I thought I would give you guys some tips to help out with making your training diary really easy to fill in and understand for a quick reference at each class.

Step 1: Get a diary or exercise book. I have just chosen a simple exercise book, but you can use whatever you like, so long as it is easy to use. What you will find with a lot of diaries is that there are no blank pages in the back to use for your RM’s.

Step 2: Go to the back of the diary and working backwards, write at the top of the page, 1RM’s on one page, 3RM’s on the next page, 5RM’s on the next page, strict pull ups on the next page and strict chin ups on the next page. We may require more things to keep record of down the track, which is why we work backwards. That way we can just keep going until we meet up with the WOD’s (workout of the day) which started on the first page of the diary and are working forwards.

Step 3: When you test your 1RM, enter in on one line the date, the exercise and the weight. The next time you test your 1RM of the same exercise or a different one, you write on the line below the date, the exercise and the weight, just the same as you did above. This gives you a quick reference guide for recalling your most recent 1RM of a particular exercise. Don’t cross out the old ones, because it is really cool to look back on what you used to lift and know how strong you have become!

Note – all of the figures are made up for the purpose of this article, so if the dates and weights don’t flow, that’s why.

Step 4: Repeat the above process on the 3RM page any time that you test your 3RM. Please note that you only ever fill in these pages when you test your RM’s (repetition maximums)

Step 5: Repeat the above process on the 5RM page any time that you test your 5RM.

Step 6: Anytime you do any strength workout that involves strict pull ups, write down on one line, the date and exactly what you did. Based on my programming, each week will flow into the next and if you miss a week, I can make the last time you attended flow into that day’s workout, provided you have your diary handy to look up what you did last time.

Step 7: Repeat the above process any time you do a strict chin ups strength workout.

Step 8: Go to the front page of your exercise book or the correct date of your diary and fill in today’s WOD. Don’t bother writing in your warm up or your strength workout, just the metcon workout.

Using a diary is good because you can just go to the exact date and fill it in. I actually like to use an exercise book because you can write more than one day per page. Just make sure you have enough room to write the entire workout on the page before you start because it would be a pain having to flick the page over whilst reading the one workout. Make sure you write the whole workout neatly including the weights and specifics that you used, not what was recommended. The recommended doesn’t matter, what matters is what you lifted. By doing this, you can refer back next time the WOD calls for a particular exercise and you are not sure what weight to lift. You can lift the same or slightly heavier than the last time you did that exercise. The workout may not be the same, but you can still pick the same weight for a given exercise.

Step 8: Feel free to leave your diary at the gym. That way you know you will never forget it at home!

Special note: you can always fill in the diary in between sets on your strength workout if you are just resting.

Hope this helps guys. The better you can stick to my program, the better results you are going to get. The stronger you get, the more weight you can lift in the metcon and the more weight you lift in the metcon, the harder the workout will be and the harder the workout will be, the fitter and leaner you will become!

“You can’t get stronger by being fast, but you can get faster by being strong”

Ok guys, let’s get serious about our CrossFit.

I have just received the details of the 2011 CrossFit games open.

Have a read of the following info and let’s get registered. I look forward to your replies…https://games.crossfit.com/compete

Thanks to everyone for coming along last Thursday night, it was great to see you all our of training gear!!!

Still another week of training to go, so I won’t get all serious about next years goals yet!

Just enjoy the photos…

I am proud to announce that I have a new feature on my website that will load a new paleo recipe everyday.

It is on my CrossFit website www.crossfitkensington.com.au

You just have to scroll down and it is on the left hand side of the page.

It is an awesome feature to help you guys maintain a healthy diet as all of the recipes will be based on paleo eating, which means no artificial food!

Jump across with this link and bookmark it and check in on the recipe everyday.

Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who came down on Saturday to help celebrate the grand opening of CrossFit Kensington. All of your support is greatly appreciated and I think everyone had a great time with a hard workout and some yummy food.

The workout on the day was only 12 mins, to prove to people who had never experienced CrossFit before  how hard you can actually work in 12 mins.

My point was proved by the reactions immediately after the workout and 24 hours after the workout too. Everyone was smashed after the workout, but I caught up with a  few people 24 hours later and they were in agony. Hannah included, even though she does a hard workout 5 days per week. It all comes down to how hard you push yourself in any given workout!

