JakeDentonPT

  When it comes to chasing your goals, there are countless methods, techniques, diets, machines, and workout recommendations, that it seems impossible to know which will work.    Here, we look at how to decide on the effectiveness of these recommendations.  Firstly, when considering your options, always remember if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And even if there is 'proof', there are likely some unmentioned side effects. Perhaps, someone has said that they have lost 2 stone in a week from a cheap miracle drink or diet. Chances are this is not true. And if it is, it is probably an extremely unhealthy way to lose weight.   Secondly, consider where these options are coming from, and look into any research mentioned. Who is giving this advice and why? Perhaps, its a friend who has heard from a friend who heard from a friend. Perhaps its an advert on social media. Maybe its an article in a magazine. Wherever possible, go directly to the source. Often...

  What really makes the 'best' exercise?    I'm sure you will have heard that you must do this and that to achieve your goals, but is there really a singular 'best' exercise? Put simply... No there isn't!    Two exercises do receive a lot of support that they are the best... the deadlift and the burpee. And the science behind these claims?    Both actively use most the muscle groups - arms, legs, back, chest, core.   So, what do I think is best?   For me, exercise is all about enjoyment and specificity. So, any exercises should be specific to your goals, and as much as possible, enjoyable.    If you want to deadlift 100kg, then you will need to deadlift.  If you want to swim 5km, and hate deadlifts, then there is no need to do them.    Similarly with cardiovascular exercises, you will have often seen a chart or picture of calories burned per hour per exercise, sometimes with skipping as the highest calories per hour....

  Recovery during and after exercise is a largely forgotten aspect of training... And I am certainly guilty of forgetting the importance of recovery.    Here I discuss the two types of recovery, and their importance to exercise training.  The first type of recovery is one that is easy to recognise as rest, but is largely under valued. This is the rest period between sets or exercises. This could range from 15 seconds to over 2 minutes, dependant on your training and experience. But, do you know how long your rest should be for? Obviously, there are variations based on individual factors and fitness levels, however different training modalities require different rest periods. Commonly, this is suggested to be 1 minute, which is ideal for a hypertrophy (3/4 sets of 8-12 reps) programme. During this period, your body is able to replenish used glycogen from the muscles to ensure you can complete the next set.  For endurance training (4/5 sets to 15-20 reps or more) ...

  Throughout history, some of the greatest sporting achievements have been perceived as impossible.     And I am sure that you will have heard that you can't do something for various reasons.   Well, I'm here to tell you that you can!  We are all familiar with Usain Bolt, his record of 9.58 seconds for a 100m Sprint beats Jesse Owens 100m record of 10.2 seconds by 0.62 seconds. And yes, we now have better training techniques and understandings of how the body works and adapts. We also have made huge strides (pun intended) technologically. Bolt uses starting blocks, and a specifically designed track to improve speed. Owens ran on cinders, having dug his own hole to use as a starting block. The cinders would be much like running on sand, the softness absorbing energy from every stride Owens made. Biomechanical analysis suggests that if Bolt and Owens ran on the same surface, and same conditions, Bolt would not be 0.62 seconds ahead of Owens. In fact, Owens wo...

   As we enter the summer months, it seems like an ideal time to look into the benefits of water sports!    Water sports can cover a huge range of activities, including swimming, water polo, motor boat racing, water skiing, and, of course paddle sports, such as kayaking, canoeing, and paddle boarding.    I will mainly focus on paddle sports for this article. Any activity which involves using a paddle to make water craft move, is classed as a paddle sport.    Paddle sports has numerous health and fitness benefits, which means it can be used instead of the gym for many. Weight loss - As a full body exercise numerous benefits and adaptations contribute towards long term weight loss.  Cardiovascular fitness - Your heart can get a great workout from paddle sports.  Muscular Endurance - Your muscles will be able to maintain work for a longer period after time. Muscular Strength and Size - Complete some circuit training, yoga, or stretching to ...

  What really is the difference between Physical Activity and Exercise?   And how can we use Exercise and Physical Activity to improve our health and help us reach our goals? First of all - Definitions!  Physical Activity  - Any movement created by the contraction of skeletal muscles. (This could be gardening, car cleaning or walking to work).   Exercise  - Planned activity with the intent of improving an element of our health and fitness or performance. (This could be going for a run, going to the gym, or attending an exercise class).   So, what does this mean?   in effect, any movement we make can be classed as Physical Activity, whether that is walking the dog or walking to the fridge. Walking to specifically improve our cardiovascular health is exercise.      So, how do we use exercise and Physical Activity to improve our health? Physical Activity can be done anywhere and at any time. Higher levels of Physical Activity have...

