Click here for a news link i just came accross.  It tells of Fauja Singh, a 100 year old gentleman who took up competitive running at the age of 89!

He sprints 100 metre races and is also aiming for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon today!

This 100 year old guy can do it…how old are you again?

What is your excuse?

A clip i just found of one of the obstacles i’ll be facing Sunday…

Marine Commando Challenge

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m doing the 10 km Marine Commando Challenge on October 9th, raising money for the Devon Air Ambulance.

I have a “Just Giving” donation page where anyone can donate money for the charity, and I need your help to get as much donations as possible.

Please click here to go to my page and donate something, and tell all your friends to help me too!

Thank you!

Flat-out Sprinting

I read this story (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8429518/Sprints-better-than-marathon-for-heart-health.html) when it came out last month.  It shows how multiple, maximal effort sprints had similar effects on health compared to long duration exercise.  But after chatting with some people in the gym, I have a couple of problems with the practical implications of it…

• Maximal effort sprints are not simply shorter duration exercise, but they are much more intense.
• Maximal effort sprints are bloody hard work and they make you feel horrible (vomiting is a common thing afterwards!)
• The vast majority of people don’t know what maximum effort is and they never go anywhere near it.
• If I got the everyday people in the gym to do maximal effort sprints 3 times a week, 99% of them would not come back after the first time.

Fantastic exercise, but not maximum effort sprints.

So while brief, intense bursts of exercise is beneficial (and personally, I much prefer them to long duration, steady exercise), there is a time and place for them.  And that time and place is in people who are physically and mentally capable of doing it.

Unfortunately, these days there are fewer and fewer people who are actually capable of safely putting in maximal effort sprints.  Either their weight or lack of body awareness/coordination makes tripping a real danger, or they are so heavy they can put joints at risk.

And then there are very few people who actually know what maximum effort is, and how to do it!

As a real life example, I have trained with a guy who is much fitter than I am.  He just simply does-not-stop.  He can just carry on going for hours and hours.  But when we did 10 second sprints, he could not go any faster than his normal pace!  He just could not switch his brain out of “steady pace” and into “flat-out pace”.

He knew how to push himself longer, but not harder.

Now personally I think that everyone should learn how to push themselves harder (it makes you a fitter, stronger, better person).  But that was not what people were taking away from this news story. 

They were not walking away telling themselves

“I need to push myself as hard as I possibly can”.

Instead, they were walking away thinking

“I only need to do about 5-10 minutes, then I can go and put my feet up.”

They were taking away the message that they could be even lazier and do even less work than they already were.  Taking away the wrong message is always a problem when it comes to only reading the headlines, but never the deeper story.

If you liked this article, or know someone who might like it, please feel free to “share” it using the buttons below.

I’ve actually stopped procrastinating and actually signed up!  Yep, Jane asked me if I wanted to give it a go, and before my brain engaged, I just said yes.  So this summer, I will be running the Nettle Warrior race…wish me luck!

Click here to go to their website.

If you want to see how well/bad I do, why not subscribe to this blog?

If you are a woman and if you go to the gym, please take 5 minutes to read this:

http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/blog/being-woman-gym-diary-intern

Almost every other day I talk to a woman in work who refuse to do anything that does not involve little pink dumbells in fear of “turning into a man”.

Yesterday I had a lady in wanting to get ready for her first half marathon.  This needs a good level of conditioning/fitness, and healthy, injury-free legs.

But she refused point blank to go near a rower (a fantastic tool for conditioning/fitness), and refused to attempt any kind of lunge or squat (fantastic exercises to strengthen the leg muscles and joints, to help prevent injuries from pounding the road for miles).

Why?

In case it “made her legs big”.

It really does make me a bit sad when people knowingly risk crippling injury, in the mistaken belief that it will make them look hotter.

I can't think of many things less sexy than a dislocated knee

Just to say well done to everyone who took part in the Skipton Santa fun run yesterday.  It was a lovely bright (if cold) day.  And I must say, I enjoyed my first ever run much more than I thought I would!

I try to learn something new from everything I do.  And what I learned yesterday was:

“While I have very little willpower, my ego is big enough to get me through most things”.

