Lat week I got asked if I would like to attend the 4 Nations Tournament at Wembley Stadium to massage the match officials (referees) before and after the games. I used to work with with the Rugby League Referees in Leeds so it is always nice to meet all the people and referees on a weekend like this.
I have to admit that I was dreading having to find my way around the crazy underground and the streets of London on my own, but luckily I managed to get there without too much hassle and arrived safely at the hotel where we were staying. We got taken to the hotel on the Saturday morning and arrived in plenty of time so we got to have a look at the pitch and the stadium. I have never been to Wembley before so I thought it was great being able to see the stadium "live" for the first time.
Me and my colleague Ian
Checking out the pitch on arrival..
The first game was New Zealand v Wales which I didn't get to take any pictures of as we were working, but I managed to get some pictures off the second game which was England v Australia. It was a great day with over 40 000 spectators!
The Australian team
The English Team
Although we were working before and after the matches, we still managed to have a look at the matches in between. Rugby amazes me the more I watch it, the speed and agility some of the players have got is incredible!
It has been a busy, but very good weekend. Great experience on a really nice venue.
You must have heard about the new "amazing" wrist bands that claims to improve your balance, improve your flexibility and increase your core strength?? I have heard several people talking about these bands wherever I go, but as I had never physically seen one before today I would never have thought about pursuing one. Today I got to try one on whilst my colleague performed a few simple balance and strength tests with and without the band. The results were as you expected! There was a difference between the tests with and without the band, but I am sure this will not make a difference in your actual training! These were two of the tests I performed:
The balance test I did
One of the strength tests I did
I am convinced that loads of other people must be sceptical to this as well, but I decided to buy one, NOT because I think it will make me stronger, more flexible or get better balance, but the pink colour convinced me.. Oh God I never learn!
My new wrist band! Medium is a bit too big for me so I could have done with a Small one
Not in a million years will you be able to get stronger, faster, better balance or you name it without hard work and effort over time! Consistency, hard work and effort is the key to great result!
Please let me know about your experiences with the Power Balanceband! I need a lot of convincing, and I mean a lot!
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Bulgarian Squat/ Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat - VIDEO
Do you like the burning sensation in your legs and gluteus the day after a tough leg session?
Do you like to struggle to get out of bed in the morning cause your legs ache like mad?
Well if you do, then you should definitely give the Bulgarian Squats a go!
I have added two separate videos showing the exercise underneath, one on each leg. I am using a z-bar with some light weights here, but you can also grab a dumbbell in each hand as well. Having a bar on your back might cue you to keep your chest up thought, which is always a bonus.
This exercise will challenge your balance and you will feel a good stretch in your hipflexors. If you have tight hip flexors, then your range of movement might be restricted, but as you get better at it you will be able to lower yourself down further (Mine is far from perfect, but I am working on it). Make sure your knees face forward throughout the movement.
Excuse me for the facial expressions, but this is my third set so my legs were starting to feel it:)
I always find it harder on one leg, so my left leg is definetely struggling!
Get ready for sore gluteus the following day, good luckJ
How often do you see women pounding miles and miles on the treadmill ?? Beginners as well as experienced gym users will in about 80% of the time attack the treadmill in gyms and fitness clubs. As I have experienced the effects running and interval training can have on your knees, I can talk about this subject with a great deal of experience.
Why is it that so many people (and women in particular) think it is okay to start running without doing any form for strength training prior or alongside the running??
How long do you think your joints will be able to cope without giving you any pain or discomfort?
If you are lucky and have a good running style, appropriate footwear, perform a good warm up etc. you might be one of the lucky ones and be able to keep running for years without suffering any pain or problems, but in more cases than not this is just a wish….
Have a think about this:
When you are running you put your joints through approximately 8 times more force than when you are walking!! 8 times!!
This is certainly something to think about! I know what I am going to say now will make me sound like I am a 60 year old woman and look back at the “good old days”, but if I knew half of the stuff I know today about training, recovery strategies, progressive overload and strength training I would without a doubt added so much more strength training into my routines alongside all the running I did. This would without a doubt improved all the hours of pain and frustration I have been through as a result of this!
So just a simple advice to all women (and men) out there on this wonderful Sunday:
Strength training is great! Don’t overlook the importance of building up a solid foundation for your body if you enjoy running..... or if you don't like running as well :)
Very concentrated!
