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So now I’m obviously on the look out for anyone else who wants to come play too.  Check out the updated Upcoming Events page by clicking here…

Yes, where we regularly train.  Where we store most of our heavy, smelly, horrible training toys.  Where we all have cried, sweated, fallen, shivered.  Where we spent last summer soaked to the skin.  Where we spent the start of this year in HUGE snow drifts.  Where we have ended up pulling mud from the strangest of places.  Where we have experienced such bliss in their lovely, hot showers.  And yes, where we have gotten fitter, stronger and generally more awesome!

If you are thinking of joining us on Tough Mudder this year, train up for it.  For outdoor, bootcamp style training, click here.  For personalised, one on one training, click here.

And just to whet your appetite, take a look at some of the more enjoyable things we get up to…

The next sessions are on Friday and Saturday.  If you are interested in taking part, click on the link below for full details!

http://www.reesfitness.co.uk/flashmob

FLASHmob training

I’m holding a FREE ”taster” FLASHmob training session on Sunday 13th Jan for anyone brave enough to try it out!

If you don’t mind being a guinea pig and letting me try out a full blown group boot camp style fitness session on you, then click here for all the details.

And with the New Year I’ve re-hashed my website.  Please give it a test drive and let me know if any bits of it are broken…

www.ReesFitness.co.uk

Spin

As a follow on from my previous post about misleading food labels, this is also from the excellent NHS Behind the Headlines webpage.  The bottom line is

“Don’t believe everything you read in the papers.”

My favourite example of where newspaper headlines can be misleading is the ongoing attempt by the Daily Mail to classify everything on the planet as either a cause or cure for cancer (take a look here).

Give the article a read (it is well worth it), but here are some of the highlights:

Examples of spin in medical stories include:

• Reporting positive effects that were not statistically significant – so that the effects could have been the result of chance.
• Focusing on an outcome that the trial was not designed to study – for example, a trial that aimed, without success, to use acupuncture to treat hot flushes found incidentally that the treatment produced a slight improvement in sex drive. So the trial was spun with headlines such as “Acupuncture perks up sex drive”.
• Focusing on inappropriate sub-groups – for example, a trial of a new type 2 diabetes drug might be a total failure in the population at large but show a slight improvement in women in their twenties. This can be spun as an important breakthrough. However, type 2 diabetes is rare in women in their twenties, so the new drug would not actually be of great use.
• Ignoring safety data – we need to be sure that the potential benefits of treatment outweigh the risks but research summaries and press releases routinely omit mention of risks, side effects and so forth, and thus give an overly positive impression of results.

When you read a news report about a medical study, you may find it useful to consider:

• Was the research in humans? Headlines that talk of a “miracle cure” often relate to research conducted on, say, mice – and the results may not apply to people.
• How many people did the study involve? Small studies involving just a handful of people are more likely than large studies to reach conclusions that could simply be the result of chance.
• Did the study actually assess what’s in the headline? As mentioned, a headline saying acupuncture boosts your sex-life was actually based on a study into whether acupuncture could treat hot flushes.
• Who paid for the study? While most commercially funded studies are reliable, it is always worth checking if there could be any potential conflict of interest, for example where a company funds research into its own products.

Less fat, same crap.

Many people talk to me about their attempts to control their weight.  So I ask them what are they doing to change their diets.  A very common reply is:

“I’ve switched to the low fat version of (insert name of food here)”.

Unfortunately, this is usually a pretty rubbish way to change our diets.  A few years ago I had a revelation!  It was this:

Labels reading “Low Fat” or “Light” had nothing at all to do with our health and waistline.  They are 100% marketing.  Nothing more.

If you find yourself reaching for the “healthier” version of your favourite packet of crisps/biscuit/breakfast cereal, then have a read of this article on the excellent NHS “Behind the Headlines” webpage.

It shows how many of these “Light” choices are not quite all they are cracked up to be…

And when you want to make a real change in your diet for the better, you can do a lot worse than clicking here and having a look at my guide to healthy eating.

And don’t forget to “share” this if you have found it enlightening at all.  Thanks!

“What is the best way to get good at x”

Well, following the principle of “we get good at what we actually do“, the answer is fairly simple…

Open Water Swimming

If you want to get good at x, then gradually increase the amount of x you actually do.  I know this to be true, but it’s always good to be reminded of it, like I was yesterday.

I’m probably fitter than average, but all my training is done on dry land.  But yesterday I was invited out to have a go at an open water swim in Malham Tarn (beautiful place!).  Now, I’ve only ever swum in a pool before and only ever swum for leisure, so I knew this was going to be very different.

But I was very surprised at just how bloody difficult it was!  Initially fighting the cold water, then fighting against my wetsuit, i found myself swimming and swimming….but seemingly not going anywhere, permanently at the arse end of the group and slowly but surely getting more and more knackered!

Strangely enough, I kind of like these situations, because it reminds me just why I ask one of my favourite questions so often:

“What is your ultimate goal?”

Because whether you like it or not, if your ultimate goal is to run for longer, you are going to have to actually start running for longer.

Or if you want to be able to run faster, then you are going to have to start actually increasing your running speed.

Or if (like me) you want to be able to swim in open water, we are going to have to bite the bullet, quit bitching, ignore the ego, accept being the last in the group and get swimming in open water!

Just because we are fit and capable at one thing, it doesn’t mean we will be fit and capable at something else!

