Right so after torturing my regulars with a special workout commemorating my 36th birthday, I’m sitting with a glass of 10yr old Talisker, Celebrity Juice is on the TV and I’m writing you my 36 top tips for achieving high levels of awesomeness.
10yr Talisker, doesn’t get much better then that!
Here we go:
Recognise and work on your weaknesses
Laugh at yourself
Give some of yourself without being asked
Learn something new every day
Spend time on the floor
Play, and I don’t mean computer games
Read books, real ones, made of paper
Read things that challenge your opinions
Do something physical every day
Spend time alone. Properly alone.
Turn off the TV, Computer, Phone and interact with the real world
Walk slowly through the woods, soak up natures life force
Take long gaps between meals
Pile your plate high with veg, mostly green
“Eat the rainbow”, natures version, not skittles!
Allow yourself a treat, follow the 80/20 principle
Stretch, a little yoga goes a long way
Breathe. Slow and deep, right into your boots
Drink more water
Lift heavy things
Learn to train with just bodyweight
Inspire someone
Raise the average
George Herbert used to say “Être fort pour être utile” Make this sentiment a central part of your being
Respect yourself, if you don’t, no one else will
Be the person your kids think you are
Play the games your kids want to play
Eat foods of only a single ingredient
Learn to throw a real punch
Roll, Breakfall develop and maintain agility
Find a way to express your creativity. Draw, write, play music, dance, whatever
Teach someone, you have unique expertise and experience, pass that along
Stop watching the news
Be open to new experiences, say yes more often
Complete a tough challenge every few months, be physical, cerebral or both
Form your own opinions, but never be afraid to change them if something better comes along.
Now, what did we do in the gym today?
Well I put together a special birthday workout for myself. 36 reps of everything, and I used the 36kg kettle.
Pull Ups x 36
Clean & Push Press/Jerk x 36L/R
Goblet Squat x 36
Hindu Push Up x 36
Snatch x 36L/R
Finish each exercise before moving to the next exercise, so ensure you’ve done all 36 pull ups before starting the clean & press. Use a few sets as possible.
The Snatch and clean & press, you may swap hands at will, but ensure to get 36 reps per side.
Don’t be shy with the weight, like I said, I used the 36kg bell throughout.
In an athletic sense, rotation and indeed, counter rotation, is a key player.
Power is best generated in our bodies by using spiraling actions.
If we take a throw or a punch, we can clearly see that a right handed athlete will plant their left foot forwards, turn the hip, rotate the spine, stretching the core musculature and shooting the right shoulder forwards which propels the arm.
A runner uses the shoulders turning in opposition to the hip to both balance and develop more speed.
We’ll assume you have already developed a good level of core stability.
This means you can plank for 2mins, you can do a decent barbell squat (front or back) with a significant amount of weight and you can deadlift heavy stuff from the floor.
Now, lets talk rotation.
And counter rotation.
If you’re a coach/trainer, then you must have heard that the role of the core musculature is to prevent movement, rather than create it. In the gym, this is fine, but in the real world of athletic performance, there is more to it.
Thomas Myers, the author of the incredible text Anatomy Trains, talks about the spiral line of the body.
Here’s an illustration:
The Spiral Line of the body
Now look at that line, and pay particular attention to the lines through the front of the torso and back of the hips and legs. These are the lines that real power comes from.
Not Andy Bolton powerlifting power, but Chuck Liddell knockout power.
The development of rotational power comes as part of a complete training program, a program that includes the basics of Squats, Deadlifts, Pull ups, Overhead Presses, Rows and Horizontal presses.
The simplest way to start the development of rotational strength is to work unilateral, or single limb variations of each of the these staples.
So try single leg squats and deadlifts, standing one arm overhead work and rows. Stick a barbell in the corner and do some landmine presses and rows.
These all ask for counter rotation, they will build on your established base of stability and help prepare for more intense rotational movements.
The top tier of rotational movements are:
Heavy Bag work
Medicine Ball Throws.
The problem with both these is in they require serious quality control. If you haven’t spent time under a good coach, you may be better off with other methods, but if you can get genuine instruction and have the discipline to keep to the instructions, then these are all you need.
