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.

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!

• Run 500 meters
• 10 chin ups/pull ups
• 20 burpees
• 30 bent knee sit ups
• 40 double unders (2 jumps per skipping rope turn)
• 50 Squats
• 40 Double unders
• 30 sit ups
• 20 burpees
• 10 chin ups/pull ups
• Run 500 meters

Feel free to make substitutions as necessary but remain true to the spirit of the workout e.g. replace chin ups with lat pull downs.

About Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise, sometimes called cardio, is very beneficial for your heart and your lungs and can lower your risk of suffering from a variety of conditions. For example, aerobic exercise is linked to a reduction in blood pressure, reduced risk of CHD and lowered incidence of diabetes. Many people associate aerobic exercise with either long distance running or group exercise classes. There are, however, many other ways you can elevate your heart rate to get aerobic benefits. Dancing, swimming, hiking and playing sports such as soccer are all examples of aerobic activities.

Improving your Aerobic Fitness
To get the most out of your aerobic exercise requires, according to the ACSM, at least three 20 minute workouts per week where your heart rate is elevated to between 60 and 90 percent of your maximum. This prescription will improve your aerobic fitness and reduce your risk of suffering from a range of conditions which come under the umbrella of all cause mortality. Choose activities that you enjoy and that you can stick with as consistency is the key to gaining benefits from aerobic exercise.

About Resistance Training
Resistance training, sometimes called strength or weight training, doesn’t necessarily mean bodybuilding or weightlifting. Both bodybuilding and weightlifting are sports whereas resistance training is done not for competition but because for the benefits associated with working out with weights. Resistance training will strengthen and tone your muscles, make your bones denser, improve your posture, make everyday activities easier and also increase your metabolism which will make weight management easier.

Adding Strength Training to your Routine
To enjoy the benefits of resistance training, your muscles need to be exercised at least once but preferably twice a week on non-consecutive days. You can get a good all-round workout in under an hour and if you keep your workout to a minimum volume by using compound or multi-joint exercises, you can get an effective workout in 30 minutes.

Putting it all together
To develop all-round fitness and health, you should include both aerobic and resistance training in your weekly schedule. This can be done in a number of ways. You could perform different types of exercise on different days or, alternatively, perform resistance exercises after your aerobic workouts or vice versa. Some types of workout, in particular circuit training, combine aerobic and resistance exercises into a single training session and deliver good all round results.

Power is technically expressed as force divided by time – in other words it’s not just strength but strength at speed. Examples of power in sport include sprinting, kicking, throwing, jumping and tackling. Strength, whilst very important, makes only a relatively small contribution to power development so it’s worth spending time on this vital component.

When it comes to power training, correct exercise selection is vital as only certain movements lend themselves to the pursuit of power. For an exercise to be suitable for power training, it must allow you to accelerate the training implement you are using. The best power exercises are the ones that allow you to either leave the floor as in various jumping exercises or let go of the weight you are lifting so it sails off into space! Medicine ball exercises are particularly well suited to power training but there are also some barbell and dumbbell exercises that will improve your power such as the Olympic weight lifts (clean & jerk and the snatch) but these require specialist coaching and are beyond the scope of this short article.

Power training is similar to strength training in that it uses maximal efforts, relatively short sets and long rests. Power training is all about quality over quantity so if you feel that, during a power workout, you are beginning to slow down then it’s probably time to take a break or reduce the training load. Every rep you perform should be as powerful and fast as the previous one as, after all, we are training to speed you up and not learning to slow down!

Because power training involves maximal velocity movements, it’s absolutely vital that you warm up properly before exercising and only embark on a power training programme after having progressed through phases of muscular endurance and strength training – power training is the tip of our intensity pyramid. Performing power training before your body as attuned to the demands of this type of exercise may cause you injury.

To get you started with power training we’ve provided you with a ready-made routine. Perform this workout twice a week with around 48-72 hours between sessions. Make sure you warm up thoroughly before training and seek expert advice if you are unsure how to perform any of the exercises listed below. Do 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of each exercise at maximum speed and rest for about 90-120 seconds between sets…

Workout

1. Two footed jump for distance and height

Start with feet just beyond shoulder-width apart
Bend your knees to a three-quarter squat position
Swing your arms back and past your hips
Drive your legs explosively upward to lift your body from the ground and jump forwards and     upwards
Keep your trunk upright during flight
Extend your legs in front of your body to get you feet out in front of you
Land on the balls of your feet and spring upward into another jump
Use your arms to assist your jump power –swing them past your hips as you jump, then               upward over your head and then back down ready for the next jump