Rainstorm – http://www.zoriah.net

This is just a quickie to say a huge well done to Jack.  I was training him over the weekend, we were half way through when the heavens opened and a thunderstorm struck…but he didn’t complain once, he kept working hard and we had an outstanding session!

Even though we both got soaked to the skin and I left the inside of my girlfriends car dripping wet on the way home, it was worth every second.  There was just something about the whole sky cracking and rumbling that pushed us that little bit harder.

Well done jack!

We are doing the 5km version (even though i KNOW Linda is more than capable of doing the 10km version!)  And as long as i’m not a muppet and leave my headcam in the car like i did at Tough Mudder (D’Oh!) i might hopefully have some footage of it next week…we shall see…

If you want to join us, contact me by clicking here.

Tough mudder

Actually, its less than 1 week until I enter my first Tough Mudder (click here for details)…its this coming Sunday!

Now lets see if all my pontificating about training bears fruit…

Bootcamp training

The days are getting longer, the weather is not as cold and it seems more people are willing to join me in some outdoor training!  This can mean only one thing…It’s Bootcamp time again in Skipton!

What is a bootcamp?  Originally its the rough and tough training you get in basic training in the military.  These days it generally means any kind of training that involves minimal equipment and usually outdoors.  And as a few of us have signed up for some outdoor challenges this year (Trailtrekker, Warrior Dash, Tough Mudder, Commando Challenge) it is perfect to get us in top form.

But why train outside when I work in a lovely, climate controlled gym??

• More “functional” – Because there is little/no equipment for you to have to learn, you spend 100% of the time learning how to use the best piece of equipment in the world…your own body.
• Variety – Most gyms have the same range of equipment that you have to use in the exact same way or you get a spotty gym monkey trying to tell you how it “should” be done.  Outside we were using park benches, golf greens, fences, walls, boulders, bins climbing frames…any bit of the environment we could lay our hands on in as many ways as we could think of.
• Balance – because you are not strapped into a machine the whole time, you are forced to improve your balance or you fall over…simple!  Over the last few weeks of training outdoors (in pouring rain, scorching sun, frost, gusting winds and more slippery surfaces than you can shake a stick at) I have fallen only once…I’ve lost my balance a bunch of times!  But (and this is the important bit) I have regained my balance before I hit the deck and carried on.
• Character building – Improving our fitness, strength and weight is a tough thing to do and the most important part of it is consistency.  Having the will to go out and train, even when conditions are not perfect (it’s a bit wet, or a bit cold, or I have a bit of a sniffle, or I’m feeling tired, or my fave TV show is on, or I don’t have the right clothes, or it’s pub night etc) gives us the attitude to succeed.
• Vitamin D – Our bodys make vitamin D when sunlight hits the skin.  If we are indoors, we miss out.
• It looks cool – Lets be honest, we can blend into the crowd, doing the same as everyone else, learning a dozen different ways to do a bicep curl or tricep kickback.  Or we can learn to do some really funky things that really catch the eye of the opposite sex!

So here is to a summer of playing and training outdoors!  If you live in or around Skipton and are interested in trying a Bootcamp…Contact me today!

Shoulder Dislocations

Name:  Shoulder Dislocations.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main joints used:  Shoulders, shoulder blades.

Other joints used:

Top tips:

• Hold onto either a broomstick, belt or (my favorite) a resistance band.
• Have your hands about 2 shoulder widths apart.
• Raise your arms up over your head, then continue all the way back until the resistance band touches your butt.
• Reverse the move, bringing your arms up and forwards over your head, all the way until the band touches the front of your body.
• Keep your elbows straight throughout te entire move.
• Keep the move smooth, steady and continuous.
• Keep your head looking straight ahead and your chest up and out throughout.
• If you can’t do the move as described above, move your hands further apart and try again.
• If you find the move ridiculously easy, bring your hands an inch or so closer together and try again.

Common mistakes:

• Bending either elbow at any time.
• Letting one arm go faster/slower than the other.
• Experiencing a popping or jerking in either shoulder.
• Looking at the floor or letting your chest and shoulders hunch forwards.

Comments:

Being sedentary and not moving much can cause all our joints to seize up and lose their ability to move freely and safely.  The shoulder is no exception.  If we lack mobility in our shoulders, we find it harder to do many athletic/sporting activities such as punching, throwing, reaching etc.  It can also lead to chronic pains in average persons neck, shoulders and even backs.

The ideal time to do stretches like this is after your workouts.  But if you have a specific issue with your shoulder mobility, try following the “little and often” approach.  Do 30 seconds of these several times throughout the day.

So the new web address of my main website is now:

www.reesfitness.co.uk

At the moment, the content is exactly the same, but i’m going to get round to changing things at some point.  In the meantime, please update your bookmarks!

Oxfam Trailtrekker

We all have to try something different and challenging, or life gets very dull!  So on the weekend of 26-27 May this year, the Craven Council Centrefolds (that’s me, Bruce, Graham and David) are doing the Oxfam Trailtrekker (click here for details)!  This is a 62 mile hike over the Yorkshire moors…taking about 27 hours of non-stop hiking!

And we need you to click here (http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CravenCouncilCentrefolds) and help us raise £1,400!

We will be setting off on Saturday 26th of May and hiking 62 miles (100 km) through the Yorkshire moors.  We will be out there all night and will get back at some point on Sunday 27th May.  I don’t think we will be getting any sleep that night!

Spurred on by my crazy sister, I have done a few things in my time, but never anything quite like this, so it will be one hell of an experience!