The hardest part of any new behaviour is adherence (the fancy word for sticking with it). And, the Transtheoretical Model suggests that the first 6 months are the most likely stage in which dropping out occurs.  However, once you get past the first six months, and you are much more likely to maintain your new behaviours!   But how do we get to six months?   Firstly, we need to identify some of the barriers we may face to exercise. Common barriers include:  Lack of Time Work Commitments Stress Injury  And, of course, anything else that may stop you from exercising regularly.    Psychologists have suggested that preparing to come across the barriers, can help to reduce the impact they have on you. So, how do we prepare?    Simply anticipate something that may limit your exercise and make a plan for if this happens. Here's some examples for the above barriers: Lack of Time - Identify anything that wastes your time (I find I am often victim to Fa...

  Do you struggle to stay motivated?   Do you find that you hit one minor bump in your goals and struggle to carry on?   Here we look at some psychological theories of motivation - and how they may apply to you.  There are four important theories of motivation. These are: Achievement Goal Orientation - Are we focused on mastery or the outcome? Attribution Theory - Are the factors that determine our successes and failures what motivates us? Self-Determination Theory - Are Intrinsic or Extrinsic factors our motivators? Need Achievement Theory - Are we focusing on achieving success or on avoiding 'failure'.    The Achievement Goal Orientation suggests that we are either motivated to become better ourselves (mastery) or by beating others (outcome). It argues that by focusing on improving ourselves we have better control of success and are therefore more motivated. By focusing on beating others we can easily give up, and make excuses, rather than control our suc...

Don't want to go to the gym? Don't worry! Outdoor training has a whole host of additional benefits for you! As the colder months and darker evening are drawing in, its all too easy to stay inside.    Except, it's probably more important to get outside more!     All through the warmer months, we spent hours outside, soaking up the sun. Then, in the colder months, we hide inside and suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder.    Yes! Seasonal Affective Disorder is real! According to the NHS, it is believed to be caused by a lack of sunlight. The sunlight we enjoy during the summer reduces our melatonin (known as the sleep hormone), and increases our serotonin (improves our mood).  By absorbing less sun, our melatonin levels increase, making us feel sleepy more, and our serotonin levels decrease, which can lead to feelings of depression. (To clarify, depression is a completely separate condition, and it is recommended to visit your GP if you feel depressed)....

  In a recent Twitter post, King Henry VIII said 'Don't believe everything you read on the internet, else you may lose your head'. Of course, that is not true. It does act as a prime example of how easy it is for something untrue to be shared on the internet. Within our current technological world, information can be spread around the world in a matter of moments. Obviously, this has some major advantages, including the ability for intelligence services to share intelligence, the ability of scientists to share data, and for me to share information with you, wherever you are in the world.    And there are disadvantages as well. As easy as it is for true information to be shared, false information can also be shared. This false information can be outright lies (like the texts I get from 'delivery companies' asking me to pay for redelivery), misleading (like the absolute best workout ever), or just misinterpreted (like a  gym buddy saying that cardio is bad for muscle ...

  Wherever you look, and whoever you ask, they will all say that there is one workout split that beats all the rest.    Fortunately, this is not true!    The best workout split will depend entirely on you! What is a split?   A split is just a way of deciding what muscles/aspects of fitness you will train on a specific day. You'll likely have heard of leg day - which is just one day in a split when you work legs. And there are all manner of splits out there: Push, Pull, Legs. Chest and Tri's, Back and Bi's.  Chest day, Back day,  Leg day, Arm day, Core day.    And while each split has its own advantages, these are only really realised by more elite athletes (or anyone who goes to the gym about 10 times per week). Who, realistically, has time for that?   For most people, myself included, I recommend full body sessions. Full body sessions are perfect for if you are short on time, or have unstable schedules, and they are still extremely...

  I have been caught out a couple of times running around the park barefoot!    To clarify - I have not had my shoes stolen, I have just seen a lot of research in support of barefoot running (as well as my own biomechanical assessments of barefoot running at university)!  Now, this article is not to tell you to run around barefoot. I recommend doing your own research and making up your own mind. This article is to demonstrate the research that I do, and how this could impact what I advise.   Some of the best leaders in history, have been willing to get down and dirty. For centuries, Kings have lead their armies into battle, and modern royalty serve in the armed forces. The Grand Ol' Duke of York, while a nursery rhyme, is based on a true story of the Duke, who lead his men up a hill to battle an opposing force - he didn't sit at the bottom of the hill enjoying the sunshine.    And that is what I will do. If I research something interesting, I will try ...

  This article covers the top 8 tips I have found in my research to improve your longer, open water swimming speeds. Some of these tips may also be beneficial for shorter, sprint speeds and pool speeds.  A basic understanding of how the water acts upon our bodies when we are swimming is crucial for improving swimming. Some of the concepts may seem complex, although I will attempt to describe them as simply as possible, however the solutions are much easier to implement.  First of all, we need to be familiar with Netwon's Second Law: Force = Mass x Acceleration   This means that for a body of mass (in this case, you) to accelerate (move) you must be acted upon by forces. In the instance of swimming, the main forces are thrust and drag.    1) Drag  Drag is the force working against you. Within swimming, there is three types of drag acting upon us. These are: Pressure Drag, Friction Drag and Wave Drag.  Pressure Drag is caused by turbulent waters cre...