Strength training – Are you trying to build muscle and getting no-where?

               As Felicity explains, it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it!

Technique- do not let your ego dictate how much you lift. Striving to get a personal best is one thing, but just paying attention to the numbers and no attention to form is a recipe for disaster. That’s an injury that WILL happen.

Whenever you are training for strength and conditioning, always try to understand what is that you’re trying to achieve by a particular movement. Your body is a system of levers.  The job of a muscle is to make the angle of a joint smaller – ie. pull two bones together. Therefore the object of an exercise on the weights floor is not so much to do with moving the dumbbell or barbell as it is about closing that gap between the bones.

See in the illustration below how the angle of the elbow joint lessens in a bicep curl- the forearm bones and the upper arm bones are pulled together by the muscle.

The upper arm remains static and the forearm moves to complete the action.

Too many people think strength training is all about moving the weight and forget that it is about contracting the muscle. This leads to the mindset of getting the weigh from point A to point B any way they can and using every muscle possible and momentum to assist. These are the people who are prone to injury and never seem to change their body shape. This is just one of our articles on strength and conditioning – stay tuned for more

www.thenewtowngym.com

By Felicity Neale

#strengthtraining   #shelifts   #musclebuilding   #GirlswhoTrain  #buildmusle #strengthandconditioning

DID YOU KNOW? ......STRESS CAN MAKE YOU FAT!


Here's Felicity Neale our resident PT expert and writer (from our partner gym 'Bayswater 247 Fitness'

Not only do you tend to comfort eat when you’re stressed- a very quick way to pile on kilos -  but your body also releases a hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol is released by the adrenal glands as part of the fight or flight response.
Chronically elevated cortisol can lower immune function, increase weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. It can also interfere with immune function, learning and memory.
When your body is in a constant fight or flight state cortisol remains in the blood and begins to do damage.
Exercise provides an outlet for anger which in turn will release cortisol.
Thirty minutes three times a week will pay huge dividends in lowering your cortisol levels. This, in conjunction with burning additional calories, (units of energy or stored fat), increasing lung capacity, lowering blood pressure is a sure fire recipe for an enhanced quality of life.

Why spend the rest of your life, stressed, depressed and overweight?

                 

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How to have good posture – in the office or at your place of study

Good posture tips

By Felicity Neale

Are you seated all day? Probably at the office or studying. Whichever is true for you, it’s easy to forget how we are seated and how that can affect us daily and further down the track. Good seated posture is as important as our standing posture. 

In fact, we spend a lot of our waking hours at work and many of us are desk bound. Make your environment conducive to postural health. This way, you’re doing your part to sleep better at night and not wake up foggy, cramped and in pain. Of course any chronic sleep disorder or pain should be treated by a recognised and fully trained medical practitioner .
For good seated posture: make sure your eyes are level with the top third of the computer screen. This minimises the tendency to push your neck forward and tilt your chin up which does terrible things to your posture and alignment. It can trap nerves in your neck and restrict blood flow to the brain. This can cause headaches and brain fog.  It also looks really awful.
Back straight, chin tucked under, so your ears, shoulders and hip are aligned. Shoulders should be  down and back.
Elbows close to your sides and a slightly greater than 90 degree angle when you’re using the mouse or keyboard. This will stop you raising one shoulder and putting your neck out of alignment by curving it to one side.
More good posture tips .....Mouse and keyboard should be at the same level. Subtle shifts in shoulder height can occur if you are moving your hand up and down between keyboard and mouse. I see a lot of people who complain about a pain behind the right shoulder blade. I often find adjusting their chair height, hence the relationship of their shoulder and neck fixes the problem.
Check out our pics... I’m sure you can see which one is the correct seated posture!
Keep checking on this blog for more tips on how to have good posture and  coming soon:  read how one of our members transformed her life of panadol popping and constant headaches to a pain free existence

To get a FREE OFFICE or HOME STUDY posture check email us : justin.green@newtowngym.com.auand felicity.neale@bayswater247fitness.com.au

Or get free posture check with us at Newtown Gym or Bayswater 247 Fitness.
Contact us or download a free pass on our websites:
www.newtowngym.com.au
http://bayswater247fitness.com.au/

ROLL LIKE A BALL - PILATES MOVE GREAT FOR CORE STRENGTH

Here Sandra, our Saturday Pilates teacher explains the 'roll like a ball' pilates
move - great for spinal mobility and core strength

 

How to Have Good Posture.

