Exercise Education: How To Plank?
The moment you realise that 5 minute plank you hold is actually ineffective.
The plank is a great exercise for building strength throughout the entire body but hanging out in your lower back or your lumbar is completely counterintuitive.
Okay so next time you set up imagine pulling your hip up towards your ribcage or tucking into a posteria pelvic tilt. It'll essentially be the complete opposite of having your ass in the air with an arch in your lower back.
If you want to go TURBO PLANK imagine trying to slide your elbows down and dragging your feet up and closing that space below you. Your body shouldn't actually move a great deal other than your facial expressions when you feel everything switch on.
Let me know how you get on
Fat Loss Food For Real People Volume 3: Fat Loss Strategies For The Normal Bloke
Question. Can you get leaner without starving yourself? Can you build muscle and drink beer? Can you drop body fat and still look a carbohydrate directly in the eye? Can you be in a more confident place with how you look and feel whilst still enjoying your life and seeing your mates?
The answer is yes of course you can. The below before and after images are not going to break the internet, nor will they make the front page of Men’s Health, but it does prove a point that with a combination of training hard, being focussed on what it is you want…and importantly why you want it, you can achieve such things without any drastic changes to your lifestyle.
With my above client we simply implemented what I call 'Fat Loss Strategies for the normal bloke'
That is a little tongue in cheek, and there was a lot of sweat and hard work but if you’re willing to train hard 2 to 3 times per week, be more aware of what you’re eating, cut the crap where you can and move more you can actually look pretty good.
Below my client trained with me 2 to 3 times per week, added in a run or two now and again, upped protein levels because they were a little low, focussed a little more on rest, recovery and sleep and achieved pretty good results in a 6 weeks period.
What is important here is that there was little to no calorie deficit, calories were not tracked and carbohydrates were consumed. You don't need to completely transform how you look, a drastic transformation requires drastic changes in lifestyle, nutrition and training and its bloody hard.
If you're however willing to make a few lifestyle changes that'll actually benefit your overall health you can.
We kept the process simple. In order for fat loss to occur, which was the primary goal either energy in (food/drink) we consume or energy out (exercise) had to be manipulated. During this particular process output was going to be the main focus.
Increasing TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) so for example moving more throughout the day, lifting weights 2 to 3 times per week and adding some steady state cardio in which worked well for this particular person lead to some fantastic changes.
I have worked in the City long enough now to know that client entertaining, socialising with friends, travelling for extended periods of time with work is something that cannot be escaped. And it is not my style to tell someone they can't enjoy a wine or beer with their partner or friends, I certainly do. It's not realistic. But that does not mean to say that great things cannot be achieved.
Think about what it is you want and why you want it. Delve deep into that. And lastly don't be afraid!! You don't need to be a size 4 or have wash board abs to improve your confidence and how you feel about yourself. Make a number of small adjustments to your lifestyle and if done consistently you'll see results.
Exercise Education Volume 1: The Warm Up
Exercise Education – The Warm Up
Never underestimate or overlook the importance of a dynamic warm up before training. The warm up is there to prime your muscles and nervous system for peak performance. Finding the balance between not doing too much and doing too little during your warm up is also important.
It should be dynamic, cover multiple joints, increase blood flow and increase muscle temperature. A warm muscle can contract quicker whilst reducing the elastic resistance in the muscle. This is good, very good, especially for resistance training. This will reduce the risk of injury and allow you to perform better during your session.
Bowling into the gym Conor McGregor style and jumping straight under a barbell is a sure-fire way to leave with a back injury or muscle strain.
It is important to address mobility through the ankles, hip, thoracic and shoulders. Covering these areas becomes hell of a lot more important when you spend 8 – 12 hours a day slumped or hunched in your chair staring at a computer screen. Your quality of life would vastly improve doing this even if you didn’t step foot in a gym. You would be able to move a whole lot better which most of the general population cannot do.
I take my clients through a dynamic warm up before every session so much so it becomes ingrained. Starting on the ground progressing to standing, most of the content in the video is my ground work which would last between 6 to 8 minutes and following on from that it would lead into some single leg lunges for example.
Face Pull for Shoulder Health
Internally rotated shoulders are common place in the modern day. Poor posture, desk bound jobs, driving, eating, even now reading this most your shoulders are more than likely internally rotated.
