Circuits for Alzheimer's Society

Last night we had a second circuits class at ALD to raise money for the Alzheimer's society.  Turn out was much better than the first time, it seems that news got around!

Feedback has been really positive and really encouraging with many people asking for another performance … of course ALD aren't that keen, since we're doing the circuits class in the car warehouse with lots of shiny, expensive cars around.  But it is pretty spacious and great for the CV elements, so maybe we'll see about another go later in the year and try and raise some more moment for Alzheimer's!

Why Footballers Should Study Ballet

What a weird opening!  What's that about?

Training for any specific activity requires specific training - if you want to be a runner you need to do lots of running, if you want to be a swimmer you want to do lots of swimming and if you want to play football - you have to play lots of football!

However, training for specificity can have its drawbacks when it's excludes any other component of fitness.  And there are adaptations that your body can make in one activity that can be of huge benefits in another activity.

There's an idea called Cross Training where other sports and activities are taken that complement particular aspects of the actual spirt or activity that's being trained for - for example, swimming is largely an upper body exercise, however it requires a good cardio-pulmonary system (strong heart and lungs) that can extract maximum oxygen from a breath due to being able to take fewer breaths while swimming - the effect for running can be an increase in the body's ability to work aerobically.

Cross Training is also a good idea where a particular sort or activity largely ignores an energy system or muscle group - for example cyclists spend a lot of their time hunched over their handlebars, which can be really bad for the back - back strengthening exercises can help prevent longer term problems.

So what's that got to do with footballers and ballet?  Well, footballers often suffer from hamstring injuries which caused by the rapid extension of the knee as the hamstring (the big set if muscles at the back of the leg) contract eccentrically (ie lengthen under tension) … and that can cause a tear.

Ballerinas almost never suffer from such injuries because they work on both strengthening their legs and their flexibility.  A study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine also concluded that lower extremity injuries in solders could also be drastically reduced by increasing hamstring flexibility.

Perhaps footballers should do a spot of ballet!  Ok, the ballet thing isn't really a serious proposition for cross training footballers, but the idea that drawing on components in one activity to support another activity you do, possibly even on a recovery day, can yield great benefits.

So what else do ballerinas have in common with footballers apart from a need to be able to flex the hips and extend the knees without rolling on the floor in agony?  Both are Drama Queens!

Forest of Dean Trailblazer Run (10k)

Yesterday I ran in the Forest of Dean Trailblazer Run, organised by Rat Race (http://www.rwtrailblazer.co.uk).  I was expecting to run it with my partner, but he was I'll with a cold - I was just getting over a cold and had a spot of Achilles tendinitis myself and was in two minds as to whether I should run … these things are quite expensive, so I decided that I'd give it a go, but go gently on myself.

Arriving at the site in my car, I was directed to a parking spot only a minute form the event village.  The village itself was just fine, not quite as many food stalls as I've found at the big city half-marathons.  Registration was quick and easy, the pack I was given even included the safety pins for my number.

There was an instructor who got each wave warmed up before they were led off to the start.  It was a bit of fun, but I didn't appreciate his threats to make us collapse with effort before the run even started - a warm up is just that: get pulse raised and muscles ready and not leave you so flat you can't do the man event!  So I took my own advice and took the warmup easy - and was glad of both the warm up and that I didn't over do it.

The weather was sunny, but it wasn't too hot - I was lad of that.  Running in the midday run, it could so easily have worked out completely exhausting.

When the warmup was finished we we led to the start and had our own private countdown.  I guess there was somewhere between 40 and 60 people, so after the first few minutes we weren't falling over each other.

The course was really interesting: I love running in the countryside, there is no much to see and it can be so peaceful.  But I wanted to try and get a decent time - I wanted under and hour, and if I could under 50 minutes, so I set a pace and plodded on.

After about 5 or 10 minutes I caught up with a girl who was doing the kind of pace that felt good to me - taxing, not going to kill me (given my current state).  I was kind of behind her for a bit, then ahead of her, and then behind again, and then finally we just gave you and mostly kept pace with each other.

At one point we passed a couple of guys and they said something pleasant as we passed - I don't remember what, but I do remember saying "this girl is awesome, she's just pulling me through!"  To which she replied that I was keeping her going!

There were plenty of hills and valleys in the run, nothing too steep, although the first half of the race felt pretty downhill, the latter half felt more uphill: I could feel my glutes really engaging to power up the hills.

With the end in sight, I am afraid I did take off and do a sprint for the finish.  Actually, I think it may have been about 250m sprint - I was surprised that I had it in me!

My final time was 48mins 39secs - and a lot of that is due to Denise, the fab girl who was my accidental running partner for the day!

Self-Esteem and Exercise

I'm just reading an article on how Personal Trainers (and fitness instructors in general) need to get into their clients' heads more in order to better motivate them.

I strongly believe that getting and staying fit is mostly done in the head and that the internal dialogs that we have are our own worst enemies: things like "I look fat" or "I could never do that" keep us feeling low, but to our own voices that do it to us.

As a PT, I like listening to what my clients say about themselves, this gives me a strong insight into what actually motivates them.  I encourage clients to become aware of that self-critical voice and realise how it actually makes them feel (the little voice can also encourage us to exceed our abilities in both positive and negative ways).  

By standing in front of a mirror and repeatedly saying "I look fat", your mind will generate behaviours to support this view.

But when you stand in front of the mirror and say "what do I need to do to get slimmer/healthier?" Your mind can gradually build behaviours that will support the required behaviour change.

Increasing self-esteem involves working with clients to gradually collapse their old beliefs about themselves and replace them with new yet still believable ones.

For some people, counselling alongside their training will really give them the best return on their investment, time and effort.

- but to even start you need to believe in some small way that You're Worth It!

Body Confidence Training

More Flyers! (is this the final design?)

Thanks everyone for your feedback ... I've done what I can with it and hopefully this design is a little easier on the eye and more digestible!

Designing Flyers!

I'm having some fun designing some flyers for my new circuits class - what do you think?

Circuits Fitness Class in Kingswood, Bristol

Why learning the guitar is like getting fit

My Mum is learning to play the guitar; she is doing really well, and whatever age you are, learning an instrument or a language or to paint or anything new is challenging. For some people some things are more challenging than others, but basically she's not found it easy, but she's plugged away for six months and can play some pretty pleasing tunes. She also sings along, which is a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy!

Well done Mum!

But what has that got to do with a fitness blog? Well, as we age it gets harder and harder to create new neural connections in the brain, playing a guitar requires some pretty snappy synapsis firing away quickly enough to produce a tune. When you're young, your brain is optimised for creating connections … ie learning. When we get older, it seems that evolution doesn't think we need to be able to learn new things and it gets harder.

The same principal is true of starting any new fitness regime, whether its weight, running, yoga or dancing - your brain has to connect the right neurones to the right parts of the body in sufficient quantity to enable your muscles to generate the forces necessary to lift a heavy object, move quickly or perform a complex operation.

I think that my Mum's achievement is really encouraging for any older adult: if she can learn to play the guitar, you can learn to swim or cycle or balance on your head!