Fitness/Gym

Fitness.

            To be able to take part in any sporting activity it is important that anyone makes an effort to get as fit as possible. Not only is a fit person able to enjoy his or her sporting activity, but also being fit lessens the chances of injury.

            Whilst we have listed many aids to fitness, from Dynabands to Multigyms a dedication to maintaining as high a degree of fitness should be high on a persons training regime. We list below some fitness exercises that are particularly relevant to certain contact sports, which are gratefully attributed to the site www.netfit.co.uk

Fitness Exercises

For best results, combine aerobic exercises such as walking / running with body toning exercises to develop both good muscle tone and also a healthy heart and lungs. Always build time for a warm up and stretch into your workouts, giving your body time to recover and rebuild after your sessions to avoid excessive muscle soreness and enable the benefits of exercise to be fully utilized. One reason that so many people unfortunately give up with their exercise routine is due to sore muscles and no results. The fact that your muscles are sore, will tell you that they have been worked beyond their normal daily routine. Your muscles are generally sore due to the body rebuilding them, to make them stronger to cope with the new exertions your placing upon them via exercise. The results will certainly come, however avoid over training, especially in the early stages, train wisely by not training sore muscles - let your muscles that are sore rest and recovery and work on either your cardio (heart and lungs) or other muscles groups.

Abdominal Exercises

Rectus  abdominis, one of your abdominals originates on the sternum and ribcage and inserts onto your pubic bone. Its primary function is flexion of the trunk, and using the oblique muscles performs rotation at the waist. Having strong abdominal muscles is necessary for all-round body strength, as any lifting using either arms or legs, will make use of the abdominal muscles. These abdominal exercises will help you develop the six-pack that you have always wanted. It is important to remember for those that are aiming to have a well defined mid-section that two key areas will help with this. The first is your genetics - which you can't change, basically if your parents have given you a fat gene, you're got a harder but not impossible task ahead. The second rule to getting a six-pack, which is even more important than the exercise you do, is the food you eat - if your covering your hard work in the gym with your poor work in nutrition, then your never expose your abs.

Back Exercises

Lower back pain is one of the main discomforts affecting adults, resulting in millions of lost working days - and can be simply due to poor muscle strength in the lower back. Lower back pain is often aggravated by poor lifting technique, where the sufferer relies mostly on the muscles of the lower back rather than those of the legs, to lift any given object. The back is made up of many muscles, both deep and superficial. The Trapezius and Rhomboids, working the upper part, Latissimus dorsi, helping the rotators with the mid to lower trunk section, and the Erector Spinae group working the length of the spine longitudinally. Their main functions are to pull your arms back, down, and towards your body, and to help rotate it inwardly. As used for rowing, chinning, or pulling yourself upward or forward with you’re arms. Many people suffer from back problems, due to a weakness in both their lower back muscles and abdominal.

Bicep Exercises

The biceps muscle is the muscle at the front of your upper arm. It is comprised of two muscles, the Biceps brachii and brachialis. These are powerful muscles, which work to flex the elbow joint. The most common exercises to work these muscles are various curls - these can be performed with barbells, dumbbells, or on a machine whichever exercises you perform you should always follow the principals of good weight lifting. As with any muscle, growth will depend upon a number of factors including the exercise you do, your diet, and appropriate rest. To achieve great looking biceps, vary your reps - your weights - method of lifting and your exercises used. It is essential that you give your muscles adequate time to rest, as the rest period is where the muscles are rebuilt by your body - over training can lead to muscle weakness and risk of injury.

Calf Exercises

The calf muscle lies on the back of the lower leg, and is comprised of two muscles, the gastrocnemius and soleus. The primary function of the calf muscles is flexion of the foot, for example when you stand on tiptoes. The Achilles tendon, the largest tendon in the body, connects the calf muscles to the foot. Exercises to build and strengthen this area are performed either seated or standing on a custom built machine. Whichever exercises you perform you should always follow the principals of good weight lifting. As with any muscle, growth will depend upon a number of factors including the exercise you do, your diet, and appropriate rest. Because your calf muscles are often tight or always worked with daily activities, its essential that you spend time warming up and stretching these muscles prior to any weight lifting exercise. For greater gains in calf muscle size and definition, look at working with your feet pointing not just forward in a standard position, aim to also work the inner and outer areas of the calf muscles by pointing your feet either inwards or outwards.

Cardio Aerobic Fitness

Exercise that develops your heart and lungs is called cardiovascular or aerobic fitness. Indeed, many people consider cardiovascular fitness to be the most important component of a workout program. Protecting your heart and lungs is crucial, with cardiovascular illnesses the number one killer in modern society. The range of exercises is vast - everything from running to rowing, skipping to swimming, so read the guidelines to get the low down on the best way to perform the various exercises.
The great thing about cardio exercise is you can generally perform it everyday, as unlike weight training for your muscles, these will need rest to recover and rebuild stronger. With cardio work, if you train smartly then you can train your body to work different muscle groups whilst always working that most important muscle in your body - your heart. Tri-athletes do this well; they will often train on the bike one day, and then run the next with some swimming maybe in between. Aim to vary your cardio in order to improve your all-round aerobic ability, remembering to always listen to your body, so if you feel tired, then maybe take a rest day, or look at what you had to eat the day before.

