Kitsilano Personal Trainer Alex Ackerley

Ok, training day number 2. Upper-body time. Rather than split the workout in to chest, triceps, and biceps…. This is usually common amongst guys that are hitting the gym for aesthetic reasons or simply because its what their buddy taught them when they were 16. We’re categorizing our upper-body workouts with a little more functionality and balance in mind. Put simply today is about pressing and day #3 is about Pulling. Pressing movements involve the pecs, delts, triceps primarily. When performed in standing positions they also involve the legs and core. In fact, our ability to produce a forward pressing movement in a standing position is almost always limited by the stability through our lower body and core. It actually has very little to do with what your 1RM on a bench is. That said, we are going to use various pressing angles, ROMs and tempos to ensure that you can produce a powerful athletic press in most positions you’ll find yourself in on the field.

Warm-up
15 x Bi-lateral band abduction 2 sets

12 x Push-up to up-reach (lift one hand off the floor and turn the body to reach up to the ceiling, hips, feet and shoulders should all rotate at the same rate, lower your hand back down to the ground under control)

6-10 x Plyo Push ups 2 sets

Strength
4 x Heavy top half incline press 2-0-2-2 (max weight)
8 x Power full incline press 1-0-1-0(aprox 75%)
Perform as a superset, repeating 3-4 sets total resting at least 2 minutes between sets.

Functional Conditioning
8 x Standing one arm cable press 1-1-2-0
(cable set at elbow height, hold handle in right hand, stand with right foot back and heel off floor, left foot forward. Press using hips and shoulders to rotate right side forward until arm is fully extended. This movement is powerful and should be a heavy load)

20 x Barbell corner alternating shoulder press 1-0-1-0
(Feet square, one end of barbell on your shoulder, other end on the floor wedged in a corner to prevent it sliding away. Press with your right arm until fully extended and bar is in front of your face, switch hands and drop to left shoulder. To develop power production, add a little hop through knees and ankles to accelerate the bar while finishing the movement with your shoulder and elbow, to keep up a good tempo you should always keep your other hand in the catching position at the top of the movement. Maintain slight flexion in the knees, weight in the toes and above all a neutral spine alignment. 20 reps should take no longer than 30 seconds, if it is use a lighter weight.)

Perform these two exercises as a super-set. Rest for two minutes between sets and repeat 3-4 times.

Direct arm work to finish
max Dips maintaining good form
max Kneeling OH Tricep extension weight to achieve minimum 15 reps
2-3 sets should be sufficient to ensure you have a hard time picking up a towel to shower with!

Core-

4 – minute plank. Complete in as few attempts as possible (contract quads and glutes to lock out knees, elbows directly below shoulders).

Injury management –

20x Side lying adductor for groin 1 minute rest, perform 3 sets.
seated hip-flops mobility exercise 2 minutes
I/T – band rolling 2mins per leg.
20x Lying Chin-tucks 3 sets

(These exercises are specific to my own injury history, if you have identified injury considerations for your program, insert them here. A physiotherapist or exercise professional is the best people to consult when choosing post-rehabilitative exercises)

Personal training, Sports conditioning, Exercise rehab, vancouver, kitsilano

Now you have your goals laid out in front of you, the next thing to consider when planning a program is time;

How many times a week can you work out?

How much time can and should you spend working out?

When deadlines are involved, how much time do you have before you need to reach your goals?

Answering these three questions will help you lay out a schedule. It’s important to have a written schedule so that you can have something to answer to and be accountable for.

NB – Over-training, if you think you are over training, you’re probably not. You may be under-eating, or under-sleeping. Sensations such as DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and post exercise fatigue are very common at the onset of a new training program. Give it one month and your body should be taking your new program in its stride!

Lets assume that unlike me, you don’t have the time to get in to the gym 5-7 days per week. For most of us, three times per week for 1-1.5 hours is going to fall somewhere within the acceptable balancing act of work, play and family time.

How do we split these days up? We’re going to separate muscle groups in order to ensure we’re getting enough rest for adequate muscle regeneration.