2. Medicine ball drop chest press throws

Lie supine on a sturdy exercise bench with arms extended
Have a partner stand at your head holding a heavy medicine ball or Power Bag
Your partner will drop the medicine ball from chest height towards your hands
Catch the medicine ball in both hands and actively resist its downward momentum         (eccentric breaking)
Quickly lower the ball to your chest
Immediately and dynamically drive the ball off of your chest and into the air
Your partner catches the ball and repeats the exercise
To intensify this exercise, your partner can add momentum to the downward phase by                carefully throwing the ball down towards you or dropping it from above his/her head

3. Medicine ball slams

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Hold a medicine ball in both hands
Dynamically lift the medicine ball above head height
Rise up onto your toes
Strongly throw medicine ball at the floor about 24” in front of your feet
Catch the ball as it rebounds and repeat
This exercise should be done at speed using the whole body

4. Push press

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart
Grasp a barbell with an overhand grip at shoulder height, hands level with shoulders
Keeping your torso upright sink into a quarter squat
Initiating the movement with your lower body, powerfully drive with the legs and push barbell over head
Pause before lowering the barbell back to shoulder level and repeating for the desired number of repetitions

5. Medicine ball rotational throws

Stand sideways on to a sturdy wall with feet shoulder-width apart
Grasp a medicine ball in both hands
Keeping your arms straight and between hip and shoulder height, rotate away from the wall
Using your core muscles, twist your body as powerfully as possible and throw the ball at the       wall
Catch the ball as it rebounds and repeat for the desired number of repetitions
Change sides and perform for the other side of the body

6. Bench burpees

Stand approximately 12” away from the side of a sturdy exercise bench or plyo box with feet shoulder-width apart
Squat down and place your hands on the bench with hands outside of your knees
Jump your feet back and drop into a full press up, chest touching the bench/box top
Your hips and legs should be fully extended and your core tight
Immediately jump your feet back in whilst simultaneously extending the arms
Jump up onto the top of the bench/box landing in a ¾ squat position
Without pausing jump off the step to land back where you started and repeat
All of the phases of this exercise should flow without pauses and must be preformed powerfully and at speed

7. Medicine ball back extension throws

Using a 45 degree back extension machine or similar, position yourself and hold a medicine ball in your hands
Have a partner stand approximately 10 feet in front of you
Bend at the hips and lower yourself towards the floor with your arms extended
Dynamically extend your hips and spine and simultaneously throw the medicine ball to your partner
Pause in this most contracted position so that your partner can throw the medicine ball back to you
Under control, return to the starting position and repeat.

Now you know what power is and how to achieve it so all that’s left is to head to the gym and let rip! Power training is challenging, rewarding and lots of fun and will really improve your performance on the field.

Storm through as fast as you can, only resting when you have to.

10 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
9 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
8 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
7 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
6 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
5 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
4 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
3 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
2 Burpees
50 Jump rope turns
1 Burpee

In this video, the author demonstrates the workout and is lack of counting ability…!

The one thing that has been a constant companion throughout this long training career is I have always needed to find ways to motivate my self. It has never been easy to drag my self into the gym at 6am, or out to run at 10pm but somehow, almost every time, I have done it.

Without realizing it, I made exercising a lifelong habit and now enjoy the fruits of those endeavors – above average muscle mass, lower than average body fat, sufficient strength for all everyday activities, muscular endurance which allows me to perform physical tasks for prolonged periods of time, adequate CV fitness that allows me to run about as far as I will ever want to, not to mention lowered incidence of illness and disease compared to my peers, high energy levels and the luxury of knowing I will probably enjoy these benefits long into my twilight years.

People often say to me “oh but it’s so easy for you!” but I can assure you it isn’t. Training never gets any easier – that’s a fallacy! You merely get fitter and work harder. I feel the same discomfort as a beginner exerciser, get out of breath in the same way a unfit person would and weights feel heavy to me as they would to a person with less strength. I just have a greater work capacity that allows me to work at higher levels of output – however, it’s still as hard as the first time I ran around the block as an eight year old training for my first sports day. And yes – that feeling of sore muscles beginners get after starting a new exercise routine (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness or DOMS) – I get that too … at least a couple of times a week!

Everyday, there are things I would rather be doing than sweating in the gym or panting out on the road, like watching TV, reading, sleeping, meeting my friends or just chilling out eating junk food…but the difference between me and a non-exerciser is that I “just do it” to quote Nike. Exercise has become a habit and a vital part of my day just like eating, sleeping and breathing.

