Health & Fitness News | Premier Training International’s Official Blog

Bungee harness training - tips and exercises

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 25 May 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Going to the local park for a training session? We could load up the van with a huge amount of equipment that costs a fortune and weighs a tonne! Or for a total body conditioning and a CV workout we could use a piece of equipment that’s relatively cheap, simple to use, easy to transport and that will add a different dimension to our training, the Bungee harness.

You may have seen this piece of equipment being used for resisted sprint training, however it’s far more versatile than you may first think. As human beings functioning in everyday life, the vast majority of what we do is accelerating and decelerating in multiple planes of motion, be it taking the shopping out of the car (accelerating) and putting it on the floor (decelerating), or running up the stairs (accelerating) and stopping at the top (decelerating) the examples are endless.

The Bungee Harness comes with multiple bungees to vary the resistance used and it must be anchored to a fixed point at one end. The Bungee Harness is a great way to train acceleration and deceleration and also load muscles in a different way than what they may be used to. This month we have a total body, multi planar workout that is both fun and effective, it’s a completely different challenge for your body, you’ll never look at an elastic band in the same way!

The Workout:

1. Bungee harness sprints
Start in the sprint ready position with a little tension on the bands, drive through the legs and accelerate as fast as possible to a set point, control the movement back to the start position and repeat.

2. Resisted frontal plane bear walks
Set the belt so the anchor point is on your side, flex at the hips and place your hands on the floor, move sideways to a set point, control the movement back to the start position and repeat.

3. Squirrel jumps
Crouch down into the Gecko position with a little tension on the bands, drive through the legs and arms explosively moving forwards, crawl backwards to the start position and repeat.

4. Horizontal squat jumps
Start in the athletic ready position with a little tension on the bands, drop into a partial squat and explosively jump forward as far as possible, walk backwards to the start position and repeat.

5. Pull with rotation
Start facing the band with the handle in the right hand, have the left foot forward and the right hand forward, pull the handle away from the fixing point rotating at the same time, shift the weight from the left leg to the right leg, return to the start position and repeat, once a set is completed repeat on the opposite side.

6. Push with rotation
Start facing away from the band with the handle in the right hand, have the left foot forward and the right hand back, push the handle away from the fixing point rotating at the same time, shift the weight from the right leg to the left leg, return to the start position and repeat, once a set is completed repeat on the opposite side.

Beginner:

Bungee harness sprints x5 (with 2 bands attached)
Frontal plane bear walks x4 each side (with 2 bands attached)
Squirrel jumps 2 sets 8 reps (with 1 band attached)
Horizontal squat jumps 2 sets 8 reps (with 1 band attached)
Pull with rotation 2 sets 12 reps each side (with 1 band attached)
Push with rotation 2 sets 12 reps each side (with 1 band attached)

Intermediate:

Bungee harness sprints x7 (with 3 bands attached)
Frontal plane bear walks x5 each side (with 3 bands attached)
Squirrel jumps 3 sets 8 reps (with 3 bands attached)
Horizontal squat jumps 3 sets 8 reps (with 3 bands attached)
Pull with rotation 3 sets 12 reps each side (with 3 bands attached)
Push with rotation 3 sets 12 reps each side (with 3 bands attached)

Advanced:

Bungee harness sprints x10 (with 4 bands attached)
Frontal plane bear walks x5 each side (with 4 bands attached)
Squirrel jumps 4 sets 8 reps (with 4 bands attached)
Horizontal squat jumps 4 sets 8 reps (with 4 bands attached)
Pull with rotation 4 sets 12 reps each side (with 4 bands attached)
Push with rotation 4 sets 12 reps each side (with 4 bands attached)

Ben McDonald
Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer

Workouts and Exercises Using Bulgarian Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Bag training seems to be really coming into its own at the moment, Hydrobags, Sandbags, Powerbags, you name it there appears to be a new fitness fashion bag every season. With the success of bootcamps and outdoor training lots of people are turning to these durable and versatile pieces of equipment to provide fun and effective workouts. a new force is rising in the bag training arena, Bulgarian Bags!

Even the name sounds hardcore! The Bulgarian Bag is a large C shaped bag with more grips and handles on than you can shake a stick at. The shape of the bag makes it extremely versatile whilst the main wedge-shaped handles make for a great grip strength challenge. The bag is available in leather as well as other materials and is stuffed with padding which gives it its weight and also the durability to be thrown.

Rotations, swings, swipes, lunges, jump squats and many, many more movements are all possible with Bulgarian Bags. It’s a superb piece of kit that definitely gets my seal of approval! Bulgarian bags come traditionally in four weights: 8, 12,17 and 22kg.

Round the World

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Hold the bag by the wedge handles
Start the movement by taking your right hand over your left shoulder
Follow the movement with the left hand (the bag passes behind your head)
Rotate the bag and allow it to come forward to the start position
Build momentum and repeat fluidly

Clean to Neck Catch

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Hold the bag by the wedge handles
Dynamically extend at the hips, knee and ankles to drive the bag off the floor
Use your arms to guide the bag overhead
Rotate the bag and drop under it to catch it on the back of your neck
Shrug the bag off your shoulders and return to start position

Side Swing to Back

Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
Hold the bag by the wedge handles
Shift your body weight onto your left leg
Take your right hand up to your left shoulder
Allow the bag to land on your back
Shrug the bag off your back and swing it to the opposite side, repeating the movement to the opposite direction

Frontal Lunge and Press

Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes pointing forwards
Position the bag around the your neck with your hands just in front of your shoulders
Lunge out to one side
Press the bag overhead
Lower the bag under control and return to the start position
Lunge to the other side and press as before

Weighted Burpee

Stand with feet hip-width apart and toes pointing forwards
Position the bag around your neck
Flex at your hips and knees to squat down into a frog jump position
Place your hands on the floor
Extend into a press up position
Dynamically bring your knees back into the frog jump position
Jump vertically and hold the bag by the wedge handles
Land and repeat

Swipe

Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
Hold the bag by the wedge handles
Allow the bag to swing between your legs towards your buttocks
Dynamically swing the bag upwards
As your hands reach head-height flex at the elbows to allow the bag to fall behind your head
Finally whip the bag back overhead extending at the elbow

Ben McDonald
Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer

A Functional Butt, And Its Relationship to the Low Back

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 04 May 2012 07:59:00 +0000

Let’s first take a look at the butt (not a bad area to look at!). Ever wondered why its stature is so awesome, big, yet powerful? Everything we do in our functional environment, our everyday lives or our chosen sporting pursuits is done in upright function.

This means a whole body, chain reaction system (our bodies) that collectively (all 400 muscles / 70 joints / 1M nerves) comes together to enhance control and drive our activities. Which means everything goes through the hips, and therefore the butt, the Gluteus Maximus (Maximus – derivative of big, strong, powerful) has underneath it 17 other muscles that directly attach it via fascia (envelope of interconnecting tissue surrounding muscles) to control, decelerate and accelerate all body movement.

The hips' 28 muscles then, can be viewed upon as ‘crossroads’ of our body, where everything goes to, and comes from in the world of movement and production and, transmission of forces. All muscles, all joints, all fascia, and all nerves that stimulate these structures have 2 things in common:-

They are situated to and need stimulation in 3-Dimensional movement.
And this 3-Dimensional movement works best subconsciously and when interrated with all other body parts.

Let’s explore the above concepts to fully appreciate how first to train a great looking, powerful butt, and how at risk joints predisposed to potential injury, such as knee and low back (lumbar spine).

