PT Fitness Swindon

Rehab Training Progress.

2011-09-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

The trainings going really well and a lot of progress is being made, some hard times and a lot of pushing hard on my behalf, well nobody else is going to do it for me! A few meetings with the bucket, but there's the prof to myself that I've given it my all!! job done.

I'll put a pick up at the end of this 31216 cycle which ends in 2 & a bit weeks!

Will keep you posted

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Out of Rehab!

2011-09-08T00:48:00.000-07:00

Now I'm out of rehab, I've had a good check over my body stats and 9 weeks out of normal training has left its mark, muscle wastage, increase in body fat, changes in shape, size and strength.

So now its back to normal training lets see how long it takes to get some of it back, shape, around the tum, my well be the last bit to change, the scar tissue has altered the natural shape of the abs, but the added body fat around my chest and waist should go quite fast? I'll post another pick in a few weeks to compare and keep you posted on my training.
Also don't forget to check out www.the31216.com as they are now posting their training on their blog!

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Still alive!

2011-09-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

Well after my comment yesterday I thought I'd better put something on here to let you know I'm alive, yay!
Slightly aching, which to me is like music to the ears and has been sorely lost, I'll be following what the 3:1:2:1:6 are posting from now on and just scale down any exercises that my little tum can't handle!
So I think its safe to say Rehabs over, 9 and a bit weeks, good recovery!!

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Rehab training week 9:

2011-09-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

Last week saw a fair amount of pain in the abdominal region for me.
In a panic I stopped training after day 3 and sought medical advice, it turns out that the pains I was experiencing were completely normal lesion pains and something I should try to work through with pain killers, cool? but why didn't anybody tell me in the first place that I may have these pains? great!
So this morning in a determined defiant manner I returned to training as if all was normal, a full standard session, I followed what the 31216 had posted and 2 hours on, I'm still alive!
If you see no more posts on here within the next week assume the worst, only kidding!

Chris (happy to be back) Nash
PT Fitness

Rehab Training week 8:

2011-08-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, last week saw the reintroduction of isolated core exercises, no adverse effects so things are good, Saturday also brought an amazing birthday present for me, I did a full on hard core session, 20 minutes of continual circuit, 46kg deads, 24kg swings, 40kg bench, back to swings and go again, and again! 7 rounds 10 deads and 1 swing completed, pretty much destroyed me but it was good to see my body fully reactive with the session, and no after pains during the next few days!
I'll keep rehab training this week, then next week on it big time!

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

The 3:1:2:1:6

2011-08-25T08:04:00.001-07:00

PT Fitness is joining the 3:1:2:1:6, we will keep you up dated on the progress and let you know more about it over the next few weeks, so watch this space!!

PT Fitness

Update!

2011-08-24T05:30:00.000-07:00

A few quick updates from us on a few things, firstly from a personal training point, and one that I have been doing blogs about since rehabilitating from the op, I a glad to say I have DOMS today in my abdominal muscles! performed 4 sets of 15 leg raises off the bench, It felt right at the time and it would appear there are no adverse effects, cool! This can mean only one thing, lets start hitting the core a bit more.

Secondly, over the past few years I have been developing a training system which at some point in my future I was looking to release, I have had time and been working on some finalisation since my op as time I most certainly had, trying to implement such a monumental thing is quite daunting, so I am going to see how much interest I have by seeing who would like to know more?

If you would like to know more about this system please email me personally at:

chris.nash@pt-fitness.co.uk

I look forward to see who listens.

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Rehab Training week 7:

2011-08-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week went really well, had a little DOMS in my chest which was nice, again this week I'll just continue with what I did last week, increasing the weight each time.
At this rate of recovery I should be able to return to scaled down versions of my old routines within 1-3 weeks!

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Cauliflower/Paleo Rice Recipe

2011-08-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

An amazing alternative for starchy rice is cauliflower rice, your normal white rice contains a whooping 126 calories in 100g where the cauliflower alternative only contains 25!

So how do we get rice from a cauliflower, easy!
Take 1 normal cauliflower, break the heads off, pop them in a blender, blitz until they look like tiny bits of rice/couscous, pop that in a bowl or microwave steamer, steam dry (don't add water) in the microwave for 5 minutes, hey presto plain white cauliflower rice.
Now this is fine if your mixing it with the main part of the dish, but to give it a really nice flavour do the following:

Heat 1 tsp of coconut oil in a deep pan or wok, add into that a little curry powder, some finely chopped onion, a pinch of cayenne pepper, cumin and coriander, plus a touch of garlic and ground black pepper, all of these to taste.

A really flavoursome and filling alternative to that nasty old white rice!

PT Fitness

Week 6

2011-08-15T00:15:00.000-07:00

So, 6 weeks after my op now, this week I'll continue with what I did last week with regards to the resistance side of training, but now I'll start to increase weight each time.
The week ahead will look a little like this (best laid plans and all that!)

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Resistance:
Chest press using dumbbells off a stability ball. 4 sets of 12.

Body rows using straps, legs bent, body bridged. 4 sets of 12.

Shoulder press with just the Olympic bar. 3 sets of 15.

Chins, with assistance (elastic strap) 3 sets of 10.

Light bar front squats, overhead squats, high bar squats, low bar squats & dead lifts. 1 set each for 12.

Increasing weight each day completed.

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday: Cardio:

Simple 30 minute cardio sessions, maybe a run on Saturday keeping it short and sharp to see how the jolting action of the run affects my scar tissue?

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

An answered question

2011-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

I asked a question on our Facebook page yesterday https://www.facebook.com/pages/PT-Fitness/159676520776391 directed at Ladies about what they would prefer:
(1) Firm Butt (2) Tight Abs (3) Solid Triceps

Today I answered with an easy solution for all three.

A good solution to the question I asked yesterday would be to do thrusters, this exercise hits all three areas hard and fast, use a bar as this will engage the core more than dumbbell's, the squat section of the exercise, effectively a front squat, puts a huge strain on the core to keep you upright, (Tight abs, tick!) and to perform the exercise correct the posterior muscles of your legs will be working harder the anterior, the final part of the squat will require you to open your hips fully to start the thrust, (Firm butt, tick!) then, although only a minor muscle being used, the triceps will be engaged for the full lock out, (Solid triceps, tick!) get thrusting!

To show this point I'd like to add a you tube clip of a crossfit enthusiast, and star! performing thrusters as part of a routine know as "Fran"!!

Enjoy

Chris Nash
PT Fitness

Rehab Training continued

2011-08-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, third session done, and all seems well, lighter weight, reps ext, the most painful thing was stretching at the end as this aggravated the scar tissue!

