Let’s Get Physical

Whilst England’s cricketers aren’t doing so well in India it is worth reflecting that these days, professional cricketers have quite a varied fitness programme to see them through a long day. You might not think it, judging by the way they have been swatted away by Indian batsmen of the highest calibre but, strength and endurance are a cricketer’s greatest assets, after talent.

Also a dieting focus that will have the professionals on high protein to maintain their weight and maybe even some sports supplements to increase their energy. You will see well trained athletes taking sports supplements by the way of energy drinks or bars throughout the sporting contest. This is essential, especially when playing in climates like that experienced in India at the moment.

For fast bowlers, good muscular strength will be needed as well as endurance training- to cope with the amount of overs they have to bowl. For batsmen, concentration and strong abdominal muscles will help at the crease and also strength in his arms. Fielding can be very arduous and needs training such as short runs jumping and hand eye training. It’s worth keeping this in mind when we watch cricketers as the game is not as sedentary as it may look.

When you are training you might need to change your goals from time to time. It can be small things like an extra repetition on the machine or bench press or a slightly modified grip on the dumbbell to change feel of the exercise. You can make changing a few things an actual goal after say six months doing the same routine.

Certainly, if you have been finding your sessions quite easy you’ll need to change things around. Maybe do a few more aerobic exercises or add on some kilos to your weights to challenge yourself. Obviously you don’t want to go over board so that you get disheartened or anything just to keep the interest up both mentally and physically.

Also, if you have been on a diet for a long time, whether it is a weight gain diet with protein supplements and such like or a weight loss diet, you’ll need to change recipes- to keep you interest in what the diet is trying to achieve.

Have a look at magazines like Maximuscle to try and inspire a different outlook on your nutritional, health and fitness needs. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy just try it and if you’re not happy with the change go back to what you were doing, no harm done.

There’s more to fitness than looking good of course. You can usually bring about whatever body shape you like with dedication, good sports supplements and the right equipment. Training and health brings more to an individual than muscles and admirers though.

A recent survey found that sixteen and a half per cent of children under ten are obese. That number is rising and if current trends are anything to go by then we’ll be seeing about twenty two per cent of girls and nineteen per cent of boys being obese by 2010.

The fact is that exercise and fitness can create a great amount of self esteem in participants. There are those who will bring out the old excuses of being ‘too fat’ or ‘too thin’ but it’s about enjoying whatever amount of exercise you do - just have a go.

The government recommends that children get an hour of exercise per day. Adults shouldn’t just leave it to the school or the playgroup to provide this, they should set an example. Have a walk or a cycle around a nearby park or somewhere. There’s no excuse really and once you start you’ll find yourself in a better mood for it.

Not everyone wants to or can spend time at the gym, but that’s no excuse for letting your muscles become as useful as a chocolate fireguard. There’s plenty of exercise you can do right now to keep yourself fairly fit and healthy, as well as keeping up with any sports supplements or nutritional supplements to help you get through the winter without so much as a snivel or a cough.

House cleaning is a good physical exercise and can burn off loads of calories whilst having something to picture as a goal. Picture a clean and tidy house - one free from cobwebs or that bit of dirt behind the shower rail that’s been bugging you for ages. Do it as a spring clean if you want, but why wait until then?

Also, there’s gardening, if you haven’t got a garden then why not volunteer to do the local pensioner home’s garden? Getting out into the garden and exercising by pulling away old brambles or raking up the leaves will help to boost your immune system and give you a real sense of achievement too. Then make yourself a really nutritious meal and feel fitter and healthier.

Training with weights is the best way to get a muscular body and more strength. For some people though, they might want to create a shapelier figure - toned and firmer. With applied dedication you will gain strength almost straight away, especially in the first two weeks of a programme.

As you train, you will see notable changes to your physique in the first month and even greater results over three months. The great thing is that weight training can be adapted to burn fat or build muscle and a combination of both these effects.

Eating more protein will help you as this will aid muscle growth, because protein is fuel for the muscles. When you increase your protein intake you insure against muscle loss and it is essential to toning and building up muscle. If you want to lose fat then you should concentrate on cardiovascular workouts as well as weights.

Good sports supplements, weight gain supplements and fat loss supplements are very helpful when it comes to creating the kind of body you want. Conversely, junk food should be avoided as this will only hold back your progress. Avoid too much training as this will overload the body and injuries may occur. Good rest and sleep will help the muscles repair themselves and aid your body’s recovery process.

Shoulders are difficult to build muscle around at first, but once you have got a few techniques and exercises that really work for you, then you see a great difference - and a confidence building difference at that.

When you see guys with big delts and shoulders, you know they’ve put the work in. Not just in the gym but with nutrition know how too. For example, focussed dieting, weight gain programmes and sports supplements which suit that individual’s personal goals - all have combined to make the shoulder area look good.

