Resistance Training for Tae Kwon-Do Kicking

The mechanics of each kick in TKD are different. A front kick involves the knee driving towards the chest and pushing out directly into the target. A turning kick initiates in a similar manner but will finish with a hip rotation to whip out the kick. I'm simply going to go over basic kicking mechanics and give a brief overview as to how resistance training can be used to positively influence kick speed and power.

Kicks heavily involve hinge, squat and rotational movement patterns. A hinge is a simple bend that happens between the femur and the lower leg or the pelvis the the femur. The initial knee drive in a front kick demonstrates both functions. We squat with our base leg to either hold our centre of mass or to propel the kick further forward. Finally there is the rotational forces to consider. Spinal rotation is important for a correct knee chamber but hip rotation is important for producing torque in our kicks. Torque adds resistance against our target that is much more devastating.

Training the Hinge

I like to start with an explosive form of exercise. This will produce a better neural drive which will prepare the muscles for the rest of the workout. You can't go wrong with a kettle-bell swing. Here is a post of current European TKD Champion Carl Betty performing this exercise:

https://instagram.com/p/8OBDrygoaI/?taken-by=gethin_rhys_james

As you can see this exercise is explosive. You may have also noticed that his hips pushed forward. Pushing your hip forward provides a dynamic stretch on the hip flexors and increases the muscular contraction of the glutes. This sensation is rarely felt in other exercises but it mimics the feel of a proper hock kick. Another good exercise to begin with would be a hang clean. A hang clean is a modification of a popular olympic lift but it's complexity makes it difficult to perform correctly so before considering your programme you must make sure that you are capable of practicing them safely. 3 sets of 8 swings will be ideal for the beginning of this workout.
For strength development a dead lift is irreplaceable. When performed on a regular basis it will develop power and density to your entire posterior chain. This power lift is crucial for elite posture development and will teach your limbs to hold a considerable amount of instant force I.e. An opponent running into you! Never exceed 25 repetitions of this exercise because your form will suffer. Bad form leads to injury, injury leads to no more TKD! 5 sets of 5 repetitions is the weight room favourite but I personally feel that 3 sets of 12, 8 and then 5 repetitions is better for form. Obviously you should add more load when the repetitions decrease.
Single leg Romanian dead lifts are brilliant for balance, motor control and skeleton realignment so make sure that you have these beauties in your routine. 3 sets of 8 repetitions on each leg should do the trick.

Squat Power

When performed correctly the squat is a full body blast but pays specific attention to the quads, hamstrings and glutes. So not just the quadriceps. People who use their quadriceps too much will find their kens going too far over their toe on their squat which results in damage to the joint structure. Here's a recommendation to first time squatters. Try a goblet squat. Hold a dumbbell against your chest at a vertical position. One weighted side of the dumbbell should be placed against your chest with your hands holding it in place. The other side should be dangling down but rested against your abdomen. If the dangling side of the dumbbell leaves your body when you squat you know that you are leaning too far forward. Also if your knees past your laces you are not engaging your glutes and hamstrings enough. After a good 5 sets of 5 on a squat you should look at a single leg exercise such as a Bulgarian split squat. This is basically a single leg squat which involves the resting leg parked on top of a knee height box. Single leg exercises helps to build the adductors and abductors for powerful lateral movement. 3 sets of 8 repetitions is adequate for this exercise.

Rotation for Torque

It's difficult to mimic transverse plane forces in the weights room. However developing the muscles associated with rotational hip movements is relatively easy. A lateral lunge for 3 sets of 8 repetitions, a crab walk for 3 sets of 20m and a ski hop for 3 sets of 10 repetitions each side are the trio you're looking for. They collectively develop the gluteus major, medius and minor in the frontal and transverse plane. Throwing in a few agility sprints will also help. Practicing cutting corners for sets lasting under 20 seconds will fire up stabilising muscle tissue.

This is just a quick overview and as always I am available for personal messages for whoever needs more advice. Also look at these two relevant posts:

Resistance Training and Lateral Movement

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/resistance-training-and-lateral-movement.html

The New Way to Train

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-new-way-to-train.html

Weight Training Myths in Tae Kwon-Do

I'm a personal trainer, a fourth degree black belt in Tae Kwon-Do (TKD) and a member of the Welsh Tae Kwon-Do team. I know a thing or two about specific conditioning for athlete performance. This post is dedicated to debunking three common myths in the martial arts circle:

1. Weight training will slow you down

2. Weight training will lower your range of motion.

3. Weight training should only be completed with light weights and with high repetitions.

Excuse me if I seem rude but I just want to say that the lack of knowledge on resistance training in many practitioners is embarrassing. This would not bother me if these naive people didn't insist on giving out their horrendous advice to new comers to TKD.

