Personal Training in Liverpool Street

4 Reasons You Have Stubborn Muscle Groups

We all know the feeling of having stubborn muscle groups that don’t look the way we want them to. This is usually because that muscle group isn’t as big or defined as you would like to be, or it’s lacking strength.

After more than a decade of training people, I’ve run into countless variations of the stubborn muscle group. Calves, arms, butts, chests – you name a muscle group, I’ve helped someone who was disappointed with theirs.

A picture of Millhouse from the Simpsons as an adult, with the quote "Is it because of my small calves? They're the hardest place to add mass!"

I’ve identified 4 major causes of stubborn muscle groups. To be more precise, I’ve identified 4 behaviour categories that cause frustration with these areas of the body. Think of them as the zodiac signs of stubborn body parts. You might find that you identify with several of these, in which case you should work on addressing one at a time.

Let’s get to work on fixing these issues.

(more…)

Continue Reading4 Reasons You Have Stubborn Muscle Groups

Everything You Need to Know About Starting Olympic Weightlifting

Olympic weightlifting has rapidly grown in popularity over the last 10-15 years. It’s a big hit because it contributes to a number of other fitness phenomena:

  • The growth of fitness-sports like Crossfit;
  • Better appreciation for the benefits of heavy strength training;
  • The development of strength and conditioning science and practice.

By Victor Freitas on Unsplash

Olympic weightlifting brings a great deal to the table for anyone who cares about these facets of fitness, and it’s more accessible than ever. When I started as a personal trainer, the average commercial gym didn’t even have kettlebells, let alone a weightlifting platform! Now, almost every mainstream gym has a platform, bars that spin, and bumper plates. Yes, this does make me feel old.

(more…)

Continue ReadingEverything You Need to Know About Starting Olympic Weightlifting

9 Tough Floor Exercises for Better Core Strength

Floor exercises are a great way to challenge the core, shoulders, and hips. They can also be a great way to build tolerance for loading the wrists. This makes floor exercises a great option for a wide range of goals; whether you’re training to get up off the floor after a fall, get better at yoga, or try your hand at gymnastics. These exercises also featured heavily in my guide to surviving the zombie apocalypse!

Picture of me with hands on the floor in a pressup position. I am pulling one knee up to my stomach.
Woman with her hands on a mat and her toes on the floor. She is pushing her hips up to the ceiling in the "downward dog" yoga pose.
By Logan Weaver on Unsplash

Some of these exercises, such as pushups and deadbugs, have been covered in great depth already. This post is aimed at building up the variety of exercises at your disposal. If you find a particular exercise here quite challenging, you can perform it on it’s own with a focus on truly mastering the technique. Alternatively, you can use these exercises in supersets and circuits as they tend to raise the heart rate.

They also force you to use the hips, trunk, and shoulders in tandem to maintain your position. Because you’re not laying on your back, these exercises also allow the shoulder blades to move freely. For these reasons, many strength coaches use them in blocks of general preparation work with their athletes.

If you want to skip the detail and just get an overview of the exercises, you can head over to this video.

(more…)

Continue Reading9 Tough Floor Exercises for Better Core Strength

4 Powerful Lessons On Strength Training and Injury

I recently attended the Barbell Rehab Method certification in Central London. The Barbell Rehab philosophy is heavily focussed on the idea of integrating strength training and injury management. The end goal is to allow you to train hard whilst respecting your injuries.

This is a philosophy that is very close to my heart and my training style. This weekend course was validating and eye-opening at the same time. Here are some of the lessons I took from my time with Dr. Michael Mash of Barbell Rehab. I’ve included some tips for you too.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue Reading4 Powerful Lessons On Strength Training and Injury

Video: How to Train for a Strong Lower Back

Having a strong lower back always ranks somewhere on people’s list of gym goals. It may not be as important as their holiday or marathon goals, but lower back strength always comes up eventually.

Often, a new client mentions that their back occasionally feels weak, sore or tired. While back pain can be nuanced, there are simple steps we can take that can make a difference.

What a Strong Lower Back Could Mean for You

A strong lower back doesn’t just affect your gym workouts. It can affect your work, social life, leisure activities, and so much more. If you’ve ever lacked confidence in your back strength, then you can probably remember a time it held you back.

When I started training in kickboxing and weightlifting I was often disrupted by a sore lower back. I had my share of back injuries, and learned a lot of lessons about how to move and train properly.

