Building Your Back

Posted on June 7, 2012 by dzolin

To those of you who have been following my writing, for the second time this year thank you and again my apologies for the delay.  There’s been quite a break, however for me this has meant a plethora of different experiences that I can now share with you.

Varying your Training

In February this year I was approached by a friend Scott at the gym where I run my business asking me to train him for a specific event that was taking place at the end of April, Men’s Fitness Magazine’s “Fit Bloke Challenge 2012″.  I’m going to tell you a little about this training and how it resulted in building a strong and muscular back.

The above mentioned challenge is a cross fit based event and whilst I had not to this stage trained someone for such a discipline I based my training on a couple of years of my own training with a friend “Steve” who introduced me to some colourful titles for workouts such as “Fran” “Kelly” “Angie” “Jason” and “Annie”.  A few years back, 2009 to be precise these names epitomized only one thing for me “pain” in the true sense but with a happy ending because what it did was introduce me to what I know now as a part of cross fit training and   yes it also helped together with conventional strength training strip off body fat.

So in my own little world of training experience I had started to mix lifts such as Hang Cleans, Clean and Jerks, Push Presses, dumbbell and kettlebell swings, with all the bread and butter exercises such as bench presses bent over rows, deadlifts, squats, lunges, overhead presses, bodyweight push-ups, pull-ups, dips and isolation arm exercises including curls and french presses.

Advantages of including Olympic lifts

As I alluded to above one of the advantages of mixing up cross fit training with conventional weight training is that the power or lets call them olympic inspired lifts (which form a big part of cross fit) are great compound movements which involve the whole body, elevating your heart rate helping you burn off excess body fat, which to me is fun (painful though) and an alternate to doing cardio.  Other advantages of this type of training are as follows:

  • Provides variety to your routines giving that extra stimulus to the neuromuscular system
  • The olympic lifts help you strengthen your core and aid in functional movement as you perform them standing on your feet.
  • Coupled with conventional lifts the olympic lifts increase your strength, speed, acceleration, power, coordination, and improve your posture helping you stand tall.
  • The combination also provides great sports specific training as they simulate prized movement skills for many team oriented sports, rugby in particular embraces this in their training programs.

The Program

In broad terms I prepared a 12 week macro periodisation cycle which was broken down into three 4 week mesocycles containing strength, hypertrophy, power, endurance, and pre-competition specific phases (speed).  Compound exercises including the Deadlift, Front/Back Squats, Bench Press, and Over head Presses were the mainstays of the strength component which we did for the first 10 minute period of each workout followed by a cross fit inspired or in the parlance for this type of training the WOD (workout of the day) consisting of 21, 15, 9 or 30, 20, 10 rep count respectively over 3 exercises by 2-3 rounds, sprints and runs where also included ranging from 200 meters to 800 metres which were timed and recorded, to be bettered on the next occasion. The last 4 week mesocycle being the pre-competition phase saw the introduction of timed sessions we used a minute per exercise with the aim of completing as many reps as possible (amrap).

A sample workout from Phase 2 was as follows:

Goal Exercise Sets/Rounds Volume/ Reps Intensity
Strength Deadlift 5 2-6 120kg-180kg
Power / Endurance Box Jumps(Height 60cm) 3 sets x 2 21, 15, 9
Strength/Endurance Clean&Jerk(Thruster) 3 sets x 2 21,15, 9 30kg-50kg
Strength/Hypertrophy Pull-ups 3 sets x 2 21, 15, 9 Bodyweight
Speed/ Endurance SprintsTreadmill  3 sets x 2 200 metres Levels 15 -19

The Results

Now we are getting to why I called this article “Building Your Back”.  A couple of exercises that I used consistently throughout the12 weeks period were the pull-up and the chin-up, not only because I thought (and now even more so) these moves are the best back builders but also as I suspected and I was correct, they or a variation there of featured prominently in the challenge.

At about the midway point of the 12 week program I could see what affect all the pull-ups and chin-ups were having on Scott’s physique and overall strength and with his permission I have included a few photos that clearly show this development, the top one  was taken in February and the other in April 2012, take particular notice of the striations in his lower trapezius.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the earlier photo shows Scott was a very fit and strong athlete before he started the program however a completely different training regime to what he’d been doing took him to another level, don’t get me wrong though it doesn’t just happen he worked extremely hard the whole 12 weeks.

To summarise my overall message is once you have reached an advanced level with your conventional weights training and you feel you need to do something different try mixing in some different exercises like the olympic lifts or forms of training such as crossfit, or simply start some of your sessions with some of these lifts for a full body neuromuscular awakening.  I know how difficult they are but keep working on those pull-ups and chin ups (assisted machines are a great starter) as these exercises are one of the best ways to building your back also great arms and shoulders to boot.

Make sure that you exercise safely, and as always I recommend that you seek the assistance of a personal trainer to help you with the fundamentals of some of the lifts mentioned above.  Most of them are full body movements that need to be broken down into their respective component drills before they can be performed safely and effectively.

Zol

 

Fitness Moves

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3 day-per-week Full Body toning program

Posted on March 1, 2012 by dzolin

As the old cliche goes “absence makes the heart grow fonder” I’m using this to summarise my feelings for not having done an article since late December 2011, my apologies to those of you who have been following my blog, I have no excuses. Well, let’s get into it, today I’m going to set out a 3 day per week Full Body toning program for those of you that are just starting out on a weights program or want to change your existing one to get more frequency per week on all the major muscles.

Form is the Key not the amount of weight you can lift

Before we start let me tell you an interesting little exchange of words that took place in the gym yesterday whilst I was taking time out to train my legs, ouch they still hurt now!  I was doing some Bulgarian split squats with a barbell on my back, I’d just finished a set and was going over to have a drink at the water fountain when someone said to me you are putting me to shame with that weight, I didn’t see what he was lifting but I guess it was a lighter weight  than what I had just lifted.

