GB Personal Training Ltd

Health, Fitness & Wellbeing

Top 10 Core and Abs Exercises You're Probably NOT Doing

By Greg Brookes

Selecting the correct Core and Ab exercises doesn’t have to be difficult. The days of Sit-Ups and Crunches are over unless you want to destroy your posture and ruin your lower back. The Core and Abs need to be targeted in a scientific way, from all directions, and in a way they are designed to function.

With all this in mind here are my selection of top 10 Core and Ab exercises:

1. Slow Mountain Climbers

The core is primarily designed to prevent movement of the spine, this protects your spine from sudden movements or impacts that may threaten you. Slow Mountain Climbers place the spine in a stable position with gravity pushing down on it. By alternatively drawing the knees to the elbows you challenge your spines stability as well as activating the obliques.

2. Side Plank with Rotation

A lateral spinal stability drill but with an added movement. Like the slow mountain climbers the core works hard to prevent the spine from collapsing. By rotating and threading the arm underneath the body you challenge your spinal stability further and at the same time work your thoracic rotation. Limitations in the thoracic spine are responsible for issues in the lower back so this additional movement is an added bonus.

3. Cable Chop

The core can be attacked in four directions from the cable chop: top right to bottom left, top left to bottom right, bottom right to top left and bottom left to top right. Here the main objective is to prevent rotation of the spine. Reset the weight stack after each rep and learn to re-engage the core each time. It is interesting to note which of the 4 quadrants listed above you struggle with most and then progress this quadrant to balance out your core.

4. Roll Outs

Remember the old AB wheels, well they are back! Rolling out forwards with your hands on the wheel requires a huge amount of core strength and activation as the body tries extremely hard to avoid collapsing at the lower back. This can be a very hard exercise for the beginner but can be made easier by using a stability ball and starting from the knees.

5. Side Plank with Leg Raise

Similar principles to the “Side Plank with Rotation” above but this time you include some hip ABduction. For this exercise you stay in the side plank position and raise the top leg slowly. Avoid external rotation or opening of the hips, stay in line. This exercise is not only intense on the lateral workings of the core but also strengthens the Glute Medius, an important muscle for hip stability and often weak in today’s society.

6. Bird Dog with Rotation

A fundamental exercise that concentrates on the sling systems that connect shoulder to opposite hip. From all fours the opposite arm and leg are extended activating the back extensors. The elbow is then brought towards the knee and then extended out again. Notice how this movement pattern emulates our basic walking and running cross pattern. Strength in this pattern is paramount for general movement and function in daily life.

7. Dirty Dogs

A great number of the core muscles are designed to prevent the back from being over extended. Simple Up and Down Dogs as performed in Yoga will leave you with sore abs as your core works hard to prevent you from over extending your back in the Upwards Facing Dog position. You can take this traditional yoga movement and make it slightly more demanding by reaching back towards the opposite toe in the down dog position.

8. Push Ups

We are all familiar with the regular push up but did you know that they are a great core strengthener too? Push Ups are difficult for many people, not because they have weak upper body strength but because they have weak core strength. You can think of the push up as a moving plank. Clap Push Ups and Push Ups off a Swiss Ball just add more of a core challenge as the demand to stay rigid increases. Ever wondered why some guys can bench press hundreds of pounds but can’t do many push ups? Well now you know, strong chest but weak core!

9. Diaphragm Breathing

The Core and Abs can be divided into Inner and Outer. The Outer consists of all the famous muscles: 6 pack abs, obliques etc. The Inner core is what braces and provides a compression chamber to support the spine. No need to wear a weight lifters belt when you can strengthen your own inner corset and provide your own as nature intended. Simple deep diaphragm breathing from all fours drawing in the naval towards the spine on the Out breath and pushing it out on the In breath, will strengthen your inner corset and take inches off your waist.

10. Interval Sprints

Not only great for fat loss and cardiovascular conditioning but intensive on the core muscles too. Fast and explosive cross diagonal engagement of the core is as nature intended. You don’t have to sprint from a wild animal just try 5-8 sprints of 20-30 seconds resting until your heart rate comes back down to 60-75 % of you max heart rate before repeating. Ensure you have a good level of Cardio health before trying this one!

These are my top core exercise recommendations. With the addition of a good clean nutrition plan, and a reduction in stress levels and you are well on your way to the body of your dreams.

Have you tried any of these Exercises? Let me know how you got on below…

What Everybody Ought to Know About Fat Loss

By Greg Brookes

Have you ever wondered why you simply cannot lose weight or reduce that bulging belly? Well here is your answer…Fat Loss is a little more complicated than many think, there is no miracle exercise. It is important to look at the body as a whole. Here are the 3 fundamentals that you will need to follow in order to lose that stubborn fat and feel a million dollars.

what everybody ought to know about fat loss
Image by Randomplaces

1. Stress

Stress produces energy as a survival mechanism. Look out there’s a tiger! The body produces huge amounts of energy in order to optimise escape or deal with the situation. Getting stressed and producing energy while sitting down at work causes a rise in energy but no way of spending it. The body has to work hard to deal with excess energy, the hormone insulin is used to store energy in both the liver and our fat cells. So stress really does make you fat!

