CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 3/13/15

I’m in a bitter sweet mood as I type these words while chilling in Tropicana Cafe located just outside the reach of Circular Quay in a neighborhood called Darlinghurst (Sydney).

Lisa’s sitting right across from me and we’re both sharing a piece of carrot cake while sipping on some peppermint teas. We’re classy like that.

Feeling bitter because we just checked out of the Sir Stamford Hotel in the Quay and are now staying in a hotel that’s not the Sir Stamford Hotel. That was place the shit. I highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area. Also bitter because we’re down to our last two days in Australia. Tomorrow I’ll be busy with my last workshop working with 30 of Sydney’s most prolific trainers, taking them through the ropes on how I coach and approach corrective exercise.

And then Lisa and I will be heading back to Boston the day after that.

Feeling sweet because this has been an amazing experience and something I won’t soon forget. That and we’re both ready to come home to Boston. We miss Dagny (our cat).

We don’t miss the snow.

For those unaware, Lisa has been writing a daily dairy of our Australian exploits. You can check it out HERE. To give you a bit of the flavor of her posts here’s a pic we took as I was driving from Sydney to the Hunter Valley (on the opposite of the car and road).

Needless to say there’s plenty of trials, tribulations, and tomfoolery to read about. I think you’ll enjoy it.

And speaking of stuff to read, here’s the latest list……

Lift Weights Faster 2.0 – Jen Sinkler

Full Disclosure: this isn’t an article. But it isn’t a hidden agenda either. I like Jen. I respect Jen. I think she’s one of the best coaches around, and I KNOW she’s someone who routinely puts out high-quality content. In short: she helps people, and she’s damn good at it too.

If you missed it, she wrote a fantastic guest post a few days ago on OVER-conditioning.

LWF 2.0 is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to up the ante not only with their conditioning, but also how not to be an asshat with overdoing it.

In fact I use LWF myself when I need a swift kick in the ass, or if I need a little “twist” when writing programs for my own clients. It’s that good!

Friday (March 13th) is the LAST day to purchase it at a heavily discounted price though, so make sure to take advantage of it while you can.

My Favorite Exercise Combinations: Installment 4 – Miguel Aragoncillo

Fellow Cressey Sports Performance coach, Miguel Aragoncillo, wrote this fantastic post on a really cool bench press/”creep” combination that I think a lot of people will enjoy.

Never thought of this approach before. I dig it!

6 Deadlift Tips For Non-Powerlifters – Nick Tumminello

What can I say? I can never resist a good deadlift article. This one was superb.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 7: (Circular) Quay Day!

Friends,

We were up bright and early and at the gym by 8:00am. James, our Sydney host, directed us to the nearest Anytime Fitness. Tony was relieved to be able to squat, squat, squat the morning away. I took advantage of the fully equip, non-hotel gym to also squat, then Romanian deadlift, then weighted hip thrust, and then pull through, with all the accompaniments of a full body workout.

This information will be important later on.

Here’s a pic of Tony and I after our workout:


Then we went looking for brekkie. I think we’ve been spoiled by the warrior-worthy brekkies, because the standard brekkie at all the local bakeries and cafes seemed like brekkie appetizers. So we had a few eggs, went back to the hotel to get ready, and then off to the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

We did the Bridge Climb. A 3-hour endeavor, this tourist to-do was serious biz-nass!

It was pricey, but worth it. The biz-nass began with signing a serious waiver – not the first time I’ve done that (sky diving, trapeezing, ect), it’s essentially a written promise that you won’t sue anyone if you die.

Here, you can see:

1 waiver
Then you change out of your clothes and into this impossibly unflattering onesie, with elastic ankles and wrists. Then you get straps for sunglasses (“sunnies”), a handkerchief (“hanky”), a hat, and a key so that you can put all of your possessions in a locker. Then you get headphones with a radio so you can hear your guide.

Our guide was Darren, and he was fabulous!

I wish I had lots of pictures to show you, because the Bridge Climb was amazing. It took an hour to suit up and get out, but then we were out for almost two hours. We were clipped in to the bridge with a carabineer type deal, and up, up, up we went! We stopped here and there to hear about the bridge, it’s history, and the city.

Here we are at the top!

Bridge Climb Pic

Remember my workout from this morning? Well, after walking and climbing up the stairs and ladders, we then walked all the way down the stairs and ladders. Plus we started before lunch and ended right around 2:30pm! So I was shaky and hungry, but so pumped!

Tony and I walked around the Quay from the base of the bridge to the Opera House, taking some photos along the way:

2 opera house

I was feeling a little bit funny, but I assumed it was because of all the sun and climbing. At the Opera Kitchen, I ordered a seafood mixed platter with salmon a few different ways and tuna. As soon as it was put down in front of me, and after I took a picture:

3 food

A very aggressive seagull jumped up and grabbed some salmon!

4 seagull

The restaurant brought me out a new lunch, and we spent the rest of lunch shoo-ing away seagulls. After lunch I felt even weirder, but we continued on, exploring the opera house and walking through the royal botanical gardens.

5 botanical

When we got back to the room it felt like I had been hit by a bus! Tony was tired too, but I was feeling something more than that… I was chilly and had Goosebumps, even though it was warm. My tummy hurt and I felt super tired. So I’m going to bed around 8:30, and hoping I’m feeling back up to snuff tomorrow!