Keep the reps moderate in order to maintain quality. As soon as fatigue becomes a factor and the punch/throw slows down, we’re no longer gaining benefit.
For everyone else, try the following (in no particular order):
Standing Russian Twists I talked about these in a previous post and received a few questions about them. So here we go in a little more detail: First of all, Maria, one of my regulars ans the current team captain of our Kettleheads Girevoy Sports Team, once described these as “twisty on the belly’s”, this was after her first introduction to the lift. That ought to tell you all you need to know, both about Maria and about the lift! I like these as they are performed standing, as are most athletic actions, they also require the feet and hips to turn as if throwing a punch or a ball. Start with an angled barbell held in both hands. Now rotate to one side, lets say the left. Turn into the hip on that side and allow the now rearmost (right) foot to turn. The bar will come down to your left hip. Now quickly reverse this power out of the left leg and hip, rotate back to centre and raise the bar back to the start point. Lower the bar slowly but explode back to centre.
Pretty soon after adding these into your training, no one will want to hold pads for you! Try 4-6 reps per side.
Plank with arm excursions
Take a standard plank, the body held in a straight line, supported on the toes and elbows. You know, the “rest position”
Now take one arm and slowly bring it take it of the floor and bring it across your waist. Hold this for three seconds and replace the arm. No wobbling allowed.
You can also take the arm out the side, or the front. These double as rotator cuff drills, assuming you have the core strength to do them!
One Arm Push Ups
Possibly the closest an exercise gets to actually throwing a punch. The force vectors through the body are almost identical, ie the load passes from the working arm, diagonally across the body and into the opposing leg.
For the combat athletes training with me, this is the go to drill for both horizontal pressing strength as well as rotational power.We mostly work these in the ladder format:
1 rep each side, 2 reps, 3 reps and so on until we hit a max, then repeat from 1 rep
Kettlebell Single arm swing or snatch
Watch this clip and pay attention to the hip and waist, see how they move in a whip like fashion to accelerate the kettle overhead, and then solidify to stabilise the bell in a lockout.
Take care with rotational work, be sure to develop a solid base first.
You can’t have one without the other, they are two parts of the same thing. They are symbiotic.
If you’re familiar with the WG-Fit logo, you’ll spot the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol.
This symbol famously depicts the balance between the light and the dark, the hard and the soft, the dichotomy of living a full life.
The symbol demonstrates that as one aspect weakens the other strengthens, but the dot of the contrasting colour in the strongest part of each side tells us that no matter how strong an attribute becomes, its opposite number is always present.
This is part of what I was talking about in my post about elbow pain in boxers.
In that post I gave the metaphor of a race car. We said how one of the best methods of making the car faster around the track is to improve the brakes.
But, surely brakes are for slowing down, not for going faster?
Well yes, but with better brakes, we can brake later, from higher speeds and therefore carry a greater average speed around the track. The brakes are the yin to the accelerators yang, they are the opposite side of the coin.
So in our world of strength & conditioning, fitness and performance, what are the sides of the coin?
Obviously strength is one side. Strength is a result of muscular contraction, so whether you need the maximal strength of a powerlifter, the explosive strength of an olympic lifter, the strength/power endurance of a kettlebell lifter or the strength endurance of a triathlete, you need strength.
Every distance runner and triathlete that ever came to me always, without fail, improved their times by getting stronger.
Some Gold Medal winning legs
On the other side of the coin is relaxation. As we train, we are tensing, we are contracting the muscles, compressing the body. Depending on our sport, we may be working certain movements/actions more than others, which can lead to problems. A prime example are our Brazilian Ju Jitsu guys.
BJJ players spend most of their training time in a rounded position, their shoulders are rounded forwards, their spines are flexed forwards and the hips is most often held in a flexed position. And while this maybe ideal for holding your opponent in your guard, or gaining a good side control from the top, it can be detrimental to overall health and longevity if that posture transfers away from the training floor and into day to day living.
A room full of flexed spines
It’s not just the BJJ lads either, think about your boxing stance or your posture as you sit at your desk. Sunken chest? forward head? Rounded shoulders? Flexed hip?
