Creating Chaos - For Fitness & Sport Professionals

I'm just sat up in Cumbria enjoying a couple of days break at Jen's family home and though I'd put together a quick blog.

With it being Easter weekend, for many a time of indulgence and for others a time for reflection, I thought I'd indulge in a little reflection myself.

With today marking the end of lent, I guess for those having given something up, it's a junction point, do I revert back to where I was? It's a decision that has to come from within, certainly if we're going to stick to it as we live in a free society and have the fortunate circumstance allowing us to decide for ourselves.

It certainly appears this way on the face of things, but is it really the case?

Whilst I love working in an industry that I have a clear passion about, there are certain parts to the industry that I don't understand...and if truth be told, I feel are very shameful. Whilst health and fitness is a personal investment that everyone should prioritise, not everyone has the knowledge or expertise to support themselves and rightfully so, many seek guidance. This demand for guidance creates space for thought-leaders and role models to steer people in the right direction. The shameful truth is that many 'role models' create dependancy from their subscribers. Instead of aiming to empower followers, a stronger reliance is forged through clever marketing, material that only seems to answer only a handful of questions and a continuance in a buying and selling mentality.

Having been in the fitness industry now for nearly 5 years (is that all???), I'm still figuring things out and have a lot to learn but what is very evident is that (and this applies to trainers and consumers) there is often almost sectarian splits between ideas and what people believe and follow. Now If I'm not mistaken, everyone seems to be after the same thing, good health, reducing the risks of illness and enjoying a fit and able body. So why all the segregation?

Well, it's good to have many different routes, ways and paths, there is no right or wrong way to live. However, the negativity stems from the sometimes hostile division between paths that we choose.

No one person on the face of this planet knows the answer to every question or has the perfect plan for everyone yet some of the so called role models would have you believe this. Many modern plans discuss going back to basics and living like cavemen. Whilst there are some extremely positive principles in this idea, is it not hypocritical idealism in the sense that unless you actually fully adopt the life of a caveman, (no computers, no internet, hunting for food etc) it would be nonsensical. Life has evolved from this stage and surely this a good thing. Maybe the theory isn't actually the problem but the fact that many people take ideas or concepts to extremes and follow them as they may a religion. Almost placing role models on a pedastal giving them an iconic or unhumanly status. In my understanding, this is not a positive step as it changes the dynamics completely. What was previously sticking to a healthy plan has now become an approved way of life ruled by a grand figurehead. Fitness shouldn't be so serious. It shouldn't be judged or judgemental and should be open to change as the circumstances of life do. Keeping it fun, vibrant and explorative helps people stay enthused and excited about fitness.

An unwelcomed observation is that often those who are followed overtly display dismissal or disapproval towards unaligned thoughts? Why? Is it fear of the unknown? Surely approval would inspire a more empowered and confident approach; leaving followers much more able to explore, learn and be better placed to make informed decisions. After all, as professionals, this is what we want isn't it!!??






- Posted whilst adventurising using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Cumbria

Like most people in the industry, I decided to get involved in the fitness industry to pursue a passion. Something that I love and live by and certainly a way of life. Strangely though, for me it wasn't something that I've always wanted to do and naturally stepped towards through education. I studied something completely different at University and then spent 6 years in the armed forces as an Arabic Interpreter. However, I've always lived by the notion that to excel, you must live by and be a shining example of your profession.

As a fitness professional, your primary aim is to support people through positive change into adopting a healthy lifestyle. Effectively this is a leadership responsibility and if you want to lead people well then proving a good example is a good starting point. This doesn't mean that you have to be superfit, have rippling abs, a meditarranean tan or become an idol, it simply means that you practise what you preach. This really is a privileged position and so often abused.

One common habit that fitness professionals have to steer clients away from is compulsion of some description. Be it over eating, drinking or party lifestyles that leave peoples state of health very poor, helping people adopt a more balanced approach is often the biggest challenge. My question is, if this is situation that you're trying to pull a client away from, is living a party lifestyle yourself going to back your proposition with credibility?

Having spent a good few years now in the industry, delivering courses and training people to become personal trainers, I've seen a vast spectrum in how coaches and fitness professionals carry and present themselves. There is no one right or wrong way to be as a coach. The bottom line is, we all carry a different and unique message and therefore, it's not about following a set path. The golden rule is projecting your message. If you can look in the mirror (not just visually) and answer yes to that question then you're certainly doing something right.

The fact is that in the industry of selling your knowledge, expertise and experience, you are your brand and whilst it would be nice to think that people don't judge a book by it's cover, it does happen because this is often the very first impression people have to start getting to know you.