Love, Lisa and Tony

CategoriesMotivational

Tomorrow

I’ve been really fortunate to have so many people willing to fill in to provide some awesome content while I’m away. Today is no different. Here’s a little sumthin, sumthin from my good friend Roger Lawson – 0r RogLaw as he’s more routinely called – calling people out on the most infamous word in fitness.

Tomorrow

If we’re looking to push doing something off into the non-existent future then there’s no more comforting word that has ever existed; a panacea for all of life’s ills.

When it came to fitness, I was the most tomorrow-est dude in the history of the world. I would be sitting in the parking lot of McDonald’s, double fisting McChickens like I was born to do it, half consumed with self-loathing because I had yet again fallen off my eating plan, yet at the same time filled with a sense of satisfaction.

Why?

Yeah I goofed up, but on some level, in that moment, I could sink in and enjoy every last crispity, crunchity, delectable morsel with the knowledge that even though I could stop right there and there I didn’t have to and could enjoy eating whatever the hell I wanted until…

Tomorrow: the mythical land where I’m a billionaire, have legendary levels of self-control and Jennifer Lopez finally comes to her senses and realizes that I’m the man of her dreams.

The same happened with my workouts at times. I had the perfect set up, and if I missed a day or couldn’t get to the gym at my predetermined time, I turned a blind-eye to the large number of options that I had at my disposal to salvage the situation and offered my plans as sacrifice to the tomorrow Gods, absolving myself of any and all responsibilities.

You know what happened next? That’s right – pants off, Game of Thrones marathon on.

Tomorrowitis is a real disease that can afflict anyone at anytime if we’re not careful.

Here’s the crazy part about it all: there is no tomorrow.

It feels warm and fuzzy to think that there will be one, but mathematically speaking (and boy do I hate me some math) there are a finite amount of tomorrows left, and eventually there will come a time when we’re not part of one – and we never know when that day will come.

For all I know, right as I send this off to Tony, the house I’m writing from could explode in a fiery blaze from a gas leak (not likely) or dragon attack (very likely).

One thing that I’ve found to be extremely beneficial for my clients and myself is a gradual mindset shift, treating tomorrow not like a guarantee but more as a bonus. With that perspective, we’re much less likely to treat tomorrow as a closet that we toss the things we chose to put off doing today into.

Instead, it becomes an opportunity, something we GET to do.

A large part of why tomorrow seems so appealing is because it acts as a release valve for all the pressure and anxiety we have built up around having to be perfect right now AND in the future.

“Once I start this plan there’s no turning back, so I’ll start on Monday and have a last hurrah this weekend. Delicious food GET INSIDE ME!”

Sound familiar?

We’ve all been there. Monday is the “best” day to start a diet for a reason. Overcoming that initial momentum of not doing anything can be rough.

Enter the tip.

Get your mind out of the gutter – I’m talking about icebergs here.

Note from TG: Hahahahahaha. I get it. It took me a second, but I got it. Nice one Rog.

When looking at an iceberg, you’re seeing less than 10% – the tip – of what’s actually there. If you could see the entire thing, it would probably blow your mind to smithereens.

The same applies to your diet and training.

Free yourself from the daunting task of imagining the whole road ahead of you before you even take the first step and zoom in, choosing the simplest action that will bring you closer towards your objective, then do it.

Are you on the verge of abandoning your workout and eating plan for the day and majestically swan-diving into a tub of ice cream?

QUICK! What’s the easiest thing you can do to turn the tide of battle in your favor?

  1. Put your actual workout clothes on.
  2. Grab your music and turn on your favorite song.
  3. Do one push up (or any exercise for that matter).
  4. Insert your own awesome option here.

By making the next step you take so simple and easy that it doesn’t sound the alarms in your mind that cause you to become paralyzed by focusing on everything that lies ahead, you can build on that one action that left you feeling accomplished and let the momentum carry you to the next task.

You’ll pretty much be the fitness-dominating version of James Woods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Ps2L46dUs

CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design

The Right Tool(s) For the Job

For many people walking into a gym can be just as confusing as long division, watching a leaked copy of House of Cards spoken in Mandarin (shit!), or a Lady Gaga outfit. I don’t get it.

Lets put it like this: there are a lot of machines, trinkets, and gadgets in the gym and trying to figure out which “tool” to use for whatever goal can be daunting.

We have barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, suspension trainers, ab wheels, squat racks, power racks, platforms, specialty bars (trap bar), not to mention a litany of different brands such as Cybex, Hammer Strength, LifeLine, and Swole Patrol (<— not a brand, but it should be).

While nothing is set in stone – besides, only Sith’s deal in absolutes – generally speaking we can “pigeon hole” certain exercise/training equipment into categories to better match with certain goals.

My latest article on BodyBuilding.com better elucidates my thoughts on this topic. Check it out…..

The Right Tools For All Types of Weight Training

CategoriesProduct Review Program Design

Lets Talk (Over) Conditioning

Today I have a guest post from the one and only (and lovely), Jen Sinkler. It’s a timely post because 1) I’m in Australia and Lisa would kill me if I spent all my free time working and 2) Jen’s just released her updated Lifts Weights Faster 2.0.