But we need everyones help to raise £1,400.  So please please click here (http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CravenCouncilCentrefolds) and donate something today.  This is our teams joint money raising page, so you can see our lovely gurning faces in the photo on the top left.

We are doing our first training walk this Friday.  I have no idea where we are going…I’ll be just following the others like a sheep.  But I think it will be about 18 miles long.

Because I have never done any long duration hike before, I’m using this walk to work out the logistics of what I should wear and carry.  I know I will bring along waaay too much, so I want to find out what is essential and what I don’t need to bother with.  Any suggestions on what I should bring/leave behind??

And once again, please go here (http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CravenCouncilCentrefolds) and leave some cash!  And if you can’t do that, please share this with everyone you know, lie to them and say you gave loads, and guilt trip them into matching your made up donation!

Thank you.

Stick Ups

Name:  Stick Ups.

Also known as:  Wall Slides.

Main muscles used:  Upper back.

Other muscles used:

Top tips:

• Stand with your back against a wall or any flat surface.
• Have your feet a few inches away from the wall.
• Keep your belly tight throughout.
• Have your bum, shoulder blades and back of head touching the wall.
• Keeping these 3 points of contact at all times, put your arms up, as if someone were pointing a gun at you.
• Squeeze your shoulder blades back together until your elbows touch the wall.
• If you can, try to get your wrists to touch the wall also.
• Keeping these 5 points of contact with the wall at all times, slowly slide your arms up and down to the count of 4 seconds.
• When pulling your arms down, think about squeezing your elbows in tight to your sides.

Common mistakes:

• Letting your bum/shoulder blades/head peel away from the wall.
• Failing to get your elbows back touching the wall.
• Failing to get your wrists back touching the wall.
• Relaxing your belly and letting it arch out in front in an attempt to get your elbows touching the wall.

Comments:

This is a very good variation of the Scapular Retraction exercise and is particularly good for anyone who suffers from a slumped forward posture.

Not only does it help mobilise the upper back and shoulders, but develops the muscles needed to pull the body back into an upright posture, and it teaches us how it actually feels to be upright.  If this move feels very alien to you, it is an indication of how much your posture is off.

And don’t worry if you can’t do it at first.  Many people these days find it difficult/odd at first.  The trick is do it “little and often”.  Do this exercise as part of every warm up, and for a few seconds several times each day.

So here is a quick and easy routine for almost anyone to improve their hip mobility.  There are only 4 stretches involved and it only takes 3 minutes, so you don’t have any excuses (you can even do it in the advert breaks of X Factor!)

So here goes…

Squat Stretch (click here for details).

Squat Stretch

Cossack Stretch (click here for details).

Cossack mobility stretch

Left side Hip Flexor Lunge Stretch (click here for details).

Hip Flexor Lunge Stretch

Right side Hip Flexor Lunge Stretch (click here for details).

Hip Flexor Lunge Stretch

Do the above four stretches for 10 seconds each, then repeat again for 15 seconds each, then a third and final round of 20 seconds each.  That makes a grand total of 180 seconds, or only 3 minutes!  And trust me, your hips will feel a lot looser and mobile afterwards.

You will get significant short term benefits from doing just this, so it would be a good drill to put into your warm ups.  But to get longer term benefits, follow the “little and often” principle.  Do this mini drill several times a day and you will get longer lasting and more permanent results.

Arm Step Out - Good

Name:  Arm Step Out.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Belly.

Other muscles used:  Shoulders, lats.

Top tips:

• Set yourself up in a Pressup position.
• Keep your belly very tight and your bottom down from the start.
• Keeping your body rigid and straight, take a step forwards with one arm, then the other, before returning to the start position.

Arm Step Out - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Letting your hips hang down low and arching your back down.
• Letting your body roll side to side.
• Letting your body bend or sway as you step your arms forwards/backwards.
• Only doing little, tiny steps with your arms.

Comments:

This is a dynamic progression to the Front Plank.  When your arms are stepped forwards, the move is simply a harder version of the Front Plank.  But when your hand is in motion, there is a strong twisting force acting on your body that your midsection has to work hard to control.  This is what makes it a good move.

Start by making sure you can do the move slowly and under control.  As with many of these exercises, quality is most important.

Reverse Crunch - Good

Name:  Reverse crunch.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  belly, sides.

Other muscles used:  Hip flexors.

Top tips:

• Lay on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
• Make sure your lower back is not arched off the floor.
• Use your hands to hold onto an anchor point above your head if it helps.
• Keep your heels tucked tight into your bum throughout the move.
• Pull your knees tight up into your chest, keeping your heels tucked tight.
• Try to lift your bum up off the floor and get yourself into a nice, tight, cannonball.
• Return your feet to the floor under control.
• Make sure your lower back is flat on the floor before your feet touch the floor.

Reverse Crunch - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Arching your lower back off the floor at the start/end of the move.
• “Flinging” your knees and feet up in the air to gain momentum.
• Not being in a tight cannonball shape half way through the move.
• “Dumping” your feet back onto the floor at the end of the move.

Comments:

Many people find this move difficult at the start, but it is a very good “core” exercise.  I use this to help people who are having trouble with their Planks, Wheelbarrows, Pressups and people with poor posture.

This can help towards correcting an over arched lower back, or anterior pelvic tilt.

Squat Stretch - Good

Name:  Squat Stretch.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Inner thighs.

Other muscles used:  Bum.