Yup.
A different room fulf flexed spines
So, while we need to strengthen all the areas we use to dominate our sport, we need to spend more time strengthening the muscles that are stretched and held slack in our sports.
For most this means doing a shed load of deadlifts, kettlebell swings, bridges, rows and pull ups.
But it also means stretching and relaxing our primary sports muscles, our hip flexors, pecs, lats and quads.
Very few that come through my door have optimal length in their pec minor, which puts their rotator cuff in trouble. Or their hip flexor chain, which causes problems for their glutes, knees and low back.
This is where they need to spend time on the other side of the coin. Relaxing and lengthening.
Due to reciprocal inhibition, it can very tough getting loose and inactive muscles firing if their opposite numbers are over tight. So that leaves you with two options:
1 – Get yourself to a good physio. I use John over at the Dublin Performance Institute
2 – Learn to do your own compensatory work.
Of the two, the second option is obviously preferable.
And the best compensatory practices can be learned from our resident Yoga/Somatic teacher, Anne Dempsey.
Anne Dempsey, she WILL give you the skills to ward of injury before it happens
As hardcore as we like to think we all are, tough nuts, impervious to damage and injury, we are all building up an injury debt that will need to be repaid. I’m 36 and have built up a massive debt, essentially I’ve spent much of the last 10 years in pain. Anne has given me several tools with which to manage that pain, to help the body relax and recuperate more efficiently so that I can continue training, I can continue leading from the front and I can continue to jump, roll and play being a power ranger with my kids.
Anne teaches every Saturday at Wild Geese, currently at 4pm, straight after the Muay Thai and JuJitsu classes. We may be moving her to an earlier time slot in the near future, but be sure to get in for 4pm and learn to do your own maintenance work.
Yesterday one of our Muay Thai lads was chatting to me before his warm up. He’s a very fit, well rounded young athlete, who’s always open and honest about his aches and pains and will implement any advice given to help him get back to strength. The kind of athlete that every coach dreams of having.
I wish I’d been more like him when I was younger, maybe I wouldn’t be such a beat up old wreck if I’d spoken out a bit more instead of being plain stubborn!
Anyhow, yesterday he told me about some elbow pain that he had developing.
This isn’t uncommon in the striking arts as there is such a prevalence of elbow extension compared to flexion. After all, you knock the opponent out by straightening your arm, not bending it! So very often we end up with a muscle imbalance happening and then pain.
Now, I’ve no intention of going into the anatomy of the elbow, there’s a very smart dude by the name of Eric Cressey who’s done a better job than I could on that in a 6 part series on elbows. This is the link to part 1, I trust you’ll figure out how to get 2,3,4,5, and 6 yourselves from there. I have all 6 parts printed off in a folder, they are that good.
But what about our boxer?
Well, he’s not going to stop punching the pads, nor is he going to give up his push ups.
So we need to add in a little something.
And my go to for this is probably the only isolation exercise I prescribe on a regular basis:
The Reverse Curl.
Most curl variations are fine, with the exception of curling a straight bar.
I prefer you to use dumbells as they allow for more natural alignments in the wrist and elbow. But for the reverse curl there are only two options, one is the “EZ bar”, that wavy looking thing, the other is the kettlebell hung on a towel.
The towel method allows complete freedom of the forearm. It’s also strengthening the wrist and the grip.
Here’s a video:
Whichever curl variation you choose, use a moderate weight, a controlled tempo and go for reps. Do them daily for a week, then once a week or every couple fo weeks is fine after that.
I’d also say add in a stack of band pull aparts and horizontal rows, be that Bent over rows, TRX rows, Renegade rows. Whatever, vary them, do a different variation each time, who cares, we’re not bodybuilders, but damn well do them. Go heavy for high reps.
Essentially what we are doing with the curls and the rows is working the opposite muscles to those trained in our punching drills.
This makes sense if you think of the body as a race car. One of the first things you do to make a race car go round the track faster is to fit better brakes. This allows for faster deceleration, which in turn means we can decelerate from higher speeds.