1. Concept and Rationale for 3D Exercise

Any functional activity / or training such as running or golf, requires the body to be as effective as can be to complete the task chosen by an individual. When we run, the forces that make up our external environment, those being gravity above us, and ground reaction forces as our foot enters the ground in foot strike, cause our bodies to ‘squish’ into the ground as our body absorbs those forces having just met each other, amplified by the mass of our bodies moving with great degree of momentum.

The ‘squish’ effect is a great thing because our bodies receive free energy to store into our muscles / tendons so that it can be converted to produce the necessary force to fuel our running. As the foot enters the ground the foot ‘unlocks’ and movement produced in 3 planes, being sagittal, frontal and transverse plane. This foot motion is the switch to turn on the same 3D movements to light up all the joint and muscles about to turn on a contribute the system.

The necessary foot motion, in all 3 planes, stimulates the Hips to react in all 3 planes, as the foot lands the hips undergo a Triplane loading whereby flexion (in sagittal plane) adduction (frontal plane) and internal rotation (transverse plane) occurs.

This Triplane motion is just what the butt craves to turn on this big, powerful muscle. It gets wound up, lengthened, can produce quick, powerful, concentric motion needed to help with strength required for any task / function. So the butt is the power source for running that takes the brunt of all the forces of ground contact for a runner to run pain free, effectively and efficiently day in day out, week in week out.

What if that butt didn’t receive the motion from the foot, or from the hip needed. You know what it’s like when you feel ‘stiff’ or ‘tight’ - the body frequently encounters physical blocks such as tight muscles, restrictive joint capsules, over indulgence or repetitive movements that ‘lock’ the body down in that motion, and when needed and called upon for another task such as reaching for something on a shelf behind you – the foot, the hips ‘lock’.

Those physical blocks are the reason, and most common cause of low back pain. Mobility and stability in equal measure is critical for the low back to transmit forces through it and not get beaten up.

Let’s take this reaching task – Try it. Stand up and take your right hand out in front of you at chest height. Now the goal is to reach directly behind you whilst still have your body facing forward. So as the hand rotates back the shoulders rotate to the right as well, the spine rotates to the right two albeit slightly slower than the shoulders. The hips also rotate right but again slower that the hips.

This sequence follows all the way to the feet where weight will sit on the outside of right foot, and will sit on the outside left foot when right foot, and inside of left foot when right arm reaches its 180 degree target.
This is a natural chain reaction sequence that takes place and differs slightly depending on the task, imagine the above scenario if the hips were immobile or ‘locked’ into tightness.

The body still has to complete the reach, the body needs success so it will complete task with compensation. Guess where the compensation will be? The Hips? – yes. The failure of hips to rotate, requires lumborspine to rotate, a movement which is very restricted in anyway but is a workhorse joint that picks up the ‘slack’ via deficiency of the hips, so lumbar spine rotates more than it should – and bang – it goes!

Bad back the physio / doctor will say but truth is it’s just a symptom of the real cause- ineffectively trained hips.

Second example was golf, standing motion – have to Tee-Off and drive ball 300yds down the fairway a lot of power needed from hips, they get Triplane loaded (both hips) in both back swing and follow through because it stimulates the big butt to turn on and power the club and success for our golfing pursuits.
What if hips dysfunction, less distance, bad back and end of golf. The Vipr is perfect to train as above with its gravity / ground reaction, 3D, integrated ethos it suits everybody – no matter what the goal.

Let’s look at some exercises to train the foot, the butt (hips) and the lumbar spine.

1. Step Over Squat

With a Vipr in a front carry position resting across the shoulders, keep elbows up and out to lift the chest and extend the spine. With left foot fixed on floor take the right foot and step across and in front of the left foot. (making a T shape with both feet). Now use the right foot to step out and rotate right whilst simultaneously performing a squat. Repeat for 12 reps then repeat on the opposite side of the body.

The above exercise takes a squat whereby increasing leg and butt strength but adding the rotation of the foot in and out facilitates rotation of the hips and proper loading (pronating) and unloading (supernating) of the feet. This elicits a chain reaction that enables the whole body to move through the transverse plane and decrease rotational forces (torque) at the lumbar spine.

2. Ice-Skaters

Start with feet shoulder width apart, holding the Vipr with the neutral grip handles – hop onto the left leg and shift the right hand side of the Vipr down toward left knee. The right leg drifts behind the working left foot to counter balance the body weight and load the left side of the hip. The hop to the right leg and shipt the left hand side of the Vipr down towards the right knee, allowing the left foot to drift behind the right foot. Hop side to side in a quick rhymical manner. Perform up to 45 seconds.

The above exercise is a power exercise and improves strength in a single leg stance whilst training and conditioning the gluteal muscles and those of the low back from above (using the hands gravity and the vipr) and below (using the hopping action and the ground reaction forces feeding into the body.

3. Cross Body Lateral Tilt

Start with Vipr upstanding length ways on the floor. Take a three step shuffle to the right, upon landing stablise on the right leg (allowing left leg to drift behind right leg again) . As the body shuffles to the right the left hand is on the inside the tube of the Vipr and is shifting across to the outside of the right knee.

Next take a three step shuffle to the right and land on right leg single leg balance stance. This time the right hand is inside tube of the Vipr and is reaching outside the left knee. Perform in a quick ryhmaticle manner for up to 45 seconds.

The above exercise takes the Ice Skater foot pattern from exercise two but this time the opposite hand reaching way outside the knee influences greater the demand on the gluteal muscles and added rotational component involving the Thoracic Spine.

4. Reverse Lunge with Rotational Shift

Starting on a low step with Vipr in a neutral handle grip, lunge backwards on the right leg whilst simultaneously shifting the Vipr to the left hand side of the body with the right hand on top . The Vipr should be perpendicular to the floor. Perform 12 reps and repeat on opposite side of the body.

The above exercise is used with a step to add greater height to the lunge to increase the gravitational and ground reaction forces when the foot lands to further enhance the resistance felt by the gluteal muscles. The rotational shift done as above influences the spine in all three planes of motion to replicate the function of walking and running.

5. Reverse Lunge with Frontal Plane Uppercut

Starting on a low step with Vipr held in a neutral grip take a right leg lunge backwards whilst driving the Vipr up and across to the left side of the chest in an uppercut fashion. Keeps eyes looking forward and return to starting position. Repeat for 12 reps and replicate on the opposite side of the body.

The above exercise takes advantage of the step and the lunge, however the uppercut with the Vipr influences the spine to rotate and side bend in opposite directions to replicate the function of Golf and some racket sports.

TO SUMMARISE……

Select exercises that take advantage of intergrating the bodies many structures and train them together as a whole system for performance enhancement, prevention of injury and to increase calorie burn.
Select exercises that are performed in an upright position, taking advantage of gravity ground reaction forces and our bodies mass (inclusive of the resistance of the Vipr) and when we move in this manner it further loads and stimulates the body to become stronger and more functional.
If possible train with shoes that allow minimal cushioning to allow for the foot to spread and mould to the surface so the bones of the foot can move and unlock and stimulate the rest of the body to experience motion.

Paul Edmondson
Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer and Trainer

Powerclub training for bingo wings

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:22:00 +0000

Ladies, bingo wings are a huge problem - whether its waving goodbye to friends and family or just giving the occasional high five, that wave like wobble on the back of your arms can be extremely upsetting! However I have the solution, if you want to banish bingo wings forever and have triceps that could stop a bullet these powerclub movements will get you to your desired goal in no time.

Powerclubs are essentially weighted bats that we can swing in circular, dynamic motions that challenge our body differently than any other free weight. The below movements have our triceps working to decelerate and accelerate the clubs and so we get a double whammy out of each exercise.

