Train in Twos

Training in two... whether it be training with a training partner or taking up an extra session, this method works extremely well for those who lack motivation or self discipline. You are now not only accountable to yourself but someone else, either for the one session a week or twice a week. These options have encouraged people to exercise/move more and has had very positive effects both mentally and physically.

This week, a number of clients either had a rescheduled session or picked up an extra session, making their training a little more frequent. Despite it being only one extra session, there were some great results and some have enjoyed it so much that they have decided to pick up another in the coming week.

So do yourself a favour, if you lack that motivation,  grab a friend to train with or spend a little bit more and get that extra session, the actual results you get outweigh the money spent. The more you move the better your body feels and more likely you will see changes with consistency!

"The biggest benefit to me, personally, about training two sessions per week is that it allows me to build up momentum and focus. The biggest thing I struggle with, leading such a busy work life and personal life, is keeping fitness front-of-mind.  Having my the obligation of seeing my trainer twice a week helps to keep my fitness in the back of my mind much easier than a once-a-week session. 

It’s also great to be able to focus on different types of movement — core vs legs, dynamic vs strength, push vs pull, etc. 

It also helps with fitness “homework” — I am more inclined to do foam rolling and stretching when Wiki is there to remind me more than once per week! " ~Julia B.

Julia, has had a hard year after reconstructive knee surgery as well as issues with one of her big toes. Through the physical and mental roller coaster ride, she is slowly coming out on top. Her ability to push herself is outstanding on a great day and I believe it is her love of sport that keeps her motivated. She is dying to get back onto the Grid Iron Field with her team mates!

"I have really been enjoying training with Wiki. She has given me a great range of exercises that are helping improve my posture, flexibility and strength. Wiki gives very clear explanations for simple exercises to ensure that I use proper technique when training on my own. Her knowledge and patience has helped me train more effectively and has given me a better understanding of how to improve my overall strength and fitness." ~ M.A.G.

M.A.G. is a new client who have only been training for a month now. She is a very consistent runner. In the gym you may have seen her, I've always thought of her as "the young lady who runs a lot"! With heavy pounding and not enough strength work, she has found she's having pain and issues with her foot. She finally decided to take on my offer and has been training once a week. Occasionally she trains twice a week as she's seeing and feeling the benefits!

Not long until the Christmas break so stay focused and keep up the great work. Don't let your perception of what other's expect of you deter you from reaching your goals or staying on track.



Train Hard, Eat Well, Rest Up

Emoto Rice Experiment

Could your thoughts and energy change the way your body physically behaves?

A little background information - Dr. Masaru Emoto, the Japanese “scientist” who magically turns normal rice into gross rice, simply by yelling at it… Well not quite. His initial experiment was to do with water particles and how different crystals were formed based on the energy used towards them. He found that the water particles formed beautiful crystal structures with positive prayers. The effects of energy on water particles. If you look him up on the internet you will find many variations of his experiment so I too decided to give this a go. I'll firstly explain the set up, then I will explain what I found and of course the conclusion and what is to be done next…

The Setup - 21st June 2014.

1. I cook some white long grain rice in the rice cooker (I could have used raw rice and just added water also).

2. Got three relatively similar jars and cleaned them in the same manner. (in the following photos you will see the jars are slightly different, this is were a scientist would contest and yes I agree, the difference in jars could be an contributing factor to the rate of change therefore the resulting factor. Therefore I do plan to redo the experiment with changing the jars around)

3. I filled the three jars with roughly the same amount of rice from the same batch and ensured the lids were on tightly.

4. Labeled the jars with "Positive", "Negative" and "Neglect"

5. Took photos of these jars and left them in the same space with the same light over the next month and a half. (Now, another factor to consider here is that as it is not a totally controlled environment, the amount of sunlight can also affect the rice in these jars and I understand this, thus when we repeat this experiment, we should be able to see if the same results occur.) But the results of the experiment will…. keep reading on.

The Experiment

So every day for next few weeks, I was to talk to each of the jar. I didn't necessarily speak to it rather I used my positive and negative thoughts to speak to it.

I would say or think positive thoughts to the "Positive" Jar.

I would say or think negative thoughts to the "Negative" Jar.

I would neglect the third jar.

These are things we do to ourselves on a daily basis without thinking about it. Many of us get up in the morning and already we are bombarding ourselves with negativity. How awful we look that morning, how we dislike something about ourselves or how we put ourselves down. Think about it… that is not a great start to the day, why would we want to do that to ourselves?!

The Results

Below are some of the photos from the experiment. You will be shocked at the results you will see.

21st June 2014

28th June 2014

5th July 2014

9th July 2014 

12th July 2014

6th Aug 2014

Conclusion

As you can see, no visible mould was formed in the positive jar of rice, while the two other jars had quite a difference result. I did expect the 'Negative' jar to be much worst and in many of the online experiment it was, you can see how being neglect can also have a damaging effect.

