Creating Chaos - For Fitness & Sport Professionals

I worked away this week and at times where travel is extensive, you have to be quite disciplined to squeeze in the chance to do some exercise. The irony being that when driving a lot, your body is in a greater need of movement with the sedentary nature of travelling yet often, there is less time than normal to fit it in.

However, I managed to find out where the nearest gym was and just about had time for 30 minutes of exercise which is enough time to fit in a decent session. Without naming this large commercial gym, their name claims to put fitness before everything else. Well, after Wednesday's visit, I'm not completely sure that I agree.

On stepping into the gym, I was pleased to find out that I could just pay for a one off session without being a member. £10 seemed on the pricey side for a single visit but that could be just my yorkshire-ness. I was pleased just to make the most of the time. However, I was rather surprised that I didn't have to complete any health forms, waivers or sign up documents, simply pay £10 and hand over my car keys in exchange for use of a locker.

Now, this particular chain isn't known for it's lavish facilities so I wasn't expecting to be stepping into the training arena for the GB Olympic team. But paying £10 for a single visit, you expect there to be a certain level of facility to justify the cost.

The club itself was a peculiar set up, the main gym area immediately ahead as you walk in, the weights area in a hidden room that I almost missed and a studio to the far side of the gym area. With little time available, I had a quick scout about to orientate myself and see what was available. Stepping briefly into what was an extremely crammed and busy free weight area, the level of hostility as a young male struck me immediately. As I opened the door and walked in, every single testosterone-fuelled guy turned and looked at me with little if any facial expression, not the most welcoming response.

I decided to warm up on a rower. 3 were available and my first choice seemed to have a poorly oiled chain making it awkward to get a good rhythm so, with the neighbouring rower being free, I jumped across. Oddly enough, the same issue remained, I'm not sure entry fee was used heavily on maintenance or equipment replacement.

As someone who trains instructors, even without trying to, I found myself taking note of what the gym instructors were doing. It was of no great surprise that these instructors had their t-shirt sleeves rolled to reveal a little more upper arm and spent most of their time chatting up the opposite sex.

I ended up putting myself in a little corner of a matted area and piecing a circuit together with a couple of dumbbells and a few other bits that had seen better days. The matts weren't particularly clean but generally training outdoors, a little dirt tends not to bother me. Half way through my circuit, a group of anteriorly focussed and rather oddly shaped men came and did some sort of 'ab' blast next to me. Whilst not eavesdropping, it was clear that their crude and very audible conversation was aimed at a number of females  nearby on cardio-based equipment. If I could hear their comments, I was sure that many others, including the subjects of the conversation were aware of this. Yet somehow, it seemed to be the norm and was almost acceptable.

I tend not to visit gyms very often, mainly as and when I'm teaching courses or running events. Having started OutFit a few years ago, this less than satisfactory experience left me feeling rather smug which may come across a little odd.

Whilst OutFit may not be taking over the world anytime soon, I know for certain that our members feel comfortable and at ease when they come to sessions. I know that our instructors are all helpful and put members' needs first. I know that we always welcome new members and don't intimidate or present an image of superiority. I know that our session area is always free from litter and our equipment is in good working order. I know for certain that we don't tolerate sexist behaviour.

 In an industry where constant research and headlines highlight epidemics of ill-health, you'd think we had a moral obligation to breakdown any and every barrier that could potentially stand in the way of someone participating in physical activity. However, it still appears that some organisations are concerned with celebrity endorsements and attendance metrics.

Q - How can the industry move forwards without listening to our customers?

A - We can't!

by Paul Swainson, Functional Master Trainer


That’s a pretty disheartening statement if you’re a Personal Trainer. It’s also one of the common reasons PTs (especially those new to the industry) give when they’re struggling to find clients. What’s even more disappointing is that it’s true - most people really don’t want Personal Training, because very often they don’t understand what it is, and when people don’t understand something, it’s very unlikely they will buy it.



So what’s the solution? As with many things in our industry, a change of mindset is required – if people don’t want PT, offer something they do want!

