Archive for June, 2009

Well a very short and sharp one this evening as I am actually going to go to bed before midnight for a change…

So glad i have no outdoor Personal Training sessions tomorrow, the rain here in Canberra is coming down…. yay.

Today’s cross fit cardiovascular session was ridiculously hard, yet was over in around 10 minutes…

Not sure what to make of it yet, but here is the rundown on the session:

Exercises

Run                        400m

D/B Arm Swings 25kg x 21 reps

12 x Hand Stand Push Ups

x 3 sets

 The goal is to finish as fast as you can. As much as i couldn’t breath, I felt excited by the fact that i would be done in around 10 mins, so was really able to push hard today. Feel great now and nowhere near as sore as previous sessions.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Time: 10.20

Avg HR: 163    

  Calories: 176

It will be interesting to see how the fitness training & weight loss goes with only burning 176 calories for a session.

Time will tell…

Scott the Personal Trainer

Well I had all but talked myself out of training today, but I thought with the schedule here in Canberra I have tomorrow I wouldn’t get a chance to train tomorrow, so I toughed it out and headed to the gym, still with my tail between my legs from the pain of Saturday mornings fitness session.

I thought it a great opportunity for me to do one of the fitness testing protocols, so i have a few sessions i can go back to and test my levels in a months time.

I chose to do Cindy today… ( doesn’t sound quite right does it???)

Anyway the program is a very straight forward measurement of completing as many complete rounds as possible in 20 mins.

Exercises              Reps

chin ups                       5 ( again on the assisted chin at 19kg)

push ups                     10

squats                          15

pretty basic and straight forward and I found this session to be ok. Once I got the legs warmed up and moving it seemed alright.

Wasn’t overly fussed on this fitness session. My cardiovascular felt good today. I must admit that my muscles still got fully pumped up and I can’t believe how much doing your own body weight squats really does hurt after a while.

Sets Completed:  17

Avg HR:             160

Calories:          331

Session rating : 5/10

At the end I found myself sweating heavily but I found it to be the easiest session to date. In saying that it was still tough and not something I would give to my Personal Training clients or my Canberra Bootcamp clients.

Scott

Saturday morning saw me attend my very first ‘Cross Fit’ fitness session with a qualified trainer.

One word sums up my feeling right now:  PAIN

It is Sunday evening in my world and yes  the Personal Trainer is in a world of  HURT…

I new in my mind that my initial session would be a tough initiation. Not really knowing what to expect i made my way to where the session was held. It is 6.02am on a cool wintery Canberra morning, there is fog in the air, it is dark outside and my heart is already beating in anticipation of the fear factor ( good cardiovascular i thought). I have heard about some of these fitness training sessions and wasn’t sure what to expect.

To my surprise i walk  into find only 3 olympic bars set up and one 20kg dumbell in front of each bar. I thought to myself this looks ok….  With 15 years as a Personal Trainer, Bootcamp Fitness Trainer and a vast knowledge of our industry, i am trying to piece together in my mind what it is we might be doing?? From what i could see i thought i should be right here!!!

HA…..

Well i thought too soon, Ben came out and gives me the rundown on the session whilst we are waiting for a third person to arrive in my mate Paul ( who has been doing Cross Fit training for a while now he is in the best shape i have seen him in and he still drinks….). Ben tells me there are ONLY four exercises and we ONLY have to do three sets…

Yep great i thought, i knew this was going to be insane, right then i wanted to walk straight out the door and back to the comfort of my warm bed. Of course Pauly walks in the door ready to rock and role (even after a night on the grog after watching the Bombers cruise to victory over the woeful Blues…), my only chance to get out the door was gone…

All three of us get behind a bar each ( p.s. my heart rate is already at 110bpm standing still) and before i knew it Ben has started the stop watch and we were off. The session was simply to finish the workout as quickly as possible. All sounds well and good, but let me give you a run down on the fitness program: 

Session is named :    

  Xena Session ( all sessions are in girls name, not yet sure why??)

Exercise                          Reps                                 Weight

Thrusters                             15                            40kg

Burpees                                30                            nil

Hand Stand Push Up       15                                    nil

D/B weight swings            30                                   20kg

x 3 sets then carry the olympic out and back the length of the room by any means necessary to finish, then head straight outside to throw up!!!!

Yes that is right for the first time in 12 years a training session has got the better of me. It doesn’t help ( even though you try to say you are not, we were typical males trying to dominate and beat each other) that you are racing against two other blokes and i didn’t want to be embarrassed as i am the Personal Trainer here… I reckon for my first session i made a good account of myself and didn’t feel too out of place.

I have to take my hat off these two guys they are machines and have built up that cardiovascular endurance that they could just keep going and only had a few short rests. I had to stop start quite a bit but i managed to keep up amd we all finished at about the same time ( mind you i did have a variation on the handstand push ups which may have helped me a bit).

