June 27th, 2011
Show me the person who says they ‘workout’ and I’ll show you someone who is making no significant gains in strength, speed, or power, or whose weight loss strategy has ground to a halt and bristles when their favourite machine/studio spot/class is unavailable! They are comforted by familiarity and routine.
‘Working out’ is for people who want to turn up, do their two or three sessions per week, get home and tell everyone (including themselves) they like ‘keeping fit’. To be fair, working out is definitely better than doing nothing and many people enjoy the social aspect of going to a gym or attending a class. This is fine, if you’re not looking for any particular result. However, if you have any kind of goal in mind, you need to ditch the workout and get training.
Where working out is affectionate, mediocre, and vague; training is passionate, excelling and precise. If working out is ‘keeping fit’ training is ‘get formidable’.
Training is for those with a clear vision of what they want to be. Training turns an everyday man or woman into an athlete. Training is the difference between reaching a target 10k time, wearing a smaller dress size, getting six-pack abs or failure and despondency.
With training you state your purpose; you get a system and a plan, a method of recording, an opportunity to review your achievements and landmarks along the way to chart your progress. When you train you don’t merely turn up at a class or jump on a treadmill and start running. Every session, week and month is finely crafted and carefully engineered to ensure steady incremental progress is made towards the end goal.
Those who argue exercise isn’t for them and it doesn’t work have never trained. Sure they’ve turned up and put the hours in but they’re stuck in ‘workout’ mode and haven’t made the leap into ‘training’.
So now ask yourself the question – do you ‘workout’ or do you ‘train’? Are you going through the motions or are you fully engaged with every single session? The difference between the two can be measured in RESULTS!
Tags: Health and Fitness Goals, weight training and fat loss, women weight training, workouts for women
Posted in Female fitness, Female weight training, General Health and Fitness, Health and Fitness goal setting, Personal Training, Strength and Conditioning, Weight training | No Comments »
June 17th, 2011
Jacqueline's legs!
Ladies, do you yearn for lovely shapely legs? Does the thought of wearing leggings, skinny jeans or shorts bring you out in a cold sweat? If you think running, cycling, aerobic classes or even Zumba will give you pins to be proud of you are sadly mistaken! No, if you want legs with WOW factor and a bootylicious butt you need to incorporate some serious strength training into your workouts.
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions first
• Running (and most other forms of cardiovascular training) does not lead to shapely legs – take a look at long distance runners’ legs if you don’t believe me! Long steady state cardiovascular sessions destroys muscle and as muscle has a greater calorific requirement than fat this is a double edged sword. First you destroy valuable muscle then the body becomes less efficient at burning fat, even at rest. So keep your long steady state cardiovascular sessions to a maximum of once a week and substitute your other workouts with some high quality intervals and short speed sessions.
• Weight training will not lead to freakishly large manly muscles. It is actually very difficult to build big bulging muscles, even if you want to. Ask any body builder who will happily tell you how much blood, sweat and tears have gone into developing their physique! Women have less testosterone than men, the hormone necessary for muscle growth, so weight training will not lead to large bulky muscles but instead lead to improvements in muscular definition.
• Which leads me to – toning; what exactly is toning? This one word is likely to make me hyperventilate! Women commonly say they want to ‘tone up’ whereas men more often talk about ’building muscle’. Guess what – TONING IS BUILDING MUSCLE! The shapely definition you are after is muscle you can see. In other words, muscle not hidden beneath a layer of excess fat.
• No diet in the world will make your legs look fab. Clean up your diet YES, ditch sugar, saturated fats and processed foods YES but you need to work your legs if you want your legs to work for you!
So, these are my Top 10 Leg Exercises for Women.
1. Squat – A must do essential exercise which is great for the legs, butt and core. When learning to perform squats for the first time put a chair or exercise step behind you. Bending at the knees, push the bottom back and lightly touch the buttocks to the chair or step before returning to a standing position. Make sure you neither round nor arch the back. As you become stronger increase the depth of your squat and progress to performing squats with weights; such as dumbbells, kettlebells or barbells.
2. Split squats – An excellent exercise for beginners before progressing to lunges. Take a step forward and bend both knees so that back and front knee are bent to roughly 90°, keeping the torso upright. From this position drive back upwards and perform repetitions on one side before changing legs. Again, as you become stronger increase the difficulty by adding in weights.
