The Blog

Welcome to your thirties

2012-05-15T21:16:13Z

Did you hear the story about the person who was thirty something? You know the one, they started a family, put energy into chasing the career dream, got a mortgage and woke up one day feeling they had lost themselves. Where had the vibrant, fun life they had in their twenties go?

I know that this picture doesn’t fit every person in their thirties, but it is common. When you think about life in your thirties it can often be the time when you start to get serious about ‘big picture’ stuff. The mortgage, family and career take a priority and often you are at the very beginning stage in all of these areas. There is a lot to learn and a lot of energy is required just to survive. It is no wonder these key areas in life end up consuming the sense of self.

I was at a party a while back talking to a guy who was in this very situation. He had a young family and was trying to build a business. We got talking about health and fitness and he expressed a slight frustration at his increased weight and loss of fitness. This was a guy who had played sport his whole life and I got the feeling he had always considered himself to be a fit guy. The ‘serious’ life changes he had made recently had created an unhealthier version of himself, and he wasn’t liking this version so much.

As the conversation got deeper he expressed that he had every intention of getting out and doing the exercise that he used to do but it just never happened. This got me thinking. This guy’s life had changed in massive ways and the new priorities needed a lot of time and energy. I could tell that the ‘serious’ stuff was very important to him and if he could only invest a little time into his health and fitness it would result in him having a better sense of self.

This is a typical case where we are using expectations from a previous period in our lives to benchmark against how we are successful now. As life changes, priorities and focus change too and we have to be realistic around what we can do. For the guy at the party he can’t put the time into exercising like he did five years ago, but he might be able to get three good hours in a week.

I know that lowering expectations can seem like failure but it isn’t, it’s all about making you successful based on your current life situation. This is so important at times when you feel you are losing yourself.

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Episode 20 Fitness Behavior - Moving Towards Experiences

2012-05-06T02:54:45Z

In this months show I cover how we will live richer life if we decided move towards experences that develop and grow us.

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Have you seen the latest fad?

2012-04-22T22:12:06Z

When I first started working in the fitness industry I came in at a time when it was being hit with a massive fitness tidal wave that was known as Tae Bo. This new fitness fad by Billy Blanks took the world by storm. I remember walking into the smaller studio, which would normally get 40-50 participants, to teach the new Les Mills Combat class (a marshal arts workout) and there were over 120 people. 90% of them were people who I’d never seen before, there was so much energy! Tae Bo got a lot of non exercises out there doing it, it was great!

While Tae Bo was the biggest fad that I’ve seen in my time there have definitely been many attempts by all types of people and businesses to create the next big fitness craze. We’ve seen vibration pads, Zumba, cycle classes, pole dancing workouts, the Thighmaster, Wii fit, inline skating, TRX and many more but the one that takes the cake has to be the Shake Weight. This shakable weight device that simulates a certain movement that a lot of men enjoy just seems wrong.

So are fitness fads a bad thing? In my mind there’s no definitive answer to this but looking back over the years there are commonalities around which fads have a longer life in the marketplace. Sure Tae Bo isn’t as popular as what it once was but every gym now has some form of marshal arts class and remains popular.

So what is it that makes the some fads last longer than others?

First of all they include other people. Zumba, Tae Bo and Les Mills Pump are examples of products that have lasted the distance. All of these workouts are done in group environments where you work with others. Even products like TRX are more successful in the gym environment where other people are, instead of in isolation at home.

Successful fads also create a movement that people can enjoy. Yoga makes you calm, Pump make your strong, Zumba makes you feel like a rock star. When people fall in love with the movement there’s a much higher chance that they want to come back and do it.

There are going to be many more fitness fads to come and go and many of them will be very entertaining. Keep them coming I say, if they get people moving in some way that can’t be a bad thing.

They aren't thinking about your needs

2012-04-02T22:24:17Z

Let’s say I own a really successful fast food company that dominates in my industry, as a business person I’m always looking for ways to improve my profit. One day I sit down and think about all the ways I can make more money. The first thing I do is explore different marketing campaigns that could convert competitor customers into my customers. I work out the cost of the marketing campaign and estimate the number of new customers I may get, from there I can work out the return on my marketing investment and forecast my increased revenue based on increased customer numbers. For example it might cost me $200 to market to one customer who might potentially spend $500 with me over the next year. After costs profit might be only around $100 in the first year, but if they stick with me for the long term it will be a good investment.

