Saturday 22 December 2018

Core Activation - Toe Tap

An incredibly basic yet effective exercise for inner-core stabilisation and strength, the toe tap can be performed anywhere.

Toe-tap repetition start and middle positions. Picture courtesy of Pinterest

Friday 7 December 2018

Bone surface markings

Most bones have grooves, indentations and protrusions. These are known as surface markings and are necessary structures for the musculoskeletal system. Not only do they help increase the stability of joints, they also provide muscle attachment sites.

Bone types

There are five bone types involved in the human movement system: long, short, flat, irregular, sesamoid and. The following concern us most: long, short and sesamoid.

Bone remodelling

One aspect about the skeleton that most people seem to be unaware of is that bones are continually in a process of remodelling, which is were old bone is broken down by specialist bone cells called osteoclasts and reabsorbed by the body and new bone formed by bone cells called osteoblasts.

Breakdown of the skeletal system

The skeletal system is one of the most important components of the human body. At its most simplest it is the framework from which all movement occurs as well as the support and protection system of the inner organs of the body. It also produces blood and can also store minerals and energy.

In regards to the human movement system, the skeleton forms part of the musculoskeletal system, where muscles pull on bones, which act as levers, to create posture and produce movement.

Thursday 8 November 2018

Seated Forward Bend stretch

The Seated Forward Bend is a stretch that stretches the posterior chain muscles from head to toe. It is also a yoga pose where it is called paschimottanasana (POS-chee-moh-tan-AHS-anna), meaning "west stretching", where west refers to your back. This is due to your back facing west during morning worship, which is done facing towards the rising sun in the east.

Thursday 1 November 2018

The reward in looking back

Last night I came across a DVD I had purchased back in 2005, David Carradine's "An Introduction For Beginners To Kung Fu & Tai Chi". The star of the television series "Kung Fu", the late David Carradine is more famous in recent times for his role as Bill in the Kill Bill movies.

Monday 29 October 2018

Why less can really be more

Less Is More scales from https://barden.ie/

The inspiration for this post came from a discussion I had yesterday with an acquaintance about the gym. Basically it shows how important it is to know what exactly you are doing in the gym rather than just doing a specific routine as that is what you have seen others do or think that is what you need to do.

Thursday 18 October 2018

Workout Journals

One of the most important things anyone serious about exercising needs to do is write a journal! Whether you only write a few lines or a whole essay writing a workout journal is quite possibly one of the best things you can do.

Sunday 14 October 2018

Kneeling hip-flexor stretch

The kneeling hip-flexor stretch, also known as the kneeling iliopsoas stretch, is quite possibly the most common stretch you will find for the strongest of the hip-flexors, the iliopsoas. This muscle is important for leg flexion at the hip such as when walking, running, and climbing.

As many of us spend quite a lot of time sitting down or over-using these muscles, the illiopsoas become shorter and our gluteals longer, affecting the balance and relationship between them and altering the natural position of the pelvis. A short and tight iliopsoas can also present itself in the form of externally rotated legs and feet. It can cause pain in the lower back, as well as other in regions from the knees to middle back.

Sunday 7 October 2018

Site update

I'm really pleased to announce that after a three month wait my application to register Gym Pal as a trademark in the United Kingdom has finally gone through! As you may now notice, I've updated the main site logo to incorporate the ® symbol.

The key reason for protecting the name "Gym Pal" is to provide piece of mind that my brand is now protected within the applied for areas in the UK, allowing me to be more proactive with it without fear of somebody hijacking the name for their own enterprise.

Thursday 4 October 2018

Standing front thigh stretch

The standing front thigh stretch, also known as the standing quadriceps stretch, is one of the most common stretches that you will see all sorts of people doing. It helps keep the muscles at the front of your thigh flexible especially after leg intensive exercises such as squats and running.

Due to modern living and our habit of spending large amounts of time sitting down with feet on the floor or feet tucked up near our butts, most peoples quadriceps are already pretty flexible from all this passive stretching. This is probably for the worse as unless it is counter-balanced it causes an altered relationship with its opposite muscle group, the hamstrings, which end up tighter and shorter as a result.

Wednesday 19 September 2018

Bent knee calf stretch

The bent knee calf stretch, or standing soleus stretch, is a simple variation of the straight leg calf stretch that targets the smaller but equally important soleus muscles that make up the calves along with the larger gastrocnemius.

Maintaining and improving soleus flexibility is vitally important in helping us maintain and improve our posture and movement especially when running and when performing major exercises such as the deadlift or squats, which require full ankle dorsiflexion (shin moves towards foot) to perform correctly.

Straight leg calf stretch

The straight leg calf stretch, or standing calf stretch, is the most common stretch used for maintaining and improving the flexibility of your calf muscles especially the largest one, the gastrocnemius.

To target the smaller calf soleus muscles more perform the bent knee calf stretch variation.

Monday 17 September 2018

Calf Raises

The calf raise. A staple of those who seek to enlarge the back of their lower legs. It is also probably one of the simplest and easiest exercises than can be performed, however has variations that can make it incredibly hard.