So will weight training slow down our kicks? That's like asking "will I get fat if I buy food from the super market?" It depends on what you buy. When it comes to weight training it depends on how you lift and what you digest. There is such thing as being muscle bound but by definition being muscle bound is basically having so much muscle mass that it gets in the way of joint motion. This in itself is a difficult achievement that has only been witnessed in professional body builders.
There is also such a thing as carrying too much mass. This is more a dietary issue as oppose to a training issue. Too much of a calorie imbalance in favour of more more more will see your waist line get too big. Too much substance that the World Anti Doping Association (WADA) would consider naughty (I.e. Steroids and growth hormone) will see you struggle to pick those legs high for a kick. Participants should be encouraged to build a degree of mass. It acts as armour around the back, chest and shoulders. Lean mass is associated with speed. Just take a look at the glutes and thighs on Usain Bolt. He's the fastest man alive! He weight trains 3 timer per week for 1 hour and 30 minutes each session. Lean mass can also give a desired weight advantage to produce more power. Would you prefer to be hit by a truck or a mini Mayfair?! Muscle mass if difficult to build especially if it's coupled with cardiovascular demanding exercise. The odds of someone performing energy system training gaining too much mass whilst weight training are slim. It is important to cycle your training programme to implement speed into a periodised cycle so that the mass gained is utilised properly. You will be able to view this in part 2 which will be added to my blog shortly.

Can weight training limit my range of motion? If you don't lift with a good range of motion the answer is yes. You will also suffer with repetitive stress injuries. Just lift properly. Get a gym instructor to check your competency on exercise form. If you lift with a good range of motion your flexibility will not suffer. It has been proven that eccentric muscle contractions (the muscle contracts as it lengthens) is better for improving flexibility better than static stretching. So done properly your flexibility will improved by lifting not worsened. Watch an olympic lifter clean a bar over their head. The range of motion around their hips and shoulders is just incredible and they often lift double their body weight above their head.

Should weight training be performed with high repetitions and light weights if you do TKD? Ah this question grinds on me! In most cases the answer is no. Power is the product of strength and speed so it isn't logical to neglect heavy weights. If you want to kick hard lift big. If you want to kick fast lift fast. By the way you can lift heavy weights quickly. This is why olympic weightlifting has increased in popularity over the past decade. You can't perform the snatch slowly. It's literally impossible. Lifting light will not allow good bone density development, skeletal muscle power production or adequate skeleton re-alignment. After reading this post you should not be afraid of muscle mass but if for some reason that still concerns you and you still believe that high repetitions will lower mass development just take a look at high rep trainer and pro body builder Flex Lewis on Instagram.

https://instagram.com/flex_lewis/?hl=en

This fellow Welsh man is a tank and he lifts high repetitions. That's the rant over. If you would like to learn more on resistance training for TKD stay in tune for tomorrow's post. In the mean time you may wish to check these two articles on speed development:

Hamstring Development for Sprinting:

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/hamstring-development-for-sprinting.html

Hill Sprints for Speed:

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/hill-sprints-for-speed.html

Is Sex Really Bad for Performance?

This is not something I usually write about. This topic has been brought up in so many conversations that it is in high demand. What kind of impact does sex have on athlete performance?

Here is the old school of thought. Sex will distract you, tire you out and make your legs weak on performance day. As Micky from Rocky would say "dames weaken legs!"
A more modern look on how sex impacts performance in a negative manner suggests that it's the lack of shut eye that makes you useless on the field of play. Firstly athletes will have to find someone to shack up with. After a full day of competition prep athletes who don't have a current sexual partner will need to walk around town looking for one (yes this does apparently happen way too often) or they may even order one! Not exactly legal in the UK but again it happens. This effort to hock up is time consuming and may even be tiring.
Second of all we must consider how long athletes go at it after lights out! If the athletes continues to to do the nasty up until the later hours of the morning it is I lightly that they will get enough sleep.
Another issue comes from fatigue. If the sex is too vigorous it can result in delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS for short. Try walking down the stairs after leg day and you'll understand. Aching muscles can drastically lower performance. It should be noted that anyone in elite condition will not build up the DOMS unless they really get vigorous!