The human body is made up of approximately 70 - 75% water, you can see how relevant this experiment can be. Despite the scientific concerns you may have, this is just an experiment to show you that your thoughts and energy can greatly affect the way your body. The type of energy we either exert or receive can greatly affect our own physical body as well as to those around us. Based on how you treat your body, your body will respond in certain manner. This is already evident in what you eat is what you are.

Learn to be more positive whether it be toward others or yourself, you should try and start the day with happy and positive thoughts. As they say, before you do something, imagine yourself succeeding at it, what it looks like and feels like, this is the first step to prepare you mentally then physically. So next time before you think or speak, remember the effect it may have. Always chose to be better.

Train Hard, Eat Well, Rest Up

Which shoe for which activity?

Bridgette Nevins is a Podiatrist from Camberwell Sports and Spinal Medicine, she has put together a few basic points on looking after your feet and choosing the right shoe for the right activity. Looking for a Podiatrist in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne? Book in with Bridgette at the clinic on 03 9889 1078.

With all the shoes on the market, it’s a wonder we aren’t all rocking in a corner overcome by the thought of having to pick which one to wear. It’s almost like Russian roulette, choose the wrong shoe and you will end up nursing an injury on the couch instead of burning up the pavement with a run.

To turn the odds in your favour, pay attention to the following tips, and you will find making that next exercise shoe purchase all the more simpler.

1. Get to know your feet

Every pair of feet are different, and knowing what foot type you have is very important in assisting with wearing the correct shoe.

Over pronators – This means that your feet are rolling in. If you have a look at your shoes, you may find that you wear down the sole on the medial side of the outer-sole.

Over supinators – This means that you put most of your weight through the lateral edge of your feet. Looking at the sole of your shoes you may see that you wear down the outside edge of the sole.

Neutral – You have an even wear pattern from the lateral edge of the heel, through to the big toe where you push off.

2. Do not make shoes do more than one activity

It does matter which shoe you choose to use for your work out; if you choose the wrong one you are increasing your risk of injury.

Shoes cannot multitask effectively! Walking shoes have a stiffer sole, whilst running shoes are more flexible with extra cushioning due to the higher impact they have to withstand.

Walking and running shoes are designed for forward and back motion only. These shoes have minimal lateral stability because your feet do not move laterally (side to side) when you are running or walking.

Cross trainers are designed for forward and back, and side to side motion such as those movements seen in Basketball, netball, tennis and cross-fit classes.  Cross trainers have a combination of lateral stability and flexibility through the midsole for running motion. These shoes are great if you are doing a combination of leisurely activities through the week. It is important to remember that if your main sporting activity is basketball for example, that you have a basketball specific shoe.

3. Holding onto your shoes for too long

Everyone has that favourite pair of shoes that they just don’t want to give up, no matter how many holes the sole has. Running shoes should be replaced every 600 – 800km; now unless you count your kilometres regularly it can be difficult to keep track.

For a person running 2 – 3 times a week of between 8 and 10km at a time, it is estimated that you change your running shoes every 6 – 8 months. If you are not a regular weekly runner, I would suggest changing your shoes every 12 months.

The reason that you need to replace your running shoes regularly, is that the cushioning in the shoe starts to wear down, the heel counter loses its stiffness and stability, and the midsole becomes too flexible. Continuing to wear your shoes after this has happened opens you up to risk of injury.

If you are replacing your work out shoes when they look worn out, then you are replacing them too late. You do not have to throw them away, you can use them for gardening, or donate them to charities such as Shoes For Planet Earth (Camberwell Sports and Spinal Medicine is a collection point for this charity).

4. Get Advice

Unless you have been doing the same sport for years and know exactly which shoe you need, then it is best to get some help with selecting a shoe.

You can go to a speciality sport-shoe store where they have trained staff to assist you with your purchase.

If you are concerned about your foot posture or have a history of injury, it may be in your best interest to see a Podiatrist first for a biomechanical and gait assessment. A Podiatrist will discuss with you your injury history, activity regime, look at your foot posture, joint range of motion, and assess your gait with computer analysis. From this, they will be able to recommend what type of footwear will be most appropriate for your chosen activity, and assist with preventing any other potential risk factors that could cause injury.

Goal Setting

Quite often we set goals when it comes to our work lives and personal lives such as, what we want to be when we grow up, how much money we want to make, what new car we want by the end of the year, when we want to buy a house, the list goes on…

We also seem to set health and fitness goals especially in the new year or just before a wedding, these mainly revolving around weight loss and how we want to look and feel better. It all sounds fine and dandy… but dig a little deeper and you will find a few common problems with these goals…

1. Lack of consistency and follow through.

A very small percentage of people actually follow through with their new year’s health and fitness resolution. Why? It's like a trend, the normal thing to do especially after a festive season. Everyone wants a great summer body, well everyone who lives in the southern hemisphere and for those who live on the northern side of the globe, well you just want to kick start that new year and get back into shape… for that eventual summer body I assume!

