Sorry for the delay in updating the blog. With the bank holiday and a busy workload last week I didn’t get time. I am not going to write part 4 of the functional training this week as I am short of time. If you have any question regarding the last 3 parts feel free to post a question. I am here to help  Here are my workouts for last week:

28th,29th,30th and 31st: One hour each day cardio training on bike 120-130 Heart rate

1st: 10km run (1st one since the triathlon!)

2nd: 103km ride around Heartfordshire

Happy Training,

Paul

Well this week has been rather hectic and i havn’t managed to get here sooner.

To start with lets get on will Part 3. This week we are going to look at the Push Pattern…

As always I begin with a assessment of the range of movement.Today it will be the front of the shoulders and chest area. For this we do the Wall Angle. Standing against a flat wall with your heels 2 inches away from the wall with your bum and upper back touching the wall. You should just be able to put a flat hand between your lower back and wall…

Now hold this position and raise your elbows up so they are level with your shoulder and touching the wall. 90′ at the elbow wrists straight fingers facing forward. Now rotate your shoulders so the back of you forearm touches the wall, elbows still at 90′(Can you do it?) then keep your position and move the shoulders so your fingers touch and move back to the starting position. The back of your wrist and forearm should be touching the wall throughout the movement.

If they didn’t you really need to stretch out your pecs(minor and major)to get the correct range of movement.

For the ones who are ok with the movement. Read on….

First we are going to stretch the Lats. After they are stretched we will do a push exercise. I am going to keep this simple. Bench Press or Press up If you need help with these you can always get in touch…

Now for my weekly training diary!!!! I have had a busy week so its pretty poor…

Monday 20th: 30mins indoor bike Heart 120bpm

Tuesday 21st: 30min indoor bike Heart 120bpm

Wednesday 22nd: 60min indoor bike. Training DVD Heart Rate About to explode

Thursday 23rd: Its cold and horrible but I need to get outside. So a 10km run then 30mins on the indoor bike at a steady 120 bpm heart rate….

Tomorrow: Rest…… Friends are up from plymouth so its bicep curls with a pint of Beer. Alternate arms of course                  

Have a great Bank Holiday

Paul       

Well this week has been quite a lazy one for me.

Monday 13th: Just a 23mile ride with a average speed of 19.2 mph

Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th: My new cycle trainer arrived. So on these 2 days i had a 1 hour of fat burning. Heart Rate 125-130. Thats very low intensity for me. I had a chance to watch a couple episodes of Max and Paddy and Red Dwarf 6 while I was training.

Thurday 16th: Free with the cycle trainer was a Chris Carmichael(Lance Armstrong’s coach) training DVD. So 60mins of Power intervals and steady state cadence intervals… Hard work….

Tonight I will go swimming. This will be the end of the training for the week as i’m off to plymouth tomorrow for a long weekend.        

Hope you all have a great weekend,

Paul 

I have just started a little experiment with a friend of mine who has no time for going to gym let alone being able to dedicate 2 hours a week for Personal Training. You have to love the work/life Balance!!!

The problem is she has asked me to help her out as she is off on holiday in October, but she has no time to train. She is looking to drop a dress size and reduce her body fat percentage in 8 weeks.

I will help her but I am not going to give her PT as she never knows what she is doing. The problem for me is she hasn’t a clue about resistance training. So the chances of injury or strains with lifting weights using Swiss balls etc unsupervised are quite high…

So I came up with plan B

I have recently brought a new turbo trainer for my home studio, so I now have a spare one, which she will borrow. For those who are thinking what’s a turbo trainer? It’s a device, which lifts the back wheel of your bike of the floor so you pedal and go nowhere.

So from today she will find 2 x 30 minute slots each day to use the trainer at her home Everyone must be able to free up 2 x 30 minute slots a day??? I suggested 30min in the morning when she gets up and watches the news and 30min in the evening.

She has brought herself a heart rate monitor and I have showed her some stretches to do before and after her workouts.

Her training Heart Rate Zone is 122-130 Bpm, which she will maintain throughout the workout.

Why the heading of commitment?

Cycling for 1 hour each day for the next 8 weeks while doing her job will need her full commitment. The exercise is simple but repetitive but if she commits to keep doing it. She will get the results she wants.     

I have asked if I can write her measurements on this post. She agreed and I will re-measure every 2 weeks to keep you up to date.

•  Waist (Measured around Belly Button) 90cm 
•  Hips 116cm
•  Right Arm 31.5cm
•  Right Thigh 68cm
•  Body fat 37.7%

I have taken some before photos, but I will not post them until the after photos are taken in 8 weeks time… and I get permission to display them???

I will post my weeks training on Thursday as I’m heading to the homeland of Plymouth on Friday to visit the family.

Carry on Training,

Paul 

Today I am going to look at the Bend to Extend Pattern. Before we go into this I would just like to take a few minutes to talk about Sets and Repetitions (Reps)

So what are sets and Reps???

•  A Rep is a exercise performed once i.e. 1 press up. If you did 10 that would be 10 Reps.  
• A Set is the number of reps you do before you rest. So 2 sets of 10 Reps would be 10 press ups a rest then another 10 press ups.

