14 Days To A Better Butt

Workout Days 1-3

Squat Jumps X50

Squat Kicks X40

Walking Lunges X30

Squat Pulse X80

Sumo Squat Jumps X50

Workout Days 4-6

In & out Squat Jumps X40

Hip Raises with Legs Elevated X40

Repeat X30, X20, X10

Deep “Ass to Grass” Squat (find something to touch) X50

Squat Hold 1min

Repeat X30 – 45sec hold, X15 – 30sec hold

Lunges (left / right) – focus on booty drop X40 (each leg)

Workout Days 7 – 9

All on one leg:

Lunges 1 leg up on step X40

Lunges Kicks X40

Stationary lunge jumps X40

Repeat X20 then swap legs

Hip Raise X40 + Skater Jumps X40

Repeat X 30, X20, X10

Workout Days 10-12

All on one leg:

Single Leg Squats off Bench X40

Lunge kicks X20

Stationary Lunge Jumps X40

Repeat X20 then swap legs

Step Ups all on one leg X40 then Lunges 1 leg up X40

Repeat X 20 then swap legs

Wide sump squat jumps X30 + pulse squat 1min

Repeat

Workout Days 13-14

All on one leg:

Step Ups all on one leg with knee lift X20

Single leg squats off bench X 20

Hold bench and single leg squat hop X 40

Repeat on the same leg then swap

All on one leg:

Single leg sit to stand X20

Lunge kick X20

Repeat same leg then swap

Wide walking lunges to end of the room – 40 squat jumps

ALL X3

 

 

 

 

Apple Pie Morning Oats – SO GOOD!

INGREDIENTS
  • 1cup 2 percent milk
  • 1/2medium apple, cored and chopped
  • 1/3cup rolled oats
  • 1teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1/4teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1pinch cinnamon
  • 1pinch salt
  • 20almonds, chopped
DIRECTIONS
  1. In a small pot, combine milk and chopped apple. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until apple starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add oats, syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until oats are plump, 5 to 7 minutes more.
  3. Top with chopped almonds.

NUTRITION PER SERVING

413 calories
18 g fat (4 g saturated)
49 g carbs
25 g sugar
7 g fiber
17 g protein

LOW CARB – Indian Lamb & Spinach Curry (CSIRO)

Looking for a low carb option that packed full of protein and iron – try this tasty curry!

Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 onions, sliced
    • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
    • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom seeds
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 tablespoon garam masala
    • 2 teaspoons turmeric
    • 800 g lamb leg, cubed
    • 1/2 cup low-fat natural yoghurt
    • 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
    • 1 x 250 g packet frozen spinach
    • 1 cup water
    • 2 tablespoons shredded mint
         1/2 cup coriander

Directions

Heat oil and add onions and garlic and cook until onion is golden. Add spices and lamb, mix well and cook until lamb begins to cook and change color. Stir through yoghurt, then tomato. Add spinach and water, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes or until meat is tender.
Stir through mint and coriander and serve with rice.

Serving Size: Serves 4 for dinner

Number of Servings: 4

Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 4
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 416.1
  • Total Fat: 18.4 g
  • Total Carbs: 16.1 g
  • Cholesterol: 130.0 mg
  • Sodium: 327.1 mg
  • Total Carbs: 16.1 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g
  • Protein: 45.8 g

Why Train Outdoors?

There are a number of viable reasons why people choose to take their exercise to an outdoor environment and a large number of studies that advocate getting out and about and active in the fresh air. These days, almost a third of the world’s population is inactive (31.1% according to Global Physical Activity Level study) – this has come about through progressions in both the agricultural and industrial sectors, as well as the digital age that’s currently evolving in our work and private lives. Every second person is on their phone, sitting at a desk at a computer, ordering UberEats via an app and generally engaged in what would be classified as sedentary behaviour. To further compound this inactivity, most of these digital actions happen indoors! As a population, whilst we can applaud our advances in automation and technology we are certainly making it tough to get outside and get moving. This is reflected in the growing incidents of physical disability and disease, mental health issue and of course, our expanding waistlines!

