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As a personal trainer I often get asked by clients that they don't want to get big and bulky from lifting weights. Yes, lifting weights builds muscle but it's actually a lot harder than you think to get big and bulky! That is mainly done by what you eat... I find people tend to shy away from lifting weights because they think they will end up looking like the Hulk, when this is obviously not the case! Cardio is great but....... Read more

In this article I will run through 3 of the most effective areas to treat with a foam roller; the lower back, the latissimus dorsi (lats) and the lateral thigh/iliotibial band (ITB). These areas are key in treating and reducing knee, back and shoulder pain. I use these techniques with many of my personal training clients as well as suggesting this as "homework" for many of my sports massage...... Read more

Introducing the kBox4, my newest toy for my personal training clients.

The kBox4 is a flywheel trainer that uses inertia to create resistance rather than weights and gravity. The main aspect of the kBox4 is that you have to work for the entire duration of the rep and set, it uses...... Read more

I am writing this blog post during this horrible time of the covid_19 isolation where we are socially distancing and limited in terms of what physical activity we can do. If you're like me and go stir crazy when stuck indoors with the restrictions, running has become one of few options to get our daily outdoor exercise. I have noticed a big increase of people out running which is great! Although...... Read more

Cupping therapy is an ancient form of alternative therapy. Placing special cups onto the skin for a few minutes to create a suction effect. This suction causes decompression that helps with reducing pain and inflammation. It also improves blood flow, relaxation and general well-being. It is reported as being as old as 5,000 years by Imhotep the "god of medicine" and was adopted by Hippocrates...... Read more

IASTM has been dated back to ancient china where it was used as a form of manual therapy by scraping the skin with shaped animal horns, of ivory or bone.

In modern practice IASTM normally involves either stainless steel tools or tools using some sort of plastic. The tools are used to treat the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the...... Read more

I take pride and pleasure in having clients leave my treatments feeling better than when they walked in. I do as much as I can in my appointments to benefit my clients. However, as good as I may be at making you feel like that when you leave it is down to you to cement in the good work! So, I am going to explain the importance of doing the exercise "homework" rehab exercises and stretches that I or any other therapist / practitioner / trainer prescribes to you...... Read more

In recent new I am now your local certified RockDoc, a qualified practitioner in applying RockTape.

I hear the questions echoing… what is RockTape?

RockTape is the biggest brand of kinesiology tape, you may have seen some brightly coloured funky looking tape on famous sports stars and athletes? That's kinesiology...... Read more

I am now happy to announce my new association with health and wellness company Forever Living. Never heard of Forever Living? No, nor had I until I was introduced by an old cricket colleague! Forever Living don’t advertise - the products are sold solely through distributors like myself which means the products go from production to distributor to consumer allowing Forever to provide premium level products at competitive prices with a money back guarantee.

Becoming a Forever Living distributor allows me to provide a diverse range of...... Read more

The New Year turning seems to bring around sudden changes in peoples beliefs and attitudes towards a better lifestyle or habits and always brings a boom to the fitness industry. However, as with most peaks there are inevitably troughs where people’s motivation or priorities take the turn towards their old routines and lifestyle. So this is why I am taking the time to help people maintain that motivation they enter the New Year with and capitalise on what potential you are putting into your life.

Firstly the most important thing is setting goals. Goals, goals, goals, did I mention goals?!...... Read more

Stretching is a massively underrated and often ignored part of sport and exercise. The majority of people who aren’t competing at a high level where there is a structured pre-match/competition taken by a coach or trainer will often ignore warming up and go straight into physical activity. I know this first hand of failing to prepare properly and suffering the consequences from that. A 10 minute warm up is better than a 3 month recovery period. It is something I will always try and avoid!

Stretching has numerous effects on preparing the body for physical...... Read more

There are various training methods for what is known as aerobic activity, many research studies have looked at elite performance in different sports, the best way to improve body composition (burn fat/weight loss) and improve a variety of health markers (heart conditions, lung function and blood chemistries to name a few). There are so many different methods to list so I won’t! But I will give you an insight in choosing the most applicable and effective method for you.

I have done some scientific research myself involving two types of interval...... Read more

Resistance training is a fundamental part of a healthy body and lifestyle, many people ignore it from their fitness regimes and many don't understand how to utilise this type of training in the correct way to get their desired results. This is a very basic guide to help you include resistance training into your life so that you can reap the benefits that it brings.

So, why use resistance training? There are many reasons to use resistance training and here are a few to name; increased muscular strength and power, increased muscular...... Read more

Many cyclists I know or talk to just ride for fun or on the topic of strength and conditioning believe that it will hinder their riding ability by being to bulky and losing aerobic fitness through strength training. This however, is far from the case, being fitter and stronger on the bike will enable you to get more from your rides and enjoy it more even if your not a competitive rider.

I am a very keen cyclist, happy to share my knowledge in exercise physiology and strength training that I have to help improve other's physical conditioning and ultimately improve...... Read more

It is important with any resistance training regime whether it's building massive muscles or pure strength or power training to include large compound exercises within the regime. Exercises such as deadlifts, back and front squats, power cleans, wide chin ups and bench press are paramount to building a strong and muscular physique. Training the body's larger muscles will obviously lead to a larger, stronger body but this is often missed out by many gym users who want a "six-pack" and big "guns" for biceps.

All of these exercises are free weight exercises (although you could do most on...... Read more

In one research study, participants performed six days per week of cardio for one year results in an average of only 6 pounds (2.7 kg) of weight loss for men and women (McTiernan et al., 2008). Subjects aged 40 to 75 were instructed to do 60 minutes of aerobic exercise per day for 6 days per week for an entire year. You would think that with such a high volume of aerobic exercise, the subjects would have lost twenty or thirty pounds. Instead, weight loss was a disappointing 6 pounds (2.7 kg) for men and less than 5 pounds (2.2 kg) for women...... Read more