Posted by on 27 June 2010 | 10 Comments
In our first July training session I was dubbed "Cruella" by one of my clients after making her navigate a rather hilly course for this fortnight's training session. However that very same client shaved 2 mins per km off her time this particular session. That shows you the dedication that this team has for their training.
Practice makes perfect.
This last session was lots of ups and downs, the course that is. Although we have had illnesses, and injuries. It's winter after all and this is a hard time of year to be running and walking in the cold. Plus the team are starting to run longer distances, and more often. This can lead to aches and pains not experienced before. I've talked to them about rest, stretching and ensuring that they recover before they run again.
This team is the most dedicated and serious about meeting their goals. The times that they are completing are outstanding. If you ever thought that you could not run or walk the City 2 Surf then I beg to differ! I have watched the fear in their faces as I hand them the map each week and describe what I want to them to do. I watch them set off with resolve and then I see them come back with elation on their face as they realise that they can do it. And they are doing it.
So what makes this team special?
1. Their comraderie and support of each other
2. The fact they team up together to go running or walking, despite the fact they might all be working at a different pace
3. The encouragement I hear when they talk to each other
4. The training they are doing on their own
5. The emails, texts, Friend Fit updates, and facebook messages they share with me and with others
I am hoping that others will be encouraged by their achievements, and want to give it a go in 2011. I know many of them will come back and try to improve on what they have done this year. There are many on the team that are doing this for their third and fourth year.
For me, it's my third. I am aiming for ten. I'm 44 now so god willing I will still be running that track at the age of 51. :o)
Kaz
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Posted by on 24 June 2010 | 0 Comments
It’s 5:45am and you haven’t slept well so you’re tired, you might be getting a bit of a head cold, it’s been a hectic week already, and you have 8 clients in a row today with your day finishing at 9:30pm.
Clients are asking why you don’t train with them in a session and you don’t want to explain the crazy day you have ahead of you because it really is not their worry and you are a superhuman fitness professional after all. You try and stifle a yawn, due to sheer physical exhaustion so you don’t appear disinterested. You have to be a good listener as your client tells you about how their child threw up all over the bed yesterday, and you really aren’t good with vomit, or kids. Your class is saying “not running again” and you are thinking about the fact that there are soccer teams on the oval taking up all available space and you have simply just run out of interesting and creative ideas after planning different routines for the last 1,277 days!!!!
How do you get out of bed when it’s dark and everyone is tucked away under the doona still snoozing? What makes you want to work in 3 degrees and potentially the rain and the wind when you passionately hate cold weather? How do you come up with awe inspiring routines that leave clients saying “man, that was a really awesome workout!”? Who teaches you how to use the right words to inspire the client that really hates exercise and has a look on their face that clearly tells you this is the last place on earth they want to be right now? How do you sit in an hour and a half traffic going from client to client when you are struggling to stay awake? How do you smile and be cheerful at 5:30am in the morning when you just want to be asleep, or at the very least, with your own thoughts?
You have to be motivating. You have to push clients beyond their capability. You have to be excited about their goals and their aspirations. You have to be cheerful and happy. You have to be the one that inspires them to do better, to drive them to achieve, to help them achieve goals they have never achieved before!
So who motivates the motivator?
You motivate us. You, our clients. You are the reason that we do what we do.
For me personally, it is so many things:
* It’s the shout that says "hey I can do this exercise now"
* It’s seeing tears of frustration because someone wants something so badly
* It’s the emails and the texts of thanks that absolutely make my day
* Or maybe the daily injury management calls because they know you give a damn
* The gratitude for exercising when you know they didn’t want to initially
* It’s the call to say “hey I’m pregnant” because you are an important part of their life
* It’s the level of confidence that someone has in you when they confide their secrets
* Or the hand written card with comments you know they crafted for you personally
* The elation at crossing the finish line at City 2 Surf knowing you helped them achieve it
* It’s the texts saying they have just run for 30 minutes non-stop for the first time
* It’s making a difference to people’s lives in more ways than one
Our clients motivate us to do what we do. I would rather be doing this than anything else.