Frontal swipe - how to perform:

Start with your elbow pointing upwards with the barrel of the club behind your body pointing down to the ground
Powerfully extend at the elbow and adduct at the shoulder to bring the club out and down
Let the club come across your body whilst flexing slightly at the hip
Perform a side hip ‘snap’ to drive the club back to the start position

Transverse swipe - how to perform:

Start with feet hip-width apart with the club over one shoulder
Quickly extend at the elbow and shoulder, driving the club over the shoulder and diagonally downwards towards the outside of the opposite leg
Rotate the torso and extend the elbows to complete the movement and aid deceleration of the club
Perform a hip snap to drive the club back to the start position

Mill - how to perform:

Start in the order position with your feet a comfortable width apart
Allow the barrel of the club to fall towards the mid-line of your body to begin a downward swing across your body to the outside of the opposite leg
Grip the club firmly and drive from the opposite hip pulling the shoulder and club upwards into abduction whilst keeping the elbow extended
Swing the club like a pendulum until the arm and club are just above shoulder-height
Drop the same side hip and shoulder whilst turning away from the club
Slightly allow the club to fall behind the shoulder into the top point of an ‘arm cast’
Drive the arm forward over the shoulder back towards a typical order position, but immediately cycle it into another inside pendulum
Repeat and develop a rhythmic motion

Swipe - how to perform:

Start with feet hip-width apart with the powerclubs at arms’ length
Start the swing by drawing the powerclubs backwards and outside your legs
Drive the hips back and into flexion, allowing the clubs to swing back and form a straight line with your arms
Drive through your heels and quickly snap your hips into extension, arcing the club forwards and upwards over your shoulder
Flex the arm keeping your elbow high, whilst controlling the clubs until they are vertically behind your body with the barrel pointing down to the ground
Pull the club forwards over your shoulder extending the elbow as it descends in preparation to begin the backswing again
Maintain a neutral spine and keep your shoulders set firmly as the clubs swing upwards
Repeat the exercise and develop a rhythmical pattern

Rotating swipe - how to perform:

Start in the order position with your feet a comfortable width apart
Allow the barrel of the clubs to fall towards the midline of the body, beginning a downward swing across the body to the outside of your legs
Gripping the clubs firmly, drive from the opposite hip, pulling the shoulders and clubs upwards while keeping the elbows extended
Rotate into the clubs and allow them to drop over your shoulder
Quickly extend at the elbows and shoulders driving the club back towards the outside legs and repeat

Up and down swipe - how to perform:

As above but rotate both ways into the clubs

Ben McDonald

Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer

How a cold bath after a run can help the body recover

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:49:00 +0000

Q:- I’ve heard that taking a cold bath after a run can speed up my recovery and reduce muscle soreness – is this true and why?!

A:- Immersing yourself in a cold bath after a run would fall into the realms of cryotherapy and is a very valuable way of helping the body to recover faster from injuries and more specifically in this case - training adaptations. During your adaptation phase after a workout you will often experience soreness, as the body attempts to rebuild itself to be better equipped at dealing with the stresses that are being placed upon it.

Cold temperatures cause the vessels in the body to constrict and aids in limiting any excessive inflammatory responses and tissue breakdown, as well as slowing down metabolic activity and also providing an immediate analgesic effect.

This combined effect of cold treatment allows the body to shorten the timeframe of its healing process and thus also speed up the recovery/adaptation time.

Also, once the icing/cold therapy is finished (10-20 minutes is said to be a good time frame – although have considerably less if applying to small areas of the body) the body will begin to re-heat itself back up. As the body temperature increases the vessels will dilate, blood flow will increase and an influx of chemicals will be delivered to help nourish the effected tissues and again, speed up recovery rate.

Cold water bathing is a good medium for cryotherapy as it provides a good coverage to the desired areas of the body you want to apply the cold treatment to, and also there is not too high a risk of suffering potential harms like ice burns.

Steve Harrison

National Lead Tutor

Fitness training and its effects on our cardio-respiratory system

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:15:00 +0000

Last time out we discussed the importance of energy production, more specifically how it’s possible to replenish our universal energy currency ATP. We reviewed just why it wasn’t possible to ‘sprint forever’ looking closely at what happens within our muscles cells during exercise.

After a gruelling session in the gym, it’s time for recovery; this involves topping up those glycogen stores, replenishing the storage banks of oxygen within the muscle itself and disposing of ‘metabolic waste’. Just as a canal provides the means to ship in and out materials to a construction site, so does our very own cardio-respiratory system.

The respiratory system is one of the interfaces between the outside world and our inside physiology. The lungs are where fresh oxygen comes in and the waste produced internally by all of our cells, carbon dioxide is expelled. Amazingly, our lungs contain over 2,400 km of airway and their surface area equates to that the size of a tennis court. The exchange or ‘diffusion’ of oxygen and carbon dioxide actually takes place in the 300 million or so alveolar air sacs, at the very end of our respiratory passages.

Once within the alveoli, the 21% of oxygen contained within the air we have inhaled takes a ride on the ‘protein taxis’ within our blood cells named haemoglobin; these provide blood with its rich red colour. However, diffusion or oxygen transfer into the blood isn’t 100% efficient, we still breathe out air that contains 16% oxygen, hence our ability to provide the ‘kiss of life’ in a first aid CPR emergency.

Once in the blood stream, oxygen rich blood is moved to the heart to be pumped out across the body. Interestingly, the adult heart beats over 100,000 times and pumps around 8,000 litres of blood in a 24-hour period; unlike most muscles in the body that you train, it never rests! When parked in front of the TV, the total blood flow in an adult is approximately 5 litres per minute and is referred to as our Cardiac Output. When we exercise, the working tissues of the body may require up to 20-30 times more blood flow!

Unfortunately, Cardiac Output can only increase 4-7 fold, meaning there are some decisions to be made as to which parts of the body are worthy of more blood! The brain keeps its share of blood flow (750 ml/min at rest and during exercise); makes sense, we don’t want to go running straight into a brick wall! Skeletal muscle blood flow rockets from 1,200 ml/min to 12,500 ml/min. For all of that heat, generated by our working muscles to be removed, blood flow to the skin increases from 500 ml/min to 1,900 ml/min; hence the flushed face after some tough circuits or cardio. It’s our organs that take the hit, so to speak, in particular our kidneys, where blood flow is shut down.

The importance of this blood shunting of course is to provide oxygen, energy substrates such as fatty acids and glucose, and hormones such as adrenalin and cortisol to the active tissues so that ATP can continue to be made and potentially fatiguing waste products such as acid forming hydrogen ions can be removed. Increased acidity within the working muscles puts the breaks on their ability to function optimally.

Training, in particular aerobic endurance work can have profound effects upon our cardio-respiratory system. A short-term 3-6 month training plan can result in an increased heart volume, a jump from approx 750 ml to 850 ml in us mere mortals, and upto 1250 ml in elite athletes! Our blood volume also increases to enhance our oxygen carry capacity as does the capability for the working muscles to extract the oxygen from our blood.

These physiological changes are comparable in both men and women, however the overall aerobic power of women range from 73-85% of the values of men, likely due to ladies higher percentage of body fat, lower haemoglobin and men’s larger hearts and blood volume.

With all that said and done, what we learn is just how plastic (adaptable) our internal physiology is. Previously, we reviewed how energy formation keeps us going during exercise at varying intensities, but none of that can happen until the goods arrive ala our very own canal delivery system.

Richard Scrivener
Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer

Why you can’t sprint forever!

