DECEMBER FIT NEWS

Ben' New Adventure.


Its is with a little sadness and of course excitement for Ben that I write this. Ben has been with the fit2excel team for a long time now and has been an amazing asset to the team with his great legacy being his pilates classes, these classes have run to the benefit of many people.  Ben's calm and relaxed approach he took to his training sessions still managed to leave every one weaving a white flag for mercy, and when the spin music was turned on the animal within was released and the intensity was lifted to a whole new level.

We had the privilege to watch Ben's family grow from just the two of them and then wee Molly joined their team and now little Joesph. Ben is moving to Mackay for some new adventures, for the next year he is trading workout shoes for work boots and driving a truck on a mine site, then at the end of the year he is planning to open a new gym of his own in Mackay.

I personally and the team would like to thank Ben for all your his support, efforts, time and friendships you have given us. We wish you all the best and look forward to hearing how it all goes for you.

 

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon


It was great to catch up at Iceworks. You all looked amazing dressed up and out of your exercise clothes. We will plan to oganise a BBQ in the new year when everyone has a little more time to hang out.

Closures Over The Break.


The PCYC will be closed from Wednesday 21st December at 9pm till Monday 6th at 6am.

Personal Training please speak to your trainer to find out what dates they will be away for.

Fit Camp will finish on Friday 23rd and will start again on Monday 9th

For all other classes please click here... and scroll to the bottom of the page.

 Dan's Roll Out

  

The 4rth installment of rolling is about the quadriceps. The large muscles on the front of your legs are commonly known as your quads. As the name suggests they consist of 4 different muscles : vastus lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), vastus medialis (VM) and finally  Vastus intermedius. Their main job is to extend the knee, straighten the leg but the RF also flexes the hip, seated position. So why roll, these muscles when tightened all have the potential to create strain and tracking issues on your knee. When the RF is overused it can indicate that the glutes and deep core muscles are not working. The VL can prevent movement in the IT band hence knee tracking issues. How is very basic, lay on your belly in a plank, hover ,bridge position with the roller under your thighs. Start with the roller just above the knee and roll towards the hip. Once you feel a tight / discomfort stay on the spot and deep breathe. Imagine the muscle is relaxing. Continue this for the entire front of the leg.

 

Until next time enjoy the roll

Dan   

Naomi's Food

One of my favorite foods that I frequently recommend people to include in their diets is oats. This simple, cheap, easy to prepare and tasty grain is highly nutritious and great for your health. Oats are a good source of fiber, containing the soluble fibre beta-glucan, which can help lower cholesterol. Oats are also low GI due to their high fibre content and therefore release a slow sustained energy. The protein content is also quite high for a grain, containing 8.5g per 2/3 of a cup. As well as being high in fibre and protein they contain good amounts of essential minerals phosphorous, potassium, selenium, manganese, magnesium and iron. The less refined the oat, the healthier it is, so try and use rolled oats, oat groats (dehulled oats) and steel cut oats (also known as Scottish oats). Avoid instant oatmeal’s and ones with added sugars and flavours. Use oats in porridge, muesli, soak them in yoghurt or juice for a bircher museli, add them to smoothies and use them baking to reap the benefits of oats!

Tom's Running Adventures

 

To run or not to run? This is a question I have been asking myself over the past few weeks. After completing The Rainbow Beach Marathon last month the soft sand caused havoc with my ankles. After a couple attempts at running again I learnt that it was time for a rest. Recovery is often overlooked our passion and determination can sometimes overpower our decision to train smart. The body is telling me "no you can't run" but the mind saying "boy I feel like going for a run today". So where is the line when do you listen to the body and when do you push through the pain.

Firstly I believe their is a big difference between "good pain" and "bad pain" Good pain is one that when you finish your effort you say "Oh yea". Bad Pain is when you finish and go "Oh no". As you get fitter you also become more in tune with your body, you can start to feel how muscle operate and with that you can feel when something just isn't quite right. when this happens you should then take action according to what is wrong rest it, ice have it massaged or have physio have a look at it. Remember the fast you act the fast you will be back in action.

Pushing though the pain, we often use pain and discomfort to stop us achieving our goal we use it as a excuse. We must realise the difference. Training hard hurts it takes time for the body to adapt to what we want it to do. You must look after you body my stretching and eating well all this will aid your recovery so you can stay on track.

With a few weeks of recovery some massages and it is all action stations preparing for the Hares and Hounds race in January where Dan and I will be racing the full 55km against 3 possibly 4 teams of 4 of you in a relay. It should be fun and Dan and I have been practicing our victory dance. Entry is still open so if you are keen to join us get a team of 4 together and come and have some fun. this is an organised event run by The Trail Running Association of Queensland and is open to everyone.

Action Man Tom.

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NOVEMBER FIT NEWS

Xmas in the park

On Sunday the 4th of December we are going to have a lazy Sunday afternoon BBQ with some fun games to be had. So if you and your family are free in the afternoon let us know. The venue is to be confirmed but more than likely it will be here at the club or at a local park.

Who let the dogs out

On January the 8th there is a running race at the Glasshouse national park called "The Hares and Hounds". It is a 55km race in which the "hares" solo runners leave at 3.30am and run the full 55km course, and then the "hounds" are released at 4.30am and run as a relay team of 4 and try and catch the hares. It sounds like a lot of fun. Dan D and I (Tom) have entered as a hares. The challenge is set. Can 4 of you catch 1 of us.... If you are keen let us know and we try and put you in a team.

Run little rabbit, run run run.

The Mo Bros

Well done to all the Fit2Excel Mo Bros for putting up with all the itching so far. Only a week to go now so stay strong. So far the team has raised a Total of $330 which is very cool.

    plus 6 others...