More of the same next week, then I'll be over the 6 week period from op, this should mean that most scaring internally should be healed, and a little more strain and resistance can be added.

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Rehab Training

2011-08-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, week 5 after the op, at week 3 I had a look at my capabilities, not great!

So this week I've started back in by doing really simple exercises.

Chest press using dumbbells off a stability ball, the most core work my tums had to do in some weeks!

Body rows using straps, legs bent, body bridged.

Shoulder press with just the Olympic bar.

Chins, with assistance from an iron woody (elastic strap)

Light bar front squats, overhead squats, high bar squats & low bar squat.

I'll do this 3 times this week and see how things go?

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Legacy Gift Cards

2011-07-20T08:40:00.001-07:00

Now you can buy Personal training as a gift with our new Legacy Gift Card.

Available on our website, www.myptfitness.com, or www.pt-fitness.co.uk.

They cost £150.00 which entitles the user to 4 fully paid sessions, the first one lasts an hour as this goes over body analysis, nutrition, and medical questions, then its 3 hard core full on sessions with us guys at PT Fitness, tailored to suit the clients needs of course!

So if you want to give somebody the opportunity to try personal training purchase one today from the website.

PT Fitness

Busy Busy Busy!

2011-07-18T03:53:00.000-07:00

This year has been a whirl wind for us at PT Fitness, so much so that we have neglected this part of our site, no excuses!

But just to bring you quickly up to date all trainers at PT Fitness are now crossfit level 1 qualified, which is really cool, this gives us the opportunity to train our clients with a little more edge than other trainers in our area.

Also, I've gone through some major surgery very recently, this was abdominal, so what I'll be doing over the next few weeks will be going over the rehabilitation work required for this kind of thing, first hand rather than what I do with clients!

Also in the news of PT Fitness, we have launched a gift card that will be available to purchase from our main website www.pt-fitness.co.uk within the next week, all terms & conditions will be on the site for you to look at!

Hopefully, now, we'll be a little better at keeping this up to date for you to enjoy and use!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

2011-01-07T03:53:00.000-08:00

2011

Another year has flown by and lots of us are setting goals for things to achieve with our health & fitness this year, but take a quick minute to look back over the goals you had last year!

Did you do them all, did you do any?

Did you fail any, or not quite get there, these are the import questions to ask, now what you need to do is look at the why, why didn't you achieve what you so wanted to do this time last year?

If the reason was completely out of your control, don't beat yourself up over it, say you broke your leg the week before the marathon so you couldn't run, or a family member was severely ill and you had to look after them instead of training, these are things you can't control.

Sometimes though we make excuses, try to justify why we didn't or don't do something, before you set new goals, look first at ways not to let that happen again, go back if you have to, to those goals you haven't yet achieved and get those done first, then move on!

Weekly Workout Wednesday 01/09/2010

2010-09-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Back to the Raptor:

After more effort trying to ware myself out with the raptor training vest I found that less can most definitely be more.

standard warm-up and cool down with stretches, without the vest on!

As you'll have the training vest on for this workout, don't expect it to be as easy when it comes to time, it's gonna take longer.

10 x Chins

10 x Dips

10 x Push-ups

10 x Burpees (without push-up)

repeat at least 5 times, or more in a 20 minute time frame?

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 23/08/2010

2010-08-24T04:50:00.000-07:00

Quick, but not easy!

Normal warm-up cool-down rules apply then:

Start in the standing position, touch toes then jump onto a 24" box platform, repeat 50 times.

20 x Crunch-Press (a sit-up with a chest press using a med ball)

40 x toe-touch box jumps

20 x crunch-press

30 x toe-touch box jumps

20 crunch-press

20 x toe-touch box jumps

20 crunch-press

10 x toe-touch box jumps

20 crunch-press

finished!!

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 16/08/2010

2010-08-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

Good Kit!

We at PT Fitness have recently been given a Raptor Training Vest to trial, very nice of them to do so I thought, so I thought I'd put the little fella through its paces and see what it can do!

The vest (male standard) weighs 30lbs, (15kg), now I could have used this quite easily at our gym but I thought that would be kinda pointless as I and our clients get really good workouts here any way, so this is what I did, if you can get a vest give it a go, its a real beast!

Run 5 miles, during which, when you find ideal places to do so complete the following:

3 x 10 Chins (I used a football goal)

3 x 10 Dips off a park bench

3 x 10 box jumps onto a park bench

3 x 10 push-ups

5 x lamp post sprints

For now thats all I've done with it, but I found it a challenge and fun all at the same time, on the down side recovery was a lot harder, the pressure from the vest downwards across the shoulders and the restriction in movement from breathing made things a little tougher than normal, but on the plus side that should make my lungs work a touch harder!

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 02/08/10

2010-08-03T06:40:00.000-07:00

20 Minutes of continual movement:

Warm up for 5-10 minutes.

This is for rounds, get a stop watch to time you for 20 minutes.

Do exercises as follows then repeat as many times as you can in the time limit.

5 x Chins

10 x Push-ups

15 x burpees (without push-up).

Adapt where applicable, chins for body rows, push-ups for kneeling push-ups, burpees for squat thrusts etc.

Cool down and stretch.

Jess Kavanagh

Personal Trainer

Weekly Workout Monday 26/07/2010

2010-07-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

Hard core session!

Now this little workout isn't going to work for some people but I think it only fair to throw in the odd advanced session now and then, if your not sure you can train to this level make sure you don't do it alone, and for every body remember warm-up, cool-down and stretch.

this is a three part session hitting the whole body hard.

Part 1:

3 rounds of 10 Hand Stand Push-up's followed by strict Chins.

Part 2:

3 rounds of 10 Ultimate Burpee's, (perform a full burpee, but when you get to the jump stage instead of just jumping up, jump over a bench turn around and do the next one and so on until you've done all 10)

Part 3:

3 x 10 Sit-ups weighted

3 x 10 Lower leg raises

3 x 10 Dorsal raise

3 x 10 Oblique pulls

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 19/07/2010

2010-07-21T07:55:00.000-07:00

Back to basics, again!

As with all our workouts, warm-up, cool-down and stretch accordingly.

Select a weight that you can use throughout so there's no changing of weight on the bar, or if you have access to more than 1 bar load them up to suit the exercises.

do all of these exercises consecutively until the end rest 1 minute and go again until you have completed 5 rounds.

1 Minute Dead-lifts

1 Minute shoulder press

1 Minute Bent over Row

1 Minute Chest press.

The object of this set is to keep the muscle groups in action moving, don't get hung up on repetitions but do keep a mental note of what you achieve each exercise each round.

