The Boomers have taken care of business. Three wins from three pool matches in Tokyo has left Patty Mills’ team in prime position for the first Olympic medal in Australian men’s basketball history.
Even better, the Boomers seem to be getting stronger with every outing.
An 89-76 win over Germany on Saturday evening followed a less convincing victory over Italy and a scrappy opener against Nigeria.
Patty Mills scored 24 points and Jock Landale (18 points) and Nick Kay (16 points) offered strong support to ensure Australia would top group B and earn a coveted spot in Pot D for the quarterfinal draw.
In an exciting wrinkle, the final eight will find out their next opponent on August 2 after the completion of the pool games on August 1.
The three group winners plus the best second-placed finisher will be placed in Pot D. The other two second-placed finishers and the best two third-placed finishers will be placed in Pot E.
There are only two pool games remaining: Argentina v Japan and Spain v Slovenia on Sunday.
Australia and France are the only two teams guaranteed a place in Pot D at this stage. The winner of the game between the undefeated Spain and Slovenia teams will join them.
Fourth position goes to the Americans, who ended as the second-placed finisher with the best points difference after defeating the Czech Republic 119-84 on Saturday.
So if the last two games go to form Pot D will include France, Australia, the US and Spain/Slovenia.
Pot E will likely be Spain/Slovenia, Italy, Germany (-16) and then two teams out of Argentina (-28) and Czech Republic (-49). The Czechs need Argentina to suffer a heavy loss to stay alive after their huge defeat to the US.
Of that potential group Australia will be looking to avoid whichever of the veteran Spain team that stole bronze from us in Rio or the Luka Doncic-led Slovenians drops to Pot D.
The Argentinians are always tricky and Italy proved to be more than a handful in the group stage.
“It is up in the air because of percentage,” Aussie basketball great Andrew Bogut told Channel 7. “Hopefully Czech Republic or Argentina would be the best match up for us.”
Bogut believes the Boomers will make the semfinals.
“We have a role to play in our fate, but it is going to be us, France, USA and Spain as (the) top four, I‘m calling it now.
“I think a smoky is Luka Doncic and Slovenia. It’s very exciting. I am proud of the boys, having been part of the group and knowing what they’re about.”
Comments Off on Who do the Boomers play next?Patty Mills has been one of the stars of the tournament (Photo by Swen Pförtner/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The United States is awaiting the result of an appeal after being disqualified from the mixed 4x400m relay on the opening day of track and field action in Tokyo.
Lynna Irby, the second runner for the US, waited too far up the track to receive the baton and despite finishing first, the Americans were ruled out for breaking rule 24.19 which states: “For all takeovers, athletes are not permitted to begin running outside their takeover zones, and shall start within the zone. If an athlete does not follow the this rule, their team shall be disqualified.”
Irby was out of position when getting ready to receive the baton from Elijah Godwin. She needed to be behind the blue line you can see in the photo below, but she waited in front of it by mistake.
There’s no doubt Irby was in the wrong place but the US has appealed, claiming she was told to stand in the incorrect spot by a trackside official. American sports reporter David Woods tweeted: “I’m told Team USA is appealing DQ in mixed 4×400 relay because officials put No. 2 runner Lynna Irby at wrong exchange line. So what looked like Irby’s error might be official’s error.”
American four-time Olympic gold medallist Michael Johnson also said Irby did nothing wrong.
“Our @BBCSport coverage saw 2 athletes in heat 2 also lined up in the wrong place and corrected themselves last minute,” Johnson tweeted.
“Officials either lined them up wrong or didn’t give direction. US should win appeal.”
Adam Kilgore, a journalist for the Washington Post, then reported Irby’s coach Lance Brauman also blamed the mix-up on an official.
“It wasn’t her fault that they made the mistake, and she ran very well,” he said.
If the disqualification stands, it will rob American star Allyson Felix of the chance to win a record 10th Olympic medal.
