Steve’s Blog

Shelley’s Blog – The Wife of a Personal Trainer

Well quite a bit of time has passed since my last blog and how busy it has been!

Since my last post we have had to bite the bullet and move our “at home” gym to a commercial property. Our little Personal Training studio had been outgrown and it was time to move into a “real” premises, I am pretty sure our very tolerant Wodonga neighbours were going to be not so tolerant in the near future so Pound 4 Pound Personal Training now has it’s own space…..YAY!!!!

Ok so now the days still start with a 5 in it, Steve heads down to the gym before 6am, I spend the morning doing what I do and then head off to work, I get home (still can’t get into the gym as the classes are still full!!!!) and I eat alone and Steve will finally come through the door at 9pm. They are long days!!!

It is so exciting having a “real” business and Steve is fast becoming the most sought out Personal Trainer in Albury and Wodonga. He is becoming the ruler of the land, and so he should! He does an awesome job, helps people out every day, drives them into the ground, raps them over the knuckles when they have been bad and all around he is just an awesome Personal Trainer who we just HATE at times but we do LOVE him at the end!

Off I go to eat another dinner on my own! 🙂

Shelley’s Blog – The Wife of A Personal Trainer

Ok so the 1st of July arrived and here we are ready to take on Wodonga and the world!!!
I thought……YAY!!! Steve can work normal hours like me and we will eat together and train together and do normal stuff………HA, I was kidding!!! 🙂

Now days our days start very early in the morning, I think the number has a 5 in it (at the start) and I have to go running with our dog Bella as I have no chance of getting into the gym to work out in the afternoon. So instead of going for a leisurely walk in the morning with both my dogs, Tori & Bella – I have to push Bella out of bed and race around Wodonga and then get to work on time. In the afternoon, when I get home from work  the conversation is  – “Steve, can I do group boxing tonight?”, Steve ” No, I’m full, Me “Oh, ok, when can I get in next?”, Steve “Nah dunno, pretty busy”, So he goes out to train the group boxing class while I sit down to have a feed as I am starving – next minute the kitchen door flies open……..”SHELL, I need you to train”!!!!! My response is…….”whatever”!!! 🙂

And finally at about 9pm we sit down and have dinner together and are literally tucked up in bed by 9:20pm! 🙂

Oh how life has changed!

Shelley’s Blog – The Wife of a Personal Trainer

Ok, so my normal days are going to work and coming home to train and then doing the normal house stuff and then sitting down to dinner. When the phone started rining it consisted of Steve coming home from work and training other people (which meant I had to get in the gym quick smart or I missed out) and then me starving and waiting for him to come in, which was usually about 7:30ish.

As we became more business focused, my normal days turned into different “normal days”. We trudged the streets of Wodonga delivering our flyers, my training times moved to morning as I could only get in the gym every now and then in the afternoons and then when I got home from my “normal” job I would then be doing computer work, website work and creating the next “whatever” for Pound 4 Pound Personal Training!

More and more people started coming through our little door here in Wodonga, and we developed the most awesome community spirit ever (which I LOVE most about our gym) and we had to discuss the possibility of Steve working full time. It’s a little hard when you start working 16 – 20 hours a day between 2 jobs so we sat down and decided 1st July 2011 here we come!

Shelley’s Blog – The Wife of a Personal Trainer

Ok, so during our time of building our little business we started to get a few referrals, that’s when we had a total of 2 people training with us 3 times a week. We thought this was great, so off we went and got some business cards made and started handing them out to family and friends. This was so exciting! Albury/Wodonga was going to be our little part of the world that we were going to own!!! 🙂

It was at a party that Steve was introduced to someone who wanted to train but couldn’t afford personal training but loved the idea of boxing training. So during the drive home tat night we discussed the option of GROUP BOXING TRAINING! WOW………this was a great idea, so we launched the group training classes. Now for many, many weeks there it was just myself and our 1 group client training together a couple of times a week. It was working well so we got some flyers printed and we trudged the streets, rain, hail or shine to drive business our way!

It was at another party (parties are great!) that Steve got talking to a workmate of mine and her husband and it turned out he loved boxing and always wanted to do it (much to his wife’s digrace!) so we now had 4 clients…WOO HOO!!! So Steve started training his 4 clients hard and was gettign results and these 4 clients started to talk about him and all our flyer deliveries were starting the phone to ring – wow what a great feeling that was.

More tomorrow

Shelley’s Blog – The Wife of a Personal Trainer

I have been at Steve for around 18 months now to start blogging – his reponse “Yeah I will get around to it” or “I don’t have time”!!! I was starting to get the nickname of the “nagging wife” so I gave up! Now it;s my time to blog.

Since we were married in 2006, Steve kept mentioning that he wanted to be a Personal Trainer as he was always into fitness, boxing, nutrition everything that lists in those categories were his passion. So….. he did something about it. He completed his course and we went about setting up Pound 4 Pound Personal Training.

At the time we set it up, Steve was working full time as a Security Gaurd so he trained clients in his time off. When we first started, we had 1 client – the great Anna Weatherlake! Anna was Steve’s best & worst client and I will tell you she gave him a run for his money! Almost 4 years later she comes back from Melbourne and gives Steve a hard time as just a reminder of where he started!

This is just the start of my blog…..so stay tuned for more!

November 2010 Newsletter

Summers here– Tips to combat the heat!

Summer is officially here! With more hours of daylight there is no excuse for not getting into great shape, but it’s important to remember that training in the heat can potentially be dangerous. Some of the risks associated with training in the heat are:

*Dehydration- This is the result of too much fluid loss. The body adapts to overheating by sweating. Sweating does two things. Firstly it helps reduce core temperature as when we sweat we are releasing heat. Secondly in a dry environment once the sweat gets to the surface of the skin it’s evaporated quickly which aids the cooling process.

*Heat cramps- can result from too much fluid loss and electrolyte loss.

*Heat exhaustion- can result from reduced venous return to the heart (volume of blood flowing back to the heart through the veins) due to increased blood flow to the skin and muscles. Symptoms may include dizziness, fainting, rapid pulse and cool skin.

*Heat stroke- symptoms include high temperature, hot, dry or moist skin, sometimes mental confusion, convulsions or loss of consciousness.

Now that we know the risks of training in the heat, we will look at what to do to combat these risks and keep you training to your full potential!

*Drink plenty of fluids! It’s extremely important to stay hydrated. Be sure to drink throughout the day. Try sticking to drinking water (room temperature) and limit your caffeine intake. Also drink 15-20 minutes before your workout and every 15minutes during your workout.

*Wear light, loose fitting clothes that can breathe. Cotton is always a good choice.

*Try and avoid exercising in the heat of the day (usually between 10am and 4pm). If you play a sport that is played during these hours then I advise that you acclimatize gradually.

*When exercising outdoors wear sunscreen and a hat.

*Never wear a hat when training indoors as it will restrict the body’s ability to release heat through the head.

*Use common sense and don’t attempt strenuous exercise that your body is not accustom to. Stick to exercise that you are familiar and comfortable with.

*Train smarter, reduce the duration of your training where possible and replace it with more intensity e.g. instead of going out in the heat and running for 30-40minutes try 5-10minutes of sprints instead.

*Try and avoid training in heat on your own, if you have to go out in extreme heat and workout then it’s important to have someone with you who will recognize if you are suffering from heat related illness.

So now that we know how to combat the heat, get out there and get fit!!

Now we are leading up to the festive season when most of our healthy eating plans go out the window. As much as we try to stop it this does happen and we tend to blow out very quickly. So to balance you out during the month of December, ensure that you are still moving and using up energy. Go for a brisk walk, do push – ups while waiting for the kettle to boil, just keep MOVING!

See you all in the Gym!

Steve and Shelley Dargan

Pound 4 Pound Personal Training

“You will HATE me, but you will LOVE the results”