For many people, moving their training outdoors reflects a need to get some fresh air, get outside of the office and return to nature. Some people find the gym environment intimidating, over-crowded, stuffy and just not for them. Navigating your way through free-weights, cardio machines, battling at the gym lockers and sharing showers might not appealing for everyone! For others, training outdoors can simply be an exercise preference – the strong cardiovascular aspect of running around outdoors can be attractive after sitting still at your desk all day, and then there are others that don’t particularly enjoy heavy strength training. The underlying implication that heavy strength training leads to “bulking-up”, can often be a motivator to get people out of the gym and into the fresh air. As personal trainers, of course we know that weights = bulk is a fallacy, however, it’s undeniable that it’s still a common thread in the general public perception.

There have been many scientific, researched backed studies that support and advocate training in an outdoor environment. The Benefits of Outdoor Exercise found “most trials showed an improvement in mental well-being: compared with exercising indoors, exercising in natural environments was associated with greater feelings of revitalisation, increased energy and positive engagement, together with decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression. Participants also reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and stated that they were more likely to repeat the activity at a later date” (The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, 2011)

Other reviews show people experience greater mental well-being immediately following exercise in nature which is not seen replicated when they perform the same exercise indoors – must be all the fresh air and sunshine!

So whether it’s a movement towards the great outdoors to improve mood, self-esteem and overall health, or a movement away from the computer and sedentary indoor lifestyle, it cannot be denied that Outdoor Training is on the rise. This Winter, get yourself outdoors and into the fresh air and reap the benefits!

Easter Life Hacks – Don’t Gain Kgs This April

Oh yes! Oh yes! We can all feel it coming – that Easter public holiday run is within our reach! YAY for Good Friday and Easter Monday – BRING ON the long weekend hey? Can you believe that we are already celebrating Easter (I am aware that Woolworths and Coles have been stocking shelves with hot cross buns since Jan 1st but STILL!)?!  Extra days off work and holidays aside, Easter tends to illicit complete and utter panic in personal trainers and can be a complete undoing of all your good work to date of you’re not mindful of sugar/calorie intake.  In our experience, Easter can sometimes be a more devastating time than Christmas for falling off the bandwagon. At least with Christmas you are having lots of scrumptious meals – cold cut meats, exquisite salads, roasts, vegetable and general abundance of varying food groups…. Easter- not so much. To me, Easter screams hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, more hot cross buns and definitely even more chocolate eggs!  High sugar, high fat combined with potential high alcohol intake = FULL SCALE EASTER CHUBBIES!!!

So what can you do to prevent a landslide of epic proportions? I have listed some tips below that help me “keep it semi real” across this time of the year, and also some food facts that you may or may not (or maybe CHOOSE not) to be aware of!

  1. Beware the bunny! The total number of grams in chocolate bunny can be quite disturbing. For example if you consume a medium-large size Cadbury Bunny, you have almost consumed the equivalent of a family block of chocolate.
  2. Even more so…. Beware the mini Egg – 4 mini solid chocolate eggs is equivalent to half a normal chocolate bar #devastation #whaddaymeanIscoffed20!!!!!!
  3. Hot Cross Buns – on average are about 200 calories – if you consume 6 of these in one day you have basically eaten your entire calorie intake.
  4. If you are drinking this Easter, pick one night out of the 4 day period, and enjoy it – keep it decent the other 3
  5. Do NOT overbuy chocolate for friends and family, the last thing you need is to be stuck with a stack of Easter gifts that you didn’t end up giving – you will inadvertently add them to your own stash. Trust me.
  6. Commit to 2 out of the 4 days to train – you will not only burn off some of the excess sugar, but you will also feel better about yourself.

Have a brilliant Easter, but remember it’s not an all access pass to go completely psycho on chocolate!

Bye Bye RIM, it’s been a blast!

I never thought that once I finished my personal training education that I’d be working for such a fantastic company as Results In Motion. I thought I’d be working in some commercial gym, doing only PT sessions and maybe a few groups as time went on. But I’m glad the potential to work for RIM came my way.

Working with RIM has pushed me to step outside of my comfort zones and embrace not only outdoor training and high rep ranges, but also the different types of work including group presentations, posing for photo shoots, working with kids and even writing the e-newsletter each week. I came into my role as such a newbie who needed multiple kicks in the pants to boost my confidence, and now I feel like I could take on just about any role.

