Here you can find a glossary for various training/nutrition terms, with brief explanations and example. This is here to provide a quick, simple and easy to use resource for the fundamentals of strength.
FIRST PULL UP
Everyone would love to be able to do a pull-up. It is a fantastic expression of strength - moving your whole body up through space to victoriously get your chin over the bar. There is nothing quite like knowing that if you were hung off the edge of a cliff - you might be able to save yourself.
Not only does it look awesome, feel awesome and could potentially save your life. But it is a great way to develop your pulling muscles (back/biceps) and can encourage fat loss. So if you want to lose weight - setting yourself the performance goal of doing a pull-up can be a great catalyst to action. After all, a lighter person is easier to pull up!
You may think - I will never be able to do that! We are telling you now, it is entirely possible and achievable. But it is tough and it requires a lot of graft.
Again, we have a tried, tested and proven method to getting that first pull up. The timeframe to success will vary from person to person based on how strong they currently are and the amount of time they put into getting better.
In other words - if you work on this 5 times a week, you will progress significantly faster than someone that does it 1 time per week.
The workout could reasonably be performed every day, as the stress of the training is measured so that you can recover appropriately. People that follow this pattern will progress at the highest rate. Ideally, you want to perform and progress the workout a minimum of 3 times per week.
Points of performance.
Start in a hang position. Shoulders pinned down from your ears and arms fully extended above. Your feet should be together and slightly forward - this will switch on your lower abs and help you get tight.
Pull up so that the chin passes over the height of the bar. Pause for a second.
Control yourself down back to the starting position, with elbows fully locked out.
Note how the body remains rigid throughout.
WARMING UP
Before you kick into gear, you need to get the body warm. For this, we recommend the rowing machine or a ski erg, as these have a pulling/upper body element to it. This will better warm up the back than say a run or a cycle.
Spend 5 minutes raising your body temperature and increasing your heart rate.
THE WORKOUT
ELEMENT A
MIDLINE/GRIP STRENGTH
To build the support structures of the exercise.
SUPERSET
1a.) 10s Hollow Hold
1b.) 10s Dead Hang Hold
5 sets with 60s rest in between
*Hold each position as tight as possible, do not be passive!
*If you can complete comfortably, increase the holds by 5 seconds for each exercise/set.
* A strong grip/midline is if you can comfortably hold each position for 30s whilst keeping super tight.
ELEMENT B
MUSCLE ACTIVATION
To fire up the target muscles.
A.) Scap Shrug
6 sets of 2 reps
OR
3 sets of 5 reps
*60 seconds rest between sets.
*3-second hold with the shoulders pinned back and arms fully extended.
B.) Row Hold
3 x 15-30s
*60s rest between each set.
ELEMENT C
UPPER BACK STRENGTH
To strengthen the prime mover - In a session, perform only one of the stages below (They increase in difficulty) - Only when you can complete a stage, should you proceed to the next one. Start at the start and don’t skip any stages.
STAGE 1 - Ring Row
5 sets of 5 reps
*90s rest between each set.
*3s hold at the top of the movement.
*Take 3s to lower your body down to the starting position.
*If you struggle to hit 5 solid reps on each set, scale back to 3 reps and build up session by session.
*If/when this becomes easy, performSTAGE 2instead.
STAGE 2 - Over Bar Holds (Overhand)
5 sets of 10 second holds
*90s rest between each set.
*If you struggle to hit 10 solid seconds on each set, scale back to 5 seconds and build up session by session.
*If/when this becomes easy, performSTAGE 3instead.
STAGE 3 - Negative Pull up
5 sets of 3 reps
*120s rest between each set.
* Take 10 seconds descending into the hanging position.
*If you struggle to hit 3 reps on each set, scale back to 1 rep and build up session by session.
*If/when this becomes easy, perform STAGE 4 instead.
STAGE 4 - 5 Point Negative Pull Ups
5 sets of 1 rep
*120s rest between each set.
* Take 5 seconds pausing in each of the 5 positions
*If/when this becomes easy it is time to test your pull up.
MUSCLE GROUPS
It is really important that over your training plan, we train all of the muscle groups in the body.
There are over 650 named muscles in the human body, all of which have Latin, complex-sounding names. But for most people looking to get fitter and stronger, you probably only need to know around 10, general groupings that aren't too complicated to remember.
Our muscles all work in coordination with each other without us really having to think too hard about it. This co-ordination has a bit of room for error, but if we let it, the balance can be thrown off. Muscles that don't get used, say be sitting at a desk too much, can develop weaknesses, whilst those that get used frequently, sustain or even strengthen. This can create imbalances that can affect posture, the likelihood of injury or even visual differences.
