Winter is here and it’s damn cold in Melbourne as of late; so here is a workout you can do in the studio to keep yourselves warm.

For this workout you will need three things.

1) Rowing Machine set to 10

2) Pair of Dumbbells

3) Kettle Bell

Note; weight used depends on level of experience and quality of technique

How it works

The idea is to complete 4 rounds of the circuit with moderate volume reps, explosive movement patterns, with moderately heavy weight; use light weights and you’re wasting your time.  You can time yourself if you want; but it’s not compulsory.

The reps don’t drop and neither will your heart rate; which is pretty much the idea.

For the two weighted exercises the reps for beginners should be around 10-12 reps for the more advanced 12-15.

For the row; do 300-400 meters for beginners; 500-600 for advanced; rower is set to 10 for either group

The Exercises!

Rowing; keeping a neutral spine; or sturdy back with core engaged; explosively push against the foot rests. Once your legs reach full extension use your arms to pull the bar back into your belly button; note elbows should stay as close to your sides as possible. To return to your start position; bring arms to full extension then draw your legs back in towards your body; note knees should remain inline with your toes. Make sure to keep a neutral spine; little hint I give my clients; think legs then arms followed by arms then legs; legs arms arms legs.

Dumbbell Thrusters; start with dumbbells resting on your shoulders; perform a squat movement keeping the dumbbells steady on your shoulders. Once you reach at least a 90 degree angle in your legs; or have squatted as far as your legs will allow you to keep a neutral spine; explode upward by straightening out your legs while at the same time propelling the dumbbells up off your shoulders; make sure not to lock out your elbows. You should end in a standing position with the dumbbells above your head. Now gently lower the dumbbells back onto your shoulders. Congrats; you just did a Dumbbell thruster; now do it again 14 more times. 

Two Handed Kettle Swings; this exercise should not be attempted until you have had your trainer teach you the movement; but the basics are use your glutes, hips, core; not your back or shoulders; if you feel slight back pain or your shoulders burn out quickly you’re doing it wrong. The movement involves pushing your hips back followed by thrusting your hips forward; while keeping a neutral spine through activating your core; and that’s all I’m going to give you; if you want more instruction talk to your trainer.

Good luck people and enjoy.

(Work Experience student)

On a typical Monday afternoon, the day I come in to do my Work Experience shift, the New Level Personal Training studio in Newtown is always quiet at around 4:00pm. Then from about 4:30pm onwards it starts to really become busy right up until closing time, which can be around 8 o’clock or thereabouts, depending on the scheduled bookings.

During the quiet period, the gym is cleaned and maintained, making it more presentable and appealing which makes the client want to use the equipment and actually want to work out. As soon as a client arrives, they jump onto the bikes, the treadmill or any other available piece of cardio equipment and get their warm up completed, while they wait for their trainer to come take them for the session.

The client’s body language always shows that they are ready to train, even if they have had a bad day and couldn’t be bothered. They always give it their all and leave the studio with bright red faces and sweaty t-shirts. A sign they have pushed themselves to the limit. In some cases, well past their limit! You can also see that the clients are eager to work out as they always come, even if they are only able to train for a shortened session of just 15-20 minutes.

The trainers are always listened to and respect the client in question, it’s plain to see the clients are grateful for the time they have with them. The trainers are always working, whether it’s with a client or in the office preparing for a seminar, getting fees fixed up or contacting clients about their sessions etc. They care if the client is struggling or has an injury and change the exercise or session, accordingly, if it is way too hard for the client in their weakened condition.

For example one of Tonci’s clients (Tonci is the owner and the head trainer of the Newtown studio) had a back injury and Tonci changed what he had planned to suit his client.

The environment in general is always friendly and happy. Everyone is welcoming and the trainers treat even their newest clients not like newcomers but rather as though they have been lifetime members.

At a typical gym, the members work out on their own and need to find their own way to motivate themselves. Yes, there are trainers on the floor but they don’t personally know the members in the same way as a boutique, personal training studio such as New Level.

I found that if the trainer knows the member/client personally there is more motivation, more work gets completed and knowing a client on a personal level you get to know how they work, where their highest points are and you can look after the client more knowing their strengths and weaknesses.

pictured – New Level manager Tonci and Personal Trainer Tim with a jubilant Diana Skratulja

It’s always a nice feeling when family, friends and work colleagues start to notice a change in one’s body shape. Especially when that comes from people you haven’t seen for awhile. That usually occurs around one of the two festive seasons in the year – Christmas or Easter.

