2011 Event Calendar for Melbourne

Many fitness events are held in and around Melbourne each year.

This list specifically includes events for Unlimited Fitness clients and trainers. We will either have a client training under the guidance of our program, or one of our trainers will be competing themselves!

Keep checking this list as the year goes on… we’ll add other events as clients request new exciting challenges as part of their lifestyle results program.

If you’d like to train for an event, please drop us an email, and we’ll see what we can do to help you cross the finish line.

February

11th & 12th Go The Tan – Run

19th Geelong Multisport Festival

20th Nissan BRW Corporate Triathlon

20th MS Summer Cycle

27th Vic Sprint Championships – Triathlon

March

6th Gatorade Triathlon – Elwood

20th Gatorade Triathlon – St Kilda

26th Ottways Classic – Bike Ride

27th Xosize Mini Tri

April

17th Run For Kids

May

8th Mothers Day Classic

30th Results Week

June

30th EOFY (End Of Fatness Year)

July

3rd Gold Coast Marathon

17th Run Melbourne

August

14th City to Surf - Sydney

September

TBA

October

3rd Results Week

9th Melbourne Marathon

16th Around The Bay

November

13th Eastlink – Bike Ride

December

Gatorade Triathlon

Christmas Run – Albert Park

19th #fitxmas

Power Balance bracelets exposed as a sham

Georgina Robinson reports in today’s Age Power Balance bracelets exposed as a sham.

These power bands have been a hot topic in the last 12 months amongst athletes, coaches, personal trainers, and fitness gurus.

The article exposes the bracelets as a sham: “Power Balance has admitted that there is no credible scientific basis for the claims and therefore no reasonable grounds for making representations about the benefits of the product.”

I’ve been asked many times for an opinion on these things… without ever bothering to wear one myself, and I’ve kept my opinion verbal until now. My thoughts are, that if they did assist in performance, what would it do to my “natural energy field?” (if there is such a thing). Whichever way you look at it, the human body is an amazing network of physical structure and powerful energy. To work with energy, let your body find it’s own balance and train effectively to produce more power. Don’t confuse the message with ‘energy field’ tools.

…and anyway, if these Power Balance bands did what they claimed, and you wore one on your wrist for a while… wouldn’t you feel drunk when you took it off?

 

 

Twitter Fitness – make yourself accountable with @unlimitedPT and #fitxmas

I’m eating my lunch… I just had an idea.

Well, it’s been done before on Twitter, but this time it’s my turn… and mostly for the Melbourne community on Twitter to ‘talk it up’ a little, and hold each other accountable.

Ben Acott from @thinktankmedia posted on Twitter that he’s been eating food all day, and I noticed it was all healthy stuff. Not a bad thing to be eating lot’s of good healthy food on a hypertrophy program.

With Christmas festivities just around the corner, maybe we all need a little something to remind us that Summer also follows… and the  Elwood beach body awaits us…

Here’s the plan for all you Twitter people:

Starting today 1/12/2010: The first day of summer

• Weigh-in (DM Unlimted Fitness @unlimitedPT if you want us to hold you accountable to your weight – we’ll keep your stuff private).
• Run time trial (around the block from home or office) & post your time on twitter.
• Measure your stomach with a tape measure (around belly button). Feel free to measure chest, butt and arms if you want to compare. (DM @unlimitedPT if you want us to hold you accountable to your measurements).
• Chat to us if you’d like any other fitness testing ideas to run on yourself.

Check in on Dec 20th and post your pics & updates – THE HALF WAY POINT!

December 25th: Enjoy yourself, be merry, and remember that we’ll be waiting to see your results on Monday Jan 24th (that’s 8 weeks from now). Plenty of time for results right?

Monday 24th January D-Day. Time to face the music.

For any training advice, please ask us on Twitter @UnlimitedPT.

We can all make each other accountable on Twitter. Use #fitxmas to search for the conversation.

Each participant accepts accountability at their own risk. For fun & encouragement purposes only!