Stress also causes stimulation of the Sympathetic Nervous System (Fight or Flight) and shuts down the opposite the Parasympathetic Nervous System (Rest and Digest). So the whole time we are stressed we are unable to digest our food. So don’t eat at your desk choose a quiet and peaceful environment for good digestion.

Over stimulation of our stress hormones can wear out our Adrenal Glands. The more stress false alarms the body has to deal with, whether its from stimulants like caffeine or cigarettes, or from work, financial or relationship stress, they all contribute to exhausting your Adrenal Glands. Worn out Adrenal Glands lead to excessive fatigue and a whole host of hormonal issues including weight gain.

2. Nutrition

Food intolerance is a big problem today. Most people suffer in some degree or another. Gluten is the biggest problem. Dairy is also another. Many foods are now highly processed or relatively new to our ancient digestive systems. Food intolerance’s can cause leaky gut syndrome, auto immune problems, bloating, depression, and fatigue to name just a few.

Toxins are also a major problem. We are digesting more toxins today than ever before. Most vegetables are sprayed with chemicals all of which must be dealt with by the body. We all store toxins in our fat cells. Fat provides a natural barrier to protect the vital organs from the problems of toxic chemicals. Unless you eliminate as many toxins as possible your body will retain fat to protect the body.

Balancing blood sugar levels is vital for fat loss. Carbohydrates and stimulants are the enemy here. The more the body has to deal with surges of simple sugars the more it struggles to maintain an energy balance and stores energy in our fat cells. To stay energised, free of cravings and reduce fat storage you must manage your blood sugar levels.

3. Exercise

Most of us sit all day. We need to move more, the opposite of movement is death. So lets get moving. You don’t need to run to work or go nuts at a gym class you just need to move more often. Walk more, play more and have fun with your body 🙂

Most workouts and exercise routines in magazine don’t work in tune with your body and nature. The body dictates how it should move. Bicep curls are great for body building but useless for fat loss or everyday life. We need to be intelligent about how we exercise and base all movements on how the body is designed to move. We need to stimulate as many muscles as possible and enjoy ourselves.

Everyone is different, we don’t all need the same type of exercise. A one size fits all approach to workout design will only get you so far. We need to start at the centre and work outwards. Make progressions in a safe and logical way. Running before you can walk is ridiculous, and so is professional workout routines for unprofessional athletes. We need to use common sense and tailor make workouts to our abilities and not someone else’s.

Do you struggle with Fat Loss? Let me know your biggest problem below…

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Stretching

By Greg Brookes

stretching
Image by theloushe

#1 – You’re Not Just Stretching Muscle

Every time you stretch you are not just hitting your muscles but other soft tissue too. Fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds muscles, blood vessels and nerves also gets stretched. Lets also not forget the tendons that connect your muscles to your bones. So next time you think you are performing a quad stretch realise that so much more is being put under strain and you may not be targeting the muscle as much as you think you are.

#2 – Everything is Connected

Thomas Myers in his revolutionary book “Anatomy Trains”Âť describes how the body is comprised of connecting pathways of soft tissue. These pathways run through the entire body, some connecting soft tissue from head to toe. With the body interconnected in this way it turns localised stretching into globalised stretching. In other words, by stretching one section of the soft tissue pathway you are influencing other areas throughout that pathway. A simple example is how repeated wearing of high heel shoes shortens the Superficial Back Line (runs from the sole of the foot to the forehead up the back of the body) and can result in back pain and headaches.

#3 – Stretching De-Activates Muscles

The act of lengthening a muscle reduces the ability for that muscle to contract. This is a very useful theory that can be used to assist and activate other muscles. For example stretching the Hamstrings can assist in the firing of the Glutes if the firing pattern of the hip extensors is off. Stretching a muscle certainly will not render it useless but it will reduce its ability to contract.

#4 – We Should All Stretch Differently

We are all unique and have different length tensions throughout the body. There is no “One size fits all”Âť stretching program. Just like tuning a musical instrument we must only address the strings that need adjustment. It is important to understand your own body and then make adjustments accordingly.

#5 – Breathing Influences the Stretch

Deep breathing stimulates the Parasympathetic nervous system and this causes the body to relax. Mediation makes good use of this technique, as does Yoga which is fundamentally about ”The Breath”. When the body is relaxed it lets go of muscle tension. When you stretch you can use the breath to increase your stretching range of movement. As you slowly move into the stretch take a deep and long breath out and feel your tension release, do not fight it. As you breath in come out of the stretch slightly and then return into the stretch as you breath out again.

