Super-Sets

When planned properly super-sets provide a great full body workout whilst at the same time reducing your overall workout time. A super-set achieved by performing two exercises back to back with limited or no rest in between.  Any exercises can be chosen and put in any order but choices should reflect your goals.

Example 1.

Squats

Dumbbell Chest Press

Performing upper body V.s lower body super-sets is a great way to test all aspects of your fitness. Depending on amount of sets and repetitions you perform you can expect to see improvements in your muscular strength, muscular endurance and aerobic fitness. By switching between upper and lower body you also allow each set of muscles a rest period, whilst the other set is working, which should allow the intensity of both exercises to be keep high.

Example 2.

Chin Ups

Dumbbell Bicep Curls

Performing super-sets with two exercises which target similar muscle groups can be very demanding. Depending on amount of sets and repetitions you perform you can expect to see improvements in your muscular strength, muscular endurance and aerobic fitness. Specifically you will test your body’s ability to buffer/tolerate and clear lactic acid. This type of training will provide a large amount of overload and can be a great way to introduce some variety into your weight routine when training for hypertrophy (muscular development). You will need to rest after completing both exercises before starting subsequent sets.

Example 2.

Lunges

Shuttle Runs

Not all supersets need to be performed with resistance/weight based exercises. Performing super-sets with just your body weight and an aerobic exercise like moderate pace shuttle runs can be a great way to develop your local muscular endurance and aerobic fitness. This type of workout can also be taken anywhere providing you’ve got a bit of space to move about. So when the sun finally comes out you can have fast fun flexible workouts wherever you want, on the odd occasions you can’t make it to the gym.

For more help/motivation with working out your super-set workout please speak to or email Daniel Byrne: djb@tonridge-school.org Tonbridge School Centre Personal Trainer

Reducing my body-fat with diet alone

In March, some of you may have seen that we were offering free body fat tests. This was an ideal time for me to review the damage i had caused during the winter months and give myself a few months to see if I could get this down. I got my body fat re-tested today and it had dropped 4% which I was very pleased with. I have managed to drop this purely through my eating habits. I have only done weight training (which I did previously anyway) and no additional cardiovascular work. Since giving up football, I don't do dedicated cardio sessions, although some of my weight training workouts are similar to circuit training which will get the heart rate up. So to drop a significant amount of bodyfat through diet alone, is encouraging for people who find exercise sessions difficult to fit in.

Here is what I did:

• Reduced my carbs to pre and post workouts only. This gave me some energy for the session. This allowed me to stay reasonably strong in the gym. Having carbs post workout is great because your body will use them to repair and recooperate. So the only carbs I had were used immediately for, or just after the workout.
• Only ate brown rice and sweet potatos as my carb sources. Both are less starchy and more fibrous.
• Increased lean protein. I switched from fattier cuts of meat i.e. beef, to chicken and fish. Another way of eating lean protein was removing the egg yolks for scrambled eggs. I would have have 1-2 whole eggs and 3 extra whites.
• I cut out bread and pasta. This includes gluten which can bloat you.
• I cut out nearly all dairy. I had milk with porridge, but tried to switch this to goats milk as my body doesn't agree with cows milk. I had natural yoghurt with some meals. This helped me digest certain meals slightly better.
• I upped my green veg intake. I ate raw spinach, mangetout, broccoli and green beans on a daily basis.
• I cut down on sugary fruits i.e. bananas and dried fruits. I ate fruits with a lower Glycaemic Index (Apples, pears, berries).
• Drank plenty of Water
• No alcohol
• No processed foods i.e. sweets, chocolate, cakes
• Had either one 'off day' or 'off meal' a week. This would mean I could eat what I want. Generally something carby. Something that would mean I could refuel for my workouts. This would be at the weekend, so it means you can live a little and it means you don't go completely insane from being strict during the week! Psychologically, this allowed me to adhere to the programme much better. In a book I have just read called '4-hour body', the author wrote down any cravings he had during the week and promised himself he would eat them all during his off day! When that day came he didn't get round to eating them all but kept him on course in the week!
• I ate every 2-3 hours. These were small mini-meals to boost my metebolism and to stop me from feeling too hungry.

