By Guy Lawrence

“The human foot is a work of art and a masterpiece of engineering.”
—Leonardo Da Vinci

Guy: These are just one of the questions we ask sports scientist, barefoot specialist and running coach David Chamberlain.

I must admit, myself and running are not the most compatible companions. If Forest Gump were a gazelle, I’d be a silverback gorilla! In saying that, running has always been in there or there abouts with my training.

A few years ago after a spell of chronic back pain, one of the things I looked at were the shoes I was wearing, which sparked an introduction with the barefoot minimalist shoe ‘The Vibram Five Fingers’ which you can read my review here. I’ve worn minimalist shoes ever since.  Continue reading →

We are very excited to say we are about to officially release our all natural 180 Superfood protein Bars! Complete natural goodness that comes in a convenient, pop in your pocket protein bar with no hidden ingredients!

So for a bit of fun we thought we’d rally up some prizes together for a giveaway.

What can you win? You get all the goodies listed below:

Skins – Wheat Bags – T-Shirts – Kettlebell Pack – 180 Superfood Bars. I’d like to say there’s a round the world trip for two as well, but Qantas wouldn’t play ball!

Continue reading →

By Guy Lawrence

“If you motivate an idiot, they just do stupid things faster… Education is key!” – Unknown

Last week I told my mate he needed to exercise less to improve his health and lose more weight. If you have no idea what I’m on about, read this post first (part 1) before going on. I asked him if he liked the idea of exercising 1 hour a week instead of 1 hour a session. He did…

I’d finally started to make some inroads with his way of thinking. He could see that to gain success with weight loss, it needed to be a byproduct of living a healthy lifestyle. Not living for weight loss and hoping he’d become healthy. A subtle difference but an extremely important one.

I love exercise, I do it most days. I always look for ways at how it can be fun yet challenging, and for me it can be extremely rewarding too. But weight loss is the last thing on my mind, and I wanted to hammer it home for my mate too.

He asked me what/why exercises he should be doing and this is what I said… Continue reading →

By Guy Lawrence

You get to meet a lot of people when working in a gym environment. Your die-hards for instance who train to excess, rain, hail or shine trying to figure out different ways they can isolate their biceps to get the perfect guns (flexed arms). But most people I find here at the Uni (where I work) are there to shake off those stubborn pounds of extra body fat! They do mention their health sometimes, but it’s a distant 2nd compared to shape and size.

I have noticed over the years that the majority of people don’t physically change regardless of how hard they are working! I always here moans and groans that ‘I’m buggered if can lose weight’, and ‘This exercise malarky is a load of b@$%^*&^s’!

But here’s the secret, they are missing the two magic ingredients to shred fat fast: Continue reading →

The following kettlebell exercises are some of the more popular. Try adding a few of the exercises, doing three to four sets of 12 to 15 repetitions, to your regular fitness regimen.

Swing – Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Grip a kettlebell with two hands with the weight of the ball centered in the middle finger. Swing the kettlebell to shoulder height or straight overhead and hold for one second. Keeping the movement slow and in control, return the kettlebell to starting position.

Squat and press — Stand with legs shoulder-width apart or wider and grip a kettlebell in each hand, holding them at chest height a few inches apart with palms together. Tilt your hips back and squat downward like you are sitting into a chair, keeping the knees behind your toes. Maintaining an upright torso, continue down into the squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor while raising the arms overhead, rotating the palms so they face forward at the end of the movement. Return to starting position.

Single-arm clean and press — Start with a kettlebell on the ground and stand with legs at least shoulder-width apart. Grab the kettlebell and lift it to shoulder height with the palm facing the body. Then shrug and press the bell overhead, palms facing forward, using a slight throw and catch.

Single-arm alternate swing – Standing with the legs at least shoulder-width apart, grip a kettlebell, centering its weight in the middle finger, and swing it to shoulder height. Let go, quickly catch the kettlebell with the other arm and return to starting position.

Lunge — Grip the round part of a kettlebell with two hands and hold at chest height. Start with your feet together and shoulders back. Take a large step forward with the right foot. Lower to a 90-degree position while pressing the kettlebell overhead. Be sure to keep the torso upright, the shoulders back and the knee behind the toe. Push off the heel of the front leg and return to starting position, lowering the kettlebell back to the chest.

Overhead squat — Stand with the feet at least shoulder-width apart and hold two kettlebells straight overhead. Tilt your hips back and squat downward like you are sitting into a chair, keeping the knees behind your toes. Maintaining an upright torso, continue down into the squat until your thighs are parallel to the floor, and slowly return to starting position. As you complete each repetition, keep the arms straight overhead.

No exercise is complete without excellent nutrition. Checkout 180 SuperFood here.

You can read the full article here.