What parts of the body are involved?

Because they are an upper body pushing exercise, the main working muscles are: 

• Pectorals (chest muscles)
• Anterior deltoids (front of the shoulders)
• Triceps (back of the arms, or “bingo wings”)

But many other muscles are also involved, mostly in supporting roles, including your abdominals. 

Why are pressups so good?

• They are a big, compound move (they move more than one joint at a time).
• They match basic, everyday, practical moves, where we push something/someone away from us (one of my friends imagines she is pushing blokes away in the pub!)
• They can help teach the body to move in a more coordinated fashion.
• They can help increase bone density in your arms if you are at risk of osteoporosis.
• Depending on your current abilities, they can increase your muscular strength or endurance.
• They are free and you don’t need any equipment to do them.
• They are a good Keystone Ability.

How to do the ideal pressup.

First of all, remember that I am describing an “ideal” pressup here.  None of us are “ideal”.  I know I’m not.  But that shouldn’t stop us from trying our best.  If you have difficulty with an “ideal” pressup, don’t panic!  Just don’t stop trying either and you will get there in a few days/weeks/months.

The start.

Support your weight on the floor with your hands and toes. 

• Your hands should be directly beneath your shoulders, but a couple of inches wider than shoulder width.
• Your arms should be vertical when seen from the side.
• Your whole body should be dead flat from your head to your heels, with no bends/kinks in the spine or hips.

Good Pressup - Body flat with no kinks.

Bad Pressup - Back and hips are bent all over the place.

The descent.

• Keeping your body rigid at all times, bend your arms until your chest is nearly touching the floor.  Remember, no sagging/bending/kinking at the belly/back/hips.
• At the bottom, your hands should be roughly in line with your nipples, your forearms dead vertical and your upper arms making a roughly 45 degree angle with the side of your body.
• Your shoulders should be tucked back and down.  In other words, they should not be hunched.

Good Pressup - At the bottom of the pressup, your body should still be flat and rigid.

Good Pressup - Your upper arms should make a roughly 45 degree angle to the side of your body.

Bad Pressup - The body is arched, hips are too low and arms not bent.

 

Bad Pressup - The upper arms are stuck straight out to the sides.

 

The Ascent.

• Keeping your body straight and rigid, push your hands into the floor and return your body to the start position. 
• Make sure your body moves as one, single unit
• Don’t let your hips or your head/shoulders lead the way.

How to make them easier.

• Do everything exactly the same, except put your hands on a step/ledge/box so they are further away from the floor.
• The higher the step, or the greater the incline of your body, the easier it becomes.
• As you get better/stronger, use a lower step.

The greater the incline of your body, the easier the pressup becomes.

 

How to make them harder.

 

• Do everything exactly the same, except put your feet on a step/ledge/box so they are further away from the floor.
• The higher the step, or the greater the decline of your body, the harder  it becomes.
• As you get better/stronger, use a higher step.

The greater the decline of your body, the harder the pressup becomes.

 

Now everyone go out there and do some pressups.  They are good for you! 

Exercise Workshop

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, I had plenty of positive feedback (all of which was “good” or better!) and I think everyone learnt some new and important things over the 2 hours.

In fact, the only problem was my usual one of not keeping an eye on the clock (if you have ever trained with me, you know what I’m talking about!), so I had to rush through the last couple of exercises a bit quicker than I would have liked.

Exercise Workshop

Apart from that teething trouble (which I will have fixed by next time), we managed to go through everything I wanted.

The most important thing was the concept of Midline Stabilisation and various exercises to identify and develop the muscles to needed to maintain it.

Then we moved on to the 8 main, fundamental exercises of the workshop.  These were:

• The Plank
• The Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
• The full Deadlift
• The Squat
• The Lunge/Split Squat
• Barbell Row
• The Pressup/Bench Press
• Shoulder Press/Overhead Press

Exercise Workshop

I chose these exercises because they are big, compound moves that involve much of the body all at once.  Many of them can be classed as Keystone Abilities, and all can improve everyones performance in the gym, in their sport or just their everyday life.