#6 – Stretching Can Be a Waste of Time

Stretching can be a waste of time if your body NEEDS to retain that tension for stabilisation reasons. A good example is the hamstrings being used to maintain core stability through pelvic alignment. No matter how many times you stretch the Hamstrings they will continue to Grip the pelvis so long as your core stability is weak. The solution is to strengthen the core muscles that maintain pelvic alignment thus enabling the hamstrings to relax. If a muscle simply won’t lengthen then you must look at why it is being held under tension.

#7 – Stretching Can Cause Injury

Knots, Adhesion’s and Scar Tissue leave our soft tissue weak and vulnerable. Putting poor quality soft tissue under strain through stretching can cause further damage. Think about stretching an elastic band with a knot tied in the centre, the knot gets tighter and produces weak breaking points. Spending time addressing your soft tissue through massage and foam rolling will go a long way to improving it quality.

#8 – Stretching is NOT a Warm Up

Static stretching has it place at the beginning of a workout as part of a corrective exercise program but should not be thought of as a warm up. Mobilising the joints and dynamically taking the body through the movement patterns used in the forthcoming workout are far better ways to prepare the body for exercise. Stretching should be thought of as corrective and nothing more!

#9 – Better to Stretch Away From Exercise

Stretching can be done at anytime but stretching when the body is relaxed is the most effective time for correcting muscle tissue length. Stretching in the evening is best. If you try and change soft tissue length during your workout time the sympathetic nervous system is often active and the muscles finds it hard to relax. You can however perform maintenance stretching at this time.

#10 – Stretching is 3 Dimensional

We have over 600 muscles in the body and they all run in different directions. When you stretch you need to consider the angle of the muscles on stretch. For example you have 3 Hamstrings and by just internally or externally rotating the legs you can hit different muscles. If you find one stretch easy then try it from a different angle. You body will always chose the easiest path so look for the lines with restriction.

 

What is a Personal Trainer

By Greg Brookes

A personal trainer can be defined in many ways. I guess a very broad way to understand what a personal trainer does is, someone that helps you achieve your health and fitness goals. Exactly how a personal trainer achieves your desired goals varies dramatically from one trainer to the next.

what-is-a-personal-trainer
Image by Manonphi

Personal Assessments

The first thing that a personal trainer should do is assess your current situation and your goals. There are many assessments that can be performed, here are the most common ones:

Bio-mechanical Movement Assessments: These assessments are used to check to see exactly how you move and whether you have any movement dysfunctions that need to be addressed. You can expect to be taken through a series of movements that involve squatting, lunging, bending, twisting and reaching. These types of assessments, in my opinion, are crucial because it ensures that you address movements that may cause you problems in the future! However, you will only find more advanced trainers are performing these types of assessments.

Body Fat Composition: Some trainers will test your body fat composition so they can work at reducing your fat to muscle ratios. There are various ways to test your total body fat.  Skin calipers involve measuring a pinch of skin from various parts of the body and bio-electrical impedance is where a light electrical current is run through the body. Skin calipers can be very accurate but the skill lies in the hands of the trainer and unless they are very well trained this test is often misunderstood.

Contraindications: Testing for movement contraindications may also be performed by a fitness trainer. These tests are very simple and involve moving limbs in certain directions to see if these cause pain or discomfort. Any signs of pain during these movements should be referred out to a specialist.

PARQ: This almost standard assessment stands for Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire. The form is a simple list of yes or no questions. If you answer Yes, to any of the questions then it is recommended that you visit you local doctor. Having a check up before commencing exercise isn’t a bad idea anyway.

Nutrition and Lifestyle: A good trainer will ask you a series of questions on your nutrition and lifestyle. These questions will vary from one trainer to the next but should include things like your: Activity History, Medical History, Occupation, Interests, Allergies, Current Medication etc. Good trainers will also have you complete a food diary, sleep diary and energy diary for at least 7 days.

Exercise Coaching

One of the principle roles of a personal trainer is to show you exactly how to perform exercises safely and effectively. The trainer should be very attentive to how you move and flexible enough to change exercises should one of them cause you a problem. The trainer should also have knowledge of how to adjust the variables of exercise like: Reps, Sets, Time and Tempo.

personal trainer coaching
Image by Grmcucd

Depending on your goals your trainer should produce an action plan that includes: how many times per week you are going to exercise, exactly what types of exercises you will be performing, and how many sessions they expect you to perform before certain goals are reached. Don’t let a trainer ‘fob you off’ if you ask these questions and they can’t produce the goods. All experienced trainers should be able to predict future goals and use a periodised (structured plan) of workouts to get you there.

