If, 12 months ago, you had told me I would be practicing yoga almost every day, I would have probably told you that you were confusing me with someone else! I’ve always played sport, trained for sports or just trained but, except a brief spell when I was a long jumper and another when I flirted with martial arts, stretching has never been one of my favourite activities. I am, by nature a hard trainer and, if I had any energy left at the end of a workout, I used it for an extra set of squats, some sprints or core work. Stretching was one of those things I always put “on the back burner” for tomorrow. Of course, tomorrow never comes!

It seems though that my lack of stretching finally caught up with me when I hit 40. Suddenly, and I mean virtually overnight, my knees, shoulders and back all started causing me problems. Getting up in the morning was a workout in itself and my joints and muscles seemed have aged by about 20 years. My muscles and joints were so stiff that I needed a warm up before I warmed up!

I decided that drastic action was required to regain some flexibility and mobility and, as I’ve mentioned, I didn’t enjoy stretching very much so I decided to hire a yoga personal trainer to help me. My plan was to learn a few new stretches and have someone stand over me to make me stretch. When Vanessa, my Yogi, turned up it transpired she had worked with lots of people with my background and had actually worked with professional skiers in America. We chatted about my injuries – current and old – talked about my personality and approach to training decided that Ashtanga Vinyasa or Power yoga was probably the form of yoga I was going to enjoy the most. This form of yoga links stretches and exercises together to form routines and the fact the word power was used greatly appealed to me!

The first thing Vanessa taught me was how to breathe. After 42 years I kind of thought I was a fairly proficient breather but in yoga, breathing is an exercise in itself. Yogic breathing focuses on using your diaphragm and abdomen rather than your chest muscles and most breathing is done nasally. Yogic breathing does a number of things…it gives you something to think about while your muscles are quivering and you’re thinking “I’ve got to touch my WHAT with my WHAT!” (a handy distraction), it really gets you sweating and it also helps to time your yoga practice: poses are linked together in time with your breathing and are held for a certain number of breaths so it saves having to look at your watch. Yogis will also tell you that nasal breathing increases your internal temperature but as I normally practice my Yoga on a balcony in 30 degree Cyprus sunshine I can’t attest to this!

How to breathe like a Yogi
To get a handle on diaphragmatic breathing, lie on your back and place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your chest. Breathe normally and note which hand moves. Probably both do but the hand on your chest is likely to move the most. Try breathing so that only your lower hand moves. Push your stomach out as you inhale and contract your abs gently as you exhale. Your chest should barely rise at all. It’s pretty easy to do this while lying on your back, all nice and relaxed, but it’s a different matter altogether when you performing another round of sun salutations or one of the more strenuous poses. Vanessa sometimes has to remind me to breathe as, believe it or not, I’m often so busy concentrating on my form that I genuinely forget!  

My First Practice
I was pretty nervous about my first yoga session. I’d seen a few classes and read a few books and marvelled at the contortions of the people in the pictures and, considering my inability to tie my shoelaces without a warm up beforehand, I was worried that I might not be able to do any of the poses. As it happens, yoga has embraced the stiff western body and there are numerous props, straps and adapted poses available for people like me. Can’t touch your toes? Use a strap looped around your foot. Can’t reach the floor? Place a block on the floor instead. Neck muscles as tight as guitar strings? Rest your head on a pillow. As you practice more and your flexibility improves, you’ll need the props less and less and hopefully, with some dedication, eventually be able to perform the full un-adapted poses.

My preconceived opinion that yoga was an “easy” workout was soon in tatters. Within minutes I was hot, sweaty and breathing hard – albeit through my nose. Power yoga flows from one pose to another in a similar way to Kata or form training in martial arts. Other than the occasional break for a sip of water and for Vanessa to demonstrate a position, we didn’t stop for 90 minutes. By the end I was feeling stretched, limber, pleasantly tired but also energised.

What I like About Yoga
It’s odd. I come from a background of “train hard or go home” and even though I worked as hard as I could, and there were times where I thought that I couldn’t hold a pose for the “one more breath” that was required, the more I felt I was becoming energised. I have literally crawled out of the gym after a brutal leg workout and actually fell asleep in the changing rooms after a 2 hour burpee marathon but with yoga, no matter how hard I work, I feel like energy is being poured into my body. It’s the only form of training I’ve ever done, and there aren’t many I haven’t, that doesn’t leave me feeling drained.  Rather than feel like I need a carb up and a nap, yoga leaves me ready to get on with the rest of my day.  

