If you think you know your body, think again. 7 minute read.

I don't have a history of being an elite athlete, although I've done my fair share of pretty crazy stuff in sports and exercise. I haven't lost 10 stone in weight and transformed myself from fat to fit, I've always been lean and had a bit of muscle. I've never done an Iron-man triathlon event or a tough mudder even! These are things that you will find many successful Personal Trainers having done and people very much like that, a history of having practiced what they preach. You're more likely to pick a PT because of a link with what you want to achieve, that's just human nature in that it's how our brains work, in association.

When I was in my early 20's I was enjoying life, I exercised a lot, everyday for around 2-4 hours, I worked 50 hour weeks and partied all weekend and maybe hit the gym too. This I did for several years and throughout this time I soldiered on through the whole time with back pain. I had the ability to do pretty much whatever I wanted in sport and exercise and do it well but I never got away with it, the pain would get me every time.

I had learned a lot in this time about my body and about exercise, so much that I was acting as a Personal Trainer before even being qualified, I knew this was what I wanted to do for a living. I tried many things to strengthen up and get rid of the issues that led to pain. I did all sorts of therapies and saw many professionals, one of whom told me that I just had to live with it. The physios got me on 'in'stability balls doing core, the chiros crunched and tweaked my spine, the osteos said I was mostly fine, the masseurs pressed trigger points until I cried in more pain, the yogis got me doing the downward dog and twisting me this way and that, so on and so forth.

I knew there was an answer for me and I would keep searching and learning more about the human body and indeed my own body to help myself. The fact was that even though after over a decade exercising regularly, completing a degree in health and fitness and years in the fitness industry I still didn't know my own body, if you think you know your own body, think again, sometimes you will but sometimes it works in peculiar ways. 

There's a lot that you will know of course but also so much going on that we can't sense. Your body is wonderful, it's main purpose is to be able to carry on regardless. You will mostly just get used to how you are and adapt, that adaptation is what gets me excited the most about the body and it's why we can change an unfit person into an elite level athlete, you will get better at the things that you consistently do.

As a PT I knew there were many things I needed to know about my clients but couldn't quite put it all together. I picked up some bits of information from various sources but none had put it all together in a way that was really usable. I went to a fitness convention and booked in to see the talks given by a number of the worlds leaders in their fields to see if anyone could shed more light on the missing links I was looking for. I saw all the guru's that year: Greg Roskopf, Charles Poliquin, Douglas Brooks, Chuck Wolfe and more, all offering great practical approaches but all falling shy of what I was after.

Martin Haines was the most enlightening there for me, presenting his very own Intelligent Training System for the first time to an audience of fit pros. The ITS was a series of tests for the whole body, not reactive and all unassuming, addressing things in a systematic order and applying scientific support from research throughout. I bought into the course and attended the very first one in Bristol. The day after the course I went cycling and had no pain, from then I knew it was possible to release the issues from my tissues but as the course day was not specifically aimed at me I had no idea of exactly what I had done that had helped. I was unable to recreate this release until a number of years later on a future course. I just carried on as ever with pain and discomfort. In the meantime I helped a number of people get fitter and feel better about their bodies but mine was still struggling with daily pain and under performing in my sports and exercise. In fact my back 'went' quite badly twice and enough was enough, time to get back to see Martin, now joined by Rachel, to find some answers.

The ITS had changed and evolved over this time and had in fact been significantly improved and expanded to another level now called Biomechanics Coaching. It wasn't long and I had no pain after doing the exercises and was smashing myself in exercise with a new body like nothing had ever been a problem. I know perhaps best of all that the reason why I have 'the buy in' for this system is because it's provided my solution and continues to provide a solution if I should neglect my posture too much for too long. It's not everyone's fix to cure all ills, it goes a long way towards it and if it was adhered to by all for life then who knows what might be possible in reducing pain/injury and increasing performance.

If you'd like me to guide you with making lasting improvements with your physical self then please do contact me via email for a consultation session.

Happy New Fitness Year

Hi

A Happy New Year to all. 

This time of year is the time for many to embark on a push in the right direction for health and well-being. So I am compelled to write some New Years resolution tips but that seems so cliche. I will simply encourage you with a scientifically proven psychological nugget that enables the most significant lifetime results.

The overall way to create a successful behaviour change model for yourself.

There are two factors that affect behaviour change:

• Restraining forces
• Driving forces

If you want to achieve change in behaviour the way to do it is to diminish the restraining forces.

Remove the barriers to better behaviour

We all have a natural momentum as deep down below we do actually want to be healthful throughout life and to die instantly at a ripe old age without issue. Well most of us do.

An example that is common is the surge in gym membership at this time of year. It's an example of using a driving force to change behaviour that has a limited positive effect on those who utilise it. I don't know of a single person who needs a gym membership to make improvements in health and fitness. Of course there might be those who have limitations in knowledge for which exercises to do and seek a professional programme, or those who wouldn't exercise outdoors throughout winter, or wouldn't exercise on their own and seek a group course etc. For these groups this intervention might be a positive one as it's removing a restraining force.

