Kiama Fitness — Oxygen Health & Fitness

Upcoming events and the best way to stay warm…

June 9, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Being a few weeks into Winter now, the weathers obviously getting cooler. It’s not that bad, I mean we don’t live in Melbourne but the coldest is still to come I suppose.

I’m constantly amazed at how exercise raises your core body temperature, in particular running. For instance, this morning we all walked over to the Harbour to start our Interval Run wearing hoodies, jumpers and multiple layers. I actually thought this was going to be a Kiama fitness session where we kept the jumper on for the whole session, but surprised as I was by 10 mins into the session everyone was running around in their singlets.

So, not only is exercise a great way to stay warm this Winter, but running in particular. It’s one of the best fat burners and quickest ways to increase your fitness. And there are many great running events you can be part of.

One of those, the largest running event in the world, is the City2Surf. In its 40^th year, the 14km journey is held on 8^th August and is one event not to be missed.

Everyone from elite runners to joggers, walkers and mums with prams take part. Oxygen is taking a bus to the event and I encourage everyone to get on board and register today.

If you’ve ever thought about doing it, have done it, did it years ago, whatever – click this link to register today: http://city2surf.sunherald.com.au/

Today is the deadline for the Early Bird entries, so no only do you save yourself $10 but the hassle of having to collect your bib and timing chip in Sydney. Register today and they’ll post it to you.

In order to properly prepare for this, we are starting a Saturday Runners group to improve our distance. Our first run starts this Saturday 12^th June at 6am. We have 8 weeks to get prepared.

In other news, Monday 14^th June is a public holiday and there will be no classes.

Wednesday 16^th June at 6am is our State of Origin II rematch. To be specific it is “Town of Residence” and the people of Kiama will take on the Rest of the World in a game of Touch footy over at Black Beach. Fitness games in Kiama, gotta love it.

The Big Game - Town of Residence

So in summary, you gotta run to stay warm and we’ve got plenty of that down at Oxygen. Come get some!

Filed Under: Blog, Events/News Tagged With: Fitness Games Kiama, Kiama Fitness, winter training kiama

APOLA Conference in Kiama

May 17, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Oxygen was asked to conduct a Core Fitness Session for the Lifeguards Workshop at the Australian Professional Ocean Lifeguards Association (APOLA) National Conference held at The Pavilion Kiama – 29 April 2010.

Australian Lifeguard of the Year Andy Mole consulted with Oxygen’s up and coming Personal Trainer, and Lifeguard, Ali Day regarding our availability for the 3 day National Conference.

We were then invited to present a practical workshop on “Lifeguard Fitness – Maintaining Core Strength”. The workshop was well received by all, and we even had some of the lifeguards from TV’s “Bondi Rescue” stay back after the session to share their feedback, stories and a few laughs as well.

Filed Under: Events/News Tagged With: apola conference, bondi rescue, Kiama Fitness, kiama lifeguards

Kiama Fitness Group In the Spotlight

April 1, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Seems as though we’re attracting a lot of attention lately at Oxygen Health & Fitness. With record numbers still turning out for our morning Kiama Boot Camp Classes, plenty of good feedback from local residents and business owners, plus the ongoing enquiries I had a feeling we were doing ok.

Now there’s even extra attention throughout the region as the below photo demonstrates. The group pictured here in Orange at our very own Hindmarsh Park training grounds in Kiama is none other than the Wests Tigers Rugby League team. As well as they may be playing on the field at the moment, they just couldn’t seem to match you guys with the Boxing rounds you’ve been smashing out lately. It certainly was interesting to see the methods and training protocols the Personal Trainers were using with these professional athletes and it reinforced to me just how fit and committed our Oxygen members are.

Wests Tigers in action. They might have Marshall, Tuqiri, Farrah but I'd still rather have Starling, Philp and Miller on my side...

