Girlwithnoname – Fitness at Home

Since I’m on holiday this week, I’ve left things in the capable hands of my good friend Jon Coulson.

When it comes to training and fitness, Jon’s got a huge treasure-trove of valuable stuff in his head to share. So I know you’ll get a lot out of these important tips.

Thanks Jon.

Solve Your Office Aches and Pains

Let’s face it, working in an office sucks right? From non-stop emails to over demanding bosses (well, not my boss, my boss is awesome in case they are reading).

The main gripe I have with working in an office is that our bodies were not designed to sit in chairs for at least 7 – 8 hours a day. Sure, you might get up and move around a bit but for the majority of the time you’re sat in a chair and this, over time, leads to a number of issues.

Here is a summary of some issues that can happen from sitting for hours and hours at your desk

1)      Tight upper back

8)      Low back ache

Pretty much everyone who works in an office suffers from one or more of these issues to some degree.

The good news is that there are plenty of stretches and exercises to help reverse these problems. It is possible to write pages and pages of exercises and stretches to do. For the sake of sanity and carpel tunnel syndrome I’ll focus on some of the more back-for-you-buck exercises.

1)      Cat / Camel

The idea of this movement is to loosen up the spine. The trick is to make this a fluid up and down movement and not force the end of range motion.

Set yourself up so that you are on your hands and knees on the floor. Keep your hands and knees in the same spot, draw in your stomach and round your back, tucking your chin in. Then lower your back towards the floor creating a curve.

You shouldn’t need to use more than 8 – 10 reps for this

2)      Wall Slides

This movement is designed to improve posture by engaging muscles often ignored – middle and lower traps and the rhomboids. Usually these are overpowered by the upper traps muscles.

Stand against a wall with your feet 12-18” away from the wall. Press your upper back against the wall and hold your arms parallel in a “hands up” fashion. Keep your elbows and back of your hands pressed against the wall, slide your hands up as far as possible and return.

Aim for 8  – 10 reps

3)      Thoracic Mobility

This is one of my favourite exercises to loosen up my upper back when it feels tights.

Lay on the floor on a foam roller. If you do not have a foam roller, you can do this seated in a chair. Place the roller just beneath your shoulder blades, keep your butt on the floor and brace your abs. Placing your hands behind your head, arch your back over the roller and hold for 3 – 5 seconds. Repeat this 5 or 6 times

4)      Glute Bridges

Over time, a lot of sitting not only weakens the glute muscles it reduces their ability to fire correctly when exercising. This causes your lower back and hamstrings to pick up the slack leading to low back pain and overworked hamstrings. The glute bridge exercise will help to get the glute muscles firing again as well as strengthen the muscles.

Lay with your back and feet on the floor, knees bent and arms out by your side. Squeeze your butt muscles together and use them to lift your hips off the floor. Initially you might find that your hamstrings do most of the work but try to relax them and allow your glutes to do the work.

Aim to work up to 2 sets of 10. When you can easily do them, try it one legged!

5)      Lying Hip Internal Rotations

Another favourite movement of mine. I used this when my hips start to feel tight from too much sitting.

Lay on the floor with your feet flat on the floor and spread out wide. Try to touch your knees together and feel the stretch. Be careful when first doing this though as trying to stretch too hard too soon could cause the muscles to spasm.

6)      A More Intense Quad Stretch

A combination of weak glutes and tight quad muscles are a classic recipe for low back pain. A hard quad stretch can help relieve low back pain as well at improve overall posture.

Most people know how to stretch their quads – stand against a wall, bend your leg back and pull your foot towards your butt. This is a good stretch but sometimes, you just need more.

The first stage is to kneel on the floor with your legs at 90 degrees, shift your front foot forward and push your hips forward

Once this feels comfortable to stretch, set yourself up in the initial position, this time have a chair behind you and rest your back foot on the chair. This will create a more intense stretch in the quad.  Move your body back and forth to increase or decrease the intensity of the stretch. Hold for up to 30 seconds.

If you’ve been suffering from aches and pains as a result of being sat in a chair all day long then the exercises and stretches here will go a long way towards improving your posture and reducing those tight niggling feelings.

