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Thursday, 17th November

So we have talked about how to feed your body to maximise muscle gains for the young rugby player, we have talked about how to employ the most successful training strategies from beginner to a more developed athlete.

We talked about why we do all of these things.

Then it comes to a big factor that we haven’t mentioned yet-WATER.

Most people don’t realise that water is far more important than food.

For example, you can usually last 5-8 days before you die without water.

You can lost without food for approximately 7-8 weeks as hunger strikers have proven, with often fatal results.

Another huge fact for you is that if you DON’T drink enough water throughout the day, your performance is likely to be down 33% or even as low as 40%!!

Not only your training and game day performance but your concentration too. They have done numerous studies on schoolkids when they supplied one lots of kids in a school environment water for 3 months and im talking regularly every day. The most startling part was that their educational tests result success went up an incredible 100%, and their concentration levels were proven to be 40% up!!!

So the bottom line is that you eat well all day, you can sleep well and you can train hard, but if you’re NOT drinking enough water, your performance levels and ultimately your results are likely to be down between 33% and 40%, which is an incredible figure.

If you drink water regularly too, you will burn off more body fat than if you don’t, this has been scientifically proven too.

So if you are looking to become a better athlete, as well as a better student, water should be a big part of your every day life!!

Twitt
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Monday, 14th November

Some more grim news on the health front for wales and the UK today.

Never has there been so many diseases been brought on by poor diets in the country.

It seems as if there has been an even further deterioration in the nation’s health, and lots of different factors have been blamed.

From lack of money, more people in the poverty trap than ever, more people eating fast food than ever, more people not exercising, a lack of activities and sport in schools, a lack of activities in the community and a poor participation rate in just about anything linked to moving around and being active.

It seems as if all the government initiativeshave mostly failed despite the high visibility, and “ticking all the right boxes” or so they claim.

Personal responsibility takes a big part too, you cannot make someone exercise if they clearly do not want to.

You cannot make someone eat well and healthy if they do now want  to on their supermarket shops.

What we CAN do is offer every opportunity to those who want the chance to be fit and healthy, and therefore be far more likely to  AVOID serious disease and early death in some cases.

There should be more incentives to those at work to exercise and eat well, its getting bigger in america but still not so big here although i am developing a couple of organsiations as i speak.

There should be far more visibility to those sections in supermarket that are healthier than others.

There should be tax relief to those organisation such as gyms, fitness centres, fitness providers to contribute as much as possible to those who think they cant afford the gym.

There should be even more educational programmes starting earlier in schools, and more money put into school canteens so they can offer healthy options, instead of the rubbish they offer now.

They should offer cookery courses to parents, all parents not only the ones that are obviously struggling, we are all learning and it wouldnt hurt to learn more.

There are endless things we can do, we are not short of options, all we need is the government to work with all of us who know whats really going on!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 10th November

To follow on as promised from yesterday, its time to talk about what happens after the first 4-6 weeks.

The first month or so is seen as your perfect opportunity to get used to the various exercises, get used to weight training in general, and get your ligaments and tends to a much greater force than normal, and this DOES take time.

Okay, assuming you get through this period with no problem and you have mastered proper technique, its time to move on to newer more challenging exercises.

Rugby is a tough game, but if you train in the right way, you can make the game a whole lot easier and set yourself up for future success and hopefully avoid injury to a better degree.

So the first week after week 6, assuming you are doing 3 sets per exercise, I would change your programme to the following.

Bench press-still in there as a great power movement

Chins-this is a new one for you, it’s the one where there a bar usually hanging high on the wall or even better from the ceiling. You usually have to jump up on a bench to get to it if you’re not that tall, and all you do is hang on it, and then pull yourself up.

This is a tremendously hard exercise so I would start off doing half movements if you find the full movement too hard. Persevere and you will get better, it may well take 6 months to get to 10 full reps.

Next is one arm dumbbell rowing, look for a demonstration of this on a google search again and is a great back builder, which will be of enormous help if you are mauling in rugby or simply fighting for the ball. Do 3 sets of 8 with a dumbbell that tests you-great exercise!

Then on to legs with squats or leg press. Two great choices there, do which ever suits. I would also put in a leg extension and its important not to lock out on this exercise, and will develop the muscles above the knee very well.

