Angels and Gladiators

Some of the gladiators were flying close to the gods on Sunday.

Tanya (Misty), Bridget, Estiaan (and Fiance), Mariam and Ronelle all volunteered to be Active Angels for the Argus and we all had a ball.
It was hard work, but then it wouldn't be a Gods and Gladiators Sunday if it wasn't...

Congratulations to the Argus riders

Well done to the Gladiators who rode the Argus!

• Adiel, reached his physical goal for this challenge by completing the Argus and getting his medal.
• Arnoe finished in 3.5 hours.
• Darren finished in just under 5 hours.
• Carly was smart enough to pull off before she got heat stroke, but managed to get all the way to Chapman's Peak first.

Well done guys! We're very proud of you all.

Halfway there!

We're just over halfway to the finish line and it looks like we're doing pretty well.
Here are some achievements so far:

• Meike has lost 9 cm overall and 3.4kg since the start of the challenge (10.6 kg total since the start of G2G), and can do a 1 minute plank.
• Riaad finally got an entry for the Two Oceans half, and can do 1 handed pushups.
• Estiaan has lost 4 kg since the start of the challenge.
• Adiel has lost 5 kg since the start of the challenge, and has to go down a notch or two on his belt.
• Maurice has achieved his physical goal of looking like a hooligan... I mean growing his Rambo hairstyle.
• Ronelle has lost 4.9 kg since the start of the challenge and can now do 9 man pushups.

Well done to all of us!!

If you guys want to share your goals so far (even the smallest this is good), comment on this post.

Separated at birth?

Long term goals

Here's a good article by Tony Horton about why you need to think long term when changing your eating and workout habits:

Feel Good Fitness

More Gods on Ice

It was a great turnout at the rink yesterday, with a lot of family members and friends joining.
Here are a few highlights.

Need some motivation?

Moonlit knights

Three Gladiators braved the dark and climbed Lion's head last night.

It was Amazing!!

Halfway view.

Kings of the hill.

Too cool!

Sunset.

Sundowners.

Moonlit city.

Gods on Ice

A few of us went to the Grand West Ice Rink on Sunday and had a Grand old time.

Turns out it was quite the leg workout too!

Suiting up.

 

Riaad's view.

Skating all stars!

Caroline's Bootcamp

Caroline is starting a new bootcamp - All Star Fitness Bootcamp

All Star Fitness Classes being Launched T- 7 days. 3 classes a week.
Place: Keurboom Park in Rondebosch
Times: Tues 6:30am/ Thursday 6:30pm and Saturday 8am
Intensity: Wait and See
Cost: First one Free. Pilot Booster Promotion R600 unlimited for 1 month or R60 a class.
Cant wait to see you there.

Let's support her and attend the first one at 6:30am on Tuesday morning - it's free!
Then you can decide if you want to continue or not.

Oomph!

How many of you are measuring your Oomph on the myvirginactive website?

I'm pretty proud of mine, it's gone up drastically since Geeks to Gods started.

A little motivation...

"Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness."

"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch."

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

"Don't dig your own grave with your own knife and fork."

“If you indulge, you bulge."

"Every time you eat is an opportunity to nourish your body."

"Whether it's 10 miles or one, you will never regret lacing up those running shoes and going outside."

"Take pride in how far you've come and have faith in how far you can go."

"At the end of the day, your health is your responsibility."

"Nothing in this world that's worth having comes easy."

"Eat to live. Don't live to eat."

"Fit is not a destination, it's a way of life."

Two Hikes Completed

Ok, another two hikes have been completed - it was a good turn out for the 1st one.

The first hike was from Newlands forest to Kirstenbosch gardens :

Spectacular views, good company and a decent workout - went down pretty well. A few of us even ran the last km or so.

The second hike was up Constantia Nek to Woodhead Dam :

This was pretty intense as we chose to do the steep route and it was insanely hot - we had a decent group at the beginning but only 2 gladiators finished this one (yes, the Geekfather had to bow out due to technical difficulties). The viewing point at the end was worth all the effort! :

Earn your body!