Thats almost exactly what we are doing with the rows and curls, these train the muscles that will act as stabilisers and if you miss, brakes when you throw out a heavy hit. The better brakes you have, the harder you can hit.
Mental strength is an integral part of what we do here at WG-Fit.
Maybe that’s the reason I enjoy working with the guys from the local Mental Health centre.
Much of the feed back I get from the guys I train talks about the non physical as much as they talk about strength gains and improved athleticism.
Right now I have a handful of guys all preparing for their first Kettlebell competition.
The competition involves an unbroken 5 minute set of lifts, the person with the most reps, wins. The other day the guys did their first ever 5 minute test set and to a man they noticed that most of the battle wasn’t with the weights, but it was in their own heads.
This is not unusual, many events are won and lost even before the athlete even arrives at the venue.
There’s a great boxing anecdote about a British boxer travelling from London to a fight in the north of England. He never showed for the fight, apparently getting of the train and turning for home about halfway there.
The story goes that he sent a message to his opponent that he lost the fight in Birmingham and got off the train in Manchester.
I guess the point I’m rambling towards us this, training the body is worthless unless you also train the mind.
In my youth I would fall apart at a Karate tournament, I was a great scrapper in the dojo, but as soon as I stepped on the mat my legs would fail me and my nerves would shatter.
That is until I realised that I was missing the most vital aspect of training, the mental aspect.
Mental strength is built by facing challenges that make you nervous, that make you not want to face them and then doing it anyway.
It’s the reason that every Special Forces regiment in the world will run you into the ground and then run you some more, they need to test your mental strength before building you physically.
And this is the key to true awesomeness.
The mind must come before the body.
You cannot truly become awesome if you first won’t go places mentally and physically that are seriously challenging.
Every do something that kept you up for several nights prior to the event?
Every sign up for something that made your stomach turn even just thinking about it?
Ever see something through that you wanted to quit every step of the way?
No?
Then it’s about time you did.
Be it a marathon, an adventure race, a kettlebell comp, a power lifting meet or just some ridiculous challenge, it doesn’t matter. Just do it.
In doing so you will face Demons within yourself that will make you want to break down and cry. Will make you want to run home for a hug. Will make you want to stay in the comfort and warmth of your bed.
And in beating these Demons into submission and completing the task regardless you will become awesome.
Many gyms, Personal Trainers and websites try to sell you on weight loss and 6 pack abs.
Fuck that, appearance means nothing.
Performance is everything. And you’ll only perform if your mind is right.
Each of these women competed in the last Olympics.
I don’t know if you noticed, but on the Facebook page where I post links to articles I like, there were four posts all about flexibility, mobility and the value of stretching.
This wasn’t on purpose, maybe my own tightness’ were annoying me so I was attuned to articles popping up about stretching. I know I’ve had a few of my guys in the gym that I’ve been giving specific stretching advice to over the last week. Especially when it comes to internal rotation at the hip and thoracic extension in the spine. But that’s for another day.
Today then I want to offer some of my own thinking on some of the points raised in these articles. In doing so I hope to answer a few questions that have been thrown at me in response to the articles.
Now, I’m not saying I’m smarter than the authors, I just have my own opinions. Much of my opinions on the topic are based on me growing up immersed in the martial arts. Even now a huge proportion of my clientèle are involved in some form of martial art. So as much as I always disliked stretching, it is embroiled in me, it is part of my culture.
First of all, check the list of names contributing to this discussion, that’s a proper who’s who.
It is Alwyn Cosgrove though that is closest to my own viewpoint, but he’s also a martial arts black belt, so that probably explains that. Jason Ferruggia also talks along similar lines to my own thinking. But reading other opinions, sometimes opposing opinions is extremely valuable.
Truth be told, upon rereading this it doesn’t tell me much new, it certainly doesn’t “dispel” any myths. What it does do is go some way to explain the science behind stretching, more in this in a while….
Now, I’m definitely not as smart as Grey Cook. I’m currently working through his “Movement” book and it’s seriously opening my mind.
No 4: This is 60 year old BJJ Black Belt and former world champion turned strength coach, Steve Maxwell. It’s not really an article, but it’s a video that asks a few questions of the viewer…
Now, there’s a stack of info there.
