Big well done to all who took part in an extremely hot Sheffield half marathon. There were some really impressive times achieved by many from the Hallamshire running club.
Julian Lings again proved his awesomeness by coming 2nd and pushing the winner all the way!
“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
Lance Armstrong
Insanity isn’t often thought of something that occurs in a gym. Most people seem pretty normal but the truth is many people are more insane that they realize.
Whether it’s the overweight guy doing the bicep curl circuit in a vain attempt to lose that abdominal fat or the women performing 50 reps of tricep kick backs with 2kg, trying to “tighten her arms up”, insanity as described above is very prevelant in the fitness realm.
This is one of the reasons many people simply end up spinning their wheels with their training. They never actually perform anything that is a. stressful enough to provoke adaptation and b. try something different if their current “routine” isn’t producing results.
It’s no suprise that many people simply lose interest in exercise and quit. With that in mind heed these simple words of wisdom:
- Scrap the isolation stuff. Bicep curls and tricep kick backs galore won’t give you any appreciable gains. They suck quite simply. Get performing big compound movements to gain real results. Arnie didn’t get his results from bicep curls alone (I promise).
- Mix up your training every 4-8 weeks. Your body adapts to any given stimulus and then stalls. Add more weight, adjust the rest intervals, drop the reps and go heavy, anything, to promote further adaptation.
- Bad nutrition will always out perform a good training programme. Make sure your nutrition is in check to really get results. Hmm I know which makes most sense to me…
Vs 
- Don’t be a X-trainer bunny that never changes the level or pace. If you insist upon going on a X-trainer make sure you put some changes in pace in there. Plodding for 30 minutes won’t do much (and the calorie counter isn’t accurate for those that love to count them).
Despite the fake smile he really is bored…
- The simplest rule: Training should be hard (within reason ofcourse). If it’s not why would your body need to change (Hint: it won’t if it isn’t overloaded).
Maybe not this hard… 
Comment below on the insane things you see at your gym. I’m sure there are many.
Single leg lifts are often a hotly debated topic, everybody has their opinion. Some people are all about the big bilateral lifts such as Squats and Deadlifts. Others are at the other end of the continuum. They feel only single leg exercises replicate sporting movements and as such won’t go anywhere near a squat rack. For me as with many things the real truth lies somewhere in the middle. Both have major pros to them. The major ones from a single leg standpoint include increased stabilizer function, decreased joint loading and stress and increased mobility.
The single leg RDL is a great example of this and is a top posterior change strengthener to boot. It requires a huge amount of stability and proprioception throughout the body whilst really taxing the hip musculature.
Key coaching points include keeping the weight on the midfoot/heel, maintain hips straight ahead and keep a neutral spine throughout the range of motion. All the movement should come from the hips with little to no Lumbar extension occuring.
Every good strength and conditioning programme should include some form of pulling work. Pulling movements help maintain balance throughout the torso by counteracting the ridiculous volume of pressing most people do (Thats you mr bench press). Developing more structural balance will not only help improve performance but will also reduce the risk of injury and possibly stop your shoulders from hating you everytime you lift them above your head.
Irregardless of the exercise performed the goal should always be to perform solid technique and really focus on retracting and/or depressing the shoulder blades with each movement. This will help develop important muscles around the Scapulae that are often inhibited and/or very weak.
Here are my favourite 5 that hit the spot.
