Tag Archive: fitness

1. How to keep fit in your fifties.

   17th November 2020 3:52 pm 2 Comments

   Are you fit enough at fifty?

   

   The Covid-19 pandemic has focused minds acutely on risk factors that either prolong the illness or cause victims to suffer worse symptoms.

   Obesity, age, underlying health problems and ethnic background are four of these risk factors. We cannot alter two of these, but we can do something about the other two.

   Whether you just want to be healthier or you want to reduce your risk of suffering badly from Covid-19 (and many other health-related problems such as diabetes or heart disease) then read on.

   If jogging puts the fear of the Gods into you, don’t worry, the advice that follows contains NO JOGGING and NO LYCRA!

   Thomas Cureton (The Godfather of Physical Education in the USA) came up with a series of fitness tests that can be done at home. Here are 3 of them in this video. Don’t be frightened, try them out.

   Why strength is important

   Strength and mobility are two components of fitness that are often neglected by fifty-year-olds who are trying to get fit. Daily life for many requires no feats of strength, our modern post-industrial, post-agrarian society has removed them all, except for unscrewing the lid off a jar of pickled onions.

   As you will have found from failing those 3 tests that are designed to represent normal health not elite-athlete status, your strength is lacking.

   

   Of course, you can avoid all efforts to measure and be tested (there are no pull-up bars on Strava) but that doesn’t help you as you get older and one day you can’t pick up your grandchildren. Or you strain a muscle doing gardening or digging a sandpit on the beach.

   The type of strength that is important for health is demonstrated by Andy Stone (58-years old in this video) doing this mini-workout. The ability to get up and down off the floor with control, pushing up and balancing with both upper and lower body can be done with no equipment.

   (Andy has 50 of these videos on his channel. If you did 1 a day during the week, that is 10 weeks of exercise without repetition).

   As you can hear from his breathing, just doing different movements continuously does work your heart and lungs: blood is required by the muscles, waste products are transported away, so the heart beats faster. Oxygen is required to keep doing the work and so you have to breath faster.

   Kenneth Cooper, the founder of aerobics (He of the Cooper Test:12-min run) and 1.5-mile run test) told Vern Gambetta in the back of a taxi on the way back from a conference that ‘After 40, strength is more important to work on.’

   Tip 1: Do a mini-workout every day for 10 minutes. Frequency is better than the intensity at the beginning.

   Why mobility is important

   As you may discover trying to tie your shoelaces in the morning, it’s not only your paunch that stops you from doing it in standing, it’s your stiff body. Too much time sat at a desk or in a car or binge-watching Netflix series leads to your joints becoming stiff.

   

   Like strength, you don’t know mobility is missing because you don’t have to touch your toes when sat on your Peloton bike for hours. You just notice it when you get off and have to waddle to the sofa to undo your cycling shoes.

   If you exercise in a limited range of motion your joints will gradually become accustomed to moving less. That is one of the main reasons why using machines in the gym or just cycling or just running for your exercise is problematic.

   It is very difficult to stretch your way out of a lifetime of bad posture: a 2-minute calf stretch after jogging at 9-minute-mile pace for an hour will not solve the problem. Instead, try to exercise through many different ranges of motion in every exercise session.

   An example is a lunge. In this video (I was a 50-year-old man when filmed) I show some different lunge sequences. The medicine ball is not heavy, it just helps remind me of my posture.

   Tip 2: Exercise through many ranges of motion in many different directions.

   Why skill is important

   Some people just like the grind. For whatever reason, they do the exercise equivalent of wearing a hair shirt and flogging themselves with birch twigs. ‘I don’t care what I do, as long as I get tired and sweaty.’ Their self-esteem is linked to doing ‘more.’

   Good for them. I doubt if that is a sustainable attitude for the long term. Your body does not need to be ‘punished’ for your unhealthy lifestyle. That is a way to get injured or be miserable or boring: have you ever met someone who does Triathlon?

   By doing exercise that has a skill or learning element in it you can look forward to the session rather than dread it. This is why activities such as climbing, yoga, surfing and dance are popular (as well as their social interactions). The process of learning keeps me hungry to train: I never get bored.

   A parent of an athlete I train said that ‘gym training is boring.’ He has tried to relieve the boredom by buying ever more pieces of equipment. But, no amount of sandbags, kettlebells and Bulgarian Goat Bags (yes, that is a thing) can make a dull exercise programme come to life.

