Sometimes we are in needs of something new and a big boost to get going. Check out the BodyRockers new free 21 day plan that you can do on your own at home. I've been studying all morning and will continue until I head to teach spin and see clients this evening, this short 30min session was a perfect midday break and definitely got my heart rate up! http://www.bodyrock.tv/2014/03/24/bodyrock-bootcamp-day-1/
We recently purchased some protein from Bulkpowder in the flavour chocolate peanutbutter. Previously we've tried cheap protein from MyProtein and never been too impressed with the texture or flavour of it, so I want sure what to expect from another budget company. Normally I'm a protein snob and would go for PHD protein, however, after years of drinking it I can't stand the flavours anymore and since I've become a student again my funds do not cover their products.
Rather than ordering a big pouch, we decided to try a 500g one for under £10. I must say we were pleasantly surprised. The product blends well with water and there were no lumps. There was a nice peanutbuttery aftertaste, however, the product was far too sweet for my taste. There is not a lot of chocolate flavour, the product is as stated just very sweet. On the other hand, considering the price it was much tastier than other budget brands like MyProtein. So if you want a cheap protein product, that blends ok, has a good amount of protein with few carbs and that tastes ok (but not amazing); this product is definitely worth a try and won't leave you with an empty wallet. The first spinning class of the year at Ilkley Tennis Club is now completed. It was great to see so many people turn up eager to burn the Christmas induced love handles off.
Spinning is an excellent way to burn fat and increase heart rate. An average class will result in burning approximately 400-700kcal, depending on resistance used. My classes are a mixture of sprints, hill climbs, hill interval sprints and tough leg work for muscle strength. By the end of it everyone has a red glow and dripping in sweat. It is tough, but the feeling of accomplishment in the end is worth it. I would recommend spinning alongside strength and core workouts to get a well balanced training regime with optimal results. So if you haven't tried it yet, go and find your local class! Perhaps the New Year's antics resulted in an excessive amount of food or drink? Are you feeling a bit too fragile too start the new year with pounding the pavements? My suggestion is to do a gentle yoga practice with plenty of twists and forward folds. Give your body the chance to naturally detoxify your body by increasing blood flow so that the toxins can be transported out of the cells. The metabolic system will speed up and the lymphatic system will get rid of toxins. This is a naturally occurring chain of reactions, but you can aid the process and speed by stimulating these interactive systems.
I've included a few pictures of my practice from today as inspiration. The seated twists, Half Lord of the Fishes pose (2nd pictures with bind), will help to stimulate the kidneys and liver, stretches shoulders, hips and neck as well as giving your entire spine a massage and energises it. The standing twist strengthens your hips, glutes and legs, opens the chest and shoulders up and is thought to stimulate the digestive organs. So what are you waiting for? Pick your mat up and start twisting. Come the 2nd of January and the gyms will be making an absolute fortune on people who've made their New Year's resolution to get fit or to drop the extra Christmas lbs they have been gathering. Half way through February the attendance starts to drop and for many the resolution made in the new year is a memory long lost.
The questions is, how do you make a resolution last? When I set up goals and aims with my personal training clients I use the 'SMART' principle: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. One of the most common mistakes is to set a very generalised resolution, e.g. 'I want to lose weight' or 'I want to get ripped'. To make it more achievable it needs to be more specific. You will need to highlight what, why and how you are to do it. For example: I want to lose weight to fit into my old clothes and I will do this by going to the gym 3 times a week and by eating better' or 'I want to increase muscle mass for a competition by increasing the efficacy of my gym workouts and increasing my protein intake'. To increase the specificity of the resolution, you can make it measurable. If your goal is weight loss you can make this into a number by saying you want to shred 8 kg. If you're looking at increasing your muscle mass, but decreasing the amount of fat you carry, fat percentage will be more accurate than weight, so you may want to aim for e.g. a 7% fat loss. Some advanced scales can show your fat percentage, or you can get a personal trainer at your gym to measure yours. Perhaps you want to increase your cardiovascular fitness by running, then you can set the goal of completing e.g. a 10 km race. By doing this, you have something to refer your progress to and milestones to reach. You need to make your resolution 'attainable' by adjusting your environment and self perceptions. You need to believe in yourself in order to reach your goals. Don't dwell in negative thoughts about yourself or your resolution, instead look at the benefits of completing your resolution. Furthermore, weight loss or increasing lean muscle may be harder if your cupboards are stocked with Christmas chocolates... Additionally, without trainers and appropriate kit you are less likely to go out running. Make sure that you have the environmental, emotional and material requirements to complete your goals. Also make sure your resolution is 'realistic'. If you have never been much of a runner, perhaps aim for 5 or 10 km instead of a full marathon and remember to look at healthy time frames as losing 10 kg in a month