After months of preparation and countless hours of training, AOC ambassador John Ell, takes on his first Ironman this weekend in Taupo, New Zealand. All those hours spent in the AOC studio will finally pay off as he tackles the 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride finishing with a 42km run. Crazy I know!
From all the team here at AOC we wish John all the best in the New Zealand Ironman!
40 riders signed up to the calorie burning challenge at the beginning of February with amazing results to follow! We had 8 riders successfully achieve the target of burning 10,000 calories in the 29 days of February including two standout achievements!
Congratulations to the female and male Feb 10,000 champions Jane and Richard for achieving the most amount of calories burnt! Jane burning 10,878 over 19 classes and Richard burning 15,707 over 17 classes absolutely smashed the target goal. Awesome job!
Let’s hear what other positive results came from the Feb 10,000;
“I increased my strength and lost around 2kg but my biggest improvement was improved mental health and a boost in energy. I left each class feeling happier, healthier and motivated for the day ahead!” – Leo
“Throughout February I increased my energy output from an average of 400 calories per class to 600. It’s all about making every class count!” – Michelle
Congratulations to everyone who participated!
ART OF CYCLING is proud to support the Women’s only 100km Ascent ride. Bicycle Network believe that 50% of all riders should be women, and to help support their cause The RACV Ascent 100km ride was born. This Women’s only ride treks through the Yarra Ranges as it tests riders over some tough and hilly terrain.
To help riders get through the course, ART OF CYCLING will be here to support personal goal setting, fitness testing and training programs. Good luck to everyone riding and supporting this fantastic event!
To find out more or to enter the Ascent ride, check out their website HERE >>
![2016-Ascent-RACV-EDM-Header_01v1[5]](https://artofcycling.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2016-Ascent-RACV-EDM-Header_01v15.gif)
On Thursday the 18th of February at 7pm, ART OF CYCLING is putting on a tough BRICK session run by future Ironman, AOC ambassador and all round fitness addict, John Ell!
John has recently joined the triathlon scene after years of elite rowing and cross country running in his homeland of Canada. Now with his heart set on competing in his first Ironman in March, he is fresh off testing his form with the Ballarat Half Ironman as he finished in a blistering time of 4 hours and 43 minutes. John will help create and push you through a BRICK interval program that has seen him achieve such success through his rowing, running and triathlon career.
A BRICK session simply means a workout that involves both cycling and running intervals. A widely used training program for triathletes, the variety in this program keeps your body guessing and therefore using more energy and burning more calories. This will be the perfect session to test your fitness or simply help refresh the mind.
Suitable for any type of fitness levels and abilities make sure you book your spot HERE!
ART OF CYCLING has launched a special Wednesday morning 9:30am Cycle + STRETCH class! This is the perfect opportunity to sneak off and get in that important workout once the kids have been dropped off at school.
This class includes an action packed 40 minute cycle session plus that all important 20 minute foam roll and deep stretch session. Excellent way to get over the mid week hump!
For those new to ART OF CYCLING and want to join the 9:30am class, then your first class is FREE! Just arrive 15 minutes before the class starts and we will sign you up. Now there is no reason to not come down and give it a go.
See you next Wednesday!
This year we will be introducing different fitness and wellbeing workshops, giving you the opportunity to explore, learn and improve your fitness. Free to all unlimited ride members, our workshops will be sure to provide great variety and motivation for your training program.
This month we start with a strength workshop by key ART OF CYCLING trainer Sam Lilley. Sam has been a personal trainer and group fitness coach for 4 years and will be sure to teach and guid you through a tough strength training program. Make sure you book your spot as our workshops will be capped at 15 people.
Starting on the 1st of February, we have set the challenge to burn 10,000 calories in 29 days! It’s simple, when you finish a class just record the total calories burnt on our tally board. The more classes you do, the more calories burnt!
So here’s how to enter,
There will be some awesome prizes for the most calories burnt for both male and female riders. Let the Feb 10,000 begin!
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As we all enjoy time off and spoiling ourselves with copious amounts of food, don’t forget to book into a class throughout our Christmas timetable. From December 21st we will have a relaxed timetable for the two weeks over Christmas and New Years, then easing back into a restricted timetable from January 4th.
For those that have a direct debt memberships and are unable to make it to our Christmas timetable, please email us and we will put your membership on hold. Suspensions will need to be processed before December the 17th.
Monday 21st of December
6am Yellow Jersey
6pm Polka-Dot Jersey
Tuesday 22nd of December
5:30am Yellow Jersey
6pm Green Jersey
Wednesday 23rd of December
8:30am Green Jersey
Thursday 24th of December
9:30am Yellow Jersey
Friday 25th of December
CLOSED
Saturday 26th of December
CLOSED
Sunday 27th of December
8:30am Endurance
Monday 28th of December
6am Yellow Jersey
Tuesday 29th of December
7:30am Yellow Jersey
Wednesday 30th of December
9:30am Green Jersey
Thursday 31st of December
CLOSED
Friday 1st of January
CLOSED
Saturday 2nd of January
8:30am Green Jersey
Sunday 3rd of January
8:30am Endurance
Join us for the ART OF CYCLING Christmas ride party!
