Beyond Billabong Article

Billabong to Beaches Article. Check it out.
The FOGS and Fitnance mentored on 5 of these camps over 2009. Thanks to Ky Hurst, Duncan Free, Patrick Johnson, Peter Nowill, David Dellow, Darren Mercer, and Luke C Gregory for their contributions to the program. Keep up the top work Boyd and the Billabong to Beaches Team.

Dave Lipman 1min Ergo Record Attempt

Missed it by 6 seconds. Bugger!

Nick Pratt 172kg Atlas lift 1.2m. Check it out

One inch punch. Check it out. Click here.

One inch punch. Fitnance Martial Arts. Luke and Keno.

12 Week Challenge

Today saw the start of the 12 week challenge for Christmas. If you haven't already signed up and had your skinfolds taken then please do so. It is a great way to challenge yourself and see results in time for xmas.

Jess

Today sees Jess finish her "prac" hours at Fitnance. The team would like to thank her for all her efforts and I'm sure Joe will be glad to see go after all the punishment she has dished out. We hope to see Jess around the gym in the future running some more classes.

Weier - DNS

Chris competed for Australia in the 31-35 age group World Triathlon on the weekend. After finishing the race in around 20th the results came back with a DNS (Did Not Start). We are waiting to find out what the ruling is on the result.

Rocket takes Bronze

Rodney "Rocket" Hill took home the Bronze medal for his efforts in the Sprint Enticer last weekend at the Triathlon on the Gold Coast. Well done Rocket, keep up the training.

Chris in World Champs

Chris will be competing for Australia tomorrow in the Triathlon World Championships on the Gold Coast. He has been putting in the hours training hard in the pool, on the bike and at the track. Fitnance wishes him all the best and we know he will go a great job.

Friday Weights

Todays weights class took the tonnes of fun challenge. Results were:
Cameron 12.4 t
Averil 8.8 t
Leone 8.1 t
Sam 12.7 t
Gary 12.3 t
Bill 18.1 t
Henry 10.4 t
Parra 17.2 t
Tito 27.0 t

Fitnance on Facebook

Check out our new page on Facebook. If you have not yet become a friend please do.

Coming Soon!

Children’s Program
Fitnance is in the process of creating weekly programming for children between 5 and 15 years. The concept aims to develop holistic health and fitness components relative to the age group. Such foci include balance, hand-eye coordination, general strength, agility, and general well-being.
The duration of the sessions will be 45 to 60 minutes depending on the age group. There will be two groups which will be divided according to age (5-10, 11-15) and the activity sessions will be generated around specific focus points.
The programming is currently underway, so watch this space for updates!

Jess

Jess King

Hi everyone! Some of you may have seen me running around the Fitnance Gym over the past couple of weeks and may have met me already, but for those who haven’t, here’s a little introduction.
My name is Jessica (feel free to call me Jess) and I am currently in my 4th year at QUT, studying a Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement Studies. I will be working at Fitnance for approximately 2 months as part of my practicum experience.
I am interested in the field of strength and conditioning, sports injury rehabilitation and also corporate health. I’ve had coaching experience with adolescents, have dabbled a little bit in the corporate health area, and am currently working at another gym as a Gym Floor Instructor.
I have enjoyed my time with Fitnance so far and have met some very nice people. I am looking forward to the following weeks and hope to have the opportunity to meet the rest of you and perhaps make you sweat a little!
So now you know my little story, so feel free to come up and say hi!
See you at the gym

Megan McBreen

I am currently studying my forth year of a double bachelor degree in Business management and human movement studies at Queensland University of Technology and am hoping to gain experience in personal training, sports training and injury rehabilitation whilst completing practical placements.
I have played soccer (football) in the Brisbane Women’s Premier League competition in both Reserve grade and Premier grade teams for the past nine years up until recent weeks when I have been forced out of the game because of a second ACL injury and pending reconstruction. I hope to continue my involvement with sport, in particular women’s football, using my human movement knowledge to support others.

