Are you an empty preacher or a great teacher?

by Ryan Hogan | Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The following post is written by Network's Online Trainer Skye Jones.

Before I get my ‘intellectual’ cap on, let me just preface this blog post by saying that I have followed two career paths in my life – one being an artist and visual arts educator with my specific focus being community arts projects, and the other being a fitness professional. I am a personal trainer and a group exercise instructor.  ...read more

Fat or fiction? Faking body image in the media

by Ryan Hogan | Sunday, December 20, 2009

While reading the New York Times Health and Fitness Blog recently, I came across a post by Tara Parker-Pope that really caught my eye, entitled ‘Losing Weight by Photoshop’. The title obviously speaks for itself, and after reading the very well written piece, it reinforced to me how many people in our industry – and of course, how many of our clients and customers – have a negative perception of their body image.  ...read more

Sarcopenia . . . do you suffer it?

by Ryan Hogan | Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The following post was written by industry leader and Network friend, Justin Tamsett in consulation with Jamie Hayes. You can visit Justin's very informative blog at www.justintamsett.com

I recently had a conversation with one of the most passionate fitness industry individuals in Australia, Jamie Hayes the Managing Director of Healthy Inspirations about what is Sarcopenia – accelerated loss of muscle tissue from insufficient physical activity.  ...read more

Obesity-combating smart-card proposed – but wouldn’t an exercise incentive be more effective?

by Ryan Hogan | Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The following post is written by guest author Paul Richards, CEO of Club Physical in New Zealand.

Thinking positively, I would firstly like to congratulate the NZ Ministry of Health for even considering incentivising people to purchase healthy food in a bid to combat obesity. This is a step in the right direction, but I imagine it would only impact people to a minor degree and not have the desired outcome of improving people’s lifestyle habits enough to reduce obesity.  ...read more

An industry response to the article: The Myth About Exercise in Time Magazine

by Ryan Hogan | Thursday, August 20, 2009

On a recent trip to America, I was browsing a newsagent at the Seattle airport and came across TIME magazine with the following title on the cover: "The Myth About Exercise. Of course it's good for you, but it won't make you lose weight. Why it's what you eat that really counts." And to top it off, there was a massive picture of a woman on a treadmill eyeing a cupcake! Of course, I had to immediately buy the magazine and read the article.  ...read more

Vibration Training, the new fitness frontier?

by Ryan Hogan | Sunday, May 31, 2009

The following post was written by international presenter and educator, Steve Schiemer.

Having lived in Europe for the last 12 years, I have watched this type of training explode onto the fitness and rehab scene. It first hit the fitness market about 6 or 7 years ago. Vibration training is the act of passing a vibration through the body to elicit a series of responses, in particular to activate the deep core muscles of the body, to stimulate the nervous system, increase strength and power, reduce pain perception, increase bone density, improve circulation and lymphatic drainage and improve proprioception. The two most popular ways to do this are to either stand on a vibrating plate, such the Power Plate, and allow the vibrations to enter the body via the legs, or to use a handheld oscillating device such as a FLEXI-BAR, which is a long flexible fibreglass bar with weights on the end and a handle in the middle that you push/pull to get the bar to swing back and forth, allowing the vibrations to pass into the body via the arms.  ...read more

Network's interview with aussie fitness industry legend Rebecca Small.

by Ryan Hogan | Thursday, February 26, 2009

This is a unique opportunity to get to know one of Australia's most respected and admired fitness industry presenters, Rebecca Small. Currently living in the UK, Rebecca has one of the busiest schedules on the convention circuit and we were very lucky to be able to have a quick chat about the past, present and future with her. Read on and enjoy...

Network: You've been in the fitness industry for quite a while now. What things have you done throughout your career and what are you doing these days?
Rebecca: I started teaching Group Fitness when I was 18, when we had to record records onto tapes and we used to teach single tracks, nothing was mixed and we used to teach routines to the verse and chorus. At 19 I took my first trip overseas to Hong Kong and started a job teaching 18 classes a week, which was a rude shock to my system and I had burnt out within 6 months - not physically - I was starved of creativity and inspirational music, so I had to come home.   ...read more

Exercise proving positive effects on cancer patients

by Ryan Hogan | Sunday, February 15, 2009

The following post was written by Kat Weihen, online trainer for Network's ePT course.

Cancer, in all forms, is one of the leading causes of premature death in Australia; however, more than half of all cancers diagnosed in Australia are successfully treated and survival rates for some common cancers have recently increased.  ...read more