Thursday the 17th of December, we are having a Christmas special cycling class followed by some celebratory xmas drinks. That’s right, bikes and beers! Sam will be taking the class through a special 6:30pm session so make sure you book online to secure your bike!
Just in it for a drink? Perfect! Come down to AOC as the class finishes around 7:30pm for a drink and social catch up. So join us on the 17th of December as we thank you all for making 2015 a fantastic year of great times, great training and awesome fitness results!
ART OF CYCLING turns 2 this month and to celebrate, we have some fantastic membership deals. These offers will only be available during our birthday week from 16th of November till the 22nd!
To kick off our birthday sale we are offering our $25 a week unlimited classes membership over a minimum 6 months. This being our cheapest membership, it’s normally offered over a 12 month period, but for our birthday week only, you can secure your unlimited rides for a minimum term of 6 short months!
For those currently on a direct debt membership and want this one, you can! Switch over to our 6 month $25 deal NOW and finish off your current membership LATER! Email or call us to lock in your membership. Be quick, only 15 memberships to be sold!
Purchase your $25 a week membership HERE
Our birthday isn’t over yet. We have a special on our ride packs too!
For our birthday week only, you will receive bonus rides for every pack bought.
Buy 10 get 2 FREE! Purchase 10 pack HERE
Buy 20 get 5 FREE! Purchase 20 pack HERE
To everyone who has come along to a class, enjoyed our sessions and spread the AOC love, we thank you for being a part of the AOC family. We have had 2 successful years of getting people FITTER FASTER!
Gina is an AOC ambassadors and has competed in multiple ironman events, in which are considered the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world. So who better to ask about the importance and benefits of healthy eating! Big thank you to Gina for sharing her experiences and tips on how she has kept up and achieved her amazing sporting accomplishments.
Hi, my name is Gina McVicar, I am 55 years old and have lived in Williamstown for 30 years. I am married with a 13 year old son, and run my own retail business in Williamstown called Embrace, Life, Love and Happiness.
I grew up playing basketball as my main sport and taught aerobics in the Fluro 80’s. I found triathlon as a way of adding variety in my quest for exercise and fitness.
I have completed the Hawaiian Ironman World Championships twice, once before the arrival of my son, and once after (he was 4 ), however my highlight and most satisfying sporting achievement apart from qualifying for the world championships, was running into the finish stadium with my son at the Roth Ironman in July this year. This was my slowest ironman time I had ever done, but the look and excitement on my son’s face was something I will never forget and will always treasure!!
After competing in so many long distance events and Ironman races over the years, nutrition has naturally become a large part in my success. I do think the fuel we consume is vital to a highly functioning machine that our body is. Yes it is important to eat directly after training, and have the correct fuel for racing, however I think the basics are often overlooked with the latest fads taking precedence over good basic everyday nutrition. These basic nutrition requirements like fruit, vegetables and portioned carb and protein meals, may not be sexy, and not come in the latest gel pack, but are essential to the body performing at the highest level, both in training and racing, day in, day out.
So for me the most important rule firstly is to always eat well, stay hydrated and have a balanced and sensible approach to food. I sometimes think, I mostly train, so I can eat! However when it goes too far one way or the other, it is important to get the basics correct. In other words, good clean, nutritious, unpackaged, home cooked food! Then there is always room for some yummy treats ( because that’s why we train isn’t it , to have our cake and eat it too !! )
Meal examples during my Mon – Fri week.
– Baked salmon with quinoa, roasted carrots and broccoli
– Grilled chicken breast with brown rice
– Grilled sirloin with a baked sweet potato, mushrooms and brussles sprouts
– Scrambled eggs! 2 eggs served with some steamed vegetables such as carrot, tomato, mushroom, kale and spinach
After a workout, I will try to make sure I continue to hydrate with water, then if it’s a really tough long or high intensity session, I will go for chocolate milk. Easy to consume , plenty of protein, calories and carbs to help the body recover. I have been known to inhale a chocolate milkshake in record time after a long ride!! Tastes soo good, easily absorbed and delivers straight to the body for recovery.
I have found that planning is essential to maintaining good recovery and nutrition, and it usually goes wrong for me when I haven’t planned and thought ahead. So remember the chocolate milk, throw a banana in your bag, and make sure your next meal is nutritious and delivers good fuel to your body. This will ensure that you are ready to go again, and nail your next training session.
Heres to good health, and great training and racing.
Gina.
What better way to challenge and motivate yourself then a 3 kilometre time trial challenge?
This November, we have set you a challenge. Ride 3 kilometres during one of our designated 3k challenge classes and then beat it 2 weeks later!
