Write a Google Review about Drive Fitness

We would greatly appreciate you writing a review on Google about your experience with Drive Fitness. Your review will help tell other people about us and what to expect from training with Drive Fitness. You can write a review about your persoanl training, boot camp or walk & run club experience - any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

You can write a Google review by following these 3 easy steps:

1. goto http://www.google.com/ and search 'drive fitness'

2. click on the 'place page' link for your drive fitness studio in the search results (see red arrow in the image below)

3. scroll down and click 'rate and review' and leave your comments (see red arrow in image below)

Thank you. We really appreciate it!

2011 Bench Press Challenge

The 2011 Bench Press Challenge will take place this coming Saturday on April 2. We have been counting down to the 4th Annual Drive Fitness Bench Press Challenge since the start of the year and we cannot wait to see every one's great results!

The details are as follows:

The Bench Press Challenge will be taking place at the NEW Seven Hills Drive Fitness. The address is shop 2 / 6 The Corso, Seven Hills.



View Seven Hills Studio in a larger map

Ladies weigh in commences at 8:45am with lifting to begin from 9:00am. Men will weigh in at 10:00am to commence lifting from 10:15am. We will be running on a strict schedule so will require everyone to be running on time. Please arrive early so we can make sure we do not fall behind schedule. Morning tea will be running throughout the morning with medal presentations taking place following both the lady's and men's events.

Team colours have been announced:

• Team Tim is wearing black
• Team Lisa is wearing blue
• Team Jared & Theo is wearing white
• Team David is wearing red

Please wear something representing your team colours! Looking forward to seeing everyone there.



Walk & Run Club Lap Splits Saturday 26 March

Well done to everyone who made it along to our last Tarragindi Walk & Run Club for a while. Everyone has shown great improvement over the last 4-5 weeks.

Next week the Walk & Run Club will take a break due to the 2011 Bench Press Challenge and return the following week meeting at the Mt Gravatt studio. I think everyone is looking forward to change in walking/running course.

Lap splits are posted below.

Dave: (7 laps): 7.09, 14.07, 20;40, 27.40, 34.51, 40.16, 49.30
Grant: (5 laps) 5.55, 13.10, 20.34, 29.10, 36.46
Aveen: (3 laps) 12.21, 25.25, 38.01
Michellte: (6 laps) 7.26, 15.40, 24.14, 32.56, 41.40, 49.51
Peter B: (6 laps) 6.55, 14.27, 21.48, 29.37, 37.25, 44.35
John M: (6 laps) 6.56, 14.00, 21.10, 28.07, 35.05, 42.33
Alex: (4 laps) 7.09, 16.18, 27.40, 37.20
Jane H: (4 laps) .7.22, 15.34, 24.29, 37.20
Ross: (6 laps) 6.56, 14.44, 23.20, 32.30, 41.32, 49.25
Margie: (3 laps) 10.43, 21.58, 33.55

See you all in two weeks time. Keep up some walking/running in your own time if possible.

Last Walk & Run Club at Tarragindi

This Saturday will be our last Walk & Run Club session at Tarragindi before returning to our Mt Gravatt lap. Wet weather kept last Saturday's group numbers down so this week we will return to our regular Tarragindi 1.1km loop to give everyone a last chance at improving either their distance or time.

We look forward to seeing everyone there for a big turn out at our last visit to the Tarragindi lap for a while.

David's 5 favourites: training equipment

I am often asked by clients and other personal trainers what equipment I use for my own individual training. They are surprised to learn that I have not used a 'gym resistance machine' as part of my set training program for years and that most of my training is performed using a very basic range of equipment. With a different exercise machine arriving in your typical commercial gym each month claiming to be better than the one before it, it is often difficult to work out what the best way to train is and what equipment you should be using. It is important that everyone realises that you do not need the latest ab machine to get great fitness results. In fact, the most basic movements that allow the body to move freely with full range are the best for promoting flexibility, functional strength, muscle recruitment, stability and greater energy expenditure.

Anyone that trains with me will probably be able to have a good guess at what my 5 favourite training equipment pieces are. These 5 are not just my favourite for my own personal use, but also for getting results for clients. My clients have (in most cases) come to appreciate and even enjoy these training tools as much as I have. In no specific order I have listed my favourite 5 below and why they make the list!

2011 Bridge to Brisbane Date Announced

Sunday September 11 2011 is the date of this years Bridge to Brisbane event.

Each year Drive Fitness enters a team in the 10km Bridge to Brisbane fun run event. 2011 will be our 3rd year! The Bridge to Brisbane is a great opportunity for everyone to see their fitness improvements over the last 12 months and enjoy some exercise in a social setting.

We make it as easy as possible for everyone to be involved in the Bridge to Brisbane as part of the Drive Fitness Team.