What I don’t like about Yoga
For every 5 great, beneficial and effective poses in yoga, there seems to be one that just makes me think that the inventor is having a laugh at my expense! Some of the poses are impossible – or at least they are for me and others are actually too risky for my western body to even try. A couple of poses that simultaneously compress and rotate the knee joints hurt to look at and I have flat out refused to do them. Some poses may present an injury risk for some people so it’s important you work within your own limitations. This is why I work with Vanessa on a one-to-one basis and don’t go to yoga classes. With Vanessa’s experience of working with athletes and my feedback we can individualise my practice to suit my uniquely battered body!

A few months later…
I probably do some yoga everyday now. It might only be a few sun salutations before a weights workout or 20 minutes as part of a cool down after circuit training but I make a point of doing some every day. I still have a full 90 minute yoga lesson once a week because I know I can fall into bad habits if left unsupervised and, more importantly, I really enjoy it! Some of the poses are still very tough for me but, with Vanessa’s guidance, encouragement and creative use of props (and reminders to breathe!) I’m making good progress and my form is improving constantly.

Because yoga seems to put back into my body what all my other hard training takes out, I make sure I do some my designated rest days – normally an hour or so. This has had no impact on my recovery except I recover better practicing yoga on my days off compared to doing nothing.

As I hoped, my flexibility has improved significantly, especially in my hips and hamstrings which has translated into deeper squats and better dead lift technique and, most importantly, I no longer feel like my body is heading for the scrap heap. I don’t have to psyche myself up to pick up my socks and I don’t let out an audible groan getting out of bed anymore. Diamond Dallas Page, in his great book “Yoga for Regular Guys” says that “flexibility is youth” and I honestly think that, in fitness, never a truer word has been said!

LBP can be defined as ‘muscle tension or stiffness located in the area between the 12^th rib and the inferior gluteal folds’ – your ribs to your butt!

It is believed that 60-80% of all adults world wide will experience LBP in their lifetime; with the highest prevalence found amongst the 40-60 age groups. Research is now showing that LBP is also increasing in the younger populations i.e. under 20 years of age.

There are many causative factors for LBP. As little as 10% of LBP has an identifiable cause which means that up to 90% of cases may have no underlying cause.

POTENTIAL CAUSATIVE FACTORS.

Mechanical Loading.

Let’s put the ‘Red Flags’ such as trauma, injury and structural defects to one side for now.

Those working in hard manual work certainly have a higher incidence of LBP. Children who carry a back pack that weighs more than 20% of their body weight are now showing higher levels of LBP. Sedentary jobs and those who spend periods of time hunched over their mobile telephones or playing computer games do to.

Functional Movement and Alignment.

Your muscles work on a pulley and lever system IE if one is shortened then the other is lengthened. With any injury there is a decrease in muscle activation in the affected area. Other muscles will respond by becoming over active. This change in recruitment patterns particularly when applied to your back will pull your pelvis out of its correct natural alignment, leading to uneven weight distribution in the intervertebral discs and the potential for LBP to develop over time.

Pychosocial.

Scientific data on LBP and psychosocial factors is still limited and at times is inconsistent. Many of these factors are considered ‘Yellow Flags’ when it comes to LBP. For example job dissatisfaction, poor social support etc. The use of psychosocial screening tools is essential. For example Fear Avoidance Questionnaires and the ABCDEFW (Attitudes, Behaviours, Economic, Diagnosis, Emotions, Family and Work) Back Pain Screening Pneumonic look specifically at attitudes and beliefs, economic issues and emotions amongst other things.

Personal trainers working with clients with LBP should ensure that they utilise a combination of tests during their assessment process not solely relying on physical tests. These are known as subjective and objective test. Objective tests are the physical tests for example deep breathing, pelvic tilting, squat test and Thomas Test etc and subjective tests make up the more psychosocial or psychological screening tests discussed above.

TWO COMMON POSTURAL CONDIITIONS LEADING TO LOW BACK PAIN.

Lower Cross Syndrome.

This syndrome is typically found in individuals who sit for prolonged periods of time with their spine in a flexed position. IE leaning forwards.

Vladimir Janda MD, an expert in muscle imbalances, describes Lower Cross Syndrome (LCS) as ‘over activity of the thoraco-lumbar extensors, rectus femoris and iliopsoas group as well as reciprocal weakness of the glutes and abdominal muscles.’  

IE in layman’s terms if the abdominal muscles and glutes are weak then the erector spinae and iliopsoas (hip flexor) groups are tight.  

LCS may present with an increased lumbar lordotic curve or lower back arch.

Why? If you sit in a constantly flexed position your erector spinae group has to work extra hard to hold you in an upright position while your iliopsoas and rectus femoris (muscle at the front of the thigh making up the quadriceps group) are constantly shortened leading to the tightness described.