Garmin Ltd. has reported its Q2 earnings. The company has surpassed expectations with record revenues of $1.3 billion.
Garmin saw 53% year-on-year growth in net sales revenues, powered by upwards trends in all five of its key device categories.
Some of you may know Garmin primarily as the maker of desirable watches from the Fenix and Forerunner series, but these “fitness” lines are only part of the company’s wider business.
Its fitness division is the largest in terms of sales, and saw a 40% increase year-on-year. But relative increases in Garmin’s other areas were even greater.
Garmin outdoor, home to “adventure” watches like the Descent Mk2 watch, grew by 57%.
Aviation, Garmin’s well-established airplane equipment division, grew by 43%. And its marine category by 66%.
The largest gains were seen in Garmin auto , at 74%, although investments mean this part of the company reported an $8 million loss overall.
Reasons Garmin might prove to be one of tech’s big winners over 2020/2021 are intuitive. Gym closures and restrictive travel make a more self-guided exercise regime more appealing than ever.
However, Garmin still comfortably outperformed earlier predictions of $1.07 billion in this quarter.
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Recent important releases for the company include the Garmin Venu 2, a relatively mainstream fitness watch with an OLED screen, and the ultra-long-lasting Garmin Enduro GPS. Rumors and speculative reports suggest its next flagship watch, likely to be named the Garmin Fenix 7, may appear next month.
Dan John once said, ‘the most dangerous part of my day is when I step out of the shower.’ Think about it. How easy is it to slip and fall once you get out of the shower? Now if it’s that easy, imagine how your older adult clients feel about losing their balance.
That’s why it’s a personal trainer’s responsibility to ensure your older adult clients, no matter what other goals they have, need to stand strong on their own two feet. Because you don’t want them to end up like one of the statistics below:
It’s one of the most common questions in cycling: what is the minimum amount of training time I need to put in to maintain or improve fitness? Sarah Hunter delves into this popular and often-queried topic here.
‘I’m a very busy professional…what is the minimum amount of time I should invest to build fitness, how should I go about this and can you suggest a basic training plan?’
If I had a dollar for every time I was asked this question I would be richer than an early Bitcoin believer by now!
Building and maintaining fitness is a very personal thing—there is no one size fits all program. So many factors influence a training plan for an individual, such as baseline fitness (where you are starting from), general fitness and injury history, age, sex, available time, other life stresses and cycling goals.
If endurance is paramount to your goals, then there is no shortcut to building the level of fitness required to achieve these goals. By endurance, we mean a Gran Fondo distance race or a multi-day stage race. However, if crits, short road races and beating your mates on the Saturday sprint are more your thing, then there is definitely a way you can structure your weekly training to cut down on the hours on the bike and still see improvements in your output.
For the time-crunched cyclist, there are ways to make your training productive with limited hours available to ride. And sometimes more is not better!
A recent (Jan 2020) study by Rønnestad, Hansen, Nygaard and Lundby titled ‘Superior performance improvements in elite cyclists following short‐interval vs effort‐matched long‐interval training’ looked at short interval High-Intensity Training vs longer interval HIT.
The shorter intervals were 30 seconds in duration and the longer intervals were 5 minutes in duration. The results of the study concluded that the shorter interval durations induced superior training adaptation compared with the longer intervals. One thing to note regarding this study was that the participants were all elite-level male cyclists. Professor Louis Passfield (Head of Exercise and Sports Science at Kent University) also agrees that 30-second efforts are incredibly effective.
He points out however that the number of efforts will be different for the individual rider depending on their initial level of fitness. Now there is no right or wrong way to train. If you have all the time in the world and can dedicate hours to long slow distance, then yes, you will build a massive aerobic engine—however for most of us these days we do not have the luxury of that amount of time. So what is the minimum you can train and still get gains?
