What Is A Dynamic Warmup And Why You Should Be Doing One
What is a dynamic warmup? Dynamic training is exercise that stimulates real life body movements. The exercises in a dynamic warm up mimic the exercises that will be performed in the main part of the workout. The movements are usually done against light to moderate resistance in order to improve functional strength, mobility, stability, balance and coordination. Dynamic warm up uses exercises that exaggerate the ability to stay balanced while moving or slightly resisting. This can be done by unilateral exercises that use one leg or one arm. They also can include bilateral, on stable or unstable surfaces, or even by closing eyes.
A dynamic warm up is better than static stretching. With static stretching you lengthen the elasticity of the muscle. In doing so you decrease its ability to rebound as well and limit its ability to perform maximum strength output during the work out. Static stretching should be done once your entire workout is complete to get rid of lactic acid and help with recovery.
It is best to start out with five to ten minutes of a full body cardio machine like an elliptical if you are doing a full body workout. If you are doing a lower body I suggest cycling or running. If it is an upper body workout you may want to warm up on the rowing machine.Once the blood is flowing from the warmup I continue getting them ready for the workout by using different series of dynamic exercises. The dynamic exercises should geared towards what your workout is going to be.
The following are some examples dynamic circuits that can be used. You can combined as many series as you want and do them in any order you would like. Remember this isn’t the full workout and that it is just part of the warm up. Some of the series involve hurdles. If you don’t have any hurdles you can just skip that series.
Series 1(20m)
Alt Arm Rotations Fwd
Alt Arm Rotations Backward
Alt Arm Rotations Fwd Acute
Alt Arm Rotations Backward Acute
Double Arm Rotations Fwd
Double Arm Rotations Backward
Double Arm Rotations Fwd Acute
Double Arm Rotations Backward Acute
Chest Flies Straight Arm
Chest Flies Acute Arm
Series 2 (10 Reps)
Wrist Circles
Trunk Twists
Hip Circles
Knee Circles
Ankle Circles
Sky Divers
Series 3 (10 Reps)
Scorpions
Scissors (Frontal & Sagittal)
Donkey Kicks
Trail Leg Against Wall
Lead Leg Plows
Fire Hydrants
Iron Cross
Series 4 (10 reps)
Hurdle Cross Over
Wall Attack
Inverted Bicycle
Hurdle Seat Change
Trail Leg
Lead Leg
Lead Leg/Trail Leg
Lunge Exchange
Series 5 (10 reps/20m)
Ground Sweep
Lunge Walk
Hamstring Jog/Stretch
Dynamic Hamstring Walk
Grapevine
Series 6(20m)
Same hand/leg(inside heel/outside)
Heel/Toe Walks (In/Out/straight)
Knee-Chest/Heel Butt
Inside/Inside/Outside/Outside
Karaoke leg crossovers
Who is Alicia Bell? She is a Toronto based Social Media Influencer, Kinesiologist, Strength Coach and Track and Field Coach who has devoted her life to helping people reach their goals in fitness and sport. She is a nationally recognized track and field coach who coached team Canada at the Maccabi games in Israel in July of 2013. She lead the team to 13 medals. Alicia has over 10 years of practical and educational experience and is a published Fitness model for Zenzation with her pictures gracing their equipment and she leads their product DVD instruction.
Alicia has experience working with many types of clientele. She has worked as a Kinesiologist and an Exercise Rehabilitation Specialist. She is also experienced at weight loss, strength training, toning and athletic conditioning. She has worked with clients such as Dwight Howard (NBA), Rashad McCants (Former NBA), Geoff Harris (Olympic 800m runner), Lil Jon (Rapper/Dj), Karla Moy aka HustleGrl, Hill Harper (actor, author) and even the mother of the Toronto rapper Drake.
Alicia Bell and Telus Present - Living Better With Samsung S6
I have such a busy schedule! Not only am I a personal trainer in busy downtown Toronto, Canada, but I also work for a water company (GP8 Sportwater) and I am also an athlete who trains to compete in the Ontario Physique Association (OPA) bikini category.