Trainee Paulo makes Schoolboys side

During the June/July holidays I went down to Sydney to compete in the National Schoolboys Championships. Going down as the QLD tight-head prop, I was excited for the tasks ahead. Our team had a lot on the line with QLD teams winning the previous 3 years and I didn’t want our team to be the ones losing the streak for our state. First day of rugby was against ACT and we ended up running away with 69 points to 7. Second day of rugby games we had to play QLD II where we were to face mates and boys from school and we ended up with 47-7. Third day we had a qualifying game for the finals and we played NSW II and won comfortable 37-15. On the final day we faced Combined States in the finals and we ran away with 43 points to 17. At the conclusion of the tournament two Australian sides were selected Australian Schools and Australia A. I was lucky enough to make Australian Schools with 5 other Brisbane State High players and 2 Brisbane State High boys making Australia A.

TAI JI:

It is great to see so many new faces regularly attending the TaiJi classes on Tuesday mornings and also the new session at 10:00 on Saturday mornings. Everyone is moving forwards. Just remember, the more you attend, the more technique you will acquire so that you can practice this amazing health/fitness/martial art/relaxation system at home as well as coming to the gym for more treats/more specific technical instruction. It hasn’t happened to anyone yet but there is an amazing neuro-physiological transformation to be found within this system of movement. Stay tuned, next month I will post a ton of links to medical studies showing how TaiJi training benefits Diabetes, various Cardio-Vascular diseases, treatment of Parkinsons disease and a heap of other ailments.

Remember, once you have nailed the basic techniques, there are a couple of really cool ‘forms’ to learn afterward: The gift that keeps on giving.

Thanks for your great efforts. Peace to all.

KFP

KUNG FU:

July has been a very fine month for the Fitnance ‘Top Bloke Top Bird Martial Arts’ Crew. Bob, Keno and Darcy all earned their yellow belts by displaying their practical knowledge of the techniques they have learned to date. All three are beginning to display their own style of movement now: Bob has a natural gift for the grappling side of the system and is exhibiting top class stability in his postures due to his immense core strength. Keno is developing very fast and high snap kicks which combine with his heavy hands to good effect. Darcy (The Mongoose) is developing some very, very fast and heavy hands. Congratulations to all three of them for their very hard work. Let’s hope Darcy recovers from the swine flu some time soon.

The other great news of the month is that Sword Master and Weapons Specialist Mr Nigel Poulton has now joined the crew. Nigel is already a senior in Jiu-Jitsu and Pancrase with a wealth of experience drawn from a life-time studying the martial arts and working in film and theatre as a fight choreographer. As well as bringing his advanced empty hand skills to the table, Nigel will take care of instruction in knife and sword play whenever his schedule allows.

More news is that Monday night training has now been replaced by Saturday Morning training: Big sessions on Saturday with lots of sparring and serious ground work!

Some others of the crew would benefit by making the training more regular. You know who you are and you have the potential. However, it won’t happen if you don’t push hard. Natural skill is nothing without application.

Once more, Congratulations to all. It’s great to see people moving forward.

Nick Pratt - Sydney’s strongest man 2009

On the 28th of June, I competed In Sydney’s strongest man competition.
This competition had 5 events.
- 285kg super yoke 25m
- 100kg log press for reps
- 250kg axel Dead lift for reps
- 135kg each hand farmers walk 25m
- 140kg atlas stone over 1.3m for reps
This show used a lot of cardio fitness and speed on top of overall strength and power.
On the 1st event the super yoke nerves were driving me wild once I fond out that we would be walking up an incline with the yoke and farmers. But once my turn came I had a clean run with only 1 drop clocking a time of 15.08secs winning this event over all. With my confidence going up I had two of my weakest events coming up the log clean and press and the axel dead lift. In the log I only managed to clean and press it 5 times which dropped me down the rankings and on the dead lift also got 5 reps taking me back to 8th place. At this stage I felt like death but next up was one of my favourite events the farmers walk with 135kg each hand I got a time of 13.02secs and won this event taking me up to 4th place. Stone for reps was next with the rain coming we had to rush through the middle and light weights in 75secs I only managed to get 4 reps witch kept me my 4th place and qualifies me for nationals so from now till the 4th and 5th of December it’s the road to Australia’s strongest man!!!