So what’s it all about? Are the scientists right? What about the anecdotal evidence? And did you see how strong, fluid and mobile Mr Maxwell is, even though he’s old enough to be your Dad? Can you move as freely as that?
Stretching works.
A lot of research carried out recently says it doesn’t (check Pubmed), but a few thousand generations of Yogi’s and Martial Artists say it does.
The truth is, it’s a tool, like everything else. Yes, you need to develop strength, yes you need speed and power. And yes you need mobility and flexibility.
Steve Cotter talks about Strength and Flexibility as two sides of the same coin. In his mind they are complementary and should be trained in tandem.
I think he’s onto something.
To start your workout, or even your day, you need mobility work. Call it Dynamic Range of Motion (DROM) or Joint Mobility or whatever, just systematically move through each joint in the body. Make sure to take in some basic movement patterns, such as the hip hinge and squat as well as the movements you’ll be using in your workout/sport.
Here’s an example:
or maybe a more flowing yoga based set:
Stretching is to be held for later in the day. I liked Jason Ferruggia’s take on this, stretching is best used several hours after training, but do take some time to stretch directly after training.
Straight after a workout, I like my guys to get on the foam roller, usually we roll the areas just trained. Straight after rolling we stretch. Stretches are held for a minimum of 60 seconds. We may use contract-relax or PNF methods, but always hold statically for a period before releasing the stretch.
In the evenings, get on the floor in front of the TV and go through any problem areas. Hold stretches for longer, up to 5 mins per stretch. No, that’s not a typo, it actually reads five minutes, but two minutes and up is cool, as long as you register change.
These stretches must be uncomfortable but never painful. Only go deeper when they become comfortable.
Regardless of what the scientists will tell you, this works.
The static work I advocate was taught to me by Anne Dempsey, a very smart lady who teaches Yoga, Somatics and Pilates. Anne told me about Yin Yoga, a style fo yoga where poses are held between 2 to 5 minutes at a time. It;s very gentle and forgiving, yet incredibly effective at opening the body up.
So lets put this into a brief timeline:
AM and/or pre workout – Mobility
Post Workout – PNF / Contrast-Relax / Dynamic or Ballistic type stretching
Evening – Yin style static stretching
What stretches should you do?
Stretch where ever you need it most, for most people I come across, thats the Quads, Hip Flexors, Piriformis and Pecs. I doubt your much different. I’m not!
In the last post HERE we looked at core stability in a static position, which is a great place for anyone, particularly beginners to start.
Now lets add in some movement.
The role of the core musculature is to work reflexively in order to stabilise the spine. This means it must be able to respond in the blink of an eye to any force that is placed on it, be a force generated within our own body (throwing a punch) or a force being received from the outside (receiving a punch)
Any and all sporting actions, actually scratch that, any and all actions require the muscles in the core to fire. We don’t fire them consciously they kick in as a response to whatever it is we are trying to achieve.
So why not train them with exercises that challenge them in a reflexive manner?
Here’s a few examples of how to do this:
1 – Round the World
Most kettlebell lifters will be familiar with this, but it can be done with a weight plate just as easily (maybe not quite as easily due to grip requirements..)
Simply pass the weight from one hand to the other in front of you, continue it round and swap it behind you so as to trace a complete circle around the body.
This is standard practice in many of my warm ups as it trains the body to constantly adjust to a shifting centre of gravity.
2 – Weighted carries
Dr Stuart McGill, the worlds foremost expert on low back and core training calls the farmers walk “a moving plank”
And he knows a thing or two.
So grab a kettle or a dumbell, hold it by your side and go for a bimble. Simple eh?
Do a powerclean and walk with the weight up at shoulder height as you meander round the room.
Hold it locked out overhead as you walk. Just ensure with this final variation you keep the shoulder locked down, you should feel the weight through the back rather than in the shoulder.
These three variants are super simple and require a single weight, which will load the body on one side asking for greater levels of stability from the core region.
This is how Dan John does core work
But can we use two bells? Damn right!
Be aware that you now potentially have double the load, so take care, especially as you pick, put down and turn around.