I loved the first version when it came out last year; and to be speak candidly, outside of the athletes I train who need more specificity with their conditioning, when it comes to writing conditioning based programming (whether for myself or for my general fitness clientele) I tend to flip through LWF 1.0, find something the fits (10-30 minute workout), and sucktitude follows. But in a good way.

LWF 2.0 is 10x better and Jen has gone out of her way to provide an epic product that I feel is one of the best of its kind.

But that doesn’t come without a brief caution: OVER-conditioning. It’s a topic that Jen discusses below.

Lets Talk (Over) Conditioning

If you’re feeling pressure to make all your workouts the hardest, biggest, and most intense ever or else you’ll end up like this guy, you’re not alone. The go-hard-or-go-home mentality is pervasive, making many people fret worry that if they don’t do a body-crushing session every time they work out, they’ve failed.

In reality, the truth is nearly exactly the opposite. You can still make progress without destroying yourself. In fact, you can make bigger strides, more consistently and for the long term, when you don’t leave it all on the gym floor.

That doesn’t mean take it easy — it just means don’t run your body (and along with it your mind and spirit) into the ground by forcibly pushing past your limits every workout (maybe even any workout). You’ll find that this bod-friendly approach will net you even more positive results in the long run.

CHILL, HONEY BUNNY!

As a culture, we are obsessed with extremes. And maybe we don’t need to be. One of my fellow trainers at The Movement Minneapolis, “Cardigan Mark” Schneider, puts fitness on a spectrum — from ill to athlete.

From a marketing standpoint, the “athlete” end of the spectrum is sexy, but it can come at a high cost, in the form of overuse or acute injuries, chronic wear-and-tear on the body, and amount of time invested.

So let’s flip the script: What can you gain by easing off the gas slightly? Fewer injuries, less stress on the body, and a more sustainable fitness regimen — which is clutch, considering consistency is one of the keys to long-term success. Consider it a huge deposit in the bank for your future self; the you 10 years from now will be eternally grateful that you didn’t empty your account and push your body to the point of injury today.

Not always turning the dial up to 11 will also net you more time, money, and energy. If every workout has a cost, overdrawing our accounts means our bodies simply won’t function well — not ideal if your fitness goals include feeling better, moving better, and living better. A consistent, positive balance will better support your fitness goals.

KEEP IT SHORT AND SWEET

When we talk about conditioning, short, intense-enough sessions are the answer to keeping your account in the black and your fitness on track

A well-structured conditioning circuit will often move you out of the sagittal plane that many of the big movements (such as squats and deadlifts) in by asking you to rotate (or resist rotation), perform more unilateral movements, and crawl, roll, or jump.

You’ll involve different energy systems when you incorporate different levels of intensity by performing a variety of different movements with a spectrum of different tools and weight used. All of it adds up to more adaptation (i.e., progress), and more adaptation equals a stronger, fitter you.

CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU WRECK YOURSELF

So…how do you keep your intensity in check? Easy — monitor how you’re feeling during the circuit.

When a conditioning circuit calls for five rounds, you don’t want to flame out after round three. Don’t push to failure on the repetitions and, if need be, take a longer rest than what is assigned in the workout. In the end, you’ll likely up the number of quality reps performed — and reap the gains from your hard (hard-enough) work — without having to deplete your account to do so.

One last thing! When deciding how hard to workout, consider the sum total of your stress.

Your body can’t differentiate between workout stress and other stress. So if you’re experiencing a lot of heart-rate-raising, cortisol-spiking events in your daily life, take the opportunity to chill and scale back your workouts for a while.

When life quiets down, your workouts can ramp up again. You do the math on who makes more progress: The person who goes hard for 52 minutes or the person who works within their limits for 52 weeks?

READY FOR BETTER RESULTS…FASTER?

If you’re looking to amp up your conditioning in creative and productive ways, I’ve put together a mammoth 181-workout pick-and-choose library called Lift Weights Faster 2.

Complete with a full exercise glossary that includes written descriptions and photographic demonstrations of nearly 270 exercises (from classic moves to more unusual ones — the Jefferson deadlift, anyone?), a video library that includes coaching on 30 of the more technical lifts, 10 challenge-workout videos, plus a dynamic warm-up routine, I’ve combined my training and athletic experience with my long background in magazine publishing to create a clear-cut, easy-to-use resource that you’ll want to turn to all the time.

Every workout is organized by the equipment you have available and how much time you’ve got, with options that last anywhere from five up to 30 minutes.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention I teamed up with my husband, David Dellanave, to create a strength program companion resource called Get Stronger Faster 2 to help you take your strength level to the next level. This completes the total workout package and helps you get results, faster.

Click below for more information.

Lift Weights Faster 2.0 

Jen Sinkler is a longtime fitness writer for national magazines such as Women’s Health and Men’s Health. A former member of the U.S. national women’s rugby team, she currently trains clients at The Movement Minneapolis. Jen talks fitness, food, happy life and general health topics at her website, www.jensinkler.com.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 6: Brekkie, Kangaroos, and Vegemite by Day – Sir Stamford, The Opera House, and Dinner on the Quay by Night

We slept in! 6:00am and feeling good!

I only woke up kicking the Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider of the bed once, so that was good. As I was typing up yesterday’s blog, Tony noticed a little something out of our back door, and BAM! Kangaroos first thing in the morning!