Top tips:

• Have your feet a good shoulder width apart.
• Feet turned out slightly.
• Squat down low so your bum gets close to the floor.
• Jam your elbows on the inside of your knees and push them outwards so you feel a stretch on your inner thighs.
• Keep your feet flat and heels firm on the floor at all times.
• Keep your chest out and shoulders back at all times.

Squat Stretch - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Having your feet too close together.
• Having your knees too close together.
• Pulling the heels off the floor and going onto the toes.
• Slumping the shoulders and back forwards.
• Confusing “getting the bum low” with “getting the head low”.

Comments:

This is a very good hip mobility and adductor stretch exercise.  A person with good hip mobility is less likely to display movement compensations that can lead to injuries, including back problems.

Too much sitting in our lives can lead to tight hips, including adductors (inner thighs).  If you are not careful, this can lead to dodgy backs and knees.  So if you have dodgy backs/knees, or if you want to avoid them, make sure you do this stretch regularly.

The squat stretch helps with both athletic moves (running, jumping, landing etc) and everyday moves (sitting, standing, climbing stairs etc).

Hurdle Step Over - Good

Name:  Hurdle Step Over.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Hip stabilisers, bums, legs.

Other muscles used:  Ankle stabilisers.

Top tips:

• Stand in front of a hurdle/barrier whose height is approximately knee height.
• Stand tall and keep your body straight and vertical.
• Lift your knee and foot over the barrier without touching it.
• Keep your lifting knee directly over your lifting foot.
• Step over the barrier and “hurdle” your trailing leg over by cocking your knee and foot over to the side.
• Land secure and stable, then repeat with other foot.
• Keep your whole body square and facing the front at all times.
• Make sure the movements come from the hips, not any other joints.

Hurdle Step Over - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Turning the leading foot out to one side or other.
• Not lifting the leading knee high and keeping it directly over the leading foot.
• “Hitching” the leading hip up to help the foot over the barrier.
• Bending or twisting the spine.
• Not lifting either knee high over the barrier.
• Doing everything possible to avoid lifting either knee.
• Losing your balance and falling over or hopping around.

Comments:

This is a good warming up mobility exercise.  It looks easy and simple, and is very easy to do badly.  But of course, the trick is to do it properly, and then it gets harder.

It gets the hips moving in lots of directions and is a very practical move.  Done properly, it can help teach people to move more efficiently by using the hips more and the spine less.  And finally, by getting people to stand and maneuver on one leg, it is a very good balance exercise and developes the often over-looked hips stabiliser muscles.

Happy New Year!

The new year is here, and statistics show that most of us plan to get fitter, stronger or lose weight in 2012.  But statistics also show that only a fraction of us will actually succeed.  If you are working out your new year resolutions,  make sure you don’t fall into any of these exercise and diet pitfalls…

Doing waaay too much.

Often people overestimate themselves and go:

• Gym 5-7 days a week!
• At least 2 hours while in the gym!
• An exercise class every weekday!
• Eat nothing but 1 apple a day!

This is unsustainable and will lead to either injury or frustration, but defiantly failure.  Be realistic and practical.

Doing waaay too little.

People often underestimate themselves too.  They have spent their whole lives being told this, that and the other is dangerous, or they can get something for nothing, and have no actual experience of hard, physical work. 

So as soon as someone does something that slightly nudges their comfort zone, they back away and decide that is more than enough for this week.  After all, if they have been in the gym for half an hour, they have sat on the bike for a bit and waved the little pink dumbells around…surely they deserve to sit down, have a rest and “recover” with that cake!

Not having a goal or target to aim for.

Many people have a vague idea that they should do something and they want to change their bodies in some vague way.  But unless you have a clear idea what you are aiming for, how do you know if you are getting it or not?  How do yo know if you are improving, staying the same or getting worse?  And if you don’t know if you are improving, it is all too easy to simply assume you are doing fine and slip back into bad, old ways.

Setting an outcome as a goal or target.

And while we are on the subject of setting goals or targets, make sure you choose the right ones.  Don’t set your goal as an outcome, or end result.  Make your target an actual, consistent action to perform.  For example, instead of saying:

• “I aim to lose weight”, say “I will eat no more than 1 piece of junk food per week”. 
• “I am going to get fitter”, say “I am going to do something that gets me out of breath for 1 hour, 3 times a week”.

Each of the above “outcome” based goals have many different and sometimes conflicting ways of achieving it.  This breeds confusion in most people.  Instead, choosing the “method” based goal is far simpler, better for long term adherence (consistency) and is a direct route to your desired body change.

Over complicating things.

Keep It Simple should be one of your mantras.  Don’t be one of the people who starts the year with a training programme of 2 dozen exercises per body part, or a diet that reads like a mobile phone instruction manual. 

The more complicated something is, more things can go wrong, more loopholes can be found in it and the harder it is to follow consistently.  Start with the basics and don’t complicate things unless you absolutely, positively have to, or your life is at stake!  A good starting point is my “Holy Trinity”.  Click here for more details.

Relying on your memory.

It has been proven time and again that we are rubbish at remembering things when it comes to exercise and food.  We forget what we did in the last training session, we forget what junk food we have had, we forget that we havent done any exercise for a month, we forget that we should not be having that chocolate “treat” 4 times a day.

Write it down!  Write down targets, write down deadlines, write down what days we can/cannot treat ourselves.  If it is written down in black and white and stuck up somewhere prominent (eg on our kitchen fridge), then it is harder for us to cheat.

If you want to control your weight, then writing a food diary is almost a must!  Click here for more details.

Doing it alone.

