Welcome back to my blog for 2015!
To start the series of blogs for this year I thought it would be interesting to give you an insight into my personal training style and how I approach my own health and reflect that for my clients.
Last night I was lucky enough to score tickets to the newest form of tennis: Fast4. Lleyton Hewitt vs Roger Feder in the best of 5 sets in a first to 4 games format. It was a great pleasure to watch two former World number 1’s and the player who, in my opinion is the greatest of all time. I’m certainly not old enough to have seen Rod Laver but I grew up watching Pete Sampras and I have to give Roger Federer my vote as the best. Of course, as a two-time Grand Slam champion, Lleyton is no slouch.
It’s Melbourne Cup week so you could say it’s a good week for gambling. Gambling provides a tremendous adrenaline rush and it is highly addictive. It makes me wonder, though: why is it easy to take a punt on a horse, a greyhound, a footy game or the cricket? And why is it harder to take a punt on yourself…
Don’t you just love how the English language is constantly evolving? We have new terms being created all the time. The new words added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2014 include: wackadoodle, scissor-kick and honky-tonker. Other words are simply changing their definitions as time goes by. The word “gay” has changed its meaning several times over the course of history. What was once more closely defined as happy now also means homosexual and for the younger generations it more likely means something like “lame”. Oh yeah, that word has eveolved its definition as well. That is the beginning of the problem when it comes to having a discussion on fitness. Many people don’t really know what it means to be fit because there are many definitions of fitness and many opinions on what it means to be fit. Describing someone as fit can mean that you think they are: attractive, healthy, compatible, strong, muscular, lean, skinny and the list goes on. Well, let’s see if I can clear some of this confusion up:
It was about 30mins before the start of the NRL Grand Final between the Rabbitohs and the Bulldogs and one of my clients, Matt and I were lucky enough to be able to catch up before kick-off to have a drink. It was a great day and whilst we were both enjoying the day with separate parties it was great to catch up outside of the gym for a change. We went our separate ways before the game and there was no way to foresee how the night would turn out (for the two teams fighting out the Grand Final and for Matt). Unfortunately, Matt suffered a fracture to his foot whilst running for the train after the game. As it turns out, Sam Burgess wasn’t the only person to have a fracture that night and unfortunately there was no “Glory, glory” for Matt. He was about as shattered as the thousands of bulldogs supporters leaving the ground….. and he isn’t a bulldogs supporter. Matt was disappointed when he called me the next day to deliver the news: “It’s fooked” he said, quoting big Sam. We then set about a plan to keep Matt’s fitness up for the next 6 weeks whilst his foot was in a moonboot (see picture).
It’s that time of year again where a lot of good work can be undone by excessive consumption and one of the biggest culprits is alcohol. Here are 6 reasons why alcohol is causing you to gain weight and destroying your good health and good work:
I’ve been promising this blog for a while and I know many of you are interested to try and keep on top of what is out there in the health category for apps. Here is a breakdown of my 5 favourites in no particular order and the cover a wide range of areas of health. If you have found a new app that you think is exciting and useful please share it with me. I’m always looking to learn more about how technology can improve our lives. Here is the list. Try the app and email me to let me know how it works for you:
Challenge for February 2015
Are you ready for a challenge? Have you forgotten about your New Year’s resolution already? Do you need some support to motivate you to stick to any healthy lifestyle changes? Well, thanks to my expanding network of followers here is your first chance to not only start making healthy lifestyle changes but be a role model for others and to be supported in return.
This February I am challenging all of my clients to undertake a simple lifestyle change that will help you:
decrease your blood sugar
increase your insulin sensitivity
decrease diabetes/cancer/cardiovascular disease risk
improve your cholesterol
increase your vitamin and mineral intake
increase fibre
improve bowel movements
In this series of blogs I will be looking at a range of common gym exercises and explaining some basic techniques to help you improve your strength and decrease your risk of injury. This week we look at the bench press.
Below is an anonymous interview with a client who has recently completed one year smoke-free. We share this story in the hope that it may hep others to make positive changes (smokers and non-smokers alike). The conclusion of the article has resources to help you make that start:
