Deep Knee Bends And Deep Knee Bend Jumps Improve Vertical Jumps
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | July 2, 2009
Deep knee bends will strengthen your knees and ligaments around them. Having strong, stable knee structures will influence how high you can jump.
For deep knee bends, make sure that your back is straight when you are bending your knees. Crouch down as low as possible and rise back in a slow motion. Repeat this exercise for 10-15 repetitions. You can add dumbbells to this exercise as you progress.
Deep knee bend jumps are like deep knee bends. When you reach the lowest point of the crouch, leap vertically and explosively as high as you can. When you land, crouch back down and jump again. Do 10-15 repetitions.
Make sure you have perfected jumping and landing techniques to avoid injury.
Include deep knee bends and deep knee bend jumps in your sports fitness training routine to improve your power and speed.
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Maintain Speed And Power During Long Season
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | July 1, 2009
Simply put, you don't won't to lose any of the hard-earned strength, power and speed you improved in your offseason program! In general, a weekly training program that includes 1 strength, 1 speed and 1 plyometric workout during the season will maintain your strength and explosiveness for competition.
The strength workout doesn't need to include "max out" lifting but should include full body strength training in the 8-10 repetition range for each exercise.
The speed workout can also be as simple as running ten 60-yard sprints at maximum effort before practice. Players should also perform all drills, scrimmages, plays, etc. at full speed. This way, you will continue sport specific speed training during the season.
The plyometric workout should include exercises for the upper and lower body such as medicine ball throws, depth jumps, squat jumps, tuck jumps, etc. During the season, some coaches incorporate plyometric training into regular team practices.
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Digging Deep At The Western States 100
By Scott Dunlap | June 30, 2009
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Does the Term “Eating Clean” Make You Crazy?
By tryingfitness | June 30, 2009
Eating clean is a way of eating in which the food consumed is as close to its natural state as possible. That means no processed foods, nothing that comes in a box – basically if it’s man-made, chances are it shouldn’t be eaten. To give you an idea of eating clean, bodybuilders tend to eat this way. However, most people who are trying to eat healthier and lose weight find it difficult to follow.
I run another blog about clean eating and many times, depending on the topic, people will leave comments like “that isn’t clean eating.” I have even received emails about the links I point to for recipes stating that I need to learn what clean eating is. I totally think it’s fine since I started the blog in the hopes to get better at eating clean.
Yet, lately I have been less and less interested because I feel like I have fallen into the category of those who just want to eat healthier without having labels applied to my meals. Just recently, someone left a comment that resonated with me:
Please just stop. Stop with the “clean” and “dirty” eating or “clean” and “dirty” foods. Food is food. A meal is a meal. You do not “cheat” when you eat “dirty” food. The moral attachment that occurs when labeling foods in this way serves to generate guilt and is counterproductive to the goal of fat loss. Eliminate these words from your vocabulary and you’ll be happier and less neurotic. [view the comment in full here]
That comment made a lot of sense to me which is probably why I haven’t been able to really get into writing much on that blog. I still like the idea of eating clean. It makes sense and I believe people who do it are very satisfied with their results.
Are you a clean eater? Do you feel like there is a moral attachment to eating that way?
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Sports Fitness And Sports Nutrition
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | June 28, 2009
What are your goals for your body? Do you need more muscle mass? Do you need to gain weight? Do you need to burn fat? Whatever the goal, eating right will help you reach it and haphazard eating will stop you from reaching your goal!
At Sports Fitness Hut, we have the sports nutrition plan to build and fuel your athletic body! Stop the guessing game and get your sports nutrition plan!
Here are the choices:
1. Muscle Mass Builder Meal Plan
2. Lean Body Builder Meal Plan
3. Performance Meal Plan
Get your sports nutrition plan today! Eat right and train right!
"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"
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Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!
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Walking Lunges
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | June 26, 2009
You also need adequate core strength to keep your body upright during the walk. Walking lunges also improve your speed because you use the same pathways it takes to run fast.
When you do the walking lunge, don't let your front knee go past your foot and don't let your back knee touch the ground on the descent. Also, don't let the front thigh go past parallel to the ground.