Then try off setting the bells, hold one high and the other low, ie one overhead and the other by the side. Obviously swap at regular intervals.
3 – Pretty much every bodyweight exercise ever invented.
(Barring the silly ones used in your local Aerobics class)
In the last post I already mentioned that moving in the plank position is usually called a push up, this should give you a bit of a clue.
Many who first start out on Pull Ups and Chin Ups are often caught out on how much they feel their lower abs work.
Bridge for the posterior core
Roll on the floor for dynamic stability in every plane
Animal Movements, well, that’s too big a list for one wee post, but come along to my bodyweight workshop and you’ll get the idea. I must also get back working on the Animal eBook I promised….
4 – Lifting Heavy Stuff
Especially Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead press (standing), Windmills and Turkish Get Ups.
Heavy lifting requires the core to stabilise against an external force. Not only that, but a force that is changing its vector as it progresses through the lift. Perform the lifts unilaterally and core activation goes up even further.
This is particularly apparent in the Get Up, there is so much movement in the lift the core musculature really must form a solid unit in order to get yourself up from the floor and onto your feet while holding something heavy in your outstretched arm.
If it’s good enough for Iron Man…..
And by the way, once you can do a Turkish Get Up, get that thing loaded and stop pansying about with babyweights. You should be able to work the Get Up with a weight heavier than you can press, and we expect you to get at least 1 rep with half your bodyweight.
5 – Hittin Fings
When we talk about the core being reactive and switching on in an instant, few things are better at creating this effect than hittin stuff really hard.
As I work out of a martial arts studio and many of my clients are martial artists, this is kind of bread and butter to us. We rarely use hitting as a core training drill as the guys spend hours hitting the bags and pads as part of their regular training. We do though have them smashing a tyre with a sledgehammer.
For non martial arts types, learning to throw a decent punch into a heavy bag is one of the most satisfying things you can do, it’s also “functional” in case you ever have to knock anyone out! But really, a punch requires the core musculature to stretch and contract to get power moving from the hips into the shoulders and then become a solid unit on impact to drive the power through the target.
A good bag session should leave you with sore abs and tired legs.
A step up again is to punch with some kind of restriction, try holding a weight in the opposite hand as you punch, or punch from a seated position These will force you to stabilise even harder in order to generate force.You can see the punching drill with a kettlebell towards the end of this clip, in fact you can see points 2, 3, 4,and 5 all in one workout:
6 – Directional Changes Quick changes in direction are a great way to challenge to core region. This where things like sprints, shuttles, agility ladders, battling ropes and reaction drills come in. When we move quickly we move around our midsection. A proper gait pattern will see the shoulders and hips swinging in opposite directions, meaning that the muscles in between them, ie your core, are constantly flexing and extending. The more vigorously you do this, ie sprinting, the harder then flex and extend.
Now suddenly change direction.
Assuming you have good basic strength, mobility and running mechanics, sprinting with direction changes will do wonders for your midsection. If you aren’t a runner or have tight hips, stick to the agility ladder as the smaller movements have less inherent risk than when in full flight.
The battling rope is a great core developer as well as mean cardio, to create a wave in the rope, you must first create that wave within your body and that takes control to do, especially as the arms are moving independently.
Have some fun playing with each of these suggestion.
Last week we answered the question “Why is core strength so important?”
Which seemed to go down well,
judging by the amount of shares that post had. Thank you all very much, I’m happy to help.
Speaking of which…this blog has made it to the Breaking Muscle final 20 in their top ten fitness blog competition.
We got there because you all voted for me.
Thankyou again, you are all awesome.
So anyway, back on point.
Core Strength and how to develop it…
What does the core do?
It is becoming ever more widely accepted that the core musculature is primarily for the prevention of movement.
In other words it stabilises the spine.
This little tidbit of information ought to give us a clue as to how best to train it for strength.
We need to train the core in such a manner that there is little to no movement in the spine.
But in what direction?
The spine can flex and extend in the Saggital plane
It can flex left and right in the Frontal Plane
It can twist and rotate
It can move in a combination of planes and directions simultaneously.