   Weightlifting is a sport that requires strength, mobility, skill as well as speed and coordination. In this video, you can see Marius Hardiman (50-years-old when filmed) doing the snatch. He is only using a lighter weight to demonstrate but you can see how well he moves.

   I am not saying that everyone in their fifties should come to our weightlifting clubs (although they would be welcome). I am saying that everyone in their fifties would benefit from finding an activity that helps them develop and maintain their strength, mobility and requires some skill or learning.

   Tip 3: Find an activity that has a learning component.

   Summary

   As you can see from the videos of us three men in our fifties, you don’t have to become a Strava-bore or a couch potato with a Dad-bod. You can do creative and fun exercise at home or with others and move well into your fifties. This will give you the fitness to play with your children or grandchildren and be active into your 60s.

   • For those readers in Oxfordshire, Marius runs a series of classes for the over-fifties called Well Fit.
   • Anyone over 50 in Devon who wants to follow an athletic development programme, please contact James Marshall at James@excelsiorgroup.co.uk
   • N.B. No exercise programme will help you escape a bad diet, so watch this video for ideas on eating sensibly.

2. How to get fit for sport

   25th February 2020 9:21 am 3 Comments

   A comprehensive guide to getting fit for your sport

   Over the past few years, we have published many guides on sports fitness; based on both research and our extensive coaching experience. Our athletes have benefitted from the principles and systems that we have developed.

   Rather than play sport to get fit, the evidence shows that getting fit to play your sport will be safer and more effective.

   Here they are gathered in one place to make them easier for you to find, most contain links to videos or other useful information.

   Essential information for all sports

   Whilst each sport is “unique, special and different” there are some things that are common throughout. Here are the key areas that will help you, whatever your sport.

   • The Ultimate Guide to Warm-Ups: Why the warm-up is essential to physical and mental preparation, how to plan your individual warm-up, common warm-up errors and bad practices.
   • Guide to competition eating: what you need to eat before, during, and after competing.
   • The Athlete’s guide to sleep. How much sleep you need as a sports person, and how to get more.
   • How to take charge of your fitness training: How to make your strength training specific to your sport and you as an individual.
   • How to make pre-season training interesting, relevant and more fun a 4 part series looking at getting you and your team prepared.

   The Comprehensive Guide to Getting Fit for your Sport.

   • Archery: Getting fit for Archery, the need for stability, balance and posture, including a free ebook.
   • Athletics: How to plan your winter training, why you need to change things in track and field during the offseason, speed, strength and warm-ups. Strength training for throwers, general and specific exercises for throwing events.
   • Badminton: How to get fit for Badminton, 3 experts offer their advice and experience. Includes how the game has changed over the last 10 years.
   • Basketball: Strength and conditioning for basketball a review of work we have done getting basketball players fit. How to improve your vertical jump,3 ways to get that jump higher.
   • Cricket: How to get fit for cricket, including 3 videos to help improve your bowling speed, fielding agility and running between the stumps, Also,  top 5 tips for cricket fitness.
   • Fencing: Introducing fitness to fencers, fencing is a one-sided sport, so fencers need special attention to prevent imbalances and injury, also how to warm up for fencing, how to cool down after fencing
   • Football: Top 5 football fitness articles, including football fitness training, speed training for football and fitness testing for football.
   • Golf: How to get fit for golf, a case study of work I have done with England Gold using a step by step approach to improving golf fitness.
   • Gymnastics: How to get gymnasts stronger, a reflective piece on how strength training has been applied. Speed training for gymnasts: a look at common running errors for the vault and DMT and how to get your gymnasts running faster.
   • Handball: How to get fit for Handball pt1, the needs and fitness demands of playing handball. Handball fitness pt 2 how to get your team fit in season.
   • Hockey: Fitness training for field hockey pt1, what the fitness demands of hockey are. Hockey fitness training pt2. Practical fitness training sessions for hockey.
   • Motor racing: How to get fit to drive in Formula1 The very unique demands of motor racing, from a go-kart to Formula1.
   • Netball: From the ground up, how to get fit for Netball. Why returning to Netball needs to include fitness training. Netball fitness pt 2. Practical fitness training ideas for Netball training.
   • Roller Derby: A guide to roller derby and aspects of fitness from a player-coach.
   • Rugby: 10 fitness myths and tips for rugby Common errors and misconceptions, what to do instead. How to get big for rugby Appropriate fitness training for young rugby players is more important than just putting on weight. Strength and power developments in rugby Guest post looking at the demands of the International matches and how players need to prepare at the Professional level.
   • Running: Do you want to run faster?  Link to the ebook which includes strength training for runners and technical drills.
   • Squash: Fitness training for squash What squash requires, examples of work we have done, video of lunge strength exercises.
   • Swimming: A guide to swimming dryland training A review of an excellent seminar by Nick Folker which has shaped our strength and conditioning training for swimmers.
   • Tennis: How fit you need to be to play tennis at Wimbledon, an overall look at what tennis fitness is about, How to get for tennis, specific ideas and exercises for tennis fitness getting fit to play tennis on clay, the essential guide to playing on clay, common tennis injuries and how to prevent them by Physiotherapist Sarah Marshall.
   • Weightlifting: How to start weightlifting pt2. the essential information on what the Olympic Lifts involve and how to prepare to start lifting.

