Example five day split

Name:			Date:
Sets/Reps	Monday	W	Tuesday	W	Wednesday	W	Thursday	W	Friday	W
2 x 10-12	Lat Pull Down		DB Press		BB Squats		Standin Press		H Bicep Curls
2 x 8-10	(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		Vs (4 x 6-12)
1 x 6-8									H Tricep Ext
2 x 10-12	BB T-Bar		IDB Press		Leg Press		Pull Overs		Ez Bar Curls
2 x 8-10	(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		(Pyramid)		Vs (4 x 8-12)
1 x 6-8									L Tricep Ext
3 x 12-15	DB 1 Arm Row		C Fly		Leg Ext		UR Row		1A Preachers
3 x 12-15	C Prone Fly		Dip		Leg Curl		Lat Raises		Vs (4 x 10-12)
3 x 12-15	IDB Curls		L Tricep Ext		Calf Raises		Plate Press		Tricep Kicks
3 x 12-15	Ez-Bar Curls		Tricep Kicks		Front Squats		Burn Curls		CG Press Ups
2 x AMAP	CG Chins		CG Press Ups		Squat Jumps		Parellel  Chins		Vs
									CG Chins
Extra
Work

One example of a five day split.
Quite a long work out and completeing all excercises maybe alot for a begginer or even amateur gym user.
Set weight so each exercise is done to failure and for any help with techniques ask a member of fitness team.

Foods for muscle building

If you are well into your muscle building, you will know the importance of protein to help repair and rebuild the muscle fibers that you have broken down. However, many of you won't be including certain foods in your diet that will really help your progress:

Red Meat - Don't skimp on your steaks! Saturated fat in red meat is actually good at boosting testosterone levels, one of the big factors in muscle building. If  you are constantly breaking your body down, you will need the fats in these foods to provide quality calories to help rebuild those muscle fibers. Red meat will provide B12, Creatine and iron and provides more quality calories than white meat for all you muscle builders!

Eat the organs - Another fantastic source of high-quality muscle building calories, are the organs of animals e.g. Kidneys, Liver etc.Think of a tiger in the wild. They will eat these first, the meat second and skin third. This is where you find all the goodness.

Eggs - One of the best and most natural forms of protein. Some bodybuilders eat the whites only. This is usually when they are trying to get lean. If you wan't to put on muscle size, eat the whole egg.

Dried fruit and nut mix - Dried fruit is a great form of condensed calories. Eating 5 dried apricots is easy. Eating 5 whole apricots is more difficult. Pound for pound, raisans are one of the most dense forms of carbohydrate and provide a great amount of anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants will protect against free-radicals which are a by-product of the stress caused by exercise. Nuts are again filled with protein, good fats and carbs and are a great source of calories.

Whole milk - We give whole milk to babies to build them up. Simple.

Eat carbohydrates - These are massively important to fuel your workouts and to prevent you from breaking down muscle fibers to provide energy. If you don't eat enough of these your body will turn catabolic (break itself down) and you will start loosing muscle. Include sweet potato, white potato, rice, rice pasta, pasta, quinoa, wholewheat, etc!

NOT EATING ENOUGH! - if you aren't gaining weight and you are training hard, then you're probably not eating enough. Start incuding the above foods and the additional calories should get the ball rolling. Make sure you are resting enough between sessions and let the food do the work while you put your feet up!

For more information on eating to gain muscle, email Oli on orm@tonbridge-school.org

Try This....

You Should.....

Give it a Rest

A lot of people would like to improve themselves in some way, whether that be in terms of sporting performance, muscular hypertrophy (gaining muscular size) or losing weight. Regardless of the purpose behind your training, there are a couple of obsticles that most people will encounter.

 

Motivation is a major one. All people at some stage will struggle with their motivation somewhere along the way and overcoming this is very much down to personal fortitude and determination. This is what seperates top athletes from the also-rans and those who repeatedly set and achieve goals from those who have used a gym for years (decades even!) without ever accomplishing their desired results. Our instructors can offer all manner of advice and ideas on how to keep yourself motivated and focused but essentially the decision to stick to a plan and work hard at it on every visit is very much down to one person. You.

 

The second, and potentially more dangerous problem, is that of over-training. I say more dangerous in the respect that I've never heard of someone physically injuring themselves or, for instance, tearing a muscle through pure lack of motivation.  Over-training syndrome is a real condition and effects a great deal of gym users and athletes whether they realise it or not.  This is often a result of a lack of understanding of a rest day's usefullness within an exercise regime.

