Empire xxvi
Stuart Macmichael is the man behind the brand. Raised in a small town in Tasmania and with a background in mining and getting his hands dirty he never saw himself as someone that needed much help. Moving to Perth he started to feel isolated and spiraled into a Drift (sorry mining term, look it up). In a dark place he didn't know where to turn. "I've always been a positive person so I thought I could beat it. It slowly got worse and worse to a point where it was scaring me. I knew it wasn't me I kept telling myself...
10 Arcadium commandments of the gym
The gym. To some, a place to accumulate your weekly amount of exercise and maintain good health and general fitness. But to others, the gym is a holy place. A way of life that they dedicate themselves too and here are their commandments that all must follow when stepping into the house of gains. Thou shall put weights back correctly “If you are big enough to pick up the weights, you are big enough to put it back”- Ancient Chinese proverb. Anyone who has entered the gym has heard this rule yet constantly weights are found missing or in the wrong place....
Strength training to complement team sports
As a football player, (the round ball, the real type) I had always prioritised cardio and kicking a ball around ahead of any other type of training. It wasn’t until I began working as a personal trainer that I began to realise the importance of strength training not only to complement my football training, but mainly to build the foundation to be able to perform to my potential on the football field. Football can be a gruelling game, especially considering how in the ‘Sunday league’ style of game that I play, it is rare that we can pull enough players together to allow...
Returning to exercise after a serious injury
Since beginning training with Arcadium HQ, I had discovered a passion for deadlifts and bench press. Both are compound exercises which I had previously shied away from due to a lack of knowledge and a lack of confidence. With both of these exercises, I found progress to be initially slow, yet this is what kept me interested as I was determined to feel the improvements for myself, rather than just rely on the feedback from my trainer. Slowly but surely, my form improved and consequently my weights started to increase, albeit still at a gradual pace, but one which I was happy with as long as my form...
Arcadium HQ calls for greater awareness within the industry around training pregnant women
A recent article in the Sunday Mail (9 Dec, 2018) has helped to shine the light on the need for greater awareness for personal trainers when it comes to keeping their knowledge and skill-set up to date when training pregnant women. Arcadium HQ founder and pre and post-natal coach, Marley McDonogh, has raised concerns around the amount of accountability for trainers in the industry to ensure they have enough education or experience in training pregnant women to keep both mum and bub healthy. As a leading expert, Marley spoke to the Sunday Mail journalist about how the mother should always ask questions of her trainer to find out what courses they have done and whether...
Training like an athlete is more important than you think
Athletes come in many forms with different backgrounds and goals – so simply saying “Train like an athlete” cannot cover it all. Marley McDonogh from ArcadiumHQ believes it’s about the need to develop the same discipline and consistency that an athlete would, in order to achieve your own elusive fitness goals. “Whether your goals are to perform at an elite competitive level, tighten up that physique before stepping up on stage, rehabilitate that injury, increase mobility and flexibility or improve your quality of life with health and fitness, adapting the mindset and habits of an athlete is going to greatly increase...
“But I only train general population…”
This is a sentence commonly spoken within today’s health and fitness industry. Many newly qualified Personal Trainers may find themselves thrown into the rat race of a large commercial gym soon after completing their certificate. The reasons for seeking their services may differ from client to client, but the initial perspective of the trainer usually remains the same – ‘most of my clients are general population’. This isn’t to say that this is a negative outlook to have, however when you begin the process of labelling your clients as ‘general population’ then it is easy to make false assumptions about...
Motivation vs Discipline
“I’m not motivated”. I’ve lost motivation”. “What is my motivation”? In the health and fitness industry these phrases are used on a daily basis; normally when someone fails to commit to a health and exercise regime or starts one and then fails to continue. I’m sure we all know someone or have been that someone who signs up to a gym, goes regularly for a month and then completely stops going or attends too infrequently for it to even matter. There are many individuals out there right now paying for gym memberships that they haven’t utilised in months, even years. The...
Pregnant women shouldn’t put their trust in unqualified trainers
THOUSANDS of pregnant women who go to the gym could be putting themselves and their unborn children at serious risk of injury and it’s time the government did something about it. I’m not talking about women who exercise while pregnant; no, there are too many benefits to keeping fit for it to be a bad thing. I mean, the world watched in awe as tennis superstar Serena Williams won the Australian Open while eight weeks pregnant, and actor Gal Gadot filmed the physically demanding Wonder Woman while five months pregnant. The stigma around exercising while up the duff is thankfully becoming less...
Breaking Down Barriers: why it’s imperative that we encourage people on the autism spectrum to participate in fitness and sporting activities
By Amy Webster, Personal Trainer, Arcadium HQ It is widely recognised that taking part in physical activity not only helps to keeps us fit and well, it can increase self-esteem, develop social skills and improve mental health and general well-being. However, research shows that autistic people are less likely to participate in sport or physical activity than others due to factors related to the condition, including heightened fear and anxiety in social situations, difficulty understanding body language and metaphor and sensory challenges. If someone on the autism spectrum responds negatively to a sporting activity, this is sometimes perceived as a behavioural issue when...