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 05/07/2010

2010-07-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Now I didn't develop or think up this work out, my 13 year old son came up with it, and it amused me but I could see the potential.

Its simple, it takes as long as it takes, but is useful if you want to do a cardio session with a bit of childish fun.

The problems: if you live in a bungalow, or if its really windy (actually it could make things a bit more interesting)

Laminate a piece of brightly colored A5 paper, now go up to your bedroom window, start a stop watch and throw it out, run down the stairs, out the door, get the card and return to the starting point, repeat 50 times, record your overall time, repeat again when your bored of your normal routines.

Remember, have fun, be young in your mind!!

Chris Nash

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 28/06/2010

2010-06-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

This workout is designed to target the forearms and wrists whilst working the whole body.

As normal make sure your warming up, cooling down and stretching as appropriate.

Now, from the moment you start this circuit till the very end your hands must not come off the bar or change position. All that is needed to do this set is a barbell weighted lightly so you can perform all the exercises.

First perform 10 x Dead-lift, as you stand for number 10 instead of returning the weight to the floor go straight into the Low-Row position and do 10, at the end of the 10th lower the weight to the floor and start doing 10 x Clean & Heave, on completing number 10 get the bar behind your head and go into Good-Mornings, after 10 of those get the bar over the head to the front and perform 10 x Upright-Rows, out of these complete 10 x Push-ups on the bar, then for the final exercise do 10 x Sit-ups with the bar across the chest.

So to recap those exercises:

10 x Dead-Lifts

10 x Low-Row

10 x Clean & Heave

10 x Good-Mornings

10 x Upright-Rows

10 x Push-Ups

10 x Sit-Ups.

Do this circuit as many times as you can in 30 minutes.

Good Luck!

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 21/06/2010

2010-06-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Today is the Longest day of the year, so to celebrate this solstice here's a workout that will make you feel like its the longest session of the year, however it should only take you 20 minutes or less!

As normal make sure you warm up, cool down & stretch suitably.

5 minutes on the rower or 1000 meters (which comes first)

5 minutes Bur-pees (just keep moving)

3 minutes on the punch bag or pads & mitts

2 minutes of crunches

5 minutes on the rower or 1000 meters

You should find this nice a grueling on the body, make sure you re-fuel after!

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 07/06/2010

2010-06-08T03:04:00.000-07:00

This workout is simple and can be time effective if your at a push.

Warm up, cool down and stretch accordingly as normal. The workout is a circuit for as many as you can do within your time frame, there's only 4 exercises, 3 if you don't count sides, so I wouldn't want to do more than about 6 circuits as boredom in training is very down-heartening.

(1): 10 x Med ball wood-chops to the left.

(2): 20 x touch lunges.

(3): 10 x Med ball wood-chops to the right.

(4): 10 x Fit-ball Pike.

PT Fitness.

Exercise of the Day wednesday 26/05/2010

2010-05-26T05:09:00.000-07:00

Not so much as an exercise, but after my recent trip to my dentist today where we had a long and in-depth chat about dental care and the risk of heart disease I thought I would pass on some info which was released by Bupa.

A possible link is there, but from a vain point of view, wouldn't you prefer nice teeth with that nice body you want? Keep brushing, keep flossing!!

This info below was taken from the Bupa website:

Taking good care of your teeth and gums could prevent you from having a stroke or heart attack, according to a study published in 8 February 2005 edition of the journal Circulation.¹

What did the study find?

The study found a strong link between gum disease and narrowing of the arteries (a process known as atherosclerosis), which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

What is gum disease?

Teeth are covered by sticky plaque, made up of food, bacteria and bacterial waste products. If plaque is left on the teeth the gums become irritated and may bleed when you brush. This early stage of gum disease is called gingivitis.²

If gum disease is not treated, the gums may swell, forming a little pocket around the tooth. Plaque collects in this and cannot be removed by a toothbrush. When plaque is left on the teeth it may harden to form tartar (calculus).

As time goes on the pockets get deeper, trap even more plaque and tartar and may become infected. Over time gingivitis can develop into chronic (long term) periodontitis, in which the jaw bone can become infected and damaged, causing teeth to loosen or fall out.³

What is heart disease?

Atherosclerosis is when the arteries become narrow and damaged. It happens when the arteries are clogged up with fatty deposits or the walls of the arteries become inflamed.

This narrowing can happen in the arteries that supply blood to the heart, depriving it of the oxygen and nutrients it needs to work normally. When the blood flow through an artery is stopped, a heart attack can occur.⁴

Arteries supplying blood to the brain can also be affected by atherosclerosis. If a blood clot becomes lodged in a narrowed artery, blood flow to part of the brain may be stopped. This is called a stroke.

What did the researchers look for?

To measure whether or not gum disease is associated with an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis, the researchers tested people for 11 bacteria that cause gum disease.

They also tested each person for three factors that point to the development of atherosclerosis:¹

the thickness of the walls of the carotid artery, a major blood vessel in the neck that carries blood from the heart to the brain (the thickness of the wall is a measure of how clogged up the artery is)
the number of white blood cells in the blood (raised levels are associated with increased risk of atherosclerosis)⁵
the amount of a protein, called C-reactive protein, in the blood (this protein is found in higher levels when there is inflammation of the blood vessels and is a good indicator that atherosclerosis may develop in the future)⁶

What did the researchers find?

The study looked at 657 people who had no history of heart attack or stroke.

It found that those people who had higher levels of the 11 types of bacteria that cause gum disease also had:

increased carotid artery wall thickness
raised white blood cell levels

However, the researchers found that the level of bacteria that cause gum disease was not linked to levels of C-reactive protein in the blood.¹

The researchers also discovered that these links existed only for gum disease causing bacteria and not for all the other bacteria that can live in the mouth.¹

What does this mean?

The researchers suggest that the results mean that people who have gum disease may be at a greater risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart disease.¹

Although the study suggests a link between gum disease and heart disease, it does not prove that gum disease actually causes heart disease.

Why might gum disease be linked to heart disease?

Studies in the past have suggested that the bacteria that cause gum disease may increase the rate at which arteries become blocked.¹

The researchers believe that bacteria can leave people's infected gums and enter the bloodstream, activating the immune system (the body's defence mechanism) and making their artery walls inflamed and narrowed.⁷

Another theory is that the bacteria enter the blood and attach themselves directly to the fatty deposits that are already present in a person's arteries, causing further narrowing.⁴

Could the increase in the risk of heart disease be due to a different cause entirely?