The Front Plank – Good

Name:  The Front Plank

Also known as:  Prone Bridge

Main muscles used:  Stomach

Other muscles used:  Muscles on the front side of the body

Top tips:

• Pull the shoulder blades back and down, while sticking the chest out and up.
• Set the belly in the right position early on by thinking of doing a standard abdominal crunch.
• Avoid kinks, lumps or bumps along your body.  Especially near the hips/knees/belly/shoulders.
• Stay rock solid still, but if your belly starts to give way, and you start to feel a pinching at your lower back, bring the exercise to an end.
• If you are new to this exercise, or don’t have strong stomach muscles yet, get into position by lowering your hips down, rather than lifting them up.

The Front Plank – Bad

Common mistakes:

• Relaxing the belly and letting it sag/hung down – this is dangerous.
• Sticking your bum high up in the air – this is easy (but not dangerous).

Comments:

The ideal Plank should have your body dead flat and your spine in a neutral (but horizontal) posture.  Learn how to do it in this difficult position, and you will find it easy in most other situations.

The Plank is an exercise that crosses over into many other exercises/situations.  The two most obvious ones for me are:

• Pressups.  You are essentially in the same position, but with the added difficulty of having to move at the same time.
• Punching an object.  Here, the upper part of your body is being forced back by the resistance of the target.  Without being able to do the Plank, your upper spine would just fold backwards under the pressure.

Many people (including some experienced athletes) tend to equate strength training with bodybuilding…thinking that both are one and the same.  They get stuck in the “3 sets of 10″ rut and never get out.  But there is more than one type of strength, each having its own pros and cons, and each being more or less suitable for different activities.  As such there is more than one way of training for strength. 

Here is a quick run down of the major forms of strength… 

General Strength.

I only have a very fuzzy definition for this.  I see it as the general, overall strength needed to go through your everyday life comfortably and being able to resist injury.  This means the strength needed to: 

• Do the shopping.
• Play with the kids.
• Do a “usual” job.
• Do your hobbies.
• Avoid chronic and acute injuries such as a “bad back” or a “funny shoulder/knee/elbow” etc.

If you have good general strength, you should be able to go through your average day without having to resort to getting help from other people or from labour saving machines (eg lifts, escalators etc).  We should all have good general strength, with the possible exception of those with injuries…and these people will usually be working towards improving/regaining their general strength. 

Unbalanced musculature – the "caveman" look.

I think another aspect of good general strength should be good balanced strength.  For a lot of average people, this means that the back half of your body should be strong, so you don’t end up hunched forward, or slouching down.  This is a very common thing seen in people who spend a lot of their lives sitting in sofas or at computers etc.  This is also seen in many people who strength train for aesthetic reasons.  Most people only see the front half of their body, so only think about these muscles.  This can also lead to a forward hunched, “caveman” look. 

Many sports people also have un-balanced strength.  Classic examples include tennis players who favour either their right or left side, and have very strong forehand swings, but a weak backhand. 

In all these cases, general strength training can be used to even out their body and bring their weak spots up to par. 

For the average person, improvement in general strength can be done by simply going through the day and always avoiding the easy option, or training in a gym with full body workouts, using 2-3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.  The goal should be to gradually increasing the resistance, not the sets/reps. 

The guidelines for un-balanced athletes would depend entirely on their specific imbalance. 

Maximum strength.

This is the ability of a muscle to generate the maximum amount of force possible for a single, all-out effort.  Examples include weightlifters.  This kind of strength is for those who do heavy, hard work.

But interestingly, maximum strength training has a lot to do with neurological (nerve) training.  It tends to bring about only minimal size increases in the muscle, so you are not going to get bulked up like this.  Instead, it trains your nervous system to work your existing muscles in a much more efficient way.  So your muscle works at 100% effort, instead of only 80% (I just made up these particular percentages, so don’t quote them, but you get the idea).  This is a fairly advanced form of training, so don’t bother with it if you are a beginner. 

Maximum strength – The priority is for a single, all-out effort, whatever it takes.

To improve your maximum strength, you should be using: 

• 85-100% of your maximum weight.
• 1-5 reps.
• 3-6 sets.
• 3-5 minutes rest between sets.
• Steady, controlled speed.

In other words, your priority is to move the heaviest weight possible, and everything else (reps, rest periods etc) is adjusted to accommodate it. 

Strength endurance

This is the ability for a muscle to work at relatively low intensities for a prolonged period of time with minimal/no rest.  For example, a marathon runner.  This kind of strength is for those who do long lasting, endurance based work.