3. Lunges – A highly functional exercise with direct relevance to everyday activities such as walking and running. Follow the instructions for split squat but as you drive back upwards extend and power with the back leg to bring both feet back together again. Then either repeat on the same side or alternate between legs. These can also be performed as reverse lunges, stepping backwards instead of forwards, or walking lunges.
4. Deadlift – A powerful whole body exercise which teaches safe lifting of heavy objects from the floor whilst working the back, butt and legs. Practice this with a long handled broom, positioned just in front of the toes, before performing with weights. Take a stance with feet slightly wider than hip distance. Keeping the back in neutral, bend at the knees to a depth where the broom handle can be lifted from the floor. Straighten the legs until the handle lightly rests on the top of the thighs.
5. Step-ups – Using stairs or a suitable step, step up powerfully until the working leg is fully extended. Do not place the trailing foot onto the step, remain balanced on the working leg, bend at the knee and return to the start position. Repeat reps on one side before changing legs. Add in weights and increase the step height as you become stronger.
6. Stability ball hamstring curls – Lying on your back place lift both legs and rest lower calf and ankle on a stability ball. Lift the hips off the floor until your body is in a straight line from you ankles to your shoulders. Now bend at the knees and draw the ball towards the buttocks using the backs of your heels, keeping the hips raised throughout. As you get stronger perform the exercise with one leg only.
7. Calf raises – Stand on a step balancing on the balls of your feet, hold a handrail for support if necessary. Allow the heels to drop lower than the step then rise up on to the toes. As you become stronger in this exercise progress to one leg at a time or use a standing calf raise machine.
8. Lateral lunges – Take a large sideways step. Allow your body weight to shift to the extended leg and lower, bending at the knee with control. Push back to the start position and repeat on other side. Perform with weights as you become stronger.
9. Bulgarian Split squats – This exercise looks similar to a split squat but in this exercise the back leg is lifted with the foot resting on a step or bench. Bending both knees descend until the front knee is at 90° before extending legs and returning to start position. This is quite an advanced exercise so only introduce this once other leg exercises have been mastered.
10. Single leg squats – I’ve seen many a grown man, who can load up heavy on a standard squat, be reduced to a quivering wreck with this one! Standing on one leg, bend at the knee and sit down as far as you can comfortably go before extending the leg and continuing with repetitions.
So there you have it. Not an exhaustive list but 10 of my favourite leg exercises, no machines required and all requiring minimal equipment at beginner level.
Enjoy, but a word of warning. It’s probably best not to plan anything requiring the use of your legs for a couple of days if you complete all these exercises in one session!
Tags: Diet, Female fitness, fitness for mums, women weight training, workouts for women
Posted in Diet and Nutrition, Female fitness, Female weight training, Strength and Conditioning, Weight training | 1 Comment »
April 26th, 2011
Hammersmith and Fulham council have introduced a charge for trainers who want to use their parks and open spaces. I listened to a heated debate on the topic on Jeremy Vine’s Radio 2 programme today. The main argument, voiced by those in support of the fee to trainers, centred on the unfairness of trainers escaping hefty overheads associated with operating from business premises. In addition, other small businesses felt they should also be allowed to trade from a local park if trainers were being allowed to do so. The council argue the parks need to be maintained and there are issues of safety and liability.
So where shall we draw the line? What if I want to accompany a client on a run on the promenade – should I “pay” for the privilege? What if I go out walking with a group of friends – will I have to prove they are friends and not clients? If the concern is trainers should not be earning money whilst using the parks as free business premises what about all the other business deals that take place in parks, most of which are quite unsavoury?
Legitimate trainers will carry out medical pre-screening on clients, they will have the necessary skills to deliver safe and effective training sessions and they are required to have appropriate insurance in place and an experienced trainer will also carry out a full risk assessment and take action as required. I think these answer the councils concerns on safety and liability. I’m sorry if other local businesses feel this is unfair but frankly their argument is petty and mean spirited and belongs in the school playground and not in the park! Our business does not need to take place in an office or a high street shop and why most of us decided to become a trainer in the first place.
