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Archive for the ‘Weight training’ Category

Why a ‘workout’ could be wasting time, but ‘training’ rocks!

Monday, 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!

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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 »

Top 10 Leg Exercises for Women

Friday, 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!

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Posted in Diet and Nutrition, Female fitness, Female weight training, Strength and Conditioning, Weight training | 1 Comment »

UK Strength and Conditioning Foundation Workshop

Tuesday, 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!

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Posted in Functional Training, Running, Strength and Conditioning, Weight training | No Comments »

School Run Mums: Back to Fitness!

Monday, September 6th, 2010

Here we are, at the start of another school year and the autumn term. Maybe you loved the long summer break, the rest from making packed lunches, the break from rounding up your offspring and cajoling, coaxing and threatening them out of the door each the morning. Chances are, by the end of the six week break you’ve run out of entertaining ideas, offers of childcare help (if you’re working), money and patience, and will be certifiable if you hear “I’m bored” one more time!

So you’ve sorted out the new uniform, polished the shoes, packed the lunchbox and waved a teary eyed goodbye to your little ones. Well, what are you waiting for? Now’s the time to focus on you!

Here are some top fitness tips for school run mums!

1. Invest in some fabulous fitness fashion

New uniforms aren’t just for the kids. Remember “Mr Motivator”, the “Green Goddess” or Jane Fonda? These 80’s fitness gurus have been consigned to history – as should one piece lycra suits and shiny thongs!

New sportswear will not only help you feel more confident but the latest fabrics wick away perspiration so you’ll feel more comfortable too. Don’t forget new trainers as well. If you’re new, or returning, to exercise don’t dust off an old pair of trainers you’ve found lurking in the back of your wardrobe. If you spend money on nothing else, be sure to invest in a properly fitted pair of trainers. If you visit a specialist sports shop they will be able to advise you on the type of shoe you need for the activity you intend to carry out.

2. Be brave – everyone was the “new girl” once upon a time

Whether you’re joining a gym for the first time, a new exercise class or a sports club you’re bound to feel a little apprehensive at first. Just like your children starting school, or moving into a new class, it can be daunting when you start something new. If you can enlist the support of a friend this could work really well for both of you as research has shown that people who exercise with a friend have higher levels of adherence than those who do so alone.

3. Book your fitness sessions as appointments on your diary

As a busy mum you’re already used to planning your week with military precision! In the same way your family wall planner shows when school friends are coming to tea, swimming class times, dentist appointments and football matches take place, you need to book in your exercise sessions. Preferably written in PERMANENT BLACK MARKER!

4. Learn to move like your children

Take the focus away from wanting to “lose a bit here”, “toning”, “inch loss” or thinking in terms of aesthetics. Instead consider movement and training your body to function better; then the body you have always wanted will follow. If you need a reminder about how your body should be able to function and move watch your children play. You’ll see them squatting down to play, swinging on monkey bars, climbing up play equipment, running, jumping,, bending, pushing and pulling. In short, all the movements your body was designed to perform. So your training should include plenty of whole body moves based around squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling and rotating.

5. Don’t be a slave to the treadmill/cross-trainer/stepper

One of the biggest errors people make is spending too long on cardiovascular machines at too low an intensity. Unless you are pregnant, have recently had a baby or have an underlying medical condition or injury you need to incorporate interval training to both improve your cardiovascular fitness and burn excess body fat. If you’re new to interval training a simple approach is to increase your speed or pace beyond your normal steady state for 1, 2 or 3 minutes and then follow this by decreasing your speed to recover for a similar period of time. As you become accustomed to pushing yourself harder you will need longer to recover particularly once you start hitting 30 second or 1 minute sprints. Yes, it will be hard work but you gave birth – right? You can handle hard work!

6. Enlist the help of an expert

Would you let your partner/best friend cut your hair?! Well assuming they’re not a hairdresser the answer is, probably, no! So be cautious about their exercise advice. I’ve seen plenty of partners take their girlfriends/wives around the gym and either successfully train them in poor technique or train their other halves like they train themselves. Chances are your needs are going to be quite different to your friends or partners.  So why not invest in a few sessions with a Personal Trainer, or qualified instructor, to show you how to get the very best from your time spent exercising?

