Contrast Fitness in St Leonards, New South Wales | Sports & fitness instruction

Contrast Fitness

Locality: St Leonards, New South Wales

Phone: +61 417 109 316

Address: Unit 4/12 Frederick St 2065 St Leonards, NSW, Australia

Website: https://www.contrastfitness.com.au/

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24.01.2022 How much sleep do I need? 7-9h for adults between 18-64 y. 7-8h for adults over 65 y. According to a paper by the National Sleep Foundation .... Is there such thing as oversleeping? Interestingly, unlike the recommendations above, other research has defined oversleeping as sleeping for over 8h, which has been associated with increased systemic inflammation, and increased risk of stroke, coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease What happens when you get too little sleep? As you may expect, getting too little sleep is not ideal. Undersleeping (less than 6h) is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity . Our recommendation would be to stick to 7-8h of sleep per night if you’re an adult (younger than 18 y require more sleep), and if you feel like sleeping up to 9h benefits you significantly, do it! Everyone is different Reference: Hirshkowitz, M., Whiton, K., Albert, S. M., Alessi, C., Bruni, O., DonCarlos, L., . . . Kheirandish-Gozal, L. (2015). National Sleep Foundation’s sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health, 1(1), 40-43.

24.01.2022 Never do this... Using all 3 Olympic bars in the gym Then again, if you manage to haul your arse into the gym on the weekend then you deserve as many bars as you want no one else was around! ... 4 sets x 10 repetitions of deadlifts > shoulder press > squats

22.01.2022 Conclusions of a new (pre-print) study by Kevin Hall et al.: "Our data suggest that eliminating ultra-processed foods from the diet decreases energy intake and results in weight loss whereas large quantities of ultra-processed food in the diet increases energy intake and leads to weight gain" This comes out in conjunction with another big (>44,000 adults) study by Schnabel and colleagues concluding that "An increase in ultraprocessed foods consumption appears to be associated... with an overall higher mortality risk". Hopefully this helps to hammer home the well-known assumption that processed foods aren't healthy and should be consumed in moderation (if at all). Here is the full-text link to the first study, which provides details and photos of what constitutes "ultra-processed" and "unprocessed" foods. Enjoy. https://osf.io/preprints/nutrixiv/w3zh2

20.01.2022 How's your technique? One of these is a strange squat, and the other is a deadlift. The deadlift is all about recruiting your posterior chain; primarily your back extensors, glutes and hamstrings. Clip 1 is Nick demonstrating his self-taught deadlift that he has done many times before... ... Clip 2 is Nick after a full session of learning and technique training. His body is now in a more biomechanically efficient position, allowing him to properly engage his posterior chain and lift a significantly heavier weight, safely! Make sure your technique is on point with these lifts as they place a high amount of stress on one of the most important and precious parts of your body; your spine. Happy lifting!

19.01.2022 Lower body strength and stability. Josh came into training looking to improve his general fitness and work on calisthenics (body weight exercises like pull ups, push ups, pistol squats etc) The pistol squat was on the list and requires both strength and stability around the hip, knee and ankle joints. To tick this goal, we worked on:... 1. Single leg balance in a variety of challenging scenarios. 2. Lower body strength. Safely building up from 2 legs to 1 leg. The work paid off and now we are working on muscle ups and handstands . Well done, Josh! #calisthenics #fitness #strength #lowerbodystrength #bootygains #generalfitness #bodyweightexercise #progress #success #healthandwellness

18.01.2022 Ski erg + jumping lunges The ski erg is usually a lovely upper-body cardio exercise but if you want to deplete your energy levels in the smallest amount of time, put some lower body jumping lunges in the mix. I dare you to hammer out 3 x 250m sprints with 12 push ups between each

16.01.2022 Build a rock-solid lower body. Pete came into training looking to gain some muscle mass and increase his fitness. Classic goals, but the twist was his arthritis, which placed limits on how much we could load his wrists in certain movements. Think about how many exercises require your wrists Luckily, his lower body was relatively unaffected so the single leg squat was quickly put on the goals list. This is a fundamental lower body exercise that everyone should stri...ve to achieve. Super-duper challenging because it requires both stability and strength from all 3 major joints of the lower body; hips, knees and ankles. There was a lot involved in tackling this challenge, but 2 good general rules to follow are: 1 Focus on stability and learning the movement before cranking out strength exercises like this. 2 Master lower body exercises with 2-legs before moving to a single leg. The single leg squat puts Pete in a good place to improve his squash performance and protect him from injury both now and in the future! Well done, mate!

16.01.2022 A long-term project of Denis’ is to complete the climb Kachoong (grade 21) without falling. The overhung nature of the climb places a heavier load on the upper and mid body, so Denis has been working to improve his bent-arm hang times and L-sit times, respectively. The improvements are obvious, and I look forward to a photo of the big man at the top of this climb soon!