I keep exploring other ways to increase my profit. This gets me thinking about the customers I already have. I know from my previous sales numbers how often the average customer comes in and what their average spend is. As I think about this and my goal of increasing profit I realise an easier way to increase my profit is to try and get my existing customers to spend more during the visits they already make. Now all I need to do is convince people to buy more food every time they come in.

Ok, you may be wondering where I’m going with this. I was watching TV the other night and saw an advertisement for one of the top fast food chains. They were offering a deal where you could get some tasty morsels for around $2, half the normal price. Their campaign was trying to sell this small added extra (which your wallet will hardly notice) to your usual meal. They are trying to instill a habit where you buy a little “add on” with each meal and once the deal is finished the habit stays and their profits increase.

A fast food company’s job is to sell you calories. They aren’t concerned about the effect of those calories on your health. So when they try to sell you temptation in the hope that they will create an unhealthy habit look a little closer and see what they are really selling you and try to make the decision that is healthy for you.

Episode 19 Fitness Behavior - The Process Challenge

2012-03-29T21:31:22Z

There's something that I've learn about success lately that has really influenced this months show. I'm going to introduce a thing called The Process Challenge. It's a slightly different way a look at your growth.

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How do you see your world?

2012-03-06T19:18:04Z

I’m straight into the deep end today, check out this statement: The perception that you take into the world hugely influences how you experience it.

Let me elaborate. A while ago I was sitting down with a lady who was overweight who had recently found a great exercise programme that had been developed to get the non-exerciser up and moving. She was really passionate about how they had a fantastic product that worked for people like her. It was great listening to her as she told me how she was finally enjoying exercise. For me as a fitness professional I love hearing stories like this.

After a while she started telling me why she had failed in the past and how she didn’t like gyms. As I have always been a gym-goer I was curious to find out why she felt that way. She described one experience that was the catalyst. In the past she had been to a female only gym and during one of her first sessions, when she was getting to know the weight machines, (an area she was unsure of and therefore was super aware and insecure about using them), she looked up and saw all the people behind reception laughing at her. It was at that moment she was put off gyms forever.

When I first heard her story I was disheartened and was a little disappointed in my industry. But then I got thinking about the people I know in my industry, 99% of us don’t sit around laughing at overweight people. We genuinely want to help get people healthier and fitter through exercise. I started to wonder; maybe because this lady was in an uncomfortable environment and doing something she felt insecure about, she may have got the whole situation wrong. Maybe because she was in this insecure place she was looking for ways to reinforce her own feelings so when she saw the people at reception laughing she instantly assumed that it was directed at her. What if they were just a bunch of workmates having a laugh about something?

I can’t judge that situation because I wasn’t there but you can see my point. When we have areas that we feel unsure about in ourselves, they can influence how we see things which can mold our experience of the world and limit opportunities to develop ourselves. A good piece of advice is to spend time learning what you bring into different experiences and if it holds you back, it could be the time to explore how to shift your thinking and find better ways to look at the world.

Episode 18 Fitness Behavior - Power to the people

2012-02-24T10:37:55Z

This month I talk about how helping the people in your world be in a better place we actually help ourselves. This is a topic that is close to my heart, I'm kind of passionate it. I hope you enjoy it ;-)

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The day my city shook

2012-02-21T09:32:27Z

We all have our stories about February the 22nd, how that historic day changed the path of our worlds in ways we had never considered. I thought I would tell you my story. Who am I? I’m Fitness in Christchurch.

Before February the 22nd I had an amazing existence. I was loved my many, my home was like a Disneyland for exercise where I had an abundance of world class facilities and an outdoor playground that was the envy of many of my visitors. I could see my influence everywhere which made people happy. It was easy to see why I loved Christchurch. But after February 22nd all of this changed.

It was hard to comprehend the damage to my world. The abundance I was so proud of had quickly disappeared; to be honest I didn’t even know where home was at first. So many of my gyms, cycle routes, sports fields and walking/running trails had been wiped out. My support network was dwindling by the day with many Personal Trainers’, coaches, facilitators and instructors having to leave town due to their own tough circumstances. It was so hard, but the hardest part of all was that many people forgot about me. For years I had been there to help people through their stressful times and in this time, one of the most stressful times ever, I was lost in all the uncertainty. What was I to do?