Here are my top 3 values that translate not just for guiding your clients towards making real step changes but also incorporating into your life:

1. Education - Constantly learning keeps your mind active, helps maintain focus and supports how well you stay committed to achieving. Education is a constant journey and no one on the face of this planet is in a position to say "right, I've learnt everything I need to know". Quite often, the daunting prospect seems to be that the more you learn, the more you realise how little you know but this is quite exciting don't you think??!!
2. Challenge - Whilst constantly being challenged could be quite exhausting and consuming, ongoing challenges, targets and achievement maintain a momemtum that keeps us moving forwards. A challenge is merely a simple question of "can I?". It is not about anyone else but oneself and it is only when asking this question that people realise just how much better the reality is than self perception would have us believe. There is big caveat on this though, positioning the standard too high or making the ideal almost unobtainable will only result in the polar opposite of the intended.
3. Enjoyment - This is so key and often in fitness, it's really lacking. Fortunately, for most of us, we don't have a daily battle for our own survival or our next meal. As professionals, this should be a priority. People make decisions based upon emotion and feeling. If you leave people with a smile on their face, above all else they will be much more likely to return and stay committed. This applies for us as trainers too. Quite often, I see trainers who work so hard on putting together fantastic programmes for clients, so hard that they neglect their own and the enjoyment factor of it. A costly mistake!

These three points done in concert will formulate a fantastic recipe that will keep clients coming back for more as well as achieving the results they set their heart on.

It's always nice to get some good feedback isn't it! Here's what Ben Jones, Strength & Conditioning Coach of Leeds Rhinos had to say about the time we spent with the academy:

"Phill and Jenny from Creating Chaos were asked to come and work with the Leeds Rhinos Academy Players to help improve functional movement patterns, through the use of the primal pattern training techniques. The primal pattern technique offered the players a new challenge, targeting all components of fitness required to be a successful rugby league player and all round athlete. The unique emphasis of
unilateral kinetic chain transfer, focused on improving the athletes functional strength and stability under fatigue.

I would recommend any professional strength and conditioning coach, athlete or fitness enthusiast to work with Creating Chaos. I am very grateful for the knowledge passed on by Phill and Jenny and I am looking forward to working with them in the near future and implementing their training techniques with athletes from different sports"

Ben also works as an Academy Coach within Leeds United too.

A few years back, a great personal training client of mine and someone who is now a very good friend made a sounding comment that's certainly had some prophetic influence. Mid-session and what was quite a challenging bodyweight series of movements, Mark made comment that the type of work we were doing would be excellent for rugby conditioning and he was certainly well placed to make sure a comment after almost playing at International level and having spent a number of years in the sports and fitness industry.



Personally, I'm not a rugby player and was very much a spectator to rugby as a child. I did actually get pulled into playing last minute in my younger years, immediately welcomed by being dump tackled by a boy twice my size. Since that day I've held a certain respect for rugby players. Football has remained my game of choice but I certainly respect rugby and it's players.

Whilst it had already started to manifest itself, our Primal Flow concept was more deliberately born when Mark made that comment and I honestly didn't think that a few years in, we'd be delivering it within the camps of one of the top rugby league teams. 

We've had some fantastic feedback with what we did which has been incredible but right from the start, as much as we put a lot of development into the anatomical rationale behind the flow movements, above everything else, it just makes sense. Whilst lifting heavy weights has to be a big component in preparation for rugby players and many athletes for that matter, being strong on your own 2 feet and with your body weight is a must. Exercise typically has been practised in controlled environments looking to isolate parts of the body to strengthen or done through repeating specific exercises. Whilst this does have a positive effect on the body, in a game situation, the likelihood of the exact situation occuring more than once is vary slim and the body will constantly need the ability to adapt to new situations, stresses and movements.

If sports clubs are open enough to sample new methods of training then this system will have an instrumental effect on the performance of athletes. The statement was never 'Survival of the Fittest' but 'Survival of the most adaptable' and that's how it's always been and is very much the backbone of the Primal Flow system...adaptability.

We're looking forward to sharing this system with more coaches, athletes, teams and those interested in fitness. The strange thing about it is that every time we run the course, we're learning as much from those taking part as they're learning about the system...possibly more.

I certainly need to say a thank you for the encouragement from Mark for the initial encouragement. I'll get some photo's up when we get them through.

As our spectrum of courses increases as well as our panel of experts, it's opened up an opportunity for me to give some of our tutors the opportunity to guest-write on my blog. Here's Ben Walsh giving an extremely interesting insight into incremental tension.


The incremental use of tension is a concept we apply in our regular day to day lives, although we are most likely unaware that we use it. This is a good thing; if we were constantly thinking about selective tension then we would never get anything done! Let’s look at a few examples; when opening and closing doors we don’t use all our strength, as we know that doors don’t need our full force to close and we are likely to damage ourselves and/or the door if we apply too much. Opening a can of cola is a gentle operation, avoiding shaking the contents and breaking the ring pull. Over the course of our lives we have finely tuned our skills to optimise movement efficiency, using selective tension among other proprioceptive attributes. Unfortunately a number of factors affect this including age, injury, over/under training, disease, fear, nutrition and many more.




