Training Blog

Connection…………Why?

As humans we crave connection with others! You could say we are pack animals!

At Advanced Fitness we believe that creating connection through exercise gives us benefits beyond the physiological change in fitness or strength.

Connecting with others is powerful beyond what we realise. Its as simple was this question? Do you enjoy exercising with your friends more than on your own?

Im going to answer for you…….yes! Lets face it exercise isn't complicated but it works better with connection. (If you answered no try finding someone else)

I would class my self as self motivated and someone who loves exercise (as weird as that might sound to some of you) but I always prefer to train with a friend. Why? Not because I’m not motivated otherwise but its just fun. NO ONE DISLIKES FUN!

We always look at the real reason why we exercise, some of us just want to be fit but as a whole there is much more to be gained from exercise and we find most people want some connection from there exercise. We know you are more likely to continue with your exercise if you feel connected to someone who comes along and feel like you can speak and talk and communicate and feel like your listened to. That will go along way to your feeling of belonging.

In the modern online world we have lots of “friends” but often not many people we are truly connected to. The world has never been so connected with some many disconnected people.

Online we use whats called an upward referral by looking for external motivation to gain feedback on what we are trying to achieve. If our motivation to see change or exercise is geared by what you think others think of you then expect to ride a wave of emotions and have inconsistent motivation.

Great if your admired by thousands but for most of us being motivated by our own desire to change and sense of achievement from making progress is going to be a healthier motivator. I believe my industry has a lot to answer for……..

My industry is great at trying to get you hyped up on the idea of short term goals “6 weeks to a new you” “ lose 10kg in 10 weeks” when in reality fitness should be about a lifestyle and long term health and wellbeing or performance. We lead you to believe that what others think is important and therefore we should do what ever it takes to get there then make sure everyone knows about it to make us feel like its worthwhile.

Sorry I got off track a bit there! A bit of a rant!

Here is what ill leave you with……
Next time your looking for something else with your exercise or feel like your missing something look for connection. Small group training can be fun or find a friend who has similar interests and level of fitness.

Don’t be afraid to ask, you never know there will be someone just as keen as you!

Our expectation drives our behaviour, set a negative expectation and you will always make that choice you wish you hadn't. Set an internal positive outlook and be open to change and watch your choices shift for the better.


Paul Todd- Health and Performance Coach
Advanced Fitness

We constantly ask ourselves questions......or question our decisions.

Questions around exercise are no different, with our often short term focused mindset its easy to hesitate or doubt that we are on track when results don't occur as quickly as we would like.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) What really makes me happy? We often have a desired outcome in mind, that idea of when we achieve that "GOAL" we will be successful therefore happy! This often leads to a focus on the outcome not the process/es that are needed to be successful. Find out what makes you happy.......enjoy your exercise and success will follow because the behaviour change needed for success will occur without effort.

2) Am i focused on the process? I like the term "process orientated" Its easy to weigh our entire motivation on the end result when in reality creating motivation around the day to day behaviour change needed to see the end result is a better use of our energy.
Its likley that the habits you will need to form to be successful in your fitness or health related goals will need to remain long after you have achieved the goal you set out to achieve at the beginning. Focus on the process and set goals based on the behaviour change!

3) Is it pleasure or pain? Our brain will always drive us towards pleasure but what will override this is the drive to move away from pain. Is your exercise filled with pain physical or mental/emotional pain, a lack of enjoyment or a frustration that no progress is being made? If we have to create pain to succeed we will be in a constant fight with ourselves and of course be questioning our decisions constantly.

Change your language and mindset and success will follow.

If you would like help asking the right questions talk to one of us.

Soreness in the muscles around your hip can mean a few things, you may be in need to some imagery and medical advice if you have a serious issue or you may be suffering from a common imbalance in strength and movement.

We spend a lot of time in repetitive movement patterns whether it be a weekend exercise pursuit or a regular gym routine your movement can look very similar even if you have a range of exercises in your programme.

If you had a imbalance in strength or an ankle or hip the moves differently to the other side then you can easily develop a compensation and feed into it on a daily basis.

Common issues I see are anterior (front) hip discomfort or pain and tension in the side of the pelvis and into the lower back.

We will always test to see what range the pain occurs at and if unsure refer to a specialist of sports doctor to make sure there isn't some underlying issue that needs to be repaired. In saying that 90% of the time we see one of two issues that is easily treated.

1) an ankle that has limited Doris flexsion ( forward movement knee over ankle)

2) weakness in the Glute muscles on the other side of the body ( and we often both issues occurring together)

Treatment can be straight forward with a little extra awerness and if nothing is done then you could risk long term knee and hip injuries on the dominant overworked side!

Treatment looks at a combination of ankle mobility and strength work on the weaker side of the hip. We will add in some release work to the sore side to keep in happy and in a matter of days.

I'll post a video over the next few days to show you how to work your sore hip!

If this information sounds like it could help you simply see how you feel standing on each leg, a wobbly leg = a lack of control and we could be onto something!

Email your examples and I'll see if I can help
paul@advancedfitness.co.nz

Cheers
Paul

The first thing to keep in mind in we need to retest using the test from the previous article to see if the exercise and helping.

Simply retest after each and ask yourself is it worse better or the same.
I need to mention if you have been diagnosed with an injury please follow the advice of your health care professional.

Once we have improved your range of motion and movement you will then need to be careful as to not load up to much straight away, better moving is usually better for your body but it’s also different and your body will need to adapt. Just simply don’t go out straight after doing these and run 20kms!

Video 1: Ball in front ankle, bottom of foot,

Video 2: fib head mobiliser.

Video 3: Distal fib head release with ball

Are you like me and enjoy a bit of running or are you looking for an event the week after your last half or full marathon?

If you fall into either category or have experience niggling or reoccurring pain in ankles, knees, or hips and lower back then please read on.

Your ability to move well within the joints that make up your foot and ankle will determine how your body distributes force and whether or not your muscles handle the stress you’re putting on them.

Pain that just occurs from repetitive stress (running) and isn’t caused by an impact or fall should be a warning sign something isn’t right. The answer could be as simple creating better movement within your feet.

Here is a couple of things to try to see how you match-up:

1. Stand with your feet about 2 inches back from the wall, can you slowly move your knee’s over your toes and touch the wall?
2. Can you stand on both feet with your weight evenly distributed over both and lift up your big toe with lifting the remaining toes on each foot?
3. Face a mirror and stand on one leg, have a look in the mirror top see if you need to lean or compensate to stand without losing balance.

How did you go? If you found one or all of those challenging there may be something we can work on. See the videos below for more info on each test. I will go into more detail in part two of this article  Running is a great to improve your fitness and unnecessary pain and injuries with only add to your frustration.