The message I want to convey is that it’s not the weight that’s important it’s the form, including using the full range of motion for the muscles you are working, do that and you’ll increase your muscle strength and size and in turn increase the weight you can lift anyway.

The Program

This program is for those looking to tone up and strengthen their muscles rather than build muscle mass. Combined with some cardio interval training on the in between days the program would be a good start to basic muscle toning and strengthening, and weight loss, of course you should also be following an appropriate food plan to reap the complete benefits. The Program works all the major muscle groups on each of the 3 days, and can be performed every other day together with your cardio routine. The rest between sets should be 60-90 seconds depending on your goal.  For those of you on a weight loss program keep it down to 60 seconds as a higher average elevated heart rate over a workout will help you burn more calories.

Warm Up

Before you start any of the following workouts please make sure that you do a warm-up activity. This can be 3-5 minutes on any of the cardio equipment: treadmill, bike, rower, this will warm your body, in particular your joints and muscles reducing the risk of injury. This advise is for all of you not just the beginners to a weight training regime.

Full Body Day 1

Exercise Sets Reps Rest between Sets
Leg Press 3 20 60-90 seconds
Seated Row 3 20 60-90 seconds
Machine Chest Press 2 15-20 60-90 seconds
Machine Shoulder Press 2 20 60-90 seconds
Cable Curl 2 20 60-90 seconds
Tricep Ext 2 20 60-90 seconds
Plank 3 1 minute 90 seconds

Cardio Day  

 Full Body Day 2

Exercise Sets Reps Rest between Sets
Smith Machine Squat 3 20 60-90 seconds
Dumbbell Chest Press 2 25 60-90 seconds
Lat Pulldown 3 20 60-90 seconds
Dumbbell Flys 3 20 60-90 seconds
Dumbbell French Press 2 20 60-90 seconds
Seated Dumbbell Curls 2 20 60-90 seconds
Torso Twist 2 12 each side 60-90 seconds

Cardio Day

Full Body Day 3 

Exercise Sets Reps Rest Between Sets
Lunge with Dumbbells 4 10 each leg 60-90 seconds (after both legs completed)
Bent Over Barbell Row 3 12-15 60-90 seconds
Bench Press Barbell 3 15-20 60-90 seconds
Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 15-20 60-90 seconds
Standing Barbell Arm Curl 3 15-20 60-90 seconds
Tricep Dip 3 15 60-90 seconds
Hi-Lo Chop cable 2 12 each side 60-90 seconds (after both sides)

2 Rest Days and start again

Warm Down / Stretching

Equally as important as the warm up is some stretching at the end of the workout to bring the muscles back to their normal length after the shortening or tensing that occurs in the muscle (fibre) after lifting weights. As the workouts I have prepared for you here are Full Body make sure that you stretch all the major muscles, refer to the stretching chart or look at the diagrams on the stretching apparatus at your local gym for instructions.

As I always suggest if you are unsure about any of the workouts above I strongly advise that you consult one of the Personal Trainers operating out of your local gym, get it right from the beginning and the techniques will stay with you for life, your body is worth the investment.

Talk to you again soon.

Zol

Fitness Moves

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Strength Training, Muscle Gain and Rest

Posted on December 17, 2011 by dzolin

One of the hardest questions to answer when it comes to strength training is How much rest does one need between sessions to maximise chances of positive adaptation such as muscle growth?  Over the past six months I’ve written quite a few articles on the basics such as training variables and guidelines, progressive overload, the body’s energy systems, and recovery methods. All of these articles give you pointers on how one should approach strength training to give yourselves the best chance of achieving results.

The short answer to the question above however is that everybody is different therefore there is no definitive method.  So where do I go from here, well I thought I would just go over a few basic ingredients that are required to give you the best chance to achieve your goal of muscle gain and the added strength that comes with it, and once we’ve done that have a look at how rest can enhance your efforts.

Correct Posture, Form

The first is that you need to make sure that you are performing all given exercises with the correct posture and form otherwise not only will you heighten your risk of injury you will also negate any real gains in the muscle group you are trying to work.  The classic example of this in the gym environment is someone doing arm curls and swinging back with the barbell or dumbbells.  There is a train of thought however that sometimes cheating on your form to lift a heavier weight is acceptable, whilst this may place more force on the target muscle and hence the recruitment of more muscle fibre this is not something I adhere to or would recommend purely for the high risk of injury.

Muscle Actions

The muscle actions themselves are also important, that is you should be training not only the concentric muscle action that is when the muscle is contracting,(pushing the weight up on the bench press) you should also train the eccentric muscle action, when the muscle is lengthening, (lowering the weight down to your chest in the bench press).  Whilst this is a topic that should be covered on its own suffice to say here that you should also pay attention to the eccentric muscle action by lowering the weight down in all exercises you do, in a controlled and smooth movement.

Exercise Intensity and Volume

Another important consideration is that you progressively increase the weight in your lifts.   For muscle growth (hypertrophy) it is commonly held that you need to perform between 8-12 reps at a moderate to heavy weight that is 70-85% of your one repetition maximum commonly known as 1RM.  As an example if your IRM is 60 kg on the back squat you would do the number of reps mentioned above at a weight between 42 kg to 51kg.  I tend to use 10 reps as the marker for this, so when you can comfortably lift the weight you are on for 10 reps then its time to move up to the next increment.  Remember that the more muscle fibre recruited in the lifting the more there is to repair, which given the right conditions will make the muscle bigger and stronger.

Once you have completed a 6-8 week phase of hypertrophy training, move into a strength phase.  Do the same exercises however this time lift heavier with fewer reps 85% upwards of your one repetition maximum, let’s take the same example as above the back squat, your maximum for 1 repetition is 60 kg then you should do 51 kg lifts for 6 reps and so forth.

