I am going to share with you here, a number of observed ways to gauge an individual’s fitness.

Listed below are just some of the main areas that require developing, balancing & maintaining to consider an individual ‘Fit’;

Posture – The true definition is ‘ The position of the body before and after movement.’ How this can be explained is that the body has an optimum standing position of stationary, in this optimum position, the muscles are doing very little to stay upright, this would be correct posture. If you were to drop a shopulder forward, or allow your weight to go to one side, hunch your back or tilt your head, this would be incorrect posture and the muscles will be working more than they should to hold you in that position, if your normal posture involves any incorrect position, you will require a combination of Flexibility and strengthening work to correct.

Flexibility – The optimum amount of muscle movement within every joint

Muscle Endurance – The ability to carry out basic tasks/exercises for an amount of time

Muscle Strength – The required amount of strength ot carry out an individual task without harm to the muscle or other soft tissues

Body Composition – The optimum healthy amount of body-fat for your body taking into consideration any specific sporting requirement or level

Cardiovascular Ability (VO2) – The ability for your heart and lungs to work together and deliver oxygenated blood to your muscles and organs, and remove carbondioxide

Mental Balance – A certain emotional levelness

Balance/Equilibrium – Being stable standing on one leg, or feeling in control standing on a moving object

Motor Skills – The ability to react physically to environmental change, i.e. can you bring your arm up quick enough to stop a ball hitting your face, or, can you jump out of the way of a dog running at your legs

In addition to the above we must also have the ability to;

Run – With ease and for a certain amount of time at a certain pace

Jump – Standing jump up, as well as distance

Push – Using chest, shoulder and arm muscles

Pull – Using back and arm muscles

Bend – Sideways forward and back, standing and sitting without risk or discomfort to your back

Twist – Evenly to each side, standing and sitting without risk or discomfort to your back

Lift – Using legs as main strength, and holding a weight with arms

Squat – Evenly, with feet pointing in the same direction as the knees, at least to thigh being horizontal, and keeping your nose behind your toes

Lunge – Confidently, keeping torso uprigh and with feet pointing in the same direction as the knees, at least to thigh being horizontal

The hierarchy of priority for the average individual is, Posture & Flexibility

A lot of people choose to run to get fit, most are not fit enough to run, and running may only address 3 of the above areas.

All of the above must be in balance, otherwise you would not be classed as fit.

If you are a participant in a specific competitive sport, then you would need to adhere to the above, ‘plus’ the specific requirements for that sport.

Now, Do you consider yourself ‘fit’?

Your training should address the weakest areas of the above list 1st! !

Working with Fit for You, we assess all of the above areas, and program your training accordingly

Author – Phil Cordell is an ex-serviceman, now a professional personal trainer to find out how he can help you with finding out what areas you need to prioritise, feel free to contact us

Just because someone is a size 10, weighs 7st, or did a marathon 5 years ago, doesn’t mean that they are ‘fit’.
I am going to share with you here, a number of observed ways to gauge an individual’s fitness.

Listed below are just some of the main areas that our fitness studio will assess and you may require developing, balancing & maintaining to be considered ‘Fit’;

Posture – The true definition is ‘ The position of the body before and after movement.’ How this can be explained is that the body has an optimum standing position of stationary, in this optimum position, the muscles are doing very little to stay upright, this would be correct posture. If you were to drop a shopulder forward, or allow your weight to go to one side, hunch your back or tilt your head, this would be incorrect posture and the muscles will be working more than they should to hold you in that position, if your normal posture involves any incorrect position, you will require a combination of Flexibility and strengthening work to correct.
Flexibility – The optimum amount of muscle movement within every joint
Muscle Endurance – The ability to carry out basic tasks/exercises for an amount of time
Muscle Strength – The required amount of strength ot carry out an individual task without harm to the muscle or other soft tissues
Body Composition – The optimum healthy amount of body-fat for your body taking into consideration any specific sporting requirement or level
Cardiovascular Ability (VO2) – The ability for your heart and lungs to work together and deliver oxygenated blood to your muscles and organs, and remove carbondioxide
Mental Balance – A certain emotional levelness
Balance/Equilibrium – Being stable standing on one leg, or feeling in control standing on a moving object
Motor Skills – The ability to react physically to environmental change, i.e. can you bring your arm up quick enough to stop a ball hitting your face, or, can you jump out of the way of a dog running at your legs