Then again we can look at it another way. In women sex has been proven to increase testosterone level. Testosterone has been proven to increase the tone and strength of skeletal muscle fibres. However we should consider that the testosterone rise seen I. Women have not been directly correlated to sports performance as of yet. We can also argue for the thought of sex tiring the body out. Competitions are stressful situations and a form of physical and mental relaxation is needed.

In a nut shell sex has not been proven to be good or bad. Just remember what is important before competition day. Get plenty of sleep. Seven hours is the least amount of time you should be asleep for. Eat well. Make sure that you have energy for any activity coming your way and no I am not just talking about sport! Finally don't injure yourself. It happens way to often so please watch out for rupturing something delicate!

You may also like:

10 People we Love to Hate

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/10-people-that-we-love-to-hate.html

And

Pimp your Coffee!

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/pimp-your-coffee.html

Resistance Training and Lateral Movement

I mentioned in a previous post that the body must be exercised in all biomechanical planes. Here is the link:

http://icankeepup.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-new-way-to-train.html

My post entitled “The New Way to Train” basically empathised on exercising a joint based on its ability to work in the frontal, sagittal and transverse plane. For example, the shoulder can be exercised in all three planes just by performing a shoulder press, a frontal raise and a Turkish get up.

As many exercises programmes such as specific power lifting routines and Crossfit only place focus on exercises which work the sagittal plane so do athletes from a variety of field sports i.e. rugby, football and basketball. Working the frontal plane (the range of movement that allows us to move our limbs to the side) will improve joint stability by increasing muscular structure and improving neural response. This stability is important for holding your balance whilst performing lateral drills. This improves the efficiency, speed and safety aspects of the task. Of course practicing frontal plane strength drills will build explosive power that will allow you to propel your body sideways.

Avoiding frontal and transverse plane movements will see an athlete developing muscular imbalances which can result in repetitive stress injuries and low stability. Always focus on a joints range when it comes to writing a programme.

Equipment:

Slide Boards are a fantastic tool. Practicing lateral lunges on a Slide Board will build strength on abductor and adductor muscles around the thigh.

Resistance bands are very handy for strengthening the Gluteus Medius. This is important for lateral movement and for good running mechanics. When the Gluteus Medius is weak your knees will start to bow in when you run. Place a band around your ankles, go into a quarter squat and practice crab walks. Take slight steps to the side to keep continuous tension on the hips.

Plyometric exercises in the frontal plane are a brilliant way of performing post activation potentiation on the glutes. Attempt 3 sets of 10 repetitions of star jumps and you will understand what I mean.

Competition Prep for Armatures

Elite athletes usually know when they are competing. Their schedule is so regimented that their team can improvise a nutrition and warm up ragtime to follow on competition day. Armature athletes don't always have that luxury. If you warm up too soon you'll be cold by the time you want to compete and if you eat too late you will experience a stitch, stomach bloating or cramp. It's a tricky one. I've wrote an intervention to try and combat the issue.

I will start with the night before. You want to consider a good meal within an hour before you hit the hay. This meal should contain the most fibrous of all carbohydrate sources, vegetables. Take on plenty of greens for slow release energy throughout the night. More starchy carbohydrates should also be present as they will supply your muscles with glycogen. Glycogen is needed in higher quantities for endurance athletes but for people with a more explosive discipline such as sprinting, weightlifting or martial arts it should be a simple fist sized portion. Glycogen is important for anaerobic respiration but too much pasta or potatoes will result in uncomfortable bloating with a restless sleep. A palm sized protein portion should also be present as it aids in slowing down digestion.

Get ready to take regular light sips on water in the morning. You can lose up to 2 litres of water during the night through sweat and perspiration. Eat a simple balanced breakfast. Nothing fancy. Oats are a fantastic way to start the day as they will instantly provide slow digesting energy. Add blueberries to provide an instant hit of energy and maybe some raisins. Almonds are also a brilliant way of adding protein whilst slowing down digestion with its fatty acids.

From this point on it gets complicated. You don't know when you're competing, you need energy but you don't want to fill up before competing and you need to ensure that you are dehydrated. Here's what you need to do.