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:27:00 +0000

Jump (not literally) onto a Concept II Rower sometime and set the screen on the power output trace display. “3, 2, 1 Go!” Hammer it (again, not literally) as hard as you possibly can for 10 mins straight and watch (if you are still able to see properly) how your power output progresses. No doubt you set off strong, but what happened after 15 secs or so and then over the next 2 mins and then the next 8?

Now most folk who have undertaken some sort of human physiology or biochemistry study in relation to exercise and sport will be familiar with the concept of ATP. Short for Adenosine Tri-Phosphate, ATP is often referred to as the ‘universal energy currency’ of the body. What this actually means is that every single one of your 75 trillion cells (give or take a few million) will use ATP to provide the energy required for all metabolic reactions (the processes that keep you and I alive and allow us to exercise).

Now, when you were tearing it up (once again, not in a literal sense) and giving it everything you could on that horrible-pain inducing, cramp provoking, nausea prompting Concept II, you’d think that the drop off in power output might be due to your ATP stores sinking faster than your worst enemy strapped to two 32Kg Kettlebells.

However, what the research tells us is that cellular APT never really drops below 60-70% of a full-tank; how come? Well fortunately, us human beings have developed ‘energy systems’ that replenish this all-important molecule.

When working flat out at maximal intensity, we call upon our ‘fast-twitch’ muscles fibres, those which, well, twitch fast. Ideal for sports and activities which require feats of strength and power, such as sprinting, fast twitch muscle fibres use up large amounts of a short acting chemical called creatine phosphate (CP). This is used to re-build ATP that has been assisting in the energy production necessary for powering those large muscles needed for sprinting (or rowing!).

Interestingly CP levels are wiped out to around 10% of starting levels after just 30 sec high intensity activity - does this help explain why your power output took such a big dip so early on? If you wanted to see that impressive peak in your power curve again you’d need to rest for around 8 mins as this is how long it takes your cells to replenish all the ATP and CP levels you’d need to smash it one more time (please, put the mallet down, you're taking me too seriously!). If you ever watch a 100m sprinter train, you’ll often see them go like the clappers and then take more of leisurely stroll back to the start line than your Gran would going to get a sausage roll and cheese on a stick at a relative’s wedding. Why? They need the full recovery to maintain a peak power output on their next sprint.

So what happened next on the rower as your measly attempt to keep that trace from falling failed despite your fully motivated snarling? Let me guess. Your lungs started burning? Your legs begun to feel heavy? You started spitting, shouting and sweating all over the gaff (I’m sure the gym instructor will thank you later for that one)?

Now to be fair to you, I'd imagine your pace on the Concept II was still pretty handy at this point. Indeed your muscle cells still have the means to replenish the ATP you are using at a decent rate. Many folk will assume that you can’t make energy (ATP) without opening your cake-hole and sucking in some of the good stuff - oxygen! But you can.

When flying out the blocks at 100 mph (please, don’t, you’ll only hurt yourself) do you think that the all-important O2 molecule will make it to that muscle fibre in your right lower leg in time waiting ready to step in and save the day, and replenish an ATP that’s just been torn to shreds as you drive forcefully through the legs during a stroke 45 secs in to this little experiment? Probably not.

Energy produced in the presence of oxygen is termed ‘aerobic energy production’. When oxygen levels are less than desirable because those fast-twitch muscle fibres are destroying all before them, we term this ‘anaerobic energy production’. Rather than using any chemical resources (like CP), the ATP producing apparatus start tucking into any stored carbohydrate you have in the same cells. This carbohydrate is broken down in a series of stages and voila, ATP is replenished along the way.

The caveat? 1) This is a slower process than using CP; 2) As the stored carbohydrate source is stripped apart a build-up of an intermediate molecule accumulates; this is converted to lactic acid and carbon dioxide. At this point you need to start breathing out that CO2 rather rapidly before its crippling effects start shutting down the effectiveness of your muscles contractions (the body doesn’t like an acidic build inside the cells, which is what begins to happen). Explains the burning lungs, heavy legs and impromptu swearing at 1000m right?!

5 mins in to this enlightening experience, you’ll have noticed that your power output has begun to plateau despite your best intentions. As your work intensity decreases you offer more time for oxygen to get into the body and circulate to the exhausted muscles. As stored carbs gradually deplete, the muscle fibres search out additional circulating fats and proteins. These ATP building substrates will gradually be released into the blood as time progresses, but oxygen is required for this to happen efficiently (remember, this is now termed aerobic energy production).

This ‘oxidative’ approach to refuelling is very efficient and doesn’t really produce any fatiguing waste products. The only problem is that it needs time. But by this point you already knew that right; that power curve didn’t stay up there for long did it?!

Richard Scrivener
Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer

Pre-pregnancy training, conditioning, information and recommendations

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:08:00 +0000

The first trimester (weeks 1-12)
The physiological changes that occur in this period include vascular underfill. Vascular underfill is where the blood vessels expand in width (vasodilate); this naturally occurs to supply sufficient oxygen to the baby. The problem at this stage is that the blood itself has not changed in supply, so the blood volume lags behind, which basically means the blood is slow moving around the body as it has to slowly move through these big vessels whereas before it could flow very quickly and be pumped along nicely.

This lack in blood volume causes our blood pressure to drop considerably because the pressure in the system has been reduced drastically due to these new large vessels and small amounts (in comparison) of blood. Therefore the mum-to-be will feel very tired during this stage and may experience nausea or light-headedness getting up and down quickly, so this has to be taken into account for training purposes.

Mum will also get tired quickly for a second reason. As above we mentioned that blood pressure drops because mum’s heart will want to naturally raise the pressure and supply nutrients through blood to the foetus. It forces the heart to beat harder and faster than usual so, for that reason, mum may feel fatigued relatively quickly.

When exercising in this first trimester my recommendations are:

Keep hydrated before, after and especially during session
Have plenty of breaks
Never exercise to exhaustion, only to exercise failure, when technique becomes inhibited
Don't train if you ever feel over tired…listen to the body; it’s a sign to rest.

Here's three good exercises that I recommend in this first trimester - each exercise mum should start with one set of 12 repetitions, and gradually build up to three sets. If mum wants to supplement these resistance exercises with Cardiovascular Training I would recommend just walking or swimming for 20 minutes at a time and gradually increasing the duration.

1. Step over Squat
This exercise can be done at home using a broomstick across the chest, held in place with the elbows up and out to keep a nice tall posture to look after the back, encourages a good thoracic (upper back) extension, which will help relieve low back pain/stress, and help with good posture.

The exercise focuses primarily on the hips and whilst strengthening butt and legs, its hidden beauty is that it takes the hips into rotation, which allows the pelvis to be strong, free and mobile in its most restricted plane of motion (transverse plane). This will also reduce a lot of lumbar spine torsion or stress. Fix the left foot on the floor. Take the right foot and step forward and in towards the front foot so it makes a “T” shape. The whole body should now be facing to the left, apart from your originally fixed left foot.

Now with the right foot step out and behind the body taking it to about 4 o’clock. Imagine your fixed left foot is 12 o’clock, so your right foot comes back and rotates 180 degrees and is now behind and to the right of the body. Once stepped to 4 o’clock squat down as far as feels comfortable, stand up and repeat for 12 repetitions. Repeat on the opposite side but this time with the right foot fixed. When it rotates back it will go to the 8 o’clock position to mirror what we did before for symmetry.

2. Reverse Lunge with Overhead reach
Use body weights or maybe some small hand held items (one in each hand). Now step backwards with the right foot (nice lunge stride back to stretch the hip) landing on the ball of the foot and with the heel up off of the floor. Whilst the step back is being executed simultaneously take both arms straight up and forward over the head to really stretch, load and condition the abdominals and also the generally tight hip flexors that will make mum feel a lot more comfortable when walking, standing in everyday functional tasks. Do 12 repetitions and then change legs repeating the same pattern with the arms going forward and overhead.

