December 2020
Well, what a difference a few weeks make! Since my last Post I got caught up in the Avalon/Northern Beaches/Sydney Cluster debacle! I went to my first gig since seeing Cold Chisel back in January of 2020. What a gig to choose! It just goes to show, Covid is staying in our lives for a while to come yet. I have been in the equivalent of the UK Tier 4 Lockdown. I have had to self-Isolate for 2 weeks. A (surfer) friend was in the band performing. Being a Muso, well some would say Muso, as I am a drummer, I wanted to see his band perform and always promised to make a gig. It has turned into a bit of a Nightmare for so many. What Xmas held for some has now disappeared down the gurgler! Luckily, (or maybe by what I did at the gig and maybe food for thought for us), I have dodged a bullet. I think over half the audience has tested positive for Covid. I will get to some Nitty Gritty programming suggestions after my spiel, but I’d would be interested in your thoughts on some of the following comment please.
Maybe it was not luck I dodged the Bullet? I have had two Negative tests and am nearing the end of my 14 day Isolation period as I write (a little more on that in a moment). I have been extremely careful all year. I have slowly been rebuilding my Training business, it is hard. I re-invented and left the gym, as we know gyms, amongst others, keep being at the centre of many Covid outbreaks, the transfer of moisture droplets, and the close proximity, possibly the key elements in making the gyms an often unsafe environment. There were eight gyms at least wrapped up in the latest spread on the Northern Beaches/Sydney.
The self-isolation (or tier 4 equivalent) restrictions have been interesting to say the least, I have had to find ways of coping. I live alone in a small unit, not far from Manly. I was quite lost for the first couple of days. Certainly, I have had to find ways of amusing myself. I negotiated with someone, (who kindly helped by delivery, no contact, to buy an Indoor Cycle Trainer to mount a bike on, I set it up in front of the TV which helped. I have been forcing myself to ride 30-35m every day at 11am when the Covid Press releases happen. I started slowly, as recommended in my last article, but each day has seen an improvement in the resistance I can turn my legs over at.
I can see why the Suicide rate rises in these circumstances; it is not easy. In fact, there was a suicide in my unit block a week before my incarceration. A nice young man in his 20s, who by all accounts was missing family and friends, certainly exacerbated by Covid. Xmas can be a hard time for so many. Feeling lonely he decided to leave us. Like so many, I never saw it coming. So sad. So, if you know of anyone that seems lonely, too insular, maybe just say an extra hello, or tell them the odd bad joke. Sometimes it is the little things that can make a big difference.
I have been tortured by the fact there has been surf. Although I have never seen it as crowded! I would say one Sunday, there might have been 350-440 out at Manly! Bearing in mind we were in Lockdown, this is crazy. I really feel the Govt/Local Council have not thought this through correctly. My thoughts here are not with the Locals, but the visiting Surfers. The Northern beaches has been restricted from moving out of the designated local Zones. Most have been good about this. However, with that amount of people in the water, they were not all locals and hoards are coming in to surf. This means that whilst the locals could not move out, the non-locals still flooded in. One non-local I spoke to (not in person), said, he thought that was ok, because the area he came from was not a risk area… hello, if he had contact with anyone positive, he would have then carried the virus back out to Greater Sydney. So, I think fundamentally, no one really thought this through. The policing should have been enforced BOTH ways. I think the beach front car parking should have been designated ‘N.B. parking permits only’, others fined for disobeying this. For the restricted locals, at least they would have had a much better respite in the surf… yes I know ‘Locals only’, but for a very valid reason (not my old Kirra Surfriders Club Coach residual reasoning, from the 80s lol).
I decided, as some of you know, to take my training outside. The fresh air, a changed training stimulus, sunshine, the ability to easily distance, providing adequate space between clientele, no seated exercise, (where someone can sit in someone else’s sweat), no recirculated air, no dirty equipment in some cases.
