What is Strength?
We all hear the word strength thrown around alot these days. Oh, he can lift X-amount, he's so strong! Or it takes alot of strength to move that object. But just what is strength? Well, to get to the point, strength is the ability for a muscle to generate force (it's not just the muscle but the interaction of the skeletal, blood and nervouse system also). This is not the scientific definition but it is one which I like to go with as it simplifies things out. Now, if our muscles could only produce minimal force then we would not be very strong - simple eh? Conversley if our muscles could produce huge amounts of force then we would be considered increadibly strong - at this point it is worth noting the distinction of specicifity and that fact that at elite levels you can not have both world class explosive strength and maximal strength. (To clarify, explosive strength is the ability to quickly apply large amounts of strength in mininal time intervals. Maximal strength is considered to be building upon the ability to apply very large forces but not in the same minamalistic time frame as explosive strength). We are given mostly a 50/50 ratio of slow twitch and fast twitch fibres, when you train to increase strength you will be increasing the size of the fast twitch … [Read More...]
Post exercise Recovery
What is the best way to recover after exercise? Well there are a number of answers to this one. Ffirst it will depend on how much exercise you have done. If you simply went out for a light jog then a few stretches at the end will be fine. However, if you have just spend an hour carving out muscle or burning fat then recovery is vital in order to get you back up on your feet as quickly as possible. Rest, this goes without saying, when you rest your muscles and body will recover and grow, when the muscles are put under pressure microscopic tears occure in the muscle. Resting will help the muscle grow/recover and you will then be able to do hard exercise again in a day or two. Post exercise massage (or a massage the day after) will help relax tense muscles and "un-knot" muscles. This helps if you have also slightly injured a muscle and wish to aid recovery. It can increase blood flow and you will be left feeling great! Stretch, I love to stretch (as crazy as it may sound), in the long run you become much more flexible and stretching will help to reduce injuries. After certain exercises such as cycling you need to do stretches in order to "free up" the hamstring. A tight hamstring can lead to back problems which no one wants. Yet another benefit of stretching, especially over … [Read More...]
Feel full for longer
How do we go about feel full for longer periods of time on less food? SImple, eat carbohydrates with a low GL, meaning your blood sugar level will not rise as quickly compared to high GL foods. The foods are absorbed slower than high GL foods such meanign you will stay full. The added benefit of this is because blood sugar does not fluctuate it is less stressful on the body and pancreas. Foods that are good to eat include brussel sprouts, broccoli, sweet potatoes and brown rice (to name a few). Animal meat is also good to eat but for a good diet you should eat a large percentage of fruits/veg as this is what will help the body the most. Ideally veg should be lightly boiled or steamed, this however is not always practical and for some of us getting the five a day is hard enough. You will find that planning out meals will help you to keep full for longer - this way you will not simply throw a meal togeather hoping the ingrediants are healthy. Water! Drink plenty of water, some people confuse thirst for hunger, you should aim to drink eight glasses of water each day. If you feel hungry then drink a glass of water first and wait a few minutes - if the hunger goes away then good, if not then go eat some fruit. In general you will find a healthy diet keeps you full for … [Read More...]
Best Bicep exercises
The development of the bicep is what many people focus on, much of this is due to the look factor that is associated with having large pronounced biceps. In this post I am going to show you some good exercises that work the biceps (and other muscles of the upper body). One consideration is that the bicep can be worked too much and thus easily overtrained, it is after all a small muscle yet it is responsible for pulling movements and helps in manipulating the body through space and under gravity. Allow me to be slightly more specific, the exercises I list will be primarily to increase strength, as a side benefit mass/size will also increase. The pull up, this one was obvious, it works the whole upper body especially the biceps and deltoids, for increased strength aim for a range of 3-5 with multiple sets of 3. If perhaps the pull up is much too easy for you then go for a variation with a super wide grip or close grip. The chin up, this again will work the biceps, you might try a variation based on that of a pull up, however, you want to progress to a pull up as quickly as possible. Again, stick to 3-5 reps of 3 sets. Static holds, these may be done in the pull up and chin up positions, simply hold yourself at the top of the bar for extended periods of time. Or try it … [Read More...]
Push up variations
The push up is the one body weight exercise that just about everyone has heard of, it has withstood the test of time and for good reaons. It gives you a great upper body workout. Many beginners who have never done much body weight exercises find it hard to even hold their body in the extended position with a straight back and arms shoulder width appart for any length of time. But if you keep at it then the rewards will be worth it :D The push up tones and builds muscle on the triceps, biceps, deltoids, pectorals, back as well as strengthening the six pack. This is what makes them so popular, you can do them anywhere as all you need is your own body weight! As well as exercising with the standard push up there are also many variations which can be used to get even stronger. From the very basic with knees resting on the floor to the most advanced such as one hand push ups, planch push ups and ring push ups, they all demand your body to work hard and the more advanced require huge amounts of strength. In this post I will list some variations from beginner. Many of us want to build up to that elusive 100 mark doing many variations will help to build up strength and endurance which is needed. If you whish to build to 100 push ups then I would recommend sticking with one push … [Read More...]