Determining Base Fitness
Firstly we need to determine your fitness. In this training plan I’m using the Ramp test not the traditional FTP test for a couple of reasons:
The 20 minute FTP test requires an element of pacing which many people don’t nail the first, second or third time!
Many people find the FTP test horrible—and will do anything to avoid it!
The Ramp Test is shorter and almost a ‘fun’ workout in its own right.
The Ramp test provides a more accurate number on which to base the shorter 30-second efforts.
Week one starts with this Ramp Test which is a short sharp way to determine your baseline fitness level and what power output you will be aiming for in your intervals. The test will determine your MAP (maximal aerobic power), then thereafter, all the intervals will be a percentage of this MAP number.
The test involves incremental wattage increases every minute, and you ride until you cannot ride any more!
The best way to do this is on the indoor trainer. On the Wattbike there is a comprehensive test menu: select the Max Ramp Test. In Zwift there are two ramp tests—the Ramp Test Lite for riders under 60kg and those that are fairly new to cycling, or the Ramp Test designed for a larger rider or those with more experience. The test should take between 5 and 15 minutes—make sure you get a good warm-up and cool down.
Gym Once A Week
For all riders, especially those over 40, I am an advocate of doing at least one gym session per week; this helps on so many levels, but predominantly assists in maintaining bone density. This session does not need to be long and can be combined with a bike session straight afterwards.
The protocol is known as post-activation potentiation and refers to a short term improvement in cycling performance after lifting heavy weights. The heavy load exercise needs to use the same muscle groups recruited in cycling (so a squat, lunge or Bulgarian split squat would all work well) and it needs to be heavy—we are talking less than 5 reps.
One thing to note here is that heavy for someone just starting out in the gym is very different to heavy for a well-seasoned lifter. If you are not sure about form then get a couple of sessions from a strength and conditioning coach to make sure you are lifting correctly.
Ramp Test
The results of your Ramp test will be used to calculate your MAP. MAP is calculated as Watts of final completed stage + percentage of uncompleted stage
If you are not sure then there are a few calculators online that can help. I tend to use the Zwifthacks MAP calculator, as it is very comprehensive and easy to use.
Tuesday session:
10 minutes warm up in the gym—make sure your hips, back and legs are warm.
LHS (Lift Heavy Stuff) protocol:
Choose one exercise e.g.: Squat, Split squat (lunge) or Bulgarian split squat.
Start at a very manageable weight, complete 5 reps, then take a break, add a bit more weight. Work your way up to your ‘working weight’.
Once at the working weight (heaviest weight you will be lifting), complete 5 sets of 3-5 repeats. Make sure you get enough rest between the sets. If you are lifting heavy then you should feel fairly gassed at the end of each set.
That LHS session should take about 20 minutes.
Have your bike or Wattbike ready to go.
Bike session:
5 minute warm up.
Either on a small incline or a 20-30 second sprint leg in Zwift (e.g., the first sprint in Watopia Hilly Route) complete the required number of sprints, going as hard as you can. Get a full recovery in (normally 3-4 mins) before repeating. Use the on-screen metrics in Zwift to try to beat your previous sprint.
10 minute cool down.
The bike session should take about 30 minutes.
Thursday and Saturday sessions:
10 minutes warm up.
Sprint efforts to be completed at 90-95% of MAP and followed by an easy 15-second spin recovery.
These intervals need to be hard enough that you feel like you are working, but no so hard that you can’t complete them—hence the 5% range in the target watts.
If you don’t have a powermeter, then use RPE (rate of perceived exertion) rather than heart rate.
The intervals are too short to be able to effectively use heart rate due to the heart rate response lag in relation to the effort.
Repeat this 3 times through with a 5 minutes easy recovery spin between each of the 3 blocks.
10 minute cool down.
Sunday session:
This ride is optional. If you are really short of time then this is the one to ditch. But for most of us this is the ride we look forward to the most—an opportunity to catch up with mates, ride in beautiful countryside and most importantly have coffee afterwards.
