Archive for the ‘Personal Training Areas’ Category

A fitness post on the latest Cross Fit workout done by yours truly

Well I thought I would give another of the benchmark Cross fit girls a run.

This time around I did CINDY (sounds wrong I know)

Here is the run down on the session:

5 x pull ups

10 x push ups

15 x air squats

All you have to do is complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as possible.

My total : 15 complete rounds (last attempt I got 9)

As you can see I have done this in the Club Lime Tuggeranong Health Club, but this is one session that can be hit up outdoors if you do not have a gym membership.

I will be putting some of my Boot Camp Canberra clients through this workout for sure.

Here is a demo of the exercises for you:

THe highest record I can find of this routine is 32 complete rounds ( I am not that far away…)

Scotty

A post on undertaking the crossfit FRAN workout

As some of you may know I have been doing Cross Fit training now for about 6 month (P.S. I am 9kg lighter since starting).

 There are a few benchmark Cross Fit workout that work as a gauge to see how you are progressing with your training. I thought it was time I revisited one of the first one I ever did.

It is called ‘FRAN’ and goes like this:

43kg Thrusters

pull ups

Now you do three sets of each, starting with 21 reps of each the first set, then 15 & then finish with 9

Previous Time: 8.46 (with jumping pull ups & 40kg thrusters)

New Time:8.15 (with unassisted pull ups & 43kg thrusters) - to let you know how far off the pace I am, the fastest time I can find to complete the FRAN workout is 1.53 by Jason Caplan

Burnt 144 cals with an Avg HR of 155

Here is a quick demo of the exercises:

If you haven’t tried this session, give it a go, it is harder than it looks…

Stay tuned for an update on week two of the fat loss trial tomorrow

Scott Williams

Australian Fitness Expert

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

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 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:

A post on a weightloss and fitness trial

Attention all Canberran’s

I need a few guinea pigs for a study I wish to do for 1 month.

If you fit into this category (read below) and are wholeheartedly prepared to do what I say for the month, then I want you!!

I am going to trial a new and very different weight loss craze (call it a diet if you want to), that is hitting America by storm with some great results.

I am not going to talk about my weightloss plan here, but I am offering to take 10 people for FREE, put you on the same plan I am going on and see what happens to all of us?

What is invovled I hear you ask?

- a weekly weigh in at my office in Club Lime Tuggeranong

- weekly training sessions (if not a Succeed fitness client you must do them on your own, or we can drop you into a group of either Boot Camp or PT)

- 100% guarantee and committment that you do what I say

I am not offering any guarantees on results, and certainly not saying it is going to be easy, but after 5 - 6 months of solid fitness training and losing 8kg of body fat so far, I have plateued out with my weightloss at the moment and I am looking to get the last 5kg of fat off my body…

So the first ten people to leave a comment in the section below are in…leave me your email and I will be in touch early in the week to get you started.

It will start Monday 15th Feb 2010

Scott (the trainer on a mission to find a six pack… no not beer either but that would be good also)

Succeed Personal Training Fitness Session of the Day

Well after a gruelling fitness session with the Tuggeranong Hawks on Monday night, the legs needed a reprieve on Tuesday morning so I set myself an upper body session.

As much as my body shape is really starting to change and I have lost over 8kg, I would like to increase my lean muscle mass so I will be putting a bit more of an emphasis on some strength based Cross Fit sessions.

I will still continue with the cardiovascular component, but will keep that for some of my Boot Camp Canberra groups.

Today’s session consisted of a series of four exercises.

Now the Cross Fit weight is 70kg for each exercise, but unfortunately I am not up to that standard just yet so I had to modify some of the weights:

Session : D.T

15 x 70kg Flat Bench Press

12 x 70kg Deadlift

9 x 50kg Power Hang Clean

6 x 50kg push press splits

5 rounds for time

My Time: 26.48

Here is your demo:

Obviously a session that needs to be done in a gym or health club. I did this session at Club Lime Tuggeranong.

Feel FREE to drop in for a session with me.

Until next time,

Scott

A post on evaluating Personal Trainers

When seeking a personal trainer, it is necessary for the public to educate themselves on how to interview the right person for the job. While there are many certified personal trainers out there, only a select few of them are truly competent. You should always ask and verify where their certification is from and what their credentials are. There are different types and levels of training certifications, only a handful of them are good. Most tests are multiple choice questions that are moderately difficult and some others require some essay or program design but are usually easy. What you need to look for is the continuing education courses the trainers have taken. It is the seminars and practical workshops that make a trainer better.

It is difficult for the public to decipher a good trainer from a bad one. In many cases, even the worst trainer knows more about physical fitness than the average person. Below are some fundamental questions that should be asked before making your choice. They are designed to save you from choosing a bad apple.

Questions you should ask:

* What certifications do they hold?
* Do they attend workshops and seminars? Which ones?
* How long have they been a trainer?
* How thorough was your evaluation? Did they do a medical history and test flexibility, core strength, muscle strength and endurance?
* Are they familiar with functional training (training according to daily activities or a specific goal)?
* Have they explained the importance of flexibility?
* Do they stress how important it is to properly brace the core and preserve the lumbar spine?
* Do they know what P.N.F(Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) stretching is?
* Have they explained that function is more important than vanity?
* Can they explain what they are going to do in the routine and how it benefits you?
* Did they explain that cardio alone is an inefficient workout?
* Do they have a basic understanding of nutrition?