Human psychology will though over time create a number of hurdles due to one factor; 

Human beings consistently make decisions that undermine their own long-term well-being - That's a fact. The things that we do in-line with this will change over our lifetime for different reasons such as: mental development, education, health challenges etc, but generally this holds true.

Q. Why? 

Ans. Instant GRATIFICATION.

It's the way we're wired. Gratification is instant and that's a lot more appealing to us seeing as we are guided in our decision making by our hormones. Unless of course the greatest appeal and gratification comes from a deeper seated longer-term vision for a particular outcome that is more important.

So here's the key to overcoming instant gratification.

• Develop a vision for your long-term future
• Make a path towards it that is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time oriented)
• Make small changes on occasion over a long time so that they may become habitual 

The next step for you, with this knowledge is to #GETEXCITED for the future as you want it.

For happiness and healthfulness 

Retul Specialized Bike Fit

My Bike Fit at The Bike Shed

with Bill.

Why Body Geometry Fit?

The Lab

"The Body Geometry system is the only one designed to get you into an optimum active riding position because it considers the unique connection between your body and bike. Getting it right will help you climb faster, descend more confidently and ride with less fatigue". 

The advertising YouTube video of the fit can be seen here.

First a bit of my background to put forward the case for who would benefit from having a professional bike fit of this level.

My history of bikes is predominantly in light freeride and xc mtb with plenty of descending downhill on hardcore tracks in Tavistock, Haldon cafe side, Cann, Canonteign etc here in Devon. I used to do this and all the while suffering, properly suffering, with a back issue. This wasn't due to cycling geometry, might have been due to a cycling crash I had once but not the actual fit of the bikes I was riding. The poor fitting of the bikes I was riding certainly wouldn't have made it any better as I know that a number of improvements could have been made. I mostly enjoyed the freedom from pain, the adrenaline and speed descending and taking the pressure off my back going up by pushing, high gear or just taking the pain anyway. So I skirted the issue of a properly fitting bike all the while trying to strengthen my muscles with typical physio and Personal Training approaches.

The good old mtb days on a badly fitted bike

Moving on a few years I pretty much fixed my own back by learning and using the Biomechanics Coach method and general movement approaches with my own personal training and massage knowledge. It's mostly relaxing/strengthening specific muscles, mobilizing joints and ensuring the main nerves are happy. One main take home from this - A happy muscle is a stronger muscle than an unhappy one but it takes a special sort of view to see which ones are 'unhappy' and what's required to 'release' them from their dysfunctional state.

Elite Sports Performance Expo London

Then just over a year ago as my back was now feeling great after 20 years of pain, I took up road riding proper to challenge my endurance more and keep the crash injuries down but still spend time on a bike. I got the roadie bug on completing the 100mi Nello in a respectable 6:33 total although it's #notarace, it was a great personal challenge.

After spending several months just riding regularly I went and started with Deliveroo on the bike to get paid to ride and to pay for all of my cycling related stuff and more. Referral code 59235 for £50 just to start, if you're interested in learning more hit me up. It fits nicely around family and my Personal Training work so it has worked out very well for me.

I went in to learning more about bike fitting through the book BIKE FIT by Phil Burt and various YouTube videos. I have quite a background in mechanical and aerospace engineering and Biomechanics/Sports Injuries with human body assessments etc so it seems like I could do a pretty good job for myself, which I think I did, to a point.

The embarrassing bit was turning up to the Bike Fit with my saddle slid all the way back. I didn't intentionally put it there, I found it there when I said to Bill, "I've been shifting my saddle as far forward as it'll go but I still find myself shifting forwards" only to then see it as far back as it'd go! Slide back over time?! Anyhow...

On initial assessment with Bill I expressed my major concerns were with a hip issue, foot/undercarriage numbness on long hard rides. My ultimate questions were about the saddle height to bar drop for aero/comfort and the type of saddle and which was best for me. Cleat width position for best knee tracking and efficient power was also something I had thoughts about. I would really like to ensure that cycling would not be 'poking' my current issues to enable full recovery while continuing to ride for work and leisure.

It was apparent that Bill has learnt his skills from some very professional people over in California and he carries this through with exceptional customer service skills and a great degree of knowledge on the task at hand. I was able to talk with him on a professional level. His insightfulness and understanding of the holistic approach and of philosophy within this area was refreshing while maintaining his role within the task at hand. He exhibited a good level of openness to the contribution and worth of other professionals within the physical fields with the end goal of overall performance enhancement of the rider. So it's not just about up selling saddles, bars, cleats, shoes and insoles but to provide the correct service to the client within the remit of the bike fit.

You get your bike digitally recreated so they know the exact positions you already have and then the test bike made to that same position. Great to see some of the same tools and tech that's used in aerospace engineering being used to put my bike into the right positions for my body.

I enjoyed having someone else perform a series of insightful assessments on me for a change and I was able to glean more insightful information from these about my own body and obviously Bill was able to use this information on a number of levels that I would not have done myself as well as towards the ultimate goal of performance and comfort on the bike for serious riding.

