Why You Should Stretch

Flexibility exercises (Stretching) stretch your muscles and can help your body stay flexible. These exercises may not improve your endurance or strength, but being flexible gives you more freedom of movement for other exercise as well as for your everyday activities.
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle’s felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • Stress relief. If you’re not someone who works out very often, stretching can still help you ease any stress-related aches
  • Reduce anxiety
  • Relief from sore muscles
  • Improved posture
  • Less risk of injury
  • Better flexibility
  • Relief from back pain

Post-exhaust Strength Training

Post-exhaust training method basically involves a compound exercise followed by an isolation exercise.

An example of this is a chin up paired with a straight-arm press down (to further fatigue the lats) or biceps curl (to further fatigue the arms). The idea behind this method of training is to further fatigue the major or minor muscle group involved in the compound exercise.

Causing maximal temporary exhaustion in a muscle result in more muscle damage and the accumulation of more metabolic by-products, both of which are important in muscle building.

But be careful not to overdo it with this type of training. With this in mind, ease into this specific type of training method.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • Muscle recruitment is being used maximally throughout the session
  • Increase muscle growth + strength
  • Adds variety to your training
  • Can help to burn fat
  • You are getting double the work on the big prime mover and only one set of work on the smaller synergist
  • The compound exercise requires more energy, so doing this first, whilst you are fresh my allow for more muscle recruitment
  • This is good to maintain core engagement if the compound movement has a higher risk of injury i.e. deadlift

Chest

The chest forms part of a larger group of “pushing” muscles in the upper body and is made up of three muscles: pectoralis major, minor and the serratus anterior.

PECTORALIS MAJOR

This is the larger of the chest muscles and is responsible for adduction of the arms, rotation of the arm forward and when the arms are raised in a fixed position (like you are wall climbing) it works with the teres major and the latissimus dorsi to pull your torso upwards.

PECTORALIS MINOR

This muscle sits below the pectoralis major and it attaches into the scapula. It is responsible for pulling the shoulder forward and down.

SERRATUS ANTERIOR

Also known as the “boxer’s muscle”. Although it might not be a true chest muscle, it is classed in this group because of its attachment on the ribs near the pectoral muscles.

Super Set Strength Training

The concept of a superset is to perform 2 exercises back-to-back, followed by a short rest (but not always). This effectively doubles the amount of work you are doing, whilst keeping the recovery periods the same as they are when you complete individual exercises.

Opposing Muscle Group

One very common form of a superset workout includes working two different areas of the body. For example, a common superset includes performing one upper body exercise (such as the bench press) and then immediately moving to a lower body exercise (such as the leg press).

Another easy method to plan supersets is to alternate with opposing muscle groups (antagonistic). You can combine the bench, which works the chest, with the seated row, which engages the back.

Same Muscle Group

The second way to perform a superset workout is to choose two different exercises that work out the same muscle group and then perform them back-to-back without a rest. Performing quadriceps extensions immediately after squats is an example of this type of superset. This type of superset works one individual area especially hard. It is a great way to focus on a particular area of the body.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • A huge timesaver
  • Increase muscle growth + strength
  • Adds variety to your training
  • Can help to burn fat
  • Improves heart health / lowers blood pressure
  • Strengthens bones
  • Boosts your mood and improves brain health

Why You Should Do Mobility Training

It combines mobility exercises that increase the range of movements and motions your body can perform. These include flexibility, but also balance, pliability and strength. The full combination is the best way to avoid injury.

Mobility is “proprioception” – our perception and awareness of our body’s positions and movements. Mobility training, then, includes a range of exercises designed to increase your range-of-motion, control muscles surrounding each joint, and help you move more actively.

Flexibility, on the other hand, is the stretching and lengthening of our muscles. When you can increase the stretch and length of your connective tissue, you can help your body through a full range of movements without causing injury, stiffness, and pain.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • Promotes good posture
  • Helps prevent knots and injuries
  • Relieves tension associated with sedentary lifestyles or over-exercising
  • Improves all-round functional fitness performance
  • Increases range of movement, helping us stay active and healthy longer in life
  • Reduces joint deterioration
  • Prevents aches and pains
  • Helps build stronger, more adaptive muscles and joints

Abductors and Adductors

Abductors

This group of muscles are responsible for hip abduction (moving the leg away from the midline of the body).