Motor Unit Recruitment

Let me return to the muscle fibre recruitment I mentioned briefly above, without going into to much technical jargon, each muscle has a different number of muscle fibres and motor units, the so called low threshold or smaller motor units are recruited first followed by the high threshold motor units.  A motor unit is simply a bundle of muscle fibres.  The difference being that the smaller motor units only need low electrical stimulus for activation whilst the higher threshold as the name implies need more stimulus for activation.  To complicate matters a little more there are two types of muscle fibres, smaller motor units have predominantly Type 1 (also known as slow twitch fibres) whereas the higher threshold motor units have predominantly Type 2 (also known as fast twitch) fibres.  Now that I have confused you let me get to the point, in resistance exercise it is the load, (amount of weight lifted) that determines how many motor units are recruited.  Heavier loads recruit more motor units than lighter loads, and for muscle growth the more muscle fibre recruited the better, therefore the need for heavier weights and less repetitions as explained in the strength phase above.

Rest between Exercises

The rest period between each exercise varies according to your goal if it is muscle size gain (hypertrophy) studies have shown (Kreamer et al. 1991) for moderate to high intensity lifts with volume as described above 1-2 minutes rest results in greater acute metabolic responses of anabolic hormones than programs using longer rest periods of 3 minutes.  What this means according to the mentioned studies, is that the shorter the rest the greater the metabolic stress (higher levels of lactic acid in the blood) which in turn is the trigger for hormone release, naturally occurring anabolic hormones stimulate muscle protein synthesis leading to increased muscle size.

Anabolic versus Catabolic

Wow this is getting a little out of control as far as my stated promise of not getting too technical on you, but now that I’ve come this far I’ll need to keep going.  Let me briefly explain the terms anabolic, and catabolic.  In simple terms anabolic is when there is synthesis in a cell and the storage of energy and catabolic is when there is a breakdown in a cell with the release of energy.  To make it even easier to understand anabolic is when your muscles (body) are getting bigger and catabolic is when you are getting smaller.  Obviously we want to maintain an anabolic state, this can be achieved by eating a good balance of the bodies nutrients, protein, carbohydrates and fats so that the body has the energy and necessary tools to repair the damage done to the muscles fibres, in turn keeping you growing.

The other important consideration to keep you anabolic is rest.  Now we’re getting somewhere close to my opening question, to keep on growing you need enough rest between workouts moreover between muscle groups.  Muscle growth doesn’t occur in the gym or at your outdoors training venue when you are training it takes place when you are resting between sessions.  As I said earlier the period of rest will vary between individual but there is one golden rule that you should adhere too and that is don’t train a muscle group if it is still sore from the last workout, it will be couterproductive.

On the other side of the equation if you eat poorly and overtrain you run the high risk of putting yourself in a catabolic state, where your body will start using your hard earned muscle for energy.  Why muscle and not fat? This may surprise some but muscle is easier to burn and if your body is in a catabolic state then it will start using your muscle to get the energy it needs resulting in your muscles getting smaller.

So to summarise whilst I’ve only scratched the surface with most of the topics discussed above, the basics to give yourself the best chance of achieving your goal of muscle growth and the accompanying strength gain are as follows: make sure you perform the exercises with good form, use both the concentric and eccentric muscle actions, vary the intensity and volume of your lifts, rest between exercises according to your goal, eat well and as the old cliche goes last but not least get adequate rest between sessions for each muscle group.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Joyous New Year for 2012.

Zol

Fitness Moves

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Exercising Your Legs and the Effect on Testosterone Levels.

Posted on November 26, 2011 by dzolin

What really inspired me to write on this topic today was the number of people I see in the gym who don’t do enough, or completely neglect exercising their legs. Moreover they seem to spend more time on isolated upper body exercises like arm curls, which, don’t get me wrong have there place, but not as important in building overall body strength as leg exercises.  This article will be written under the supposition that the larger percentage of it’s readers will be men, but that doesn’t mean that it wont be of interest to women as well, it will, as leg exercises as such are a necessity for all.

Various studies have shown that testosterone can be increased through exercise and what you eat, thankfully negating the need to do so by way of performance enhancing drugs.

Testosterone: A Brief Description

Before we start let’s just go over the basics of the hormone testosterone and what its function is in the amazing human body.  Testosterone, known as the male hormone, is a potent androgen which is produced chiefly by the testes. Put simply testosterone is a muscle building hormone which works by synthesizing proteins and rebuilding muscle fibers damaged by resistance training. This process in turn gives us size as the body uses it’s defense mechanism by making the muscle bigger to protect it from the same damage again next time, invariably though we will hit it harder again anyway.

Exercise and Eating Well, the Key

The catch to all this though is that you need to have your testosterone levels up in order to build more muscle. What I am proposing here then is that studies have shown that the natural way of keeping these levels high is by exercise and eating well, no question the best method for longterm overall health benefits.

Exercise Intensity and Compound Exercises

Alas though you wont achieve a spike in testosterone levels by simply going through the motions, studies have shown that your exercising needs to be of a certain type and intensity. Strength training is the way to go and what has been shown to be the most effective is the use of compound exercises. (For those of you who need a refresher on these multi-muscle group exercises please go to compound exercises).

It has been said that testosterone levels are optimally affected by the use of as many muscles as possible to your maximum level of intensity. Use a compound exercise such as a squat to the point where your muscles cannot complete another repetition safely and with proper form, another words take it to failure. The other good measure of whether your intensity is at the right level is your breathing as the mass of muscles being worked needs oxygen you will be breathing heavily during and after the exercise.

Just a warning though, do not attempt to do this by yourself if you are new to weight training, you need to build your strength up slowly and surely, start off with body weight squats and then progress to the bar, slowly building the weight week by week. Not blowing my own trumpet here but one of the best ways to ensure that you have the technical aspects down pat is to have some sessions with a personal trainer who specialises in these types of lifts.

Why Leg Exercises?

Considering the topic of this blog you have probably guessed where this is all going, as increasing your levels of testosterone is contingent on total muscle mass being involved and since legs (along with back) are the largest muscles in the body you simply cannot neglect leg exercises.