Include this staple exercise in your workouts!
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Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!
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Fitness Interviews – Aaron Harris, CPT
By tryingfitness | June 25, 2009
I am happy to post a new fitness interview with Aaron Harris, Certified Personal Trainer. Aaron can be found at his web site: www.AaronHarrisFitness.com
1. Could you tell us a little about yourself and what made you decide to become a personal trainer?
I first started exercising when I was in the sixth grade. I was always the smallest and weakest kid in my class, so I would do pushups and sit-ups every night to build up my strength. My older brother and I used to read comic books and I remember every issue had the ad for Charles Atlas’ Dynamic Tension Program. That got me even more interested in exercise. My brother started to get Muscle and Fitness issues and Joe Weider catalogs. Impressed with Arnold, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbo and others, I asked for a York Junior Barbell set for Christmas. Since then I’ve been hooked on fitness and working out.
I decided to become a personal trainer based on my desire to work in a field involving something I love. I made up my mind to find a satisfying career that I would enjoy and I have found it.
2. What does you current workout routine consist of?
Currently I am doing strength training 3 or 4 days a week. I lift for about 45 – 60 minutes per workout focusing mostly on compound movements.
As far as cardio, I get plenty by participating with some of my clients during their training sessions throughout the week.
3. How does your approach to training differ from other personal trainers?
I get my clients to make fitness and exercise an enjoyable component of their lives, not make their entire lives revolve around workouts. I’ve met too many people that were unhappy with their trainers because the trainer did not take into consideration the client’s life. Family, work, and leisure time are important, so I make sure that exercise, fitness, and healthy eating are able to be incorporated without expecting my clients to live like monks.
I also let clients know from the beginning what are realistic expectations based on how much of a commitment they are willing and able to make.
Unfortunately, lots of folks expect to be able to lose double digit pounds in a week thanks to the Biggest Loser, or be able to get in a total body workout and get amazing results in just 2 easy 10 minute sessions a week like they saw on an exercise product infomercial. I let them know not to compare themselves to fitness models unless they want to live the life of a fitness model. I won’t fill them with false hope and promises that are undeliverable.
4. Do you feel it is important to track progress such as keeping workout journals and food journals?
If someone has specific goals they are working towards it is best to log their workouts and menus. I don’t feel that it needs to be done for every phase of training though. If someone is doing a week of active recovery or they are doing a maintenance phase usually they can skip the logging until it’s time to get back to serious training. Definitely, the best way to track exercise progression is by keeping a log and referring back to it.
5. What do you suggest for people who are just getting back into working out?
My main suggestion is to prepare a solution for every imaginable excuse to not workout. Finding a good workout or training program is easy. Learning to do the exercises is not that difficult. Most people have big trouble just getting themselves started. Whether it is lack of motivation or not enough self-discipline, I think it is the toughest for some people to just get going. I recommend they go over all the reasons they’ve used in the past for skipping a workout or delaying the start of an exercise program and find all the ways they can overcome these obstacles. Once they’ve eliminated the obstacles, they can create a plan suitable for their goals, and find a partner or mentor that will hold you accountable.
6. Recently, I’ve received a lot of comments about the topic of eating one meal a day to lose weight. Could you give your feedback on this?
I’m sure there are a few rare individuals that might be able to survive, thrive and enjoy a healthy active life eating one meal a day, but for most people I don’t think there would be any positive outcome from following, or trying to follow a one-meal-a-day diet.
First of all, in order to get a sufficient amount of calories the majority of the meal would need to be energy dense. It would be too difficult to get enough calories eating the healthiest, nutrient rich foods because they are so full of fiber and much lower in calories. That would lead to a problem of getting all your required nutrients.
The average person would probably feel very low on energy, and the first thing to suffer from that effect would be their workouts, and we all know that exercise is a major factor in successful permanent fat loss.
Two other major concerns would be the decreased metabolism from prolonged daily fasting, and the possibility of the body cannibalizing skeletal muscle for its protein requirements.
