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Summer Body Blitz – Session 21

Today’s session is entirely cardiovascular – we will be rowing. Very few gym users enjoy rowing, mostly because very few know how to use a rowing machine to do anything other than warm-up. Today’s session is made up of a series of intervals on the rower, designed to give you a full-body workout while keeping you engaged. We will be using three types of intervals:

Fast/Easy:

(b) Max Power/Easy: this interval isolates power output from stroke rate (number of strokes per min). Your stroke rate shouldn’t change, rather you should increase your power output per stroke by applying more force per stroke.

(c) High SPM/ Easy: here we increase the number of strokes per min with less emphasis on power per stroke. This interval is about moving fast, but under control. Do not allow the chain to flap about or jerk on the slide (otherwise you may find yourself falling off the seat).

The advance group will also undertake two 500m sprints. This is essentially a fast/slow interval. The aim is to cover the 500m distance as fast as possible. If you do undertake the advanced program, let me know your 500m times. I’m also very interested to know how everyone found the program – did it teach you to love the rower???

WORKOUT TWENTY ONE
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
500m warm-up (easy pace)	500m warm-up (easy pace)	500m warm-up (easy pace)
100m FAST followed by 100m SLOW x5	200m FAST followed by 100m SLOW x5	300m FAST followed by 100m SLOW x5
10 strokes at MAX POWER followed by 30 strokes EASY x 5	10 strokes at MAX POWER followed by 20 strokes EASY x 5	15 strokes at MAX POWER followed by 30 strokes EASY x 5
200m HIGH SPM* with 300m EASY pace x2	300m HIGH SPM* with 200m EASY pace x2	500m Sprint with 500m EASY x2

*Strokes per minute

Summer Body Blitz – Session 20

Posted: 26th July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

This workout, if done properly, is very tough. We’re combining a heavy load of strength training with high speed cardiovascular work. The workout will test your strength, strength endurance, cardiovascular fitness and mental fortitude. Don’t rush the weights section, but make your way through the cardio element as fast as you can. Average your times on the cardio circuit and let me know how you did. Make sure you warm-up properly before undertaking this workout! This is as important as the workout itself – if you’re not warm, you’ll struggle to lift properly.

Choose a heavy weight…

Selecting an appropriate weight is very important for this workout. Select a weight you STRUGGLE to lift for 10 reps. Struggle, not strain. It should be hard, but achievable with good form. Do not increase the weight as you proceed, make sure you select an appropriate weight from the beginning. Hence the vital importance of warming-up properly. If you’re not warm, you will likely struggle at a lighter weight and as the sets proceed it will become easier – defeating the desired effect of this workout.

Having selected your weight, undertake the specified number of reps using as many sets as you need. As your legs get tired, it will become harder to do sets of 10. Reduce the number, doing one/ two reps at a time if necessary. If you find this workout easy, you’ve not selected a heavy enough weight. It should take you some time.

WORKOUT TWENTY
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
30 Squats	50 Squats	50 Squats
Perform this section ONCE
800m Run	800m Run	800m Run
800m Row	800m Row	800m Row
400m FAST Run	400m Sprint (treadmill)	400m Sprint (treadmill)
Perform the Circuit Three Times Post your average time

Injury Treatment – the professionals, part 1

Posted: 26th July 2011 by Tom Robertson in Tom Robertson
Tags: acupuncture, anti-inflammatory, carpal tunnel syndrome, chiropractor, injury assessment, muscle relaxant, physiotherapy, sports massage, training injury, trapped nerve, ultrasound

In my last post, Injury Management, I explained the RICE protocol for minimising the impact of a sudden acute injury. If the RICE protocol doesn’t fix the problem, you will then need to seek professional help to diagnose and rehab your injury. Obtaining a clear diagnosis can be a lengthy process – be patient. Keep an injury journal, documenting when, where and how your injury manifests its ugly head – this will significantly help at both the diagnosis and rehab stages. In this series of posts I will publish my own (and current) injury and rehab journal to give you an idea of the lengths one often has to go. Don’t give up! You can be fixed, you can get back into training, and you can remain fit. My injury has stopped me training, some are less severe but nevertheless as important to diagnose and treat. Hopefully you’ll get some ideas of how to tackle yours from my own experience…

So, lets start with my “Journal of Pain”…

Friday:

Saturday: Same as above, but with pins and needles also in my forearm. Again I ignored it and trained as normal.

Sunday: This time it was painful to make a fist. The pins and needles remained in my hand and fingers, but my forearm was now very painful too. Again, it all eased off once I was up and about, however, this time training was an issue. A big issue. Trying to deadlift with pins and needles in my arm and no feeling in my hand wasn’t one of my better ideas, but I pushed on with little success.