Other lifestyle factors are known to increase the risk of heart disease, and they are often associated with poor dental health as well. For example:

smoking
poor diet
low income

Some experts do not believe that the bacteria that cause gum disease are really responsible for increasing heart disease risk. Instead, they argue that the gum disease is due to smoking, poor diet or low income and that it is these factors that are also increasing the heart disease risk.

In an attempt to answer this argument, the researchers in this study adjusted their results to take the following factors into account:¹

smoking
body mass index
age
gender
education
race/ethnicity
diabetes
blood pressure
cholesterol levels

Even after they had adjusted their results to remove the effects of all these factors, the researchers found that the presence of gum disease causing bacteria was still associated with an increased risk of heart disease.¹

How can you prevent gum disease?

The best way to prevent gum disease is to maintain good oral hygiene. This means brushing your teeth twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste and regularly visiting your dentist or hygienist (see below).²

Brushing is the most effective way of removing plaque and preventing the build up of bacteria. The following tips will help you to get the most out of your brushing routine:³

brush your teeth at least twice a day
use a fluoride toothpaste to provide protection against decay
use a toothbrush that's small enough to reach all around your mouth, with soft or medium synthetic bristles
use a gentle circular action and brush all the tooth surfaces thoroughly

For more on looking after your teeth, please see our factsheet:
Factsheet: Caring for your teeth

How often should you go to your dentist?

Even thorough brushing and flossing cannot remove every trace of plaque, so your dentist needs to check your teeth regularly and remove any tartar build up. Your dentist will advise you how often to visit.³

What are the signs that you have gum disease?

Normally, gums are pink and healthy looking. When you have gum disease your gums may be red and swollen, although sometimes they may look normal.²

Sometimes the only sign of gum disease is bleeding gums when brushing. If you find that your gums are bleeding when you brush, it is vital that you clean them more thoroughly, not less. Make sure that you clean every surface of the tooth and use dental floss or interdental brushes to clean in between the teeth.²

How is gum disease treated?

Gum disease treatment aims to remove plaque and make it as difficult as possible for it to reform. With mild gum disease, more careful brushing and flossing may cure the problem without need for further treatment.

However, once a hard layer of tartar has formed, you cannot remove it yourself. Your dentist or hygienist needs to remove it with a specialist scaling tool. He or she will also polish your teeth's surfaces to make it harder for bacteria to attach themselves. Your dentist may recommend an antiseptic mouthwash to control plaque levels in the short term but these are not used for longer than one month.²

If the infection has developed into periodontitis and deep pockets have formed that are affecting the support of the tooth, your dentist or hygienist will need to clean these regularly. It may be necessary to visit your dentist as often as every two months. Your dentist may also carry out root planing (removal of infected base around the root).²

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 25/05/2010

2010-05-25T09:06:00.000-07:00

Bulgarian Split Squat:

The hardest part of this exercise is not falling over when getting into position, well, and doing it!!

If your going to do this using a bar on the back, select a weight thats easier than a normal squat, and perform a few lunge squats first to confirm its manageable.

Stand with the back of both legs touching the bench, with one leg take a good step forward, carefully lift and place the foot of the back leg up onto the bench, from here perform the squat as normal.

This can also be done with dumbbells or just holding a plate or kettle bell.

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 24/05/2010

2010-05-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hi all, sorry this hasn't been updated in a while, we all had a wee break to Dublin and was caught by a little volcanic ash then played catch up last week!!

So to get you all back in the swing of things and get the body pumping heart and muscle heres a personal favorite!

Row 500 meters

50 x Dead-lifts

50 x Push-ups

Row 400 meters

40 x Dead-lifts

40 x Push-ups

Row 300 meters

30 x Dead-lifts

30 x Push-ups

Row 200 meters

20 x Dead-lifts

20 x Push-ups

Row 100 meters

10 x Dead-lifts

10 x Push-ups.

This is a hard core session, warm-up & cool-down with stretches suitably.

Good luck

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the day Wednesday 12/05/2010

2010-05-12T09:30:00.000-07:00

Dumbbell Shoulder Press:

This is a nice simple exercise to work the deltoid and triceps muscles.

Perform this seated, this way you wont be tempted to arch your back, firstly select a weight that is doable, remember the dumbbells will be going above your head, to heavy a weight and this could hurt!

Hold the weights so they are inline with the top of your shoulders, then press the weight upwards then return to the start position, also, hold the weight so your palms would be facing forwards, this can be altered, and when you do so so does the position of the muscle in its contraction, you could also do this exercise using a barbell or kettle bell.

PT Fitness

Exercise of the day Tuesday 11/05/2010

2010-05-11T07:35:00.000-07:00

Reverse Lunge with single arm shoulder press:

This is a slight variation of the exercise listed in the weekly workout this week, doing this lunge with a single arm shoulder press incorporates the core and oblique muscles much more.

To do the exercise select a weight that you can press, hold the dumbbell in one hand whilst standing in a good postural position, take a step back, lower the body into the lunge whilst raising the arm (holding the weight) above your head in a shoulder press, then return to the start position.

Do your reps for that side then swap and do the other.

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 10/05/2010

2010-05-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

Double Up:

Today's workout is pretty hard going, this is a 5 round session, make sure you warm up, cool down and stretch accordingly.

20 alternating, 1 Dead Lift to 1 Squat with Upright Row.

10 x Body Rows.

10 x Push-Ups.

20 Reverse Lunges with Medicine Ball Shoulder Thrusters.

20 Russian Twists.

When weighting the bar for the dead lifts remember it has to be a weight you can upright row,

also if you do not have a med ball thats heavy enough use dumbbells.

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Friday's Nutrition Tip 07/05/2010

2010-05-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Healthy Eating Boom!!

Top Left 1920's, 1940's, 1960's, 1980's, 1990's, Bottom Right 2000's.

Diets have been around for centuries, but in the 1980's - 90's a massive boom in diet plans and so say healthy eating guides became extremely popular and have remained ever since, but what I'd like you to do is look at the random groups of people in the photos I've posted.

These were taken from the net in searches for for groups of people in the 19??'s, I've not picked these looking for anything in particular, but take a moment, look hard, tell me what you see?

Here's a clue up until the 1980's people looked healthy, then in the 80's we started eating "healthy" so what's wrong with these pictures?

Call this a rant, and maybe it is, but misinformation, greed, and the media are doing a good job at doing things not so very "healthy" at all.