3. Press Up with a Twist
Sounds gruelling…but remember it can be regressed if needs be and built up as fitness increases. The most comfortable option would be stood against a wall, arm’s length back with hands shoulder width apart and pressed against said wall.

The next option is down on the floor on all fours, or if you really want to jazz it up and progress intensity full length on the floor with hands under shoulders as you push your upper body off the ground and keep your feet on floor; this time your knees are up and extended into the press up.

Once you’re in the start position take your left leg under the body and as far over to the right as possible and now execute the press up for 12 repetitions. This facilitates a fantastic chain reaction sequence from the floor up into the top of the spine, which gives lots of rotational motion to all joints in the body including the spine, scapula and hips whist, at the same time, achieving the press up’s desired function of working the chest and arm muscles but with the added bonus of huge core/abdominal activation. Once completed change sides and repeat.

The second trimester (weeks 13-27)
The physiological changes this time are that:

The body has now adjusted to vascular underfill and a hormone called Progesterone has communicated with the kidneys to keep fluids, nutrients and salts from being lost so the blood has now caught up and filled the mum’s internal systems to fuel both her and baby with oxygen and nutrients.
Blood volume and pressure have now normalised and the Heart Rate is brought back down so energy levels for mum are now generally higher.
The new change in this trimester is that a second hormone is released into the mix called Relaxin.
Relaxin’s role is to provide laxity and more range of motion to two joints in particular – the Sacro-Iliac Joint (base of the spine where the pelvis and spine form a joint at the back of the pelvis) and the Pubic Symphysis where the pelvis meets at the front left and right where the baby’s first passage from the mother to the outside world occurs.
This is done to aid joint relaxation for the mother to take the stress off the ligaments and joints whilst giving birth.
The downside to this is that there is an inherently obvious lack of joint stability, so mum is vulnerable to torsion or even breaks and fractures.
This can be combatted by sensible exercise.
My recommendations in this phase include no heavy weights, no high impact exercises because of joint laxity and keeping a sensible range of motion.

Recommended exercises for this trimester should be performed three times for 12 repetitions and can be supplemented with light walking and swimming if mum desires.

1. Deadlift Rotation to standing Extension and Rotation
Take a broom onto the top of the chest, keeping elbows up and out again to encourage the lift of the chest and good extension through to the top of the spine. Bending from the hips (not the spine), rotate your right shoulder as close as comfortable down and towards your left knee, pause momentarily and slowly come up and back taking the right shoulder up as high as possible and rotate to the right whilst extending.

This exercise is fantastic for the hips, the butt, the spine and the abdominals - all of which are vital areas of focus and attention for mums.

2. Side step lunge with Lateral side bend
Simply start with feet shoulder width apart and facing forward. Take comfortable steps to your right keeping the lunging foot facing forward and, at the same time, bring your right arm up and over the head towards the left hip. Again, this is fantastic for the same culprits as before (butt, hips, spine and abdominals) but in a different plane of motion. The body moves in three planes and needs to be conditioned in them all.

3. Press Up with Extension
Simply perform a press up but whilst on the decent phase (downward phase) of the exercise, lift your chin and look directly up and forward to a comfortable range for the neck. At the same time lift one leg back and up like a donkey kicking action. Then, as you push up off the floor, look back down with the head and allow the leg to lower down. Remember to swap legs up with every repetition, and perform six on each side (12 in total). This is an excellent core, spine and upper body exercise.

The third trimester (weeks 28-40)
Physiological changes are complete at this stage but it is a time of concern where regular midwife check-ups are advised and things such as high blood pressure and excessive or abnormal foetal growth can be detrimental to both mother and child.

So my advice here is to exercise sensibly, have regular breaks, meet with your midwife as often as possible, avoid exercising in humid/hot conditions, keep hydrated and do not train if tired or lethargic.

66% of women suffer from Diastasis Recti. This is where the abdominal wall splits right down the middle length ways and gets pulled outwards (much like a torn curtain) - this happens to women who do not train and if this occurs it never repairs itself and has been linked with on-going low back pain after the pregnancy.

Exercise suggestions here are again three sets of 12 repetitions, and walking and swimming are permitted.

1. See-Saw to Tuck
On all fours, take your right elbow under the body towards your left knee. Bring the left knee in towards the subsequent right elbow as close as possible to each other and then take both in the opposite direction (forward for the arm and backwards for the leg). Keep high and stretch into both, bringing a nice lengthening into the abdominals and a great spinal extension from the top down through the moving arm and the bottom up through leg lifting. Repeat each side 12 times, slowly and controlled.

2. Mini Step Matrix
Keep your left foot on the floor. With your right foot, step forward as far as feels comfortable and return. Then, step sideways with your right foot, keeping the foot facing forward - step as far as feels ok and return. Then, with the right foot, step and rotate behind the body to a comfortable range and return. This is fantastic for the hips, thighs and buttocks.

3. T rotations
On all fours take the right arm up and rotate behind and up towards the ceiling above the head as far as feels ok and return. Now do the same with the left hand and repeat 12 times on each side. This exercise is great for the spine, abdominals and upper body strength.

The above are recommendations on exercises for each trimester for a pregnant lady who does not go to the gym to do at home. If you are a gym user and want advice seek advice from a qualified Pre/Post Natal Pregnancy Level 3 Trainer.

My recommendations are great for all muscles that aid birth i.e. pelvic floor, abdominals, glutes and hip musculature and those around the spine that control stability and have to deal with the weight of the baby pulling them forward.

They look after joint motion in all three planes, which relieve stress in localised areas such as the low back and spreads and dissipates forces all over turning muscles and keep the mum-to-be functioning and enjoying life and pregnancy to the max.

Having done these exercises, mum is conditioned and fit for pregnancy, whilst pain free and able to enjoy pregnancy. And baby has the safest, most effective passageway into the real world and he/she will have the greatest chance of being born fit and healthy and having the best immune system due to mum’s training and less chance of illness and disease.

Paul Edmondson

Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer and Trainer

Avoiding burn out during group exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:35:00 +0000

As a group exercise instructor, it is very easy to get stuck into a routine, which can start to take its toll on you. Exercise is meant to be beneficial to the human body and allow us to grow stronger with every session, however if not organised wisely it could cause a regressive effect, which could have potentially damaging consequences.

We are all aware of the risks that overtraining can cause the body, and yet we often seem to glaze over the equally disastrous effect it can have on our businesses. As an exercise and group training instructor your body and your teaching skills are your business, they’re your income! If your class teaching schedule and daily demands start to be uncontrollable, your working benefits are sure to feel the strain. To have a popular, effective and well-reputed class following your class design, structure, choreography, music relations, innovation and clarity need to be continuously prepared for and developed to ensure that you remain on top of your game.

For every one hour class you teach there could have been several more spent on music playlist design or out sourcing, choreography planning, pre/post class administration, PR and, the most time consuming of all, practicing your routines and conditioning yourself to ensure you have the highest possible quality demonstration form/technique. This is why it has been stated before that the maximum number of classes you should entertain delivering each day is three, and that you should try to ensure a total of two complete rest days away from class delivery. This is still potentially 15 classes per week, without all the associated extra work needed to perform well.