Some testing tools

We changed the position of my cleats, it's so hard to position them symmetrically without this tool. The right one was 4mm more medial than the left which could be why I have started developing pressure discomfort in the forefoot little toe side Interossei muscles. This could be magnified because that foot in particular has the propensity to supinate and a position more inverted therefore overloading the outside foot side. We discussed shoe inserts but I'm personally not ready for that as there are other considerations to be dealt with first, like the new cleat position, which feels like the sole is now more even across the forefoot and coming more off the ball as it's supposed to.

Quite different positions despite my own best efforts

The ride analysis was the next stage in the fit and indeed the next level that just isn't possible without access to this equipment.  We talked much about the data Bill was seeing and how I was riding so he could actually tell me when I had finished relaxing into the ride so the data was without errors due to tension held in muscles about the different joints. It definitely got me thinking more on personally using other performance testing methods in different fit positions but we'll leave that for next time.

All wired up

This bike was set exactly as my own was set, handlebars, levers, cleats, saddle and geometry. Then Bill measured position and movement then started to make calculated adjustments while on the bike. We changed the seat for one that actually fits my butt, that looks much fatter here...

It helps if your sit bones are actually in the right place

Then more minor tweaks towards what became the perfect fit. Bill then did the grand job of changing my bike to the same positions as this bikes finished article. The feel of it now is that I sit in the bike not on it, something widely noted. Because of the new seat and that my sit bones are now on the seat and there's an anatomical cut out in it there's a lot less pressure on that area which will hopefully change how I feel on my next 50+ Hard ride. I've only done a quick 5mi round the block and 30mi Deliveroo last night so far.

Even when I did have the seat forwards in this position (before it 'slid' back or whatever) this bike has never felt so good with so much power endurance. I'm very happy about the cleat rotation and width position on the right foot. Also reassured that the amount of bar drop (saddle to hoods) and reach in the drops is as aero as I can comfortably maintain without undue effect for the hips and back as seen in the flexibility testing, apparently it's a lot! (Good news for my future racing career, lol). That's testament to the amount of work I've put into my own intrinsic biomechanics guided by Biomechanics Coaching.

In summary - I've seen an awful lot of awful fit positions in my limited time, sometimes you don't even need knowledge to see that someone riding down the road looks... funny! Some people would have been able to see from my leg extension that my saddle was on the cusp of being way too high. It would've been impossible to tell that I was shifting way too far forwards on the saddle to get my knee over the pedal for power and efficiency and that this was putting too much pressure on the soft tissues connecting with the seat. Even after looking at my cleats with my engineers eye and feeling the pressure on the sole of my foot I could not get them in the same place without the correct tool for the job. I know I have significant flexibility but because of this it's hard to tell what is too much, I just keep going! Some people are unaware of their own body on the inside (apart from pain and even that's a debate due to current findings!) so they too would not have a lot to go on.
I have now learned another level of Bike Fit, as I like to say 'Peeled another layer off the onion', there are may recreational riders with a deeper understanding than I and we see that even they can benefit from these tools facilitated by a good 'mechanic' in line with other specific professionals from other fields. I will be following up with Bill in a month and will be repeating the full fit with new bikes and other disciplines in the future.

Cost of the Bike Fit - £200
Cost of the saddle - £80
Value to me - £Priceless

Click the link for more details: http://www.bikesheduk.com/bike-fit

Damn forgot chain in the big ring for photos!

Is your fitness slacking too? I've got a confession to make.

Is your fitness slacking too? I've got a confession to make.

So I went for a New Year’s Day surf and was hugely disappointed in my own ability to surf and manage in the tricky conditions. You see I've been a full time surfer for around 15 years and have prided myself for being able to go out in pretty much anything the sea around the UK can whip up. Not now though, I struggled and just about survived after a late and slightly boozy night (NYE) with a very early trip to the beach and I left the water after only 30 minutes instead of the usual 2-3 or more hours.

You see we've had baby Nina, now 5 months old, and I'm using this as an excuse for the state of my fitness. It is just an excuse of course, I've had plenty more opportunities to workout than I've actually used and now I've paid the price with what I would say is the worst level of fitness since I was in my mid-teens. A pretty bad example of a PT for certain.

I have used quite a lot of my free time to treat my own physical issues with the Biomechanics Coaching process and massage therapy methods. I do feel so much better now in myself and in my workouts than I have after suffering a chronic low back pain issue for 20 years and having none of the other professionals or methods have any similar level of effect.

So now I've made a good start to correcting my asymmetries, dysfunctions and weakness’ I can build my fitness again to an excellent level with less of the recurring injuries and limitations. Despite this I see no reason to allow my fitness to drop to such a degree. There are many ways to skirt around the issues I had with correctly targeted exercises as I would do with my own PT clients.

So my confession, I let myself slip, didn’t take my own medicine, was a hypocrite at worst and a fraud at best. I’ve got slower, weaker, fatter and everything in between. Over the festive season I hit the booze, the sugar and refined junk and did very little exercise. I’m kind of ok with allowing myself to do that in a no holds barred way for a while but now I’m over it. So I am now like many others at this time of year, for the first time in my adult life I’m going to have to make an effort. Before it was just what I did, how I was, my lifestyle revolved around sport, exercise and eating very well so it was no effort just to maintain a high level of fitness.

