Geelong's Gym » Life Lessons

New Year… time to look up more!

annie — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:19:55 +0000

It’s that time of the year where there’s a lot of conversation about New Year’s Resolutions… and yep, I’m with you- what’s the point, you never keep them!

Or so I thought!

A personal training client of mine told me her New Year’s Resolution and it is very different from the usual run of the mill promises you make to yourself.

She plans to look up more in 2012. That’s it! Look up more.

Hmm, if this is what you look like sitting at your desk... maybe it's time you looked up more too!

Her work involves a head down position and her body is wearing the bad posture with a high degree of pain and dysfunction. She exercises regularly but it’s not enough to undo the hours she spends with her eyes lowered. Did you know that your head weighs 5.5kg and for every centimetre forward your head moves, it increases the weight of your head by 1.8kg? And unfortunately, most people’s heads migrate a lot more than that-often up to 7.5cm forward and that means you’re carrying around a 19kg head. Your poor neck and back having to fight against the unrelenting force of gravity!!!

By simply lifting your head, you can de-stress your spinal structures enormously. Try it now, lift your head to look straight ahead and notice how you promote a lengthened back, your abs work more, you look taller and I bet your shoulders aren’t as hunched. Ever suffered pain between your shoulder blades or back of neck pain? Look up more frequently and you’ll feel the difference.

The other reason she gave me was that by looking down, she feels she misses things… opportunities! In fact she said by keeping her head down, she avoids so many things. Obviously it was a coping strategy at some point in her life but now she’s missing too many good things.

I wonder how many behavioural patterns we still use, even though we no longer need them.

Look up! You might be able to finally outgrow behaviours you don’t need.

I think I’ll give this a go and keep my eyes up, my chin up and give my body a break and see what life has to offer. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Be Careful Of The Stories You Tell!

Gerard Spriet — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 05:21:03 +0000

Either you’re exercise phobic or just plumb full of excuses… some call it BS!

I learnt a great life lesson some time ago and it has stuck with me, because of its simplicity and truth: in every part of life you’re either RESULTS or REASONS.

It’s so true; we all have reasons why we didn’t or couldn’t achieve this or that. But when you cut to the chase those reasons/excuses are really just stories!

A good friend of mine, Dr Marc Dussault from Exponential Programs, sent me a few cartoons for my blog. I’ve posted a couple today which I’m sure you’re going to love. In fact, it was either Marc or the great man, Anthony Robbins, who taught me that wonderful life lesson (results or reasons).

I’m sure, like me, you’ve heard bigger people say stuff like “I’m big boned; that’s why I’m a little larger and can’t lose it.” Let’s great real here, being big boned is BS, it’s simply a reason they have created to justify their body shape. Sadly, this story they tell is exactly what is keeping them from achieving more.

So be careful of the stories you tell. If we’re honest, we all create and tell stories of one kind or another, usually to defend or argue a position we’re taking. Sometimes those stories are quite frankly brilliant, but sometimes they lack ownership and honesty and become our very own ball and chain…

I haven’t got time to exercise… I have an injury which prevents exercise…

Let’s address the age old time excuse. Out of 168 hours in a week you’ve probably got around about 90 hours you’re awake or 180 half hour blocks… and you can’t find 3 half hour blocks to go and do some exercise??!! Bullshit! That’s just the story you tell yourself so you don’t feel guilty about the lack of exercise in your life.

But you can’t afford to not exercise. We’re made up of three elements – mind, body and spirit. Show of hands, who doesn’t want to live life to the full? No one… thought so. Do you know that the one thing you can do to make sure you have quality of life is to take care of your body. After all, you only get one!

And if you really are a bit time-pushed, then you’re probably stressed out too. In which case, your body, mind and spirit are desperately crying out for some physical activity to relieve the pressure. And if you’re fitter and healthier then you’ll have more energy to juggle all the things going on in your life. There’s a saying I have that energy begets energy!

Now, how about the injury excuse. I strongly recommend you read my post on 19th August, 2011 about why it’s absolutely essential to exercise when you’re injured, so that your body and health don’t deteriorate.

No doubt you think I’m a bit of an extremist and it’s easy for me to say all this when I live and breathe my Gym. But I have to work at it too. Recently I had about 7 weeks off exercise to recover from a hernia operation, so I know what it’s like to have minimal energy and very little interest in resuming exercise because it’s going to be a big battle to get fit again.