Drink a small mouthful every 15 minutes. Larger sips will make you feel bloated and you won't gather the same mineral content. An energy tablet may make water go down easier and will prevent cramp from occurring.
You will also need a light carbohydrate content for throughout the competition day. Eat 20 grams of carbohydrates every 30 minutes. A more sugary variety will go down easily but make sure that a high content of complex carbohydrates are present as they will provide slow releasing energy. I would recommend a home made out bar with strawberry jam.

Warming up is tricky in this scenario but not impossible. At the competition venue you should immediately mobilise your joints and practice the skills that you wish to perform well at on the day. If you're a sprinter work on your skips and hops. If you're a martial artist work on your kicks. Keep it light but try to get a minor sweat on. After 30 minutes of practice put on a lose fitting jacket and tracksuit trousers so that your body temperature doesn't drop. You will then be in a good place to work on any psychological preparation set out for you by your sports psychologist.

The best warm up you can have is the one that gets your body ready in the least amount of time so that you don't fatigue yourself. Practice 4 minutes of jogging on the spot, 1 minute of mobility and 1 minute of dynamic flexibility. This should give you enough time to get your body ready on the competition area just before you get called.

Hill Sprints for Speed

They're brutal. Why would anyone wish to put themselves through this hell? You're thighs are burning and you can taste your breakfast coming back up but you know that if you don't allow hill sprints to brake you they will make you.

Hill sprints are valuable for improving your running gait. When performed correctly you will be forced to raise your knees higher. You will also fire up your posterior chain. Your gluteus muscles and hamstrings will have to work harder to overcome gravity.

Hill sprints are better for running specific mobility than running on the flat. Consider the way the hip needs to hinge to make your way up a mountain. The faster you go the longer your strides need to be. Your strides displacement will go from a simple horizontal action to a horizontal/vertical mix.

Hills are more efficient at strengthening your muscles. A larger range of motion means that more muscle fibres are recruited. For example, a higher knee raise will result in better lower gluteus activation.

Ensure that you perform hill sprints at lease once per week for a high intensity blast. This session should last up to 30 minutes and involve sprints that are 30m in length at the most. This will keep the session speed specific. Always run on the flat after a hill session to take full advantage of that muscle activation as it will have you braking the sound barrier!

Salad Dressings for Wicked Body Composition

Mixing a variety of raw vegetables is an easy way of providing your body with micronutrients. These are essential for healthy functioning and performance. Unfortunately some dieters find raw vegetables bland and boring. This results in salads being drenched in mayonnaise, cream cheese based dressing or other unhealthy ingredients. To combat this issue I have found the healthiest dressings for your salad.

Apple Cider Vinegar.

Apple Cider Vinegar is low in calories but it also has a low number of nutrients. However amino acids and antioxidants are present. It's true benefits come from its ability to fight bacteria and lower blood sugar.

Lemon Juice.

Lemon Juice helps to balance the body's PH levels, is rich in vitamin C and has been proven to aid in digestion. Lemon juice is also high in citric acid, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.

Boiled Chopped Tomatoes.

If you're up for something different, why not try a hot topping. Tomatoes have a high antioxidant content, over 20 micronutrients and are associated with improved heart health. To further improve this saucy topping you should add basil or oregano.

Olive Oil.

Obviously you should use this sparingly. In small a quantity you can reap the benefits of this natural fat. It's health benefits are heavily associated with preventing heart disease, preventing stroke, avoiding depression, lowering breast cancer risk and maintaining a healthy cholesterol level.

Cottage Cheese.

Some people can't stand it! I quite enjoy cottage cheese myself. It's high in protein and low in calories so it turns your salad into a well balanced meal. Add chilly powder to up your metabolism and you'll have a wicked weight loss meal right there!

20 Ways to Boost your Metabolism

When it comes to weight loss the rule is simple. Work harder and eat a little less. It's just about getting an negative calories in to calories out ratio. However there are additional methods to boost your metabolism. Your metabolism is your core body temperature and by using these 20 simple tips you can ignite your calorie burning furnace.