We went over how to do these exercises, and importantly, some of the more common mistakes to avoid.  And the part that I tried to emphasise the most (hope this came across) was how to maintain the all important concept of Midline Stability during these exercises.

But at the end of the day, I had a fantastic time, I was asked some really good, relevent, questions and I think we all came away knowing something new.

Thank you once again for making it a success!

It will be an indepth tutorial on how to do some of the main, fundamental resistance exercises and how they cross-over to virtually every other exercise you do.

It will cover how to do things, how not to do things, and most importantly, why.

There will be room only for the first 15 people who book themselves on the list, so as soon as you have signed up, please tell your friends so they can join in too!

I’ll put up all the details, and ways to book your place over the weekend.  So check back again soon!

Barbell Rollout from the knees

In our circuit sessions, we have been doing barbell rollouts on our knees for a few months now (this is a fantastic way to strengthen your stomach/core).  First time, they were hideously hard!  I felt it for a week!  But now…well, they are a bit run-of-the-mill to be honest.

So the next step up is to do them from your feet, instead of from your knees.  But this is going to take a lot more practice on my part, so I decided to go to Argos and buy myself an Ab Wheel to practice in my tiny, tiny bedroom.  (The reason I am practicing this move, is that it is a perfect example of a Keystone Ability).

But on the way to Argos, I wander into TKMaxx and find an Ab Wheel there!

But best of all, TKMaxx are only charging…

£1!

Yes, only £1 for probably the best tool to strengthen your stomach/core!  Bargin!

So if I were you, I’d head over to the wonderful TKMaxx and see if they have any left.

And just so you can see how the ab wheel rollout from the feet is done properly, watch the start of the video below…

• Cannot swim yet
• Wants to learn to swim
• Doesn’t mind being on TV
• Can get to the swimming pools at either Burnley or Colne in Lancashire

If the above sounds like you, I need to hear from you NOW!

Just contact me by clicking here, or leave a comment below.

Thanks!

Luckily the boffins and head doctors have come up with a “map” detailing the 5 steps we go through to change our behaviours.

And here they are…

Step 1 – Pre-contemplation.

eg – the stereotypical couch potato.

At this step, people:

• Have no real knowledge or idea about the new behaviour
• Don’t think they have to change behaviour
• Don’t think it has anything to do with them
• Think they are fine as they are
• Automatically “switch off” whenever the subject arises
• Might say “I don’t know”, “I don’t want to know” or “it doesn’t apply to me”

Things to help people at this step:

• Don’t go on about the subject.  This usually pushes them into a bloody minded state of mind where they dig their heels in and refuse even more.
• Casually mention the benefits of the change in behaviour, and leave it at that.
• Casually mention that their “hero” does this behaviour, or agrees with it, and leave it at that.
• Don’t pressure them into making an immediate change.  The goal should only be to move them to the next step.

Step 2 – Contemplation.

eg – the stereotypical person who, just after Christmas, is thinking “I need to go to the gym”.

At this step, people:

• Are openly thinking and talking about making the change in their behaviour, sometime in the future.
• Are starting to look into how it may be done.  eg they may be finding out where the nearest gyms are, or reading the diet/exercise tips in the papers, and thinking of doing some of these things sometime in the future.
• Still don’t have real ideas about the hows/wheres/whens yet, but they know they do need/want to change behaviours, sometime in the future.
• Are more talk than action.
• Can spend a very long time at this step.

Things to help people at this step:

• Help gather information about the hows/wheres/whens.
• Offer examples of other people who have changed behaviours, and how they did it.
• Encourage and help the person to move to the next step as quickly as possible to avoid stagnating at the current step.

Step 3 – Preparation.

eg – person actually going to the gym to have a look at it, talk to the staff and find out best prices/offers for them.

