Tag: training

Get Ups
FitStrong PT

Get Back Up

MoveStrongblog

In a 2002 Brazilian study, men and women between the ages of 51 to 80 were followed for an average of 6.3 years. Those who had to rely on their hands and knees to get up and down to the ground regardless of age were almost seven times more likely to die within six years than those who could get up unsupported. Those individuals with poor overall muscular strength and mobility were the the ones who had to rely on using their hands to awkwardly get down and up.

Clearly being stronger has more implications than just being able to carry the shopping in after a grocery shop.

In part 1 we looked at other statistics that looked at mortality and affects on quality of life from falls but in part 2, let’s consider prevention measures.

Getting to the floor should happen in any training session regardless of whether or not it’s an intended exercise but if getting down to terra firma proves a tad troublesome, where do you start?

Even if you’re an experienced strength athlete / trainee, some the drills below will give your body an added edge in being more resilient. How often do you see muscular people moving rather stiff ? Yes, a bit too often. If you move like a robot, some mobility training should be in your life.

Below I’ll demonstrate the strength exercises that give us the ability to move down to the floor and also the mobility exercises to practice that allow us to more smoothly navigate to the floor and up. After that, we’ll take a look at the drills that we practice to move down and up and prepare the body further.

None of these exercises should ever be taken to muscular fatigue or muscle failure but you should feel the muscles doing their jobs. Always stop a set knowing you could do a few more repetitions.

General Strength

Progressing Strength

Practice?

Don’t worry if you haven’t got heaps of time, you can spend as little as 3-5 minutes every couple of days ‘playing’ with these movements. A couple of sets of each move will be enough initially to get you moving and stronger. As the moves in the first video get easier, move to video 2 and play with the moves there. I use the word play to suggest you don’t count repetitions, instead practice each move to make it better. Not sore and fatiguing, just getting better at each.

Imagine lying in a hospital bed with a broken hip, stressing over lost work, medical expenses and rehab afterwards. Not so pleasant…

Now consider just spending 3-5 minutes every couple of days practicing getting yourself stronger. No medical bills or rehab, just getting down to the floor and back up.

I know which I prefer and to be honest, longevity is the number one key objective of MoveStrong  – to help people find longevity.

If you’re interested in investing your time further, please reach out and let’s work something out. 

What do you think? Got any suggestions, thoughts, opinions or stories to share? Please do get in touch.

 

Turkish Get U\p
FitStrong PT

Why Training ‘Getting Down to the Floor’ is So Important

MoveStrongblog

I love questions in the gym or from peoples in the interweb facebook world. I even love the questions I can’t immediately answer. If I need to really think a subject matter through, I will and if I need to refer to a smarter associate, I will.

I’m actually very lucky to be within a network of some of the smartest thinkers in the health and fitness world. Note the word ‘health’. The fitness world alone is awash with unnecessarily sweaty, nonsense – you know the ‘stuff’ you see on social media with all the pouting, posing, flexing, ‘look at me’ distractions.

Talking of smart people, I am very blessed to have attended a weekend workshop a few years ago with world renowned strength and conditioning coach Dan John. We be spent the weekend covering some content from his latest book, 40 Years with a Whistle along with sections looking at the economics of strength training. Overall, it was an awesome weekend with gold nuggets of information bouncing off the gym walls.

Dan John ties in nicely with todays post and a question I get often from new-comers to the gym.

“Why do we get down to the floor so much during a training session'” 

Let’s read a few statistics, a somewhat scary tale of the current day for you.

    1. Deaths from falls are increasing by 3% per year, or 30% between 2007 and 2016. Link
    2. One in three older people fall every year and two-thirds of them fall again within six months.
    3. In Ireland, falls are more than 50% of injury related hospitalizations among people over 65 years and older. The major underlying causes for fall-related hospital admission are hip fracture, traumatic brain injuries and upper limb injuries.
    4. In Ireland, subsequently to falls, 20% die within a year.
    5. Muscle weakness, poor balance, alcohol and medicine use along with certain medical conditions are leading factors in falls.

I’ll stop at 5 but you get the message. Falling is almost inevitable.

Whilst the falls alone are traumatic the post-fall life of a fall patient is greatly impacted by a reduction in willingness to partake in physical activity for fear of falling again. Even in younger patients, they too will most likely seize to exercise as much. This reduction of quality in life simply snow-balls the inactivity and allows frailty to set in, in turn increasing risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes. One study has shown that the two year survival rate of cancer survivors is greater than that of falls patients.

If you’re not seeing why we get to the floor and back up again often in a gym session, maybe you need to read the same statement from one of the worlds greatest strength and conditioning coaches.

‘It’s one of the strongest statements I have made in my career. I feel like no one is listening, but…please…do some work on getting to the ground and getting back up. Practice falling before you need to!’ Dan John

A bit more information from Dan perhaps?

