Auckland Personal Trainer

Strong or Skinny?

2009-06-14T14:58:00.000-07:00

Taz made an appearance on sports show Hyundai Code last week. She was asked by resident joker Matua Parkinson how strong she was, because, as he said "you don't look very chunky....."

Taz replied very nicely that she could manage 30 odd pullups without too much trouble, and that being strong does not need to mean being 'chunky'.

For too long women have avoided lifting weights - either because weights was just what the men did, or because of a fear of growing to resemble those men......

There are so many other benefits to weight training besides growing bigger muscles. But to address that concern first - muscle weighs more than fat. We just finished up a six week challenge at CrossFit New Zealand and many of our women (and men) have not budged the weight scales a bit in either direction, however they have lost kilos of fat and gained kilos of muscle. The results of this is a smaller clothing size as muscle takes up less ROOM than fat.

And it gets better - that extra muscle now burns more fat for energy every single day, both during exercise and even at rest.

Extra muscle means you are stronger - better able to deal with the rigours of everyday life, and better performance in your sport.

Extra muscle makes you look leaner, firmer and healthier.

Tennis star Daniela Hantuchova - formerly the 'Slovakian Skeleton', has improved her sports performance, her body and most importantly her health through weight training and good nutrition.

Skinny is not attractive!!

Attack of the FrankenFoods

2009-06-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Flicking through a cooking magazine my flatmate subscribes to, I came across a full page advert for healthy sugar.

I read with amazement the claims by Aussie company CSR that their new low GI sugar was better for you. Here's an article going into it further.

GI if you are not familiar with it means glycemic index and it’s basically the extent to which blood sugar levels are raised after eating that particular food. Less than 55 is considered to be a food that releases energy slowly while something in the 90’s releases energy very quickly

But just because a food is low GI, doesn't mean it is good for you. A chocolate bar is less than 50, but so is a bunch of grapes. Does that make them equally healthy? Of course not.

This crap was created in a lab with $5.4 million of government funding and is being marketed as “the sweetener for the health conscious”.

Those claims go nicely with margarine's claim to fix cholesterol and marshmallows 'fat free' boast. The creation of these Frankenfoods do nothing to increase our health, but they do increase the $$$ in food companies pockets.

To make matters worse we have nutritionists saying that this sort of thing is a good idea.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, broccoli doesn't have a healthy food claim written all over it because it doesn't need one - we KNOW it's good for us.

Be suspicious of any 'food' that sounds too good to be true.

Well farmed meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds will always be the key to a healthy life.

There are no shortcuts.

Focus Part II

2009-05-17T20:03:00.000-07:00

Just to stir the pot a little bit, going to strike off on the opposite tack to the last post. Hey I can contradict myself if I want - it's my blog! It's up to you to decide when I'm right and when I'm wrong.

Trained both Saturday and Sunday this week. Not enough sleep this week, too much work, diet was not 100% dialled in. But I still trained and gave it my all.

The sessions were long, heavy and hard - how did I get through them? Loud music.

Hang on minute, didn't I just tell you in the last post to get the damn ipod out of your ears?

Yeah I did, but it was intended to just make you think about your reliance on it and whether you can still have a good training session without music.

I know some people that will actually blame a poor workout on a lack of music or the fact that the music playing was not to their choice.

You should be able to switch on no matter the situation. If you like loud music then use it by all means, but if it becomes a crutch then practice training without it occasionally, especially if you're a competitive athlete. There aint no music on the sports field; unless you're a rhythmic gymnast..........

Focus

2009-05-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Driving to Victoria Park this morning to train our outdoor CrossFit NZ crew, I nearly side swiped a cyclist. It wasn't my fault, he had a pair of iPod headphones jammed in his ears and he was swerving sporadically all over the road without a care in the world.

Now besides the fact that this practice is downright dangerous, he is also in danger of a lack of progress in his fitness.

Why? No focus.

Although not competitive, back in the day I at least used to do a bit more cycling than I do now, so believe me, I know how boring it can be racking up the miles on the bike sometimes.

But with music blaring into your ears (don't deny it - it has to blare because of wind noise...), how can you focus on your workout, let alone avoid being killed my a speeding Auckland driver?

Headphones are even more common in gyms. It's crazy - the gym has its own soundsystem, and everyone else has their own music (again, blaring to overpower the outside noise) and is lost in their own worlds. I understand that some people argue that music HELPS with focus, but I also know many people who simply CAN'T workout without the help of music, and in my mind that creates a potential weakness.

This may sound a little neanderthal, but why not listen to the clank of the weight you are lifting over your head? The hiss of your breath, and even your final rep grunts. Listen to that 'music' for a while and then you might become more aware of the smell of the chalk and sweat, you will perhaps catch the eye of another person working as hard as you, and share a nod and mutual understanding of what it is to test your limits. Hey, feel free to share a look with yourself in the mirror if you need to - just don't hold the gaze for too long ya poser.....

Australasia Crossfit Regionals

2009-04-06T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well the pain of the CrossFit Regional Games has faded enough that I can look back upon them with a smile. About 100 athletes from Australasia battling it out for qualification to the World Games in California.

I always knew Taz was going to get one of the spots, however much she might have covered her ears when I tried talking to her about it. But knowing the depth of the men's field, all I hoped for myself was that I wouldn't get my ass kicked too badly. So obviously, to get 4th made my year.

I had a slow start to the weekend; paced myself too much on the 1st workout and didn't find any rhythm. It was good enough for 11th though, which I think also helped me relax a bit. As long as I wasn't last!! (not that there's anything wrong with that.....) I also felt a little overawed by the audience. I'm certainly not one for crowds, and it took a while to forget about all the eyes on you and tune out the noise. By the last workout though, I was feeding on the crowds energy - they were awesome.

Met a Kiwi living on the Sunshine Coast, Rachel, a physio who worked wonders with both Taz and I - sorting out tight backs, shoulders, calves and forearms.

The 2nd WOD was a little more my scene, however I was almost undone before it started. During warmup and explanation of the exercise standards, I suddenly discovered that my injured shoulder was not 99% healed, but more like 90%, and the incredibly strict burpee standards were almost out of my range of motion. After what seemed like 50 reps of practice I started producing reps that the judges were happy with. Only had 1 rep disallowed during the workout.

Went out hard from the start and jumped on the rower in about 4th place. The 15 rep set slowed a few people down, and all the butterfly kip/chest to bar practice got me even with Steve (overall winner), but it's next to impossible to wear a big man down on the rower and I finished up 18 seconds behind him. Watching him having to be carried away from the rower though, was a lesson to me in how to work harder than you think is possible. He can go to a dark place can Commando Steve; Taz commented how blank his face was in comparison to my zombie grimaces...... :)

A 2nd place finish for that heat and 4th for the workout put me in 7th overall going into the final day, which was announced as a 1200m sand dune run. At first I wasn't happy that we had to change locations, but tried to think of it as a chance to see more of Aussie, and it turned out to be a beautiful spot; just not so great for running on....

It was a cool cloudy day.....for all but Taz and my heats! The sun broke through just before Taz started and the remaining 32 competitors groaned audibly. But once the races started the heat was forgotten with the need to concentrate on dragging one foot out of the sand and planting it in front of you, repeat ad nauseum.

Hit the steepest section holding the middle of the pack. Took the advice of heats already gone, to go to all fours for this and pulled myself up the hill into 2nd place. Guys that's why we do bear crawls at CFNZ so much see? Had an epic battle with Doug A from CF Brisbane, with him passing me on every downhill and me clawing it back on the uphills. Steve held the lead the whole way, and by the time I thought about the possiblity of a chase, there wasn't much race left and I had to concentrate on keeping ahead of Doug on the last hill. Used up everything in the tank on the last stretch - felt pretty happy with my effort.

Next year we will have to take a decent team from CFNZ, an amazing opportunity to mix with like minded people. We are already planning friendly battles with CrossFit Auckland and will be trying to mix it up more regularly with Australian affiliates too.

On a diet? Don't eat food, just drink water......

2009-03-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Winners of the Anorexia Promotion Award 2009 are Whole Water.

Why would anyone think that 'quarter the calories of a banana' is good marketing?

Another priceless quote is 'three times the protein of a banana'. If you're wondering how much that is, it's three times bugger all....... you don't eat a banana for protein, you eat it for complex carbohydrates, fibre, vitamins and minerals.

Hopefully most people realise that drinking real, unflavoured water is still the best option.........and just eat the damn banana, you'll be a lot better off.

CrossFit vs. Body For Life

2009-02-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

The first Body for Life Challenge was held in 1996, and shook up the health and fitness world with its grand prize of 1 million dollars for the person who could make the greatest physical transformation in 12 weeks.

Since then, according to their own publicity 2 million people have transformed their bodies using the BFL and EAS supplements. I myself read the book and watched the movie and was genuinely impressed with the progress that some of these people had made.

Chances are you have tried the challenge yourself, or know someone who has. What were the results? In my experience, everyone I've talked to that has done the challenge tell me that it works really well.........yet they all gained most if not all of their weight back afterwards!!

If a type of exercise or a diet plan is not sustainable long term, then you can't call it successful!
I thought I'd do a little informal comparison between BFL and CFNZ (CrossFit NZ) to see how they stack up.

Body for Lifers exercise 6 times per week, alternating upper body weight training, lower body and aerobic exercise over and over.
CrossFitters train up to 6 times a week, varying their routines constantly to keep motivation, intensity and more importantly progress at high levels.

BFL encourages 6 meals per day, 3 of which are powdered meal replacement shakes.
CrossFit sticks to real food - meat and veggies, fruit, nuts and seeds, little starch and no sugar. The occasional supplement for convenience but no reliance on them.

BFL meals are made up of a portion of protein, a portion of starchy carbs and a portion of veggies.
At CrossFit we make sure you eat your fat! Healthy fat is what humans evolved to utilise for energy, it's the starchy carbs you should be cutting down on. Eat eggs, salmon, avocado, nuts, seeds and olive oil, minimise your intake of grains and cereals, bump up the veggie intake even more and you'll feel great.

BFL is a 12 week program.
CrossFit is for life. The sooner people understand that fitness is not a quick fix, the better. If you can only stick with a good eating and exercise plan for 12 weeks, then you'll never get the body and health that you want. Blindly following a meal plan does not let you understand why you should be eating certain foods and thus enable you to continue eating well afterwards.

It is worth noting that I think the general idea of the 12 week challenge is sound. There are people who completed the BFL and maintained their results. Muscle gain and fat loss is hard! So a short, period of concentrated effort can be a little easier to get your head around in the beginning. But just be sure you put a plan in place for week 13; don't let it all fall to pieces after such a big effort. Educate yourself on how to maintain and even exceed the progress you've already made.

Sticking to your diet and exercise program

2009-01-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Well say goodbye to January - that's approx 1/12 of the year gone already. How have your resolutions to finally get in shape this year been going? Resolve starting to fail you? Is your diet getting too restrictive and your new gym program too boring?

Well it appears you're not alone. By the end of this week hundreds of thousands of broken souls around the world will be back on their processed carbohydrate diets, and never darken the door of their gym again - many of them locked into long term payment contracts. Why is it that so many people know how good healthy eating and activity is for them, and are even prepared to pay some globo-gym a hundred bucks a month and only get a 'free' t-shirt to remind them of their failure?

The answer, I think, is because they hate it.

They hate making tuna salad every day to take to work in a tupperware container for everyone to say 'Ooh are you on a diet', and 'WHAT are you EATING?!'
They hate being in a gym where everyone seems to know what that machine with the cables and metal arm thingy seems to do except you. And between the meatheads dropping weights, the plastic surgery addicted cardio bunnies and the personal trainer who wont help you unless you sign up for 10 paid sessions, you don't really feel comfortable here, especially when you've just busted your ass at work for 10 hours.

As I said before, everyone knows diet and exercise is good for you. So how does the person in the above example get around these issues?

They need to find a way to enjoy it.

Okay that's not very revolutionary is it? Sorry, what did you expect? Because if you want to be fit, lean and healthy there is still no magic pill on the market that will take the place of eating right and exercising - Big Pharma is trying to find it though, believe me.

So until then, the only way to continue with your New Years resolutions all the way till next January, and beyond is to find a way to enjoy yourself.

If you hate the gym join a bootcamp or group fitness class.

If you have trouble sticking to a diet, do some research and find out how to compromise your tastes with a nutrition plan that meets your goals.

Take up a new sport, find a workout buddy to keep you company and motivate you. Learn a language, or listen to an audiobook on your ipod while you are jogging.

Buy a dog and walk it. (I better not see it at the SPCA in a year though!)

Learn a new recipe or try a new healthy food every week - invite friends to participate in a healthy pot luck once or twice a week and share nutrition tips you've learned.

There's no way around the fact that you need to move more and eat better. But if you are hating the process, you're doomed to failure.

Find a way to enjoy it.

Kickstart 2009

2009-01-18T00:34:00.000-08:00

So we're almost three weeks into 2009 - but are your exercise and dietary habits still on holiday? If you drank a little too much and ate a few too many Christmas chocolates over the holidays, you may be finding it hard to rediscover your discipline - I know I am. That's why I've kicked off the year with a detox.

Now before you think I've gone all Oprah on you, I'm not recommending the type of detoxes pushed by most of the so called diet gurus out there. I'm simply suggesting going cold turkey on all the junk in your diet. I'm spending 2 weeks eating only protein shakes containing lean protein, healthy fats and a ton of fibre. After exercise I'll have a solid meal of lean protein and lots of veggies.

Why not try something similar? You don't have to do what I'm doing. How about you cut out all processed carbohydrate, sugar, alcohol and fast food for two weeks? Come on it's not that tough to do just 14 days is it? Trust me you'll feel great at the end, you'll eliminate the hold that the Xmas Crap Food has fastened on you, and maybe you'll continue for a little longer into the new year once you feel the benefits.

Train like Lance Armstrong

2009-01-11T23:27:00.000-08:00

Endurance athletes don't need to lift weights right? It'll make them all muscle bound, heavy and slow wont it?

Guess someone forgot to tell one of the greatest endurance athletes ever........

This picture of Lance was published in the New York Daily recently.

It highlights perfectly a few principles I push regarding fitness training.

Get out of the gym
Lance trains in his garage at home. This way he has no excuse for not being able to get to the gym. It's right there morning or night. Even if you only have a few minutes, you can put them to good use. Avoid the crowds, the boofheads and the queue for equipment. Or why not get along to a nearby park for a workout. The change of scenery and fresh air will do you the world of good.
Hey, I OWN a gym, and I still think it's good advice. We always get our big roller door up for a bit of 'outdoor flow'.

Forget about machines
Lance is swinging a kettlebell in this pic (a favourite tool in our Crossfit NZ workouts), and in the back ground is a squat rack and a glute ham bench. NO MACHINES in sight!! Many cyclists are convinced they need leg extensions and leg presses to build strength specific to their sport; but functional exercises such as squats and deadlifts have much more carryover to sport even they don't resemble the sport at all.

Lift heavy
Sure you're an endurance athlete, but that doesn't mean you need to do hundreds of reps in the gym. Take care of that side of things on your bike, and when you're lifting, lift heavy to build the strength and power that will carry you up hills and over the finish line in front of a bunch sprint.

Workouts that include more time in the anaerobic energy systems will also allow you to cut down on junk miles while still improving your aerobic capacity.

And if those aren't enough reasons for you to lift free weights.......take another look at the six pack you'll get........

Keeping fit during an economic downturn

2009-01-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

With the local and global economy being somewhat depressed many well meaning authors are urging people who are feeling the pinch to, among other money saving ideas, quit their gym memberships. The alternative according to these money experts is to go for a walk instead. Well you and I both know how ineffective walking is for keeping fit and healthy. And unfortunately, you know that I think a gym membership isn't that great either - seeing as most people don't even use theirs, or waste their time with ineffective training programs.

I say do the opposite. If you are under a lot of stress you can either let yourself get out of shape, which will magnify the effect that stress has upon you, and let your now failing health become another problem to deal with, or you can meet the financial crisis head on and make sure that you are fit and strong enough to perform well at your job and maximise your earning power.

Personally I think that everyone has a responsibility to their families to be as healthy and fit as possible - anything less is unfair to your children, spouse or parents. Why should they have to see you die early from factors that are completely preventable?

Sure hiring a trainer for 3-4 sessions a week could cost a packet over time. If I was training you one-on-one you would have handed over about $1500 before the month was out. You’d be in bloody good shape mind you……….but as this post is about money – why not hire a personal trainer to just write you a good program and progression plan each month and meet up with them each month to have someone to answer to, get a review of your progress and a new plan. Now it’s looking more like $150 a month, and you should still get some decent results.

Or why not find a gym that offers semi-private (one instructor to 2, 3 or 4 clients) or group sessions? If it’s well run, you will find you get just as much attention from the coach and the extra people around will make you lift your game a notch. People tell me they’re not competitive, but once they’re side by side with someone else, they end up working harder than ever before.

The best news of all – small group fitness is more affordable than private training. So you get a more effective workout, a social interaction (which let’s face it, we all need if under a bit of pressure at work), for a bargain price. What are you waiting for?

Using a personal trainer this year?

2008-12-25T22:03:00.000-08:00

There's no longer any point in 'what if-ing' about your health and fitness results from 2008. If things didn't go as well as you hoped, try to think back and identify what went wrong and why, and figure out strategies to deal with the roadblocks better this year.

Immersing yourself in the right environment is crucial. Exercising with friends, or around people who have achieved the kind of results you want is important to keep you accountable and focused. If you are using a personal trainer they need to do the same for you.

Do they have these qualities:

-A personality that works with yours.
If you don't get on with your coach, you will only grow to resent them. I'm not saying you need to be best friends, but at least be on the same wavelength.

-Knowledge about effective exercise.
If the programs your trainer prescribes you has less than 80% compound exercises, find a new trainer. A compound exercise is one which uses more than 1 joint. A bicep curl (elbow joint) is not a compound exercise, but a pull down or pullup (elbow, shoulder joints) is.
Multi-joint movements are neccessary to ensure the most bang for your exercise buck, and to prepare you for whatever life throws your way.

-Keeps records
Do you have any idea about how much improvement (if any) you've made with your trainer? If they aren't documenting your progress in some form or another, they are just lazy. At the least it's always motivating to achieve a new PB. But if you can see that progress has plateaued through accurate recording, your programming can be adjusted immediately.

Kick 2009 off well by getting the right people on your team. Your coach/PT is one of the most important ones, so keep the above qualities in mind.

The Hierarchy of Fat Loss

2008-12-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

I went for an easy 3 km jog this morning.

Those that know me, or have read some of my articles/posts on exercise would probably be amazed. I'm the guy who hates jogging, who doesn't allow his clients to jog, who tries to cut down on the miles his endurance clients run.

Yet, I went jogging today and have been doing the odd jog for about a month now. I've also been riding my bike to the gym and going for after dinner walks. Why? I'm increasing my level of fat burning in anticipation of summer holidays.

And again, those of you who know my stance on exercise must be shaking your head - 'I thought you didn't believe in slow, steady cardio for fat loss Darren?'

Well I don't.........at least not as a stand alone solution. The problem is that slow, steady cardio is usually the ONLY thing people do when they want to lose weight. Once the weather warms up, it's like the wildebeest migration down at Mission Bay.......power walkers as far as the eye can see. But the fact of the matter is that steady cardio should be the LAST piece of your fat loss puzzle.

If all the things you could do to burn fat were ranked by effectiveness, you would discover what Alwyn Cosgrove calls The Hierarchy of Fat Loss.

Nutrition - I'm sorry, but you can't out-train a crappy diet. It may have worked when you were 20 years old, but nowadays if you can't get your nutrition sorted, all the exercise in the world will only go so far. Make a healthier diet your priority when getting into shape.
Weight lifting - Whether you are a mother of three, an endurance athlete, or a grandparent; if fat loss is your goal, then lifting weights will turbo charge your efforts. Without the metabolism boosting effect of lean muscle mass, your system will go into hibernation during a diet, in order to hang on to every last bit of fat it can.
High intensity Intervals and Circuits - Sprints on the bike, rower, treadmill and outdoors; kettlebell work, complexes, and Crossfit style workouts. This sort of exercise not only burns a ton of energy, it increases your rate of fat burning for up to 36 hours after you finish exercising!!
Steady cardio - Finally now you can add in the slow, boring stuff. If you've got the first 3 components in order, then a little extra activity can be the icing on the cake; whittling away at the last couple of kgs, to reveal the six pack you always suspected was there, but had never seen before. Also once you're lifting weights 4-5 days a week, and running sprints another 2-3 times, steady cardio is about all the extra work your body can cope with and not break down.

But stick to the correct order! Mess with the hierarchy of fat loss and you're messing with your progress.

Holiday Reading

2008-12-16T10:45:00.000-08:00

I love to read. I used to average 3-4 books per week, but with university study and now being in business, it's more like 1-2. Because of that, I've had to think harder about each book, and so the quality of reading material has tended to rise.

These are some of the books I plan on getting through this summer.

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes
An argument amongst nutritionists for years; is a calorie a calorie? Taubes says no, and delves into the misconceptions about dietary fat and health.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
Unfortunately missed hearing this guy speak at the University of Auckland this year. He promotes the return to the eating of 'real' food, not all this processed garbage so many people live on today.

Tribes by Seth Godin
This guy has a legendary blog, covering all manner of topics relating to business, marketing, customer relations, and worldwide trends.

Bang For Your Buck

2008-12-14T16:48:00.000-08:00

I must have written hundreds of workout programs over the years. These programs were for people from all walks of life, and with many different goals, yet more often than not, the same few movements made up the bulk of all the programs.

squatting
pulling
lifting
pressing

Within those 4 movements and their variations is almost all that is needed to build muscle, burn fat and improve your athletic performance. Only a minimum of extra exercises are necessary to individualise it to a specific desired outcome. These movements give you the most bang for your buck - the biggest improvements for the smallest time investment.

It seems very hard for people to accept this though. The number of times I have spent valuable time putting a program together, only to find 2 weeks later that the client has added bicep curls, lateral raises and leg extensions, because they felt 'it wasn't enough work'. But on many occasions the very exercises I prescribed are getting left out.

Those above 4 movements are DEFINITELY enough work. Exercises derived from them should make up the bulk of your training program if you want it to be successful. I'm talking at least 80% ......and preferably 90%. If you have and energy and time left after training these 'money' movements, feel free to work your guns, or add in some crunches, but what ever you do, don't substitute squats for leg extensions, or pushups for pec deck, or pullups for bicep curls. You know you're just avoiding the real work that is necessary to achieve notable results in your physique.

Travel Workouts

2008-12-14T16:46:00.000-08:00

Some workouts for the holidays

You don't have to keep up the most punishing regime, relax a bit. But at the same time, its likely that you will be indulging in good food, and possibly being a bit more inactive during the day than you normally would be, so if you don't want to take too much of a backwards step on your 2008 progress, the odd workout would not go amiss.

Stick to something that doesn't require too much thinking, or too much time. After all, what will give you the most benefit - a full body 40 minute strength and conditioning workout that you put off all day and eventually don't do at all; or 4 minutes of sprints on the beach, or 100 pushups for time that has you done and dusted before you even have a chance to talk yourself out of it?

Here's a few simple workouts to try that require no equipment. Make sure you spend at least 5 minutes warming up though ok? Injuries are no fun on holiday........

1.
10 vertical jumps, 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 4 rounds...for time.

2.
10 squats every 1 minute of a 1.5 km run.

3.
100 burpees for time.

4.
Run 3 km as fast as possible.

5.
10 push-ups 10 squats 10 sit ups 10 rounds.

6.
spend a total of 3 minutes in a handstand. Rest, then 10 vertical jumps, run 400 meters, 5 rounds.

7.100 squats for time. Rest 5 mins, then 100 situps for time.

8.
100 jumping jacks, 75 air squats, 50 push ups, 25 burpees. For time.

9.
Sprint 100 meters, Walk 100 meters, 10 rounds. Rest 5 min, then jog home the 2 km you just covered.

10.
100 push ups for time.

Losing fat does not have to be this tough

2008-12-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

Sure he's probably going to lose weight on this regime, but it's amazing what he could turn that fish into with a few herbs, spices, veggies and a pinch of imagination.

Remember that - A diet doesn't have to be DIE with a T.

12 Days of Fitness starts today

2008-12-10T11:39:00.000-08:00

The 2008 12 Days of Fitness Promotion has started today! It’s looking like this year will be the biggest promo yet…… ...and all of it is FREE.

Make sure you get on over to: http://www.12daysoffitness.com/ and update your details into the form set up over there.

Today's gifts include:

6 Fat Loss Gifts

2 Female Specifc Gift

1 Nutrition / Recipes Gift

1 Rehabilitaion and Injury solution Gift

1 Mindset and Goals Gift

Remember to forward the link onto anyone you know that might be interested in educating their selves more on health, nutrition and exercise. The aim is to help half a million people improve their health this year, and the only way to accomplish that is to get the word out through everyone we know.

http://www.12daysoffitness.com/

Are you going uphill or downhill?

2008-12-08T21:45:00.000-08:00

Jack Lalanne knew his stuff, even way back then. This advice is still good today......and so damn simple. The hardest part is deciding to do it.

12 days of fitness

2008-12-07T15:59:00.000-08:00

With the end of the year coming rapidly to a close I'm noticing the awesome effort
that everyone is putting into their training at Crossfit NZ.

Everyone has earned a great break over Christmas, so I hope you all relax, eat some
cake/pavlova/etc and recharge the batteries. Of course a run down the beach wouldn’t hurt
either…… you don't want to relax too much. It hurts too much to get back into training otherwise.

It’s at this time of year that a bunch of fitness professionals around the world participate in a
promotion called The 12 Days of Fitness. It involves free information gifts with well over
a hundred exercise programs, diets, nutrition plans, videos, audios, reports and tons more.

We're just 5 days out from the startof this Year's www.12daysoffitness.comand it’s looking like this year will be the biggest promo yet…… ...and all of it is FREE. It won't cost you a cent! All of the contributors (myself included)are really looking forward to sharingtheir gifts with you, but first, you need to get on over to:http://www.12daysoffitness.com and update your details into the form set up over there.

This will make sure you don't miss out on the gifts when they are released on the tenth. Second, if there is anyone you know that might be interested in educating their selves more on health, nutrition and exercise, then please forward this on to them.
The aim is to help half a million people improve their health this year, and the only way to accomplish that is to get the word out through everyone we know.

Thanks in advance!

How did 2008 treat you?

2008-12-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Did you gain the muscle you wanted?

Did you lose the fat you said you were going to lose this year?

Did you follow the sensible nutrition plan you stuck to your fridge?

If you made great initial progress at the start of the year, but lost momentum in the last 6 months, what was it that affected your progress?

Here are a couple of ideas of where you could have gone wrong. Fix these and get off to a better start in 2009 as well as maintain your progress through to 2010 and beyond.

1. Not enough emphasis on weight training. If fat loss was your goal, don't be fooled into thinking that that aerobic activity is the only route. You MUST stimulate your muscle mass through weight training, as muscle is the engine that fuel (your fat) is burned in. More muscle = more fat burned.

2. Long slow cardio. While we're talking about cardio, do you really think that reading a magazine while pedalling at 60rpms for half an hour will give you a six pack? Up the intensity with bursts of effort. High Intensity Interval Training has been shown to burn up to 9 times more fat than steady cardio. Try pedalling at >120rpm for a minute, followed by a minute at 70rpm for 10-15 rounds. Once you get fitter, increase the resistance, and decrease the rest period to maintain progress.

3. Keep a food diary
You may have thought that your diet was on track, but the proof is in the written word. Recording every bite suddenly highlights missed meals, poor snack choices, meals that lacked key nutrients such as protein or healthy fat.
Every month, write down your dietary intake for at least 5 days. It'll keep you alert to any slacking and serve as an often needed motivation booster.

With those 3 tools in your arsenal you will kick off 2009 in style and fast track yourself towards your goals. And hey, why not start NOW if you wanted to?

Getting in shape for New Year

2008-12-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

2008 is almost over. There is just four weeks left.

How did your nutrition and exercise efforts go this year?

If the answer is 'great!', then just keep doing what you've been doing, enjoy yourself occasionally this month at a few Christmas parties, and hit the beach with confidence that your hard work has been worth it.

If you have a different answer, don't despair, it's never too late to make a start. But what ever you do, start now. Don't make the mistake of putting it off till Jan 1st- it has been said that the average person gains 3-5 kg during December - why would you let it get worse before you start to make it better?

Who says you couldn't LOSE 3-5 kgs in December?! There's no reason why not. You just have to start now. Get your diet in check - that's most important. Eat regular, small meals of lean protein, veggies and fruit, with healthy fats; avoid breads, cereals and grains as much as possible, and do your best to take it easy at Christmas parties. You know you wont even remember what the pavlova tasted like in the morning..........

And get started on an effective exercise program today - functional strength training, high intensity cardio and lots of extra summertime activity - and then you can enjoy the holidays while actually losing fat.

If that's not enough, just remember; if you succeed in losing that 3-5 kg in December, you'll actually be 6-10kg ahead of the rest of your friends and family come January!!

Fat Loss and Fitness: Who's on your team?

2008-11-26T12:03:00.000-08:00

There's a saying "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with".
I read it in reference to financial success - the idea being that if you associated mostly with wealthy people, you were much more likely to be wealthy yourself.

I think it works with physical fitness as well. If your family, friends and workmates are living on crappy food, spending their leisure time drinking, smoking and generally living an inactive, unhealthy life, then it stands to reason that you are probably doing the same thing.

And how hard do you think it would be to make a change to a healthy diet and regular exercise, when these same people are constantly tempting you to give up and return to the status quo?

If your inner circle are not the type of people that provide a positive environment, you must consider finding other people to associate with. It's about doing things that fit people do - with other fit people. There's plenty of options. For starters, group exercise programs are a great way to get involved. Fitness classes at your local gym, touch rugby over the summer, running groups, tennis, yoga, dance classes.

At CrossFit NZ we get results because we do the right exercise, the right way. But for the majority of our clients, their results are mainly attributed to the social environment of our group workouts. We've got people who have never exercised properly before, banging out pullups, bodyweight deadlifts, swinging kettlebells and getting in great shape. And they do it while giving and recieving a ton of support to and from the group.

Now you don't have to disown your family and dump all your friends, but if they are not interested in helping you get fitter, leaner and healthier, it's up to you to search out an alternative. Who knows, once you start getting in shape, you may influence your 5 people to do the same!

Thank you for hurting me......

2008-07-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

I always have to laugh when after reducing themselves to a pile of quivering jelly on the floor, clients both new and old, once recovered enough to stand, will thank me wholeheartedly for a great workout! No really, the pleasure was all mine! Thanks Mike, thanks Rob for putting in a great effort.

We're in the life changing business

2008-07-10T02:47:00.000-07:00

Fitness professionals are not in the training business, they're in the life changing business.

Think about it. No one really buys a power drill just to have a power drill. They buy a drill because they want holes.

Our clients may tell us they're hiring us for fitness or to lose body fat, but what they really want is to create a body they feel comfortable in. A body that they don't mind uncovering at the beach. A body that is strong enough to lift their kids and play with them.

I feel pretty lucky to be in an industry that gets to provide this to people. Unfortunately many don't follow through on their promises.

So while I get angry at the infomercials that promise the world and suck people in, I can't deny that they have a clever sales pitch. They are just promising to give people what they want. And that regularly results in unhappy people making 3 easy payments of $99 for a 6 minute abs program.

At CrossFit we can quite happily stand by our promise that your performance will improve. But looking good naked is also certain side effect. The one thing we emphasise however is that it's not easy. You've got to work hard. You already knew that though right?

Socialising with clients

2008-07-05T19:54:00.000-07:00

Just got home from tackling the King of the Mountain 5km run in Panmure. A few clients also entered and we got together before and after the run for a coffee and a laugh.

There must be so many jobs out there where a person does not interact with others at all.
If they don't have a lot of friends outside of work that must nmake for a pretty lonely existence.

I feel like I've got the best job in the world. Not only do I get to meet a great bunch of people from a variety of backgrounds, but I get to meet their families and their friends; as well as getting to share in the awesome progress they make towards their health and fitness goals.

Next year we're going to do the wheelbarrow event......