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Thursday 06/05/2010

2010-05-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

Bicep Curl:

Lets face it, if your a guy your probably getting the T-shirts out ready for summer and thinking to yourself "my guns need work", then work them, the best way to get them looking good is to do bicep exercises, isolate with curls of all variations, and remember to include them in other forms like chins & rows.

Get them working!!

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Wednesday 05/05/10

2010-05-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Reverse Lunge:

After the killer leg exercise yesterday I thought we'd stick with some legs!

The reverse lunge is exactly the same as the normal lunge but backwards, however its not as easy as it sounds, and digs just that little bit deeper into the muscle as you need to concentrate, therefore take longer, to do the exercise.

simple but effective!!

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 04/05/2010

2010-05-05T06:11:00.000-07:00

IsoPlyometric Squat Jumps:

This Exercise is a long lost secret, taught to me by my coach when I used to compete to help improve endurance and strength to my legs.

This is no easy exercise, and some have said its dangerous, and, if you do suffer from high blood pressure this may not be an ideal exercise to perform, like wise you have to consider the rulings and guidelines for plyometrics.

To do this little chap all you need is to get hold of some nice and heavy dumbbells or kettle bells, the exercise itself is simple, stand with the weights in your hands, get down into the squat position and hold, hold it as long as you can, you want your legs shaking, grip killing, lactic acid burning, voice screaming, when you can take no more drop the weights away to the side and perform, straight away, 10 knee to chest squat jumps, the pain is intense, it will only last a short while but make sure you walk it off before you do it all over again!

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 03/05/2010

2010-05-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is a little workout for monday, we all decided to take the day off Monday seeing as it was a bank holiday! but for some that just becomes an excuse to train a little more!!

So this weeks workout is this, Run, Run, Run!

Run as far as you feel capable and have time for. Mix it up with Sprints, Cross Country, Hills Climbs & Descents, if your really brave, as its not quite summer yet, get in some river crossings, or run in the shallows of the sea along the beach, try to think of the most elaborate way to run harder and do it!

It would be interesting to know what people do to make things harder or more challenging for runs, let us know!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Thursday 29/04/2010

2010-04-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

Rowing:

The rowing machine has been a long time favorite of mine, it works so many muscle groups for a cardio piece of kit that its worth all the hard work.

The best rower on the market, in my opinion, is the Concept 2, most gyms have them, if your lucky you'll own one, they've been around for some years and are tried and tested, they've changed a little over the years, small tweaks here and there, but the testament to there ability to be great is the fact even the old ones are still going, if you fancied buying one these models can be found on places like ebay for around £4-500 or if you really want to invest in your health a brand new model that will probably out last you will cost just over the grand mark.

Technique is important when using the rower, drive with the legs, then pull with the arms into the lower abs area, then arms extend and legs come in.

If you suffer from lower back pain these may not be the best bit of kit for you, seek professional advice before hand if your not sure.

The other great thing you can do is challenge yourself, either time or distance.

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Wednesday 28/04/2010

2010-04-28T01:50:00.001-07:00

Kids Play Ground:

Today's exercise is mainly about one part of the kids play park, the monkey bars! moving between each bar back and forth looks like child's play when these little tykes mess around, but once you've grown up those extra pounds that age and size add make for a great challenge, launching yourself from bar to bar soon gets hard and the longer the run the harder it gets!

The next time your down the park with the kids have a look to see how you can play!

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 27/04/2010

2010-04-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

Rope Climb:

Now for this exercise it is hard to give any clear details on technique as many people use different styles to climb, so what I would like to do is go over a few simple rules that could help you achieve this exercise and more importantly keep you safe.

To climb a rope you need good upper body strength, strong core and legs, and the will to succeed. Technique as I've said varies, the most common way is like the lady in the picture, hand above hand with feet locking the rope.

using no legs at all makes this really hard coming purely from the upper body, then from here you could extend your legs out to the front and do an "L" climb, great on the core!

But remember always, safety, a rope spotter to stop the rope flying around as you climb, more so if your new to this, a crash mat, for obvious reasons, gloves, especially if your upper body strength isn't massive, these will save your hands if you slide, most of all start low, build up to it, after a while you'll be shooting up and down, oh, and the other thing you may need is a rope! do not climb a nylon rope or thin rope as these will hurt, the thickness of the rope is important, to thin and it'll hurt, to fat and you will struggle.

If this is something you would like to try, to see if you can do what the P.E. instructors at school wanted you to achieve, before health and safety! find a trainer, club or public assault course to try, and if its your first time, don't go alone.

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 26/04/2010

2010-04-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

Legs Legs Legs:

Good leg strength is the key to a lot of our daily problems, the legs support our body weight and help with the fight against gravity, the legs also contain the largest muscles in the human body the biggest of which is the glutes, if you want to protect your back, build a good bum, if you want to look after your knees, build the butt and work the quads, it all starts down here so this area should always be a priority to get and keep strong.

This workout is designed to hit all the leg muscles and leave you with a lovely little burn.

Warm & Stretch suitably before you start.

First Stage.

3 sets of 10 Dead lifts, (not to heavy, but it needs to let you know its going on!)

3 sets of 20 alternating Lunges. (10 each leg)

1 set of 20 bench Step-ups

1 set of 20 Pistols (10 each leg)

1 set of 20 bench Reverse Lunges (10 each leg)

2 sets of 10 Dead lifts

To enhance this workout do all the exercises holding either Kettle Bells or Dumbbells.

Make sure you stretch!!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the day Thursday 22/04/2010

2010-04-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

Stability Bridge:

This exercise is really good for working the core, lower back and glutes!

I love to do this exercise after a leg set including squats and lunges as it really finishes my bum workout off!

To do this exercise is really simple and you can do it at home! All you have to do is lie on your back, heels and toes touching the floor with arms at your side. Using your hips and bum and trunk muscles lift your pelvis off the ground until your body forms one line from your shoulders to your knees, then slowly lower back to starting position.

Jess Kavanagh

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Wednesday 21/04/2010

2010-04-23T04:32:00.000-07:00

Russian Twists:

This is a lovely little core exercise, the easiest way to do and learn this is with a partner, they're there to support your body weight from falling back only, and to encourage, start in a sat up position with your feet held down, lean back until you start to feel your abs engage, this is the start point, then keeping yourself in that slightly back position twist first to one side with your arms extended to the front, then return to the middle and do the other side.

to make this harder, first do it without the support on your feet/ankles, then add weight.

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 20/04/2010

2010-04-20T05:10:00.000-07:00

Lunges:

Get in the standing position with a good posture, from here take a step forward with one leg, just a little further than the norm, keeping your back and torso in the upright position bend at the knees, do not let the rear legs knee touch the ground, then return to the starting point and do the same on the other leg. This exercise is great for the leg and bum muscles, if you want to make this harder just add weight!!

