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Interval training involves structured periods of work and recovery aimed at developing both the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. This type of training develops the body’s lactic acid tolerance abilities as well as developing all of the physiological systems involved during continuous (steady state) training .   Why use interval training? When exercising at a […]

I often get asked what is the best form of exercise. Unfortunately it is not a question I can answer without asking a few questions of my own first.  Those of you that have completed our level 3 diploma in fitness instruction and personal training will be familiar with the terms specificity and individuality. Specificity Specificity states […]

I have had tight hamstrings and glutes ever since I can remember. This resulted in a lot of discomfort when I was doing, well, everything!! I love to deadlift. Lifting heavy things off the floor feels good for some reason. However, I used to suffer for a few days after. Over the years I have tried yoga, […]

If you want to have a better understanding  of human movement then this book is for you. It highlights the importance of movement screening prior to prescribing exercise. Much like we screen an individuals health, with PARQ forms and BP assessment, Gray Cook urges that we also screen movement too.     I personally love the idea and it […]

Long slow duration (LSD) training also known as: continuous training; steady state training; endurance training or aerobic training, involves working for an extended period of time (usually 10+ minutes) at a fairly low continuous intensity. The intensity of this type of training does not change throughout the session, unlike interval training.   LSD training for […]

Fartlek is a Swedish term meaning ‘speed play’ and that is precisely what is done in Fartlek training – you play around with the speed of your training tempo!  Why use Fartlek Training? Fartlek training It is an unstructured form of interval training where work is performed continuously for a specific duration, but instead of […]

In negative / eccentric training, the concentric phase of an exercise is all but removed and all the effort is applied to the eccentric portion of the movement. Potentially this means the client can be exposed to supramaximal loads in excess of their normal repetition maximum. Examples of negative reps include leg extensions where the […]

To employ forced reps, the client performs as many reps on his/her own as they can until the point of failure is reached. At this point, the trainer provides a minimal amount of assistance to permit the performance of another rep. As the client fatigues further, the trainer will provide slightly more assistance each rep […]

  These systems involve the use of isolation exercises to preferentially fatigue a muscle whilst eliminating synergistic muscle weaknesses. Consider the following example: In the bench press, the agonist is the pectoralis major, with the main synergist being the triceps brachii. In the majority of clients the triceps will fail before the stronger pectoral muscles. […]

The multiple-set system, or ‘setting’ probably forms the basis of the majority of resistance-based workouts performed in gyms today. This system consists of an appropriate warm up followed by multiple sets of the same repetitions performed with a given weight. For example, 3 sets of 10 repetitions (3 x 10), or 5 sets of 5 […]