Train regular. You'd  be better off training twice in one day with smaller session times than you would if you trained one for a longer session time.
Practice intervals. Get sprinting, take short rest times and feel the burn!
Lift weights. Don't go easy on yourself. Make sure you feel the challenge. If you really want to kick that metabolic rate up a notch you should practice plenty of ground based leg exercises such as squats and dead lifts.
Raise your heart rate. If you find that it's easy to regain your breath after a HIIT session you didn't work hard enough. Try again!
Get plenty of sleep. At least 8 hours for every 24 hours is required.
Eat regular meals. Chomp away at anywhere between 5 to 7 meals per day. Best get batch cooking!
Control your portions. If you don't eat enough calories your metabolism will slow down. Everything in moderation.
Eat iron rich food. Dark greens and red meat have been proven to be the best. You shouldn't eat red meat more than 3 times per week. After all it's fatty, hard to digest and has been linked to heart disease and cancer.
Take plenty of B12. Eggs are a fantastic source.
Get some sun for vitamin D. Bad weather? Take a vitamin D3 tablet every morning with breakfast.
Get plenty of calcium. Dairy is the obvious choice. Your bones won't grow without it and so won't your muscle tissue.
Get plenty of omega 3 fatty acids. If you don't like fish then you should consider taking a cod oil capsule.
Lower trams fats. These are found in all the foods you crave as they are addictive!
Drink plenty of water. Don't expect your body to function properly without it!
Eat protein with every meal. Protein should make up at least a quarter of your plate.
Eat organic. Go to the market for your fruit and vegetables or by frozen. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often high in micronutrients too.
Eat high fibre. If your carbohydrates are doughy and easy to mould then you're eating the wrong type.
Don't skip breakfast! It annoys me when people do this. Breakfast shoots your metabolism off to a good start and provides recovery from the night before as well as energy for the day ahead.
Drink hot beverages. Green teas are the best. Try to skip adding sugar.
Use spice on your food. Experiment with healthy Indian and Chinese recipes.
Skip alcohol. If alcohol was only recently introduced to the United Kingdom it would be a Class A drug.

Why the Pull Over is a Fantastic Exercise

In my opinion, Pull Overs are heavily underestimated. They are a weights room classic that have fallen behind in gym goers programmes. After you read this I hope you'll appreciate how irreplaceable this exercise is.

Pull Overs are a compound exercise. A compound exercise works a variety of different muscles in one movement. Some of the muscles included are the Pectorals, Deltoids, Latissimus Dorsi and the Abdominals.

They train your Abdominals the way they want to be trained. To perform a correct Pull Over you must incorporate the abdominals anti extension properties. I wrote about this in a previous article. Your abdominals main role is anti extension so training them in this manner is the best way of developing the efficiency of their functioning.

Pull Overs are good for your shoulder health. This unique exercise will strengthen the stratus and pull the shoulder blade into correct alignment. This is crucial to for avoiding t-spine tightness.

Pull Overs raise your metabolic rate. As a powerful compound exercise they will cause a serge in your metabolism which will torch calories. You will burn fat into submission!

You can improve Latissimus Dorsi flexibility. Eccentric training has been proven to increase flexibility better than static stretching. The Pull Over is perfect for increasing the range of motion of your Lats as they involve an over head motion in the sagittal plane. This is important for correct posture whilst moving about in your sport.

You can go heavy! This powerful exercise needs load. By exerting a heavy dumbbell onto your body you will stress your nervous system with a new resistance which will have carry over onto your other lifts.

Mental Fortitude: How to be Tough!

Mental fortitude or "grit" does not have as much baring on motivation as you may think. Obviously it helps as a starting point but what really builds grit are the habits we develop. Here are 5 habits to build a concrete mindset:

Be consistent. Keep a diary, write in your training schedule and stick to it! Sometimes you will find distractions but don't cancel a session. Instead take a rain-check for later in the week.

Appreciate your small physical achievements. Did you last a touch session with your S & C coach or manage a 5km run this morning? Take a minute to admire your own efforts and understand that you've done what others haven't. This infectious way of thinking will see you wanting to emulate that feeling on a daily basis.

Act like you're the one in charge. You pretty much are! You decided to turn up to training, you're the one that controls your limbs and your the one who makes your heart beat faster. Hold yourself tall and recognise the control you have over your own body.

Do not complain! I do hate a whiner. People who act defeated will be defeated. Again, you are what you practice.

Lift! The weights room offers measurable goals by poundage. A sense of achievement can come from an additional 2 kilograms or even trying a new exercise.