But here’s the key, no matter what your reason, excuse or story is… take one step at a time, the same way you eat an elephant, one bit at a time. Start now, don’t overdo it, make your effort sustainable. For the first month or so keep it easy and then slowly increase so that at 3 months you’re still exercising and you’re fitter, healthier and enjoying a more full life!

Know Yourself And What You Want In Life

Gerard Spriet — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:58:50 +0000

Where focus goes, energy flows…

I thought I’d share this little lesson today, because I strongly believe that what you focus on, you get more of. It’s not rocket science and it’s been said for years, in different ways by different people, that what you focus on will materialise.

You may have heard of the Reticular Activating System (RAS), the part of your brain which plays a huge part in your ability to achieve goals. Your RAS is kind of like a filter between your conscious mind and your subconscious mind, which brings relevant information to your attention.

Find that missing puzzle piece, then go for it!

Usually you’re not even aware of your RAS coming into play, as it’s pretty subtle. You may have decided to buy a new car and so you’ve done a bit of research about what kind of car you want. You’ll probably just think it’s coincidence, but as you go about your day, you’ll find yourself seeing heaps of that car you’ve settled on.

The thing is, you have probably always seen heaps of that type of car, you just never noticed it before because your brain had no reason to think it was anything special or different that needed to be pointed out. But once you started to focus on that car, your RAS kept bringing it to your attention.

And here’s the really cool thing about your RAS: you can deliberately program it by choosing the exact messages you send from your consicous mind. Which means, you can set goals for what you want in life, and if you keep thinking about those goals your subconscious will help you achieve them.

Another way to get what you want in life is to take a good, hard look at the circles you move in. Did you know that the 4-6 people you spend the most time with are a reflection of where you’re at in life? The people surrounding you can either limit you or help you grow and define yourself.

When you spend time with people who are achieving more in their lives, it’s impossible for this not to happen to you. Why?

Your conversational content is lifted
You’re challenged to grow
Your RAS is alert to what you’re hearing and discussing
You begin to believe more is possible
You’re challenged to rise to the mean average of the group

For some, these two ways of achieving what you want in life will be a huge realization, while for others it will be simply a subtle reminder.

I began this post intending to explain the benefits of knowing what makes you happy, what your life purpose is and how things happen because of that.

You see, the purpose of my life is to help my members become stronger, fitter, healthier and live longer with more vitality.

Recently, this lead me in a new direction. In partnership with Training Sense, I have added a training school to my core business of health and fitness. It wasn’t until I had made the decision and began to advertise, that I had the huge realisation that this school fits so well into who I am and what my life purpose is about! And because of that, I know it’s the right direction for myself and for the Gym.

So, if you’re struggling to get anywhere or aren’t really happy with where your life is at, take some time to yourself to figure out what you really want to do or achieve and then use these two tips I’ve mentioned to make it happen!

Business Lessons I’ve Learned Along The Way

Gerard Spriet — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 04:43:59 +0000

We all know that assuming too much is usually to our detriment and to other’s. So I thought I’d share a lesson I’ve learned on one of the basic principles of business…

DON’T ASSUME THAT PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHAT YOUR BUSINESS DOES, HOW IT OPERATES AND WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT FROM YOUR COMPETITORS (your point of difference)!

This is especially important in today’s tougher and more competitive economy.

Businesses all try to create points of difference and assert themselves in a specific area/s of that business, which is great. But, we then need to share who and what our business is about, so our potential clients/customers know we’re out there.

Gerard Spriet, Head Coach of Geelong's Gym

You can do this in a number ways, but social media is usually a great way to get yourself out there. Below is a copy of my Facebook Bio, where I get the opportunity to share who I am, what I do and the difference my business can make in people’s lives:

“In order to give you a true picture of who I am, where I am today and how I got here, I need to go back a little bit…

Coming from a large family where I’m the youngest of eleven children and both my parents have twelve siblings each, I know what it means to be part of a big group of people who are all completely different but still able to create an environment of love, support and genuine caring towards one another. It is so firmly ingrained in me, that it’s a core part of who I am and how I operate.