Plus the range of clientele I’ve had. I’ve trained children as young as 10 and adults enjoying retirement life. I’ve had a blast training the Huntingtower Senior Swim Squad for 1.5 years, running the Huntingtower VCE classes and getting to know each and every one of them. There’s been countless bootcamps and corporate clients, so many people and has been great to get to know everyone over the years.

Then of course there’s the General Manager Erin and the rest of the staff I’ve worked with and gotten to know over the years. You couldn’t ask for a better boss in this industry than Erin, and as many who work for her will know that she’s always there as support, to boost your confidence, push you to challenge yourself and of course make sure each of her staff are well trained up to provide the best training RIM has to offer. All my coworkers, past and present, have been fantastic and bring so much different knowledge and style to their sessions so I know they’ll keep training you all hard once I’ve finished.


You’re probably reading all this and wondering why would I leave? Partly because I live quite far out from where we run the business and the hours of driving a day has taken it’s toll. But mostly I want to pursue another passion that I was looking into the same time as doing my PT course – working in animal welfare. So I’ll be studying a course in animal studies through the RSPCA and on my way to a new and exciting time in my life where I can help other more fluffy beings!

And finally, thank you to all my clients (pt and group), that I’ve had the pleasure of training during my time at RIM. You’ve all made me laugh, forget counting reps and shared some great stories. It was fantastic to be partly responsible for when you reached your goals, even though you did all the hard work. And mostly as my clients will know, I’ll miss having a giggle when you’re suffering through the exercises (or stretches!) and getting angry at me.

That’s it from me! Keep on working your butts off, and don’t worry I’ll keep training too!

Thanks team,
Michelle

3 Tips To Avoid The Festive Season Fatness

Let’s be open, real and honest – unless you get a massive bout of gastro across December, there are not many people out there getting slimmer over the festive season! Between the office Christmas parties, BBQs, family gatherings and social Sunday sessions, December tends to be a whirlwind of finger food, bubbles, beer and general consumption. It’s probably completely viable to gain up to 3kg over the week between Christmas and New Years right?! But guess what – it doesn’t HAVE to be like this? “Christmas” doesn’t have to equal “Fatness” and you can actually enjoy the holiday break without going completely nuts and ruining all your hard work. Here are my “Top 3 Tips To Avoid The Festive Season Fatness”

christmas-pic

 

  1. Don’t “Call It” too early – there’s no reason you can’t train right up until Christmas Day

Yep we get it, it’s the end of year wind down, but for some clients, the shutting up shop and jumping off the bandwagon starts on December 1st. If you stop training and committing December 1st, that’s 4-5 weeks off plan – there is a lot of potential damage that can be done in this time, so take that temptation away from yourself and continue to stick to schedule right up until the main event. If you can maintain a regular training regime in amongst all the food, celebrations and parties, you will 100% be better off for it not only on your waistline, but also in the New Year when you make your fitness comeback.

2. You Either Eat or Drink – not both

One sure fire way to add centimetres, gain body fat and feel bloated is to smash both the alcohol tab AND the finger food selection….or to drink yourself silly at the work Christmas Party and steer your uber home via drive through Maccas. #badmove. To put it in simple terms, when you drink alcohol, your body focuses on burning off the alcohol first, which means that whatever food you eat will essentially stored as fat. You are actually better committing to a night of just drinking, or forgo the booze and noms the food! Both options better than the combination of the two

3. Eat regular “normal” meals between events

You know events are going to be calorie laden food – spring rolls, fried calamari, mini sandwiches, the works – why make matters worse and eat this type of food when you’re not there? Try to stick to your clean eating, healthy and nutritious meals when you’re not out partying – this will not only make the event snacks more enjoyable, but you’ll saving the needless calories too.

So as you head into festive season, remember that you don’t have to go all out nuts and shove everything in your face. You can enjoy the consumption of treats and booze without making it in excess. Keep your training consistent and keep working hard – the more you put in effort wise, the easier it’ll be in January when you make your entrance into 2017 healthy lifestyle times.

Up For A Challenge? Get Involved In Obstacle Racing

Have you got to that point in your training where you’re getting bored? Sick of HIIT, sick of kettles and don’t quite know how to fire up anymore? Then it might be time for you to think outside the box and start having a look at events that might interest you. If you’re not a marathon kinda person, and trust me, the idea of running for 4 hours is often not appealing to most people, then perhaps you might be keen to look at Triathlons, or a competitive sport, or….. Obstacle Racing! Super fun and super muddy!!