In addition to the above we must also have the ability to;

Run – With ease and for a certain amount of time at a certain pace
Jump – Standing jump up, as well as distance
Push – Using chest, shoulder and arm muscles
Pull – Using back and arm muscles
Bend – Sideways forward and back, standing and sitting without risk or discomfort to your back
Twist – Evenly to each side, standing and sitting without risk or discomfort to your back
Lift – Using legs as main strength, and holding a weight with arms
Squat – Evenly, with feet pointing in the same direction as the knees, at least to thigh being horizontal, and keeping your nose behind your toes
Lunge – Confidently, keeping torso uprigh and with feet pointing in the same direction as the knees, at least to thigh being horizontal

The hierarchy of priority for the average individual is, Posture & Flexibility

A lot of people choose to run to get fit, most are not fit enough to run, and running may only address 3 of the above areas.

All of the above must be in balance, otherwise you would not be classed as fit.

If you are a participant in a specific competitive sport, then you would need to adhere to the above, ‘plus’ the specific requirements for that sport.

Now, Do you consider yourself ‘fit’?

Your training should address the weakest areas of the above list 1st! !

Working at the Fit for You Fitness Studio, we assess all of the above areas, and design your workout program accordingly

Author – Phil Cordell is an ex-serviceman, now a professional personal trainer to find out how he can help you with finding out what areas you need to prioritise contact us

Sleep is the most under rated element in achieving optimal body composition. Just four days of disrupted sleep will your morning blood glucose dramatically. Of course, extended over time, that leads to insulin resistance, high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, inflammation, etc…

Regardless of who the client is, I always ask them to tell me about their sleep. You cannot get lean or gain significant amounts of muscle mass and strength if you don’t sleep.

Here are three tips that will help you achieve that growth and repair sleep.

Tip 1: Evening Static Stretching

Static stretching done in the evening is an excellent way to bring down an overly excited nervous system. Plus, it has been shown to accelerate strength gains. At the present level of knowledge, gains in static flexibility levels are directly proportional to the length of time under which the muscles have been stretched. It appears that multiple of 15 seconds stretches, interspersed with brief returns to the starting position work best.

Tip 2: Get rid of sources of dirty electricity

Turn off and unplug all electrical appliances in your bedroom. Turn off the WiFi unit in your residence. So called “dirty electricity” has been shown not only to disrupt sleep but also to accelerate the development of insulin resistance. Another reason why fat people should stay off electrical treadmills which are a source of dirty electricity.

Tip 3: Use a the right botanicals & nutraceuticals

I have found that one the best ways to induce relaxation, and take away anxiety in to combine 1-2 capsules of Sweet Dreams 1.0 with 2-3 capsules of lysine. Start with the lower dosage, and move on to the greater dosage only if you don’t see expected results. More is not better in this case, as too much theanine can create the opposite of what you want.

Rest and progress,

Best,
Charles Poliquin

Fit for You response

Many of my clients experience lack of results from their exercise and dietary advice, overlooking the effects of poor sleep, thinking they are getting a good nights sleep, just because they can’t remember it, is not enough.

Some of the areas I ask them to look at are;

Stimulants before bedtime, sugar caffiene, TV, computer are detrimental to a good nights sleep as they stimulate the brain rather letting it calm down. An excellent alternative to watching TV or using the computer is to read, this can help avoid depression also.

Temperature of the room they sleep in, it should be cool, many are in a room too hot, this too upsets the quality of sleep, and the circadian rhythms required for full physical and mental recovery.

Lights, including digital displays should be off or at the very least covered

No computers, televisions, mobile phones to in the vicinity, and certainly not switched on or on standby, again the brain picks these up and unsettles the natural sleep patterns.

The room needs complete darkness, investing in a ‘blackout’ style curtain or blind is a good idea

These, in addition to Charles Poliquin’, are just some suggestions to help get a great nights sleep that allows full physical and mental recovery, avoids adrenal fatigue, and should allow you to wake in the morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day.

