It’s Christmas time again and we all know how good this time of year is.  Parties, presents and time away to refresh and recharge should all be at the top of our priority list.  Now I am here right now to give you ideas for what you might give to your family and friends who are health conscious and enjoy their training.  Whether it is a “secret santa” at work or a gift to a loved one, you cannot go wrong picking up presents from the following list.  And if you are still stuck for inspiration after reading this, check out my list of goodies from last year by clicking here.  Read This Article

Before you read this, make sure you understand that getting stronger by lifting weights will not mean you are going to get too big or you will lose speed.  This blog post here and this article here explains why this is not the case (with references) and why lifting weights will actually make you quicker!  We should also understand the dynamics of running.  There are basically three parts to running: the stance phase (which is the amount of time you spend on the ground with each foot strike), the stride length and the stride rate (or frequency).  To run faster, you have to either a) decrease the stance phase, b) increase the stride length or c) increase the stride frequency.  This applies to every distance from a 100m sprint to a ultramarathon.  The first group of muscles we are going to talk about in regards to their importance to running and why they need to be as string as possible are the hamstrings and in particular when they flex the knee.

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‘Do not lift weights’ coaches and so called experts say.  ‘It’ll make you slow and too bulky’ they declare.  ‘Just look at those bodybuilders’ they’ll add to back this up.  Unfortunately for athletes that are coached by an anti-weight training coach, they will never achieve their potential in their chosen sport.  Here are the facts.  Read This Article

Every now and then we need something to watch to get us in the right frame of mind before we start our training or to get us back on track with diet.  So here are the videos I have watched lately that have inspired me or I had a laugh at recently.  Hopefully they do the same for you.  Anyway, the first two reinforced a lot of reasons why I use a combination of applied gymnastics, Olympic lifting (and derivatives) and good old fashioned strength training with almost all our clientele.  The last two I just found quite humorous.  Enjoy!  Read This Article

Let us clear up something for the start - squats are no more dangerous then sitting down to eat at the family table.  Or getting on the bathroom throne every morning, for that matter.  From a biomechanics point of view, these movements are almost exactly the same.  So inherently squatting is no more dangerous than a number of everyday activities, even if you do have hip, back or lower limb dysfunction like sacroiliac joint pain.  Then why do people hurt themselves squatting?  Read This Article

Fat has to be the most debated part of food.  Most people are so scared of fat in their diet due to guidelines like the food pyramid.  Definitely no personal training or exercise physiology client of ours on the Gold Coast or Brisbane really understand the role of fat in our diet when they first come to see us.  So to clear things up and finally figure out fat here is the cheat notes.
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The main method of fat loss we use here in our Gold Coast personal training and athletic performance facility is nutritional consultations that use a software that identifies individual's “BioSignature”.  The "BioSignature" is a method of determining how to lose fat in most rapid fashion by assessing where you hormonally store fat.  Once you have that figured out, you then combat those hormones with natural diet, lifestyle and supplement changes.  This all means you lose fat faster and a greater proportion off your trouble areas.  Pretty cool right?  Read This Article

At the recent Eleiko Strength Summit in Rhode Island, I had the pleasure of listening to the former Bulgarian & Turkish weightlifting coach, Ivan Adadjiev.

Abadjiev is quite famous in weightlifting circles and somewhat revolutionized the sport of weightlifting (and training athletes in general) with a radically different approach to training.  As a lifter himself, he won a silver medal in weightlifting at the 1957 World Championships.  After finishing his athletic career, Abadjiev started training young weightlifters.  Read This Article

Another thing I got up to on a recent trip to the Unites States (where I brushed up on my Active Release Techniques in San Diego) was to go and hang out with my buddy Joe Dowdell in New York before travelling up with him and a few of his trainers to the 2011 Eleiko Strength Summit.  Joe owns Peak Performance, which is New York’s top personal training gym and he has everyone from Wall St bankers to NBA/MMA athletes to movie stars to Google’s CEO training there.  For instance, while he and I trained one day, Hillary Swank and Ethan Hawke were both getting trained by personal trainers.  And if you are wondering, yes they all have to do the prowler and sled no matter who they are! His gym has all manner of gym equipment (no gimmicks though) and he and I share a really similar philosophy to training: make sure your training contains the exercises that will give you the most value for time invested.  Read This Article

In mid April, I headed down to the Australian Fitness Expo which is held every year in Sydney.  The Australian Fitness Expo is basically a show of the best fitness related businesses have to offer and it is a massive event with all shapes and sizes attending (see some of the pics below).  At the fitness expo, the average punter gets to hang out with elite bodybuilders, fitness models, strength athletes and professional sportspeople who all get brought down by their respective sponsors.  Highlights for myself was exchanging grip training tips with America's Stringest Man Derek Poundstone and talking nutrition with bodybuilding legend and 6 time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates (pictured to the left).  Also because it is dominated by supplement companies, you cannot help but walk out with two or three showbags loaded with protein samples, tee shirts and magazines.  In fact, don't tell anyone this but I almost made myself sick from eating too many protein (cookie, bar, shake) samples on the first day.  Read This Article