Humans are social animals, even me, and I’m an antisocial bugger!  When we are alone, it is easy to fall off the wagon, to wimp out or even quietly convince ourselves that we never really meant it in the first place.  If we are in a group of people with similar aims, we can make it so much easier on ourselves and make use of the peer pressure that comes in such a group.  If everyone around us is doing something, it is much easier to do it ourselves.

In fact, a good training partner, social group or coach is worth their weight in gold.  And of course, if you are looking for a coach to help you, contact me today!

Doing it at home.

Every year, people buy home gym equipment (workout DVDs, exercise bikes, ab crunch frames etc), use them once, then never use them again (except maybe as a clothes rack).  For most people, our homes are a place to relax, unwind and have fun with family/friends.  And most of us have developed an almost Pavlovian conditioning to not doing strenuous work or exercise there.

There are so many distractions in our homes that most people find it almost impossible to exercise effectively in their own homes.  So get out side, go to a gym, go to a village hall or even go to your training partners house.  Your presence will help them train properly in their home, and they can return the favour at a later date.  In fact, you will almost certainly find it easier to train properly virtually anywhere other than by yourself in your own home!

If any of this has made sense to you, please feel free to share it with your friends, or even find me on Facebook.

Movement compensation on crutches

Since I started to learn Karate when I was 7 years old, I have consciously or subconsciously been trying to improve the way I move.  I have learned that if I want to put my body in a certain position, there are loads of different ways I can do it.  But I have also learned that some ways are better than others.

Movement Compensations are when one part of your body doesn’t (for whatever reason) play it’s part fully when you try to do a movement.  In order to put your body in the desired position, a different part of your body has to do more than its fair share, or maybe change its role entirely, or “compensate”, in order for you to complete the move.

A classic example is if you get your leg in plaster and have to use crutches.  In this case, your leg is not working properly, so your arms, shoulders and other leg take over, compensate and support your bodyweight on the crutches so you can walk. 

Another common situation is that many people these days have stiff or immobile hips (hence my mini series on hip mobility recently).  With the hips not moving fully, the spine has to compensate by bending too much and this can lead to injury (click here for more on this).

In my series of “How To:” articles, most of the “bad” examples show classic Movement Compensations, where movement at the hips/shoulders is reduced, while movement at the spine is increased.

I’m sure all of you recognise the general situation from your working life.  If you are working in a group or team, and one of you is a bit rubbish and not pulling their weight, then to achieve deadlines or targets, the rest of the group/team has to do extra to make up for the slacker.  It is obvious this working situation is far from ideal, and the same goes for the body.

But our bodies are so good at compensating for weaknesses, it is often the case that we don’t even know that we have a weakness that is being compensated for!  And without this knowledge, we don’t do anything about it and this can lead to:

• The weakness is never corrected.
• The weakness gets worse.
• The compensating bodypart is chronically overloaded.
• The compensating bodypart is injured.
• Another bodypart has to compensate for both the original and new weaknesses.
• …and so on…

So now we know what Movement Compensations are, how do we avoid them?

• Maintain or increase mobility of your hips and shoulders.  If we can move these major joints easily, then we are more likely to move them instead of others.
• Strengthen all muscles that move the hips and shoulders.  It takes strength to move these joints through their full range.  If we find it physically hard to do this, we are less likely to keep it up.  And notice I said strengthen all the muscles, not just “tone up the sexy ones”.
• Apply it to every aspect of your life.  If you only do it for a couple of minutes a week during training sessions, you are less likely to do it in real life where it really matters.  Make proper movement a habit and it will become second nature.  Make it part of your background activity.

Follow these points and your joints will thank you!

It’s not what you do, it’s the way you do it.

Slipping on ice

When (not “if”) you slip on the ice, your feet are going to shift away from you.  If your hips are mobile, you have a greater chance of shifting your support into a position where you might be able to avoid falling. 

If your hips aren’t mobile, then you have a greater chance of either ripping some important soft tissue in your groin (ouch!), or planting your face into the floor.

This is why everyone should keep their body moving and strong.

Do you want to get stronger? 

Follow these 3 golden rules and improve your chances of success…

• Get in the right frame of mind.
• Get in the right environment.
• Get in the right social group.

Get in the right frame of mind.

Do things with purpose and don’t kid yourself.  In other words:

Wearing your Game Face - focusing on the task in hand while others around are distracted.

• Put your “Game Face” on, or focus on what you want to achieve and don’t get distracted.
• Learn and accept that apart from injuries, our fitness and strength are mostly the result of our behaviours and habits.
• We control our behaviours and habits, so to a very large extent, we control the health, fitness, strength and size of our bodies.
• We are not slaves to external forces outside our control.  We are not the result of big bones, hormones, water retention or the wrong kind of shoe/clothes/equipment.  We are the result of what we eat, drink and do.  These things are in our control.
• Decide we want to change our behaviours and habits.  It’s not a chore, or something we are forced into, or something we try to wrangle our way out of.
• Realise we don’t have to do everything all at once.  But we have to do something.
• Realise it won’t be perfect and there will be bumps on the way.  But we won’t let these bumps derail us.
• Have a sense of perspective – realise what the big problems that we need to concentrate on are…and what the little details that can be left until later are.

Get in the right environment.

Healthy environment

The bulk of our lives are spent in only a few places.  The most common of these are the home, the workplace or the journey between the two.  Like the rest of the animal kingdom, we adapt to our surroundings. 