I know I have talked about the importance of strength training before and I try to convince women everyday how important strength training is, but if you are not already convinced the popular phrase might convince you :
I am Monica’s Norwegian friend Mari.I have always sworn to myself that I would never in my life post something in a blog or blog about whatever. But, when I got the chance to write about training on Monica’s blog, I changed my mind as Monica has helped me a lot with my training and I wanted to share this with people. Personally I love sports and exercising; football, running, swimming, hiking,……you name it=) For the past year I have studied for my masters degree at the University of Leeds, and since it was only one year, there was a lot to do, and the days were quite busy. In the beginning, I was able to go to the gym for some classes and went running in Hyde Park. However, after Christmas it was crazy, and for over 2 months I could not find time to do any exercising at all. My back was hurting, I started getting cramps in my legs and my ass felt FLAT, and at night I had to sleep on my tummy to stop it from hurting!!!
Anyway, I got to know Monica when I moved to Leeds and realised she had a lot of experience in writing and planning training exercise programs, so I asked her for help and advice. I did not really know how much knowledge she had. She surprised me and gave me 3 perfect workout programs for my needs. I told Monica about my situation; that I needed to be able to work out, but not be dependent to go to any sports centers (to save time!). I told her the equipments I had at home, and she came up with three workouts not lasting for more than 1.5 in total, with strength and conditioning for the whole body. After a few weeks, I had less back pain, better sleep, (still a hurting ass, but it did not feel flat anymore=)). Below are some videos and pictures of some of the workouts.
PS: I am aware that my choice of footwear is not ideal on these first photos:)
My curl and press exercise
Halfway on my curl and press exercise
Front plank
And of course the lovely press ups!
I am now back in Norway, and have just started my new job. As my fitness level has now increased, I have decided that my next goal is to participate in Norway’s toughest marathon on the 2nd June 2012.
Monica has offered to help me make me get the most out of the preparation for the marathon and we have decided to share my journey here on the blog. Watch out for videos of exercises and pictures along the way.
As my friends and family probably know I am far from Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen. However as I moved out from mum and dad nest, and was unable to be spoiled with my mum’s lovely cooking I realised I had to start making an effort in the kitchen unless I wanted to live on spaghetti, mince and ketchup for the rest of my life! That was actually my “favourite” dish through my University life, and I know Will was pretty unimpressed the first time we had a meal together and I cooked my speciality for him! I still don’t understand why?:)
Anyway today I decided to mix together an easy Chicken and Egg Salad which is easy to prepare and takes hardly any time at all. The only things needed for 1 person are:
• A handful of lettuce
• 2-3 small cooked chicken fillets (I used Piri, Piri Chicken)
• ½ pepper
• 2 cooked eggs
• ¼ cucumber
• (I would have used sweetcorn as well, but realised after I started preparing it that I didn’t have any left)
This is how I did it:
1. Before you start chopping the vegetables, boil the eggs for 7-8 minutes (but this depends how hard you want them).
2. Whilst the eggs are boiling clean lettuce, pepper and cumber under water and chop the vegetables and chicken into small bits and mix together
3. Once the eggs are boiled, put them under cold water and peel off the skin. Cut the eggs into small pieces and mix with the rest of the salad
MMMM:)
Voila! Bon Appetit! Try it on day and see what you think:)
As always I like to start the day reading the latest news on my previous mentor Brendan Chaplin's website. It is thanks to Brendan I got involved with Strength and Conditioning coaching and I learned a lot in a short period of time whilst working with Brendan. Brendan has got a lot of experience in the S&C industry and has worked and is still working with several great athletes.Today I thought the video he posted was a particular good one showing knee prevention/reduction exercises so I wanted to share the link to his website and the video here on my blog :
From next week my friend Mari will share her thoughts on how she got back into training and how she decided to start training for a Marathon for the first time! We will follow Mari's preparation and training her on the blog to see how she is doing. Something to look forward to!
This is me and Mari from a wedding earlier this year
Today I wanted to praise one of my clients for completing two Ironman competitions in less than two months! For those of you who don’t know what the Ironman is, it is a competition for hardcore people where the following distances needs to be completed: 3.6 km swimming. 180km cycling and 42,1 kilometres of running! For most people this seems pretty insane as it requires a tremendous amount of endurance to even be able to think about giving this a go. I have treated Tim since February and I soon realised that he trains a lot more than the average person, he actually trains a lot more than most of the athletes I treat at the moment.
The first competition Tim entered was in Zurich, Switzerland in July. Tim completed the event in 12 hours 6 minutes and 57 seconds. This was Tim's first Iron Man competition and although he was pleased with the result (which he should be!) he got to experience firsthand the importance of good fluid replenishment... Without giving too much away I don't think flat coke is for you Tim?:) Unless you have done an event like this before it will always be difficult to know how your body react during the course of the day, which is why you sometimes have to get things wrong in order to get them right the next time. After all a very good performance and a great result!
People getting ready to jump into the water
Look a bit suspicious?:)
Well done!
