Tag Archives: Fitness

Toughest sport: Boxing, Ice Hockey, Football…

Posted on by

David Driscole

ESPN recently released its review of 60 sports to find the “toughest” of them all, boxing came out on top as number one, followed by Ice Hockey and Football (which I assume is American Football). At the bottom of the list are Shooting, Billiards and Fishing.

I’m a super analytical geek – check out my table showing how different sports ranked in each category.

Sports were assessed against; Endurance, Strength, Power, Speed, Agility, Flexibility, Nerve, Durability, Hand-Eye Coordination, and Analytic Aptitude. Not quite CrossFits definition of fitness, but still a wide range of areas.

Rugby, makes an appearance at #13, following Soccer, Water Polo, and Alpine Skiing; and just ahead of; Lacrosse, Rodeo and Pole Vaulting.

Having not played Rugby since the age where you weren’t allowed to wear boots (that may have been a socioeconomically influenced rule, growing up in South Auckland), I would have lodged Rugby further up the ranks than those who wear skin tight outfits in either water on or snow. But that’s just my opinion.

Fifteen years of my own life was dedicated to skin-tight pursuits (cycling / triathlon) and it’s interesting to see those sports lower down the list (Cycling 20, Swimming 36, Distance Running 40). It would be interesting to see where Xterra Triathlon (surf swim, mountain biking, off-road run) would have ranked on the list; the World Champs in Maui was probably the toughest physical endeavour I’ve ever experienced.

It’s also interesting to take perspective and look back on my sporting investment and see what areas of my health and fitness have been left behind. Sure I can knock out a handy 9:11 for the 2.4km run of the 10/60 Challenge, but think I could get on the board with sit-ups and pull-ups? No.

Now, after investing half my life in endurance endeavours, I’m spending time in balancing out the fitness areas, and I enjoy it! I’m doing Yoga for flexibility and strength; Ju Jitsu for agility, hand eye coordination and analytic aptitude. I still run and swim, but I’m including a lot more intervals and sprint training. I round the package out with lifting something heavy here in the gym from time to time.

Consider where your overall fitness profile is at, and see if you need to balance it out a little. If you’re unsure, come and have a chat, or give our 10/60 Fitness Challenge a go next time round.

Return to fitness, by moving like your ancestors: David Driscole

Posted on by

David Driscole

What is fitness?

The Oxford English dictionary offers a couple of definitions (and people who do CrossFit will offer others):

  • an organism’s ability to survive (and reproduce) in a particular environment
  • the quality of being suitable to fulfil a particular role or task

Consider the ability to survive in a particular environment (I’ll be honest; I don’t want to tackle the reproductive side of things). We evolved as hunter gatherers, and now live in an environment (physical, political and social) where the link between food and movement no longer exists.

21st century man fills his dinner plate by acquiring money through employment (or student allowance), and then purchasing food. Acquiring money is for most people, sedentary (or much lower movement levels than our ancestors traded for food). Movement for survival (‘fitness’) in our modern environment is largely unnecessary.

  • Sedentary existence predisposes us to obesity, hypertension, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and most types of cardiovascular disease.
  • Regular movement decreases the risks of developing all these diseases.

Our Paleolithic ancestors exerted themselves daily to secure their food, water, and protection.

You can improve your health through movement in these five areas: Live, Move, Exercise, Play + Rest

Live

At every opportunity choose a way to do live with movement rather than technology; cook your own meals, wash the dishes by hand, fire the cleaner and gardener and do the work yourself.

Move

Move as much as possible with active transport or in your day to day living. Accumulating 10 minute chunks of moderate intensity activity is enough to make a difference.

Exercise (which is where BPM Fitness comes in)

Every week, incorporate the following:

Aerobic and anaerobic movements.

Jog, run or swim; at least four days a week, for 45 minutes of more. Use interval training and sprinting to work the entire spectrum of your cardiovascular health. Either get your heart rate zones tested or use George’s recommendations.

Lift something heavy two to three times a week.

Karl’s top five exercises are a good place to start.

Incorporate some agility type movements a couple times a week.

Martial arts or yoga and Pilates are good ideas.

Play

Find some fun, enjoyable activities to do one or two times a week as a group. It could be indoor netball or soccer? Anything movement related in a team. Depending on the intensity, you could count it as one of your exercise sessions.

Rest

Remember to take some down time too. Either as active recovery, using foam rollers or just plain old R+R. Balance the work and play with rest.

As for the other definition of fitness; being suitable to fulfil a particular role or task, this is where we can really help. But first, you need a goal. If you know what you want, but aren’t sure how to get there, drop by and have a chat with us.

Why I Muay Thai: Michelle Goh

Posted on by

Michelle Goh

Muay Thai is a martial art originating in Thailand that is well-known for its array of ruthless fighting techniques utilizing virtually all parts of the body as potential weapons (fists, shins, elbows, knees, toes, heels, head, and forearms). It has proven to be one of the most effective fighting styles in the world today due to its continual evolution and progression as a ring sport, meaning that only the most practical and efficient techniques are able to survive in an art that has as its prime motive the aim of conquering any opponent with speed, power, strength, skill, superior physical conditioning, and mental toughness.

Let’s face it though, most people don’t want to end up fighting in a ring, much less train eight hours a day, six days a week, most weeks of the year in preparation for such an event. However, even though the opportunity to test one’s skill in the ring may not be particularly high in life’s priority list, Muay Thai is still an extremely fun and effective way of getting into shape and learning useful self-defence techniques at the same time. The sense of empowerment that results from mastering a few skills and reflexes that may potentially save you or a loved one’s life is one great reason to take up this martial art, not to mention the numerous fitness benefits one can gain from Muay Thai training. It is, in my opinion, a holistic form of exercise if done properly and safely supervised because it involves training your cardiorespiratory system with stamina and endurance activities, strength and power training, core conditioning, proprioception and balance training, flexibility, neurological and reflexive training, and the list goes on. The repetitive impact from punching and kicking bags and pads has also been shown to improve bone density and joint health if done in a gradual and careful manner.

The maintenance and/or achievement of a healthy body weight and physique are other possible benefits of Muay Thai training. It is definitely a sport that will help you burn a significant amount of calories in a short amount of time due to the nature of the high-intensity and high-workload style of training.  However, you can also take things at your own pace and just work on mastering specific techniques or skills with grace and agility. It is really up to the individual to decide what they want to achieve out of the training, the martial art is just there as a starting point and canvas for expression. Furthermore, Muay Thai teaches self-discipline, determination, and patience. It can be as challenging or as easy as you make it – you are given the chance to have complete control over your body and its abilities. Life is but a journey of self-improvement and education, therefore I believe that Muay Thai is one of many exciting ways you can discover your potential and build upon your personal strengths and overcome any weaknesses. So if you have ever been curious or inspired by Muay Thai, it is never too late to start. Give it a go, you never know what you might learn.

Karl’s Top 5 Exercises you should be doing right now!

Posted on by

Short of time and want to make the most of your workout session in the gym?

If yes, then you should be doing compound exercises involving more than one muscle group.

Whether it is weight loss, muscle tone or muscle gain, compound exercises will burn more calories and give you a greater training effect than isolation exercises. So stop doing those bicep curls and get into some real life compound movements!

Squats

A bread and butter movement for the lower body.  Anyone looking to gain strength and burn calories should be doing squats.

Deadlifts

You can’t get any more real life and functional than the deadlift. Whenever you are standing and go to pick something up off the ground and return to a standing position holding the object, you essentially have completed a deadlift. Hopefully you have kept a straight back and bent your knees as we all learnt in primary school.

A great full body exercise that covers legs, back, core, shoulders and arms.

Bench Press

A great compound exercise focusing mainly on the chest as the prime mover, but also incorporating your triceps.

Dips

Sometimes called the upper body squat. If there was only one exercise you were going to do for your upper body then dips should be it! A great compound movement focusing on the triceps but also incorporating chest as you lean forward into the movement.

Pull Ups

Mainly a back movement but by using a palms up grip you will bring in your biceps as well. So stop doing those preacher curls and get into a compound movement that will leave your back and biceps ready for a well deserved rest.

All these exercises are functional in life and will help you with everyday activities as well as getting closer to the results you may be looking for.

These exercises are for those with previous exercise experience, some maybe too difficult for beginners.  If you would like to know more about how to perform these exercises safely please enquire at reception.

Have fun!

Karl