Strength training part 2 and being the SPINE of the family.

#1: Getting strong Part 1 - Secondary and tertiary exercises.

Getting someone strong in the primary exercises is easy. If their technique is sound, it is just about adding load through more weight, simples. These exercises still need to be specific to the person in question, of course, but from there it is not rocket science.

The nuance is in the rest of the programme, and I am going to struggle to put 20 years of experience into a short newsletter, but let's have a think about some principles. Bear in mind that the exercises in your programme should follow an order of importance relative to your goal. The primary exercises are the most important, the secondary exercises support the primary, and the tertiary exercises support them both.

So, back to the principles:

What is the goal of the programme?

Which muscles or movements need to be strong to support the goal of the programme?

Are there any weaknesses that we need to focus on?

Are there any injury sites we need to address?

Are there any body parts where we need to add muscle mass to protect them from the rigours of your sport?

And so I do not leave more questions than answers, here are some examples:

You are a runner and need your body to be strong enough to cope with a marathon, but you have had a previous hamstring injury. The primary exercise for your legs might be a heavy leg press, but your secondary exercises might be a single leg hamstring and glute exercise to strengthen the hamstring (RDL variation), and your tertiary might be some lateral work and calf work. You will also need to add in your upper body work, which can be supersetted with the leg work. I then add in a cherry on top exercise at the end, which I will talk about next week.

In the box below is an example of one of the runners I look after.

Quick example

#2: Something to think about this week.

Being the 'spine' of the family.

Last year I went skiing in Chamonix for the first time in 25 years with an old client who is now a friend. I picked it up pretty quickly and felt relatively confident. On day three, I was informed that because I looked so confident, we could go up the next day to the Vallée Blanche.

For those of you who don't know, the Vallée Blanche is essentially being taken up to the top of Mont Blanc, putting on some cleats to climb across a deadly ridge, and skiing down amongst a plethora of deadly crevasses.

Luckily, I made it down, but this story gets worse before it gets better.

Two weeks later, I received a call that my friend had fallen into a crevasse and was lucky to be alive. He had broken all his ribs, his pelvis, and his shoulder blade. When I met him a year later, thankfully, he had fully recovered and was actually back skiing, but during our conversation, he said something that really got me.

He said, "It actually affected the kids quite badly because I think they just expect me to be there."

This got me thinking about what my role actually is. It is to be there, to be the support structure, to be 'in the slips' to clear things up.

Fast forward a year, and my wife went into hospital with a terrible flare-up of colitis. She was there for five weeks and ended up having a big operation, which took another three months to recover from. I have three kids, and my son has special needs and requires more attention than a typical child. So what would happen if I wasn't there?

Now look, this is all a bit of doom and gloom, and I don't mean it to be, and all of the above sounds quite dramatic, but it makes my point.

Sometimes things happen that make you realise it is your duty to do the absolute best you can to stay healthy. If you want to be the support structure, the spine, you have to have your health, and it needs to be a priority.

In order to do this, it takes some effort, but not so much that it is unachievable. If you can eat well and train three times a week, you are far ahead of most others.

You could also choose to go full send and become one of the elite… now that is where the magic happens! If you want to do either of these things, I am here to help and will happily have a chat about your targets, see box below.

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#3: Whats been happening at Razor Performance

This week I have been tested 🤣. I have been given some very difficult targets with very challenging timescales - ski trips, work trips, hen dos, and family holidays all mixed in. We have two marathon runners and one Hyrox competitor, all with some big old hurdles in the way! I love a challenge though. I will write a bit more about Hyrox in another newsletter.

I have just come off the phone with a client who has reached the six-month point of his training, and I couldn't be happier for him. When we met, he was a little lost in the sea of fitness information, concerned about a lower back issue, and overweight. He needed some help, some support, and a kick in the right direction.

He is now 9 kg lighter, lifting three times per week, eating sustainably (he is South African, so he likes his meat and beer), and his back is causing him no issues. He's also a legend and a dream client who just gets on with it. Top work.

I made the switch to new software to deliver my online training. This was a big decision and a big job, but I am really pleased that I have done it. It will allow me to programme more easily, be much more data-driven, and give a much better user experience. I want my training to be the best out there, so having software that didn’t deliver was not an option.

I will also be adding a few new value adds to the training in the coming weeks, so watch this space.

#5: And finally

If you are stuck in a rut, need help getting your body back to where it has been before, or have an event you are not confident about, please reach out. I am more than happy to have a chat and see if I can help. You may also know someone I might be able to help, so do them a favour and make the connection.

Either book a call using the link below or email me back at this address.

A favour: If this has landed in your junk mail, please remove it and mark it as safe so I can send over more value in the near future.

A second favour: If there is anything you would like to hear more about, please email me back. This newsletter is here to serve, so don't be a stranger.

Andy / Razor

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