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Wow, that was super-informative and very helpful indeed, especially for all you office workers, I bet!!

Thanks again to Jon for covering me while I’m away. Feel free to get in touch with Jon on Twitter where he tweets as @JonCoulson.

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Since I’m on holiday this week, I’ve left things in the capable hands of my good friend Jon Coulson.

When it comes to training and fitness, Jon’s got a huge treasure-trove of valuable stuff in his head to share. So I know you’ll get a lot out of these important tips.

Thanks Jon.

Dealing with Shin Splints

With all the nice weather we’ve had over the past few months I’ve seen a big increase in the number of people outside going for runs. Maybe you’re one of them?

Unfortunately, an annoying effect which seems to affect many people is shin splints. The effects can last temporarily – for a few minutes – to a more permanent ongoing issue.

So what are shin splints? The term ’shin splints’ is a broad generic term that describes a number of issues with the front of the lower leg. The sort of problems can range from muscle imbalance, over-use, DOMS and inflammation to more serious issues such as fractures and in the worse case chronic compartment syndrome.

In the more serious cases, always seek professional medical advice. For the other issues, carry on reading.

The best way to approach shin splints is with a three prong attack and as with all types of injuries – prevention is better than curing. So don’t wait until you actually have issues to try these out.

1) Massage and trigger point therapy

Part of the cause of shin splints can be due to over use of the muscles around the shin. Over time, this can cause the muscle fibres to ‘bunch’ up causing knots and this creates tender spots along the muscles. What can you do?

A) Treat yourself to a massage! You know you want to really so use this as an excuse. If you’re able to, find someone who specialises in sports massage or trigger point therapy

B) Self massage. Using a tennis ball to roll over the affected area is a poor man’s substitute, start lightly then build up the pressure. I would usually recommend the following:

30 seconds of rolling a tennis ball over the sole of each foot

30 seconds of rolling along the front of each shin, concentrating on tender areas

30 seconds of rolling along the calf muscles of each leg

2) Stretching and mobility work

Another area that can lead to shin splints is over tight calf muscles and poor ankle mobility. Tight calf muscles cause a pull on the heel pulling your foot down. In turn, this causes your shin muscles to become overstretched.

Poor ankle mobility will ultimately cause poor running technique. Any kind of stiffness or poor mobility in the ankles will feed up to your knee and hip joints and cause bad form. Poor form over thousands of repetitions (think how many times your feet hit the ground) leads to injury. Here are a few ideas:

A) Calf stretches – lots and lots of calf stretches. When you think about how much you use your calf muscles on a daily basis they require a lot of stretching to undo that. Start with 2 set of 30 seconds standing calf stretches on each leg. Add more sets if you feel you need it.

B) Ankle mobility – There are two exercises I like to use to improve ankle mobility.

i) Sit on a chair and roll your feet in circles, 10 reps in one direction then 10 reps in the other direction. Flex your feet forward and backwards (up and down) for 10 reps each. Finally flex your feet inwards and outwards for 10 reps each way

ii) Facing a wall, stand about 8 – 10 inches away. Keeping both feet flat on the floor, try to touch your knees to the wall. Start with 5 reps and work up to 10 reps.

3) Strength training

The final piece of the shin splint puzzle is muscle strength imbalances. When working out, people do lots of calf raises but very few do anything to strengthen the shins. This causes the shin muscles to become weak compared to the calf muscles. In addition, strengthening the shin muscles improves the shins ability to handle exercise.

i) Walk on your toes for 1 set of 30 seconds. Build up to 2 sets

ii) Walk on your heels for 1 set of 30 seconds. Build up to 2 sets.

iii) Toe raises – in a seated position with your feet flat on the floor, place a dumbbell or weight plate on the end of each foot. Keep your heels on the ground; lift your toes up against the resistance. At first, you may not be able to handle much weight for very long but your strength soon improves. Start with 1 set of 8 reps and build from there.

iv) Anterior tibialis raise – Along similar lines to toe raises, this time, hold a dumbbell between your feet, keep your feet off the ground and raise and lower the dumbbell

v) Using a band – One of my favourite strengthen exercises I discovered when I strained the ligaments in my ankle. Attach a band to your foot, like a flex band or thera band, which will then allow you to move your foot in any direction against resistance thereby building the muscles. A good video to illustrate this is:

In addition to the exercises shown, you can also have a partner hold the band or attach it to something secure and perform the exercises which create a different resistance.

