Personal Training programs

Personal Trainer A:

Ideally your personal trainer formulates a training plan with micro/macro cycles that allow your body time to progressively build over time, and then recover, before moving onto the next phase of training. It’s safe, secure and the only way to allow for adaptions in stability, strength, power, and speed while keeping a specific focus to your goal. Even if you have a weight-loss goal, and don’t want to develop specific components of fitness, you’ll need to be stable and strong before you complete dynamic fat burning movements.

Personal Trainer B:

Unfortunately many personal trainers will assess your energy levels, and current (daily) situation and provide a workout relative to your ability on that day. You arrive feeling quite good without knowing what’s on the program, but the one thing you do know… it’s going to be a slog-fest. You arrive thinking “I’m going to get flogged today”… is about your only guarantee. You leave feeling absolutely smashed and think “it must be doing me good”…

Summary:

• Trainer B: Without progressive training overload and recovery, you’ll end up with a de-training effect and your results won’t be what you expect. You might even go backwards!
• Trainer A: Pick a goal with an end date in mind 4-6 months away – let your trainer calculate rest week, easy weeks, medium weeks and intense weeks. After that, re-set & start again.
• Working with Personal Trainer A, will take some time to see results and you’ll feel like you’re making slow progress to begin with. In the end the results will far out-weigh the method used by Personal Trainer B & the potential de-training effects which may also happen.
• Working with Personal Trainer A also gives you a long-term focus and gives you motivation based on knowledge that you’re training for something bigger than the current day. It’s ok, keep the big picture in mind and move forward with the program.
• See you in the gym this week to begin your new program!

 

Fitness Newsletter

We’re upping our community involvement with brand new healthy content via email.

… here’s what will be in it for you:

• Fitness and exercise tips
• Fun run & multisport events in Melbourne
• Nutrition tips and healthy recipes
• Studio specials and free community training sessions
• Sports science research
• Sports technology, functional fashion and workout music
• Canterbury business referrals and specials

If you’d like receive the occasional email from us, SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Jai Forster – The Journey of Winning Gold At The ITU Sprint World Championships.

Dear Diary…

March 2010:

Without racing in a single triathlon during the summer, after an operation in October didn’t allow me to do any physical activity for 2 months, or any intense activity for a while thereafter I enjoyed a complete 6 month break from the sport. Feeling very unfit and removed from the triathlon World, I consider sending in my application to Triathlon Australia, requesting a spot in the World Championship team for 2010. After winning last year on the Gold Coast (M30-34 Sprint), it was always a question that needed to be answered for this year.

I look over my weekly calendar and see it filled with all the regular stuff… client appointments and running my own personal training studio, a mixed basketball game once a week, a mid-week jog and a long run on the weekend. On the side and in the gaps, my free time is spent hanging out with friends, family, meeting the boys for a parma, then heading out to watch the footy, a gig, or hitting the nightclubs for an all-nighter on Saturday.

April 2010:

I decide to complete the application form and encourage my training buddy and housemate, Pete Matthews to do the same. We both apply and both get in the team. We’re the only Australians in the 30-34 age group. We agree that too many people in triathlon let training rule their World, and that having a balance is the most important thing. That becomes our focus for the next few months. I write a 5-month training program, allowing time for rest and recovery which was usually timed with social events or trips away where I was unable to train effectively. I start my aerobic conditioning phase.

May 2010:

Saturday 1st May – A group of us head to Groovin’ the Moo music festival, to see some bands for the day. The training program is very relaxed at this stage so there wasn’t any reason to pass up the opportunity to listen to some great tunes.

Saturday 8th May – Stay in Bright for a bike riding weekend with mates, and complete the ride up Mt Hotham & Falls Creek on Saturday & Sunday respectively. We head to the local pub for a massive counter meal and enjoy a few beers.

June 2010:

Start training with the Yarra MultiSport swimming squad 2 times a week.

13^th June – Compete in the Rutherglen 10km fun run. Finish 3^rd and arrange to meet my supportive mates at the finish line who hand me a wine glass as we make our way to the first bus for a day of wine and music in the vineyards at the annual ‘Winery Walkabout’.

July 2010:

The training gets hard as the strength phase builds and life gets busy. Melbourne’s winter is cold this year and the long bike rides require plenty of discipline (and online shopping for warm leggings and windproof cycling vests). I think of all my competitors in Europe and the U.S. racing in their summer sunshine, refining their skills at each race as they focus on Worlds at the end of their season. I head to Noosa for a 5-day break from Melbourne’s winter, event though it rained for 3 of the 5 days…

Towards the end of the month I begin to feel much fitter after 2 months of solid training and decide to enter the 14km Sydney City to Surf fun run, for some healthy competition at threshold pace.

