New Age Fitness - News, Health & Exercise Tips

New Equipment - Not Just For The Boys...

2011-08-23T17:32:00.000+10:00

We have some exciting news. A order has been placed for a selection of equipment that will bring our weight training facilities on par with the state-of-the-art cardio machines in the gym. Have a look at the following photos to see what's coming:

It's been a long time coming - Hammer Strength Seated Calf Raise.

Hammer Strength Linear Leg Press -

In terms of plate loaded equipment, Hammer Strength is as good as it gets. This has an adjustable seat to suit all sizes of user and has a max lifting capacity of 780kg. Also perfect for doing straight-leg calf raises.

Another long awaited piece.. Life Fitness - Signature Adjustable Decline and Abs Bench

Hammer Strength 8ft Power Rack - This will be able to accommodate up to 2 users at a time. This piece is the ultimate training point for doing all traditional Olympic weight lifting exercises. Combined with a purpose built lifting platform, this will provide a dedicated area where we can coach all our members correct technique.

A total 310kg of Premium Bumper Plates, ranging from 5kg - 25kg, along with a Pendlay Olympic Barbell. Our weightlifting set will include an 8kg olympic technique bar with 2.5kg technique plates. This will provide a starting weight of just 13kg. Light enough for even those that consider themselves to be weaker than average.

Some of you may be wondering where this new equipment is going to go. Don't worry, we're making some more space so no-one's going to be stuck for space.

And when will this all be installed? The equipment is made to order in the USA and then shipped here so we expect to have everything delivered within 12 weeks. We'll have a fancy 3D walk-through animation to show you in the next few weeks so you can see what the new layout will be like.

Tracking your progress

2010-12-03T17:30:00.000+11:00

I am now at the end of week 9 of my fitness program. I feel much stronger and fitter than I did at the end of September and most mornings I'm not struggling to get up for my workouts. I did have a week off last week for holiday as it was the last week with Kerry's parents over from England. The weather was perfect for enjoying the outdoors, so although I wasn't doing any intense training in the gym we did a fair bit of walking and some swimming too.

At the beginning of this week I did a reassessment of my body statistics to see how I've progressed so far. Its really beneficial to do this every couple of months as you can't get a true picture just by weighing yourself - remember muscle weighs twice as much as fat for the same volume. I've put my original measurments and this week's together for easy comparison:

24^th September 2010

Weight	78kg
Body Fat	16% - 12.5kg
Lean Body Weight	65.5kg
Chest	101cm
Waist	88cm
Hips	101cm
Thighs	60cm
Calves	38cm/37cm
Arms	32cm
Blood Pressure	123/78
RHR	62

29^th November 2010

Weight	79.5kg é 1.5kg
Body Fat	14.5% - 11.5kg ê 1kg
Lean Body Weight	68kg é 2.5kg
Chest	106cm é 5cm
Waist	86cm ê 2cm
Hips	101cm
Thighs	64cm é 4cm
Calves	39cm/38cm é 1cm
Arms	34cm é 2cm
Blood Pressure	125/71 - IMPROVED
RHR	62

To be honest, I was quite surprised by the changes that I have achieved already. Seeing these improvements written down has given me an extra burst of determination to keep pushing with this new routine. These results show me that it is working beyond doubt. Feeling stronger, more energetic, less tired etc is crucial in maintaining a new habit, but taking 5 minutes to do this exercise keeps your motivation up, even on the days when exhausted and you don't feel like you're getting anywhere.

Next week I will be able to start loading up videos of my workouts. Hopefully you will benefit from them or at the very least have a bit of a giggle at the exhausted look on my face!

Keeping with the Program

2010-11-12T13:00:00.000+11:00

I don't know about you, but I'm fed up with the weather the last couple of weeks. Sydney in spring is usually glorious - blue skies & warm, making it very encouraging for getting out of a lazy winter routine. Unfortunately, good weather has been sporadic recently which can be very demotivating, especially when getting up at 5.45am to go for an early morning beasting of a workout.

My mother & father in-law arrived on the 27th October who are staying with us for a month and so Kerry and I are sleeping on our spare mattress on our son Harry's bedroom floor. OMG! I already knew that babies can wake up regularly which is disruptive, but whoever coined the phrase "sleeps like a baby" hadn't heard our 6 month old son while sleeping. Laughing, babbling, cooing, and grunting - all while fast asleep! You can see from my activity tracker results below that I am now averaging about 5-6 hours sleep a night - not good.