Think about what the average person understands by ‘Personal Training’. They probably think of military style instructors making people sweat, or perhaps celebrities being put through their paces in a glossy magazine. Or maybe if they go to the gym they have seen the trainers there doing fancy, complicated exercises with their clients. These ideas are all focussed on the process of training, but is this what people want? Or do they really want a flatter stomach, or more toned arms, or less flabby thighs, or to have more energy? These are the results of training and have emotion and therefore motivation attached to them.

Think about the common headlines you see on the cover of fitness magazines – “get big arms in 4 weeks”, “the 3 best moves for a six-pack”, “melt away fat in 10 seconds a week” (okay I made that last one up, but it wouldn’t surprise me to read it somewhere). They are all carefully written to appeal to what people desire: quick, simple RESULTS.

Now I’m not suggesting you make outrageous claims like those above, but if you can find out what result someone is seeking, and can provide a specific solution to achieve it, you have something people actually want.

So imagine, or better still, go and talk to, your potential clients. Find out what they want, what they need, and why (this market research then doubles up as a perfect rapport building exercise). Then structure your services and marketing around what you discover. For example, male clients may want to ‘bulk up’ in order to look better. So you could offer 'effective mass gain' training. Female clients may want to lose body fat so how about designing a 'body sculpting' programme. You could even market yourself as a ‘body transformation coach’. If your clients are simply looking to take an hour out of their
 day to de-stress, put together a ‘chill out’ package involving gentle exercise, stretching and relaxation techniques. This way you’re not selling Personal Training, you’re selling the results people are looking for.

Is CrossFit at risk of harming?

The purpose of this blog is to simply ask questions and generate discussion, not to slate a mode of exercise. It's worth me pointing out that personally, I think the type of training that cross fit tend to prescribe is fantastic high end stuff that, for someone in great condition without injury, is ideal for high intensity days. Predominantly compound movements, Olympic lifting, kettlebells, suspension conditioning, bodyweight and a lot of 'on your feet' training. The question is more over how much of a well balanced conditioning programme should this type of training make up?

I think that before being able to answer this question, there are some key considerations to look at:

Recovery process - recovery is an individual thing and generally, the more conditioned your body is, the better able it can recover from exercise. We're all familiar with DOMS and this can be a useful indicator for how your muscles are repairing post-exercise. However, the are some more subtle recovery processes that the body must go through that are vital for repair and progress. Sympathetic and parasympathetic response to exercise aren't as apparent and overload of the nervous system can be extremely dangerous leading to chronic fatigue syndrome.  Yet initially, early symptoms can appear as temporary and deceivingly positive improvements in both performance and resting health. Read here for more about some thing you may find rather interesting.

Technique - Many of the exercises used are technique based and whenever this is involved, it can often mean that performed well is full benefit and performed badly is destructive. Technique should always be mastered prior to putting the exercise into a challenge based setting where people will be pushing themselves to the limit, often resulting in quantity prioritised over quality. Due to the sheer variety of methods used within cross fit, a lot of expertise and experience is required. In essence, an experienced strength and conditioning coach is needed at each cross fit gym yet to become a level 1 coach, only a 2 day course stands in your way. Furthermore, some of the suggested form on exercises is rather questionable - watch this kettlebell swing video for example:



Competition - Motivating a work ethic within a training session is generally a positive thing and I'm sure that you agree. However, competing to be quicker or lift heavier or beat others in every single training session is not just counter-productive, it's mentally and physically draining. Training in the very sense of the word is preparatory and should be gearing towards something or heading in a certain direction. Each session should be piped with focus but performance is only one component. Constant demand of competition can have severe long term psychological repercussions. Most high level performance athletes have sports psychologists as well as coaches, managers and team mates at their disposal. This support network is not only critical for their success but also vital in terms of managing the psychological demand of performing again and again.

Cult culture - This point isn't really aimed at Cross Fit itself but the way in which people follow it and it seems to be a common theme within fitness. Maybe a reflection of how we as people commit heavily to things when they become part of our belief system. There are some fantastic philosophies within cross fit and the way the system operates but to enjoy these, it isn't necessary to become a cross fit monk or a disciple. Whilst creating exclusivity, cults tend to become detached and intimidating from an external perspective which isn't the most welcoming from those contemplating.

