The Evolution of a Fitness Revolution

I'm greeted with warm smiles, open arms and of course a couple of power racks, bars, machines, chains, platforms and behind all this the foreshadowing of the usual environment I find myself in everyday, but also now so different...

Welcoming sight at Progressive Edge

High performance gyms are slowly encroaching on the fitness community of South Africa. Without a doubt Crossfit has crashed on our country's shores and to certain view points in can be seen as a bad or a good thing but at the end of the day people are deadlifting, squatting, overhead pressing and throwing in Olympic and functional movements into their training and that to me can only be good for the skills base in our lifting community.

Alternative gyms such as the one I work out of (Evo Fitness) are slowly building up across the country and what first world countries have taken for granted, are becoming a viable option for the serious local gym-goer.The expansion of alternative (high performance) facilities against health clubs are on the rise and its only a matter of time till the lines in the sand get drawn and I can place my bet on who the winners will be.

The edge of progression

Progressive Edge Playground

Progressive Edge Performance is a private training facility located in Green Point, Cape Town whereby they cater to all clientele in terms of their goals ranging from fat-loss, strength gains, overall health transformation and to athletes of all sports ranging from beginner to elite level status. The gym started off last year February and they have gone from strength to strength over their time they have had on the playing field.



Their mentality and approach to training resonates with our core values at Evo Fitness and to myself being a strength trainer/lifter and overall strength and conditioning enthusiast/lover. The facility has many commonalities to what I am use to and my hopes for something unique were not tarnished as I was surprised by a few extra pieces of equipment such as specialty bars, machines, platforms and I must say some breath-taking views that surround the gym.

Breaking the mould

Alex and Kelly

I decided to visit Progressive Edge to have myself the opportunity to meet Alex Azim (owner) and Kelly Dessington (strength and conditioning trainer) who are like minded individuals in their quest to not only making themselves the best that they can be, but also their clients. Networking with established name's like themselves even just to pick their brains for a few seconds can provide a wealth of knowledge and that to me was the purpose of my visit.

Being allowed to have free reign to do my own training without obligation and having wonderful conversations about what you would expect three personal trainers in room would talk about was incredible. The two of them have really invested a lot of time, money and love into something that every single person who is serious about lifting, should go visit. There are numerous facilities in this city such  that are engineered to produce strong lasting results in clients. That to me is worth the time and effort to make the journey.


The pilgrimage of fitness

At the end of the day there are always going to be those that step into a gym of any sort and have that look in their eyes. Their face tells a story of a book you cannot open but the cover says it all. Their goal is to be better than when they came in for that that session, for that month, for those years slaving away at the iron, progress is not an option its a necessity.

Alternative gyms provide a sanctuary for these type of people and inspire the corporate 9 - 5 slave the opportunity to let the tie loose, roll the sleeves up a bit and push a mundane life to the edge. One doesn't have to be an animal to train in these type of gyms, but you have to want change and progress above 15 minute conversations between sets at the curl rack... and that to me is the need that has called the growth of such training facilities. You have to want it.

Evo Fitness 

Crossing the chasm, On the other side

My first training experience in an alternative gym outside of Evo Fitness has definitely opened my eyes up to the growing number of gyms that are opening up across this country. I am glad to have taken the steps to meeting others that follow the same passion as me. The equipment, atmosphere and trainer expertise and knowledge at Progressive Edge is impeccable and for myself it was an experience and privilege to be given the opportunity to train there and meet Alex and Kelly. For those in the City Bowl/Green Point/Sea Point areas if you are  looking to cut yourself loose off the out-dated health club mentality and actually start getting results and to finally lead a healthy balanced lifestyle in a body you can be proud of, you know where to go.

Myself training at Progressive Edge

I am excited of lays ahead in the future. The lifting potential that lay in wait for the catchment of alternative gyms to harness and grab them is dawning. It's time to put hands on the barbell and change some lives.

- Jarrod Firmani

* Evo Fitness: http://www.evofitness.co.za/index.php

















* Progressive Edge: http://www.progressiveedgeperformance.com/

Come whatever may

The new year has come...

This year has a lot of surprises on the way for myself as a personal trainer and as a post-graduate student straight out of college. With one more exam to write to earn my Bachelors in Business Administration and Marketing Management and finishing off my Specialist in Strength and Conditioning, the year has yet to take its first steps and I'm feeling positive with life's outlook.

Consistent education 



As a strength trainer, lifter and overall enthusiast the ability to learn and pass on knowledge to clients, friends and other lifters is a gift. As a species one of our definitive traits that make us the top of the food chain is our ability to learn and develop ourselves through the constant learning we achieve throughout our lives and applying it to achieve success.



