is something that I suspected from the day I started this journey all the way back in 1990, when I completed my Fitness Leader’s Certificate (equivalent to Cert 3 today). I could see that the future was more than just aerobics and leotards, and believe me there were plenty around in those early days. I saw it as being about the whole process of going from sedentary to active or unhealthy to healthy or fat to fit. This by definition incorporated – think, eat and move better elements and is incidentally the philosophy behind Best Practice Personal Training at Bowen Hills, arguably Brisbane’s Best Personal Trainers! I had a thirst for knowledge about all things performance related and was very motivated to become an expert in this field. After all, when my dreams of being one of the best tennis players in the world didn’t come to fruition, there was a considerable vacuum that needed to be filled. The thing about sporting ‘performance’ is that it entails so many elements including motor learning, nutrition, psychology, biomechanics, anatomy and physiology, just to name a few. This fact guaranteed that I […]
05/02/2016
Whenever I hear the word ‘Aerobics’ I get a picture of Jane Fonda in leg warmers. I remember studying Sports Science back in 1995 in Sydney and it was a very competitive course to get into. 4000 people applying for 90 places. It was seen as a great thing to do at the time and a super fun and promising career. The only problem was that most people who applied thought they would be kicking a footy around or doing aerobics all day long. The reality was a pretty serious science degree including physics, chemistry, biomechanics, physiology and anatomy. This saw about 40 people out of the original 90 who got in actually make it to graduation. That being said, there was one course we had to do later in the degree, and that was teaching an aerobics class. We all thought this was pretty stupid in light of all the other mind bending stuff they had got us to do to that point, but it was a prerequisite for reasons that remain unknown. Maybe it was comic relief for the lecturers in seeing science nerds jump around like Richard Simmons. Now, I saw myself as aerobically fit, and when I had last done aerobics in the 80’s, it was a million repetitions of the same thing, which any idiot could do if they were persistent and crazy enough to keep pushing… I was that idiot. I decided that I should get myself ready for my compulsory teaching of the class (with or without leg warmers) and do a few […]
21/01/2016
At Best Practice, we are big on behaviour change and we like to use every little psychological trick in the book to achieve it. When it comes to the best tricks, I look at how games are designed and then use the addictive nature of such ingenious methodology to mould the action of clients towards the ‘good’ habits, as opposed to the numerous bad ones we form, seemingly without even trying. And you know what, I think that last point is key – ‘without even trying’. When I finish a workout now, I almost can’t wait to tick the box in our systems that says, in graphical form, “hey you got something done pal”. My little calendar, which is easily accessible on my smart phone displays a little orange man on the day when ever I have completed a workout. As simple as that is, the accumulation of little men means I know at a glance that I am active in that week, and I will do almost anything to make sure I can tick the box that means I get a little icon to show up. I guess another big reason this works is because ‘being active’ is one of my KPI’s for a good life and like anyone, I want a good life. We use this method with our clients and members because it is easier to drive new behaviour with the simple rather than the complex. You should give it a go. Even a simple walk get’s you a tick and an orange man. Our two group […]
21/01/2016
It’s the time of year for the ra ra. Same old, same old goal setting blah blah! If that is how you see it, I want you to stop what you are doing and go to take a good hard and long look at yourself in the mirror. If you can maintain the wonder of a child you will live an awesome life. Do you want an awesome life? Come on, don’t be an oxygen thief! There’s not that much room on the planet. Participate, contribute and understand that unless you can play the violin like fiddler on the roof and impact people’s emotions, sing like an opera singer in a concert hall, swing a racket like Roger Federer, make chess moves like the Bobby Fischer, make business moves like Warren Buffett, present like Steve Jobs did, act like Robert Deniro…….and so many other things that I can’t even think of, then you have no business being cynical about setting goals and shooting for stuff because the job will never be done. I don’t know about you, but that makes this life exciting and motivating. It is the process that matters too – engagement in the activity and just plain old ‘taking action’. The best people I like to hang out with are always creating, thinking, doing, laughing, planning and aiming for new things. Now, if you have stared in that mirror long enough and thought about all the things worth chasing or trying, then there is no time to be bored, cynical or tired. Get to it! Shimmering eyes, […]
02/09/2015