Monday: Woke up continuously throughout the night with pain in my forearm and hand. The numbness and tingling sensation was no longer intermittent in my hand and fingers – it was permanent. I had the injury assessed by a Shiatsu & sports massage practitioner (my mum). Her opinion was that it could be carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) or a trapped nerve somewhere. She bought me some ultra violet mittens to wear in bed at night. Sexy.

sports Injury management - training through injury

In hind sight, I should have probably stopped training at this point, but I was no way near ready to give in.

Tuesday: Physio #1 – Donald @ City Chiropractic

The pain and numbness continued. Nonetheless, an upper body weights session was scheduled, so I trained.

Donald (the physio) checked me over thoroughly – he ran through a huge number of tests and questions. His opinion was that it was not CTS, nor a trapped nerve. Although I showed some symptoms of both he believed his tests showed that neither of these were conclusive. His diagnosis: some form of compartment syndrome in my forearm causing pseudo-CTS. He noted that my right forearm was considerably puffy & swollen compared to the left and looked like it had a lot of fluid in it. His recommendation was that I went to see a GP ASAP, get some strong anti-inflammatorys & something to help me sleep. He performed massage to the forearm – the pain/numbness decreased considerably until I walked out the door. He told me to see a chiropractor and I think he gave me some stretches to perform as well, which I went through once the next day.

Wednesday: Chiropractor – Pamela @ City Chiropractic

Bad night of sleep again, feeling pretty tired & slow now. Started training this morning (Squats today), but sacked it after about 30mins as I was struggling to lift my warm up weights. Considerably annoyed & frustrated.

As recommended by Physio #1, I returned the next day to see the chiropractor to check for any structural issues. More tests, stretching and questions. By this time, I had a dull pain in the back of my arm, back of my shoulder and it went right up to the back of my ear – giving me some cracking headaches. No structural issues apparently, but the chiropractor’s sensation tests lead her to believe the problem was definitely nerve related. She performs a few spine and neck adjustments (the pops and cracks are expected) and then treats me with ultrasound, some acupuncture (a first for me) and sports massage. Pain and numbness is reduced for a couple hours, but returns with a vengeance later that night.

Tom Robertson sports injury management - training with injury

By this point, my training was pretty useless
- I was getting very frustrated!

Thursday: GP – 1st (of MANY) Visits

Rubbish sleep again. Woke up several times during the night with a horrific burning sensation. Must have looked pretty rough for my first appointment with my drug dealer… GP sorry. Completely different approach to the physio and chiropractor – quick fire questions and assessment. Done in 15 min. I left with instructions to do no upper body weightlifting (or lower body work that affects my upper body) nor any cardio that makes my hand numb or gives me shoulder pain. Pretty limited on the exercise front then! With a prescription for pain killers (co-codomol), anti-inflammatory (diclofenac) and muscle relaxant/sleep aid (diazepam) in hand, I am told it is ok to continue with physio/massage but do not, I repeat, do not allow any chiropractors to perform any adjustments. Got it.

Conclusions thus far…

Professional	Diagnosis	Advice
Physio No. 1	maybe some form of compartment syndrome causing pseudo-CTS	massage & stretching & come back in a week
Chiropractor	Nerve related	Chiropractic adjustment, massage & acupuncture & come back in a week
GP	Nerve related	Drugs & come back in 5 days

How do I feel? RUBBISH!

Summer Body Blitz – Session 19

Posted: 25th July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

We’re undertaking a short, quick workout today in preparation for session 20. This workout is designed to get your heart pumping and muscles working hard without destroying your legs – you’ll need them for the next session. You know the drill by now, work as fast and hard as you can to complete the workout as quickly as possible. Let me know how you get on…

WORKOUT NINETEEN
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
500m Row	1k Row	1K Row
10 DB Bench Press	10 DB Bench Press	10 DB Bench Press
10 One-armed Row	10 One-armed Row or Inverted Row	10 Pull-ups
10 Plank-hold Knee Tuck	20 Plank-hold Knee Tuck	30 Plank-hold Knee Tuck
Perform the Circuit Three Times

Summer Body Blitz – Session 18

Posted: 23rd July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

Today’s workout involves a quick full-body resistance circuit designed to boost your metabolism, burn fat and improve tone. If you’re following the intermediate or advanced program, choose a weight that challenges you. The benefit of this workout lies in carrying out the exercises under sufficient load, so make it tough for yourself.

