Resistance Bands are a great peice of equipment that can be used for many different purposes, such as rehab, toning and strength.  You have the ability to control the amount of tension on your muscles and keep that tension through the eccentric and concentric phase.

In this workout we are aiming at toning and strengthening your upper and lower body, whilst switching your core muscles on.  Make sure you check out the video below for a demonstration of all the exercises.

Lunge With Row (10-15 each side): Pulling the bands so there is tension, step back into a lunge followed by a row.  Keep your elbows high whilst performing the row and in line with your shoulders.  Alternate your legs coming into the row with each lunge.

Squat With Bicep Curl (10-15): Create tension on the bands and sit back into the squat, making sure all of your weight is towards your heels.  Come out of the squat (into a standing position) and break out into a bicep curl.

Trunk Rotation (10-15 each side): Have your feet shoulder width apart, keeping the arms as straight as possible and use your core strength/rotation to pull the bands towards your obliques.

Tricep Pullover (10-15): Come into a sturdy stance with the bands above head height.  Pull all the way over until your arms are straightened (in line with shoulders).

Ab Crossover Punch (10-15): Sitting in a sit-up position facing away from the bands - create tension with the bands, engage your core by slightly leaning back and bring the bands across, switching on your oblique muscles.

Remember to control the movement on the working and the releasing phase of the exercise and focus on technique - Don’t rush… feel the burn!

He wasn’t sure whether he should take it as a compliment or not!  But either way he had a good chuckle.

You see the thing is, the relationship you have with your Personal Trainer is often a love/hate one.  You love the results you’re getting from being pushed harder than you’d push yourself, but sometimes you really hate your trainer for putting you through, what can fondly be called, a “Torture Session”.

Regardless of the times when you could swear they’re trying to kill you in the most excruciating manner possible, having a Personal Trainer is the best thing you can do for your health and fitness.  Not only will you get great results in the shortest time possible, you’re also far more likely to stay motivated and attend the Gym regularly when you have someone to be accountable to.

So if you have never tried a Personal Training session, why not give it a go today and see for yourself what a difference it can make.

Oh and I promise, they’re not really trying to kill you… it just sometimes feels that way!

Here’s a break down of what you’re going to be doing:

Burpees – Step (Beginners) or Ground (Advanced)

Push Ups – Step (Beginners) or Ground/Ground with clap (Advanced)

Pull Ups – Under at a 45 degree angle (Beginners) or Pull up/Chin up (Advanced)

Crunches – Fingertips to knees (Beginners) or Wrists to knees/with weight (Advanced)

Squats – Standard squat (Beginners) or Squat jumps (Advanced)

Complete 2-4 circuits of this workout starting at 30 seconds for each station and build up to 1 minute for the ultimate bodyweight circuit!  Check out the video for a demonstration of each station.

Today, our Personal Trainer, Tom Ovens, is going to show you not only a great workout for people who are looking to move away from weights machines and into free weights, but also what order to do your resistance exercises in.  This is a fantastic upper body workout for beginners.

Make sure you complete 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps.  Watch the video for instructions on the exercises, then read the tips below.

Dumbell Flys – you want to try and pre-fatigue the major muscle groups first.  Aim to bend your elbows slightly as you bring the weight down, then straighten as you push it up in front of your face.

Incline Dumbell Press – as we have already done our chest isolation exercise, we can now move onto a compound exercise (more than one muscle group).  Doing this on an incline will also slightly change what part of the muscles we are working.

Dumbell Reverse Flys – this is an isolation exercise for your back and shoulders.  Make sure you are leaning over far enough that your back is nearly parallel to the floor.

Dumbell Single Arm Row – moving on from the isolation back exercise, now we are doing a compound back exercise.  You will be able to lift a much heavier weight than reverse flys.  Keep your elbow tucked into your side and let your arm go totally straight at the bottom.

Dumbell Lateral Raise – throughout the other exercises in the program we have worked on the front and rear of our shoulders.  This exercise will work the centre of your deltoid (shoulder muscle).  Use a weight similar to what you used for the dumbell flys and reverse flys.

Adam Ryan is all set for the Empire State Building Run Up on February 1st.

Our Geelong’s Gym Centre Manager and Personal Trainer, Adam Ryan, is setting off tomorrow for New York where he will be competing in the annual Empire State Building Run Up – the world championship of stair climbing - on Tuesday, 1st February.

Adam has been doing stair racing for six years now and we’re delighted he’s reached the ultimate event in his chosen sport.  He will be climbing 86 floors and 1575 stairs in the race – a huge feat indeed!

Only 300 athletes from around the world get selected for this elite event, so we’re incredibly proud of Adam and the amount of training and preparation he’s put into getting to this point.

While it does take a huge amount of endurance and mental energy to get to this level, Adam can inspire us all to set realistic goals, put our mind to them and then commit to making them happen.

Good Luck Adam… we’re 100% behind you and no matter what result you get, you’re our champion!!!

A big thanks to The Geelong Advertiser for providing a copy of the photo and article they wrote about Adam in today’s Addy.

First off, please don’t be intimidated by what you’ve just watched.  These guys are incredibly fit and prone to extreme exercise.  But here’s the good news – you can do what they’ve done…

Adam and Nathan are doing High Intensity Interval Based Training, which is based on your heart rate and is suitable for all levels of fitness.  Training in a high heart rate zone of 85% and beyond can only be maintained for a short period of time (high calorie burning zone).  When the heart rate hits the red zone, 95% plus, your body is then forced to rest and allow the heart rate to come down to be capable of repeating the exercise.  During this rest period the energy expenditure is still great, therefore burning a high amount of calories continuously while you rest.