In this syndrome your pelvis is typically in an anterior tilt. It is a distortion syndrome of your lower lumbar kinetic chain. Imagine your pelvis as a bowl containing liquid. If you stand with your hands on your hips, would this bowl be tipping liquid out of the front or the back? If is from the front then it is an anterior tilt.

Pelvic tilting as an objective test is a fantastic tool. It allows us to test the motor control between the spine, pelvis and hips. A tilt either posteriorally or anteriorally will lead to increased stresses on your lumbar spine.

How can we correct this?

• Stretching including the use Self Myofascial Release or SMR is one way of stretching out these tight muscles.  Your muscles are covered with fascia – a type of connective tissue. This tissue has in all likelihood become tight and restricted leading to hot spots. The aim of SMR or foam rolling is to break down these hot spots by relaxing the contracted muscle, therefore reducing inflammation and increasing lymphatic drainage while stimulating the stretch reflex. It is a bit like rolling out pastry with a rolling pin but more painful! 
• Strengthening and stabilization training. You should aim to work on the weakened muscles of the glutes and the abdominals through specific programming and look at improving your lumbo – pelvic hip control. 
• Client education. As a fitness professional our role is to explain to our clients why they have the pain they do. The client then gains an understanding of why and is at less risk of injury and ultimately will be able to self manage. This is known as Motor Learning Progression.

Upper Cross Syndrome

This syndrome is typically found in individuals who sit and work at a desk all day.

Janda describes Upper Cross Syndrome (UCS) as ‘over activity of the upper trapezius, levator scapulae, sternocleidomastoid and pectoralis muscles and reciprocal weakness of the deep cervical flexors, lower trapezius and serratus anterior.’

IE in layman’s terms if the upper traps, levator scapulae, sternocleidomastoid and pecs are tight the neck flexors, serratus anterior and rhomboids are weak.

Due to these imbalances in the head and shoulder region, UCS may present with an excessive forward head tilt, hunching in the thoracic spine with shoulders in an elevated and protracted position. 

In this syndrome the poor posture will lead to chronic pain overtime, muscular aches and pains, headaches and premature ageing in the intervertebral discs.

How can we correct this?

• Stretching including the use Self Myofascial Release or SMR is one way of stretching out these tight muscles.  Your muscles are covered with fascia – a type of connective tissue. This tissue has in all likelihood become tight and restricted leading to hot spots. The aim of SMR or foam rolling is to break down these hot spots by relaxing the contracted muscle, therefore reducing inflammation and increasing lymphatic drainage while stimulating the stretch reflex. It is a bit like rolling out pastry with a rolling pin but more painful! 
• Strengthening and stabilization training. You should aim to work on the weakened muscles of the glutes and the abdominals through specific programming and look at improving your lumbo – pelvic hip control. 
• Client education. As a fitness professional our role is to explain to our clients why they have the pain they do. The client then gains an understanding of why and is at less risk of injury and ultimately will be able to self manage. This is known as Motor Learning Progression.

As previously highlighted many causes of LBP remain unclear but with time both of the syndromes mentioned above can be treated. These are common postural problems and very relevant to the age that we currently live in. Don’t become a victim of your environment. Regular exercise, regular stretching. Make it part of your life today!

Pippa Crowther.

www.getpipfit.co.uk

It’s legs all the way today with our The Leg Blaster Giant Set workout!

Duration: 20 minutes approximately
Equipment: Stopwatch
Method: Perform 3-5 laps of the following circuit and rest 60-90 seconds between laps. Adjust the reps up or down depending on your personal fitness level.

1. 12 squat jumps
2. 12 squats
3. 12 jumping lunges (12 per leg)
4. 12 lunges (6 per leg)
5. 30 seconds isometric wall squat

Types of Fibre

Fibre can be classified as soluble or insoluble. This refers to its interaction with water. Soluble fibre forms a gel-like substance as it passes through your digestive track. Like a dry sponge, it soaks up liquid as it passes though your intestines and absorbs small but significant amounts of bile acid, cholesterol, fats and other such nastiness in your digestive system. Soluble fibre is found in the soft flesh of fruits, vegetables and grains. Think of soluble fibre as your friendly digestive-tract cleaner!

Insoluble fibre, sometimes called roughage, is found in the tough outer husk of grains as well as the skins of vegetables and fruit. Insoluble fibre passes through your digestive system like an old-fashioned bottle brush and gives it a good internal scrubbing. This helps keep your innards nice and clean!