WORKOUT EIGHTEEN
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
10 Squats	10 Squats +DB	10 Squats +DB
10 Inchworm	10 Inchworm	10 Inchworm
20 Lunges	20 Lunges	20 Lunges +DB
10 Push-ups	10 spiderman push-ups (kneeling)	10 spiderman push-ups
10 Superman Lifts	10 Superman Lifts	10 Superman Lifts
Perform the Circuit Three Times
1min Run Intervals x5	1min Sprint x5	1min30 Sprint x6

The following video (staring CD) demonstrates Spiderman Press-ups (kneeling and full) and Superman Lifts. If you presently struggle to complete 5 full and good quality press-ups, stick with the kneeling spiderman press-ups for now. If you can complete 5 or more good, full press-ups, give the spiderman version a go. Do as many as you can full, and then drop your knees to finish up kneeling.

Injury Management

Posted: 22nd July 2011 by Tom Robertson in Tom Robertson
Tags: acute injury management, Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, compression, elevation, ice, ice pack, ice treatment, muscle sprain, R.I.C.E., rest, training injury

I am injured. If I have been in a “grumpy/angry/sad” mood recently (the last 3 weeks) looking “tired/drained/peely-wally” now you know why. Getting injured sucks. Whether it’s a little muscle sprain, a twisted ankle that slows you down for a few days or something major, it is annoying, frustrating and inconvenient. At first you kind of ignore it, like I did, and work around the issue. If you get lucky the problem resolves itself and you get back on track. If you are not this lucky, like me, the problems gets worse and it is time take a step back and give the injury some attention.

The solution to the problem obviously depends on the injury. Usually it’s either muscle or bone related. You get kicked in the leg or drop a dumbbell on yourself (seen it happen) and you get a nasty bit of bruising and/or (if there is enough force) damage a bone.

Back to basics…

To quickly recover and avoid re-injury use the R.I.C.E. protocol and NSAIDs. NSAIDs being Non Steriod Anti-Inflammatory Drugs – prescribed to you by your GP or pharmacist. The R.I.C.E. protocol is Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

Rest:

Ice: Apply an ice pack or bag of peas to the affected area. Do not apply directly to the skin, use a towel to protect the skin. To increase the effect of the ice treatment, use 2 layers of damp cloth. Apply the ice for approx 20mins every 1-2 hours while you are awake.

Compression: Apply compression firmly to the injured area when not lying down and allowing for swelling to occur (the ice treatment & drugs will help minimize this). Compression should be firm but not so tight as to cause any pain, numbness, tingling or a reduction in circulation.

Elevation: A great song from U2. Stick the video on while you raise the injured body part above the level of your heart so that the pressure from tissue swelling is reduced.

“OK, so I have done all that, but my injury hasn’t gone away? What do I do now?”

Time to go see some professionals. My next post will outline in more detail my own injury, the people I went to see, their opinions and the treatments I have (so far) received.

Tom

Summer Body Blitz – Session 17

Posted: 22nd July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

Today’s quick cardio blast can be completed using any piece of equipment (rower, treadmill, spin bike, cross trainer) or outdoors with a stopwatch. Just work your way through the interval sets, pushing as hard as you can. If you find the intervals too easy, push harder during the active periods. The advanced group will be attempting 15s Sprints (with 45s rest), which sounds easy, but is tremendously difficult. 15s is a VERY VERY long time when you’re working at you maximum. If you’re heart and lungs aren’t burning during the 15s, you haven’t hit the output we’re looking for.

WORKOUT FOUR
ADVANCED PROGRAM
1. Warm Up	2. Sustained Intervals	3. Max Effort
10min warm-up including 4x 1min high intensity efforts	1min30 HARD followed by 30s Active Rest (SLOW) x5 1min15 HARD followed by 15s Rest x5	45s MAX Pace followed by 15s Static Rest x5 15s MAX Sprint followed by 45s Rest x5
INTERMEDIATE PROGRAM
1. Warm Up	2. Sustained Intervals	3. Max Effort
10min warm-up including 4x 1min high intensity efforts	1min30 HARD followed by 30s Active Rest (SLOW) x5 1min HARD followed by 30s REST x5	30s MAX Pace followed by 30s Static Rest x5
BEGINNER PROGRAM
1. Warm Up	2. Sustained Intervals	3. Max Effort
5min steady pace	1min30 HARD followed by 30s Active Rest (SLOW) x5	30s MAX Pace followed by 30s Rest x5

Summer Body Blitz – Session 16

Posted: 20th July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

Hello from New York! At the time of writing this it’s 5pm NY time and I’m sitting in the St Regis Hotel on 5th Avenue watching the world rush by. The gym here at the Hotel is very limited – it’s a beautiful hotel, but clearly not a fitness destination. I’ve pretty much got a bike, treadmill and matt to work with, so I’m afraid we will be doing some hefty intervals. Make sure you warm up thoroughly beforehand, or you’re unlikely to get the most out of this workout. Get through it as fast as possible and let me know how long it takes you.