 

Rest days are a crucial element in any programe for many reasons, but most notably to prevent injury and allow sufficient time for muscles to repair and develop between sessions. The most common misconception is that a rest day represents time not being spent working towards ones given target. In fact a rest day constitutes an active and important part of achieving any goal in that it will allow time for all the hard work to be 'redeemed' whilst you rest. If you just continue to train day after day eventually you will find yourself overtrained, probably injured and actually moving further from your targets as a result.

 

The most common physical and psychological symptoms of over-training are;

 

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia (inability to sleep) 
• Headaches
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• Lowered immunity (increase in number of colds and sore throats)
• A compulsive need to exercise

 

 It's fairly obvious as to how each of these ailments do not lend themselves to a progressive training regime and this illustrates the importance of avoiding overtraining as a whole. One of the most common mistakes is one often made by those who are generally very active in their day to day lives in addition to following a specific training programme. Most of us only take into account the exercise we perform in the gym and/or in relation to the goals we have set ourselves and what people forget is that, regardless of how much we enjoy it or feel invigorated by it, exercise is just another stress factor within our daily lives. Stress is accumulative in nature and can be contributed to by a number of different factors, both physical and psychological. Take the list of symptoms above for example, they can all be re-caterogised as symptoms related to excessive stress as well as those of over-training and this is why it can be neccesary to adjust or adapt your training workload at times of increased stress in order to redress the balance between training enough to progress and doing too much.

 

The same can be said of fatigue. If you regularly fail to sleep adequately then it can have a detrimental affect on your body's ability to both train and recover. This is partly due to slight hormonal changes, including elevated cortisol (related to stress), decreased activity of the Human Growth Hormone (HGH-responsible for muscle regeneration) and decreased glycogen synthesis resulting in lowered energy levels.

There are many ways in which you can utilise a rest day to aid your progress and allow your body the time it needs to recover, here are just a few;

Stretching
Stretching is always a good choice because this will actively help you to recover by making the muscles more pliable and increasing the blood supply to them as they repair and re-build themselves. It will also, over time, help to increase flexibility and improve the biomechanics and muscle recruitment you can utilise whilst training in future. An easy way to start to improve your suppleness is to take part in a Yoga or Mobility Class on your rest days in order to learn to relax and de-stress whilst still contributing to you objectives.

Swimming/ Pool Recovery
Swimming is an excellent past time during rest periods largely because of the lack of impact involved. Your body is supported by the water throughout and this provides both buoyancy and a degree of gentle resistance to again help increase blood flow to those repairing muscles. Obviously swimming lengths is only a good solution if you are fortunate enough to find swimming both relaxing and comfortable - If you are not a strong swimmer then 20 lengths probably isn't your idea of a rest! Instead you can simply use the pool to perform some simple mobility exercises such as shoulder circles or leg kicks holding onto the pool wall in order to get the same benefits without risking your life.....

OR...if you really can't bare to be away from us.....

Reduce your worload
If you simply have to use the gym then it is wise to reduce you weights and concentrate on your form for a week every couple of Months (or more regularly if you prefer) in order to reduce the work your muscles are having to recover from. This slight reduction in workload can be enough to get you through but there really is nothing better than a good day off.....

Oli's weekly training diary.

Most of the members in the gym are used to the TSC fitness team working them hard in classes or on a one-to-one level. This month, you will have the opportunity to see how they train and who inflicts a bit of physical pain on them!

Here is my training plan for this week, commencing Monday the 1st of May:

Monday - Upper body strength training:

1. a. Bench Press 6 sets of 3 reps
    b. Weighted wide grip Pullups 6 sets of 3 reps

2. a. Narrow grip Bench press 3 sets of 8 reps
    b. Narrow grip chinups 3 sets of maximum reps

3 a. Floor pressing 3 sets of 12 reps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bplOMMhWtxQ
   b. Recline Pullups 3 sets of Maxiumum reps

On all of the exercises I used the new piece of kit that we have at the gym called 'fat gripz'. This made all the pullups extremely challenging (Please see the below article).
I like to pair exercises. I do 'a' first, then 'b'. I rest a minute then go again. I use this for opposite muscle groups so that it doesn't affect my strength. It also keeps my heart rate up and helps with conditioning, as you are always on the move. It also saves time!