Putting it all together

What I’ve found to work is incorporating the self massage and ankle mobility work into your general warm up and then focusing on some strength work early on in your workouts.

After your workout, remember to stretch, stretch and stretch!

Below are two examples of how I have incorporated the ideas into part of a workout I devised for two running friends:

Workout 1

Tennis ball rolls on the soles of the feet – 30 seconds
Backwards jogging – 30 seconds
Hurdle step sequence – 5 each side (stand on 1 foot and raise the other foot, bring the knee across the body and then out towards the other side)

Ankle mobility exercise – 5 – 10 reps
Anterior tibialis raise - 2 sets 10 reps
Lateral lunges - 2 sets 6 – 10 reps

Workout 2

Golf ball rolls on the soles of the feet – 30 seconds each foot
Crossover run – 30 seconds each direction
Backpedal run – 30 seconds

Ankle mobility exercise – 10 reps
Toe raises – 2 sets 6 – 10 reps
Side jumps – 5 – 8 sets of 2 reps

Cool down for each workout

Ankle circles – 10 each directions
Calf stretches
Achilles stretch
Straight leg cross over stretch

It isn’t an exhaustive list but covers the main techniques I’ve found to help people. Hopefully the above has given you some ideas if you are currently suffering from shin splints or want to look at ways of preventing them.

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Wow, that was super-informative and very helpful indeed, especially for us regular runners!!!

Thanks again to Jon for covering me while I’m away. Feel free to get in touch with Jon on Twitter where he tweets as @JonCoulson.

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Exciting stuff today!!

Remember that great muscle building and fat burning cookbook I discovered and reviewed recently?

(In case you forgot, it’s called “Anabolic Cooking – The Cookbook“)

Well, I managed to track down the author, Dave Ruel (also known as “The Muscle Cook“) for a highly informative interview about nutrition …

… AND how his recipes can help YOU burn fat and build the muscle you need to burn even MORE fat (and get that sought-after ‘ripped’ look).

This guy knows what he’s talking about and I’m very excited to have him as a guest here.

So, without further preamble, here’s our interview. Enjoy!
(just click the arrow button below to “play”)

 Dave Ruel Interview - Anabolic Cooking Cookbook: Play Now | Play in Popup

Pretty fascinating stuff, eh? Dave really knows his nutrition … and his recipes!

Like I said before …

This cookbook contains HUNDREDS of Delicious, Nutritious, Healthy, Fat Loss, Muscle Building Recipes.

Seriously!! What else DO you need in a cookbook?

Grab your copy (plus all the other goodies that Dave mentioned) right now, and get cooking for optimum fat loss and muscle building:

==> Anabolic Cooking – The Cookbook … by “The Muscle Cook” Dave Ruel

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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Hey Gang!!

I’ve got a couple of exciting things coming up …

… some stuff is for me …

… and some stuff is for YOU!

Anyway, I wanted to give you a quick heads up about it all.

Here’s the deets:

So, don’t forget to catch Monday’s blog post, cuz it’s gonna be really helpful and informative, especially for you guys interested in burning fat and those of you interested in building muscle …

… and if you’re coming HERE I can only assume that covers ALL of us!! LOL

And we’ll see you again when I’m back from my trip training my client … I promise to show off my even MORE rockin’ tan next time you see my smilin’ face! hee hee

Have a fit, fun and fantastic week.
Girlwithnoname

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Well, I had a very frustrating workout today.

I continuously keep getting reminded why I’m not a fan of commercial gyms and prefer to work out at home.

Well, I actually did go to a gym today … but then had a little run-in with someone while I was doing my thing (and minding my own business).

I’ve ranted about meat-heads in the gym before, but this guy really takes the cake!

A total meat-head decided to make a big stupid show of being a tough guy and, as a result, messed with the groove of my workout as well (which I think was pretty much his intention anyway).