Leg curls are an underrated exercise too. Anyone who has ever pulled their hamstring will wish they would have done this one. A great hamstring developer and important to keep the balance of leg training so everything get worked.

You can add calf raises to the list too, another neglected exercise for the calf of course.

Upright rows is a great mass builder for your shoulders, and will add some serious strength. Shoulder presses can be good especially seated in your younger years, but as you get into your 30’s, try to avoid them as lots of people run into overhead movements with their shoulders as time marches on, so I would pick upright rows.

Bench dips or arm dips are great for triceps as discussed yesterday but I would move on to parallel bars dips from now on. This is much harder exercise than arm dips and when done with a wider grip, will also work your chest, shoulders, arms and back indirectly. Dips is one you ought to get used to and fast, its one of my key exercises but like chins, will take you a while to get used to depending on your current bodyweight.

Then to finish you have dumbbell curls, you arms can still take some work by this stage and strong arms are vital for all sorts of reasons in rugby, and in life in general.

So these are examples of very good weight training exercises after week 6 and these will form the foundation of your training for the next few months.

They will constantly challenge you and push you on to new levels of development and progress.

Please email me on fitness@kerimckibbin.co.uk for further info. Keep it simple and don’t over-complicate.

Even more tomorrow!!

Twitt
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Monday, 7th November

The very cold weather has finally arrived and its a big wake up call to your body today!

The first reaction is to stay indoors as much as possible and do your best to “hibernate” until april!!! Just like many animals do in the wild!

Then we have to get real and go about our daily lives the best we can.

So now we have got over the fact that we are not going to curl and freeze for the winter, its time to set out a plan!!

Most of you won’t be on salads for the winter, and you may be already switching to hotter, more filling foods already.

The great news is that you can easily stay fit and healthy in the winter and all of this cold weather is no excuse to go into your shell, or “pig out” on fatty and sugary food!

Take soups for example. Are you the type to make your own version of soup full of natural ingredients or the type to rely on tins of soup? The difference can be startling!

For one, the soup you make naturally has the opportunity to be full of vegetables and a good nourishing meat if you fancy meat.

The soup in a tin is absolutely loaded with salt and usually sugar which is seriously bad news for your health. Salt and excess salt is the best way to develop problems with blood pressure and water retention, so if you want to feel horrid and bloated, go ahead and stick to the tins!!!!

If you’re into feeling and looking healthy, then this winter you STILL need to make fresh natural food your absolute priority!!! Without eating well, you won’t get anywhere near your goals in health terms so its important right now NOT to fall into the trap of tinned toup and other high salt and sigar products. There are lots of winter vegetables you can use to make soups and broths that will nourish your body in a first class way!!

The ideal time to commit yourself to a whole winter of healthy eating is today so lets give it your best!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 4th November

Massive changes in your body will happen if you are training in a proper manner.

For instance, i was doing a one off session with someone yesterday and this person claimed she always did fit ball/swiss ball group classes and was also a regular a pilates classes.

Since a lot of my sessions are now focused on balance and stability work, i was ready for this person’s valuable input on my session.

The result was the exact opposite of the one i expected.

Out of 20 exercises i did on the fit ball, she had only done one of them before, i was stunned.

On the pilates moves i usually do, she had never done one of them.

Guess what too? She still had a bad back despite her appearance at all of these “group classes”!!!

I asked how she found all the new exercises i had given her, and she said she felt relieved because her back was so much looser and the exercises i had given her she felt would quickly strengthen her back. This was good for me to know too, as you are looking for good feedback on the work you do, and getting the right exercise prescription is always important.

It shows that if you do the right exercises, then not only do you get substantially better results, but you spend less time exercising too because you will be getting the job done a lot quicker!

It is like seeing someone who only does treadmill work every session, every week, every month for years. They may appear quite lean, but you know they are missing out on so many elements of health and fitness. For example, they are not doing a lot of muscle toning, bone strengthening, muscular endurance etc etc.

They will need resistance training in their lives if they are to reach their true potential. Sometimes we don’t like leaving out self-enforced comfort zones, but we must do it to reach our true ambitions.

Twitt