Breakfast was included with our night’s stay, and DANG! The biggest breakfast ever, and very Australian. There were eggs, chipolatas, beans, bacon, tomato, fruit loaf, quiche, bircher muesli, and vegemite!

The Aussie ladies sitting next to us instructed me so that I knew what to do: first toast the bread, then smear some butter, then a little vegemite. They thought I would hate it, but I didn’t.

Salty, goopy, and weird, but not horrific or anything. Kind of like Worchester sauce jam. Except non-horrific.

Anywho, we were so full we did not eat again until after 3. But even then we just had a snack (This is the equivalent of a normal couple saying they did not eat for two days after brekkie).

Off to explore! We checked out of our Tuscan mini-villa and met again with Jayne, who was so lovely and helpful. We got the HOOK UP for a tour at the Tyrell’s Winery, and some other little suggestions about a few to-do’s before heading back down to Sydney.

We checked out the Hunter Valley Gardens shops, and FINALLY found some flip-flops for Tony! Here he is – happy to be freeing his feet:

Then, on to Tyrell’s Winery. It looks gorgeous, it smells gorgeous, and of course, it tastes gorgeous. We were a little early for our 10:30am tour, so they offered us a glass of bubbly while we checked out the beautiful grounds:

That’s Brokenback Mountain in the background; not to be confused with Brokeback Mountain for you movie/Heath Ledger fans.

 

Then Damian provided a 90 minute tour, with the most informative lecture on wine making I have ever heard! I’ve been lucky enough to visit wineries in Sonoma, Napa, Tuscany, the Alsace, and the Winstrasse in Germany, and Damain surpassed all of those experiences. Here is Damian next to some insane smelling Shriaz grapes:

Note from Tony: Lisa totally had a crush on him.

After the tour we (I) tasted a little. Damian provided, “Water for the dry bloke!” (That would be Tony). All along I’ve been thinking I’d FINALLY be in a wine region with my kind of wine! Full bodied, masculine, lots of structure, and a smell like a forest floor.

Unfortunately, it is so hot in the Hunter Valley that the grapes ripen too quickly to produce this kind of wine. So the Hunter Valley Shiraz (to me) is like a Sonoma Pinot – thin, light, and pepper at the finish. I think the positive-sounding word is “elegant”, but to me it is puny.

So Damian and I talked it out, and apparently I’m more of a Barossa valley wine drinker. Tyrell’s makes a few wines with grapes from this region, and I was very happy to take home a shiraz with grapes grown in Barossa, but turned into wine right here at Tyrell’s.

Overall, it was a wonderful morning! I was very happy to learn that Tony enjoyed the tour as well.

Onward to the Hunter Valley Gardens! Just kidding.

When we got there we learned entry was $27 per person, which included admission to a garden which takes an hour to walk through… we didn’t think so. But here is the entrance, isn’t it nice?

We made a few more stops at a few more wineries, but didn’t pick up anything else. I think Verdelho is my favorite in the Hunter Valley, and I picked up a bottle of that yesterday – so we decided we were all set, and started our journey back to Sydney!

Tony was a pro and stayed to the left all the way back to the airport. We dropped off the car, and took a shuttle to the hotel… Wanna hear about the hotel?

I love bargains, so naturally I was looking for a bargain way to stay in the middle of the city. Hotwire has this function where they offer a certain quality of hotel for a rate, but it’s a “secret” which hotel you get. You essentially you can select 3.5 or 4 star, see the rate you’ll pay and what kind of hotel falls in that category, and then go for it! So Tony and I kept our eye on the rates for a few weeks, and then decided we could afford the 5 star for 3 nights if we went this route. We ended up with the “Sir Stamford Inn” right in the Quay:

Our room is lovely!

 

Spacious and cozy with a little Juliet balcony. My favorite is the bathroom. It is H.U.G.E. When you walk in the lights automatically go on. There’s a room on the right that’s the shower, and is bigger than my office back home. Then there’s another room with the toilet inside. Then there is an enormous bathtub.

The rooftop pool and lounge are a fav as well:


We unpacked, changed, and busted back out on the town to find dinner! Once again, thanks to our warrior brekkie, we really didn’t want a big meal, so Tony was in search of a salad, and I wanted to try another new fish. Tony had the folks at “Bar 100” slap some grilled chicken on a “rocket” (aka arugala) and watermelon salad, and I had the Barramundi with a prawn!

We found Tony some ice cream after dinner:

And then back to the hotel we went, but not without taking some candid shots of the our walk back “home.”

We sprung for the expensive internet so that we could get yesterday’s travel blog up, and I am hitting the sack! Tony will be up for awhile so he can catch up on emails and whatnot.

Thanks for reading, and talk to you tomorrow!

Lisa and Tony

CategoriesOff Topic Uncategorized

Day 5: Ballina, Sydney, Pokolbin, Success!

Lisa’s daily dairy of our Australian Adventure continues (cue old-school 1960s Batman music here. Dah-na-na-na-na-Dah-na-na-na-na)….

For no reason whatsoever I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t go back to sleep. I think it’s because it feels like Christmas every morning since a few days before we even left for the trip! We enjoyed a quiet last morning in our lovely suite at the Ramada, and were the first patrons for a second time at The Bean Bank. Are you tired of admiring my morning flat white?:

I had the “big breakfast”, and Tony had the omelet and the muesli (two breakfasts). As you can see, we hated it:

Sometimes I am a space cadet. For example, Shannan was kind enough to offer a ride to the airport, and I told him our flight was at 10:40am. We made a plan for a pick up, and he asked us to be in touch when we got back to our room and noticed that it was a different time.