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.

City2Surf 2010

Daniel Rees (Reesy) and I boarded the flight from Melbourne with the Hawthorn footy team who were playing the Swans on Saturday. Go Hawks!

I arrived in Sydney and had a relaxed afternoon. It was nice to switch off again, and exclusively think about my preparation. While Reesy checked into his hotel, I went to a shoe shop across the road, and managed to find a pair of racing flats to run in for Budapest, and then went for another (much-needed) 60min massage. In my post-massage zombie like state, Reesy led me into the city where we registered and picked up our race kits.

Then we headed into Nth Sydney where we met up with Seals and Kel at their local bar for Friday night knock-off drinks, and moved on later for some authentic Italian carbohydrates. Good times and good conversation over a glass of wine.

Saturday was super relaxed also. After a big sleep in, I slowly made my way to Jago’s – the local cafe, for an omlette and a coffee, before heading to the footy to watch the Hawks get smashed by the Swans in the afternoon. I’m not sure what happened, but the Hawks just didn’t bring their “A-game”. Maybe it was the terrible toasted ham and cheese  sandwich we were served on the flight from Melbourne?… Go Hawks! …please start winning games from now please! Thanks.

Sunday was “fun run” day. The biggest timed run in the world… I was looking forward to see how all these people run on the same 14km track and filter their way around Bondi at the finish. Officially there were 67,974 finishers across the line! I met Reesy at the start line at 7:30am with the rest of the crowd and stretched and self massaged myself until the gun went off at 8:30am. I was blocked in by a few thousand others in SH1, but managed to find the footpath a faster route. Dodging pedestrians and spectators was faster than attempting to overtake the slower runners in front. As the gaps opened up, Reesy and I worked our way back onto the road and managed to find some rhythm which is where a gap opened up between Dan and myself.

As I had never ran the City to Surf before, I was really looking forward (or not looking forward) to checking out how steep and difficult Heartbreak Hill would be. I was a little conservative in my approach as I really didn’t want to be looking for more O2 than I could suck in. As the hill started (6km) I was feeling pretty good. I kept my heart rate low enough, and continued to pass people as I made my way over the main section. So that was a good confidence booster. It always feels better to be passing, rather than being passed. As for Heartbreak Hill, it really isn’t too bad.

As I approached the 10km mark, the big time clock on the side of the road said 35:40… Sweet! I was making good time considering 4 of the 10km was uphill.

I pushed over the final hill at 11km and started hurting for the first time, but knowing it was mainly down hill from here, and that I was on track for a faster than expected time, I started to plan my run to the finish. I let my heart rate settle a little bit before opening up and lengthening my stride. I passed the 12km marker and thought… Ok only 7mins to run, go for it. I continued to pass people the entire 14km, from the starting gun, all the way into the finish. Next year i’ll hopefully get a preferred start near the front.

I crossed the line in 48:16 in 68th position overall. This was a great result for me, and an opportunity to give my body a little test on the race track to see how I’ll perform at threshold.

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It was awesome to catch up with friends too. Thanks to Seals for putting me up at his place, and driving me to the start early on Sunday morning.

Full race results can be found here

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?

On ya bike! …and take tare on the roads

A friend of mine was hit by a car today while riding to work. I’ve quoted his email here:

“…I choose to split the pack of cars as the inside lane was too tight… yet a car turning across our two lanes made that line a bit troublesome… I nearly made it, untill my rear wheel taged his back pannel, which spun me 180 in the air and onto the awaiting road. I bounced off my left butt cheek and then somehow (a bit of a blur) ended up on my feet walking along still holding onto the bars and draging a rear wheel looking like a banana. Then the moment seeped in with pain, being quite winded, disapointed and a recurring thought… you stuppid bastard (me being the stupid bastard).

So at work now (got a lift), sitting on an ice pack and trying to get comfortable…

How quickly things change, especially when you pushing the limits a little bit too far….