I think you all know some leg exercises, let me just give you a couple of example workouts that will help you get stronger not only in the legs but core and upper body as well.  You will notice that I have included the deadlift in with two other compound non-leg exercises, I find that this gives you more chance to get the most out of the back squat in Workout 1 without the worry of being too fatigued, and it also gives you another leg session in the same week, and mixed in with the two upper body compound exercises it really gets your heart pumping.

Do these in the same week along with a chest workout (Will give you an example next time), varying volume, intensity, and tempo and within 8-12 weeks you’ll already start noticing how much better you look and feel as these exercises do wanders for your posture by building strong legs, core (front and back:rectus abdominals front, and erector spinae, back),and back, moreover they help keep you upright.

Workout 1

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest between sets
Back Squat 4-5 8-10 3:0:2 90 seconds
Barbell Lunges 4-5 8-10 3:0:2 90 seconds
Leg Curl 4-5 8-10 3:0:3 90 seconds

Workout 2

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest between sets
Deadlift 4-5 8-10 2:0:2 180 seconds
Bent-over Barbell Row 4-5 8-10 3:0:1 90 seconds
Pullover 4-5 8-10 3:0:3 90 seconds

 

As mentioned above please seek help from a professional if you are new to weight training before attempting the above workouts.  The six exercises mentioned can be done using your own body weight, light barbells, and dumbbells increasing the weights as you progress, these are not gender specific so all can do and enjoy the benefits of a stronger healthier body and upright confident posture if done with method, regularity and above all safely.

What about Food?

As I have alluded to above the other important ingredient in anything we do where our specific aim is to put on a bit of size or more generally be fit and healthy is of course, what we eat.  In the past this has been the neglected other half of the equation, we have all been guilty of thinking, if I exercise then I can eat and drink what I desire.

Whilst some people do seem to get away with doing this, exercise alone doesn’t do it, you need to have a well balanced food plan, comprising of quality proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.  For muscle growth and particularly for heavy lifting there are specific foods that are more beneficial than others, many foods most notably red meat, chicken, fish, broccoli, sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage and various beans, nuts and some dairy products are a good start. Take a look at some other information on nutrition in my “Info bytes” on this website for more specifics about recommended daily intakes of the major nutrients.

The Point

So guys don’t forget your leg workout/s as these are the bodies largest muscles and as we have discussed will help increase your levels of testosterone benefitting all over muscle development and strength.  For the girls leg exercises will keep your backside high and shapely and contribute to overall health and fitness.

 

Zol

Fitness Moves

 

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Shouldering the Weight

Posted on October 18, 2011 by dzolin

Shoulder exercises are important for the overall strength of our upper bodies however are we pushing it too far with exercises for the palpable muscles and perhaps neglecting others such as the rotator cuff.

Posture and Exercise

Before continuing on with todays topic of Shoulders, just take a look at your own posture with the following questions in mind. Are you rounded at the shoulders? Is your upper back hunched over or curved forward? and Is your head stooped forward of the rest of your body? If you answered yes to all of these you maybe overtraining the muscles in the front part of your upper body namely your anterior deltoids and pectoral muscles at the expense of the upper back muscles, which also includes the posterior deltoids, the back of the shoulders.

These questions have further significance for those of you that spend a large proportion of your day working hunched over a computer, there is a real need for you to even up the affect this has on your posture by doing a balance of both front and back exercises. What happens is that your chest and front shoulders become tight giving you that hunched over and stiff look.  You only need to look around the gym and you will notice the people who overdo the front exercises, they are generally hunched over and you may think they walk around like that purposely to look tough but most of the time in reality they haven’t got it right, exercising  too much front and not enough back to create a balance.

With the above in mind the most important consideration when working the shoulder is to work all parts of the shoulder evenly. Moreover the shoulder joint is vulnerable as it’s a ball and socket joint where it’s floating, held in place by ligaments and tendons which inherently makes it more at risk for injury. The shoulder joint however despite it’s vulnerabilities is important as it assists in the use of many muscles. We all seem to know about the deltoid muscle in particular the anterior (front), medial (middle) the posterior (back) their main function is to help lift the arm up to the front, to the side, to the back and to press overhead. However while we have all heard of the rotator cuff, the group of muscles that stabilises the shoulder we tend to neglect it in our exercise programs.

All the shoulder muscles are relatively small particularly the rotator cuff group so there is no need to go heavy, you should go light to avert the risk of injury.  Let’s take a look at some exercises for the deltoid muscle and the rotator cuff and focus in on some important considerations for both.

Some Shoulder Exercises

One of my favourite exercises for the deltoids (mainly front) is the lateral dumbbell raise, this is performed by standing upright with your feet hip to shoulder width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold the dumbbells in front of you, knuckles facing to the side. Turn your core muscles on and with elbows slightly bent raise both dumbbells out to your side to just above shoulder height, pause for a second then control/lower the dumbbells slowly back to the starting position.

Front dumbbell raises which also work the deltoids can be performed in combination with lateral raises, that is do one lateral raise come back in then do a front raise. To perform the front raise on its own, stand with your feet hip to shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent holding the weights in an overhand grip. With a slight bend in your elbow and your back straight raise one or both dumbbells together slowly to the front up to just above shoulder height. Lower the dumbbells slowly to the start position.

The key points to remember are that you should err on the conservative side when it comes to the amount of weight you are going to lift as the weight is a long way from the working joint therefore a heavy weight will increase your risk of injury. Also as is the case with most standing exercises it’s important that you keep your back straight don’t lean back and swing the dumbbell up, as not only is this not giving you muscle focus it is putting you at risk of lower back injury. If you find yourself swinging then lower the weight and or perform the movement with your back against a wall.

As I mentioned earlier to help avoid the hunched over or stooped shoulder posture you also need to work the back of the shoulder which brings us to exercises for the posterior (back) deltoids. My favourite here is the prone rear delt row, performed on an incline bench.  I prefer this to a standing rear lateral raise for example as it immobilises other parts of your body allowing for more focus on the rear deltoid. To perform this lie face down on an incline bench holding the dumbbells with arms straight down toward the floor from the shoulders with your palms facing in. Lift the dumbbells up to shoulder height keeping your arms straight (slight bend in elbow is fine). Lower the dumbbells back down to the start position.