The keys motivators for my own training are as follows:
1. First and foremost, exercise is gold! I can't live without it, or the feeling it brings me. It is the most important part of my life.
2. I am 44 and I can run, do Body Attack and still smash myself in a workout, which is not for everyone, but what I love to do. Age is no barrier.
3. Some of my family members are overweight (to the point of obese) and I have always tried to show them that it's not an excuse, you can beat it.
4. If I don't exercise I would be overweight, it's something that I struggle with every single day. And I love food, and alcohol.
5. I enjoy being a role model for my clients, particular those over 40 who feel that they can't be their best as they get older.
KAZ
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I consider myself a morning person. That said though, getting out of a warm, toasty bed in the dark to go to work every morning is not the easiest thing in the world! What does make it easier, is looking forward to seeing my clients. I love what I do – I love that moment for a brand new client, about 4-6 weeks in to their training when they realise they feel better about themselves or they can do something they couldn't do previously. I love hearing stories about a long-term client having a win on the scales, doing some exercise on their own or beating a previous score in a fitness test. It is about making a difference to someone's quality of life.
In my own training, I do rely on somebody else to help keep me motivated. I train with a personal trainer 1-2 times a week and I often join friends for a run, walk or a group fitness class. In fact, I rarely train on my own. The key here is that I know I won't be motivated to train 100% of the time so I schedule it in my diary and train anyway, no matter what the level of motivation. Having an appointment with someone means I have to turn up and once I'm there I generally enjoy it and I always feel better afterwards.
EMMA
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* Seeing clients, especially women, enjoy the benefits of training, the strength from resistance work, the increased fitness and body confidence and particularly the ongoing mood elevation and time out exercise provides!
* The fun, laughs and comraderie of group training.
* I find the dedication of those clients who turn up to early morning training rain, hail or shine inspiring, especially when its a little hard to get out of bed for early morning winter training.
* Plus a good dose of caffeine before heading out the door!
For my own training, motivators include:
* The good mood exercise endorphins bring all day long
* Feeling hungry and really enjoying every morsel after a good workout
* Staying strong, fit and healthy
* Being fit enough to maintain credibility as a fitness coach and being a great role model for clients, friends and my family.
KAREN
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* The satisfaction on the clients face after they have finished a good work out and are revitalised for the rest of the day
* When clients thank you for a great work out it motivates me for the next day
* When clients what to give up but i dont let them and they achieve something they think they can't do
* When its cold and rainy and everyone wants to be in bed but half way through the work out everyone is talking, laughing, exercising and they have forgetten about the cold and bed
* Most of all the friendships you form with clients
For my own training:
* Staying fit and feeling good about myself
* Summer weather
* Doing other fitness activities rather then running and weight training, I go and kayak or rock climb just to change it up
* New places - sometimes if I'm not feeling too motivated but I know I need to exercise on that day I will go somewhere different e.g. Bondi and train on the beach, Homebush they have great bike riding tracks
* Training with friends or a training buddy to keep you going and make you push your self harder
* Goals - training for an event e.g. Bridge to Bridge
GEMMA
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Posted by on 24 June 2010 | 0 Comments
Steph has been friends with Kaz for over 15 years. They worked together at IBM for many years. Since the time that Kaz left IBM, they stayed in touch and Steph's husband Craig is Kaz's running mentor and he assisted her with advice for the very first City 2 Surf training program.
So it seemd quite natural that when Steph needed a personal trainer that she called Mind Body Motion. It's quite funny how life moves on and friends come back to work together in a completely different way! Now despite Steph and Kaz's love of aerobics, often cutting some outstanding moves on the dance floor at many an IBM function, Steph had grown to dislike cardio just a tad. She made it quite clear that she wasn't going to enjoy it but she would do it as she knew that an element of cardio was required to meet her goals.