   An example of how to train hamstrings for football (and other sports like hockey, rugby, netball and cricket) can be seen in this video:

   Get the right coaching for you and your team now

   If you would like to get fit for your sport safely and effectively and have some fun on the way, then I am happy to help.

   If you live in the South West, then I can help you with individual strength and conditioning If you live outside the South West, or abroad, then please contact me if you wish to host a workshop or seminar.

3. Do a Health Diagnostic in 2020

   31st December 2019 9:38 am Leave a Comment

   Are you healthy? How do you know?

   

   There is more to measuring health than being able to squeeze into your summer jeans. (Although, if they are from the summer of ’87 that might be as accurate as anything else).

   If you check the tyres, water and oil in your car this winter, or you get your boiler serviced, how about doing it for the most important thing in your life: yourself?

   (I know the carers amongst us say our dependents are more important, but if we are unhealthy we risk becoming a dependent ourselves).

   Rather than launch into some short- lived exercise or diet fad, try doing a health self-diagnostic and make 2020 the year you look after your wellbeing.

   

   Some people spend hours researching the best tyres to put onto their new car, meanwhile neglecting the spare one around their midriff.

   Some people spend hours watching sport on TV, but pull a rotator cuff reaching for the last mince pie in the cupboard.

   I am no body fascist, but I think that you should be able to negotiate the stairs in your house without wheezing and puffing. The problem is that in our auto mechanised society, there is no standard of health, except the absence of disease. We can avoid any accountability until it is too late.

   We have now the extremes of narcissistic 6- pack or bubble butt selfie takers on the one hand, and the mouth-breathing, thigh- rubbing, takeaway junkies on the other.

   What should your health diagnostic include?

   The four pillars of health are:

   • Movement
   • Nutrition
   • Rest
   • Rejuvenation

   I have put movement in there rather than exercise. Dancing, climbing and playing frisbee are all active, without being a competition. Better yet, do a little of all three.

   Thomas Cureton had a battery of exercises that he used to assess an adult’s physical well being. In the video below I am demonstrating three of them. These can be practised at home and are designed for normal active adults. Step 1 of your diagnostic is to try these. If you can do them, well done. If you find them hard, practise.

   Nutrition is simple and can be sustainable. Yet, people try to make it complicated. In yesterday’s Twitter poll, those people going on Vegan diets are the most annoying to share an office with, mainly because they insist on telling everyone about it.

   Years ago, P.G. Wodehouse wrote an article for Vanity Fair about people doing fad exercises.

   “A man who does anything regularly is practically certain to become a bore. Man is by nature so irregular that, if he takes a cold bath every day or keeps a diary every day or does physical exercises every day, he is sure to be too proud of himself to keep quiet about it. He cannot help gloating over the weaker vessels who turn on the hot tap, forget to enter anything after January the fifth, and shirk the matutinal development of their sinews. He will drag the subject into any conversation in which he happens to be engaged. And especially is this so as regards physical culture.”

   Or as Mike Tomlin said in simpler terms,

   ’Don’t tell people about your problems, because they’re either glad you got ’em or don’t want to hear ’em’

   Rest and rejuvenation are not synonymous  

   Rest is sleep and the absence of work. When working with athletes, I concentrate on relaxing activities that help them get a good night’s sleep. That includes, eating well, getting off the screen and doing something that takes your mind off your sport.

   Rejuvenation is adding something to your life that enhances your spirit, soul or emotional state. The little things that help you get out of bed in the morning.

   Tip: Getting a fist bump on Strava, or cycling with pretend friends on a computer screen are different from doing a shared activity, that requires no boasting

   

   Instead, think about: learning, fun, having a purpose, and creativity. It might be baking cookies, singing, trying a cartwheel or fixing old bicycles.