So, how do we get to the floor? Well, we get down to the floor silly. Simply practicing the many methods of getting onto the floor and whilst down there we practice some purposeful trunk exercises. Any action that’s purposeful and mindful, repeated often will develop muscular and joint strength as well as developing the reactive or reflexive strength in the movements. If we’re stronger in practicing getting down to the floor, we will be more resilient if and when a slip or fall occurs.

For general strength and conditioning, we practice the following:

  • Lunges in all directions to get closer to the floor or onto the floor.
  • Squats in all shapes and forms to get closer to the floor.
  • Hip hinges both two legged and single legged to get closer to the floor or onto the floor.
  • The wonderful Turkish Get Up and other Get Up movement drills are quite specific multi-planar movements that teaches the skill and strengths of getting to the floor and back up.
  • Single leg balance to assess and develop the ability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds. Test that yourself. If you struggle to balance for 10 seconds, there’s you next most important goal to work on.

We also have a great drill I call the Flamingo. This drill I developed to address multi-planar movements of the legs. Really, it’s just a tease for the legs, hips, ankles and trunk to maintain balance over a range of moves. Here’s a video I’ll share now.

In part two, I will share a video containing the other list of moves I mentioned above.

Action point?

Can you stand on one leg for 10 seconds?

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

FitStrong PT

Life Changing Results

MoveStrongblog

It’s always very rewarding to learn time and time again that completing the Amazing 12 is not just about weight loss, gaining muscle and strength…

Graduates repetitively report how much more confident they have become in the gym, and in other every day physical tasks. They report how the discipline they’ve developed helps makes healthier choices much more easily and that now, going to the gym has become an easy habit, not a chore!

The next round of the Amazing 12 starts in September.
Get in touch to talk about grabbing a place

.

FitStrong PT

I’ve NO time to exercise!

MoveStrongblog

I’VE NO TIME TO GET IN SHAPE! An all too common complaint that could be halting your starting anything never mind heading to the gym.

As a parent, business owner or time poor person, it can be too easy to put your own needs last. But, investing in yourself can have a ripple effect on your entire family.

My total body transformation programme is designed specifically for people like you who want to look and feel their best, and I provide the guidance and support you need to achieve your goals.

My goal is help you at every stage, every day, as best I can.

Don’t let time constraints hold you back any longer – let me help you create a healthier, stronger, fitter and happier you! Contact me now to learn more about our programme , how it’s helped many other people and take the first step towards transforming your body and your life.

Contact me today to see how we can work together to for your best results ever in the shortest amount of gym time.

FitStrong PT

Health and Fitness Training for Everyday Life

MoveStrongblog

Many people talk to trainers when they’ve got a very specific goal. Like losing weight, getting into shape for a wedding, the summer holidays or preparation for sport. These are all great and admirable. 

However, the vast majority of our lives will be spent just living. Not all of us have specific plans but rather, may aspire to just live healthy. Life does of course get in the way. Busy work and family commitments, keeping the house and maybe the garden in a relative state of tidiness and lots of other ‘stuff’ just nibbles away at our daily energy and attention span. More times than enough exercise becomes an after thought, left to chance once all these other things get attended to. 

I can honestly say that the vast majority of the people I help are people who want help with accountability, direction and the decision making processes surrounding their fitness, strength and movement schedule. Some have health goals and others have preparation goals and others just know they need to stay on top of being healthy and active.

I often refer to the average ‘gym’ year as having seasons. A season for driving forward towards a goal, and the rest of year taking care of ticking boxes for general health, strength and fitness. 

As we enter the slightly warmer seasons, perhaps you have health goals or preparation goals or you just know you need to stay on top of being healthy and active.


If this is you, don’t leave your health and fitness as an after thought and get in touch. Whether you can visit the gym once a week, twice a week or once a fortnight, I will give you all the attention you need. 

Reply now to start learning what to do next….

Jamie 

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FitStrong PT

The Perfect Training Program

MoveStrongblog

Amazing 12 ForLife

Never ending gains in strength, fitness and aesthetics shouldn’t be the stuff of fairy tales.  It IS possible to comfortably make consistent gains in all performance proxies and physique for months and even YEARS at a time without the need to change program or back cycle?  

This is exactly what A12 ForLife brings.

At just 50 minutes per session, 3 times per week, the A12 ForLife is a program designed specifically to perpetuate progress at a steady, consistent and reliable rate for as long as possible! 

The A12 ForLife provides a definitive path towards a sustainable new lifestyle which comfortably interweaves healthy eating habits, continually increasing physical performance, and improved mental well being, into your already busy life. 

The A12 ForLife isn’t a commitment, it’s a lifestyle choice.  The training is comfortable enough to stick with forever, but challenging enough to always be enjoyable. The nutrition plan isn’t a diet, it’s a non restrictive, easy way of eating for optimal health and performance over the long haul.  