I have for myself, and my clients, provided a much safer alternative. I supply hand sanitizer, I have designed a ‘Pop-Up’ gym scenario with adequate spacing for group situations, have a First Aid Kit on hand, and all my clients have been fantastic in a collective orchestration of a safe, non-contact/distanced flow pattern. I have one-one. Two in a group, and Four in a Group scenarios. Where possible, I spend an initial session (sometimes 3) with each new client before I let them join a group. This promotes great exercise technique for the safety of all involved. I always also calculate personalities and try and match people correctly.
Group exercise has its caveats and issues for me. I could have made so much money over the years if I had just taken on clients and just ‘thrown’ them together without thoughts of compatibility or safety. I know PTs who have had more than a dozen clients spread in different parts of the gym at the same time… how can that be providing ‘Duty of Care’? It is difficult to monitor injury concerns with more than a group of 5 in my opinion, but spread them around the gym, where you cannot even see them?
Okay, lets looks t some Nitty Gritty programming. Please remember if you do not know the correct techniques, please get expert help. I certainly would look for someone with Strength and Conditioning qualifications, not just a lower tier Personal Trainer. In Australia, an A.S.C.A. accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (in the USA N.S.C.A., in the UK U.K.S.C.A.)
Do not attempt any of the exercises I am suggesting without acquiring the skills you need to perform them, or you could be risking injury.
Here are some programmes from my Manual,
Workout 1, Traditional
Bulgarian Squat 5 x 6-10 each leg
Deadlift 4 x 6-10
Single Arm Bench Row 3 x 8-12
Bench Pullover 3 x 8-12
Lat Pull Down 3 x 6-8
Dumbbell Bench Press 5 x 6-10
Bent Over Lateral Raise 3 x 10-15
Inch Crunch 3 x max reps
Workout 2, Core Based
Bosu Squat Tri-Combo 5 x 10
Single Legged Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift 4 x 8-12
Superman Dumbbell Row, alternate arm (Parallel to ground) 3 x 6-8
Single Legged Suspension Row (Semi Incline) 3 x 10-12
Pull Up (underhand grip) 3 x max reps
Ball Push Up, alternating leg 3 x 10 (each leg = 20 reps)
Rodell ‘Unwind’ (timed) 3 x Max slow time
Workout 3, Traditional and Core Mix
Squat 5 x 5
Deadlift/ Bent Over Row combination (done in each rep) 5 x 5
Horizontal Bar Pull Ups, feet alternating on Ball 3 x 5 (each leg, reps = 10)
Chin Up (overhand grip) 3 x max reps
Cable or Strength Band Pullover (left and then right leg forward) 3 x 10 (each side)
Traditional Bench Press 5 x 6
Arnold Press Alternating 3 x 10 (each side)
Outside Knee Crossover Hand Tap Traditional Crunch 3 x max reps
Workout 4, Cable/Band/Bosu/Ball Mix
Cable/Band Lunge Row 3 x 8-12 (each leg)
Cable/Band Squat Row 3 x 8-12
Single Arm Pullover, alternate legs 3 x 10 x each arm/leg
Straight Arm Lat Pull (Standing Upright) 3 x 10 (parallel Stance)
Single Arm Chest Press, alternate legs 4 x 8-12 each arm/leg
Single Arm Military Press, {parallel stance}
Bosu Plank lifting alternate leg 3 x 10 L/R (20 reps per set)
Ball Roll Out 3 x 6-10 (max distance with NO back pain or loss of form}
Workout 5, Body Weight. (complexities and Intensities varied)
Roller Dying Cockroach (Adv Arms in the air)
Swiss Ball Alt Leg Lifts/Straighten
Liner/Rotational Progressions into Superman (Adv = in one sequence per rep etc)
Push Up, (Adv Alt Leg Lift on Ball etc)
Lying Underneath Bar Pull Chest to Bar (Adv Alt Leg on Ball etc)
Pull Ups (Regression, Helper Hold and Pushes Feet)
Inch Crunch/Oblique Crunch
Clive Rodell
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