Rees Fitness Personal Training
Strength, Fitness & Behaviour Coaching
The night before the start of 50 half marathons on the Concept 2 indoor rower…
Holiday
My friend is going on holiday to Italy for 3 weeks, so she was wondering how will she cope without her regular training 3 times a week? Holidays can be difficult when it comes to training. So off the top of my head, here are some of the main problems and how we might get over them…
My Plate from the USDA
The USDA revamped its guide on what to eat the other day. It used to be a funny pyramid with lots of stripes on. I was never very keen on it, because it wasn’t very clear to me. But I think I like this new one. It is clear and simple. And importantly, it is very clear that half of what you eat should be made up of fruit and veggies.
Indoor rowing
Half a marathon is 21.1 km, or 21,097 metres long. That is a long way. It takes my friend Mark about 1 hour 20 minutes to row it on the indoor rowers here at work. The British record for his division is 1 hour 13 minutes. So Mark is going at a very good pace, and he is working his body hard! Almost everyone I tell is very impressed by this…then I tell them that he is going to do 50 of these half marathons over the course of 60 days…then everyone is impressed! Other ways of saying 50 half marathons include:
Supplements
Supplements. Do you take them? Do you know what they are? Are they worth the money we spend on them and are they even actually safe for us? If you don’t know the answer to any of these, click here to find out. This NHS report gives you unbiased information from actual science studies (not from an advertising exec.) on:
Your average gym monkey
I work in a gym, but I don’t think I am your average gym monkey (at least I hope I’m not). I am not interested in isolating muscles and “maximising the burn”. Instead, because of my background in Karate, I am more interested in being able to move in strong, powerful, fast and well coordinated ways.
Fake it til you make it
Fake it ’til you make it is a phrase that can help with self confidence, self belief and achieving a target/goal.
Have you ever been given a challenge and immediately thought
“I could never do that! It’s impossible! I’m not nearly good enough!”.
The next thing you know, you have:
Video analysis of various kicks from the other day. This video is at quarter speed and we are using it to check the limbs take the best path to their target, and that there is no “telegraphing” of the move… If you think you may benefit from movement analysis such as this, contact me today, … Read more
Getting your technique right is very important no matter what you do. In the video below, we are checking the technique of a golf swing. It is at 1 tenth speed, and the path of the club head is followed, making it easier to see what is happening and if there are any inefficiencies in the move…
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…
Abdominal fat Click here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13222192) for the news story. It says how where you carry your bodyfat can have a big impact on your health and risks of disease. It talks about the waist/hip ratio. Or how much fat you are carrying around your belly. This is a very easy measurement to take. In fact, you can … Read more
Back Pain
Last year, I ranted about how a guy I knew was being prevented to exercise and rehabilitate his injuries because his solicitor said it would jeopardise his compensation claim (click here for details). Well, today I was doing some research on back pain and stumbled on the following webpage (click here). It talks about recovery times for people with low back pain, and how various factors affected these recovery times. Then I read the following sentence:
Last summer I did my best to explain why everyone (including women and the elderly) should do weight training in order to get stronger (click here). Well, The American Journal of Medicine have published a report that backs me up! They say:
This one is for all you office workers out there. If you find yourself sitting in front of your PC for 8 hours a day, you are probably storing up a load of problems for your body.
Not only the obvious ones like getting fat and unfit, but soon your joints are going to start giving you problems, your mobility will reduce and risks of repetitive strain injury (RSI) will increase.
I’ve been spending the last few months working with Joan, who has been in a wheelchair for a long time. The goal has been to help her stand and re-learn how to walk. And that is the important bit…she needs to relearn how to walk. How do you teach someone how to walk? Is it just a case of “put one foot in front of the other?” At first, I thought it was as simple as that. But I now know, if you do that you will fall over. There is a hell of lot more to it than just that. Just some of the things you need to do include:
Pregnant Weight Training A while ago I wrote some posts about exercise during pregnancy (click here, here, here and here). So here is a little bit extra on the subject. I want to direct you to a new bit of research done to test the safety of resistance training for pregnant women (click here for … Read more
Seated Row – Good
Name: Seated Row
Also known as: (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).
Main muscles used: Upper and lower back.
Other muscles used: Biceps, back of the shoulders.
Top tips:
Scapular Retractions
Name: Prone Scapular Retractions.
Also known as: (If you know these by any other name, please leave a comment below).
Main muscles used: Upper back.
Other muscles used: Back of shoulders.
Top tips:
Doorway Chest Stretch
Name: Doorway Chest Stretch. Also known as: (if you know this by any other name, leave a comment below). Main muscles used: Chest. Other muscles used: Front of the shoulders. Top tips:
Do less, score more.
This is a line I heard a top level coach telling one of his fighters. The fighter was moving around, ducking, weaving, attacking, blocking…generally doing plenty of work and making his presence felt…but he was not actually scoring any points, or getting the job done!