Who is this example training plan for?
This example 4-week training plan is for someone that has been riding for a couple of years, may have lost some of his fitness but has very limited time to ride.
Adjustments to this plan would be made for riders with an initial higher or lower level of fitness, and for female riders the plan would be modified to make the most of the hormonal changes month on month.
As with starting any high-intensity exercise, you should get the all-clear from your doctor if you haven’t trained in this way for a while.
Welcome to the9Honey Sleep Diarieswhere we get people to share their sleep habits. From what puts them to sleep to what ruins their sleep, everyone’s got a sleep story…
Not long ago, it was possible to win national championships without elite college football quarterbacks. Nick Saban’s Alabama teams did it three times between 2009 and 2012. Each time they relied on dominant defenses, punishing running games, and QBs who mainly had to make sure they didn’t throw too many interceptions.
But the sport has changed. Spread offenses that rely on high-volume, high-difficulty passing have put a premium on QBs who can chuck the ball around more accurately than their predecessors. It’s no longer possible to win it all without one of the best QBs in the country.
2021 is shaping up to be an interesting season. A big handful of potential title contenders, plus a few peripheral contenders who made their own runs last season, are replacing their QBs. Trying to figure out which teenaged QBs will dominate is tricky at best, but one way of sorting out their chances of success is to look at the teams they’ll be taking over.
Here are eight teams breaking in new starting quarterbacks this fall, ranked (from best to worst) by how favorable of a situation the young signal-caller will walk into.
1. Clemson
It’s hard to imagine a more ideal environment for new QB D.J. Uiagalelei. The former five-star prospect joined Clemson in 2020 and acquitted himself well in nine appearances. He also played admirably in his two starts while eventual No. 1 NFL draft pick Trevor Lawrence recovered from COVID-19.
Uiagalelei will stand behind a dominant offensive line, and his receivers are the most appealing targets a QB could ask for. Chief among them: The 6’4” Justyn Ross will return this year after a spinal condition cost him his 2020 season, and he should give Uiagalelei a premier deep threat.
2. Ohio State
Former five-star C.J. Stroud is poised to replace Chicago Bears draftee Justin Fields under center for the Buckeyes. The only reason Clemson’s situation ranks above Ohio State is that Uiagalelei has already had the chance to work in Clemson’s offense, while Stroud will see his first game action this fall. With Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, Stroud has the best wide receiver duo in college football at his disposal. He’ll also work behind the Big Ten’s best offensive line and under the tutelage of head coach Ryan Day, one of the sport’s best QB developers.
3. Alabama
There is a case to be made that new signal-caller Bryce Young—yet another former five-star recruit on this list—is walking into a worse situation than recent Alabama QBs. But that is a highly relative statement. Young had a year to sit around and learn Bama’s offense as a true freshman in 2020, and while that offense will change somewhat now that Bill O’Brien has replaced Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator, it likely won’t be a total overhaul.
Young will have boatloads of talent around him, and Bama’s stingy defense will ensure he rarely has to play from behind. The Crimson Tide lost a couple of brilliant receivers, including Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, but returning wideout John Metchie III will soften the blow.
4. Texas A&M
It’s not entirely clear who will replace Kellen Mond as the quarterback for the Aggies. In fact, the position might be A&M’s biggest weakness in what could be a College Football Playoff year. But whether Haynes King or Zach Calzada earns the job, the eventual QB will have quite a supporting cast around him.
The Aggies’ pass-catchers are arguably the best in the SEC. Tight end Jalen Wydermeyer is one of the sport’s best over-the-middle threats, and Ainias Smith can put his game-breaking agility to use in numerous ways. The biggest problem facing A&M’s eventual QB might just be the pressure he’s under to keep a potentially historic season on track.
