Body weight exercises, or Calisthenics if you’re feeling fancy, are an essential part of our training toolbox. They are effective, can be scaled easily to your level, and in most cases require no equipment, which is great if you’re just starting out or are travelling. Continue reading Body weight exercises
All posts by averagenorm
Bottoms up!
Let’s talk hydration. Whatever you are doing, keeping your body well supplied with enough water is critical to your health. It is a necessary ingredient in most of your body’s processes from regulating temperature to digesting food, and most of your body is made of it. Continue reading Bottoms up!
Towel Power!
Towel Day is coming up on Monday 25th, so today we’re going to look at a few ways in which a towel can be employed in your travels towards fitness. Continue reading Towel Power!
Get a grip
Next Monday is Star Wars Day! While we haven’t yet figured out a way to use the force, today we’re going to look at how we can develop a Vader-like grip without having to resort to bionics!
Now, most of us don’t normally need to hang on to the underside of a cloud city with only one hand, but a good grip is useful in daily life. Apart from helping you make a good first impression by giving you a strong, firm handshake, your grip strength is also an important component of your overall fitness. Continue reading Get a grip
Full body and isolation training
Around here, we’re mostly interested in overall fitness and functional strength. By that, we mean that we’re looking to develop the kind of strength useful in everyday life, the kind that helps you move boxes of stuff, lift heavy things, and climb up stuff.
Ok, the last one may not be an every-day thing but it is fun. Continue reading Full body and isolation training
Posture
“Stand up straight”. You may have heard those words over and over again as a child as various people tried to push and pull you into at least giving the appearance of good breeding. While many seem to think this is just because it looks better, there are in fact several good reasons to follow this long-standing order. Continue reading Posture
The Great Outdoors
We usually live in environments that have been adapted for us. Environments which are designed to offer us maximum comfort and allow us to go about our daily business as efficiently as possible. These environments make life more pleasant, but they can soften us too much; sometimes it’s worth rediscovering the great outdoors to have a bit of a play in. Continue reading The Great Outdoors
On Willpower
The topic for this article was suggested by Christine C, who asked for tips on maintaining willpower in the face of tasty snacks. Thanks Christine! Here we go…
There is this thing that Matt Inman from The Oatmeal calls the blerch. You’re probably familiar with it. It’s that thing that tells you to stay in bed instead of going out for a jog, or to take just another cookie from that packet on your desk. That’s when you need to tap into your reserve of willpower and make yourself choose the option which doesn’t give you immediate gratification. Continue reading On Willpower
No School like the Old School – Lessons from the Old Time Strongmen
Today we’re going to take a look back at the way some people used to train around a century ago. You may wonder what we have to learn from such a long time ago – surely the science of fitness has advanced leaps and bounds since then, and some of the records of these turn of the century strongmen have been broken over. So why should we look to them for lessons? Continue reading No School like the Old School – Lessons from the Old Time Strongmen
Stretching
Stretching is a bit like the fairy tale stepchild in training. Everyone knows it’s there, but too many people either dismiss it, or rush through it just to get it over with and into the “real” exercise. That way, they get little or no benefit from stretching, and less benefit from their workout than they might otherwise do. Continue reading Stretching