Create your discipline

Everyone loses their inspiration in the gym sometimes. What matters is what happens when you lose that motivation. Your alarm for your pre booked 5am class goes off, and you contemplate staying in bed and if you can be bothered?

Than you start to question why your doing it? And if it’s benefiting you anymore. You pick up your phone, have a scroll to look for some inspiration on social media to get you motivated. You stumble across something new than you have this idea that this will be the thing that gets you the results your looking for and kicks your motivation back into gear.

Unless you are a beginner and have just started training, chances are you have been stuck at one point or another with a goal or just getting yourself to the gym and staying motivated.

We have all been there at some stage and it’s totally ok. Maybe you are there now. Your human. If that is the case, then one or more of these tips could be exactly what you need to break that barrier and meet your goals and stay consistent.

1. Change Your Mindset

Have you been telling yourself before you go train, "I hope I can get it today?" If so, this is a big NO NO. That word hope only sets you up for failure. Get that word out of your brain right now. From now on, before you leave the house or work, you tell yourself this or something similar.

"Today is my day. I am going to do this. I have been working at this for a long time. I am going to the gym, I am ready and today I WILL DO IT!"

It might sound cocky, but to do what you want to do in this endeavor, confidence is key. You have to know you are able to do it in order to make it happen. You need to change the way your looking at ‘going to the gym’

2. Visualisation

The mind is a very powerful thing. If you can see yourself doing something strong enough in your mind, you will do it in real life.

Take a few minutes and sit alone. Close your eyes and imagine yourself breaking that benchmark or squatting that weight you’ve wanted to, or feeling how you wish to feel. See yourself pushing and straining. Watch yourself doing what you are trying so hard to do.

Also do this a few minutes before you go train. I guarantee you that you will feel stronger and more confident in your ability

3. You need to push yourself more

In the gym or in class you come in, the demonstration is done for you than you jump right into the workout. You may (or may not) have a HR monitor and you can see your effort and progress in the screen.

If you just mosey on through the workout picking the easiest option for everything of course you will get over it. You need to challenge yourself. Increase the volume or intensity. Go a little heavier. Get a few more reps out. Ask for some assistance from the trainers.

You can always scale an exercise or workout to make it more challenging!

4. Take a break when you feel you need it

If all else fails, perhaps you need a couple of week break to rest, recharge and reset yourself. Sometimes all it takes is getting away to get that motivation back up and to feel that fire and passion again.

It might be difficult for you to do, but you will be better for it. You will feel better both mentally and physically which will help you break that barrier.

5. Get an accountability buddy

Partner up with someone from class or from the gym to help keep you accountable. If you want some inspiration on this check out our on the couch video with Megan & Olivia. They have become gym buddies and do a great job at keeping each other on track!

6. Have clear SMART goals

Specific | Measureable | Achieveable | Realistic | Timely

This allows you to set, action and reevaluate your goals over time! Set your main goal (reason why your at the gym) than break it down to a smaller goal and than break it down again to stepping stone weekly goals.

This allows you to focus week by week on the journey to the overall goal. You’ll be surprised how much this actually works when you focus on the process not the outcome!

7.FOCUS - Follow one course until successful

This is a phrase we hear a lot in relation to success (of any type). Follow one course until successful. If you keep searching social media and hoping from this new thing to that new thing, yes you’ll gain new experience and knowledge, but you’ll also be forever chasing the ‘thing’ (whatever that may be) that’s going to get you results when ultimately its YOU. No one but yourself can get you those results or the motivation you want, you need to commit yourself, make a plan of action, actually action it, create consistency, build habits and discipline and push through any roadblocks that arise in order to be successful in getting a goal or result.

Cheers

Coach Channy

What happens in 28days?

Today I wanted to take time out to talk about the new 28day Kickstart Challenge and the benefits of the changes. Yes, we know 28days is not as long as the old 6 week challenge, but 28days is an achievable amount of days to make some significant sustainable changes to your health & fitness.

Wether or not you jump on board obviously is completely up to you! However from experience the longer challenges are harder for people to stick too once the motivation dies and they realise the process needs consistency, continuous effort and discipline.

Our main goal for our challenge is to equip you with the tools necessary for sustainable results so that you can benefit from what is learnt long term. So I thought why not break down the benefits to give you another perspective of it.

Lets start off by saying we eat can affect all the processes in the body, including cell regeneration, inflammation, digestion and sleep. So its no surprise that after even 28 days of changing up your poor habits to better habits like eating well, exercising for your goals and creating a positive mindset you can expect to not only look better, but feel a whole lot better, too.

WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF EATING WELL

When I say eating well, I mean nourishing your body with the nutrients it needs EVERYDAY to naturally move itself towards optimal health. This to me, means enjoying a variety of nutritious fruit and vegetables, whole grains, protein, healthy fats and water, and less processed and packaged food, salt, saturated fat and added sugar.

What’s also important is HOW we eat. Things such as regular meals are an important part of this, as is taking time to enjoy and savour your food, rather than shovelling it in at your desk or as you run out the door. Changing the way you eat as well as what you eat will make a huge difference to your overall health and how you look and feel and i’m sure I can safely say that at one point we have ALL shovelled in food way to quickly!

WHAT CHANGES CAN YOU EXPECT TO SEE/FEEL OVER 28DAYS?

After there first few days of eliminating foods that have no nutritional value or cause inflammation you will start to noctice your energy levels increase and you have better concentration because your blood sugar levels will start to stabilise as your body eliminates the junk!

With this increased energy it will pick up over time and you’ll notice any inflammation start to slowly go down and you will start to of created a good eating routine which will in tune suppress the cravings eventually.