 Chest Exercises

The Pectoralis major is a powerful chest muscle. It has two main functions - adduction of the arm (bringing the arm in towards the chest) and medial rotation of the arm. The Pectoralis major runs from your sternum (chest bone) to your upper arm, with attachments at either end. Primary exercises for this area are the various presses, such as bench press, and incline press, which can be preformed with barbells, dumbbells, or on a machine. These are strong muscles, and heavy weights can be handled, so it is crucial that whichever exercises you perform you should always follow the principals of good weight lifting. As with any muscle, growth will depend upon a number of factors including the exercise you do, your diet, and appropriate rest. The chest muscle is often an area that is worked extensively by men, however too much training can cause the shoulders to roll forward and inwards due to the tension of the chest muscle fibres. To avoid this appearance and help give your chest a rest, also focus on working the muscles of the back, especially upper back muscles such as the Trapezius and Rhomboids.

Hamstring Exercises

The hamstring muscle is often a muscle neglected during exercise, however for most sports goers, it's essential to develop strong hamstring muscles to help avoid injury. The hamstrings are made up of three muscles, semi tendinosus, and biceps femoris and semi membranosus. They form together the large group of muscles that run down the back of your upper thigh. Their main function is flexion of the leg at the knee joint. It is essential that you warm up and stretch your hamstring muscles prior to performing any sort of strength exercise, as often the hamstring muscles are in a contracted position, such as when driving to the gym. Spending a minimum of 5 - 10 minutes of light exercise such as cycling - jogging will help warm up your hamstring muscles prior to stretching and then your workout - never train cold muscles! It is wise for beginners embarking on training the hamstring muscles with weights to focus on using a lighter weight for higher reps in order to gradually develop muscular strength. Unlike your biceps / triceps where most people can lift similar amounts of weights, there is a massive difference in the strength ratio between your hamstrings and your quadriceps (front thigh muscles) which are much stronger. Simply analysis the word hamstring and you will see the word string - this is basically what your hamstring muscles look like, they are not big and powerful, but long and tendon like.
Always cool down and finish your hamstring workout with some stretching and avoid do further leg exercises such as Squats. If you’re doing a total body or lower body workout, focus on using your hamstring muscles last as this will reduce risk of injury.  

Shoulder Muscle Exercises

The shoulder joint contains a variety of muscles - the three main shoulder muscles are the front (anterior), middle (medial) and rear (posterior) deltoids. These shoulder muscles help bend, extend, rotate and move the arm away from the body.
Due to the vast array of movement that the shoulder muscles perform, it’s worth performing a complete section of different shoulder muscle exercises to maintain all-round strength and good postural alignment. As with all exercise time should be taken to warm-up the muscles and stretch prior and after your routine. With such simple equipment such as a pair of dumbbells, you can perform so many different exercises that will help strengthen and tone the muscles of the shoulder joint. It is important to remember when choosing the correct weight to use for your exercise, especially with dumbbells, that the further you take the weight away from your body’s midline, the heavier it will feel. Aim to start with lighter weights, increasing the number of repetitions you can perform before increasing the weights. Always make sure that all locking collars are fully clasped on the weights, especially if using them to lift overhead

Thigh

The quadriceps (quads) is made up of four muscles on the front of the thigh. They all share the tendon that encloses the kneecap (the patella tendon), which attaches to the top of the shin. Their main function is to extend your lower leg (bring forward) especially in exercises such as sprinting. It is important to always warm-up the muscles prior to exercise, so some simple cycling on a light resistance will encourage blood flow through the muscles, which will assist with stretching. There are a number of different exercises to work the lower body muscles, with the most popular being the Squat. For persons looking at exercising for weight management, then performing exercises such as the squat will greatly aid any weight loss program.
The general rule for performing squats is never to let your knees travel over your toes - so if you look down at your feet in the lowering phase, you should always be able to see your toes.

Tricep Exercises

The triceps are situated the entire length of the back of the upper arm, making up approximately two thirds of the upper arm. Their main function is to extend the forearm, as in a backhand in tennis, and also aid to bring the arm in towards the body.
Prior to performing any tricep exercise, you should first warm up and stretch the muscles. Simple but effective exercises such as the tricep dip will help tone up the saggy under arm effect that a lot of people wish to tighten.

Our range of footwear is very extensive and includes shoes from the following manufacturers, Asics, New Balance, Adidas, Brooks, Saucony, MBT, FitFlops, Reebok, Springboost, Mizuno, Hi-Tec and Puma.