Archive for February, 2010

Are you bored with your current gym program? Looking for something a bit different?

Then why not try your hand at boxing?

Research has proven that boxing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to change your body composition, in conjunction with a healthy eating plan.

Starting Thursday 18th March

Lunchtime Boxfit with Australia’s Best Fitness Business at Tuggeranong Town Park

For more details or to register, contact Shaun on: 0431 939 215

A Succeed Personal Training fitness post on the session of the day

Well after a flood of emails wanting more fitness training sessions posted for people to do, here is the latest Succeed Personal Training Canberra fitness session for you to try out and challenge yourself:

6 x 43kg Thrusters

6x Pull Ups

6 x 32kg D/B Swings

x six rounds for time

My Time: 10.03

Didn’t find this one too bad today, still got a bit of work to do on the pull ups, but I am getting much better.

Here is a video of the exercises:

Have a go and let me know what you think in the section below.

Also a big congrats to all the Canberran’s that went to the Cross Fit Sectional Games over the weekend.

I know three of the guys I train with have all qualified for the Australian Regional Finals, and a Canberra girl in Megan Smith WON the women’s overall event, with Kylie Lindbeck, my neighbour coming a fantastic fifth. Well done guys. I hope to be there next year….

Scotty

Today’s post is going to be short, sweet about my Number 1 tip for your body.

In saying that, it may be one of the most valuable piece of dietary advice that I EVER give you.

I am human like you, and last night around 10:00 PM while watching 40 year old virgin, my appetite decied that it was hungry and the cravings began to creep in.

Within a matter of minutes, without even thinking about it, I found myself in the kitchen looking through the fridge and pantry looking for something to end my food cravings (yes, I’m human and I deal with cravings, too).

After scoping out what was available, I ultimately ended up eating a hand full of almonds and some cottage cheese with vanilla protein mixed in to it(if you missed my recommendations for late night snacks, I will post something up soon, so stay tuned).

As most of you know my weakness is ice cream. Do you know what stopped me from having a bowl of ice cream (cause I certainly would have), or a piece or two of chocolate?

Besides the fact the fact that each serve of ice cream has around 295 calories (equivilent to around 30 mins of a spin class or a body pump class):

Simple.  I don’t keep these foods in my house!!

Do you want to end your struggle with late night snacking (with the wrong foods) and increase your chances of nutrition adherence ten-fold?  Then here it is, the best diet tip I could ever give you:

Keep your house free of the “off limit” foods.

Simply put, if it’s not in the house, it’s not a temptation, and usually at 10pm at night you won’t bother going to the shops (I hope).

Do you find that having “off-limits” foods lying around is messing with your nutritional intake? 

What is your favourite treat that usually brings you undone?

Respond in the comments section below!

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert

A post on the things I am giving up for the month for my Last Phase Fatloss Trial

Diet sneak is what happens to a great diet when you get a little too confident and a little too lazy. It happens to a LOT of  people who start off strong with our Succeed Boot Camps and then start sliding back into their old habits.

It doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve found I am even guilty , going from 90% perfect to 85% and down to 80%. Time to do something about it.

(I already have a few, but hey, if you want to give up a few things this month, just let me know in the comments section…we can support one another!)

Now I know that because of my workouts I’m still gaining muscle and not gaining fat, but as a role model to you and hundreds of other Succeed clients and readers, I’ve decided to get strict and lead the way this Month.

So for the next 30 days, I’m kicking these foods out of my diet:

• Added sugar
• Alcohol
• “Processed foods”
• Dairy
• Most Fruits

Let’s take a look at why I’m removing each one of those…

1) Added Sugar

The main source of added sugar in my diet was the raw sugar in my coffee and the occasional ice cream, I am cutting it out.

And then there was also a little bit of diet sneak going on as well…last week I had a gatorade after a run + a few snakes…

But I know that’s not setting a good example for you, so let’s get back to square one and cut out all added sugar. I have others doing it so I need to lead by example.

2) Alcohol

I have let a few regular beverages creep in over the last few months. Not that I drink a lot, but can’t hurt to take it out either.

3) “Processed foods”

Alright, this is a tough one to define, but here’s my definition:

a) No added sugar

b) No refined flours

4) Dairy

This isn’t a big deal because 90% of my dairy intake consists of milk in my coffee, so I figured why not throw it on the list. Sometimes I add a small amount of cheese to my morning omelets, but I’ll give that up for now.

5) Most Fruits

Why am I giving up fruits you ask, aren’t they good for me?? Well yes and no, it depends on who you talk you really. A nutritionist might say you need at least 2 - 3 pieces of fruit a day, but I tend to disagree.

