Sunday 31 August 2014

Sugar Free September...

Today is the last day of winter!! Tomorrow we wake up and Spring should be in the air! The days will start getting longer and beach days won't be too far behind.

I posted this photo on my instagram a few days ago...


A challenge to go Sugar Free for the whole of September. A photo challenge to post a refined sugar free photo each day of the month. I love this challenge and I am looking forward to getting a bit more creative with my instagram as well as completely ditching sugar.

Are you up for the challenge? Could you go a whole month without the sweet stuff? Are you sweet enough?

To offer a bit of encouragement to you all I have decided to run a competition to those that want to take part in Sugar Free September.

Successfully complete Sugar Free September including a refined sugar free photo each day of the month and you will go in the draw to win ONE MONTH FREE one on one personal training with yours truly.

And here is the fine print for the competition.
1. Your refined sugar free photo must be posted each day to my facebook page so that we can all keep each other motivated. Jump over now and like my page here and be sure to upload and tag me in your photo each day.
2. There will be two one on one personal training packages awarded at the end of September. Winners will be selected randomly.
3. New clients will receive two 30 minute PT sessions a week and existing clients can double their number of weekly sessions already booked. The sessions must be taken over the four week period in October.
4. Personal training sessions to be taken at Fitness First Balgowlah where you will need to be a current member.

Good luck and have fun!! I can't wait to see your pictures!!

Leg press...

Some love it, some hate it! Me, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it! But there is no denying that the leg press is a pretty awesome machine for building up strength and lean mass in your legs.

And what is so good about the leg press is that you can hit some many different parts of your legs with the leg press simply by changing the position of you feet on the platform.

So here is a picture of the muscles in your legs, a front view...

and a back view...


The standard position with your feet in the middle of the platform, feet about hip width will work predominantly the quadriceps muscles, which are at the front of your thigh, and also your gluteus maximus, your bum.


Move your feet vertically up the platform to a high, standard position and you will take the emphasis off your quads, leaving the glutes to work alongside your hamstrings, so the back of your legs.


Move your feet vertically down the platform to a low, standard position and this makes the exercise even more challenging on the quads than the standard position.


A wide stance, so wider than your shoulders, will target the inner quads and the adductor magnus and a narrow stance, feet together, will ensure you are targeting the outer quads and the muscles on the outside of your hips known as the abductor muscles.

 

Move the balls of your feet to the bottom of the platform and you have yourself an exercise for your gastrocnemius; a big muscle in your calves.


The leg press is a great machine but because you are in a seated position you recruit less of the stabilising muscles and your core. Please make sure when using the leg press in your lower body work-outs that you still incorporate the big compound movements like squats, deadlifts and lunges.

Have fun!

Sunday 3 August 2014

New chapters...

I am a creature of habit. I love routines. I eat the same thing for breakfast every morning; I get this habit from my Dad. I do the same thing in the shower each morning, in the same order. I can't help it, I am a stickler for routines.

Having a new born baby has taught me that not every minute of the day has to be planned. Frankie has taught me that it is ok to not get everything done that needs to be done. It doesn't matter if the house doesn't get vacuumed. If the washing doesn't come in off the line. I have learnt that I should sit; sit and enjoy being her Mum; cuddle her for as long as I want. I can now go and sit in a coffee shop for half an hour instead of getting a take away on the run. I can sit and smile at her, hold her and enjoy my latte.


Having said that, I am looking forward to Frankie getting in to a routine. She is not likely to do this for another four to six weeks until her biological clock has developed a little more. Until then I am going to enjoy her random feeding times, her unusual three hour day time sleeps that seem to happen every now and then for no apparent reason.


When Frankie is in a routine is when I will return to work. I will be a working Mum. I am truly blessed to have a job that I can work around Simon's work. I don't, at this point, need to worry about child care. This doesn't make it any less hard knowing that I will have to leave her for a few hours in the morning. And it doesn't make the thought of getting up after her morning feed any easier. But I love my job, I love my clients and I am looking forward to being a personal trainer again.

This is kind of a new chapter for me. I am closing the chapter on working for Vivid Fitness and I have decided to become an independent personal trainer. After 12 months working as part of Vivid Fitness I have decided that it is time for a new challenge of running my own personal training business and working alongside a new mentor that can help further my professional development.


Erin Eleini Fitness, not quite sure what will happen to the name when I get married next year but it definitely has a certain ring to it! So my business name has changed and I am working independently but everything else will stay the same; the same awesome personal training sessions, the same great customer service, the same bespoke lifestyle and nutritional coaching, and most of all the same great relationships I have with my clients.

My mobile number will be the same but my new email address will be erineleini @gmail.com. Keep your eye out for my new website that I will be launching soon. And don't forget to follow me on my social media pages. I post quite a bit of info that encompasses health, fitness and well-being on these pages so they are definitely worth checking out!

Facebook www.facebook.com/ErinEleiniFitness
Instagram http://instagram.com/erineleinifitness
Twitter https://twitter.com/erineleini1984

I am looking forward to starting this new chapter and I hope you will continue to share my fitness journey with me!