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.