7. Inject more activity into your daily life

Stop thinking that exercise is something you “do” at a certain time of day – 9.30 on a Monday morning or 6pm on a Wednesday evening – instead start thinking about making opportunities to be more active in your day-to-day life. It might be walking the children to school, or riding the bike with them, you might decide to swim a few lengths whilst your children’s swimming lessons are taking place or you could simply decide, here and now, to never use a lift or an escalator again! There are many ways to be more active every day and small changes can have a significant impact on your general health and fitness and help with weight management.

8. Banish the guilt

A mother’s lot in life is to carry a permanent burden of guilt! Whether you agonise over working, not working, sharing your attention equally amongst all your off-spring, the food you serve your family, the food you throw away – you name it, we feel guilty every day! When it comes to exercise this can become a vicious circle of guilt – guilt if you spend time away from the home exercising – guilt if you fall of the exercise band wagon – guilt, guilt guilt! So cast your mind back to the last time you were ill and ask yourself what impact it have on the rest of the family. Chances are the washing piled up, no-one could find any clean underwear, school books went unread, and baked beans were eaten cold from the tin! Well maybe it wasn’t as bad as that, but you get my point. The efficient functioning of your family and the health, well-being and happiness of your children is intrinsically linked with yours. So tell yourself it’s not selfish to want time for yourself to exercise and that ultimately your family benefit from you being in tip-top condition!

Go on, reclaim a little bit of  “you time” – you’ve earned it!

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Why Women Need Weight Training

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

Take a look around any gym and chances are you’ll see plenty of women on the cardiovascular machines like treadmills, cross-trainers, stationary bikes, steppers and rowers. Whilst the free weights area is mostly male dominated.

Many women concerned with weight management and body shape mistakenly believe that being slave to a cardiovascular machine is the key to success. Alongside this is the almost pathological fear that picking up anything heavier than a 3kg dumbbell will result in Arnold Schwarzenegger size muscles!

There are many benefits to women who work out with weights, these include

Fat loss: Women have 10-30 times less testosterone than men, the hormone necessary for muscle growth, so women do not get big, bulky muscles with weight training instead they tone-up. This lean muscle, developed through weight training, has a greater calorific need than fat mass. So changing body composition (increasing lean muscle and decreasing fat mass) means the body is more efficient at fat burning throughout the day – even at rest. In fact for every pound of muscle gained 35-50 calories will be burned.
Strength gains: Moderate weight training in women has been shown to increase strength by as much as 30-50% and women need to be strong. Whether it’s picking up small children, carrying groceries, lifting a suitcase or household chores these physical demands stress the body and increase the risk of injury. Strong muscles and supporting structures are less prone to injury so allow our body to tolerate greater physical stress.
Decreasing the risk of osteoporosis: Bone mineral density decreases with age which results in bones becoming more fragile; hence the high number of broken bones in the elderly. Women are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis than men partly due to having smaller skeletons to begin with and also the reduction in oestrogen after the menopause. Weight training places stress on bones, stimulating them to become stronger and so offers a protective mechanism in fighting the threat of osteoporosis. Research has shown that weight training can increase bone mineral density as much as 13% in six months.
Creating a feminine physique: Having established that lean muscle helps us burn fat it is somewhat alarming to discover we lose ½ a pound of muscle tissue every year beyond the age of 25. This explains, in part, why we lose our figure as we age and gain more fat. Relentless sessions on the treadmill, cross-trainer or any other cardiovascular machine may make us a smaller “apple” shape or “smaller” pear shape but if we want to change and improve our shape we need to add resistance training to our programme. Working with weights will tone arms, tighten butts, create lean legs and define shoulders.
Gains can be made regardless of age: Studies have shown that women in their 70’s and 80’s can make significant strength gains – so you’re never too old to start training with weights!

So ladies, don’t let the men dominate the free weights area – go ahead, get in there! And guys I’m sorry, however strong your lady gets – you’re still expected to put out the rubbish!!!

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