   Maybe dog walkers and gardeners have got it right? Regular moderate exercise, in the fresh air and purposeful. Repair Cafes and pantomime groups seem to have the group rejuvenation thing down.

   Maybe it is their connection with other human beings.

   So, if in 2020 you can move well, eat sensibly, get some quality sleep and try something that collaborates with others, your health diagnostic will score higher than in 2019.

   Just don’t tell everyone about it.

   Join us

   If you want to get healthy and learn some new skills alongside other people then join our club. You could do the adult gymnastics or weight lifting. No heroes, just ordinary people trying to do extraordinary things.

   I am currently working on a project that will help adults like you enjoy movement in the comfort of your own home. Watch this space, or get in touch if you would like to take part.

4. Fitness training for squash

   27th January 2015 1:42 pm 11 Comments

   

   How do I get fit for squash?

   There are many ways, we have been lucky enough to have worked with some outstanding young squash players. Here is what we did with them to help improve their squash fitness.

   Adi Jagtap (8th 2010 Junior world championships), Victoria Temple- Murray (TASS funded and winner of the Belgian under-17s open last weekend), and Fiona Murphy (3rd In Manchester open under-17s 2 weeks ago) to name a few.

   Our System works the athlete from the ground up and outwards, but it is useful to know where to aim. Matt has done some recent research on squash fitness and here are his findings:

   Squash is a moderate- to high-intensity intermittent exercise. Players are active 50 to 70% of the playing time. 80% of the time, the ball is in play 10 seconds or less.

   The rest intervals fit a normal distribution with an average duration of 8 seconds. Heart rate increases rapidly in the first minutes of play and remains stable at approximately 160 beats/min for the whole match no matter what levels the players are.

   However, the heart rates of players have been known to go right up the age-related max and thus can be deemed a maximal effort sport. The energy expenditure for medium-skilled players is approximately 2850 kJ/h and over 3000 kJ/h for top-level elite players.

   Fitness training for squash

   Squash is a fast-paced and dynamic sport, one that requires the technical ability and fine motor skills as well as the physiological capacity of an endurance athlete. It has actually been stated that the endurance of a squash athlete should be like that of a 5K runner.

   The general training routines of squash players should therefore be focused on interval training. It should be conducted at 75-85% max heart rate. Generally, this interval training should be 200m at around 35-40 seconds each as well as 400m at around 90-110 seconds. Now there is a famous squash interval program that was conducted by Geoff Hunt who would work 26 x 400m at 75s and then rest for 60s.

   Squash agility

   The squash movement is akin to that of tennis, purely in the sense that you are supposed to or the best technique is to move back to the ‘T’. Therefore speed and endurance as mentioned above are crucial.

   However, due to it being such a small court having the ability to move laterally is also very important especially in regards to limiting injury. This video shows an example of how to develop lateral agility:

   The speed work is very important in terms of basic physiology because if the running is slow it will increase capillarization (blood supply) around the muscles. That is why the running should take place around the anaerobic threshold, which increases the body’s utilisation of glycogen as a fuel.

   The dimensions of a squash court are 32 ft (9.75 m) long and 21 feet (6.4 m) wide and therefore in terms of speed, acceleration is very important.

   Regaining your balance

   Journals have mentioned that in terms of biomechanics squash players have one dominant hand because, unlike tennis or baseball, for instance, they only use one hand for the duration of a match, due to the pace of the game.

   

   Weights 3 x week

   Mahoney and Sharp (1995) reported an asymmetry in grip strength with the dominant limb being 13% stronger than the non-dominant limb.

   Therefore when it comes to actual strength training a squash player, make sure that this is monitored as to not cause injury or even complete dominance. Dumbbell work is great as it works both sides evenly.

   For example, in golf, they can play both left and right-handed to make sure the muscles in their back do not become lop-sided. The tension of a squash players racket must be adjusted to allow for this continual use of the one hand and that is why in older players the strings are stronger to allow the racket to do more of the work.

   Jonah Barrington’s Coach Nasrullah Khan told him that he must “Devil up his muscles” and prescribed his weight training exercises 3 times a week.

   Specific Drills 

   In terms of actual training as specified in the ‘Squash player,’ there are a few drills that are squash specific that would help with strength and more importantly getting into the correct position and having the ability to hold that position deep into the match. Using a dumbbell in both the right and left hand you will lunge through a squash position, which would happen often during a match.