Moral of the story… Im not invinsable and I should give cars a bit more respect! Bugger

Nick

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.

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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

Scientists wake up to a good night’s sleep

From theage.com.au
May 8, 2010

LONDON: People who regularly sleep less than six hours a night are more likely to die early, researchers have found in a study they claim provides ”unequivocal evidence” of a link between sleep deprivation and premature death.

They found that people who slept for less than six hours each night were 12 per cent more likely to die before the age of 65 than those who slept the recommended six to eight hours.

The team from the University of Warwick and the Federico II University medical school in Naples analysed 16 studies involving a total of 1.3 million people.

They noted that previous studies had shown that sleep deprivation was associated with heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol. However, the researchers also found that sleeping too much was linked to an early death.

Those who slept for more than nine hours a night were 30 per cent more likely to die early, the research published in the journal Sleep found.

Professor Francesco Cappuccio, the leader of the sleep, health and society program at the University of Warwick, said: ”Modern society has seen a gradual reduction in the average amount of sleep people take, and this pattern is more common among full-time workers, suggesting that it may be due to societal pressures for longer working hours and more shiftwork.

”Consistently sleeping six to eight hours per night may be optimal for health.”

Telegraph, London

SBS Insight program seeking negative experiences with Personal Trainers.

I’ve been waiting a few weeks to watch the Insight program that went to air on SBS tonight. When I spoke to one of the producers a few weeks back, she was looking for negative experiences from clients with PT’s in private training and in boot-camp environments. While I could only relate my negative experiences to personality clashes (can count them on one hand over my 9 year career), I have had some clients come to me from other trainers with negative experiences. Most of these cases came from trainer reliability and schedule clashes.

Insight were searching for negative experiences, and they did find a few, which perhaps shows that the industry does need further regulation?

A large amount of the conversation was around the topic of qualifications. In my personal opinion, an 8-week course is enough to get started as a Personal Trainer, as long as it is followed up with a highly regulated mentoring program. While ‘Insight’ did not manage to draw any real conclusion tonight, I would like to say that perhaps the biggest outcome was that too many trainers are coming out of their short courses and starting their own business without guidance or training in a practical setting. Some trainers are acting outside their qualifications, not correcting poor technique and creating further physical complications.

The human body is a complex piece of nature, and requires large amounts of knowledge to understand how it moves, the human psyche is a mind-field that requires large amounts of awareness and maturity when relating to another human being. As Ron Palmer mentioned in the chat room after the program, working in the fitness industry like a double-barreled shot-gun. It’s a combination of art and science. With the art of working with people, and the science of the human body and its physical abilities.

I’m not sure what motivates many of the young people who jump into these short courses and think they’re going to make a career from personal training. Is it the course providers & their sales team pumping them up with hyped-up money-making fiction? Do they think it’ll be easy? Do they think it’ll be better than working in a shirt and tie? Would they just rather work outdoors? Do they actually want to help people? Do they want to get fitter themselves? In some cases passion, enthusiasm and a lifetime of sport/gym/exercise experience can be the perfect lead-up to an 8-week course and result in a great qualified personal trainer. I have employed many of them in the past, but I doubt the majority of those graduates are in that position.

In my experience, good trainers are hard to find, especially straight out of a fast-tracked course. I think increased regulation should lead to a mentoring program where registered trainers, are linked up to industry professionals like an apprenticeship scheme. They should follow a set amount of hours, variety of experiences and client circumstances. Good trainers learn through experience, they know that they don’t have all the answers, and when they don’t, they refer the client elsewhere or refer to their notes and get back to the client during the next session. It seems that much of this debate stemmed from inexperienced trainers acting outside their level of expertise.

While many people on the program attempted to direct the topic in their own positive direction (which is great), Insight’s goal was to highlight the negative experiences in the industry, and I think they needed to. I think these negative experiences will only be wiped out with increased regulation and I’d recommend they start with an  industry standard mentoring program.