Less than two months after the first event Tim was ready to attend a new Ironman event in Tenby (South WestWales). The course was slightly different, but the distances were pretty much the same 3.8km swim, 180km bike and 42.1 km run. This time Tim finished in 12 hours 50 minutes and 53 seconds and he managed to complete the run in just over 4 hours, great effort! You can check out all the results and read about the event here: http://ironmanwales.com/.
Still in good spirits:)
Sprint finish
Well deserved!!
I think Tim has done really well and as far as I know this has not put him off attening similar events in the future! Well done Tim:)
Since I moved to Cardiff I have discovered some great places for riding my bike, but just outside Cardiff there are also several nice hills to visit if you want to. It has been a while since Will and I had a weekend off together so we decided to explore some of the areas around Cardiff by doing a walk up to Fan Y Bren followed by camping in Will’s new tent.
You can't see the top from here, but it is up there somewhere
Here we go..
We set off on Saturday morning and headed towards Pen Y Fan which is about 45 minutes away from where we live. Pen Y Fan is the highest point in Britain south of Snowdonia – 886 metres. We had never been here before, but the path up to the top was easy to follow so we couldn’t really go wrong. Initially I thought it looked fairly “easy” to get to the top, but I soon realised it was steeper than I expected several places, my gluteus and calves definetely got a hammering as I was trying to keep up with Will! Will is used to do a lot of mountain biking climbing so for him it was piece of cake, but my heart rate was definitely rising as we got closer to the top. The views on the way up were amazing.
Very windy so my hoodie had to come up:)
At the top we had to take a pictures to prove that we had actually been there - 886 metres.
On the way down we decided to follow a slightly different route, but going downhill is definitely harder than uphill! The amount of eccentric work your quads needs to do in order to stop you from falling forwards is massive. Towards the end my quads were shaking, and my knees were also taking a pounding. Going downhill emphasises the importance of having strong quads to be able to control your knees and help you slow down.
After the walk we headed to a campsite just outside Brecon called. It was a really nice campsite, but unfortunately the weather was not the best. Will put up the tent quickly and sorted out the stove for us to cook some food. I had beef casserole which is normally not my favourite, but when you are so hungry you could eat your left arm anything tasted nice:)
Jamie Oliver in action:)
It has been several years since I last went camping, but listening to the rain pouring down on the tent is nice as long as you are dry and warm inside the sleeping bag. A nice weekend doing something different to what we normally do.
Hope everyone has had a nice bank holiday weekend:)
Today I just wanted to post a little post about Adam Bitchell, a 5km runner I have been treating since I moved to Cardiff in November. Adam is a UWIC athlete and is currently coached by the legendary Welsh runner James Thie! I soon realised that Adam was a very dedicated athlete who works hard to achieve his goals. Adam trains hard and also understands the importance of good recovery in order to keep fit and injury free, a great role model for other athletes! Adam competed in the 5km Europeans Trials in Bedford at the weekend, and after coming 4th (3rd British athlete) and having made the qualifying time already it was great news that Adam received the call yesterday that he had been selected to represent Great Britain at the European U- 23 Championship in Ostrava (Czech Republic) from the 14th – 17th of July.
I wish Adam the very best of luck and hope he is able to give a good performance once again!
The last few weeks have been quite busy, but I was lucky to be able to go home to Norway for a little 6 day break as one of my friends from home was getting married. It was a great wedding, nice to see all my friends and family and have a little break from the daily routines. I came back to the UK late Tuesday night where my friend Oda came to meet me at the airport and drove back to Cardiff with me, very nice with some company in the car! Oda stayed to Saturday morning, but as I was working every night Oda had to come with me to work every night, what a nice friend!! (Don't worry, she knew I was working so she had the option:)
Oda:)
On the Wednesday night I went to Swansea to work for the Welsh team. The event was between Wales U23 vs Welsh Schools vs SW England U23 vs Harvard & Yale. Definetely the first time I have met anyone from the famous Universities Harvard and Yale, it was a good event on a nice stadium. Oda did a good job being the photographer and she loved the americans!:)
Someone seems to enjoy the event:)
On Thursday and Friday night I was working in the gym, and since Oda had to come with me I thought it was just fair to give her a tough gym session to show her how I do it here in Cardiff! Oda worked hard, but as Oda like to talk more than the average person I found it amusing and funny every time she said: “You are a tough coach Monica with a serious grin on her face” :)Well done Oda, you did a great job!
You seem to be enjoying the side plank?:)
I take it you are closing your eyes cause you are concentrating hard on the split lunge:)
Even though I spent a lot of the time working, we managed to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing, shopping and a walking trip to show Oda some of the nice views of Cardiff.
First a drink in town
Then a stop outside the castle
On Saturday and Sunday I have been working at the U20/U23 European Trials in Bedford. We had a few very good results which is great! Well done guys and good luck in the Europeans!