In the next few months for myself I will have my BBA, CFT, SSC and will be putting the plans in motion to attain my Crossfit level 1 certification and any other qualification I can get to make myself a better and differentiated strength and conditioning coach and businessman.

As I get older and 'leaving the nest' per say I really wish I paid more attention in my earlier years to teachers and educators of all sorts that drilled the importance of getting an education into our faces as young school kids. With youth and its arrogance the words fell upon deaf ears among the yearnings to rebel against the system but the remnants of those messages did take root in the soil of my mind and I am glad I have tended to those pastures and continue to become a better human; as a man, as a trainer and a lifter.

Take home point:
I believe that even though you may finish certain studies for your job or even to move up to a higher level of learning in current studies, consistent education can only ever have a positive effect on your life. Find some courses or seminars to help improve the things you enjoy

Setting goals

I have set myself some immense goals for this year but everyday I hammer away at the mountain that stands before me. These goals are not meant to break my spirits nor prevent me from enjoying my life and job, they stand as a challenge and more importantly as a test of character so that when I stand victorious over them I know that I earned my place on this earth and deserve whatever I have in front of me

One thing I will say about goals is keep them SMART: Simple. Measurable. Actionable. Realistic. Time-bound. Any goal should follow that acronym and having the end result in mind should be drilled down to smaller manageable pieces so when completed consistently you end up where you wanted as short, medium and long-term goals have to be put down on paper. Never keep things in your head, write them down as that idea that can so easily be swept away in the everyday bombardment of instant information is never lost. Make the idea a physical manifestation of thought by writing it down and having it glare back at you, that's the first step, the proceeding are up to you to bite the bullet and head out.

Take home point:
Plan your goals out for the year. It won't hurt to have a end vision for yourself on what you would like to achieve this year and break those goals down into smaller manageable pieces that you can act on. Every small victory will lead to winning.

Competition

This year I have some number of competitions I aim at competing in. Primarily powerlifting in the International Powerlifting Federation listed competitions but also in the 100% Raw Powerlifting Federation which if all goes well could be well up to 9 competitions this year and many opportunities to earn provincial and national colours.

But STRONG is STRONG

So I have set myself with the challenge in competing in some endurance events such as The Warrior Race and the Impi challenge. Both involve teams to attack obstacle courses over quite a far distance and work together to completing all the tasks on the way. Now for myself being a strength orientated lifter, the endurance element is a factor to consider but effective programming and knowing my body will be the facets of my training I will focus on to peak in time for all these events.

Strength is the base of ALL PEFORMANCE

I have made a few changes to my training like moving to a high frequency training methodology and no matter what happens or what changes as I get stronger the fact of the matter is that the weights lifted are not subjective. Even for those not interested in being a strength athlete, enjoying all sports and hobbies dictate the need to be strong enough to excel in what you want

Take home point:
Plan to compete or join a club of sorts this year. The ability to test yourself against others and your own perceptions of who you think you are is an amazing feeling when you come out on top. Even losing you learn more about yourself than if you never had the courage to step up and take the blows.

Enjoying what you do




This year I have so far and will continue to pour all my effort into the en devour of becoming a world class rated strength and conditioning coach and trainer. I love what I do and I love being able to teach people.






I don't do it for the money, the image or for the fact that I think its an easy way out of real life as some people have the perception that personal training is a low-grade job.

Everyday I deal with people's bodies, their ambitions and their self esteem lay in my hands every time they walk through the doors and place their trust in my knowledge. That to me is as important as running a company as you don't lock your body up for the night after a day of work and go home. Your body is your home.

All I want in my life is to be able to beat my own perceptions of who I think I am by beating personal records in the gym. Training is one of the only things that I can control completely, it is an art and a science and every facet can be managed to become better and if done so correctly, produces results guaranteed. Nothing beats making yourself a better person than feeling accomplishment everyday you live and I get to experience that and would not trade it for anything in the world no matter what the offer.

The only thing other than making myself better is by making others better as I wish I had appreciated all those that did it for me growing up. My sports coaches, teachers and most importantly my father who passed away last year. So I spend everyday trying to make a difference and the end result after a hard training session with a client is to make them want to do it again...

"Internal drive is the desired result of a personal training session whereby a client wants more than what you gave them" - Pappa Firm

- Jarrod Firmani

EVOLVEFIT - Blog 3

BLOG 4  - Week 7  & 8 – Sleek Geek Team S.A. – F.I.C.T January 2013

Take  the summer colds, allergies and bronchitis add some immense summer heat along with a touch of skipping and kipping and you have the Sleek Geek team stirring the fitness neighbourhood..