Did I look then? Nope.

This morning at about 5:15am, THANK GOODNESS I checked, just in time to see that our flight LANDS at 10:35, and leaves at 9:00am. Should we panic?! I’m sure we made for a stressful start to Shannan’s day, but he was a champ about it and came to pick us up with his delicious family, bright and early at 8:00am.

I’m pretty sure Shannan, Mady, and Sebastian qualify as the cutest family in Ballina. Everyone is smiling and pumped! Sebastian is super-yummy and I almost bit him right on the face while saying goodbye. Even though we’re excited for the next phase of the Australian Adventure, we’re bummed to leave Ballina, and sad to say good-bye to Shannan and company.

Please, for anyone living in or around Ballina visit Shannan and his gym RAW F.A.S.T Fitness. You won’t be disappointed.

Everyone kept telling us we only needed to get to the airport 30 minutes before take off… say what??! We didn’t believe it. I’m not kidding you, from the front door to the gate, it was 4 minutes. For serious.

No ballywho. No waiting for hours and standing in line. The front half of the plane loads through the front door, the back half through the back door. And then you go. It’s a bullshit free system – point for the Australians.

Here’s Tony (with me behind) walking up to the plane:

I was so excited to start part II of our adventure that the top of my head almost blasted off as the plane approached Sydney:

After retrieving our luggage we headed to the rental car dealer. We got a “Holden” – which neither of us has seen before. Check our cute little rental!

This is the point of the show when the anxiety sets in. The driver’s seat is on the other side – the traffic flows on the other side (the left side). We’ve got to drive through some Sydney traffic and about 2 hours north to the Hunter Valley, using the GPS on Tony’s phone… We begin our mantra for the day, “staaaaay to the leeeeft…. Staaaaay to the leeeeft….”

We make it about 40 feet and I notice a red light on the dash, “stop the car! Stop the car!” I exclaim. With a line of other car-renters behind us, ready to start their journey, Tony and I begin with a mini panic while we try to determine what the exclamation mark in parenthesis means. (“I had this on my Jetta when the brakes were whacked” – I think to myself. “Or maybe that was when the oil pressure was shot?” I tried to remember). I leaped out of the car while Tony had to irritate some other car renters by turning around just before the gate. I got one of the attendants to come help, and his very serious, worried face brightened up when he looked at the dash and sighed, “yeah – that’s the emergency brake”…. Did I mention we were anxious?

So essentially, no one in our little Holden took a breath for about 45 minutes. I was in charge of navigation. Me. (For those of you who don’t know, I have the most terrible sense of direction on earth. It is horrendous). Poor Tony was trying to respond to my queues to “merge left”… stay in this lane…. No! Shit! Get over to the right!” And all the while we chanted, “stay to the left… STAY TO THE LEFT!!!!”

Tony was a rock star, and after a few missed turns, a few tunnels with very narrow lanes, and more than a few close calls, we were north of the city and kickin’ it at 100km/hr through some mountains and into the valley!

Did you know I love wine?

I’m a novice, but I love to learn about it – terroir, grapes, the winemaking processes; and I love to try new wines. Tony, on the other hand, has nothing to do with wine. He does not like the taste or even the smell. He cannot even have a glass to humor me.

I mention it here because this part of the trip was 100% for me. The scary driving, the winery visits, and some of the discomforts I’m about to describe – it was all for me. Please, let’s pause here for a little round of applause, just for my wonderful fiancé who signed right on for all of the following just to make me happy J.

Note from Tony: Yeah, I’m pretty much the shit.

The Hunter Valley reminds me of a more relaxed, more remote, less polished and more bohemian version of Sonoma Valley.

It’s not no frills, but it’s mostly no frills. Also, it’s freakin’ hot! I love it, but Tony forgot to pack any flip-flops, so we needed to fix that. We stayed at the Tuscany Wine Resort, which is supposed to feel Tuscan. It did have the stucco, the heat, and some of the plants to approach the look of Tuscany, but this estate was tired and non-fabulous. We had a lovely concierge, Mady, who helped us to get to our room. Here it is!

Upon entering our mini-villa, Tony and I spotted a spider. I don’t think spider is actually the best word to describe the creature. I think Transformer-Wooly Mammoth that looks-like-a-spider is more accurate:

Inside, there were many mosquitos in the bathroom. I had flashbacks of a trip my best friend Susie and I took to Mexico years ago, when we were eaten alive every night while we slept. I started to get nervous about the bugs, and that Transformer-Wooly-Mammoth-Spider.

We dropped off our stuff and set out for lunch. I checked back in with Mady at the front desk, and she was nervous about the Transformer-Woolly-Mammoth-spider too!

A manager came out from the back to ask if its, “Bottom is really big?” Indeed it was. So I guess it is a Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider. The ladies said they would take care of it, and so I took Tony to get some food.

