I would just like to thank everybody who supported our charity Movember this year. We smashed our £2500 target and raised £3760! Shaun led the way with £1520, followed by Matt (£570), Ben L (£440), Ben C (£410). Leon, Daryl and Jason all got stuck in too and raised £820 between them!

Movember is an annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer.

Movember has continued to grow each year, both in terms of participation numbers and funds raised. In its first year, 30 Mo Bros took part in Movember and last year, across the globe more than 173,000 Mo Bro & Sistas got on board, raising more than £14 million across the Movember’s men’s health partners globally.

To date, Movember has raised over £30 million globally for the fight against prostate cancer and depression in men. And, more importantly, as a direct result, male awareness of health issues has improved with Movember helping to spread health messages directly to millions of Mo Bros & Sistas around the world.

Thanks to all the Shaun Stafford Training Clients and Friends who supported us this year!!!

Push/Pull Training.

Push/Pull Training is a great split for advanced trainees looking to base their workouts around recovery. It allows you to hit the key upper body groups hard on days 1 and 2, before hitting legs/abs on day 3, giving each group a full 48hrs off before they are worked again!

It works by splitting your routine into upper body ‘Push’ (chest, shoulders, triceps) and ‘Pull’ (back, biceps) exercises, allowing you to focus in, and get enough sets/reps on each group to illicit a strong training effect.

The key benefit of this method is that is reduces the chance of ‘over-stressing’ muscle groups: splitting a session by movement allows better recovery of groups that can often become overworked. It also means you can up the frequency of your training, allowing you to hit the gym more often, build more muscle and burn more fat!

Start by trying to train three days on the bounce; first hit your Pull Routine (consisting of Pull-ups, Rows, and Curls) before hitting the Push Workout (Presses and Extensions) the day after. Then hit your legs for day three, including some abs/core work. Here are some sample routines to get you going;

Day 1; Pull.

Pull-Ups                      4 Sets                          6Reps                          90-120Rest

Seated Row                 3 Sets                          8Reps                          60-90Rest

Barbell Curls               3 Sets                          10Reps                        60-90Rest

T-Bar Row                  2 Sets                          12Reps                        45-60Rest

Pull-downs                  1 Set                            20 Reps                        Na

Day 2; Push.

Bench Press                4 Sets                          6Reps                          90-120Rest

Decline Bench             3 Sets                          8Reps                          60-90Rest

Incline Db Press          3 Sets                          10Reps                        60-90Rest

Shoulder Press             2 Sets                          12Reps                        45-60Rest

Push Ups                    1 Set                            20Reps                        Na

Day 3; Legs/Abs.

Deadlift                       4 Sets                          6Reps                          90-120Rest

Barbell Squat               3 Sets                          8Reps                          60-90Rest

Hyper-extension            3 Sets                          10Reps                        60-90Rest

Walking Lunge            2 Sets                          12Reps each                 45-60Rest

Reverse Crunch              1 Set                            20Reps                        Na

Take day 4 as rest or rinse and repeat.

http://www.mensfitnessmagazine.co.uk/exercise/total_body/3187/pushpull_workout_for_big_muscles.html

Stair Climbing Challenge.

By Shaun Stafford.

Believe it or not, Stair Climbing is a total body exercise. It obviously hits your legs hard, but it also works your upper body and core as you can use your arms to pull you up the banisters to get a better time. You also need good muscular endurance and power, in addition to a strong aerobic and anaerobic cardio base! The Gherkin has 40 floors with 1037 steps to navigate, with a time of between 10-15mins seen as a good effort for an ascent.

To develop the key muscles used in the legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes and Calves) focus on squats, kettlebell swings, lateral hops and step-ups in circuit fashion. Hit 20-30 reps on each, before moving straight on to the next exercise. Hit 2-3 circuits, with 1-2 minutes in between, and look to add weights/ resistance where you can.

For the Upper-body and Core, work a similar circuit of lat-pulldowns, back extensions, single arm rows and side planks. Work each exercise for 60 seconds, and do 2-3 complete circuits, with 1-2 minutes rest in between.

To get your cardio up to speed, mix in some intervals with any usual cardio work you do. Keep them short and sweet, with 40 second blasts (over 90% intensity), spaced with 1m20 recovery periods (around 40% intensity). Start with a couple of sets, and look to increase that number to about 10 (20mins). To keep impact down, focus on the stepper, bike, and cross-trainer. You should also look to get some actual ‘match practise’ in by finding a big staircase and get climbing. Look to build up to about 20 minutes of climbing per session to get you ready for the event, and when you feel comfortable, try and increase the speed at which you climb.

