FoxFit Strength & Conditioning

FoxFit Strength & Conditioning We help the people of Connemara get, and stay, fit and healthy. All ages/sizes/sexes/abilities welc

Pivot Block ReviewI came into this Pivot Block in a strange position, my numbers were down on the previous two weeks (if...
07/08/2022

Pivot Block Review

I came into this Pivot Block in a strange position, my numbers were down on the previous two weeks (if you remember, I ran an 8 week block rather than my normal 6 week, so that was expected) but i didn't feel as beat up or fatigued as I would have expected, which is interesting…

My numbers also didn't progress as much as I would have liked, so does this mean I didn't push things hard enough? Maybe, or it could be that my life stress was higher than in previous blocks? Or it could just be one of those things?

I'm going to not stress about it and carry on with the plan, for this Pivot I worked on some bodyweight movements with a small bit of jumping and isometric thrown in for good measure, and I really enjoyed them.

All in all, I'm really looking forward to hitting the weights again tomorrow, so in that respect this Pivot has been a roaring success!

Block ReviewNot the greatest block I've ever completed, in terms of results i.e. pure weight on the bar. I really only m...
07/08/2022

Block Review

Not the greatest block I've ever completed, in terms of results i.e. pure weight on the bar. I really only managed to put 5kg on my Squat, Bench and Front Squat and almost nothing on Sn**ches and Cleans.

However, I do think my technique became much more consistent and more repeatable, and I was able to identify the correct weaknesses to be working on moving forward.

Hopefully, the next block will see a nice jump in performance.

Pivot Block - Block ReviewI finished this Pivot Block feeling pretty tired still and without a huge desire to jump back ...
25/04/2022

Pivot Block - Block Review

I finished this Pivot Block feeling pretty tired still and without a huge desire to jump back into heavy training again - all of which is usually a sign that I didn't quite get the protocols right.

Previously, my suspicion has been that I've kept the intensity too high and not given joints and muscles a chance to recover, which could certainly be the case this time around, as I was training movements that required fast, snappy jumping around which can be hard on the ol' knees.

However, I actually got my first session of the new Block in, this morning, before writing this review and I hit a 1kg PB on Clean and Jerk, so what do I know?!?!

In fact, you probably shouldn't listen to me at all!

How hard should you workout?It might be the most hotly debated topic in Fitness. It spans both the realms of Cardio and ...
04/02/2022

How hard should you workout?

It might be the most hotly debated topic in Fitness.

It spans both the realms of Cardio and Resistance Training and is a subject that probably generates more dogma than any other.

Intensity, or how hard you should exercise, is something that can be quite complicated to get your head around at first.

Should you be going to failure every time you lift weights?

Should you be able to talk whilst you cycle on the stationary bike?

Should you leave a few reps in the tank on those Curls?

Should you leave it all on the pitch/road/treadmill and end up on the floor drenched in a puddle of sweat?

The short answer is probably not.

The WHO recommends that Resistance Training be carried out at a Moderate or Greater Intensity and that Cardio should be done at a Moderate or Vigorous Intensity.

For context this probably means we are best off looking to hit an effort level of between 5 and 6 out of 10 for our Moderate Work and 7 or 8 out of 10 for our Vigorous or Higher Intensity Work for the bulk of our exercise.

Does this mean you can't do more or less than this on occasion? Absolutely not, sometimes the situation will call for it, and that's just fine.

So then how should we specifically measure our Intensity during a workout?

This can be done in a few ways, we could use a system like RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) or RIR (Reps in Reserve). We could use a Heart rate Monitor or a tool like the Borg Scale. Or we could just keep it simple and use a Qualitative or Descriptive Scale such as Easy, Medium, Hard, Very Hard.

The point is, it probably doesn't matter a huge amount which particular method we use just that we try to be consistent and remember that we don't need to be an absolute savage every time we exercise. Nor do we want to never push ourselves a little bit.

As with lots of things Health and Fitness we're looking for Baby Bear's Porridge, not too hot, not too cold, just right.

Goals. I've never really been one for setting explicit goals at the start of the year but this year I decided to give it...
27/01/2022

Goals. I've never really been one for setting explicit goals at the start of the year but this year I decided to give it ago.

Does that mean everybody should?

🤷‍♀️ not sure tbh.

I think there is value in setting (or at least thinking about) some Process orientated goal e.g. eat 5 servings of fruit and veg a day or walk 10,000 steps but I think setting Outcome goals can be a trickier area for people and whether you should or should not it likely much more context dependent.

If you're a high level athlete you probably can't get away from having Outcome Goals but if you're just a regular person, meh, maybe, maybe not.

Anyway, here are mine, let's see how close we get.

50kg Sn**ch
100kg Clean and Jerk
120kg Bench
150kg Squat
220kg Deadlift
4 min Bronco

Is technique important?Hang around Instagram long enough and you're bound to see it;Infographics and Reels with Big Red ...
12/01/2022

Is technique important?

Hang around Instagram long enough and you're bound to see it;

Infographics and Reels with Big Red Crosses and Bright Green Ticks next to people working out - the implication being that there are “Right Ways” to move and “Wrong Ways”, but is that the truth?

Well in short, no it is not that simple, as with lots of things Fitness, there are grey areas and nuance galore.

To keep things simple, today, we'll look at when technique Probably Is important and when it's Probably Not.

Probably Important

Efficiency - If you want to lift the most weight possible then having a stable technique that maximises your leverages is important. Similarly, executing that technique in such a way that, generally, sees the bar travel the shortest distance is likely to give us more ability to lift more weight.