I hope I have learnt from this time and experience, I certainly don’t enjoy having such a limiting level of fitness and allowing my health to suffer like this. It takes a situation such as this for the level of importance for a change to be realized and take hold. Out if the two things we know to be most valuable in making such lifestyle changes; importance for, and confidence to be able to, I know that I have both now in high levels so it’s going to happen for me. As a PT I’m excited to find out where other people are at with these as the key motivation to a successful outcome for the struggling client often lays within these:

How important is it that you make a change?

How confident are you that you can make that change?

 Neil ERIKSEN BSc Health & Fitness – Personal Trainer, Biomechanics Coach, Massage Therapist

If you have ever stretched, why?

In fitness we know certain things like if you run more you get better at it, the same for all movements. If you lift weights you will traditionally get stronger or bigger and maybe even leaner, if you have the right diet to support those changes. But what about stretching? Well it's in the name isn't it, when you stretch something it gets longer. So the mental shortcut that we all go through is that when we stretch our muscles they get longer, it happens with other things so it must be true. Stretching has been the mainstay of fitness and therapy for decades, to prevent 'short' and 'tight' muscles we have stretched them. But does it work to lengthen your muscles?

It's understandable that people without specific knowledge would adhere to the general guidelines provided by people who obviously know about these things. If they say that after a workout we should stretch all of the major muscles used in the workout for around 15 seconds for a maintenance stretch then you would of course do it. My issue with this is that it's just not very personal and a prescription such as total body stretching can take around 10-15 minutes to complete, after every workout that could be around an hour a week or a couple of days a year. With time being a constant issue for many, time saving may help more people get the much needed exercise. Also, many have spent significant time stretching without significant improvements in the length of the muscle and subsequent range at the associated joint i.e. tight hamstrings seen in hip flexion, so stretching doesn't always stretch, fact, why not?

The body is complex, there are any number of reasons why one would have a tight muscle, if the reason is not to do with an unaccustomed sensory experience of the stretch feeling then what is it? The answer lies in the relationship of that muscle with the rest of the body, indeed the first place to look might be around the local region but this is commonly not the case. If stretching the hamstring as an example over 8 weeks doesn't work then I'd stop doing it and look elsewhere, in my experience, your best bet is a Biomechanics Coach but it all depends on the experience and knowledge of the specific professional.   

So with all of the knowledge that I have accrued over the years my advice would follow thus:

1. Follow a programme of exercise that maintains structural balance and you will reduce the need to correct posture with stretching or other interventions.

2. Prevent static postures for extended periods of time to reduce the need to correct faulty movement and postural issues gained from them.

3. Use massage techniques such as foam rolling and self massage to help maintain natural viscoelastic properties of tissues and work out old issues.

4. Avoid injuries from progressing too quickly in exercise and vary activities to reduce overuse injuries, get injuries seen to as soon as they present.  

5. Maintain a healthy diet and level of hydration.

6. Reduce stressful situations and utilize methods such as deep breathing and meditation to combat it if you become stressed.

7. Get the rest your body requires.

8. If a muscle or movement feels like it needs stretching then by all means do so. It might not need stretching, it might need the opposite or something else entirely. Seek further advice from an adequately qualified professional on the correct approach to treat an issue if there is no change. Be prepared that this may take time to assess and develop a strategy for you.

To review, stretching probably shouldn't be called stretching but it is, off the top of my head I can't think of a better single name. Personally I would attempt to decide what the required outcome is and call the movement something to do with that. Muscular Sensory Reprogramming MSR springs to mind for traditional use of stretching. So generally in the absence of better advice I'd carry on with your stretching as you wish, if your body is trying to tell you something via pain, discomfort or obvious movement issue then you should pay attention and have a professional investigate. 

Here's a quote from an incredibly enlightening article I have finally read.

"Traditionally, rehabilitation literature has attributed increases in muscle extensibility observed after stretching to a mechanical increase in muscle length. A growing body of research refutes these mechanical theories, suggesting instead that in subjects who are asymptomatic, increases in muscle extensibility observed immediately after a single stretching session and after short-term (3- to 8-week) stretching regimens are predominantly due to modification in subjects' sensation. This research brings to light the importance of using sensory endpoints when assessing muscle extensibility, the value of multidimensional muscle length assessment, and the need for basic research in this field. Multidimensional evaluation of muscle length can lead to a more comprehensive and effective approach to addressing disorders of muscle length and has application in developing fitness guidelines".

Increasing Muscle Extensibility: A Matter of Increasing Length or Modifying Sensation?

Cynthia Holzman Weppler and 

S. Peter Magnusson. Physical Therapy. 2010

Are you getting it in the morning?

If this is your usual though process in the morning then perhaps you should read on..."Cereal, milk, eat, door" or perhaps "toast, butter, door".

Protein intake at breakfast should be given more consideration. This is especially true as the older we get the less we can synthesize dietary amino acids (net protein utilisation) and the more we need to retain muscle mass to reduce the effects of muscle loss with age (sarcopenia at 3-5% per decade after the age of 30). Where participating in regular physical exercise the requirement increases to enable adaptations that promote fitness. And you should be participating in regular physical exercise.