On the topic of attention, as a Kiama Personal Trainer I was interviewed last week by the Illawarra Mercury about “ways to stay motivated through the cooler months”. This article will be published next Wednesday with photographs from TONIGHT’S Interval Run session. The photographer is coming down for 6pm tonight so I ask everyone to turn out in force with your Oxygen shirt or singlet on. When you consider there’s no Saturday Boxing session and no classes AT ALL on Monday, you’re gunna need tonight’s session to get a head start on all those Easter eggs and Hot Cross Buns that’ll be consumed this weekend!
So in summary, you’re as fit as a professional footballer, I‘m proud of you and you need to get to class tonight to make up for the Easter calories! Happy Easter from all of us at Oxygen Kiama, drive safe this looooong weekend and don’t forget Stretch 6am tomorrow morning then no classes until next Tuesday.

Filed Under: Blog, Events/News Tagged With: Hindmarsh Park Kiama, kiama boot camp, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Personal Trainer, Oxygen Health & Fitness, oxygen kiama

How to Keep Your Cool with Fitness Training in Kiama

February 25, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Being the last week of summer we’re obviously looking at lower temperatures over the next 6 months. I’ve had a few clients, friends and even curious onlookers ask me what we do in the cooler conditions of autumn and winter.

Well I’m here to tell you, NOTHING CHANGES! In the rain, we still train. In the cool, let exercise rule. If there’s a gale, we’re training, don’t bail. If it gets cold, keep moving, don’t fold. If there’s lightening, we may stop, that’s frightening.

But seriously, why would we do anything different?

For me personally, Autumn is my favourite time of year, especially for training. Instead of humid, sweaty sessions we get fresh, crisp conditions. It’s the time of year for some of the most spectacular sunrises you will ever see. It’s not hot but it’s not cold either, it’s just right.

There are some great fitness related events coming up that we can focus our energies towards, including a number of south coast 5km fun runs such as: Shellharbour Festival of Sport Shell Cove Fun Run (next Sunday), The Mother’s Day Classic (in May) and the Kiama Health, Sport & Fitness Expo. There’s the very first Kiama Relay for Life on the 1st of May which is a great community event that raises money for the Cancer Council. Oxygen will have a big presence at the Relay for Life and we will be looking for your support on a day where we will be remembered, thats for sure. For distance and longer runs there’s the Sutherland to Surf, Bondi to Bronte, and City2Surf – the world’s largest running event.

Not long after that, I’ll be competing in my 3rd Sydney Tower Run-Up. That’s a run up the stairs of Centrepoint Tower, all 1508 steps. It sounds crazy and it probably is, but there’s nothing more rewarding than achieving a goal you have set for yourself. All these are external events to Oxygen Kiama, but something we can train for collectively as a fitness group.

Internal events within Oxygen include our very first “Road Trip” at the end of March to a mystery location, as well as a local session with a couple of “special guest” Trainers that’s not to be missed. There’s a very green St Patrick’s Day session, Dave’s Birthday Bash in April, an ANZAC themed training session and for Winter Solstice in June (the shortest day of the year) there are some super sessions we’ve put together titled “short and sweet”. You’re gunna love ‘em.

We have some great info in the latest “Richly Rewarding Living” newsletter which you will all receive in the mail soon. In there we share tips on how to avoid the blues and stick to your Winter training schedule. Hydration, nutrition, recovery and the right clothing will all contribute to your performance levels. Not only functional but also very trendy – check out the design of our Oxygen hoodies below. These will sell fast so grab one of the first 20 by paying your $50 at class now. First in, best dressed!

Oxygen Hoodie

Filed Under: Articles, Blog, Events/News Tagged With: Fitness Training in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama fitness group, oxygen fitness, oxygen kiama, south coast fun runs

New Year's Resolutions Gain Momentum with Kiama Fitness Group

January 14, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

It happens every year – the clock strikes midnight on December 31st and billions around the world pledge to get fit, lose weight, eat healthier and improve ourselves generally.

I’m pleased to say though, that members of Oxygen Health & Fitness are leading the way for the Kiama Municipality.

Despite the infamous Xmas break known for excess weight gain, several members have been able to not only avoid the Xmas calories but lose weight and improve their fitness. Due to the monthly Fitness Age Testing held at Oxygen, members have been able to track their progress, keep themselves accountable and work towards their goals. We’ve seen improvements in strength and flexibility by up to 50% and as much as 4 kg weight losses in 4 weeks. Great stuff guys, keep it up!

My own personal resolutions have been to do 3-4 strength training workouts a week, stick to my weekly menu which means eating healthy nutritious food every 3 hours and better management of my time.