So let’s assume a three day split. Allow one day rest between each day (although with adequate muscle group separation, the following workouts can be on consecutive days with little or no cross over)

Monday –

Soft tissue rolling – I/T Band 2 minutes each leg
Warm-Up –
Stair mill 10 minutes
3 x 10m Walking lunges
10x Vertical jumps (max height, pause between reps)

Strength –
4 x Barbell Squats, increase the weight until you feel close to your max weight, perform up to 3 sets at max, stopping if your form deteriorates. Rest 2minutes between sets. 2-0-2-2

8x (single dumbbell) Goblet squat (touch elbows to knees) 3-0-1-0 x4 sets

Conditioning –
24x (dumbbell) Step Ups – 24x (dumbbell) Split Squats 1-0-1-0 rest 1minute repeat. 3 rounds, total.

Agility ladder – 40 seconds on 20 seconds off, do as many lengths as possible, varying your foot patterns each time. Total work time 5 minutes. Focus is on foot speed and accuracy of foot placement under fatigued conditions. If you’re tripping on the ladder, slow down!

Injury management –

20x Side lying adductor for groin 1 minute rest, perform 3 sets.
seated hip-flops mobility exercise 2 minutes
I/T – band rolling 2mins per leg.
20x Lying Chin-tucks 3 sets

(These exercises are specific to my own injury history, if you have identified injury considerations for your program, insert them here. A physiotherapist or exercise professional is the best people to consult when choosing post-rehabilitative exercises)

Workout day number 2, coming up…

Goal #1 Play effectively, to do this I will need to be aerobically fit, Anaerobically conditioned, fast, and strong. In order to achieve each of these goals I will require various training methods.

Aerobically fit, Anaerobically conditioned. Rugby’s energy demands are complex.  We play for two 40 minute halves in which there is no rolling substitution like in North American Sports.  So you need to be able to run, jog and sometimes walk intervals for 40 minutes. The more running and less walking you can do, the more effective you will be. But wait, it gets better! In between getting yourself around the field you will, at some stage be required to perform various amounts of tackling (full contact, no padding or helmets here!), rucking and mauling (similar to an offensive line block in NFL/CFL) as well as ball handling and or kicking (this can require the handling skills of an NBA Basketball Player or the ball striking/dribbling skills of a soccer player) all while the bad guys are trying to do the same to you.While these skills are key, they are taken as granted here. We’re concerned with physical readiness and that will entail effective skill performance under fatigue. Each of the contact skills, rucking, mauling and tackling will require elements of explosive power and core strength. These will each demand their own attention in the gym.

Personal Training helps you stay in shape for recreational activity

Goal #2 Play regularly, to do this I will need to reduce injury risk by maintaining muscle balance around all of the key joints in the body – namely, shoulders, Hips, Knees as well as my back and abdomen which control the lumbar spine.

Special attention should be paid to known pre-existing injury risk areas. In my case, these are, left knee, right shoulder, left ankle groin and neck. All sites of old injuries, some from skiing, some from soccer and some from rugby.

Each injury will have its own treatment protocol, but will focus on joint balance and stability. A pre and post workout injury mitigation section will be crucial to my workouts. It doesn’t matter how strong my squats are, if my left ankle stops me from running I wont even make it on the field!

Add to this the already considerable injury tolerance required by the nature of the game and you realize why significant time should be devoted to preventative and rehabilitative exercise.

Next post, I’ll go in to detail about program design. Taking in to consideration the day to day stuff we non-professionals have to deal with like work.

Alex Ackerely, Personal Trainer and Sports-Scientist for Kitsilanos Better-Bodies Health Solutions is putting his know-how to the test and attempting to go injury free this Rugby season.

Kits Personal trainer Alex Ackerley playing Rugby for the Vancouver Rowing Club

I’m just going in to what will be (by my reckoning), my 20^th season of rugby. Now I don’t have any grand ambitions of representing Canada or rubbing shoulders with those bearded chaps just returned from the world cup as I have done in previous years. This year I’m returning my old Club down in Stanley Park to link up with some old friends and play just for the enjoyment of the game and of course a few beers in our great Club House on the Water at the VRC.  Somewhat more of a relaxed attitude and I think I like it!