Although some people find the exercise difficult to do well, shrugs are hugely beneficial to developing the shoulder area. As with any exercise, technique is the key asset here. The technique to use when doing shrugs is to keep the head forward and the upper chest held high.

You must keep the spine properly aligned, the scapulae (the two large flat triangular bones that form the back of the shoulder) retracted slightly whilst the shoulders are braced. Now the upper trapeziums will be in a great position to raise the shoulders, building big muscles and preventing any injuries. Do not tuck your chin in when you do the exercise as undue stress will be placed on the shoulder joints.

It’s that time of year again when most people have decided it’s time they got into shape, whether for the summer or a healthy lifestyle overhaul and then there are those that want to shift their Christmas over indulgence.

So what’s the plan then? It generally tends to be fad (or sad) diets with scoring or “points” systems or the impulse joining of a gym because a friend has or because they have an offer on their membership.

So before running off and paying membership to join a slimming or dieting club, or become a member of a gym give it some thought. Are you the type who lacks the will power and will abuse the diet points system to pig out on some days just to starve on others (lose – lose situation!), or are you wanting to join the gym just to get one of their personalised hoodies, towels and water bottles that makes you feel like you belong, just to pay an annual membership of hundreds of pounds and not go again past your induction or at best use the steam room? If so don’t bother wasting your money especially not in these uncertain times.

Your best bet would be to look at yourself realistically and decide what your intentions and reasons are for a new health kick. From there look at a realistic and gradual way to encourage a lifestyle change you can manage and maintain. You can always build up on this.

It may be wise and possibly money well spent meeting with a lifestyle coach or personal trainer who can honestly put together a plan helping you too achieve your aims. With time they should become second nature to you.

To try and get a little more from your pectoral workout have you endeavoured to include a few definite ‘dos’ when training them? The upper pecs are lovely muscles that can look stunning when developed properly. Underpin a good training set with the right sports supplements and you can’t go far wrong.

Inclines offer perhaps the biggest boost to pectoral perfection. Using a Smith machine, barbells and dumbbells, you can really feel your pecs being worked. Indeed by starting with incline moves, you’ll be employing the muscle fibres when they are fresh and thus you’ll be able to shift the heavier weights. The decline movements will be easier as they use muscles that are worked regularly.

Use all the weights that are available. The dumbbells are excellent tools for pectorals as you can get a beautiful stretch far deeper than using a barbell for instance. Also, when doing incline dumbbell flyes you might find it beneficial to vary your hand position - palms forward, for example.

Power presses will build pectoral muscle too and should be done with the idea of lifting as much weight as you can. Use a Smith machine or power rack. Allow the stack to rest before powering another press, this way you’ll get more from the muscle.

Some machines are brilliant aren’t they? They just produce a real burn that you can’t always get with a free weight; not a better burn, just different. That’s the beauty of joining a gym - you have so much choice. If the free weights are taken, then another piece of apparatus can be used to continue your workout.

For example, the parallel bars are often used, but the great thing is that if you want to do some dips then there’s a brilliant machine that you can utilise - the seated dip machine. Often overlooked, this apparatus will give you a great burn as it is one of the few triceps exercises that utilises a multi-joint move, so it works all the fibres in the muscle and allows more weight.

You must do this exercise right to get the most out of it. Sit with your back against the pad and fasten the belt, if there is one. Now grip on the handles and, with your wrists straight, press the handles to full arm expansion. Briefly hold the peak contraction and gently return to the start without letting the weight pat down between repetitions. Do not lock out your elbows as this will increase the stress on them. Keep them tight to your sides, which will help concentrate the movement on your triceps.

Weight loss is as important to people training as weight gain. It’s all a matter of building or reducing to the kind of body shape you want. The idea that we can build the kind of bodies we want is such a revelation and freeing one that we almost do not know where to start.

The starting point is how you feel. Let’s look at weight loss for instance. The first step to weight loss is to tell your doctor that you want to lose weight and that you are going to do so through exercise and diet. Once he clears you then you can get on with the business of creating your new shape.

If we look at the kind of things you should be eating to lose weight then fibre for breakfast is a must. You want protein to sustain you through training and exercise so the best thing to do is eat a really protein rich high fibre breakfast. Eggs and a whey protein supplement with two slices of wholemeal bread for example.

Low carb fat friendly foods such as cottage cheese will also help get you the protein you need and help you feel strong. Grapefruit has been shown to be a good fat burner so take this three times a week. Caffeine inhibits fat storage in the body so make sure you get your dose of caffeine too. Now, you also need to get a good training program and away you go, to a new, fitter, leaner you.