How to: flip a tyre

Tyre flipping is a great muscle building, fat burning and strength building conditioning tool. It's tough work, but great fun at the same time. It's often performed incorrectly, and a sure way to put your back out! Here's my quick step by step guide teaching you how to perform it correctly.


Step 1: start position. Pointers here are low hips. Do not attempt to pick the tyre up with your biceps as a tear can easily result. Think about trying to drive forward through the tyre as you make the initial launch.

Step 2: triple extension phase after the hip drive

Step 3: next up comes the transition phase with a powerful knee drive. Keep thinking about driving forward through the tyre.

Step 4: next is the catch position. You need to make sure you catch the tyre with your arms bent, as this leads onto the next phase.

Step 5: last but least, you finish the movement with a powerful arm drive. This should see the tyre fall  on to the other side. Start from step 1 and repeat for reps, distance, time etc.

Don't be the gym dropout

It's that time of the year! The New Years resolution gym members flock to the gym only to drop out by February, March if they're lucky.

There's probably many reasons why they drop out, but most commonly it's because they don't set goals! Setting goals will keep you focused and you'll be more likely to achieve them.

Here's what I want you to do right now...

Grab a pen and paper (writing the goals makes it more personal). I want you to write down 3 goals.

The first is one you want to achieve over the year, this is your long term goal.
The second is one you want to achieve in 6 months, this is medium term.
Thirdly, this goal should be achieved in 3 months, this is your short term goal.

Each of these goals should be "smart" and has to abide by these rules...

S- specific
M- measurable
A- achievable
R- realistic
T- time bound

An example of a SMART short term 3 month goal could be:

"I will lose 5kg of weight by 1st April 2014"

Once you've done this you can go ahead and break this goal down further. How am I going to achieve this? What do I need to do? Answers could be - exercise at the gym 3 times a week. Take 10,000 steps a day. drink at least 3l of water per day consecutively for 3 months. Eat breakfast to boost my metabolism etc.

Done? Good! You'll thank me for it come April, when you've achieved your first goal and everyone else has crumbled, dropped out and failed!

The secret weapon

L-leucine, meet the gunpowder of the bodybuilding world. By adding increased amounts of this amino acid into your diet you could literally watch your muscles blow up! Here's 5 reasons/tips as to why it's so important and could benefit your muscle building and recovery goals...

- L-leucine is a branched chain amino acid. It cannot be made in the body and must therefore be obtained from the diet.

- the amino acid leucine is essential for protein synthesis. This is because it directly activates the gene pathways responsible for building muscle.

- try adding 5g of leucine into your post-workout shake and 5g with your pre-bed meal or shake. This will literally "switch on" and pull the trigger on protein synthesis/the muscle building effect at the times you need it.

- make a mediocre meal into an anabolic powerhouse! Simply by sprinkling a few grams of leucine on it. Leucine with a protein-rich meal further increases the rate of muscle protein synthesis.

- older people, especially over the age of 40, will not experience as much of a post-workout metabolism boost unless leucine is present, therefor it may be worth adding additional leucine after your workout.



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Stairway to heaven

.....or hell! I did a calf workout the other day that is just pure evil! I just have to share it with you guys! Despite being extremely simplistic, it is a challenge and does involve a high amount of volume to really torture your calves into new growth! All you need is - a small dumbbell, a set of stairs and a high pain tolerance. 

The way it works is simple, you do 10 reps per leg of standing calf raises then move up a step. 10 reps per leg again and move up to the next step. And just keep working your way to the top. The beauty of doing it unilaterally is 1 leg gets a rest whilst the other is working. However if you need additional rest, especially when you get close to the top, by all means take it. 

I used a 10kg dumbbell and did 24 steps. That's a total of 240 reps of standing calf raises per leg! 

Because of the volume of this workout I'd only use it for a total of 4-6 weeks. You could even alternate it with a lower volume calf session. Or just use it once every so often as a shock tactic. 

It's easy to progress this type of workout too. You can either:

A) use a heavier weight
B) complete more steps
C) do more reps per leg
D) aim to complete the same amount of steps/reps in a faster amount of time 


After completing this session you might want to avoid the stairs for the next few days...don't say I didn't warn you! 

Alpha male mobility

When you walk into a room, whether it be the gym or a job interview. You want people to respect you right? You want people to look at you and think "that person oozes confidence and it looks like they know what they're doing!" What do you think you can do to give this impression off? Add some lean muscle? I guess, but that isn't for everyone. Let me give you a clue, it's all about how you walk and carry yourself...Improve your posture!

I originally developed this little routine for myself, to improve my posture, mobilty and relieve tight areas. It worked! I started to notice some of my clients had the same tight areas and needed improved posture, so I'd recommend it to them. Guess what? it worked! They experienced less lower back pain, improved posture and faster recovery. Perform it at either the start of your session, end of your session or any time during the week. Aim to do it 3 times a week to see the best from it. And females don't be put off by the title, it'll have the exact same benefits for you.

Alpha male mobilty routine

IT band foam roll
A tight IT band will usually cause pain in the knees and hips! Foam rolling them will loosen them up. Aim for 60 secs each leg.

Glute hockey ball SMR
Locked up glutes will cause back pain and prevent you from squatting deep. This drill is decently uncomfortable to say the least. But bare with it. If it hurts to much, start with a tennis ball. Spend 90 secs on each butt cheek.