Moonlighting with the gods

February 7th is full moon in Cape Town and a perfect time for a walk up Lion's Head.

We will check the weather to see which days will be clear and go up on the 6th, 7th or 8th - we will let you know closer to the time.

We'll meet at the starting point at 6pm. It's an hour and a bit to the top, where we can sit down with a picnic (that you will have to bring and carry up yourself) to watch the sun set and the moon rise. It may take a little longer to get down, since there will be quite a bit of foot traffic.

Difficulty: The majority of the walk is steep but easy going. The last section is very steep and you need to use chains to climb up a section of boulders, which increases the difficulty of this walk.
 

Gods and Gladiators go Rock Climbing

Yep, some of us did it, and managed to not fall on our heads.

Fitness Assessments done

I went to the last fitness assessment to take some photo's - to prove to everyone that Vince still has an access card.
First the step test for 3 minutes.

Then pushups and situps.

Next was burpees, but I didn't take pictures - the guys were going too fast...

Lastly, the plank.

This is what people look like afterwards.

Darell"s goals

1. Physical goal:
Darell wants to weight 69kg and a flat tummy.

2. Fitness goal:
Darell wants to build a three days a week gym habit.

Go Darell!

Bridget - The Planking Queen!

Unfortunately, we are not the best photo shop people and of course we couldn't ask Bridget to do it!  But we are paying homage to Bridget, The Planking Queen!

Fitness Assessment Norms

For those of you who did fitness assessments, Caroline sent me the norms:

Pushups:

Novice : 1 - 20 reps             Intermediate : 21-40 reps          Advanced : 41 - 60 reps

Sit-ups:

Novice : 10 - 37 reps           Intermediate : 38 - 61 reps        Advanced : 62 - 85 reps

Burpees:

Novice : 1-14 reps               Intermediate : 15 - 28 reps        Advanced : 29 - 41 reps

Plank:

Novice : 1- 20 sec               Intermediate : 30 - 90 sec          Advanced : 90 sec +

Estiaan's goals

1. Physical goal:
Estiaan wants to lose 10kg

2. Fitness goal:
Estiann wants to be fit enough to do the Argus in 2013

Go Estiaan!

Adiel's goals

1. Physical goal:
Adiel wants to get active and lose a few cm's around his waist.

2. Fitness goal:
Adiel wants to finish the Argus.

Go Adiel, you can conquer Suikerbossie this time!

Vince's goals

Physical Goal: Lose 10% of starting weight of 87kg(i.e my entire boep).

Fitness goal: Get fit enough (and stay fit enough) to ride the Argus in 2013.

Swim fit ?!?!

Yesterday, during the fitness assessment I did my knee in again and have taken myself out of the any-impact exercise game for a week or two. But today is the official start of Gods and Gladiators, so what is a girl to do?

Swim.

I haven't been in a pool to swim laps in well over a year - for various reasons we won't go into right now. Today I swam 1km (40 laps in the pool downstairs) in exactly 30 minutes. This is only 5 minutes slower than the fastest time I've ever clocked.

I am impressed with myself. Obviously the previous Geeks to Gods challenge and my continued visits to the the gym has made me almost as fit as I used to be. Now I just need to train more in the pool and see if I can get that time down to 20 minutes.

Initial Fitness Assessments

Caroline suggested we do proper fitness assessments for the Gods and Gladiators challenge.

The assessment is as follows:

• 3 minutes of stepping onto two steps - check heart rate afterwards.
• Pushups for a minute - count number.
• Situps for a minute - count number.
• Burpees for a minute - count number.
• Plank for as long as you can - on elbows and feet.

A few of us did the first one yesterday with Caroline, but unfortunately she got sick today and I had to do the second one with the guys.

They don't call me Satan for nothing!

 

Sadly, everyone survived...

Demi-God?

Bridget is not human...  that's a fact! 5 minute planking!

