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19 February 2021

Should you stretch before a workout?

Leave a Comment / Fitness Blog / By Andy Vincent

Should you stretch before a workout? Stretching is an interesting topic, and depending on who you ask, you’ll probably get different answers when it is applied pre-workout. On one side there is the argument that static stretching is the worst thing to do because it can potentially reduce performance. But on the other hand, you …

Should you stretch before a workout? Read More »

With New Year’s just around the corner, all the

With New Year’s just around the corner, all the usual “12-week shred”, “10-week muscle-building”, and “16 weeks to the new you” workout regimes will be bombarding us on social media.

So here’s a reminder: fitness is not something you can pick up and put down. You don’t complete 12–16 weeks of training and then you’re done. Training is for life. Exercise needs to be part of your weekly routine.

You have to learn to fall in love with the process, which is why focusing on getting stronger, running faster, and jumping higher should be your priority. Aesthetics are just one part (and to be honest, more about nutrition) of training.

Learn to love the process because there is no endpoint. The process is all there is!

An interesting fact: people’s rate of progress d

An interesting fact: people’s rate of progress during their first year of training has more to do with learning the skill than actual strength improvements.

This is also true during the first one to six weeks of a new training phase when an exercise is new, or you’re re-familiarizing yourself with it. After this period, you’ll notice a plateauing of the progression curve with load.

This plateau does not mean something is wrong. It’s exactly where you need to be. At this point, you’re working hard, close to your limit, creating a stimulus for your body to lay down new muscle fibres.

For those beyond their first year of training, it’s essential to get comfortable with a slower rate of progress.
Avoid changing your workouts just because you’ve reached a plateau in progression. Constantly swapping exercises means you’re always re-familiarizing yourself with new movements and never actually getting stronger.

Practice and patience are key to long-term progress.

📍 @lisbonstrong

This one of for all my fellow coaches who listen t

This one of for all my fellow coaches who listen to my podcast.

🎧 Subscribe and Listen wherever you get your podcasts
📺 Or watch the episode on my YouTube Channel

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #podcast #fitnesspodcast #strengthtrainingpodcast #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #StrengthRetention #CheatDay #CheatMeal

It’s important to recognise that step-downs and

It’s important to recognise that step-downs and step-ups are slightly different exercises. A step-up starts with both feet on the floor. You step onto the box, typically with a moment where your weight fully transitions onto the floor. In contrast, a step-down is more like a single-leg squat off a box. You reach down to the floor, touch it gently, and then return to the starting position.

Key Points to Consider:

1️⃣ Control the lowering phase: To avoid “falling” during the descent, lean forward slightly, take the exercise slowly, and use a box height suitable for your current strength level.
2️⃣ Avoid bouncing off the back foot: The goal is to delicately touch the floor without using the back foot to push off. To help with this, slide your foot down the box and point the toe upward, touching the heel to the floor first.
3️⃣ Be cautious when loading: While loading this exercise is common, I often see the movement “butchered” when people load it, especially with bars, causing the back leg to take over the work. Instead, I recommend focusing on the range of motion and gradually building up the step height over the weeks.

Increasing the step height provides greater tension stimulus and allows for better mobility expression during the workout.

As mentioned in the video, this is undoubtedly one of the best single-leg squat pattern variations. I strongly recommend programming it into your workouts for both strength and mobility benefits.

📍@lisbonstrong

#StrengthTraining
#MobilityMatters
#RangeOfMotion
#JointHealth
#FunctionalStrength
#FullBodyWorkout
#MovementQuality
#FitnessTips
#MobilityTraining
#TrainSmart
#BodyweightTraining
#InjuryPrevention
#PushUps
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#WorkoutInspiration

You’ve probably heard it before: when strength t

You’ve probably heard it before: when strength training, you need to focus on progressive overload. This simple piece of advice can completely revolutionize your training but can also lead to some common issues. One of the biggest problems is that, in the pursuit of progression, people often compromise their form. When you lose form, you’re essentially shifting the focus of the load onto other muscle groups as your body compensates.

Here’s how to ensure your progression is doing what you think it’s doing:

1. Standardise Your Movement
Your first rep and your last rep should look the same, with minimal deviation in movement as you push through the final reps. This is particularly important when you’re aiming to build muscle. For example, if you’re performing a dumbbell chest press and trying to overload your chest, but during the last two reps, you shrug your neck to squeeze them out, the overload is now being shifted to your traps and anterior delts rather than your pecs. Standardized movement ensures the intended muscle is being targeted.

2. Have a Clear Strategy for Progression
Without a strategy, it’s easy to feel lost week to week. While tracking your reps and loads in a workout log is helpful, it’s equally important to record details like how hard your sets are (e.g., RPE or RIR) and have a plan for how you’ll progress. As much as the focus is to increase load or reps, you also need to think about how many sets you might do on that top weight. Should you back off more on the first set to allow the attempt to go heavier? What if your form broke down on the third set last week? A bit of strategy can go a long way.

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #healthyhabits #consistencyiskey

Had people telling you to lift heavy for 2-4 reps,

Had people telling you to lift heavy for 2-4 reps, rather than your usual 12? Well, lets clear this up!

#AndyVincentPT #SmarterStrengthTraining #trainsmart #avpt #onlinepersonaltraining #fitnessobsessed #FitnessGoals #healthyhabits #consistencyiskey

On top of your sessions, try to find time to inclu

On top of your sessions, try to find time to include a little bit more day-to-day activity too. You don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself to make huge changes here. Fifteen minutes every day adds up to 7.5 hours of extra activity a month. Small changes can accumulate, creating a platform to build on from there.

Working out is great. Setting aside three hours a week of purposeful activity to increase strength, improve flexibility, or enhance your cardio is essential to mitigate the negative effects of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

But make no mistake—your three, or even five, workouts per week are not enough, on their own, to do everything you need to improve your health and maintain your body weight if the rest of the week is spent sitting down.

We need to try and stay as active as possible outside of the gym too, which is a lot harder in the winter when it’s cold and wet. You’ve heard it before, but taking the stairs and parking further away from the shops all adds up if you can stick to it as much as possible.

I often wonder if fitness industry messaging will

I often wonder if fitness industry messaging will ever change. Moving away from six-packs and summer shreds, and focusing on what really matters: long-term health. Training should literally be for life. It’s not something you pick up and put down every time you’re looking to lose fat or get ready for summer. It’s something we should all just consistently do.

It doesn’t have to be overly Instagram-worthy. Not everyone who works out is training to have a six-pack.

Personally, I find it much more impressive to see older adults who have trained for their lifetime or who have picked up exercise later in life and are getting stronger, fitter, and more flexible, while above all improving their quality of life.

And a shout out to both my in-laws for training hard and proving that you don't stop because you get older. You get older because you stop!

@atomichealthandfitness
@breezehill4
@sueoz19

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