If you would like to support our Fit2Excel Mo Bros please follow this link

 

Dan's Roll Out

The 3rd installment of rolling is the hamstrings. Their job is to flex the knee and extend the hip. The hamstrings are 3 separate muscles :  semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the biceps femoris. Simply, they are the muscles on the back of your leg above your knee. Why roll? 1) to create flexibility and 2) to break down scar tissue. Both of these prevent the muscles from being able to contract correctly which then can lead to lower back pain.
How, take a seat on the roller sideways, from there cross one leg over and gently roll the roller away from your butt. Once you discover some tenderness hold that position till it subsides then move to the next point. The discomfort may take anywhere from 10secs to 30secs to subside.
Until next time continue to roll.

Dan

Dan wouldn't pose for the photo, I don't know why he has such a beautiful smile.

Naomi's Food

Feel like you are always craving something sweet, especially after a meal or at that 3pm energy slump? Cravings for sweet foods typically occur when blood sugar levels rise quite high and then fall too quickly. A healthy and natural way, which may help prevent this, is by adding cinnamon to your diet. Research has shown that cinnamon (6g) slows the rate at which the stomach empties after a high carbohydrate meal, thus reducing the rise in blood sugar after eating and may increase satiety (full after eating).  It can also significantly increase cells' ability to use glucose. And is therefore useful for diabetics. (Am J Clin Nutr. 2 007 Jun;85(6):1552-6).

So why not try adding some cinnamon to your foods, it is great in smoothies, on cereals and porridge, with cottage cheese, desserts such as rice pudding and is also used in many different curries.

Tom's Running Adventures

A beach run sounds nice. A relaxing weekend away on a beautiful Qld beach. There is only a couple of ways a weekend like this could be any  better, 1) Shared and 2) add a race in. So that's what we did. Last Sunday my wife and I picked the car up and headed north for an adventurous weekend of relaxation, 4WDing, fun, and racing. We drove to North Shore entered the beach and drove along the beach all the way to rainbow beach. If you have the opportunity to do this it is differently worth it. The beach has beautiful scenery and is also a great place to swim (between the flags of course).

We meet up with Paul Jones and his family and also Emma, all who are regular members of Fit Camp and Fit Kick. We enjoyed a meal at the local sports club, stuffing our faces with enchiladas, pasta and fish. Sunday was an early start with the marathon starting at 4.30am and the 11km starting at 6.30am. As we registered, Paul and I stood quietly listening to the race director give instructions on which way to turn, "left, then right, then left, definitely not right or you will end up in Noosa!". Next thing we know it was go time. The nice thing about this event was the people; no big egos, no show boating and you had the sense everyone was there for the pure pleasure of running and racing.

The track went straight up hill and onto Carlos Sand Blow so the heart rate skyrocketed and the legs burnt as we settled into a comfortable pace on the hard packed sand dunes. Neither of us knew the track and neither of us had run a marathon let alone a marathon which was run on sand, so we just kept a comfortable pace. I was chased by a very determined horse fly which kept dive bombing me as if  it was a magpie. After 5minutes it finally left me alone. It was probably very funny for Paul watching me run along waving my arms around and swiping my head like a lunatic.

As we left the rain forest behind us at Fresh Water Campground, we made our way onto the beach. Paul and I headed straight to the water edge in the hope to find some harder sand. This was a lost battle as the tide came up and we were forced onto the soft sand. It became a real mental battle as you could see the light house in he distance but it never seemed to get closer. Every time you increased your pace the sand would suck you down draining your energy levels. After a desperate final push I made it to the rocky headland and headed upward to the light house at Double Island Point. 

I stopped for a moment and stood in awe of where I was racing, and then took a look into the horizon at where I was heading and set off down the hill to the next beach run. It was at this stage I made a mistake along with 4 other runners and we headed off aimlessly along the beach only to learn that we were on a sand bar that came to a dead end. With the thought of running back too much, we made a swim for it to the other side. It was very refreshing and tempting to just stay and relax in the cool water. At the next check point the official made us all feel excited by saying you only have 12km to go which was great news but.. they were 12 km of sand dunes. It was here that the mental games began. The steep climbs and endless turns which made you feel you were going in the wrong directions, and snakey sounds coming from the side of the track. It was hard because you were in this beautiful forest yet all you wanted to do was get out and finish. The last section was downhill with a flat run to the finish line. All up this was one of the most beautiful runs I have ever done. The landscape was brilliant and I can't wait for next year. I finished with a time of 5:18:54 in 9th place and Paul finished in 5:55:03in 14th place. The 11km saw Nadine and Emma off and racing. The track covered the same track which the marathon started on and made its way through the dunes and bush land back to Rainbow Beach. Both of them thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Ems time was 1:04:01 and Nadine's was around 1:15:37.  A great effort from the girls. Lazing around in the water at the beach afterwards was just a perfect way to finish the weekend.

Here are some  running tips I have been putting to the test over the last few months... 

Here is a video to show you  http://youtu.be/Q51W7dKaY94

Bec's New Spin Class

SPINNING MAD 

I LOVE SPIN! There is no doubt about it. The pumping music, the exhilarating burn in your legs and the sweat dripping down your forehead; what’s not to love?

Spin is one of those classes where no coordination is required. You sit on a bike in a dimly lit room, so if you’re particularly gym-shy, this is perfect for you!

Right here, right now, lets get rid of the stereotype that only super fit, super human athletes attend spin classes. This IS NOT true. I am a living proof of that.  ANYONE can do a spin class.

So if you’re looking for some heart pumping, fat burning fun,, Spin is the class for you!

Tuesday night spin at 6pm……..See you there!!

 

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