is not realistic and neither is it healthy. Finally, set yourself a time frame and set yourself sub-goals. If your aim is to have lost 10 kg by the end of the year, set yourself smaller goals like having dropped a dress size within two months. If you've got a half marathon race in September, why not try and do a 10 km race in June? It will prepare you for your big raise and give you a feel of the adrenaline raised by the crowds. However, if you wish you reward yourself at the end of reaching your sub-goals and goals, please refrain from rewarding yourself with something that is counterproductive. If you've lost your sub-goal of body fat percentage for that fitness competition you've enrolled in, a big glazed doughnut is not going to be the most suitable reward. Instead maybe reward yourself with an outfit for your competition, a new base-layer for your autumn race or a new pair of jeans for your slimmed down thighs. I wish you all the best of luck in reaching your New Year's resolutions! Be kind to yourselves and listen to your bodies. If you're new to training or stepping it up, your body will ache and be sore. Allow yourself sufficient of time for recovery and the right nutrition to aid your muscles. Also acknowledge the fact that you are human, you may have a slip and you may struggle, don't be too hard on yourself as it will only create negative emotions and thoughts. Remember that you are embarking on your fitness journey for yourself and a healthy lifestyle that will hopefully go beyond the 'New Year'. Happy New Year! My favourite exercise of all times is the deadlift, an exercise most commonly associated with power lifting. It is the perfect example of an exercise that promotes overall body strength (Groves, 2000), it helps strengthen the legs, hips, back and abdominals. The deadlift is a compound movement and involves the utilisation of multiple joints such as ankle plantar flexion, knee flexion and extension as well as hip flexion and extension. he exercise is optimal as it utilises all major muscle groups in one power movement. It is also an exercise that you can use to continually challenge yourself with and you end up with an incredibly strong back.
A deadlift begins with the knees in and hips in flexion (a squat like position) where the hips remain higher than the knees. The erector spinae muscles are isometrically contracted and the traps act as stabilising muscles by keeping the scapulae in retraction. A bar is placed over the metatarsal area of the feet, which are shoulder-width apart, and the elbows are extended in order to grip the bar. From this position the ascending phase is initiated by simultaneous knee and hip extension. Gluteus maximus and the hamstrings are involved in the hip flexion and the quadriceps in the knee extension. The bar is lifted from the floor up to mid-thigh by the extension of the hips and knees and the erector spinae muscles are contracted concentrically. The hips are pushed slightly forward and the glutes are squeezed. In the descending phase the knees and hips flex simultaneously to return to the starting position. One thing to think about is that force generation increases with a higher bar height (George Et al 2012). Hence, using a proper Olympic bar weights with a larger diameter can be of benefit to your technique and performance. One of the most important joint movements involved in the deadlift is the hip joint and lumbo-sacral joints. If executed incorrectly one might experience a too great of a load in the lumbar (lower) back area resulting in lower back pain. Incorrect technique can hence lead to an increased risk of accruing injuries. The trick to avoid this is to keep your knees flexed in the start position and to keep the load as close to the body as possible throughout the start position and ascending phase.. When conducting a deadlift the bar should be pulled up and along your shins (shin pads are highly recommended!) this has been seen to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury (Rafael et al, 2000). On the contrary, having the load further away can increase the load placed on the L4/L5 area of the spine (Cholewicki et al 1991). In terms of injury, a recent case study from Sweden has interestingly enough indicated that the deadlift exercise may be useful in helping lower back pain with a discogenic origin. However, the results were not seen for lower back pain of arthogenic origin (Holmberg, Crantz & Michaelson, 2012). The size of the study limits any conclusions to be drawn about the application of deadlifts in discogenic back treatment and larger scale research is required. An alternative to the traditional deadlift is the straight legged deadlift, also known as the Romanian deadlift. The hip movement is very much the same in this exercise. but the knees do not go from flexion to extension but remain largely in extension (however a soft bend in the knees is essential in the initial phase of the lift). Sources: Beckham G.K., Lamont H.S.,Sato K., Ramsey, M.W., Haff G.G., Michael H., (2012) Isometric Strength of Powerlifters in Key Positions of the Conventional Deadlift, Stone Journal of Trainology Vol.1 pp.32-35 Cholewicki J., McGill S. and Norman R., (1991). Lumbar Spine Loads During the Lifting of Extremely Heavy Weights. Med Sci Jl of Sports Exer. Vol 23, pp. 1179- 1186 Earl J., Schmitz R., & Arnold B., (2011) Activation of de VMO and VL during dynamic mini-squat exercises with and without isometric hip adduction. J Eletromyogr Kinesiol. Vol. 11, pp. 59-67. Groves, B. (2000). Powerlifting: Technique and Training for Athletic Muscular Development. Holmberg D., Crantz H., & Micahelson P., (2012) Treating persistent low back pain with deadlift training – A single subject experimental design with a 15-month follow-up, Vol. 14,pp. 61-70 Nemeth G., (1984) On hip and lumbar biomechanics. A study of joint load and muscular activity, Scand J Rehabil Med Suppl, Vol. 10, pp. 1-35. Picture taken from here |