We want your body to flow and have a strong, coherent look and feel to mitigate any of these negative effects.
In order to do this, we associate muscle groups with movements. To get your best results, it's important to know what muscles should be at play when you perform a given exercise. This allows you to focus your effort into the moving parts and lock-down anything that shouldn't be staying still.
This is also a useful skill in identifying if you are performing an exercise correctly. If you come out of a shoulder exercise and feel it in your lower back instead, then you are probably doing it wrong!
There are two types of exercises when it comes to muscle groups.
COMPOUND
These are exercises that work lots of muscles at once. These tend to give you more bang for your buck. Each rep will be stronger (as there are more muscles to contribute) and expend more calories (as the movements tend to be larger and require more energy).
ISOLATION
These are an exercise that targets a single specific exercise. Most people only really need isolation exercises to rebuild strength to cover an imbalance.
The movements (made up of compound and isolation exercises) are as follows:
PUSHING
These are movements where the target muscles in the upper body contract in order to move the weight, or a fixed point, away from you.
Muscles Worked
Chest, Triceps, Shoulders
Examples
Bench Press, Dips, Press Ups, Overhead Press.
PULLING
These are movements where the target muscles in the upper body contract in order to move the weight, or a fixed point, towards you.
Muscles Worked
Upper Back, Biceps
Examples
Pull Up, Ring Row, Bent Over Row, Bicep Curl.
SQUATTING
These are your typical leg exercises that tend to focus more on the front of the upper leg but often do crossover to the back.
Muscles Worked
Quads, Hamstrings, Bum
Examples
Squats, Lunges, Step-ups.
HINGING
These are your typical leg exercises that tend to focus more on the back of the upper leg and lower back.
Muscles Worked
Hamstrings, Bum, Lower Back
Examples
Deadlifts, Good Mornings, Kettlebell Swing.
SUPPORT MUSCLES
Now, these muscles often get worked as a bi-product of other exercises. But we can also target them specifically to build strength that helps us with larger exercises.
Grip
Because if you can't hold onto weight, don't expect to do any reps with it.
Core
Because if you can't get stable, don't expect to control a movement.
Calves
Because being able to run and jump is a strength worth having!
This is a general breakdown of movements, designed to give you a basic understanding - so there are plenty of exercises that can crossover and some that don't fit neatly into this categorisation. Don't worry about it!
If you perform an exercise and have no idea where you are meant to feel it - please ask us!
For the vast majority of the population, working all of these movements/muscle groups is ideal every session. This will allow you to work them at a higher frequency and not leave them resting for longer than they need. You may have heard of professional athletes (particularly bodybuilders) breaking the muscle groups down into separate training sessions. But their goals are often aimed around refining and far more specific.
While we can learn from athletes and apply certain elements, we should not mimic them exactly. Different circumstances, goals and lifestyles mean it will not yield the results you likely desire.
MUSCLE SORENESS
When it comes to training, muscle soreness can be off-putting. If you don’t feel like you can move comfortably, then why would you expect to have a good session?
Many think that a rest day is in order, but chances are - it probably isn’t.
If you are injured, this information does not apply. We are talking about the general soreness and stiffness that comes a day or two after exercise that makes it uncomfortable to move.
When you train, you are causing tiny micro ‘tears’ in the muscle. This is what gives you that sore sensation one to two days later. The body will treat these tears by inflaming, repairing and recovering to adapt to the stress you put on the muscle. This is how we get stronger, develop and retain muscle mass to give our bodies shape.
This happens every time we train, but we get used to the soreness and it stops becoming an issue as we train consistently. We adapt to the sensation so that we can get on with our lives, but it does takes time.
If you have a session after some time off or you stimulate an unexpected amount of stress during your workout - then the soreness will kick in!
Many people actually chase the soreness as an indicator that they pushed themselves, but you shouldn’t put your focus on the bi-product. You should put the focus on the action - so keep your mind on being stronger in the gym and you probably won’t feel fresh as a daisy the next day. That been said, soreness is not an indicator of progress - you can have a great session and not have that uncomfortable sensation afterwards.
Even with this soreness you can still train and even progress. Yes, you will be more uncomfortable and the sensation may inhibit your movement or strength, but your body will adapt and as you move, the feeling of soreness will reduce, your mobility will increase and you can still move towards your goal rather than resting. The more often you train, the more opportunities you create to get fitter and stronger and as the breaking down of muscle occurs even when there is no soreness - you are safe to do so.
