Reaching the Core - Riccardo Coen
Many of us have heard the term "Core" but still are not quite sure what it refers to. I hope to clear that up right now ... Our "core" is basically our torso. In other words, if we removed our legs, arms and head, whatever is left, is our core. This area of the body is responsible fore our balance and stability, and consists of all the muscles involved in movements such as running, jumping, twisting, bending, to name a few.
Many people involved in a number of sporting activities are now including core training in their training programmes to improve their performance. Consider the stability and balance required in sporting codes such as dancing, gymnastics, diving, parkour, surfing, martial arts, and the list goes on.
Many individuals who have been badly injured, and have lost the ability to walk or move, undergo rigid rehabilitation regimes that almost always include core training to get them back on their feet unassisted.
So, as you can see, our core is very fundamental element to our everyday existence. The exercises used to train our core would stress the muscles holding up our spine, the muscles around the sides of our bodies, the abdominal muscles, the muscles around our hips, around our shoulder blades, and those moving along the sides of our back. There are many other smaller muscles that act more as assistant muscles in these exercises, and we can also call them stabilising muscles.
By including core exercises in your workout routine, you will not only improve your balance and stability, but also your posture, another very important aspect in our everyday lives. These core exercises will include apparatus such as bands, fitballs, BOSU balls, steps, and the exercises will involve jumping, throwing, catching, using one arm or one leg at a time, and so on.
So, try and include core training in your routine, it not only stimulates these new found stabilising muscles, but also provides new challenges.
Many people involved in a number of sporting activities are now including core training in their training programmes to improve their performance. Consider the stability and balance required in sporting codes such as dancing, gymnastics, diving, parkour, surfing, martial arts, and the list goes on.
Many individuals who have been badly injured, and have lost the ability to walk or move, undergo rigid rehabilitation regimes that almost always include core training to get them back on their feet unassisted.
So, as you can see, our core is very fundamental element to our everyday existence. The exercises used to train our core would stress the muscles holding up our spine, the muscles around the sides of our bodies, the abdominal muscles, the muscles around our hips, around our shoulder blades, and those moving along the sides of our back. There are many other smaller muscles that act more as assistant muscles in these exercises, and we can also call them stabilising muscles.
By including core exercises in your workout routine, you will not only improve your balance and stability, but also your posture, another very important aspect in our everyday lives. These core exercises will include apparatus such as bands, fitballs, BOSU balls, steps, and the exercises will involve jumping, throwing, catching, using one arm or one leg at a time, and so on.
So, try and include core training in your routine, it not only stimulates these new found stabilising muscles, but also provides new challenges.
Stretching the Limits - Riccardo Coen
Flexibility is something we tend to take for granted, until it is too late. I believe it is the most neglected part of one's training routine, perhaps due to time constraints, but a few minutes at the end of your workout will undoubtedly reduce your risk of injury, and allow for a greater range of motion.
So what is flexibility exactly? It is generally referred to as the range of movement in a joint or across a series of joints. As you know, flexibility varies from individual to individual, and for those who stretch every day, one can see the benefits of having increased flexibility. For example, those who participate in dancing, yoga, Pilates and gymnastics have a high degree of flexibility because it will increase their performance. Many sports codes around the world are including flexibility training in their exercise programmes, namely, soccer, rugby, tennis, hockey, golf, to name a few.
The way increased flexibility reduces the risk of injury is quite simple: stretching the muscle cells themselves, allows the contraction-reflex mechanisms therein to let the muscle cells to slowly elongate without injury. Over time, one's flexibility will increase to the point where one is increased the range of movement across a joint/s considerably.
I suggest you make the time for a good stretch, especially after that run around the block, or a spinning class, or even a hike in the mountains.
So what is flexibility exactly? It is generally referred to as the range of movement in a joint or across a series of joints. As you know, flexibility varies from individual to individual, and for those who stretch every day, one can see the benefits of having increased flexibility. For example, those who participate in dancing, yoga, Pilates and gymnastics have a high degree of flexibility because it will increase their performance. Many sports codes around the world are including flexibility training in their exercise programmes, namely, soccer, rugby, tennis, hockey, golf, to name a few.
The way increased flexibility reduces the risk of injury is quite simple: stretching the muscle cells themselves, allows the contraction-reflex mechanisms therein to let the muscle cells to slowly elongate without injury. Over time, one's flexibility will increase to the point where one is increased the range of movement across a joint/s considerably.
I suggest you make the time for a good stretch, especially after that run around the block, or a spinning class, or even a hike in the mountains.
The Benefits of Interval Training - Riccardo Coen
Interval Training (IT) is a simple way of getting the most out of your training. One can achieve so much more in the same amount of time compared to continued low intensity cardiovascular training.
How does Interval Training work?
Interval Training is a unique type of cardiovascular training that can be done for almost any discipline, be it running, swimming, cycling, rowing, plyometrics, resistance training, etc. The idea behind IT is to train at a higher heart rate (up to 85 to 90% of your theoretical max.) than one would by training at the same pace or intensity for the duration of the workout. Let’s use running as our example: after the warm up, the athlete will run at a medium pace for a set period of time (from 30 seconds to several minutes), then increase the intensity, to maximise the heartrate, for another set period of time (from 30 seconds to several minutes), then reduce the pace back to medium intensity once more, and then repeat at the higher intensity again. This process of repeated bursts can be repeated any number of times according to the athlete’s fitness levels.
What are the Benefits of Interval Training?