Phil Cordell

Repeated 3 x

plus;
6 x 40k Good Mornings
6 x 60k Romanian Deadlift
6 x Swiss Ball, reverse Back Extensions

Repeated 3 x

Hams and low back fried!!!!

If you are wanting your legs to not only look great, but look balanced,then you have to pay attention to your hamstrings.

A lot of people concentrate too much on their quads, squatting, lunging, leg press etc this can lead to an imbalance of not only shape, but size and performance. If the quads are too developed an unequal pressure can be created at the knee, causing more wear on the cartilidge and or surrounding ligaments.

To get the legs balanced it’s a good thing to consider the ratio of strength between thigh and hamstring, the hamstring should be capable of 80% appx strength of the thigh. (i.e. If the thighs can handle 100k squat for 10, the hamstring should handle 80k for 10)

With the above taken in to consideration, and the exercise performed strictly, it is beneficial to pay attention to the tempo of the repetition. The firsty 3 exercises  (hamstring curls) performed above were using a tempo of 4sec’s for the negative (ecentric) and an explosive positive (concentric) movement. The next 3 exercises were performed using a tempo of 4 sec’s for the negative (ecentric) and 2 sec’s positive (concentric) movement.

The weight here is light, as we intend to build up the session intensity over a period of 6 weeks, and wanted to get the exercise correct, as the curls are unusual in performance, the deadlifts are potentially risky and work as pre-exhausters before the reverse back-extensions.

If you get weak quickly, or you want to make more of your session, you may benefit from stretching your hip flexors (psoas) as they may tighten during this routine, thereby reducing the dynamic power of the glutes and hams.

The most effective Personal Trainers in the North East. Filmed on location between Sept & Nov 2009 at some North East venues and at our studio.

Crunches – Obliques Static-Dynamic

Firstly anchor your feet (use radiator/settee) lie with your hip on a swiss ball, keep your spine in neutral, holding your arms straight by sides, behind head, or arms extended. Keep stomach contracted.

Ab blast, a video showing Hanging Knees to chest abdominal exercise.
Just one video of many that Fit for You have put together to teach you the correct way to train ab’s and get a toned stomach

Using a chin bar, hang with arms slightly flexed, breathe out as you contract stomach muscles bringing knees to elbows.

You can use a slight pushnoff the floor if you are just beginning, and once you’ve mastered the exercise without pushing off the floor, to make the exercise more challenging, you can simply slow the pace of negative action (lowering the legs) or harder still, slow the positive movement.

A video showing the Jack-Knives abdominal exercise, a great stomach flattener.

Just one video of many that Fit for You have put together to teach you the correct way to train ab’s and get a toned stomach

Using a Swiss Ball, place shins on ball & hands on floor in press-up position, keep a natural curve in low back.

Exhale as you contract your abdominals, keeping legs straight, draw legs towards chest, ending with your hips over your head and toes on the ball.

The difficulty can be increased by making the ball smaller, having just one leg on the ball the other suspended, and/or slowing the rep’

An excellent abdominal conditioner, better done as a skill exercise and under control.

An abs workout video showing the Forward Ball Roll abdominal exercise.

Just one video of many that Fit for You have put together to teach you the correct way to train ab’s and get a toned stomach

Start by kneeling, forearms on Swiss-ball, 90 degree angle at hips & shoulders, exhale & pull stomach in, open hip & shoulder angle . Go forward for 3sec’s, opening the angle at the shoulder and the hips evenly keeping the lumbar curve, hold 3sec’s and move back 3sec’s.

A video showing Hanging Knees to chest abdominal exercise.
Just one video of many that Fit for You have put together to teach you the correct way to train ab’s and get a toned stomach

Lie face up, knees slightly flexed, breathe out as you contract your abs raising body at the same time, keep arms vertical throughout the movement, ending with your head between shoulders at the top of the movement.
This exercise will make a great demand on your abdominal muscles as you progress with the weight, you can also use this in a circuit routine.
Look out for our circuits and general exercise routines

Note : If you experience any pain or discomfort in your back or groin, please stop and contact us or your local professional trainer