Now this doesn’t mean I don’t want to play as well as I can. And as most of you will know, Rugby of any level is not without it’s injury risks. Anyone whose played with me over the years will also know that I have a few Glass-Like tendencies!  As such, I’m always very keen to get in to the very best shape I possibly can before taking to the field.

So over the next few posts I’ll be going through the steps necessary for me to Bullet-Proof as best I can, my body for the upcoming season. Further more, I’ll track my progress through the season as I deal with the bumps and bruises and juggle them with the full-time  job of Personal Training at our studio in Kitsilano.

I’ll start off with an outline of the considerations necessary to plan out a thorough Pre-habilitation athletic conditioning program..

1. Identify your goals – Succesful participation, impactful on the field as well as resistant to injury.
2. Identify the facets of physical fitness required  – Aerobic, Anaerobic conditioning as well as strength speed and power, injury resilience.
3. Identify methods of staying on track – structured training program with variation and multi disciplinary focus including addressing of underlying injury risks. In season, a key consideration is flexibility in your schedule. You will probably need to shuffle your days as bumps and bruises require extra rest of certain muscle groups.
4. Basic Program outline is this – Address historical predetermination to injury while safely ramping up intensity of exercise in order to match the level of performance I want on the field, aim to continue to improve fitness levels in-season. Not just maintaining .
5. Enjoy the season, no injuries, winning championship, having laughs with the guys.

Stay tuned!

When we change our eating habits for the better, particularly when we decrease the amount of processed, refined foods in our diet (think baking, white rice, bread, candy, and all things sugar). Our brain tries to signal to our stomach to eat. Bear in mind – the brains only source of fuel is glucose (sugar) so when we decrease the amount of fuel it has become accustomed to receiving it sends hunger signals to our stomach (looking for its energy source to be consumed).

It takes a few weeks for the necessary adjustment to be made and for the brain to learn to operate on a lesser amount of refined sugar. It will still utilize the complex sugars from fruit, vegetables and grains but the release of these sugars is slower and affects the brain differently.

Another reason your appetite may increase is the fact that your body’s digestion and metabolic functions are becoming more efficient and processing the food you are eating faster. There is nothing causing the digestive system to operate in a sluggish fashion anymore. The food you are eating is allowing the absorption and elimination pathways to function at higher capacity.

So when altering the way you are eating, don’t be alarmed by this increased hunger. It is only temporary and your body will adapt to your new and improved eating habits in no time. What you will be left with is a renewed sense of energy and a physique that will look, move and feel better.

Will Mel be hiking again this spring?

-Yesterday was the day of truth… I felt anxious yet excited. My 12 week post surgery appointment was here. This was going to be the “yes, your foot is healed – get active” or “ sorry the bone has not fused, please limit your activities for another month.” Kind of a big deal for me.

Drum Roll… Foot’s 100% Rock Solid!!!  Put on those running shoes – exactly what I wanted to hear having just got some cute new Asics runners last week in a great Sale down at Ladysport! Following several days of amazing sunshine in our beautiful city, a run is what I’ve been craving. But wait… the physiotherapist informs me that I am to start running on the treadmill for 30-second intervals. Oh well, better than nothing!  At least I can keep my new kicks clean!

Better-Bodies is entering a team in this years Sun-Run and Alex and I always participate so I’ll set my sights on that, for now Sunday April 15^th will be the target. It’s going to be a perfect opportunity to train properly from scratch, witnessing what the majority of people go through every year just to make it past the 10km marker.

The most common approach when someone starts running is to go too-much too-soon often resulting in injury and effectively slowing their progress, so I’ll be going against my instincts and following my inner trainer voice telling me to slow down.  Do as I say not as I do? I think that applies…

The Sun Run is suitable for almost anybody, many of our friends and clients are using it as a goal to inspire some focused training to shed their Christmas “layer”. Others just like the event and getting out amongst it on a Sunday morning. Some want to smash their record for last year.