Last Wednesday was Kerry's birthday, so I took her out for a lovely dinner at Kika Tapas Bar (it's in Darlinghurst and I highly recommend it) and we enjoyed a few glasses of rioja and sparkling wine. We considered ordering 6 dishes, all were pretty healthy, but the superb waiter recommended serving only 4 in case we were satisfied with that so we didn't waste an extra two dishes. He was spot on, so we left the meal satisfied, yet not bloated, and saved about $30!

My point in telling you about these potential road blocks is that my life, probably much like your own, can be presented with challenges that can test our motivation when trying to maintain a new habit. This can be particularly difficult when you're so early on in that habit forming phase. With exercise and nutrition, it is well recognised that the first 12 weeks are crucial to long term success. I am just over a month along my path back to fitness. Even on my day off for Kerry's birthday, we could have had a junk day for me, in terms of exercise and food, but it was a glorious day (the one break in the crap weather!) so we went for a walk to the botanical gardens and enjoyed a beautiful, healthy picnic.

It really comes back to how honest you are with yourself about your feelings associated with poor fitness, being overweight etc. Maintain a focus on that - not in a negative way, but concentrate on your determination to achieve your goals. How much better will you feel when you achieve your goal weight/physique/fitness? I know I am going to feel chuffed to bits!

Despite these obstacles to my new routine, I stayed on course until the end of last week when I caught a nasty cold. No workouts for a whole week! This is one obstacle that you should allow rest time for. Vigorous exercise when sick is not good for anyone - trust me. I have to say, except for Monday when I was at my worst, this has been frustrating the hell out of me. It seems that I have caught my old bug back - the workout bug, which is a good feeling to have back.

Surprisingly, keeping my overall moderate activity up while sick and unable to workout has meant that I've still burned most of my daily calorie target. I haven't gone for any walks to achieve this. You can see this in the images below taken from my dotFIT Exerspy activity
tracker.

Above is my week of activity from the 1st - 7th November. Notice that on my weekend, when I don't workout I did more activity as a result of a long walk along the beach with the family. Nothing strenuous, but it all adds up!

This is my activity so far this week while I've been sick and not working out. Ignore the sleep time, as I took my Exerspy off on Monday because I was buggered and it needed recharging. You can see that my average steps has been about half its usual number. Having a target of 10,000 steps doesn't mean you have to go out for a 30 minute walk every day to achieve that (and you wouldn't want to when you're ill anyway). Activity for maintaining a regular calorie burn can be as simple as walking to other areas of your workplace instead of the nearest. An example would be to go to the furthest toilets, if that is an option, or walking to a colleague's desk instead of picking up the phone or sending an email. Use your imagination - I'm sure you can add a lot of small bits of activity into your day by doing things like this. Your day will be just as productive, I assure you.

I am just getting over my annoying cold after a week. It has been frustrating sending my training partner a text each day saying that I'm still not ready. I am raring to go when Monday comes round. Today, the sun is shining, so I'm going to go for another walk with the family this afternoon. Let's hope the good weather here to stay for a while. Have a great weekend.

Eating Healthy Food AND Enjoying It!

2010-10-28T18:02:00.000+11:00

I have a confession to make. I love food. I mean I really love food. Eating every 3 hours is probably as much a psychological necessity for me as it is a physical one. I get noticably grouchy if I go without food for anything more than 4 hours. Luckily, despite having quite a sensitive palate, there are very few foods that I cannot eat. When it comes to food that is very high in calories, my number one soft spot would have to be cake, and most sweet food in general. Let's face it, for most people, rich food generally tastes a lot better and I am definitely someone who prefers rich, tasty high calorie food.

Throughout Kerry's pregnancy, I relished the opportunity to have cake or other sweet foods with her on a regular basis. I probably encouraged it and this continued until a few months ago. Even though I was tired, not exercising enough and expanding my waist, I continued on this path for almost a year. I got fed up with feeling this way, so I changed my eating habits.

What's my secret for eating healthy food? There isn't one. It comes down to two things.

Performance
Enjoying my food

Ask yourself this: Would you like to feel energetic AND enjoy your food?