The key points for this exercise is to keep the movement isolated to the upper part of your back working the rear deltoid muscles and the rhomboids, avoid moving too much to engage the larger muscles in your back. Once again don’t sacrifice form for heavy weights, keep the weight down to a level were you are both working the muscle and achieving good form, don’t forget also that because of the structure of the shoulder the heavier the weight the more difficult it is to keep the shoulder stable, which in turn could lead to injury.  Remember also the reason that they have mirrors in a gym is to check your form, always use them to track and maintain proper alignment in all the exercises you do.

Rotator Cuff Muscles

The rotator cuff is extremely important in the strengthening of your shoulder joint, whilst the exercises I’ve mentioned above are good for building muscles and helping you look good on the outside the rotator cuff exercises help strengthen tendons and ligaments which are equally as important even though they are impalpable. The Rotator cuff muscles are  the Supraspinatus, Infraspinatus, Teres Major, Teres Minor and Subscapularis, they are best trained with external and internal rotation.  If you are in a gym both the internal and external rotations can be done on a cable machine.

For Internal Cable Rotations stand side-on to a pulley which is at about waist height. Bend your elbow to 90 degrees and turn your arm out away from your body, with your shoulders, hips and feet in line pull the handle slowly towards the middle of your body, bring the arm across as far as is comfortable then slowly return to the start position. Do the required number of reps then repeat for your other arm. Some key points to remember for performing this exercise are, make sure that you have a secure grip on the handle, keep your head up and eyes looking forwards, keep your elbow in to your body, maintain a right angle at your elbow and keep your legs firmly braced throughout the movement. This exercise is to develop your rotator cuff muscles as well as your pectorals, you see a lot of people doing it for rehabilitation for a rotator cuff injury however put it into your program to avert such situations.

For External Cable Rotations again stand side-on to a pulley at about waist height, reach over and grip the handle with your knuckles facing toward the pulley. Keeping your shoulders, hips and feet in line, your elbow bent and close into your body move your arm across and away from your body until you reach your full range of movement, then slowly return to the start position. Do the required number of reps then repeat for your other arm.  Some key points to remember for performing this exercise are, hold the cable frame or purpose built frame handle for support if required, keep your head up and eyes looking forwards, keep your shoulders level and wrap your thumb around the handle.

One other important reason why we shouldn’t neglect training our shoulders is that these muscles are assistors in many upper body exercises particularly ones working the chest, as such however it is paramount that you perform your shoulder exercises after you have done your chest and back otherwise they will become too fatigued, hampering your performance for the bigger muscles.

I personally like to include shoulder exercises at the end of a chest and biceps routine or sometimes in a superset with say a decline bench press.  One chest/arms workout that I use in a 3-day hypertrophy split and includes some shoulders is as follows:

Exercise Sets Reps Tempo Rest between sets
A-1 Barbell / Dumbbell Bench Press 4 10-12 3:2
A-2 Superset with Bicep Barbell/Dumbbell Curls  “ 8-10 3:3 90 sec
B-1 Barbell / Dumbbell Incline Press 4 10-12 3:2
B-2 Superset with Bicep overhand Barbell Reverse Curl “ 8-10 3:3 90 sec
C-1 Barbell / Dumbbell Decline Bench Press 4 10-12 3:2
C-2 Superset with Lateral Dumbbell Raises “ 8-10 3:3 90 sec
D-1 External Cable Rotation 3 10 3:3 90 sec

Try it and let me know how you get on, the other 2 days of this split are a legs / core day and a back / triceps / rear delt day.  The 3 day hypertrophy split will ensure that you are exercising all muscles groups evenly helping you avert the rounded shoulders and hunched back conundrum we mentioned earlier.  I almost forgot the weight for each of the exercises in the above program should be around 75% of your 1RM (one rep maximum) or a weight that allows you to do the required number of reps, if you are doing it easy go up to the next increment and visa-versa if too heavy.

Also in summary to my opening remark that sometimes we spend far too much time worrying about the muscles you can see and not enough on the deep muscle such as the rotator cuff, you need to work these to help stabilise the joint which will in turn enhance your performance of palpable shoulder muscles such as the deltoid and all the muscles that they assist in many upper body exercises.

Zol

Fitness Moves

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Speed and it’s Role in Physical Preparation

Posted on September 25, 2011 by dzolin

Over the past couple of months I have spoken about three of the four dominant types of physical preparation strength, endurance, and flexibility, today I’m going to take you through the fourth which is speed.  As is the case for the three other types, speed training can benefit not only the professional athlete it is also a fun way of adding variety to your everyday fitness program particularly in the spring/summer season when outdoor training is more appealing to a wider number of people.

Speed can be defined as the time it takes to move between two points that can be but not necessarily in a straight line in many sports, as can be witnessed in the Rugby World Cup that is enthralling us at the moment.  There are a number of different ways of looking at an athletes or fitness training enthusiasts speed, namely the 5 sub-qualities of reaction, agility, acceleration, maximum speed and velocity and speed endurance.

In keeping with my theme of not getting technical, let’s take a brief look a the each of these sub-qualities describing what they are, and looking at an example activity that can be used to train each.

Reaction: This can be described as the ability to react quickly to a stimuli which maybe auditory, visual or kinesthetic. In any of the ball sports for example a drill to practice this can be someone breaking to an indicated direction to accept a pass. In Australian Rules Football (AFL) for example breaking for a pass from a teammate is an integral part of the game this can be practiced with drills with distance and time, i.e. running out to your left for 20 metres to catch a ball passed from a coach or fellow team member. The person doing the passing could either voice the instruction, indicate it by hand or body movement leaving the person accepting the pass to make the necessary movement to meet the ball.