In order to do this, you will want to spend a little more time on your warm up and get blood flowing through the target areas. This will help you ease into your movements and give you that freedom to give the highest amount of effort to your exercises.
Here is a simple rule to try that can be surprisingly effective when it comes to muscle soreness.
If you feel like you need a rest day, train anyway and take a rest the following day. You will be surprised as to how well you can train when you are uncomfortable. When you do that, you build a resilience that will serve you well for those uncomfortable last reps in a set.
Be smart, listen to your body - but know that when it has that delayed soreness from exercise, it’s trying to give you an excuse.
DROP SET
Upon completing your working set to failure, reduce the weight and immediately continue. This can be repeated up to you using a significantly lighter load than the initial working weight. Trust us – they wont feel light by the end! When reducing the weight, speed is key. Prepare lighter dumbbells to go straight into or have a spotter help remove plates. You could even drop into a bodyweight exercise, such as bench-pressing straight into press-ups.
With each drop set we will mention how much we want you to drop the weight by. This can come in the form of weight or percentage.
For example Drop Set x 2 (-25%) will mean - 2 Drop sets where you reduce the weight by 25% of the original weight each drop.
Drop Set x 3 (-10kg) will mean - 3 Drop sets where you reduce the weight by 10kg each drop.
REST PAUSE
This method is a great way to reach muscular failure multiple times in quick succession. Perform a set to failure, take 10 deep breaths and go again. Aim for about half the repetitions that you got out during the initial set. Repeat this as many times we stipulate and you will increase your time under tension with your working weight. In a short amount of time you can add extra reps onto your working set and truly fatigue the target muscle groups.
For example - If you are presented with Rest Pause x 2
- Complete the working set to failure (say you get 16 reps) Take 10 deep breaths
- Go again to failure and aim for 8 reps (half of the 16) Take 10 deep breaths
- Go again to failure and aim for 4 reps
SUPERSET
A superset is when you complete a set of two different exercises back to back with no rest.
- Perform Set 1 of Exercise A and move straight into Set 1 of Exercise B
- Rest 80 seconds
- Perform Set 2 of Exercise A and move straight into Set 2 of Exercise B
- Rest 80 seconds
- Perform Set 3 of Exercise A and move straight into Set 3 of Exercise B
TRAINING TO FAILURE
Failure is a state where it is impossible for you to complete a repetition under good form - despite your best effort.
When we provide a number of reps to complete along with the cue to 'go to failure' - you are aiming to reach failure at that number. This will determine the weight you need for the set.
Sometimes we may specify a 'Rep Range' that we want you to achieve failure within.
For example, if we specify a rep range of 8-10, achieving 8, 9 or 10 reps before hitting failure would be successful. The aim is to get more reps than the range dictates so that you can increase the weight, and in turn, fall within the rep range (and once again try to increase the reps to repeat the cycle).
- If you get less reps than the range dictates, the weight was too heavy.
- If you perform more reps than the range dictates, the weight was too light.
In this case you want to use this data to determine what weight to use next time you repeat the workout. You may need to increase or decrease the weight, or perhaps if you keep the weight the same, you may be able to reasonably progress the reps so that it falls within the range.
The more that you train, the easier it is to understand your body and get used to your potential.
SETS
A set is simply a collection of reps performed one after another. For example - 3 sets of 10 reps with 60 seconds rest between sets would be as follows.
- Perform 10 successive repetitions
- Rest 60 seconds
- Perform 10 successive repetitions
- Rest 60 seconds
- Perform 10 successive repetitions
RESTING BETWEEN SETS
As soon as you finish a set, your rest time begins.
Put away or gather any weights you my need for the next set and mentally prepare. Know what needs to be done in order to achieve progress and think about the movement and any cues that will help you perform the exercise to the best of your ability.
During your rest periods, you are looking to get your breathing back to normal and approach the next set as fresh as possible.
Make sure you are strict with your rest times and don't draw them out - you are only cheating yourself and moving away from the desired effect of the training.
WARM UP / WORKING SETS
A warm up set has the purpose of preparing you for the working set. They do not need to be logged.
Working sets are the sets that are listed by us in your workout. They have the direct impact on your goal and need to be logged.
When we mention that you need to warm up for an exercise - do it! It will reduce the chances for injury and increase your potential for strength.
To warm up, perform the exercise with a light weight to get blood into the target muscles and practice the movement. You will want to progressivley add weight so that your muscles are prepared for the work to come. Be careful not to go too heavy or for too many reps in a warm up set - you don't want to weaken yourself for the working set.
Here's an example of how I might warm up for 10 repetitions of 50kg.
There isn't a set rule. You are just looking to feel warm and prepared without fatigue.