At this step, people:

• Are actually making solid plans about how they are going to make the change.
• Are thinking how to fit the new behaviour into their current lives.
• Are working out a fairly solid starting date, a specific end goal and are trying to work out exactly how to get from one point to the other.
• Are dipping their toe in and testing the waters before making the leap of actually changing the behaviour.
• Can often sound more confident than they actually are.
• Can easily fall back to the previous step if they are not careful.

Things to help people at this step:

• Be supportive.  They may be feeling nervous about making the change.
• Prevent the person getting lost in the fine detail and ensure they remember what their actual overall end goal is.
• Keep them realistic.  If they are feeling nervous underneath, they often compensate with overambitious goals and targets.
• Without being too pushy, encourage them to the next step when they are ready, to avoid falling back to the previous step.

Step 4 – Action.

eg – person in January who has signed up for, and is taking part in, their first months worth of exercise.

At this step, people:

• Are actually performing their new behaviour.
• Feel the excitement and novelty value of new behaviour.
• Often feel relief that the planning has actually come to something.
• Often seek reenforcement of the new behaviour from people around them.

Things to help people at this step:

• Be supportive and encourage the person.  Even with the best laid plans, some things will go wrong.  It is important to help the person through these bumps so they don’t have a crisis and give up at the first hurdle.
• Make the new behaviour as enjoyable and positive as possible.
• Ensure they know when they are doing things correctly.  With anything new, it can be difficult to know what is wrong and right.

Step 5 – Maintenance.

eg – a person who regularly exercises consistently and regularly without having to “talk” themselves into it.

At this step, people:

• Made the change in behaviour at least 6 months ago and it has become an habitual part of their everyday lives.
• They are a “convert” and no longer need reminding why they are doing it.
• Need little outside support to keep the behaviour going as it has virtually become a habit.

Things to help people at this step:

• Because they are “self sufficient” there is little help needed.
• Periodically have a “check up” to ensure complacency has not set in and they are not resting on their laurels.

Final thoughts…

So that is it.  If you are trying to change a behaviour for the better, see which of the above steps you are on, then go through the rest until you reach number 5.

As always, if you are trying to lose fat, get healthier, fitter or stronger, contact me and see how I can help.

Practical reasons and aesthetics.

• Practical reasons – This includes health benefits.  A strong body is generally more injury resistant than a weak one.  Or a person may have had an injury and are now in rehab, needing to regain lost strength, or to improve strength beyond a certain threshold to help prevent future injury.  Or a person may need increased strength for their job (eg a soldier), or a person may be an athlete and greater strength means a greater chance of winning.

• Aesthetic reasons – These can be put simply as “looking better naked” and I think we all know about this already.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

However (and I’m going to sound sexist here again), there are a group of people (usually women who are naturally at higher risk of developing osteoporosis, or brittle bones) who are scared of improving their strength for fear of waking up one morning looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This is like refusing to wear a seatbelt in case the edge of the belt saws their head off…they are avoiding a vital piece of safety because they are afraid of something that just will not happen.

Chest Press

But I digress.

Because of this and many other reasons (not least of which is the very good reason of not knowing what to do) I am going to give you my absolute beginners guide to getting stronger.

Now different people want/need to get stronger for different reasons.  2 extreme examples are:

1. The 16 year old spotty kid wanting to look like Arnold.
2. The 60 year old little old lady simply wanting to be able to carry her shopping home and injure herself if she falls.

Now these two examples are about as different as they can get.  Their aims might be totally different and their attitudes towards training might be polar opposites.

“Despite this they are both absolute beginners and their training programmes and aims should be virtually identical.”

When I say virtually identical, I obviously don’t mean in the actual weights used.  But I do mean what exercises to do, the number of times to do them etc.

Initial aims for an absolute beginner

• To learn to use the body in a mechanically safe and more efficient way.
• To strengthen the soft connective tissues of the body (ligaments, tendons etc)
• To strengthen the hard structural tissue (our bones)
• To strengthen the muscles that support and move the body.