It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in a day if you just take a little time the night before to plan out your day.

Each Saturday we do our weekly grocery shop (carrying our Oxygen grocery bags of course!) so that our fridge and cupboards are stocked for the week ahead. When you are organised in this regard, you have nutritious healthy food ready to go and I often tell my Personal Training clients that “nutrition is the foundation of all health and fitness”. It gives you the energy you need to get through life’s daily tasks; it affects your mood and helps your body repair itself from the physiological effects of exercise.

If you need help organising your diet and nutrition click here for a 30 day Metabolic Jumpstart from one of Australia’s leading nutritionist. It’ll be the best $30 you could spend this year and will have you on track to achieve all your goals in 2010 (Don’t forget to quote OXYGEN as your referral code).

Whatever your long term goal, break it down it into smaller short term goals to increase your chances of success and help maintain motivation. Compile a list of tasks to do each week and tick them off on your way to success.

If you can honestly tick off all your weekly tasks, you’ll be on track for your short term goals. If you continue to achieve your short term goals you WILL achieve success in the long term.

Who knows, you might even WIN member of the month for a particular Kiama Fitness group!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Fitness in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama fitness group

Week 1 Bonuses at Oxygen

January 6, 2010 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Happy New Year! Welcome back to Oxygen Health & Fitness for 2010.

Training is underway again for both Group Training classes as well as Personal Training sessions and we are very excited about the year ahead. If you received our Newsletter in the mail at Xmas time don’t forget to utilise the Bring a Friend Gift Certificate before it expires 31st January. What a perfect way to get your friends started on a health & fitness program.

Most of our clients know of our Trainer Alix Henniker. Alix is a multi talented young woman who amongst juggling a career as a Personal Trainer and Solicitor, has now qualified for training to become a Police Prosecutor. Along with this Alix has been selected to appear in the upcoming TV series “The Recruits” which sees rookies entering the Police Academy in Goulburn.

Alix Henniker - The Recruit

The Recruits Production Manager has requested to film Alix at work doing what she does best for Oxygen. So, with that in mind we have decided to put on a BONUS workout this Friday at 5:30pm – 6pm as our New Year gift to you. It’s a good chance to get an extra session to start your year and you may even get your mug on TV!

It would be a huge favour to Alix and some great publicity for Oxygen if we could get as many people as possible for the session. Members, non members, wives, husbands, friends, whoever – if they have any interest in doing a good deed and kickstarting their health and fitness for 2010 then please email or call us asap (4233 2963) to confirm your spot.

There has been a slight tweak to our Group Training Timetable this year with a re-arrangement of 6pm sessions and also the addition of a CORE class for our 6am Bootcampers. Keep an eye out for additional classes being added at 7:30am for our Heart Health crew, 9:30am for the Mums and Shiftworkers and also afternoon classes for the Kids. We’ll have Oxygen shirts running around all day long by the end of the year.

Just on that note, be sure to add your comments at the bottom of this blog post for anything you’d like to see added to our schedule for 2010 (be that timeslots, class types etc).

As for Week 1, we have seen some good numbers in attendance. With a few people still on holidays and a tonne of people with New Year’s Resolutions to be fit, health and lose weight, January and February should mean busy times ahead.

On the topic of resolutions and being fit, did you know there are 5 key components to a successful exercise program? One of those important steps is to assess where you are at right now. It’s one thing to know where you want to go but if you don’t know where you are right now how can you measure your improvements? Oxygen has the answer…

Fitness Age testing takes girth measurements all over your body – weight, strength testing, abdominal endurance, cardiovascular and flexibility assessments and calculates your Body Age, Strength Age, Cardio Age, Flexibility Age as well as an overall Fitness Age. Oxygen conducts Group Fitness Age testing on the first Saturday of every month at 6:30am before Boxing.

For those of you who have already done Fitness Age testing before, you need to reassess to see if you have improved. For those who have never completed Fitness Age testing, I highly recommend you participate. It’s that perfect time of year to record your assessment so that you have a roadmap for where you need to get to in terms of fitness and health in 2010.

Good luck, train hard and may all your wishes come true in 2010.