August 2010:

5^th August – watch the Hawks lose to the Sydney Swans at the SCG. Not a good game to be a hawks fan in Sydney!

6^th of August – compete in the City to Surf for the first time and finish in 76^th place in 48:45. Surprise myself with how good I felt throughout the run, considering it is almost 3 times longer than the run leg in a sprint triathlon, and my first time over the challenging course.

The training program shifts into developing speed and power with some plyometric training in the gym and shorter, sharper sessions at Box Hill athletics track. My swimming begins to improve as I build in confidence after a few months of squad training in Richmond. Melbourne’s winter continues to mess with my enthusiasm as I battle the wind and rain, swapping a few longer bike rides for shorter, sharper strength sessions around Kew Blvd to dodge the rain clouds.

Saturday 15th August – compete in the Richmond duathlon for my only chance at race paced transitions and finish 2nd overall.

Tuesday 24^th August – Final hard run session. 1km reps with my running partner of 12 years Dan Rees. This session was one for the memory books. We make a start in the freezing cold rain and wind. My times are quick, I’m feeling strong. With 2 x 1km reps to go… it begins to HAIL. We refuse to stop, and continue to push through while being pelted with hail. We jog back to the car feeling like He-Man for not quitting and think (again) of the guys overseas in the warm sun racing and training…

September 2010:

Saturday 4^th September – fly to Budapest.

Pete and I check in to the apartment and make our final preparations before the race on the weekend. We familiarise ourselves with the local restaurants and search for the good coffee shops. The temperature in Budapest is not a great deal warmer than in Melbourne.

Wednesday 8^th September – we make our way to the transition area to practice on the swim course. The water temperature is 16-degrees. I struggle to keep my head under water it’s so cold.

During that week I feel quite relaxed and look forward to seeing Kate, who’s travelling from Melbourne to watch me compete. She arrives the day before the race. Pete and I complete a few final easy training sessions and  manage to keep our nerves under control.

Saturday 11^th September – RACE DAY. I wake up early, and head outside for a walk/jog. It’s raining and I turn around after about 500m in favour of a warm shower and a stretch then meet Pete shortly after and make our way to the race site. The transition area is flooded and everything is wet. We set up our bikes, running shoes, helmet and sunglasses as the rain continues to fall.

We find a dry undercover area to go through some warm-up drills. With 20-mins before our start the rain stops, we get into our wetsuits, and make our way to the starting area.

Shortly after, we line-up for the start of the race and shake hands wishing each other luck. Pete’s been anxiously keen to hit the start line in the lead up to the race, after last years gastro ordeal. He’s keen for redemption. I’ve been feeling similar to last year, ready to race, but with the added pressure of being last years winner, so I’m a little more nervous. I’d often think to myself: “Can I win a back-to-back World Championship without racing a single triathlon in-between…” I’d calm myself by thinking, “all I want to do is go faster than last year.” By focusing on myself and on the things I could control, I felt less pressure. I tried not to think about what anyone else might be thinking.

The gun goes off and I don’t even notice the temperature of the water. I go hard to the first buoy and find myself in 2^nd or 3^rd position, and feel comfortable. As we make our way back towards transition I begin to let my heart-rate stabilise and drop a few spots. I’m thinking of the long run into transition and onto the bike.

At the completion of the swim, I’m not sure of my actual position, and look  for guys in transition from my waive and guess I’m in about 8th (I was actually in 6^th position). I’m keen to get on the bike and feel excited by the possibility to make up some time on my new time-trial machine. Perhaps I should have been more focused on where my bike was, because I ran straight passed it in transition! A rookie error by someone who should know better… grrrrrrrr! On the bike, pushing the pedals, angry at my mistake but cautious in the slippery conditions.

It became a battle with Arthur Ferraz from Brazil on the bike until Mark Nolan from Ireland flew past with the fastest bike split of 27:22. I ended up with the 2^nd fastest bike split in my age group by keeping Mark in my sights and finished with the Brazilian right by my side. Oliver Milk from Great Britain was hot on our heels.

I wasn’t sure on my place after the bike ride either, all I knew was “that one guy from Ireland was ahead of me” so I made him my target. He was ahead of me, that’s all that mattered. It’s difficult to think about too many things during a race, so I made him my only focus.