Tony was hungry. Hours of driving (on the left), after flying, after waking up around 4:00am. It was almost 3:00pm and we needed sustenance! We went to the restaurant up the hill from our B&B, and were happy to meet Kylie, who was friendly, knowledgeable, and ready to talk to us about the area. In sticking with the Tuscan theme, we had the antipasti platter, and BAM! It was super delicious and hit the spot:

I have to say, the #1 best mushrooms I have ever had. The meal reminded me of my favorite Tuscan meal, which my friend Leslie and I shared in Sienna. We devoured our meal! Or, to speak Australian, and to quote Kylie, “You smashed it!”

Then we were off to try and find some flip-flops for Tony. There were none to be found, but we did make it to the Hunter Valley’s Smelly Cheese Shop, where Tony got a personalized cheese sampling!! I felt happy that he could have his very own tasting. Then we made it to Sobels Winery:

Audrey Wilkinson Winery (recommended by Kylie):

And Tulluch Winery, which was nice enough to let me taste some wines just a few minutes before closing at 5:00pm

I was focused on trying the Semillon and Shiraz, since that what the region is known for. However, I discovered Vehrdelo! A Portuguese grape with fruit in the front and easy finish on the back.

We came back to the mini-villa, and I’m happy to say the Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spider was gone! Inside, our room was like new. The mosquitos were gone, the daddy long legs in the corner had been removed, and the once mosquito-guts-marked walls were white and flawless. Thanks to Mady and Jayne for fixing it up!

We tried not to fall asleep before heading out to dinner. We weren’t that hungry, thanks to our Tuscan lunch, so we headed to the nearby Harrigans, an Irish spot, where we had a few salads, and I had a Magners.

Kylie said she could “almost guarantee” we would see some kangaroos and wallabies, but so far, nothing! We had our eyes peeled all day and night. We better see one tomorrow! They apparently like to hang out by the tennis court… se we’ll see what we can see on the way to breakfast in the morning.

It’s just a few minutes to 9:00pm, and I’m sure we’ll be asleep by 9:03. I’m also sure I’ll be dreaming of Transformer-Kardashian-Wooly-Mammoth Spiders.

Somewhere on the other side of the world, my dad and brother are reading this and shaking their heads, feeling sorry for Tony that he’ll have to stalk and sleigh any imaginary spiders I may be yelling about in the middle of the night…. Spiders were never my strength.

There’s no Internet here, so you won’t get to read this until we get back to Sydney tomorrow evening… But tomorrow, it’s breakfast, the Hunter Valley Gardens, more wineries, maybe a kangaroo or wallaby, and then back (on the left) to Sydney! Wish us luck J. Love and hugs to all of our friends and family,

Lisa and Tony.

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Day 4: Seminar Sunday

Lisa’s daily dairy of our Australian Adventure continues……

Greetings! Tony and I made it all the way to 5:30am, so our clocks are just about re-set to Aussie time. Since we’re quick to acclimate to local culture, we waited until 7:00am before heading out for brekkie.

As directed by Shannan, we went to The Gallery Café and asked for the “Raw Brekkie” menu. (Shannan’s gym is “Raw Fitness”). As I imagined, a Meathead’s dream menu – Check it out:

Since I’ve been eating non-stop since we got here, I didn’t really feel I had the room (or the need) for four eggs + accompaniments. So I got some home made muesli with fruit and nuts. And of course, a flat white. Did I mention I love flat whites?

Tony on the other hand, ordered a big-assed omelet:

Stavi gave him a pat on the back after finishing, and we were both happy campers. We got our workout clothes for later on and jumped in the car with Shannan to start day 2 of the Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves Seminar. Here are some pics of the morning, which was part lecture and theory:

And part practice and demonstration:

Just before lunch, Tony and I piloted my being part of the show! As you may know, sport and exercise psychology is part of my educational background, and a major part of my personal passion. Specifically, and as you know if you’ve read my articles on Tony’s website (HERE and HERE), I care very much about motivation and exercise motivation.

Keeping in mind that Tony and I are visitors in a different culture, and speaking to an audience with a broad range of beliefs, orientations, and client populations, my goal was to approach psychological components of working with clients that are universally applicable. Naturally, I started with Ryan and Deci’s Basic Needs Theory, a component of The Self-Determination Theory of Movitation (American Psychologist, 2000).

My hope was to help trainers to consider the impact of their verbal and non-verbal interactions with clients, and how their own personal style, beliefs, and goals intersect with their clients’.

I was lucky to have a ‘first practice’ with an engaged and open audience. I imagine many of the trainers present are highly competent and successful in their practices, so I heard insight and self-knowledge from participants in regards to their relational style. Tony and I wanted to add a psychological component to the seminar, because the psychology of clients and the relational style of the trainer are major components of participation, persistence, and enjoyment of physical activity.

We think today was a good start to addressing this aspect of being a successful trainer!

I learned a tremendous amount about cultural similarities and differences. In addition, I was reminded that although psychotherapy and counseling is a normal, healthy, accessible resource to me, it’s still stigmatized, embarrassing, and indicative of severe psychopathology , or, “being a nut” to many other people in many other places.

When I write for Tony I tend to include some sort of “when in doubt refer to a therapist” recommendation, but today helped me to remember that for some (or many) trainers and their clients, this suggestion could be insulting or feel like rejection or judgment. There may also be less access to professionals, or professionals with adequate expertise and competency to be of service. Although I know the session was not about me, I benefitted a great deal, and was reminded of some things that I’ll cognizant of when I sit back down with clients next week.

