Kettlebells - The Emperors New Clothes??

Unfortunately the fitness world seems to jump from fad to fad thanks to the massive sums of money spent by the unwise public year upon year. From diet programs that claim to lose a stone a week to pieces of equipment that soon are found cluttering up peoples sheds and garages worldwide.
Anything that is marketed as quick or easy is jumped on- take the vibration plate for example- an excellent rehabilitating tool when used correctly but for weight loss just too ineffective to produce any real results. Or for instance the horrendous ab cradle.Designed to make exercise once again 'easier' by easing the load on the neck- one fundamental flaw though- it creates a huge imbalance in the flexor chain with the abdominals isolated these grow stronger, whilst the neck flexors atrophy (as the head is supported) leading to postural imbalances and also increased risk of injury- but hey I'm sure that 1000 crunch will help you on your way to a six pack- what rot on all levels!
Kettlebells have seen a massive rise on the fitness scene with many a unqualified and inexperienced trainer jumping on the band waggon and telling their clients that these are the last word in fitness.
As many of you know I am a keen advocate of all things kettlebells and they are by far my favourite fitness tool to work with. They promote excellent reactive core stability, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness endurance and to a certain degree strength- but- and this is a BIG but, they should not be used as a stand alone tool for several groups of people.
Firstly for hypertrophy. For muscle gain simply don't bother- an untrained individual may experience some muscle growth with kettlebells but an intermediate to advanced lifter should not switch to sole kettlebell use- the same way you wouldn't limit yourself to solely machines,dumbbells or barbells. For certain exercises yes they do provide an extra pull towards the starting position - like a cable- think flys and curls, but for many motions they are simply impractical with the weight needed eg a bench press- the bells would have to be so large that the wrists would be placed in excessive extension and why not simply use a standard lift which will be easier to manipluate?
Some people advocate them as a stand alone tool for athletes- again I say no. Athletes within periodised programs during their max strength and conversion to power stages need to subject their bodies to massive poundages on the barbell that simply can not be achieved with a kettlebell. The instability factor of having two independant bells also lowers the poundage being used and so becomes ineffective. Kettlebels as a light supplement to standard training can definitely have a place in an athletes current routine to improve shoulder and core stability though but it should be just that a supplement.
So who are kettlebells for? They are an excellent supplement to most peoples training - and for a few an excellent stand alone tool.
But those who use them as a stand alone tool should really only be concerned with an improvement in general fitness.They should not be aiming for anything particulary specific as you will not reach maximal levels of strength or endurance or power soley with kettlebells- the heavy load of the barbell is required.
They are also an excellent addition to any athletes cardio vascular conditioning, mainly though in anaerobic/aerobic cross over zone- such as many fighters and grapllers work in.
I train 3 times a week with the bells mainly to improve my grappling fitness- for which they are excellent. However I still put in 2-3 really heavy compound lifting sessions under the bar to keep my strength levels near their peak which I find works best.So don't see kettlebells as another fad- they are not; however see them in the context they are meant to be- as a supplement to a well planned diverse routine.
Stay Strong

