By the same author Military Fitness Live Long, Live Strong R OBERT HALE • LONDON Contents Introduction . 7 . Chapter 1 Pre-exercise considerations and precautions . 13 Chapter 2 The Knowledge: exercise principles, methods and resistance training systems . 16 Chapter 3 Low tech/high effect training tools ideal for home use . 36. © Patrick Dale 2013 First published in Great Britain 2013 Chapter 4 Cardio – getting to the heart (and lungs) of the matter . 54 Chapter 5 Bodyweight and low-tech exercise library . 84 ISBN 978-0-7198-1070-1 Upper body push . 84. 92 Robert Hale Limited Upper body pull . Clerkenwell House Lower body . 99. Clerkenwell Green London EC1R 0HT The Core . 107. Total body/cardio . 114. www.halebooks.com Chapter 6 Warming up and cooling down . 124. 139. The right of Patrick Dale to be identified as Chapter 7 Programme templates author of this work has been asserted by him Chapter 8 Sample workouts . 144. in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Chapter 9 Twelve-week sample exercise plan. 157 Chapter 10 Nutrition for health and weight management . 160 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Chapter 11 Your common questions answered. 178 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Glossary . 192 . Typeset by Eurodesign Sample food and training diaries . 000. Printed in Great Britain by ??? Index . 199 . I N T R O D U C T I O N Do you have to join a gym to develop fitness and strength? he modern fitness industry is in its infancy. As little as thirty years ago, the mega-gyms and fitness palaces that are now in virtually every city and town Twere unheardof.If youwanted a place towork out,youheadedoffto thelocal ‘spit and sawdust’ weightlifting or bodybuilding gym where you would most likely find little more than barbells, dumb-bells, benches and the ubiquitous wall bars. Public leisure centres weren’t much better. I fondly remember, as a wet-behind-the- ears gym instructor, taking groups for inductions in the new and grandly named ‘fitness suite’ at my local leisure centre where an eight-station multi-gym had just been installed.Having only eight stations, exercisershad tobookin advanceto come in and work out – hardly convenient! Fast forwardto today andtherearedozensif nothundredsof companiesoffering amazing fitness facilities. Competition is fierce and it’s not uncommon to find numerous gyms in close proximity, all vying for your membership fees. Despitesalespitches tothe contrary, themajorityof these gymsarevery similar. They are built to a formula designed to excite and impress you. The highest paid members of staff are generally the sales team and it’s their job, using proven sales techniques, to get you to sign on the dotted line and commit to a membership. Just as supermarkets are designed in such a way that you are, for all intents and purposes,corralledaround theaislespasteverytype offoodstuffand endup buying things you didn’t even want, modern gyms are designed to focus your attention in a certain direction. Once you have passed the reception desk and strolled through the relaxing lounge and bar area, the chances are that the first thing you will see in a typical mega-gym is the cardio area. Spread out before you like so many acres of chrome-coatedgiant hamsterwheels, you’llsee dozensof treadmills, exercise bikes, cross-trainers, stair-climbers, rowing machines and other state-of-the-art devices designed to increase your cardiovascular fitness and burn fat. For many exercisers, this huge expanse of equipment will have them drooling and ready to sign on the dotted line right then and there. Most gym users believe that cardiovascular fitness (and therefore cardiovascular equipment) is the key to health and longevity and the gyms know this. That’s why the cardio equipment is so prominent and abundant. rope if you prefer) will keep your heart and lungs in tip-top shape. Want to develop If that cornucopia of cardio kit hasn’t convinced you to join the gym, you’ll also yourupper bodybutdon’thaveaccessto a bench andbarbell/dumb-bells? Thegood find row upon row of selectorized strength-training equipment. Shiny, padded, oldpress-upwillget thejob done;no fuss, nobother. Legs need toningand strength- smooth to use and designed to look as unthreatening as possible, there will be at ening? Look no further than the humble lunge or squat – no need to lose fitness least one machine for every muscle you will ever want to work and a whole lot more simply because your favourite leg-press machine is unavailable. for muscles you didn’t even know you had! Some gyms will offer multiple machines The truth of the matter is you don’t actually need any specialist equipment to foreachmuscle groupand even multiplerangesof machinesfroma varietyof manu- develop and maintain a high level of fitness. The modern mega-gym is