If you already have a trainer you can evaluate them:

* Does your trainer understand that a core routine is not a series of floor exercises?
* Are you doing more free weights and medicine balls than machines?
* Do they ever take notes?
* Are you being properly warmed up at the beginning and being stretched at the end?
* Does your trainer change the routine regularly?
* Does you trainer incorporate balance boards, swiss balls, single leg exercises and other challenged environments?
* When training the core (midsection) does your trainer explain how important it is to do dynamic movements as well as isometric exercises and the importance of low back exercises?
* Does your trainer target weak areas?
* If you feel pain in places that you should not like your knees, low back and neck does your trainer change or modify the exercise to a pain free range?
* Do you truly understand what you are doing while you train?
* Are you really getting results?
* Do you do more back exercises than chest and abs?
* Are you setting goals?
* Are you talking about you and your needs?
* Are you getting undivided attention?

If you answered no to any of these questions, then your trainer may be lacking key knowledge that is necessary for you to reach your fitness goals. More importantly, your trainer may be doing you more harm than good. It is simple for a trainer to deceive an unsuspecting client into believing they are knowledgeable. This is due to the general public not being educated about the fitness industry and trusting a gym will provide them with a competent trainer. In most cases, gyms are not always concerned with the quality of the people they are hiring. If a gym thinks a trainer possesses strong sales skills, they will hire them as long as they have some type of certification. A qualified fitness professional will understand at the very least everything listed above. Remember when hiring a trainer to make sure they are a full time professional. Part time does not cut it when it comes to your health. Would you go to a part time Medical Doctor?

Be aware of trainers that are charging low rates. The going rate for a high level trainer is around $70-$90/hr even their entry level trainers are $40-60/hr. There are other trainers that charge way more than the rates just mentioned. In-homes for a high level professional trainer are around $125 and can be more. You may be able to get a really good trainer for $90-$100 depending on travel time, trainers charging much less are either just starting out, not that good or a close friend. You get what you pay for. It is important you research the trainers’ certification and check to make sure they are currently certified by Fitness Australia.

It is important to understand that certifications and degrees certainly help but do not mean everything. You want to know about their clinical experience and the workshops they attend. Ask who they work with and get at least three references to call from current clients. See if they work with any local doctors, all the good trainers work with at least one doctor.

A bad trainer can hurt you - do your research and make sure they are good.

 Scott Williams

CEO, Managing Director

Succeed Personal Development

2 x Time Australian PT Business of the Year

A post on the latest fitness session done at Succeed Personal Training

Well I have done some crazy cross fit training sessions in the last few months, but I reckon this one takes the cake.

It involved the following:

1000m rower

100 x 60kg deadlifts

100 x push ups

100 x 40kg clean & press

100 x full sit ups ( not pictured in youtube clip)

1000m rower

The idea was to complete as quickly as possible

My time: 43.53 (my longest session for five months)

I have to say it was a tough session, simply for the fact that the muscles had just had enough with the strength side of things. I was reduced to doing 2 or 3 reps at a time by the end.

This is not a session for the novice trainer and I would only recommend to an experienced trainer that can handle the duration and intensity of the session. Those that saw me know that I did not pull up to good after this session.

Anyway here is the demo of the session if you wish to have a go remember to scale the weights to suit:

If you are looking for something different in your training then why not come down to Club Lime Tuggeranong for a session with one of our very experienced Personal Trainers.

We have a variety of trainers to choose from working in all different styles of training.

Come and see the current Australian Fitness Business of the Year.

The Succeed Team

One of our great debates in the fitness industry still rages on:

 ’You need to do cardio to lose weight’

 If you’re sceptical that you can get results without doing cardio, then you need to read this…

 My advice (and this works with excess protein intake as well)…

 ”Just cut back on the cardio a little bit each week until you realize that doing less doesn’t actually slow your fat loss progress.”

 In fact, if you replace it with harder shorter intervals, I’ll bet you that will get more results than you would sticking to the long distance cardio. Want to see for yourself? If so, then  sign up for a month of Personal Training with one of our Personal Trainers or one of our Boot Camp programs doing short intervals only, and I guarantee your body shape will change or I will give you your money back…

 Most people don’t realize that you can’t expect to get different results by doing the same thing over and over again, but people are afraid of change. They’d rather keep on running for 45 minutes and not lose weight than try something different that pushes them out of their comfort zone a little bit for as little as 20 minutes and see the fat melt away.

 My personal opinion, people stick with cardio because it is easier mentally & physically to go for a jog or use the strider compared to doing real burn fat workouts that can change your body (such as the Succeed burn fat fast workout (due out soon), bodyweight exercises, and interval training).

 Taking the easy way out does NOT work.

 And it’s boring.

 Succeed’s NEW “burn fat fast workout” training program will be available online soon. It will be a complete training program available for purchase online that will transform your body.

I have been trialling this method of training for the past four months and have lost over 8kg of Bodyfat so far…. and I haven’t ran longer than 25 minutes in any session.

Still got a bit to go.. here is my target -

 Stay tuned!

 Scott Williams

Succeed Personal Training