The timetable of classes which you deliver each week needs to have enough diversity in it to keep both your body and mind fresh! In modern teaching styles it is now easier than ever to achieve this diversity, as there are so many different class styles and modalities on offer, ranging from conditioning classes to high impact cardio based classes and a huge selection of different styles of dance inspired classes. It would be unwise to deliver the same theme of class back to back everyday and every week, as we advise our class members and clients that they should aim to achieve balance in their training programmes (including elements of cardiovascular training, resistance training, flexibility training and skill focused training) whilst also making sure that they make time for (actually, make that plan for) specific rest periods.

Not enough rest leads to fatigue and in training breeds poor performance; this is identical to the responses experienced in class instruction – over exertion and lack of down time leads to poor delivery and it becomes very visible to your class members that your standards start to drop. Imagine trying to teach four super high intensity, high impact classes back to back; purely because your most popular class used to be this style. Not only would your knees and ankles very quickly start to deteriorate and cause a domino effect of associated injuries elsewhere in your body, but your physical tiredness would be very obvious by the second and third classes, let alone the fourth?!

Your freedom of imagination for keeping your routines innovative and fresh would suffer and people would start to see a lack of progression in your class planning; and the most dangerous result would be that you start to dislike teaching these classes and start to dread class bookings.

Your personality, passion and ability to act as a positive role model is massively emphatic in helping others enjoy exercising; along with your skills and noticeable preparation people will look forward to taking part in the classes you teach. Your class members should want to feel like you feel, your energy is infectious and so we can start to see that if you start to lose some of this your ability to motivate, instruct and inspire groups of exercisers is massively affected.

Try alternating the classes you teach, have a conditioning focused class, a high impact, intense class follow this and then a different style again (for example a studio cycling class or a dance inspired class). Also consider filling up more hours with a less demo heavy class like circuit training or a boot camp session to work alongside these - here is where you can start to build up your working week further as the classes are less choreographed, less specific and also require less participation from the instructor. You can afford to deliver more 1-2-1 personal teaching time and not suffer so much physically in these style of classes.

Another tip would be to avoid doing three days back to back of the same activity, this is a super fast track to over training. In the training world, a similar example to this would be performing a bodybuilding split routine which involved Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday all on chest, and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday on shoulders and triceps only; it is clear to see the lack of balance here and the extreme lack of suitable resting – so why do we so often follow a completely unbalanced, over subscribed teaching schedule?! If you over stress the body, we know that a chemical imbalance is only a stone’s throw away, and this is when everything starts to suffer, from your ability to recover and adapt, to progressing your physical prowess and to stabilise your emotions and mood.

As a passionate and caring instructor your classes need to be clear at all times, you must show great strong demo form, and you should inspire others. Your number one selling point is you, your body and your personality – don’t mess it up!

Steve Harrison
National Lead Tutor

Hydro Bag Training - Top Tips and Exercises by Ben McDonald

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:27:00 +0000

Hydro Bags are a superb piece of training equipment - fresh and highly effective, they allow for a great all-action workout. Hydro Bags are cylindrical, come flat and feature a non-return valve on the top so that they can be filled with water and the remaining space with air. This allows the water to move around and the challenge of the exercise is increased.

The bags have two types of grip - neutral (thumbs up) and barbell (as you would hold a barbell) - therefore the amount of exercises that can be done is incredible.

The instability of the water challenges the positional sensors of the body (the so-called sensorimotor and proprioception systems) so you will have to work much harder to stabilise yourself when lifting hydro bags. Think about it like this: although our body is the ‘master adapter’ and will adapt to any stress we place upon it, water will move slightly differently every time we use it, so our body will be constantly trying to adapt to a different stimulus and will thus be working that much harder.

Here are six exercises to help you get the most out of Hydro Bag Training:

Snatch (Targets: legs, glutes, core and arms)

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart
Hold the Hydro Bag with an over-grasp barbell grip at arms’ length
Flex at the hips and knees (into a half squat position)
Rapidly extend at the hips, knees and ankles (as if jumping)
Drop under the bag and catch it overhead, letting it fall behind your shoulders with extended arms
Extend legs to stand up

Clean (Targets: legs, glutes, core and arms)

Start with your feet shoulder-width apart
Hold the Hydro Bag with an over-grasp barbell grip at arm’s length
Flex at the hips and knees (into a half squat position)
Rapidly extend at the hips, knees and ankles (as if jumping)
Drop under the bag and allow it to land in the crook of the elbows
Extend legs to stand up

Overhead Multi Planar Lunge (Targets: legs, glutes, core)

Start with feet hip-width apart
Hold the Hydro Bag overhead with a barbell grip and arms’ extended and allow the bag to rest on the back of the wrists
Take a large step to lunge forwards
Return to the starting position
Lunge to the side
Return to the starting position
Lunge to the other side
Return to the starting position
Lunge back whilst keeping the toes forward on the standing leg
Return to the starting position

Horizontal Jump Squat (Targets: calfs, thighs, glutes, core)

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Position the Hydro Bag so that it rests across the back of your shoulders and is held with a neutral grip
Flex at the hips and knees
Explosively extend at the hips and knees (to jump forwards and off the floor)
Land on the front two thirds of your feet and flex slightly at the knees on landing
Stand up straight

Hydro Bag Get Up (Targets: legs, glutes, core, shoulders, arms and balance)

Lie on your back
The Hydro Bag should be positioned across one shoulder and held with a neutral grip
Push up onto opposite to hydro bag’s side elbow
Then push up onto the hand
Lift your hips and sweep the hydro bag side leg through to the front (into a lunge position)
Extend your legs to stand up straight
Reverse the movement back to the start position
Position the hydro bag on the other shoulder and repeat

Power Russian Twist (Targets: core, particularly transverse abdominals)

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Hold the Hydro Bag in the crook of your elbows and grip around the bag
Slightly flex at the hips and knees
Dynamically rotate from side-to-side

5 innovative ways to improve your mood through subtle uses of fitness

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Feeling good is a manifestation of your actions and physical state; you can change your mood and emotional state through your daily activities and approach towards life. Being a master of these skills is a powerful way to improve your lifestyle. Here are five quick and easy tips, which are sure to bring a spring to your step and help kick-start your daily mood:

Tension release techniques will encourage an increased state of relaxation in your muscles to de-stress and induce tranquillity. Start by focusing on the muscles in your feet and tensing them up over 10 seconds, slowly increasing the intensity of the tension up to maximal tension over the 10 second period.

Once the 10 seconds of tension has been completed, relax the muscles fully for 10-20 seconds and allow yourself to mentally focus on the increased state of relaxation being felt and the feeling of improved blood flow in the localised area. Then start to move up through your body as you repeat this process in your calf muscles, front and back of thighs, buttocks, abdominal musculature, back muscles, chest, shoulders, front and back of arms, and finally finishing at both your wrists (clenching them for tension) at the same time as your neck/upper back muscles (those which elevate your shoulder blades). This whole technique should take no more than 5 minutes and is a great start and/or finish to even the busiest of days.

Exercise techniques as documented to have been used by the Ancient Tibetan Monks, which focus on the five rites of rejuvenation, are a great energising start to the day. One of the most vitalising of these exercises is ‘twirling’ and is a great immediate pick me up. To twirl, all you need to do is stand up in a nice tall, neutral posture with your arms out to your sides (approx. 45 degrees out and palms forward) and then start spinning on the spot, performing the twirl with one leg leading the motion and the other leg acting more like a pivot. Aim to complete between 25 and 50 turns at a steady, controllable pace (although as you get better at the exercise you can start to pick up your pace), and then complete the same technique in the opposite direction to balance yourself out. This is a brilliant mental rebalancing exercise and invigorating activity.

