The Personal Training I offer is composed of 9 elements that are combined to provide a comprehensive health system. In order to feel better, look better and perform better it is important to look at every aspect of your training, nutrition and lifestyle.
Here is a brief overview of what we will cover if you decide to go ahead with the training:
1. Z-Health Movement Training
Z-Health is a system designed by Dr Eric Cobb. It is based on a series of joint mobility exercises that involve precisely moving every joint through its different ranges of motion in every direction at every speed with full control and constant rhythm- it is a lot harder than it first seems! By achieving full control over every area of your body you will stimulate your nervous system, lubricate the joints (motion is lotion), reduce and eliminate aches and pains, warm up the body for exercise and improve performance. Dr Cobb refers to the drills as the ABCs of moving- every movement you make in life is ultimately a combination of the Z-Health drills. In my experience Z-Health is the closest thing there is to a panacea and I would strongly recommend you purchase the R-Phase Manual and DVD from www.zhealth.net. Every day we build up stresses and strains that eventually manifest in the body as pain, tension and spasticated movement. Z-Health works by undoing these tensions and restoring full movement to the body. If you do nothing else but Z-Health on a regular basis you will be in better shape than 99% of people on this planet.
2. Strength Training
It is also imperative that you do some form of strength training. Many people have come to associate strength with horrible ugly bodybuilders- this is a BIG misconception. You don’t need to be big to be strong! Strength is simply the ability to contract your muscles against resistance to do things. Whether you’re picking a heavy barbell off the floor, unscrewing the lid of a jar or picking up a bag of shopping, it is all just strength. In fact, as long as we live in a gravitational field, every human being should be doing regular strength training! We base the strength training around natural movements that occur in real-life such as squatting, lunging, lifting, twisting, pushing and pulling. We use a number of free weights such as dumbbells, kettlebells, sandbags and medicine balls that also simulate real-life demands. Training on machines is a joke- just say no. Many people make the mistake of starting exercise programs with running, cycling, swimming etc. without building up any strength first. This is dangerous as all these sorts of exercises involve big ballistic movements that are stressful to the body. Unless you have built up a strong and resilient body, these exercises are more likely to hurt you than do you any good.
3. Speed + Agility Training
This involves training your body to be fast and able to move quickly in different directions. While this sort of training is mainly suited to people who play sports, I would still recommend it to anyone- there is always a possibility that in some point in your life you will NEED to run fast. Your life might even depend on it so better to be ready for it!
4. Cardiovascular Conditioning
CVC Training is designed to build a stronger, more resilient cardio-respiratory system. The benefits of this are obvious and there are a million and one ways to go about it, common ones being walking, running, swimming, cycling and aerobics. However, there is no need to stick to boring long-distance running, there are many ways to get an extremely effective workout in less than ten minutes if you pick the right exercises. Cardio training is very specific- Lance Armstrong is considered one of the best endurance athletes of all time but only placed 823rd in the New York marathon! So if you play a sport, we will train in a way that matches your sport. If you are just training to lose some weight and improve general fitness, we will find something you enjoy and that suits your body type.
5. Physical Therapy
If you have anything quite chronic it may be worth pursuing some form of manual therapy to help mobilise tissues and other structures in the body. While I am not a qualified bodyworker myself, I can point you in the direction of a suitable professional who can help you work through any isses you have.
6. Nutrition Coaching
If you are looking to lose weight (or indeed gain weight), then it is obviously quite important that you eat correctly! There is no need to reinvent the wheel and there are no miracles. Just eat plenty of good food, don’t eat too much food and don’t eat much junk. We can work to find a particular style of eating that suits you as everyone is different but as long as you are sticking to the basics, the rest is just fine-tuning.
7. Lifestyle Advice
The ultimate aim of this is to reduce stress. Stress in the body triggers a hormonal cascade as the body fights to protect itself. These hormones will cause a horrible chain of events including elevated insulin and cortisol that will ultimately make you fat and ill. There are countless ways to make your lifestyle more natural and stress-free and we can look at sleep, noise, light, environment, work-stress and family-stress. This could be the most important aspect of your health and is often the main reason people struggle with their weight.
8. Rest + Relaxation
On a similar theme it is also vital that you find some time to relax, preferably every day. Modern life is fast, loud and stressful- you need to take some time out to just relax and let your body calm down. You don’t have to do anything fancy, just sit in a quiet room with no distractions for at least 10 minutes every day. Watching TV does not count as relaxation! You can also learn to meditate but its not vital- as long as you sit quietly you will get the benefits. If you find it difficult to sit still for any period of time I can show you a number of techniques that will calm the body down and allow you to relax.
9. Mental Training
All of the above is useless if you don’t have the mental strength to stick it out! While I try to make things as enjoyable as possible, it is an unavoidable fact that good health ultimately takes a bit of discipline and a bit of hard-work. Most people in the world are extremely unhealthy- if we treated our pets the way we treat ourselves most of us would be locked up for animal rights abuse. If you want to rise above the masses of sick diseased people who care more about their bank balance than their blood pressure then you will need to build a certain degree of mental fortitude. Pavel Tsatsouline says that the most important thing in health and fitness is ‘consistency over intensity’. To get results and to stay healthy you need to look after yourself on a regular basis. You wont achieve lifelong health from a detox diet and a 6-week exercise plan!
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