5. Texas
The Longhorns have a QB battle on their hands between Casey Thompson and Hudson Card. Whoever wins and keeps the starting job will benefit from new coach Steve Sarkisian’s offense, which propelled Alabama’s undefeated run to the national championship last year. Texas should have decent units at running back, wide receiver, and offensive line, but it’s not likely that the Longhorns will be great at any one thing. Thompson or Card will have to do a lot of heavy lifting to improve UT’s standing in the Big 12, and that’s a tall order for either player.
6. Florida
New QB Emory Jones is a strong breakout candidate. A big, bulky player with strong running ability and a rocket arm, his athletic profile is kind of like a Tim Tebow with better throwing ability. But he’s entering a potentially difficult situation, with Florida’s two best receivers from 2020 (tight end Kyle Pitts and receiver Kadarius Toney) now in the NFL. Last year’s Gators relied a great deal on those two, as any team would have—they were two of the most devastating players in America.
Other than running back Malik Davis, UF will not retain a single player who received more than 20 pass targets in 2020. Combine that with a possibly weak offensive line and regular competition against high-end SEC defenses, and Jones will have a lot on his plate.
7. Notre Dame
Three-year starter Ian Book is gone, and Wisconsin transfer Jack Coan is in. Coan will have a difficult time getting Notre Dame back to the Playoff, which Book reached twice. The Irish don’t have a single wide receiver who appears to have game-breaking talent (though one could emerge), and the team’s offensive line just lost four players to the NFL. Coan has never shown much ability as a deep downfield passer, and he’ll likely have a hard time finding any targets this fall.
8. BYU
The Cougars are dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision in terms of returning production. They didn’t just lose QB Zach Wilson to the NFL; they also saw their three best offensive linemen depart. And maybe just as critically, highly regarded offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, the architect of the offense Wilson led so beautifully in 2020, left to take the same job at Baylor. New QB Jaren Hall might be good—he showed some flashes in his last game action in 2019—but he’s walking into a meat grinder.
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The first week of the college football season is quickly approaching, but for football fans, it can’t come soon enough. While season-long predictions based on teams’ performance in Week 1 college football games are always a little sketchy, there may be more of that than usual this year. For one thing, everyone’s skittish after a farcical 2020 season that saw 139 game cancellations or postponements. We’re eager for a return to normalcy, and that means picking studs and duds as quickly as possible. But that’s not the only reason: This fall’s Week 1 schedule—unfolding across the week of September 4—really is juicy.
Here are seven Week 1 games that stand out as events to circle on your football calendar.
Thursday, 7 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN: Boise State at UCF
These have been the two defining “non-power” programs of the last decade—and in Boise’s case, longer than that. Both have proven they can hack it with anybody in the Power 5 conferences, and both have had to scrap for national status.
But both programs are in transition right now, as their head coaches (Boise’s Bryan Harsin and UCF’s Josh Heupel) left to take over the programs at Auburn and Tennessee last winter, respectively. The Broncos hired former Boise player and assistant Andy Avalos, and UCF brought on recently fired Auburn head coach and king of college football buyouts Gus Malzahn. In addition to a fun kickoff game, this will be a curiosity-quenching look at the teams’ two new head coaches.
Saturday, 12 p.m. (EDT) on FOX: Penn State at Wisconsin
There’s likely to be some anxiety in the air at this premier Big Ten game. Penn State started last year 0–5 before winning its last four games to finish 4–5, and Wisconsin went a tepid 4–3 while failing to claim its usual place atop the conference’s West division. (Northwestern won it instead.)
Whoever wins this one will be off to a nice start in an effort to post a rebound season. Whoever loses—especially if it’s Penn State, which will still have to get through the more difficult East division after playing Wisconsin—will quickly cut into their margin for error.
Saturday, 2 p.m. (EDT) on Pac-12 Networks: Fresno State at Oregon
Fresno State should be tons of fun to watch this season. The Bulldogs were just so-so in 2020, but they have almost all of their key players back in the fold. Quarterback and Washington transfer Jake Haener, running back Ronnie Rivers, and receiver Jalen Cropper should all be among the best players in the Mountain West.