Bodyweight exercises strength training
Body weight exercises can cause increases in strength, this post will focus specifically on body weight exercise strength training only, by this I mean this post focuses on gains in strength and nothing else. Body weight exercise can cause strength increases bacause of the huge raange of motion, by this I mean that the body is forced to work in very different ways and at different angles compared to free weight training. The leverage of movements can be increased or decreased to make them much easier or harder. By this statment I refer you to the L-sit, with legs tucked in, it requires much less strength to perform the movement in comparison to having the legs streight and out in front of you, thus, the leverage of the tuck sit is greater than that of an L-sit making the tuck sit easier. If you want an example of an L-sit and the even more advanced V-sit then look here: http://www.bodyweighthealth.com/512/l-sit-and-v-sit-training/ Some fitness "Guru's" state that it is ideal to master your body weight before moving on to free weights - the only problem I see with this is, at what point can you say you have mastered body weight exercises when decreases in leverage can make a single exercise go from very easy to very advanced. Like free weights, there are many body weight … [Read More...]
Gorilla Strength
The gorilla or silverback is physically intimidating (although not very agressive towards humans) and immensly strong. It is fast, powerful and dexterous - the question in many body weight fantics minds is how do I get gorilla strength? To look into this it requires a look at the great ape. Gorillas spend their entire life using their limbs and unlike humnas they use each of them interchangebly, in other words a gorilla uses its arms as much as its legs - imagin if our arms were as strong as our legs. Unlike Humans the great apes do not lift weights to gain strength, they use their body weight. Although genetically a gorilla differs from us (only slightly) they in essence use their muscle every day for snapping/bending bamboo, lifting logs and foraging. The thing about body weight exercises is that it fires more muscle fibres than weight training - the muscles are forced through a greater motion and strength gains can be huge. This is not to say lifting weights will not get you strong. The jury is still out on how strong these apes are, some say 6-15 times stronger, I have heard up to 20 times stronger than humans but it is debatable. The other reason body weight exercises allow for great strength is due to the power they can produce - clapping push up cause muscles to … [Read More...]
Burn fat build muscle part 2
This is part 2 of Burn fat build muscle, in this post I will cover everything that was not covered in part 1, from in-depth looks at diet and muscle building routines, protein intake to supplememts. Diet Now, diet is key to loosing body fat and increasing muscle mass, first let us focus on decreasing calorie intake, lowering body fat and generally eating healthy, good, foods. As I mentioned in the previous post it is ideal to decrease your calorie intake by 500 per day - this is done by counting calories in the foods that you eat - the amount of calories should be written on the lable. The six pack lies under a layer of fat that covers your stomach or abdominal region - this is why you are unable to see it as you are overweight. Unfortinatly we are unable to target a single part of the body to reduce in body fat percentage. In other words, to decrease your body fat you must do cardio exercise which will cause a fat reduction over the entire body within a period of weeks. The cardio I personally prefer is sprinting but if you are reading this guide then you may want to start with walking, jogging, swimming or cycling and slowly increase the intensity over a number of weeks and months. As well as burning fat exercise increases your metabolism meaning you will burn fat even … [Read More...]
Six pack series post 1 – The correct mindset
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhoFy-CPMtI Have you ever wondered how to get a six pack? Or for that matter just improve your body? In this video series Jamie will show you how you can go about improving your body. In this video Jamie talks about the correct frame of mind you should have when aiming too achieve the task set. And why you are likely to fail if you don't plan the steps involved. So many people make goals or aims to improve their bodies however it is rare if they actually make any steps or progress towards their goals. This is because they are likely to give up within the first couple of weeks. But why? Well, It is very true that if you truly want something then you will do whatever it takes to actually get that task done. If you want to learn an instrument badly enough you will make time for it. The problem therefore is that people don't want it badly enough so they never get around to improving their bodies. If you however set goals and small targets to achieve you are way more likely to follow through and achieve success. When aiming to improve your body you may find it tedious, this is why it can be beneficial to keep records and track the things you do. For example keeping track of what you eat on a daily basis so that you … [Read More...]
How to do a handstand – tips and tricks
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cztLXn-V5cg In this video Jamie shows you how to progress from a handstand against a wall to free standing hand stand pushups. Enjoy! … [Read More...]
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