After an overnight sleep induced fast your available protein pool (nitrogen balance) will be in a depleted state, meaning that one of the first stages of malnutrition - catabolism (muscle and lean tissue breakdown) - will have started and the anabolic (muscle regeneration or building) process can not continue. For this reason a regular protein intake in line with your nutritional requirements at intervals of 3-4 hours is recommended for strength and conditioning adaptations to occur.  Grass fed beef, nuts, free range eggs, fish, free range chicken etc make for appropriate breakfast choices to support lean tissue health.

Simply having a processed cereal and/or toast is a recipe for simply surviving not thriving, the milk, butter and fortified products will just about save you from complete malnutrition but this is a weak choice for sustained health over a lifetime. Many people also turn to healthy juices and smoothies for a quick breakfast, there are too many permutations to vilify juices and smoothies but they aren't all created equal. Adding oils, fats, protein, fibre etc will generally lead to sustained energy whereas omitting these things will do just the opposite. Blood glucose from sugar and insulin spikes with troughs do not set you up for sustained energy throughout the day and they generally lead to increased body fat and reduced lean muscle.

I recommend variety for breakfast, by all means have your usual choices but break it up a bit and add in protein options with reduced sugars and carbohydrates, unless of course you're going to be using it for exercise in the next couple of hours.

Personal Training - Jack Of All Trades Master Of Personal Training

What I do for a living, it's like this... "personal trainers are now expected to [also be] be salespeople, psychologists, nutritionists, post-rehabilitation specialists, and motivational speakers". I'd add in: marketing pro, web designer, writer, secretary, PA yadda yadda yadda. All to be able to provide people with health and fitness advice and support. Now I find I have to learn more about the Biopsychosocial model of pain to learn how to precisely talk to people so that I don't compound any issues that they might have, i.e. "long-term" not "chronic".

Am I going too deep into aspects of the human body that don't concern me? I don't think so, to provide a better service to my clients without asking them to go to other professionals all the time for the things that I think require some attention, I need to at least know that things exist, then at least know in part how to deal with them, investigate further or then refer on to the specific professional who CAN deal with the issue. Then how do you know which professional, not just is it Physio, Chiro, Osteo, Bowen..... there are differences between practitioners knowledge base and experience.

Most say NHS professionals should be the first port of call to refer to but then most say that the NHS has never really helped them or has helped but with the more severe treatments like surgery and drugs before even trying the basic methods first like correcting diet and exercise. Do they even know? It would seem on the surface that they don't, but then that's dependent on the individual, some do and some don't. Every time I or a client speaks to a Doctor, Specialist or Surgeon they wholeheartedly agree with the soft methods first but actually they don't really do them with enough attention.

I think there's a reason the NHS would rather take to the quick fix methods such as surgery and drugs, I think it's actually driven by people themselves. The patients themselves drive this behavior because corrective methods such as changing diet or adhering to a consistent exercise programme require great effort and where you are not paying for the service you are far less likely to put in the effort, therefore you require the method that works and will require the least effort possible.

So to bring it back round, I don't know about surgery and I don't know about pharmaceutical drugs but apart from that I do need to know a great deal about everything else to be able to promote and safely provide exercises to people who require more help to perform better and if I must know about sales and marketing, nutrition, psychology etc to be able to help more people with a holistic approach to performance then so be it, it's good to be busy.

If you want better outcomes for yourself in health and fitness then in my experience you really need to A. Pay for it or B. Really really want it. I work with clients that don't pay for my services and clients that do and this trend runs through everyone. Those that pay or have a high level of importance for the change will do what I tell them to and generally get good outcomes, otherwise they don't and nothing changes. One or the other. An that leads me nicely onto philosophy, but that's for another day.

Rant over!

Do we need prehab? 'Therapy' before injury.

Here's something that seems to be a bit contentious in the Sports Physio world, or at least with one that I have met. This Physio seems to think that colleagues would follow the same belief that trying to predict someone's chance of injury and "addressing problems before they even exist" has the potential to in itself cause a problem.

What was being referred to is the connection that quite rightly exists between the muscles/structures and the control systems in and under conscious or subconscious control. There is the possibility that through the knowledge that one has an existing issue which has the potential to cause injury or excessive wear and tear over time that the issue could be worsened or another one arise in its place.

So is a Body MOT, a prehab intervention to do just this necessarily a bad thing? Well this Sports Physio certainly thought so and wouldn't like to align business with mine to help individuals avoid injury or aid recovery with added prevention of future recurrence. I wouldn't like to suggest that as the role of a sports physio is primarily to aid recovery of injury after it has occurred and that as many injuries are of an overuse intrinsic biomechanical nature that their prevention in the first place could well affect business therefore being counter productive.

Actually I would love to say that. There are a number of activities that a person probably shouldn't do if they wish to avoid injury and move forwards in their goals. Knowing what those may be isn't an exact science at all. The question when thinking about exercise or activities: Does this person have a tolerance to support this activity?

How would we know the answer to this? Practically, a survey would start to reveal answers that could be interpreted by a professional with experience. The most basic example could be: This person wants to run 5km, Have they run before and if so have they run this distance before? That's pretty basic so to improve the accuracy of this one would go further. Some professionals would just need to view the person running to give a reasoned answer. Another way, and it's just a tool like all the others is to perform a biomechanical analysis.

