Archive for the Fitness Category
Dryland Resistance Training
Swim specific
Seated Row
I truly believe swimming is one of the best forms of exercise available. You get a terrific all round work out that places demands on the majority of muscles as well as your cardiovascular system. It provides conditioning and weight loss opportunities with a reduced risk of injury.
Having stated the above we need to recognise that swimming occurs in a low gravity environment. It is therefore a good idea to supplement your swimming with dryland conditioning. Dryland training can provide additional results including improved strength, flexibility and further cardiovascular improvement as well as strengthening muscles used in swimming. This last point can improve our overall swimming as well as help further reduce the risk of injury to major muscle groups used when swimming.
Let me introduce you to one of my favourite pieces of dryland swimming equipment; the resistance band. It is terrific because it is cheap, easily portable and so so versatile. With resistance bands you can complete resistance training, swimming specific workouts, cardio workouts, flexibility, stabilising exercises or a combination of any of these focuses. You can use resistance bands in your home, at the beach, park, pool or backyard. Do not under estimate the benefits dryland training can have on your swimming performance.
For more information on resistance band training, where to purchase, programs and progression contact me at dan@fitandabel.com
Aquasphere Kayenne goggle review
Yesterday was my first time using the Aquasphere Kayenne goggles, talk about a terrific experience. You know when you want to buy a new pair of jeans how difficult it can be? You try on 100 pair but only 1 fits well and when you find that pair… brilliant! (Especially when you’re are a guy and don’t like shopping around) Well the Kayenne goggles were that 1 in 100 experience for me. I hate having to set up goggles to get them comfortable. One small easy adjustment to the Kayennes was all it took and they just felt so comfortable, the visibility was superb and they still provided a great streamline. I had a terrific open water swim on the Greek Islands today thanks to these goggles. They are still definitely an open water or triathlon goggle but I would recommend these to both a beginner and the more serious competitor. I will be using Kayenne in the open water this summer – get a pair and try them for yourselves! Happy swimming, Dan
Consistency is the key!
Let me describe a scenario to you;
Tuesday:
An 11am 30 minute meeting turns into a 2 hour marathon. No time
for the planned lunch time swim, but you manage a quick break for lunch.
The afternoon is a nightmare catching up on the backlog of work from the
morning. You get out of work at 7.30pm. You have had a tiring day you need
to get home to try and say a quick hello to the kids before they go to bed.
There will be no swimming today.
Thursday:
It has been a long week; the weekend is now in sight. You feel a bit
sleepy as you travel to work. On arriving at work you realise you have the work
notes you needed to read over last night but have forgotten your workout gear.
“Not to worry” you tell yourself, “it is almost the end of the week, I can sleep in
Saturday morning and then make up for the workouts I have missed during the
week”
Saturday: You sleep in, have a family breakfast and then head
to the gym, you complete 30 minutes of strength training, followed by
a one mile swim. You feel terrific, it is great to finally get a good workout
and you don’t have to rush it. You feel so great in fact you even do a 45
minute bike ride to finish up.
Sunday: You wake up feeling pretty sore, the body
aches. No training today! Back into the training on Monday for sure!
I bet there are many of you out there for who the above fictional
scenario rings true. We start out the week with all the best of intentions but
the clamour of everyday life destroys any semblance of routine for your fitness
program. The problem is although the Saturday morning exercise might be fun
and provide good stress relief you won’t get much more benefit. The body will
see it as a one off event. It will help you recover but any adaption, or increased
fitness, will be minimal.
A different way to approach the week would be to have a plan of
when, where and how much exercise you want to do, and then modify
the plan as work and family commitments eat into your workout time.
Consistency is the key. You are far better getting in four 30 minute
workouts during the week than a single 2 hour session on Saturday morning.
I will explain it using an analogy; sleep. We all have a certain amount
of hours of sleep we like to get in a night. When life gets busy we miss
out on that sleep, but we still make sure we get at least some each night.
You can easily imagine if you put off sleep each night and planned to make
it all up on the weekend – you would be in serious trouble. The good thing
about exercise is you need far less of it than you do sleep which makes it
easier to be flexible.
Keep in mind this philosophy; ‘some is better than none at all’.
I am saying even 15 minutes of cardiovascular exercise is better than
missing the workout entirely. By working hard to get at least 30 minutes of
exercise, 3 to 4 times a week you can make enormous improvements in your
well-being, physical composition, your energy levels and general health.
Don’t be the one to fall into the trap of leaving it all to the weekend.
Consistency is the key!
Dan
New toy comes out to play…
There are two distinct groups out there, those that love to work out and those that don’t. Both groups actually fall under one easy umbrella – those that Need to workout! What do I say this? No matter what the marketing guru’s of the world might tell you through television, magazines and the great world web there are no short cuts to good health, energy and mobility. The good news is maintaining or improving your current health status is not difficult. There will always be two prime categories you need to focus on to be successful, they are movement (read into this word fitness, cardio, mobility etc) and nutrition. It is the movement part of the equation I want to touch on today. I love moving and getting active and my list of activities, walking, climbing, biking, swimming, exercise in the park etc etc is long. One of the biggest barriers to getting active and remaining active is boredom! The biggest mistake people make is finding an activity they love and then repeating it until all the fun is gone. One of the best parts of my job is keeping people enthused about exercise. I like to achieve this by continually changing what we do, this provides stimulation not only for the body (which is how we keep acheiving results) but also for the mind. This is how I ensure fun in each workout, which defeats boredom and ensures ongoing high levels of motivation. You’ll see plenty of different equipment used to help us get active these days, one of my new toys is a 40ft long rope we have been throwing around in the park over here at SW6, London the last couple of weeks. Talk about FUN, talk about engaging so many different muscles groups! Once again boredom levels Low, Motivation HIGH. That is what it is all about. What do you think of the new toy? Let me know. Dan
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