13.01.2022 The diamond push-up Dave came into training looking to lose weight and improve his climbing and surfing . Push up variations were included in testing to represent the push-up component of surfing and act as a general fitness measure. Whilst dave could squeeze out a normal stance (hands a bit further than shoulder width) push up, he struggled with the diamond push up (thumbs touching) pictured here. Narrow stance push ups like this have been shown to produce grea...ter amounts of muscle activation in the pectoralis major and triceps brachii muscles, probably due to the increased joint angles experienced in the movement. We worked to tick this exercise using a combo of isometric holds, push-up variations and dynamic shoulder stability exercises during training. By the next testing session, Dave breezed through the diamond push up and also ticked off his first pull-up! Hopefully the onshore winds stay at bay during this summer so that Dave can get plenty of barrels Well done, mate! Reference: Cogley, R. M., Archambault, T. A., Fibeger, J. F., & Koverman, M. M. (2005). Comparison of muscle activation using various hand positions during the push-up exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 19(3), 628.

13.01.2022 Challenge of the week; single leg double under... Make sure you warm up with some double leg plyometric/jumping work, and slower single leg standard skipping before you dive into this one Super high impact and high stress on your Achilles tendon, but oh so good.

12.01.2022 If you want to walk funny for a few days... 3 sets of: 30 jumping lunges 30 jump squats... 10 pistol squats per leg 15 normal push ups 15 decline push ups 15 diamond push ups 15 wide push ups See more

09.01.2022 Looking at the order of things Our research is currently looking at most of the components of this pathway and there is still much to be revealed... However, the theory goes that:... 1 Lack of exercise leads to increases in fat mass 2 Over expansion of fat mass promotes a proinflammatory environment 3 Long-term inflammation leads to the start of physical (insulin resistance & plaque build-up in your arteries) and mental health problems (loss of appetite, lethargy, sleep problems) 4 Continual progression of these issues eventually results in diseases like diabetes, depression, heart disease and anxiety. 5 Chronic diseases then further decrease physical activity, creating a vicious cycle Of note, there are some bidirectional relationships here, ie. Mental disorders may cause inflammation, and inflammation can contribute to physical inactivity a few chicken or the egg scenarios to think about. Moral of the story is look after yourself! Create a regular exercise routine, cook and eat your own food (and make sure you eat a variety of foods), get 7-9h of sleep each night and try to minimize your stress levels. If you want any advice or further guidance, please feel free to reach out to us

07.01.2022 Exercise before an Italian Wedding is always a good idea. Helps to ease the nerves

07.01.2022 Looking at 3 of the biggest issues facing the world today; climate change, obesity and undernutrition. The best thing? The article is free! https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/global-syndemic Some of the hard hitting points: - Per-capita consumption of meat has increased from 20 kg to 43 kg per person per year from 1961 to 2014 - Livestock use approximately 70% of global agricultural land and are a prime driver of deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.... - The enormous political power of the food and agricultural system industries has consistently overwhelmed individual and collective government efforts to promote the public interest rather than commercial interest. - "To make profit, I have to ensure that we store everything preferred by customers. If customer demand for healthy food rises, shop owners will make a shift in that direction." The consumer/individual has the power to change the motivations of both business AND government. You vote with your money as well as your name.

06.01.2022 Most likely, yes BUT (read on) A few recent studies have found a dose-response association between daily sitting time and mortality, or risk of death. Meaning that the more you sit, the more likely you are to die from any cause BUT, those who undertook 60-75 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day eliminated their risk of mortality (or dying), even if they sat for more than 8h per day. ... In comparison, those who were most inactive (<5min MVPA/day) and sat for 8h or more every day had a 59% increased risk of mortality compared to those who were most active and sat the least. Given that many of us sit on our butts for 8h+ per day, these findings should hit home, and emphasise how important it is to routinely exercise. 60-75min per day is more than many people would expect, but you can spread this activity throughout the day; ride/walk to and from work, take the stairs, lunchtime walk/run, workout after work etc It’s not impossible to get in, particularly if you prioritise it. Reference: Ekelund, U. (2018). Infographic: Physical activity, sitting time and mortality. Br J Sports Med, bjsports-2017-098975.

06.01.2022 10 repetitions per exercise per leg. Must finish with a smile on your face like Gemma Bulgarian split squats > split squats > squats > ski sit hold. Good combo for when you want to build that booty. Hold onto dumbbells to increase the intensity.