For the third year running, Results in Motion entered a Tough Mudder RIMLET team and man did we have some fun out there! But it’s not just about the 3 hours out on the course –  it’s the planning, the preparation, the team work and the camaraderie associated with training for these events that make them awesome. If you’re ready to take your training up a notch, push yourself to do things you’d never considered possible and have fun while doing it – then obstacle racing is the perfect event for you. In my experience, clients that work their training around targets/dates/goals, generally perform better – here’s a couple of reasons why:

You’re Pushing Yourself To Do Something Different 

It’s so easy to become complacent with your training. Turn up, do the same program lift the same weight – and guess what – get the SAME result! If you’re not somebody that’s intrinsically motivated to strive for more each session, then it’s super important that you give yourself something to work towards. A planned event such as a Tough Mudder or a Spartan race will give you a definitive time frame and allow you to periodise and structure your training more effectively.

piggy-back-tm

You’re Working With Other And Have To Step Up

In team events, nobody wants to be that person that lets down the crew – what you find happens, is that you’ll step up to the plate to mirror your colleagues’ fitness levels. Surround yourself with people better than you, in this case fitter, and you’ll be surprised what a difference it makes to your own strength, endurance and overall fitness.

You Have a Deadline In Which You Need To Deliver

There’s no faffing and no “maybe I’ll aim for Summer” – your event runs on a certain days and you have x amount of weeks to get fit for it. Scheduling in a planned goal (or event) means that you stick to it, and can work your training plan around the fitness components required – need to be able to swing from monkey bars? Better get working on your back strength! Need to be able to run 10km, start a running plan!

So the bottom line is, if you need an extra push, then get involved in some team challenges! They’ll not only push you to be stronger, fitter, faster across a difference discipline, but they’re great fun too!

muddy

 

 

3 Mistakes People Make When They’re Trying To Lose Weight

Suddenly it’s Monday again and you’ve found yourself on the weight loss / weight gain round-a-bout. You’re SURE when you weighed in on Friday just gone, you were 3kg lighter, how on earth have you managed to stack on all this fat across the weekend? If you were to have an honestly moment with yourself, it might not seem that surprising as you went from salad + tuna to a plentiful weekend of brunches, lunches, coffee n cake, champagne, beers in the sun….. yeah, it’s really not that surprising at all is it?!

Well you know what – what’s done is done and the best thing about a Monday is that you get to start fresh all over again. Put the weekend behind you and focus on the week ahead. 7 days of healthy, clean eating coupled with some hard training will be enough to shift the excess, as long as you don’t do anything crazy. This week’s blog is about what NOT to do – listed below are 3 classic mistakes that people make when they’re trying to lose weight – make sure you DON’T fall into the trap of 1, 2 or 3, as you will slow your progress and make your weight loss journey even harder.

not-a-quick-fix

#1 – Quick Fix Detoxes and Juice Cleanses

Warning warning – these are a trap, they are crap and ultimately they will do you  more damage than good. Living off juice for a few days might make you feel slimmer, but it’s unsustainable and will leave you lacking in energy, hungry and wreak havoc with your metabolism. I’m not against juicing at all but substituting real meals for low-calorie liquid options is not the way forward. What happens at the end of the 5 days of juicing? You guessed it, you’ll most likely binge eat and find yourself back to where you started

#2 – Cutting food groups out excessively

Don’t cut your carbs, cut your diary, cut your meat, cut your anything! Removing food groups again, leaves you feeling lighter and leaner, but ultimately it’s not a sustainable way of eating. You can’t just drop 2/3 of your regular eating plan and expect to be able to keep that up – you’ll get bored, you’ll get hungry and again, like the juice cleanse, ultimately you’ll binge come the weekend. If you are planning on cutting out a food group for whatever reason, just make sure you research alternative options to get the essential vitamins, minerals and macros into your diet via another angle. The absolute worst is when people decide to suddenly become vegetarian and haven’t bothered to research plant-based proteins to replace meat. Know your stuff, know why you are doing it and be smart about it

#3 – Training like a possessed human without proper build up

Guess what, you can’t go from 1 session per week to 9 without a negative impact on your body. If you’re de-conditioned (outta shape, unfit, injured, overweight) it’s going to take some time for you to build up to training daily, or for the super fit, training more than once per day. One of the worst things you can do it jump in balls to the wall and get injured. Your recovery is as important as your training, and it’s better for you to put in 3 solid sessions, training PROPERLY, at 100% intensity and effort, than it its to put in 8 half arsed ones. Train hard, train properly and your results will come quicker.