Much research that now exists and the work that is being undertaken by many, does suggest that (as has always been the case) 'prevention is better than cure' and that a great degree of prevention is possible through specifically targeted pre-habilitation. It only takes a certain amount of common sense to know this but non-the-less the researchers are out there doing their thing to bring the science in and seeing supporting results.

7 Ways Towards pH Balance From Eating Greens

I was talking with a client today who understands that managing the body's pH level from the foods we eat is a potential source of better health has led me towards providing you with this list of 7 ways you can get more greens into your diet.

I not trying to 'teach granny' here but we often forget to get our 5-a-day in, fact is for various reasons it should be more like 10-12 a-day.

By their nature green vegetables promote better balance within the body through reducing the need for it to work harder trying to maintain a normal pH level. Conversely there are other foods that add more of a load towards an imbalanced pH, these are generally the foods that you already know should be largely excluded from your diet or consumed in moderation such as: fizzy drinks, refined wheat products, sweets and other sugary products and even red meats.

Where pH is concerned, the balance of a meal is evened out in the stomach as is the glycemic load (GL -  rate of sugar uptake into the blood stream) where all foods are mixed together to form chyme before passing into the intestines for further digestion. You may find that eating certain foods causes acid reflux, this is not the same as managing pH balance with alkalizing foods but as ever a healthy diet is a healthy diet and that means generally you will have less issues in the long-term.

1. Cooking - we are often limited in our choices by limitations in our repertoire. Use Google to expand on your intake of green vegetables and try out some now recipes.

2. Drink your greens - my children found delight in a spinach, kale, apple and lime juice and so will you, so if you don't already have a juicer and a blender then I recommend you get them asap and get going. Again you'll find all the recipes you need on Google.

3. Soups - I find that the best soups are the quickest. Stock and vegetables in a pot for 20 minutes then either blend whole/part or not at all.

4. Stir-fry - Again this is quick and easy, most veg require scant preparation so where speed is the essence this is perfect. When was the last time you made a stir-fry?

5. Salads - it's that time of year. When was the last time you added Kale to a salad? Most of the vegetables you cook can be eaten raw and as such impart more vital nutrients that are lost in the cooking process.

6. Omelettes - Cereal for breakfast? Unless your cereal is loaded with berries/fruits, nuts/seeds and/or you have protein on the side you're not getting a head start on the day’s good nutrition. Omelettes are a sure fire way to get quality protein/fats and be able to add in more vegetable. Again a few more minutes to make than cereal or toast but the bang for your time buck is way more.

7. Use green leafs - do you like to wrap your salad and meat in bread? Try using green leafs instead to make a wrap and experiment with different lettuces and cabbages.

So your day could look like this:

• Breakfast - Omelette with spring onions and green peppers.

• Mid-morning snack - Smoothie with banana and avocado.

• Lunch - Salad: Kale, beetroot, carrots, red onions with olive oil and lemon juice. Side of flaked tuna.

• Afternoon - Green pea soup.

• Dinner - Chicken stir fry. Broccoli, peppers, mange tout, carrots, red onion.

How many fruit and vegetables 'A-Day' in this sample day? 10-12 portions depending on portion sizes.

Basically this is the sort of diet we should all aim for on a daily basis to promote good health. The constituent parts are all there and depending on how much protein you use in portions you should be getting around your intake to support muscle maintenance in-line with a basic strength training plan. Your carbohydrates will be mostly slow release and of high quality for greater nutritional value to support a leaner body. Your fat intake will be high quality to support proper cellular metabolism and functioning. Your fiber intake will be amazing for a healthier digestive system and all sorts of other stuff too.  

Give it a go and then expand on your repertoire with a little help from Google.

Is your exercise programme effective?

I’m inspired to write this because of the number of clients I’ve helped as a Personal Trainer, who are doing prescribed exercises that may not be the most efficient at getting them towards their goals. Often the way in which they are being done becomes largely a waste of time. So I’m going to help you and give you some ideas to question what you’re doing.

Let’s take the example of a programme supplied by a gym to a new client 6 months ago because this is common. At the end I’ll sum it all up.

The client hasn’t progressed the workout in reps and weight - Why not? “Because the trainer told me to do 15 reps x 4 sets of each exercise”. What about increasing the weight? “Nope, they didn’t say anything about how to do that”.

Static stretching before exercise - Did the trainer assess you for the need to do static stretching on specific muscle groups? “Nope”. Then how do they know that you need to try to increase the ‘length’ of the structures in between that joint and that joint?

Cardio before a strength workout - Do you end up quite tired after doing the cardio? “Yes”. Then why?

Exercises for individual muscles i.e. biceps - Do you need to rehabilitate, pre-habilitate, improve performance in an associated exercise, address structural balance or body-build a specific area for a comp? “Nope”. Then why?

A generic cardio session after a specific weights workout – Why? Didn’t your weights workout tire you out enough?

There are no stand-alone sessions based around the endurance aerobic activity that is a major goal, distance running, when there is time available for it. – Why?