The reason why is that most people don’t understand and realise the amount of sugar they are already consuming in a day wihtout adding the sugar contect from fruit. I am not saying my way is the right way either, but I am going to try it for a month and see what happens, along with 15 other people.

So what’s staying in my diet?

- eggs, meats, fish, raw nuts, and dozens of different kinds of salad and vegetables.

Pretty simple, and of course, regardless of your dietary preferences, your food foundation should feature a lot of salads and vegetables - so your diet shouldn’t be much different from mine even if you eat dairy and meat.

Overall, a nice little “diet depletion” for the month.

What is your biggest weakness?

Is there at least ONE food or ingredient you could give up for an entire month?

Let me know what it is by commenting below…

Here’s to your dieting success,

Scott Williams

PS - C’mon, don’t be shy…

…commit to giving up one thing this month and tell me what it is below…

I will keep you posted each week with the results:

So far a I have had 8 of the people on the trial weigh in and ALL have lost at least 1.5kg (some have lost over 3kg in the first week).

Myself - I started at 88.2kg and and 86kg even (a loss of 2.2kg in one week…)

As promised, here are the 8 reasons why you fall off the fitness wagon:

 1. No focus: you didn’t set goals, you didn’t put your goals in writing, and or you didn’t keep your goals in mind daily (by reading them, affirming them, looking at a vision board, etc.)

 2. No priorities:  you may have set a goal, but you didn’t put it on or near the top of your priorities list. For example, your goal is six pack abs, but drinking beer and eating fast food on the weekend is higher on your priorities list than having a flat stomach.

 3. No support system: you tried to go at it alone; no buddy system, training partners, family, spouse, friends, mentors or coaches to turn to for information and emotional support when the going got tough.

 4. No Accountability: you didn’t keep score for your own accountability - with a progress chart, weight record, measurements, food journal, training journal, and you didn’t set up external accountability (ie, report to someone else or show your results to someone else)

 5. No patience: you were only thinking short term and had unrealistic expectations.  You expected 5 kg a week  or 2 kg a week, so the first week you lost “only” 1/2kg or hit a plateau, and you gave up.

 6. No planning: you winged it.  You walked into the gym without having a workout in hand, on paper, you didn’t plan your workouts into your weekly schedule; you didn’t have a menu on paper, you didn’t make time (so instead you made excuses, like “I’m too busy”)

 7. No balance: your diet or training program was too extreme. You went the all or nothing, “I want it now” route instead of the moderate, slow-and-steady wins the race route.

 8. No personalization: your nutrition or training program was the wrong one for you. It might have worked for someone else, but it didn’t suit your schedule, personality, lifestyle, disposition or body type.

 So there you have it - 8 mistakes that cause most people to fall off the wagon. Are you guilty of any of these? If so, the solutions are clear and simple:

 Focus on what you really want, prioritize the order, get support, don’t try to do it all on your own, be accountable, be patient, plan, balance and personalize.

Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have anything else you might like to add that causes you problems?

Scott Williams

CEO, Succeed Personal Development

A post with the daily Succeed Fitness Session

Here is me at the end of training

Well what an absolute cracker of a session this turned out to be…

I had the pleasure of a couple of my Tuggeranong Personal Training clients join me for my latest Crossfit Canberra training session. Turned out to be a gruelling fitness session, one that hurt us all for a few days.

Here is a rundown:

20 x 60kg deadlift, run 400m

20 x 20kg K/B swing, run 400m

20 x tricep bar dips, run 400m

20 x full burpees (chest to ground), run 400m

20 x pull ups, run 400m

20 x 24′ box squat jumps, run 400m

20 x 12kg D/B Squat cleans, run 400m

Times: Scott - 20.50, Emma - 22.29, Tanya - 21.15

A great effort by the girls and they really made me work hard for this one. I have just set the weights that I have lifted please ensure you modify the weights to suit your fitness and skill level. If you are not sure then look up a good personal trainer or crossfit instructor in your area.

No video footage as I was too tired to film anything…

If you are up to it, we are hitting up a Crossfit Canberra session again this Saturday morning at Tuggeranong Town Park 7am sharp.

Cost is $10. Hope to see you there.

Scott

A post about why it is so hard to stick to a diet

 Why sticking with your diet is so hard

 It is becoming quite evident, we have an obesity problem in Australia and many other countries around the world. Yet, I propose that we do not have a weight loss problem today.