As the rolls and weeks roll by, by following this cleaner healthier style of eating and creating balance between nutritious food for fuel and the things you love, you will also find the following:

• your skin appearance will start to be clearer

• Stomach bloating should start to minimise

• And you’ll be sleeping better and feeling a whole heap better during the day

Now after a full 28day of consistent healthy balanced eating and exercise you can expect the following:

• Improved overall body composition

• Improved mood

• Improved sleeping patterns

• No cravings

• Regular excessive routine

the good benefit of the 28day challenge is it allows you to make changes, implement them than evaluate them at the end reset for a week than go again for the next 28days so technically you could do 3 back to back 28days to create a consistent training program and nutrition plan over 90days which is what we recommend.

If you want to see changes and make changes it come down to your mindset and the way you look at it. Anything or any time period will work for a health and fitness result IF you apply yourself!

Good luck to all our tribe members who took the leap to make the changes and are giving the 28day challenge a go!

Cheers

Coach Channy 💪🏼

Why Sprint Training is beneficial

Today we take a dive into the EXPLOSIVE aspect of health and fitness.

Being able to move freely, be fast agile and maintain that optimal movement as we age is determent to our health. We like to mix things up and offer some alternative types of training within our challenges to keep our challengers bodies excited and responding to a variety of movement.

One in particular which has a butt load of benefits to it is Sprint Training. Today we are going to explain the muscle types used for this type of training and why it will help you in a lot more ways than you realize.

When designing the Sprint Performance program i had 3 main areas in mind and broke that up into the 3 weeks we did this for:

Week 1: Speed & Agility - Flat Surface, & we use things like hurdles & cones, short distances, lots of jumping, single and double leg and body weight plyometric exercises

Week 2: Strength & Power - Flat Surface with some Grassed area speed work. Same Equipment as above utilized

Week 3: Combination - We mixed the top 2 into on session, BUT we added an incline to make the challenge harder

Firstly not only will this give you many benefits to your fitness and speed over all, it will help build a super sculpted toned lower half.

With my own personal interests in Sprint Training i also thought its a good idea now that we have utilized that training type for our clients, to dive into my opinions on why it is beneficial to everyone.

There are 3 main areas that i came across myself when i was first taking a serious interest in this training type and those areas are strength building and injury prevention, neuromuscular development and cardiovascular adaptation. All in which hold huge input into Sprint Training.

STRENGTH BUILDING & INJURY PREVENTION

This first reason being first and foremost the strongest aspect of the 3 main points. This in my opinion ois the most specific strength training that a runner can do. Yes, our squats, lunges and every other exercise we do in the gym for our prime movers, but actually practicing the art of running up hill or on an incline you are increasing specifically running strength. When sprinting we cause an explosive reaction which is caused by lifting the hips, glutes and quads up the hill. This utilizes the exact same muscles/ mechanics of performing plyometric training

When we add the incline to our sprint training which we did on week 3, we shorten the distance than increased the distance, meaning that there was an inconsistent lactate build up in the muscles with little to big fatigue depending on the distance we performed

Also - And added benefit of up hill sprint training for strength building is……

The hill shortens the distance that your foot has to fall or land before it hits the ground, therefore decreases the amount of shock to the body!

NEUROMUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT

This one might leaving you thinking WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? i defiantly was like that the first time i read about it.

This basically is the way that your brain and muscles communicate.

A short and sharp Sprint gives you a boost of those endorphins you would get from a workout, which than increases your neuromuscular system and allows your body to increase the speed at which it send signals to the muscles.

More importantly it allows your body to activate a higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers and get them pumping in a really forceful way.

CARDIOVASCULAR ADAPTATIONS

the third and last point for today. Sprint Training on a flat or inclined surface will increase the maximal stroke volume of your heart.

If you are wondering what that is - Its the amount of blood the heart can pumped form the heart to the body in one stroke aka. Heart Beat.

When performing this type of training you will feel breathless and the lactic acid build up within your muscles will make you feel sick. So having a greater stroke volume decreases the heart rate and makes your heart more efficient.

Another example of this is trying to hit the red zone in class. As you stroke volume get s greater, you get fitter and you find it harder to hit or hold that red zone!

I hope this has given you some insight into why we utilize the Sprint Training in our challenges for some added extra! If you participate in our next challenge you will get access to this program i designed to keep and also do in your own time.

Cheers

Coach Channy

Why strength training is important...

Strength training is an essential component of any training regime. If it isn’t, it should be!

A lot of the time, strength training is pushed to the side due to not wanting to get ‘big and bulky’ but strength training has so many more benefits! Strength training should be a part of every program based your specific strength level overall goals. You don’t have to keep up with other people at the gym, you should be using a weight that you can move safely, focusing on your technique and posture during the class/workout so that it is benefiting you not hindering you or any niggles!

We designed Bar club to give you the ULTIMATE strength workout. This style combines our main COMPOUND movements of Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Bent Over Back Rows, Shoulder Press, Chest Press, Clean & Press & Deadlifts ( also known as Big Lifts of Primary movers or exercises) for half of the room and the other half is our Accessory exercises .

Accessory exercises also allow you to focus on different muscle groups—or hit certain muscle groups in different ways—than the primary exercises. For example, Bicep Curls, Tricep Extension, Kettlebell Swing, any cable exercises and more. This ultimately reduces your weakness and imbalances and makes you a stronger and more resilient in and out of the gym. When used properly, not only will accessory exercises make you stronger and more adept in a variety of movement patterns, but they'll also help you get better and stronger at your primary exercises.

When pairing the 2 types of strength training techniques this allows you to overall move and function better for increased quality of life.

 The benefits of Barclub/ Strength training are numerous:

• Reduce the effects of sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass due to ageing)

• Reduce the effects of osteoporosis (loss of bone mass)

• Increased muscle mass

• Increased fat burning ability

• Improved metabolism

• Improved blood pressure and heart strength

• Lowers stress and anxiety levels

• Improved levels of sleep

• Increased cognitive function

Just to name a few….

