The STS Top Four Exercises

Every personal trainer has their favourite exercises and we're no exception. The difference is that our Top Four are used for more than just getting fit...

These four exercises represent four major movements which we make as human beings. By assessing our ability to perform these movements under load we can offer resistances to lift in your gym programme.

The Cable Pulldown

This Upper Body Pull exercise is great for strengthening muscles of the middle back and arms.

Extremely important in correct shoulder function, the Lat Dorsi, Middle to Lower Trapezius and Rhomboid muscles help us to prevent injury and poor shoulder posture.

The Barbell Half Squat

This Lower Body exercise strengthens the thighs, lower back and core.

Using the biggest muscles in the body, the Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Glutes, Core Stabilisers and Erector Spinae are all responsible for getting us from A to B, while also ensuring that gravity doesn't get the better of us with age.

The Barbell Bench Press

This Upper Body Push exercise is used to increase strength of our chest and shoulders.



Mostly used for strengthening the Pecs, Deltoids and Triceps, good performance of this exercise also requires the middle back and lower abdominals to hold good position under load.

The Barbell Deadlift

This Core exercise requires most input from the abdomen, lower back and legs.

Brilliant for strengthening the Errector Spinae, Abdominals, Glutes and Quads, this exercise can help to prevent lower back problems when used with good technique and appropriate weights.

These Top Four Exercises become very familiar to members of The STS Fitness Club. They are used to indicate each member's ability to perform the exercises in their on-line programme. We have strong systems for teaching the exercises and protocols for using them in assessment.

7 Steps to Bouncing Back from Christmas

The festive season should be a fabulous time of year and I truly hope it has been for you.

If you read my previous post, Fitness Around Christmas then you've either taken some of the suggestions on board and want more support converting the benefits into further success...

OR...

You really struggled and want to get some ideas on how to turn things around for 2012.

Either way, the steps from this post are worth working through now.

Step 1. Record your New Year Resolutions Personally
New Year Resolutions are only of use if you record them AND refer back to them regularly. First write them down on a piece of paper in front of you...NOW.

Then, before you get back to the hustle and bustle of your routine day, turn them into an A3 or A4 Poster. It's up to you whether you do this with crayons, paint or a software programme like Paint.

If you're proud of how they look then you'll be proud to see them staring back at you on your screen saver, office/bedroom/bathroom wall.

Step 2. Tell Everyone!!
Whether you generally share your day to day thoughts in person, online, offline or all of the above, you'll feel much better about your resolutions if you share them with people who you know are going to support you in sticking to them.

This simple act will give people a range of ongoing topics to ask you about in conversation. Though this may sound a little scary, these are resolutions you've decided to hold yourself to right?

Why not allow your friends and family to also hold you accountable?


If, in the worst case scenario, you decide that any particular one of your resolutions has become unrealistic, there is no shame in telling friends why you have changed it. So long as you change your resolutions for reasons you're unashamed of then why should you be scared of sharing those reasons.

In the best case scenario you'll encounter ongoing support in turning your resolutions to reality and feel proud enough to inspire others with your success.

Sharing your success is about more than you...it's about inspiring others to do the same.

Step 3. Get your Eating Sorted Out
Regardless of whether your New Year Resolutions are around food or health, you're far more likely to make them happen if you know what foods agree with you and when to eat them.

There's far too much emphasis on quantities these days, with the highest profile diets based around points and calories. It doesn't matter how much or little you eat of any particular food if it causes an inflamatory reaction in your gut. It's going to make you feel poorly and distract you from carrying out your personal resolutions.

Next, know that you need to eat the foods which agree with you every 3-4 hours you're awake. Doing so any more or less often will stuff up your blood sugars and lead to poor levels of concentration, if not worse.

Detox Diets are extremely popular at this time of year and while many are seen as extreme or even dangerous, there are a variety of healthy Detox Plans which won't make you starve. If you're unsure see a nutrition professional who can help you make the plan work for the foods which agree with you.

While Detoxes are relatively short lived and not part of a lifestyle change, they can give you short term success. You can then convert this into a long term resolution to eat less of the foods which make you feel like rubbish and more of the foods which worked for you in the detox.