After my session we squeezed in a super-quick lunch, and I grabbed a chicken sandwich from a nearby bakery.

After lunch Tony jumped right into the “hands on” portion of the show. Deadbugs, Birddogs, and squats, naturally. The day wrapped up with some discussion of programming, and Tony said thanks and G’day a few minutes past 5pm. Two full days of hard work! Nice job babe.

We were dying to move around and train! We got in a little session with some deadlifts and such. After getting hot and sweaty, Tony took some photos with some of the trainers and they even had him sign the wall of the facility:

After the quickest shower ever, Tony and I walked around a bit before settling on a restaurant called Twenty Nine, just up the street from the hotel. The manager brought the chef out so that Tony could get exactly what he wanted – a big ass salad with some chicken on top. I got to try a new fish! Dory:

Reminded me of flounder.

And here’s the view we had during dinner:

We were fading fast by the end of dinner, so we made the quick trip home, grabbed the last piece of carrot cake from the hotel restaurant, and came back upstairs to pack it up for tomorrow.

We will miss Ballina!

The people are lovely. The environment is relaxed and happy. The food was great, the breeze never ceased to be amazing, and it always smelled like your nose was stuck inside of a Gardina. Man it will be hard to go!

However, tomorrow we’re flying to Sydney, renting a car, and driving (on the left) up to the Hunter Valley!!!! Talk to you then!

Love, Lisa and Tony

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Day 3: Aussie Sunrise, Turkish Toast, and a Big-Assed Mackrel

Day #3 of Lisa’s diary of our Australian Adventure.

We made it straight to 4:00am! 8 hours of sleep is nothing to complain about, and Tony and I enjoyed a quiet morning while I worked on this little travel blog, and Tony reviewed some of his slides for today’s seminar. We were starving, but forced ourselves to hold on until about 6:30 before venturing out for brekkie.

The very kind lady cleaning up in the hotel lobby notified us, “ummm, Ballina is not an early morning town… so maybe go for a walk until 7 – and then try for some breakfast??”. Good for Ballinanians! We rolled with it, and took an AMAZING walk from the hotel down the river, all the while snapping some photos of the moon:

And the sunrise:

Ballina is beautiful.

And so was our brekkie! The first patrons-of-the-day at The Bean Bank, a coffee shop that came highly recommended by Shan.

We ate like we were heading off to battle. Again, I enjoyed a delicious flat white.

There was plenty of eggs, Turkish bread (which appears to be the “it” bread over here), museli (instead of oats), bacon, fruit, and happiness all around. When Tony’s museli came over he said, “Man, your dad would be all about this brekkie”:

While at brekkie three fit and fabulous Aussie’s came in for breakfast and said, “Hi Tony, see you in a bit!” The ladies had driven about 8 hours yesterday to be here for Tony’s seminar!

Yeah!

We headed back to the hotel so Tony could get ready, and then Shan and his beautiful wife Mady came to retrieve Tony so he could get to work. I on the other hand, have the day off! Given to me by my lovely fiancé, I couldn’t wait to get started doing whatever-the-heck-I-wanted.

This, of course, started with the gym, followed by laundry (did I mention we have our OWN laundry room???), followed by a walk down the river over to the beach.

I walked for awhile and then came to a bridge… it seemed like the ocean was quite a distance away, so I asked a sweet little family walking along the shore of the river. They explained that there were plenty of “beaches” along the river, and a “surfers beach” on the river just there… When I explained I’d like to swim in the ocean the father looked at me like a father does when he knows he’s about to be the bearer of bad news…

Alas, the ocean itself was far, far away. I’d need a car. I took a moment to be sad that I wouldn’t get to jump in the Pacific, and then kept it moving and found a spot right on the “beach” at the river. I’m pretty sure I was the only person without a surfboard, Stand Up Paddle Board, kayak, canoe, or dog. But I had a lovely day, nevertheless. Here is a pic of the river, and the ocean which is just through the opening there and over to the left… maybe I’ll get a chance next time?

After some reading, and a nap, and lots of dog watching, I walked home along the shore. Here are some mamouth pelicans, kickin’ it with some local fishermen.


Back at the room our maid was just wrapping up cleaning. After a little rest and some TV, I walked into town to check out the shops. I grabbed a “detox” fresh juice from this little juice bar along the way:


Then I stopped in “Wooly’s” again for more water and snacks. I asked for some turkey breast at the deli counter, but had no idea how much to order! The lady at the counter was a love, so we talked it out, and I ended up with 300 grams. On the way home I meandered along the water, which reminded me of the Ell river, bordering Germany and Austria, where Leslie and I biked up and down a few summers ago:

Once home and fed, I went back out to the pool for some afternoon sun.

Tony came home around 5:15, tired but enthused. He had a great day and, as usual, didn’t feel he had enough time to get to everything he would have liked to cover. After a shower and change of clothes, we headed out to a local spot for dinner, just a short walk up the river.

The Wharf was delish!

I ordered the mackerel for dinner, and was expecting that oily, small fish I’ve caught back in FLA with my dear friends Lara and Jason in the Indian River… This mackerel was not that mackerel! A pleasant surprise, this was a nice big white fish, almost like a steak.