Fibre Requirements

Despite being calorie and nutrient-free, fibre offers a wide range of health benefits. The RDA (recommended daily allowance) for fibre is around 35 grams per day, split evenly between soluble and insoluble varieties. Your total daily fibre requirement varies according to your age, weight and the amount of food you are eating which is why you may often see a recommended range for fibre consumption of 24 to 35 grams. As fibre is calorie free, there is little harm in making sure you hit the upper ranges of this scale. If you are currently eating too little fibre and decide, as the result of reading this article to eat more, increase your daily fibre intake gradually. Going from a low fibre diet to a high fibre diet overnight is like trying to run a marathon on the first day you take up jogging. Increase your fibre intake slowly and gradually over a few weeks to minimize your chances of suffering digestive discomfort.

Fibre Benefits

Weight Control – as previously discussed, fibre is calorie free. This means that foods that contain a lot of fibre such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables are generally lower in calories than less fibrously-dense foods. To put this in perspective, an apple and a typical biscuit both contain around 60 calories. Because much of the mass of the apple is made up from calorie-free fibre and water, compared to sugar and fat in the biscuit, the apple is bigger, far more filling and much more satisfying to eat. Most of us can eat a few biscuits in a single serving but it’s pretty unlikely you’ll eat the same number of apples!

Filling up on fibre is a great way to prevent overeating. Stretch receptors in your stomach send signals to your brain when it is full so you know when to stop eating. This message can take as long as 30 minutes to be sent and delivered. Fibrous foods cause greater gastric distension than non-fibrous foods. Simply put, this means you feel fuller, quicker which results in your brain getting the “stop eating” signal sooner than usual. This limits your potential for overeating.

In addition to being low in calories, fibrous foods generally take longer to chew and eat and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Fibre is a major gastric inhibitor. This simply means that fibre delays the emptying of your stomachs contents into your small intestine. The longer food stays in your stomach, the longer you feel full. A real-world example of this phenomenon is Chinese food. It’s an old truism that after eating a Chinese meal, 20 minutes later you are hungry again. Why? White rice! White rice is mostly devoid of fibre and subsequently passes out your stomach and into your small intestine very rapidly. This means you can go from feeling full to feeling empty very quickly.

By delaying gastric emptying, fibre also helps to control your blood glucose levels. Large fluctuations in blood glucose can trigger corresponding fluctuations in insulin levels. Roller coasting blood glucose levels play havoc with your hunger. A rapid drop in blood glucose can often result in cravings for carbohydrate (one reason never to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach!) so by ensuring that your stomach empties slowly, fibre helps ensure that your blood glucose levels remain relatively stable.

Digestive Health

The hollow tubes of your intestines are made of smooth muscle and like the muscles of your chest, arms and legs, benefit from a regular workout. Fibre provides the means to exercise your digestive system. A diet devoid of fibre will result in poor intestinal health in the same way that a lack of exercise will result in a flabby, weak body.

To push food though your digestive system, the smooth muscular tubes that make up your digestive tract must squeeze inward in an action called peristalsis. Picture a snake swallowing an egg and the wave-like undulations as the snake squeezes the egg down the length of its body – that’s peristalsis.

Low fibre foods do not travel though your hollow digestive tubes very easily. A large amount of pressure is required to push food along. Imagine trying to get the very last bit of toothpaste out of the tube – it’s a real challenge! Fibre adds bulk to your food and, consequently, it passes though your digestive system much more easily and with far less pressure. Easy food passage and reduced food transit time (the time it takes from ingestion to elimination) has a major impact on digestive health and is strongly linked to a lower incidence of diverticular disease, also known as diverticulitis. This is a painful and serious medical condition where bacteria-filled bulges develop in the walls of your intestines. By consuming adequate fibre, intestinal pressure is kept to a minimum and there is much less likelihood of developing this unpleasant disease.

Getting Enough

While getting enough fibre is very important, supplementation is seldom the best way. Fibre supplements such as bran and psyllium husks do indeed provide fiber but they do not provide any of the other nutritious benefits associated with eating fibrous fruits, vegetables and whole grains; specifically vitamins and minerals. An overreliance on fiber supplements may actually result in a vitamin and mineral deficiency. The best way to get enough fiber in your diet is to eat a wide variety of fruit, vegetables, grains and other natural food. Refined foods such as white bread, white rice, white pasta and processed meals contain very little fibre so, wherever possible, seek out foods in their most natural and unprocessed state. Simply following the old advice of eating an apple a day is one way to make sure you are on your way to getting enough essential fibre in your diet.

The Deck of Cards workout is one of our favourites – we hope you like it as much as we do!