So there we have it. I have clearance to get back to my regular lifestyle of activity and fitness. 1^st thing on the agenda – weekend of playtime in one of BC”s most beautiful ski resorts: Sun Peaks. We’ll see what my inner trainer has to say this weekend. The plan – snowshoeing and snowboarding!!!

Anyone interested in joining the Better-Bodies team on race day, in our running groups or in some Saturday morning outdoor exercise classes. Get in touch!

Mel

We’ll be aiming for the whole month of January, but if you can manage 2 weeks of strict adherence then you’re doing great.

Cleansing Dietary Guidelines

January 2012

Objectives:

-Give the body a break by eating foods that do not require a lot of effort to digest

-Eliminate/reduce the toxins within the body

-Breaking free from food/drinks dependency

-Introduce new healthy habits

-Increase Energy, Reduce body fat, FEEL FANTASTIC!!!

Foods to Include:

-Vegetables of all kind: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, green beans, zucchini, lettuce, sprouts, kale, radishes, celery, cucumber, bok choy, yams, carrots.

Avoiding night shade vegetables (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant)

-Fruits of all kind: berries, apples, oranges, grapefruits, pears, grapes, lemons, limes

Avoiding Tropical Fruits (mangoes, pineapple, kiwis, papayas)

-Grains:  Brown rice, quinoa, oats, whole grain sprouted bread (2 slices per day max)

-Proteins: organic/non-medicated chicken, turkey, wild fish, tofu, organic/free range eggs, lentils (Eden Brand is the safest canned option), beans, peas, raw/unsalted nuts and seeds, natural peanut or almond butter, plain goat yogurt, goat cheese

-Fats: avocadoes, olive oil, olives, ground flax seeds or hemp hearts, coconut oil/milk

-Sweeteners:  Raw Honey, Maple Syrup, Stevia, Agave Syrup

 Miscellanous Items:

-Brown Rice, Almond or Hemp Milk will replace Dairy

-Smoothies (homemade) , easy ways to get fruit and veg servings

-Supplements – vitamins, minerals, natural protein powders (Vega is our fave!), greens powders, fish oils

-Spices

Foods to Avoid:

-Refined, processed items such as boxed cereal, bread, wraps, crackers, pasta noodles, white rice, cookies, muffins, scones, donuts, bagels, English muffins, cake, chips, sugar, chocolate, candies, beef jerky, protein bars (other than Lara Bars).

-Juice (unless from the juicer), Pop, Gatorade, Energy Drinks

-Dairy – yogurt (unless plain, organic), milk, cheese (unless goats), ice cream (Blizzards)

-Red Meat – limit to 1 serving per week

-Caffeinated Beverages – limit coffee to 1 per day

-Alcohol – abstain for the entire cleansing period

-Table Salt, a little Sea Salt is acceptable

-Pre-made salad dressing, dips, sauces

Tips:

Start day off with a glass of room temperature water with ¼ of a fresh lemon squeezed into it. This helps to cleanse the liver!

Try eating small, frequent meals/snacks – This means always having something prepared, make time!

Avoid over-eating, chew food well. Eat slowly and in a relaxed state (as much as possible)

Do not drink any liquids with meals/snacks (stop within 30 minutes prior to eating and resume 30 minutes after) Liquids will dilute your digestive enzymes.

Eat lots of salads, soups, stews, chili’s

Keep the diet simple and well balanced between clean sources of protein, whole grain starches/vegetables/fruits for carbohydrate and quality fats.

