Geelong's Gym

Did you know that one in four young people in Australia experiences a mental disorder in any given year and that mental health is the number one health issue faced by young Australians?

Astounding, isn’t it?  But true nonetheless, with depression and anxiety the most common mental health disorders.

Regular exercise can help prevent mild depression and anxiety in young people

You may be wondering why this is worth discussing on a Gym blog.  This topic is actually hugely relevant… research has shown a strong relationship between a person’s physical and mental health, with regular exercise having a role in both the management and prevention of mild depression and anxiety.

I got into the fitness industry many years ago because I wanted (and still do want) to help people leader healthier, happier lives.  So it’s only natural that I’m delighted to be able to help people improve their mental health as well as their physical health.

You see, exercise triggers the production of endorphins, which can promote feelings of wellbeing.  Furthermore, exercise can improve symptoms of depression by improving sleep patterns, interrupting negative thoughts which make depression worse and increasing the sense of being able to cope and the satisfaction of learning new skills.  Participation in group physical activities can also help create a sense of connection and belonging, which in turn promotes good self-esteem!

Exercise is not the sole cure for mental disorders, but it can certainly help keep a healthy headspace.  So if you’re a parent of a young  person, get out there and exercise with your children and create healthy practices which will set them in good stead for their future.

If you’re concerned about the mental health of a young person, encourage them to seek help from a health professional or direct them to Headspace.

Information sourced from Fitness Australia.

As we prepare for the New Year, many of you may be about to embark on a path of study… whether you’re approaching the last couple of years of high school, about to start university or TAFE study or even an older adult seeking a new career path.

Whatever the reason for your study, don’t you wish there was a way to make it easier and more efficient, while still retaining all the information you need?

Give your brain a rest for 30 minutes, go and do some exercise... and you'll retain and understand so much more when you get back!

Well, there is a way and it’s called taking a break from time to time from your study.  Yes, you did read that right.  The best thing you can do for your brain retention is to take a break and do 30 minutes of exercise.

Why?  Because endorphins are released both during and after exercise and cause you to be more alert and aware… both of which are essential to good studying.  Plus, when you’ve been seated in one position for some period, getting up and moving increases your blood flow which in turn helps your brain function.

I really got motivated to write this blog after having a chat with one of my older members.  Walter is 78 and he was explaining to me how he had cataract surgery recently, which has left him with flawed eyesight.  But he then proceeded to tell me that his sight is the best during and after his gym sessions.

He had mentioned this to his doctor, who wasn’t at all surprised.  The doctor told Walter that one of the many benefits of exercise is that it increases blood flow and, in Walter’s case, the increased blood flow to his eye caused him to see better for a period of time.

I had that conversation with Walter just before going into a Spin class and I kept thinking about it throughout the class.  It all made so much sense to me when I realised that I’ve been writing great ideas down just after Spin classes, because in that 45 minute period of exercise I get a rush of great thoughts and ideas… because of the increased blood flow to my brain!

So if you want to get better grades… exercise more!!!

If you’re a non-exerciser… WARNING: this video could save your life!

While McDonalds isn't the only culprit, this image really says it all!

That’s right, if you’re really overweight and aren’t exercising, this video will save your life, BUT you must act upon the learning.

And if you’re none of the above, but are a converted regular exerciser, then get someone you know who’s life is at risk to sit (it’s not like they’re not used to that!!!) for 9 minutes and watch this video.

The other day I went into McDonalds to use the restroom and to buy a bottle of water.  It was a quick, flying visit but I have to admit I stopped and did a double take when a particular patron caught my eye.  I was amazed, astounded in fact, by the size of this particular man, sitting with his partner, gorging on a huge array of burgers and such.

A whole raft of thoughts raced through my head as I watched him… I felt empathy, I wanted to stop and talk to him, help him realise that he’s severely shortening his life through his unhealthy lifestyle… I really wanted to get through to him.

However, I realised that we all have different reasons for our actions and I questioned whether in approaching him I would be helping him or only adding to his story.

The thought crossed my mind that I could use my phone to take a photo of him so I could blog about the impact of an obese lifestyle… but of course, that wasn’t the right or sensitive thing to do!

Instead I started looking for a video or something which would portray the importance of moving your body.  And I found this 9 minute video, which does a great job doing just that.  Please take the time to watch it – it could change your life or the life of someone you care about.

It’s the time of year where many of us are heading away on holiday.  Some of you who have put in a lot of hard yards in the Gym over the last few months are probably worrying that you’re going to undo all your good work in just a few short weeks.

Never fear… even though you’re out of your usual environment, there are still ways that you can get in some exercise without interfering with the holiday plans.

1.  Pack a resistance band – it may sound old school, but resistance bands are light weight and fit easily in your luggage.  Plus, you can do a whole range of exercises with them… low row, chest press, bicep curl, upright row and tricep extensions to name a few.  And they’re a whole lot more practical than trying to pack a set of dumbells!!

There are lots of these outdoor exercise areas in parks all around the world.