Dynamically stretching and mobilising your muscles will help you avoid tightening up through your daily lifestyle. Muscles that are commonly affected are the hip flexors, internal shoulder rotation affecting muscles and muscles around the upper thorax. A simple dynamic movement which will help lengthen the front of the hip and mobilise the upper back is the ‘posterior step and rotating overhead reach’: step back onto the whole of the foot at the same time as lifting your arms up and over your head (palm to palm with your hands) whilst rotating your torso to face across the body away from the back leg (if you step back with the right leg then your rotation would be toward the left side of your body). This action should be smooth and controlled, yet causing a valid stretch to your body and should only take 1-2 seconds, alternate sides and aim to perform about 30 repetitions in total.

Grounding yourself back to earth by walking barefoot is a fantastic way of regaining the muscular strength in our feet, which we have lost over time due to over dependence on over protective, and/or fashion only focused footwear. Having a connection with the ground is not only a way to disperse your bad karma and negative energies (techniques like stomping to floor have long been used by spiritual therapist to dispel bad energies), but barefoot movement is actually very beneficial for your muscular development, posture and movement functionality. Wearing shoes such as ‘Vibram Five Fingers’ allow you to gain the benefits of barefoot activity whilst not being afraid of cutting your feet on sharp objects or going completely shoe-less with their minimal soled shoes, which are designed to fit like a glove.

If you can find a willing training partner nothing beats the interaction of paired exercise games. Pick an exercise, which lasts no longer than 1 minute, rapidly elevates your heart rate, gets your nerves firing, utilises your whole body and is funny to perform together. A great example is alternating jumping jacks or star jumps, face each other quite close together and start jumping; as one of you jumps the other is relaxed and then alternate – try to see how fast you can go and how many you can collectively perform in a minute. It sounds silly but it’s a great exercise, and the face to face style of performing it increases the fun of it, especially if you’re willing to do it in public or a silly location; the more bizarre the situation the longer the after effects will be as this is a great emotional clear out task; let go of your inhibitions and give it a go.

These five tips can be implemented into any day and are quick, simple and fast acting to ensure that you keep yourself feeling happy, energetic and ready for anything.

Steve Harrison
National Lead Tutor

Top nutrition tips for 2012 - written by Richard Scrivener

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 11:06:00 +0000

Richard Scrivener, Health, Fitness and Nutrition Lecturer at Premier Training International, offers his must-know Nutritional Tips for 2012.

Finally it seems that we are coming around to the idea that there isn’t any one diet that helps us lose weight, boost energy, improve mood and keep muscles, bones and organs in tip-top shape! In fact, it would appear that rather than looking at new ideas, we are reverting to old tried and tested methods.

Back in the early 1900’s, diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes were a rarity (okay, granted we didn’t live as long), and so it seems prudent to ask: “What were we eating up until this point?” The answer, quite simply, is ‘REAL FOOD’; effectively anything that hasn’t been changed, altered or tampered with! Unfortunately, many of us are more likely to get our fuel from the same place our car does in modern times, and this will only spell disaster for health and weight loss.

Is it any wonder that diet plans such as Atkins and Dukan are so popular? At the heart of their approach is an emphasis on real food, in particular animal foods. Why? Because believe it or not, pound for pound or gram for gram these animal foods from organic sources contain more nutrients (in nearly all cases) than their plant based compatriots. For example 100g of olives contains 20 micrograms of pre-formed Vitamin A whereas Lamb's Liver provides 7,392 micrograms! This means eating either 3Kg’s of olives at 4,350 Kcals or 8g’s liver at 11 Kcal; you can see why these animal based food diets supplemented with some fruits and vegetables work when it comes to weight loss; but the bonus is they keep you feeling full and minimise cravings too because the body has exactly what it needs...nutrition!

So it's probably time to stop worrying now that animal foods (and in particular the fat they contain) will lead to heart disease and weight gain; the research suggests otherwise, and let’s face it, we can’t as a nation really do much worse now can we, when it comes to our health and obesity! So, the new hot nutritional trend for 2012 should be something we’ve actually been doing for the many thousands of years we’ve graced this planet; eat natural, nutrient dense, real food and don’t be afraid to chew the fat! You can do this easily by:

Throwing out your margarine and stocking back up on butter (who likes the taste of that stuff anyway, and if you knew how it was made, you’d be straight into the fridge with the bin bag). Butter also contains a number of anti-oxidants that protect against the kind of free radical d
amage that weakens the arteries. Butter is a very rich source of selenium, a vital anti-oxidant containing more per gram than herring or wheat germ.
Swap your cereal based breakfast for eggs (cereals aren’t real foods are they; when did you last see a cornflakes tree?!). All cereals provide a big hit of sugar, the number one way to ensure you won’t burn fat. Besides providing all eight essential protein building amino acids, a large whole, organic fresh egg offers about six to seven grams of protein and five grams of fat, which is actually going to help you absorb all of the egg’s fat-soluble vitamins... not many people know that!
Eat organ meats and ditch the pasta (okay, easier said than done, but at least reduce and replace with crunchy veg cooked in, you guessed it, butter!). Liver contains all of the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12 and is one of our best sources of folic acid. It also contains a highly usable form of iron and trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium.

Top ten tips on managing fitness alongside a hectic lifestyle

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Steve Harrison, National Lead Tutor at Premier Training International, shares his top ten tips on managing fitness alongside a hectic lifestyle:

1. High Intensity interval training to make the most of your precious time
The post exercise effects on your metabolism are hugely dependant on the intensity you achieve during your workouts (not necessarily how long you work out for!); do short 1-2 minutes of very hard efforts (ideally 85% plus of your maximum effort) and have equal 1-2 minute easier rest periods between each exercise. Repeat this 5-10 times for 20 minutes to maximise both your results and your work vs. life balance.

2. Hit the weights!
Weight training alongside a nourishing eating plan is a sure fire way to increase your muscle density, and your muscle density is directly related to your metabolic rate. In short, increase your muscle density with large compound (multiple joint) free weight exercises and you will improve your ability to shed your excess fat stores every minute of every day! For a good result try aiming at exhausting your muscles per exercise in about 8-10 reps and doing at least 2 or 3 sets per muscle group with 1 minute rest between each new set.

3. Using your legs as spot reduction is a myth!
When your body starts to release its excess fat stores it does so from where it can afford to let it go (remember fat is a valuable commodity to your body so it won’t let go of it unless it is sure it can cope without it), therefore working your arms does not burn away arm fat. So, to have the greatest impact on your body’s fat burning, work the larger muscles as they have a greater overall impact, and will cause your body to lose the fat from where it decides it can afford to.

4. Get jumping!
If you don’t have time to visit the gym or don’t like the heavy metal, you still want to be achieving muscular overload and creating a situation stressful enough to make sure your muscles are going to have to adapt to recovery effectively. This is where the jumping comes in; the speed and momentum achieved from jumps increases the exercise intensity exponentially, and, not only is it good for power, but the ability to safely and smoothly decelerate every jump before repeating ensures your muscles are being stressed greatly.

5. Get some home equipment so you can maximise your daily time schedules
Current highly effective pieces of kit that are brilliant and recommended for home use are TRX suspension training, ViPR functional training tool, Kettlebells, Hydrobags and Medicine Balls. These tools are all great for short sharp interval routines, which we know are great for us! Have a look at www.wolverson-fitness.co.uk to find out more about these products.

6. Stay supple
Ensure that you stretch regularly, after every training session as a minimum, to keep your joints and skeleton from suffering aches and pains due to muscle tightness. Remember all muscular activity/workouts cause adaptive shortening and create tension in the muscles, so to avoid this and causing distress and injury to your body you must prioritise your stretching after every workout and add in extra sessions each week too, where possible.