On the other hand, Oregon should again be a top-tier contender in the Pac-12. This year, the Ducks have maybe the best returning defensive player in the country: defensive end and potential No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Kayvon Thibodeaux. Oregon should win this game, but it will be instructive to see how strong both teams look and if newly minted Oregon starting QB Anthony Brown plays well.
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (EDT) on ABC: Miami vs. Alabama
Here’s how Bama usually treats Week 1: The Crimson Tide like to play a neutral-site game in some NFL stadium (this year, it’s in Atlanta) against a decent but overmatched opponent whom they promptly destroy. That will probably happen again this year.
But maybe it won’t! There are numerous reasons to think the Tide will be slightly worse off this season than normal, and if you squint right, you could imagine ultra-skilled Miami QB D’Eriq King dropping a lot of touchdowns on the Bama defense. It’s not likely, but there’s some chance the Hurricanes put up a good fight in this game and at least make Tide fans sweat. This will also be the last of Bama’s long series of neutral-site openers, as they start a home-and-home, on-campus series with Texas in 2022.
Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (EDT) on Fox: Louisiana at Texas
The Ragin’ Cajuns will be heavy underdogs in this game. But should they be? They were a better team than Texas in 2020, when they made the Sun Belt Championship and the Longhorns sputtered to their now-typical mediocre bowl game appearance. And Louisiana has more returning production than almost anyone in college football, while Texas has both a new head coach (Steve Sarkisian) and a new QB (Casey Thompson) to break in. Louisiana has one of the most athletic rosters in the Group of 5 conferences, and it would not be surprising if Billy Napier’s team gave the Horns a run in Austin.
Saturday, 7:30 p.m. on Fox: Georgia vs. Clemson
This will be the premier game of not just Week 1, but maybe the entire season. The Bulldogs and Tigers will play at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, and the winner will become an instant national championship favorite (at least in the eyes of many onlookers).
For Clemson, it’s the start of a new era. With QB Trevor Lawrence off to the Jacksonville Jaguars as the NFL’s top draft pick, five-star second-year man D.J. Uiagalelei will step into the sport’s most important position. (Uiagalelei started a few games in 2020, when Lawrence tested positive for COVID-19, and the understudy played well.)
Georgia has a returning QB in JT Daniels, but the Dawgs will have their own questions to answer. Maybe the most pressing: How will UGA’s ostensibly dominant offensive line hold up when it faces Clemson, perhaps the country’s most fearsome defensive front?
Sunday, 7:30 p.m. (EDT) on ABC: Notre Dame at Florida State
Notre Dame will be worse than last year, when the Irish made the College Football Playoff. Florida State will be better than last year, when the Seminoles went 3–6. The question is how far one team will move down and the other up.
The Irish are one of the few teams that haven’t retained the vast majority of their key players from 2020, and their losses include three-year starting quarterback Ian Book. They’re also moving back to conference independence after playing 2020’s schedule in the ACC.
FSU is living in a new world now that second-year coach Mike Norvell overhauled the roster with transfer pickups from other teams. The most critical to a turnaround, by far, is former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton, who was one of the best players in the country before a devastating knee injury late in 2018. If Milton is healthy and back to his old self, the Noles’ fortunes will change in a hurry.
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The researchers at Stanford University’s School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California, who are behind the recent review of the benefits of low carbohydrate diets found many issues with the benefits and risks and consider these approaches to be controversial and unresolved, particularly for very-low carbohydrate diets (VLCD).
They also concluded that beyond a six month period, the benefits of low carb diets diminish and that long-term weight loss and management isn’t any better than any other diets. And that’s pretty much confirmed by what other researchers are finding.
A group of Tongan-Australians have banded together to break the cycle of over-eating in their community.