Face pulls are a multi-functional exercise that will not only serve in making you stronger but is also highly effective movement for improving shoulder health and posture.
If you do lots of horizontal and vertical pressing then the Face Pull is a fantastic exercise to help invigorate your lifting whilst placing emphasis on the the external rotators of the shoulder, Rhomboids and Rear Delts.
Incorporate Face Pulls into your programme and start strengthening the external rotators of the shoulder pulling it back into a better position improving posture.
The Bent Over Row
The Single Arm Bent Over Row - is a staple in most Back programmes and so it should be. It is a fantastic exercise for increasing size and strength through the lats, upper back and traps. Another reason why I love this exercise is that it is shoulder friendly when executed correctly. The Chin Ups and Deadlifts will give you more bang for your buck but they can really destroy the shoulders if you have pre existing problems.
Another great reason to put this exercise in your programme is that single arm work allows for a lot more focus on the concentric and eccentric part of the lift as well. Keep the movement smooth and slow and squeeze the top position then slowly back down placing more tension on the muscle.
A lot of the time you will see the dumbbell being swung from the floor to almost over the shoulder which in my opinion is completely wrong. As if the upper traps aren't already overworked! Next time you're in the gym training Back, work on a tempo of 3131 and see how you get on.
The BB Bench Press
The Barbell Bench Press: A staple for most looking to increase size and strength through the chest. And rightly so. Studies have shown that the Bench Press is one of the best exercises for eliciting a high level of muscle activity in the Pectoralis Major. This exercise will also recruit the arms and shoulders.
Tips:
- Feet flat on the floor
- Shins vertical
- Squeeze your Lats and Glutes
- Point you knuckles to the ceiling
Don't push the bar to much too often though. Mix up grips and use Dumbells.
The Back Squat
The Barbell Back Squat is certainly a staple exercise within the Vitality Personal Training Studio and is considered one of the best compound exercises to evaluate lower body strength.
The Back Squat will engage all major muscle groups of the lower body and upper body which will act as either stabilisers or prime movers.
The Back Squat will target the quadriceps, hamstrings and calves whilst creating the ideal environments throughout the entire body. The human body will release more testosterone and growth hormone, which creates an anabolic environment for other areas of the body to grow.
Squatting correctly and safely will elicit a fantastic fat burning response. The more muscle you have on your frame, the more calories you will burn during training and rest post training. Compound lifts such as the squat will burn fat and lean you out. As well as a great fat burning effect, squats are also known as a functional movement. The Squat can relate to a numerous real life activities assisting in reducing injury and increasing efficiency day to day. Leading on from the functional benefits of the Back Squat, the ability to squat in full range of motion will improve flexibility and mobility as an added bonus by increasing the range of motion through your ankles, knees, hips and lower back. This development in flexibility and mobility will carry over too many other exercises and as mentioned day to day activities.
Safely for obvious reason regarding this exercise is crucial. At Vitality Personal Training form and exercise execution are paramount therefore if you would like to know more about this or other exercises then please touch base.
Strength & Conditioning, Olympic Lifting
This week I took part in a 2 day Strength & Conditioning course covering Olympic Lifting. The Clean & Jerk was by far my favourite. Olympic lifting can have huge benefits on the body. Transferring a weight from the floor to overhead, switches the entire body on.
It took 5 hours to get to this point but something I would like to be able to transfer to clients. Power, Body Composition, Sprint Speed, and Flexibility will all see huge improvements.
Exercise Education: The Pause Squat
How to improve your explosive power!
The Pause Squat. If you consider yourself and effective 'squatter' this the pause can be a great way to play around with a different variation of the Back Squat. And is absolutely brutal.
Why? For the the majority of the time in commercial gyms il see a set of back squats come and go and quicker than it takes me to drink a coffee, that means its quick. The Pause completely eliminates the Stretch Reflex at the bottom. For those who don't know, the bounce you feel at the bottom that helps you back up is the Stretch Reflex. Its a muscle contraction in response to stretching, much like an elastic band. It's a preprogrammed response our muscles have and its a great way to cheat when lifting especially when Back Squatting. The 'Pause' at the bottom of the lift, which is the hardest part dampens that stretch reflex. To a certain extent you cant eliminate it completely but you can reduce its effectiveness. By overloading the surrounding muscles you will see great improvements in power through your hips and legs. Pause Squat for more POWER!