I believe in treating others how I want to be treated myself and helping them to reach their full potential. Really that’s my main motivation for getting into the fitness industry all those years ago. Back then it wasn’t as defined as it is today, as originally I just had a universal goal to help people in general. Now I know one of my main purposes in life is to help as many people as possible get fitter, stronger, healthier, live longer and with more vitality. I also very much enjoy empowering and equipping my team to learn, grow and become more.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. I started out at George Brown College in Toronto, doing a Fitness Instructors course, which had just been condensed from three years down to two years. Upon graduating, I started working in the industry as a Gym Instructor but quickly realized it wasn’t quite what I was looking for, because it was minimum wage… so back to school I went to study Business Administration – a three year program of which I loved, but only completed a year and a half of. My parents had paid for my Fitness Instructors course, but I had to pay for this one, which proved problematic, not to mention a few other diversionary factors – women… need I say more!

I guess I was always destined to be a businessman, with early signs of entrepreneurialism appearing back in my high school days. Plus, every job I’ve had, I’ve worked as if I was the owner, which was great for the owners because I carried a level of responsibility far greater than your average employee. This, of course, meant that after being in the work force for some years, I had had enough of working for others and not being able to walk my own path with both the highs and lows that entails.

In 1990 I had a particularly difficult year with the break down of my marriage, a loving sister passing on and a business failure due to extenuating circumstances. So I decided to travel the world – myself and Michael, a good friend of mine who’s still in Australia as well and is the owner of a ReCreation Gym as well, bought push bikes and cycled from Vancouver to LA, our launching pad to the rest of the world. So as not to be too long winded, suffice to say that we had a lot of adventures in a number of countries. Having made it to Fiji, I found out you could sail from one country to the next, so that was me… off to New Zealand (I found a boat the next day) on a big beautiful yacht. My next sailing experience was the Sydney to Hobart, where I was a very inexperienced crew member. After that, I ended up in Melbourne working at ReCreation Armadale and within a few months I knew that I wanted to stay in Australia. I love the people, they’re humble and happy. You see in Canada, we get a great deal of influence from the US and it’s a lot about what you do and who you know… and that’s not me. Plus, it’s cold there!!!

When I first became a business owner I set out to pass on my principles and ideals, which I’d learned over the years, to my team members. I deliberately employ people I think can grasp hold of what I stand for and then I give them every opportunity to learn, grow and develop their gifts and strengths in my business, usually before they realise they have abilities in those areas. One of my greatest joys in life is watching my team develop and become more!

I purchased my gym in September 1995 and named it Premier Health Club, but in 2002 I went back to my roots and brought the gym back into the ReCreation Group Franchise, thinking it would bring greater returns and advantages. After having some involvement in the management of the ReCreation Franchise as a whole and attempting, unsuccessfully due to mitigating circumstances, to open a new gym, in 2009 I decided to make some big changes in my gym in Geelong. I decided to focus on this one facility, rebrand it and turn it into something unique. We’re now hugely different and can’t really be compared to any of the “normal” gyms, because we try to continuously add value to our member’s experiences. Rather than following the traditional style of everyone joining on a basic membership, we offer packages particularly suited to each person’s individual needs. We also focus heavily on retention contact points, education and creating a fun, friendly experience.

At this point in my journey, my level of education, knowledge and depth of experience was much greater than when I first arrived in this country, in terms of running the business element of the gym. When I decided to stay in Australia, I had to prove there was no one else in Australia who could fill my position with my knowledge and skills in the fitness industry. But with the journey of life as a teacher, if you’re always willing to learn and grow you can become so much more. I believe that over the years, I have gained an even greater insight and understanding as to what is required to own and operate a successful health club.

I’m proud to say that my business, Geelong’s Gym, has more of a family atmosphere than any other health club I’ve been into. Our core values at Geelong’s Gym are care, community, growth, contribution, connection and Carpe Diem. Because those are our values and that’s how we treat our members, we tend to have members who reflect those values themselves, so it’s no wonder we have such a great environment at the Gym.

As I want to help people lead fitter, healthier lives, I’ve put a lot of emphasis and work into our Group Fitness program and our Personal Training. Why? Because it’s a fact that the majority of people workout harder and achieve faster results, knowing they’re accountable to someone who will educate, motivate and push them to the limits of their ability. I purposely built our new Zone 10 Functional Training Room, which is equipped with less of your traditional and more modern, functional style exercises, for this reason.