Sure this was a tough time but I knew people needed me. The term ‘Rise Up’ became popular so like every other Cantab I knew I had to focus! My network of fitness leaders created innovative ways to get me back into full steam. Thanks to these amazing people I was popping up in all types of places and although there were now limitations on how I was done, new locations, temporary gyms and different pathways and trails, I had people smiling again and helped them have a few moments where life felt normal.

As people started paying me more attention, I slowly came back into people’ lives. It was a small snowball at first but the momentum grew, I was starting to have a positive impact again. Most importantly people were spending more time with me and while a few were focused on getting rid of that ‘quake weight’ just about all of them loved the stress release I gave.

February the 22nd shook my world upside down but when you drive around this weekend and see me everywhere you can be reminded of just how great it is to live in this amazing city!

I'm no Dr Phil

2012-02-05T04:30:42Z

Let’s get this straight from the start, I am no Dr Phil when it comes to relationship advice, sure I love giving my opinion when I’m at a party and someone is gossiping about someone else’s relationship but I would hate to be judged on my views on this subject. Relationships can be one area of life that many people struggle with, I know I’ve had my fair share of struggles (we’ll leave those to the party talk).

You might be wondering “why is the fitness guy talking about relationships?”. Wait for it, my fitness spin is coming. One of the world leading thinkers in relationship counseling is a guy called John Gottman, for over 30 years Gottman has done research into what creates a great relationship. He’s got so good at understanding the behaviors of both good and bad relationships that he has an over 85% success rate of predicting if a couple will stay together by watching them communicate for only five minutes! Now that is mind blowing.

In one of his many great books, The Relationship Cure, one of the concepts he talks about is the ‘emotional bank account’. The idea is that in our interaction with our partner we can be putting in or withdrawing emotional credits with them. This idea got me thinking (the exercise stuff is coming). When you are with your partner how do you build connection that puts positive credits in each other’s emotional bank account?

For so many couples, time together means getting a DVD and sitting in front of the box next to each other. While I know this can be easy way to relax maybe you could look to add exercising together as a way to build stronger connections. It doesn’t have to be hard core training, it could be you head out the front door and walk around our beautiful city together while having a nice conversation. Or you could create some fun games where you work together to beat your team score.

While exercise isn’t normally considered to be important for a relationship if you can look to use it to create shared experiences as a couple that create strong emotional deposits you’ll be heading towards an all-round healthier life.

Office Fitness, is there such a thing?

2012-01-24T20:30:04Z

Sometimes I get asked to write a piece on a topic that I struggle with, it’s not that I struggle with what to write it’s more the the topic itself. Recently I got asked to write about one of those topics, office fitness.

Why would I struggle to write about office fitness? I don’t think 99% of people who work in offices would ever do exercise within the working environment. To me there is nothing worse than seeing a youtube clip of a trainer showing you how you can use you office desk as a tool for a great workout. Sure, some people may sometimes get a few tricep dips in at lunch time but I can’t ever see a workplace where people stop at 10am and everyone does max press ups off the printer.

Maybe I need to define what office fitness is in a different way? When we think of the physical self and look at how office spaces are designed we see that there are going to be big problems for the body long term due to the what the objective of office design is: to make you productive at working for long periods of time. Maybe the better definition of office fitness could be: How to protect your body from the pitfalls of office design.

This question leads us down a path where we look at habits that are causing damage to our body in the office. An example would be sitting with bad posture for long periods of time. This is a massive problem for so many people, ask any physio about how much damage this is doing to peoples backs.

If you recognise that sitting with bad posture for long periods can create major problems for your back you can try to create change to avoid this. You could ask your employer to invest in a posture friendly quality chair that helps with your position, put a ‘posture sticker’ on your computer screen that would remind you to brace your core every time you see it, set alarms on your phone every hour that reminds you to get out of your seat to walk around for a minute or so to move.

This is only one example of many that could help you look after your body more in an environment that is working against it. Take the time to have a look at what your workplace is doing to your body and implement a plan that protects it. Your body will thank you for it.