Duration: Against the Clock
Equipment: Deck of playing cards, skipping rope, stop watch
Method: Shuffle the cards, including the jokers, and place them face down. Work your way through the deck one card at a time. The aim of the “game” is to get through the pack as fast as possible. If you need to break your sets up with small rests then go ahead but remember the clock is ticking. Finish all the reps for one card before turning over the next. If you are unlucky and get a run of high cards…bad luck! Remember that each time a high card comes along, that’s one less high rep set you have to do.

Red cards = Squats
Black cards = Press ups
Jokers = 300 rope turns with the jump rope

Face value 1-10 = 1-10 reps e.g. 6 of hearts = 6 squats
Picture cards = 12 reps e.g. king of spades = 12 push ups

Don’t wear a weight belt – strengthen your core
Weight training belts are designed to provide your lumbar vertebrae with support, or that’s the theory anyway. In fact, weight belts work by helping to create intra-abdominal pressure or IAP for short. IAP is how your body stabilizes your spine from within by increasing pressure within your abdominal cavity. Basically, by pushing your stomach out against the resistance offered by the belt, you increase IAP and help stabilize your spine from within. So far so good…

The problem is, your body learns habits very quickly and so, if your wear a weight belt, every time you go to lift something heavy, your abs will press out against the belt to increase IAP. This is all well and good when you are in the gym and wearing your trusty belt but what happens when you are not at the gym, not wearing your belt and have to lift something heavy? Your body will do exactly what it has learnt to do in the gym and will push your abs outward. The problem is this: no belt for the abs to press against equals a reduction in IAP and an increase in serious injury potential. It’s not uncommon to hear tales from otherwise strong people that involve serious back injury when lifting relatively light weights outside of the gym – especially at osteopath and chiropractors offices! It all comes down to having developed a faulty muscle recruitment pattern. In essence, wearing a belt is fine until you don’t wear it…

To remedy this problem, belt wearers should learn to create IAP using their own muscles and not rely solely on using a belt. I’m not 100% anti weight training belts. If you are lifting really heavy weights then every bit of help you can get is of benefit – especially if you are lifting close to your 1RM. If however you are training for hypertrophy or muscular endurance, you really should think long and hard about the validity of wearing a weight belt.

To create IAP, perform this sequence whenever you lift weights. After a while, this should become automatic but until it does remember to “set your core” before each and every exercise.

• Pull up your pelvic floor – imagine you are trying to hold everything in!
• Brace your abs as though you are about to get punched in the stomach. DO NOT pull your abs in but merely tense them
• Breathe in

If you have got this right, you should feel your entire midsection solidify and become rigid – it’s a very powerful sensation. The trick is to time your inhalations and exhalations so that you maximize IAP at the hardest point in an exercise and release it when as the exercise gets easier. For example, inhale as you descend into the squat and exhale as you drive up to standing.

Finally, the theory that belts support your lower back is very flawed. A four to six inch wide weight lifting belt actually concentrates the load being lifted onto the small area above and below the belt. This is referred to as a shearing force and can be very injurious. If you put a sleeve around a pipe and then try to bend it, the pipe will bend at the edge of the sleeve. Your back is no different.

Bottom line – wearing a belt is acceptable for weight lifters working with maximal weights but for the rest of the exercising public, they actually decrease and not increase core stability.

Don’t do the same workout over and over – periodize
Your body is an amazingly adaptive organism. It will do it’s best to accommodate any form of stress you expose it to. Go out in the sun and your skin will darken, eat less and it will burn fat to provide you with energy, run and your heart and lungs will become more efficient. However, once it has adapted to the degree of stress you expose it to, it will not adapt any further until the level of stress increases. In essence, you are only as fit or strong as your last workout. If you want to improve your fitness, you need to increase the amount of stress you expose your body to. The workout that was so beneficial and productive last week is merely maintaining your fitness this week.

Part of the problem is that your body looks for ways to make exercise easier. Runners become more efficient, exercise class attendees learn the routines and therefore expend less energy, weightlifters learn to use greater numbers of muscle fibres…this all results in workouts getting easier over time and an easier workout will not make you fitter.

