Body Shift Fitness

31/03/2022

Nothing better than being part of peoples journeys in bettering themselves, in whatever way that may be 💪😊

16/03/2022

REGRESS, TO PROGRESS ..

Ever hit a brick wall, plateau or even started to go backwards in your training ? 🤔

At first you might think regressing deliberately from where you are at would be counter productive.. however when utilised in the correct circumstances it can be a powerful tool to continue progressing .. 1 step backward to take 2 forwards. 🏃‍♂️

So what are these circumstances .. ? Let’s go through a couple of examples 🤓

1. Plateaus
These can be down to a number of reasons but the main ones are simply overtraining and accumulating too much fatigue or at the opposite end of the scale, under training or not working hard enough and not giving the body enough reason to adapt (e.g, still doing the same routine for weeks on end)

In both cases deliberate regression can be applied to continue progress. For overtraining - reduce your current total volume by a third, or try a deload week if you’re feeling a bit beaten up.

For under training, we can again reduce the load (weight) but perform more sets across. Total volume increases, providing more stimulation but the intensity decreases/regresses.

2. Pain/Injury
At some point, everyone who’s lifted weights will have suffered from some form of stiffness, aching of the joints due to new or increased stresses placed upon them. Managing that before it becomes pain is key to continue progress - continuing to blast through pain for fear of regressing, losing muscle etc will only result in the pain getting worse and you’ll end up having to stop completely in any case.

Deliberately regressing before you get to that stage will both give your joints the rest they need and provide your muscles with a different stimulus. Here swapping out exercises that give you the pain for something else works great, but if you are dead set on keeping the exercise scale the weight right back and stick to very high reps (25+) to help the tendons strengthen pain free. It can be a hit to the ego but realise that it’s a long term game and these solutions are a short term fraction of your training lifetime.

Play the long game, and let the progress, however slow, keep going forward ✅

14/03/2022

Kettlebell concentration hammer curls 💪

This is a proper little humbler of an exercise .. add it to the end of your arm/upper body workouts .. you’ll only need a light kettlebell, fight with your grip to stop your wrist from flopping 🥴

11/03/2022

Ever tried a bodyweight only full body workout ? 🤔

Take day off the weights and give this 1000 rep/unit bodyweight only workout a blast and aim to get all the reps for each exercise completed as quick as possible and in as few sets as possible 💪

Some rules:
✅ ALL eccentric/negative phases of a lift must be at least 3 seconds. No bouncy press ups or dips with half range of motion!
✅ No kipping on pull ups
✅ Step ups one leg at a time
💡 Tip: perform exercises in pairs to reduce the rest between sets

Note your time, perform it again in 4 weeks and see if you can beat it

🏃‍♂️💨🏆🥇

25/02/2022

Goals.. have you got yours set?
📝🏆📅

Giving yourself a clear target using an end date, a target figure (for example weight on a bar, weight on the scale) and a pathway to get there is a must ✅

Here’s one of my own example targets - a 1.5x bodyweight (125kg) Romanian deadlift of 6 reps by the end of March - which is at the end of my current 4 week training cycle.

Part of the pathway to that target is being comfortable performing higher reps at lower weights building up to the target weight over the weeks. Here is a comfortable 10 reps at 100kg, which will be crept up each week along with a day a week of doing heavier sets closer to the target weight.

It’s not a case of hoping to get there by the end date, it’s a case of setting realistic goals, knowing your path to get them, getting yourself in the gym consistently and smashing down those barriers 💪✅

——————————————————
Struggling to make that path towards your own targets ? Drop me a DM and I’ll be more than happy to help out 🤝

01/01/2022

Here we go then 2022 .. 💪

🔮 Whatever it is you want to do with this year .. Set your goals, and go get them !🙅🏻‍♂️🙅‍♀️🏆🥇

‼️I have 4x slots available throughout the week for new clients - drop me a DM or come see me at the gym for a free half hour chat 👍

‼️Don’t forget to check out the new class timetable for this year starting Monday 3rd Jan - kicking off with SPIN 6:15am with me 🚴😰😁

18/11/2021

Always, always have a plan ..

Preparation time is never wasted time ✅💻📝⚖️💆🏻

16/11/2021

Most underrated fat loss tool? WALKING..

Don’t underestimate the value of this simple exercise 🧐

Often dismissed as a beginner exercise with no benefit, it has a lot of value both physically and mentally 🏆

Here’s 10 benefits:

✅ Low stress on the system
✅ Is restorative and assists recovery
✅ Burns fat
✅ Builds work capacity and aerobic fitness
✅ Stress relief and head space clearance
✅ Scalable
✅ User friendly / accessible
✅ Functional
✅ Low impact on joints
✅ Works fasted / on empty stomach

To get the most benefit, aim for 30 mins daily as a minimum and anywhere up to an hour. To scale this up, add hills into your walks or consider “rucking” - walking with a weighted backpack. Keep the weight low though to avoid it becoming a too intense exercise which then removes the benefits of it. Keep the intense stuff for the weights room and the walking outside of it 👍

25/10/2021

Missing a horizontal pulling pattern in your program ? 🧐

Most generic programs miss out this in favour of a vertical pull such as pull downs, chin ups etc but those movements fail to target the rear delts, lower traps and postural muscles like horizontal rowing does 😬

Grab a pair of rings (or use the TRX if you don’t have any) and get rowing to get these important muscle groups working 💪

If you find these too difficult regress to inverted rows with a barbell, or use the TRX with feet on floor. The more you lean back towards the floor, the difficulty increases and the more you stand upright the easier they are. This makes this particular exercise very scalable across many levels of strength ✅

18/10/2021

18/10/2021

💪 Pendlay Row vs Bent Over Row .. do you know the difference? 🤔

For me pendlay rows win, due to the resetting of the bar 🏆

#1. Resetting ensures you start every rep in the same position, as close to parallel as possible.
#2. This also means you can’t cheat and use swing momentum like the bent over row when it’s too heavy.
#3. As a result of #2, you maximise muscle fibre recruitment for every rep.
#4. The supinated grip gives additional free bicep work.

Which row wins it for you ? 🤷🏻‍♂️🥇

18/10/2021

🎱 Not slamming your balls ? 🤨

📝 Integrate it into your routine 2-3x / week. Light weight, low reps ✅

🛠 Be sure not to follow through the momentum with your body down to the ground. Stay upright and use your lats, rear delts and triceps to power it down ✅

💪 Best use as a power movement at the start of your workouts ✅