Back to Basics

Have you ever complained that your modern, fancy, well lit gym is missing a few weights or needs an extra bench. Well next time you go to complain just think about what these guys are forced to do in order to train.

These gyms in Brazil, Ukraine and Senegal all use the most basic and at times recycled gym equipment available to them and yet still churn out amazing results. Alot of this equipment is made from scrap metal and oil drums or truck wheels for the weights. So just consider yourself lucky next time you go to your nice gym in doors where its dry and probably air conditioned and don't forget that these guys have got results with equipment no where near as good as yours so if your struggling, don't blame the machine, blame yourself!

Power to Weight Ratios

This is the ultimate defining moment of your training. When you sit down at the end of the latest programme and work this out. Your power to weight ratio gives you an indication of your over all strength and your improvements. To work it out follow my example below:

My weight = 75kg
My bench press for 8 reps = 110kg

110kg divided by 75kg         =         1.46

This tells me that I have a power to weight ratio of 1.46 : 1, or that I can push 146% of my body weight.

You should be aiming for at least 1.1 as anything below 1 means that you can't lift your own body weight and really arn't doing well. You can work this out for dead lifts and squatts as well but the main indicator of power: weight ratios is calculated using bench press for 8 reps.

Day 48

Well I'm almost at the end of my 50 day programme. Have trained everyday and the results are starting to show. I'm fitter, faster and stronger than I was before and can't wait to look at how much I have improved over the last 50 days.

Just to give you a quick idea of my general improvements heres a quick summary:

                                                 Bench Press :                                                          

was 105 kg ( 8 reps)  -   now 110kg ( 8 reps)

Squatts:

was 120kg (10 reps)  -  now 127.5kg (8 reps)

Tredmill 13 minutes distance covered:

was 2.98km   -   now 3.22km

Average work out time:

was 1 hour 20 mins   -    now 1 hour 10mins

(and im still doing the same ammunt of stuff in each workout)

1000 hits

This is just a quick post to thank everyone for their support so far. The blog is now up and running and is doing well. So far its had over 1000 hits and is bringing in a worldwide audience so I'd like to take a second to say hello.

Hello

       Gutten Tag

   Bonjour

  হ্যালো

  Dia duit

  Olá

สวัสดี

The fountain of youth

PROTEIN SHAKES CAN ADD YEARS TO YOUR LIFE!

Scientists at the University of Milan have found that consuming certain amino acids commonly found in proteinn shakes can lenghthen your life span by up to 12%. Thats approximately 9 years for the average man in the UK. The amino acids digested when you drink one shake a day increase the activation of your body's mitochondria ( the power houses of the cells). This in turn slows down the aging process and will result in a longer life span.

However this needs further testing to clarify the results but things are looking good. However please note that drinking more than one every day can lead to complications such as kidney stones or increase fat 
storage and so will reverse the effects. So don't start
gusseling them down like theres no tomorrow or there wont be!

Abs Circuit

Circuits are probably the best way to train your abs. By working all of the main core areas in a row without big breaks in between sets will give you the best results, fast! This circuit is designed to target all of the core muscle groups, (abdominals, core, obleaks) and can be performed without any equipment. So feel free to try it in your bedroom now.

Abs circuit: 

Station 1: Sit ups -  An easy one to start with to get the abs working just do regular sit ups at a reasonably high tempo for the time limit.

Station 2: Plank - From a press up position lower your self onto your elbows and hold that position for the time limit ( only the forearms and toes should be on the ground)

Station 3: Russian twists - holding your legs and body of the ground so that only your bum is touching the ground twis your body from side to side keeping your legs out in front.

Station 4: v sit ups - From a sit up position raise your body up and your legs up to form a V and then lower yourself back down again. Try not to touch your feet of the ground and remember to keep your legs straight.

Station 5: 6 inches position - lying on your back raise your legs 6 inches of the floor and hold that position. Keep your legs straight!

Station 6: side plank twists - from a side plank position raise one hand into the air and lean to the side so that your face is pointing towards the floor and then back up again. Remenber to do this for both sides!


For beginners try this once or twice with a minute rest between the circuits. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds each.

For a more advanced workout perform the circuit 3 times with 45 seconds rest between the circuits and perform each exercise for 45 seconds - 1 minute.