So, we need to learn to effectively counter these movements.
In other words build the ability to resist flexion/extension in the Saggital Plane, resist lateral flexion and prevent twisting.
Here’s a list of the go to exercises to build this kind of stability:
Superman / Bird Dog
This is a great place to start and suitable for pretty much everybody.
Start on all fours in a kneeling position, now really slowly slide one arm and the opposite leg out until they are fully extended. Think of reaching for the walls.
Hold full extension for a minimum of three seconds, longer is better.
In this extended position, ensure the spine is kept neutral (no sagging head or lumbar) and try to eliminate any and all wobbling and shaking.
See the sagging back, or exaggerated lumbar curve.
Not good.
Now thats better, a strong, neutral spine.
Also notice the gluteal activation..
A slight advancement is to pretend you have a pen sticking out of your heel and start drawing circles, or writing your name on the wall behind you. Just be sure that the pelvis is stationary and the leg moves from the hip joint. 1 to 3 sets of 5-12 reps is ok, depending on your needs.
Planks
This simplicity itself, rest on your elbows and toes with the body held in a perfect straight line.Now don’t move.Can you stay there for 2 minutes? If not, why not? Sort it out, 2 minutes is a minimum standard, and we don’t do minimums!Once you hit the 2min mark, the Plank is no longer classed as an exercise, it becomes renamed as “Rest Period”
So we take it up a notch. Here’s a few ideas:
Three point planks – lift a leg or an arm without any change in alignment through the spine.
Two point planks – Like the superman above, lift one leg and the opposite arm. Don’t wobble!
Weighted Planks – balance a weight on the back, you may need a mate to help it balance.
Moving planks – these are often called Push Ups.
Side Planks – you are now balanced on one arm and the same side leg.
Whatever variant you choose, the spine must be kept in perfect neutral, otherwise, it aint a plank and you’re not getting the desired benefits.
The Dead Bug or the Hundred Drill from Pilates
Lie flat on your back, that the arch of the back sink to the floor. Now lift the legs up and point them at the ceiling, same with the arms. This is the dead bug position. Hold it for time until it becomes comfortable.I prefer the Pilates method to count time, they call the position the Hundred and hold if for 100 breaths. Simple.Once this is all good, you can add to it. Here’s possibly the best presentation on the Dead Bug on the web, it’s from the inimitable Dan John, have a look:
The “Philippi”
This is cool, it takes all the above stuff off the floor and into an athletic setting, it also trains the core to work reflexively, which is it’s real job.I’ll let Mark Philippi himself tell you more about it, this clip is an excerpt from a DVD he made with Mike Mahler, the drill is the first three minutes of this clip, the rest is an interview with Mark on program design, also well worth a watch:
In the next post we’ll take it to another level by moving away from pure stability and looking at stabilising the core in motion.
You’ve survived January, you’ve gotten through the post Xmas lull and are back into full scale awesome mode.
Well, that’s just as well because look at what we’ve got lined up for you in the next couple of months:
National Kettlebell Lifting Championships
February 9th & 10th, Tramore, Waterford.
Wild Geese Kettlebell Club will once again be on the platform, hopefully qualifying for the Irish National Squad.
Bodyweight Training Workshop
February 23rd, Galway Kettlebells
This workshop has proven very popular since I launched it last year.
The workshop will cover (but not limited to):
Speed, Power, Agility, Explosiveness and not a weight in sight…
-Push Up variations to work every aspect of the body
-Squat variations
-Unilateral training
-Martial Arts strength training secrets
-Integrated core training
-Total body conditioners
-Agility
-Bodyweight for explosive power
-Mobility
And some feedback:
“Really enjoyed the Seminar today Its really nice to do the the basics like the squat and push up with time to break down and run through all the actual mechanics in good detail .. and also real cool to learn the more difficult variations all them!!!! personal il be taking home alot of the core training stuff , il play with that for a while .. i thought 6 hours would be alot but the time flew .. anyway was a good day out and worth dragging my arse out of bed of a sunday morning for..” – Don Wheelan“I would highly recommend the bodyweight workshop with Dave Hedges/ at Wildgeese. It really highlighted how much I still have to work on in terms of mobility and agility, and will focus my training on what I need to do, not what I like to do! Many people train to feel better with little focus on results and progression. This workshop really brought it home to me about how to focus more on these two areas, and doing the right things in the right way, rather than quickly or that make me look good when Im training!” – name withheldPlaces are strictly limited.