2.  Stop at a park with exercise equipment – these days many city parks have permanent exercise equipment, just ask the locals where you can find one.  Most of them will have signs with some exercises you can do on the particular equipment and you have the added bonus of exercising in the fresh air.  Plus, if you’ve got kids, they’ll have a great time on the play equipment while you sneak in a quick workout!

3.  Walk, walk, walk – what better way to sight-see than by pounding the pavement.  It beats public transport because you can stop anytime you like and you’ll see so much more.  Make sure you pack good walking shoes and where possible, walk up some stairs or a couple of hills… a great way to increase your heart rate and burn more kilojoules.  If you can, pack a pedometer… you’ll be surprised how many steps you take just by sightseeing!

4.  Book a hotel with a gym or pool – while the rest of the family is having a lazy holiday sleep in, you can get up a little earlier and get your exercise out of the way for the day… that way it won’t even impact on your holiday plans.  And if you’re lacking in motivation, some hotels even have Personal Trainers for hire!

It’s all about balance.  The whole point of a holiday is to relax and rest your mind and body, so don’t get stressed out trying to fit in your usual exercise routine.  Take up opportunities to exercise where you can, but make sure you enjoy your holiday, spend time with your friends and/or family and let yourself unwind!  The Gym will be waiting for you when you get back…

Information in this post was sourced from Reps Magazine from Fitness Australia.

I’ve noticed that sometimes people get a little one-eyed when it comes to exercise.  In their mind, exercising = weight loss.  Then, if they don’t start losing weight within the first week or so they get discouraged and give up.  The thing is, losing weight doesn’t happen overnight and it generally also requires other changes in lifestyle.

If you want to feel healthy, well and full of energy... start exercising!

However, even if you don’t see a reduction in your waist measurement after the first few days, there are so many other benefits to exercise.  Here are just a few:

• Working out regularly helps lower your systolic blood pressure just as much as many medications do, which is great news for your heart.
• Your overall risk of developing cancer is reduced just by walking or cycling for an hour a day.
• Worried about how your bones are going to hold up in old age?  A mere 10 minutes of high impact exercise three times a week can boost your bone strength.
• Maintaining an active lifestyle cuts the risk of cognitive decline by around a third and also helps prevent depression.
• Dropping around 5-7% of your body weight can delay, and potentially prevent, Type II Diabetes.
• Exercising for 20-60 minutes three to five times a week can help treat irritable bowel syndrome.

And those are just a few of the health benefits of regular exercise.  So don’t be discouraged and give up if you haven’t seen a dramatic change to your waistline yet… if you keep persevering that will happen and in the meantime you’re doing wonders for the overall health of your body… even if you can’t see it!

Geelong’s Gym – industry leaders in fitness education!

This month we were delighted to feature in the On Pako magazine as an example of how Gyms can continue to grow and be innovative in the health and fitness industry.  We thought we’d share the editorial with you, so you can see what we’re up to at the moment…

Tom Trezise in the early days of the Gym.

“When you’ve been around fitness for nearly half a century it can be easy to become complacent.  Not so for Geelong’s Gym, who continue to relish the opportunity to not only provide a great product with fantastic service, but also help the next generation do the same.

Geelong’s Gym has been the leader in providing exercise advice and innovative, creative programming, to the local Geelong community for 47 years.  Originally founded by Tom Trezise in 1964, it was the first Gym of its kind in Geelong.

Percy Cerutty with Tom Trezise

The £30,000 state-of-the-art facilities were described as “surely unique in Australia” by Percy Cerutty, the famous Australian athletics coach.

The Gym has been owned and operated by Gerard Spriet since 1995 and continues to pride itself on its unique approach to health and fitness.  With high levels of customer service, their core values and integrity stand out significantly as a key principle in the business’ method of operations.

So how do they ensure the on-going standard of what they deliver to the community and pass on their passion for the fitness industry?  How do they continue their heritage, whilst looking to the future?

Geelong "Cats" Footballer, John Scarlett, running with Tom Trezise

They educate the next generation of trainers, handing down the values, knowledge and enthusiasm which set Geelong’s Gym apart from other gyms.

That’s why Geelongs Gym was delighted to recently open its new training school, in conjunction with Training Sense.  This in-house school provides the exceptional opportunity to complete Certificate III and IV in Fitness in a fully functional, open to the public gym whose strength is in its personal training program.

So the iconic facility that is Geelong’s Gym is now the place for learning and thinking, as well as fun, friendly fitness.”

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!

It’s an excuse many people use… I’m exercise phobic!  What they really mean is the thought of pulling on workout shoes and heading to the Gym sends a shudder of horror through their body.

But perhaps you use that excuse to avoid the Gym because you’re simply afraid to do anything for fear of doing the wrong thing.  Maybe you’re just not sure where to start.

Don't push yourself so hard that you're crawling through the door!

A few weeks ago I went back home to visit my very large family back in Canada.  While there, I had an interesting experience with one of my relatives who had just started a walking program.  After just a couple of weeks of walking this person’s entire attitude had changed towards exercise.  In fact, his level of self-belief in being able to do it had risen dramatically, to the point that he is now suddenly motivated to pack in a whole lot of extra exercise, like resistance training for toning and conditioning.