Here is a typical day:

7am = 2 whole egg and 3 egg white omellete with salad
10am = chicken breast and apple
12pm = Fish and vegetables
2.30pm = Fish and Berries
5pm = lean meat, veggies, small carbs (sweet potato)
Workout
7.30pm = Lean protein, small carbs (sweet potato)
9pm = protein shake and fruit

I tried to follow this as well as I could but sometimes things didn't go to plan. The key is consistency. There is a lot of protein in the above. This agrees with me. For some of you this may not work. For many others I have worked with, this has helped them drop fat dramatically.

For more tips on fatloss, email me on orm@tonbridge -school.org

80:20 rule

A lot of people are all or nothing when approaching exercise and nutrition. However, consistency is the key. The saying "We are what we do consistently", couldn't be further from the truth in the training environment. When we train, our body makes tiny adaptions to the stimulus, if the stimulus is regular. Building muscle is a prime example. Micro-tears in the muscle will occur after doing resistance training. These repair and re-grow slightly stronger/larger.

If you want results, a gradual approach is often the winning way. If you train 5 days one week, 1 the next, then 4 days, then no sessions for 3 weeks, etc, it is difficult for your body to adapt, recooperate and move forwards. Training once or twice a week, consistently over time, will more than likely produce visual results.

Nutrition is very similar. Living like a saint one week and then eating takeaway every night the next is not a good way to go. I live by the 80:20 rule. Doing things well with my food 80% of the time and relaxing for the final 20%. Preparing good meals during the week and healthy snacks. I love using the routine of work to fall into a healthy eating pattern. Knowing where you are and at what time you can eat, means you can plan ahead. If you have a meal on the road at the weekend or a bithday celebration, etc, then this won't affect your progress because you have had a good week. We are what we eat. If you want to be lean, eat lean. Fish, good cuts of meat, salad, veggies, fruit, nuts.

Routine scares some people but in this game it really works. Get into the HABIT on a regular basis and you will see the changes!

Repetition Guidelines

In any resistance based training routine there are many factors which need to be considered when designing your own specific program. The first most important step is recognising / deciding what outcome / progression you would like to achieve from the implementation of a set program.

Are you looking to improve your strength to perform better in a particular sport or athletic event?

Are you hoping to increase the amount of lean tissue your body is comprised of (hypertrophy); helping you to lose weight?

Do you want to work on your muscular endurance before attempting to complete for a longer duration event?

Only when you know what you want to achieve can you begin to set your repetition ranges and design an effect routine… So ask yourself what do you want to improve?

 Repetition ranges have been studied closely for a long time and we now have a good understanding of how an individual’s performance will be affected following different periodised exercise programs. This has led to average reps, sets, weight as % 1RM (Repetition Max), recovery time and contraction velocity (speed of contraction) guidelines being established.

Goal	Strength	Power	Hypertrophy	Local Muscular Endurance
Repetition Range (reps)	1-5	1-5	6-12	15+
Sets	2-6	2-6	3-6	2-3
Weight (%1RM)	85	60	67-85	<67
Recovery Time (seconds)	180	120	60-90	30-45
Contraction Velocity (concentric seconds/eccentric seconds)	2 - 2	1 - 2	2 to 5 - 2 to 5	1 to 2 – 1 to 2

* All recommendations should be viewed in context of individual´s target goals, physical capacity, and training status (beginner/intermediate/advanced).

From experience I can also say not everybody will fall directly into these categories so use the ranges as guidelines and find what works best for you. You will also get “crossing-over” and when training directly for strength you will inevitably experience changes in hypertrophy and muscular endurance performance as well so don’t worry if you are aiming to improve in more than one area.

For more help or advice in program design or to find out what area (strength/power/hypertrophy/local-muscular-endurance) you should be working in to improve your performance/ goal progress please contact a member of the gym team or email djb@tonbridge-school.org .