1. IT may be used for any sport: Most sports require the body to move from point A to point B as quickly as possible, and with sports like soccer, rugby, hockey, tennis, etc, many times over. IT can be adapted to any movement orientated sport, where the principle/ purpose of IT is applied to one’s training, even with sports such as rowing, boxing, swimming, cycling, etc.
2. IT increases fitness levels: Almost every sport played in the world today requires a certain level of fitness, from the man on the street running a 5km fun run, to Olympic athletes who want to be the best in the world. IT training will bring out the most in one’s fitness levels depending on the intensity at which one trains. IT significantly raises the athlete’s heart rate thereby increasing the level of fitness required to reach one’s training goals in less time compared to other conventional methods. One will also find another benefit of a lower heart rate: this is because the body now becomes more efficient in its O2 utilisation.
3. IT increases performance levels: The fitter one is the better one will perform. These two aspects of training go hand in hand, but the reason I separate them is because many people expect to perform without working on their stamina and endurance. IT essentially takes one out of one’s comfort zone, where one trains at a much higher percentage of one’s maximum heart rate, thereby improving the ability of an individual to perform better in whatever event one participates in. This makes IT a most effective training tool to increase one’s stamina and endurance.
4. IT burns more calories: We have established that IT is a high intensity type training with a higher heart rate than steady, consistent cardiovascular training. It therefore stands to reason that the harder one trains, the more energy one burns (measured as calories). This is a very effective way to not only burn fat, but lose weight and obtain the body you have imagined in less time. So, IT will even allow for shorter training sessions with better results. Some studies have shown that IT can increase one’s body fat usage by up to three times as much.
5. IT is more challenging and enjoyable: When it comes to mental stimulation, we may become bored with monotonous, repetitive material. The body also becomes bored with repetitive movements that don’t challenge the body. One may plateau in one’s improvements and become complacent. This may lead to possible reduction in training or cessation thereof altogether. IT offers a far more challenging way to train the body so it does not become bored at all, and provide more rewarding results. This will encourage the athlete to return and see even more improvements in one’s fitness, performance levels and overall physique.
So, the bottom line is, if you want results on the field, increase your training intensity. It is recommended that IT should be done no more than two to three times a week as it is very taxing on the cardiovascular and muscular systems, this will give the body time to recover for the next high intensity session. Remember to start out slowly with short bursts of interval training before building up your times and heart rate to become the athlete you have always wanted to be.
How does Interval Training work?
Interval Training is a unique type of cardiovascular training that can be done for almost any discipline, be it running, swimming, cycling, rowing, plyometrics, resistance training, etc. The idea behind IT is to train at a higher heart rate (up to 85 to 90% of your theoretical max.) than one would by training at the same pace or intensity for the duration of the workout. Let’s use running as our example: after the warm up, the athlete will run at a medium pace for a set period of time (from 30 seconds to several minutes), then increase the intensity, to maximise the heartrate, for another set period of time (from 30 seconds to several minutes), then reduce the pace back to medium intensity once more, and then repeat at the higher intensity again. This process of repeated bursts can be repeated any number of times according to the athlete’s fitness levels.
What are the Benefits of Interval Training?
1. IT may be used for any sport: Most sports require the body to move from point A to point B as quickly as possible, and with sports like soccer, rugby, hockey, tennis, etc, many times over. IT can be adapted to any movement orientated sport, where the principle/ purpose of IT is applied to one’s training, even with sports such as rowing, boxing, swimming, cycling, etc.
2. IT increases fitness levels: Almost every sport played in the world today requires a certain level of fitness, from the man on the street running a 5km fun run, to Olympic athletes who want to be the best in the world. IT training will bring out the most in one’s fitness levels depending on the intensity at which one trains. IT significantly raises the athlete’s heart rate thereby increasing the level of fitness required to reach one’s training goals in less time compared to other conventional methods. One will also find another benefit of a lower heart rate: this is because the body now becomes more efficient in its O2 utilisation.
3. IT increases performance levels: The fitter one is the better one will perform. These two aspects of training go hand in hand, but the reason I separate them is because many people expect to perform without working on their stamina and endurance. IT essentially takes one out of one’s comfort zone, where one trains at a much higher percentage of one’s maximum heart rate, thereby improving the ability of an individual to perform better in whatever event one participates in. This makes IT a most effective training tool to increase one’s stamina and endurance.
4. IT burns more calories: We have established that IT is a high intensity type training with a higher heart rate than steady, consistent cardiovascular training. It therefore stands to reason that the harder one trains, the more energy one burns (measured as calories). This is a very effective way to not only burn fat, but lose weight and obtain the body you have imagined in less time. So, IT will even allow for shorter training sessions with better results. Some studies have shown that IT can increase one’s body fat usage by up to three times as much.
5. IT is more challenging and enjoyable: When it comes to mental stimulation, we may become bored with monotonous, repetitive material. The body also becomes bored with repetitive movements that don’t challenge the body. One may plateau in one’s improvements and become complacent. This may lead to possible reduction in training or cessation thereof altogether. IT offers a far more challenging way to train the body so it does not become bored at all, and provide more rewarding results. This will encourage the athlete to return and see even more improvements in one’s fitness, performance levels and overall physique.
So, the bottom line is, if you want results on the field, increase your training intensity. It is recommended that IT should be done no more than two to three times a week as it is very taxing on the cardiovascular and muscular systems, this will give the body time to recover for the next high intensity session. Remember to start out slowly with short bursts of interval training before building up your times and heart rate to become the athlete you have always wanted to be.