Several years ago I was told a brilliant analogy about food and our bodies and it still the best I know of today. Food for our bodies is much the same as fuel is for cars. If your body was a car, under its fuel cap would read 'PREMIUM UNLEADED ONLY'. If you own a car that has this warning, and you fill it with lower quality fuel it will not run as smoothly, perform worse, and over time the lower quality fuel will cause damage to the engine.

The effects upon your body by eating low quality food (your fuel) is very similar. The less natural, and more processed the food that you eat, the worse the effect. Of course, your stress levels, amount of sleep, and regular activity have an equally important impact upon your mood, energy and wellbeing. Even if you get all these right most of the time, but you eat poor quality food on a regular basis you will never operate at your best and over time it will damage your organs; especially your heart (your engine), liver & kidneys (filters) and your intestines (fuel processing & injection system). Eventually, you will develop serious health problems e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, Irritable bowel syndrome, heatburn & reflux leading to stomach ulcers, heart disease, liver & kidney disease, cancers of the digestive tract. If you have any of these already I suggest you speak to a nutritionist or dietician. If you want to do your best to avoid these then I suggest you eat mostly good quality, natural food.

What is good quality food?

Simple answer: The more it looks like it has come from a plant or an animal, the better quality it is. The more processed a food is and the longer it takes for it to spoil or go off, the worse the quality. So many foods now are highly processed and involve the use or addition of several chemicals in there growth, processing and manufacture. At present, eating mostly organic food is not affordable for me, but I make sure that the vast majority of my food is as natural as possible.

Here's what a typical day's food is like for me now:

Time	Meal
7am	Whey Protein/low carb powder shake with water
	Breakfast
8am	2 Poached Eggs, 2 slices Burgen Soy-Lin toast, Heinz Ketchup, Tea with Lite milk & one sugar
	Morning Snack
10.30am	100g Macro Fruity Muesli with water Whey Protein powder with water
	Lunch
1.30pm	Approx. 200-250g lean meat or fish with roasted vegetables (little or no potato) or mixed/Greek salad
	Afternoon Snack
4.30pm	Medium Apple or Banana Whey Protein powder with water
	Dinner
7.30pm	Approx. 200-250g lean meat or fish with steamed vegetables (little or no potato) or variety of salad Or Chicken, beef or lamb stir fry with capsicums, carrot, beans with long grain brown rice

Here are links to my food logs for last week up to 24th October:

18/10/2010 19/10/2010 20/10/2010 21/10/2010 22/10/2010 23/10/2010 24/10/2010

I normally have some chocolate (e.g. Hazelnut or Fruit & Nut) or cake a couple of times per week to satisfy my need for something sweet.

Of the foods that I eat daily, the most processed and with the most chemicals would be the bread, the whey protein powder and if I have any sauce. As you can see, I eat regularly and I always eat a good serving of protein and a variety of vegetables/salad. The carbohydrates I eat are mostly in the first half of the day, so they are used instead of being stored as fat. The food is mostly low GI (glycaemic index) so gives my body a steady supply of energy over the day keeping me satisfied for longer. I eat very little white carbohydrates, especially man-made, processed ones. Examples of these are:

White breads (eat the heavier wholegrain breads)
White sugar
White rice (except Basmati)
White potatoes, especially mash potato

Avoiding these will also keep Type II Diabetes at bay and help manage it if you already have it.

Eating protein regularly throughout the day also keeps me fuller for longer. The higher protein intake also helps prevent muscle break-down and enhances fat burning. Almost every day I exceed the recommended intake of fruit & vegetables. The fats I eat are almost entirely unsaturated natural fats. These types of fats are essential to your body and help maintain healthy cells. You should avoid saturated fats and trans fats (normally processed fats) as much as possible.

In general, my food intake is made up of the following percentages:

Protein :

30-40%

Carbs :

30-40%

Fats :

30%

I honestly love the food I eat. You may not like the sound of what I eat, and that's ok. There are many other variations of foods that will give you the same nutritional benefits as these and they all taste great. Be imaginative and creative with your food. If you regularly feel tired and have low energy AND you regularly drink coffee or energy drinks then I believe your food needs to be improved. Don't be satisfied with feeling like you're in a low energy rut. Eating healthy food is enjoyable and you'll feel great too.