Nutrition Pre during and Post Workout

This week I've seem to had many clients confused by exactly what they should be consuming pre, during and post workout.What you consume before your workout will have drastic effects on your training performance. You should be eating 2-4 hours before training - this meal should be comprised of both carbohydrate but also protein. In terms of how much carb you should be consuming you should aim for around 1.5 - 2 grams per kilo of bodyweight of low G.I carbs- i.e porridge,mixed beans,brown rice etc. Your protein consumption should be around 30 grams with this meal too.
Immediately before exercise I recommend consuming 30 grams of high G.I carbs from a liquid source- this doesn't have to be a sports drink but can be for example orange juice,40 grams of raisins, a banana etc- but I tend to opt for a 30 gram energy gel just for ease of use.Remember that you must consume fluid when consuming solid carbs though. If you want to really maximise your performance studies have shown that consuming protein with this carb pre workout hit improves greater endurance and strength than carbs alone and can minimise protein breakdown following exercise.So for instance many times i'll have pre workout gel and also 30 grams of whey protein mixed with 300ml of water before training.
During exercise
During exercise if your are training for the optimum time of 45-60 minutes and your pre workout nutrition has been spot on your shouldn't need to take anything in but water. If however you are training for over this period it is essential that you refuel after the hour each 30 minutes with a 30 gram carb hit ideally in liquid or gel form for easy absorption.With intense training your carbohydrate store will be depleted and studies have shown protein(muscle and organ) breakdown increases by 30% if carbohydrate stores are not in sufficient supply during training- so basically all that hard work is going to nothing and is in fact a detriment to your training.
If you are following a calorie restricted diet for weight loss then you should up you protein intake so that the body has a freely available source of protein to use instead of muscle tissue.
Post workout
Look for about .8gram per kilo of your bodyweight in carbs so for a 75kg man thats about 60grams of carbs. Go for a hit of about 30 grams of protein too. This should be consumed immediately after training while you are still sweating- and so your metabolism still at its peak. If you are really not one for shakes then a pint of skimmed milk and a banana will suffice.But what ever it is you must take this in or again you are severely hindering your recovery and training goals.
After this you should be eating one of your main small balanced meals within about 1-2 hours after this post training snack.
Until Next week Stay Strong
For Personal training in Brighton

Mental Toughness

Mental Toughness and Resilience

''Sparta, Rome, The Knights of Europe, the Samurai... They worshipped strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possible. Nothing survives without it. Who knows what delicate wonders have died out of the world, for want of the strength to survive''

One of the key qualities any person training can have is that of mental toughness – the will to go on when even every fibre of their body is saying stop. I’ve trained many, many different types of people from O.A.P.s to Marines and this quality can be found in the most unexpected people. I’ve seen big shaven headed so called tough guys sobbing into the dirt while on a similar session a middle aged woman tough it out and push through the pain barrier.
Without this quality you will not succeed in your training- period. Success in training only comes from pushing the boundaries within you, not trying but doing.
Anyone has this ability but I believe the soft lives most of us lead have sapped it out from us – as the old saying if you don’t use it you lose it. If you compare our lives to those who lived even 200 years ago those who weren’t rich, their lives were often hard, short and tough. Go back 2000 years and I believe you’ll find people of a different calibre than you get today. And this softness has weakened our bodies and our minds. The french call it the 'eye of the dog' and Charles Poliquin believes that he can judge if an athlete will succeed in 5 minutes of training- if he or she exhibits this quality in training-

'Now, when I'm brought on to train a national team, I can tell which eight of the 12 athletes I want to train. I'll tell the coach that the other four aren't going to make it. I can tell by their attitude in the first training session. In fact, in all seriousness, I can tell who's going to become an Olympic medalist by their first workout.
In French there's a term that means "to have some dog in you." The athletes who have some dog in them are the ones that have the attitude to be winners. They'll work their asses off' - Poliquin

Good news! Mental toughness can be cultivated in those who want to learn it. With regular practise going that one extra minute, rep, mile, what ever it is will make it easier next time you come to push yourself just that little bit more. Give in to lazy maintenance and soon though inevitably you’ll start to slide.

Try visualization when you are lifting. As you lift or push the weight don't think just about moving the bar but think of a situation or scenario that makes you really angry or determined. As most of my strength training is built around making myself stronger for grappling I imagine throwing,pushing off or submitting an apponent all the way through the lift.
There is science behind this too. This technique will hep you release more adrenaline through the lift and so in lay mans terms you'll be able to send faster electrical pulses through your nerves making them contract harder. Of course what motivates me may not motivate you so you'll have to find your own inspiration!
So Stay Strong and keep up!

Tough guy training

My tough guy training has now started in earnest. To be honest its tough and I'm striving to find new levels within myself. Calories have to be upped and supplements carefully sheduled in to help avoid OTS (over training syndrome) as best as I can .