• If our surroundings are full of sweets, chocolate, pizza and beer/coke, it is little wonder if we succumb to the temptation.
• We have the most control over our home surroundings, so make sure that there are no foods/drinks you want to avoid in the house.
• Empty the cupboards and fridges of all things that can throw you off your healthy eating routine.
• Surround yourself with the foods that you want to embrace in your life.
• Move to the front of the fridge/cupboard the foods you should eat more of.
• Try to do the same thing in your workplace if practical.
• Remove distractions and temptations from where you exercise/train.
• Don’t exercise/train in the rooms you eat, relax and generally “chill out” in.

Get in the right social group.

Greek god Heracles - http://aworldofmyths.com/

• We are very heavily influenced by the people around us.  Peer pressure is a powerful thing.
• If we are surrounded by overweight/unfit people who sneer and jeer at our attempts to improve ourselves, we are much more likely to fail.
• If we are surrounded by people who are trying to be healthy, fit and strong, then we can help eachother through tough patches and help keep eachother on the wagon.
• Have dinner with people who share your goals of controlling your weight.  It is much easier to say no to a chocolate bar if everyone else is also saying no.
• Exercise with people who are passionate about maintaining or improving their fitness and strength.  It is very difficult to work hard if everyone around you is bitching, complaining and whimping out after 2 minutes.
• Ask the people around you to help you say no to second helpings of pudding, while saying yes to the next training session.  If those people like and respect you, they will want to help.  If they don’t like or respect you, they will enjoy pointing out any time you fail.

But remember, you don’t have to be surrounded by people who are built like Greek gods wearing nothing but a silver posing pouch.  You just need to be around people who share the same goals as you.  I often train with people who are injured/disabled who can’t keep up with me physically…but their passion for progress puts mine to shame!

By following these 3 golden rules, you will make it much easier to achieve your weight/fitness/strength goals.  Importantly, these things will help boost your willpower, which is notoriously rubbish in most of us.

And if you need more help, you can hire me by contacting me here.

This is a very common question.  The short answer is:

None of them.  No exercise machine burns any calories.

The slightly longer answer is that you burn the calories, not the machine.  And if you are asking the above question, you are missing the most basic but important thing…

• You have to put the physical effort in to burn calories and get slimmer.
• You have to put the physical effort in to lift heavy things and get stronger/toned.
• You have to put the physical effort in to get out of breath and get fitter.
• You have to put the mental effort in to stick to your diet…even if it is Christmas or someones birthday.
• You have to put the mental effort in to go back out training even if you don’t feel like it, or you are tired, or its raining.

While you are still looking for some machine or external force to do the work for you, you are not going to achieve your goals.

As Yoda would probably say:

Inside you, the answer lies.

Don't do this you muppet...

I was chatting to someone about their strained back the other day.

***Disclaimer!  I’m not any kind of physiotherapist, so I am not any kind of expert in this.***

She had pulled her back picking up a bag from the floor, so she was asking me for some things to strengthen her back so it won’t happen again.

But because I have way too much free time on my hands and am a bit of a nerd, I tried to investigate and understand the problem and come up with a good solution.  So I started off with a very important lesson I have learned…

Often, a pulled muscle is not due to a weakness in that particular muscle, but because of a weakness in a totally different muscle.

Why?

Because the injured muscle is not only doing its own work, but having to do the work of the other, weaker, muscle also.  This added workload can be the straw that breaks the camels back…or pulls the muscle, in this case.

For example, picking a bag up off the floor.  The “ideal” way of doing this is in a deadlift fashion, where the back muscles lock the spine flat, while the legs and bum do the heavy work.  If we don’t move properly and bend at the hips and knees, then the back has to do all the work and the chances of pulling something are greatly increased.  This is because the back is doing the work of the back, bum and legs combined.

So if we pull or strain a muscle, the common thought is to strengthen that particular muscle.  But I would suggest that maybe its strong enough already and the weakness is somewhere else and your body is compensating for this by overloading another part of your body.  In this case, simply strengthening the injured muscle is fixing the wrong problem and we don’t improve this way.  It is just masking the symptoms of a deeper, underlying problem that doesn’t get fixed.  We are all guilty of it at some time or other.

...do this instead.

The way to improve would be to properly assess your muscles actual strengths and weaknesses.  And importantly, assess your movement patterns to see if there are any glaring inefficiencies.  In the example above, it would be to:

• Learn how to lift properly and improve your strength/mobility of your legs and hips.  Because if your legs and hips are strong, mobile and used to work, you are more likely to use them instead of your back.
• Develop the consistent habit of lifting in this way in all aspects of your life…not just in the gym.

Another common example of fixing the wrong problem is when people try to “tone up” their belly by doing a million belly exercises like crunches.  9 times out of 10, you don’t need to do more crunches, you need to eat less.

And that is why I often get funny looks from people who come up and ask me for advice…and the answer I give may sound totally unrelated.

“…but I asked you about exercises for my back.  Why am I working my legs?”

It is because I am trying to fix the right problem and giving you what you need, not necessarily what you want.

As always, if you have found this interesting, please feel free to share it using the buttons below.  And if you want help with any of the above, just contact me by clicking here.

Cossack mobility stretch

Name:  Cossack mobility stretch

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Bum, hamstrings, adductors.