Breakfast Ideas:

-Smoothies

-Eggs and whole grain, sprouted toast

-Oatmeal or quinoa/brown rice congee with berries and milk of choice + hemp hearts

Snack Ideas:

-Veggie sticks with humus

-Lara Bar

-A Piece of Fruit with a handful of nuts + seeds

-Smoothie

-Boiled Egg

-Celery with Natural Peanut or Almond Butter

Lunch + Dinner Ideas:

-Soups

-Salads

-Stews

-Chili

-Whole grain sandwich with quality meat and veggies as filler

-Brown Rice, Yam or Quinoa with Steamed/Grilled Veggies and a quality protein source

-Quinoa Based salad

-Stir-Fry

Mel is a Holistic Nutritionist who specializes in treating all the systems of the body as part of a greater whole. She designed this basic cleanse to be suitable for anyone with no known food allergies. However everyone is different and Mel has been designing personally tapered food plans for individuals and families with great success for over 5 years. Contact us today if you’d like to know how we can help you!

So this past weekend, I decided to hit the trails and see how the snow conditions were. I’m a keen snowshoer and this season I have my thoughts trained on some more challenging over-night back country hiking. There’s something about the BC mountains when you’re away from all the hustle and bustle of the Resorts that Recharges, rather than drains ones batteries at the weekends. Anyway I figured I should get my legs in condition and the forecast was good so I called my buddy Meaks and we took off up to Cypress Bowl. Meaks doesn’t snowshoe regularly but he’s a fit guy, we used to play Rugby together so I’m pretty happy dragging him up a mountain. I picked him up down town on the way through and we parked right at the trail head in the same parking spot I always seem to score – just lucky I guess. I gave Meaks a quick lesson in putting on your snowshoes and away we went. The first Km of the Hollyburn trail at Cypress is pretty steep and it never takes you long to warm up even on the coldest days. Snow conditions were fine, still early so the small trees are exposed along with a few branches and streams here and there. Overall very easy going though. I was excited to try out my icebreaker 200 long sleeve base layer that the guys at the touchlab Kitsilano hooked me up with. It has been a staple of mine while training all of the Better-Bodies clients in the gym this fall but this was my first chance to test it out where its designed to be. inside the first 20 minutes of our hike I was down to my base layer top and I have to say, I was very comfortable. The weather was broken cloud and about -5 I’d guess. I was sweating when I took off my soft-shell but the sweat soon evaporated and I was dry and comfortable. Having spent plenty of time hiking in the winter, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s ideal to be just a little chilly. This way you’re still comfortable but importantly, you don’t sweat. If you stop for just a couple of minutes while your sweaty, your core temperature will drop very quickly and this is not only uncomfortable, but can be dangerous in extreme cases. My IB baselayer dealt with any sweat by wicking it away from my skin and allowing it to evaporate quickly so I never get to that soaking-wet stage that sometimes occurs with synthetic base layers.

Meaks and I took between 90 minutes to two hours to get up, it was hard going for the lungs but I think all the heavy squats I’ve been working on in the gym kept me feeling strong throughout, hopping over larger steps and capable of several short bursts of running up the steep stuff. With more training in the Gym and a few more weekend day-hikes (next up is the peak at Seymour)I’m pretty confident going on in to the winter that I’ll be breezing past people on those trails, especially when it gets deep and fresh! As for Meaks, I think I’ve converted another of my friends in to winter hiking fan, I like to take friends and clients up in to the mountains whenever possible, it somehow makes it even more rewarding seeing someone with a huge grin on their face when they’ve just spent the day with you doing something you love!
Oh and my IB top..got to the bottom, hopped in the car went for a beer and I had no shame sitting in the bar with it on. It was dry and didnt stink! Thanks IceBreaker, Im looking forward to the season ahead!

“CONSISTENCY OVER PERFECTION”
 
Wondering how to make healthier choices this holiday season?
 
-Try to fill up on vegetable dishes (roast veggies, salads, veggie sticks) when serving yourself from a plethora of food options A good rule of thumb is to fill ½ your plate with veg.
-Try to eat something before heading out to the party, that way you won’t be as tempted to eat everything in front of you
-Control what you can – when contributing a dish, make something healthy
-Try to mingle away from the food table, out of sight out of mind
-Drink a glass of water between each alcoholic drink to stay hydrated and reduce the empty calories that quickly add up following several beverages