To conclude this post it should be noted that it takes several weeks to form strong habits or change your mind set. Enforce these 5 habits over the next 2 months and you will find that even on your days of low motivation you will still have grit.

Squat and Dead Lift to Healthier Knees

There are a variety of exercises that directly exercises the knee without placing much physical demand on other joints. Leg extension and hamstring curl machines are popular within the leisure facility's but when performed too often or incorrectly, they can cause muscular imbalances which places the knee under much more stress. Overall, you can not beat a standard squat and dead lift routine to develop a safe and strong posterior chain.

To squat for more resilient knees you must make sure that you have your technique down to the letter. When your knees protrude to far over your toes your patella will crush into the joint structure and cause damage. This is a common issue in clients who have a weak posterior chain. To counter this issue you can provide a barrier. For example, squat in front of a weights bench. Your shins will halt against the bench which will force you to use your hamstrings and glutes. It should be noted that a tall posture must remain present throughout the squat. Practicing the squat in this manner will not only protect your knees during the lift but will enforce good habits that will stay with you through day to day life.
The squat should be further enhanced with single leg variations. Unilateral lower limb exercises improves proprioception of the ankles. This is the reactive property of the nervous system that prevents people from rolling over on their ankle. Another benefit of working one leg at a time is to develop adductor and adductor muscles. This is essential for knee stability. Adductor and abductor strength development is also crucial for lateral movement in a variety of sports. If you have knee issues a set of gymnastic rings are a less costly way of developing your pistol squats for your bank balance and your knees! You can practice pushing your hips back into the squat rather than protruding your knees forward.

Dead lifts are a great hamstring developer. When it comes to supporting tissue around the knees your hamstrings are king! They provide a thick sheath of muscle which runs straight down the back of your knees. Try a pike stretch white your toes pointed up to the sky. You will notice a stretch at the top of your calls. Guess what? That's still your hamstrings feeling the stretch!
If your knees tilt inwards or if you have an anterior tilt in your pelvis (duck ass!) you may want to consider a sumo dead lift to develop the gluteus medius.
Practice unilateral Romanian dead lifts whoever you are. As well as improving proprioception, they can coordinate the posterior chain movement, improve flexibility and improve sporting actions.

Pimp Your Coffee!

Your morning brew already has it's value. It brings energy, raises your metabolism, provides nutrients and antioxidants. However, coffee can be improved for a healthier diet. Here are some suggestions:

Add cinnamon.

This delicious herb adds beautiful flavour to your beverage and has been associated with lowering blood glucose and cholesterol.

Add cocoa.

Cocoa will provide additional antioxidants for a variety of health benefits. Cocoa had been proven to lower your risk of heart disease.

Add honey.

This one is perfect for those who struggle to avoid sugar! This golden treat will improve your immune system and boost your energy.

Add coconut oil.

A table spoon of coconut oil in a black coffee has become well known in the fitness industry as the "bullet proof coffee!" The fatty acids in coconut oil have been proven to improve cognitive function and reduce risks of diseases such as Alzheimer's and epilepsy. Coconut oil is great for neural functioning which means it is a great performance aid but you will see body composition goals met as it also raises your metabolism.

The Best Breakfast for your Body

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Some may say that cardiovascular exercise should be completed before you stuff your face in the morning but I disagree. I don't see why anyone would want to run with low energy levels and brake down their hard earned muscle tone so that the amino acids from around your body can be metabolised into much needed energy. So even a light snack such as a banana, fruits loaf or a well blended smoothie should be taken before hitting the road. In an ideal world where time isn't an issue, here's what I would suggest:

Blue Berries are my favourite way to start. Their sugary content will spike your insulin level. This is not a desired trait in any food through the rest of the day but for first thing in the morning it's ideal. Your body will work to metabolise the sugars and will avoid braking into the amino acids that builds the structure of your skeletal muscle fibres. They also contain vitamin c which combats cortisol stress hormone. Blueberries will help change your body composition for the better!

Protein is a macro-nutrient that should be present in every meal in a high quantity. It is responsible for growth and repair. An additional benefit for consuming a high protein diet is situated around how full your stomach feels after digestion. This is ideal for weight loss. Meat and eggs have been proven to be particularly useful in keeping your stomach full.