Trainee Jesse - Under 18s Basketball

The under 18’s basketball state classics was held at Toowoomba on the 29th of June to the 3rd of July. And it was an exciting week, many teams competed such as: Southern districts, Gold coast, Brisbane, Logan, Townsville, Bunderberg, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Mackay, Cairns, Gladstone, Maroochydore, Noosa, Redlands and Rockhampton. Of all these teams played hard to earn their spots in the state classics. I play for southern districts and my team won the div 2 state title playing against some really good teams along the way. Starting of the week on our Monday games we were up against Ipswich and Bunderberg, strongly taking out Ipswich 78-62, and smashing Bunderberg 115-40. Everyone played really well, and I was top scorer for round one averaging 20 points in the first round against Ipswich and Bunderberg. We were all excited for our next games on Tuesday, knowing that we will be up against two very good teams in the second round. On Tuesday we came up against Townsville and Toowoomba, both teams were strong but not strong enough to hold us back from beating both teams on that day, Townsville got up to a good start over us starting with their best shooter on the court scoring 4 three pointers in the first quarter, but our heads didn’t drop all we needed was to play hard defense and smart offense, and that was just the plan we needed to take over Townsville and beat them by 10 points in the final quarter 70-60. Toowoomba was our next team to verse they had a pretty good starting line up with some very athletic players on court, rebounding and strong defence, but with hard defense and offense Toowoomba could not stop us from taking them over and to win strongly with a 71-45 victory. We were undefeated and we had made the Quarter finals, and we were pumped to verse the next team which was Noosa and they also were undefeated in the competition, and we knew that Noosa would like to go undefeated throughout the competition. When it came to game time, both Noosa and my team were warming up hard and getting ready for a tough showdown, throughout the game Noosa put up some good shots and rebounding well in the first half, when it came to half time, we all came together and we all wanted to finish this game with a win, and that’s just what we did, Noosa couldn’t stop us from taking them out with another strong win 76-59. We had won 5 games to nil, and made the semi finals. Our semi final was against Logan, Logan has been our rivals since we have versed them in the southern cup competition, and we knew they would try and take us out of the competition. Logan had 4 very strong players that could shoot inside and out. But we weren’t going to go down without a fight, we managed to put their best three point shooter in foul trouble which cause their coach to take him off the court, short of risking him to foul out and sit out for the rest of the game, that gave us an advantage, with their strongest player out of the game, we could go ahead and take them out, and when the final siren went off for full time, we all jumped for joy, we beat Logan 83-76 and we had a chance of winning the state classics. Unfortunately Noosa beat Brisbane Silver in their semi, and we were against Noosa once again but this time for the state title, Final time was here, and we were all excited, and absolutely pumped for the final game. During the game Noosa come out strong beating us in quarter 1 2 and 3 by only 2 points, it was the final quarter, and our final chance to secure victory, Noosa was going to give us everything they got to make sure we don’t beat them in the final quarter, we both went out hard and strong in the final quarter, Noosa just holding on, until a time out was called by our coach with 5 minutes to go, and during those last 5 minutes we went all out, crashing boards running our offensive plays, and we passed Noosa and kept on playing hard even for the final minute, Noosa was down by 11 and they could not comeback at us in the final minute. As the clock ticked down to its final seconds our bench stood up and when the siren sounded we all jumped with happiness and joy beating Noosa 72-61, and we were all so happy with our results during the classics, we had won the state title and went the whole competition undefeated. We congratulated Noosa on their efforts and for a tough game. After the game, we received our medals and certificates and the trophy. It was an exciting week we all had fun and enjoyed playing against the teams we versed. we assure all the other teams will work hard for next year’s classics, and so will we, and hopefully we can take out next year’s title as state champions.