The real trick is not to peak to early- around mid January will be ideal with a weeks recovery of active rest before the race. Its also strange sacrificing much of my hypertrophy style program over to endurance, and it is starting to feels like i'm wasting away although many people have complimented me on how well I'm looking! I haven't actually lost that much weight but am definately changing shape, thought it might be interesting for those racing and all those nosey people to see my program for a general week so here goes!

Monday- Bench press flat and incline,dips, explosive press ups, normal press ups,pull ups, barbell rows. Followed by run along the beach cobbles for 20 minutes then 20 minutes back through the surf up to the waist.

Tuesday- An Hour non stop kettlebell and core circuit- well actually with 1 minutes water break after 30 mins!

Wednesday- Leg Session mainly deadlifts and walking lunges and plyometrics

Thursday- 30 mins 32kg kettle bell ladder type circuits starting at 10 reps per exercise working down to 2 reps per exercise- mainly-

10 swings

10 swing snatches

10 clean and press

10 squats 10 figure 8 to holds

this is then repeated on left side followed by 1 minutes break then down to 8 reps per exercise

Friday- 4 types of chin up mainly 3 sets per exercise sometimes 4. Close grip pull downs, low cable rows, hanging bar pull ups- followed by 6 mile x country hill run now integrating some crawling at the end .

Saturday- 1 hour conditioning circuit- ropes, kettlebells sand bags etc followed by 1 hour submission grappling

Sunday Rest!

For sups I've just started taking Berocca tablets in the morning, Glucosamine, Udos oil and of a course post workout shake.

The Journey To Tough Guy

I’ve thought about entering the Tough Guy competition for a good five years now and finally I’ve taken the plunge and paid me fees to enter. Now I’ve entered it feels like a sense of impending doom is upon me with the more I read about the Tough Guy Race the more brooding it becomes! So what is Tough Guy? Tough Guy was supposedly created to put competitors through a gruelling race that tests all phobia’s anyone can have, whether a fear of confined spaces, drowning, heights, the boxes are all ticked. The race begins with a 6 miles cross country race- not so hard I hear you cry! Unfortunately that’s not the end of it, with most of it being completed over what is called aptly the Ghurkha Grand National Jumping in and through six foot ditches then comes the slalom – the steepest incline 50 meter bank they could find and running down and back up it 12 times. After this a long leg Burning swamp section in which competitors run/stagger through knee high mud. After all this the real fun begins as you enter what is known as the ‘Killing Fields’. 2 miles of horrendous obstacles designed to test you body and mind to the limit. Warming up with two massive 50 foot a frames to clamber up and over you are greeting by an electrified wire field to run through, with each wire apparently with double the current to stun a bull! After this there are a succession of different challenges from underwater swims with air pockets in which you can take your breath, barbed wire crawls through thick mud, running through burning bales of hay set on fire, claustrophobic long tyre crawls and on like this for 20 or so obstacles or ‘beastings.
I’m entering the race in January so all of this will be done in the freezing winter cold. Apparently the cold is a massive factor with one year 300 competitors reportedly suffering from hypothermia! Not surprising when you consider most of the time you’re chest deep in water or freezing mud.
And why am I doing this?? I ask myself the same question but as most of you know I enjoy extreme challenges what ever they may be, I’d definitely rather have done it than not- that goes for most things in life. I’m also running for the Make a Wish foundation who grant children with life threatening illnesses they’re magic wish, whether that’s a trip to see Father Christmas or whatever they give it to them- a thought that will keep me going when I’m stuck up to my eyes in mud! If you’d like to sponsor please go to www.justgiving.com/samuelpont any donation will be gladly accepted.
I’ll be keeping you up to date with my training on this site to let you know how things are going and so until then YOHIMBE!
http://www.toughguy.com/

Training with a baby!

Ok so most of you know that I had a beautiful daughter about six weeks ago and although the sleepless nights and endless nappy changes are taking their toll i've not had to sacrifice any of my training as many of my friends suggested I would!

The type of training though has changed. I'm still getting in two standard weight training sessions a week but am back on the kettlebells big time. Summer is for sure the time to do it too with the many parks and open spaces in Brighton offering excellent kettlebell training grounds. In particular I've been doing three workouts devised by Art of Strength In the U.S.A. To be honest they're pretty much the best I've seen in the terms of kettlebell workout D.V.D's and although expensive are well worth the money.