My life is filled with fitness, nutrition, travelling and social interactions. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of not only my own goals and activities but also my clients and other business adventures. I have to keep a very tight schedule, so for me timing is everything.
Since getting the new Samsung S6 from Telus I have been living better! I love to take pictures and video of my clients training, my own workouts, the food I eat and the day to day activities and events that I attend. I have found that the Samsung S6 really captures these moments. Its dynamic, ultra-responsive camera captures the true-to-life brilliance of any moment throughout my day. It also has a quick launch camera so that I can pull out my phone and quickly (under a second) launch the camera to take an in the moment photo.
Another convenient feature for me is the quick unlock finger print option. Instead of keying in a password (which you can also do) you can use your very own finger print to quickly unlock your phone. It was very easy to set up and when I need to open my phone fast to read a message it only takes a quick second to unlock from being secure.
Another one of my favourite features is that it has a super charger. What does this mean? It means that because I am always on the go I can plug the S6 in for just 10 minutes and get up to 4 hours of battery life!!!! When you take as much photos as I do and you are constantly travelling from one place to another and listening to music this is crucial. I don't have the time to leave my phone plugged in for hours at a time.
The apps that I have found useful on the Samsung for my busy and active lifestyle are:
S- Health: This app you can personalize and sync your health data with your Samsung account. You can choose your personal units of measurements and receive notifications of events in the status bar. Within the app you can download extra things. I use the Workout Trainer (if I need a quick workout for myself), Recipes & Nutrition(for finding healthy recipes) and the Hydro Coach (for recording my water intake). There are so many useful apps to help with staying on track and these three are just a few. You can completely personalize the S Health and the apps that you use within it for whatever your goals are.
The phone can also counts your daily step count and allows you to adjust your goals for the count. I have it at 10, 000 steps per day. The only downfall is that if you don't have the watch to go with the phone you have to have the phone in your hand or in your pocket for it to keep track.
The sleep tracker is also key. As an athlete and trainer I cannot express how important sleep can be. If you don't get enough sleep your body will be high in cortisol. A stress released hormone that can trigger your body to store fat. Keeping track of your sleep will help you with your fitness goals.
Another awesome feature with the phone is that it actually has a heart rate sensor that allows you to instantly measure your heart rate and record it. This is great when training because it allows you to check if you are working in the right zone for your goals when you are doing an intense training or cardio session.
I also use the food recording within the S Health application. This can let you see what you are eating and how many calories are in it. Its great to achieve your goals. Whats also really cool is that if you haven't recorded anything for the day it will ask you if you feel like tracking your food? It will also remind you. Which is great if you are as busy as I am and often forget.
Check out the phone for yourself in this video from Samsung:
GIVEAWAY CONTEST AND ENTRY INFORMATION
Two ways to enter:
1) Tweeting a contest-specific entry:
If I win a Samsung Galaxy S6 from @trainitright & @TELUS, I'll USE IT TO HELP ME REACH MY GOAL OF_____ #TELUSS6
2) Either sharing or commenting on my Facebook post for this contest on the Facebook page. www.facebook.com/trainitright
The contest is Canadian only, no Quebec entries, 18+
A random winner will be selected
Check out my fellow bloggers perspectives on how they use their Samsung phones as well. The phone is so versatile for whatever your life may bring. You can completely personalize the Samsung S6 and for me that is what makes it such a great phone.
I want to motivate anyone that I can. So When you think you can't...you can. In the past two years I've had two knee surgeries, a motorcycle accident that gave me 7 stitches in my hand and 7 rounds of chemo for a tumor, worked full time with no disruptions and I still managed to do this. Someone out there has it worse than you, are busier than you, and they still find ways that they CAN. So stop making excuses and just do it. I don't care if you're tired, angry, sore, etc.... You will be happy that you did in the end.
