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In the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, let's chat about staying active while enjoying the festivities. We are fast approaching the holiday season, for many of us that means family gatherings, lots of delicious foods, maybe some time off work, or even a holiday away. December and January can prove to be a busy time for most, it can be easy to let your fitness routine slip. But what if I told you it doesn't have to be that way? There are many ways to help you stay active

I'm sure you have heard at some stage in your life a myth about strength training for women. I'm here to debunk some of the common misconceptions. A topic that has brought controversy over the years is strength training for women. Unfortunately, many misconceptions are still floating around, especially on social media. Firstly, I want to start by saying strength training is so important for women and you should not fear it in any way! I want to break down some common myths to

Proper lifting technique and form are crucial to avoiding injury and keeping you lifting as you age. Prioritising your form when training is vital to achieving your goals, and more importantly, avoiding injuries. No matter your experience level, you must always focus on executing exercises with proper technique. Here are some of the key reasons why focusing on your exercise technique and form is so important: Injury Prevention: Improper form and poor technique can lead to unn

What is intra-workout nutrition and should you even consider it? Have you ever heard the term "intra-workout nutrition"? This type of nutrition has been a bit of a hot topic lately in the fitness world. So let's talk about it! What is Intra-Workout Nutrition?  Intra-workout nutrition refers to nutrients that you consume during your training session. This type of nutrition can help you maintain energy levels, enhance performance, and accelerate recovery.  Types of Intra-Wo

We've talked about pre-workout nutrition in a previous blog, so now let's discuss post-workout nutrition and how it could benefit you and your recovery... Fuelling your body after a workout is just as important as fuelling your body before a workout. Pre-workout nutrition will help give you the energy to complete your training session, whereas, post-workout nutrition will help you recover from your session. Ensuring you have a balanced meal after training will help promote re

A structured training program will always be the way to go if you want to see consistent results. Let's talk about why... Winging it at the gym just won't cut it if you are serious about making consistent improvements. Yes, you can definitely go to the gym and just do whatever exercise comes to mind, but by doing so you are less likely to have a productive session that takes you closer toward your goals. Following a structured workout plan can significantly enhance your progr

Between weight lifting, cardio, pilates, CrossFit, yoga and all the other endless forms of exercise, it can be challenging to navigate which is best for you and your goals. I totally understand the confusion many face when they join a gym or consider starting up an exercise routine, many ask “What type of exercise should I be doing?” or “What type of exercise is right for me?”. When there are so many different styles of exercise out there, it can be hard to know what is the b

Have You Ever Wondered What to Bring to the Gym? Let’s talk about some essentials to take to the gym for each workout, and some other handy items to consider keeping in your gym bag… For some this may seem like a pretty obvious question. However, if you are new to the gym, it is nice to feel prepared on your first visit and I hope to give you some guidance in regards to that. Before signing up for a new gym, you want to try and check it out beforehand. It is always a smart id

What is gym etiquette and why is it important? We should all be striving to be the best version of ourselves, both physically and mentally. People go to the gym for a variety of reasons and we all deserve the opportunity to enjoy our workout. When we first join a gym, we sign a contract, this contract will likely state in some way that we need to be respectful and considerate of those around us when working out. This includes when we enter the gym and also when we leave the g

Have you ever wondered how fast or slow you should be completing each rep of an exercise? This is where we can manipulate our training tempo and Time Under Tension… Tempo training/training tempo in relation to resistance training is the speed at which you complete a single repetition of an exercise. We can modify our training tempo for different exercises to manipulate the amount of stress our muscles are under during a specific exercise. When we are strength training, we use

You may have heard that you need to be progressively overloading in order to make progress in the gym, but what exactly does that mean? Progressive overload put simply, means to gradually increase the intensity or difficulty of your strength training over time. This promotes the development of muscle mass. This is due to the fact that our body needs to adapt and get stronger in order to keep up with the increased load and demand. The progressive overload method helps to ensur

Which order is more optimal for your goals? Let's discuss... A common question I get from clients is “Should I do cardio before or after weights?” Now there is no simple answer to this question. The more optimal combination is very dependent on your current goals . So let’s dive into this a little deeper… If your current goals are strength-focused then ideally you want to do cardio after your weights session, or alternatively split your cardio into a completely different sess

Can cardio hinder your strength training results? Should you be doing cardio if you are in a calorie surplus? People usually have a love/hate relationship with cardio, and others just have a hate relationship with cardio. All jokes aside, cardio is excellent for your cardiovascular health. It is also commonly utilised in a fat loss phase to help drive fat loss further. So if cardio is used in a fat loss phase, then that must mean we don’t do it when in a building phase? The a

Are you stretching after every workout? Do you know the importance? Let's get you educated on all things stretch! Many of you would have heard that it is important to stretch, especially after a workout - But you may be asking why? Stretching in general on a daily basis can provide the body with so many wonderful benefits both physically and also mentally, but stretching after a workout is especially important to help reduce the risk of injury and promote recovery. I know the

Do you know the difference between muscle soreness and pain? Don't get them confused. In our last article, we spoke about muscle soreness. If you have not read my post on “Is soreness an indication of a good workout?” Then I would highly recommend it! Continuing on from this, we are going to explore the difference between muscle soreness and pain, and how pain can be a sign of injury. It is important to note the difference between muscle soreness and pain, as they are two ver

We all get sore from time to time when training, but does soreness actually indicate a good workout? Being sore after working out is totally normal and we have all likely experienced this before. As a beginner lifter, you are more likely to be sore on and off after your workouts for some weeks, until your body adapts to the style and intensity of the training you are doing. However, being sore after every single workout after you’ve passed the newbie lifter phase is not a sig

What to do when the gym is busy and your go-to equipment is taken. Depending on the time of day that you train, a super busy gym will be more of an issue for some of us than others. If you train during peak times, e.g. 5 am-7 am or 5 pm-7 pm, you would have most likely experienced getting to the gym, looking around, and thinking “Great everything I need is taken”. So what now? Do you just turn around, walk out of the gym, and leave?? NOOOOOO!! You have just made an effort to

Overtraining is a real issue, here are a few signs to watch out for to ensure you stay safe. It is very common to get a little carried away with reaching our goals, we may be feeling like we are on a roll and nothing can stop us now! Now don’t get me wrong, being dedicated to our goals and smashing our workouts every week is a great habit to get into and I absolutely encourage hard work and dedication. It is one of the foundations of great results. However, overtraining is a

We have all been there. Yes, even those crazy fit and muscular guys and girls in the gym, we all started somewhere. I can assure you, no one came into this world lifting weights straight out of the womb. Just like when we are young, we need to learn and acquire skills. Not everything comes to us naturally, we have to wire up our brains to complete certain tasks in certain ways. Just like taking our very first steps, heading into the gym for the first time can be scary. The di

When you are choosing a comp prep coach to help you with your journey to the stage, you must take into consideration many different factors