Week  7 :

We now look down at our hands covered in chalk as our gloves are shredded from strength work, so much for Harbinder being some of the best quality sports gloves. Gloves are now replaced with chalk at each training session and we joke as to needing industrial strength construction hands as our strength work goes even bigger.

With summer colds and bronchitis we prowler forth and find the inner wave of inner strength so as not to  sit out a session as the learning Jarrod now offers in speed with strength work is key information for competition day.

With focus W.O.Ds I eat enough for 5 grown men before our training sessions to ensure that I have the physical strength to keep up and self-compete some. Our team session at EVO and OUR COMMERICAL GYM becomes an inspiration to onlookers as we  now very verbally  shifting from preparation mode to PRE COMP mode as we scream out our beliefs! In my take I will never be able to do commercial gyms again as at Evo no one looks at you while deadlifting, squatting, running the prowler or benching your own body mass like you must be on stimulants (legal and illegal) as a woman to push your body to this level.

Double unders (nothing to do with Ozzie nor downing beers) - has much to do with speed and skill.
Yes from day dot in our childhood years skipping was a past-time but a double under is something I have only seen pro boxers display with finesse and skill. We've taken to leaning this technique and hopefully it’s a hop and a skip on competition day.

With the possibility of an ocean swim on F.I.C.T competition day we take to the water this late in competition in preparation and we simply HOPE YOU DO NOT  HAVE  to swim the icy water of Camps Bay as it will take some 3 months to prep for a 1 km ocean swim and we are 3 weeks out to the F.I.C.T challenge.

For all the misplaced muscle groups there is  Roland Mensikovas, the specialist in soft tissue relief who comes highly recommended and highly appreciated.

Week 8 :

If you are not feeling like your chest cage is being ripped open with each prowler set or a touch of hulk madness coming on with each weight thruster,  your brain has simply  not notified your body that it is  in  pre comp mode!

Here is an example of a basic strength session and I do mean basic :

Deadlift Warm-up:
65kg – 5set of 2 for speed

Superset:
4 rounds of 4 reps each
Block lifts (40kg)
Deadlifts (30kg) standing on resistance band and bar hooked with chains
Deadlifts with centre bar on 30kg

Box jumps on 45cm – 5 sets of 5

Prowler Partner work 1:
Person 1 – push prowler to line 1 (4 lines)
Person 2 – 5 burpees at line
Repeat x3 till end of line
Swap over

Prowler Partner work 2:
Push prowler to line 1, sprint to opposite wall and back
Push prowler to line 2, sprint to opposite wall and back
Push prowler to line 3, turn and repeat

Tug of war :
Take some 200 kgs+,  inclusive of Jarrod, throw it all on Santa's sled,  attach a 15 kg rope and a go-pro and you have a beast of a team work out. As we pile on and off the rope like worker ants the aim is to sled pull this monster 3oo meters in a sprint with a turnabout and a power crawl to the finish line.

In 8 weeks Jarrod has taken us from newbies to strength machines and for this we are most thankful as without Jarrod's guidance we would have never even thought of saying out loud - 'WE SIMPLY CAN'!

Note from Jarrod : 'These girls have more work ethic and determination to better themselves than most men ever have.'  Now this said by a man that eats iron bars as a snack and set S.A records in powerlifting.
The look -remember this : having the 8 pack for show is very different to actually having the strength to compete in a 2 day competition with the fittest pro's in Cape Town! It's all inner strength and fuel food. A special thank you goes to Lesley Denning for planning my fuel fillers, it's a blessing.

We are now stirring with excitement as the calendar to competition day is in full count down. We have 2 weeks of beach drills, sprints, strength sessions and swimming sessions that would give the military a run for their fitness money but we are in it and are already winning -  as finding the starting line is achievement step 1.

Jarrod is truly the best along with EVO FITNESS so if you feel like change in your life step forward and Jarrod will take you on a journey of strength while toning and tuning your body.

I leave you with this thought.. The fittest woman in the world so crowned for the last 2 years running is a slight of build woman and does not rip with Hulk size muscles nor does she turn green on competition day. The matter of size seems to be the key topic everywhere I go, except for EVO FITNESS.  There seems to be a belief that mass equals strength. I say try me, I might be pint-sized but what I may lack in height and body mass I make up for in strength in self-belief.  Watch this YouTube video of our fittest girl in the world proving that size is not a factor unless you make it one in your grey matter..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgU4Hk2JIFo

- Rossan Benjamin