Building Speed

This post is all about building up your sprint speed and it contains tips from top athletes such as Usain Bolt and Linford Christie. Below are the three top moves for building sprint speed and acceleration.

Squatt:
Why? well squatting is the best way to build up your glutes and these provide the base of your explosive power in your legs helping to give your an extra boost of acceleration. Make sure you activate the glutes by keeping your back straight and your squatts as deep as you can.

Cleans:
Why? Again this is an explosive exercise and helps to build up the explosive power you need to get out of the blocks fast. It is also good at conditioning the entire body.

Bench Press:
Why? Linford Christie believes that, "Your upper body is your engine", "the faster your arms go the faster your legs go". So bench press is the best upper body move for building up your sprint speed. But instead of going slow and heavy linford suggests dropping the weight a bit and working on fast, explosive pushes of the chest.

Usain bolt has more quick tips to get faster:

Dont over stride: He claims that "if you do that you'll lose alot of power when you push off " Instead he suggests getting power through your ground contact to generate more power and therefore a larger driving force in your sprint.
Relax: he says that he always trys to relax before a race or else you can become tense and not perform as well.
Strong core: Bolt has often pushed through the importance of a strong core for sprinters and this is supported by Linford Christie who suggests, "core strength is vital" he claims that with out a strong core you will be out of balance when sprinting and this can lead to a serious drop in speed due to a reduction in your overall stride lengths.

Fight circuit

This week I was left to take my Kickboxing club with out the sensei and was left with the instructions that I had to work on 'fitness and stretching' seeing as most of the fighters were just back from holidays. So I came up with a few circuits that I will be posting up over the next few weeks.

This circuit was designed with fighters in mind but will be a great way for anyone to improve their overall fitness levels and gain lean muscle at the same time. Also they require minimum equipment to complete so feel free to try it in your bedroom. Each station will last 2 minutes giving you a 14 minute workout, if you finish this easily the take a quick break 2-3 mins and go again.

Station 1: Skipping - (any skipping will do, just make sure to keep the intensity as high as you can)

Station 2: press ups - (again keep the intensity high but if you can't last the whole two minutes just stop and start again as much as you need, but keep working!)

Station 3: shadow boxing - (this is practicing your combinations and moves against an invisible opponent, try to keep moving and changing the moves to get better)

Station 4: sit ups - (straight forward, keep doing the sit ups for the entire time limit and like the sit ups, stop and start again if really necessary)

Station 5: horse stance - (for those who don't know this is holding a squatt, try holding it against a wall if you are new to this exercise, or else stay in the middle of the room and keep your back straight)

Station 6: shadow boxing - ( again keep it intense and keep moving for the whole two minutes, if you start to tire work on defensive moves)

Station 7: the plank - ( another static hold, keep in a press up position with your elbows on the floor and hold it for the time limit)

This circuit should help to give you a balance between static holds and cardio based exercises all geared towards reving up your metabolism and targeting all of yor muscle groups. If you don't believe me, try it!

Back to school tips

Well its September 1st and alot of people are now back to school for the next 10 months. But its not all doom and gloom, instead see this as a great thing for your training.

A lot of you are probably thinking 'OH NO!' this means more work and less time to train, but instead I suggest looking at this as a time of getting into a good routine.

Being back at school most likely means training at night or very very early in the morning. I suggest for weights training that you wait until the evening before training if you are back at school. This is because your muscles will be in peak condition to train them after school and then you will have all night to grow and repair your damaged muscle tissue. Also an evening training session means that you will have consumed most likely a carb and protein meal for dinner, this is the optimum meal to have before a workout if you are aiming to build muscle.

Another downside to school is that you will find you will sit around alot, obviously. But if you keep a good posture in your seat, and don't swing or slouch then you will actually be strengthening your core muscles and this will help you get better abs!

Finally the big gain from going back to school actually comes from your diet. When you are in school you will be without the temptation of snacking from the kitchen cupboard which results in a significant reduction in your carb intake and so lead to a better overall diet. Also if you take a packed lunch you will be able to monitor your protein and calorie intake to a higher degree than the school dinners and this will help you achieve your goals and should give you better results from your training.

So don't look at September as back to the doom and gloom of tests and homework and instead see it as a time to get your fitness routine sorted out.