Christmas at the Corso

Christmas at the Corso will be taking place this coming Thursday 1 December from 4-8pm at The Corso, Seven Hills (the street that Drive Fitness Seven Hills is located on). There will be activities for kids (face painting, jumping castle), live music, food and stalls.

Come and visit us - we will be there with Christmas special gift certificates for both personal training and boot camp.

Boot Camp Challenge 2011 Results

On Thursday 24 November the 3 Drive Fitness boot camps faced off in a variety of fitness challenges to determine the boot camp champions. The fitness challenges included exercises that have been used in boot camp sessions throughout the year including push ups, burpees, kettlebell exercises, medicine ball exercises, boxing, running, skipping, jumping and core work. The Camp Hill boot camp was not well represented on the day (Thursday is not a typical boot camp morning for this group - excuses, excuses) but Moorooka and Holland Park both had strong teams present ready to put it all on the line for the title of boot camp champion!

Rumour was that the carry over boot camp champions Moorooka were the favourites going in to the event, however it was all Holland Park on the day with a score of 230, beating Moorooka's 185. Holland Park did have a participant number advantage however this can't be taken away from the winners and new boot camp champions. Congratulations to the Holland Park team! Holland Park will have to defend their title in February / March next year. The Moorooka team will be keen to recapture the gold and Camp Hill boot camp trainer Kate will no doubt be eager to assemble the Camp Hill troops and put together a strong showing.

Honourable mentions go to Janine for being the single Seven Hills representative in the challenge and Gary from Holland Park for achieving a 4min bridge (ab brace) in the final core strength event of the morning. Well done to all boot campers for another year of early mornings and hard work. We will have more photos of the boot camp challenge up on our facebook page soon, check them out here: www.facebook.com/drivefitness.

10 tips for surviving the Christmas party season

Surviving the Christmas and New Years period with no or minimal damage to the waistline is near impossible. With high energy food options available in plenty and a social relaxed atmosphere that encourages drinking and over eating, the 'Christmas and New Years Party' is a dieters worst nightmare. Now, I'm not suggesting that you cancel all Christmas parties but there are some easy tips that may help damage control during the party season.

Boot Camp Challenge - THIS WEEK

The Boot Camp Challenge will be taking place this Thursday 24 November, 5:30am-6:30am at Glindemann Park, Logan Rd. We hope to see as many boot campers there as possible representing their team. The fitness events will be fun team challenges and everyone is guaranteed to get a great workout.

The rumour circulating around the studios is that Tim has a strong Moorooka team with a lot of new recruits ready to retain the Boot Camp Challenge Title, however Jared is confident that his more experienced boot camp team have what it takes to force the championship to change hands. There is also rumour that due to the Thursday not being a typical boot camp morning for Camp Hill, Camp Hill team numbers may be a bit low. As much as Kate would love to see the title in the hands of her Camp Hill side it looks like she may have to wait till next year! Camp Hill boot campers are still encouraged to join in, if there are not enough Camp Hill team members to form their own team, they will get a great workout and be able to join the Moorooka and Holland Park sides.

If you haven't let your boot camp trainer know that you will be there please let them know at your first boot camp session this week. If you would like to join a boot camp or would like more information about Drive Fitness boot camps please feel welcome to give Dave a call on 0402 358 127 or email at dave@drivefitness.net.

Thank you to Sovereign Homes & Instyle with TM

We would like to thank Sovereign Homes & Instyle with TM for sponsoring the Drive Fitness Christmas Party with prizes for our raffle. Sovereign Homes kindly gave us three different packages including towels, bags, hats, training shirts and stubby coolers and Instyle with TM kindly gave us a three different hair care packages.

Both Sovereign Homes & Instyle with TM are local businesses in Tarragindi. If you would like any more information about either of these local businesses we have attached the website addresses below.

http://www.sovereignhomes.com.au/
http://instylewithtm.com/

Christmas Party 2011 - All done for another year!

We had a great time! We hope you did too. As so many of you know the Drive Fitness Christmas Party is the highlight of my year. It reminds me of how far Drive Fitness has come since 2007, it gives me (and the other trainers) an opportunity to meet people from the other studios for the first time and it's our opportunity as a personal training team to truly celebrate and recognise the results and hard work that everyone has put in during the year.

We would like to thank everyone for coming, it was a huge turn out. We had over 170 people on our guest list which is 100 more than last year! I would just like to mention that the music volume on the night was much louder then we expected and we apologise if this made mingling difficult. This is something that has already been taken into consideration for next year and we have already put a poll up on facebook asking for suggestions for next years venue -  head to our facebook page to have your say (www.facebook.com/drivefitness).