As we use selective tension in our lives you would think we use it when exercising, right? More than likely not! Let’s take a conventional resistance training exercise, the pull-up as an example. The pull-up is easy to relate tension to; think about the last time you completed a set of pull-ups and remember what the limiting factor that caused you to fatigue. You would expect 99.9% of the answers to be grip strength and forearm fatigue, which is not surprising given the size of the muscles compared to those of the back. Now let’s go back to the start of the set you were about to complete, ask yourself, how much grip force you applied while holding on to the bar? Did you use all your fingers to grip the bar? Was there a pause before starting the set? Did you pack your shoulders and drive your elbows back to fire the lats and stabilise the scapula? It was likely that an over exertion of force at the start of the set and/or the under use of the lats lead to early fatigue. How many of us run heel to toe and bang the floor as we foot strike? Are we aware that banging our feet into the floor is unnecessary wasted energy and increasing the likelihood of stress related injuries?



The obvious question arises, why don’t we use selective tension when exercising? There are many physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual factors that influence the ability to apply selective tension, the most important thing is being aware that we use it and can therefore apply it in training. Breathing, exertion and tension are interrelated. As tension increases, so does exertion and subsequently the rate of breathing to allow the uptake and transfer of oxygen in line with exhalation of carbon dioxide. We all exercise at different levels so surely those who exercise at a less intense level should apply selective tension, right? Maybe, although many who exercise at lighter levels are novice exercisers, unaware of technique, potentially unfit and gassing out or wishing the time away, thinking of nothing but finishing the session. Those that train intensely and follow the ‘no pain no gain’ principle are more than likely unaware of using selective tension. As our heart rate increases above 140BPM the body prepares itself for the ‘fight or flight’ response, dumping adrenaline into the bloodstream and increasing the force and rate of respiration. Unfortunately this shuts off fine motor controls like selective tension in favour of gross motor controls. If the heart rate continues to rise then it is a matter of time before the body will fatigue its fuel sources and performance will be affected. This is also dependant on the nature of the exercise and the muscles and fascial chains stressed. Take the Kettlebell/Clubbell clean and jerk as an example; you are more than likely to see fatigue in the grip, forearms and shoulder before the glutes, hamstrings and quads, especially while performing G/S or ICS lifts. Seasoned lifters utilise partial or switching grips throughout exercises to share the load, allowing recovery during work.



Unfortunately many people neglect training flexibility and mobility in favour of cardiovascular and strength training. It is the body’s springs that allow us to absorb energy on impact and transfer it back through the kinetic chain. Inflexibility and poor mobility restrict the transfer of energy, creating shock points, altered neuromuscular co-ordination and faulty recruitment patterns, affecting performance and increasing the likelihood of injury.



The next time you are training, observe how much force you are applying while carrying out that exercise; be it a pull-up, interval training session, G/S clean & jerk, clubbell mills or any other example. Aim to minimise the amount of tension you use to carry out the exercise correctly and note any changes in muscle fatigue, repetitions, time under tension, weight lifted etc.



Happy training!



Coach Ben Walsh (CSCS, CST Coach, BSc, DipION, QTFE)

A movement that is very much associated with kettlebells and whilst it looks exciting, do the benefits match the spectacle?


Looking more closely, here's an overview of what it does for the body:

• As you descend through the movement, the shoulder shoulder forces a huge stretch through the chest and anterior aspect of the shoulder, typically tight in most people
• As well as hip flexion, there is a lot of frontal movement in this exercise which gets a great response from internal and external obliques in unison
• There is a big stretch woking through the anterior oblique sling which taps into the adductors, again, often a very tight area
• As your body negotiates downward whilst keeping the supporting arm vertical, the shoulder joint works through a great degree of rotation, stabilising and improving structure in the rotator cuff and doing this through movement, much more effective than static holds
• Whilst the legs are not fully locked out, leg position remains fairly fixed through the movement and requires a great deal of stability with saggital, transverse and frontal forces occuring, excellent for ligaments and tendons within the aforementioned joints
• The movement itself requires not just flexibility but a bank of control and balance. These are crucial for most exercises and patterns like this which demand such a strong level of these will benefit neuro-function with the body's ability to perform other patterns.
• To hit full runge through the windmill, not only does the shoulder joint require great range and flexibility,  the thoracic spine also needs to demonstrate good extension and again, this is often a problem area for many. Gradually working through more and more depth on this movement will provide a safe and functional pathway to improve thoracic range, function and ability to support extension

The above points are just a few and there's plenty more benefits to be taken from it. I'll leave it down to you to decide whether this exercise is worthwhile :)

A week gone Friday (25th Feb 2011), we ran our first ever CPD Master Class  to showcase some of the unique training courses that we currently run. It really felt like a milestone from where we've come in the 2 and a bit years that our company has been operating. We managed a buzzing 40 delegates attending our workshop and the feedback has been incredible. What a sight to see 40 people swinging kettlebells, taking on Primal Flow and being put through their paces with MMA drills and clubbells.

The venue was just about big enough to take on the occassion and rapidly became an indoor sauna with the heat being generated.

We're looking at running these more often and getting more and more people involved. Here's some of the shots we've got: