Do you read me? Over. This is a calling! If you don’t already know, our running group has been, well running for over two years now and is a great addition to your training program. Another reason why I like Body Mechanix so much… It’s free. No catches, the only thing you’ll expend is energy and that’s in a good way. Come rain or shine (and let’s face it, it is Melbourne after all), Paul Blair, one of our resident trainers will be waiting at Body Mechanix every Saturday morning to take you on a little journey. Maybe of self discovery but mostly just down the road for some fun running exercises and drills designed to give you a good old fashioned workout WHATEVER your fitness level might be. So, the logistics are below.

WHAT IS IT?

• A running group that includes bodyweight and running based exercises that are tailored for all fitness levels and abilities

WHY?

• It’s free to all clients!
• Improves general fitness and well being
• Begin your Saturday morning with an injection of Vitamin D and endorphins!
• Compliments your existing weekly PT sessions.

WHEN?

• Every Saturday morning at 9am!
• Meet at Body Mechanix studio
• Bring water bottle, towel, suncream and hat.
• Back by 10am

As an insight as to what can be expected, Paul has kindly put pen to paper and scribbled the following for your perusal.

“A wet Saturday morning obviously deterred runners away last week. We had 4 runners this week of which 3 were new to the group. Our run started at the Body Mechanix Personal Training Studio to Aberfeldie Park. No one got lost and it was a nice warm up at a moderate pace. As there was 3 newcomers we took things easy. At the park we completed 4 runs of increasing intensity. Roughly running at 50,60,75 and 95% of each persons maximum heart rate.  After a good stretch we took a light run back to the studio.  Next Week we’ll be focusing on stride patterns and assistance exercises and the following week will be on the trial around the Maribynong. ”

That’s the great thing about our running group… Everyone is pushed individually and as a group it’s at YOUR own pace. Everyone is different and at Body Mechanix we focus on inclusion for all, regardless of ability. If you’ve got the desire and motivation to start your weekend off the right way then a big thumbs up from the team here at Body Mechanix.

I’ve decided to write an diet book. It’s going to make me millions. It’s called The Moderation Diet. I’ll give you the synopsis for free just because I like you. You can drop the cheque in to the studio.

Synopsis

Gluten Free is not the second coming of Christ, Atkins will not ensure you a place in the afterlife and the South Beach Diet will definitely not make you look or feel like a movie star. My Moderation Diet is simple! Eat less calories than you burn. Eat a variety of fresh foods from the perimeter aisles of the supermarket in roughly equal quantities. Try to eat  foods of different colors on a daily basis. Cut processed foods and fast foods, but indulge in a treat on occasion. If you’re craving a particular food, eat it. If you have any adverse negative reactions to a food, test  it out at least one or two times before abandoning it altogether. Don’t stop eating one particular food because the popular media hyped it as causing cancer, obesity, or gout based on the results of a  singular questionable study. Be sensible. Enjoy preparing, cooking and eating your food. Most of all, be happy!

So what do you think? Can I retire now? If common sense prevails then it shouldn’t sell one copy becuase everyone knows the above, don’t they? The irony of common sense is that it’s not all that common after all. With all the data that exists today in 2012, why on earth are we still convincing ourselves that there is a quick fix answer to  weight other than eating healthily and taking regular exercise? Sure there are certain factors (hormones, emotional well being and medication to name a few) that make it harder for people to lose weight at certain points in their life but for the vast majority of you that are overweight, the “Moderation Diet” will work just fine. I’m not blaming google search, TV or glossy magazines for distorting the truth, it’s what you choose to believe that dictates your enviroment.

At Body Mechanix, we’re all about moderation in all aspects of our lives, come in to the Studio sometime, say hello and we can tell you more.

The Body Mechanix Team.

Ok, this infogram says it all, so with little else we can add here, we hope you enjoyed it and feel free to share it via whatver method you like!

Two and a half months ago I started at Body Mechanix as Studio Manager. A big change for me from managing health clubs and gyms but an overwhelming desire to affect change in people’s lives as well as a genuine interest in tailoring fitness solutions to suit all manner of people, I was and still am excited about working at Body Mechanix. Bindy Amin was the first person I officially signed up so being new to the role, Bindy’s progress has always been of particular interest to me. Not just because of the above, but because of Bindys overwhelming desire to lose weight and achieve her long term goals.  Bindy’s complete matter of fact attitude and bluntness always amazed me when speaking of her weight and she would often grab her belly and state “this… has to go!”

Bindy’s starting weight was 74kg and pairing her up with Ayden, I just knew that she would see results in no time at all. From the word go, Bindy put everything she had in to the sessions. A little unsure at first of these new and foreign exercises that Ayden had prescribed, Bindy was always willing to give them a go and put her trust in Ayden, Body Mechanix and it’s methods. We’ve always preached the importance of a clean diet and following basic nutritional guidance that we give is what wins the race. You could be training like the proverbial “nutter” five days a week but if your eating habits don’t reflect your new found dedication for physical exercise, good luck because you might as well pan for gold instead. Lose weight, maintain weight, add muscle, condition, whatever your goal, your eating is paramount. Any fitness professional worth their salt will tell you the same and if they disagree, send them my way.

Bindy Amin took this information and literally ran with it. Results diary filled in? “Yup!” Following the guidance in Nutrition Complete? “Every day!” Eating your calculated daily calories and healthy options? “YES!” Well, two and a half months later and 10kg lighter, Bindy is now setting new goals with Ayden to take her fitness to altogether new level. On a personal note, I’d like say a massive well done to Bindy and a big thank you for trusting us and our methods! Also thanks to Ayden for following up with relevant nutritional advice on every session and thanks to Romney, the owner of Body Mechanix for giving me the chance to help people reach their goals and literally change lives. As the majority of you don’t know Bindy Amin, take a look at the photos below of Bindy before her transformation.

So, if you see Bindy in the studio then say hello and congratulate her on a job well done! As for me, the title of this post is “A benchmark for Bindy and for me” and seeing the results that my inital sign up has experienced, it confirms my thoughts that I made the right choice!

23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

This video is doing the rounds at the moment and creating a fever in the health and fitness world. Even so, we thought that it deserves to be displayed on our blog in case anyone missed it the first time around on our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/BodyMechanixPersonalTraining , courtesy of Dr Louise Nelson, one of our clients. In the video, a Doctor/Professor answers the old question “What is the single best thing we can do for our health” in a completely new way. Dr. Mike Evans is founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. We don’t want to spoil it for you so just watch the beautiful illustrations and soak up the information. Let us know what you think.

For those parents out there, Dr Mike Evans has recenlty posted a second similar video, enjoy! You can follow Dr Evans on Twitter @docmikeevans

Concussions 101, a Primer for Kids and Parents

If you’ve just stumbled on to this blog then you’re not going mad, it wasn’t here yesterday. Or it might have been depending on when you’re reading this first post. But lets just say that it’s pretty spanking new and offers the chance for anyone to access ongoing insights, musings and education on a plethora of health, fitness and nutritional subjects from the team at Body Mechanix. We’ll occasionally drift off onto a tangent, and we may post an occasional video clip or two. But for the most part, we’ll stick to writing about optimising physical health and performance through the application of a healthy lifestyle.

Disclaimer: We’re not here to please everyone. We’re not here to talk about building rock hard abs in five minutes,  nor how to loose 10kg in two weeks or even how to build biceps like Brad Pitt in Troy using secret techniques passed down through broscience (Broscience is the predominant brand of reasoning in fitness circles where the anecdotal reports of dudes are considered more credible than scientific research). If that’s what you’re looking for on this blog (or in life for that matter) then good luck because none of the above are achievable or exist. That’s a FACT.

Fact, now that’s a good topic for discussion. Above jokes aside, Body Mechanix promises to offer up-to-date information that is backed up with reliable, credible information. The health and fitness industry is awash with urban myth and with the advent of this blessed information superhighway, we all know if a statement is repeated enough times in any format then it becomes starts to become the truth. Remember the Cigarette adverts of the 1950? If you didn’t then take a look below…

OK, that’s a little extreme but a great example of what people used to believe. Smoking was all about coll and calm and it didn’t matter if you were a movie star or a housewife, it was good for you, it made you feel like a winner. Except that now we know that you don’t. you look stupid while slowly killing yourself. Awesome. All that I ask in reading all of our future posts is to keep a critically thinking mind and also remember that we’ll try and keep things backed up with empirical evidence.

Our aim is to post once a week at the moment with blogs entries rotating through our core business topics discussed earlier. If you wish to comment then please go ahead. This blog should be a conduit for interaction between members, non members, team members and anyone elses that wishes to involve themselves in enriching each others health and fitness through exposing myths and questioning current belief systems through continious learning and promoting connectivity with likeminded people.

So if there’s is a topic in particular that you want us to cover then just let us know and vote with your fingers. Enjoy the content!

Body Mechanix Team.