The hardest part about exercise is getting off the couch, or getting out the front door, or away from what ever place you are drawn to by an invisible gravitational pull designed to stop you being fit and healthy. Once you’ve broken away from that place – the rest is easy…or relatively anyway!

So – how do we establish a routine that will eventually become a habit? Well, I have a number of suggestions which may help.

Remember, it takes 3-6 months of concerted, regular effort for something to become habitual, so don’t go expecting any quick fixes but with some application of effort and, dare I say it, discipline, exercise adherence is a real possibility and developing the skills to be self motivated are yours for the taking…we just need to get through that first few months…

1) Set goals. Why do you want to get fit? Is it to lose weight, look good on the beach, drop a clothing size, be healthier? get stronger? What ever it is, write it down. Show it to people, tell people about you goal, explain what you are trying to achieve. The point of this exercise is to give you focus. Every workout missed or every day off your healthy eating plan puts you a day further away from achieving what you want from your time spent exercising. Make sure your goals are realistic and achievable in a reasonable time frame. If necessary break your main goal into “micro” goals that you can tick off on a regular basis, e.g.

2) Write a pro and con decision list. What have you got to gain versus what have you got to lose. If you ever feel your resolve waning, revisit this document and remind yourself what you have given up in return for all the benefits you are working towards, e.g.

After reviewing the above lists it should be apparent that the minor cons are outweighed by the greater pros and should serve as a reminder that the decision made is a worthwhile one.

3) Make a plan and stick to it. Getting fit is a journey, and to successfully complete a journey you often need a map. By planning how to get from A to B, we can prepare for change and give ourselves a route to follow which will allow us to progress along our chosen path without having to worry about losing our way or getting distracted. Remember the old adage – “prior preparation prevents poor performance!” To help keep on the straight and narrow, consider the following points…

• Plan your workout times – treat them as appointments and stick to them.
• Have a back up plan in case you are unable to exercise at the time you wanted to – if you cant go to the gym, what can you do instead? If it’s raining, where else can you workout? Cover your bases! Have alternatives ready to cover as many eventualities as you can envisage.
• Plan your weekly food intake and shop accordingly. One of the truths of diet and nutrition is that if you have junk food in your cupboard, you will eat it. As a result, make sure that you have plenty of healthy food in your cupboards and that includes snacks.
• Make sure you carry adequate food and water with you so you don’t have to rely on grabbing a snack at work – prepare much of your days food the night before
• Tell other people about your plans so they don’t accidentally interfere with your efforts to adopt a new healthy lifestyle.

4) Recruit a network of supporters. Why suffer alone!?!? Ask friends, neighbors, family and friends to assist you in your goals. Seek out like minded people to act as training partners, get support from those closest to you, join one of the many web based groups that can offer both support and information to help you on your way www.realgainz.com is a great place to start!). The main point is that you don’t have to “go it alone”. For some people this might mean hiring a personal trainer, or joining a group exercise class or it could just mean you work out with a neighbor. Whatever support method you choose, your efforts will be easier with someone else in your corner.

5) Keep accurate training and diet logs. Write it down! Nothing motivates like success…but to judge success we need to see where we started. By keeping track of workout performance, dietary trends and physical measurements we can see when we improve. Sometimes we fail to see our improvements because they are, on a day to day basis, so small but overtime, these small improvements will add up to noticeable changes in body composition, bodyweight, fitness levels etc. Often, someone who hasn’t seen you for a while will comment on your dramatic weight loss or improved muscle tone – they haven’t seen you in a while so the changes seem great whereas to you, seeing yourself in the mirror on a daily basis may not have spotted much in the way of changes at all.

6) Don’t be afraid to fall off the wagon. Even with the very best planning, goal setting and support network sometimes things just go wrong – life gets in the way. The key when this happens is to not let it phase you for too long and to pick up where you left off as soon as possible. These disruptions in routine are not failures, nor are they enough to undo all of your previous good works but unless you jump back on the wagon as soon as possible, they can be the start of the slippery slope back to our previous physical state and a lot of hard work wasted. Learn from whatever caused this disruption to your planned routine and take measures to try to minimize the chances of a similar disruptions happening again. Its kind of cheesy but some say that to FAIL is the First Action in Learning and so long as we take something positive away from a failure, then it was not a wasted opportunity.