Have You Hard of Zaggora Hot Pants
What are Zaggora hot pants? They are a specially created tight that has what the company calls “cellu-lite” technology. The company claims that this material uses your natural body heat to give you weight loss results by burning extra calories when you exercise. The pants have had some buzz already appearing in OK Magazine, Wall Street Journal and many news papers. They even have a verified twitter account.How do they work? They claim to put the “hot” in “hot pants” and that they make you sweat and increase your energy expenditure by 7% while you are exercising and up to 26% post exercises. Virtually the pants/shorts create a personal sauna without having to sit in a room with a bunch of naked people.
The “hot pants” or tights are designed so that you can where them at any time. Zaggora says that you can wear them “…for a walk in the park, a session in the gym or a run down to the shops.” Meaning that they are not just for the gym. They come in shorts or pants and are available in a variety of bright colours.
Why do you get sore the day after your workout? What causes you to feel stiff and and unable to walk up the stairs? No, you are not injured. The soreness that you are feeling is called DOMS and stands for delayed onset muscle soreness. It can be mild to severe and everyone can be effected by it. Do not be afraid to exercise when you feel it because the more you move the quicker it will go away. Muscle soreness is most commonly felt when you begin a new workout program, change your current routine, or increase the intensityof your workouts. DOMS is caused by microscopic tears in the muscle which creates build up of lactic acid in the muscles causing them to become stiff and tight.
There are lots of methods that you can use to reduce the discomfortof DOMS. People often use static stretching, massage, cardio, epsom salts, or ice baths. You can prevent DOMS from being so severe by doing a proper dynamic warm-up rather than jumping into your workout cold. Make sure to always start with light cardio for 5-10 minutes before your workout. Prior to exercise use a foam roller to roll out your muscles. It is also recommended to cool down with light cardio followed by static stretching. A stretch should be held for a minimum of 30 seconds. Make sure to alter workout intensities each day in order to allow for proper recovery.
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life
My friend and Photographer, Katherine Kerr, had a question that many of you have, whist with a little twist. “How do I find time to go to the gym?” I’ll use this analogy to emphasize the necessity of having a Personal Trainer and not just any trainer. You really need an educated, knowledgeable trainer to help you get there.
Kat, formally a varsity athlete, a martial artist and dancer moved into the work world, and far from her team and training masters. Now, trying to balance her career and love for fitness, she asked me her pertinent question about finding time for the gym. While this is a prevalent question for trainers, keep in mind this question was coming from a person who was still training Capoeira five times a week, grabbing conditioning and yoga classes, time permitting, and jogging for fun. This is where the familiar complaint of balancing work and health takes it twist. Kat just wanted a few extra days to build strength balance her other fitness activities.
In the words of Confucius, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. You can probably see where this story is going. Herein, I told her ‘Kat, have you ever thought about being a trainer, because your life is what we do as a profession.’ She did, of course, need some fine tuning to take her fitness aptitude and turn it into an informed career. But don’t get excited and think I’m in any way suggesting that you become a trainer. The purpose of this story goes to show just how dedicated to health and fitness the life of a Personal Trainer is.
There are two points I want to make. First, with a good trainer you can find direction to balance your goals and what you like to do for exercise. Second, get a good trainer. They will be the driving force, organization and motivation behind your success.
I used Kat as an example of someone I took on to help train to be a trainer because she was already eating, living and breathing fitness. She spent her non-work hours conditioning and eating like a health guru and herein, I saw a bit of myself. Not all, but a bit. Myself, an Olympic qualifier, track and field participant and coach (including my plethora of hard earned certificates therein), Bachelor of Science major with a focus in Kinesiology and I was living the life of a trainer before I officially became a trainer. This also goes to show that even trainers need trainers. As I was a more advanced and qualified fitness professional at that stage of my training career when I met Kat, the solution seemed obvious. If Kat wants to live and breathe fitness similar to when she was on her university Rugby team and training martial arts she needs to be paid to be in a gym.
