physical activity
21/01/2016
At Best Practice, we are big on behaviour change and we like to use every little psychological trick in the book to achieve it. When it comes to the best tricks, I look at how games are designed and then use the addictive nature of such ingenious methodology to mould the action of clients towards the ‘good’ habits, as opposed to the numerous bad ones we form, seemingly without even trying. And you know what, I think that last point is key – ‘without even trying’. When I finish a workout now, I almost can’t wait to tick the box in our systems that says, in graphical form, “hey you got something done pal”. My little calendar, which is easily accessible on my smart phone displays a little orange man on the day when ever I have completed a workout. As simple as that is, the accumulation of little men means I know at a glance that I am active in that week, and I will do almost anything to make sure I can tick the box that means I get a little icon to show up. I guess another big reason this works is because ‘being active’ is one of my KPI’s for a good life and like anyone, I want a good life. We use this method with our clients and members because it is easier to drive new behaviour with the simple rather than the complex. You should give it a go. Even a simple walk get’s you a tick and an orange man. Our two group […]
02/12/2015
Okay… I don’t really know why your back is sore or your booty is small, but there is a good chance there is a weak glute issue lurking. The two are not necessarily related but they certainly could be. This exercise below (the single leg glute bridge which you probably haven’t seen or done) ably demonstrated by Kennet could help get your glutes activated and worked out well as part of a bigger program – if it is identified that your glutes are not doing the job they were designed for and/or you aren’t doing enough of the right glute exercises including this one. But hey, don’t go rushing into this exercise if you currently have a bad back. Please see your physio, chiro or osteopath first for a proper diagnosis and specific exercise prescription. Consider poor core stability as another obvious and likely cause for the back issue too by the way.
09/07/2015
The question most people want answered when they decide to to get fit and healthy is how do I burn up those excess calories as quickly and effectively as possible…? Should I do strength or cardio training? The answer, my exercise loving friends, is BOTH! Wonderful, isn’t it? 🙂 There are many facets to this debate, and the calorie thing should not be the only consideration. Improving general health and fitness is a combination of many things, not being limited to weight control. Don’t forget to think about flexibility, heart health, functional strength to perform daily tasks and postural correction, just to name a few. There is no argument when it comes to the fact that cardiovascular training will burn more calories in a session. However, it is worth keeping in mind that when you are actually lifting weights you are burning more calories, it is the rest time needed in strength training that limits the total calories burned in a session. It is worth noting however that higher total calories burned doesn’t necessarily translate to greater body shape transformation. A well designed strength training routine is likely to have a greater impact on body composition than cardiovascular training on a session for session basis. This is because while it will be burning less total fat content, it is simultaneously increasing lean muscle mass (and this helps out those before and after photos more than you can imagine). The crucial point above is ‘on a session for session basis’ – a drawback with strength training is that your muscles need time to repair themselves. So you need longer […]