7) Choose things you like. By using the above 6 points, we can make exercise adherence much more likely, but if we choose activities we don’t enjoy or foods we don’t like, it becomes increasingly doubtful we will succeed in reaching our fitness or diet goals. There are many options for us to choose from and it is vital we chose things we are going to enjoy as much as possible. Why make things harder than they need to be? The old saying “it doesn’t have to be hell to be healthy” is a good one to adopt as a diet and exercise mantra. So…don’t like running? Try cycling. Not so keen on the gym? Join an exercise class. Don’t like fruit? Make fresh fruit smoothies or juices. There are many ways to skin the proverbial cat, so spread you net wide and select activities and foods that slot as seamlessly into your lifestyle as possible.

So, in conclusion: set goals, note down decision change pros and cons, make a plan and stick to it, recruit a support network, keep food and training diaries, don’t worry if you make mistakes (try, try and try again!), and choose foods and activities you enjoy. Following these simple guidelines won’t turn you into an exercise addict overnight but will help you to become a habitual, self motivated exerciser and lead you towards a long and productive health & fitness lifestyle.

Duration: Against the Clock
Equipment: Medicine ball, stop watch
Method: Perform 5 laps of the following circuit as fast as possible. Keep your rests to a minimum as the clock is ticking! Start your watch at the beginning of the first exercise and only stop it when you have completed the full 5 laps.

1) Medicine ball slams x 10
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and with your medicine ball in your hands. Raise it overhead. Using your abs and arms, hurl the ball down at the floor around 24″ from your feet. Catch the rebound and repeat. Establish a good rhythm and stick to it!  Perform 10 reps.

2) Overhead lunges x 10 per leg
Extend your arms overhead (holding your ball) and perform alternating lunges – 10 per leg.

3) Hill climbers x 20 per leg
Place you ball on the floor and put your hands on it. Extend your legs so that you are in a push up/press up position. Keeping your hands in place, bring your left leg forwards and close to your chest. This is your starting position. Jump your left leg back and your right leg in. Continue alternating leg positions as fast as you can but ensuring you use as large a range of movement as possible and keep your core tight! Each time your left leg comes close to your chest constitutes one rep. Do 20.

4) Thrusters x 10
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your medicine ball held to your chest. Push your butt back and bend your knees and descend into a squat position. Stand up and simultaneously extend your legs and arms and drive the ball above your head. Perform 10 reps

5) Burpees x 10
No ball here but a great way to wring the last bit of effort out of your body! Stand with your feet together and your hands by your sides. Squat down and place your hands by your feet. Jump your feet back and into the push up/press up position. Perform one rep. Jump your feet back in so that your legs are below your body. Leap into the air. Land (!) and perform 9 more reps.

Rest for 30 – 90 seconds then repeat for 3 – 5 laps.

The main advantage of such short bursts is that you never really get time to feel bored or lose motivation. Totalling 27 minutes of actual work, this workout feels much shorter than it is because you are only on each piece of cardio for three minutes. You can use any cardio exercises you like for this workout – it’s a matter of personal preference, but for illustration purposes, we have selected the bike, treadmill and cross trainer…

Spend a few minutes warming up before your workout. Perform some light cardio, stretches and joint mobility exercises so you are ready for the more demanding work to come.

• 3 minutes exercise bike – 1 minute slow, 1 minute medium, 1 minute fast
• 3 minutes running – 1 minute slow, 1 minute medium, 1 minute fast
• 3 minutes cross trainer – 1 minute slow, 1 minute medium, 1 minute fast
• Repeat entire sequence three times to total 27 minutes

Hints and tips

Try not to dilly-dally between exercises. Remember the first minute of each segment is to be performed at a slow speed so you get all the rest you need without actually stopping. Use the slow minute as an opportunity to grab a drink of water and prepare yourself for the more demanding segments to come.

Make a point of planning your speed/level increments in advance, for example on the exercise bike, perform the slow segment at level 12, the medium segment at level 16 and the fast segment at level 20. This will prevent you from going out too fast too soon which would make this workout unnecessarily tough.

The last segment should be performed at close to your maximum speed – really go for it! It is this segment that will drive your heart rate, fitness and fat burning up to new levels.

On completion, spend a few minutes cooling down by performing some light cardio and then stretching all your major muscles. This will enhance post-exercise recovery and minimize any muscle soreness.

Firstly, it’s worth mentioning that training for strength is very different from the bodybuilding type training that many people engage it. Bodybuilding workouts utilise relatively light loads, short rests, and multiple exercises per muscle group and are all about creating bigger muscles (correctly termed hypertrophy) whereas strength training focuses almost exclusively on increasing performance. Bodybuilders, while often very big, are generally not as strong as smaller athletes who focus on strength training. Strength training will cause some hypertrophy but it is a by-product of training as opposed to the aim. The hypertrophy caused by strength training can best be thought of as “functional” or, in other words, not only will the muscles look bigger, they will also be much better suited to the demands of your chosen sport. The muscle developed by strength training will be useful rather than “all show and no go” which is more likely to be the case with bodybuilding training.