Agility: The ability to rapidly change direction while maintaining good body mechanical coordination.  This means that agility training is not only used to improve speed (foot), quickness, acceleration, changing speeds or changing direction to name a few it also aids in injury prevention by helping improve body control through the various proper movement mechanics of the bodies muscles and joints.

One of my favourite activities to train agility is the T-drill as follows:

You will need 4 cones (C1-C4) set up to resemble a T. You start at the bottom of the T, C1 and sprint forward 10 metres to C2.  At the C2 side step left 5 metres to C3. Plant both feet at C3 and then side step 10 meters to C4.  Plant again at C4 and side step 5 metres back to C2. Turn at C2 and sprint back to C1.  Each completion is a set, your number of sets will depend on other drills in your program if you are planning to do a bit of each of the ones mentioned here aim for 5 sets with a 1:1 rest ratio, i.e. rest for as long as it takes you to do a set then start the next.

Acceleration: which is the rate of change in speed (velocity). This can be practiced by marking out a 10 metre course and then doing short sprints between the markers from a standing start. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions with again a 1:1 rest ration between sets.

Maximum Speed (Velocity): this is the highest speed or velocity reached during a speed sequence or episode. An example of training this sub-quality would be to mark out a 20-30 metre course then do sprints between the markers at your top speed. Do this for 10 repetitions resting for 30 seconds between each, for 1 set only.

Speed Endurance: This is described as one’s ability to repeat speed at the same level of performance.  An example of training this sub-quality is to mark out a 20 metre course then as for the previous speed drill above, sprint between the markers. As the aim is to build up endurance do 5 reps per set for 10 sets, resting for a 1:3 ratio that is if it takes you 25 seconds per set then rest for 75 seconds before starting the next set.

Is having Quickness the same as being Fast?

One other matter that I would like to discuss here is the difference between being fast and quickness, the reason being is that training the sub-qualities we have briefly outlined above will help you in both of these areas.  To be fast doesn’t necessarily mean that you have quickness or visa versa, most top athletes of course by virtue of their superior skills have both, however not all athletes and particularly us mere mortals do, therefore we need to train to acquire it.  Put simply quickness is the ability to perform a movement without delay, you need the coordination, balance and timing to help you get away from your opponent for example in any given sport.  Doing the drills above especially the agility one and other similar drills will help develop your footwork and hence ability to quickly make the required movement with stealth, leaving you opponent in your dust trail on the field or court.

As each of you are at differing levels of fitness the recommended sets, reps and rest periods for all the above will vary greatly, I have included the examples above as a guide only and would strongly recommend that you consult a fitness professional for the best program for your needs.

Zol 

Fitness Moves

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Your Genes, Basal Metabolic Rate, Resistance Training and Nutrition

Posted on September 5, 2011 by dzolin

Why is it that some people can eat to their hearts content and stay relatively thin, while most of us myself included only need to smell food so to speak, to gain weight?  Whilst it is easy to blame this on your genetic makeup there is scientific evidence that people with a certain gene are more susceptible to weight gain. In studies done in Europe they have identified that those people with one copy of the gene FTO are on average 1.2 kg heavier than those without and those with two copies are 3 kg heavier.

So if your genetic makeup determines whether you’re going to have a weight problem or not is there any hope for those of us on the wrong side of the research.  Before I get into answering this let’s take a look at Basal Metabolic Rate, (BMR) what it is, and it’s significance to weight management.

Basal Metabolic Rate

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories we burn at rest, this energy is used to fuel the bodies vital organs such as our brain, heart, lungs, nervous system and the likes.  Even though the amount of fuel hence calories we consume increases when we exercise, over a 24 hour period the larger percentage of our consumption occurs when we are at rest to sustain our vital organs as mentioned above.

BMR can be calculated manually using a formula (Harris-Benedict) as follows:

Metric

Women: BMR= 655+ (9.6 x weight in kgs) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

Men: BMR= 66 + (13.7 x weight in kgs) + (5 x height in cm)-(6.8 x age in years)

Imperial

Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches)-(4.7 x age in years)

Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches)-(6.8 x age in years)

This then needs to be calibrated to your lifestyle which means multiplying your calculation from above by an activity level factor as follows:

1.0 Sedentary, doing nothing all day

1.2 Very light activity, doing nothing physical, working at a desk job

1.4 Light activity, having a non physical job, (desk job etc) but doing some walking

1.6 Moderate activity, having a non physical job and working out 3-5 times a week

1.8 High activity, training plus a physical job or non physical job training twice daily

2.0 Extreme activity, extremely physical job and daily hard training

The other consideration is the adjustment of your calorie intake according to your goal. If for example your goal is to put on muscle then you need to consume more calories, on the other hand if your goal is to lose body fat then you should adjust your intake downwards.

Weight control and Your Genes

This brings us back to the dilemma that I posed earlier if you are on the wrong side of the genetics research what can you do?  Just knowing that you are genetically vulnerable to gaining weight is a good start and you shouldn’t just resign to the fact. I am proposing that there are two excellent ways to deal with this situation one is to do resistance training and the second is to put more emphasis on your nutrition.

Resistance training will result in an increase in your muscle mass which in turn will raise your BMR.  As I’ve written about on previous occasions lean muscle mass burns more calories at rest therefore it becomes an excellent lifelong weight control mechanism.

On the nutrition side I would like to acknowledge that the initial inspiration to write on this topic came from a post I read by Professor Jennie Brand-Miller in the September issue of GI News, Human Nutrition Unit, University of Sydney.

To quote Professor Jennie Brand-Miller she wrote “If you were born with a tendency to be overweight, what you eat matters more. Genes can be switched on or off. By being choosy about carbohydrates and fats you will maximise your insulin sensitivity, up-regulate the genes involved in burning fat and down-regulate those involved in burning carbs. By moving your fuel ‘currency exchange’ from a ‘carbohydrate economy’ to a ‘fat economy’, you increase the opportunity of depleting fat stores over carbohydrate stores. This is exactly what will happen when you begin to eat a nutritious, low GI diet.”