A BIG congratulations to our 2011 Best Results winners Emmanuel and Tania and Trainer's Pick winners Amanda, Donna, Damien, Mandy, Suzie, Joe and Jo. Every year deciding award winners gets harder and harder!

We were very impressed that the fitness related prizes were the first to go in our raffle, the foam rollers and medicine ball didn't last long! Thank you to Sovereign Homes and Instyle with TM for sponsoring our Christmas Party with prizes for our raffle. Looking forward to another great party next year already!

10 easy hydration tips

You could argue that water is the most important nutrient of all. It is essential for so many physiological functions including regulating body temperature, maintaining blood volume, muscle contractions, lubricating joints and removing waste products from the body. Without adequate water intake dehydration can occur. Symptoms of dehydration can be uncomfortable and tiring, interfere with work productivity, decrease training and sport performance and be a potential serious health threat if left untreated. 10 easy hydration tips are identified in this article to help prevent dehydration and its associated symptoms.

The Christmas Party - It's Finally Here!

We look forward to this all year! The Drive Fitness Christmas Party is our BIG annual social event, our awards ceremony and a great chance for us to give away some prizes and catch up with everyone!

We are hoping to max out the capacity of our function room at the Oxford 152 - come along and help us do it. The details are as follows:

Who
All Drive Fitness clients and their partner or friend.

What
Join us for a social occasion (no hidden fitness challenges) to chat with friends, meet new people and see everyone out of sweaty gym clothes. Finger food will be provided and drinks will be available from the bar. Certificates will be presented for best 2011 results and notable achievements throughout the year. All guests will receive a free ticket entry into our fitness raffle which includes many fitness related prizes.

Where
The Oxford 152 on Oxford St, Bulimba. We will have our own private lounge and bar area for our guests.

When
18 November 2011, 7pm start.

Boot Camp Challenge Reminder Thursday 24 Nov

What: A challenge where each of the Drive Fitness Boot Camps participate in a series of fitness activities to accumulate points for there team
When: Thursday 24 November 5:30-6:30am
Where: Glindemann Park, Logan Rd, Holland Park (Holland Park Boot Camp home field)

If you haven't let your boot camp trainer know you will be participating please do so by the end of this week. This challenge is always a lot of fun and we hope to see all teams well represented.

Walk & Run Club Results Mt Gravatt 12 November

On Saturday we had two options available, a 5 lap time trial or 4x1 lap intervals with rest in between. Well done to everyone who is still making it along on Saturday morning at this busy time of year.

Next week there will be NO walk & run club due to the Drive Fitness Christmas Party the night before. I encourage everyone to go for there own run on the Saturday or Sunday to keep things going. The following week we will be meeting at Tarragindi. Only 4 walk & run club sessions left in 2011!

Stef: 5 lap time trial, 44.30
Sarah: 5 lap time trial, 44.30
Mary: 5 lap time trial, 39.57
Tim: 4x1 lap intervals, 4.03, 4.22, 4.46, 4.41
John F: 5 lap time trial, 31.05
Lynette: 5 lap time trial41.17
John M: 4x1 lap intervals, 4.49, 4.49, 4.49, 4.49
Dave: 4x1 lap intervals, 3.58, 4.03, 4.33, 4.41
Margie: 4 laps continuous, 41.17

Overcoming your fear of exercise (part 5): failure

I saved this one for last deliberately. I believe the fear of exercise failure is far more common then people tend to admit and it's a serious road block for so many people who want and need to exercise. When it comes to exercise the fear of failure can exist in so many different forms, these include: (1) fear of not achieving the fitness results you want, (2) fear of not being able to stick to your training program, (3) fear of not making it through your exercise session, (4) fear of not being able to do what your trainer has asked or what you have asked of yourself and (5) fear of not meeting your own, your trainer's, friend's and / or family's expectations. I'm going to jump straight into the 7 most effective strategies for overcoming the fear of exercise failure.

Dead Lift Challenge 2011 Photos Are Available

The Dead Lift Challenge 2011 photos have arrived. We have uploaded a selection to our facebook page (www.facebook.com/drivefitness) - check them out!

If your photo does not appear on our facebook page and you would like it emailed just send David an email at dave@drivefitness.net and will get your photos sent through to you as soon as possible.

Thank you everyone for making our first ever Dead Lift Challenge such a great event. We look forward to running it again next year.