really only facturers. designed for one purpose – to relieve you of your money. It is, after all, the fitness Andthen,somewhere near thebackof thegym andinevitably tuckedawayin the industry, not the fitness charity! Modern exercise machines are simply designed to corner, you’ll find the free-weights area. This is where the ‘serious’ exercisers hang make exercise easier and more comfortable. And while there is nothing especially out. For reasons that I’ve never fully understood, this area is often considered the wrong with that, easier does not necessarily mean more effective. reserve of male exercisers and those who consider themselves ‘hardcore’. This is Consider one of the most popular exercises seen in modern gyms today: the Modern gyms are where the barbells and dumb-bells of old reside and this section can often appear bench press. This exercise has only really been in existence since just after the jam-packed with equipment to be a gym within a gym. Second World War but it has become a staple of virtually every man’s training Frequenters of the free-weight area routine. The amount of weight you can bench press is a common topic of conversa- seldom venture out into the forest of tion amongst gym-goers. chromed selectorized strength-training The bench press is a chest exercise that also uses the shoulders and the triceps, machines and those who have been located on the back of your upper arm. It i nvolves lying on your back and lowering seduced by the acres of beeping, flashing a weight from arm’s length to your chest and then pressing it back to arm’s length cardio equipment seldom cross over to again. In terms of chest exercises, it is considered an important lift. However, if you where the ‘real men’ train – weird, but consider the carryover of the bench press to the ‘real world’ you will see its actual true. In much the same way that a vegan value is somewhat overrated. would probably not spend time at the Firstly, consider the position in which the exercise is performed – supine or lying butcher’s counter at the supermarket, it’s flat on your back. Unless you are training to take the place of a car jack, it’s very a case of never the twain shall meet! unlikely this is a movement that you will ever be called upon to perform outside of Finally, onour tour ofa typicalmodern the gym environment. It’s not what experts call a functional exercise. gym, you’ll come across the group exer- Secondly, how often do you actually push something away from you using only cisestudio. Thisis where classeslikebody yourarmsand chest?In reality, pushingmovementsnormallystartall theway down pump, aerobics, circuits and yoga take at your feet, travel up through your midsection and it’s only at the end of the move- place. Chances are, if no class is currently mentthatyourchest,shouldersand armsgetin onthe action.Don’tbelieveme? Try happening, this room will be empty – a pushing a stalled car with just your arms! big, clear space just waiting to be used. Finally, let’s talk safety. Bench pressing requires that you hold and support a Ironically, this area is probably the most potentially heavy weight over your chest. The weight has to be sufficiently heavy to versatile and useful place in the whole be challenging. If, as often happens, you reach a level of fatigue that means you are facility. In fact, if the rest of the equip- nolongerableto complete a repetition,youcan findyourselfin theunenviable posi- ment residing in the gym mysteriously tion of having a heavy bar pressing down on your chest and no way to lift it off. At disappearedovernight,so long asyou had best this is embarrassing and at worse potentially life-threatening. l access to this space or one like it, you’d Subsequently, benchpressing is best performedwitha spotter onhand.A spotter e a h i c still be able to develop and maintain a is someone who is prepared to stand over you and lend assistance if you run into M s a high level of fitness. difficulties. This means that the bench press exercise becomes doubly labour inten- r e d n A No treadmill? Skipping (or jumping sive as you can’t really train alone. Let’s compare the press-up to the bench press. Despite targeting the same Allof thisinformationand allof theaforementioned grandfacilitiesmay lead you muscles, the press-up also uses virtually every other muscle on the front of your to conclude that the only way to get fit, strong and healthy is to join and train at a body. From toes to nose, that’s a whole lot of additional muscle power required. This large and well-equipped gym. But is this actually true? Absolutely not. In reality, you means that, unlike the bench press, the press-up actually teaches you to push with don’t need specialist equipment and you don’t need a dedicated training area; you your entire body – just like you would in nature.