Anyone looking for eating or diet guidelines for losing fat should consider that most athletes, especially physique athletes follow the rule of eating smaller frequent meals throughout the day to keep the metabolism running higher, even out blood sugar levels, maintain energy levels and keep hunger in check. The athletes that are best known for following the opposite, eating just two meals a day, are sumo wrestlers. Just by looking at those two examples, anyone should be able to see that eating one meal a day is not the way to go about losing fat.
7. Could you describe your diet and any supplements that you take?
Right now I am following a very strict vegan diet, just as a personal experiment for thirty days. I call it my “Bird Diet.” Normally my eating is very sound. I try to avoid or limit trans fats, high fructose corn syrups, MSG. I never use artificial sweeteners or products containing them.
I definitely follow the 80/20 rule, eating very well 80% or more of the time so I can enjoy a treat once in awhile. Except during my experiment, I never deprive myself of anything. Mainly I just make good choices, the same thing that I teach my personal training clients to do.
As far as supplements, I try to take Mega Omega (EPA/DHA capsules) regularly, but I’m not a pill person, so that doesn’t always happen. The same applies for my multivitamin, The Big One. Occasionally I will supplement with whey protein, and depending on what training program I am doing, I will use creatine.
8. What are some things to keep in mind to help avoid injuries when exercising?
The first thing is to know your limits and not test them. Progress your workouts gradually, not too much all at once.
Properly warming up and maintaining adequate flexibility are also very important, along with maintaining proper form, not just for strength training exercises but cardiovascular exercise too.
Also, people need to occasionally vary their workouts. Performing the same repetitive movements will lead to overuse injuries. The best way to prevent that is by taking a break from the normal routine and doing something completely different.
Another important thing to help avoid injuries is proper nutrition. Exercise breaks down tissue. You need to have enough nutrients to repair and build the tissue damaged from your workouts.
9. Is there a fitness myth you would like to debunk?
The myth that conventional strength training shortens muscles and that Pilates lengthens muscles. First of all, exercise itself is the best thing to counter “muscle binding.” Individuals become “muscle bound”, inflexible through inactivity, not exercise. I have nothing against Pilates, just its proponents that try to hype it by making it sound superior to other forms of exercise such as resistance training or weight lifting by making false claims. It is impossible to lengthen your muscles through exercise.
They are attached at their origins and insertions, and you should want them to always stay there! They can experience hypertrophy or atrophy, their tone can improve or decline, but to say you can change the length is just false.
10. Is there anything you would like to add?
Just thank you for the interview.
Thank you Aaron for participating! Visit Aaron at: www.AaronHarrisFitness.com
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Scapular Wall Slides
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | June 25, 2009
Scapular wall slides are great for working your low trap muscles. The low traps are often under-worked by many people. There has been more than one shoulder injury because of scapular problems. It also helps to improve your posture because you have to keep your chest up and shoulder blades down and back. Many people's shoulder blades are spread out too far and misaligned.
1. Lean back against a wall with your feet about 8 inches from the wall.
2. Keep your shoulders, arms, hips and head against the wall at all times.
3. Keep your arms up and slide your forearms on the wall. At the bottom of the slide, you should feel a pinching sensation between your shoulder blades. Hold for 3 counts and return to the starting position by sliding your arms back up the wall.
Use scapular wall slides as a warmup or as an exercise during your workout.
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Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!
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Pushup On Medicine Ball
By Mark Dilworth, BA, PES, CPT, Former NCAA Div. I Athlete | June 24, 2009
I'm guessing that she has progressed to the point that she can probably do a few of them now! In true marine-like fashion, she vowed to "conquer" the pushup on medicine ball!
How to do the movement: Put both hands on the ball at arms length. Keep your body straight and torso braced (as if taking a punch in the gut) throughout the movement. Keep your head in line with your torso at all times. Lower your body down to the ball and back to starting position. Repeat as required.
This type of pushup requires adequate core strength to do it properly. The pushup on medicine ball will build your upper body stabilizer muscles (chest, arms, shoulders, core, etc.) needed to increase your bench press or other upper body strength exercises.
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"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"
Check out my other great blogs:
Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!
My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!
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Raven Craft - The Man Who Ran 100,000 Miles
By Scott Dunlap | June 23, 2009
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