Strength training is a valuable tool to be used in the improvement of someone’s health. It is essential that it is included in any program as there is always ways to modify strength training based on a person’s specific needs. Its always beneficial.

If you are interested in coming to a strength class, we run a Barclub on Tuesdays all day and Saturdays all morning. They are both fantastic ways to get some strength in to your regime while in a group setting!

Mindset is everything...

Mindset plays a big part when it comes to anyone’s and everyone’s health and fitness journey. A positive mindset will always win over a negative mindset and a growth mindset will benefit you more than a closed off mindset. What do these mean exactly? Before we share with you the different type of mindset let us tell you why they are pivotal when it comes to results or success.

If we are positive internally than externally we will create the same environment, by encouraging a positive mindset we can also create a positive exterior. How do we create a positive mindset? It all starts with one positive thought. Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you’re likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking. Positive thinking is a powerful tool that becomes stronger the more we practice it the stronger it becomes.

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on our overall health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

· Increased life span

· Lower rates of depression

· Lower levels of distress

· Greater resistance to the common cold

· Better psychological and physical well-being

· Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease

· Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It’s unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive mindset enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body. It’s also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don’t smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

A negative mindset on the other hand has damaging effects to the brain and our self-esteem so stepping away from that state of mind will help improve many things, such as;

· Negative thoughts

· Self esteem

· Depression

· Self sabotage habits

Some ways to make these symptoms easy to control is to practice meditation and yoga or anything that releases and relaxes your mind on a regular basis. “Journaling” by writing down things you are grateful for throughout your day and what has made you thankful throughout your week. Complimenting people is another great way to project positivity and in return positive energy will be exchanged, making someone’s day without reason is always a positive.

Holding onto negative thoughts and feelings will only project that same energy into the universe, only to repeat the process. The best ways to step away from

The negative mindset and begin to practice a positive or growth-based mindset is to put into practice the following steps and use these on a daily basis.

1. Read about this subject, think about its benefits, and persuade yourself to try it. The power of your thoughts is a mighty power that is always shaping your life. This shaping is usually done subconsciously, but it is possible to make the process a conscious one. Even if the idea seems strange, give it a try. You have nothing to lose, but only to gain.

2. Ignore what other people say or think about you, if they discover that you are changing the way you think.

3. Use your imagination to visualize only favourable and beneficial situations.

4. Use positive words in your inner dialogues, or when talking with others.

5. Smile a little more, as this helps to think positively.

6. Once a negative thought enters your mind, you have to be aware of it, and endeavour to replace it with a constructive one. If the negative thought returns, replace it again with a positive one. It is as if there are two pictures in front of you, and you have to choose to look at one of them, and disregard the other. Persistence will eventually teach your mind to think positively, and to ignore negative thoughts.

7. In case you experience inner resistance and difficulties when replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, do not give up, but keep looking only at the beneficial, good and happy thoughts in your mind.

8. It doesn’t matter what your circumstances are at the present moment. Think positively, expect only favourable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly. If you persevere, you will transform the way your mind thinks. It might take some time for the changes to take place, but eventually they will.

9. Another useful technique is the repetition of affirmations. This technique is similar to creative visualization, and can be used together with positive thinking.

So whether you are a fixed mindset or growth-based mindset sort of person, you can change from a fixed to growth with the power of positive thinking. And for those of you who are a growth-based mindset you can always grow and improve your positive state of mind with previous recommendations. Learning and growing as a human is what makes us better and more powerful within ourselves. Spread the positivity to grow more positivity amongst us.

Welcome to the Red Room

Now lets start off by saying if you are like us and hear the words “RED ROOM” initially you might think something out of the movie 50 shades of Grey, so we hit the platform and asked some of our members when they hear those word what do they think about and their response was “ Hot” & “ Sweaty” “Hard work” which we feel gives a good description of how you will feel working out in this colour room.

When you enter our Red Room you are stepping onto the platform to an Amplify Class. This is were we focus on 100% functional full body movements incorporating a weighted load from any of our equipment ( Kettlebells, Core bags, Slam Balls, Battle ropes, Wall Balls, Dumbbells to name a few)

We picked the colour red when designing our program for this class because of the way that the colour red effects your mood, you emotionally and mentally which we will explain below.

RED RAISES THE ENERGY OF THE ROOM! It is known as the most intense colour, it pumps the adrenaline like no other colour. So in saying that it was the perfect choice when you want to stir up excitement and energy levels in our environment. In a group environment red draws people together and stimulates conversation.

When you walk into the gym and the colour red is on entry, it creates a strong first impression and a sense of power!

Red has also been shown to raise Heart Rate and speed respiration and heart rate. This correlates really well with our Heart Rate training and quiet often our members can expect to see their Heart Rates on the big screen hitting the red zone quickly with 90-100% of their effort level being utilised!

This zone is where you are pushing themselves to your absolute limits and can only sustain the activity for short periods. Because of the excessive metabolic by product build up in the muscles you will feel fatigued quickly!

So in closing if you are looking for an intense class that BUILDS & BURNS in all the right places than enter our red room and start getting those results today!

Cheers

Coach Channy

The Blue Burner...

This week we dive into the BIG BLUE…

The colour BLUE effects represents a wide variety of emotional feelings. This can be categorised as both positive and negative emotions. BLUE is the colour of the MIND and is essentially soothing. It effects us mentally/ emotionally rather than physically.

The emotions broken down are:

Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, Calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, .

Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication.

We utilise the BLUE mood lighting for our EXHILARATE class which is programmed to connect your mind and body throughout the workout. We base this on all things SPEED, AGILITY, REACTION TIME, CO-ORDINATION through our highly interactive zones and floor markings. Coupled with beats of 150bpm+ in short spurts of 30 second intervals its allows our members to fully immerse themselves in the workout experience and give 100% effort.

We also use the colour blue for our cool down after each and every class as blue is said to bring down blood pressure and slow respiration and heart rate. That’s is why its considered calming, relaxing and serene.

To encourage the above we partner that with slow cool down music to stretch it out after each class also.

If your feeling BLUE, hit us up come down and experience our BLUE room and let us show you what your missing out on.

Cheers!

Coach Channy

8 Benefits to Group Training

Group training is a lot of fun but and it also gets results. Research has shown that group training leads to faster and better results when compared to working out on your own. Knowing this, it should be obvious that adding group training to your fitness routine is a fast track way to success. But in case you needed a little more motivation, here are 10 more great reasons to get involved in Group Graining.

1. Routine – Group fitness sessions are offered at the same time on the same day every week. Putting your group fitness session on your calendar allows you to set aside the time and get into a routine with your training on a weekly basis, which significantly increases the likelihood you will stick with the program and turning up for the session.

2. Accountability – It is much easier to skip a workout if you are training on your own. It may be raining, too cold, too hot, windy, you feel too tired……name the excuse. It is much easier to bale on yourself than in a group setting where you make friends and they expect you to show up every session. They hold you accountable. Accountability to the group and the coach is one of the greatest things that makes group training superior to training on your own.

3. Set the Pace – Whatever the setting, no matter how motivated you are, there are limits to how hard you can or will push yourself when you are training by yourself. It is easier to go at a slower pace or quit one or two reps short of what you could have done. Group sessions set a pace for everyone to follow and you do everything you can to keep up. When the person next to you squeezes out 10 reps, you are going to do 10 as well and want to keep pushing.

4. Healthy Competition – Healthy competition is a great benefit of group training. Most people have a competitive nature when it comes to fitness and exercise. Of course group training should be fun and functional, but at the end of the day watching other people work hard and push themselves is a great way to get the competitive juices flowing and push for an extra rep or two.

5. Motivation and Encouragement – Training with a group of like-minded people is a really great way to maximise results. People within the group will encourage each other to push harder, lift more and keep going. The encouragement from others is a great feeling and very motivating.

6. Accommodating of All Fitness Levels – A good coach will work with the group and accommodate the various fitness levels of all individuals participating. Our group sessions allow a beginner to train with someone more advanced in a group setting and both get a great workout. On top of that the beginner is exposed to what an advanced person can do and has something to work towards.

7. Interesting – Most group sessions offer a variety of exercises using a variety of equipment. From TRX Suspension straps to kettle bells, dumbbells to heavy bags to medicine balls to everything in between. Group training offers a great diversity in the exercises and the equipment within each session.

8. Fun - At the Func we bring the fun back into fitness and having the mood lighting and the high pumping music, interactive floor and wall units, plus floor markings and NO MIRORRS in a high energy environment really bring backs that element of fun!

Want to come try out our group classes and training program? Activate a FREE TRIAL today!

The Green Burner...

As apart of our program and class design here at Technofunc the colour of each of our class types varies depending on the style of training for that class.

Today we are going to talk all things HYPE which as the class logo suggests, this class colour is Green.

Lets talk more on the green room….

This workout will always be a mix of functional, body weight movements with beats that range from 100-120bpm allowing you to push to your limits but also test your aerobic and anaerobic conditioning with light to medium weights added. You may or may not be aware of the way that coloured mood lighting effects your performance, mood and intensity when exercising. Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. It is the colour of balance - a more important concept than many people realise.

The green LED mood lighting allows our members to feel at balance and calmer throughout their workout due to the psychology of the effect of colour on our human emotions!

Our approach to results...

Just like anything, figuring out your approach, your systems or preferred training style takes time.

We at Technofunc aren’t interested in the short term results. Don’t get us wrong, they are great and we defiantly support short term goals and actually educate on the importance of daily, weekly, monthly yearly goals within our 28day kickstart and 6week challenge, but ultimately we want EVERYONE who comes into our gym to think LONG TERM.

Now that we have our solid foundation everything from our member on boarding process to the way that we design our group classes and our kickstart and challenge programs to the way that we engage with our clients has this in mind.

Our approach and style is brought about because there are far to many people who think of Fitness as a chore, so with our program and our unique flooring and community that we have created, we aim to create the mindset of a long term client who thinks of long term results for themselves and their life. This is someone who knows straight up the journey is going to be a long one but is committed to every step of the way.

Our aim is to better each and every person that walks through our doors and educate them on the long term results and mindset, NOT the short term results and mindset because from past experiences anything that is attained quickly or fast, can be lost or gone just as fast as when you got it.

For me personally I want to look and feel the best that I can but move as freely as possibly for as long as possible to be able to play with my son and make health and fitness a big part of his life. So this is something that we need to start thinking about early on!

Growing up my nan always told me, look after yourself in your 20’s your 30’s will be easier, look after yourself in your 30’s your 40’s will be easier and so on and so forth and now that Im 29 years old its SOOOOO true!

To put it to you in a different way, think of it as saving for your super. This is what your going to live off when you retire right..? Well you cant get to 58 years old and say, hey I think I might start saving for when I retire in about 10-12 years.. Your retirement is not going to be comfortable or enjoyable!

The point of this blog is to say, its not going to happen over night. Maybe even not in a week or your first month. But if you keep on keeping on, use the motivation you have to create the discipline that will than create the habit and it will become second nature to you!

It takes a good 6-12months of hard work in the gym and that is what your long term approach should look like.

Look forward, stay focused on your journey and results will happen.

Coach Channy

Why scale weight isnt important

We have coached many people over the years that obsess over the number that appears on the scale. They weigh themselves daily and the number that appears each morning often dictates whether they have a good day or a bad day. It dictates mood, what you eat, etc. and you make worse decisions

The problem is this:

Body weight can fluctuate dramatically day to day and it has nothing to do with our body fat.

There are so many factors that can cause rather dramatic short-term fluctuations in body weight:

• Glycogen levels in our muscles & liver

• Sodium intake – high salt meals may cause higher water retention

• Hydration – our bodies are primarily made up of water

• Hormones (menstrual cycle for women)

• Digestion and excretion

Body weight simply describes your relationship with gravity. It has no self-evident implication on your health or wellbeing. It should instead be used as one of many data points to measure overall progress over time – after all, it doesn’t take into consideration body-fat levels and lean muscle mass.

So what should we use to measure progress?

There are various factors that are much more important to us than your scale weight. Check in with yourself daily or weekly and ask yourself:

• How has your mood been?

• How was the quality of your sleep?

• How has your digestion been?

• How are your energy levels throughout the day?

• How has your strength been?

Think body composition, not bodyweight.

Bodyweight is just one small piece of the puzzle when it comes to determining how healthy you are.

At Technofunc we have the EVolt360 scan machine which is a body composition scanner and tells you ALL the information you need to know in reference to body fat verse muscle mass etc. We run 6 week challenges where education is a core pillar when it comes to true lasting transformation, which is why we hold these often to educate more and more people on the importance of BODY COMPOSITION, learning food and how it reacts to your body and that you are more that that overall number on the scale.

Get Back On Track

Can you believe it?

We are ALREADY half way through the year…. WHAT THE HELL …

How is your 2019 going thus far? Have you achieved what you originally set out to achieve for the year? Or has your motivation dropped off and work, family or mindset has got in the way of your health and fitness goals? Has your intentions faded as the months have gone by?

Well I am here to give you some hot tips to pick up your motivation and fire up your mindset and get yourself some results for the rest of the year. Easter has come and gone and your new year’s resolution has still not been achieved? Well we need to fix that. A little check in if you will because everyone deserves to live an optimal, healthy lifestyle. You deserve to be the best version of yourself possible and I believe that 2019 is your year!

 The year may of started off rocky and not gone to plan but you still have this very moment to decide to make the changes!

So step number 1.

Set your intention from the start. What is your why? It has to be a pretty big why. More than just “I want rock hard abs!” Why do you want rock hard abs? In order too?? In order to feel better and look better in my clothes. Why do you want to look better? Get deep. Get to the bottom of why you want to achieve these particular goals? What will it actually mean to you? Find out your “why” from the start and your motivation and determination will last longer and get you further. Write it down and put it somewhere not only you will see it but your family, housemate or a colleague who can also see it and keep you accountable. Writing your goal down and putting it somewhere that will always remind you of it is a great way to stay on track and the physical aspect of writing it down and putting it out there will be a powerful tool for you/for anyone.

Step 2.

Inform your circle of influence. What is your “circle of influence”? the closest five people to you need to know what you are wanting to achieve so when social events or outings happen they can support you through it rather than offer you temptations and make the process harder than it needs to be. So identify your closest five people to you. It will usually be whomever you live with, your closest friend and some colleagues. We spend about 70% of our time at work so informing colleagues is an important one. The temptations in the tea room at work can be hard and social drinks at the end of a long week on a Friday do not help. So if someone at work knows your intentions they can support you through the trying times when temptations are high. For example my circle of influence definitely includes my work colleagues, friends and family. Everyone is different and a partner may be included or kids maybe housemates etc. notify your circle of influence and inform them of your health and fitness goals and even telling them your “why” will help them understand why you are undergoing this journey.

Step 3.

Once you have written down your goal and your intention and you have informed your circle of influence, it is now time to action it. How will you achieve your goal? There are many ways and steps you can put into place to help you action your goal and there are a thousand and one opinions out there and quite frankly it can be confusing. Well I am her to tell you it doesn’t have to be confusing. Find some help/accountability that genuinely cares about you and your goals. Knowledge is key when it comes to your health and achieving exactly what you want and deserve to achieve. So do not compromise your goals, get the help you deserve and take the guess work out of it.

So in summary my three hot tips in order for you to get back on track and regain your motivation, is to:

1. Write down your “why”. why are you doing this? what is your intention?

2. Inform your circle of influence

3. Hire a professional health coach

Because we all deserve to live the best life possible one that includes the healthier version of you possible. because if we don’t have our health, what do we have? It’s a ripple effect, if we feel good it will flow into our attitude and personality and mindset. And if our mindset is in a good place so will everything else. We will treat other better because we are treating ourselves better. once we love ourselves and our body that too flows on into all aspects of our life. Don’t believe me? Try it, see what happens.

Technofunc have a special on at the moment for our 28day kickstart, free for new members or any members that are feeling off track. For non members this is $199 so make sure you reach out and find out how we can help you!

Diet Secret....

So this is it……….

Its nothing complicated……..

Nothing you need a big ass degree for……..

If you are serious about changing up your body shape, eating habits and getting results than all you need to do is become familiar with HOW MUCH FOOD you are throwing down the gob EVERYTIME you eat..

We call this PORTION CONTROL….. ( te-dahhhh)

In this day and age it is EXTREMELY easy to overeat. Everything is bigger because lets face is everyone wants value for money right? This is more so in reference to when you EAT OUT. How big are those god dam plates that the food comes out on. Like seriously, the portions could feed at least 2 people EASILY yet we sit and eat it all in one serving alone.

You may think its hard and you cant do it, but it comes down to TRAINING YOUR EYE to assist you with portion control. Don’t let those EYES be bigger than your STOMACH.

So below are Technofuncs Tips on how to kickstart this so you can get those results….

TRAIN YOUR PORTION EYE

What does that mean? Simply put, training your portion eye, refers to having the ability to judge a portion size using a visual aspect. So, what we do for our challenges is food tracking. This essentially is what we believe to be THE BEST way to learn your body, learn how it responds to different foods and become familiar with how much you really are eating on a daily basis. So that’s defiantly the avenue we chose to educate our members on, however it can be overwhelming at first if you have never done it, so like our goal setting we create SMALL achievable stepping stones to get there. Starting with portion control. This is the easiest way for us to help you get in the routine and rhythm with food because lets be real, TRACKING it isn’t for everyone. It can be time consuming (if you want to do it accurately), weighing, measuring and portioning out your meals. And if it feels like a chore, there’s a high chance you wont stick to it. 

THE VISUAL ASPECT 

Its also going to take some self control and discipline to stick to it but that’s it. Its all on you! 

Whether dishing up a single meal or multiple meals in advance, I want you to try gauging your portion sizes in the following way:

Divide your plate VISUALLY into thirds. Each third is space for your source of protein, carbohydrates and fats. 

With regards to protein, for men, visualise TWO palms (no fingers included) of protein dense foods with each meal. And that means YOUR palms, not those of the Incredible Hulk. (haha)

For women, ONE palm of protein dense food with each meal. I would also like to stress that protein NEEDS to be your priority. Make sure you’re getting it! 

For carbohydrates, men may visualise TWO cupped hands of carb dense foods,  women ONE cupped hand. 

When it comes to vegetables, males can throw TWO closed fists worth of veg on the plate, women ONE closed fist. 

Lastly, with fats, for men, TWO thumb size pieces of fat dense foods, ONE thumb size for women. 

So as you can see, that it! All you need is two hands and the ability to count to two! 

In closing, your hand is related to your body size, making it an excellent portable and personalised way to track food intake if you are a beginner or just wanting to start off with manageable processes to educate yourself first.

Give this method a try if you are or have struggled with portion control in the past. 

Why Challenges are GOLD!

There are many benefits to undergoing a health and fitness challenge, the list is endless however the main reason a challenge can help improve your results is simply the fact that we want to be the best version of ourselves. We naturally work harder, better and have more focus when we are given the opportunity to take on a new challenge. Also our bodies naturally respond well to either a new way of eating or a different way to training. And that is exactly what our TF Challenge is about.

So here are our main points on why we know CHALLENGES are GOLD..

Support & Accountability

 The main reason people fall off the “wagon” of success for their health and fitness goals or any goals in general is a lack of accountability or support or usually combined by both. The structure of our challenge is that there is accountability for the entire time of the duration, accountability to reach weekly goals and succeed at those particular big long term goals. When a group of people come together to work towards a similar goal or interest the support network and positive influence around us increases and in turn the success rate also dramatically increases when we have the right support group around us.

Behavioural Changes

A commitment to your health and fitness for 28 days or 6 weeks can be the first step to an ongoing re-haul to a healthier lifestyle and a good way to get your body out of a sticky spot and into new habits. Challenges are a very achievable way to increase the intensity of your results and allow your body to re-boot and be reenergised. It is also a goodtime to rest and digest. Allowing our stomach a time to rest and properly digest our foods. Having a break from over processed and over loaded with carbohydrates. Behavioural changes are a great place to start when it comes to long-term results and on going changes for the better.

Sense of Community

The sense of community that people gain from taking part of a challenge through similar experiences and the ability to be able to share their thoughts and feelings about the particular challenges at hand create a great community spirit. The knowing that people aren’t alone on their journey and can discuss it with others helps with the process of success. This is what I refer top as community association. This is ultimately why people love our challenges, as the community support is second to none.

Results

6 weeks is enough time to see results. It is a long enough period of time to see an increase in energy levels and a change in body composition. It is also a good period of time for fitness levels to increase both strength and cardiovascular fitness wise.

As you can see the benefits are endless. Nothing to lose and everything to gain. So why not join us in our next 6week challenge starting January 16th!

Are you intimidated?

Does entering a gym or fitness studio environment intimidate you?

Society now days has become so accustom to the health and fitness industry. Social media being the driving force for quiet a lot of stigma of needing to look or train a certain way.

Being society has now become accustomed to the health and fitness industry. We constantly see workouts posted all over social media ranging from Power lifting, Weight training, Circuits, Boxing, Functional training; Well the list could go on forever…literally!

Then suddenly you think, “Hey, I want to do that.”

However, something is stopping you… Fear.

Are you feeling unsure that you will not know what you are doing when you walk through the doors and into the group training environment?

We at Technofunc know that the fear of entering a gym or group fitness environment can be incredibly daunting and hear it ALL the time from new and existing members

However not if you go in with the right perspective, knowledge and training.Remember, Knowledge is power. How much do you know?

You may even find that starting may just be the hardest part of your journey. The first point we as humans must understand is that no matter who you are or what you do for a living, we are all equals.

We will find that we are all in the gym for the exact same reason- we are there for our passion for health and fitness and to achieve goals and results. We are there to better ourselves mentally and physically and look after our health ultimately!

So, rest assured that you are not alone! There are many people that feel the exact same way as you, but what could you do to put the insecurity to rest?

Here are some tips to break through those barriers!

Tip 1: Start small

Creating small achievable goals to keep yourself on track will be one of the biggest aids in your journey. By doing so this allows you to monitor how you are progressing, what changes are being made physically and mentally, as well as allowing you to conquer the smaller goals which are all leading up to that one BIG goal. That in itself feels good, how good is kicking goals right?

Tip 2: Mix It Up

Mix up your training, find what works for you and what makes you happy. Training should be something you enjoy and fills you with energy. Why not make it fun while you’re at it?
Try some new classes, alternate weights and HIIT training classes, do circuits and push your functional fitness!

Tip 3: The Buddy System

Find a friend to get you through those classes and push each other. Finding someone with similar goals will keep you accountable and ensure that you keep showing up, even when you may not want to. This will make your workouts more fun and show you that you are NOT ALONE in this.
Bringing a buddy to class, can make you feel more comfortable and more confident. This will allow you to strive to reach your full potential and not let any fear get in the way.

Tip 4: A Helping Hand

Seek the guidance of staff or Personal Trainer to help you learn the ropes with someone who knows it backwards and forwards. This is a great way to learn correct form and build trust within yourself as well as the gym environment.
A Personal Trainer is there to help make you feel comfortable and the best part is, they don’t judge you if you don’t know what you are doing! If anything, it gives them a chance to share their knowledge with you! They are there to help you reach your goals, push you to your limits and smash every single session!

Tip 5: Find Yourself A Mentor

These days the internet is filled with fitness bloggers, influencers and health professionals, finding someone who guides you and inspires you to keep going and be the best version of yourself is something you can delve into.
Perhaps you have someone who gives you great meal prep inspiration because its more than just training that makes your feel good, a well-balanced diet is equally important.
Maybe it’s someone who shares workouts that you can try out in your own time or even just admire someone who lives a HEALTHY lifestyle, someone that you look up to. It could be your neighbour, your family, a friend or even your partner.

All of these things can get you started on the right path. It doesn’t have to be something major to get you to your goal. The little steps you choose to make day after day will shape your habits, change your mindset and help kick those nerves away and get you on your way to becoming your best self.

Stay strong, stay persistent and know that each day will make a difference.

FUNCTIONAL ZONE - SLIDERS

Why don't you slide into those results you have been looking for?

Another versatile station which we utilise in a number of ways. Predominately this stations purpose is all about CORE STABILITY and CORE ENGAGEMENT..

Here we are able to utilise the markings on the sliders for 2D movements (forwards, backwards, side to side) or 3D multidirectional movements ( forwards or backwards, side to side adding in a core rotation or lower body rotation).

When you get to this station in our Technofunc workouts your hands or feet never leave the floor, so it’s a total body workout that’s low impact. If you’ve had a recent injury or have joint issues, gliding keeps your feet and hands on the floor but lets you move in all planes of motion without impact thus allowing a complete beginner OR anyone needing low impact cardio or strength exercises to get the most benefit out of the movement without jeopardising injuries.

With this station comes slider pads which are for your hands or feet and assist in engaging your core muscles throughout the full range of motion of an exercise while introducing a balance challenge.

The beauty of the sliders and slider pads is you can use them in a variety of different workouts – Dynamic, Amplify Hype and Exhilarate where you get an aerobic or dance workout, mobility, muscle shaping and strengthening moves and cardio based exercises. Just as importantly, they’re fun! A glide workout is never boring, and when you do one, you WILL feel it.

With the correct guidance and technique from our trainers they are relatively easy to use. You will however become aware of how strong or weak your core is very quickly on this station. Like anything, it takes a little time to make the movements smooth and fluid. To use them correctly we instruct to place the balls of your feet on the slider pads and keep your heels off the back to act as a brake. This gives you greater control and makes it easy to stop.

See the sliders in action… https://vimeo.com/251626631

Interactive Zone - Combo Unit

Todays station which we are going to uncover is the COMBO UNIT. This combo unit is what we refer to as our interactive zone. Our zone that literally FUNCS you up!

Here we utilise the use of touch pad sensitive wall and floor units. We have 3 stations per zone and each zone has numbers 1 through to 9 on the wall unit and floor unit.

The beauty of this zones is that it allows our members to connect their mind and body throughout the exercise. With each and every touch the system will count the repetitions of the member so that we can create some healthy competition between our members and within our classes.

Within our classes we use this zone in a variety of ways. For example, in our Dynamic Strength classes we use the numbers and lights on the floor purely foot placing and stance purposes so that our members can brace through their core correctly with each lift.

In our cardio classes we utilise the space on both wall and floor where members have to react as quick as they can to the light in order to gain the most reps.

The main purpose of this zone is to work on REACTION TIME, SPEED, AGILITY, MIND and BODY CONNECTION but FUN.. Due to the nature of the touch pad wall and floor and the member aiming to hit the lights with their hands or feet the element of FUN in hugely brought into it, and in some cases the member forgetting that they are actually working out and improving their athletic performance because they are so focused within the interactive zone!

Functional Zone - Squares

Another simple but effective station that consists of 9 small squares or even 1 larger square x3 is our SQUARES. Like dots and web this station allows you to create a very flexible and challenging core, strength or cardio workout. For example the different squares or lines within the square can be used to mark hand and foot positioning when doing planks, press ups, squat thrusts and other bodyweight movements or the lines can be utilised for foot placement when performing a squat or a small square itself can be for correct cueing for a backwards or forwards lunge or any multidirectional exercise.

There is a huge range of functional equipment that we can use and are the best to being used with the square station . These range from are power bags, aerobic steps, Olympic bars, TRX suspension straps and slam Balls just to name a few. Placed in the centre of a 3x3 square, it gives the instructor 8 distinct areas around the square that can be utilised to assist with the description of movements making it clear where you feet need to go and at what direction or plane of movement you will be working in.

The same applies if not more when we are doing our strength classes. The square system can help indicate body position and where the user should be aiming to place your feet or slam or drop the bag or ball.

An example of this would be a barbell squat where you would place your 2 feet on the middle lines for correct width for your squat. Another example is a TRX suspension curtsey lunge - where you would start with both feet in the middle square, lifting you right leg up and stepping back diagonally to the back right square and vice versa for the left side.