Step 4. Get your Exercise Sorted Out
By sorted out, I don't mean register for a 6, 8 or 12 week challenge.

I mean figure out what physically active pursuit actually excites you and plan a way to get into it. If you haven't done this yet then maybe you need a Fitness Philosophy to Change Your Life.

If you've found out what excites you, but you're not quite sure how to make the most out of that motivation then here's a quick process to follow:

1. Google events or a social/competitive season which you have time to prepare for. It should be at least 12 weeks away and within reach. If you're unsure whether it's possible just flick me an email telling me where you're currently at and what you want to do. I'll reply to let you know whether you're being realistic, based on what I know about our potential to improve over time.

2. Get out your calendar and put the event/ first match into your calendar. Figure out how many weeks you have left and what kind of fitness you'll need to have worked on before D-Day arrives.

Work backwards from the event

If you were to allow 4 weeks to work on the following 3 phases, would you still have time to be ready for your event?

Phase 3. Race/Game Specific Fitness and Explosive Power
Phase 2. High Intensity Training and Base Strength
Phase 1. Base Distance Training and Injury Prevention

If you spent the minimum time of 4 weeks on each of these phases then it'd take you 12 weeks. If you've got more time that this, you should add more weeks to each of the phases and start researching each of these phases so you know exactly what kind of activity you should be doing to improve them.

I would love to be able to offer more info on how to prepare for these phases but what you need to do depends so much on your and your sport's specific demands that it would be irresponsible for me to try and do so in this post.

Step 5. Get your Friends Involved or Find More!
Starting Fresh
If you're looking at doing something new then chances are you don't know too many people who are striving for the same thing. If this is the case then you have a fantastic opportunity to make some new friends. Look up training squads in your area and ask the organiser how you can find people who are looking to do the same thing you are.

Every administrator who runs a physical based club loves being approached by people because it means they didn't need to look for you. Just showing the nous to approach them is a clear sign of your commitment and commitment is what will encourage an administrator to invest their time in you.

Stepping it up
If you're working towards something which people already know about then you don't need to shove it down their throats. The beauty of Facebook and other social media is that anything you post about your fitness will show up on friends news feed, not arrive in their cluttered inbox.

If they're interested in what you're up to then they'll read your links and as a result get more of your status updates in their news feed. Those who have any chance of either wanting to join you or simply become inspired by you will "like",  comment or contact you to show their support.

As with the NY Resolutions, any feedback you get will either further encourage you to consolidate your fitness aspirations or give you someone to prove wrong.




Step 6. Commit to Cycles of Improvement
The beauty of working around a cycle of training and social/serious competition is that there is always something different going on.

At any given time you're either:

• recovering from a training, match or season
• preparing for a training, match or season
• participating in a training, match or season

Your day, week, month and year all go through cycles of improvement and stories are coming out of each event.

Unfortunately, the most common way people look to get fit does not offer such variation. Without a season or competition to look forward to you're essentially just training to:

• train
• get fit   
• loose weight or tone up

Even if these motivations provide some short term success they're not sustainable because they don't offer a long term cycle of variation and improvement.




Step 7. Record Everything!
Take photos of everything you do. If you bring your car to a training or match then make sure you've got a camera to capture you in your kit and ready to play. The results you get and the fun you have will mean even more if you have ongoing records of what you accomplished.

If you didn't quite achieve what you set out for in a particular season then having records of the approach you took becomes invaluable in deciding how to go about things the next time around.

Maybe you had the race of your life a few months back, but can't figure out why you were so strong. If you only kept the programme then you'd be able to look back and find out what worked for you back then.

It doesn't have to be Time Consuming
When I tell people to record things they often think about the time it takes to do so but it can be very easy if you set things out properly from the start. If you've got a programme mapped out before you start it then you don't need to record what you did, you just tick it off on the programme which was already there from the start.

If you embrace the social sharing idea then that's another great way to record what you did and how it made you feel. The details you post friends about your training can be made up of the exact details you should be recording.

Any time you want to know how you dealt with an event or phase in the past, just have a look through your status updates or blog posts to find out.

It's far more fun writing things down when you know someone else could read them. A blog is a great way to record how things are going, while also giving people to opportunity to read, encourage you and become inspired by your success.