The days of boring old 1on1 gym sessions are over, they are no match for the intensity you can experience with CrossFit and the motivation you get by training with a group.

I’ve posted a few photos below, but all the rest can be found by clicking here

There was just one more little thing that needed to be done before my grand opening on Saturday…

Take one blank wall, add one talented graffiti artist, mix in an awesome logo and this is what you get…

The studio is complete and it is time to celebrate and showcase the place to everyone.

On Saturday the 13th November, I will have the grand opening. I am inviting all of you to come along and check it out. Even if you are a regular there, let’s get the place buzzing for a few hours on Saturday morning.

I will have free workouts every 30 mins for everyone who would like to participate.

Fitness challenges running throughout the morning for everyone who is up for a bit of fitness competition.

There will be prizes for the best in the workouts and the best in the fitness challenges.

The party will be on 8:30am till 11am on Saturday the 13th November.

Please invite anyone you know who is interested in fitness, no matter who they are or where they live. I want to spread the word of CrossFit and show everyone what it is all about.

I would love it if you could let me know if you will be coming, by putting your name in the comments below. Even if you just stop by for 10 mins, I would love to see your face there.

Thanks everyone, looking forward to seeing you all then.

One more thing, the new CrossFit Kensington website is up and running, so check it out!www.crossfitkensington.com.au

Well the studio has been open for 3 weeks now and whilst we have been operating classes, there has still been some work going on.

I am happy to say that the place is now complete, all the equipment is in and we are now and official CrossFit affiliate.

The name is Fitta Bodies CrossFit Kensington and the website will be up very soon.

If you have never experienced what CrossFit is all about, I can tell you that in the past 10 years of being a personal trainer, CrossFit is the best thing I have seen in the way of improving overall fitness, shredding bodyfat, gaining real overall strength, becoming more co-ordinated and skilled and actually enjoying the exercise routines that change daily.

There are many CrossFit affiliates world wide and each one is different in their own little ways.

I am hoping to make CrossFit Kensington one of the great affiliates by putting my own touch on all of our workouts.

I can say that at this point, our main focus will be met-con workouts unless I have specific clients that want to focus on Olympic lifting strength. Weights will generally be scaled by gender, fitness level, age and body weight, so a 95kg fit man won’t be lifting the same as a 70kg fit man, and the 70kg man won’t be penalised for lifting a lighter weight.

I am hoping to build a great base of clients who embrace the CrossFit style of training because I can tell you, it is the way of the future in the fitness industry, so get on board now, with a trainer who has trained this way for nearly 18 months now.

If you anyone would like to trial the classes, I am extending an offer of $50 for a 3 week trial of all the scheduled group CrossFit classes. This offer is not applicable to anyone who is currently training in the studio and may only be used once per person.

Looking forward to seeing you all in the gym very soon!

Last week I was fortunate enough to discuss CrossFit style training on 2SSR 99.7fm’s health and fitness show Total Vitality.

The day after the interview I trained the presenter Julia Achilleos at my studio in Kensington and needless to say, she felt the benefits of CrossFit style training over traditional gym workouts or going for a jog!

Here’s a link to the radio station’s blog with the entire interview, you just have to scroll down a little bit.

You can also read Julia’s blog post about our training session here.

If you haven’t tried our high intensity cross training classes yet, please check out our studio website here and book yourself in for some classes.

It’s official, we are now open for business at 103 Anzac Pde Kensington.

Thanks to all the help I received from my clients and friends over the long weekend, we have been able to open to trade this week. Only 4 days after signing the lease.

We are running classes at 7:15am and 6pm Monday to Friday in the gym and we still run the Outdoor Cross Traina’s in Centennial Park at 6am.

Memberships are $260 per month which includes access to all of our scheduled group training classes, indoors and outdoors.

There will also be casual visits to the classes for $35 or a ten session card for $300. Outdoor Cross Traina’s members pay only $25 per casual or $200 per 10 session card.

We’ve got all the equipment we need to have some awesome high intensity workouts based on CrossFit methodoly. Barbells with bumper plates, dumbells, kettlebells, wall  balls, pull up bars, olympic rings, TRX suspension slings,  skipping ropes, truck tyres, battling ropes, sandbags, concept 2 ski and row ergs and best of all, your body weight!

Come on in and experience the difference.

To join us or ask a question, simply click here!