Part of our winter theme on good posture and a strong core.

Life and gravity destroy your posture- by the age of thirty many people battle to even walk upright.
In this article I will be explaining the fundamentals of good posture as well as some good posture tips.
To have good posture you must first understand some really basic anatomical principles.
Think about the body running in a series of vertical and horizontal planes. The obvious horizontal planes are the shoulders, hips, knees and ankles/ heels.
Stand in front of a mirror- are you shoulders aligned or is one hitched up or dropped? This can cause or be the result of neck problems.
Check the hips- if these don’t align there are a world of problems here. Easiest way to assess this is to see if the iliac crest on both sides are in a straight line. The iliac crest is that small bony bit that sticks out. Get a piece of elastic long enough to circle your hips, tie it and then move the knot to the back. Line the elastic on the top of the iliac crest on each side and the elastic should be parallel to the floor.
Knees should be level and pointing forward.
Ankles/Heels- and this is a big one.  A lot of problems start here and work their way up. One rolled heel has repercussions all the way up the body.
See the figure below to understand how the lines run and how the body can be so misaligned.

The vertical lines work on the same principle-things need to line up!
You should be able to drop a plumb line from your chin to your sternum.
This means the back of your head and shoulders should line up with the back of your heels.
Shoulders are always down and back- get them as far away from your earlobes as you can; keep them relaxed to take pressure off the neck.  Your shoulders are a ball and socket joint, very functional but prone to go wrong. Bear in mind the ball part, (the head of the humerus), needs to be able to move freely in the joint. It doesn’t work properly if it’s jammed up against the front of the socket.
When you have been alive for a long time, and ten years in a long time, life’s stresses and strains start to affect your body.
Use on one side starts to tighten and ultimately short the tendons on that dominant side.
Example – many people’s right shoulder is rolled forward from using a mouse. This means they tilt their head slightly to the right and the neck is curved in a direction it shouldn’t be. This interferes with normal muscle function as some muscles will be constantly activated and others doing things they really shouldn’t be.
This sets up a whole chain of events that can lead to headaches, decreased oxygen supply to the brain-you wake up foggy, can’t think clearly and can’t sleep properly.
Regular stretching can go part of the way to address these issues.  Pilates is designed to help correct imbalance issues.  Coupled with regular visits to allied health professionals like a chiropractor or osteopath- the worst effects of life can be kept at bay.
Hopefully you took some good posture tips from this article that you can apply straight away.

Check out this blog and our websites for new fitness tips, diet and nutrition advice and more in the near future:
www.bayswater247fitness.com.au
www.newtowngym.com.au

By Felicity Neale.
Personal Trainer and Membership Manager at Bayswater 247 Fitness

#goodposture
#howtohavegoodposture
#goodposturetips
#howtogetgoodposture
#tipsforgoodposture

Lower Back Pain - some useful stats and info!

Estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011-12 National Health Survey indicates that about 3 million Australians (13.6% of the population) have back problems. It has been estimated that 70-90% of people suffer from lower back pain in some form at some point in their lives. From an employer’s point of view lower back pain is associated with both Presenteeism and Absenteeism.

Back problems can have many causes: issues with posture and injuries, diseases such as osteoarthritis, disc disease, osteoporosis, and some genetic conditions. Other factors may increase the risk of developing back problems, such as age, physical fitness, smoking, being overweight, and the type of work a person does.

Many people work in offices or at desks and it is quite simple to develop lower back pain from incorrect ergonomics and bad posture. Lower back pain is not always immediate and can develop over time as a cumulative effect. Because the body is misaligned day after day some muscle groups work harder and over compensate, whilst others can become weak.

Stretching can help with muscular lower back problems. Done consistently this can increase strength and decrease pain.
If you are new to exercise or uncertain about whether stretching is right for you, always consult with a health or exercise specialist. 

By Chris Peters - Bayswater 247 Fitness General Manager

For more info check out our Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/NewtownGym

And website: http://newtowngym.com.au/trial/

#chronicbackpain  

#lowerbackpain

#goodposture