My surprise lead to a great conversation, and everyone at the table was ready to talk more about Australian animals, food, and jargon. Did you know about Wallabies?! Apparently, it’s a smaller, cuter version of a kangaroo – one of the seminar attendees, Kirby, told us for sure we’d see one in the Hunter Valley… Stay Tuned!! My hopes are high that we’ll get to see a wallaby or two…

Before heading out for ice cream, we were discussing brekkie plans for tomorrow morning. Shannan recommended we go to a different local spot, since he has his “own menu”… What? Yep, Shannan has his own menu. He told us to ask for “The Raw Brekkie” (the name of his gym is Raw Fitness). I’m sure it will be a meathead menu with plenty of protein.

Until then! Tony and I have made it past 9:00pm. Well, I’ve made it; Tony is unconscious, mouth slightly agape, remote in hand.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Love Lisa (and Tony).

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 2: Goonsacks, M.A.M.I.L.’s, and Brekkie.

Lisa Continues her daily dairy of our trip to Australia.

We Made it! Local time 7:05am, out of the plane and hugging our first host, Shannan by 8:00am. (A quick synopsis of who Shannan is: he’s a former distance coaching client of Tony who own his own strength and conditioning facility in Ballina. This trip’s been over a year in the making due to Shannan’s persistence and hard work to help get Tony (us!) down here). Shannan was accompanied by a buddy and personal trainer Matt, equally friendly and fabulous. Here they are with Tony:

Australian lesson #1: Australian’s “Aussies’ like to abrieviate and make cute all kinds of words. Shannan (“Shan”) and Matt (“Mattie”) drove 2 hours from Ballina to come and pick us up, and spent ALL DAY showing us around the area! It was so lovely. Our day moved from Brisbane down the gold coast, to Ballina:

We drove south from Brisbane, down the Gold Coast. Known for its beaches and fabulous surfing, this area is lined with beach towns, resorts, and families and friends on “holiday” (Australian for vacation). I took notice of the big inviting bike lanes throughout the streets and around the roundabouts, and Shan and Matty encouraged us to be on the lookout for “M.A.M.I.L.s” (Middle Aged Men in Lycra). Apparently they’re everywhere, and not afraid to rock their Lycra at coffee shops and all around town.

We stopped at Coolangatta (“Cooly”) for breakfast (“Brekkie”! Who doesn’t love this word? You can also spell it Brekky, but whatever you do, you should start using it immediately). What does every girl need for Brekkie after 20 hours on a plane? An Eenie Menie Greenie Smoothie!

Kale, pear, celery, parsley, ect. Between that and my first (and long anticipated) Australian Flat White, it was just what I needed to recover from our journey and settle in to Aussie life:

We left Cooly and continued down to the coast to Byron Bay. More amazing beaches, more surfers, and lots of gorgeous homes. We stopped a few places to take some photos – Check it! (Please do not judge us for our crusty appearance, and keep in mind we’ve had those clothes on for over 36 hours):

Byron Bay

Rockin our Lulu’s at Byron Bay

Different vantage point at Byron Bay. This is the view some the residents have from their houses.

After Byron Bay we hit up Lennox, another fabulous beach town where many rich and some famous live. Apparently Chris Helmsworth (Thor) has a home around here… but we didn’t spot him.

After Lennox we made our way to Ballina!

One of the beaches in Ballina

In many ways, this area reminds me of home (Jensen Beach, FLA – not Boston, MA). Locals and vacationers, the ocean met up with by the river, relaxed vibe, fantastic air. We are staying at this fantastic Ramada Inn! There was even a bottle of wine waiting for us (me) in the room. Did I mention we love Shan? Please check out our Suite with a view of the Richmond River:

I have to say, Tony and I were champions all day. We felt pretty good, but we knew we would start to fade in the afternoon. It was just after 3pm when we checked in, and once we unpacked, it was time to hit the gym.

It was ugly, but we managed to move around a little bit and sweat out some of the travel funk.

I proceeded to take the most cleansing shower of my life, and then have a glass of wine. After about a half of a glass I felt like I’d just had a “Goonsack” (Australian for the sack inside of a Box-o’-Wine), and I knew Tony and I only had a few hours left before we crashed. We ventured into town and out to Woolworths (“Wooly’s”) for some water and snacks. We were stressed about walking into traffic, which moves in the opposite direction, but luckily, Australians are right on top of trying to keep tourists alive:

Unfortunately, Tony realized he didn’t have his “Dongle”, which is surprisingly not an Australian word, but is an adaptor for Apple computers and projectors. After a mini-panic and a trip to the nearby tech store, Shan made some calls and once again, hooked us up by asking a friend to borrow his dongle.

So we got the dongle, got the snacks, and then went to dinner. We were starting to feel run down, so we decided on the hotel restaurant, The Pointe. It could have easily have been a restaurant at home in Stuart, FL, on the river.

Locals crowded the bar and dining for Happy Hour (Oh how I miss happy hour! An illegal libation celebration in Boston), and we enjoyed watching the river and sitting amongst the local excitement and chitchat of folks just finishing their workweek with a drink and a smile. Here are some pictures of the river and us enjoying dinner:

This pic was taken at 2AM (Boston time), hence Tony look likes he’s falling asleep.

I am proud to say we remained conscious until about 7:58pm. Tony’s excited for day 1 of the seminar, and I’m VERY excited for a day off, by the pool and at the beach. Talk to you then!

Love, Lisa and Tony