Regards,

Dave Lambert

P.S – Don’t forget to leave your comments below to tell us what you’d like to see from Oxygen in 2010. You may even want to publicly declare your health and fitness goals via this blog to keep yourself accountable. Don’t laugh about it, it works!

Filed Under: Articles, Blog, Events/News Tagged With: fitness assessments kiama, Fitness in Kiama, fitness testing kiama, Fitness Training in Kiama, group training kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Fitness Training, kiama group fitness, kiama new years resolutions, Kiama Personal Trainers, Kiama Personal Training, Kiama Weight Loss

Start of Summer

December 4, 2009 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Summer is here!

Summer is here! Can you believe it? Here we are in December already – almost another year gone. If your year has been anything like mine, it’s probably felt very quick and very busy at the same time. 2010 promises to be an exciting year, I can’t wait!

Before 2009 comes to an end there’s still plenty happening. Tomorrow we have our second instalment of Fitness Age Testing at 6:30am before Boxing at 7:30am. For all those members who participated last time, this is your chance to re-test yourself and see where you have improved. For some of our new members, or those that missed it last time, I highly recommend you participate. It is a powerful motivational tool that can help you stick to your training and improve your results. Fitness Age Testing will be conducted the first Saturday of every month.

Next week we will celebrate with the Oxygen Xmas Party on Friday 11th December. Held at the Blue Diamond Bar in the Sebel Hotel, the festivities will kick off at 7pm with beer, wine and soft drinks provided. A delicious menu will be served up to those in attendance. Cost is $28 pp and payable by Thursday 10th December. Please RSVP to cass@oxygenfit.com.au

The following day, Saturday 12th December, the Oxygen Team will be playing host to a division of the Nestle chocolate company. They have requested some family fun activities for the 40 staff and family members that are coming down to stay at The Sebel that weekend. With about 90 minutes worth of games, fitness and fun on the agenda all we need now is some sunshine on the day. With plenty of experience at these events with corporate businesses and sporting teams it should turn out to be a great day.

Mmmm.....Nestle

To finish off the year, our last official class will be Boxing at 7.30am on Saturday 19th December.
The day after, Sunday 20th December, Oxygen Health & Fitness will have a stall at the Kiama Seaside Markets on Black Beach. I encourage you to come down and check out the stalls on offer and stop in to say hi. The markets run from 9am-12pm. There are sure to be a couple of great last minute Xmas gifts on offer.

The week of December 21-24 I will be a doing a few casual exercise sessions and if anyone is interested and has the time please contact the office on 4233 2963 to come and join me for some fun.

Group Training Classes will resume on Monday 4th January 2010 with plenty of exciting initiatives for the year ahead. Bring it on!

Filed Under: Blog, Events/News Tagged With: Fitness in Kiama, Fitness Training in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Personal Trainer, Personal Trainers in Kiama, Personal Training in Kiama

What age do you wanna be?

November 5, 2009 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

We have a great new initiative this weekend for all our Group Training clients with the introduction of Fitness Age testing. FitnessAge is a fitness assessment that health professionals use to guide an individual through a series of physical tests, record the results, and then calculate that persons “FitnessAge”.

There is no magic formula here, rather, just a new way of looking at the industry established fitness statistics from over 60,000 people who have taken these same tests. From the data, we are able to easily see the performance averages for males and females at all age levels.

For example, the average 37 year old female has a recovery heart rate (from the step test) of 109 beats. Therefore, any female who achieves a recovery rate of 109 will receive a CardioAge of 37. The same is applied to each area of fitness to produce a BodyAge, CardioAge, FlexAge and StrengthAge, which when averaged = your FitnessAge.

The first testing session will be held Saturday November 7th at 6.30am before Boxing.

The test all up will take 30-45 mins and although not compulsory is highly recommended. Each participant’s results are entered into our computer and instantly emailed a copy of the results. The figures are then stored on file for future refernence and make a great motivational tool when you look back over time and see how mcuh you have improved.

Fitness Age tests will be conducted every first Saturday of the month at 6.30am. Your results will not be shared with anyone else but will make a great personal guide for you in knowing what specific area you need to work on to improve your Fitness Age. You need to know where you are at right now if you wish to improve.

How do you know you’ve reached your destination if you dont know where you are going?

