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Are you jump fit?

Jumping in all its various forms has long been established as an excellent way for sports people to improve performance. Now, throughout gyms, outdoor boot camps and within the Crossfit community there has been a rise in the amount of guys and girls of all ages incorporating jumping into their exercise routine.

Jumping, whether in the form of box jumps, depth jumps or bounding, is a great way to improve muscle strength and power, along with burning heaps of calories. Jump training also known as Plyometrics (which sounds cooler), requires a certain level of strength, skill and co-ordination in order to reduce the chances of impact and stress injuries to the ankles, knees, hips and spine.

Women in particular can benefit greatly from various forms of resistance/weight training, including Plyometric exercises. This type of training is a great tool in preventing Osteoporosis (a disease more prevalent in women) by improving bone density and strength (Manske, Lorincz and Zernicke, 2009). However, caution is needed as jumping can be a high impact exercise, and as with any high impact exercise there is a greater risk of injury. Jumping exercises should be scaled in intensity (low, medium or high) depending on the individual. Beginners should start by developing a good lower body strength base with exercises such as squats, lunges, step ups and other variations.

Landing correctly is paramount to safe and effective jumping. Sound technique is needed to ensure no unnecessary damage to your joints and body. Always land with bent knees to absorb the shock, ensure hips are back, and always land lightly when contact is made with your feet and the ground.

For further information on correct form and technique with Strength or Plyometric training feel free to contact me or grab me on the gym floor.

Brent Richens

(P) 021 126 1795
(E) b.richens.trainer@gmail.com

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10 HABITS of people who always stay FIT

  1. Every little bit counts …Exercise even if you only have 15min
  2. Mix up your routine – no one enjoys the ‘same’ thing every day
  3. Never skip a workout, instead focus on how great you’ll feel after the workout
  4. Fitness is a lifestyle! Don’t wait for an occasion to get in shape.
  5. Eat REAL food. Say no to diets and yes to clean/ healthy food.
  6. Workout at home if you can’t get to a gym.
  7. Exercise when you’re sore. Just because you are sore the next day doesn’t mean you need to have the next week off. Keep training, but at a lighter intensity.
  8. Focus on how you want to feel, rather than how you want to look.
  9. LOTS of sleep. Proper rest is crucial to see the results you want.
  10. Celebrate your progress and don’t beat yourself up when you still have more work to do. FITness is about the journey, not achieving perfection.

Let me help you install these 10 habits into your lifestyle by joining my bootcamp, starting in the beginning of August. Details to follow but contact me for more info.

Crystal Wilkinson

(P) 021 819 399
(E) crystal.youcan@gmail.com

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The Scale Delusion – the numbers that matter and the numbers that don’t

For too long we have been consumed by the idea that the number on the scales defines our personal worth and level of health and fitness. The scale shows no love, is merciless and gives you a number but no trace of explanation of why you haven’t ‘lost weight’. What if I told you the scales are a rubbish tool and that it’s not your fault you feel terrible getting on them- it’s a cultural problem, one so heavily ingrained in our society it’s hard to fight? Would you believe me, would you see the light?

The reason I hate the scales (they are only useful in baking/cooking) is that they provide nothing more than a number. This number does not state whether you have lost body fat or gained muscle, dropped inches off your waist or most importantly whether you look better! If you lose 3 kgs are you going to be happy if you look the same, are going to be stoked if your belly is still just as round? I’m guessing not… So what numbers do matter?

Body fat %

This number is calculated by using callipers that take skin fold measurements at different sites over the body. Once all the sites are tallied up, we take an average, which is your percentage of total body fat. If we are to track this percentage over time hopefully it will decrease and we will be leaner and look better. Having a solid nutrition and exercise plan will help accelerate the process.

Body Circumference Measurements

Measuring the circumference of certain body parts gives us a base line to set goals from. Retesting every 2 weeks to a month will let us know whether we are getting smaller or not. This type of measurement is really important as muscle is substantially more dense than fat. Potentially we could continue to have the same scale weight but we could have become denser/smaller due to an increase in muscle mass and fat loss. Now if this happen to you and after two weeks, a month and we got on the scales if find we ‘our weight hadn’t changed’ we would be happy or sad, would this information be a reflection of the truth? Of course it wouldn’t and you would become sad and unmotivated, despite actually making good progress.