The standard Rep ranges are.

• 15 Reps (Toning and endurance)
•  10 Reps (Hypertrophy… Muscle Gain)
•  1-6 Reps (Strength)

On each of these Rep ranges the last few reps must be a struggle. That’s one advantage with training with a Personal Trainer.

For people new to exercise I always start with the 15 Reps. This helps develop good technique and form.

After Bend to Extend Assessment I put together a programme that not only strengthens but also stretches any tight muscle groups that limit the range of movement around the joints In the Bend to extend movement pattern i.e. abdominal area.

The Deadlift

With feet flat beneath bar, squat down and grasp bar with a shoulder width or slightly wider over hand or mixed grip. Lift bar by extending hips and knees to full extension. Pull shoulders back at top of lift if rounded. Return and repeat.

You must keep you back Strong and straight. DO NOT BEND FROM YOUR BACK. All the bending comes from the hips. Start with a light weight and make sure you technique and form are 100% correct.

Until the next time, happy training,

Paul

Team JPP completed The Team Triathlon in 02:22:50 After Jason put in a fantastic 1500m Swim of 29:25, Peter with his amazing 40km ride of 01:06:11 and my 10 km run of 42:55. Overall we placed 35th out of 420 teams. Next year we are aiming for top 10!!! 

Paul

Along with the Training tips on this blog I will be posting my weekly Cardio Workouts. If your new to Leading Edge Fitness and Myself its your chance to find out what my cardio workouts consist of… This week most of my training was done on a bike as I have decided to rest from running for 2 weeks after the triathon last saturday.

Monday 6th Restday

Tuesday 7th Cycle 2hr 26mins 42.6 miles

Wednesday 8th Swimming 30mins (No idea how many meters!!!!)

Thursday 9th Cycle 2hr 57mins 51.3 miles

Friday 10th Cycle 1hr 12mins 23.4 miles

Functional Training Part 2 will be posted early next week.

Hope you all have great weekend,

Paul 

For the next six weeks be covering functional training and 6 different movement patterns.

So what is functional training???

Functional strength training involves performing work against resistance in such a manner that the improvements in strength directly enhance the performance of movements so that an individual’s activities of daily living are easier to perform. Simply stated, the primary goal of functional training is to transfer the improvements in strength achieved in one movement to enhancing the performance of another movement by affecting the entire neuromuscular system.

Confused!!!

I plan to keep this simple for the blog. Any questions you may have please post a comment on the blog.

As I’ve been running (85% of running is on 1 leg!!!) and cycling the first Movement pattern I’m going to talk about is The 1 leg standing

After a 1 leg standing Assessment I put together a programme that not only strengthens the leg but also stretches any tight muscle groups that limit the range of movement around the joints In the 1 leg movement pattern.

Before we can do a leg movement exercise we have to stretch out all the tight muscles i.e. adductors.

Then we move on to the exercise. For today I will just explain the lunge.

The Lunge

Start with your feet shoulder width apart and feet facing forward.

Lunge forward with first leg. Land on heal then forefoot. Lower body by flexing knee and hip of front leg until knee of rear leg is almost in contact with floor. Return to original standing position by forcibly extending the hip and knee of the forward leg. Repeat by alternating lunge with opposite leg.

Have Fun with the Lunge…

Paul 

A lot has been happening over the last few months. I have moved my business from LA Fitness in the City to a private studio in London. I have also been personal training with clients in the Surbiton, Esher and Kingston areas PLUS training very hard for the London Triathlon.

I am in a relay team and I have the 10km run to do. Most of you realize that 10 km is not going to be a struggle for me as I have done marathons and half marathons before. But having to run a 10km fast has taken a lot of training (and a lot of injuries too). I’ve used treadmills early in the year a getting my time down to 45 minutes. I then picked up a hip injury (of all things!)… Flu… Stomach problems.

3 months later I started again. My 10 km time was back to 55 mins and my runs had to be limited to 2 a week so I didn’t over do the hip. For the past 4 weeks I have introduced cycling back into my training and all of a sudden I’m running sub 50 mins! On the day I should get close to 45 mins. There is nothing like a bit of cross training to help things along.

So with 6 days to go the training is coming to an end. I will run twice and cycle twice more and have a full day rest before the start on Saturday 4 August.

For the next six weeks this blog is going to concentrate on Functional strength training…

Till the next time…

Carry on training

Paul

Well it’s my first blog. What does one say?

I am a personal fitness trainer, based in the Surrey area, near London. I also train clients in the City too, near Moorgate and Liverpool Street stations.

I am so passionate about exercising but not till about 3 years ago did I decide to pursue this seriously. A friend of mine, Ross, commented while in the gym one day that I had a natural ability to train and pass on my knowledge. This was while I was living in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. It all then clicked into place for me. I flew back to the UK and dived in to do my personal training course. I am REPS 3 certified and hold a diploma in Personal Training from YMCA. I have recently completed my PREMIER PTS Resisted Movement Training (RMT) certification.

I want to see this blog grow into a series of tips, motivations, musings, bits of personal training advice, demonstrations and all round useful resource for exercising.
I hope you enjoy and benefit. Let me know what you think.

Happy training
Paul