Simply put, a basic workout should go like this: Total body non-specific warm-up, pre-habilitation exercises targeted at helping the body move properly, warm-up with specific movements and increasing intensity geared towards the primary exercises, primary and other supporting exercises, relative cool-down and general static stretching.

If you must put in a more aerobic based exercise, generally you should do it after the main strengthening exercises. There are times when you would do it before or during other exercises, preferably in a separate session entirely.

There are many variations and reasons why your programme would be structured in a certain way, it's just important to understand the reason why you're doing it or at least for there to be a supported reason that helps you towards your goals in the most effective and efficient way.

So this client and many others have a really long programme that can be condensed, chopped, refined, progressed and upgraded. In this case keeping the number of sessions per week in the gym and more outdoors but reducing the time by half and increasing the effectiveness many times over. Win, win.

I hope that this helps you to think more critically and to give you some ideas about what you’re doing in the gym or at home. Admittedly it’s not easy giving someone you have just met a full exercise prescription for the next 6 months in just one hour. I recommend that gym instructors keep it simple and general then they can spend more time on ensuring that the client understands how to progress properly, after all without making things harder over time there will be no improvement in fitness. Gyms also need to give more time to members for support

Next blog article – When to static stretch before exercise.

Do You Have A Work-Life Balance

Does fitness just complicate matters for you? So much so that it’s not something you contemplate doing on a daily basis or do you find that it actually helps you to manage the rest of your life with more efficiency? Time or the lack of it is a common barrier to exercise but what if the time you invest in a regular routine of fresh air and exercise that is “planned, repetitive, structured and purposive” actually paid back more than it cost, surely that would be a winning deal.

In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review on just that topic the authors found that in those who undertook regular physical exercise professionals were able to better manage their work and life balance with less conflict than those who didn't participate in regular exercise. I think the word ‘conflict’ is an incredibly powerful word to use for describing what happens when the natural and peaceful flow of life is disrupted.

We know what happens to the body in real life conflict: stress hormones - cortisol, fight or flight mechanisms – adrenalin, and what happens with these is that homeostasis (the natural balance of simply being) is disrupted. As Shawn Talbott PhD. says in his book ‘The Cortisol Connection – why stress makes you fat and ruins your health and what you can do about it’, “a chronic stress response, such as the one we mount every day when faced with deadlines, money concerns, traffic, family concerns, irritating coworkers and other worries causes an immediate and profound change in a variety of hormones in our bodies”.   

The authors in the HBR article investigated further in order to be able to distinguish the reasons why exercise reduces conflict in work-life balance and their findings are very interesting. They found that a reduction in stress is gained from regular exercise and that this transfers to a more positive attitude and an increase in self-efficacy. In practical terms, people with high self-efficacy are more likely to feel they can take on difficult tasks and do them with less stress involved.

We all know that managing the work-life balance is generally hard and at times down-right impossible. It is at these times that it seems impossible to be able to maintain some semblance of an exercise routine. Perhaps if our perceptions and priorities changed to release some pressure with these sorts of methods before the lid blows then we would find a less health challenging time arises out of conflicting situations, as there will always be conflict.

There are a number of ways in which you can fit more exercise habits into your schedule and having the support of those who require your time is paramount. If it’s your family then being able to manage roles and responsibilities with the help of your relatives will enable you. Supplemental to this many employers are now finding that as they too benefit, having staff more capable in their work roles with less conflict from home is of benefit to the bottom line. Sometimes all it takes for a company to turn around many of its staffing issues is an open mind and leaders who are prepared to steer in the direction of a comprehensive mental and physical health plan.

So go forth and make time to exercise safe in the knowledge that when you do so you are giving to yourself and at the same time giving to those around you. As is always my advice – keep sessions short and snappy and steer clear from the long distance running, it’s just a waste of perfectly good time!

10 Ways to Reverse the Festive Season

Progression Not Perfection

So that was Christmas and its side-kick the New Year. You did the normal thing and gave yourself some time off. You indulged (although my indulgent behavior being 3 or 4 Roses, a biscuit and a glass of Port might be laughable). You went for a few walks but other than that not a lot more. Does it really need to be broken down much more than that? Can we not move on and get back to the way we were before, as in last year? In a word; No!

Although, as I say a lot, that depends on you. If the way you were before was active, healthful, and holistic in your lifestyle then yes you just need to get back to it. For the majority of people though getting back to it as you did last year just isn't going to cut it because last year wasn't good either.

I’m of course speaking generally, I’m not picking on you but as the studies demonstrate and as is also quite objectively obvious the general population is on the slippery slope towards the film ‘Wall-e’ type scenario where everybody is transported around on floating platforms due to being too lazy and overweight to walk.

The festive season and other holiday periods are by and large responsible for the health epidemic sweeping the globe (1) and indeed your fat cells, generally speaking of course. So if you have a vision of yourself in the future as you are now, even perhaps more as you were in your younger years then the time is now to do something about it. Do something before your body adapts to the way you are and really rather likes the extra supply of energy ready for a starvation event that is unlikely to ever arrive.

We’re getting pretty savvy about how to lose weight in the New Year. Mostly people answer their own questions when they ask me “what’s the best way to lose weight and tone up” followed immediately with “I suppose I should just eat less and do more”. A pretty simplistic way of putting it but essentially correct. Just add a few more personal details in there and you have a recipe for success.