WORKOUT SIXTEEN
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
500m Run at incline of 1%	800m Run at incline of 2%	800m Run at incline of 3%
10 push-ups	15 push-ups	20 push-ups
20 Squat Thrusts	25 Squat Thrusts	30 Squat Thrusts
20s Plank-hold	30s Plank-hold	45s Plank-hold
1min Sprint on bike with 30s rest x3	1min Sprint on bike with 30s rest x3	1min30 Sprint on bike with 30s rest x3
Perform the Circuit THREE Times; INCREASE Incline each round

Summer Body Blitz – Session 15

Posted: 19th July 2011 by Chloe in Summer Blitz
Tags: fat burning program, fat burning workouts, fat loss program, fat loss workouts, free online weight loss plan, free online workouts, online fitness program, online workouts, workouts to burn fat

Today’s workout is more varied than usual. It requires you to undertake 10 different exercises, so remember to print out the workout before hitting the gym. We will be focusing on core strength. A strong core is essential for more advanced weightlifting and cardiovascular training – so whatever your long-term goal is, core strength training should be an integral component of your routine.

WORKOUT FIFTEEN
Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
500m Walk/Run	500m Run	500m Run
10 Inchworm	10 Inchworm	20 Inchworm
10 Plank-hold step overs	10 Plank-hold step overs	20 Plank-hold step overs
10 Sit-ups	10 Sit-ups	20 Sit-ups (legs vertical)
500m Walk/Run	500m Run	1K Run
20 Squat Thrust	20 Squat Thrust	30 Squat Thrust
20 Plank-hold knee-tuck	20 Plank-hold knee-tuck	30 Plank-hold knee-tuck
20 back extensions	20 back extensions	30 back extensions
500m Walk/Run	500m Run	500m Run
30 Mountain Climbers	30 Mountain Climbers	40 Mountain Climbers
30 Lunges (bodyweight)	30 Lunges (bodyweight)	40 Lunges (bodyweight)
30 Plank-hold rotations	30 Plank-hold rotations	40 Plank-hold rotations

The dreaded PLANK…

In this session you will notice we are undertaking a number of plank-hold variations. The only new variation is the Plank-hold Rotation, which is demonstrated in the video below. It is also worthwhile taking this opportunity to work on your plank position in general. All too often, one is unaware that our butt is actually sticking up in the air or our back is sunk. Look in a mirror and make sure you’re holding the position correctly. For more info on how to establish a good plank position, please watch the video below.

Post Thor Strength Training Program – Option 2

Posted: 19th July 2011 by Tom Robertson in Strength training, Thor Workout, Tom Robertson
Tags: fitness plan, fitness tips, how to build muscle, lower body training, muscle workouts, online workout, pre-season weights training, strength workout, upper body training, weights workout, workouts to build muscle

I designed the first Post Thor Program to be done 2x per week with recovery time between sessions. This is the most effective way to perform the program as I was assuming that on days in between you would be doing a ton of fitness training with your club. However, it looks as though many of you are looking for something more than two sessions per week strength training. I therefore also gave you the option to do the 2 session plan on a 3x or 4x per week schedule (for those not involved in any form of pre-season sports training or with more time available).

Three or Four Times a week

At 3x per week, the plan still works well (for example Mon/Wed/Fri). Each session involves a total body workout so having days off between the sessions is ideal. At 4x a week, however, the program becomes very demanding. I suggested training two days on, with one day off such as – Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri (no weights training on Wednesdays or the weekend). This is particularly challenging, as each session is a total body weights program. You would be squatting & deadlifting two days in a row, as well as bench pressing, push pressing, dumbbell rowing & doing chin ups. Everything would get smashed in 2 days.

I think that might kill me…

Sure this is tough, but hard work produces amazing results. For some, this would be no problem. However, others need more recovery time. I have therefore converted the original plan into an Upper/Lower body split training program. This will make training on back-to-back days more manageable.

Session A – Lower Body

Session B – Upper Body

All the exercises, rep ranges, rest periods remain the same as my first plan. I have re arranged the exercise order to suit training two days back to back, or rather, make training two days in a row more manageable. This way of performing the plan makes it perfect for a 4x week training split. An ideal structure would be

Otherwise organize the workout around your own training schedule.

Hope this helps!

Tom

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