Geelong's Gym

Once again I’m both excited and privileged to be able to offer you the services of an EXTREMELY talented friend of mine, photographer Phil Nitchie, from Nitchie Photography.

Phil takes all our photos down at Geelong’s Gym and I think he’s brilliant… a very gifted professional.

Phil has kindly made available a special for our clients of a Free $95 Print to anyone who makes a booking or buys a voucher for this Fathers’ Day.

So why not make this Fathers’ Day one to remember and organize Phil to capture some beautiful memories. I completely endorse Phil and I know you won’t be disappointed.

It’s the great debate but do sports supplements actually enhance your performance or recovery?

I thought I’d take a look at it today and share a little insight into the debate.

You can't go past good old H2O!

Let’s look at drinks first… Water is fantastic for hydration, no doubt about it and is sufficient for your average 60 minute workout.  But if you’re exercising for longer than 60 minutes, particularly if conditions are humid, then sports drinks provide much needed carbohydrates and sodium.

Now let’s take a look at food substitutes… We know our muscles need protein for recovery and growth and the best time to consume it is right after exercise.  Protein shakes and powders can certainly do the job.  But before you make the investment into them, bear this in mind – your muscles really don’t care if the protein comes from a protein shake or a hard-boiled egg! 

And by the way, you only need 10-20 grams of protein to provide amino acids to muscles.

If you do decide to use sports supplements, here are a few things you need to know:

• A good sports drink contains 14-15 grams of carbs, 110 milligrams of sodium and 30 milligrams of potassium in 8 ounces.  Note: if you’re trying to lose weight, it’s best to stick to water.
• Good energy bars should contain 5 grams of protein, some carbs and very little fat.  Beware of the fat content – some of these bars have very high-calories!
• Choose a protein powder made from whey or milk proteins and make sure you use them within 30 minutes after exercise.

When deciding whether to use sports supplements, the key is to make sure you’re well-informed about what you’re buying.  This information is simply a guide, but hopefully a useful one.

We’d all love a flat, strong stomach but sometimes the thought of doing hundreds of sit ups is seriously daunting.  So, what are the other options?

Paula Kontelj, our Group Fitness Coordinator at Geelong’s Gym, shares her thoughts…

What a fantastic way to develop your core strength!

“For a strong core workout, why not try Les Mills Body Balance?  Having missed this class for about four weeks, I knew I had to go back and so I participated in Pam’s popular Sunday, 4pm class.  It was a great way to wrap up my weekend and for the next two days my abdominal muscles were telling me not to miss the class next week!  Wow, what an unexpected Ab workout!  Easy to follow, hard to forget.”

So check out our timetable and come in and give Body Balance a go and see for yourself what an amazing difference it will make to your core strength.

Happy Birthday!  It’s hard to believe a year has passed and my cheeseburger has turned 1 today, 9th August!

Yes, you read that right.  My cheeseburger has turned 1!  You see my son, Germain Spriet, and I were watching The Bionic Burger a year ago.  It’s a three minute YouTube clip explaining how a lot of fast foods today have so many preservatives in them that if you don’t eat them they’ll still look the same five years later.

Happy Birthday to our 1 Year Old Cheeseburger

Naturally, we had to test it.  We bought a burger and the photo shows what it looks like today, after 1 year.

Which begs the question, what’s it REALLY made of?  What’s been added to it to preserve it?  And more importantly, the bigger question is, what’s it doing to us when we eat this stuff?

Germain hasn’t had a cheeseburger or hamburger from ABC….# since.

It might seem like a strange thing to do, but it’s worked for me.  It’s caused my son and I to question what most people take for granted and eat every day.  In fact, today we’re going to buy from two other fast food brands and add them to the shelf.  It will be interesting to see what happens.

Take three minutes and watch this video and maybe question what you’re putting in your body.

One of the things we love best at Geelong’s Gym is giving our members the chance to learn more about their bodies and how they function.  Bearing this in mind, this year we decided to start a new informational area at the gym which we call the Glass of Knowledge.

Ann Cramp beside the Glass of Knowledge which looked at where men and women store fat

One of our Personal Trainer’s, Ann Cramp, has been heading up this particular area of the gym and she works really hard to find out interesting and informative facts about our bodies so we can learn to better utilise them in a healthy, safe way.

Afterall, the more we know about how our body works, the more we will get out of our workouts at the gym and the more motivated we will be  to strive for greater health and fitness in our life.

The information on this board changes regularly and has lots of different handouts alongside it which Ann has created for members to take away for free.

The current Glass of Knowledge focuses on how the knee works and functions.

The Glass of Knowledge which looks at the function of the Knee

For the second year, a truly worthy event is taking place in Geelong to raise awareness of homelessness – the Walking Home project. Last year, 20 walkers were nominated from various support agencies in Geelong to complete a five day, 189 kilometre walk.  A rigorous training schedule commenced for a 6 month period leading up to the BIG WALK in November 2009.

Walking Home 2009

During the walk, the walkers camped out in the towns along the way and spoke to community groups about the impact of homelessness.

Two amazing outcomes were realized as a result of this event:

• Lots and lots of people wanted to help raise money to assist in buying shoes to give to homeless people.
• Lots and lots of people wanted the opportunity to walk an amazing distance that is way outside their normal activity regime.

This year, the Walking Home project is a one day event being held on Saturday 13^th November 2010…  a 50km walk from Queenscliff to Geelong and it’s open to the public to walk.  As the logistics of putting large numbers of walkers on the open road is too great, the rail trail will be used to the showgrounds and then the last leg of the walk is out on the streets.

There are also options of joining the walk at three alternative stages so you can do 20km, 12km or 5km if you prefer – so why not join the walk for the length which suits you best?!

A small entry fee is involved, as well as an opportunity to have family and friends sponsor your efforts.  Hopefully a lot of much needed money for Homelessness will be generated.

T-shirts are included in the 50km walk entry and also available for sale for people joining the walk at the various points.

And finally, here is your chance to walk and make a difference… not just to this worthwhile cause, but to your health and fitness.  A challenge, a goal to reach.

So put your best foot forward and start on this journey today. See the Walking Home notice board at Geelong’s Gym for the full training schedule and lots of helpful hints, plus registration details.

Geelong’s Gym is proud to be one of the sponsors of the Walking Home project and the training facility for the walkers.