  In case you’re confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics:

 According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 ars, about 80 percent of all ‘losers’ have regained the kgs, and often gained back a little more than they started with.

According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent.

For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%!

Basically this means that many people have lost weight, but not many have managed to keep it off.

Therefore, we don’t have a weight loss problem, we have a “not sticking with it” problem.

Wouldn’t you agree?

In fact, the fall and subsequent regain usually doesn’t take years. Many people have abandoned their new year’s resolutions within weeks. By the time Easter rolls around, the diet is old news and forgotten!

If this is true, then shouldn’t we put more of our attention onto figuring out why you haven’t been sticking with your program, and what you should do about it? 

This is exactly what I focus on with my clients. I have also put together this new list of the top 8 reasons why many of you seem to fall off the wagon.

Having a better understanding of the problem, better helps lead you to solutions.

Rather than worrying about all the varied diet plans, like whether you should be on low carb or high carb,  vegetarian or meat eater, I propose that if you focus on these 8 tips in the next blog, you’ll start getting more lasting results on your new easy to follow food program.

 By the way I hate the word ‘diet’, you should never call it a ‘diet’. If you have to then is it not the right meal plan for you. It should be easy and something you can stick to for years to come.

How? By being able to stick with whichever plan you decided was best for you! After all, even if you have one of the best nutrition programs in the world (such as the Last Phase Fat Loss Program), it doesn’t do you much good if you can’t stick with it!

Stay tuned for part II and ways to avoid falling off the wagon.

 Scott Williams

Author of Last Phase Fat Loss

A post on the latest fitness sessions at Club Lime Tuggeranong

Have had the pleasure of a few of my wonderful Personal Training clients come and train with me at Club Lime Tuggeranong over the last few days.

Here is a rundown of our fitness sessions that you could try out….

Session 1:

run 800m

7 x 50kg SDHP (sumo deadlift high pull)

7 x bar dips

x 7 rounds then back to the treadmill for another 800m for time

My Time: 14.04

Cass: 18.32 (awesome effort with a very tough session)

Session 2 was done on my own but it was gruelling:

Set to do 60 air squats in 60 sec, for each set you fall short in that first minute, in the second minute you do the number in push ups or pull ups to make it up to 60 reps, you then rest until the next minute and start again on the squats.

You continue until you can no longer complete the make up reps on either the push ups or pull ups.

My Time: 16 minutes

Total Squats: 325 in 8 minutes

Let’s say that I have not been able to walk properly since. My legs are still sore.

A great crossfit fitness session that can be done outdoors, or built into a Boot Camp program (no doubt one of my Bootcamp Canberra groups will see it very soon). If you can’t find a pull up bar, you can substitute with sit ups.

Also took all the guinea pigs for their first session over the weekend, and got everybody measured up ready for the trial. We will keep you posted over the month to see how things progress with the trial.

Scott Williams

Author, Last Phase Fat Loss Trial

A post on the Succeed Fitness Session of the Day

 Made my way back to Benny and the boys last Saturday to do a Crossfit session with them.

Was a killer session and was great to see how the boys have improved over the last six weeks, Ben is only a few weeks away from the Crossfit Games Sectional trials and he is in sensational condition.

Session consisted of this:

20 x D/B Thrusters (I did 15kg each side)

20 x Push Ups

2 x out and back sprints of basketball court

15 x HSPU (hand stand push ups)

20 x air squats

2 x out and back sprints of basketball court

x 4 rounds for time

My Time: 18.30 (was and truly flogged by Ben 14.10 about & Pauly 17.30)

Are you looking to step up your training?? Here at Succeed we may have just the program to suit you!

Here is a demo of our Super Saturday session running at 7am each Saturday at Tuggeranong Town Park:

Cost is only $10, so why not come and try it out.

A post from Succeed Personal Training, the latest Session of the Day

Hey all,

Please note the “Last Stage Fat Loss Trial” is now full.

A big thank you to the 70 + people that have registered, I am sorry to the 60 that have missed out, but if the trial works you will be able to buy the program at a minimal cost. 

Moving on to a cracking session that I have done this week at Club Lime Tuggeranong with myself and a few of my Personal Training clients:

First up was what is called Metcon 1.

 Which consisted of:

250m rower

10 x pull ups

15 x 24kg Kettle bell Swings

20 x push ups

x 5 rounds for time

My Time: 16.57

Awesome session and one that if you didn’t have a centre like Club Lime Tuggeranong to use, you could quite easily do outside if you had a kettle bell or weight and ran as a substitute to rowing.

Demo of session at Club Lime Tuggeranong here: