Did you know, your glutes are made up of 3 major muscles? The gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus and gluteus medius.
Glute strength has a huge impact on the overall strength of your body, and it is extremely important to maintain for muscle balance and mobility. That’s why it is highly recommended you train your glutes at least twice a week.
Now just like doing hundreds of sit ups every day won’t give you a six pack, squatting your heart out isn’t going to give you a strong, sculpted booty either. Not to mention, it can also be pretty boring!
There are many reasons why people experience weakened glutes, but one of the most common is because many of us are living more sedentary lives, with many jobs today involve sitting down for a large part of the day. This means that the glutes can become more dormant or sleepy than they should.
So be sure to get them fired with some of these quick tips!

Workouts for women on the move. 
 
We’ve all got a favourite gym playlist that we turn up when we’re ready to workout, but Fernwood has introduced something even better! Say hello to our brand-new podcast series, Fernwood PodCoach, with real workouts guided by our fitness guru Lisa. These are bonus podcast eps that will be dropped each month.

This PodCoach workout is: Core Blast!

Follow along with Lisa as she guides you through the workout, and feel free to take a break or modify any exercises as required. You’ll find all the equipment you need around the club, and if you have any questions about an exercise, just ask one of our friendly team members for assistance.  

As always, make sure you have completed your warm-up and stretching, have a water bottle and towel handy, and wipe down any equipment as you go. We always recommend working out with a personal trainer in club when trying a new workout, returning to training after an injury, increasing weights or intensity of your workouts, and for best practice advice on correct form, technique and posture. 

Just in case you’d like to see Lisa demonstrate any of the exercises, the link to the video for this workout can be viewed here:   https://youtu.be/WTVzv2OshSI

Let’s get started! 

 
*Any advice or information shared during this podcast is of a general nature and does not take into consideration your personal or health conditions.

As many of our listeners know, it’s Women’s Health Week this week!
Organised by the incredible team at Jean Hailes, Women’s Health Week focuses on how we can take preventative action to safeguard our health, providing tips and information on maintaining healthy lifestyles, encouraging women to better understand their health and wellbeing, and inspiring women to put themselves first – at least every once in a while!
That’s why we were thrilled to invite AFLW player and all-round incredible woman Libby Birch to our podcast.
The theme of Women’s Health Week today is all about periods, puberty, menopause and the transitional stages in a woman’s life. It’s time to shine a brighter light on these important topics and ensure women and girls alike understand what is happening in their bodies. One topic of particular interest is polycystic ovaries.
Polycystic ovaries – often referred to as PCOS – can cause a range of different symptoms, from weight loss and gain to fertility issues and potentially even mental health impacts. According to Jean Hailes 2021, PCOS affects about 8-13% of women of reproductive age. Libby was diagnosed with PCOS in 2019, and with PMDD in early 2020.
An elite athlete, who requires peak physical fitness and concentration to perform on the field, Libby speaks candidly about the impacts PCOS and PMDD have had on her life and career, how she manages her symptoms, and why she’ll stop mid-game to re-tie her shoelaces.
We can’t wait for you to tune in!

Fernwood Fitness for women is thrilled to sponsor Jean Hailes Women’s Health Week 2021 to ensure every woman understands the importance of prioritising their health and wellbeing. And that’s why we are offering our listeners the chance to trial Fernwood for free this week. There are no commitments to join, and this 7-day trial is completely free.
All you need to do is follow this link https://www.fernwoodfitness.com.au/whw-7daypass to get your free pass now.

On today’s podcast, we are interviewing Vera Yan and Katia Santilli. If their names sound familiar, they should! These incredible women are the founders of the uber-sustainable activewear brand, Nimble. The two met in high school, and found commonality in their shared love of RnB and aerobics. They each went down separate career paths after high school, but soon found themselves back together chatting about exercise, activewear and a newfound interest in sustainability. In their own words, friends who sweat together, stay together – we couldn’t adore this, or agree, more!
We never really envisioned wearing tights and a bra made from recycled materials, let alone plastic bottles, so we were uber excited to learn more about how these businesswomen landed on this concept, and why it was so important to be part of the growing environmentally-conscious business movement. In their own words, conscious clothing has become the core of their company ethos. We can all agree that we should be doing our utmost to protect our planet, so we asked the Vera and Katia the burning questions, like, where on earth do you find material for tanks and tights made from plastic bottles?! We know there are so many innovative products coming out now produced from recycling efforts, so we were very eager to find out more.
We adored having Vera and Katia join us on the podcast, and we can’t wait for you to tune in and have a listen. Simply search for Women Supporting Women on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Can we just start by saying, our guest today is an AWARD-WINNING personal trainer.

She has been part of the team at Fernwood Tullamarine for over 19 years, holds a fourth dan black belt in karate, studied a Bachelor of Applied Science – Human Movement, has run half and full marathons, and was last year awarded the highly coveted Fernwood Fitness Personal Trainer of the year. Say hello to the marvellous Kara.

From a young age, Kara knew fitness was going to play a significant part of her future - and she certainly carries a lot of impressive fitness credentials! Every day she dedicates her career to supporting women to get fitter, stronger and more confident in themselves.

“I love see seeing that women can achieve goals that they didn’t dream possible,” she says.

As an expert in women’s health and fitness, we invited Kara onto the podcast to some questions we see pop up frequently from our female audience. One thing we always get asked is, ‘which is better for you, walking or running?’, so we posed this question to Kara. An avid runner, Kara’s answer might surprise you.

We also often have members ask about the time of day they train and whether this has any impact on results. Some people insist a morning workout is best for fat burning, while others say after a meal is best. Kara talks about the pros and cons of each, and some important things to consider when deciding to bounce out of bed or snooze the alarm in favour of an afternoon workout.