Wednesday Time Trials

6000m on Bike L4
3500m on Grinder L2
3000m on Rower L4

Between the 3 exercises you had to do 50 abs and 50 push up

Results were:
Jackson 35.46 mins
Tiff 38.32
Jess 41.21
Anthony 34.49
Harry 39.36
Phil 38.25
Adam 35.07
Tom 41.54
Matt 43.51
Cory 40.03
Sam 39.20
Justin 36.55

Fitnance Barby

DON'T FORGET

Friday 10th July

5.30pm Group workout

6.30pm Food, drink and music by LCG

The "Mackay" Machine - Bodybuilding

Having been told at the age of 20 that I had some potential for Natural Bodybuilding, I figured that since the friendly advice was given by Mr Natural Olympia Champion, Alfred Pitt, he may actually be onto something. So 15 years and three kids later, I decided to have a crack at it after going to my local gym to get some ‘me’ time.
Even though I had been physically active and casually doing laps at the local pool for a couple of years between having kids, this didn’t stop me feeling nervous when I walked into the gym on that first day. It didn’t take long before training and the social contact with other like minded people had me keen to add more days to my training schedule.

Although I was keen and had the strength to lift good weights, I had lousy form. So with the help of Personal Trainer, David Cook, we set about making a program that had me lifting decent weights, with added cardio, and thankfully reducing injury. Dave also gave me one great bit of advice which has definitely got me through those rough days when I would finish night shift, the kids were barking at my heels and the coffee just wasn’t working. When I first said I wanted to compete in a Natural Bodybuilding comp he said, ’The first thing to do is set the number of days you need to train (in my case it was six days) then simply turn up…no matter what.” So that’s what I did…and very soon it just became as natural as waking up. There were days, and still are, when I struggle to tie my laces let alone drive to the gym with three kids in tow, but I find if I ‘simply turn up’ then training just takes over now. I may only do a light session, but I know it is still better than doing nothing. (Thanks Dave)

In September, Alfie contacted Gavin Saron, another exceptional guy who Alf trained and competed with ten years prior, and we set about getting to my first Natural Bodybuilding Competition. Gavin and I decided that it would be best to ‘dip my toes’ in a regional competition so in January 2009 I told anyone who would listen that I was going to enter the Coral Coast Natural Bodybuilding Competition in Townsville on May 24th 2009.

The Results:
First – Overall Womens Figure Coral Coast Natural Bodybuilding Competition, Townsville QLD – 24th May, 2009.
First – Masters Womens Figure Coral Coast Natural Bodybuilding Competition, Townsville QLD – 24th May, 2009.

Hard Work pays off

Congrats to Joe and Browny for all their efforts over the past months.

News about Steve in UK

Steve Nance introduces wrestling and boxing at Leeds rugby
Leeds Carnegie are a month into a 19-week training programme which has been created by performance director Steve Nance. The variety within the programme has kept the players fresh and excited about pre-season. "Steve has a model that he has used successful with the Australian national team and the Brisbane Broncos in Rugby League and it is working well for us. There is a lot of variety within the training week, Steve has introduced wrestling and boxing into our schedule. It is tough work but you don't necessarily realise how much good it is doing you at the time.

Gym Renovations

The gym has seen many tradies over the weekend to finalise all the renovations. Check out the photos and see what you think.

Many thanks to Parra, Judy, Guido and Rocket for all their hard work.

Running Shoes

As all technical areas of running are accelerating in relation to research and performance the newly adapted running shoes seem to be causing more harm than good. The running shoe market is ever growing and changing in order to supply ‘a more natural and injury free run, as well as increasing performance’. It seems that the advanced running shoes are actually an inferior option then their previous counterparts, even as far back as 1939. Gordon Pirie makes these above statements in his book “ Running fast and Injury Free”. Pirie stated how many records were set and championships were won throughout history with athletes running barefoot. He believed, with sufficient evidence, that by making the running shoe more like bare foot running an athlete can increase performance and decrease the prevalence of injury substantially.