Tuesday - Swimming

I had a dip in the pool today. My muscles were sore from yesterday (especially my forearms after the work with the fat gripz). When I hit the pool i do a variety of strokes that help keep me fit for life gaurding. My workout consisted of:

4 laps - Breast stroke
4 laps - Front crawl
4 laps - Side stroke
4 laps - back stroke
4 laps - Side stoke
4 laps - Front crawl
4 laps - Breast stroke

Wednesday - Lower body Strength training:

1. Barbell back squats 1 x 20 reps

2. Barbell Front Squats 4 x 6 reps

3. Heavy weighted drag (I used a heavy chain) 3 sets dragging the chain 30-40 metres http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvrLddmZgdE&playnext=1&list=PL861D49B0B4F379B7

4. Wheel rollout 3 x 8 reps.

Thursday - Upper body strength training:

1 a.Barbell Press behind the neck 5 sets of 5 reps
   b. Scapula Pullups 5 sets of 5 reps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDq8VDCrM3Q&feature=related

2 a. Weighted dips 3 x maximum reps
   b. Incline curls 3 x 10 reps

3 a. Dumbell skullcrushers 3 x 10 reps
   b. Reverse curls 3 x 10 reps


Friday:

Teaching Spin - This always gets me sweating!

Saturday - REST!!!

Sunday - Power and Back training:

1. Barbell cleans 3 sets of 5 reps

2 a.Barbell deadlifts 4 x 6 reps
   b Dumbell farmers walk 4 x 40-50 metres

3 a.Barbell rows 3 x 10
   b. hanging leg raises 3 x 8-10

Benefits Of Thick Bar Training Coming Soon To TSC

Tonbridge School Centre is currently in the process of providing a range of training equipment which will easily convert any ordinary dumbbell, barbell and bar into an equivalent “Thick Bar”. So I wanted to take the time to discuss the benefits behind thick bar training so to help maximise their use and educate all our members on the benefits that will be freely available to them without even adapting there current programme.

I’m presuming that the majority of people won’t have had access to this particular adaptive training as in the U.K equipment is limited. Having personally trained and worked in a number of different gyms throughout the U.K from mainstream gyms in London and Leeds; to local individual clubs in Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells I have only encounter the product a handful of times.

The Benefits of thick bar training are linked with the development of muscular strength and endurance. There are a number of different reasons for this, some which are more obvious and others which are not so obvious.

Firstly when performing any pulling exercise like One Arm dumbbell rows or Chin Ups, when using the Thick Bar, your grip will be tested a lot more. Your forearms will have to work much harder to hold on to the same weight, increasing the tension in the muscle, and improving the strength of your grip. This is great for many different sports and improving your grip will help you work more efficiently in future training sessions.

Secondly I look to discuss the principle of "Irradiation". I will use a practical example to help you understand the concept without all the Scientific Information. You may already be aware that when contracting a muscle you also contract surrounding muscles. A good Practical example I have come across helps you understand what I’m talking about.

1.      Try flexing your bicep as hard as possible without making a fist.

2.      Flex your bicep as hard as possible whilst making a very tight fist.

3.      You should notice your bicep contract much harder when making a tight fist.

4.      If you flex your forearms hard enough you will begin to feel tension not just in your arms, but in your shoulders, chest, and back.

This is the Irradiation principle in action. The nerve impulses of surrounding muscles can amplify the effect of that muscle. When training for strength gains you can generate much more tension within Prime Mover (main muscle being used in exercise) and synergists (supporting/surrounding muscles).

The more your body uses Irradiation in the pulling movements the stronger your forearms will get. This strength will directly translate into other pressing movements when squeezing the bar hard. Allowing you create more tension when training and maximise progression.

One last point to make on the subject is you cannot combine the thick bar work and lifting straps. Although lifting straps may appear to allow you train harder, as you may be able to hold more weight when performing pulling movements. You don’t rely on your grip at all no Irradiation occurs and they weaken your ability to generate tension in your forearms. After all the strength gained is not functional or usable without the straps.

Circuit blast for Beginners, Semi-Pro & Pro.

Circuits are one of the best ways to train the whole body working various energy systems and muscles. Find below a circuit based workout incorporating cardio and muscular stations. There are three levels and an outstanding time goal for each proving to make for a challenging work out.

Level	Row (m)	Squats (reps)	Row (m)	Press ups (reps)	Row (m)	Squat Press (reps)	Row (m)	Sit ups (reps)	Row (m)	Burpees (reps)	Treadmill 5% (km)
Beginner	200	10	200	10	200	10*5kg Barbell	200	10	200	10	1
Semi-Pro	400	20	400	20	400	20*10kg Barbell	400	20	400	20	2
Pro	1000	50	1000	50	1000	50*10kg Barbell	1000	50	1000	50	4

Beginner	Semi-Pro	Pro
17 minutes	30 minutes	45 minutes

For any help or assistance with any of the exercises please seek help from the gym team.