Hypertrophy - If you want to grow bigger muscles then your technique is likely also quite important, for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, we want to make sure that the exercises we're doing are working the muscles we want them to. If we want to grow our quads, then squatting with a technique that emphasises our quads is probably a sensible choice.

In addition, because Muscle Growth is essentially the result of the tension our muscles are put under, it makes sense to choose a technique that allows us to do more work e.g. has a greater Range of Motion.

Probably Not

Injury Risk Reduction - The rule on this one is quite simple: "Bad Technique does not equal Increased Injury Risk."

Always remember the human body is very resilient and adapts to strain put on it, so if you always lift with a rounded back you'll get used to doing so, thus meaning there's no increased injury risk. 

So what does this all mean?

Well, we think it means that there is a time and a place for working on one's technique but focussing on "Perfect Technique" all the time for fear of injury is probably a fool's errand.

Can't be arsed to work out or struggling to motivate yourself… Don’t worry, it happens to us all, try these 3 tips▶️ Jus...
04/01/2022

Can't be arsed to work out or struggling to motivate yourself… Don’t worry, it happens to us all, try these 3 tips

▶️ Just get started - This is a little hack I like to use particularly when it comes to Cardio or workouts that I just don’t feel up to. 

It’s a pretty simple one and even though I know it’s a trick, it somehow still works. 

All you do is give yourself permission to quit after a fixed, but crucially, very small amount of time. Alternatively, giving yourself a set goal or distance goal can also help e.g. stop after the first set, the first exercise or the first 500m - whatever will work best for the context you’re in.

For example, let’s say you had a 30 minute session on the treadmill planned, but you really don’t feel up to it / motivated, you say to yourself that you are allowed to quit after 5 minutes, you give yourself permission to fully stop the workout after just 5 minutes. 

Surprisingly, almost every time I get to the 5 minute/1 set/whatever you've chosen, I find it very easy to justify carrying on and usually finish the workout.

Sidenote - have also found it helps with jobs that I don’t want to do around the house e.g. washing up or walking the dogs!

▶️ Change it up - Let's say you had to do a Cardio session on the bike but really don't fancy it. Why not try something completely different, like Yoga or a Kettlebell workout?

Or maybe you don't need such a dramatic change and would rather change from 15 reps on Bench to just 5 reps. The point is, it doesn't really matter how you change it. 

One session in isolation doesn't make a massive difference over the course of a few weeks or months and it's pretty much always better to do something rather than nothing, so next time you feel uninspired to complete your planned exercise, change it up!

▶️ Don't workout - This one might seem a but strange but as we said, one session is not going to make or break your fitness journey, so simply not doing the session is a perfectly valid option. 

Sometimes being kind to yourself is the move and whether that be postponing the session for another day or skipping it altogether, you do what feels right. 

Continued in the comments

New Year, New You, What Now?In about 48 hours (if it's not already started) Social Media and Non Social Media is about t...
30/12/2021

New Year, New You, What Now?

In about 48 hours (if it's not already started) Social Media and Non Social Media is about to be flooded with "New Year, New You" rhetoric, advertising, and memes.

As with a lot of things in life, I think there are pros and cons to this message.

On the one hand, it brings a whole host of snake oil salesmen and charlatans out of the woodwork, wanting to cash in on this narrative with quick fixes, sh*tty training modalities, nonsensical diets, detoxes, supplements, and flashy looking but ineffective junk to sell you e.g. knobbly foam rollers, colourful tape, shake weights and the like.

On the other hand, I do think that the "New Year, New You'' idea can be a great Kickstarter to a new habit or group of habits. It's not rational, why would starting a new diet or exercise regime on the 1st Jan be any better than say the 6th, 17th or the 23rd? But hey, humans aren't rational and sometimes having a clear start date in mind, a clear plan in place and a few days to metally prepare for it, can give us increased motivation and drive to succeed.

In addition, it's worth noting that just as the shady characters have stuff to sell you, so do the companies who have great products and services to sell you. So it's not all bad.

With that in mind, I wanted to give my top 5 pieces of advice for getting started with fitness in 2022.

Feel free to save this post or click the link in my bio to download a PDF version.

Hopefully, some of these will resonate with you. Are there any other rules or pieces of advice that you like to follow? Drop them in the comments.

Dec Pivot Block ReviewIt feels like I've been starting every Block Review with the words "Bit of a strange one..." recen...
26/12/2021

Dec Pivot Block Review

It feels like I've been starting every Block Review with the words "Bit of a strange one..." recently, but I guess that's to be expected with the way life is at the minute (e.g. new baby, COVID, holidays)

However, this WAS a strange Pivot Block in that I spent the first half of it away from my Home Gym, so unable to do any Olympic Lifting and then immediately thrown into Xmas Prep for the second half of it.

All of which resulted in some pretty ugly lifting when I first got back to it, with weights that were well below what I was handling prior.

I'm trying not to stress out about this though and reminding myself that it's a marathon not a sprint. Looking forward to a good few unbroken weeks of training and with some normal, non Christmas nutrition to fuel it all. (Mince pies and Wine will only take one's 1RM so far!) 

Address

Ballinakill
Lettermullan
H91A09F

Opening Hours

Monday 5am - 2pm
Tuesday 5am - 2pm
Wednesday 5am - 2pm
Thursday 5am - 2pm
Friday 5am - 2pm
Saturday 5am - 2pm

Telephone

+35391416991

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when FoxFit Strength & Conditioning posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category