His main point is how the modern running shoe is too technical and not specific to the needs of a general runner, the basic needs of a runner need to be targeted and utilised appropriately. These basic areas are injury prevention, increasing performance and supplying a more natural run. Common running injuries such as blisters and Achilles tendon tenderness can be rectified by simple but overly effective methods that are not used by major shoe manufacturing companies, much to the dismay of Pirie. Pirie recommends obtaining lightweight snug shoes that fit like a glove, this accompanied with some DIY modifications will decrease the incidence of injury and increase performance substantially. By using these simple measures the natural technique of running can be performed. Today’s running shoes move away from natural running technique and therefore increase injury and decrease the effectiveness of athletes running.

By following the few helpful steps supplied by Pirie a safer and more complete running experience can be achieved easily, it will reduce the incidence of injury whilst increasing performance and ultimately gaining greater satisfaction from your running experience. All this simply by using the correct shoe.

Returning from injury

Almost all athletes encounter an injury throughout their life, the more intense and competitive exercise you complete the greater this prevalence becomes. Once an athlete becomes injured their chance of being re-injured in the future are increased by 20-50%. The susceptibility generally results from the following factors:
• Returning to exercise prematurely, with the injury not fully recovered.
• Not rehabilitating the injury correctly.
• Not strengthening the areas, which initially caused the injury.

So many people return to physical activity prematurely, whether it be peer pressure issues, motivational issues, mood or even mentality that you are fine, most of the time it leads to re-injury. The following two areas discuss issues involving getting injury back to full strength and even furthering strength, once this has been achieved then a return may be possible. A process should be followed in coming back to training, it will progress from easy, low intensity exercises (Jogging, sprinting, stretching etc) and progress to harder more intense activities (agility, contact, strength etc) and finally sport specific at match intensity. These levels shouldn’t be attempted until the previous level has be completed at 100%. Once all these stages have been completed repeatedly and thoroughly, with conjunction of completion of other two factors, the client can then return to normal activity

Obviously, rehabilitation is a vital issue. If the prescribed rehabilitation process is not followed thoroughly the injury will never heal, the area will never strengthen and return to its initial condition. The rehabilitation process normally involves getting the injury back to it normal strength before being injured. It typically incorporates increasing strength to a stage past pre Injury State, therefore leading on to the next topic, strengthening areas where injury occurred. Obviously there were some deficiencies before the injury occurred, hence it happening, so this indicates that the pre injury level must be increased before returning to activity. Strengthening of the injured area and surrounding muscles and tendons will minimise the occurrence of re injury, by increase stability and strength of surrounding areas it will increase the injured areas strength and stability also.

By incorporating the above three factors into the process of returning from injury, you can largely decrease the incidence of being re-injured, or even sustaining another total different injury.



Sports Injury Bulletin: Special Report. & Peak Performance #262.

Team Cardio Challenge

Todays challenge was based around the group reaching a set target of calories and lifts. Targets were
Bike 125 cals
Treadmill 125 cals
Row 100 cals
Grind 100 cals
Chin Ups 100
Curls 100
Squats 100
Push Ups 100
Abs 100

These totals were then multiplied by the number in the group. The group then had 60 minutes to complete as much of the calories and lifts.
Results were as follows.

6am class 93%
9.30am class 87.4%
5.30 class 93.8%

Quote of the day

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race”

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the USA

5 tips for a Big Bench

1. Get set!• For a big bencher there starting position is the most important part starting with a curved back lifting your hips and lower back off the bench pushing your chest and abs up.

2. Hand placement
• Try and place your hands so that they are in line with your elbows for the press.

3. Breathing
• Once you are set under the bar lift the bar off the rack and take a big breath in pushing all the air into your stomach pushing it out.

4. The touch
• Try instead of lowering the bar directly on the middle of your chest touch it on the lower half of your chest (this is where your arched back will help). Don't forget the pause.

5. A twist
• On the way back up try to bend the bar twist your wrist your wrists push your thumbs out ward to open up your triceps and give a big push breathing out pushing the bar up and back not just up.( this will help you immensely by using more muscle groups) You know its working if you feel your lats flare out.