06.01.2022 During the gold coast marathon, I was surprised to see how many funky running techniques there were; flailing arms, knock knees, superman poses etc and it was a real burn when runners with these techniques passed me running less than 4min 30s-ish kilometres. This was testament to the adaptability of the human body and backed up many of the coaches out there who train physiology rather than technique. However, a recent study has found that technique does indeed p...lay a role in running performance. The details are very detailed but to sum it up for you, the best running performance results from running seamlessly and minimising all unnecessary movements. This means that you should focus on: - Holding a steady posture; minimise forward-backward and twisting movements at your torso - Minimising foot contact time with the ground (a shorter stride length could be beneficial) - Reducing the range of motion at your knees and hips; land in a lengthened position and try not to bend too much Plyometric training could work wonders for all of these, as it can increase the stiffness in your lower body and allow you to optimise the elastic energy that gets produced with each landing. In saying this, all of you will have adapted to the running style you picked up years ago, and this can be hard to unlearn. If you try and alter your technique, make sure you drop your training intensity and/or volume to avoid getting injured remember, your body needs time to adapt to any new load/stimulus. Reference: Folland, J. P., Allen, S. J., Black, M. I., Handsaker, J. C., & Forrester, S. E. (2017). Running technique is an important component of running economy and performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 49(7), 1412.

05.01.2022 2020 is still sinking in... Nothing like a bit of yoga to remind you how inflexible you are. Always good to challenge yourself to something new and out of your comfort zone. #yoga #stretching #groupexercise #groupfitness #wellbeing

05.01.2022 Yes! Given that obesity is rising in sync with global warming , a recent review has discussed linkages between the two. A few notable ways in which obesity promoting behaviours can contribute to global warming include:... 1 Sitting in trains/cars/buses instead of walking, running or riding for transport leads to increased greenhouse gas emissions > 2 Overconsumption of food stimulates agricultural productivity and in turn, greenhouse gas emissions and land clearing Likewise, global warming may also contribute to the obesity epidemic: 3 Increases in extreme weather events can lead to crop failures, fishery collapses and livestock deaths, which can make healthy foods more expensive, promoting consumption of cheaper junk food Evidently, there are some interesting relationships between global warming and the current obesity epidemic. However, this creates some win-win scenarios. Interventions to promote active transport (walk, ride, run for transport) will not only make people healthier, but also benefit the climate. Similarly, efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and increase renewable energy will not only reduce global warming, but also benefit healthy food production! This 2 for the price of 1 deal is worth remembering when making lifestyle changes. Your efforts to be healthier may have a positive impact on both you and the broader society. Reference: R. An, M. Ji & S. Zhang. 2018. Global warming and obesity: a systematic review. Obesity Reviews 19: 150-163.

04.01.2022 My muscles are super sore today but I didn’t stretch after the workout yesterday so that’s probably why This must be one of the most pervasive myths in the fitness industry. There is no good evidence showing that stretching reduces delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) after exercise. In fact, it may INCREASE muscle soreness due to excessive strain on the connective tissue. Muscle soreness is complex and there is still a lot we don’t know. Stretching should be used to incre...ase flexibility but not to reduce muscle soreness. Your focus should be on recovery; eat well, sleep-well and avoid too much booze. If your lower body muscles are sore, train your upper body, or reduce the intensity. Muscle soreness shouldn’t be used as an excuse not to exercise. Keep calm and train on. Reference: Herbert, R. D., de Noronha, M., & Kamper, S. J. (2011). Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews(7). #musclesoreness #health #wellness #exerciserecovery #stretching #fitness

03.01.2022 Fiona came into training looking to make multiple improvements so she could pass the Navy Physical Fitness Test; 10 push-ups, 25 sit-ups and a maximum of 15 minutes for a 2.4km run. She’s also a rock climber, so of course a pull-up was on the goal list. Our approach involved strength training for the upper and lower body, and a combo of high intensity interval training and endurance training to improve her running performance. The results after 3 months?... Push-ups: 9 > 15 Pull-ups: 0 > 4 (oh so close to 5) Sit ups were already ticked so we didn’t train specifically for these. Sits ups are a rubbish exercise anyway... Fiona has passed the test and is now in training with the Navy in Jervis Bay - happy days! Massive congratulations on the goal kicking

02.01.2022 Yes . However, a recent study shows that it is no more effective than continuous energy restriction (ie. A day-to-day reduction in food intake) for weight loss, HDL cholesterol and triglycerides supporting the findings of many other studies. Of note, as with many behavioural interventions, there was a massive drop-out (>50%) in all groups over the 12-month intervention. This is the downfall of most weight-loss interventions and is an ongoing challenge in the health ind...ustry. The key component of these diets is that they reduce energy intake to induce a negative energy balance (burning more energy then you are consuming) this is the key to successful weight loss. The take-home message: trial and error a few diets (making sure you induce a negative energy balance), and then stick to the one that you can adhere to in the LONG RUN (ie. Forever). Combining diet with exercise is also a very successful approach. Reference: Headland, M. L., Clifton, P. M., & Keogh, J. B. (2018). Effect of intermittent compared to continuous energy restriction on weight loss and weight maintenance after 12 months in healthy overweight or obese adults. International journal of obesity, 1.