And as an added bonus, it’s really great for time-conscious people who want to get fit and healthy but don’t have a lot of spare time on their hands.  By doing this kind of training you can achieve the results of a one hour workout in just half an hour!

Surely not, I can hear you thinking.  Here’s the key.  This is functional training, which means a variety of different muscle groups are used in each exercise, which results in a higher heart rate thereby increasing your energy expenditure (i.e. burns calories FASTER).  Plus, no session is the same as the last one, so your body doesn’t get a chance to plateau but instead remains at a peak level of training.

So if you want to see real results FAST this is the kind of training you need to be doing.

Rebecca Cortorillo with a pair of her old pants

Rebecca Cortorillo had always been overweight and a bigger person.  In January 2008 she joined Geelong’s Gym but, needing some help, in February 2009 she decided to get a Personal Trainer to try and turn her life around.

In the past she’d lost a bit of weight only to regain it again.  Sick of the non-stop roller coaster ride of losing and gaining weight, she knew she needed to be accountable to someone.  And it worked.

Since training with Marcus Smith she has lost a massive 32 kilos!  In her own words:

“I have heaps more energy, feel healthier and jump out of bed in the mornings now.  Plus, I feel much more confident.  In fact, I actually enjoy buying clothes now.  The first time I bought a new top I was so excited to be able to tell Marcus how amazing it felt to be able to choose any top from the rack.  Marcus makes me laugh, and we have heaps of fun training – it’s great.  It is definitely the best thing I have ever done.  I love it!!”

Rebecca’s story is truly inspirational and the best thing is, she’s still going strong and working towards her goal weight.

So if you’re feeling disheartened with your progress, don’t give up.  You can do it.  And if you need a little help and motivation, why not book in for some Personal Training.  You won’t regret it.

Marcus Smith and Rebecca Cortorillo say goodbye to the old pants, now much too big!

As a Personal Trainer, you get used to seeing other trainers working their clients hard, pushing them into uncomfortable head space, challenging their muscles and stamina in order to initiate change.

What you don’t see very often is two trainers pushing each other to the max.

Sure, they work along side each other, spot each other and share knowledge and stories, but going for broke is a rare sight.

Burning calories at that rate will have you fitting through the small door in a heart beat!

Recently, I witnessed the most intense training session ever! No stopping, giving up, wasting any precious time. Two Geelong’s Gym trainers, Adam Ryan and Nathan Moore, were trying to set new PB’s (Personal Best).

In what?  How many calories can be burnt in the shortest time.

And the best outcome to date is 672 calories in 38 minutes!

WOW!                             

And why?  Why not!

Tyson and Adam bonding over boxing

When Tyson Matheson came to Adam he was reasonably fit, but he had a goal to get into the Army and he needed to increase his fitness significantly.  After training with Adam, he lost a lot of kilos, and now carries less than 6% body fat and is at an elite level of fitness.  Tyson and Adam developed a unique relationship while training together – they fed off each other and pushed each other to extreme levels of training.

And it paid off.  Tyson is now in the Australian Army and he has a new goal – he is hoping to get into the SAS, so he’ll be continuing to keep his fitness at an elite level.

And Adam, well… not satisfied with being one of Australia’s leading stair climbers, next year he is heading off to the peak of stair climbing events – the Empire State Building Stair Climb!

Many people shy away from lifting weights when their goal is to lose weight, because they’re scared of the weight gain from increased muscle size.  But here’s the clincher…

Watch that weight just drop away

One little pound of muscle burns around 10-20 calories a day, while a pound of fat only burns 5 calories.  So growing your muscle tissue will help you burn fat all day long.

Plus there are a whole lot of other benefits of strength training:

• Increased resting metabolic rate which means you burn more calories, even while resting.
• You will become lean and slim, because muscle takes up less space than fat
• Strong bones and connective tissue, which will help protect your body from injury
• Enhanced balance and stability
• Increased confidence and self-esteem

But this only works if you lift enough weight to stimulate muscle growth.  Here’s a tip – if you can lift your chosen weight more than 16-20 times, it’s not heavy enough.

If you’re struggling to know how much weight you should be lifting, perhaps you should consider booking a session with a Personal Trainer.  Believe me, your muscles will feel the difference after a Personal Training session!

The good news is you don't have to start with the really heavy weights!

There are many reasons why people avoid lifting weights.  Here are just a few:

• It’s really tiring!  True, because most of us aren’t used to pushing ourselves to fatigue in anything we do.  That’s why you start slowly and gradually work your way up.
• I don’t want to injure myself!  Firstly, your muscles are meant to burn with the exertion of resistance.  However, it is important to take it slowly and increase your weights in increments, while still providing your muscles with some challenge.  Again, if you’re unsure, a Personal Trainer can help you get the perfect balance.
• I don’t want to look like the Incredible Hulk!  Needless to say, this is usually a concern reserved for women.  But here’s the good news – lifting heavy weights will NOT make you huge, because women simply don’t have the testosterone levels to build big muscles.  But the heavy weights WILL help you LOSE fat.

These are just a few reasons, but they often prevent people from making any progress towards their ideal body shape.  Heavy lifting will help you achieve that body and if you ease into a weight training program and slowly work your way to bigger weights you don’t need to worry about hurting yourself, or any of the other reasons which are holding you back.