Over time Steph had been plagued with medical issues. The medication that she was on resulted in weight gain and she wanted to sleep all the time. Her fatigue was quite tangible and not only did she have a weight loss goal but she wanted to gain energy. This was really important especially as her baby was soon becoming a very active toddler.
She commenced training with us twice a week and Kaz tentatively introduced some cardio sessions on Saturday afternoons when they had the opportunity to get down to the local park. During the week they needed to be at the house to watch Chelsea, Steph's lively one year old. Despite the fact that she is sworn off children, Kaz has quickly become quite the baby-sitter and has been showing young Chelsea how to skip, squat and handle equipment! Chelsea has also been known to "supervise" Steph's workouts and she herself can now do squats on demand!!
Regardless of the fact that she had to endure ongoing complaints of "I hate cardio" and scrunched up faces almost every week, Kaz somehow managed to show Steph how she could enjoy cardio and the benefits it provided. Eventually after seeing some results with her improved energy levels, Steph added in a run once or twice week on her own. A 6km run! She wasn't fit enough to be able to do this before she had started her personal training sessions.
The three to four workouts a week made a difference. In three months Steph managed to see reductions in the following areas of her physique: 1cm off her chest, 1cm off her arms and forearms, 4cm off her lower waist, 2.5cm off her hips, and 1cm off her thighs. However, perhaps the biggest achievement is the improvement in her energy levels. She no longer needs to sleep as much and does not feel unusually tired any more. Steph now also embraces her cardio sessions with more ferocity and determination! When she puts her mind to something, she certainly focuses.
She's dropped back to one session per week and started training several times per week at the gym now that she has more enthusiasm for exercise and can self motivate. Kaz still manages to get the odd groan out of her by sneaking in cardio sessions in their weekly sessions.
Well done Steph! Keep up the great work.
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Posted by on 20 June 2010 | 0 Comments
We've all heard about compression garments, but do they really work? Here's some information that I found that may help answer that question.
1. In a study by researchers at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, athletes who did sprints in compression garments reported 43% lower soreness in 24 hours than their counterparts who wore normal training gear.
2. According to German researchers at the University of Erlangen-Numerg, runners who wore knee high compression socks ran as much as 6.1% faster on a treadmill than those who wore regular running socks.
3. According to a study by Melbourne's Deakin and Victoria University's, the elasticity of a long sleeved compression top gives you more control as you extend your arms.
4. The Sydney Campus of the Australian Catholic University claims that athletes in compression pants covered up to 34% more distance at faster speeds. The pants help you conserve energy.
Here are some well known brands of compression gear:
http://www.x-bionic.com/
http://www.skinsusa.com/
http://www.2xu.com/
http://www.linebreak.com.au/
http://www.bsccompression.com.au/
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Posted by on 6 June 2010 | 0 Comments
This is the response summary to our Group Class Survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QTJ2YDF
1. INTEREST IN NEW CLASSES AT WEST PENNANT HILLS
Monday 6am, Tuesday 6pm, Thursday 6pm and Friday 9:15am were the most popular choices. Can the clients that selected these times please let me know who you are as we will try to get these classes up and running. This does not mean that we would not consider the other days and times, just not right now.
2. INTEREST IN EPPING CLASSES
There was not enough interest in other morning classes at Epping so we will continue with our Tuesday and Friday class for the time being.
3. INTEREST IN A FITBALL CLASS AT WEST PENNANT HILLS
There was enough interest to consider starting up this class. Can the clients who are interested in this class please let me know who you are.
4. INTEREST IN YOGA CLASSES AT WEST PENNANT HILLS
Monday 7pm, Tuesday 6pm & 7pm, Wednesday 6pm, Thursday 6pm & 7pm were the most popular choices. Can the clients that selected these times please let me know who you are as we will try to get these classes up and running as soon as we locate a suitable yoga instructor.
5. INTEREST IN A CHILDREN'S EXERCISE PROGRAM ON A SATURDAY MORNING
There was not quite enough interest at this point however we may consider it again down the track.