Felt like i was up against these two blokes…. and there is me in the picture above

Let me explain the exercises for you:

Thrusters- lifting the bar from the ground up onto your front delt ( shoulders), then straight into a full squat ( bum to your calves - only Ben was doing that), up into shoulder press, then squat etc,etc. Now you could stop as many times as you needed to on any exercise and i did believe me, but you had to finish your reps

Burpees- everyone that attends a Succeed Bootcamp will know about ‘burpees’, but for this that don’t you kick your feet out into push up position, drop chest to floor then jump up and feet must leave the ground ( sounds easy but these really to SUCK…. and i apologise for all my Bootcampers having to do these)

Hand Stand Push Up -  just flip upside down balance your feet on the wall and do a push up till your head hits the ground ( not that easy to control 93kg upside either after the first two exercises my arms & shoulders were on FIRE… Ben nearly knocked himself out but he soldiered on), i was given an easier option as it was my first time to place my feet on a five foot stage but still bloody hard.

D/B Arm Swings - weight between the legs and swing straight arm till the weight extends above your head, very important to use core stability here and control the weight and movement through your hips and you must keep your back flat.

 Session rating : 9/10

Time: 20.22

Calories: 382

Avg HR: 173 ( my max HR is supposed to 184…)

Absolutley awsome fitness/cardiovascular/strength session, i am struggling to walk, go down the stairs, go to the bathroom, yet i find myself already keen for next Saturday with the boys. I will continue with my own sessions during the week and let you know how i go.

Scott  the very sore Personal Trainer

Hi All,

Sorry for the late post, it has been a few hectic days around the household.

Anyway there i are two posts today. The first post is actually for the session i conducted on Friday morning on my own and the second will be Saturday mornings fitness training session ( you will definately need to read that one as i am sure it will be HELL).

To be honest, now i have had a few days to think about it  i reckon i took this session a bit easy… i had in the back of my mind i was going for my first actual ‘Cross Fit’ session with a qualified trainer and i was a bit warey of training too hard and being too sore for the Saturday morning session.  I know what you are all thinking that i am a big sook but i was still recovering from Mon & Wed!!!

The idea on this circuit fitness session was to do a full body workout. Like i said on Wed i really don’t want to get away from doing weights and losing the 10kg of muscle i have gained this year.

Anyway here is my rundown of my session on Friday ( all exrcises done for 10 reps):

warm up 5 mins

Exercise                    Weight

Seated Row                30kg

D/B Shouler Press  30kg

Leg Extension           85kg

S/B Hover                   30 sec

Incline Chest Press 40kg

B/B Bicep Curl           20kg

Tricep Dips                  nil

1 min spin bike lvl 16 - 20

I did this session for a time of 30 minutes with a goal to complete as many sets as possible. I had zero rest during this circuit session, and found it to be much easier than the first two sessions this week.

Sets: i managed to complete 6 full circuits + 3 stations

Calories: 461

Avg HR:  153

I would like to say i am getting fitter as i found this session to be much easier than the other two, but i reckon i am kidding myself, and i will have a better idea tomorrow when i go see the ‘cross fit’ instructor for my first session. He is also going to give me some testing to conduct on myself this week so i have a starting point. I can then set some goals for the month and prepare for a re test in a months time to see the difference and results. I will also take all my measurements, body fat, weight etc to see how the month serves me.

I will post these this week once i have completed them ( yes you will all get to see how unfit and out of shape i am !!!).

Scott

by Scott Williams

Well after a busy day training all of my wonderful clients, this post comes about after talking to one of my Personal Training clients.

We were discussing the option of maybe looking  at a different day for our training sessions as i am fully booked up and i really am running out of time slots to fit people in for sessions…

Anyway, we got to talking about work etc, and i was talking about my concerns within the fitness industry and saying the main problem within trying to grow a personal training business is that when, as an owner you try to step away from the business and work more for it rather than in it,  the business starts to suffer… then  you have to go back into the business and build it back up again.

Why is this?

I like it to where you get your hair cut, where you get your coffee, where you generally like to eat. Do you keep going back?? I know i do, so i can understand where people are coming from.

The one word i have is:

RAPPORT

 As with all the industries listed above, people under take the services of a Personal Trainer, via a few methods:

1. they have seen them in their gym training other people

2. have been referred by a friend as the trainer to see

3. internet searches , etc

Number two is where the majority share of clients come from within the personal training industry. Which in turn leads to the problem to grow your business, you get reffered by someone saying that such and such is a great trainer and you should go see him/her.

 So the potential client calls you and you say welcome to Succeed and that we have 13 great trainers for you to choose from and they say…. you guessed it… IT HAS TO BE YOU.