Answeing popular questions from the community, Kara delves into top tips for setting a fitness routine, learning to love your workouts, progressive overload and avoiding plateau, and the importance of stepping off the scales and focusing on how you feel.

We are so excited for you to listen!

BONUS EPISODE

Workouts for women on the move. 

This PodCoach workout is: Upper body strength!

Follow along with Lisa as she guides you through the workout, and feel free to take a break or modify any exercises as required. You’ll find all the equipment you need around the club, and if you have any questions about an exercise, just ask one of our friendly team members for assistance.  

As always, make sure you have completed your warm-up and stretching, have a water bottle and towel handy, and wipe down any equipment as you go. We always recommend working out with a personal trainer in club when trying a new workout, returning to training after an injury, increasing weights or intensity of your workouts, and for best practice advice on correct form, technique and posture. 

Just in case you’d like to see Lisa demonstrate any of the exercises, the link to the video for this workout can be viewed here:   https://youtu.be/WxxQv7AlEWc

Let’s get started! 

 
*Any advice or information shared during this podcast is of a general nature and does not take into consideration your personal or health conditions.

We have a very special guest on the podcast today, our Fernwood Fitness Chief Financial Officer Donna. Donna is a business and finance wizard, with 18 years of knowledge and experience under her belt. She is joining our podcast today to discuss money and getting ready for tax time, plus tips on navigating EOFY sales and shopping habits. Donna explains these very important topics in easy-to-understand language, which is one of the many reasons everyone in the Fernwood community appreciates Donna so much!

Whether you choose to agree with her or not, Donna says sometimes we need to walk away without buying that new pair of shoes or those super cute sports leggings. And even though our hearts are breaking, she has a solid point, so stay with us! Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean we need it or that we can afford the item even at the discounted rate. But it’s not all bad news, we promise. Donna explains how you can utilise the EOFY sales to your advantage, and ways to manage your money to avoid breaking the bank.

Apart from the sales, EOFY is more importantly a time to prepare for the tax season. Donna shares suggestions on being prepared for completing and lodging a tax return, and things to keep in mind about deductions, especially if you have been working from home during the last financial year. A wealth of knowledge, Donna also discusses why it is so important to have a solid understanding of your finance and tax all year-round. And because she is such a gem, she also shares her tips for money management and budgeting so we can (hopefully!) still afford those shoes on sale.

As women, we hear the word ‘menopause’ dropped into conversation more frequently as we age, which essentially means saying goodbye to our menstrual cycle – period. An expert in this field, Jean Hailes Naturopath Sandra Villella joins our Women Supporting Women podcast to discuss ‘the menopause’, an important topic that some people still consider a little taboo, but should be normalised in our everyday conversations so we can better support women’s wellbeing.

A wealth of knowledge, Sandra has been a naturopath for 27 years, starting at Jean Hailes in 1999. On this podcast, Sandra talks about what menopause is, the average age women experience menopause and ways we can better manage our nutrition and wellbeing during this transitional time.

We wanted to focus on nutrition and exercise, so we spoke to Sandra about how a woman’s nutritional needs can shift as she experiences perimenopause (leading up to menopause), menopause, and post-menopause, as well as the common misconceptions around soy products. Sandra talks about the implications of alcohol, recommendations for caffeine intake and eating spicy foods, as well as the benefits of plant estrogens, called phytoestrogens.

The ideal topic of discussion for women who want to better support their health at every age, Sandra delves into how our diet can lower our risk of diseases and health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis, as well as the benefits strength training can have on our body, even when we are resting.

Tune in for a very interesting podcast! We can’t wait for you to hear it.

Bonus Episode - Lower Body Strength Workout

Welcome back to another episode of Fernwood's popular PodCoach workouts.

Firehydrants, sumo squats, deadlifts and more - this is a fab workout!

Follow along with Lisa as she guides you through the workout, and feel free to take a break or modify any exercises as required. You’ll find all the equipment you need around the club, and if you have any questions about an exercise, just ask one of our friendly team members for assistance.  

As always, make sure you have completed your warm-up and stretching, have a water bottle and towel handy, and wipe down any equipment as you go. We always recommend working out with a personal trainer in club when trying a new workout, returning to training after an injury, increasing weights or intensity of your workouts, and for best practice advice on correct form, technique and posture. 

Just in case you’d like to see Lisa demonstrate any of the exercises, the link to the video for this workout can be viewed here:   https://youtu.be/2zJET6-lae0

Let’s get started! 

*Any advice or information shared during this podcast is of a general nature and does not take into consideration your personal or health conditions.  

Today, our lovely host Diana Williams will be chatting to the brilliant and ball of nutrition and mental wellbeing wisdom, Emma Robertson, our Fernwood Wellness Training and Development Manager, about some of our favourite topics: food and mood. Want to know how these two topics are linked and the role the gut plays in mental health and wellbeing? Of course you do!

We’ve heard many times before, ‘you are what you eat’, and while this saying has often been related to the physical shape of our bodies, we have a very special guest joining the podcast to talk about how ‘you feel what you eat’; how our diet can impact what’s happening in our brain.

Emma has played a pivotal role in launching Fernwood’s very new – and very exciting – Food & Mood program, designed to focus on the many aspects of our diet and lifestyle, beyond what we put on the plate. The program is open to any women who want to re-evaluate and refresh their relationship with food, to establish and enjoy a sustainable lifestyle well into the future.

Emma is a wealth of knowledge on these topics, and has covered a range of topics on this episode, including answering some very popular questions on eating for good mental health and wellbeing, the occasional indulgence, combatting internal sabotage, and healthy eating and lifestyle for sustainable long-term results.

Time to tuck into another fabulous Fernwood Fitness podcast!