Timeout Newsletter

Browse the Timeout newsletter for information on what’s new in Wellbeing at Monash. Read about the latest Wellbeing and Monash Sport events, services and activities.

For information about latest events, special offers, discounts, and news, subscribe to the newsletter by emailing wellbeing@monash.edu

In the November edition:

• Wellbeing events and news
  
• Monash Sport news and offers
• TeamMONASH news
• Employee benefits and discounts

Wellbeing Events and News

Celebrating the 10,000 Steps Challenge 2014

Teams are off and running in the Monash 10,000 Steps Challenge 2014.

Congratulations to Edu Steps who have taken out first place in the 2014 Monash 10,000 Steps Challenge.

Currently, more than 2600 participants are taking part in the challenge which commenced on Monday 27 th October and will conclude on Sunday 23rd November.  All members will need to log their steps no later than 5pm on Monday 24th November.

Individual and team prizes will be presented at the upcoming celebratory event to be held on Tuesday, 25th November.  Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner will open the celebrations.  Click here to register and attend.

Walk to Work and Raise Funds for Diabetes

November 14 is Diabetes Walk to Work Day.

This annual event which encourages Australians to build regular walking into their daily routine is a great activity and especially fitting during our Monash 10,000 Steps Challenge!

This year, why not register yourself or your 10,000 steps team and raise funds for this great cause.  For more information, go to the website.

Mindfulness and Mental Health

The Role of Mindfulness in Education

Presented by Dr Craig Hassed and Dr Richard Chambers. The forum will explore the following topics: – The latest research on mindfulness and its role in education – The importance of mindfulness for teachers – How to use mindfulness to facilitate student learning and wellbeing – Effective ways to introduce mindfulness into school and university environments – Designing and running effective programs – Organisational approaches to mindfulness: getting it in the curriculum and culture It includes interactive presentations, Q&A sessions, discussion groups and networking opportunities.

When: Wednesday 19 November, 1 – 5pm (registrations begin 12.30pm)

Where: Monash University – Caulfield Campus, Building B, Theatre B214 Cost: $80 (includes morning tea and copy of the book Mindful Learning)

Registrations close: Register and make payment online by Monday 17 November Enquiries: clare.swanson@monash.edu

Mindfulness for wellbeing, resilience and performance

For staff:

Register to take part in a 3.5 hour Mindfulness Workshop through. The workshop will explore:

1. the science, principles and practice of mindfulness
2. its applications in areas including wellbeing, mental health, and resilience
3. its role in leadership development
4. the capacity of mindfulness to enhance information processing, decision making and performance.

Workshops are available in November. Register online.

For Supervisors:

Supervisors are encouraged to take part in this 3.5 hour program which in addition to the above 4 points, also looks at what you can do as supervisors, to assist in the embedding of the mindfulness practice.

The mindfulness program for supervisors is available online.

Up to one in 10 Australian women will experience depression during pregnancy. This increases to one in seven in the year following birth. Anxiety is thought to be even more common. We can all play a vital role in supporting expecting and new parents.

Other programs available include:

• Safetalk (Tuesday, 2nd December)
• Mental Health First Aid Training (Tuesday 25 & Thursday 27 November 2014)
• Introductory Mindfulness Course – 4 week program (for Parkville staff) (Wednesday 26 November 2014)

Quitting the habit at Peninsula!

The Fresh Start program is a supported program that helps to boost confidence to quit smoking, as well as provides resources, strategies and information to participants about quitting smoking and how to stay quit!  Programs have already been held across Clayton and Caulfield Campuses with a session now being run for staff at Peninsula.

To assist those smokers who wish to kick the habit at Peninsula,  a 4 week program consisting of two sessions per week, will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1.30-2.30pm.  Dates are 18th, 20th, 25th, 27th November and 2nd, 4th, 9th, and 11th December.  To register for the program, please click here.

Postnatal Depression Awareness Week 16-22 November

16-22 November is Postnatal Depression Awareness Week.  During pregnancy, and in the first year after a baby is born, depression and anxiety are common. Up to one in 10 Australian women will experience depression during this time with this figure increasing to one in seven in the year following birth.   For more information, resources and to learn more go to the beyondblue website.

Monash Sport news and offers

Doug Ellis Swimming Pool re-open!

On Thursday 30 October, after an intensive four months of refurbishments the Doug Ellis Swimming Pool was re-opened for use by the Monash University community. The Doug Ellis Swimming Pool sees approximately 140,000 sets of feet walk through it’s doors each year, and we are extremely excited to share what feels like our brand new aquatics facilities with staff at Monash University.

Looking after programs run in the pool is almost exclusively Monash University students, we employ approximately 50 Monash University students as swimming instructors, lifeguards and customer service officers, making the Doug Ellis Swimming Pool a real Monash community.