 My friend has said so many great things about you etc, etc and i only want you to train me. Obviously a great situation to be in, but how do i spend time working for the business to take it to another level??

You have two choices:

1. bite the bulett, take a step, try to ride the decrease in income whilst you build the business or

2. stay doing what you are obviously good at and love doing ( yes it shows through if you are fully booked), and then get someone to work on putting all the systems in place ( something that they love doing)  for you whilst you focus on your sessions and clients.

It only makes sense to continually do what you love to do everyday… Do i love trying to build the systems and put structures in place so that in the not too distant future we can licence off Succeed Personal Training across the globe… HELL NO, so i have now fixed that problem.

Today i went through my client base and have found the perfect person who does this for a living and loves what they do ( systems & proesses) YUCK… you can have that!!! So she will start on that this weekend and in turn this leaves me to do what i really love to do, assist people in working toward their lifestyle changes.

This is what she will look like…

To summarise this:

‘If you love what you do you will never have to work another day in your life’ 

Remember life is too short to be stuck in a job you do not like.

GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT, find out what you love to do and just go do it

Scott

By Scott Williams

Well as always at this time of year we experience the winter blues… The dedication to fitness training and looking after the body begins to take a turn for the worst.

Why is this??

 The cold winter mornings can play a part, the warmth of the bed is sometimes just too good to leave, we tend to get sicker in winter, we think it is ok it is winter i can put on a few kilos and get it off closer to summer.

The problem with this is the fact that we are all creatures of habit and it takes 21 to 28 days to make a habit in our sub conscious mind, but only a few days to lose it. The longer you take to get back on the wagon the harder it becomes. You say i will start tomorrow, i will start tomorrow, but the problem is that for alot of people tomorrow never comes…

You really need to get it out of your head that it is too hard or too cold, the more you tell yourself this then the more it becomes fact in your world ( your sub conscious mind).

What can you do rectify this problem?

Look for a Personal Trainer or Bootcamp, friend, so you it makes you more accountable, find times that you are more than likely to train ( don’t set the alarm for 5am) kidding yourself that you will get up in the morning, yet knowing in advance that you have no chance of it. Yet when you are at your morning coffee with your friends you say that you set your alram but, but, but, but….

All it takes is a bit of time management to really set yourself for success in the winter months. Plan to train when you know you will go, the mornings are the best time to train for various reasons and i will post a blog about that later, but  if you are not a morning person during winter then schedule your gym, health club visit or Personal Training session either during the day or straight after. Be sure to pack your clothes in the car and head straight to the gym. If you go home and say you will go later, what are the actual chances of that happening?? As the time goes by and it gets colder outside, you get more and more comfy on the lounge, your chance become less & less, then the cycle starts again… i will go tomorrow, i will go tomorrow.

If you can find the ways to work around hibernating in the winter months then it really will make the summer swimmers so much easier to attain, and allow us all those few indulgences over winter that we so enjoy.

Remember, it is much easier to keep going and stay in a fitness routine than it is to stop and restart when it is warmer.

Well i thought day1 was tough ( and it was for me..), have just finished another session of the same style of training and i am hurting, actually i was still sore from Monday’s session.

 Nearly got wheelchaired out this morning….

It really had a cardiovascular feel to it today, i struggled more than i did on Monday. My fitness better go to another level as it is KILLING me… The goal today was to do as many complete sets of the circuit as possible in 30 mins ( i was aiming for 5 complete sets).

I really want to keep some weights in to the fitness training so today was a higher rep intense session.

So here is the session:

Warm up 10 mins various

20kg Front Squats x 20 reps

20kg Flat Bench x     20 reps

15kg D/B Throws x   15 reps

300m rower

1 min rest in between

So my rundown on the session

I failed in my quest to complete 5 full sets in five minutes. I kept going and finished to get my time.

Time : 31.30

Calories: 480

Avg HR: 149

Not sure why with the 1 min rest, but this morning actually hurt more than Monday’s session did to get through ( i reckon it was because i put more effort in doing the 300 m on the rower). Cardiovascular wise i thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest. I found the exercises went well together ( D/B swings are harder than i thought), and i had to stay light on the legs as they are still sore from Monday’s fitness session.

I give this session an 8 /10

 I will go back to this session again in a month and see if i can get through it in the alloted time of 30 minutes.

I will be compiling all the programs i am doing and i will do up an E Book at the end of the month, for anyone interested in trying this style of fitness training?

I reckon some of my Bootcamp participants and Personal Training clients across Canberra will really appreciate some of the sessions over the coming month.

Scott

Your presence is a present to the world.

You are unique and one of a kind.

Your life can be what you want it to be.

Take the days just one at a time.

