Body4Me

**UPDATE: I’ve just come back from the training workshop and have posted a preview of the new release here **The new release of Les Mills BodyPump 65 is coming to a gym near you soon.We have got our Quarterly training in Melbourne on the 9th of Feb, so I would expect that we will start teaching it about two weeks after that. I’ll be launching mine at a Fitness First in Melbourne, so come on by. I promise it will be an awesome workout.Some of the launch notes appearing on the net so far:

BODYPUMP® 65 is all about challenging strength endurance.Right from the word go Track 2, Just Like Paradise, is BIG. It has a driving beat that automatically hooks the class into BIG work mode.The hard work starts with a unique training effect in the Squats Track when the legs are hit by a reverse sequence of work.Don’t expect any breaks in the Chest Track but do look forward to lots of Bottom Halves!The slower-tempo choreography keeps the muscles engaged and moving under load with no time to rest.And there are no breaks in the Biceps Track either, so the intensity is maintained from start to finish.The Forward & Backward-Stepping Lunge is back after making its debut in BODYPUMP® 64, targeting the legs, glutes and hamstrings.The Seated Overhead Extension is also back in the Triceps Track, accompanied by funky tunes from Groove Armada.DJ Aligator and the Mac Raise both make a welcome return in the super intense Shoulders Track which is all about strong, controlled work. There’s loads of energizing music to help with the workout.Kanye West’s Stronger provides the inspiration needed to endure the new Moving Hover and Side Plank in the Abdominals Track.Airbourne’s Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast is massive and Breakaway will fill the room with intense energy.

No break in the Chest and Bicep Tracks… Ouch! Can’t wait for that one.Did you check out the Just Like Paradise video ? Wow! That one is absolutely going to rock.I’m guessing Airbourne’s track is going to be the bicep track. They sounds like AC/DC and this one is going to rock the house.I’m not sure how Glenn O (the program choreographer) is ever going to top release 64’s shoulder track (Good Charlotte - Keep Your Hands Of My Girl), my favourite shoulder track ever, but i’m also a big fan of the Mac Raise, so this should be good.Kanye West’s Stronger is going to be a wicked abs track. You may remember the side plank from release 62 (Justin Timberlake - My Love). The Moving Hover sounds like the hover option we had in 64 (Hotstepper) where you slowly move your shoulders in in front of your elbows to the music. I love all these new, subtle but fantastic little changes to the program. It keeps it fresh and stops your body from adapting to the same moves.I have spoken to a few trainers who were in NZ at the filming, and from all accounts, this is going to another AWESOME release.

It’s something that I see in the gym every day and it is something that makes me cringe a little inside every time I see it. People working out while hunched over. If I see participants hunching over in one of my Body Pump classes, I’ll go to great pains to explain the correct posture and reasons why, but it’s just not something you can walk up to just anyone on the floor to talk to.

The most fascinating thing about it is that most of us are absolutely unaware of incorrect body posture because we are so used to it. It took me ages to become aware of my own body as I was moving and lifting weights.

The most useful (and obvious) tool to help: The Mirror. Watch yourself as you’re working to see you technique. Are your arms/legs balanced and moving to the same height and angle ? Are you inadvertently moving non-weight bearing parts of the in an awkward position. Maybe all the massive guys in the free weights are aren’t just admiring themselves in the mirror. There’s a good chance they are actually constantly checking their form for correctness.

Next time you are at the gym, do yourself a favour and have a real good look at your form. Before you start a Dead Row or Dead Lift, roll your shoulders up, back and down and feel a little tension between the shoulder blades. Push your chest up and out and stand proud. As soon as you set your shoulders back, it will align both you upper and lower back. It will give you the correct curvature in your lower back and set your pelvis correctly.

More importantly, it is impossible to hunch over once you actively draw your shoulders back. Your lifting technique will improve dramatically and you will target the right muscles much better.

**UPDATE (28th January 2008) : Since the original blog article (below), I have had a few people ask me to write more about what is actually involed in the program and how it works. I have posted a review of the program and my experience here . ***

Three weeks into the new year. There is a good chance that for a lot of us, the New Year’s Resolutions are starting to wear a little. If you’re like me a few short years ago and your major goal was to lose some significant weight, but you’re finding it difficult to make a real change, I have some hope.

When I started on my journey, I got a massive kickstart from a nutrition program called Ultra Lite / UltraLite. Now, let me first say that I’m not getting paid to promote the program and I am not associated with them in any way. I am purely a very, very satisfied customer. Ultra Lite helped me lose 20kilograms in 20 weeks. No crash dieting, no meal replacement, no crazy workouts, no horrible or repetitive meals. Just a good change in life style and eating.