Complex carbohydrates provide long lasting energy throughout the morning. They are broken down into glycogen and therefore offer the main source of energy for anaerobic respiration and brain function. Try oats, heavily seeded bread or beans for your fix.

Here's a breakfast suggestion:

Healthy Pancakes

Blend 2 bananas, 2 eggs, 1/2 a cup of rolled oats, 1/2 of cup of baking soda and a pinch of salt until you have a fine batter.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Place spoonfuls of the batter into the pan and cook until golden brown.

Enjoy with a side of blueberries. You may even wish to add the blueberries to the batter before frying. That way you will have blueberry pancakes!

Abdominal Strength for Sprinters

You can be king of the crunch or master of the hanging leg raise but if you’re engaging your mid-section in the correct manner, you will find your lumbar spine collapsing under your ground reaction force. This can result in poor displacement whilst running, low balance or worse injury. Don’t slip a disk and work those abdominals correctly with icankeepup.com’s  reactive drills.

These highly influential exercises are put in place to help athletes absorb ground reaction force whilst running. This is an important factor as 5 times your body weight will be projected through each leg on multiple occasions whilst sprinting.

Drill #1. Reverse Plank Leg Drop:

This exercise works the reactive properties of your abdominals in the sagittal plane. Therefore it is a fantastic drill for people who’s spine rounds forwards whilst they run. You’ll need are partner with decent arm strength. Hold two handles of a suspension trainer such as gymnastics rings or a TRX as if you are about to perform an inverted row. From there, ask your partner to lift your heals off the ground. There should be a straight line between the base of your skull and your heals. At random points throughout the drill, your partner will drop one of your legs. Your job is to keep your foot from touching the ground by using your abdominal strength to support your leg. This is not for the faint hearted!

Drill #2. Plyometric Medicine Ball Twist:

A popular exercise on the gym floor mats but unfortunately, these are often practiced incorrectly for a spine twisting variation. To do these correctly, sit tall with a neutral posture and elevate your feet off the floor. Have a partner throw a ball over your body. Do not let that ball hit the ground! Catch it and throw it back immediately and avoid as much spine rotation as possible. This one if for those over rotators among you.

Other Considerations:

So you don’t have a partner? Well the Medicine Ball Twist may be performed against a solid wall with an air filled medicine ball or wall ball but the Reverse Plank with Leg Drop is another story. It’s difficult to emulate the same sagittal plane reactive strength element without a partner but it’s not impossible. Get use to those gym ball plank variations. With your forearms on a gym ball you can roll your hands in various directions to challenge your abdomen.    

Greasing the Pan

Frying used to be seen as the unhealthy way to cook. By frying our food we will consume an external source of fat that would not be present in our meals if we opted for using the grill. The grill is still my favourite way to get a good dinner on the go but I’ve recently found myself enjoying the convenience of frying. Especially considering the speed and low cleaning chore of making everything in one wok. For example, I like scrabbled eggs and asparagus as my final calorie intake for a day. So what should we be frying our foods in? There are special tools we can use such as stick proof woks and frying pans but you’ll be surprised on the health benefits of my favourite frying oils.

Coconut Oil

The medium-chain triglycerides which are present within coconut oil are metabolised through the liver and supply instant energy. Coconut oil is especially useful for neural development. Simply put, coconut oil is fantastic for brain energy and nervous system functioning! Coconut oil is also a good way to boost your metabolism so it is a popular addition to a morning black coffee for weight loss clients. In a nut shell, coconut oil will provided you with energy, keep you fuller for longer and help you burn calories!

Olive Oil

This Mediterranean favourite is the most popular out of the two in the united kingdom. It mimics much of the benefits of coconut oil although the saturated fat content is lower. Olive oil has been proven to be effective against stroke, heart disease and high cholesterol. Even Alzheimer’s disease and depression have been proven to be prevented by olive oil!

In conclusion, greasing your pan isn’t so bad! In fact, I would recommend it. You just need to ensure that you’re using oils as part of a balanced diet.

Hamstring Development for Sprinting

When it comes to sprinting, the Hamstrings have a big role to play. Through the drive phase they work with the quadriceps and gluteus muscles in propelling your body forward. During the recovery phase they go about eccentric muscle contraction to keep your foot in alignment in preparation for landing. Here are some of my favourite exercises for improving hip movement.