Sprinting out of transition and into the first few hundred meters (I wanted the run to be my big improver on last years race), I wasn’t sure I was making up any ground. The course was straight and flat, so I had clear sight of him the entire way. “Am I making up any ground?” It seemed to be taking for ever. The thoughts began to creep into my head… I considered the satisfaction of a top 3 position, and acknowledged that it would still be a great result. I quickly shut down those thoughts and pushed myself even harder. I wanted the win. I had to look at the ground a few times for as long as possible, so that when I looked up I could notice the distance between us diminishing. Slowly, slowly his figure was creeping closer, I was in-fact catching him. It took just over 4km to pass him, and once I did, he did not have enough in the tank to stay with me. I was on the home stretch, and couldn’t see anyone ahead of me. I pushed even harder with the added confidence of overtaking someone, and denied him the opportunity of a sprint finish.

The 5km run was mentally and physically testing for me, and so as I turned into the final 100m stretch I could see the finish line and knew my race had been run. There was no-one to catch before the line and I had no pressure from anyone behind me, so I slowed down (as if my body switched off) and jogged into the line. I had worked so hard for so many months, and pushed myself to the limit for 59 minutes & 42 seconds, there was no need to sprint anymore.

As I crossed the line almost 2-minutes quicker than last year, I was called over the P.A. system as “World Champion”. I had won again!

A second World Championship in as many years… what a massive relief knowing the trip to the other side of the World, and all the hard work at training had paid off. To top it all off, at the end of the day I had the second fastest time overall which was a welcomed surprise, and the fastest run split!

October 2010:

After a well deserved holiday throughout Europe with Kate, I’m back to work at Unlimited Personal Training and planning my racing season for the Melbourne summer. Tomorrow morning I’m in the pool training for the summer season in Melbourne.

It’s a strange feeling to win an age-group World Championship. While you’re not racing against the elite & the best of the best, you’re racing against others from around the World who are best at balancing full-time jobs, busy lifestyles and triathlon training. I feel I don’t miss out on anything by training for such a demanding sport. We all have to make sacrifices to achieve massive goals but the focus of my personal life is to enjoy myself first. I know when it’s time to train hard and when to switch-off. Preparation and periodisation make my training time more effective and my recovery time more relaxing. I choose to race over the sprint distance to keep this balance in-check and because it suits my lifestyle. The racing is fast and skilful and every move makes a difference. You need to be on your toes the entire time. I love it.

Law of Attraction & Finding The Right Goal.

I consider my training and race preparation in almost everything I do, on a daily basis.

While training for the World Championships this year, it’s been interesting to look back on my win from last year and reflect on my attitude, training schedule and how I achieved what I did. A friend recently asked about the process and what I went through mentally in preparing for the event. In my response I realised that I focused on the same things I ask my clients to focus on. It reminded me of all the discussions with them on mindset, focus and how to make a conscious decision to improve. Those who get results speak of this initial decision and those who don’t get results, often don’t expect their goal to actually happen or have set the wrong goal.

While I didn’t put too much pressure on myself to win, I did give myself every chance to perform at my peak by putting everything I knew into action. Training, nutrition, planning, equipment, positive self-talk, it was all with me. Two weeks before the race I relaxed, (which has never happened to me before), it was as if all the hard work had been done. All that was left, were a few quality training sessions, eating well, getting sleep, and mentally preparing to push myself to the limit. When race day came I felt confident enough to put myself in a winning position.

In this post I have related this mental preparation to something I go through with my clients. Here is some of the stuff I relate to:

You decide to buy a special new car. You have picked a machine that seems to be a unique, individual choice. You begin to arrange finance and begin the drive home to tell your partner, when all of a sudden, there it is… your car, the one you thought was only yours. Someone else has it. Same colour, same model. You shake your head but accept that there’s now going to be only two, but then… you notice it’s on every street corner, at every intersection. You never saw these cars before and all of a sudden, they’re everywhere. What happened?

Fact: Your mind is suddenly aware of the cars that were always there.

It’s called the “Reticular Activation System” or RAS. It is the part of your brain that automatically brings your attention to things that are important to you and filters out what is not important. We all have it. Many Mums will tell you that she will be sleeping soundly through noise from many distractions and her baby makes a small whimper and she’s wide-awake. Our brains automatically filter what is important and what is not important to us.