Free Body Fat Testing

Coming soon

Have your body fat checked anytime in June for free!

·         Get specific and see if all your hard work in the gym is paying off

·         Assess your progression since our last event in March

·         Evaluate any weight-loss/weight-gain

·        Start to prepare for Summer

With a good diet and regular training you should see noticeable improvements in BF% over a 2-3 month period. Assessments limited to one per person, subject to gym teams availability, booking always required. For more information, booking and full terms and conditions please speak to a member of the gym team or email djb@tonbridge-school.org

Spring cleaning my diet

After indulging at Chritmas and then helping my son work his way through his Easter eggs on a daily basis, I decided my diet needed a bit of spring cleaning. Lots of foods had crept in, that aren't particularly healthy or patricularly beneficial to my training. Some foods that have found their way in because I haven't taken the time to plan ahead. The more sweet stuff I eat, the more of a sweet tooth I get. This then leads to worse choices on a daily basis.

Below are the swaps that I have made to get back into good habits:

• Out with the White Bread and in with the Wholemeal bread / Rye bread
• Out with the sugary cereal and in with the gluten free porridge
• Out with the pasta and rice and in with the brown rice pasta and sweet potato
• Out with any processed meats and in with the preferably organic/unprocessed meat
• Out with the tea and in with the filtered water
• Out with the chocolate and biscuits and in with the seed bars and apples

One thing I have added in, is so much more green veg and I have got back into the habit of eating a couple of avocados a week. My veggies have been consisting of mainly spinach, green beans, broccoli and sugar snap peas.



I must say, my sweet tooth has almost dissapeared. One week of cutting the processed food out and the sugar addiction virtually goes. My energy feels better, my training is going well and I feel less sluggish. When you start to eat a little leaner, your body will detox the rubbish that you have been putting into your system. It's only when you eat something like this again can you taste the added sugar. It is very easy to turn your taste buds off. Bring them back to life with real, natural food and feel the energy come flooding back.

Oli.

Boot Camp

Join in with the re-launch of the TSC's extremely popular Boot Camp.

Commencing 23/01/12

Mondays 6.00-6.45pm

Wednesday 6.30-7.30pm

A fun challenging class set outdoors come sun, rain or snow. The sessions’ will involve a wide variety of exercises with all abilities catered for.

Expect a tough workout for the whole body!

For more information please contact a member of the gym team or alternativley email djb@tonbridge-school.org

Pre-Fatigue/Pre-Exhaustion Training Follow Up

After incorporating the Pre-Fatigue/Pre-Exhaustion principles of training into my own weights session it is safe to say they have definitely shaken things up for me.

Week one

Week one left me feeling more motivated in my training, as you always should following any structured change in your routine. More importantly following the change I knew I had begun working hard again feeling physically challenged after the sessions. As expected, when training for Hypertrophy (development of muscular tissue), I have felt a little stiff/sore post training and I would definitely recommend allowing yourself time for a thorough stretch after your workouts. I also found a swim and a sauna substantially helped my recovery time in week one and two although not essential.

Week two

Week two is where the training really came into its own. I found that performing the two exercise back to back (totalling between 20-25 reps) much easier and although still pushing hard in my sessions the previously experienced stiffness was minute compared with week one. I modified the training routine slightly after working through week one as some exercise I had put together didn’t work quite as well as I had hoped. Whilst following a plan and Periodization of training are important when something isn’t working a simple substitute of exercise is far more beneficial.

Moving forward

Like anyone aiming to progress in there training, no matter what the goal, structured change is key! After another minimum of four to maximum of six weeks it will be time to refresh my routine and focus on the next stage of my training. Knowing this provides a great sense of focus and direction helping motivate me in every session I have. Whenever training I know I only have a maximum of four-six session left performing my current workout and always endeavour to make each session better than the last.

For any help/advice with training please feel free to contact me at djb@tonbridge-school.org.