If you want to see improvements in your fitness, you need to “screw the nut” on a regular basis and keep increasing the intensity, duration and/or complexity of your workouts. How regularly? According to Hans Seyle, a Hungarian doctor who specialised in the effects of stress, it takes between four to eight weeks for you to adapt fully to a workout. Seyle’s work, called the GAS or General Adaptive Syndrome, suggests you should make major changes your workout every four to eight weeks. In addition, you should strive to work slightly harder on a week by week basis – called microcycle progressions. Athletes and sportsmen call this steady increase in intensity and/or duration periodization.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to progress indefinitely and after increasing your exercise workload week by week and month by month for a prolonged time you are likely to hit a plateau. This tends to happen more the closer you get to your genetic potential. To avoid hitting a plateau prematurely, it is worth using the four steps forwards one step back method of periodisation. In simple terms this means starting a new workout, increasing the intensity each week for four weeks, backing off for a week and then building up for another four weeks. On completion, take a break for one week and then start a new programme. By following this model you are much less likely to hit a plateau and should continue to make fitness progress for a long time to come.

Bottom line – if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got! Getting fitter or stronger requires a long term progressive plan where you work harder on a week by week basis and change your workouts every four to eight weeks. If what you are doing isn’t working, change it!

Get the most from your fitness and nutritional efforts by avoiding non-productive exercises and self sabotaging dietary habits. Get the results your commitment to fitness and exercise deserve by following our simple “don’t do that, do this” advice.

Don’t Isolate – Integrate
Contrary to popular belief, isolation exercises do not target individual muscles. Muscles work in synergy with other muscles to achieve the desired joint action. Even the leg extension and triceps push down, champions in the world of isolation exercises, work four and three major individual muscles respectively plus numerous minor muscles. So much for muscle isolation then! Isolation exercisers isolate joints and not muscles. The aforementioned leg extension and triceps push down involve movement around a single joint and should, more accurately, be described as single joint exercises rather than isolation.

The main point is that, despite our valiant attempts to train muscles in isolation (we can’t) by performing single joint exercises, this is not how your body was “designed” to work. No amount or leg extensions will increase your running or jumping ability. Set after set of side lying leg lifts will do very little for your butt. The best way to train these muscles, all your muscles, is using compound or multi-joint exercises.

Multi-joint or compound exercise target large groups of muscles and generally replicate how your body works naturally. Good examples of multi-joint exercises include squats, lunges, deadlifts, pull/chin ups, press ups, overhead presses, Turkish get ups and kettlebell swings. You can work your entire body using just a handful of compound exercises and be happy in the knowledge that your body will function better as well as looking better.

Bottom line – forget the single-joint isolation-type exercises, at least 80% of the time, and focus on compound exercises. They are far more effective and provide a much more effective workout.

Don’t drink your calories – eat them
With the exception of water, virtually everything you consume contains calories. A calorie is a unit of heat and is how we measure the energy in our food and drink. The thing is, when you drink your calories, they don’t really register in the satiety centre of your brain – the hypothalamus. For example, if you consume a large sugar and cream laden iced coffee drink or supersized soft drink, your stomach doesn’t recognise this is food. The liquid is transported so quickly out of your stomach and so it doesn’t register with your hunger centre and, subsequently, doesn’t fill you up. This means that the mocha malt frappuccino coffee with whipped cream you just gulped down containing 500 plus calories does not affect your appetite and subsequently you won’t adjust your eating pattern to offset the large number of calories you have just ingested. Bad news for your waist line! The best way to avoid this problem is to eat and not drink your calories.

Bottom line – drinking your calories can often lead to over-consumption of energy leading to insidious fat gain. Stick with calorie free beverages as food is more filling.

Don’t use the Smith machine – use free weights
When asked why they use as Smith machine, most people answer that they do so because it is safer. And while the Smith machine does indeed mean that you are less likely to drop a weight across your chest, it is not the safe option that many people believe.

The Smith machine is a barbell that is guided by rods so that it can only move vertically. With a flick of your wrist you can lock the bar off so that it will not descend any further and you can also set the machine so that bar will not drop below a specified height. While this means that you can’t drop the weight on yourself, the straight line travel of the bar can cause potentially serious problems.

The most common exercises performed in a Smith machine are the bench press, squat and shoulder press. When performed with a regular barbell, the path through which the bar travels in all of these three exercises is not actually straight but is in fact an arc. Because the bar only moves vertically in a Smith machine, your body has to accommodate this arc by shifting around the weight whereas in the freeweight version, the weight shifts around your body.

Forcing your body to shift around the weight places an inordinate amount of strain on your joints which can lead to long term injury. You are much better off using a power cage or competent spotters and avoiding the Smith machine altogether if you value your joints.

Bottom line – while the Smith machine may reduce your chances of suffering an acute injury, you are much more likely to suffer a chronic injury as a result of long term use.

This workout gradually builds in intensity and can really creep up on you…!