Also, flexibility work will allow your muscles to adapt from every session faster and speed up your recovery rates; this means faster results and also more energy for you to feel happy and vibrant every day.

7. Eat!
If you’ve used it you need to rebuild it; ensure you have enough fuel in your tank to perform the increased demands an exercise regime will demand upon your body. If you under eat and over train you are on a fast track to destruction, just ensure that your food intake is wholesome, and nutritious.

8. Keep a balanced diet
Avoid high sugars, limit any need for starchy carbohydrates, ensure you are receiving enough good quality fats and proteins, source your food locally and strive to know how it was farmed/produced as quality is everything in health eating; and last but not least ensure you truly are getting enough water at regular intervals throughout the day!

9. Set yourself goals
We are so busy in our lives meeting KPIs and targets at work, and then fail to utilise their effectiveness in our own lives. Truly and honestly ask yourself what you want from your body, create a top 5 objectives and then start to work towards achieving them one by one. You may need help on this route - through a personal trainer, a fitness website, or perhaps through some research.

10. Live to love your life everyday!
Perform a light 10 minutes exercise regime that is quite easy every morning to increase your energy levels for the day. A light jog or mini outdoor session is perfect to inject your lungs with fresh air, get your blood pumping, elevate your hormonal state and yet not cause any undue fatigue; it makes you feel great!

Remember if you feel great, you make other people feel great too, and then this spirals – it’s infectious!
Life takes its toll on us everyday; don’t let it beat you and get you down. Take everyday as a new challenge, look forward to each new obstacle and keep records of how you keep achieving, as it makes us all feel great!

It only takes a few minutes; the key to physical success is quality, intensity and unquestionable progression not quantity, duration or frequency. Every second counts, enjoy every one of them!

How to use household items to get fit – written by Steve Harrison

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:15:00 +0000

Pillows
Pillows are good for instability and balance exercises like one leg squats, the thicker the pillow the harder it will be to balance; this is great for ankle and core stability benefits.

Basketball/football
As a replacement for medicine balls - placing a ball under both hands as you perform push ups works your core harder than when you do them on the floor. A ball is also great to perform a straight arm plank on where you hold onto the ball and then try to keep your body steady as you balance for as long as possible – remember to maintain normal breathing patterns. The Figure of 8 pass is great too; hold the ball in front of you, pass it through your legs around one side then through and to the other side, perform a many as possible in one minute.

A towel
For stretches - while lying on the floor, loop a towel behind one ankle. Grab the towel from both ends, and bring the towel and leg towards your chest to stretch out your hamstrings.

String/Rope
Loop the rope over a solid base or through a wall hook, and then use as a suspension trainer like TRX, great for performing incline pull up exercises where you just lift your bodyweight up toward the rope, also incline reverse flyes where you pull your arms apart as you pull up to further engage your upper back musculature is also a great suspension training exercise.

Soup tins/milk cartons
Soup tins can be used for long lever arm exercises like lateral raises, squat and shoulder front raises and also to add some resistance to plyometric movements like jumping jacks and spotty dogs.

A book
a small pile of books is great to create a split level base to perform your exercises from, such as squats with one leg higher on the books, or press ups again with one arm higher up on the book; this split level stance will then dominate one side of the body more than the other so be sure to perform this on both sides to achieve balance.

Bungee cords/old tights
Stretching exercises - you can either make handles in the ends or just tie a knot, leaving space to loop your hands through. Step on the cord, and hold an end in each hand, then lunge forward and push your arms overhead, alternating legs every rep; or lunge sideways and rotate your arms across your body as you do so, again alternating legs every rep.

Chair
Chair Dips – great for the triceps, pecs and shoulders. Similar to bench dips at the gym - you simply use a chair instead.

Tennis balls/scrunched up socks
For grip strengthening exercises – simply squeeze a tennis ball or tightly rolled up pair of socks in each hand to strengthen your grip; aims for 10 second reps and perform 10-15 reps per hand; this is great to do whilst performing other lower body exercises at the same time.

Brooms/brushes
Can be used as barbells, great for good morning exercises, deep/low range of motion squats and lunges.

Paper plates or napkins
Can be used for gliding lunges when places beneath feet/attached to feet.

Elastic bands
Wrap an elastic band tightly around the outside of your fingers and thumb, then try to open your hand as wide as possible and hold out wide for about 5-6 seconds, repeat this 10 times per hand to help balance out wrist strength and lessen your risk of suffering repetitive strain injuries associated with the wrist, forearm and elbow.

Stairs
Obviously running up and down your stairs is a great cardio, aim for 6 steps up, 6 down; then every other step to the 6th high and down and repeat this interval pattern as many times as possible in 2 minutes. Also for the more adventurous and quite strong persons – you could try to walk the whole way down your stairs head first on your hands and feet and then back up (backwards, feet first) if you dare.

Sofas
From your relaxed seated position lift both feet slowly until parallel to the floor, then pull your tummy muscles in as tight as possible and lower back down slowly; perform this very slow and controlled for best effect. Also, place your feet on the sofa and get into front and side plank positions to add a decline angle to these exercises which will increase their difficulty.

Ceilings and floors
Floor to ceiling jumps – squat, lunge or even sit/lie down if you want a real hard challenge on the floor and then as fast as possible jump up and touch the ceiling with both hands (base of palms if you are tall enough); time how long it takes you to perform 15 reps.

Doors and handles
Open a door to 45 degrees, face the door holding onto both handles (both sides of the door) in both hands, then lunge forwards with your right legs while hingeing the door away from you as far as possible to your right with your arms, return to upright and perform again on the other side.

Tornado ball techniques and exercises - written by Ben McDonald

noreply@blogger.com (Premier Training International) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:55:00 +0000

What are the attributes a fighter must have? Strength? Speed? Power? Flexibility? One thing that any fighter must possess in order to be successful is rotational power. All movement in the Octagon has some sort of rotational aspect. The vast majority of the time the transverse (rotational) plain is the least-trained plain of motion, yet it is the plain that most injuries take place in. But how do we train the transverse plane effectively?

The most effective tool on the market to work this movement is the 'tornado ball', which is essentially a medicine ball on a rope. Thanks to physics, the closer you hold the rope to the ball the easier the movements become. This piece of equipment will give you the power to throw cows over fences, so if you want to generate force and rotate with the power of a tornado, drop these movements into your sessions.

Side-to-side slams

Start in a kneeling position with the ball to one side of the body.
Dynamically arc the ball over your head and slam it into the floor.
Bounce the ball from this position and arc it back over your head, slamming it into the floor. Repeat motion.

Note: For the hardcore try doing it while performing sit-ups.

Lying multi-directional slams

Start in a lying position with the ball on the floor above your head.
Dynamically arc the ball over your body and slam it into the floor next to your left foot.
Bounce the ball from this position and return it over your body, swinging it above and around your head and then across your body again, slamming it into the floor next to your right foot.
Alternate directions.

Wall slams

Start in a standing position around eight inches away from the wall.
Dynamically arc the ball across your body and slam it into the right section of the wall.
Let the ball bounce, dynamically arcing the ball back across your body and let it Bounce off the left section of the wall. Repeat.

Wall slams 2.0

Start in a standing position around eight inches away from the wall.
Dynamically arc the ball across your body and slam it into the top right section of the wall.
Allow the ball to bounce and rotate your body so the ball arcs across to the bottom left section of the wall.
Let the ball bounce and bring the ball across your body slamming it into the bottom right section of the wall.
Allow the ball to bounce and rotate your body so the ball arcs across to the top left section of the wall then repeat the exercise.