So, returning my original question, is cross fit at risk of harming? 

Every now and again I like to up the ante when it comes to training. One of the those sessions where a third of the way through and your starting to question your own sanity and wonder whether it's actually possible. Yes, even trainers get those sneaky demons of doubt, we just know that feelings can often be little porky pie merchants and no-one likes listening to pork pie merchants.

Anyway, enough of the classic British Meat Pie. Although incidentally, you deserve one if you complete this circuit and it won't undo all the goodness you've done (as long as it's not a ginsters)

Instruction: 7 sets of 7 exercises with 7 reps per exercise (7 each side if unilateral exercise)
Equipment: 2 x Kettlebells (ideally 24's for men / 16's for ladies but go with what you feel comfortable with), pull up bar

Exercises:

1. Reverse Lunges (2 x kettlebells with farmers grip)
2. Pull Ups (Body-row if unable)
3. Double KB swing (2 x kettlebells)
4. Burpees (with a press up)
5. Front Squat (2 x kettlebells)
6. Roll back to stand
7. Double push press (2 x kettlebells)

Last week, I was given the chance to go down to London and take part in a photo shoot for the Mail on Sunday. Sadie Nicholson, a freelance journalist wants to help the masses understand how useless Body Mass Index (BMI) is and is running a column showing a number of individuals and how their BMI doesn't really correlate with their state of health.

It really got me thinking, are we doing enough to challenge the validity of BMI?

Personally, I'm average height for a male and I weigh around 80kg. Based on this, I come out at 25.5, which according to the BMI scale, makes me overweight. All this despite me having body-fat of 10%.

This is very common place for active individuals with muscle weighing more than fat and it seems that within the sport and fitness community, the shared opinion is unquestionably against BMI and any sense of validity that it brings. Whilst my predicament of being "overweight" doesn't leave me having sleepless nights, it may well cause someone else considerable stress and concern.

The challenge is, it is still embedded within the syllabus for many courses bringing people into the fitness industry, BMI still proves of great importance in the medical world and the surgical world with often substantial implications based on the score. How can this be if the measure does not take body composition, skeleton shape, muscle mass, physical disfigurement or body fat into consideration?

So, my question is, is there anything else that you can be doing to help educate clients or your circles how BMI simply isn't valid? Interestingly, it doesn't actually tell us anything about Body Mass at all.

If you're not familiar with the John Steinbeck classic then it's well worth a read. With two main characters, the book follows the tragic story and relationship of George Milton and Lennie Small, two misplaced ranch workers. George, an intelligent yet cynical man and Lennie, a man of great stature and strength yet limited mental abilities.

The two characters highlight a classic paradox that currently resides within the fitness industry. George represents an athlete who may not have all the resources in the world but knows how to make the best of the tools he does have. Lennie however represents people with excess muscle mass that don't understand or aren't able to use their physical capacity, those with an abundance of dumb muscle.

In a world that seemingly places a greater importance on appearance over functionality, perhaps it's not so surprising that the fitness industry is filled with large proportions of muscle bound enthusiasts that don't necessarily have the ability to use their physical capacity to it's potential.

1. Pull up - your bodyweight
2. Overhead press - your bodyweight
3. Bench press - 1.5 x your bodyweight
4. Squat - 2 x your bodyweight
5. Deadlift - 2.5 x your bodyweight

• the build up of structures: without protein, many structures within the body would be fluid. There are two distinct types of structural proteins: fibrous (fundamental to cartilage and other connection tissue, hair and nails) and motor (used to spontaneously move and convert chemical energy into work).

• as enzymes: enzymes catalyze chemical reactions. Enzymes carry out most reactions involved in metabolism, as well as manipulating DNA in processes such as DNA replication and DNA repair.

• Antibodies: antibodies are protein components of the immune system whose main function is to bind antigens, or foreign substances in the body, and target them for destruction.

As coaches and fitness professionals, one of the first steps with any new client is finding out their current state in terms of posture, stability and movement. Crucial information if the exercise programme developed is going to have any realistic relevance to their current physical state.