In Summary
Congratulations for making it to the end of this post on what is likely to be a busy day for you.

The key messages to take out of this article are based around Cycles:

1. Plan what you're going to do
2. Share it with your friends
3. Do what you've planned 
4. Share it with your friends
5. Record what you do 
6. Share it with your friends
7. Plan what you're going to do....and so on :-)

So many of my clients tell me they wouldn't do what they do without me. Naturally, I help them carry out most of the process above in regards to planning, doing and recording, but what they may not be consciously thinking about is that what I offer most is someone to share their success, struggles and learning experiences with.

It really is the sharing and feedback which keeps them coming back for more.

Why not share this post?
Please take a few minutes to share this post with your friends any way you can.

Even better, comment on how you plan on making 2012 your best year ever, then share this post!

Fitness Around Christmas

Talking to friends and clients over the last 10 years has taught me a lot about how people view their exercise through December and January. 

So this is Christmas

It's a particularly tough time for many people so I've written this post to help others understand why some struggle and others thrive. 


I'll also discuss how you can set yourself up for daily exercise, without sacrificing quality social time.  


The Different Mind Sets

For many people, who I've talked to, the festive season is the absolute hardest time of the year to work out. Routines become disturbed by holidays, discipline is tested by Christmas gatherings and many of the organised trainings and competitions take a break.

For others it's an annual opportunity to train without having to fit it into a pre-arranged time slot such as before the birds wake up, the working lunch break or after a full day at the office.

These people love the opportunity to spend more time with friends and family but also love being able to schedule a longer workout between a backyard cricket match and the family lunch.

Fun Time with the Family

1. "I'll get back into it in the New Year"
When asked to attend a staff function, some of my clients see it as a great opportunity to let the hair down and if it means having to miss a workout then so be it. Regardless of how many functions they're invited to, they are special occasions and any loss of health or fitness through this period is simply what happens during the festive season.

Many people actually figure they're going to make the most of Christmas by eating all of their favourite unhealthy foods, drinking till late and putting a hold on their exercise. They've been sacrificing all of these behaviours since last January and they're not going to get do so again for another 10-11months.

This mind set is a sure sign of someone who has not actually embraced the concept of a healthy and balanced lifestyle. They put weight on each Christmas and struggle to lose it in the months between. They hate coming back to work in the new year and hate coming back to exercise even more.

Don't make exercise harder than it needs to be

2. "I'm Just Too Busy"
Some of the reasons I hear for not exercising during the festive season are actually very similar to those I hear from people who can't fit exercise into their working week.

They refuse to prioritise the time over other important tasks and will not put this very personal need over the needs of others who may not understand.

Many people just aren't used to putting themselves first, so spend all holiday running the kids around and cooking meals for others. They may have tried and given up asking for help, but figured the job will get done faster if they do it themselves.

Christmas is a time for giving so why not give your body the attention it deserves?

3. "Yahooooo, it's Christmas!"
The clients who I find come back to work feeling the best about their holidays are those who:

•  took their training to another level
• attended and enjoyed various social functions without eating or drinking to excess
• spent plenty of quality time with their family

Having achieved all this for their first Christmas ever, returns the happiest of clients. They managed to push ahead with their training, not only keeping everyone else happy but even managed to get them involved.

I can't think of a better way to enjoy your kids than while exercising with them. Contrast this with having a hangover as you try to enjoy the summer sun and active kids who would give anything to have you join them.

Get up for the Sun rise this Festive Season!

How to Thrive through Christmas!
If you'd like to truly enjoy your holiday then that good feeling needs to last beyond the Festive Season. If you spend half of your time racing around trying to get everything done, or recovering from the previous night's excesses then you're not going to look back on your time so fondly.

Here are some big things you need to setup if you'd like to be able to look back on a Great Festive Season:

1. Build a Team Environment
You'll be surprised how well people will grow to enjoy helping around the house if they notice the positive effect it has on you. If you can catch up and bond with friends and family while they help clean the kitchen or cook then they're more likely to do it without being asked later on.