   Or you can use this sequence of lunges to help maintain symmetry and mobilise the thoracic spine and shoulders.

   Overall there are squash fitness-specific drills that can be used to help with the development of younger athletes and the more experienced:

   • Trunk strength: to allow control of the shot.
   • Muscular strength: to allow control of the lower limb in this shot, and cope with acceleration and deceleration forces.
   • Muscular endurance: to allow this work to be repeated as the match goes on with no loss of control or speed.

   Get fit for Squash now…

   If you want more advice, then book in and train with us.

   Or read our guide to pre-season fitness training 

   Matt Brookland

5. Athlete empowerment- gone too far?

   20th July 2010 11:21 am 1 Comment

   One of the buzz catchphrases for the last year has been “athlete empowerment” when dealing with young athletes. The young athletes (a loose term, most of them are recreational games players)are supposed to be able to choose what type of training programme they follow, and even give feedback on it.

   Has this gone too far?

   Is this an excuse for athletes to dictate how and where they train,

   I liken this to the difference between the original Star Trek series where the crew went out and explored and got on with things and The Next Generation where Deanna Troi wanted to cuddle everything in sight. Guess what, the original series stands up quite well (except for the effects) but TNG looks dated.

   At some point you have to stop the cuddling and get on and toughen up a bit; unless your sport requires cuddling at International Level.

   For me, it doesn’t make sense for 16-17 year old school children with 3-4 years of recreational playing experience to dictate whole training strategies to coaches. If I “empowered” my daughter when we went to the supermarket she would stock up on olives and ice cream. O.k for one meal, but disastrous as a long term diet.

   The whole point of having coaches who are experienced and educated, is that it helps shape the training programme for the athlete. I empower the athletes as far as gaining feedback and asking questions of them. but I shape the programmes, in conjunction with their sports coaches.

   I think a lot of it comes down to some youngsters wanting to get a tracksuit, feel part of a squad or team, but not actually having to confront the reality of hard work and dedication that is necessary to succeed at International sport.  By molly coddling them and allowing them to dictate in the short term, we are actually harming their long term prospects

    

6. Student Athlete Support: Nick Beasant.

   24th February 2010 3:39 pm 2 Comments

   

   Over the past decade, performance sport within the higher education sector has grown and developed at an ever increasing rate.  New government initiatives, National Governing Body partnerships, a focused strategic steer from BUCS and an institution’s own desire to develop both their sporting status and their own athletes have all moved the sector into a competitive and attractive marketplace for applicants.

    

   Institutions will have their own target sports and performance programmes, all driven by differing factors such as geography, infrastructure and funding.  However, many sports specific leads, coaches and service deliverers all face similar issues when dealing with the challenges faced by balancing sport and academia within an HE environment.  Creating and managing a support network for athletes which develops their understanding of what is required to produce both academic and sporting excellence is vital.

   At an institution which aspires to be ranked top 10 both academically and within the BUCS arena, it is recognised that athletes continually need to be supported in their sport-education life balance.  Tackling this includes offering detailed inductions, development and exit strategies for all designated athletes as well as offering personal mentoring, workshops and web based resources to assist with ongoing issues.

    A flexible approach to study and gaining an institutional wide ‘buy in’ to support this is vital.  Establishing a liaison with departments to oversee academic flexibility and being able to manage the relevant procedures surrounding deferrals and referrals offers athletes the choice and the opportunities to compete at the highest level even though there is a non-negotiable commitment to academic progression and completion.

    There is of course the added challenge of prioritising sporting obligations to ensure that not only the athlete benefits, but so do the NGB or squad in their chosen sport along with the University, as all of these parties will go a long way to supporting the individual’s development towards success.

    Establishing athlete agreements which clearly detail where University priorities lay and what expectations there are for sportsmen and women will avoid potential conflict and confusion.  However, the need to work with a specific sport to understand its pathway, the individual athlete’s position within the pathway in addition to their tournament and events schedule will mean that communication can be clear and potential clashes flagged up and resolved.  Acknowledging that athletes gain valuable experience and exposure whilst away with international squads, or at national competitions, can mean that they return better players, with fresh ideas and will become  leaders in their chosen sports back in University competition.

    Ultimately, the importance placed upon treating sportsmen and women as student-athletes will go a long way to ensuring that they retain a realistic work/sport balance but will also be able to focus upon and achieve their sporting aspirations.”

    

   Nick Beasant- Sports Performance Manager at University of Exeter.