Eating yourself into shape

I'm sure many of you have heard the term it's 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. So why is nutrition so important and can you really get yourself into shape from having a great diet.

Based on a regular active person their diet is likely to be evident in ther performance and body composition. Ensuring you have a correct diet will positively reflect on performance as you will have sufficient energy levels and the right amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats in your food to complement your overall physical goal.

Give it a go and try drop a 'bad' food out of your diet a week and see how you get on. This can be as simple as daily biscuits or chocolate, even crackers and cheese.

Out of the blocks, how to set yourself up apply maximum force

Here is a picture of me 'exploding' out the blocks apply pressure to the front pad with full extension.

As you can see from the annotated arrow on the picture the force applied to the pad and arrow that the angle of release is pretty good, yes if you are being picky you could take this to pieces and slightly adjust the angle of the back.

Now to look at the first step and the distance gained.

This picture shows the push out the blocks and the first step.

The key to a powerful block start is getting a solid base on the blocks to push off, you want to apply the maximum force through the front block and drag the rear block foot through too. When I set myself in the blocks I focus on getting the plate of spike pushing, almost curling over the back of the blocks pad. Doing this enables me to apply to have a stable base to exert as much force as I can.

Thinking of it in logical terms when you squat, can you squat more on your toes or applying force through the midfoot... the midfoot obviously and it's the same concept out of the blocks. You want to make use of the work you've been putting in at the weights room, then its essential you apply the forces at the correct angles.

The rear foot drag is significantly important too, you want to keep it low and close to the ground so you can stay low in your drive phase. If you bring it up to your glutes in a cycle you are not only wasting time and distance but you are also bringing yourself into an upright position, loosing your drive phase and the opportunity to maximise acceleration.

Here is a video of the block start with x8 slow motion.

Day 4 - Knowing your body

It's easy to get ahead of yourself and push yourself to go to the gym for that extra session. What can be harder once you've got in to that habit is stoping yourself from over exerting. Managing your body is so important to achieving success and fundamental in performance progression.

Breakfast

Oat Granola (same old, same old)

Morning gym session

Single Leg Jump extension (alternating) on leg press

12 x 50kg

12 x 60kg

12 x 70kg

Front Squat

10 x 80kg

6 x 100kg

1 x 125kg

Military press, elbows in with a straight wrist

10 x 22kg

9 x 22kg

8 x 22kg

8 x 22kg

Alternating arms hammer bicep curls with super set of 30 second sprint arms

10 x 20kg (each arm)

8 x 20kg

8 x 20kg

So after the session took a quick 'selfie' in the mirror to show where I'm at 4 days in. Appologies for poor lighting, next one will be better.

Lunch

Grilled haddock with roasted vegetables

Day 3 - Dusting off the spikes

Quick weight session and track session in the evening.

Gym:

Half Back Squats for power

12 x 120kg

10 x 140kg

10 x 160kg (bar started to seriously flex )

Had to go to full back squats

12 x 100kg

10 x 120kg

8 x 140kg

2 x 150kg (not feeling good technically)

Snatch

12 x 45kg

8 x 55kg

8 x 55kg

6 x 65kg

On the pre workout befor gym.

Lunch was mackerel with watercress, spinach, tomatoes and cucumber.

Snacks, trusty eat natural bars.

Feeling the effects of first running session back. Lactic pains I haven't felt for years, was a good feeling to dust off the spikes though. Technically I'm not too far off, need to increase force application though if I'm going to run anything worth talking about.

1 x 200m (8mins recovery)

4 x 90m (4,5,6 & 8 mins recovery)

1 x 150m 

I will be doing a blog on running technique over the weekend so look out for it.

Day 2 - Rest day and good food

So Wednesday is a rest day for me, ok only second day in and you're like why do you need a rest day. Well I'm at work 8am-6.30pm Wednesday's so it's the best day to have a day off training.

Breakfast was a bowl of granola and a low fat yougurt (ok should try and cut dairy out).

Lunch was roast gammon, potatoes and vegetable assortment (canteen at work is very good).

Snacks were 2 mini eat natural bars and a nâkd bar. Love these gluten free bars, really do taste great.

Dinner was a treat went to Plum Valley in China Town with a mate a and tucked in to a delicious beef and chicken dish sprinkled with desiccated coconut and a spicy creamy sauce. Cannot recommend this place enough, the flavours and fresh tasting dishes they offer there are so pleasing for the palate.

Looking good or lifting well

So I was lifting in the gym the other day and 2 guys came up to me to ask me about my trainers. They had been watching me lift and were amazed at the stability I had when I lifted. I was wearing my Asics Gel Kinsei whilst they were in Nike Air Max's, they had said they felt a lack of stability from the sole when squatting.

So the question is while the Nike Air Max's look good there's no denying that are they really a good shoe for the gym. Honestly I wouldn't do any exercise in them that involved putting weight through the heel, this is from experience (I burst the air bubble in my air max 2012's). Not only did this leave me a bit flat … excuse the pun that a pair of trainers costing way in excess of £100 could be damaged so easily but that my session was also over.

I've had my Asics Gel Kinsea for a year now, personally I think they look great and once you've had a pair you will certainly feel the benefits over your Nike Air Max's when lifting. They are expensive but look for a sale with last seasons colour and you can sometimes find them for about £80.

It's not all doom and gloom for your Nike Air Max's though, the Air Max Thea is light and comfortable. They are a great pair of trainers for Pilates and various circuit training.

So I guess the question you need to ask yourself before going to the gym are you there to train or wear the latest kicks… I know why I go to the gym

Day 1 - Chest, triceps and peanut butter

Hit the gym first thing this morning, helped along by a Hardwell playlist and serving of Muscle Pharm Assault. So the first 2 weeks I will be working in the hypertrophy range (8-12 reps) before dropping  the reps and upping the weight in strength range (4-6 reps) and finally the power range (1-3 reps).

Today was chest and triceps day, the program I did was as follows;

Incline vertical grip dumbbell press (3mins between sets)

12 x 32kg

10 x 34kg

8 x 36kg

8 x 36kg

EZ bar close grip chest press at incline (2mins between sets)

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

Single cable triceps extension, single arm alternate end of reps (1 min between sets)

12 x 7.5 kg

12 x 7.5 kg

12 x 10 kg

12 x 10 kg

Alternate arm vertical grip chest press at incline (2mins between sets)

12 x 26 kg

10 x 32 kg

8 x 32 kg

8 x 32 kg

Sprint arms with 8kg dumbbells 30 second rep with close grip bench press super set keeping elbows in so brush torso on way down (1 min between sets)

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

12 x 60 kg

Protein shake (Myprotein hurricane xs) after workout with 5g of creatine monohydrate and 3 flat table spoons of dextrose.

Hour and half later bowl of oat granola.

Lunch was Mackerel on rocket, spinach, watercress, tomatoes and cucumber with a dribble of chilli olive oil to dress. Glass of stawberry and banana smoothie to accompany too.

Lunch

Snack time, one of my favourite snacks at the moment is gluten free crispbread and peanut butter smothered on top. If you haven't tried this I would suggest you get yourself down to the supermarket now and get some.

Peanut butter and crispbread

Dinner was diced chicken breast, mushroom, tomato and baby new potatoes in a tomato and chilli sauce.

Dinner