beautiful Wanaka, in the south island of New Zealand. Just to give you a little
visual (and to entice you to come and visit), here is a pic that I took just
the other morning:
| Wanaka. Day 1. |
Yes, that is snow that you see on the
mountains. Yes, summer has only just finished. Yes, I am aware that New Zealand
is known for being pretty bloody chilly in the winter, thanks for sharing. It
is also insanely amazing, though, with some of the most incredible and diverse
landscapes you will see in the world. This is the part I am looking forward to
experiencing – getting out and spending time in the wilderness, because nothing
heals like Mother Nature. And after spending 10 years in Sydney (as beautiful
as it is, it is still a hectic city), I have a bit of tree hugging to catch up
on.
to be doing here, I am excited to say, is be working as part of Tribe TeamTraining. These amazing programs are all about, as the name suggests, training
as part of a small team. Why? Because when you train as part of a team you get
better results, you have greater support, motivation and encouragement, and you
make new friends! And it is fun (except for the workout that I did. See below)!
You can read more about Tribe Team Training on their website HERE. Or you can like them on Facebook HERE – they sometimes post workouts for you to try.
of Tribe International, but also as trainers in Wanaka at Proactive Gym. As a
“welcome to becoming a Tribe Team Trainer and welcome to Wanaka”, we were put
through a “master class” (AKA absolute mind-f*@k, torture session) on our first
day here. Now keep in mind that it had snowed overnight. It was cold. And this
is what we had to do:
Warm-up
- 250m run
- 10 push-ups
- 10 squats
- 50m of walking lunges
- 50m of toy soldiers (where you kick your
leg straight out in front then kick it behind)
brutality:
1 (repeat 5 rounds):
- 20 Push-ups
- 20 Squats
- 10 burpees (with a push-up at the bottom
and a jump at the top)
2 (repeat 4 rounds):
- 25m of alligator crawls (check out video
below – warning – it’s a pretty boring video, but only 30 seconds. It gets the point across) - 25m of saber tooth sprint (your hands and feel
are on the floor, butt in the air and you are sprinting, 2 hands then 2 feet,
staying down….it’s messed up)
Now, on paper, you might think – that looks
pretty easy. To you I say, try it and get back to me. If you’re convinced that
it looks like a punish, maybe try half of it (i.e. just do 2-3 rounds of each
block, with a 250m run tacked on to each end) and see what you think.
something so hard, and I have been working in the fitness industry for almost
15 years. I cried a little. I swore a lot (it would have been louder if I could
have). I almost vomited. And I topped it all off by hyperventilating in the
final run, thinking I was going to die. Fun times.
 |
| Me, in happier times, after climbing Mt Iron this afternoon |
You’re probably thinking “Why the f@*k
would I want to do this?”. Well, some people (actually a lot of people) really
love this style of training. As tough as it is, it’s all done and dusted in 30
minutes. Sweet as, hey bro? (Yes, I have to speak like that now that I live in
NZ) Oh, and the usual TribeFIT workout isn’t quite as hard as the one we had to
do. But feel free to give it a whirl.
workout that gets great results and you can do in 4 minutes in room as small as
2m x 2m (yes, we’ve tried it), you could try Tabata training. This is what I
have been doing a couple of times a week since I was put on my exercise ban
(necessary for recovery from hypothalamic amenorrhea). It’s good for me
physically and mentally, as I get a workout in, without putting too much stress
on my body. Try this:
watch) for 20 second work intervals with 10 second breaks. Warm up well, and
then complete 8 rounds of your workout as fast as you can (make the most of the
10 second breaks, though – they’ll go by in a flash!). Here’s an example of
what you could do:
But remember – you have to go as fast as you can. You should be feeling
well-shagged by the end of it.
* There is an app called “Tabata Timer” – it sets everything up for you. All you have to do is press start.
possibly be enough to get any kind of fitness improvement. WRONG! Studies on
Tabata training have shown it to be as effective as, if not more effective than,
30 minutes of endurance training (e.g. running/cycling) at building aerobic and
anaerobic fitness. Hurrah! No more useless long slogs on the treadmill! Now you
have no excuse not to move your butt, even just for 4 minutes…..