This will free up time for activities which everyone can enjoy such as Back Yard Cricket, Scrabble or Sing Star! Setting out a couple of teams such as Boys and Girls, Old and Young or Tall and Short can add some ongoing, friendly competition which encourages banter and a great atmosphere around the house.

Tug of War is a Great way to bring people together

2. Promote your Daily Exercise Time
Once you've got everyone in a mood of sharing and caring, it's time to let people know when you're going to be out training. You may get some funny looks at first but each time you return, positively glowing from a workout, they'll accept it and hopefully get in behind you.

Whether you go off for a jog, a swim at the beach or a game of tennis, this is something you need to be proud of and committed to doing each and every day. You don't need to train hard each time you go out, in fact, you should either make every day a light session or alternate between easy and hard.

Every day seems like a big deal, but it's not. This is not just your time to exercise, it's your time to do get away and think about how you're going to make this day a joy for everyone you see. Doing it every day removes the question of when and whether you're training and it's the perfect excuse for going to bed at a reasonable hour.

Go and explore the neighborhood!

Few people have the opportunity to book out a slot for themselves every day during the working week, but over the festive season you'll actually find people congratulating you for your commitment.

3. Settle for a Great Time 
For most of us, the middle of the day is for kids, the afternoon is for family and the evening is for fun. This means your best opportunity for a daily workout is probably in the morning. One of the biggest killers of this morning workout is a late night of excesses.

If you find it hard to resist the urge to enjoy your food, drink and company into the early hours of the next day then this may just be where you're doing the most harm to your holiday experience.

There's nothing wrong with having a few drinks after dinner, but there comes a time when you're either going to:

•  turn in with a glass of water, excited about your early morning workout 

Party hard, but not too late!

or 

• grab another drink, a handful of crisps and destroy any hope of waking in time to enjoy your Daily Exercise Time

Getting back on the Scales should be Fun!

Sorry if this Upsets You
What you've just read will either make perfect sense or annoy you to no end.

Many people see the festive season as their reward for sacrificing over-indulgence all year so will only consider my suggestions when their doctor warns them to.

The people I most want reading this are those who want to get fitter and feeling better about themselves at the end of their holiday. If this post did make perfect sense and you think others could benefit from reading it then please forward the link on to a friend.

So what do you think?

Is any of this achievable?


I'd love to hear how you're planning to actually improve the quality of this festive season for yourself, your friends and family.


Feel free to come back and tell me how it all went.

Merry Christmas!!!

How Fitness Won the Rugby World Cup

The All Blacks have finally won the Web Ellis Cup and it took all of their fitness and depth to do so!

France it their Straps
Previous World Cups have shown France to be a bit of a 'One Hit Wonder', managing to pull off one fantastic performance when it counted against a higher ranked opposition but playing below their potential for most other matches.

Just when it seemed like they were about to buck the trend they pulled out a rippa performance, to give the All Blacks (and most of New Zealand) a massive scare.

New Zealand Convert their Potential
The All Blacks bucked the even less favourable trend of playing untouchable rugby before being bundled out of contention in an act commonly referred to as 'Choking" (no longer a swear word). Learning from previous Cups the All Blacks managed to get ahead on the scoreboard, leaving France to chase them instead of being the team having to push the play.

They defended well and made the most of the fact that few referees will award a match winning penalty for a minor infringement, especially in such an important fixture. As a result France were the ones to cough up possession with 5minutes left in the game and the All Blacks held on to win.

Piri to the Rescue
The All Blacks showed fantastic fitness in the tournament but there was one player not exactly known for his fitness who was pushed to his limits. Piri Weepu came into the cup expecting and prepared to play a rotating role at halfback: 50mins one game, 30 the next.

Instead he found himself playing brilliant, but intensive 80minute games, kicking goals and being publicly branded as the 'go-to-man' with Dan Carter out injured. Fatigue, public pressure, along with the added stress of losing a family member would no doubt have further lowered Piri's immune system and eventually resulted in him catching a bug before the Semi Final.

Other over-strained symptoms were the niggle he picked up in warm up and relatively poor performance in the Grand Final. Both absolutely understandable based on what he had to go through.

Piri Weepu was my Player of the Tournament.