The message from Professor Jennie Brand-Miller is clear an eating plan that is high in low GI food will aid fat loss as the slow release of glucose into the bloodstream allows the body to use this energy as it is required thus lowering the risk of it being stored as fat.

In summary, lifelong weight control especially for those of us that are genetically prone to putting on weight is no easy task however there are ways to reduce the risk.  Two excellent strategies are to incorporate some resistance training into your program to increase lean muscle mass which in turn burns more calories at rest and adding low GI foods into your eating plan to better manage glucose expenditure leading to less fat storage.

 

Zol

Fitness Moves

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Functional Movement The Base for Training Progression

Posted on August 27, 2011 by dzolin

Whether you are an aspiring professional athlete or someone who puts a lot of effort into keeping their bodies in the best possible physical and mental condition the first step is to make sure that you can handle the fundamental movements of everyday life. As I have mentioned previously one of the first steps in determining a suitable strength and conditioning training program is to do a flexibility assessment.

Training for any activity that involves movement can be shown as a three step pyramid (Cook 2003), with functional movement at the base, functional performance in the middle, and functional skill at the top.  The premise that I alluded to in the opening sentence is that without a solid foundation of functional movement that is those movements that you use in everyday life then it is difficult to achieve a level of excellence in sport performance or skill. This is also applicable to those of you like me who train to keep fit and healthy.

How do you handle everyday activities?

So what does this all mean? It means that the first thing you should do is assess how you handle some of life’s everyday activities such as, position changes from standing to sitting, getting on the floor, cleaning, washing, or dressing movements for example tying your shoe laces and putting on your socks, trousers or slacks. If for example you’re finding it hard work to tie up your shoe laces, put on your socks or to get down on the floor it is usually because of a decreased range of motion, you should look into the reasons why before starting or continuing on with a training program.

If you are having trouble (pain in the back or hip) putting on your socks either standing up or sitting down it is most likely due to tightness in the hip, transfer this to your training, for example performing squats, this very same restriction is going to effect the movement,  your body will compensate using a different pattern which will become unsustainable over time and lead to soreness and injury.

Efficient and Effective Movement Path

Every movement we make with our bodies has an efficient path, another words one that involves our muscles, joints, and body part resulting in the most effective move for the sport or activity we are engaged in. In an everyday activity like kneeling one leg on the ground to pick up an object the most efficient path for the upright knee to take is directly over the foot below, if however this knee moves inward, it makes the movement less efficient and harder work as it places more stress and strain on the muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

This may not feel like an inconvenience and you may not even know you are doing it however over time constant incorrect patterns of movement will see your body compensate for the inefficiency which will eventually lead to even less mobility and greater risk of injury.

The point of my post today is to make you aware that to perform movements that are critical to your chosen sport or your training in the most efficient and effective way you must first make sure that your flexibility and mobility are up to scratch. The easiest way to do an initial self assessment is test yourself out on some everyday activities such as the one’s I’ve mentioned above, if you’re feeling discomfort with any of these then you should seek help to treat and correct the problem.

Learning how to get the functional movements right will not only make everyday activities feel smoother you will notice a progression in your training because of a better range of motion and the associated mobility that brings to your body parts. If you haven’t already done so I would also read an earlier post Flexibility and Fitness.  As I always suggest should you need any further information or help with this topic please consult a health professional.

Zol

Fitness Moves

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Training the Sub-Qualities of Strength

Posted on August 13, 2011 by dzolin

A few weeks ago I looked at the resistance training variables from the point of view of achieving muscle endurance, muscle strength, and muscle hypertrophy today I will take you through training the sub-qualities of strength, which can be summarised as follows:

  • Control and Stability
  • Hypertrophy and General Strength
  • Maximal Strength
  • Power (Speed) Strength
  • Power/Strength Endurance

Control and Stability is just that, being able to control and stabilise the muscles during movement.  This can be trained by using Swiss balls, Bosu balls or any surface that has a bit of give therefore making necessary the engagement of your stabilizer muscles to keep your balance. Stabilizer muscles help to keep you balanced and upright when moving.  Your stabilizer muscles whilst not directly involved in the lifting of the weight help keep your body steady through isometric muscle contractions.

One of my favourites is to use free benches for leg exercises such as steps up as they have a spongy surface, making necessary a little more balance and control when executing the movement hence the use of stabilizer muscles.  Other examples that help you train this part of strength are, dumbbell chest presses on a swiss ball, try doing 15 reps by 3 sets with 30-60 seconds rest between sets, and a supine bridge on a swiss ball with alternate leg lift, try doing 10 reps (each leg) by 3 sets with the same rest period.

Hypertrophy and General Strength is to train to achieve growth of muscle size, and as we have discussed on a number of occasions in previous posts the best and most efficient way to do this is to use compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, lat pulldowns, and bent over rows.  In keeping with the guidelines discussed perform each of these exercises doing 8-12 reps and between 3-5 sets, resting 1-2 minutes between sets. Use a weight (around 60-70% of 1RM) that enables you to do the prescribed number of reps, increase it each set if you can achieve it easily.

Maximal Strength is defined as the maximum amount of force someone can produce regardless of time or bodyweight. Maximal strength is believed to be the core sub-quality of strength that every individual, (athletes in particular) should be attentive to.  The reason for this is that it is argued that the acquisition of maximal strength is the fastest way to hone all the other motor qualities namely relative strength, speed strength, strength endurance, speed, and speed endurance.

In fear of breaching my aim of keeping posts simplified, suffice to say because of there nature, maximal strength exercises recruit more type 2 muscle fibre which are the fast twitch type. What does that mean? It means that including maximal strength training in your program will help you in achieving increase muscle size in your hypertrophy training as the more type 2 muscle fibre you can have firing in the worked muscle unit the more growth you should achieve size wise as that is one of the key determinants of growth.

