Sitting pains

Boris Lukin – Osteopath and Personal Trainer Sitting: the new smoking Some researchers believe that sitting is unhealthier than cigarettes saying “sitting is the new smoking”. An Australian study that compared smoking and sitting has found that for every hour sitting down and watching TV, you cut about 22 minutes from your life span. By contrast, it is estimated that smoking shortens the life span by about 11 minutes per cigarette. That’s still no reason to take up smoking though. The problem with sitting The sitting position puts forces on the body that it is not built to accommodate. This leads to poor circulation and aches and pains in areas such as the lower back pain, shoulder and neck. The obvious issue with sitting for more than half of the day is you’re not burning calories. A desk job requires about 300 calories a day while a physically active job … Read More

2 ways to get fit every day

It can be difficult to manage your time but there is a way! Beyond Fitness Personal Training provides two great ideas to implement in your life to help fit in some daily exercise. The most common excuse for not being able to lose any weight is “I don’t have time’’. It is very easy to simply say ‘’I don’t have time to exercise’’ but when we break it down and really go deep into that answer, we can truly see how ridiculous it is. As you know, we have 24 hours in 1 day. So now lets break this up even further. We spend roughly between 6-9 hours sleeping, so now we are left with 16 hours. If you work a 10 hour job, this still leaves you 6 hours to do anything else. Free time equation 24 hours – 9 hrs sleep = 16 hours – 10 hours at … Read More

Training idea: Ben’s 15 minute home workout

30s on, 10-15s off between exercises Complete as many reps as you can within the 30s time limit. Star jumps Push-ups Squat jumps (pictured) Ab curls High knees Hamstring bridges Plank jacks (whilst in a plank, alternate feet together with feet apart – like a star jump) Rest for 1-2 minutes and repeat circuit again. Finish off with 10 Burpees (pictured). Ben Sortino Beyond Fitness Personal Trainer

Recipe: Apple, cinnamon & quinoa porridge

Emma Duff, Beyond Fitness client and chef-by-trade, brings you this recipe for an energising, healthy start to the morning. Ingredients: 2 cups quinoa 3 cups water 2 cups uncle tobys quick oats 3 cups milk 1 green apple 5g cinnamon 5g almonds slices 4 strawberries 1 tsp honey Directions: Rinse quinoa then combine with 3 cups of water in a pot on a medium – high heat. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cover for approx. 10 minutes or until liquid has absorbed. Set aside. In another pot, heat milk and 4g of cinnamon until it comes to a boil. Add oats and stir for a few minutes until soft. Add quinoa (if a little dry, add a little more milk until you get a porridge consistency). Grate the apple and roughly chop the strawberries. To serve: Spoon quinoa and oats in a bowl, top with apple and … Read More

Recipe: Sweet and spicy almonds

Almonds are a great on-the-go snack that contain tons of healthy fats and a good amount of fibre and protein. Nuts have also been linked to decreased abdominal fat storage. Now you can enjoy them with a kick of metabolism-boosting spice and a satisfying sweet taste all at once! Ingredients 2 1/2 cups unblanched almonds 3 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 1/2 tablespoons honey 1 tablespoon water 1 teaspoon olive oil Directions Preheat oven to 180 C. Spread almonds on a rimmed baking sheet; toast until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine sugar, salt, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook honey and water with olive oil, stirring until combined, about 1 minute. Add almonds to the honey mixture; toss to thoroughly coat each almond. Transfer nuts to … Read More

Training ideas

Do 30 seconds worth of repetitions per exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest between each exercises. Do at least 4 sets. Bodyweight squats (see image) Push ups Back extension Single dead lift Burpee Enjoy and let us know how you go 🙂  

Tension headaches

Glenn Hall – Beyond Fitness Remedial Massage Therapist We’ve all experienced tension headaches before – that persistent dull pain that refuses to leave, often accompanied by a stiff upper back, shoulders or neck. Tension headaches are draining: they tire you during the day and can adversely affect your sleep at night. Taking pain-killers is rarely more than a temporary solution; while they may assist with the symptoms, the muscular cause remains. They commonly occur when we find ourselves under an increased workload, such as being stuck at a desk for long periods of time or being involved in demanding physical labour. You can reduce your chances of suffering this condition by: improving your posture/positioning at work, taking regular breaks, and stretching. Remedial massage is an effective therapy for both acute and chronic tension headaches. Contact us now for pain relief. Glenn Hall – Beyond Fitness Remedial Massage Therapist

Insight: Life in Afghanistan

Beyond Fitness Director Boris Lukin gives a unique insight into life with the RAAF in Afganistan for six months. He speaks here about a typical day there, exercise routine, diet, and how he became the “go-to-guy”, for anyone with injuries, aches or pains (Boris is also an Osteopath and Personal Trainer). I’m looking forward to coming home from Afghanistan in March. My time deployed to Afghanistan has been a great experience and a challenge. The role that I was part of with the Royal Australian Air Force was Flight Line Security working 12 hour shifts doing security tasking and working closely with American, Belgian, Dane and British air forces. What was it like to work with the other countries? Working closely with these forces has been a great cultural experience and occasionally frustrating with their different approaches to tasks. Even with our differences we had some interesting conversations and fun … Read More