At a recent Easter function, Diana Skratulja couldn’t believe the comments she was getting from several long time friends and acqaintances she had not seen for ages.

“Wow, you look fantastic!”, “Have you been working out?” and “What have you done to yourself?” are just some of the comments that were thrown Diana’s way.

Needless to say, the hard work, dedication and a new found appreciation of the importance of good nutrition has certainly paid of for Diana, who was this week awarded the prestigious New Level Newtown “Client of the Month” award.

Having been one of the Geelong studio’s original Foundation members, Diana’s results speak for themselves. Since her last Results Week weigh-in, Diana has lost a further three kilos to add to her previous impressive achievements.

She lost a staggering 6cms off her chest, 3.5cm off her already tiny waist and a further 2cm off her hips. Added to that, Diana has always identified her arms – and most notably her triceps – as something she would like to address. Well, in the past two months, she certainly has done that, losing a whopping 2cm off her arms!

What’s more, she blitzed her physical challenges like no other month, shaving 44 seconds off her best time for a 2km bike ride and improving her 1km treadmill run by just over a minute. Amazing!

Is it any coincidence, therefore, that Diana attended our studio’s first monthly seminar in March, entitled “Real food for real people for real results”. She has since signed up for the Nutrition Complete online nutrition service, which is obviously reaping great results for Diana.

A proud mum of three gorgeous but energetic children, she needs to be in shape to keep up with her busy lifestyle and this ‘Yummy Mummy’ is now setting an excellent example, not just for her family but for all the other New Level clients as well, which has certainly not gone unnoticed!

Well done, Diana. Keep up the good work!

Dani had been a member of New Level Personal Training Newtown for about six months and by her own admission, when she first started she wasn’t too sure about having a personal trainer. She decided she was going to give it a go because she had heard about some of her acquaintances getting some amazing results.
Well, what was the end result, we may well ask young Dani?

“Now, I am the biggest advocate for it. I never thought I could achieve some of the results I have achieved. Today, for example, I just did 100 kilos on the 45 angle weights with the thighs…..”
Stop there, Dani! I think you meant the 45 degree Leg Press machine, but we know what you meant! Anyway, back to you…
“So I would say give it a go. Come in, have a look, talk to the trainers. They are amazing – they will give you a good deal and they will get you the results you want to achieve,” concluded a cheery Dani.

UPDATE: Not only will personal training get you the results you want, but your confidence and self esteem will improve dramatically, which will have a positive impact on your private lives.
Just ask Dani. When she first came to us she was still a uni student and only had a part time job. In the time since this interview was recorded, Dani has – unfortunately – left New Level Newtown, because she got the job of her dreams working in the marketing department of a major international cosmetics company and has, as a result, had to move to Melbourne.
Well done Dani and good luck with your future endeavours – and never give up working and exercising hard!

In her own famous words, Heather comes to each personal training session at New Level Personal Training Newtown with the intention of not getting broken, but getting fixed! Heather is another astounding success story generated from the Newtown studio’s young but ever growing archives of ordinary people achieving extraordinary personal results.

When she came to us, Heather was extremely unfit, rather overweight and certainly did not have the confidence to push herself to beyond her own personal boundaries. That’s before she met “Ray” and “Michelle” (her affectionate names for her trainers at New Level Newtown!), who have not only managed to “break” her on many occasions, but have also succeeded in “fixing” our girl.

Heather recently decided to up her training to three PT sessions per week, as well as combine a regular Monday night Group Boxing Session at the studio. The results have been nothing short of spectacular.

In a period of just eight weeks, Heather lost an incredible 4.1 kilograms. In the same period she shaved a total of 5.5 cms off her waist and a further 5 cms off her hips!

Most of all, though, Heather’s attitude and outlook on life is far more positive, than it was before, despite having an extremely stressful job in a Podiatry Clinic that leaves her drained both physically and emotionally. “I feel really happy, because all this work is paying off.” said a beaming Heather, just after completing a gruelling Results Week Challenge on the treadmill, where she shaved more than a minute off her personal best time!

“The only problem I have now is that my clothes don’t fit me anymore. I had this shirt I used to wear for job interviews and formal occasions. I went to put it on, the other day, and it was way too big!”