Hang Clean- This modification of an O-lift is for more co-ordinated gym goers. It mimics the three joint extensions that your legs are required to go through whilst sprinting. It has the added benefits of strengthening the upper body and the mid-section.

Recommendations:

3 sets of 3 repetitions

Split Squat- I would argue that the Split Squat is more relivant to athletes than the standard Back Squat. Split Squats require a movement that results in your body moving forward as you come to the top of the lift. The same is true for sprinting.

Recommendations:

5 sets of 5 repetitions

Single Leg RDL- Whilst going about a Single Leg RDL, keep your toes down! The Biceps Femoris is one of the Hamstring muscles and has an additional function of turning the toes out. We don't want this to happen (unless you wish to run like a duck). This exercise will help build co-ordination of the Biceps Femoris as it extends the hip.

Recommendations

3 sets of 8 repetitions

Nordic Curl- As stated earlier, the recovery phase of a sprint places a high eccentric demand on the hamstrings. Nordic Curls are possibly the best negative repetition exercise you can practice on your hamstrings. Eccentric muscle contractions have been proven to increase flexibility more than static stretching so this fantastic drill will reduce the chances in a future tear.

Recommendations

3 sets of 5 repetitions

Prowlers, Sleds and Chutes

There are a variety of different devices available to us. So many pieces of equipment have been developed for the purpose of adding resistance to our running. Here are just a few:

Prowlers
Sleds
Parachutes
Pulleys

People ask me a many questions about resisted running on a regular basis. What are the benefits of resisted running? How does if help me with my sport? How do I implement these exercises into my training programme? What piece of kit should I use and why?

Resisted running provides the benefit of overload. Overload is a principle which suggests that by raising the difficulty on the demands of a set goal in training, will inevitably make the goal easier when it comes to the date of the task. For example, if you run with a 10kg dumbbell in each hand in training, your arms will feel lighter whilst running in a race. Each peace of kit also holds a special benefit.

Prowler pushes are a fantastic way of firming up good posture in the acceleration phase of a sprint. They mimic the low body position of acceleration. Sleds and parachutes hold very similar demands. You pull a sled via a rope attached around your waist. The slack of this rope is taken away during the later phase of acceleration and the resistance is applied. This is useful for people needing to build top end speed but don't necessarily need to improve on acceleration. The parachute is similar because the chute does not open until the later phase of acceleration. It should be noted that the load of a chute is different to the load of the sled in the way of displacement. The resistance of the sled comes lower down whilst the parachute will try to pull you upwards. Pulleys can be used for acceleration and top end speed work under the coaches discretion.

Resisted running can be implemented into technical sessions on a once per week basis. Ensure that you practice your sprints without equipment as well because you don't want resisted running to spoil your running mechanics. 10 sets of these type of track drills are ideal for a good session.

The New Way to Train

There are so many variations of split routines in weight training. There are two way splits such as “upper body/lower body” splits and “anterior/posterior” splits. There are many three way splits. The most popular three way split I’ve come across is the “Chest and Biceps/Back, Shoulders and Triceps/Legs and Abdominals” split. This one is effective because it allows the muscles of the arms to work on multiple days which enhance development.

I’ve been playing about with a new style of split routines. It’s based on biomechanical planes. These planes are:

Frontal- a movement which involves abduction and adduction movements such as Shoulder Presses, Pull Ups and Jumping Jacks

Sagittal- movements which involve forward or backward actions, this involves protraction, retraction, hinging and squatting patterns

Transverse- Rotational movements, exercises such as Russian Twists works within the transverse plane

I considered working in planes to prevent weight room trauma to my clients. This is made possible by ensuring better muscle balance. When participants go about standard weight room split routines, they rarely work on the transverse plane. This will result in low mobility, joint resilience and stability.

My clients are now asked to perform Turkish Get Ups as a part of their shoulder workout. This is to comply with adding transverse actions to a workout. The transverse action is featured in the shoulder capsule. Here is an example of a biomechanical planar split:

Monday: Frontal

·       Pull Ups

·       Shoulder Press

·       Kettlebell Wind Mills

Wednesday: Sagittal

·       Deadlift

·       Squat

·       Bench Press

·       Seated Row

Friday: Transverse

·       Turkish Get Ups

·       Clams

·       Russian Twist

Playing about in a safe manor can do you a world of good. Everyone’s physiology is different so find out what works for you.