Contact myself on info@wildgeesema.com or our host Sarah Smith on galwaykettlebells@gmail.com
Cost for the day is €50.
Address: Galway Kettlebells, Unit 31A, Sean Mulvoy Business Park, Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, Ireland.
Kettlebell Technique Workshop
Crossfit Causeway, March 2nd
Robin Taggart, owner of Crossfit Causeway has invited me up to his gym to go over proper Kettlebell Technique.
The Kettlebell swing – fire optional
The day will focus on the most appropriate kettlebell specific lifts for general conditioning, those being the Swing, Clean and Snatch.
Most exercises translate from one tool to another with minimal changes, but these lifts are specific to the kettle and therefore require specific technique to get the most out of them.
Assuming we have the time we will also look at several double kettlebell movements as well as take a Q&A on incorporating Kettlebell Lifts into a wider training program.
Address: Crossfit Causeway, Units F4 & F5, Sperrin Business Park, Ballycastle Road
Coleraine, County Londonderry, BT52 2DH Cost: €50 / £40 Click Here to book
Or contact Robin Taggart (host) on:
Mobile: 07776181832
Email: robintaggart@gmail.com
I am also in the process of confirming dates to return to Tramore to teach the Rapid Response workshop.
And i may set a date for a workshop closer to home….
So get in touch and book your places
Aaaaand, one last thing…..
And this is important!
Breakingmuscle.com are running a competition asking you to vote for your favorite fitness blog.
Now it goes without saying that WG-Fit is the best blog on the blogosphere, in fact it’s probably the best thing in the world!
So vote and see if we can get listed in the Top 10, or better yet, win!
In the last post we learned how to breath properly.
Today we’ll learn to breathe for recovery.
You know that feeling when you’ve lifted a little too much for too many reps in too little time?
When you’ve just done sparring with for 5 minutes straight with fresh opponents?
You know, your heart is trying to punch it’s way out through your ribs
Your legs are wobbling underneath you
The room is closing in around you and your panting for dear life
But you have another round, another set to go. You aint finished.
How do you get back to a form where you are once again able to continue?
You breathe.
You get the oxygen in, you repay that oxygen debt. in doing so you slow down the heart rate, move away from that panic attack mind set and refocus the mind.
But how?
By exhaling as aggressively as you dare.
Powerful exhalations are the key.
We have a system in the body known as the Tonic Breath Reflex. basically when the lungs empty, especially if they are emptied forcefully, this triggers a reflex to inhale.
And like all reflexive actions it is stronger and faster than a conscious action.
End result, you inhale deeper.
Be sure to exhale from the belly, don’t attempt to inhale, that’ll happen, just get your next out-breath lined up.
Very quickly this will bring the breath back down and the heart rate with it. Your head will clear and the working muscles will start to refuel.
Yes you may get some funny looks around the gym, but if you train with any of the methods I teach, you ought to be well used to that by now. What will perturb the other gym goes more is the rate at which you recover from your suicidally intense training.
While they’re panting away, you’ll already be attacking your next set with the same vigour you did the first set.
Have look at this video clip from a few years ago as I use the breath in between rounds of an On The Minute Every Minute workout:
In the clip I’ve very limited time to recover, if you have more time I strongly suggest standing up, stamping the feet, bouncing gently up and down and shaking the arms about. As mad as this sounds, it actually helps calm the nervous system and speeds recovery even faster.
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Upcoming Workshops:
No Equipment - No Excuses Bodyweight Training Workshop
Learn how to take your strength & conditioning to new levels with nothing but your own bodyweight
Date: Feb 23rd 2013,
Times:
1000 - 1700
Location:
Galway Kettlebells,
Unit 31A, Mulvoy Business Park,
Sean Mulvoy Road, Galway, Ireland
TO BOOK: info@wildgeesema.com
