Full Body vs Split Routines
One of the common characteristics of the HIT approach, is the regular use of full body workouts. But what about split routines? Are there any benefits to using split routines in your own training or with your clients, or are they best left on the shelf? A full body routine is one in which all major muscle groups of the body are exercised each workout. When most people think of a HIT routine, they typically imagine a full body routine consisting of somewhere between 3-12 exercises. Examples include: Full Body Routines Full body routines were commonplace in …
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Do I need to workout on vacation?
Vacation, a time of year we all look forward to. Time to switch off from everyday stressors and get some much-needed rest, relaxation and for some maybe even a little adventure. Assuming you are not headed off on some physically demanding break like hiking the Andes, surfing the Hawaiian swells or building your time away around running a marathon the question may arise “should I keep doing some kind of workout?” If you are just going for a week away, you may simply want to relax and physically, as well as mentally unwind. Your decision can depend on the …
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How to prepare for a Military Fitness Test
Six years ago at the age of 18 I applied to join the Royal Navy. I passed the initial exams and interviews but what I was most concerned about was the navy’s basic fitness test. The test consisted of a 1.5m run (to be completed in 13 min 10 sec or less), 20 push-ups and 20 sits-up and a swim test that included a 50 meter swim and treading water for 2 minutes while wearing a set of baggy overalls. I felt that the swim test was not an issue as I was a strong swimmer at that point. However …
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Physically Fit for Life Part 2: Resistance Training
In the last post, I covered the benefits of performing regular moderate intensity activity, specifically walking. As discussed in that post, walking is a form of exercise that helps to improve the first 7 factors on our list highlighting some of the most important benefits that can be attained through exercise. In this post I am going to address another type of exercise, one that can stimulate positive adaptations in the remaining 9 factors for being Physically Fit for Life, namely: Muscle tissue mass Strength, across your entire muscular system Bone mass density and the strength and integrity of your joints, …
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First Workout of the Year
I just recently had my first formal workout of the New Year… on January 24th to be exact. This is likely a little later on in the year than many of you, and certainly later than the New Year Resolutioners, who have been populating the gyms during the early weeks of 2015. From Christmas up till January 23rd, I had only engaged in physical activities for fun and/or relaxation: daily walks and a bicycle ride once or twice a week. I find those activities fun or relaxing, they refresh me physically and mentally, and in the case of cycling I …
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A High Intensity Workout with James Steele
In the workout that follows, you will see James performing a High Intensity Workout. It is worthy of note that this was the first time that James trained on this equipment, therefore the loads for the exercises were kept somewhat conservative, hence the length of the sets. This is particularly true of the leg press because James was also recovering from a sacroiliac joint injury at the time of this workout. With that said, here follows a detailed breakdown of James’ workout. The first exercise James performs is a Lower Back movement. The primary targeted muscles are those of the …
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Sean’s High Intensity Workout Explained
In the HIT workout that follows you will see Sean performing exercises from his A Routine, the workout is performed on the HITGYM AIO by David Health Solutions. And so Sean begins starting the routine with a Lower Back movement. The primary targeted muscles are those of the lumbar and thoracic spine. Note Sean takes his time in starting the movement, this is important as we are aiming to take 4 seconds or more for the weight to come off the stack. It is especially important with regards to the lower back (but also with all other exercises) to keep …
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