Each session needs to be finished off with some foam rolling and stretching. Target the ITB, Quads and Calves, and spend about 5 minutes each for both foam rolling and stretching.

Order	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest
Warm-up	Row	c.1000m	Level 4-10	1 min
A 1	Squats	2-3 Circuits	20-30	5 secs
A 2	Kb Swings	2-3 Circuits	20-30	5 secs
A 3	Lateral Hops	2-3 Circuits	20-30	5 secs
A 4	Step Ups	2-3 Circuits	20-30	1-2 mins
B 1	Lat Pulldowns	2-3 Circuits	Reps for 60 secs	5 secs
B 2	Back Extensions	2-3 Circuits	Reps for 60 secs	5 secs
B 3	Single Arm Rows	2-3 Circuits	Reps for 60 secs	5 secs
B 4	Planks	2-3 Circuits	Reps for 60 secs	1-2 mins
C 1	CV Interval	4-10 Sets	40 secs ON	120 secs OFF
D 1 / 2	Foam roll & Stretch	Hit Calves, Quads, Hams & Glutes.	Spend 5 mins Foam Rolling	Follow with 5 mins Stretching.

This workout should be done 1-3 times per week on non-consecutive days.

For more info, or to see this article in full, visit the www.shaunstaffordtraining.com

What is Osteopathy?

Osteopathy is a way of detecting and treating damaged parts of the body, such as muscles, ligaments, nerves and joints. It is a very Holistic way of treating a variety of common conditions including:

*Sports Injuries

*Repetitive Strain Injuries

*Post Operative Rehabilitation

*Biomechanical Problems

*Arthritic Pain

Finding the Perfect Balance!

Stephen Makinde has been a practicing Osteopath for over 6 years, and is also a Senior Lecturer at the British College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is Head Practitioner and Director of Specialist Clinic Perfect Balance.

As well as having a Bsc in Osteopathy (Hons Ost.Med) and an Msc in Clinical Neuroscience (ND), Stephen is also a trained Postural Correction Exercise Therapist, complementing his practice of Osteopathy and allowing him to advise people on postural re-education and injury prevention/rehabilitation whilst exercising.

Through-out his years as a practicing Osteopath, Stephen has developed his expertise in the use of other techniques such as cranial osteopathy, medical acupuncture, functional positional release, MET, PNF and many others as well as manipulation.

Coming from a strong sports background, Stephen continues to follow his passion for sports by treating many top level professional athletes. He loves the gym environment, as he is able to work closely with Personal Trainers, Biomechanics Specialists, GP’s and Physiotherapists making sure to get to the core of your problems and keep them away.

Stephen is one of the Practitioners involved in running our performance biomechanics clinics and uses Quintic™ biomechanical analysis software and Gaitscan™ force plate analysis software to get excellent results and reduced injury occurrence with junior and top level athletes.

To find out more visit the Perfect Balance website www.pbclinic.com or to make a booking please phone 0800 0724 012 or email info@pbclinic.com

When Ryan started training at Shaun Stafford Training he was already in good shape; a lean 12% bodyfat and toned 66kgs. He wanted to put on some size and weight, whilst staying lean… the Valhalla for most guys into their training.

After fixing his diet and putting some structure into his training, 6 weeks later saw him sit at 70kgs and at an incredible 6% bodyfat. He put 6cm on his chest, 2 cm on his arms, 4 cm on his legs, whilst dropping 8cm from his waist.

‘Shaun really gave my training a boost and the six weeks of training was the hardest I have ever done! I started seeing results after just one week and they kept going right ‘til the end of the program. I fully recommend him and his methods to anyone serious about getting results!’

 For more information on how Ryan achieved his results, contact Shaun at shaunstaffordtraining@hotmail.com.

Here is the full article from October’s Edition of Men’s Health on Plateau Busting!!!

Bench Press:

Your bench is only as strong as the weakest muscle used and there is little doubt that your Rotator Cuff will be the culprit! These muscles are vital for all shoulder and upper limb moves, stabilizing the joint and leading to more control lowering and pushing a weight back up! Strong ‘Cuffs’ also slash the chance of Bench Press related injury, so stick a couple of sets (2 x 8-12each) of External Rotator moves at the back-end of your workouts, and reap the rewards of bullet-proof shoulders and a bigger bench press!

