Small group training at Primal Fitness

Want to shed some unwanted holiday weight gain? I'd like to tell you about small group training classes I do at the gym I go to in Double Bay. Primal Fitness (Suite 1, Level 1 Royal Arcade, 401 New South Head Road)  is giving you the benefits of personal training for less than $50 per week. This is certainly the most economical (and for me, fun) way to train.

The Small Group Training sessions involve:

* 2 sessions per week at fixed times (sessions 45-55mins)

* 6 week block of commitment

* maximum 6 people per group

* fun, challenging workouts categorized for your ability (focusing on high intensity strength training and interval training ie short bursts of intense workouts punctuated with breaks).

Groups to choose from (min 3 people to confirm the group going ahead):

Tues/Thurs 6am- Next group starts Tuesday 29^th January 2013

Tues/Thurs 12 noon – Next group starts Tuesday 5^th February 2013 (this is the group that I will be joining)

Mon/Weds 1pm – proposed group to start Monday 4^th February

Or create your own- min 3 people to get started.

Cost is $49.50 per week (incl GST) for 6 week commitment (Total $297).

Hope to see you there!

Is your diet helping you to rise to the Challenge?

While I was out indulging in cheese purchasing at the markets, 8000 participants braved the wind and rain on Wednesday to compete in the annual JP Morgan Corporate Challenge - a 5.6km race around Centennial Park.

I would like to pay tribute to 2 runners who finished this event with awesome results. A friend Mike Conway, and my husband Grant Chamberlain, both 41 and both have super-intense long-hour jobs in stockbroking and investment banking respectively. They both eat a largely unprocessed traditional wholefoods diet and shun conventional sports "foods".

Mike finished the race in 19 minutes- his personal best- coming 32 out of 8000! Mike leads a running group in the city during lunch hours a few days a week.

Grant typically competes in longer-distance events (eg iron man). Nonetheless he finished at 23.42 minutes. As he said his result is nothing to rave home about compared to Mike's effort BUT what I think is important is that Grant was able to maintain the exact time he last ran that race 5 years ago, give or take a few seconds AND he only maanged to squeeze in a few training runs for this event AND he blew the doors off the much younger members of his work team who also competed.

This shows yet again that an unprocessed traditional wholefoods diet allows you to achieve stellar athletic results well past your 20s, into your 40s and be able to maintain your fitness without the need to pound the pavement on a daily basis.

I think both these men would agree that there is no way that they could have achieved these results and maintain their level of fitness on a conventional diet. Of course getting plenty of sleep and rest, managing stress, engaging in pleasurable activities, soaking up sunshine and breathing well also lay the foundation to our health and fitness. But a wholefoods diet is a "critical enabler" as Grant eloquently put it last night. Nail the diet and you'll be miles ahead of pack.

Well done guys!

For related blogs regarding diet and athletic performance click here, here and here.

How to keep kids active indoors during cold/wet days

Anyone whose spent any time with young kids will know that kids needs to expend energy more or less constantly.... especially boys! When he's not playing with Lego, my son Will (almost 7) is constantly climbing  all over the furniture, bouncing around the couch, almost bursting out of his skin.  And its only natural- its in our  genes to MOVE!  Trying to curtail this energy in sedentary ways only means that it's going to come out in unproductive (even destructive!) ways at a later point in time. Modern life has made children so much more sedentary than our hunter gatherer genes have evolved us to be. TV, cinemas, screens, homework, sitting in cars, indoor lifestyles, and other sedentary activities (some very worthwhile of course) just means that we need BALANCE it out a little with movement. Warm summer weather is a no brainer for entertaining kids- we head straight outdoors to nature (beach, park etc) where kids can expend their energy  swimming, rolling, running, playing ball sports, throwing a frisbee, riding bikes etc. A greater challenge is working out how they can expend their boundless energy in a productive way when the weather turns cold or wet or when its just not feasbile to be outdoors (case in point as I type this it is cold and teaming with rain!).

So here's a few things that I do with my kids that might give you some inspiration when they (and you!) are climbing the walls:

1. rebounder- this acts a little trampoline for kids to jump on. It's small enough that I can move it around the house depending on which room the kids are playing in.Whenever I see the kids climbing all over the furniture its great that I can direct them to the rebounder. Sometimes we turn on the music and team the jumping with singing and dancing - pretending to be the next upcoming Voice contestant (you can tell that I harbour some unfilled entertainer dreams!). I bought my rebounder from Rebel Sports.

2. Hyperdash - the interval training game for kids (and big kids too!). This is really cool. There's a battery operated baton that yells out instructions and 5 different colours / numbered targets that you spread out around the house. You follow the baton's commands by striking the targets it directs you to in the fastest possible time (e.g. "strike red", "now strike 5", "strike blue then green twice" etc etc). Who ever completes the instructions in the quickest time wins. There are different levels of difficulty (e.g. involving memory or maths).  You are racing around the house as fast as you can (taking turns or in teams) for about 90-120 seconds at a time- which is a perfect time frame to really get your heart rate racing before resting. Just like interval/cross training at the primal fitness gym I go to! I was skeptical about this when I bought it but I really enjoy playing it just as much as the kids (if not more!). Its advertised for ages 6+ but my 4 year old plays it (and I accompany her on her turn to keep her motivated to finish). If you have a double story house or a large house you can really spread out the targets to make you work harder. I'm dripping with sweat after a few rounds of this. So I get some exercise and tucker the kids out at the same time. Perfect. I bought Hyperdash from the Australian Geographic shop from Westfield for A$34.95. According to the sales assistant it's the best selling item in the store.

3. rough and tumble- its the age-old game of getting down on the floor with your kids- rolling, tickling, tumbling, frolicking fun. Its also a way that kids can get their physical attachment/affection needs met when they are no longer babes in arms.

If you try these activities out let me know what you think. Do you have any other ideas on how kids can remain active when indoors? I'd love to hear them!

Happy indoor moving!