Count your blessings, not your troubles.

You will make it through whatever comes along.

Within you are so many answers.

Understand, have courage, be strong.

Do not put limits on yourself.

So many dreams are waiting to be realized.

Decisions are too important to leave to chance.

Reach for your peak, your goal and you prize.

Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.

The longer one carries a problem the heavier it gets.

Do not take things too seriously.

Live a life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.

Remember that a lot … goes forever.

Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life’s treasures are people together.

Realize that it is never too late.

Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

Have heart and hope and happiness.

Take the time to wish upon a star.

 AND DO NOT EVER FORGET, FOR EVEN A DAY, HOW VERY SPECIAL YOU ARE !

Well i tried my first actual Cross Fit style of fitness training today for the first time, and i have to say it was bloody hard work.

I had never denied the fact that these fitness sessions are set for the elite level fitness clients and after watching a few  guys hanging there head out the window on  the verge of throwing up, i would not like to give  this to any of my clients to undertake.

I consider myself reasonably fit and it was an absolute battle to get through it this morning.

In saying that it was a nice relief to step away from the grind of throwing around the iron in the gym as i have been doing solidly for the last six months. My joints are starting to ache considerably from all the intense weight training i have  been doing in the six months.

I am going to give the Cross Fit style of training a solid month trial so i can see for myself exactly what i think, and if it would be something that i would use as a training tool for my clients?

Over the next month i will keep you posted on my progress and results ( and also a few photos of the pain i am in)… 

So my first session:

I was on my own this morning ( but i will be seeing a qualified professional later this week for a session), and i have to say thank god for the assisted chin machine otherwise i would still be going…

The idea of today’s session is basically a time trial and to get finished ASAP….

The Program went like this:

Rower 1000m

100 x chin ups

200 x push ups

300 x body weight squats

rower 1000m

Within the program you can break down the exercises to get through them ( i.e. as i did this morning 5 x chins, 10 x push ups, 15 x squats each set x 20 sets).

I started quite well on the rower for the first 1000m, but i wasn’t prepared for the pain of 20 consecutive sets with no rest. I am not even going to comment on the second 1000m on the rower( let’s just say it was slow and my legs were on FIRE….)

Stats for the Session:

Total time:  34.04 ( yes very slow i know  but i am not getting any younger!!)

Calories: 602

Avg H.R: 161

This is how i felt on the chins today….

Overall not a bad first up effort. I will do this again in one month see how we go time wise then ( hopefully cut a few minutes off).

Scott

By: Scott Williams

Want to get a whole lot more out of life?

 By undertaking a strength program you can help to combat diabetes, and it is a well known fact strength training improves glucose tolerance in people who have type II (adult onset) diabetes. Strength training combined with a sensible diet can level out glucose levels to the stage where a person with type II diabetes is no longer dependant on insulin.

 A combined weight training and cardiovascular program elevates your resting metabolic rate, which helps burn more calories at rest ( a good thing). The more muscle the body has the faster the metabolism works! Between the ages of 20 and 40 the average woman loses 3.6kg of muscle and gains 10kg of fat. Men between 20 and 80 lose up to a quarter of their muscle mass. Studies show, people doing a combined program can increase strength by 43% in the arms and shoulders and 22% increase in leg strength.

 Weight training also benefits people with arthritis as it gives a reduction in joint pain and fatigue and a big gain in strength. Recent studies conducted at Tufts University and The University of Nebraska, both show that strength training work caused significant declines in arthritis activity.

 Weight training develops muscle strength that supports the joints.

 WHAT YOU DON’T USE…. YOU’LL LOSE- as we get older our muscle and bone density decrease, weight training can turn all this around as it stimulates new tissue growth for both the muscles & bones ( a very good thing). On average people who lift weights and do regular cardiovascular exercise, have bones that are 46% more dense than our sedentary counterparts.

 Research shows that weight training causes fewer heart symptoms. It yields better coronary artery flow, greater muscle strength and less fatigue. It is scientifically proven that just by starting a weights program you can cut the risk of heart disease by up to 23%.

 Just by doing some basic weights/exercise, it can make simple tasks like carrying groceries, getting up & down or in and out of a car become much easier.

 By exercising regularly you will have more energy, sleep better, be more alert and become more active.

 Exercise doesn’t need to be complicated - it just needs to be regular. The following are some examples of how exercising can be made easier:

• - organise fellow staff members for lunch time activities - bootcamp classes, various sports
• - start a walking/running club at lunchtimes
• - participate in a workplace fitness program
• - join a local health club
• - hire a Personal Trainer
• - increase incidental exercise (ie. park the car further away, walk to work, take the stairs not the elevator)

 If you would like to organise a staff exercise program, or an exercise program for yourself, please do not hesitate to email me with your enquiry.