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 19/04/2010

2010-04-19T04:13:00.000-07:00

This is a nice little session, 3 exercises, 55 rep's each non stop heart ponding muscle aching mayhem!!

The exercises: Chins, Dips, Sit-ups.

The Rep's: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Now if you are among those who find chins & dips hard you can still get the most out of this session by doing the following.

Body rows, Tricep dips, sit-ups.

Rep wise up it a fraction to 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6. thats 105 of each except the sit-ups which can still be done at the normal rep rate.

A toughy but a goody!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Friday's Nutrition Tip 16/04/2010

2010-04-16T00:14:00.000-07:00

Food Groups:

This will be hard to do in a short article, but what we need to establish is the main groups and there main function in as simple a way as not to boggle the mind.

The first Group isn't really a food but again I'd like to get across it's importance.

Water:

To put this as basic as I can so as not to take up to much time, drink water or nothing really works properly, we are predominately water based beings, we use it and loose it during the day and it needs to be topped up, there, simple.

Protein:

Found in foods such as Meats, Fish, Nuts, Tofu & Eggs this guy is the builder/repair man, without protein in your diet keeping muscle toned and developed would be nigh on impossible, but its not just muscle this takes care of, hair & nails, skin & organs, every Fiber of your body has a protein cellular make-up, so not to have protein in your diet would be crazy.

Carbohydrates:

Found in foods such as Rice & Grains, Fruit & Veg, Bread & Crackers, so if protein is the builder this would be the fuel to get him there, this is one of the fuel types that keeps your body moving, gives you energy and burns, protein too can be broken down and used as fuel, but the break down of muscle and the like is something you don't want to do, but with carbs you run the risk of eating to much of the fuel giver and then you store it it the form of fat deposits. The other thing about carbs is the quality, carbs can have a high natural (or non natural) sugar level, if you don't need this there and then to fuel the body it is even faster to get stored.

Fats:

Fats get a bad rap, miss understood and abused, fat is like the patsy, the fall guy, "your over weight because you eat to much fat", not always the case, there are different types of fat, and next week I'll go into that a bit more, but fat is a great fuel source as well as carbs, the one you should never eat is Trans Fats or Hydrogenated Fat, but like I said, I'll talk about fat next week.

Just remember your daily food intake needs to be structured and clean then going wrong isn't a problem.

Exercise of the Day Thursday 15/04/2010

2010-04-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

The Plank.

This is one of the simplest exercises to do, yet one of the hardest to master, the exercise itself really targets the core in all directions.

Basics of the exercise, Kneel on the floor, reach out and place your forearms on the the deck, lift knees off the ground, bring your bum down until your in a flat horizontal position, hold everything in tight and hold for a period of time.

sounds easy, try to get it up to 1 minute, then do three to four sets of 1 minute at a time, remember, and this is something I have to tell my clients to do, Breathe!!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Wednesday 14/04/2010

2010-04-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

Again I'm going to have to do 2 exercises, yesterday was manic for me and the other trainers here at PT Fitness, the sun comes out and everybody starts to think about what their going to ware, then realize the body could do with a little work too, this is all well and good but it got me thinking about exercises that are easy to perform all year round, I looked through what I've worked on here already and most of those, especially the body weight ones, will keep things where they ought to be, but there's nothing wrong with a few more!!

Exercise 1:

Pistol Squats.

These are nasty little fella's, they start off feeling really easy and then POW, they get you.

Stand in front of a bench, or if at home a solid surface that you can sit on at the hight of your knees, raise one leg just off the ground, outwards and straight, extend your arms out straight in front of your chest, to make it harder hold a dumbbell or other weighted object, then sit down on the bench, let your bum touch then straight back up to the start position, the whole time keeping that one leg off the deck and arms extended, repeat 10 or so times on that leg then change.

To perform the exercise to its proper limit do it like the dude in the picture!

Exercise 2:

Pike Shoulder Press.

Again I find myself putting up another hard-core exercise, but these guys really work you, I find them best off a stability ball but they can be done from a bench.

Their very simular to a push-up in many ways, but the set ups a bit harder. Start by kneeling on the bench, lean down and place your hands out like you would for a push-up a little ways from the bench, this is so you don't end up doing a rolly-poley when you go down, pike your body, like an upside down "L", then perform a push-up

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 12/04/2010

2010-04-12T00:05:00.000-07:00

I literally just did this workout with my first client of the week and thought I have to put this on here, it really got her going and I hope sets her up nicely for the day, and anybody else who wishes to give it a shot.

As normal always warm up accordingly making sure both upper and lower body are in a ready state for training.

The set is 5 rounds of 5 exercises performed for 10 repetitions each, the weight should depend on your ability, but make sure its heavy enough to push you, but not to heavy so you can't complete, so here we go.

10 x Clean & Heave

10 x Push-Up

10 x Body Row

10 x Dead-lift

10 x Dumbbell Bench Press

Get your Ab's engaged for each exercise, make them clean and push them out.

Enjoy the week

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Friday's Nutrition Tip 09/04/2010

2010-04-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

Structure.

What I mean by structure is the basics of When & What, the where all depends on your day but with that in mind, do try to sit down, not in front of the tele.

So the first one, When? simply put, eat within the first 40 minutes of getting up, then structure your day from there, eat regularly (every 3-4 hours) so if I ate breakfast at 07:30 my first snack would be at 10:30, lunch would be 13:30 followed by my afternoon snack at 16:30 meaning my diner, if able to work on the 3 hour rule, would be at 19:30, the amounts which you eat are of course very important, but for now the What must come first, Proteins, Carbs and Fats, thats right, fats, these three food groups need to match your type of person, and the fats will return you to your natural energy source, sugars are not it, and to many of the foods we eat today are laced with it, including those pre-bought healthy option foods you buy, now figuring out what kind of person you are can be the hardest, we all love, or should love different foods at different times, so the best way to figure this out if you can't find somebody to test you is keep a log of what you eat, then how you feel 1 hour after & also 2 hours after, how energized you feel, whether your hungry or still satisfied, this should give you an idea of your metabolic typing, do you respond well to carbs, or perhaps proteins?

The first thing you need to do though is start eating...... Next week, the food groups.

Exercise of the Day Thursday 08/04/2010

2010-04-08T03:49:00.000-07:00

Fit Ball Push-up.