The common movement screens include squats, lunges and hurdle steps. All completely valid assessments that each gives a unique perspective but are we missing anything? In our experience, there are some major ignorances that the industry can often forget when conducting movement screens with clients so here's a couple of top tips to helps make your movement assessment as accurate and useful as possible:

• Whenever you mention the word posture, clients (who sometimes don't realise they're doing it) pull their shoulders back, puff their chest out and stand the head tall. You're not wanting to assess whether or not they can stand to attention but get a snapshot of how they hold their body. Get your client to jump up on the spot a few times or march on the spot for 10 seconds with their eyes closed before settling; then look to start observing posture. An immediate photo is the easiest way as this can be studied for longer as well as being referred to for benchmarking and raising your client's awareness.
• Asking a client to perform a familiar movement isn't necessarily giving you the information you want. If you ask a client to squat, they'll then go on to perform their own interpretation of a squat. This could be based upon their own personal experience which may not be the technique that you're personally looking for. Bearing in mind that for decades, squats have been taught as feet parallel, hips down to level with the knees, knees no further forward than the toes etc. Instead of basically assessing their cognitive association of the term squat, simply give a command instructing the movement sought e.g "With your feet flat, take your hips as near to the ground as possible and then return to standing"
• There is a fine line between testing the body's ability to perform movements and then testing the local strength or endurance of the musculature. If you're looking to test just movement then no more than 3 or 4 repetitions of the movement should be performed. Persisting beyond this will challenge stamina which is a completely different assessment. A de-conditioned individual or athlete would likely demonstrate fatigue, affecting movement performance and rendering any observations as limited.
• Demonstrations are useful but if possible, screens should be done without. For showing new exercises, demonstrations are vital and should always be used but movement screens bring out individualities of movement. Everyone has their own unique natural alignment and again, giving instructions for the movement will help profile your client towards giving their most natural preference towards approaching that movement. A demonstration would then start to assess your client's ability to accurately interpret a visual representation, potentially obscuring their own natural performance to mimic your technique. 

A key aspect of coaching, personal training or being a fitness professional is education. Its getting the full understanding across that makes the difference. The what, the how, the why and the when. Yet the uphill struggle is that some common misconceptions are still favoured by the masses and the media. So, are your clients suffering from the beliefs of cruci-fitness...a sure way towards little results, niggling pains and injury?



Here are just 5 of the most common ill-beliefs that stand in the way of success for millions of gym goers and couldn't be further from the truth:

1. Cardio is the key to weight loss - With many gyms kitted out predominantly with cardio machines, it's understandable why people fall into this trap. The fact is, it's easy for gyms to just plonk these machines everywhere because they're self operated and it cuts down on the need for manning. If more effective training was to be done in gyms, it would require a lot more coaching and education. Cardio just isn't the key to getting rid of unwanted fat. Running is often seen as one of the most effective ways to burn calories but this just really is not true. There is no better article to explain this than John Kiefer's 'Running Into trouble'. Well worth a read and pass it onto your clients. Resistance training develops the lean body mass that will dictate metabolism, support joints and make the body much more efficient at movement.
2. Tunnel vision - Doing the same thing over and over again. It happens so much in gyms that we almost become blind to it. Members going day after day and week after week repeating the same old programme or even worse, the same single activity every time. As we all know, plateau is a problem but actually, in this context, the much more severe issue is the risk of injury. Repeating the same thing over and over again not only makes the body so efficient at the activity that it burns less and less calories in the process, it also leads the body towards the exercise equivalent of RSI (repetitive strain injury). Furthermore, this generally leads towards a decrease in flexibility which is another common guilty ignorance. 
3. More is more - Ignoring recovery time is a huge sin. It doesn't take a genius to understand that exercise is stress on the body and the only reason it is beneficial is due to the way in which the body responds to this stress. And this response is only possible with sufficient recovery time and good nutrition. You wouldn't expect an ill person to recover eating crap food and having no rest. Well, the truth is, after exercise, the body is damaged. It's in a state of health below normal and will only get better on a strict course of medicinal sensibility. Ignoring the body's needs completely curbs the room for progress to take place.
4. Quantity over quality - You may have heard the old adage 'Practice makes perfect'. Well, this may be true if what is being practised is done to perfection. If this isn't the case, the reality is 'Practice makes permanent'. There is no substitute for striving to perfect movements. 100 poorly performed squats do not outclass 1 perfect squat nor do they achieve the same results. This is an attitude towards exercise that should be embraced yet so often is ignored. The adage should be 'Practice perfection and achieve perfection'.
5. Single planar movements - As trainers, we understand the concept of tri-planar movement. However, most commonly practised exercises and activities are rigidly set in the saggital plane. Running, cycling, press ups, squats, lunges, sit ups...all saggital. Yet most injuries occur in the frontal or transverse plane. It should be in the code of ethics for fitness professionals that we aim to educate the importance of embracing all planes of motion. This doesn't just support injury prevention but better results. Muscles are often integrated through more than one plane to other muscle groups and the only way to stimulate complete responses from these muscular networks is diverse movement.