Press up/Burpee Pyramid
Duration: Against the Clock
Equipment: Stopwatch
Method: Perform burpees as per instructions below BUT increase the number of press ups you perform mid-burpee each time*.

• Stand with your feet together and your hands by your sides
• Bend down and place your hands outside of your feet
• Jump your feet back into the press up position
• Perform a single press up*
• Jump your feet back in
• Stand up

Option 1 – STOP at 10 press ups…your workout is complete!

Option 2 - Carry on adding a press up per burpee until you are unable to continue and see just how many you can do…

Option 3 – On reaching 10 press ups, continue but reduce the press ups/push ups by 1 rep at a time until you get back down to 1.

Hitting things and getting away with it is one of life’s guilty pleasures. How else can the popularity of training systems such as Boxercise, Thump Boxing and other martial arts or fighting based workouts be explained? Ever since we dragged ourselves out of the primeval ooze and picked up a heavy rock or tree branch, we have been bashing our enemies and our food for survival. While it is generally frowned upon to use the same techniques in supermarkets that served us so well during the hunter-gather days of old, there is no denying that the sensation of swinging a heavy implement or hitting a target with bone-shattering force still appeals to the lizard part of your brain! Sledgehammer training allows you, in fact encourages you, to use that once dominant but now repressed instinct for hitting while delivering a high intensity workout.

Benefits

Sledgehammer training is an effective whole body exercise. Each swing starts at your feet, travels up through your legs and hips, is transmitted via your core muscles up into your chest, back, and shoulders and finally delivered through your upper and lower arms. All of these muscles working in concert demand a large amount of oxygen which makes sledgehammer swinging very metabolically demanding. Short sets using maximal power will develop strength and anaerobic fitness whereas longer sets using lighter strikes will develop aerobic fitness and muscular endurance. Because swinging a sledgehammer uses a large percentage of your muscle mass, it is also a very effective calorie burner and is easily comparable with rowing and swimming as well as punch bag training. If my knees or hips are aching, I find high rep sledgehammer training or intervals are an excellent alternative to high impact cardio training and I have successfully used sledgehammer swings with overweight clients who were otherwise unable to pound the pavement. Despite the velocity of the strikes, sledgehammer training provides a low impact workout that does not stress the lower body in any adverse way.

Gearing up for Sledgehammer Training

Clearly then you’ll need a sledgehammer. There is no need to get a fancy made-for-exercise training hammer. These are unnecessarily expensive and a regular hammer from your local DIY superstore will be more than adequate as well as costing a fraction of the price. In terms of weight, a three kilogramme (6.6 pounds) hammer will be ideal for smaller men and most women new to this type of training. If you are particularly strong, a six kilogramme (13.3 pounds) hammer will provide a challenging workout. When it comes to hammer weight, heavier is not always better. If your hammer is too heavy you will not be able to swing your hammer very quickly and will be unable generate maximum force. It’s all down to something called the force-velocity curve. If an object is too heavy, you will not be able to generate maximal power and this can adversely affect your workout. If in doubt, buy a lighter hammer rather than a heavier one as you can always perform higher rep sets if necessary.

Next, you need some gloves. Unlike weight training where most of the friction occurs on your palms and lower finger joints, swinging a sledge hammer causes friction on your whole hand surface area. To avoid getting blistered and calloused hands, you will need a pair gloves with fingers. I use regular leather work gloves. I have used everything from motorcycle gloves to skiing gloves to water-skiing gloves but have found my £5.00 basic work gloves to be the most comfortable and hardwearing. If you are only performing a short set of swings as part of a circuit then you can probably do without gloves but for longer periods of swinging, gloves are essential.

Finally, you need something to hit. The best striking target I have used to date is an old tire placed on its side. This provides you with a large striking surface which absorbs 100 percent of the impact, minimizes noise and provides a slight “bounce” to help you reload ready for your next swing. You should be able to pick up a tire from your local tire dealer for free – they normally throw old tires away or even have to pay to have them collected so you’ll be doing them a favour. SUV or similarly big tires are best.  

I have also used my hammer on the beach – sand provides an excellent striking surface although you do tend to get covered in sand every time after every up-swing. I imagine a patch of soft dirt would also work and have been told that old tree stumps are effective striking targets. Whatever you choose, use a forgiving target and make sure that you have sufficient overhead clearance. Sledgehammer training is best performed out of doors.

Hammer Time

Swinging a sledgehammer is a natural movement that needs very little instruction. To get the most out of your workouts consider the following points, both for safety and exercise effectiveness.