The three workouts are Providence, Fire power and then of course Newport. I must warn they are fairly tough with providence being the easiest, then Firepower then Newport. Firepower although gives an excellent cardio workout is very much strength based too and introduces some double kettlebell work and is aimed at those in the fire service and other physically demanding jobs. I have all three dvds and am getting in each of the workouts at least once a week to get a nice rounded approach. Newport is tough- very tough- think sobbing into the grass as you squat down for the sot press- but it will get you fit- very very fit. They pretty innovative too with a great instructor and some with programmable rest times and a nice time meter so you can see how long you have left- I can not recommend them more highly. They also do a nice little download from their site with the workouts available in mp3 format so you can take it to the park- excellent idea. They can be found and bought here http://www.artofstrength.com/cmd.asp?af=987927

Well i'm off to get back and start newport again- not sure how i'll manage with the baby harness though!

Pre workout Shakes and Sups

I thought this month i'd dedicate myself to trying as many pre workout sups that are available on the market right now so that you could make an informed choice as to which one you'd like to give a go (if any).

I thought i'd write a short piece about each rather than mark them according to taste etc; as all have different effects and feel that reducing them to a narrow scoring system doesn't really do them justice.

Pro Gf - produced by CNP-

consumed 45 mins before training. On the first time this gave me a really good intense workout and got the tingling feeling from the beta alanine inside it. It was definately easier to get set after set out without getting that mental or physical exhaustion. The feeling it gives you is a warm hazy feeling but with a rush like a caffein hit- although it doesn't contain any caffein. After the workout I felt chatty and still felt like I could have gone on.

On the second time of taking it before a workout the 'high' like effects were greatly reduced although still got a great workout on it. I tried on other occassions as CNP suggest taking the pro gf 45 mins before the workout followed by a pro slam right before training- I found this combo to work really well and got really intense workouts from this time after time and helping to fulfil my protein hit with both the GF and Slam containing a large whack of protein.

The taste I find is great although others have strongly disagreed - but as pre workout drinks go the taste I still think is excellent.It also doesnt have the caffein come down many of the other pre workout shakes have.

BSN NO Xplode-

I've taken this on several workouts now and have had excellent results each time. Again like the pro gf I really like the taste although I think this has to be an aquired taste over many doses! It contains quite a caffein kick so I find the intensity on this to be greater than the pro gf- however though I really don't like to take this when hitting circuits or cardio hard when Im looking to get up to my max heart rate as it made me feel a bit sick and took a long time for my pulse to come down. However with a weights only session it hit the spot. Got an excellent pump with this one too which is one of the ideas of this product which was great. One down side is that I did get a slight caffein slump later in the day but found this reduced with each dose. It does say on the tub to take even on non training days but I wouldnt bother.

NOX pump Dorian Yates-

This was the strongest formula I tried. You can feel yoursefl almost rushing as soon as you down this one. You don't want to rest between sets and just want to lift lift and lift again. The first hour was mental- I added 4 exercises on top of an already hard routine and pushed myself really hard- for the first hour. After that hour was up I encountered a colossal slump and felt completely spaced out but managed to grind through the rest of the workout- although my vision had gone slightly purple by now!? Got a great pump from it more so than the NO Xplode by BSN felt as if my biceps were going to tear open- Great. Two big draw backs- the taste and the slump. The taste is possibly the worst thing I have ever tasted in my entire life and felt sick having to drink it. It tasted exactly and I mean Exactly like sick- the sicky liquid that sometimes that you might burp up after a meal- but half a pint of it. The second was the slump- not so much even during the second half of my workout but during the rest of the day- I really was completely ruined and could barely stand up for lack of energy- no word of a lie.