Boy oh boy, do we have a great success story to share! The person involved in this story is 43 year old David Heath who is a previous Best Practice Personal Training member. Read what David has to say below: “I thought you could pat yourself on the back for some habits from my Brisbane days. I always remember you telling me “you can’t out-train a bad diet….“, so I’ve finally got around to doing something about it (after my wife, Narelle, said she wanted to do something as she had been feeling lethargic etc). Not advocating one particular diet over another or anything (I still have my Precision Nutrition/examine.com feeds directly feeding into my inbox) but Narelle landed on whole30.com as it didn’t seem too ‘left of centre’/extreme. I simply ate fresh fruit & veg + meat and gave up dairy/sugar/alcohol/processed grains for 30 days (& threw the scales away) to see what happened. I definitely haven’t skimped on portion sizes & have enjoyed cooking up eggs/mushrooms/tomatoes/salmon for most breakfasts! Always feeling full so not a starvation diet. Well today was day 31 so I actually weighed/measured myself and was pretty amazed at the results: 66.5kgs, 77.5cm waist – so dropped ~6kgs & 5-6cm off my waistline. I don’t think I’ve had such a low weight/waist measurement since early uni days. I think I got to 80cm whilst in Brisbane working with Best Practice but definitely not as low as 77.5cm. I am still riding regularly (200-250km/week) & started lifting weights again so keeping the exercise up (I […]
06/08/2015
A new healthy lifestyle… One of the things that gives us great satisfaction and in fact is the reason we do what we do, is seeing clients/members of ours achieve big goals. Now, it is not always about fat loss and massive body transformation, but it is always about simply ‘feeling better’. Brett Campbell started with us about 12 months back and has actually achieved both of these things. Check out the picture below to see the change he has experienced. It is very inspiring. And what is even more inspiring is that he is still going – he is building more strength after a great initial effort and continually improving his nutrition and activity levels. Life is feeling much better with 20+kg less, a slimmer waist and more energy. Good on you Brett for finding that new healthy lifestyle! It is now your new habit which means will power is no longer needed. It’s just what–you–do.
15/07/2015
As I hear asked over and over again, what are the fat loss methods that work??? Here at Best Practice Personal Training in Bowen Hills, we specialise in combining behavioural change with the most well researched training methods. You can have a look at our services on our website at www.bestpracticept.com.au. When it comes to fat loss methods that actually work, different approaches can work for different people. In saying that, the top 5 things to do if you really want to start losing body fat now and then manage it for the rest of your life are as follows: Get your head right: Science has now proven that what you think on a regular basis directly affects your actions. It is no longer a cute coffee cup platitude to say “so as doth think, thou wilt be”. By implementing goal setting (i.e. writing it down and practicing positive thinking) you are carving a new groove of thinking which will lead to the new (desired) action. You absolutely must do strength training. There is no escaping this fact. If you do not lift weights you will lose 2-4 kg of muscle mass per decade meaning that your ability to burn energy will diminish. This essentially means the older you get, the fatter you get. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be that way at all. Build muscle and burn body fat. It’s that simple. You have to move more on a regular basis. You burn calories by being active, but you can burn more calories if you are […]
09/07/2015
The question most people want answered when they decide to to get fit and healthy is how do I burn up those excess calories as quickly and effectively as possible…? Should I do strength or cardio training? The answer, my exercise loving friends, is BOTH! Wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂 There are many facets to this debate, and the calorie thing should not be the only consideration. Improving general health and fitness is a combination of many things, not being limited to weight control. Don’t forget to think about flexibility, heart health, functional strength to perform daily tasks and postural correction, just to name a few. There is no argument when it comes to the fact that cardiovascular training will burn more calories in a session. However, it is worth keeping in mind that when you are actually lifting weights you are burning more calories, it is the rest time needed in strength training that limits the total calories burned in a session. It is worth noting however that higher total calories burned doesn’t necessarily translate to greater body shape transformation. A well designed strength training routine is likely to have a greater impact on body composition than cardiovascular training on a session for session basis. This is because while it will be burning less total fat content, it is simultaneously increasing lean muscle mass (and this helps out those before and after photos more than you can imagine). The crucial point above is ‘on a session for session basis’ – a drawback with strength training is that your muscles need time to repair themselves. So you need longer […]
30/06/2015
The wheel of life goes round and round. How smooth is your wheel and how close to the edge are you? Health & Fitness is the stand out priority no matter how wonky your wheel might look. Literally everything hinges on it. Let’s take a look and put that little assertion to the test. Career & Work. I hear this one a A LOT! “I have no time for exercise because I am working so hard to forward my career and build a future for my family, so my job is my main focus for now. When I get on top of this then I will spend more time with my family, and then get to looking after myself”. How much time do you think you have in this life? It’s a no brainer that you will perform better when you are healthy and fit, and your family will want to spend time with you when you have the energy to give. Cart before the horse and all that! Also, let’s get one thing straight. No one ever said on their deathbed, “gee I wish I spent more time at work”. So if your career and work are getting on top of you (and you will know this by the stress you feel) carve out some “me” time now, because the investment reaps dividends every time. Even if you think it won’t… Trust me I am a personal trainer 🙂 “Me” time by the way is not getting to the pub and downing 6 schooners at lunch. I worked in a fitness […]