Dan.Byrne

REVIVE

YOUR DIET AND NUTRITION SOLUTION

¨ 6 week course commences 9th of May

¨ Monday 7-8pm

Available to members and non-members at £45

Fat-loss, drop a dress size, tone-up, have more energy, improve your sleep patterns and more!

· Limited Spaces!

¨ Book at reception to guarantee your place.

Philip Jeffreys- Marathon Man

My name is Philip Jeffreys - Duty Manager here at TSC since December - and I have recently run the London Marathon 2011. It was one of the most amazing days of my life, through all the hard training that you put in through those cold, rainy and snowy winter months, it is all worth it when you cross the line.  

Running the London Marathon was possibly the most rewarding experience of my life.  The support throughout the run was incredible - at every point I began to feel myself lagging, there they were, a troupe of Pancreatic Cancer supporters, shouting support and my name, waving, and smiling. This was exactly what was needed to make me pick my feet up again and keep going. The emotions that you go through from start to finish are the most incredible experience you will ever go through. At the start you will go through nervousness, excitement and the unknown – through to the finish where all the pain that has gently come on through the run, with the sun pounding on you with its heat, blisters on your feet, rubbing like crazy, to the amazement of joy when you come round the corner from Buckingham Palace and your running up the mall with only 385 yards to go, you find that extra energy to sprint across the finishing line and the happiness that it brings is out of this world.      

What a fantastic day, wouldn't have missed it for the world.

 

GET FIT, GET STRONG, HAVE FUN!!

COMING SOON TO TSC!!

Fish oils for health

When choosing a fish oil, go for a variety that provides the body with Omega 3 and 6. Cod liver oil was always favoured in the past. However, Salmon oil is more oily and will provide the body with more nutritional value. I would recommend Salmon oil, even if it slightly more expensive. Fish oil can help:

• lower cholesterol.
• lower blood pressure
• reduce inflammation of the joints
• improve your mood (it has also helped improve conditions such as ADHD and depression)
• improve brain function
• improve recovery from exercise
• slow down the ageing process 

You can't ask for more than that! If you don't eat much fresh fish, visit your local health food shop for more information on a high quality supplement.

Training your back muscles for strength and power

Improving the muscles in your back is beneficial for everyone. For the purposes of this article we are going to focus on developing the back muscles for strength and power. The sort of strength and power that is functional. What I mean by functional is something that will help you in sport and in life. In this article we will look at what I think are the best exercises for improving this area as a whole.

Firstly lets have a look at the muscles in the back in more detail:


The diagram shows the different areas of the back. The green area highlitghts the upper back and is called the trapezius, the blue area is the middle back, which is also referred to as the lats and the red area is the lower back or erector spinae. In my opinion, a common mistake that people make when training their back muscles for strength, is that they try to isolate the different areas too much. You need to work this area predominately as a unit. This is what it was designed for. My favourite exercises for the back include:

1 - Deadlift - this is the most natural exrecise around. Bend through your knees, keep a tight back and lift the weight from the floor. Simple. If you get strong at this exercise you will pack a huge amount of muscle on your lower, middle and upper back. The next time you move house and have to lift heavy objects, you will feel the benefits.

2. Farmers walk - Hold a pair of heavy dumbells, kettlebells, or any heavy objects in each hand and walk. Walk for a set distance and do multiple sets, or walk a total distance and simply finish the distance as quick as you can, even if you need to drop the weights and start again.




3 - Barbell cleans - A very technical exercise if they are done properly. These will make you explosive through your hips as well as powerful through your back. These are fantastic for sporting activities. They will make you jump higher and run faster.

4 - Mixed grip pullups/chinups - These will add size and strength to the lats. Vary your grip position to hit the back in all different ways. These will also develop your arms.



A back routine including the above could look like this:

Barbell cleans - 5 sets of 5 reps
Barbell Deadlifts - 4 sets of 8 reps
Pullups - 4 sets of maximum reps
Farmers walk - 3 sets of 50 metres with heavy dumbells.

This is an advanced routine so make sure you receive guidance on any of the above exercises from one of our trainers if you are unsure. The above exercises will not only strengthen the back but the benefits will spill over into other areas. The forearms, upper arms, shoulders, abs, obliques and legs will all feel the affects.

Enjoy!
Oli.

know your colours!