The goal of the A12 ForLife is not to be a program that you ‘do’, but to become an almost effortless part of your week which you choose for a lifetime, like brushing your teeth.  

If your training goals are aimed at the long term and you’re maybe not quite ready for the commitment of a 12 week transformation program, then the A12 ForLife is waiting for you. 

Contact me
FitStrong PT

Summer Strong Body

MoveStrongblog

You might be dreaming of being in the best shape of your life this summer; feeling stronger, fitter, faster and much more confident in yourself. 

You could keep dreaming or you could do something about it. 

In just 10 to 14 weeks you can most definitely make a shockingly outstanding change in yourself. 

Take a look at some of our 12 week transformations and if you can see yourself in these before and afters AND if you’re willing and ready to commit to yourself – let’s talk. 

Whether you want to feel great for a holiday, want to get strong, need to learn about sustainable healthy eating, want to feel really fit and able for any challenge, our programmes can help.

If you are ready to change your life, get strong, fit, lean and more confident, shoot me a message below.

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FitStrong PT

Free Calisthenics

MoveStrongblog

Building a useful body capable of easily handling any daily challenge doesn’t necessarily mean hitting the weights.

Calisthenics aka body weight training is a very rewarding style of training that requires essentially no equipment – well, maybe an exercise mat for comfort and a pull up bar can be a handy addition but it’s not essential to start.

With a minimalist approach and the right variety of movements you can achieve great results. In a typical session lasting anywhere from 10-60 minutes you can train every part of your body and practice many functional and useful movements. Many fun movements too.

One of many great benefits of utilising calisthenic training is that you get to learn how to operate your body rather than a gym machine.

Now, before you start switching off thinking this style of training is for the seasoned exerciser, believe me when I say it’s the perfect place to start as a beginner. Yes, experienced gym goers can incorporate calisthenics into their routine, but a beginner will benefit hugely by learning about how to move themselves before moving themselves plus a barbell or the big ol red hack squat machine in the gym.

I recently started a calisthenics class in TBB Raheen (Limerick) and it’s great to see it gaining traction.

Every week we practice the skills that allow us to be stronger in various leg, trunk, pushing and pulling movements. Not quite pistol squats and pull ups just yet, but all the pre requisites for building these.

What I would like to do is share some of the essentials of bodyweight training in a short series of emails to those interested.

Each week I’ll share one movement to learn and practice. We can gradually gradually build this collection of movements into a nice little training programme too.

If this is for you, email me and let me know if you’re a beginner or if you have a little experience.

movewithjamie@gmail.com

Jamie

FitStrong PT

Introvert Fitness

MoveStrongblog

Most people think of personal trainers and they imagine outgoing, noisy, loud, high five giving individuals who thrive in the business of a big gym.

A pretty scary, distracting, tiring place if you’re an introvert!

None of this with me haha

Whilst I do get to train people in a big busy gym, I also get access to an awesome studio… just perfect for me… the introvert in the room.

There are strategies to coping with being the introvert in the jungle of a big box gym. These start with having an efficient, well written programme.

I’m known as the passionate trainer who goes all-in to help everyone I train but, I thrive in less busy environments.

Stephens testimony Graduating the Great 8

Without sounding like a dating app lol, this is kind of a call-out to all introverts who’d like a trainer who isn’t going to drive them mad with high fives, fist pumps and shouting around the gym.

If you are looking for training under the guidance of someone who’ll take you on your strength and fitness journey with chat about Lego, sci-fi, good food – sure give me a text or email. I know how awkward a phone call can be!

PS if you’d like a FREE 12 week Bodyweight challenge, just ask. It’ll be a free download on the site soon enough but if you’d like to grab it early – email me below.

Jamie

Tel: 0894462653

Email: movewithjamie@gmail.com

Amazing 12, over 40, personal training

Advice for Beginners for 2025

MoveStrongblog

Here’s a short list of considerations for those starting out in training, working out, exercise or whatever label you want to attach to building a ‘better’ you.

Consider this a beginners guide to starting your new exercise habit!

  1. Show up, Ask & Learn, Repeat.
  2. Know your goal, your real why.
  3. Make a commitment to train twice or three times a week or more if that matches your goal.
  4. Learn from a professional not social media how to perform the following categories of movement.
  5. Squat, press, pull, hinge, brace.
  6. Practice good reps not intensity.
  7. Show up, Ask & Learn, Repeat.

Performing consistently good and better reps at sustainable efforts will teach your brain how to be more efficient and recruit more muscle more effectively.

This will deliver your results, regardless if you’re training for health, strength or fat loss.

Practicing good reps also minimises the risk of injury, both with the light weights, and when you push to attempt heavier weights.

Rest between sets, don’t rush. Evaluate how or if that last set could have been better.

Now, here’s the deal. If this still doesn’t seem too clear or you’re not sure how it relates to you, take a complimentary consultation with me and I can explain how you could be training to transform what it is you desire to transform.

Jamie