I would love to connect with people who can help or add value to my members/clients, therefore they would be interested the health and fitness industry or people who can help me learn and grow and become more, so that I can do more for others.

In the future I want to see continued growth of the Personal Training and Group Fitness programs, because even though our programs are fantastic, I know there is so much further they can go yet. We have a great family feel in our gym and I’d like to develop even further the culture of the place and the interaction between my team and members, with more members coming to our social events. And let’s not forget fostering an environment where our members give us feedback on whether we’re on target with what we’re doing. Since I’m always open to new possibilities, in the future there’s always the chance there’ll be more Geelong’s Gym centres opening up with, of course, our Zone 10 Functional Training rooms being a big feature of those facilities.”

Need A Little Inspiration?!

Gerard Spriet — Tue, 31 May 2011 00:30:12 +0000

It’s the middle of winter, it’s cold and dismal outside… and your motivation to get out and exercise is sadly lacking. Really, you’d rather just stay inside where it’s warm instead of trying to summon the energy and willpower to get active.

Kelly Cartwright in action on the track

We’ve all been there, so today I thought I’d share a special story about someone who had more than just miserable weather to overcome.

Local Geelong girl, Kelly Cartwright, is a truly inspiring person who has faced great adversary and found a way to not only conquer it, but to completely excel.

At 15, after two years of pain in her right leg, Kelly was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Because of it’s rarity, amputation was the best chance of survival Kelly had.

I don’t know about you, but most of us would find that pretty traumatic and struggle to remain positive about life and what it holds – especially at only 15 years of age!

Not Kelly. She wasn’t going to sit around and get upset about the hand life had dealt her. Before losing her leg, she had always been into sport, so she went to her physio to find out how she could learn to run again.

Competing for Australia in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics

Kelly is now an elite athlete who competed for Australia in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She has broken the world record for the 200 metre sprint, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and plans to compete in the London Paralympics in 2012.

In her own words: “I got a second chance of life and there is always someone worse off. I love setting little goals and seeing if I can get there.”

Now, does that inspire you to get out of bed in the cold and go and do a workout?

And if you really don’t fancy going for a run in the wet and cold, come on in to Geelong’s Gym where it’s dry and the temperature is just right for working out.

Act, Train And Play As Though Others Are Watching…

Gerard Spriet — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:55:51 +0000

At a recent breakfast with a friend, he mentioned he was at a talk that Andrew Gaze gave regarding attitude.

Andrew related how he was at a high school basketball championship game in the US with a College Recruiting Scout. The Scout had one full Scholarship position available and he was there to look at a particular player who he’d received many reports about regarding his ability.

The player in question played quite well, but towards the later part of the game in the fourth quarter, he was subbed off (i.e. the Coach brought him off for a period and put another player in).

This player was not happy he wasn’t allowed to continue on the Court; when he got to the bench he kicked the water cooler and made a real ruckus.

The Scout turned to Andrew and said, “Always act, train and play as though others are watching.” This young man didn’t have the attitude the Scout was looking for and will never know he just missed out on a College Scholarship.

So, whatever you’re doing, wherever you are… always Act, Train and Play as though others are watching!

How Do You See Yourself?

Gerard Spriet — Thu, 05 May 2011 23:50:26 +0000

Today’s post was sent to us by Dr Marc Dussault, a self-proclaimed squash addict who won a Silver Medal at the Australian Masters Games here in Geelong back in 2009!

As he explains in his Mindset Of A Champion Program, how you see yourself in your mind’s eye is very important. Your self-perception is critical to your mental wellbeing to enable you to achieve a peak state equally when you’re competing and training.

Discipline becomes a lot easier when you’re self-motivated and enthusiastic about who you are and who you want to become.

This series of illustrations shows the reverse, how a negative self-perception can have a devastating effect on your self esteem and confidence. Come talk to us if you need assistance dealing with issues – we have specialists on our team and if required, we can put you in contact with professionals who can help you.

Core Values… Why We Do The Things We Do!

Gerard Spriet — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 03:11:49 +0000

Everyone has a set of core values… some people know exactly what their values are, while for others they’ve never really defined them but they’re inherent in the way they act and behave. I’m the kind of person who likes to define these things and once I defined them for myself, I then brought them over into my business, because I want my team to reflect those core values as well.