6. OTHER SUGGESTIONS
a. Can we have a fun running group to run all year round on a mixture of grass/ovals at 6:30am on a Sunday?
We do have a run club that operates on the first Sunday of every month throughout September to April. The details are here: http://www.mindbodymotion.com.au/run-walk-club/. We run City 2 Surf training from May to July which is much more specific and anyone can do this program, even if you do not want to enter the City 2 Surf. The reason why we don't run on ovals is because most of the team doing this running club enter City 2 Surf and it is a road event so they need to prepare for running on the road. Grass is better for the knees and hips however running around an oval is a little tedious after a while and I think we would find it a challenge to keep the sessions interesting. We start our run club at 7:30am as it is a Sunday and people do like to get a sleep in.
b. Can we do a fitball class at other times during the week?
Unfortunately due to fitness coach availability at the moment in the Hills area, this class can only be offered at this time. We will certainly try to introduce more fitball classes throughout the week when we can.
c. Flexibility, stretch and strength.
Due to the nature of the comment, I am not quite sure what the request is. Do you want more of these things in each class or as a class on their own? We are introducing the yoga classes to offer a flexibility and stretching program.
d. More on nutrition.
Stay tuned! We will be introducing more nutritional value into our service offerings. The only reason we haven't thus far is merely due to current workload, and our focus on exercise programs. We hope to have some exciting nutritional content in the next 6 months!
e. Group classes at 7pm on any one of Monday, Tuesday or Thursday evenings.
We had a 7pm class running on a Tuesday evening and it was very poorly attended which is why we pulled this class. From discussions I have had with clients on other occasions, 7pm has always been cited as too late at night for getting home to the family. If anyone is interested in 7pm exercise classes, please let me know.
f. Can we have a walking/running session about 3 mornings or evenings a week so people can come before or after work.
Unfortunately we cannot manage this many running classes due to fitness coach availability currently into the Hills area. Also, based on the attendance at all of our other classes, the majority of clients (70%) do one class per week and the remainder do 2 classes per week, I don't believe we would get the right attendance at a running session to run it that many times per week. We do have our monthly run club. Please see the details under point a. If a group of clients would like to get their own running group started then we can certainly assist with it however we don't have the bandwidth to manage it.
g. Can we have the room back?
Thanks T for the question! We no longer use the rooms in the Community Centre for a couple of reasons. We are an outdoor fitness group which means that we do train outdoors all year round where we have more room and can bring greater variety into our classes. In addition to that the Hills Shire Council introduced quarterly fees 1.5 years ago to use the park grounds and it is not feasible to be paying fees for the use of the grounds as well as room hire. If we did, we'd have to increase our class fee, which we are trying to avoid.
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Posted by on 6 June 2010 | 8 Comments
Just because it's raining, doesn not mean you cannot run! You need to continue your practice sessions if you are in training for the City 2 Surf and it could rain on Race Day so you need to be prepared.
1. Dress in layers. Ensure that the layer closest to your body will wick away water and sweat from your skin. The outer layer should be wind and water reistant. Don't wear a waterproof raincoat as it will trap moisture and heat.
2. Don't overdress. You will get wet, there is no avoiding it. So if you have several layers on they will all just get wet and it will make it harder to run. Wear an extra layer if it;s cold but remember you will heat up as you run.
3. Wear a hat. It will keep the rain off your face and keep your head warm. You lose heat through your head when running.
4. Be visible. Wear light clothing when running in the rain as visibility can be compromised.
5. Look after your shoes. When you have finished running, stuff them with paper to ensure that they keep their shape and the moisture is removed from them as soon as possible. It is important to ensure that your shoes do not get too wet too often as it will compromise their cushioning and support.
6. Watch the terrain. Avoid any slippery sections of road or muddy, slippery grass. Try to stay on even surfaces and be very careful when running downhill.
7. Just run! Often the hardest part about running is getting out there and doing it when it is raining. Obviously don't run in a torrential downpour but a light drizzle is fine.
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