I look forward to seeing everyone improve their Fitness Age and results so you can live a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Fitness in Kiama, Fitness Training in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Personal Trainer, Kiama Weight Loss Info, Personal Trainers in Kiama

Oxygen is Underway

October 12, 2009 By Dave Lambert 2 Comments

Sunday 11th October saw the Official Launch of Oxygen Health & Fitness. The festivities kicked off at Hindmarsh Park Kiama where 20 people boarded the Oxygen Mini Bus bound for Werri Lagoon. From there we witnessed the opening of The Kiama Coastal Track by Mayor Sandra McCarthy, a 6km stretch between Gerringong and Kiama that has been 9 years in the making.

The crowd was huge, the views were amazing and nature even turned on a performance for us too with a spectacular sunny day and a pod of whales coming out to play for the visitors. The pounding of huge seas into the headlands also added to the atmosphere of the morning. We made our target of completing the track just before 11am and then it was back onto the bus with the warm up completed.

Just after 11am we arrived back at Hindmarsh Park,our new base, to be greeted by a few more participants for our Punch in the Park Boxing Session. By this stage it was really starting to heat up but despite a few sun burns the crew battled on for the hour and showed the people of Kiama how to pack a punch.

Oxygen would like to thank all in attendance for making it such a great day and helping us gain an immediate presence. There were a few enquiries on the coastal walk about who we are and what we do and there were certainly lots of curious onlookers at Hindmarsh Park during the boxing session.

I’m sure we will look back at this blog post in years to come and reminisce about how it all began. Stay tuned…

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Fitness in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Personal Trainer, Personal Training in Kiama

Five Tips for Making Kiama Fitness a Priority

September 23, 2009 By Dave Lambert Leave a Comment

Committing to a Kiama fitness program is really hard. It’s tough to stay motivated when you are the only one saying you have to do it. It’s hard to see the fruit of your labours when some of them are only measurable with a doctor’s complex testing and instrumentation. It’s exceedingly easy to be consumed by the responsibilities of life and it’s really easy to tell yourself that one more day won’t make a difference.

To make Fitness a priority in your life, you need to give yourself as many reasons and as many helpful tools as you can. Here you’ll find five great tips for making fitness a priority in life, rather than an afterthought.

5 Tips To Make Health And Fitness A Life Priority

Clarify your undeniable need for fitness, enlist some help, and pencil—no pen—fitness in to make sure that you live well and live long.

Write it down—what gets done in the course of your day? The things you’ve made time for. Exercise should be top of that list because it is what will ensure that you are around to do more and live better. Schedule time for fitness just as you would for getting dressed, working, and attending important meetings. Block out your time for fitness in your daily planner first so that you make the time. Schedule exercise in at a time that makes sense and the rest around it.

Buddy up—get a friend to be your fitness buddy; or, if a friend isn’t interested or available, partner with a like-minded acquaintance and make him or her your friend and fitness buddy. Having a buddy makes fitness fun and (close to) painless and helps you support each other. You’ll find that the reasons you give your buddy to go on work for you, too!

Make a list—list all the reasons why you want to get fit and be healthy. This helps you set fitness goals, motivates you with clear reasoning, and works as a reminder for those times when ambition is waning. Refer back to your fitness list to see what goals you’ve accomplished, what goals need revamping or replacing, and for general motivation.

Reward yourself—create a reward system as further motivation; with one rule—your reward cannot be food. Give yourself something worth working for, something that promotes fitness, and something with lasting motivational power. A massage treatment, new clothes/wardrobe, a long weekend or vacation, or new recreational or even fitness activity are some good rewards to start with.

Look to the pros—the guidance and support of a good personal trainer is unbeatable as a prioritization strategy for Kiama fitness. A personal trainer will help you in innumerable ways by making exercise more enjoyable, more ‘do’-able, providing ongoing information and support, structuring a fitness program tailor-made for you, and being a general source of motivation. You’ll find that keeping that appointment time and being accountable to someone else helps, too.

You’ll find these five simple tips for prioritizing fitness in your life will go a long way toward your success on the Kiama fitness trail. Small changes like these can make a big impact and really help you keep your good health and well being at the forefront of your list of things that need doing.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Fitness in Kiama, Kiama Fitness, Kiama Fitness Trainer