More Injuries and More Depth
Thankfully the All Blacks had fantastic depth and a setup which lead to fringe players being ready to be come into camp, prepared to play the role of whomever needed to forfeit their position. The most obvious example of this was at first five where three replacements all managed to play the required role.

What does interest me is why three first fives managed to fall to injury. Most would call it bad luck but those responsible for each of the players' fitness would know of weaknesses predisposing each player to their particular injury. There's no doubt these players were match fit but I hope we're not about to see a continuing trend of first five injuries at Rugby World Cups.

The Effects of Fitness on this World Cup
From the start of the Rugby World Cup I've discussed the effects fitness was having on the performances and results. In the pool matches I pointed to the ability of the minnows to get up for their first match due to the state of freshness and need to prove their place.

Those performances steadily declined as teams were forced to back up 4-5 days later and lost players who did not have suitable back-up. Things got progressively worse for the underdogs but whenever the odds were even you could usually count on the team who had the lightest lead in to come out on top.

The Quarter Finals went freakishly according to who was in the best physical state, following their final pool match. The Semis were both won by the team who started the strongest and held on for dear life as did the Final. They say World Cups are won with defense and defense requires fitness.

How this all Relates to Our Own Sporting Success
Every team sport has had rule changes which make the game faster and as a result more entertaining for the public to watch. The hard thing about this is that the rule changes are also applied right down to club level, meaning less rests and more running.

If the fittest international teams are winning then the same is also happening at club and provincial level. This leaves massive potential for those teams prepared to dedicate more to their fitness. Professional sports people generally have an inactive Off-Season of 2-3 weeks, before getting back to building a base and preparing for the next campaign.

Amateur endurance athletes and individual fitness based athletes such as swimmers, runners and rowers train all year round, similar to how Winter Team Sports people play relaxed versions of their sport in Summer. The difference is that these fitness based athletes have always known their sport is about fitness, whereas many winter sports have only become fitness oriented in the last few years due to the rule changes.

Whether you play Rugby, League, Football, Netball, Hockey, Touch or Ultimate Frisbee, you are playing a Fitness based sport. Learn to make fitness part of your year round activity and you'll incur less injuries, become faster, perform better and get more game time.

Go on, Start Now before your competition get's ahead!

All Blacks Through to the Final!

Another great couple of games have decided the two finalists for the Rugby World Cup with France kicking and defending their way to victory over Wales and the All Blacks dominating Australia.

Were Wales Robbed?
There is a lot of talk about how Wales were robbed by the red card after about 10minutes but I really don't think it would have made a difference. An extra man is not going to stop you from coffing up the ball and kickable penalties.

France did what every team has done to win in these and practically every World Cup playoffs: get ahead then defend like your life depends on it. Watching Wales go through phase after phase of attack, making very few inroads tells me they just didn't have an answer to the French passion. I only hope Wales keep Warren Gatland on for the next World Cup because he'll have learned a lot over the last four years and Wales will come back stronger for it.

Can Anyone Win Pretty?
France didn't win pretty and but neither did Australia against South Africa or the All Blacks against Argentina. I said France may just have played their final against England but I was wrong. I'm even a little concerned they may not have played their big game at all so far, but hopefully they don't actually have a big game to unleash on this World Cup.

Although the All Black performance was fantastic in almost every way, we only scored one try and scoring tries is supposed to be how the All Blacks win matches. Great to see Cruden take the initiative with a drop goal and although Dagg's attempt was poor it shows that the All Blacks have accepted that winning ugly is more important that losing pretty.

The Physical and Psychological Toll
Australia did play their final against South Africa and had little left to compete with the most passionate All Blacks performance we have seen in years. Everyone bar Sonny Bill stepped up but I wasn't surprised to hear Weepu has caught a bug.

He will not have prepared for the amount of high intensity rugby he has been asked to play. Throw in the stress of expectation and the loss of a family member, Piri was always going to suffer some over training symptoms. Most bugs are coming to an end after a week so unless his stress levels remain high this week we should see the new 'go to man' take the field in the number nine jersey.

So will the All Blacks brush off France as Expected?