If you look in your fridge, on your dinner plate or in your shopping trolley what do you see? Lots of colours? I hope so. Having a variety of natural foods with a range of different colours is a perfect way to ensure you gain a whole range of different nutrients. Below are some examples of what certain colour foods provide for the body:

Orange - foods include sweet potato, carrots, mangoes, apricots. These provide beta-carotene which is beneficial to the skin and the eyes.

Purple - Blueberries, plums, rasberries, blackberries, dark grapes provide anthocyanins which protect the brain, heart and eyes.

Reds- tomotoes, water melon and pink grapefruit all provide you with lycopene, repsonsible for lowering the risk of cancer. 

 

The above are just a few examples of why a mixture of colour is a great way to balance your diet. The next time you go shopping, put some new fruits and vegetables in your shopping basket. Try something different every week and feel the benefits.

Oli.

Breathing Techniques to Improve Performance

Breathing techniques are very important for all different types of training; however they are often overlooked as a non-essential minor detail with respect to overall performance. This couldn’t be any further from the truth and the following article breaks down the benefits to performance, basic breathing techniques and guidance on improving individual focus. So whatever your goal; lowering your overall heart rate without lowering exercise intensity, increasing your one repetition max (1RM) or developing improved focus and concentration the following information may prove invaluable in helping you achieve it.

When studying the basic anatomy of the lung we discover, although a single organ, each lung is divided into a series of lobes. The right lung is composed of three lobes; the upper, middle and lower. The left lung is similar in construction but only has two lobes the upper and lower. For the purpose of the article I want to focus on just the distinction between the upper and lower lobe and there relationship with two different types of common breathing.

Shallow breathing involves the contraction of intercostal muscles in between the ribs and normally only draws air into the upper lobes. Deep breathing by comparison relies on the intercostal muscles alongside the activation of the diaphragm (large sheet of muscle similar in appearance to a parachute positioned internally at the bottom of the abdomen). It aids in breathing by moving down upon contraction increasing the space within your thorax (upper part of the torso). This creates a negative pressure within the thorax causing the lungs to expand and air to be drawn in. This causes air to be drawn into the lower lobes first, where gaseous exchange can take place more efficiently as well as utilising more of the lungs surface area.

The higher percentage of oxygen in the blood stream and improved VO2max (body’s ability to absorb and transport oxygen effectively) causes muscles to receive increased levels of oxygen, a key component fuelling any aerobic based work. This allows the heart rate to decrease, without reducing exercise intensity levels. As more oxygenated blood is delivered in each stroke volume/contraction of the heart.

With regard to improving a 1RM the increased oxygen levels may not have any direct effect on you physically when performing the lift. This is true as when performing any near maximal effort work your body works anaerobically (energy being produce is without the presence of oxygen), so the increased oxygen levels bear no relevance. However, when performing deep breathing an individual’s parasympathetic nervous system is activated. This causes certain physiological changes in the body; dilation of blood vessels, slowing of the heart and constriction of the pupils. All these changes aid in helping you focus and concentrate and perform to your maximum in any situation.

The easiest way to stimulate deep breathing is to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Initially you may find it more difficult, but with a couple of months practice you’ll find all the above benefits are yours. Once you have learned this deep breathing you will be able to do it autonomously and at high intensity. As demand on performance increases you will use this technique through a “normal” breathing pattern without using the nose breathing technique. It also stops you from straining you intercostal muscle through over use, often leading to a dull ache in middle back. Give it a go and let me know how you get on.

Dan. J. Byrne

Red Nose Day at the Tonbridge School Centre

As you may know this Friday is Red Nose Day and here at TSC we are having a big fundraising event for Comic Relief. We have given ourselves the challenge of keeping a triathlon running for 24 hours starting 10pm Thursday 17^th and finishing Friday 18^th but we need your help. You can choose to do 1, 2 or all 3 disciplines either on your own or as a team. Half hour time slots are sold for £10 each, 3 for £20 or you can be sponsored. We still have time slots available so please come in to Reception to book yours but you’ll have to hurry as they are filling up quickly!

On Friday there will be Bingo running in the bar between 10am – 1pm. Tickets are £10 and include a speciality coffee, cake and 2 bingo cards to get you started. A goody bag full of TSC and Red Nose Day treats for the winner.

Also running Friday night will be the Red Nose Day Quiz in the bar. Starting at 7pm until late, teams of up to 6 with 6 bottles of wine to the winning. £10 per team.

All the money raised during the event will go to Comic relief, 2 years ago we raised over £1100 and this year we want to beat this total.

Thank you in advance for all of your support.