We are also able to utilise the square for flexibility and mobility movements which we do is select classes. Here is an example of this! https://vimeo.com/259121057

Next week we will uncover one of our INTERACTIVE zones so make sure you stay tuned!

Functional Zone - Dots

This station is what we refer to as DOTS and are a type of marking that are pretty straight forward and simple. However, from a program design point of view when we start thinking about the application of how to utilise these to the best once you really start thinking about the application, you may realise that it takes a bit of imagination and time to use them properly and to their full potential.

To put it simply you can also think of them like a big game of hopscotch or twister! Where our hands and feet can be used to utilise the space in a game like way but with purpose..

The simplest way of incorporating the DOTS into our workouts is to treat the dots like those in a giant game of Twister; hands and feet can be forced into various positions while engaging the core to hold a secure position and or moving in our multidirectional movement planes. This could mean using set movement combinations or variations on plank, press-up or stretching positions and added load or no load.

Other ways is that we can utilise them for our cardio classes for agility and speed movements that are commonplace in many sports. Another benefit of them is that they are useful in helping beginners learn the correct body positioning and footwork patterns in relation to specific exercises and movement.

Here are some links to ways in which we use the DOTS for both strength flexibility or Cardio…

https://vimeo.com/279172412

Join us next week where we will cover our next station!

Coach Channy

Why you need to be apart of Technofunc.

There is no secret that Technofunc is a completely unique Fitness Facility. Not only from the name but everything down to the workouts, atmosphere and studio we are ONE OF A KIND…

For those that attend Technofunc and are valued members of our tribe, you know first hand what we offer and deliver and the uniqueness that comes with our tribe. Those who follow us, will see member results weather that be through our 28day kickstarts, 6 week challenge or consistency over time of sticking to a plan and training schedule and the value that we aim to add to our members lives day in and day out.

We started from an idea! We wanted to bring to the industry something completely different and never seen before in Australia and we did just that.. and are about to expand with another branch!

So what i wanted to do was take this time over the next 4-6 weeks in the lead up to our second branch Technofunc Campbelltown opening is educate you on the importance of finding your tribe. ( meaning your gym)

Lets start by having full transparency in saying that this has not been and easy journey, and anyone who runs their own business will know whatever your field of work is that it is 24/7 non stop. BUT everyday, literally day in and day out it has been the most rewarding thing we have done to date because of the lessons we have learnt the results our people have gotten and the lives we have impacted.

To create a space where people love to come to better themselves is one of the most humbling yet motivating feelings in the world and literally brings a tear to my eye when i think of all our amazing members and the feedback we receive.

When we talk about the importance of health and fitness it literally comes in all shapes and sizes. There is not 1 thing that is best for everyone except healthy eating and exercise of course, but that can be delivered in so many ways. Each and every fitness facility/ program you do or have done will educate you that little bit different each and every time. What one person says the other will disagree with. So its important to find what works for you and what you are comfortable with!

We have shifted our focus in our classes at Technofunc to training movement, which allow you to utilise the bodies natural movement patterns. These are multidirectional movement patterns meaning from left to right, forward and backwards up and down, to develop strength so that when you are training, you are training to help also improve your daily functional patterns like lifting up kids, walking, sitting down and getting up, getting in and out of the car and improving your posture etc.

We have the freedom to design our classes, where we can change the intensity and the delivery of each and every exercise to suit the individuals needs and goals.

For the experience athlete/ gym goer to the fitness first timer who has never exercised before we can modify the exercise, the direction of the movement, the speed, the intensity and the progression and regression thus allowing us to cater to the needs of the members once we know their goals.

At Technofunc we have 2 zones. The Functional Zone and the Interactive Zone. Each zone is made up of a certain amount of stations which over the next 4-6 weeks we will educate you on the stations and the importance/ purpose of each.

Overall, as an introduction our focus is PURPOSE BUILT TRAINING where you can BUILD and BURN throughout the whole week. We have designed with the BUILD and BURN in mind so you can build your strength up, improve your fitness level and athletic performance all with versatility and adaptability to burning long after the workouts are complete.

Last but not least lets talk FUN….

This also is our primary driving force behind EVERYTHING that we do. Fitness does NOT have to be and shouldn’t be a hard hitting chore that makes you loath getting out of bed to go get it done! It should be fun, you should love the classes, the music the atmosphere and of course the people you workout with.

From experience, people who struggle to maintain consistency with their exercise routine it is often because they view it as not enjoyable or worth it and we believe fitness is very much a mindset thing swell as physical. To make a change, exercise should be challenging enough that our bodies are forced to adapt to the physical stress. These adaptations are created through muscle growth, strength, endurance, etc. However, within that challenge there can be enjoyment.

Put simply, if you don’t enjoy it. Don’t do it.  Viewing exercise as a chore doesn’t work for us. This brings us back to when we were kids, we got so lost in the activity, with no sense of time or what it was actually doing for our bodies. Chasing each other around or playing tip or running races wasn’t a chore or obligation it was literally just an act of enjoyment in a physical form.

So that takes us to FUNC’n up your Fitness and adding in some play to your workouts! This doesn’t mean running around popping bubbles or playing tip, we mean engage in exercise that brings you enjoyment, For example applying what we do in some of our select classes like Baller, Warrior, Ninja, Superhero. these in a sense are game like ways to workout.

With our interactive zones, our imagination and FUN at the forefront of our program design we also have found a way to deliver to our members a physical challenge with a sense of connection, playfulness, and purpose which we feel is what is missing from a lot of attitudes about exercise.

Stay tunned for next week where we uncover our Functional Zone…

Cheers

Coach Channy