My thing is to add in the few extra details for you. Main thing is that you should keep it simple, fun and above all keep it going. Consistency is key to everything in health and fitness.

Here are a few pointers to get you going in January:

1.       You've eaten a lot of sugar – Cut right back on everything that contains the stuff.
2.       You've eaten loads of bad fats – Stop, now put loads of good fats in. Think nuts, seeds, olive, coconut, fish, avocado and quality reared animal fats in moderation.
3.       Protein probably wasn't a problem over Christmas but might not have been high quality so keep up the good meats of fish, chicken, turkey and beef and cut the porkers. Hams, sausages and bacon galore isn't clever for a lean toned bod.
4.       Quit convenience foods now, really, quit it. If you make your own food at home there’ll be less of everything nasty and more of the good stuff so go easy on the added salt and sugars. Rid your cupboards of almost everything with an ingredients list with more than 3 things on it.
5.       You’re probably keen to stop boozing for at least a couple of months. Good idea all round. Drink more water, teas and pressed juices to give your body some nutrients and a break from stimulants and sugars.
6.       No doubt you've had a wheaty time with breads, pastries and wheat flour added to almost everything. Now is a good time to see how you react when you don’t have wheat. Try it, you might like it, what have you got to lose?
7.       Dairy. Hmmm. Some good and some bad. Quit that too for several weeks and see what happens.
8.             Move more in work and at home. Don’t slouch on the couch or at the desk or anywhere for that matter and expect your body to look lean and toned. Your body adapts to whatever you throw at it. Want to be a better couch potato, be my guest.
9.            Do a good variety of physical exercise and make sure it’s progressive. I thing the Physiotherapists and other ‘fix me’ professionals do well out of you all this time of year. Alternatively get someone who knows about Biomechanics to ‘prehab’ you before you go from sofa sloth to gym bunny. You've got to earn the right to display athleticism or you will probably do yourself some damage. Yep, done that before. 
10.       Sleep, stretch, massage and meditate more. Stare at screens less too. Smile at every opportunity. Live life to enjoy the rice variety of people and experiences not rich food and the variety of television shows.

Any questions? As I love nothing more than helping people feel better about themselves you can apply for a free no obligation consultation to 'fill in the details' towards your healthy vision by calling me today on 07850219927. 

Alternatively you can visit the website at www.smilefit.co.uk, 

Like the Blog then read more of my posts and save the blog to read more in the future about all sorts of health and fitness stuff. 

1. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200003233421206#ref11

Look great and have confidence: 10 things to look for in posture.

If you're going to start a health and fitness programme in the new year? Get a head start and get your body ready for more activity by balancing your muscles. Doing this will increase your fitness and reduce the chance of increasing tension followed by injury or worsening posture.

10 Postural Things (you can see) That You Should Be Able To Improve

When you have these things they perpetuate a vicious cycle therefore making them worse, even if they are a set abnormality from birth or injury there will be a degree of improvement that is possible from the aquired changes that have taken place.

Do not attempt to hold your posture, it should happen with the natural balance and tension of the muscles. Holding patterns add new issues and can normally be seen in abdominal, back and buttock dimples after a time.

Here are 10 things head to toe with just a brief note on one aspect of dysfunction:

1. Forward jutting head - Adding changes to the cervical spine and neck muscles.
2. Shoulders uneven height - Causing or caused by asymmetry throughout the body
3. Hands excessively to the front of the pelvis - Pulling the upper body forwards
4. Rounded upper back - Weakening the upper back and breathing muscles
5. Belly pooch - Losing tension in the stabilising muscles that support the low back
6. Flat back - Changing the shock absorption and disc health of the low back
7. Excessive curve in the lower back - 6. and changing the health of the spine to pelvis joints
8. Knees knocking/bowing - Wear and injury to knees plus foot, hip and low back issues
9. Flattening/falling arches - Wearing the joints of the feet plus changing knee, hip and back function
10. Big toe diverting towards 2nd toe - Showing mechanical issues with proper foot function and more.

These normally come in noticeable sets but not always.

Where do you start? 

If you have anything that is more exaggerated say in the feet or shoulder you still start by addressing the function at the pelvis as issues commonly ascend or descend from here, then you move up, the spine, shoulders, knees and feet will follow to a point. This is the Biomechanics Coaching approach and is a fundamental change in the usual methods applied by many therapists from various professions. 

Commonly therapists and trainers will address the site of issue without treating the person as a whole. In doing this the root cause is often missed and any other changes that have taken place are not addressed. We are an integrate system and should be treated as such.

So if you're going to want to improve posture in the upper body you will want to know more about the foundations of the upper body first, fix your pelvis and move on up then down finally to the knees and feet.

After that strengthen your body with 'core' exercises to the point where you are strong enough to cope with the task your life throws at you then train your body to be able to complete the tasks your life throws at you and then you'll truly have great posture.

Cool huh.

Keep in touch with my YouTube channel at 'Smile Fitness Exeter' for some cool tests and simple exercises that you can do about the body.

Smile Fitness Website