Strength endurance training improves the long term efficiency of the muscle by improving its ability to process more oxygen/nutrients and flush away waste products.  This type of strength does not need a large sized muscle, so brings about minimal/no size increase. 

Strength endurance – The priority is to keep on going, whatever it takes.

To improve your strength endurance, you should be using: 

• 30-40% of your maximum weight.
• 15+ reps (depending on your sport, it could be a lot more than 15 reps)
• 2-4 sets
• Minimal rest (often 30 seconds or less).
• Steady, controlled speed.

In other words, you priority is to maintain/increase the duration of the exercise, and everything else (intensity, speed etc) is adjusted to accommodate it. 

Power.

This is the ability for a muscle to move in an explosive, fast manner.  Examples of power include long/high jumpers, javelin/discus throwers etc. 

The maths equation for power is: 

Power = (force x distance) / time 

Using the above equation, we can improve our power by increasing our maximum strength and/or improving our speed (distance does not change much, unless we learn how to grow our limbs longer).  We improve our maximum strength during our maximum strength training sessions.  So power training should be all about improving our application of that strength at speed. 

Power – The priority is for a fast, explosive move, whatever it takes.

To improve your power output, you should be using: 

• 75-85% of your maximum weight.
• 3-5 reps.
• 3-5 sets.
• 2-5 minutes rest between sets.
• Fast, explosive speed.

In other words, your priority is to maintain the explosive, high speed of the move.  Everything else (reps, weight, rests etc) are adjusted to accommodate it. 

Power endurance.

This is the ability for a muscle to work at high power for a prolonged period of time.  For example, a 400m or 800m runner, a boxer, a rower etc.  This is a fairly advanced form of strength training, where you take the power you already have, and apply it for longer periods and/or with less rest. 

Remember, the difference between power endurance and strength endurance is the speed at which it is done.  To improve power endurance, you must keep the speed up.  If you cannot, then cut the set/workout short and start it again when you can keep the speed up. 

Power endurance – The priority is for fast, explosive moves, again and again and again, whatever it takes.

To improve your power endurance, you should be using: 

• 30% of your maximum weight.
• 10, 20 or more reps (depending on your sport, it could be much more).
• 3-5 sets.
• 2-3 minutes rest between sets (or less as you get more advanced).
• Fast, explosive speed (cut the set/workout short if you cannot maintain the fast, explosive speed).

In other words, your priority is to maintain the explosive, high speed of the move, and gradually increase the duration or decrease the rest periods over time.  Everything else (sets, intensity etc) are adjusted to accommodate it. 

In summary…

The above is a run down of the main types of strength we have and train for.  If you are an average person, all you really need to care about is the first, General Strength type.  This kind of training will help you get through your day, and resist chronic and acute injuries. 

But if you do any kind of sport or physical hobby, it is almost certain that it can be improved with the appropriate strength training.  But make sure you train in the correct way.  Or at best, you risk wasting your time, at worst,  making your performance suffer. 

If you have any questions, or if you want to know how to incorporate these aspects into your own training properly, contact me today by clicking here. 

And don’t forget, you can subscribe to this blog by email or RSS using the button things at the top right of this page, you you can email, print or share this article using the button things below.

Hello Fellow Shotokan Karate-ka

Are you an Instructor?

If you run a Dojo, you know it can be a challenge to come up with new drill and new training routines, week after week, month after month.

I’m sure you know how important it is to have a fresh batch of drills and exercises available to keep your class motivated.

How would you like a fresh injection of karate drills that will have you INSPIRED, EAGER and ready to teach!

I’ve found something that can serve as your guide for years to come. It’s your source of inspiration, instruction and entertainment.

==> http://budurl.com/karatetips

You can easily print it and pop it in a binder and have it as a reference guide at your school for you and your instructors to refer to.

Here are a few samples of what you’ll find:

• 15 different kinds of pushups - actually it’s more than that when you combine them together to make the ultimate pushup challenge!

• Discover 6 endurance strength building drills to make your students harder, tougher martial artists.

• 5 fantastic kicking drills to develop coordination, focus and speed.

• 2 group drills for developing blocking & striking coordination, timing and footwork… all essential components of self defense, kata and sparring…

• How To Build Your Own Home Dojo for under $150!

• The KarateTips Home Training Routine

==> http://budurl.com/karatetips

Click on the link, and RE-ENERGIZE your karate!

Here’s to a lifetime of training!

MyShotokan