To develop strength, exercises must be selected that allow a significant amount of weight to be lifted. Exercises such as squats, dead lifts and bench press are the cornerstone on which to build an effective strength training programme. These compound or multi-joint exercises provide plenty of “bang for your buck” and will allow you to get the most from your training time. Isolation exercises such as dumbbell flies and tricep extensions are not ideally suited to the development of strength as they don’t permit large loads to be used safely. Don’t worry if you have no idea about how to go about designing an effective training programme as later in this article we’ll provide you with a basic strength training workout to get you started.

The chart below shows the difference between hypertrophy, general strength and maximal strength training.

As you can see, heavy weights, relatively low reps and longer rests are the parameters for strength training – it’s all about quality as opposed to quantity and each work set should be performed with near a high degree of focus and intensity. Maximal strength training is suitable for those who already have a history of working out with heavy weights and want to specialise it strength sports such as weight lifting, power lifting or highland games whereas general strength training is more suited to field sports such as rugby, Gaelic football and sports where strength is just one element of the physical characteristics needed for success.

Because of the near maximal effort required during strength training, it’s important to warm up thoroughly prior to exercising. Once a general warm up of light cardio and dynamic stretching has been completed, it’s time to do a more specific warm up for the exercises to be done on that particular training day. The best way to get ready for a strength training workout is to perform a couple of light to moderate sets of each exercise before piling on the weight. This gives you the opportunity to practice the exercises in question and also assess your strength on that particular day. Only after you have completed 2-3 “warm up sets” should you start working with weights closer to your 1 repetition maximum (1RM). This practice will reduce the likelihood of suffering injury and also make the work sets more effective as your muscles are more likely to be working optimally after a few specific warm up sets.

Once you are fully warmed up and ready for your working sets, you may want to consider using a pyramid approach and increasing the weight slightly set by set – this practice reinforces your warm up and allows you to ease into your workout.

For example:

1^st Set – 5 reps at 65kg
2^nd Set – 4 reps at 70kg
3^rd Set – 4 reps at 75kg
4^th Set – 3 reps at 77.5kg
5^th Set – 3 reps at 80kg

To keep improving your strength, it’s vital that you keep striving to lift progressively heavier weights. If you lift the same weights week after week, month after month, your strength levels are very likely to remain the same. Regular increases in the weight lifted or the number of repetitions performed will ensure you keep making progress with your strength training.

Because strength training requires such long rest periods between sets, it is quite acceptable to arrange your exercises into “lazy supersets”. In other words rather than sit and rest for 5 minutes between sets of squats, alternate between 1 set of squats and 1 set of bench press to make the most use of your training time. This will essentially half the time to have to spend in the gym as you’ll be making constructive use of your rest periods.

Twice a week basic strength training programme

Warm up by performing 5-10 minutes of light cardio plus dynamic stretches such as leg swings, arm circles, bodyweight squats and lunges. If you are unsure about how to perform any of the exercises listed below make sure you get some expert advice to avoid the risk of injury. As the weights used are substantial, it’s very important to make sure you have an experienced “spotter” or training partner on hand in case you should fail on any particular exercise.

Twice a week strength training programme suitable for beginner/intermediate field sports players

Day 1 (e.g. Monday)

Squats – front or back squats

Chin ups – body weight or weighted

Bench press – barbell or dumbbell, flat or inclined

Bicep curls – seated or standing, barbell or dumbbell

Perform 3-5 sets of 5 reps, increasing the weight set by set with the last set being the hardest

(48 – 72 hours later)

Day 2 (e.g. Thursday)

Dead lifts – traditional or sumo style

Shoulder press – seated or standing, barbell or dumbbell

Bent over row – barbell or dumbbell

Tricep dips – bench or parallel bar version

Perform 3-5 sets of 5 reps, increasing the weight set by set with the last set being the hardest

Cool down by performing 5-10 minutes of light cardio plus static stretches held for 15 – 30 seconds per major muscle group.

So now you know how strength training can benefit you and how to implement it into your training week. All that’s left is to warm up and hit the gym! Time spent strength training, especially in the off season, will pay dividends come competition time.

Perform as many laps of the following trio as possible in 20 minutes

1. 5 Pull ups
2. 10 Press ups
3. 15 Squats

If you are unable to perform pull ups, feel free to substitute lat pull downs or body rows and also reduce the reps if necessary.