We all know that losing weight and keeping it off is one of the toughest things out there. It comes on so easily and can prove a real nightmare to get off. There are no magic pills, diets, workouts that will do it for you. It’s all about consistency and effort – day in day out until you get to your goal. Avoid the above 3 mistakes (aka short cuts that you think you’re taking) and it will come off quicker – promise

Drop a couple of quick KGs before Spring Racing Carnival

Suddenly it’s upon us again! Frocks, horses, bubbles and FUN times! If you’re heading to any of the Spring Racing carnival events this year then no doubt you’re probably in a position where you need to drop some of Winter kgs quickly. As we emerge from the coldness and covered-upness that is Winter, it’s often a shock to the system to have to get out and about and frock up! Cue detoxing, training, tanning – suddenly you’re a poster girl for all things wellness 🙂

So let’s be honest, you officially have 12 days until the first major event – Derby Day, and good news is that if the Melbourne Cup is your goal, then you guys have a full 2 weeks. Trust me – you can make a massive impact your waistline in 2 weeks. BUT – the crucial point is – you have to spring into action now (like the “spring” pun?!). Now not all of us are in a position to whisk ourselves off to Bali for a 10 day detox/fitness retreat, so you’ve got to put the steps in at home. Here’s a check list that you can work through to drop some body fat, feel great and ensure that you’re looking your best at the races this year.

melbourne-cup

  • Training Plan – Results Based. Ok so I’m going to list 2 training plans in this list, this first one, the Training Plan – Results Based, is your “get ready to work your ass off”, “it’s going hurt like hell”, “yes you will be sore:” training plan. This training plan needs to be a combination of the following 2 disciplines – HIIT training and WEIGHTS training. If you’re working with a Personal Trainer, or have access to a Boot Camp then you better be giving 100%, 100% of the time. Train like you WANT to change your body. If you’re not sure on the exact workout to do – touch base with us and we can guide you on specifics
  • Training Plan – Commitment. This is the second training plan and requires you to just go through the motions diligently on a daily basis. It’s not forever, I get it that it’s a massive ask + grind but the more you can commit here, the more chance you have of a quick kg drop. Commit to going for a run or a long power walk every night or first thing every morning (dependent on when your Results Based Training sesh is). Get out there and get the cardio happening. It will stop you snacking in the evening and will knock a few more calories off you
  • Nutrition – Removal of Crap – Normally I’m not a massive advocate of cutting stuff out of your diet as it’s not sustainable for manageable for long periods of time, quite often it leads to binging. HOWEVER – you have literally 12-14 days to make a difference so we’re going with the following:
    • NO sugar
    • NO alcohol
    • NO white foods (pasta, rice, crackers, potatoes)
    • LIMITED dairy
    • LIMITED carbs after lunch time
  • Nutrition – Addition of Health – It’s not all about cutting out, we need to make sure while we’re removing the crap, we increase the good! So these things are applicable  all year round, but if you want to increase your energy, top up your vitamins, flush out the junk then work to adding the following things in:
    • INCREASE water intake to 3L per day (additional 1-1.5L if you are training hard)
    • INCREASE veggies massively – try to eat raw, fresh and at least 2 meals per day
    • INCREASE lean meat/protein – you’ll need to fill up on something so focus on this instead of carbs
    • INCREASE fruit for energy – if you find cutting the starchy carbs is leaving you depleted, have some fresh fruit

If you get your diet right, massively increase your training and CONSISTENTLY do all the above for 12 days, you WILL notice a difference. Don’t believe me? Take a photo in your undies at the start of the 12 days, then take one at the end. If you can hand on heart say your didn’t stray from the plan of attack above, then you should PROUDLY notice a massive difference. May the force be with you people – let’s prep for one of the most fun times in Melbourne and look amazing when you’re suited and booted and frocked up. Have fun!