The Power of 'Before' Photos

2010-10-22T17:45:00.000+11:00

Please excuse my absence yesterday. I took the day off work for my Australian Citizenship ceremony (woohooo!). Now, I have to back-track slightly. Some people have mentioned about before and after photos, which I do have but was unable to upload with my blog 'My Commitment to My Goals' due to site maintenance. So here you are:

Taking 'before' photos are a very powerful motivation tool. You don't need to publicise them like I am, but use them to you own advantage. When I look at these photos, I think about how different my body is now to how it was 3 years ago, and more importantly how I feel about that difference. I am aware that I am not overweight, yet having lost over 7.5kg of muscle, and the all round fitness that I developed with that, I feel my body is very different. Let's do a direct comparison:

I am determined to make this my 'after' photo. I strongly recommend you trying this. We are regularly exposed to before & after photos through a variety of weight loss marketing and it's used because it continues to have a powerful influence upon people. I assure you that doing it with images of your own body to motivate your own transformation will have a much greater effect.

Next week I will get into the detail of some of my training sessions and talk about the foundation of improving my health & fitness: FOOD

Enjoy your weekend!

Establishing A New Habit

2010-10-20T15:54:00.000+11:00

The following has been my new routine consistently for 3 weeks:

5.45am alarm - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.
6am workout for 45 minutes
Go home, make breakfast for me & Kerry, get ready for work (sometimes help out with Harry)
Start work 8.30-9am.

I chose this routine so that the rest of my day is not compromised. I still enjoy my lunch breaks, and I can spent time with Harry before bedtime and enjoy my evenings with Kerry. In starting this blog, I realised that even though I have the opportunity to workout at work, this routine would be far more relevant to the majority of the general workforce. Although I am growing a new business and am actively involved with raising my son I am able to make the time to exercise on a regular basis. I really do appreciate how hard it can seem at times, but I guarantee you all have AT LEAST 30 MINUTES A DAY where you can make time for achieving your health & fitness goals.

Getting up so early used to be normal for me (or even an hour earlier!), despite going to bed at 11pm. The first week of this was really hard for me. I am an incredibly deep sleeper - to the point of being comical. To make sure I get out of bed I place my alarm on the other side of the room or even outside it. This prevents me from rolling over again after turning it off! I also put out my workout clothes the night before so I don't have to fuss around looking for stuff while half asleep.

Training 4 days a week as a split week gives continually improving fitness with adequate amounts of rest. This type of routine is also practical for most people. It also means that my new habit doesn't take time away from my family at the weekends.

The workout routine that I use is not so much a routine, it just has some basic objectives it has to satisfy:

45 minutes maximum
Multiple muscle group (compound) exercises
Strength
Power
Speed
Endurance
Stamina
Balance & Co-ordination
Variety

Both my training partner and I are time poor and so need to get maximum results in a short period. Keeping the training within 45 minutes is workable for almost anyone who is busy.

I firmly believe that by using a training routine that encompasses all the above gives the best all-round fitness, and is relevant for the needs of the vast majority of people. The best thing is it can be done by anyone of any age or ability, the only thing that changes is the intensity and for some exercises the complexity. I have come to this conclusion from my own experiences and training over the last 16 years. Much of the training I do now is based on what I learned while doing young officer selection training for the Royal Marines and uses a lot of the principles from a training methodology called CrossFit (check out http://www.crossfit.com/ & founder Greg Glassman's article What is Fitness? http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ-trial.pdf ).

This morning, my body told me that it had now become accustomed to the new habit. I woke up at 5.45am. Annoyingly, today was my rest day!

My Commitment to My Goals

2010-10-19T17:18:00.009+11:00

Below is a copy of my Personal Commitment Sheet. I should mention that I have used goal sheets like this to great success in the past. This version has been adapted from one that is promoted by an American trainer - Darin Steen (visit http://www.fatlosslifestyle.com/ ) It shows my current physical statistics, what I want them to be and also details why I want to achieve them. I have also listed goals for all areas of my life. I have this laminated and displayed above my desk at work so I see it ALL THE TIME. That's very important for most people when it comes to setting and achieving goals, especially when it concerns our health & fitness. How many people do you know who've said they're going to the gym, going to lose weight etc, but never quite get there? We need to be reminded of what our goals are and how important they are to us until they become engraved in our minds. Keeping an emotional connection to your goals at the front of your mind will help you to stay motivated and stay on track to achieve them.

