300 reps to success

Hey boys and girls, just writing this blog just to say hello. Personally, I have had a very rough 3 or so weeks starting with my wisdom teeth being removed and another tooth getting pulled as well. If I had any more pulled, I’d have to apply for a Collingwood membership! All my clients gave it to me as well saying smart-arse comments such as “You didn’t have much wisdom to begin with and “You had wisdom???”. I obviously replied in true fashion with “I had far too much wisdom to begin with and had my wisdom teeth removed because you all couldn’t measure up to my superior levels of wisdom” and “Shut up Tania!”. I even had Harry Hornstra offer to take my teeth out for me mid session with a pair of pliars! What a stand up guy! Pair that with a stomach bug and my weight plummeted from 102kg to 95kg. I’m thinking about trademarking this as my full proof plan to lose 5kgs+ in a week. Want to lose weight fast? Get your teeth pulled! All jokes aside, (Yeah it was supposed to be funny) motivation to get back into training has been tough for myself and many of my clients who also decided to take a few weeks off too! We will definately bounce back as we all have massive plans for the rest of 2015. I have no doubt in my mind that we will all hit our goals and make ourselves better everyday.

Speaking of getting better everyday, the 2nd annual 300 challenge is coming up. I, personally am incredibly excited for this challenge as I believe it is one of the most challenging physical, mental and emotional workouts. Physical because it is 300 straight reps of very demanding exercises, mental because in the back of your mind, you know that the clock is ticking and you want to set your PB time and emotional because the sheer joy of completing this challenge is something to savor and remember. For those who have done a 300, you know exactly what you are in for!For those who have never done a 300, it is a combined total of 4 exercises for 300 reps. 100 push ups, 100 jack knife situps, 50 jump squats and 50 burpees…Yes burpees…I could hear you groan as soon as you read that word. You can do any exercise in any order for as many reps as you want just as long as you hit those numbers for all four of those exercises. If you get tired after 20 burpees, change to push ups to give your sore legs a rest. If you feel your abdominals want to rip out of your skin because of the jack knife situps, then change to squat jumps to have a “break”. The mental challenge I believe far surpasses any physical challenge in this drill and there are times where you will think that you cannot do it. But you push through. One rep after another as you push to that glorious, magical number 300 and the feeling of completing it is one of sheer relief and exhillaration. It is a highly rewarding drill yet incredibly challenging as well.

We have decided to change the format from last year and are splitting it up into two categories. “For fitness” and “For glory”. “For fitness” will be designed for the beginners and intermediate fitness level groups who might want to challenge themselves and try to set a time and best that as the month goes on. This will involve easier versions of the exercises for those who struggle with any of the 4 exercises mentioned above and it will focus on getting to the end of the drill but challenging yourself in the process. “For glory” will be designed for the expert fitness level groups. This will involve participants doing the 300 with flawless technique and any bad reps will not count. The push up will be hip to fist push ups and if the hip doesn’t touch the fist, the rep will not count. The jack knife will have to be done with no bend in the knees, relying on your abdominals a lot more rather than leg drive and momentum. The squat jump will have a focus on getting knees and hips aligned at 90 degrees and the burpee will be chest to ground for the rep to count. This is not for the faint hearted and only the fittest will get through this with a time under 10 minutes I believe. The 300 challenge was a huge success last year. We had 37 participants and all 37 improved as the month went on. One person in particular chopped off an incredible 6 minutes from their time from the start of the month to the end of the month going from around 16 minutes to finishing it in a little over 10 minutes to just miss out on the top 10 leaderboard.

The winner of the challenge was Noel Hanna. A 51 year old man who was completely obsessed with bettering himself and pushing himself to his physical and mental limits. At one stage, he was dreaming about the challenge and was up till all hours of the morning strategizing on how to get his best time. It’s a dead set mental gauntlet and for anyone who knows Noel would know that he’s as mental as they come! Challenges were put up and the trainers got involved and rivalries were born. For those who were around for the challenge last year, who could forget about the jaw jacking and trash talking between Noel and the big cheese Tim Morgan himself? Who could forget that yours truly literally put his balls on the line as I challenged Morgan Rackham to see who could get the best time. I lostand had to suffer a full body wax and my skin was smoother than a pick up line from Fabio. It brings the communtiy together through blood, sweat and tears. Bonds are formed between clients and trainers or clients and clients as we all shared our 300 stories and had a laugh about the struggles.

Although it might sound daunting, it is an incredible calorie burning, endorphin lifting, sweat pouring, good hard and honest workout. Have a try at it and surprise yourself with how fit you can become in a short amount of time with it. For those of us who haven’t got out of the starting blocks for 2015, commit yourself to this month and have a red hot go at this challenge. Do it because YOU want to get better and change your life. What better way to start that then by fighting out rep after rep and pushing closer to that final rep. When you finish, the feeling will be one of sheer relief but the pride you get from finishing it can only be understood by doing it yourself. We all want to be the best we can be.

So push towards your personal 300.

Brad Carroll Mobile Personal Training Specialist
4 U Body Fitness.