Seated Row

So whether you are the spotty 16 year old, or the granny.  Your initial aims should be very similar…building the foundations and doing the groundwork to allow specialisation later on.

What type of training programme?

There are loads of different training programmes available out there.  All of them will have their good/bad points and will be more/less appropriate for different people.  But I have found the following programme template to work quite well with absolute beginners:

• Thorough warm up.
• Chest Press   :   1-5 (sets)  x  5-10 (reps)
• Seated Row   :   1-5  x  5-10
• Leg Press   :   1-5  x  5-10
• 1 other exercise of your choice
• The Plank   :   60 seconds worth (broken into as many sets as needed)
• Static stretches.

Leg Press

And that is it.  The whole thing should be easily done in less than half an hour and it comprises of less than half a dozen exercises.  And the reason I use this template is as follows:

Number of exercises.

Keeping the number of exercises low means you don’t have to learn loads of new moves.  If you have to learn too many new exercises in one go, all that happens is that you end up forgetting them and doing them wrong.  This will almost certainly lead to future injuries and/or a waste of you time and money.

I have 4 main exercises in the above template, and then an extra “1 other exercise of your choice”.  This is because everyone has a different attitude/personality, and the most important thing is that you enjoy your training.  Use this final exercise to enjoy yourself.  Make the workout your own and do what you want to do.  Boys can do their bicep curls and girls can do their tricep kickbacks if they like.  Just make sure they are done after your main workout and they don’t interfere with it at all.

We don’t have to be perfect all the time.  As long as we are good most of the time, we can get away with being a bit naughty sometimes (just don’t let the naughty times interfere with the good ones!).

The Plank

Number of sets and reps.

One possible difference between my hypothetical 16 year old boy and little old lady would be here.  Pandering to a gross stereotype,  I might have the 16 year old doing 1-3 sets of 10 reps, while the sweet little old lady doing 3-5 sets of 5 reps.  The reason is:

• The boy is much more likely to let his ego take over and try too much weight too soon.  By keeping the reps up, this forces him to keep the weight down a bit and so means less chance of him breaking himself.
• The lady is more likely to tire sooner, so this way she gets to have more rest breaks.  This also means her form/technique is less likely to suffer.
• They both end up doing a similar number of reps, so they both get a similar amount of practice at doing the actual move.

Types of exercise.

All the actual exercises are big, compound moves.  In other words, each move uses lots of joints  and muscles working together at the same time.  The reasons are:

• It’s more time efficient.
• Helps teach mechanically efficient moves.
• It spreads the load across more of the body, so if they have any particularly weak parts, they are not exposed immediately to stresses directly to that weak spot.
• Helps develop strength evenly across the body.  Young boys tend to over emphasise their chest and biceps, while older women tend to over emphasise the backs of their arms.  This kind of “nit picking” is rarely a good idea for both practical and aesthetic goals.

What to expect during/after the first training sessions

• Don’t expect too much hard work.  Do less than you think you are capable of.  If you don’t you will probably pay for it the following morning in the way of aches and soreness.
• Don’t try too many different machines/exercises.  Do half a dozen at most, and learn the basic do’s and don’ts of them.  It is much better to do a few things properly and safely than loads of things crappily and dangerously.
• Even if you do less than you think you are capable of, there is a definite chance you may feel aches/stiffness after your first or second session.  So far, I have never been with anyone who was stiff after the third go.  Your body adapts to the work you give it very quickly.

What to expect during/after the first month

• You will “feel” stronger and be able to do more work and shift heavier resistance/weights.  This will not be because you have built more muscle (you will build virtually no muscle in the first month) but because the muscles you already have will have “woken up” and you will be using more of your original potential strength.  Anyone feeling “bulked up” in this first month is almost certainly just carrying more fluid in their body.  This will settle down within a couple of weeks.
• Your various limbs and bodyparts will start to feel a bit more coordinated and your body will hold itself less like a saggy, water filled balloon, but more rigid and secure.
• Any aches and stiffness you may have felt the day after your initial training will be a thing of the past and wont be occurring now.