Ultra Lite works by you visiting a Nutritionist who will guide you through the whole process. This is a real bonus as regular visits with weigh-ins and measurements will help keep you motivated. For me, the real motivation, however, was seeing results. When you can easily lose 4-5 kilos in the first month, it doesn’t take much to stay motivated.

The system essentially works by severely limiting your carbohydrate intake for the first few months and replacing them with better quality calories from low-fat protein and lots of vegetables. It’s certainly not one of those Atkins style programs where you eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. One breakfast my nutritionist gave me was a beautiful nut and seed based muesli with a little bit of low-fat yoghurt.

The program teaches you how to eat better. Not just by carving out large chunks of foods, but by educating you to make better choices about what to eat and what foods to combine.

Don’t get me wrong though, it’s no magic pill. You still have to exercise to use your excess energy stores and ensure that you don’t lose too much muscle tissue in the process.

However, if you are serious about some significant weight loss and need a fantastic place to start, do give the Ultra Lite program a go.

Ok,I admit it, I’ve probably been doing a little too much TV viewing over the holiday period. One thing that has really jumped out at me are the continuous ads for home exercise machines. Now, don’t get me wrong… I’m all for home based exercising, however, something about all these little machines just isn’t right.

You see, they all target specific muscle groups, typically being the abs and upper legs. These are the areas we all feel a little insecure about and it’s that insecurity the the advertisers are targeting.
The problem is though, the kind of people that buy these machines to get fit are exactly the people who wont really benefit form them!  Why ? Well, because, funnily enough, those great looking models they get to demo the machines are about the only people that would get the full benefit from them. And that’s because of some very basic exercise and weight loss principles:

• You can target specific muscles for muscle gain, but
• You CANNOT target specific areas of your body for fat loss

Spending your 3 (or however many) minutes a day on the abdominator machine will not make you lose your belly. Yes, it will work your abs, but you wont see them until enough body fat is lost. Your abs wont show until you’re at about 8% bodyfat (for men) or 14% bodyfat (for women). That’s a very low figure given that most of start in the 20-30% range. When your body uses fat for energy and exercise, it will retrieve it form all over your body, not just the area that you’re currently working out.

My Advice: Save your money. Go for a nice long, brisk walk. Do some complex muscle group exercises. The more muscles you use, the more energy you will consume, the more fat you will utilise. Reduce your calorie intake. Someone once told me: “Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.”

Ahh… the start of a New Year. New promises, new hopes, new dreams and countless new ads on the TV telling us we should lose some weight and that their product is the best one yet. In the course of two ad breaks yesterday, I think I saw three or four different gyms, pills, readymade meals and home exercise products. Now, obviously, these ads work because otherwise they wouldn’t be putting them on.

Now, what makes us think that an arbitrary change of date will suddenly make us change our eating and exercise habits when nothing else in the previous year did ? Let me assure you… nothing will change. I know that sounds pessimistic, but come on. We’ve all been there. Goodness knows I have. Yes, the first week will be great, the second not quite as good, the third ok and by the end of January, the only thing that’ll remember about the resolution is the monthly membership fee from the gym you joined up to on a 12 month contract.

So, what will make a difference ? Not calling it a New Year’s Resolution for one! This has got nothing to do with the new year. It has everything to do with you and your reasons. And no, “Because it’s the new year” is not a valid reason! Ask yourself… Why are you embarking on this journey ? Why are you doing this ? Who is it for ? These are the important questions and these are the ones that make it stick. It was only when I got it clear in my head why I was doing this that it had any real impact on me. I looked at my life and where I was going to be in 10 years time if I didn’t do something right now. I saw myself as a 40 something overweight work-a-holic couldn’t muster the energy to play ball with his kids. Someone who was probably going to have a heart attack in their mid-fifties and finished their life on a series of life-sucking drugs.
That sort of painful future wasn’t something I could live with. And that was my reason why something had to happen. And, more importantly, that was something I could take with me to the gym in week three and four of January when things became hard. This is something you can do right now to give yourself some leverage over your will power. Create yourself that mental image of what will happen in your life if you chose not to make a difference right now. Use it every day to push yourself to be better, stronger, fitter healthier than you were before. I know you can do it. I did.

Our reasons why we do something is far more important than how we do them. Chose your reasons carefully.

Hi. Welcome to my blog.
So, first question: Why am i writing this ? To help you and me both. You see, I wasn’t always a fitness instructor. Far from it in fact. A few short years ago, I was the typical stereotype of a computer programmer. Unfit, very overweight and without a way out. I tried a lot of things to get myself into shape and listened to a lot of bad advice. In this blog, I will share with my insights, tips, hints and advice that I have found to make a difference to me. I hope it will help you on your journey.