Personal Training in Liverpool Street

4 Core Training Myths That Need to Die

In the world of fitness, nothing is more pervasive than a core training myth. The obsession with six-pack abs, the fear of back pain, and the desire for greater sport performance all drive us to hunt for the perfect core training exercise, programme, or overarching strategy.

The pursuit of core training greatness can cause us to eagerly adopt whatever core training myths we see online. Some of these are well-intentioned, but simply go too far in their application. Others misinterpret the findings of scientific studies. Some of these myths are perpetuated just to follow trends on social media. No matter their origin, the end result is the same: unsatisfactory results for you, and limiting beliefs about your capabilities.

A woman laying prone on the floor of a studio gym, lifting her chest from the floor in a "cobra" pose

With this in mind, I’ll discuss some stubborn core training myths and explain where they miss the mark. This should steer you towards a better method of core training, no matter what your end goal is.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading4 Core Training Myths That Need to Die

The Best Tips For Better Squats and Deadlifts

When you’re getting started in strength training, a good goal is to improve your squats and deadlifts.

Getting started with your big lifts is more straightforward than people make out, but mastering them takes time.

Some of these tips take a closer look at the technique used in training, whereas other tips are more focussed on exercise selection and programme design.

Man standing inside a hex bar preparing to deadlift

More Content to Improve Your Squats and Deadlifts

I’ve written a huge number of guides for squatting and deadlifting in this blog. You can find many of them in the “Strength Training” category on this site.

For this post, I want to focus on some of the video content I’ve made. This allows you to get some quick visual tips for improving squats and deadlifts instead of reading. I’ve been working hard on my video content lately, so please consider subscribing!

Image of me bending over a bar preparing to perform a clean
(more…)

Continue ReadingThe Best Tips For Better Squats and Deadlifts

3 Crucial Ingredients for Your First Pressup

Your first pressup is an important fitness milestone. It’s one of the keys to mastering your bodyweight and building upper body strength. It’s one of the most common goals my clients have, and I’ve helped a number of people build their pressup strength. You can learn more about their successes with my testimonials.

A close up of a woman's hands on the floor as she performs a pushup
By Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

I’ve helped a large number of people build up to their first pressup. Thanks to this, I have developed a check list of prerequisites for building pressup strength. This isn’t as simple as “get strong at pushing”, although that is certainly a large part of the equation that we can tackle in various ways. There are other components that often get neglected, which we’ll cover below. Without further ado, let’s get started.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading3 Crucial Ingredients for Your First Pressup

4 Skills You Need to Master Before Learning Olympic Weightlifting

The accessibility of Olympic weightlifting has surged in recent years, partly due to the increased awareness of Crossfit and strength and conditioning. In addition, the increased popularity of strength training and resistance training in general has contributed to the appeal of learning Olympic weightlifting.

Side view of me at the bottom of a front squat. The barbell is resting on my shoulders, and my elbows are lifted to keep the weight still.

The Olympic lifts (the Snatch, and the Clean and Jerk) are difficult exercises that take years to conquer. These lifts require you to hoist a barbell as high as possible, and then pull yourself under the bar as quickly as possible. Learning the Olympic lifts will challenge your skill, mobility, speed, and strength.

Due to the scope of this challenge, the rewards are huge. You’ll gain strength, explosive power, confidence, and mobility. The Olympic lifts are often used to help develop athleticism in athletes, and they can also be great for teaching gym skills to children.

Skills you need for Learning Olympic Weightlifting

While most people gravitate towards learning the Snatch and Clean and Jerk after some other form of resistance training, you can start your fitness journey with the Olympic lifts if you want. Whether you’re a gym beginner or a seasoned lifter, here are 4 skills you need to master before you begin your Olympic lifting journey.

Don’t be put off if you don’t have these skills yet! You can always start with Olympic weightlifting derivatives while you work on these skills (check back for more information on those soon).

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading4 Skills You Need to Master Before Learning Olympic Weightlifting

3 Reasons You Need to Graduate From Group Fitness Classes

Group fitness classes have always been a staple in commercial fitness centres, and in recent years they have only gained popularity. The rise of boutique group exercise studios has been meteoric, and many of my clients came to me having tried group fitness classes in the past.

Group workouts may be popular, however they are far from perfect in what they offer. I would go so far as to say that most people who enjoy group exercise classes will eventually need to move on to other types of exercise.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to spend this whole post bashing group workout classes. They can be fun, encouraging, and can provide some direction when you’re unsure what to do at the gym. I’ve taught a variety of group workouts over 14 years in the fitness industry, and I can see the value they offer.

That being said, it can be discouraging, boring, or even risky to find yourself in a class that isn’t suited to you. Your workout class may not deliver enough of the stimulus you need, or it could not be paying off in terms of it’s risk:reward ratio.

Gyms usually want to promote their classes, instead of prescribing them. They want to promote the idea that the class is good for everyone, instead of educating people on what else they could be doing. This can make it hard to know when it’s time to ditch the classes and move on to something that’s tailor-made for you.