I reckon there are heaps of people in the same boat.

The vast majority of people start with the right intention to begin exercising but, as we see so often in the Gym setting, they do too much too early.  It’s like their enthusiasm and motivation kicks into overdrive and they increase the content and length of their workout beyond what is realistically sustainable for a person at their level of fitness.

My advice is start with something manageable, such as an exercise program which you can perform regularly for about 30-40 minutes.  Trust me, working out three times a week for 30-40 minutes is far more effective than pushing yourself beyond your limits with a 1 1/4  hour workout.  Not to mention, you’ll feel tired and exhausted if you try to keep up longer workouts when first starting out and then you’ll just resent the time you’re spending exercising, which could be devoted to something else, and you’ll end up throwing in the towel.

The key to changing your life is to make the change sustainable.  And as time goes on and your fitness improves, along with your energy levels, you’re far more likely to be able to increase the length and frequency of your workout effectively.  By this point you’ll be reaping the benefits of a healthy, fit lifestyle and suddenly exercise becomes more valuable in your life because you’re getting results… so you’ll actually want to spend more time exercising!

Now that Spring is in the air, most of us start getting worried about fitting into our summer clothes again.  Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix.  However, we do have a few tips that will help you move that stubborn tummy fat:

• 

  Eat your way to a flatter tummy!

  Eat Dark Chocolate – we all know we need to eat less rubbish and more good foods, but let’s face it, sometimes you just need a treat!  So instead of the usual block of milk chocolate, chips or ice cream, have a little dark chocolate instead… because it’s actually good for you.  Dark chocolate boosts good HDL cholesterol levels, plus it contains natural substances that help control insulin levels and relax blood vessels, lowering blood pressure, and it provides important minerals including copper, magnesium, potassium, calcium and iron.  What’s not to love – it tastes good and it’s not on the taboo list!

• Add Apples to your shopping list – fresh fruit is a must and apples come high up on the list as they’re packed full of antioxidants, such as quercetin, catechins, phlorizin and chlorogenic acid—powerful antioxidants.  Chop them up with some blueberries and yogurt and you have a delicious summer dessert minus all the calories.  There are also plenty of great varieties in the supermarket at the moment, so go nuts!
• Speaking of Nuts – instead of snacking on biscuits and chips, have a container of nuts and seeds handy for when the munchies hit.  They’re a great source of many key nutrients, including protein, fibre, iron, zinc, magnesium, copper, B vitamins and vitamin E.
• Eat more green vegies - I know, I know, this isn’t news to you!  But if you’re really wanting to trim that stomach down, you need to eat less carbs at night and more vegies, especially broccoli which is high in fibre, aids in digestion, prevents constipation, maintains low blood sugar and, best of all, curbs overeating.
• Lean meat is your friend – we all need protein but that’s not an excuse to whack the barbie on and load it full of sausages and burgers.  Instead, go for skinless chicken, which is a great source of protein and low in fat.

But most of all, if you really want to get rid of that tummy fat you need to get moving!  That’s right, exercise is the key to really shifting the fat and getting a fabulous flat and toned stomach.

Do you love your coffee but feel like everyone around you is pressuring you to give it up?  Don’t despair… coffee can actually be highly beneficial for more than just keeping you alert and functional!

Love that coffee!

Here are a few reasons why you need to keep drinking coffee:

1. Coffee can help you breathe better - researchers have discovered that a coffee before you workout can help reduce the severity of exercise induced asthma symptoms.  Drinking the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee about an hour before a workout was as effective as an inhaler at opening sufferers’ airways.
2. Coffee can help you get more out of your workout – yes, a dose of good old coffee between back-to-back workouts can keep you going longer, a study from the Journal of Applied Physiology reports.  Athletes who drank a caffeinated carbohydrate beverage after cycling had 66 percent more glycogen (an energy reserve) in their muscles than those who had a caffeine-free version.  Greater levels of glycogen help you go further and faster in your next workout.
3. Coffee can help prevent post-workout soreness – sick of your muscles giving you grief after every workout?  The University of Georgia in Athens discovered women who had the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee the day after stimulating their quadriceps (such as squats) felt 48% less leg pain within an hour.  Why? Caffeine can potentially block the body’s receptors for the pain-causing chemical adenosine.
4. Coffee can give your cardio session a boost - that’s right, there may just be a way to make those killer cardio sessions feel easier.  Women given the caffeine equivalent of about two cups of coffee an hour before cycling reported 40% less pain than those who went decaf.  Caffeine appears to block neurotransmitters that signal discomfort during exercise, researchers say.
5. Coffee provides fuel for your body – coffee may help you get more from your workout, a study from the University of Birmingham in England finds.  Cyclists using a caffeinated drink absorbed 23% more carbs – getting a bigger dose of fuel – than those who went decaf.  In fact, mixing caffeine and carbs packs greater benefits than either alone, scientists note.

There you have it folks… coffee can actually have a huge impact on your workouts and we all know that health and fitness go hand in hand.  So keep up the coffee!  (Just make sure you keep up the exercise too!)