This post won’t dive into specific back issues, but it will discuss some of the methods that have helped me and my clients feel better about our lower back strength.

(more…)

Continue ReadingVideo: How to Train for a Strong Lower Back

Quick Post: 4 of the Best Deadlift Accessory Exercises

The deadlift is a fantastic strength exercise in its own right, but after a certain amount of progress, you will need to supplement it with other lifts to keep getting stronger. This is where deadlift accessory exercises become an essential part of your strength training programme.

How to Include Deadlift Accessory Exercises in Your Programme

These accessory exercises will help you rectify the weak links in your deadlifting game and strengthen important muscle groups. The downside to this is that these exercises will be hitting the same positions and muscle groups as deadlifts. This means you won’t be able to train every exercise on this list at the same time and deadlift heavy; you’ll have to choose what you want to focus on.

In the breakdown below, I’ll discuss when to use these accessory exercises to improve your deadlifting ability.

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue ReadingQuick Post: 4 of the Best Deadlift Accessory Exercises

Everything You Need to Know About Weightlifting Shoes

If you’ve been training in gyms for a while, you might have seen a few people wearing weightlifting shoes. You’ll recognise them by their funky design and the fact they have a solid, wedge-like heel.

These heeled shoes are popular amongst Olympic weightlifters, powerlifters, Crossfitters, and other strength-focussed gym-goers.

With the increased popularity of these training methods in mainstream gyms, these shoes are becoming increasingly common. So much so that you might be tempted to buy your own! In this guide I’ll break down whether you should get your own weightlifting shoes, and when to use them.

Note: I previously recommended these shoes in my list of the best gym kit for strength training. Check out the other items on the list!

Table of Contents
(more…)

Continue ReadingEverything You Need to Know About Weightlifting Shoes

More Speed And Strength With One Gym Hack

I’ve been working with athletes for a long time now, and I’m always amazed how poorly understood cluster training is. I just can’t believe that this super-simple method for training speed and strength isn’t more commonplace amongst sports players.

Regardless of what sport you play, it’s a certainty that you need to produce force to move and perform. In the majority of cases, it will be beneficial for you to produce this force as quickly as possible. There are plenty of exercises you can do to train speed and power, and I’ll write more on them soon. In the meantime, cluster set training will keep you fresher, and improve the force and speed of your resistance training. The best part is you don’t need any special equipment or skills to perform this style of training.

(more…)

Continue ReadingMore Speed And Strength With One Gym Hack

The Truth About Pullup Training That Will Supercharge Your Progress

I started this blog to cover all things related to strength and gym confidence; well, pullup training certainly delivers both! It doesn’t matter if you can actually do pullups. What matters is that you’re working on lifting your body using your upper body pulling strength.

For these reasons, improving pullup strength is one of the most common goals people enquire about when they start training with me. Pullup training will help you improve your grip strength, pulling strength, core strength and more.

There’s just one problem. As pullup goals became more popular, every trainer (myself included) raced online to demonstrate our favourite pullup accessory exercises. This left the public with a library of exercises, but no guidance for putting them in a training programme.

By Becca Matimba on Unsplash

It’s like having a pile of bricks but no blueprint for the house you want to build. Exercises on their own don’t get you results; a good training programme does! Today’s video covers the programming mistake that so many people make when trying to train for pullup strength.

(more…)

Continue ReadingThe Truth About Pullup Training That Will Supercharge Your Progress

4 Tips That Will Transform Your Sports Performance

I’ve always been fascinated by the process of training people to improve their sports performance. My involvement in strength and conditioning began in 2011 and I was reading books on the subject long before that. I’ve identified some universal behaviours that you should follow if you want to improve performance in your sport of choice.

running
By Sporlab on Unsplash

While there is an abundance of knowledge in professional sport, the information just doesn’t reach those who participate at amateur or recreational levels. And yet, it isn’t just pro athletes that want to improve their sports performance.

If you want to improve your game in your chosen sport, then this video is for you. In five minutes I’ll go through 4 things you can do to go further in your sport. These tips aren’t overly expensive, complicated, or time-consuming, but they will help. Some of the tips are quite practical, whereas others will encourage you to review certain aspects of your current training regimen.

(more…)

Continue Reading4 Tips That Will Transform Your Sports Performance