Other muscles used:

Top tips:

• Your feet will be approximately 2 shoulder widths apart.
• Bend one leg right down so your bum is touching the heel.
• The “back” foot will be on its toes, while the “front” foot will be on its heel with toes pointing straight upwards.
• The “back” knee and hip will be as bent as they will go, while the “front” knee will be locked straight.
• Using your elbow, push the “back” knee backwards to feel a stretch in the groin.
• Sink your bottom as close to the floor as you can to feel a stretch on the back of the “front” leg.
• Keeping your feet where they are on the floor, shift your bodyweight and bum from one leg to the other.
• Sink into the stretch for a second, then return to the start and repeat.

Cossack mobility stretch - from the top

Common mistakes:

• Failing to drop the bum as low as possible to let it touch your heel.
• Having your feet too close together.
• Failing to “open” the hips by pressing the “back” knee backwards.
• Letting your bum rise up high when shifting your weight across to the other leg.
• Moving your feet instead of moving your bum from side to side.

Comments:

I found this drill one of the most effective before my Karate training.  It opened up my hips and allowed me to move my legs and hips better, faster and stronger.

Hips that can move effectively through a large range of movement can improve your performance of most activities.  This ranges from everyday moves like sitting/standing/climbing stairs, to high level athletic moves such as kicking/running/jumping.

Cancer

You may have noticed this story in the news:

Over 40% of cancers due to lifestyle.

If not, click here for the story, and click here for an explanation of the story from the excellent NHS “behind the headlines” website (I love this place, it explains the millions of health related stories you read in the papers and helps you decide which ones you can totally ignore!).

If you want to change your lifestyle for the better, click here to download my very simple guide to help you.

Side leg swing - good

Name:  Side Leg Swing.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Bum, adductors, abductors.

Other muscles used:

Top tips:

• Stand tall, straight and still, using a wall for balance if needed.
• Keeping your leg straight all the time, swing it out to the side.  Only as far as your hip will allow.
• Actively return the leg to the start, crossing it in front of the supporting leg, again, only as far as your hip will allow.
• Keep your hips, belly, chest and shoulders pointing square to the wall in front.
• Keep all your toes on both feet pointing straight forwards to the wall at all times.
• Repeat with the other leg.

Side leg swing - bad

Common mistakes:

• Twisting and bending your hips, belly, chest and shoulders towards the swinging leg.
• Bending the swinging leg.
• Pointing the toes of the swinging leg up to the ceiling.
• Sticking your bum out and back, or “jack-knifing” in the middle.
• Twisting so out of shape the side leg swing turns into a bad front leg swing.

Comments:

This is a good hip mobility exercise.  You can use it during your warm ups to increase the mobility in the hips and to learn to distinguish hip movement from spine movement.  Most of the common mistakes come from trying to get the foot artificially higher by twisting the bending the hips and spine.

Front leg swing - good

Name:  Front Leg Swing.

Also known as:   (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Bum, hamstrings, hip flexors.

Other muscles used:

Top tips:

• Stand tall, holding onto a wall for balance if needed.
• Keep shoulders pulled back and chest and head high throughout the move.
• Swing one leg forwards and backwards, keeping the swinging knee straight and a slight, comfortable bend on the supporting leg.
• Swing your leg up just high enough until you feel a slight tightness at the back of the leg.
• At the end of the move, swing your leg back just enough until you feel a slight tightness in the hip flexors at the front of the hip.
• Keep your belly button pointing forwards all the time.
• On the back swing, keep your belly tight.
• Keep toes of both legs pointing forwards/upwards all the time.
• Make sure the movement comes from the hip.
• Repeat on other side.
  

  Front leg swing - bad

Common mistakes:

• Bending the swinging knee.
• Hunching your upper body forwards towards the swinging leg.
• Twisting your hips so your belly button turns away from the front.
• Letting the toes of either foot twist in/out at any time.
• Arching your back and letting your belly stick out on the back-swing.

Comments:

This is an exercise to help mobilise your hips and warm up the muscles surrounding them (glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors and quadriceps).  Most of the common mistakes happen when you aren’t keeping the movement in the hips, but twisting and wrenching your spine instead.

This move keep the hips mobile, flexible and teaches you to use your powerful hips, instead of your back.

Backward Lunge - Good

Name:  Reverse Lunge

Also known as:  Backwards Lunge.  (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Bum, legs.

Other muscles used:

Top tips:

• Start and end the move standing tall and balanced.
• Take a stride straight backwards with one leg, landing on the toes.  Keep the heel pointing straight upwards (don’t let it twist in/out).
• Take as long and low stride as your flexibility and balance will allow.
• Try to get your back knee as close to the floor as possible without cracking it on the ground.
• Keep your belly tight and body tall and feel a stretch at the front of the back hip.
• Dig the heel of the front foot into the floor and start to stand back up straight, keeping your belly tight and body tall throughout.
• Repeat with the other leg.

Backward Lunge - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Not stepping back far enough.
• Not stepping low enough.
• Hunching your back forwards.
• letting the front knee cave inwards.
• Letting the back foot collapse in/out.

Comments:

This is a progression of the normal Lunge.  Stepping backwards into the “unknown” can be a bit nerve wracking, so this can help your confidence and body awareness.  The longer and lower you go with this move, the more of your bum and hamstrings are used.  It can also be used as a fantasic hip mobility exercise.

If you know anyone who may benefit from this, please share it with them using the buttons below.  Thanks.

Bastards

I get bored easily.  I have noticed that unless I have some kind of goal to aim for, or unless I have someone keeping me accountable, I can easily put things off until another time (why do something today if you can put it off until tomorrow?).

And once I have put something off once, it is easy to put it off again (if it was all that important, I would have done it by now!).  And then my consistency goes all to pot.