Rowing Technique

1) The catch. The catch is the front of the stroke where the legs are fully compressed, arms straight and body up tall; slightly bent forward from the hips. This should feel comfortable, without any strain.
2) The drive. Legs start to be straightened out, while keeping your arms straight and body still slightly bent from hips.
3) Once your legs have been completely straightened your body can start to rock over from the hips until your shoulders are sitting just behind your bottom.
4) End of the drive. Straight after you have finished the rock-over the arms can be pulled in towards the body. You should aim to get the handle just below your sternum. This position is called the finish, as it is essentially the end of the stroke.
5) The recovery. The recovery of the stroke is basically the stroke in reverse. Firstly, the arms are straightened, then the rock-over of the body from the hips, and lastly the legs are compressed.
6) The stroke should feel comfortable and as smooth as possible.

Group Riding Etiquette

Brake carefully
Ride safely and try to stay off the brakes. If you are inexperienced and too nervous to ride close to the wheel in front of you, stay alone at the back and practice. When the pace eases, don’t brake suddenly, instead ride to the side of the wheel in front of you and ease the pedaling off, then drop back on the wheel. Practice on the back and soon you will be able to move up the line with a partner.
Point out obstacles
Point out obstacles such as loose gravel, broken glass, holes, rocks or debris on the road, calling out “hole” ect as well as pointing is helpful in case someone is not looking at your hand when you point. It is just as important to pass the message on, not just letting those to the front know. Another obstacle is a parked car, call out “car” and sweep our hand around your back to let people behind you know. Point out runners or walkers on bike tracks and slower bikes if you were passing someone on the road.
Don’t leave gaps when following wheels
An appropriate gap between your front wheel and the person in front is around 50cm. keep your hands close to the brakes in case of a sudden slowing. Maximize your energy savings by staying close to the rider in front. Cyclists save 30% of their energy at high speed by following a wheel. Each time you leave a gap you are forcing yourself to ride alone to bridge it. Also, riders behind you will become annoyed and ride around you. If you are in the bunch and there is no one beside the person in front of you, you should move into the gap. Conversely, if you are that person and no-one moves into the gap beside you, you should move back into the bunch, the next pair to roll off will come back and one of those riders will fall beside you.
Don’t use you aero bars in a bunch ride
Don’t use you aero bars in a bunch ride – not even if you are at the front. Using aero bars means that your hands are away from the brakes. Aero bars are for time trial or non-draft triathlon use only.
Pedal downhill
Pedal downhill when at the front of the bunch. Cyclists dislike having to ride under brakes.
Experienced riders should share their knowledge
Experienced riders should point out ant mistakes made by less experienced riders. This must be done diplomatically of course, but it is important to make people aware of unsafe riding and help them learn the right behavior. Riding in a bunch is about everyone’s safety.
Courtesy of road Grime Website

Congrats to Train and Andrew

On saturday Tanya and Andrews house warming party turned into an engagement party when in front of 40 people Andrew popped the question. Train naturally said YES. All at Fitnance are very pleased for them both and are just waiting now for Chris to do the same with Katerina!

Gold Medallist – Melissa Mellor
After two long weeks of training, the Australian Open European Handball Team took out the Pacific Cup Championship in Brisbane last Saturday defeating New Zealand 31 – 11. The experience was amazing. One I will never forget! Having that gold medal placed around my neck at the age of 18 made me realise how special the experience was and to never give up. I also scored my first international goal from the pivot position and all I remember hearing was cheering from my family and friends. The smile on my face only grew bigger. The feeling of excitement and relief when the final siren went off had the whole Australian Team breaking out into song. The showers went off that night with us screaming ‘We are Australian’ echoing throughout the dressing rooms. This was an experience that I will never forget and all the training that came with it!

Speights Coast to Coast

Entries for the 2010 Speights Coast to Coast have just opened.

Over 800 competitors will vie for places in the 28th Anniversary race on February 12th and 13th 2010.

The Speight's Coast to Coast is the world’s premier multi-sport event. The Speight's Coast to Coast is the benchmark by which all other multi-sport events are judged, both here in New Zealand and overseas.

The Speight's Coast to Coast traverses the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean. Over either two days (individuals or two person teams) or the one-day event (individuals only), competitors cycle 140 kms (three stages of 55km, 15 km and 70 km), run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge.