A woman wearing a pink tshirt and black boxing gloves punches at something out of shot. She is smiling.
Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading3 Reasons You Need to Graduate From Group Fitness Classes

The Most Important Differences between Deadlifts and Romanian Deadlifts

When my clients attempt to follow their training programmes outside of personal training sessions, one of the first things they forget is the differences between deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts.

And who can blame them? The differences may seem clear if you’ve been training a while, but there are enough similarities to muddy the waters.

image of me standing up straight holding a 100kg barbell, after completing a deadlift.

I recently made a Youtube video explaining the differences between deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts. It has been pretty successful (at least by the standard of my channel!). This goes to show that there are plenty of people out there that struggle with the distinction between deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts.

(more…)

Continue ReadingThe Most Important Differences between Deadlifts and Romanian Deadlifts

Need to Improve Your Workout Motivation? Just Watch Inception.

When I was in my teens and early twenties, my life would consist of working out, playing computer games, and watching films. It may seem surprising, but I got a lot of my workout motivation from my sources of entertainment. In most of the entertainment I watched, the characters were strong, fit, and capable. Action films inspired me to take up kickboxing, which led me to pursue strength training as a means to improve my performance.

By contrast, Inception may seem like an odd film to draw workout motivation from. While it is action-packed, the film doesn’t handle action with such physicality as a Schwarzenegger film, for example. And yet, Inception taught me one very important lesson about workout motivation. To be specific, it taught me a great deal about motivating my clients to work out.

A top-down view of an Olympic barbell, with a hand gripping the bar

Why Did Inception Make Me Think about Working Out?

Inception is a story about ideas. In the film, thieves infiltrate people’s dreams to implant ideas that make characters behave in ways that they normally wouldn’t. The main example of this is an idea that is planted in a man’s subconscious that drives him to destroy the multi-billion-dollar company he was due to inherit from his father. The thieves plant this idea while the man is dreaming. This process is called inception.

An image of someone lying on their side in bed, with light shining through the window
By Lux Graves on Unsplash

If inception is successful, the target wakes from their dream, having wholly adopted the idea, which can go on to define their actions and their character. Do you see what this has to do with workout motivation yet?

(more…)

Continue ReadingNeed to Improve Your Workout Motivation? Just Watch Inception.

Quick Post: My Biggest Fitness Mistakes as a Personal Trainer

As a personal trainer and coach in Liverpool Street, I pride myself on a high success rate with my clients. I have high number of positive testimonials, and my clients regularly reach their goals. But as any trainer will tell you, we still make fitness mistakes when it comes to our own training.

Personal trainers are only human, and we’re still prone to the pitfalls that plague many of our clients. Hopefully, sharing these mistakes will remind you to avoid them.

A picture of me with buildings in the background. The circular Ready Steady Strong logo is super imposed behind me.
Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue ReadingQuick Post: My Biggest Fitness Mistakes as a Personal Trainer

4 Ways to Train for Strength and Weight Loss

Many of my clients want to train for strength and weight loss simultaneously. Strength training has grown in popularity for its wide range of benefits, but for many people these benefits sit alongside the desire to become leaner.

I don’t talk about weight loss much as I think it is an over-emphasised aspect of getting fitter and healthier, but I think it’s worth discussing how to lose weight and get stronger at the same time as these are such common goals for the new clients I meet.

It can be challenging to get stronger and lose weight at the same time, although this depends on your approach to weight loss. These goals are not as closely aligned as strength training and muscle building, which I have discussed previously. Strength and weight loss do not have much in common in terms of the processes that occur in the body, and this means the steps we have to take in training are not complimentary.

Common mistakes when building strength and losing weight include:

Picture of a woman gripping a barbell and hinging over in a deadlift movement.
  • Pursuing overly restrictive diets that stifle recovery and do not provide adequate fuel for training.
  • Overemphasising high-intensity cardio that leaves less energy for strength training.
  • Thinking that weight training alone will burn enough calories to create a meaningful calorie deficit.

As with any attempt to address two goals at the same time, a delicate balance is needed. There are several options at your disposal.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading4 Ways to Train for Strength and Weight Loss

3 Tips to Build Strength and Muscle in One Programme

Many of my clients want to build strength and muscle at the same time. Strength training has grown in popularity for its wide range of benefits, but for many people this still doesn’t trump the appeal of changing their physique as well. It helps that building additional muscle tissue is also beneficial for everyone.

It helps that getting stronger and building muscle can be complimentary processes. This means that the two goals do not clash with each other as much as, say, getting stronger and losing weight.

That being said, gaining strength and muscle are not exactly the same process, as I have detailed with some analogies in the past. This means there is some potential for these training goals to clash if a programme isn’t balanced properly. Some common faults are:

black and white photo with barbell in the foreground, and me sitting on a bench in the background
  • Too much hypertrophy work, which can lead to fatigue that hampers strength performance.
  • An overemphasis on strength work with long rest periods can take a lot of training time, leaving less time to work on volume.
  • Treating strength and muscle building training as completely separate blocks, which leads to too much time away from either adaptation.

Training to build strength and muscle at the same time is a delicate balance, and these tips will help you get it just right.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading3 Tips to Build Strength and Muscle in One Programme