Dan

Try this to speed up your metabolism

One of the best ways to get lean and stay lean is to speed up your BMR (basic metabolic rate). Your BMR is the rate at which you burn calories whilst resting. If you layed in bed all day, your body would still burn calories to exist. To simply have your organs working, for breathing, for digestion etc, all of these use calories in the energy process.

However, your basic metabolic rate can be altered so that your body burns more calories on a daily basis, even if you don't exercise. Imagine if you could burn 500 extra calories a day before even getting active! That would be the equivalent of a spin class or a long run.

Here are some top tips to rev up that rate and reap the rewards:

Train with weights

The more muscle you produce, the higher your metabolsim. For every pound of muscle you put on your body, you burn an extra 50 calories a day. So if you gain 5 pounds of muscle, you can burn an extra 250 calories before you even get going! Think about it, muscle is living tissue that needs to be fed. It uses up energy to exist. One of the best things you can do is lift weights. Big compound movements are the best. Squats, deadlifts, presses, dips, chinups, etc, anything where you use more than one muscle group in an exercise.

Eat more Protein

Protein is great. Not only is it low in calories, but your body can't easily store it as fat , using it for essential tasks including muscle repair and to rebuild cells. Protein itself is very complex. It takes a lot for your body to digest it. The process of digesting protein in itself increases your metabolic rate. Protein also releases fat burning hormones!

Eat little and often

If you snack on the wrong foods, you could pile on the pounds. But trying to consume 3 mini meals and 3 snacks, instead of three large meals is proven to boost your metabolism. It is like throwing a log into a fire. The more often you throw them in, the stronger the fire burns. Try and incorporate protein with every meal and snack:

Breakfast - Eggs and rye bread
Snack - Cottage cheese and Pineapple
Lunch - Fish and salad
Snack - Low calorie protein shake or Almonds
Dinner - Chicken and roasted veg
Snack - Natural yogurt

All the above meals and snacks include protein of some form, through meat, fish, dairy or supllementation.

Do interval training

This means instead of doing long cardio sessions, you crank up the intensity by adding short, sharp bursts of effort. For example, 1 minute of gentle rowing followed by a 30 second sprint repeated 5-8 times. An interval will elevate your heart rate to a level that will in turn boost your metabolic rate. You will also get what is called oxygen debt. After your workout, your body is still working hard to get the oxygen back into the sytem after periods of anaerobic activity. Anaerobic means not using oxygen for energy. A sprint would be an example. You only have to look at a sprinter to see what great physiques they have. They never do long cardio sessions. Sprint training and weight training are the biggest part of their programmes.

Add spice to your food

This doesn't mean a takeaway every night from the local Indian restaurant! But adding spices like chilli to your meals can speed things up.

Eat Breakfast

When you sleep, the metabolism slows down. The best thing to get it going is to eat first things. Keep breakfast protein based.

Drink milk

Recent studies have shown that a deffiency in calcium can slow the metabolic rate down. Drinking milk and low fat natural yoghurt has been proven to lift this.

Oli.

Pre-Fatigue/Pre-Exhaustion Training

If you have found yourself stuck doing a the same weights routine for over six weeks I would strongly recommend trying a few weeks of pre-fatigue/pre-exhaustion training. Not only will changing your routine provide a "fresh" stimuli causing your body to keep adapting but it'll also help  keep you motivated with your training.  

Pre-fatigue/pre-exhaustion is a tough way to train really overloading the muscles so expect to feel a little sore after the first one or two workouts. The principle involves performing one isolation (single joint) exercise directly before a compound (multi joint) exercise. This results in the agonist (main muscle) of the compound movement being thoroughly worked. 

Quads (leg) example:

Exercise 1: Leg extension 15reps

Exercise 2: Leg Press 10reps

The weight is set so that you work to failure for the 10 or 15 repetitions.

 The first exercise is followed directly by the second.

A rest period is taken only after both exercises have been completed.

For more information or help with alternative training routines please contact:

 Dan Byrne at djb@tonbridge-school.org