• Stand around 18 inches (45 centimetres) from your striking target and make sure you have a clear space around you
• Aim for the middle of your target to minimize your chances of missing altogether!
• Alternate sides to avoid developing an imbalance – you can change sides each swing or each set but make sure you perform an equal number of swings over your left and right shoulder. You will probably have a natural and an off side – make sure you work equally hard on both. With practice, both sides will feel similarly comfortable.
• Tighten your grip just before the point of impact – this stops the hammer twisting in your hands.
• Flex forward from your hips and bend your knees slightly – do not round your upper back. Make sure you brace your core to help stabilize your spine.

Get A Grip!

There are two recognised grips in sledgehammer training: The choke and the no-choke grip. In the choke grip, your lowermost hand stays still while your upper hand slides up and down the handle as you swing. This shortens your levers and allows for a more rapid swing speed. The choke grip is ideal for virgin swingers and if you are performing high repetition sets of swings.

In the no-choke grip, both hands remain at the end of the hammer handle and the hammer is swung in a long, wide arc. This is the most challenging way to use your hammer as levers are at their longest. Swings are slower using this grip but require more effort. The no-choke grip is similar to the grip used when swinging a baseball or cricket bat.

Sledgehammer Training Workouts

You can use sledgehammer training as a station in an outdoor circuit but there are a whole lot of other ways to make use of this excellent training tool. Remember to warm up before any of the following workouts by performing some light cardio, dynamic stretches and light/slow hammer swings.

Interval Training
Interval training is an effective way to get a lot of high intensity training done in a short period of time. Intervals can be aerobic or anaerobic depending on your work to rest periods. Try the following interval workouts…

• 3 minutes of swings/1 minute recovery repeated five times
• 30 seconds of swings/30 seconds of recovery repeated ten times
• 20 seconds of swings/10 seconds recovery repeated eight times – better known as Tabata protocol

Timed Challenges
I love timed challenges – they bring out my competitive side and also force me to focus on the job in hand. Simply decide on a number of hammer swings and try to complete them as fast as possible. Make a note of how long it took you to complete the challenge and do your best to beat that time when you next repeat the workout. Make sure you alternate sides and grips from time to time to keep your body balanced. The swing count is entirely personal but these are some of my favourite challenges to date…

• 100 swings – taking around three minutes, this is a “middle distance” challenge that will push you from aerobic to anaerobic exercise intensity.
• 250 swings – a muscular endurance challenge that is comparable to 2000 meters rowing.
• 500 swings – aerobically demanding and a test of mental fortitude.
• 1000 swings – one that will earn you bragging rights! A real test of fitness, endurance and mental toughness. My best time to date is 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Can you beat it?!

Density Blocks
Similar to timed challenges except this time you perform as many strikes as possible in a predetermined time. The beauty of density block training is that you know exactly how long your workout is going to last and how long you’ll have to push yourself for.

• 5 minutes – pushing the envelope of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.
• 10 minutes – tests aerobic fitness and muscular endurance.
• 20 minutes – a serious test for even the fittest exerciser.
• 30 minutes – a veritable sledgehammer marathon that will test determination as well as physical conditioning.

Pyramids
Pyramids can be ascending or descending. Simply add or remove a swing on a set-by-set basis. Rests are intuitive but, as these workouts are against the clock, don’t stop for any longer than necessary. In many cases, swapping grips or changing sides will provide sufficient rest to allow you continue.

• 1 to 10 – perform one swing, rest a second, perform two swings, rests again and continue adding one rep until you perform a final set of 10. This totals 55 strikes.
• 10 to 1 – reverse the above workout.
• 1 to 10 to 1 – an ascending pyramid immediately followed by a descending pyramid.
• 20 to 1 – a very tough workout which, thankfully, gets easier as you progress. Alternate sides on a set-by-set basis until all 210 repetitions are completed.

I’m sure that, once you try sledgehammer training, you’ll grow to love it as much as my clients and I do. I’ve had everyone from potential Commonwealth games athletes to bodybuilders to exercise neophytes performing sledgehammer training and the consensus of opinion is that it really is fun to hit something and get away with it!

10 minute Bodyweight Challenge
Duration: 10 minutes
Equipment: Exercise mat

Perform 1 minute of each exercise

• Press ups
• Squats
• Jump rope or jumping jacks
• V sits

Immediately perform 45 seconds of each exercise

• Press ups
• Squats
• Jump rope or jumping jacks
• V sits

Then 30 seconds of each exercise

• Press ups
• Squats
• Jump rope or jumping jacks
• V sits

And finally 15 seconds of each exercise

• Press ups
• Squats
• Jump rope or jumping jacks
• V sits

If you got it right, you should have just completed 10 minutes of non-stop exercise.