I'll elaborate. We sit down for a substantial portion of our lives, in fact, many of us are sat down for more time than we spend on our feet. Now, whilst reading this, you may have already adjusted your sitting position to a state that you feel is a little more aligned in terms of posture, maybe it was that very word in the title that caused the wriggle. The question is, can you hold good posture whilst sitting down? I'd argue not! You may well be able to sit in a position that looks to be tall with a degree of extension in your spine but is this good posture? I'd suggest that good posture embraces support from the muscles designed to support it. Sitting whereby hips and knees are bent at 90 degrees renders this theory an impossibility. Gluteals, transverse abdominus and a number of deep stabilisers are unable to do their job with that profile in the hips and so stability comes from elsewhere. Simply remember, looks can be deceiving.

Ok, those of you still in agreement will be still reading this. The fact is, we're not going to change the way that we live on a grand scale but we can adjust our thinking and training to focus on key areas that modern lifestyle neglects or disaffects.

We're already identifying that the gluteals are very much a victim of modern society. In terms of posture, why are they important? Well, amongst other things, the gluteals extend the hips (a necessary stage of walking). When not working properly, not only do other muscles compensate for this movement, it also leaves the lumbar spine vulnerable and weak. This has a knock on effect higher up the spine often causing tightness in the upper abdominals carrying up in to the chest and anterior shoulder area. Ramifications of poor gluteal activity below the hips can include tightness in the hamstrings, excessive tension in the knee joint and restricted mobility in the ankle.

This leads me to suggest 1 exercise that can make a huge difference; the kettlebell high pull. This exercise done properly encourages the gluteals to be the leading and driving force of hip extension unilaterally which is reflective of walking gait. It furthermore encourages a sequential extension travelling up the spine into the thoracic area providing a responsive and dynamic stretch to pectorals, upper abdominals and anterior shoulder.

I would always recommend using a lighter weight to start with but once technique is mastered, avoid being overly shy with your weight selection. The gluteals are a large set of muscles and thus require a substantial neural drive to effectively switch on. The speed of the movement will assist this but the force required to shift the load will help enormously. Given the chance, this large muscle group will opt for the lazy option and not respond...so don't let it.



Once mastered from a dead position, this exercise can be done within a kettlebell swing. Be cautious in swing, if the low back starts aching, return to the from dead variation as shown in the video.

Using a barbell is again, a further progression for this but, due to the bilateral hip extension, will not be as reflective of the contraction in walking gait.

Phill Wright, Director, Creating Chaos

My workout from yesterday. Why not give this a go and then maybe get a client on it (or something similar).

I had to put together a quick but effective session as the Manchester derby was looming - just a shame we lost.

20 minute AMRAP - 6 REPS

Take 5+ minutes to warm up and prep your 6 stations. AMRAP = as many rounds as possible. For 20 minutes, you'll complete as many rounds of the 6 exercises below as you can (6 repetitions per exercise) in the sequence listed. Break when necessary, have water at hand and challenge yourself. Decrease/increase the listed loads as necessary for yourself.

Back squats (60kg)
Drop squats (bodyweight)
Single arm shoulder press (32kg / 6 REPS each side)
Press ups (bodyweight)
Olympic cleans (50kg)
Sprawls (bodyweight)

Let me know how you or your clients get on. Done well, it should be slightly smarting in the abdominal area...or, as they say in the US - abtastic!!