Key points:
Brumby Fitness started with a small group of Tongan-Australians training together to improve their health
The group now has more than 50 members and the model is being expanded interstate and overseas
It aims to combat the culture of over-eating and improve connections in the Pacific Island community
After a serious health scare earlier this year, Toni Tu’ulakitau knew he had to change his life.
Recovering from surgery and with a young family, the Canberra lawyer decided to prioritise his wellbeing.
So he started training with a group of friends at 4:00am.
“Some of the blokes were weighing in at 160kg and I was recovering,” Mr Tu’ulakitau said.
Word soon got out and more people came along to train – three months later and the group has grown to more than 50 active members – from teenagers to the elderly.
They train six days a week, starting in the early hours of the morning, and have expanded the workout program to include cardio and fitness classes like Zumba, yoga, and Boxfit.
“It happened by accident, we sort of decided to expand the message about looking after your health and driving positive health in our Pacific community, but more importantly our own community, the Tongan community,” he said.
The expansion has seen the group name itself Brumby Fitness: Kalapu Kau Vaivai, which means Club of the Weak or Elderly and it has also set up a leadership committee.
“If you have a look at the dictionary [Brumby] means unbroken horse, we are unbroken people, spiritually and in every way,” Brumby Fitness committee president Fihi Kivalu said.
“But we all love to eat … we wanted to counter that.”
Group acts as circuit breaker to over-eating culture
Members of the group said weight-related health issues were a big challenge facing the Pacific Island diaspora in Australia.
High rates of obesity put the community at high risk of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, kidney and heart disease.
The group hopes Brumby Fitness will help act as a preventative health platform.
Richard Taumoepeau is a third-year medical student and the group’s medical adviser.
Each week, he weighs and measures the members to help track their progress.
He also gives basic diet and health advice while urging members to visit their GPs for ongoing issues.
“Just little things, to encourage them, little small changes, something that can be sustainable,” he said.
“I encourage them: ‘Don’t get bogged down with the scales’, [focus] on the other improvements like finding more energy during the day, feeling a lot better.”
Mr Taumoepeau said it had been satisfying to see success across the generations.
“Then they will start working on their diet because we’re monitoring their weekly weight and then they start seeing the correlation between tweaking their diet and the changes on the scale and their waistline.”
Forging stronger community connections
The group is not just about physical fitness.
It is also about building a community and improving mental health through social engagement.
“There is a big barricade in our culture where a lot of the oldies and women are left behind.
“This platform here allows them to come here and express themselves, to come here to exercise, to come here to do training, but also to mingle with other people in the community – that is important.”
Expanding the model interstate and overseas
Brumby Fitness has also made waves on social media.
The group has followers across Australia and overseas in New Zealand and the United States.
It is working with groups in Sydney and Melbourne to set up similar programs in those cities.
“This is an opportunity for Brumby Fitness to excel, not only in exercising but also to reach out to the Pacific, the whole community,” Mr Kivalu said.
“We will continue to push, to do everything we can to assist and make sure that they can help the community and reach out to them.
“It’s about helping others, and that there’s nothing else besides getting healthy, staying healthy and living a healthy lifestyle.”
Gym welcomes group with open arms
Gym Club Lime added 5:00am classes to its timetable to accommodate the Brumby Fitness group in recognition of its success.
“Normally I put on a class, check the numbers, work with time slots that normally work,” Club Lime Woden manager Diane Patch said.
“But when you’ve already got a group of 30 people who want to do a class, I was quite happy to find an instructor and make it work for them.”
Ms Patch even became a member of the group herself after coming in early to help with memberships.
“Once I was here at 5:30am, saw the energy of the group, I just thought: ‘There’s a bit of weekday motivation in there for me to just come along and join in,” she said.
She said she had seen communities develop in gyms before, but never this quickly.
“Usually it takes time, consistency, but this group has just grown really fast and it’s actually going really well,” she said.
“Definitely huge satisfaction, seeing that happening on such a large scale in a gym that was empty at 4:00am before.”