This exercise is rarely at the forefront of most people's routines, with quite a few not doing them at all. Indeed calf raises are not the only way to target your calves. Any balance, stability and plyometric training targets them good and more functionally. Squats and deadlifts both recruit the calves in their movements.

Friday 7 September 2018

Pull-ups - My journey to the perfect rep

Pull-ups, also spelt as pullups or pull ups, are one of the hardest and most sought after exercises for people to achieve. That ability to be able to pull your entire bodyweight up towards the bar against gravity is something that cannot be replicated by any machine or free-weight. It's amazing to see people who can shift literally tons of weight on a bar but absolutely fail to lift their body off the ground on a bar.

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Push-Ups

Push-ups, also known as press-ups, are a staple of bodyweight training. Primarily targeting your pectoral muscles, when done properly it is a highly effective full body workout that also hits the back of your arms, core, and legs. It also has the added benefit of being able to be done anywhere without any equipment and is the safest chest exercise you can perform by yourself.

Often performed with poor form, quite a few weightlifters who are able to bench press very heavy loads struggle to be able to do a set of push-ups.

Friday 17 August 2018

Bramble leaf tea, nature's hidden gem

Blackberry bramble leaf. Picture from https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/

Now everybody knows about the fruit of the bramble, the delicious blackberry, but few know that this plant provides far more than just one of your five-a-day.

To look at brambles they are long, straggly and covered in thorns with leaves that look like they'd sting you like a nettle. It can be quite hard to believe that they belong to the same family as roses. In reality these hedgerow staples are one of the hidden treasures in our countryside.

Wednesday 8 August 2018

The importance of setting SMART goals

Goal setting is a highly important aspect of personal training and fitness in general. Without having set goals your training can become aimless and progress can stagnate. Having goals works hand in hand with the principle of specificity, which states that we get better at what we train for.

Ultimately, only you know what you want to achieve. If you go to a personal trainer, it is not the business of personal trainer's to dictate your goals. Rather the aim for a personal trainer is to help you achieve what you want.

Saturday 4 August 2018

Implementing balance training

Following on from the why's and the benefits of balance training detailed in my post Balance your way to fitness, it is important to focus on how to implement balance training into your routine.

Balance your way to fitness

A seriously overlooked aspect of health and fitness is balance. We all know about needing to improve our cardiovascular health, our strength, as well our flexibility, especially for when we get older, but balance is just as important.

Monday 30 July 2018

Parkour Examples and Caution

Following on from my post What is Parkour?, which explains what Parkour is, how it differs from Freerunning and what its origins are, we focus on examples of the fundamental element of efficient movement, Parkour moves, and cautions when practicing.

Wednesday 25 July 2018

What is Parkour

A pastime that I always wanted to get into and eventually did was the art of Parkour. We have all seen at least one instance of someone wall jumping and doing crazy acrobatic moves, and who can fail to be inspired by the Parkour themed video for David Guetta vs The Egg's "Love Don't Let Me Go"? Or by Parkour legend Sébastian Foucan's Parkour chase in Casino Royale.

So good I just had to embed it!

Monday 23 July 2018

Time under tension, the importance of tempo

A fundamental element of exercise is the amount of time you keep your muscle under tension during each repetition. It can have a dramatic effect on what adaptations you seek to achieve. In this post I aim to help show you how to manipulate this acute variable to your advantage.

Thursday 19 July 2018

Latest Updates

The latest update to the site's design is a brand new header designed by myself. I've samples using various different colour schemes made however the grey one seemed to work best with the site at present. I personally like it that much I may use it for any branding in the future.

Wednesday 18 July 2018

Bodyweight or calisthenics?

A common misunderstanding in the fitness world is the terms bodyweight and calisthenics. Some personal trainer's even advertise themselves as specialising in both. If you come across such a trainer I'd suggest finding another one who knows what they are talking about and has experience of the terms they use so carelessly.

Sunday 1 July 2018

Dorsiflexion - The importance of ankle mobility

Having troubles with your squats or deadlifts? Do your knees collapse inwards during leg exercise? Need to do exercises with your heels on weight plates to get better range of motion? Good bet that you're suffering from a lack of ankle dorsiflexion, which is the ability of your foot and shin to move closer together.

Lack of mobility in the ankle can cause problems and functional compensations that radiate up throughout your entire kinetic system not just affecting your knee and hip alignment. Concurrently the hip itself can also affect ankle mobility.

Monday 25 June 2018

Latest Updates

Latest updates to Gym Pal includes a new blog layout along with a self-made logo to add a bit more punch than a plain text title.

I've also uploaded the first page, or article so to speak, Work Out Every Day, detailing a simple principle that I follow, which will help get people more active. It will no doubt go through several revisions as I cut down on any waffling and add more specific points and/or images, but for now it's out there!

Tuesday 19 June 2018

Introduction

Hi and welcome to Gym Pal, a personal training, health, fitness and well-being service based in Northern Ireland. More information to follow.