Squat:

A great plateau buster for the squat is to try Cluster Training. Set the bar with a 5RM weight, and complete 10Reps. The trick is to do you 5Reps, then rack the bar. Take a 10-15 second pause, and try for 2-3 more reps. Rack the bar again, rest 10-15 seconds more, before aiming to complete the set with a final 2-3 reps. This method allows you to use a heavier weight for a higher net volume per set, stimulating great gains in both size and strength! (p.s. try it with lifting shoes/ barefoot for better ground contact with your feet).

Biceps:

Assisted Negatives are great for getting over a bicep slump! Grab a partner and load up a barbell with a slightly lighter (10%) than normal load. Curl it up for a full range, and then get your partner to add weight by pulling or pressing it back down. Your aim is to control the bar back down for a full range, working against your partner’s resistance with a good tempo (4-6 seconds). This technique taps into your under-used eccentric strength reserves and allows you to get more out of each rep!

 

The Front Squat.

Adapted from www.stronglifts.com.

Like every strength training exercise, proper Front Squat technique will help you achieve bigger weights while minimizing the risks of injuries. Here’s how to Front Squat with Proper technique.

What’s a Front Squat?

The Front Squat is a squat done with the barbell on your front shoulders instead of on your upper-back. Put the barbell on your front shoulders, bend through your knees & come back up. Front Squats are a great variation for Squats when you can’t do these for whatever reason.

Front Squat Benefits.

The Front Squat has a more upright position than the Back Squat because of the front bar placement. Implications:

• Lower Back Friendly. Less forward lean on the Front Squat. You can’t squeeze the bar or tighten your upper-back. Meaning less total weight & thus less spinal compression. Try Front Squats if you have lower back issues. Chances are you can do them without problems.
• Builds Muscle. The front bar loading will pull you forward. Abs will work hard to keep your torso upright. Front Squats will work your whole legs, but your quads more than your hips.
• More Strength. Clean grip Front Squats will help your Power Clean & Overhead Press which have similar racking/starting positions.
• Enforce Good Technique. Do Front Squats wrong & you’ll lose the bar. Try Front Squats for a while if your Squat technique is not the best.

The Clean Grip.

Front Squats using the Clean Grip will feel uncomfortable at first. Many switch to the Cross-armed Grip for that reason. Don’t be one of them. Front Squat with a Clean grip because;

• Safer. It’s easier to keep your elbows up so the bar doesn’t roll of your shoulders using the Clean Grip.
• Carry-over. Power Cleans & Overhead Presses become easier because you’re using bigger weights in a similar position on the Front Squat.

If the Clean Grip hurts your wrists, you have tight wrists and/or triceps. Stretch your wrists & triceps 3-4x/week, flexibility will improve.

Front Squat Setup.

Your shoulders support the weight, not your hands. Always keep your chest big & elbows up. Else the weight will get on your hands and stretch your wrists & elbows which will hurt. Big chest, elbows up.

• Foot Stance. Slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. You can go deep without your arms touching your legs & use your hip muscles better.
• Toes Out. Your toes must always follow your knees. Point your toes out at about 30 degrees.
• Chest Up. Put your chest forward & lift it up. This gives the bar a solid base to sit on & makes it impossible to round your upper-back.
• Tighten Lats. You can’t tighten your upper-back on Front Squats like on Squats. However you can tighten your lats: spread them.
• Look Forward. Up is bad for your neck, down will make your lower back round. Look forward, fix a point in front of you.
• Grip Width. A narrow grip pushes the bar against your throat, making breathing difficult. Wide grip is harder to keep your elbows up. Use a grip width of about 55cm/21″.
• Bar Position. Put the bar on top of your front shoulders. Behind your clavicles & close to your throat. Coughing is possible, clavicles might hurt. Front Squat more, you’ll adapt.
• Hands Open. Your shoulders support the weight, not your hands. Open your hands, relax them. Three fingers under the bar is ok (pink up).
• Elbows Up. Put your elbows up – upper-arms almost parallel to the floor – so the weight doesn’t end on your hands.
• Elbow In. Push your elbows toward each other during the Front Squat. It’s easier on your wrists.

The Front Squat.

Your hip muscles are stretched when you break parallel. Use that stretch to bounce from the bottom. DO NOT relax your hip muscles & DO NOT bounce off your knees. Keep your hip muscles tensed.