Heather is a real credit to herself and a firm believer of the old saying, where there is no pain, there is no gain! Congratulations Heather and I guess that means you have no option now but to go out and shop for a whole new wardrobe – every girl’s dream come true!!!

At New Level Personal Training we try to add value to our service by providing videos that our clients and others in the community can watch for further health and fitness information.

Our videos range from:
– ‘How To Videos’ for all types of exercises, explaining how to perform them correctly and safely.
– Nutrition advice
– Homework workouts, each exercise is demonstrated to avoid confusion.
– Business update videos including recent renovations, new services and equipment.
– Client testimonials
– Sample workouts.

The plan is to create these videos each week so people can benefit from them, however we only started this about 1 month ago and it is fair to say we are still a little shaky in front of camera. We recently tried to film a 30 second welcome video for this website and it took us TOO MANY takes! We have decided to put a few together in a ‘Blooper Video’ for you to view. Feel free to laugh at us, we certainly are, as we realise we are a long way off Hollywood!!

We plan on getting better in front of the camera as we are committed to producing a minimum of 1 new video each week (practice makes perfect)!

If you have any suggestions on what type of information or demonstrations you would like to see in our videos, feel free to contact us on 1300 NEWLEVEL or comment below this post. We welcome all ideas as we go towards adding value and educating our community.

We hope you enjoy this light hearted Bloopers Video, and please don’t take offence from ‘The Bird’ at the beginning, it was directed at the camera man!!!

Power Bands are a resistance training tool that are very versatile and can be used for a large range of exercises including assisted chin ups, power lifting, stretching and explosive movement training.

A Power Band just looks like a big elastic band and it is its elasticity that gives that band the ability to provide resistance or in some cases assistance to your chosen exercise.

In the video above Callum and Paul demonstrate how the Power Band can assist you complete a full wide grip chin up. In the example Paul is using a very strong thick Power Band that is giving him a large amount of assistance. As Paul gets stronger he can progress by using Power Bands with less tension, until he is able to complete the chin ups without assistance.

At New Level the Power Bands have been fantastic for clients who have come into our studio to complete one of their ‘homework’ sessions as they can still incorporate chin ups into their session.

New Level Personal Training (Newtown) trainer Jason puts his client through an intense boxing workout. In this case it looks like the client passed with flying colours as he puts in 100%. Great effort.

Boxing is a fantastic full body cardio workout with emphasis obviously on the upper body. Boxing can be used as a warm up to your strength session or for a full on cardio workout as shown in the video above.

At New Level all our trainers are experts on the ‘pads’ (the padded gloves they wear) and have a library of boxing combinations to call on in order to keep the sessions varied.

Of course not all clients at New Level put the boxing gloves on, only those that a boxing workout is relevant to their particular goal.

If you are interested in boxing for fitness or have a personal fitness goal that you would like to action, feel free to call us on 1300 NEWLEVEL or download our 3 FREE Session offer on this website.

Kettlebells are a Russian creation that look like a cannonball with a handle. They are made from cast iron. The handle of the Kettlebell allows it to be easily lifted from the ground and manouvered through technical exercises.

There are a range of exercises that utilize the Kettlebell and one of the most dynamic and effective exercises is the Kettlebell Swing. The Kettlebell Swing is a compound exercise that works the whole body with an emphasis on the quads, gluets, hamstrings and core.

Of course as with most exercises there is a progression from a beginner technique to a more technical technique which will challenge even the more experienced exerciser.

At New Level Personal Training we incorporate Kettlebells into our workout if relevant to the clients goals as it is a great way to add some variety into sessions. As most Kettlebell exercises are multi-joint and multi-muscle (compound) we can achieve effective efficient workouts in minimal time!

Jason from New Level Personal Training (Geelong City) demonstrates the correct form when doing the Lat Pulldown exercise.

Jason explains that the upper back muscles (rhomboids) need to be activated first as the initial movement before flexing at the biceps when pulling the bar to your chest.

Concentrating on this intial movement will make the Lat Pulldown a more effecient exercise for working the muscles of the upper back as well as the lats.

Ensuring correct technique during your exercises can allow for faster and better results. If you would like some advice on exercise technique feel free to download our 3 Complimentary Sessions offer on this website or call 1300 NEWLEVEL.