Personal Trainers are either based in a gym facility or they will travel to you. Travelling trainers will supply you will all the equipment that you require. Good in home trainers can deliver fantastic results without the use of much equipment and can train you in a small space in your own home. If your trainer is based in a gym facility then you will be required to visit them, which can be more time consuming.

Nutritional Support

I understand that not all personal trainers are qualified in nutrition and/or are able to support you with nutritional advice. In my experience you cannot separate exercise from nutrition. The majority of fat loss results will come from a good, clean, natural diet. You make muscle tissue, ligaments, bones, and tendons, all from the nutrition you eat. So eating poorly will only result in poor results.

A good trainer will monitor your food and drink intake and offer feedback. You should be asked to complete a weekly food and drink diary. Based on the findings of your food diary you may be asked to take a food intolerance test. The results from these tests and then taking action can have a drastic impact on the results you achieve.

Education and Motivation

I think one of the biggest reasons that people hire a personal trainer is for the motivation. A fitness trainer will push you harder that you usually push yourself. However, you should not be pushed too hard, so if you feel like it is too much then you should voice your concerns with your trainer. Many trainers make the mistake of training their clients the way they train themselves. So be aware of this and don’t be afraid to speak out.

Your personal trainer should also offer education during your training process. Listen carefully and remember that you hired a trainer for their expertise so keep your mind open.

Hiring a Personal Trainer

Employing a personal trainer could radically change your life. Most trainers should offer you a free consultation. Don’t be afraid to ask for a trial session. Find out what you will be doing and what assessments they offer. Reading testimonials can be another great way to feel confident with your hiring decision.

Most of all have fun, stay safe and get some great results.

Do you have any questions about personal trainers? If so ask them below…

 

 

6 Ways to Improve Recovery After Exercise

By Greg Brookes

Recovery from exercise is just as important as the exercise itself. Without a suitable recovery program you will take a long time to heal, suffer from fatigue and ultimately struggle with reoccurring injuries. Here is my guide to recovery and 6 options you should consider:

1. Sleep

Its is during sleep that the body releases anabolic hormones that repair itself both physically and mentally. During the evenings our cortisol levels drop and the Pineal Gland releases melatonin. It is melatonin that lowers the body’s temperature and causes drowsiness but it is the Central Nervous System that controls the sleep wake cycle. Stimulates like caffeine, bright lights and TV have a detrimental effect both on our Cortisol levels and Central Nervous System causing disrupted sleeping patterns. Avoid caffeine after 4pm and dim lights in the evenings. Follow your circadian rhythm and go to sleep with the sun and rise with the sun. This generally means head on pillow by 10.30pm. There is no more important recovery technique than sleep so make it your priority!

2. Nutrition

The body is influenced by everything you eat and drink at a cellular level. If you feed the body shitty protein shakes, sports drinks and vitamins, then body has to TAKE energy from your body in order to process this DEAD food. If you want to speed up recovery then you need to feed your body food with living content. Lots of fresh vegetates and fruit if you need the carbohydrate injection after a workout. The more muscle tissue you break down during a workout the more protein you will require. So eggs,  seared meats and Quinoa are excellent choices. If you are not exercising hard then you may need only a small amount of protein. Everyone is different so listen to your body. Ultimately, good nutrition if vital for quicker recovery.

3. Passive & Active Rest

There are 2 main types of rest, passive and active. Passive rest involves little energy so you may sit and read a book, meditate under a tree or go to the theatre. Active rest involves movement but not so intense that it requires a healing response. Examples are Tai Chi, Walking in Nature, Gentle Cycle Ride, Yin Yoga or Qi Gong. I personally like Active rest, it pumps the systems of the the body and brings fresh nutrients and life into the body.

4. Foam Rolling

Often called the poor mans massage, foam rolling is an excellent tool for soft tissue recovery. Foam rolling the muscles can help to improve soft tissue quality. As the body gets pulled and pushed through daily life knots and adhesion appear due to micro trauma to the tissue. Foam rolling can help improve the movement of soft tissue as well as bring fresh blood and nutrients to the damaged area. Never roll onto joints and never roll an area that causes pain.

5. Massage

If you have the money and the time then this is a great option for recovery. Not only is massage beneficial for the body but its great for the mind too and if done correctly can induce a parasympathetic response (causing the body to de-stress). Just like the foam roller a good therapist will focus on improving soft tissue quality. Another benefit is the stimulation of the lymphatic system which connects directly with the immune system. For many people who do not have a regular massage it can induce cold like symptoms as the body cleans itself.I personally try to get a massage every 1-2 weeks and I love it!

6. Cold Showers and Ice Baths

Like many of these recovery techniques Ice Baths or Cold showers cause a flushing or pumping of the system that helps to eliminate toxins from the body. Ice baths and ice packs will also help to reduce infamation of the body. I personally like to take a cold shower after exercise.