Simply its advantageous to have a component of this type of training in your program as it helps you build other sub-qualities of strength.  When training this sub-quality you can perform the compound exercises mentioned above (or others depending on your goal) low reps between 2-6 of 85% of your 1RM, a high set volume up to 5 or more and rest 3-5 minutes between sets.

Power (Speed) Strength is defined as the ability to generate high levels of force at speed or quickly. The type of movements that train this sub-quality are plymetric and explosive exercises.  Plymetric exercises include hops, jumps, box jumps, squat jumps, depth jumps, and power push ups. Explosive exercises include the clean, clean and jerk, high pull, clean pull, and snatch.  As these are advanced strength exercises I suggest you seek professional advice on the techniques and training variables before attempting them on your own.

Power/Strength Endurance is defined as the ability to sustain power force levels over a long period of time.  This sub-quality can be trained most efficiently by once again using compound exercises such as lat pulldowns, bench press, squats, deadlifts and bent over row.  The load should be 50-70% of your 1RM between 15-30 reps, 3-5 sets with a rest period of 30-60 seconds.

The sub-qualities of strength that I have outlined above form the basis for strength training programming and as I have alluded to on occasion above I have endeavoured to make it less technical therefore applicable to your own training. However I must point out again, the exercises mentioned in most of them are advanced and challenging movements therefore it is advisable to make sure you are confident with the techniques before attempting to include them in your workouts.  When you do you will find added enjoyment to your workouts and what is more important better results.

Zol

Fitness Moves

 

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Posture and Breathing Essentials for Resistance Training

Posted on August 8, 2011 by dzolin

Today I’m going to take you through a brief explanation of two of the most important considerations for staying injury free when doing weight training namely posture and breathing techniques.

As a personal trainer working out of a large gym I am constantly endeavouring to give advice to non-clients (clients get it drummed into them) that I see using poor technique, however this can be frustrating as some take offense, please if a professional gives you hints they are doing so in order to help you stay healthy by averting serious injury.

Firstly let’s take a look at posture from head to toe and expand on some of the hints below

  • Neck        Eyes directed at the horizon, chest up
  • Scapula   Retract as if you are squeezing a lemon between the blades
  • Hip           Pull Belly button to spine
  • Knees      Slight bend at all times
  • Feet         Hip to shoulder width apart

Upper body

The neck, should be kept upright (long), focus your eyes on the horizon or straight ahead with your chest up and chin tucked in. Without going into technicalities of this suffice to say that keeping your eyes focused straight ahead, your chest up, and chin tucked in helps keep everything in place which alleviates any unnecessary stress on the parts of the body you are exercising, strengthening all  muscles in that area evenly, a must for good posture and prevention of injury.

Your scapula or shoulder blade as it is more commonly known connects your upper arm (humerus) with your collar bone (clavicle) and together with all the muscles that connect to it, it’s movements include elevation, depression, protraction, retraction, lateral rotation, medial rotation, upward rotation, downward rotation, anterior tipping, and posterior tipping. As you can see the shoulder blade is a pivotal part of your upper body movement and as such it is important to keep it retracted (back) and down when performing exercise as this keeps you compact and upright promoting good posture hence reducing the risk of injury.

Your hip/pelvic area houses and is in close proximity to a vast network of the bodies essential organs, cells, and tissues, your core muscles (anterior) are used in many of the bodies functions breathing, coughing and to put it nicely ridding the body of waste. You’ve mostly likely heard the expression “turning on your core”, and wondered what does that mean? That’s why it is easier to express it as “pulling your belly button to your spine” as if someone is holding a string behind you to mimic that effect, try it now.  We need to do this when we are training because as mentioned above this area is central to some of the bodies essential parts and keeping your core turned on helps injury prevention by way of the following:

  • Stabilises  and protects the pelvis
  • Encourages the natural curve of the spine
  • Protects the Lumbar spine

Lower Body

The knees during exercise should always be slightly bent at all times, the reason being that if you lock out, that is have them straight, this places too much stress on the joints, for example if you are doing squats do not straighten your legs fully on ascension.  Locking out joints of any limb during exercise is not only a no no from the perspective of injury it also hampers the training effect.  At the point of lock out the weight pressure goes straight to the joint and not only is that an injury risk it also lessons the tension of the exercise on the muscle you are working, like a rest, hence overtime you will not get the full benefit of the movement.  An example of this that I see so often is the cable triceps extension, pushing down on the handle/rope locking out at the bottom (concentric) and then letting the handle/rope up to the top (eccentric) instead you should take it down to just before lock out then let it up to just over half way before pushing down again, much more effective for the purpose of exercising your triceps muscle and protecting your joints from injury.

The position of the feet during exercise will depend on the exercise however a rule of thumb is to have them positioned hip to shoulder width or slightly more apart. The simple reason for this is for stability, and combined with all the other posture hints mentioned above will allow you to check your technique to make sure you are not subjecting yourself to injury, and also getting the most out of each exercise for the muscle/s being targeted.

Breathing and Resistance Training

While performing resistance exercises it is the most effective to exhale during exertion and inhale during release. For example, if you are doing a bench press you inhale on lowering the weight down to your chest and exhale on the way back up.

There has been a lot written on breathing techniques during exercise and there is far more to it than what I have just described. Suffice to say however it is important that you establish a rhythm with your breathing as it not only allows oxygen to replenish which keeps your muscles from fatiguing to quickly it inadvertently helps with the speed or tempo of your movement which in turn helps you better achieve your goal. The other advantage I have found of establishing a good rhythm with your breathing is that it helps with stability during exercise as your core is being engaged in both inhaling and exhaling. Whatever you do don’t hold your breath as this elevates blood pressure making your heart and lungs work even harder than necessary.

In summary I would like to reiterate the importance of body posture in resistance training as an integral part of making sure you stay injury free whilst achieving the results you are working towards. Remember to keep you head up, shoulders back and down, core turned on, knees slightly bent and your feet hip to shoulder width apart and don’t forget to breath.  If you need more have a personal trainer take you through a number of exercises to check that you are moving correctly.

Zol

Fitness Moves

 

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