They also help with rotation of the leg at the hip joint and are necessary for being able to remain stable when walking or standing on one leg. In many people, these muscles tend to be weak which leads to walking and posture issues.

Other muscles included in the abduction movement are the sartorius, piriformis, glute maximus and the ITB.

When these muscles are weak, it can lead to injuries such as Achilles’ tendinopathy, patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, hamstring tendinopathy or plantar fasciitis.

Strength training can work well to reduce pain and strong muscles and tissues can protect against injury.

If you are injured then strength training will help heal you.

Adductors

An adductor muscle is any of the muscles that draws /pulls a part of your body towards the median line or towards the axis of an extremity. (You have adductor muscles in your thumb and big toe!)

The three powerful muscles in our thighs that make up the adductor group are the adductor longus, adductor brevis and the adductor magnus. They are ribbon like and are attached along the femur. Their primary action is adduction of the thigh, like squeezing your thighs together and they also help in the rotation and flexion of the hip.

The pectineus and gracilis, are also part of the adductor group of muscles.

If you experience “groin pull/strain” it will usually be one of these muscles that is causing it.

Other ailments related to imbalanced adductors include arthritis (ankle, knee, hip), plantar fasciitis, ankle sprain, chondromalacia (damage to the cartilage in the knee), IT band strain, piriformis syndrome, sciatica, and low back pain.

German Volume Training

German volume training (GVT) is an intense exercise program that builds the muscle mass and strength necessary for weightlifters to move beyond personal plateaus.

It’s sometimes called the 10-sets method. The training program involves high numbers of sets and repetitions with short resting periods in between. GVT stresses your muscles, which respond by triggering muscle growth. This training method helps bodybuilders and weightlifters build strength, increase muscle size, and develop lean body weight.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • Promote muscle growth
  • Build muscular strength
  • Builds a lean looking body
  • Boosts mood and mental health
  • Can promote weight loss
  • Good for motivation
  • Good for fast-twitch muscle fibre recruitment

Moderate Intensity Steady State Training

MISS, or Moderate-Intensity, Steady-State, is a similar form of cardio to LISS, but with increased speed and effort. For example, if your LISS cardio is walking at a fast pace, MISS would be a jog. At the beginning of MISS, your heart rate should be around 65-75% of your maximum heart rate, but as the time goes on, your heart rate should increase to around 75-80/85% of your maximum heart rate and stay there.

Your heart rate will get this high not because you are exercising at a fast speed like you would in HIIT, but because you are exercising at a continuously steady pace.

Doing this cardio for 30-45 minutes helps increase your overall cardiovascular endurance and gives you the base to perform HIIT and sprints more effectively.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

  • Reduced risk of injury
  • Exercise may feel more enjoyable
  • Helps to prepare you for the tougher sessions
  • Helps you to sleep better
  • Improves blood / sugar levels

Biceps

The biceps muscle has 2 heads, the long head and short head.

BICEPS BRACHII

This muscle is responsible for bending the forearm back towards the upper arm so is involved in lifting and pulling movements. It also plays a part in supinating the forearm, turning the palms to face upwards or forwards.

The biceps muscles lie between the shoulder and the elbow. It is one of three muscles that make up the front (or anterior) part of the upper arm. It shares the space with the Brachialis muscle and the Coracobrachialis muscle.

The biceps muscle crosses the shoulder and the elbow, making it one of the few muscles that cross more than one joint.

BRACHIALIS

This smaller muscle is located underneath the biceps brachii and on both sides. The brachialis assists with flexion of the elbow. One unique fact about this muscle is that it only becomes completely activated when the arm is being flexed but not actually moving.

Core

The core transfers the forces between your upper and lower extremities. The core and limbs need to be strong and stable before any form of movement can happen through the limbs so, the stronger you make your core, the more efficient and stronger your movements will be.

Your core comprises of more than just your abs and can be split into two categories: stabilisers and movers. Think of your core muscles as any muscle that are attached to the spine.

STABILISERS

  • Transverse Abominais
  • Internal Obliques
  • Lumbar
  • Multifidus Pelvic floor muscles
  • Diaphragm
  • Transverse spinalis

MOVERS

  • Rectus Abdominis
  • External Obliques
  • Erector Spinae
  • Latissimus Dorsi
  • Hamstrings
  • Hip abductors and adductors