• Push From The Heels. Heels off the floor impairs stability & power and is bad for your knees. Push from the heels & curl your toes up.
• Sit Back. Squat between your legs while pushing your hips back. You’ll stretch your hip muscles when breaking parallel. Bounce from it.
• Break Parallel. Should be easy because of the upright position. Squat down until your hip joint is at least lower than your knee joint.
• Knees Out. Never let your knees go in during the Front Squat. You risk knee injuries & won’t train your groin. Push your knees out.

 Use fronts squats as part of your training to add a new dimension to your lifts and increase power, core strength and total body size!!!

This One time at Band Camp…

Adapted from an article by Dr Mike Camp.

The shoulder is a very unstable joint, and its function is crucial in every aspect of our daily activities.  Shoulder pain usually starts out minor, but if ignored can progress to painful rotator cuff tearing, bone spurs, and labrum tears.  In addition, a shoulder injury leads to compensation from other muscles to perform the job, eventually disturbing the body’s true performing mobility and stability factors.

Let’s begin by strengthening the rotator cuff muscles.  Their primary function is to assist in upper arm movement.  You’ll begin with the “theraband” external and internal rotation movements.  I refer to this as “Band-Camp”J

While standing, position your arms at your side and bend them to form the letter “L.”  Place a rolled up towel between your side and just above your elbow on both arms.  Standing up straight with slightly bent knees, tight abs and good posture, rotate both shoulder joints and arms externally or outward from your body while making sure to keep the inside forearms pinched tightly to the rolled-up towels. You might at first question how such an insignificant exercise movement could produce results, but rest assured this little movement will make a world of positive difference. 

I ask my clients to perform sets of 50 repetitions.  These muscles are small and contain more of the type I muscle fibers, which are more fatigue resistant. 

The shoulder joint has a cuff of cartilage called a labrum that forms a cup for the end of the arm bone (humerus) to move within. The labrum circles the shallow shoulder socket (the glenoid) to make the socket deeper.  This next exercise helps build stability to the labrum of the shoulder.  It’s called “alphabets.”

Grab a dumbbell in one hand – Start with a 3 pound weight and eventually progress to 7 pounds.  Lie on your back on a weight bench or floor, extend your arm towards the ceiling, keeping the elbow straight, and write out the alphabet in capital letters, from A-Z.  Capital letters are used to increase your range of movement. The total motion of the letters should be kept in a 10-inch range of motion. 

This powerful exercise causes muscles to perform rhythmic contractions and build endurance, ultimately leading to greater stability.                                              

Perform the alphabet for 3-4 sets and increase the weight every two weeks.

The next exercise sequence is something I call “6-packs.”  It is by far, the toughest and most effective exercise for building strength in your stabilizing and assistive muscles of the scapula and shoulder. 

 It is performed by lying on your stomach on a weight bench or on the floor, or even on a physioball (Swiss Ball) if you’re advanced.  It’s a series of six motions, each one held for six seconds and performed for six sets.  Don’t let the triple 6 digits scare you off – everyone of my patient athletes despise “6-packs”, but never forget to include them because they work.  A word of caution: if you perform them on the floor, take a bath towel, roll it up and place your forehead on it so you can breathe.

Your 1^st “six-pack” movement is forming the letter “T’ with your arms stretched out and thumbs up. The 2^nd movement is also the letter “T” but now with your thumbs turned down.  The 3rd movement is the letter “W”, or as we call it, “goal post.” Bring your bent arms next to your head – Your head is what forms the middle of the “W”.  The Fourth and fifth motions are called “Superman” – The 4^th is performed by bringing the arms straight out in front of your head with thumbs up and make sure your elbows remain straight. The 5^th is performed by performing the same motion, but with the thumbs turned down.  Your Final 6^th movement is performed by brining your arms/hands down by your waist, turn your palms up toward the ceiling and lift your arms up and squeeze your scapula together. 

Perform all six motions consecutively, but you must make your best effort at holding each position for an accurate six second count. Six exercises held for six seconds are equal to one set. Complete a total of six shoulder shrieking sets. 

 Keep your abdominals contracted throughout all of the exercises as it will help to stabilize your spine.

 These exercises address areas of weakness from three anatomical planes of motion.  The 1st exercise is the traditional rotator cuff work using a cable or theraband while standing up.  The 2nd exercise targets the labrum of the shoulder and is performed lying face up, taking gravity out of the equation and minimizing stress and pain in the shoulder.  The Final exercise enhances overall strength within the shoulder.