Quads foam roll
Tight quads will pull the pelvis down rocking it forward. This will create stress on the lower back. And if really bad, will show signs of lumbar lordosis. If the hips are out of alignment they will put the whole spine out, creating very poor posture. Spend 90 secs exploring each leg.

Fire hydrant spine twists
For this one, come down onto your hands and knees. Place one hand on the side of your head, then twist round to bring your elbow to elbow. Keep a nice flat back throughout. This will help improve thoracic spine mobility. Do 8 reps each side.

Groiners 
In a press-up position bring one foot up and get it as close to your hand as possible. Pause for a second, then change legs. This will help loosen the hip joint and relieve lower back tightness. Aim for 6 reps each leg.

Kneeling hip flexor stretch
Tight hip flexors will pull the pelvis down rocking it forward. This will create stress on the lower back. And if really bad, will show signs of lumbar lordosis. Hold each leg for 30 secs.

TRX chest stretch
A tight chest will pull the shoulders forward creating a hunched posture. The trx chest stretch will open the chest back up creating better posture. Hold for 30 secs.


As always, any questions, get in touch!

5 mistakes you're making when training back

It's on the list - thick chest, chiseled abs, big arms and a v-shape back. But guys always struggle to build an impressive back. You can always tell the ones that lack a good back, because they walk around with their lats flared to try and compensate for the lack of width. So you've got 2 choices. 2 very easy choices. Either eradicate these 5 mistakes from your back day routine, or continue to walk round like you've got a coat hanger down your t-shirt! The choice is yours.....

You don't train it 
You might do a back day, but do you train it with the exact same intensity as when you do biceps in front of the mirror whilst the blonde treadmill bunny is watching? Probably not. 

You don't visualize 
With muscles like chest and biceps you can see the muscles working. You squeeze harder at the top of each rep and as a result the intensity ramps up, but you can't see your back. That's where you need to really work on the mind-muscle connection. Visualize your back contracting hard at the top of each rep. Imagine it getting wider after each rep. Why walk out of the gym after your session when you could be flying on your newly built wings...

You fail to hit your back with a pull, row and a lift
If you want complete back devepment, you need to hit it from all angles. The back can do 3 main movements:

Horizontal pull (rope facepull, seated row)

Vertical pull (pull ups, lat pull downs)

Hip dominant (deadlift, good morning)

You neglect grip strength 
If your grip isn't strong enough you won't be able to pull or lift a sufficent amount of weight to have a significant training effect on your back. 

You don't use a relevant tempo
Going back to caveman times when man had to catch his own food. The back and biceps were made to grab and hold. With that said, a slow tempo on the eccentric portion of exercises like dumbell rows and pull ups work really well for your back. Try 4010 (4 seconds down, 1 second up). Isometric holds also work well as a shock tactic for back training. How do you do that? Easy, hold the exercise in the top position for as long as you can. 

Peri-workout supplements for lean muscle

I didn't start seeing proper results until I did 2 things.

1. Work harder

2. Not neglecting the fact that peri-workout supplementation is paramount!


In the last year, by focusing on these 2 points I've seen some of the best results of my life. Take a look at this before/after shot. On the left is pic from August 2012 (69kg) and on the right is one from August 2013 (73kg).

Today I wanted to talk about point number 2. Peri-workout supplementation. This basically means the supplements you take before, during and after your workout. Now I used to have a whey protein shake after my workout with a fast digesting carb. Which is great, but I was neglecting things. This was potentially holding me back from making each workout better than the last, which if you want results, is what you need to do! Now I'm forever experimenting with different products, but right now this is what I believe to be the most effective peri-workout supplement stack for lean muscle and strength gains....

PRE-WORKOUT

⚫ Caffeine - this fires up the adrenal glands and increases energy for the session. Aim for 5-10mg per kg of bodyweight. You'll have to experiment with this as its obviously going to be down to your tolerance to caffiene. You want to feel a good buzz, what you don't want is to be so jittery and shakey you can't even focus on a task for less than 5 seconds!

⚫ L-carnitine - boosts certain neurotransmitters that control focus and drive. Try 2000mg.

INTRA-WORKOUT

⚫ BCAA's in water - sip 10-15g grams of powdered BCAA's during your session. This will help prevent catabolism. BCAA's also compete with the amino acid tryptophan, a precursor to the calming neurotransmitter serotonin. In non-fitness geek terms, this means it will prevent you from getting a sleepy slump half way through your workout.



POST-WORKOUT

⚫ Whey protein - aim for 30-40g of good quality whey. This will increase protein sysnthises and help your muscles recover.

⚫ Vitargo - a fast digesting carb such as vitargo will help replenish depleted glycogen levels after your workout. Depending on your goal, aim for 50-100g.

⚫ Glutamine - this amino acid is needed for cell growth and serves as fuel for the immune system. During periods of heavy, intense training, muscle and blood glutamine levels drop quite dramatically. Therefore athletes/trainees are more susceptible to infection at this time. Glutamine after your workout will help replenish levels, and support the immune system. Go for 5-10 grams.

combine this stack with a good diet and some intense workouts, you'll see some epic results! I look forward to seeing your before/after photos...

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