So one trick I use to con myself into keeping on going is to set myself little challenges/games.  This is my latest…

My girlfriend is REALLY looking forward to opening her advent calendar.  But I banged my head recently and have decided to set myself an Advent Challenge.

In the run up to Christmas, I am going to do 2,500 Bastards.

Starting on December the first and ending on Christmas day itself, I am going to do 100 bastards each and every day.  And here are the rules I have set myself so far (I have a bad habit of bending rules unless they are cast in stone by the Gods themselves):

• 100 full, quality Bastards each and every day (no rubbishy half-harted ones with a rubbish jump/pressup).  After all, a challenge isn’t a challenge if it is easy.
• A day lasts from midnight to midnight.  I am not likely to wake up at 1am in order to do  them, but at least the option is there if I am feeling a bit odd/drunk.
• They can be spread out or grouped together in any way (eg I can do all 100 in one go, or do 10 sets of 10 over 10 hours etc).
• I can not do any less than 100 a day, and any over 100 do NOT count to the total (so I can’t do 200 in one day, then take the next day off).  This means I have to be consistent.

I am hoping this advent challenge will tick all my character flaw boxes:

• I can honestly say that I wont be lazy if I am doing shed loads of bastards every day…they are not easy or nice and everyone sane avoids them like the plague.
• It won’t take that long to do 100 of them, so I will have little chance to get bored.
• I don’t need any equipment or gym memberships or have to spend any money at all to do this.
• Announcing this here will mean I can’t give up half way through, because my ego won’t let me face that shame and my sister will never let me live it down (and feel free to slap me hard if I make any lame, whining excuses as to why I havent done them).

So there we go.  This is one of the random tricks I play on myself to stop me getting fat and lazy.  Do you have any tricks that work for you?

As always, feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested using the buttons below.

Thanks!

Bastards

Name:  Bastards

Also known as:  (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Legs, chest, shoulders, arms, heart.

Other muscles used:  Everything else.

Top tips:

• Start by standing tall.
• Squat down and put your hands on the floor, a bit more than shoulder width apart.
• Jump your feet back into the pressup position in one smooth movement, just like the first half of a squat thrust.
• Keep your belly tight all the time, don’t let it sag towards the floor.
• Do a full, quality pressup, with chest touching the floor.
• Jump your feet back to where they were, just like the second half of a squat thrust.
• Jump high up in the air and tuck your knees tight to your chest, just like a tuck jump.
• Land softly on the balls of your feet, then repeat.

Common mistakes:

• All the same mistakes as the constituent parts (squat thrust, pressup and tuck jump).
• Cutting each part down into smaller and smaller moves as you get more and more tired.

Comments:

The Bastard is a progression on the already difficult burpee.  It is essentially the same move, but with a pressup and tuck jump added.  Because the whole body is being used, it works your heart and lungs a great deal.  The pressup makes it a very good upper body strength exercise.  The explosive tuck jump makes it a very good lower body strength exercise.  The combination of everything makes this a very, very hard, full body exercise.

And it is horrible…hence its name.

If you find this useful, please share it with your friends using the buttons below.

Inverted Row - Good

Name:  Inverted Rows

Also known as:  Australian pressups, bodyweight rows (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).

Main muscles used:  Upper back, arms.

Other muscles used:  Lower back, bum.

Top tips:

Inverted Row – Good

• Hold onto a solid, secure bar, with hands a couple of inches wider than shoulder width apart.
• Hang underneath, with heels digging into the floor.
• Squeeze your bum and make sure it does not “sag” downwards.
• Start pulling your chest up to the bar by squeezing your shoulder blades back and down.
• Continue the pull using your arms, until your chest makes contact with the bar, then return to the start position under control.
• Keep your legs, back and neck in a straight line throughout.
• Let your elbows make a 45 degree angle with the sides of your body.

Inverted Row - Bad

Common mistakes:

• Letting your bum sag down to the floor.
• Over arching your spine in attempt to get your chest higher.
• Reaching your chin forwards to the bar.
• Not touching the bar to your chest at the top.
• Not keeping your legs, bum, back and neck tight and straight.
• Trying to pull yourself up with the arms, instead of with your upper back (shoulder blades).

Comments:

This move complements the pressup wonderfully, working all the body that was missed in the pressup.  Make the move easier by having a higher bar (so your body is more vertical).  Make the move harder by having a lower bar (so your body is more horizontal).

This was an easy one to answer…

No.  He shouldn’t have a protein drink.  I’ve mentioned these before (click here) and i still stand by what I said.  Protein drinks are there for a specific purpose.  They help your body recover after a tough training session and get ready for the next tough training session that is just round the corner.

If you don’t take part in tough training sessions, and if the next tough training session that you wont be taking part in is up to a week away, it won’t have any noticeable effect on you.  If you are genuinely asking from a health point of view, you will be far better advised to go home and eat your greens and lay off the junk food.  But if you are asking because you want to fit in with your mates swigging back on bright pink protein shakes….I’m the wrong person to ask (I don’t have any mates!)

If we want to emulate high level athletes who will benefit from supplements like this, I suggest the first thing we should try to emulate is their work ethic and focus.  They tend to know what they want from their training and tend to put in the years of training needed to achieve their goal.

But that is a very difficult thing to do and it is much easier to put style before substance.  I know this because I do it myself every day…but I’m trying to change.

If you need help putting substance before style and doing some quality training, contact me and maybe I can help.