Conclusions.

The above is a good example of a beginners strength programme for virtually everyone, from spotty kid to little old lady.  But of course their different attitudes will react to the programme in different ways.

Young lads usually want to do too much too soon.  They will probably want to do the latest bodybuilder routine they saw in a glossy mag with a HUGE bloke on the cover.  Please realise that the latest bodybuilder routine done by HUGE blokes is not suitable for an absolute beginner! You will end up breaking yourself, I promise!  You need at least 6 months foundation work to get your body ready to do anything close to the routines you see in muscles mags.

Little old ladies may be against the idea of ever increasing the weights.  This is a mistake because we get strong enough, and no stronger, to do what we are actually doing.  If you never increase the weights you are lifting, you will never get stronger.

I hope my ramblings here have not confused you too much!  If so, just leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer any questions!

“People with disabilities shouldn’t be in the gym.”

That’s what I learned this morning and I’m still furious!  Here’s the story…

I started working with a client a couple of weeks ago.  He was involved in an incident a few years ago that left him with chronic injures and disabilities.  Because of this, his mobility, strength and state of mind have been effected and it is only very recently that he has started to feel that he has “control” over his future.

One of the things that has helped a great deal over the last couple of weeks, is the very simple fact that he has come back to the gym with me.

Nothing magic in that.  No mystic voodoo from the far east or anything.  It is just that he is now in a positive atmosphere and he can picture himself improving over time, and being able to do some of the things that he has not been able to physically do recently.

But…he found out today that he should not go to the gym anymore, because this will provide evidence that he does not have any disability and his compensation claim will suffer!

The logic being…

“You are in a gym, therefore you must not have any disabilities, therefore you should not get any help/benefits/compensation”

WHAT??

Are they seriously saying that people with disabilities should not be in the gym?

These people are in a gym...that means they can't have any form of disability, doesn't it??

Everyone I know goes to the gym to improve their body in some way.  In other words, to make their body better than it is right now.

It says nothing about what our bodies are like at the moment…but how we want our bodies to be in the future!

Exercise is both a curative and preventative form of medicine.  And this stupid law firm is preventing this guy from taking his medicine!

It is as if they are saying:

“You are taking medicine…medicine makes you healthy…therefore you must be healthy…therefore you shouldn’t be taking medicine”.

Can you see the flaw in that reasoning?

Bloody idiots!  They have really pissed me off!  Can you tell?

Anyway, maybe I’m not understanding it properly in my rage.  Am I missing something here?  If so, leave a comment below and let me know.

The truth is, people who say either of these don’t know what they are talking about.  Here are my thoughts…

What/where is our “core”?

Here, our entire upper body is balanced precariously on top of a bendy spinal column only a couple of inches wide.

Structurally speaking, this is not very secure and is a potentially massive weak spot in our body.  Especially as all our limbs radiate out from this region that acts as the foundation for virtually every move we make.

What is our core for?

Like any foundation, or vital link in a chain, it needs to be strong, stable and resilient, or else everything built on it will be weak and prone to damage.

Unfortunately, a thin, bendy column is none of these things.  For this reason, we rely on the muscles and soft tissue in the immediate surroundings to supply this strength, stability and resilience.

Core Muscles

So our front, side and back muscles working together act as a “girdle” that protects and supports our spine.

And this is the important bit…it stabilises our spine and prevents it from flopping and bending about.

Think of it like guy ropes on a tent.  Without the guy ropes, the tent is a weak structure liable to collapse.  With the guy ropes, it is much more solid and sturdy.