How to stay hydrated during exercise - pre, during & post exercise guidelines

As we start to move in to the warmer months of the year hydration during exercise becomes even more important. If the fluid lost during exercise is not replaced dehydration will occur. Dehydration causes dramatic decreases in training and sports performance and if untreated can result in overheating, loss of consciousness and death. The large variability between individuals makes it impossible to prescribe a 'one size fits all' hydration plan but I have put some pre, during and post exercise guidelines together that should work for most of us. Check them out!

Tim is Growing a Mo - all for a good cause

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.

Drive Fitness personal trainer Tim Wildin is growing a Mo for Movember. If you would like to follow Tim's 'mo-gress' or donate to him you can visit his 'mo space' here: http://au.movember.com/mospace/1956786/. For more information about Movember visit the website: http://au.movember.com/.

All the best Tim - as long as it's gone by the 1st December!

Walk & Run Club Mt Gravatt Saturday 5 November Results

Well done to everyone who completed the 40min continuous run on the weekend. All recorded results are below.

I apologise to everyone who was there on Saturday - I gave you the wrong details about this coming Saturday's walk & run club. We will be meeting at Mt Gravatt for one more session before returning to Tarragindi. This Saturday 12 November we will have the option to either work four 1 lap intervals with rest periods equaling the time it takes to complete the lap or a 5 lap time trial (in as short time as possible).

Looking forward to seeing everyone there. We only have 5 sessions left in the year so lets make the most of them.

The remaining 2011 schedule is as follows:
12 November - Mt Gravatt 7am
19 November - No Walk & Run Club - Christmas Party the night before
26 November - Tarragindi 7am
3 December - Tarragindi 7am
10 December - Tarragindi 7am
17 December - Tarragindi 7am
24 December - No Walk & Run Club (finished for remainder of the year)

Saturday 5 November results:
Ross: 5 laps, 41.50
Julia: 6 laps, 40.00
John F: 6 laps, 40.15
Dave: 8 laps, 40.35
Tim: 7 laps, 42.59
Stef: 5 laps, 46.00
Evan: 8 laps, 40.38
Ana: 5 laps, 42.00

Christmas Party FREE Raffle

Everyone that attends the Drive Fitness Christmas Party will automatically go in the draw to win one of many fitness gifts. This year there will be over 15 fitness gifts being given away including foam rollers, skipping ropes, fitness boxing gloves, protein powder, Drive Fitness singlets, medicine balls and more.

We are looking forward to a great evening. If you haven't added you name to our guest please do so by Friday the 4th November. It is going to be our biggest Christmas Party yet and we want everyone to be there.

The Drive Fitness Christmas Party will be at the Oxford 152, Oxford St, Bulimba on the 18 November at 7pm.
If you would like more information about the Christmas Party you can see the invite here:  http://drivefitness.blogspot.com/2011/10/christmas-party-2011.html.

The Boot Camp Challenge is Coming - Thursday 24 November

Twice each year the Drive Fitness boot camps face off in a challenge, Team Moorooka VS Team Holland Park VS Team Camp Hill. On Thursday 24th November 5:30-6:30am it all happens again at the Holland Park Boot Camp location (Glindemann Park, Logan Rd). Click here for our boot camp locations: http://www.drivefitness.net/brisbane_boot_camp_locations.html.

Moorooka are looking to retain their title, Holland Park are eager to regain the championship that they lost earlier this year while Camp Hill would love to get their name on the board for the first time.

The boot camp challenge registration is open now. If you are boot camper and will be there on the morning please let your boot camp trainer know. If you would like to join a boot camp call us now.

Christmas at the Corso: Thursday 1 December

On Thursday 1 December 4pm-8pm The Corso in Seven Hills will come alive with a Christmas Festival. For those of you not familiar with The Corso, it is the street that Drive Fitness Seven Hills is located on (click here for a map of the location: http://www.drivefitness.net/studio_locations.html).

Drive Fitness will be there handing out balloons and offering Christmas specials for both personal training and boot camp. There will be live music, food, activities for kids and Santa will be there too.

Come along and say hello to us while you enjoy a great Christmas themed evening for the whole family.

Free weight exercise alternatives to popular exercise machines (part 3): chest press

I've got to be honest, I just don't see the point in the chest press machine. This is not just me being anti-machine training, previously in this series of articles I have acknowledged the potential usefulness of both the leg press and the lat pull down machines. Yes... on both occasions I did continue on to say how free weight options are better, but I still confessed that both the leg press and lat pull down could be excused in some circumstances. Not this time! Straight up, if the chest press machine is a regular exercise in your training program it's time for a change!