Progress Pictures

Progress pictures are perhaps the most powerful tool, as they give us a visual representation of our progress. Taking photos of ourselves once a month will help us to slowly see changes and keep us motivated. The secondary benefit is that when you finally achieve your goal, you can look back at where you started and where you are now. It will be worth those embarrassing moments early on when you were camera shy, when you had very little clothes on and your every insecurity exposed.

Chin up test as a de facto measure of body composition

In the absence of using any of the previous tests you can use a chin up test to check whether you’re getting leaner and stronger. First we need to set a baseline measurement, so warm up and do one set of max rep chin ups. It is important like with any fitness/strength test that you have strict protocols, so make sure you go all the way down and make sure you get your chin over the bar at the top with each rep. As you progress each week/month if you can do more chin ups you now know that you are getting stronger, if you are doing less you might be putting on a fat. As we get leaner our power to weight ratio should improve so our ability to pull our own bodyweight will increase. Equally if we are eating all the pies and are getting fat our power to weight ratio will be negatively affected and we will be able to do less pull ups!

So please ditch the scales, let’s slowly change the culture of control these ignorant machines have over us. Lets track our progress in a more evolved way, that allows greater transparency and scope for proper goal setting. If you wish to evolve and change the way you track your progress and want some help getting measureable results email/call/text me I am happy to help.

Sean Neal

(P) 027 461 5108
(E) sean.neal@innovativeresultspt.com

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HIIT: UNLEASH YOUR TRUE FAT BURNING POTENTIAL

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) involves repeated brief exercise at a high intensity immediately followed by a low intensity exercise or rest. For example, cycle as fast as you can for 1 minute followed by 2 minutes of easy pedalling, repeat 5 times and you have a 15 minutes HIIT workout complete. Simple as that!! Read on to discover 9 proven benefits from HIIT.

1. Time Efficient

I often have friends and members say to me they just don’t have the time to work out. 15 minutes is all you need to reap the benefits of HIIT which makes it ideal if you have a busy schedule. Can be done on its own or as a great finisher to your resistance training session!

2. Improved Fitness

HIIT has been shown to increase both aerobic and anaerobic fitness by as much as 46% and 28% respectively following 15 weeks of HIIT. Which means you can train harder for longer therefore burning more calories.

3. No Equipment Needed

When it comes to HIIT almost any exercise can be used as long as you stick to the same principles of a brief maximum intensity followed by a low intensity recovery period. It’s that simple.

4. Never get bored

Following on from the previous point, since nearly any exercise can be used you will never get bored of HIIT. Incorporating resistance exercise and cardio exercises the possibilities are endless to the different types of workout you can do. Let your creative side shine through!!

5. Lose fat/keep Muscle

HIIT is great at maintaining muscle while you get your cardio hit if you include some resistance exercises like squats or push ups. Just plain steady state cardio can be detrimental to keeping your muscle mass. You can have the best of both worlds, lose fat while keeping that hard earned muscle, it’s a win win situation.

6. Increase Insulin Sensitivity

Ok getting a little bit science here, a 2003 study showed that HIIT increased insulin sensitivity by as much as 58% after only 8 weeks. This increase allows your body to use insulin more effectively by removing high levels of glucose from your blood stream and therefore preventing it being stored as body fat.

7. Decrease Abdominal Fat

Possibly the most common area that people ask me to help them with, reduce belly fat and become slimmer. Great news, HIIT can decrease abdominal fat stores by as much as 48% after only 8weeks, training three times per week. If you have that stubborn tummy fat, HIIT might just be your solution.

8. Can be done anywhere

Coming back to point three for a second, HIIT can be done here, there and everywhere. It can be adjusted to suit your time and space needs. No excuses!!

9. Increase metabolism

HIIT increases levels of a hormone called epinephrine which is responsible for increasing lipolysis resulting in greater fat release from your fat stores. HIIT has been shown to keep levels of Growth Hormone elevated 10 times higher 1 hour post workout which means you get to burn calories while recovering from your workout. HIIT basically gives your metabolism the much needed kick to keep you burning calories after your workout. Is that amazing or what??

If you would like to feel all the benefits from HIIT, contact me for HIIT session to unleash your true fat burning potential.

To your continued success,

Shane O’Riordan

(P) 027 903 6828
(E) shanept.fitness@gmail.com