Goals should be specific, detailed, and include a date by which you will achieve them. To simply say "I want to lose weight." is a wish. If you say "I want to lose 5% body fat, and tone up my stomach, arms and legs so I fit my clothes better by my birthday" you are setting yourself a goal. Have look at mine (this is completely unedited and completely honest) and may be it will give you some ideas for goals of your own.

PERSONAL commitment sheet

24^th September 2010

These are my current body statistics. I am not happy with the way body looks or feels. I feel weak and soft and am tired a lot of the time.

Weight	78kg
Body Fat	16% - 12.5kg
Lean Body Weight	65.5kg
Chest	101cm
Waist	88cm
Hips	101cm
Thighs	60cm
Calves	38cm/37cm
Arms	32cm
Blood Pressure	123/78
RHR	62

BY 2^ND JUNE 2011, I WILL HAVE ACHIEVED THE FOLLOWING BODY STATISTICS:

Weight	80kg
Body Fat	12% - 9.6kg
Lean Body Weight	70.4kg
Chest	105cm
Waist	82cm
Hips	101cm
Thighs	65cm
Calves	39cm
Arms	38cm
Blood Pressure	123/68
RHR	58

This is so that I can:

BE A BETTER HUSBAND

BE A BETTER DAD

FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY BODY WHEN I LOOK IN THE MIRROR

HAVE MORE ENERGY THROUGHOUT MY DAY

MY GOALS

Physical Goals

1. Row 500m in 1:40 by 31^st January 2011

2. Squat 140kg for 10 reps by 31^st March 2011

3. 20 picnic table box jumps by 31^st December 2010

4. Clean & Press 60kg for 6 reps by 31st January 2011

5. 16 wide grip chin-ups by 31^st March 2011

6. 20 TRX push ups by 31^st December 2010

Well-being Goals

× 4 Morning workouts per week – Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri

× Long walk, beach or park trip with the family every week

× Go out on a date with Kerry once a month

Self Development Goals

× Revise Spanish & read to my son every week

Getting back on the wagon...

2010-10-19T13:43:00.001+11:00

This was me, back in January 2007. Ok, so the face doesn't look too pretty in this shot, but that's not the point. I was very fit then, and I felt in great shape. These were my approximate health stats:

Height: 175cm
Weight: 82kg
Body fat: 11%
Blood Pressure: 125/60
Resting Heart Rate: 58 BPM

Training hard 4 days a week and eating well (and also whatever I wanted!) was an integral part of my life. I cycled or surfed most days before work too. I managed all this around a 50-55+ hours working week.

Then in March that year, I got knocked for six with Glandular fever. The pressure of my job (PLEASE NOTE: it was not the long hours) finally took its toll. Just to put the boot in, I caught a horrendous case of strep throat. In a matter of weeks my body type changed dramatically. With no energy and being unable to eat most foods I lost over 7 kgs and almost all my fitness.

Over the last 3 years, I have recovered some of my fitness at times, but to be honest it's been sporadic and inconsistent at best. There are various reasons for this, but at the end of the day it boils down to one thing - MOTIVATION. I lost my drive to keep myself fit and healthy, and at times I've been plain lazy. I am solely to blame for this. For those of you that know me, you may consider me to be pretty fit, but in comparison to what I know I should be and want to be I am woefully unfit.

My fitness is now the only aspect of my life that I am not content with. I am married to an amazing (and hot) woman, Kerry, with whom I have a beautiful 5 month old son, Harry. I also have the best job I've ever had too. My life is fairly busy and even though I work at least 10 hours less each week than I did in 2007, I haven't been doing any decent regular exercise for over a year. I kept putting it off until tomorrow, all the time feeling discontented with my body, and my fitness. Are you feeling this way yourself or something similar?

I have made a commitment to turn this around. I have set myself new goals and began training in earnest on 8th October. Along with one of our willing members (who shall remain anonymous until he chooses otherwise), I am now training 4 days a week. I will keep you up to date with how I am getting on - posting my workouts, my eating and I may even post some photos too! I hope that some of you may find this inspirational for getting to a health & fitness level that you are truly happy with. My aim is to show you that even with a busy work & home life everyone has the ability to achieve this.