And after all this they still have the energy to crack open a very well deserved Speight's – New Zealand’s finest beer.

The event is divided into three races - the One-Day or Longest Day event is for individuals only while the Two-Day event is for individuals and two person teams. In the Teams section the runner and the kayaker both do cycling stages. The only requirements for the race are that you meet the minimum age and provide a grade two kayaking certificate if you're an individual or a team kayaker. Oh yes, you should also be fit!

Wynnum v Ipswich

Trainee Lani had a bet with Chris over the result of the QLD Cup game between Wynnum Seagulls and Chris's Ipswich Jets. The result was a mighty victory 24 - 8 to Wynnum. At stake was 50 chins and 50 push ups which from the photos you can see they both really enjoyed. Chris commented afterwards ( once he got his breath back ) that the Jets would win next time and he will enjoy seeing Lani do the same. Look out on the blog after sat Aug 8th when they play each other again.

Trainee - Stirling

Hey my name is Stirling Mason(A.K.A Stirlo). I am a Cert III trainee at Fitnance. I am 16 years old and I currently go to school Runcorn High. I like hanging with friends on the weekend and sometimes after school. I like playing sports with friends, I used to play soccer at Runcorn but now I just skateboard all the time. Most of my friends skateboard or ride down at Kuraby/Wally Tait park. My favorite and most exotic trick is a one foot nose manual. The reason I am doing this traineeship is to improve my knowledge in fitness and nutrition to hopefully follow a career in fitness training or join the army. I really like Caesar Salad and chicken with sweet chili sauce. I eat mostly organic and Australian produced food. Fitnance is a great place and I really like it.

Fitnance Olympians

With the work Fitnance and the FOGS have been doing together, the Fitnance gym has seen some new members join in on some of the classes. Olympic sprinter Patrick Johnson, Olympic steeplechaser Peter Nowill and Olympic swimmer Mel Schlanger have been put through their paces.

Beaches to Billabong Camp

Chris and Luke have been away working with the FOGS on the beaches to billabong camp for the last few weeks.

Objectives:
The objective of the Billabong to Beach Programs is to improve the participants life skills to enable them to make better life choices and motivate them into leading a positive life for themselves and their communities.

The Program:
The Billabong to Beaches Camp was held at Camp Apex at Currimundi on April 27th to May 1st , 2009.
12 boys and 3 mentors attended the camp. The boys were from Doomadgee. Phil was the camp leader.
Peter Nowill (Olympian 3000m Steeple Chase) ,Luke C Gregory (Kung Fu 2x World Champion) and Chris Weier (4x Australian Triathlon Team Representative) attended the camp as mentors.

Background:
The 12 boys and 3 mentors spent a week in Longreach working on Horsemanship and Leather skills. After the camp the boys spent a day at Seaworld and then returned to Longreach for another 2 weeks of Horsemanship.

Metre Challenge

Mondays Cardio session was the Metre Challenge. 60 minutes of cardio work split into 12 five (5) minute sessions. Each session was in rotation from ROWER to TREADMILL to GRINDER to BIKE to STEPPER and then back to the rower.

The total meres travelled was recorded after the 5 minutes. All totals were as follows;

Averil 16026m Joe 11810m
Jackie 12520m Rodney 16110m
Deb 12487m Ayesha 11760m
Di 11720m Pete 11035m
Chloe 14120m Browny 11952m
Matty 18653m Paulo 17403m
Train 17960m Rosey 18750m
Andrew 14980m Joe 20140m

Calorie Counter - 11-05-2009

Todays results for the Calorie Counter were;

Tom 663 Shannon 359
Jim 582 Parra 433
Sam 468 Jackson 424
Locky 521 Fiona 623

Tonnes of Fun

Results from last weeks Tonnes of Fun are;

Phil 14.2 Sam 9.0
Megs 10.625 Gary 17.4
Parra 17.4 Jesse 5.25
Tom 18.875 Rodney 14.6
Jackie 9.6 Shannon 7.619

Tour de Fitnance

The "Tour de Fitnance" is a 6 stage cardio session involving time trials, hills and a huge climb on the bike.