She's either a demi-god or a machine!  Very inspiring Bridget, keep it up!

Priyen's Goals

1. Physical goal:
Priyen wants to put on some muscle weight and tone up.

2. Fitness goal:
Priyen wants to attend the gym three times a week and play squash twice a week.

Go Priyen!

Adrienne's Goals

Physical goal: Overall body shape change - go from being round to less round. Toned legs, flat tummy and strong back.

 

 
Fitness goal: Get flexibiltiy and strength back to do yoga they way I used to 5 years ago.  I also want to improve my fitness levels by 50% at least!

Rikesh's Goals

1. Physical Goal:
Rikesh wants to get a washboard stomach.

2. Fitness goal:
Rikesh wants to be able to run 10km in an hour.

Go Rikesh!

Fazlin's Goals

1. Physical goal:
Fazlin wants to get rid of her mummy tummy and firm up her arms.

2. Fitness goal:
Fazlin wants to be able to do a full 45 minute spinning class.

Go Fazzie!!

Mark's Goals

1.Physical goal:
Mark wants to lose at least 1 pants size, and build up his calves.

2. Fitness goal:
Mark wants to be able to do 100 crunches, 30 chin-ups and 30 calf raises.

You can do it, Mark!

Arnoe's goals

Physical Goal:

I think I'm capable to get into a shape like this if I cut out bad food and think healthier.


Fitness Goal:

I would also like to break the 13 sec time on the track in Velodrome track.

Warren's Goals

1. Physical goal:
Warren wants to strengthen his upper body.

2. Fitness goal:
Warren wants to get a top 100 placing in the Argus, and hopes for a podium in an MTB race.

You can do it Warren, we have a yellow jersey waiting for you...

David's Goals

1.Physical goal:
David wants to lose 8% of his starting weight.

2. Fitness goal:
David wants to run 4km in 20 mins.

Good luck David!

Maurice's Goals

Physical Goals:
I'm not sure which look I should go for.... number 1 or number 2? Hmm...

Barbs

Physical
I'd like to tone rather than loose weight

Fitness
Instead of relaxing in the steam room
Get on with some toning excercise at least twice a week

Noma's Goals

Physical goal

Would like to loose 5kg by by the end of this challenge and have stomach like this.. Lol..

Fitness

Go to the gym 3 times a week without Ronelle pushing me....
And increse fitness by 50%

I love her anyway

Tibbs Goals

Physical

I would like to loose 10kg by end of the 12 weeks (part of the overall goal for my trip to Thailand in October)...Weeeeeee cant wait .....(motivation = wear bather without sarong!!!)

Fitness

I would like to be able to: -

do 20 sit-ups/crunches without stopping (to cry and recover)
increase the strength level and duration when working on the machines (bycicle, stepper & eliptical)

Training with "The Nazi"

Since it's so hard to get everyone together for a meeting, we had chat with Caroline and a mini vote.
We're going to go back to training on Mondays and Wednesdays, but this time at 2pm in Studio 1.

It's going to be weight training again, with a little more cardio thrown in than we were doing in Geeks to Gods.

So our first session with The Nazi is Monday 16 January @ 2pm in Studio 1.

Amanda's Goals

1. Physical goal:
Amanda wants to lose 2kg's.

2. Fitness Goal:
Amanda wants to develop a three days a week gym habit - actual training at the gym, not playing cards.

You can do it Rusty!

Bridget's goals

My physical goal:

To have a stomach like this.

My fitness goal:

To do 10 pull-ups in a row.

Tanya's (MsT) Goals

PHYSICAL:
OK - right now the closest thing I have to looking like her (picture left) is the length of hair, but if I don't have something to work toward I may as well stop working, right?

Physical Step 1 - Perfect the war paint and purchase wrist bands

FITNESS:
Something probably more attainable is the fitness level, which I aim to improve by 4.16% of starting level each week, giving a total improvement of 50% come April. (Smaller chunks = Smaller bumps).

Fitness Step 1 - Get the fitness level assessment done