I know, another basic exercise, but sometimes its important to remember those we start with. A lot of the exercises we perform as we become more experienced in our training, and the more people we talk to, books we read etc we start getting a huge arsenal of exercises that if you truly break them down are merely variations and adaptations of the basic ones.

We covered Push-ups before, now the difference with the fit ball version is your feet are up on the ball so creating lateral movement which is controlled and stabilized by the core, because your feet are in the air the downward pressure on the upper body and shoulder area in particular is increased thus making it harder to perform.

Another variation of this is to have your feet on the floor with both hands on the ball, this again is much harder than a normal push-up.

Exercise of the Day & Yesterday, Wednesday 07/04/2010

2010-04-07T00:21:00.000-07:00

For Yesterday:

Stability Ball Flies:

The use of Stability ball's (swiss ball/fit ball) has been around since the end of the second world war, so I think we've gone beyond the fad stage now, this versatile piece of kit was originally intended for rehabilitation work with soldiers, but development of fitness knowledge has made these one of the essential bits of equipment for anybody keen on working their core and all other body parts, most exercise's can be performed on the fit ball, but if you're looking to get one for yourself make sure you get a decent one which is anti-burst.

So, back to the first exercise, the fly, this is the same in most ways as the bench fly, but instead of a bench you and the ball will become the bench.

Sit on the Ball with a good postural alignment, roll yourself out to form the bench, (see picture), from here you can now perform the fly, with the correctly selected weight, (slightly less than you would normally fly), start with your arms extended above your chest, open arms to a horizontal position then return to the vertical performing a small isometric contraction at the end of the movement, breath in when you come down, out as you go up.

The second exercise again from the fit ball arsenal is the Bridge Leg Curl.

This is a great one, it really works the hamstrings, glutes and core. So, you start by laying on the floor face up, pop your feet up on the ball so your legs are at about 45 degrees, then form a bridge by stiffening the body and lifting your glutes off the deck. From this position you can now pull, with your feet, the ball in towards your glutes, then back out to maintain the bridge.

Fool!!

2010-04-07T00:17:00.001-07:00

What a fool, just realized I missed a valuable day out due to the easter weekend!

Monday's workout was on Tuesday, so today, Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday!!! I will post not 1 but 2 exercise's of the day!

Sorry!

Weekly Workout Monday 06/04/2010

2010-04-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

This is a nice simple all over strength session.

3 x 10 on everything, simple major muscle groups.

Dumbbell Bench Press.

Single Arm Dumbbell Row.

Shrugs.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press.

Lat Pullover.

Squats.

Sit-Ups.

Remember to warm up and cool down, choose a weight that is challenging, a slight struggle to squeeze out the last rep of each set, if necessary get somebody to spot any exercises you are unsure of.

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Friday's Nutrition Tip 02/04/2010

2010-04-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Fad diets “v” Healthy Eating

I can pretty much guarantee that anybody who has wanted to lose weight has tried a Faddy diet at some point, they’ve lost the weight, been really happy, then once the diet has ended put the weight back on, and perhaps a little more!! There’s allot of diets on the market, and if your not sure about how the body works or which one is correct for you they could be doing you more harm than good in the long run. The problem is that most of these diets starve the body of something or another for a shorter or greater period of time, they have too in order to get you to lose the weight fast so you think it’s a miracle cure, then when the weight goes back on you go back to what you’ve seen work, thus continuing their revenue cycle.The word itself “diet” in modern society prepares you mentally to starve yourself in some form or another, then we enter the feast and fast routine, the thing is we all have a diet! From the obese to the athlete, the only difference is, how healthy?From the first meal of the day, that should be breakfast, to the last snack at night all you need to do is eat at the right times, eat healthily and in the right proportion, if the balance is correct then the body will find stasis and the excess weight that is surplus to requirements will shed, slower maybe for some, but combine that with a little extra activity and your on a winning streak, and once it’s the norm, it’s for life!

Now over the Weeks, Months & Years I will elaborate on healthy eating a whole lot more, but the biggest tip I can give anybody is this, if it's in a packet or contains more than one ingredient, its more than likely been tampered with and maybe not so good after all!

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Thursday 01/04/2010

2010-04-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

Dumbbell Thrusters.

This exercise hits three things at once, Lower Body, Upper Body and Cardio output, the lower body is hit by performing the first stage of the exercise, the Squat, then as you come up from the squat you use a little of the kinetic energy to thrust the dumbbells up above the head into a shoulder press, its this rapid changeover that gets the heart working, first your using the large muscles of the legs to do the squat, so blood transportation down towards them, then straight up and above the head you go with the shoulder press, blood pumping that way too.

It can be made harder by increasing the load caused by the dumbbells, but don't exceed what you are capable of, and always remember your posture.

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the day Wednesday 31/03/2010

2010-03-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

T-Push-up

This is a great variation of the original classic, as before I've covered the push-up, but this style really brings in the core.

Start in the down part of the push-up position and perform a push-up as normal, however, when you get to the top rotate your body and lift one arm toward the ceiling, return to the start and repeat with the other arm.

I know these are simple at the moment, but they'll get harder!

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 30/03/2010

2010-03-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

The Burpee:

The Burpee is an intense yet fantastic exercise to perform, targeting not only strength but cardio as well, the exercise consists of a Squat, Push-up and a Vertical Jump, the more you do in a row the harder in gets!

Starting from the stood position, squat down, place your hands flat on the floor, kick both legs back so your nearly horizontal, do the push-up, spring your legs back in toward the body so you end in the bottom of the squat, then spring upwards using legs and arms to go into the Vertical Jump.

This whole process should be fluid, not jumpy between the different exercise components.

You can make this beauty harder or easier depending on your abilities, to make it easier you can perform the exercise without the push-up or the vertical jump, or both if your new to this kind of thing.

To make it harder you could do a tuck jump, so bring your knees to the chest during the vertical jump, just think how you would make each component harder and see if you can adapt it to the Burpee, take a look at the wickapedia link I've added here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burpee_(exercise)

Enjoy

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 29/03/2010

2010-03-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

This weeks workout can be a bit of a toughie, however I will write up alternatives for those exercises which are difficult.

As normal make sure you warm up suitably, 5 - 7 minutes making sure all muscle groups are warm and ready.

Main Set:

10 x Dead-lifts

10 x Push-ups

10 x Chins (or 20 x Body Rows)

10 x Dips (or 15 x Bench Dips)

10 x crunches

Do as many rounds as you can within 20 minutes.

Cool-down and stretch, the overall time to complete this session including warm-up and cool-down shouldn't take much longer than 30 minutes.

Try to do this session 3 times this week and see how you get on?