Ast Anabolic Rush-

Taste on this one I thought was ok- not bad at all really. The colour I thought was the funniest thing- bright blue- a kind of Georges Marvellous Medicine! I kind of liked this for novelty value but I know some people wont. I really didnt want to do legs before I treied this one- but it did get me through my workout. The pump was average with this one - a bit less than the BSN product but ok. Didn't really get much intensity from it but had enough energy to get through workout. Id say biggest draw back with this one is that it just doesnt feel strong enough or give you enough of that pump.

Home made Formula!

I tried making my own homemade formula to see if there was much difference. I took 100mg of caffein, 3 grams of Arginine, 20 grams of protein and 3 grams of creatine and took 30 mins before the workout. The caffein high was too short and didnt really get any extra pump. I think one of the best feature os the above pre workout shakes is that they rely on the combination of effects to keep you going along with the beta alanine and carnosine that most contain.

I definately think they are worth the money - but I wouldnt take them regulary but save it for those off days when your really not feeling up to it and they'll give you the kick you need.

Sam

increase your bench press

I've had a lot of clients this month ask for techniques to improve their bench press. So this week im going to run through a few techniques to push up those kilos on your bench.
First- to press alot you need to press alot. Eastern block powerlifters often train the same lift up to 5 times per week - at different intensity levels. I don't recommend you jump straight into this however as it is unlikely your body would with stand such a battering- however you should consider putting in two bench training sessions per week working with different rep ranges with each- say 8-12 for 4 sets for the first session and 2-6 for the second.
Second really concentrate on technique- think of locking your shoulder blades back together before and during the lift rather than letting the shoulder girdle protract and retract during lifting. At the top of the lift think of extending and straightening your arms rather tahn just pushing the weight away from you- this can help with thew last portion of the lift. Drive through with your feet and keep your core tight. Keep the chest out. Keep to this form and with practise your kilos will increase.
Lastly think including some power plyometric training for your bench to develop explosive power. - 4 sets of 8 reps of explosive press ups, or plyometric bench press on the smith machine will help build the explosive force needed for a powerful bench-
Carpe Ferrum! - Seize the iron!

Card Circuit

I think this circuit was invented actually by the old time wrestler Karl Gotch- but it is an excellent was of mixing up the circuit and a good motivator too.
Shuffle a deck of card well- you'll see why in a minute.
Assign an execisie to each suit- i.e

clubs- hindu press up

diamonds- free squats

hearts- crunches

spades- burpees

deal from the top of the deck - complete what ever number of each exercise that comes out- then move on to the next card as swiftly as possible. Keep a stop watch goin and aim to complete the deck in a quicker time each day or each time you do the circuit. Picture cards can be worth what ever number you decide I like 20! And jokers I like to be 30- but that bit is up to you!

post from the author of the book

http://securityfitness.co.uk/

Body Weight at home Circuit

Hi - here's the circuit for this week an excellent one involving the laddered approach,

the premise is of laddered circuits that you either ascend or descend the ladder in terms of reps. For this week descend the ladder- i suggest if you have a good level of fitness pick a high number- eg 25- for those not so fit chose a lower number -eg 10. Start at 25 reps per exercise (or what ever number you pick) then after each circuit reduce the number of reps per exercse by one- so 24 reps then 23 - work your way was right down to one 1 rep per exercise. Have no rest between circuits and try to keep working at a good pace.

Hindu Press Ups- 25

Free Squats-25

Superman back extensions-25

Rear Tricep Dips- 25

Burpees-25

Standard Press Ups-25

Crunches-25

the above will give an excellent overall workout

http://www.personal-trainerbrighton.co.uk/

Circuit of the Week Boxing Specific

Below is a great circuit i'm using for my own training- especially apropriate for those looking for round conditioning for the nobe art!

3 mins two hand kettlebell swing

1 min rest

3 mins body shot work on the heavy bag

1 min rest

3 mins continous swing snatch- 1.5 mins on each side

1min rest

3 min head shot work on bag

1 min rest

3 mins clean and press alternating arms between reps

1 min rest

3 mins speed bag work

1 min rest

3 mins alternate dead snatch- alternating arms between reps

get through this once have 2 mins break and repeat once more!

http://personal-trainerbrighton.co.uk/