Mechanically speaking, a straight back gives the strongest, most stable foundation for all our limbs to work from.  And this is what core training is all about…endevering to keep a straight back all the time, so our body can perform strong actions with a lower risk of injury.

But note that I said “straight” back, not “vertical” back.  These are very different things and a lot of people get confused by is.  But it is important when it comes to training your core.

Training your core.

Probably one of the most important things when training your core is:

“it’s not what you do, but the way you do it.”

An exercise specifically designed to strengthen your core wont help it (and can even injure you) if not done properly.

Likewise, an everyday general exercise can be a fantastic core strengthener, if done in a certain way.

Remember, the whole point of core training is to build and maintain a strong foundation for our bodies and all its movements.  So we need to condition our muscles and habits to keep a straight back in as many situations as possible.  Remember, I said “straight”, not “vertical”.

My personal favorite exercises to start developing your core region are the front plank, side plank and reverse plank.

Front Plank

Side Plank

Reverse Plank

These are simple exercises where your back is straight (when done properly), but defiantly not vertical.  A good start is being able to hold these static positions (properly) for a good minute.  This can be tough for beginners, but if you gradually build it up a couple of seconds at a time, everyone will be able to do it.

Once you are proficient at static exercises, the next progression is to more dynamic ones.  These are exercises where you must control and stabilise your spine while the rest of your body is moving.  This requires more thought and control over your body.

Examples of dynamic core exercises include the good old pressup, the deadlift and my personal favorite…punching a punchbag!

Deadlift

Press up

Punching the bag

Stability/fit/swiss ball

Some people may be surprised that I have not mentioned the stability/fit/swiss ball.  This is mostly because many people think that just because you are using that particular piece of equipment, you are magically going to get “core stability”.

This is not true!

Remember what I said before…

“It is not what you do, it is the way you do it.”

You can be using a fit ball all day, but if you are not using it right, you won’t be doing anything for your core.

And you can be using just about any piece of equipment (or no equipment at all!) and as long as you are doing it properly, you will be stabilising your spine and conditioning your core.

But make sure you learn from someone who really knows what they are talking about. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and expect detailed answers and reasons.

Final thoughts…

I feel horribly sexist when I say this, but this last thought is for the ladies…

I’ve spoken to so many women who refuse point blank to do any kind of resistance/weight training, but fight for a place on the local “Core Stability” class.

Here is an important thing to remember…

“Good core training is weight training.”

“Good weight training is core training.”

Call it what you like…they are both basically the same thing.  And everyone should do it…young, old, men, women…everyone!

Core strength and stability is not the cure for all ills.  But it is the basic building blocks and foundations to our movements, without which nothing else will be possible.

For more information about health, fitness and all things related, take a look at everything on this website.  If you have anything to say (good or bad) leave a comment.

And if you want some practical core training, and if you live in and around Skipton North Yorkshire, If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire…The A-Team…Ooops!  I meant to say “maybe you can hire …Cerins Fitness Coaching“!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8425161.stm

It backs up why I keep banging on about why people should be more concerned with their ability to perform physical tasks, and less so with just how they look.

The report tells of how they tested a bunch of 10 year old kids with a simple fitness test in 1998, and another bunch of 10 year olds now.  While the obesity levels of the 2 groups of kids had not really changed, their fitness levels dropped.

According to the weighing scales they were fine…but they were not as fit/healthy/strong as their counterparts 10 years ago!

The moral of this story is:

Train to improve your physical abilities, not just to look like the latest fashion aesthetic.

Change your mindset from:

“I want to fit into these clothes”

to:

“I want to be able to do a greater amount of work”

I promise you will look and feel better for it!

By the way.  The way they tested the kids in the report was by putting them through the 20 metre shuttle run (bleep) test.

Download your free mp3 copy from our shop and try it out yourself.

And it goes without saying, if you or your friends/family/work colleagues want to start exercising or want to improve your current workouts, just contact me.

I am based in and around Skipton, North Yorkshire and can help you!