Here is the full article to be published in next months Men’s Fitness Magazine. It is argueing the reason why people should lift weights… These are common reasons why people avoid weights and the arguments why adding weights to their workout will help them in the long run!!!

I run so don’t need to!

Saying that you run, so don’t need to lift weights is like only having one eye open and claiming perfect vision. To get a full ‘view’ of fitness, you need to combine the two; running will improve your cardio, but do little to influence strength or core stability. You are only as good as your weakest link, so completely neglecting one side of your training will never make you a healthy, complete athlete.

I don’t want to get too bulky!

Most ‘bulky’ people you see in a gym look like that because they train in a very specific way! Lifting weights doesn’t have to be about getting big; training for strength or endurance as opposed to hypertrophy (muscle growth) will yield great benefits without packing on unwanted muscle bulk. Keep reps low (1-4) for strength and high (15+) for endurance, minimising the size added to the muscle fibre!

It’s bad for your bones!

If lifting weights was bad for the bones, why would doctors prescribe it to patients with osteoporosis? Countless studies prove that impact and weight-bearing exercise actively stimulates bone formation. Just as a muscle gets stronger the more you use it, bones become stronger the more demands are placed on them. With proper technique, weight training is one of the best things you can do for your bones and joints, and could stop or delay future onset of bone conditions.

I’m too old to start!

You are never too old to start lifting weights, especially if done properly and under the guidance of a healthcare professional. In fact, for every decade over 35 a person goes with out weight-training, there is a 3-5% decrease in muscle mass. This sacopenia not only causes a drop in metabolism, but leads to reduced functionality of the joints, decreased flexibility and balance, and a reduced ability to perform certain tasks. If you aren’t lifting weights already, you should be, and it’s never too late to start!

I’m only interested in losing fat.

If looking to lower body-fat, lifting weights is one of the key ingredients to incorporate into your regime. Not only does increasing lean tissue reduce your overall % (it’s a maths thing…), but it gives your metabolism a boost. For every kg of muscle you put on, an extra 120 calories are burnt while resting! Not only this but weight training, if done properly, can burn more calories in a session than steady state cardio work, killing two birds with one stone!

I’m worried about getting injured.

Like anything in life, if something isn’t done properly, it can result in injury. Weight training is exactly the same. However, adding a little muscle can actually make you less prone to injury; strong muscles, tendons and ligaments are much more capable of taking stress and impact, and the increased flexibility and core stability of a good weights program reduces the likelihood of pulled muscles and back pain. Add in the benefits to bone density and metabolism and you are more likely to get an injury not lifting weights than from following a balanced program!

I can get stronger through bodyweight exercises alone.

Bodyweight exercises provide some of the toughest workouts around (not much can beat a handstand push-up/pull-up superset session), but there are limitations to this method. To get stronger, you must get close to a ‘1-5 RepMax Intensity’ over the exercise, something that is very hard to do in a certain exercises with just bodyweight (e.g. squats). Also, the weight being lifted is always similar, limiting the level of progression available. For optimal progression, weights should be added to provide more variety, intensity and development to the routine!

Published from the Telegraph.co.uk.

Men with Muscles cut cancer risk by 40 per cent.

Men with stronger muscles from regular weight training are up to 40 per cent less likely to die from cancer than men who do not lift weights, according to new research.

The findings, by an international team of researchers, suggest muscular strength is as important as staying slim and eating healthily when it comes to protecting the body against deadly tumours.

The scientists who came up with the findings are recommending men weight train at least twice a week, exercising muscle groups in both the upper and lower body. In recent years, experts have recommended a healthy diet and lifestyle – including regular aerobic exercise such as jogging or cycling to reduce the risks of the disease. But the latest study, published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, suggests it may be just as important to build up muscle strength.

A team of experts, led by scientists from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, tracked the lifestyles of 8,677 men aged between 20 and 82 for more than two decades. Each volunteer had regular medical check ups that included tests of their muscular strength. Between 1980 and 2003, researchers monitored how many developed cancer and subsequently died from it. The results showed men who regularly worked out with weights and had the highest muscle strength were between 30 and 40 per cent less likely to lose their life to a deadly tumour. Even among volunteers who had excess fat or a high body mass index, regular weight training seemed to have a protective effect.

In a report on their findings the researchers stressed keeping a healthy weight was still crucial for avoiding premature death. But they added: “In the light of these results, it is equally important to maintain healthy muscular strength levels. It’s possible to reduce cancer mortality rates in men by promoting resistance training involving the major muscle groups at least two days a week.”