2. Lack of experience and expertise.

Many people even if they do set health and fitness goals, don't seek advice or help to achieve these. They believe they can do it on their own. But like every other year, nothing has changed; you haven't found the right sources to help with this process and thus the journey ends very soon after it started. Therefore I would advise those of you, particularly new to the health and fitness thing, and even for those who have been doing it for a while but haven't achieved the results that want; to go and find a professional in the field they need help with, getting the right Personal trainer, the right Myotherapist, Physiotherapist, Pilates instructor, sporting coach etc. is worth every penny.

If you keep doing exactly the same thing, how can you expect any difference in your results? You might be a great accountant or even a great spin instructor, but that doesn't mean you know how to lift weights or kick a football or achieve a specific sport or movement.

3. Setting unrealistic goal or following the crowd.

Many believe the basic 'weight loss', 'toning up' or 'bulking up' are good enough goals to set, really? Do you really think that is sufficient? It's like saying that I'll run a business and our KPI can be 'making money'. Is that realistic when you have something that is so broad and hard to measure? Remember, a goal should be realistic, achievable yet challenging. But most of all, it must be measurable so you can see your progress. When we talk about measurable, there are many tools to be used whether it be weight, measurements, photos, clothes, feeling etc. it will all depend on YOUR goal and not someone else's. Quite often I see people just listing down 'I want to lose 10kgs'. My question then goes to, why and by when? These are vital to understand the reasons behind these goals and how important they are to you. I also found that without sitting down and really drilling down on your specific needs, you lose sight of what it is you want and many get caught up with what is the norm and what people typically want. I remember so clearly an example one of my teachers used in a course I did a while back; the client was an older woman whose goal was to be able to lift her own luggage of the carousel, be strong enough to do that without the need for assistance. That was one of her goals, nothing fancy but also something specific. It meant that the training could then be designed specially to help her meet her goals. So when you sit down and set your goals, think about what it is that you need, what you are struggling with whether it be in life or just an exercise you've always wanted to do. It will make training much more interesting and don't forget, all that strength, cardio fitness, weight loss etc. will come into play depending on your goals.

4. It's just not important enough.

Some people just don't even bother or want to set goals. Reasons do vary, some people don't know how to set goals, don't know where to start, don't understand how to set goals, and don’t want to fail and many more. But ultimately, quite often, it’s because they don't believe it's important enough to sit down and take some time out to set these goals. Do you think a company or even a family can survive without setting goals? Why would you set yourself goals to climb that corporate ladder and make more money so you and your family can live in luxury when you can't even be bothered looking after your own health and the health of those around you so you can actually enjoy the fruitfulness of your labour?

Ways to help you set goals:

1. Sit down and spend time brainstorming or even list something down that you are struggling whether it be physically or even mentally. Remember exercise can be good for the mind and body, great for the soul.

2. Make it relatable to you, something specific to you and not to anyone else. A great way for those who want to improve on their cardiovascular would start on a small fun run. Use this as a great opportunity to do something for you, a little time out in your day to do something for you to better your health and fitness in any way you see fit.

3. Make it measurable. Accountability is key to success and if you don't have it written down, many of you won't feel like it's real. Tell your family or friend, get them involved whether it be training with you or encouraging you to stay on track. It always helps when you have someone by your side through your journey.

4. Set an action plan. Whether you are creating this on your own or with the help of your personal trainer/coach. You need an action plan to follow to achieve the goal. For every result, there must be a process, without this, it's just a game of randomness. This can be fun and challenging but may not specifically lead you efficiently to your goal. So again, this will depend on what type of person you are, what goals you have and the timeframe you have set yourself. Remember, you need to be consistent to be able to achieve results no matter what you do, health and fitness is no different. You need to work hard and consistently in a smart and correct manner to hit the nail on the head.

Now do you understand why it's so important to set some goals?

Everyone will have different goals therefore should be training differently to the person next to them in some form or another. Consistency and hard work will pay off and a sense of satisfaction will surface when you set and achieve these goals The main thing is to keep moving, movement helps maintain a happy and healthy life. The correct movements can help prevent issues down the track and even help with those currently suffering issues. So next time your trainer or someone asks you what your health and fitness goal is, you better be prepared!

Breaking down what we eat! Let’s go back to basics.

In this series, we go back to basics, clear the air, provide some simple explanations and examples to help you understand what you are eating!

So let’s start with the very first question:

What is food?

Food is fuel for the body. By eating and drinking we provide nutritional support for the body. Food helps maintain life, growth and repair.

Food is usually of a plant or animal origin and contains macronutrients and micronutrients.

What are Macronutrients?

Proteins, Carbohydrates & Fats

What are Micronutrients?

Vitamins (A, C, E, etc.), minerals (Magnesium, Calcium etc.), trace elements (zinc, manganese, Selenium, etc.), amino acids (Taurine, L-Carnitine, etc.) and other essential nutrients.

Source: List of Micronutrients

What is an Essential Nutrient?

Definition:  a nutrient required by the body for normal body functioning that either cannot be synthesized (to be made: make, especially chemically) by the body at all, or cannot be synthesized in amounts adequate for good health and thus must be obtained from a dietary source. These include vitamins, dietary minerals, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids.

Source: Essential Nutrients