Personal Training is not for everyone but getting a good trainer is the key element to success. I can’t stress this enough. Even Jackie Chan has a teacher, and if you’re not one of us, already living the disciplined life of no sugar, no alcohol, no white bread/rice, 6 day a week balanced fitness regime like my prototype here, with the mental calorie in calorie out counter and know how to exercise with form… then you need a good trainer. If you don’t also already have a periodization exercise plan catered to the functional output, balancing and grouping muscle groups from big to small, and I could go on, then you need the guidance of a trainer. If you’re not already doing a week of interval training to combat a weekend in Vegas then you need a trainer.
The pressure of being a trainer is intense as you cannot only talk the talk you have to walk the walk. This can be as simple as being able to demonstrate exercise for a particular muscle group to as complicated as being a walking business card; the physical embodiment of what a fit person should look like. But let’s break this down a little, there is a reason trainers can keep up the image of being trainers. We love it! You don’t in anyway need to have the intense lifestyle Kat had when I met her. You need to leave all the worrying to the experts and know that those of us who can help you meet your goals no matter how big or how small are already living the dream, working, studying and practicing.
All you need to know is the time you’re ready for us!
5 Ways To Get Fit
Regularly changing your workout routine is a must if you hope to continue your weight loss or to increase your fitness level. This can be done by having a properly structured fitness program. The program should continually evolve to account for your progress and not to mention keep you interested in going to the gym.
Follow these tips to help increase your fitness:
1. You don’t always need to swap each exercise for new ones. If you like lat pull downs, by all means, keep doing it. Just try switching between eight to ten repetitions at your maximum capacity to as many as fifteen or twenty repetitions at a lighter weight to increase muscular endurance, strength or overall fitness.
2. Don’t be afraid to try something completely new, like kettlebells, balance boards or a TRX suspension training. If you are unsure of how to use the equipment don’t be afraid to ask a trainer, gym attendant or a friend.
3. Changing the number of days you workout or the types of workouts you perform on certain days. For example, many perform whole-body routines, which should be completed at least twice weekly. You could try a split routine that targets half your body during each of two alternating workouts. By utilizing a split, you can perform twice as many exercises per body part during your sessions.
4. Workout routines can be sport specific or activity specific as well. After all you don’t use the same muscles in the same ways in tennis as you do in cycling. Research the movements of your activity and incorporate beneficial exercises accordingly.
5. Finally remember to change your gym routine at least every four to six weeks and if you are unsure how to do this try getting a certified personal trainer to help you.
The ultimate cardio exercise is the burpee. Once you can do 100 in a row you can call yourself a burpee master. Until then just try and do one more today than you did yesterday.
The One Part Of Training We All Have A Tendency To Leave Out
When an athlete has tight hamstrings the quadriceps will work harder because they are working against the hamstrings to compensate. This causes both the quadriceps and hamstrings to fatigue and sets the stage for a poor performance or makes the runner prone to injury.Tight hamstrings are a huge contributor to lower back pain, knee pain and leg length differences. If the hamstrings are tight and don’t fire properly, neither do the gluteus maximus and this causes the erector spinae to contract first, followed by the glutes and then the hamstrings and this puts massive stresses on the lumbar spine causing back pain. This also can happen to you!
The following are some great stretches for your hips and legs. Hold each stretch for a minimum of 30s and repeat each stretch for both the right and left leg 3 times. Make stretching a priority and part of your daily routine.
What is a dynamic warmup? Dynamic training is exercise that stimulates real life body movements. The exercises in a dynamic warm up mimic the exercises that will be performed in the main part of the workout. The movements are usually done against light to moderate resistance in order to improve functional strength, mobility, stability, balance and coordination. Dynamic warm up uses exercises that exaggerate the ability to stay balanced while moving or slightly resisting. This can be done by unilateral exercises that use one leg or one arm. They also can include bilateral, on stable or unstable surfaces, or even by closing eyes.