• We provide all the paperwork for you to register at your Drive Fitness training studio.
• We enter your details in to the Bridge to Brisbane event and our Drive Fitness Team
• We pick up your race pack and have it available for you on race day
• We provide transport to and from the Bridge to Brisbane event for the Drive Fitness team in our own private buses
• We provide a post race sausage sizzle at the Drive Fitness training studio

We encourage everyone of all fitness levels to join the Drive Fitness Bridge to Brisbane Team. We would like to have a team that includes walkers, great runners and everything in between.

Our Walk & Run Club sessions provide a great training option to prepare for the Bridge to Brisbane event. Don't leave your training to the last minute, get started NOW!

Walk & Run Club Lap Times March 19

Wet weather kept numbers down last Saturday. Well done to everyone that turned up despite the damp conditions. Just as a reminder, we will announce Walk & Run Club cancellations in this news blog and on facebook and twitter either on the evening before or the morning of the session. If you do not see a cancellation message here, then the session is going ahead as per normal.

Lap splits are posted below:
Jane: (4 laps) 7.57, 16.57, 25.59, 35.34
Rebecca: (4 laps) 8.24, 17.28, 26.57, 36.34
Peter: (4 laps) 8.33, 17.30, 26.21, 35.46
Nate: (4 laps) 6.26, 13.45, 21.50, 33.10
Rachael: (4 laps) 7.09, 15.36, 26.23, 33.15

Tip: To make it easier to compare your Walk & Run Club lap splits click the Walk & Run Club news category on the right. This will limit posts to Walk & Run Club related posts only and make them easier to compare.

Team Theo & Team Jared Combine for 2011 Bench Press Challenge

It was officially announced earlier today that the bench press teams of personal trainers Jared and Theo will combine for the 2011 Bench Press Challenge on April 2. With this merger the new team of Jared & Theo will have comparable team sizes to the other teams of Tim, Lisa and David.

This team merger may present problems for the other teams with this new combination looking capable of causing upsets on the day. We are all eagerly looking forward to April 2 to find out which teams will take out the Ladies and Men Team Challenges.

Less than 3 weeks to go!

Meet our Personal Training Team: Theo Papamanolis

Drive Fitness will be introducing 'The Team' with a bit of information about their interests, training goals and motivation for entering the fitness industry as a personal trainer. We will introduce a different trainer each month starting with Theo.

Theo Papamanolis is the latest trainer to join the Drive Fitness team. Based at the new Seven Hills studio, Theo has over 10 years of personal experience in resistance and cardio training. His personal fitness goals are muscle gain and aerobic fitness. Some of the sports Theo enjoys include swimming, tennis and squash, with more adventurous activities including indoor rock-climbing and surfing. That’s not to say he’s an expert – standing up on the board is still a massive achievement!

Prior to Theo’s time as a personal trainer, he completed a Bachelor of Business at QUT and spent three and a half years working within a marketing role at one of Australia’s largest takeaway food franchises. It was there that Theo fully realised the challenges facing everyday people in terms of achieving a healthy work-life balance. The sedentary nature of working in front of a computer all day, combined with frequent twelve-hour work days, tempting foods from numerous meetings and morning teas, as well as a lack of perceived mental and physical energy at the end of the day had the ability to take its toll and act as barriers to his fitness goals. However, Theo made fitness his priority and found time – every lunch break – to fit in his workout.

It is now Theo’s goal to help others break through the perceived barriers and achieve their own fitness goals. Specialising in general weight loss and overall aerobic fitness, Theo likes to keep workouts fun yet challenging, with a combination of resistance and cardio exercises and a specific interest in boxing.

Check back next month to get to know Drive Fitness personal trainer Tim a bit better!

Bench Press Challenge Scoring System

The Drive Fitness Bench Press Challenge is just over 2 weeks away. With 71 confirmed participants the 4 Annual 2011 Bench Press Challenge is the 2nd largest Drive Fitness function ever, only outdone by the 2010 Christmas Party.

We have introduced the scoring system below so everyone is familiar with the calculations. The Drive Fitness Bench Press Challenge is a relative competition, meaning that each participants score is relative to their body weight on the day. Individual scores are calculated as follows:

• biggest lift (kg) / body weight (kg) = relative score

For example If someone weighs in at 90kg on the day and their biggest lift for 1 rep is 100kg

• 100kg (biggest lift) / 90kg (body weight) = 1.111 relative score

This formula demonstrates that lighter you are and more you lift, better your relative score will be. The team scores are calculated as follows:

• (participant 1 relative score) + (participant 2 relative score) + (participant 3 relative score) ...... = total team score

Each participant's relative score is added together to achieve the total team score. The team score is therefore strongly influenced by the number of competitors in each team. This rewards teams that got involved with large numbers and gives their team a significant advantage in the team challenge scoring.

Despite the individual and team challenges the main focus of the Bench Press Challenge is to acknowledge everyone's fitness improvements and have some fun.

Looking forward to see you all there!