So at Geelong’s Gym we have 6 Core Values which are an integral part of why we do the things we do.

Connection – connecting/love is one of the most vital human needs. It’s essential to a happy life. I encourage my team to make real connections with our members – learn their names and what’s going on in their lives. Making that connection with them, shows them we really care about them as individuals.

Connecting with one another brings colour to your life!

Contribution – increasingly our culture is becoming predominantly self focused – “it’s all about me!” But I believe one of the fundamental keys to personal growth and happiness is contributing beyond ourselves… it’s about contributing to others, our community, our country… and even our world, especially in times of crisis, such as the recent earthquakes and tsunamis.

Growth – they say you learn something new every day, even if it’s just something small. We don’t have to make ground breaking discoveries daily, but life should be about learning, growing and becoming more. Because if we’re not learning, we may as well start pushing up the daisies!

Care – demonstrating concern and love towards others, particularly in their time of need. It doesn’t mean fixing a problem, but what it does mean is getting alongside someone and supporting them in any way you can… sometimes it’s just a hug or taking the time to listen… but whatever it is, it’s done with genuine caring.

Carpe Diem – this Latin phrase means seize the day. In other words, learn to live in the moment. Far too many of us live in the past, regretting things that have happened or dwelling on the good times we used to have and no longer do. Others constantly look to the future, thinking life will get good once such and such happens. But the truth is, time flies and if you don’t learn to live this present moment to the fullest, life will have passed you by and you will have failed to enjoy it.

Community – the path to a long and happy life lies in integrating yourself into a community and being responsible for a portion of that community. And actively participating… isolation only leads to depression, loneliness and ill-health… all factors in increasing the risk of an early death!

A Family Workout With A Difference…

annie — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:52:46 +0000

My sister and her family were travelling, by train, from the country to Rod Laver Arena to watch a day’s play at Australian Open. The train would pass through and stop briefly to collect more passengers at Geelong.

Rod Laver Area

Now I could have said to her on the phone…”Hope you have a lovely day and see some great tennis” and be done with it.

Instead, I decided to meet their train and spend the few, precious moments with her on the platform.

So, runners on. Run to train station… with heart rate a little higher than normal due to anxiety about missing the train and the excitement of seeing my sister.

Get there with 5 minutes to spare and pace up and down keeping a look out for the train. Heart rate jumps again when I hear the whistle. The carriage doors open and there she is with her three kids so hugs and kisses all round.

And then the chatter…a week’s worth of words in 3 minutes!!!

Then back on the train they get, whistle sounds, and they’re on their way again.

I slowly jog home feeling so happy at having seen some of my family. I breathe the outside air and marvel at the green of the trees. Life feels pretty good.

Then I glance at my heart rate monitor as it ticks over 300 calories spent. Worth the effort to see someone for a few moments???

You betcha!

Thank You Facebook!

Gerard Spriet — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:25:40 +0000

Do you spend every waking moment on Facebook catching up with what your friends are up to around the globe or would you rather chew your arm off than put your life on display for the whole world to see? Probably, you’re somewhere in the middle.

Facebook... such an easy way to reconnect with people.

Recently, there was a post on Facebook about a radio announcer and business guru who had been calling Facebook a farce and a tool which only causes people to become more insulated due to the amount of time they spend on their computers. I have a good freind, a fellow health club owner, who shares a similar opinion and isn’t adverse to sharing it…loudly.

Naturally, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I encourage that, but why do people have to be so much more vocal when they have something negative to share?

So, whether you’re a fan or not, I thought I’d share this recent experience where the benefits of Facebook are really highlighted.

A few days ago I found an old friend on Facebook and sent him a Friend Request. Within a couple of days I got a “holy cow, man it’s been a long time…” message back. Through the course of messaging back and forward, I had a real warm fuzzy moment when this large Italian man from Detroit, America, shared with me how he’d thought of me many times over the years and had only just stopped using last year the set of pasta bowls I gave him when I left the country 20 years ago! Not only did that make me feel really good, but he also told me how I could get in contact with another friend I’ve been trying to reach.

So, thank you Facebook… for giving me the opportunity to get back in touch with friends from years ago. It’s a great reminder that physical distance doesn’t have to mean the break down of relationship and communication.