How important is your fitness goal? It must excite you! Like the new car, or your new baby. Create a filter that will drive you to focus on what’s important.

Basically the RAS is how the Law of Attraction works (for anyone who has read The Secret). We get what we focus on; we create what we think about and the RAS just helps this process along.

The Law of Attraction is not a new concept. It has been with us since ancient times, which only makes sense if it is a Universal Law. It is mentioned in the Bible. “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7. Buddha also taught about the Law of Attraction: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become.” Buddha 562-483 B.C. In the early part of the 20th century many books were written about the Law of Attraction, such as “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen, “The Master Key” by Charles Haanel and one of the most popular books of all time “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

There are so many misconceptions regarding the Law of Attraction. It seems odd that if this is a Universal Law why people tend to argue with it?! Nobody argues with gravity… A common argument against the Law of Attraction is created by those who claim that all they have to do is think their lofty thoughts and all of their dreams come true. Not many achievers are content to sit on the beach and dream of success. There is no fun and no challenge in that. If your goal is important to you and excites you, you won’t want to sit anywhere for too long. It’s a joy to dream the dream, to be attracted to take the action to make your dreams come true. An important goal will drive you to think about every move towards your goal.

Can’t find the right answers? Maybe you’re asking the wrong questions…

… What goal will move you into action?

Keep fit on your holiday

Recently I returned from two days in Bright (N.E. Victoria) on a ‘boys trip’ with a difference.

After work on Friday we made the trip up the Hume Highway and pulled into Bright around 11:30pm. We found the house and made our way down the driveway to the rear of the house. As we unloaded the bikes from the Subaru the veranda lights came on… “can I help you?” said the elderly man in his dressing gown. WRONG HOUSE!!! After apologising we got out of there, found the right house and got to bed in preparation for two days in the saddle.

Unlike many other young men on a ‘boys trip’, we traded our denim and cotton for lycra, rather than drink alcohol we went for electrolytes and rode bikes up and down hills all weekend.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Two weeks earlier, I went to Queensland for some training also. It was great to ride around the Hinterland behind the Sunshine Coast, swim in the ocean at Noosa, and run around the forshore and National Parks.

Normally I take a break from training while on holidays, but this year is different. I’ve got an event to train for and I’ve been scheduling little breaks looking for an opportunity to get some quality training completed. I’ve enjoyed it too. If you’re used to heavy training a holiday may be a good reason to take a break and let your body recover. However if you’re used to a general routine and like keeping fit, remember to take your workout gear (whatever that may be) and keep active. You’ll enjoy your holiday experience from each little exercise adventure.

Get out there & remember to stretch!

Article from the Age

Unlimited Focus… an introduction

The Unlimited Focus system provides a process for our clients to:

1. Identify, understand, expect and become their major goals

2. Ensure they’re on track towards their goals with a current focus

3. Improve their ‘Unlimited Score’ by improving all aspects of health on a weekly basis

4. Ensure they remain aware and accountable with regular check-ups

After a personal training session you feel great, you leave the building, get in your car and start your journey home… you are on your own. You notice the fuel guage is low so you pull in to the petrol station and fill up. While paying for your petrol you see a chocolate bar… (where does this story end for you?)

Many clients have an innate ability to set fantastic achievable goals and set themselves up to follow through and achieve success. This makes my job enjoyable and exciting because we discuss their progress and build on their expectations to achieve even more. Then I ask myself, “Why can’t all clients be like this? What is missing from those people who don’t achieve what they set out to?”

I realised that those clients needed a definite goal-setting program to achieve the results they talked about. At Unlimited Personal Training it is our responsibility to encourage physical effort, provide a progressive program over time, to educate on topics such as nutrition and human function, and to provide clients with motivation for both the short and long-term. In return we expect clients to have belief in themselves to overcome the obstacles that once stood in the way, and to understand that permanent physical changes firstly require mental adjustment then long-term discipline.

Unfortunately, too often my clients experience a minor set back, shy away from their goals and begin to reduce their communication about how they feel, and often lose sight of their goal completely, making my job more challenging. I’m expected to lead them into the dark as I continuously look for the light switch.

Some people refer to this as self-sabotage, where any result is a “good enough” result, which brings an end to the pressure, where the client can fall back into the comfort zone. The reality is that direct action towards a truly fulfilling goal which the client expects to achieve can happen with natural effort.

The Unlimited Focus system inspires new ideas and provides a framework to see your dreams become a reality. It makes our clients accountable and inspires them to continue in the direction of their goals.