I’m sure you’ve seen this before. The trainer telling their client to drive up through their heels when they squat to engage their glutes. On the surface there isn’t anything wrong with this, the client gets to feel their glutes turn on a bit more, that’s what you want your squats to do right?
But what about the rest of your foot? What about your centre of gravity? What about good squat technique?
If interval training is part of your regular workout routine, odds are you’ll be familiar with the terms HIIT and Tabata. From gyms to boutique studios and online workouts, HIIT and Tabata have taken over the fitness scene.
This type of training is designed to get your heart rate up into an anaerobic zone for short periods of time. By doing this, you train all of your energy systems – something that regular cardio workouts won’t get you doing.
It is well established that a good night’s sleep is a foundation for maintaining good health and a positive frame of mind. Sleeping well has a direct effect on our mental and physical health – impacting our energy levels, productivity, emotional balance, immune system and weight.
For a long time now, the benefits that exercise can have on physical health has been widely researched. It can help us lose weight, gain muscle mass and help us to live longer.
When it comes to building your back muscles, there are few better exercises than rows. It’s a reasonably basic movement that can be performed in a variety of ways and with a range of different exercise equipment. Including some variation in the row exercises you use in your pull sessions will help you target different parts of the back and allow you to engage other muscle groups in your body.
Programming can be a complex topic as there are many different ways to design a program and many different methods to follow. Sometimes having so many options can make it hard to make decisions on how to best structure one for yourself or for your client – What exercises should be included? How many exercises should be included? How often should progressions be programmed?
The concept of hitting 10,000 steps a day has been around for decades and is now one of the most well-known public health messages out there.
Burpees – the exercise that everyone loves to hate. Incorporating both strength and cardio, as well as balance and coordination, they are one of the toughest full body conditioning moves you can do.
Recovering after a workout is an essential part of being physically active. When you hear the word ‘recovery’, you probably picture yourself hanging out on the couch the day after an intense workout. And while this may seem like the best way to give your muscles some time to recover, your body actually bounces back better if you keep it moving and incorporate some active recovery into your day instead.
Drinking coffee is a well-established and much loved part of many of our daily routines, with the majority of us not surviving the morning without a cup of our favourite brew. Coffee has become not just something we drink to help us wake up in the morning, but a way of life and a real part of our culture. Something perhaps less thought about is the impact a coffee has on athletic performance and whether it can be used as an effective pre-workout stimulant.
