fitness
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 […]
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 […]
26/06/2015
Where do you wear your carbs? Now this is a question I’m sure many people are very interested in… There is a lot of confusing information out there about diet and eating. Make no mistake – the ‘weight loss’ business has been (and will continue to be) a huge industry. Why though? Why is this the case? If what they are selling is so good, why hasn’t someone come up with the answer yet thereby effectively ending the prolific amount of information written on the subject?? The answer is that it is a self perpetuating business model. What I mean is that what they are collectively suggesting creates short term but unsustainable results, which inevitably leads to snap back. And not only does the weight snap back, it comes back with interest… The reason is that most diets create a metabolic environment that makes long term fat loss (which is what the whole thing should be about) harder and harder. Talk about an ingenious business model… Give quick, short term joy only to take it away (thus creating the need again) and offer the same thing again in a new form that seems appealing all over. We all recognize the need within ourselves for novelty and fresh ideas to keep us interested. What do I suggest then? Stop looking for the easy answer. As a mate of mine once told me when I was learning how to work on my old timber boat, “the shortcut you are looking for will be the long cut you were trying to avoid. Do […]
18/06/2015
Sometimes when it comes to change, it can seem overwhelming. Paralysis by analysis. Sometimes it feels like that the job is just too big… When members come to us with this feeling, I like to break it down to one thing only because this focus allows positive movement. I always ask what is the one behaviour that you know you need to change and are 99.9% sure you can achieve in the next week? I tell them to make it such an easy thing that success is assured. This is where confidence starts to build. Each week, you start to add just one more thing. I feel that it is good advice in all aspects of a change program whether it be rehabilitation, a new nutritional plan or the start of a serious transformation. The longest journey starts with but a small step. There is often much wisdom and truth in the age old clichés. When I was playing tennis, the one thing that helped get me in the zone (which unfortunately often wasn’t enough) was when I could focus, not on the one tournament I was in or the one match ahead or even the one game I was playing. It wasn’t even the one point….. it was the one hit. This laser focus allowed me to get into the moment and just enjoy the process of playing the game. It stopped me from the “what if’s” and the fear that comes with the territory of an outcome focus. This is because there are just so many things you […]
07/05/2015
On the weekend we had our annual trip to the corporate triathlon on the Gold Coast. It was a lot of fun as usual as it was a beautiful morning at Southport and there were plenty of people all shapes and sizes creating a great atmosphere. It certainly didn’t look like it was going to go ahead given the weather on Friday night! Well done to members Anthony Tuite, Dan Boucher and James Stott for partaking in this event. Now to talk about useful fitness, why I do events and why you should too! I love these events for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it is the excuse to exercise that a lot of us need, including me. Now I am not a huge swimmer or cyclist but this event gets me doing these things. And I can tell you there is nothing better for your exercise routine then to mix it up. It makes you far more likely to continue because variety is the spice of life and the chance of overuse injury is reduced considerably. I also like these events because they give our members a greater sense of purpose with their training and it gives people who may be a little apprehensive a chance to have a go and maybe get something regular going. Let’s face it. It can be hard to start this fitness gig and to stay motivated with it at times. I recommend that everyone who is nervous about starting to take one small step at a time… who knows where it can […]
05/05/2015
We are moving into a cool time of the year and there is nothing better than snuggling up in front of a fireplace with a glass of fine wine and handcrafted chocolate! Say what? I thought this was a health and fitness rant? I can almost hear my members choking on their protein shakes whenever I utter these words. Now before you go away and think that this is some kind of perpetuation plan for an “ongoing need for a personal trainer” business model, understand this. The mentality of “I can’t have” is a losing game. We have all heard talk of the 80:20 rule and so it applies here, with one exception but even then, a ‘perfectly’ disciplined approach to health and fitness is not only not possible, but self defeating in the end. If you live by the idea that you tick all the boxes of a healthy and fit lifestyle 80% of the time, you will be doing very well indeed. The exception is the person who has some serious and significant goals to achieve. This person, for progress, often needs to be more in the 90:10 category. But you will note that this is still not an ‘all or none’ approach. The reason it is better to have a fudge factor in there is that mentally most of us need a metaphorical pressure relief valve and some of those things that we don’t always have are quite frankly fun and sometimes even awesome! When you are trying to change some bad habits, the thought of doing […]
20/04/2015
When you do a search for the meaning of tolerance you see phrases like ‘capacity to endure’ and words like ‘fair’ and ‘objective’. When it comes to fitness, my angle on the topic is that tolerance shows us yet again the amazing ability of the body to adapt and become better. What a gift that is from mother nature or God or whatever your beliefs. Tolerance is what happens when you ask your body a question it is not quite ready to answer, and the sweet spot that ensues in the time immediately after yields a kind of magic. This is where there is a reorganisation of the organism at the cellular level which allows the body to be ready to step up and handle or tolerate that same difficult question thrown at it the next time round. That question might be: can I pull my body up to look over the wall for my kids ball he just kicked? The attempt sees us momentarily peering over as our arms give way rather quickly. Now thanks to an enthusiastic and maybe even talented young boot we get to repeat this move each day we spend hanging out. What we soon notice is we can hold ourselves up there a bit longer until even a one arm hold seems like a possibility (even though that might be a tad optimistic). But the lesson here is that what once seemed hard or even impossible, provided we go about it the right way, becomes 100% do-able. How cool is that? The trick is […]
19/12/2014
Health Family Influence by Anthony Gillespie I have an Italian mate and I always marvel at his family gatherings. They are larger than life, highly energised, a cast of thousands and full of chatter, sometimes sadness and always laughter. The family get-togethers in my mind were the microcosm of what it is to be human. It wasn’t always pretty and it certainly wasn’t always peaceful but wow was it vibrant! There are positives and negatives to a family that seemingly knows everything about each other but the alternative can be a staid and boring old place. And how cool is it to know that there are so many people within your sphere that not only give a stuff about you, but are willing to help out when the going gets tough? I had a client this morning that has been encouraging her grand daughter to exercise regularly this past year to help with stress relief from study and other teenage stuff. This particular client, a 60 + year old dynamo is the driver of her family. In the past 10 years in my business, she has brought along her daughters, daughter in law and niece, as well has having an indirect but significant influence on a son in law who has recently lost over 12 kilos and improved his life dramatically as a consequence. When one person in a family can spread that much good you get to appreciate the power of relationships and the very special ones that emanate from a strong family unit. At this time of year, […]