Perfect posture

One of the most common questions I get from my clients – after weight loss of course! – is about posture. This is a term used to describe body shape – whether good or bad. Good posture is maintaining muscular balance throughout the body to ensure there isn’t an excessive curvature in the spine.

Posture is very important when taking into consideration lower back pain. A common disorder causing lower back pain is lordosis. This is an inward curvature of a portion of the vertebral column, normally found in the lumbar vertebrae. Lordosis can be treated by strengthening the hip extensors and by stretching the hip flexors. Strengthening the posterior chain will also help to treat lordosis and flatten the lumbar vertebrae.

Useful exercises are stiff legged deadlifts, supine hip lifts and supine single leg hip lifts. Exercises that strengthen the posterior chain without involving the hip flexors in the front of the thighs will be beneficial in treating lordosis. This will help to create a posterior turn in the pelvis and flatten the back.

A large reason for lower back pain is often lifestyle. Are your clients sitting at a desk or in a car for a long period of time? If so, their body will adapt to these positions and create muscular imbalance. I re-enforce to them the importance of keeping good posture, not only during exercising but in daily life.

The majority of my clients who suffer from lower back pain spend the majority of their day in a seated position. I ask them to check they are sitting correctly in an upright position, maintaining a neutral spine and not slumping. I enforce this during our sessions by performing exercises, such as the seated shoulder press, in a seated position. Make sure your client is pushing their lower back against the back support and that this is transferred into their daily life when sitting. 

I hope these tips help!

Dom

The early bird

Thinking about training in the mornings? I would definitely recommend it – it’s a great way to wake up!

Some clients do find it hard work when it’s really early so I remind them why they’re training. I reinforce the weight loss, how well they are doing and how good they will feel for the rest of the day.

The biggest problem with training in the mornings is when clients have low energy levels if they haven't had enough sleep or not consumed the right nutrition.

When training in the morning it’s important to increase blood sugar levels and have enough glucose to fuel the workout. To do this make sure you have sufficient carbohydrates before training. Due to the short time available to digest food in the morning it is important to have a light meal that will give energy but not make you feel so full you can't work out.

Fruits and sports drinks are good to have before working out in the mornings, followed by a more substantial breakfast after the workout. I tend to have a banana and sports drink before I train so I have energy but don't feel uncomfortable. Most sports drinks will take time to provide energy so should be consumed around 20-30 minutes before training.

I start clients off with a hard exercise as I find it wakes them up! We normally start with a run/warm-up then go straight into some hard complex compound moves, such as the clean and jerk.

Early morning is actually my favourite time of the day to train – I find I always end up having a really productive day. I love it!

Dom

The black and white of it

Did anyone spot my letter in UltraFit magazine (Feb/Mar 2011)?! It's in the purple feedback box. I wrote in response about an article they ran on working in the fitness industry, and talked about my experiences (as I've been blogging here, in fact).

Delivering a marketing knockout

Isn’t it a great feeling when everything comes together with a client? I’ve been training someone new twice a week using some of the skills I picked up on the Outbox™ course I attended. We get along really well and she’s really enjoying the boxing – so much so that she asked me to help her get the right gloves, bags and wraps for her to use both in her own time and during our training.

Going on the Outbox course was really helpful in making the boxing sessions more fun and professional. Having the online videos is also a big help for referring back to teaching points and how Adam Booth and David Haye are coaching.

To try and make sure that I get more new clients – hopefully as nice as my new boxing client! – I’ve been hitting my marketing hard. And, just as I tell my clients to, I’ve been keeping a log to mark all the key points on what I have been doing every day to market myself and my company.

Over the last week I’ve made a few changes to my website to make it more visually appealing, I've contacted different groups on Facebook and have got in touch with a WeightWatchers® meeting to see if I can give a talk on health and fitness.

It really is like anything that you want to do – having set goals clearly written down really helps. I recommend all personal trainers begin keeping a log. We tell clients to write down their goals so we should practise what we preach!


Dom

The perfect bum?

As promised in my last blog, here’s a programming exercise for an effective bum/tum workout. A big thank you to PTontheNet – whenever I put together a new programme they are one of the first resources I use. It gives some great ideas on how you can take exercises from a basic level and advance them.
For a great bum/tum workout you need to ensure that all exercises are compound movements to maximise the muscles being used.

Bum/tum programme:

Activity	Sets	Reps	Tempo	Intensity
Deadlift – dumbbells	3	15	2:2	High
Basic squat	3	15	2:2	High
Chest press	3	15	2:2	High
Clean and jerk	3	15	2:2	High
Lunge – forward	3	15	2:2	High

There are a number of ways the routine can be progressed. You can change the sets, reps, tempo or rest period to create a new stimulus. One of my favourite things to do is perform the exercises using a heavy weight first, then cut the rest period out and complete the workout in a cardio style. I’ve found clients enjoy this type of training – tough as it is!

I recommend performing this workout on a Monday and then it can be repeated later in the week. If a client feels sore or tight in a specific area, change the workout around.

Here are some alternatives to the exercises listed:

Deadlift – dumbbell deadlift, transverse deadlift, single arm deadlift, single leg deadlift.

Squats – split squats, boss squats, single leg squats, BOSU single leg squat.

Chest press – dumbbell chest press, single arm chest press, Swiss ball chest press, Swiss ball dumbbell chest press, Swiss ball single arm chest press.

Clean and jerk – clean and jerk with dumbbells, single arm clean and jerk.

Lunge – lunge with dumbbells, lunge with Olympic bar, lunge onto BOSU, BOSU lunge with dumbbells, BOSU lunge with Olympic bar.

Of course, if the client is really tired then they may need a rest or for you to perform a totally different routine with them.

I hope this is useful to you all, let me know how you get on!

Dom

New clients

I’ve had a good week so far. Had a meeting with a new client on Friday who saw one of my ‘New Year, new you’ flyers and wants to do two morning sessions per week. I then had a new massage client on Saturday who also found my details via a flyer. I talked to her about fitness and nutrition during the hour, and she asked for a price list afterwards – hopefully will hear back from her in the next day or two that she wants to go ahead with personal training. So far I’m making good on my New Year’s resolution to increase my client list.

I’ve created a new list of packages and prices: it’s easier to concentrate the marketing and promotion to attract a certain type of client. I’ve got packages aimed at weight loss, toning, athletes and sports players etc. One of my friends is going to have a play about with my website this week and add the packages and prices ... keep an eye on www.feelgoodpt.co.uk

My mentor had some great advice about my client with shoulder problems, so I've incorporated mobilising exercises with band/gentle movements (flys) with very light weights to myclient's programme. When the shoulder is tight, you want to avoid strengthening it in a compromised position (while movement is limited), and go with mixture of active stretches/gentle exercises to encourage range of motion.

My current topic of interest is programming for my new mum clients who want to tone bums and tums. I'll post a programme next week so you can give it a go yourself. Let me know any tips or requests!

Dom

The fame game

I'm featured in the February issue of Fitpro Network magazine! Having been "adopted" by Fitpro, they're getting behind my goal to double my client list. First up, they've kinda pulled my marketing to pieces - and then suggested what would be better. Hopefully they'll be giving me the new flyers to use - so I'll let you know if it makes any difference. Meantime, I've had lots of my own ideas to create "package" options. I'll reveal all next week ...