Chris Nash

Personal Trainer

PT Fitness

Friday's Nutrition Tip 26/03/2010

2010-03-26T03:14:00.000-07:00

Water.

I know that most of us know what we should do, but still I find that most of us don’t do it, what you ask am I on about? Drinking water!

Here are the facts, and maybe some you don’t know.

Drink between 2 – 2.5L per day.
The body is between 55 – 75% water.
Water is the base fluid of blood, which in turn transports nutrients around the body, and takes away waste.
It’s vital for the body’s temperature control.
Without it you will struggle to be rid of unwanted body fat.
And, if you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated!

The chart to the side is an indicator, if your urine is one of the colours between 1 – 3 your ok! But if its between 4 – 8, your dehydrated!

When exercising remember to drink before (250-ml half an hour before), During, (125-ml every 15 minutes of exercise), and after (250-ml within half an hour of cessation) this aids the body to function at its optimum, and finally, if your in a hot country on holiday or training, more water!

Exercise of the Day Thursday 25/03/2010

2010-03-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

Sit-Ups

Todays exercise is the bog standard sit-up, the most basic of all the core exercises.

Lie flat on the ground, (use a mat to protect the coccyx) knees bent with your feet flat on the floor, hands behind head or at temples, raise the torso upwards rounding your shoulders at the top of the movement, exhale with the exertion and return to the start position, but to make it that little more challenging don't touch the ground.

Getting a partner to hold your feet makes it easier, as does bringing your hands forward.

Holding your hands above your head and keeping them there throughout the movement makes it harder.

This exercise works mainly the rectus abdominis, but also hits the obliques and hip flexors.

Exercise of the Day Wednesday 24/03/2010

2010-03-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

Push-Ups

Now I shouldn't have to attach an image of this time old classic, but there are lots of variations of the exercise, I'll go through a few of those towards the end.

In my opinion, this exercise isn't used half as much as it should be in peoples routines, especially by those who go to gyms and spend most of their workout on machines, although the main target areas of this chestnut is the chest and triceps, the engagement of the core is essential to maintain good form, then there's the mental side to it, it's an amazing feeling to be able to perform this exercise perfectly, doing it well and increasing the amount you can do leaves you satisfied and confident.

Variations:

Knees on the floor (half push-up)

Feet Higher (this isolates the clavicular head of the pec's)

Chest Higher (this isolates the lower part of the pec's)

Hands Wider (brings it more out to the lateral part of the pec's)

Hands Closer (brings it closer to the center of the sternum)

Using Suspension Rings (destabilizes every plain, very hard, really works the core)

Exercise of the Day Tuesday 23/03/2010

2010-03-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

Dead-Lifts

Todays exercise is the ever faithful dead lift, this exercise is great in so many ways, it works more than just the legs, can be adapted to fit in with pretty much any workout program, and is the basis of a lot of our daily life, such as getting in and out of chairs, picking up shopping/kids etc.

Muscles used:
As this exercise uses lots of muscles I'll just refer to areas rather than naming them all, Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Rectus Abdominis, Traps and upper back, Lats, muscles of the wrist.

Instructions:
Select weight for exercise, load bar accordingly. Stand facing bar, legs slightly apart, engage the abdominal muscles and grasp the bar hands a little wider the shoulder width apart. From the squatted position stand, keeping your back straight with your head looking forward, run the bar up inline with the shins until you reach the knees then straighten the torso and legs, exhale with exertion, do the opposite to return the bar to the floor.

EFX available through PT Fitness

2010-03-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Our intention with this blog is not to do to much on the sales front, but I really want to chat quickly about the EFX wrist bands, now as far as products go we don't sell a huge amount, but when I was introduced to this I couldn't help but feel the need to make this available to all our clients. This is what EFX have to say.

"EFX is an embedded wearable technology designed to maximize performance and overall well-being by increasing balance, strength, and flexibility. EFX's technology consists of frequencies that are highly compatible with both humans and animals on a cellular level. Because it works instantly when in close proximity with the body's bio-electric field, real time functional performance gains can often be demonstrated.

Like acupuncture, acupressure or deep therapeutic massage, we believe that placing EFX energetic dots near specific energy centres or chakras, may promote or enhance the energy flow along the main meridian channels.

Many are able to experience the effects simply by holding a product embedded with EFX technology. Simple kinesiological muscle testing may be used to determine the effects on balance, strength, flexibility and range of motion.

Simply put, EFX is designed to resonate with and tune your body's naturally occurring bio-electric frequencies, impacting function and performance. When your body is in harmony, muscles relax, blood flow increases, and relaxation replaces tension."

Now I have to be the first to admit I'm a bit of a sceptic, it took me 4 months of trialing different vibration training machines until we opted to purchase the Power Plate, so with this small rubber band I was very cynical, but until you have one, or see it in use it's had to understand, but the real proof for me was actually demonstrating its effects on somebody else, now I think of myself as pretty fit with a good amount of strength, I was blown away by what people could do when in contact with the EFX band, staggering, so, if you would like to know more, or would just like to see for yourself, get in touch, or if you have a story to tell about the EFX wrist band post a comment!

Chris Nash, Personal Trainer
PT Fitness

Weekly Workout Monday 22/03/2010

2010-03-22T04:56:00.000-07:00

Hi all, so here it is, the first Monday work out!

Warm up suitably for 5 minutes, (step-ups, skipping, jog on spot etc.)

10 x Dead-lift (bar-bell weighted at 1/3 body weight)
10 x Push-ups
10 x Sumo Squat with dumbbell upright row (dumbbell 1/5 body weight)
10 x Squats with shoulder thrusters (dumbbell 1/8 body weight)
10 x crunches

Go straight from one exercise to the other until the circuit is complete, rest for 1 minute then repeat, do as many circuits as you can perform in 20 minutes.

Cool down for 5-7 minutes and stretch.

All PT Fitness clients should know what all these exercises are, but for those of you that don't know for now I can only suggest searching the exercise on Google or youtube, until this individual has sussed out how to upload video to this blog! good luck with your session, let us know how you get on!

Chris Nash, PT Fitness

Welcome to the PT Fitness blog

2010-03-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Hi to you all, I'm Chris Nash, the head trainer and partner at PT Fitness.
We have decided to create this blog to run alongside our website so we give more input and advice to all our clients, then we thought why not make it public so everybody could view what it is we do, and get involved in there own way.
So Here it is, now I will admit right now that I'm not an old hat at this blogging stuff, so this will be a bit of a learning curve for me, so please be patient while I figure it all out!!
please join in and follow this site, you never know what you may become a part of?

Thanks

Chris Nash