I fear the fee imposed on trainers by Hammersmith and Fulham council will soon be rolled out across the rest of the country. It will be an absolute scandal if this results in some of our parks reverting to virtual no-go areas, being reclaimed by the anti-social elements of society, as trainers are forced to take their business elsewhere. One caller to Jeremy Vine’s programme made exactly the same point and said since bootcamp classes started in her local park she felt much safer there. In a country where levels of obesity are steadily rising every effort should be being made to demonstrate how you can get fit and stay fit by using what is right on your doorstep – our open spaces and parks.
I can’t see a problem with trainers providing local authorities with information regarding their qualifications and insurance but charging trainers is a step too far in my opinion. Let’s see our parks and open spaces filled with hot sweaty people inspiring others to give it a go!
Posted in Bootcamp, Functional Training, General Health and Fitness, Running, buggy classes | 2 Comments »
January 19th, 2011
Maybe you want to lose weight, maybe you want to feel better, and maybe you want to eat healthy.
But the question is “Do you want it bad enough?”
You have to want it more than the alternative
You have to want it more than sugary laden drinks, biscuits and cakes
You have to want it more than a packet of crisps
You have to want it more than a pint with the lads
You have to want it more than a lie in
You have to want it more than a night in front of the TV
You have to want it more than your dislike of rain or the gym or lycra
In short, you have to want it real bad AND be prepared to do what it takes to make it happen. So if it means setting your alarm clock a little earlier to get a workout in, that is what it is going to take. If it means forgoing the comfort of a night in front of the TV so you have time to go to the gym, that is what it is going to take. If it means spending a little time in the rain because the weather doesn’t care it’s Bootcamp night, that it what it is going to take and if it means planning meals with military precision so all your meals are healthy and nutritious, that is what it is going to take.
So now think about the question again and be really honest, “Do you want it bad enough, or not?”
When you do, when your answer is unequivocally YES then your Personal Trainer really can help you achieve your goals.
In my experience the people who want it bad enough are the ones who get what they want. This doesn’t necessarily apply to money, the man/woman of your dreams or fame but it’s a pretty sure fire way to hit your health and fitness goals!!!
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
September 28th, 2010
I’ve just returned from a fantastic training workshop with the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA). This foundation workshop is aimed at sports coaches, PE teachers, Personal Trainers and sports science graduates and those wanting to develop expertise in coaching clients or athletes in strength and conditioning.
The workshop took place at the first rate sporting venue of Lee Valley Athletics Stadium; training ground for many of the UK’s top athletes and 2010 Olympic hopefuls. I felt privileged to run on the same track and train in the same gym that some of our best athletes use – even if it wasn’t at the same time!
During the initial introductions it became clear that this was going to be no ordinary workshop. My fellow instructors included coaches from a variety of sporting disciplines, respected trainers working with national teams, and even some Olympic coaches and athletes. We had been warned to expect a very physical weekend with a huge emphasis on practical sessions; finding out the other participants were used to competing at the highest level was a little intimidating! Never-the-less I was totally committed and ready to rise to the challenge.
Some of our practical sessions took place in the weights room where we looked at correct coaching and technique for key strength and conditioning exercises. Whilst all the course participants, me included, are experienced in teaching these exercises it provided an opportunity to reinforce best practice and consider carry over benefits for a variety of sports. I particularly found the coaching points relating to squatting invaluable and, taking this on board, most of us were able to achieve an improved squat depth whilst maintaining correct postural alignment.
When we weren’t in the gym we were on the track, and what fun we had! Looking at traditional, and often boring, warm up approaches we then looked at ways of making a warm up more sports specific whilst making it enjoyable. I was transported back to my childhood, as we played a variety of different tag games, and reminded that when exercise is fun we don’t register how hard it is.
More time on the track was spent working on movement skills, acceleration, sprinting and speed. Our tutors made the point that most of us are never taught how to run efficiently to achieve maximum speed. So we learnt a variety of different drills and spent a lot of time thinking about the mechanics of movement. This culminated in some sprint sessions and races and this was the moment I really should have remembered who my fellow course attendees were! Certainly the drills helped me run faster than I have probably done in a long time. However, my new found knowledge was no match for the seriously competitive and genetically gifted athletes.
This workshop forms the foundation and underpinning knowledge for other UKSCA courses which I will be looking at attending in the New Year. Hopefully my body will have recovered from the extreme demands of competing with Olympic athletes by then!
Tags: UK Strength and Conditioning Workshop, UKSCA
Posted in Functional Training, Running, Strength and Conditioning, Weight training | No Comments »