Tough to say. We're starting to see some signs of fatigue in the All Blacks Squad but once again they had the depth to allow tiring players to sub out early where as France had to fight all 80 minutes to get their win. We all know the All Blacks are the better team on paper and they'll run France off their feet but there is still some chance France will get a lead and hold on to win.

My pick, based again on fitness is that the All Blacks will win and by a big margin.

What do you think?

When to Start Pre-Season Training

The New Zealand Winter Sports Season is over for 2011 and many Football, Rugby, Netball and Hockey players are happy to have their Saturdays back but when should we start building fitness towards the next season?

Start Now!!

Whether you’re 3 weeks or 3months out from your first competitive match you should be doing something to prepare for next season. The less you do at the end of your season the harder it’ll be to get back into it.

It doesn't need to be painfully hard training. In fact in order to improve the durability of your ligaments it needs to start softly. Start early enough and you can progress slowly. Start slowly and you might even enjoy it.

Leave it till the last minute and you'll have to train harder and go through more pain before having another unsatisfactory season.


Getting it Wrong
Starting back in January or February when your Coach's Pre-season Training begins is dangerous!

It always starts with a hiss and a roar but our bodies just aren't ready for high intensity training yet. The coach has every right to expect the team to get straight into the sprints, shuttle runs and high intensity games because there's only one month before that pre-season tournament or the start of the season proper.

If we've taken the last 4 months off exercise then there's a good chance we're going to get unlucky and fall injured before the first game of the season.


So How do we Prevent all of that Pain and Risk of Injury?
In order to have a great pre-season with your team from January till March you'd ideally do a couple of months of Base Fitness Training before the festive season break.


Base Fitness Training should be aimed at:

• Increasing the distances we can run
• Improving our running, speed and playing technique
• Improving our durability

Two months before Christmas means starting at the end of October.

It sounds early but for most of us that's August, September and most of October which we're letting ourselves get less fit for our sport and the rigors of our Coach's Pre-Season Training.

If we don't have a Coach's Pre-Season Training then the entire team is looking at a season with moments of brilliance but dominated by cramping, injuries and frustration.

So if you want a great season for you and your team get them together and Start Now!

Rugby World Cup Semi Final Analysis

The Quarter Finals presented four great games with France redeeming their poor showing against Tonga to beat England, Wales peaking right when it counts to beat Ireland, Australia just managing to outlast South Africa and Argentina proving that they would be able to foot it with the All Blacks if they could only sustain their passion for 80 minutes.

So how will the Four Remaining Teams Fare in the Semi's?

It really is so tight that i'm going to base my picks purely on Match Fitness

Wales were fantastic against Ireland and showed better execution, equal passion and good match fitness when compared to France's win. Wales also had a slightly easier game than France and to me that'll decide it.

France showed that they do deserve to be in the playoffs by beating England but both teams were poor and I'm picking that game to have taken enough out of them to have em struggling against Wales.

The effects of a previous fixture on match performance will also be the undoing of Australia. While I believe their freshness following the pool stages helped them against South Africa, this game hurt, requiring their 'go to players' stay on the field and give 100% for the full 80minutes.

A Spanner in the Works
Though I don't want to believe it; history could have a say in this World Cup.

Apparently, every team who beats the previous World Cup Winner goes on to win the title...but we don't take history that seriously right?

The All Blacks had a hard 50minute encounter against Argentina and that hit out will have given them a better sense of the big match familiarity they require to get up for the semi final. It won't have had the same physically taxing effect as the Australia v South Africa game so I'm expecting our boys to run the Aussie to a stand still.

The only way the AB's can loose is if Craig Joubert has a shocker and allows Aussie to slow the game down.

So who will be in the Rugby World Cup Final?


The Mighty All Blacks vs The Perfectly Timed Peakers (is that a word?): Wales

Other points to consider:

• Eden Park-The AB's do not loose to Aussie at Eden Park!
• Injuries Gallore-I've intentionally disregarded the raft of injuries as they effectively cancel one another out...Has Piri really "got this"?
• Is Quade Cooper due a match winning performance? He'll be reeling after his poor Quarter Final 
• World Cup Ch@#ers: Four years of success means nothing if our boys choke against Australia

Can Wales make their first ever World Cup Final?

What do you think?