At the beginning of Sam’s 7pm Tuesday Performance class on the 10th of November and the 6:30pm Green + TRX class on the 12th of November, Sam will take you through a warm up followed by a 3 kilometre time trial. Your time trial will be set up on our wattbikes and done at your own pace. Your personal time and average power output will be recorded as we set the goal to beat it 2 weeks later!
During the same classes on the 24th and the 26th of November, your instructor Sam will repeat this test at the beginning of class. Not only will this challenge improve your fitness throughout the month of November, but it will keep you motivated and committed to every session you do.
So how do I join this challenge?
Simple, just jump into one of Sam’s classes on the 10th or 12th of November to set your 3 kilometer time trial time! How much will you beat your time by?
Nick has been motivating riders through many Monday morning sessions here at the ART OF CYCLING, but did you know the he has ridden his bike from Melbourne to Brisbane? Let’s find out what motivates and inspires Nick!
For me it has been riding 2900km from Melbourne to Brisbane for the Cancer Research Charity ‘Smiling for Smiddy’ on behalf of the mater foundation. I have now completed 3 similar rides since 2010 . I have always enjoyed riding bikes since I was young, first mucking around on mountain bikes with mates before finding road riding as a suggestion to ‘get fit’ after I completed University. It didn’t take long for me to be hooked and I soon realised that the rides I enjoyed the most was those where the experience took me to places I wouldn’t see in my day to day life. These rides often meant long days in the saddle. The feeling of achievement I get on these long rides drives me to do it again the next week!
Preparation for a ride like this is all about spending time on the bike.. a lot of time on the bike. It is also important to build good strength and endurance. I had a pretty good base fitness from the regular morning and weekend rides I was already doing. I began specific training about 6 months in advance and increased distance, terrain difficulty and ride frequency over the last 8-12 weeks. By the final month I was heading out for 200k+ rides both days of the weekend as well as the 3 morning rides a week.
Although the ride itself was hard it was a huge mental battle to undertake the amount of training required whilst enduring a Melbourne winter and trying to balance family and a demanding job. Needless to say I didn’t always get it right and it was the support of my family and friends that got me through.
The ride took 2 weeks of long 200k + days of hills and headwinds, mornings were cold and days often very hot or wet. Finding motivation at these times, reminding myself of my goal and what needed to be done out on the road was far more mentally than physical challenging as my training had been good.
Never really… On day 4 I damaged my achilles tendon which made it pretty hard going for a few days.
Over the 10 days there certainly were times when it felt like I was a long way from the start and a long way to end. In the end I knew I had trained well and that the task ahead of me was meant to be challenging and concentrated on how good it was going to feel when I hit Brisbane.
The chance to see new part of Australia as well as the feeling of accomplishment after completing these events is pretty addictive. I also have an additional moderator which is unfortunately common in many families, Cancer has had a profound and ongoing effect on mine which left me feeling powerless. When a friend suggested joining the Smiddy group and riding insane distances across rural Australia to raise money for cancer research I jumped at the opportunity to make a difference whilst also achieving new fitness goals.
I will continue to enjoy the great sport of cycling with some long 1 day events and next year I will be doing it all again with the Smiddy group and riding from Adelaide to Uluru across the desert.
Make sure you are always training towards something. It does not have to be for next month it can be the next year but a goal on the horizon is the best motivator on those rainy mornings!
Need a fun and motivating way to get your summer body? Want to get real training results without taking too much time out from your day? Well join our 12 week summer kick starter membership and start enjoying your personal journey to a fitter stronger YOU!
For $30 a week over 12 weeks you will enjoy,
– Unlimited cycling classes
– Unlimited HIIT classes
– 30 minute initial fitness assessment and personalised program plan
– Ongoing fitness testing to make sure you’re on track to achieving your goals!
Sign up to our $30 weekly DD membership online through the link below and lets book you in for your fitness assessment! Easy!
MY 12 WEEK SUMMER KICK STARTER BEGINS HERE!
If you have any questions about our studio, classes or program then feel free to call us on 9687 5070 or send us an email HERE
Then book an ART OF CYCLING fitness test! Not only do we go through a fitness test that determines your personalised zone card, but we also look over your bike fit and discuss how we can achieve YOUR fitness goals. We can highlight changes in your pedalling, training, routine and lifestyle that will ultimately lead to better fitness results, faster! Our personalised testing sessions are completely free of charge and will suit anyone form beginner rider that wants to get back into some fitness to elite riders looking for that high performance edge.
The whole session takes around 30 minutes and can be done on Saturday mornings from 10am or afternoon weekdays from Mon-Thurs (booking essential). So send us an email HERE and lets find a time to book you in for a fitness test.
Ever wanted to give indoor cycling a go and feel the benefits of a low impact HIIT cardio workout? Then try our Introductory month and enjoy unlimited classes.
This intro offer gives you the opportunity to try out all of our classes at your own pace. For first time riders, our $99 introductory month saves you $50!
To take up our Introductory month follow the link HERE. Remember, your month wont start until you book into your first class. See you at ART OF CYCLING!
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