Stage 1 - The Flats 3.4k
1.2k (2)
1.0k (4)
1.2k (3)

Stage 2 - The Climb 4.8k
1.8k (3)
0.5k (4)
0.5k (5)
0.5k (6)
1.0k (7)
0.5k (8)

Stage 3 - Time Trial 1.0k

Stage 4 - The Hills 7.3k
1.3k (4)
1.1k (7)
0.8k (3)
2.1k (5)
1.0k (7)
1.0k (3)

Stage 5 - Time Trial 1.0k

Stage 6 - The Longest Day 7.5k
2.5k (3)
2.5k (4)
2.5k (2)

Averil completed it in 49.27 mins
Browny completed it in 54.32 mins

Great effort from both of them at 6am on a sat.
Jo and Aeysha also knocked off 3 mins on the 12 days session.

Labour Day Bash

Well done to all of you who managed to turn up on the monday.
Cardio session was based on the multi-sport challenge. Running, Rowing (Kayaking)and Cycling.

Course:

Leg 1 Run 0.8k
Leg 2 Bike 2.4k
Leg 3 Run 1.4k
Leg 4 Row 1.2k
Leg 5 Bike 3.0k
Leg 6 Row 0.8k
Leg 7 Run 1.0k

Times were as follows:

Aeysha 48 mins Paul 40 mins
Di 46 mins Leone 46 mins
Bill 46 mins Averil 40 mins
Shannon 43 mins

Also Jo did his 12 days of xmas in 47 mins and Browny put in a great effort on the Calorie Counter burning 503 calories.

Chris on YOU TUBE

Follow the below link to watch Chris at one of his Locker Room series for QLD Sport & Rec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5IqFpw_fg0

GYM OPEN ON LABOUR DAY

Steve is opening up the gym on monday 4th between 6am and 9am for anyone who wishes to have a workout. There will be 3 programs. A weights, a cardio and a circuit. Hope to see you there.

Nick Pratt - QLD Strongman Competition

On Sunday the 22nd of March I competed in my first ever strongman competition I went in nervous yet exited as I had only been training with the strongman implements for around 6 weeks. I was competing against men much older than myself (I’m only 17).

The first discipline was the farmers walk, I had been nervous about this event all week as I have never walked the full distance of 50m with this weight of 110kg in each hand. Once the gun sounded I took off taking 2 huge steps this made me stumble everywhere but I managed to pull it together and walk a total distance of 38.6m placing myself 5th out of 7 after the 1st event.

The next event was the Super Yoke a 285kg frame which you rest behind your neck and walk down a 25m runway. I won my heat and finished 4th in my weight class.

The next event was one of the most draining events on this day it was the over head press medley, which involves lifting a 100kg log, a 85kg keg, a 50km dumbell in each hand and a 120kg axel with a 2.5inch thick bar. I went through the Dumbell and the log a breeze then came to the keg it was one of the most awkward things to lift. After wrestling it up to my chest I gripped the edges and pressed it above my head. Next up was the axel and I was so physically exhausted that getting it to my belt was hard enough. The bar was much too thick for me to get my wrists under and press so I told myself I wasn’t going to waist any more time trying to flick it up. I found myself placed 4th in this event and 4th over all with only two events left to go.

The next event was the event I was dreading most, it was the car dead lift I was worried about this because I had never lifted the weight of 250kg before. So with the thought of failure in front of a huge crowd, I walked out chalked up my hands applied my straps and just pulled I did a total of 6 reps. I was shocked but only 4 of these reps counted because I never came to a full lock out in 2 of my lifts. At the end of this event I was back to 5th place.

I needed a big effort on the atlas stones but was so exhausted I could feel my legs turn to jelly after every step I took. When it came out, I was far too excited and tried to go to fast. When it came to the 140kg stone I just hit the wall and found myself grinding away at it for so long. I just couldn’t get the last stone up in the 90sec time limit. I was disappointed but I wasn’t the only one to slip up on the stones. The last effort I had on the stones was enough to place me back at 4th over all