We will formally open the pool later this year, but in the meantime make sure you check out the new space, before work is a great time to go for a casual swim as there is generally more lap lanes available. For up to date lap lane availability, please see our website.

Please see our website for more!

Exercise Tip – High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

The primary outcome from your exercise session is to cause a metabolic shift and therefore increase your basal metabolic rate after your session. What this means is that if you work hard in the gym you’ll still be reaping the benefits for up to 3 days later!

So, what do you have to do in order to create this effect?

Well, thanks to many, many studies and a large meta-analysis conducted on the effects of different types of exercise sessions, scientist have, in fact, observed the effects of what the optimal form and combination of training is.

What is optimal?

Optimal for strength, longevity, fat loss and cardiovascular health. On a scale of “good, better, best” the following guidelines are considered your best form training in terms of efficiency, time and efficacy.

So, what should I do?

The ideal combination is to do a 60 minute training session consisting of 40 minutes of strength training followed by 20 minutes of high intensity interval training (HIIT). The idea is to perform compound, full-body training (squats, bench, deadlifts, rows, pull-ups and presses) and go as heavy as you can (mobility and ability depending, as well as ensuring quality of movement supersedes quantity).

Training multiple, large muscle groups and lifting heavy weights are extremely effective at increasing your lean body mass, resulting in an increased metabolic rate and increasing fat-burning efficiency. Dozens of studies have investigated the effects of HIIT training and have concluded this far superior than long slow duration endurance exercise or ‘cardio’.

Unfortunately, not much fat-burning actually occurs in the gym, suggesting that unless you exercise for 16 hours a day, everyday, the stimulus applied to the body within your session is crucial in achieving in your performance and/or body composition goals. i.e, ‘cardio’ doesn’t result in a great enough stress to continue to reap benefits after the exercise bout is completed, whereas resistance training combined with HIIT is the ultimate combination to achieve your desired outcomes.

So, how do I HIIT?

It’s simple, although not easy, choose an ergometer (rower, bike, x-trainer, etc…) and alternate between harder and easy efforts. For most, a 1:1 ratio is a good starting point, i.e: 30 seconds fast, followed by 30 seconds slow, repeated 8-15 times.

Optimal performance and outcomes are achieved through the balance of training and recovery, therefore these recommendations are suggested to be employed up to three times in any given week, allowing sufficient recovery time in between sessions.

Nutrition tip of the month – The importance of breakfast

Breakfast is the meal you eat to break your overnight fast. Not only does breakfast set up your energy levels for the day it also provides a significant proportion of your daily nutrient intake.

Research into breakfast habits has revealed that people who skip breakfast on average are significantly heavier than those who eat breakfast, while skipping breakfast may also diminish Some tips to help you change your breakfast eating habits may include:

• Stocking the cupboards and fridge with easy-to-prepare breakfast foods
• Setting the alarm early enough to prepare and eat breakfast.

Some simple breakfast ideas could include:

• Whole-wheat or wholegrain breakfast cereals with milk
• Porridge with dried or fresh fruit
• Wholemeal or multigrain toast with baked beans, eggs or spreads

Global Walk/Run

It was great to see the Global Walk/Run hit all campuses at Monash University again, for the second time in 2014! Pictured is the small, but dedicated group from Peninsula campus who fought off the challenging weather conditions on the day to complete the 5k walk and run. Congratulations to all involved!

It was also great to see at Clayton campus that at short notice due to the terrible weather conditions, we put on a group fitness class attended by about 150 staff members, that also kicked off the 10,000 steps challenge.

Keep stepping it out, and take advantage of this warmer weather to have a walk or run outside on your lunch break!

Closedown Period

Just a reminder that all Monash Sport facilities and services will be closed from Wednesday 24 December, 2014 to Sunday 4 January, 2015 (inclusive), reopening on Monday 5 January, 2015.

This is consistent with the University closure of all other facilities and services on campus, and with the Monash Sport membership terms and conditions.

We look forward to serving the Monash community in a healthy and happy 2015!

Caulfield Change Room Refurbishment Project

From 29 September until mid November, the Health and Fitness Centre Change Rooms on the ground floor of Building S will be undergoing an exciting refurbishment project. It is expected that the new refurbished change rooms will be completed and ready to use at the start of November 2014.

Members and users will be required to use other existing change facilities on Caulfield campus during the refurbishment project. We apologise for the temporary disruption that this refurbishment project will cause to existing change room amenities.

Available Showers on Caulfield Campus
During renovations on Building S change rooms please note alternate shower facilities on campus:
Shower Locations: Building / Level / Room
A / 1 / Male & Female Toilets
B / 6 / Female Toilets & B / 7 / Male Toilets
F / 6 / Male Toilets
H / 1 / Male Toilets & H / 2 / Male & Female Toilets

Please see our blog for more information.

TeamMONASH news

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2014 at 10:44 am and is filed under Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.