I didn’t ask for it, and I sure didn’t deserve his rude behaviour.

But I found a way to have my fun with it anyway. LOL !!

I don’t let those morons intimidate me anymore. Bring ‘em on. I can give as good as I get.

So, no wonder so many chicks are too intimidated to go to the gym, eh?

And, that’s one of the reasons the gyms have those TOTALLY LAME “Ladies Area” workout spaces in the back room. Man, the equipment back there sucks. (see: “Open Letter To Gym Owners” for my rant about THAT issue!)

All the more reason to get a good home workout in. Then you don’t have to worry about those idiots or the insulting equipment in the “Ladies Area”.

Oh, and btw, a great piece of equipment for home training is hands down the TRX Training System.

If you’re sick of morons in the gym and looking to get yourself set up quickly and inexpensively for some great and very effective home workouts, you definitely have to grab a TRX (see my post: “TRX Kicked My Butt !!” for more information about the TRX System)

Get TRX Suspension Training Here

Okay so now, help me out here:

What do you think was up this dude’s butt anyway?

Why’d he pick on me?

Why’d he ask for the only unavailable bench in the gym?

And why was he rude about it, considering we were the only two people in there and he obviously wasn’t showing off for someone else or attempting to pick me up (thank heavens).

Shoot me your opinion in the comments box, ok? I’m curious what you think his deal must have been.

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

ps. be sure to see “Hey, Muscleheads!!” and “Is Banging the Weights Really Necessary?” for my other rants about this breed of gym-goer …

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Phew. I’m pooped.

I’ve been working out hard all week.

… and when I say “HARD” I mean that during any spare time I have at all, I’m moving … with intensity … somehow …

Weight Training, Running, Swimming …

More Weight Training … More Swimming … More Running …

That’s Summer for you.

But, my body seems to be fighting back all of a sudden.

Dang it.

I might be “Over-Training”.

What do you think?

So, even though I think you’ll agree that I DO need a rest, since I have a little holiday coming up in a week, I’ll still continue to work out this week.

But I’m going to dial down the intensity so I don’t burn out completely … or heaven forbid … hurt myself.

Then, next week I’m gonna try to get some good recovery under my belt.

And the week after that, once I’m refreshed and (let’s face it) once I’m climbing the walls from TOO MUCH inactivity (which I surely will be doing after a whole week of ‘chill-axing’), I’ll be back to kick it HARD again (like I so love to do).

… cuz by then, I’ll be (more than) ready … and so will my brain and body.

I can hardly wait!

See ya soon!

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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545 451 (viddler dimensions)

In my last post “Healthy Eating: “Busy” Is No Excuse” I quickly mentioned a cool resource that I recently discovered:

The “Anabolic Cooking” Cookbook by Dave Ruel (who is also known as “The Muscle Cook”).

In fact, even though I’d only taken a cursory glance through it and it looked pretty good during that glance, I was SO excited about my new discovery that I wanted to make sure you knew about right away.

Well, since then I’ve taken a more extensive look through the book and the other goodies you get with it and tried a few of the recipes.

So? Is it really as good as I initially thought at first?

What’s the real truth about this cookbook, now that I’ve had a chance to analyze the heck out of it (like I’m known to do with stuff like this)??

What’s good about it?

WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT?

I’m gonna tell you everything you need to know before you head out and grab a copy for yourself …

… but if you need a sneak peek, I’ll tell you this much before you watch the video:

Yes, there’s a couple of things I find frustrating about it. But that shouldn’t stop you from checking it out.

None of it is insurmountable and if Fat Loss or Muscle Gain (or both) is your goal, then this is a “must have” nutrition resource.

Here’s the what you can expect once you’ve got yourself a copy of “Anabolic Cooking – The Cookbook” :

Alright, so now you know everything you need to know. What more is there to ponder?

Hundreds of Delicious, Nutritious, Healthy, Fat Loss and Muscle Building Recipes.

C’mon! What else do you need in a cookbook anyway? Grab your copy right now, and get cooking.

==> Anabolic Cooking – The Cookbook … by “The Muscle Cook” Dave Ruel

Have a fit, fun and fantastic day.
Girlwithnoname

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