REACHING YOUR HEALTH and fitness goals is hard enough as it is, never mind when you aren’t going about it the right way.
But what is a good approach?
In last week’s article, I referred to the three-step approach when it comes to any training regime; mechanics (technique), consistency and then intensity.
Furthermore, when it comes to any training programme I design for clients I always place a strong emphasis on the following three things:
1. Building a foundation
The wider the fitness base the better the individual’s fitness capacity. Spend time on the initial stages and forget about diving in at the deep end.
Work on the basics first, getting consistently good at them, and then start to ramp it up with some intensity.
Basic things like building your aerobic base, putting some emphasis on strength work and being able to perform simple mobility drills such as a couch stretch are all things I look at before building on top of the foundation.
2. Include a lot of mobility work
This is an area I would prioritise initially. A movement and mobility assessment is always the first thing I do when working with any client for the first time.
As a trainer I spend a lot of time working with office workers who spend 8-12 hours a day in the seated position. Not surprisingly, most arrive at the gym with poor mobility, lower-back issues, poor posture and a weak core, which makes training and doing simple things like hip hinges, squats, and other staples of a training programme very challenging.
3. Plenty of core work
Core work is something that everybody needs in their programme not matter what age, gender, fitness level or specific training goal.
A lot of the time when I ask a new client what their goal is they do mention improving their core and it seems as though a lot of them are mixed up between having a strong core and having visual abs, which can be very different things.
When a lot of people mention core they are looking to have a flatter stomach with a few abs visual, but if you wants those abs, yes, you need to do core work but mostly it’s going to come down to eating and dropping body fat.
I would regard core work as something you need to be working on almost every time you exercise. Core work is so important and in general I would consider function and performance to be the priority over aesthetics.
Today I am going to cover some smart and effective core exercises which can be for the beginner right up to the advanced person.
As always in all my videos I have included some voice over tutorials which will give you one or two training tips as well as some movements you don’t need any equipment for.
Below is a combination of bodyweight drills that are ideal for the beginner as they are quite basic, although performed correctly they are suitable for every fitness level. As I repeatedly say, you can’t beat the basics and a lot of the time you don’t need to move far from them.
Beginner exercises
Once you have these basic movements above locked down you could start to get a little more advanced with your core exercises.
If you are a regular reader of my articles on The42 you should know by now that you really shouldn’t be going too far down the advanced path until you have all the basics locked down and your moving well with them.
Having access to a lot of fitness toys like resistance bands, kettlebells and even ab wheels are always a positive for your fitness programme and it’s good to see plenty of gyms around the country offering these tools to their members.
Advanced exercises
David Last is a personal trainer based in Dublin. For more information you can follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Or you can send him a direct message here.
You can also see some of his previous articles here.
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