dynamic flexibility exercises

More and more research is showing how dynamic flexibility exercises are important for the body.  Dynamic flexibility exercises use muscle movement to increase your range of motion. Typically these exercises – examples include leg and arm swings, side bends, toe touches – are initially performed at low to moderate speeds, with a controlled motion. Gradually, over time you will be able to increase your range of movement, extend further, and increase speed. These dynamic flexibility exercises will aide in short-term flexibility gains through stimulation of the Golgi tendon organs, which are hidden deep in the tendons of the muscle and measure muscle tension to protect it from injury. These organs are likely to over react if not appropriately conditioned and prepared for activity. For example, the knee accelerates forward during running and the muscle tension increases rapidly. The Golgi tendon organ can stimulate a protective/reflexive muscle contraction at the time of rapid stretch/acceleration, this mechanism has been theorized to be the cause of a muscular strain. Dynamic flexibility exercises have a dampening effect on this Golgi tendon complex, making them less reactive during normal activity levels, and without decreasing strength as seen with static stretching. Dynamic flexibility exercises increase muscular flexibility for the short-term through the neuromuscular system and potentially reduce injury through decreasing reflexive muscle contractions.  The issue has always been how to introduce dynamic flexibility exercises into group exercise classes. Well these 2 exercise formats show you how you can do this easily and effectively. The first is with Julio Papi as he teaches a Powerstretch and the second is Vladimir Snezhik peforming his Port De Bras concept.  Feel free to use these routines however you see fit. Dynamic Flexibility Exercises with Powerstretch

Dynamic Flexibility Exercises with Port De Bras

I have 2 full length Mind Body and Stretch DVDs, plus other videos of cutting edge conditioning exercises PLUS a stability ball ebook, millenium stretching ebook AND LOADS MORE waiting for you.

CLICK HERE for more information

The Grade 1 Group Exercise Class

Having just survived my second Ofsted inspection as a college lecturer,  I was amazed at how much I had to prepare in terms of paperwork and also what had to be included in lesson plans for them to be given a grade 1 (outstanding) or 2 (very good), as opposed to a grade 4, which is unsatisfactory.   Then it got me thinking. Could some of the lessons learnt from my college inspection be transferred to the group exercise fitness format to improve my classes and presentations.  Before our inspection we were given an inspector’s guide to the perfect lesson.  So let’s go through this guide and see what we learn from this. The outstanding lesson consist of the following;  Planning  “Teaching is very well planned and all courses have thorough schemes of work”  Lesson to be learnt ;  Make sure that your class is well thought out with logical learning curves and that the class fits in with where you want the participants to go.  For example if you are doing a conditioning class, where do you want them to be in 2 – 3 months time, how many reps should they be doing with what exercises?  Which phase of their training should they be in?   Aims  “The aims of the session are displayed and shared with the students at the start.” Lesson to be learnt; Do your participants know what you expect them to do by the end of the lesson?  Research has shown that participants are more focussed when they know what is expected of them.  Presentation skills  “Teachers are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and the best are inspirational, skilfully imparting their passion to their students.”  Lesson to be learnt; this is a no brainer!  Know your stuff, be a good teacher, and teach your classes with enthusiasm and passion!  Variety of teaching strategies                                              “In the best lessons, teachers use a wide variety of imaginative teaching strategies” Lesson to be learnt: People learn in different ways so try to vary the way that you deliver your material.  Vary how you construct choreography, how you break down your choreography and also think about the different ways of getting your message across, for example use mental and visual images as well as technical instructions  Differentiation  ”In the best lessons, activities are devised that will stretch and challenge the more able students and also enable the weaker students to learn effectively.”  Lesson to be learnt;  Teach to mixed abilities, offer progressions for the level 3 participants but don’t forget the less skilled that need level 1 or 2 options, especially in classes such as step, aerobics and conditioning  Developing learner skills  “Students learn how to be critical and analytical as well as gaining good subject knowledge.”  Lesson to be learnt; I believe that we are educators as well.  So try to educate our class participants into why they are doing certain exercises and how they can improve, especially in conditioning or stretch classes.  By developing our learning curves and the way we teach our freestyle classes our learners will improve their motor skills which is an important part of fitness.  Summation  “Learning is constantly checked and summarised well at the end of lessons” Read more

Interview With Celebrity Trainer Richard Callender

I had the great pleasure to interview the one and only Richard Callender.   As well as being the face of many celebrity fitness workout videos such as The Jordan Workout , Dancing on Ice and Vicky Entwhistle he is an established fitness presenter and now a featured Personal Trainer on ITVs the Biggest Loser. Richard has given some of his valuable time in this interview and he reveals such secrets such as; 1) How he got his lucky break to become an established media expert 2) The keys to his success and how you can benifit 3) The main programs that he is developing and how you can be a part of it. 4) 3 tips to become a more successful fitness expert And lots more!  To listen to this interview please click the link below. Read more

Bum Training

One of the most popular requests that I get from instructors is to provide more bum exercises for their clients.  So here is a snippet from my conditioning course which gives you bum training exercises that you can use for your conditioning classes/ circuit classes or personal training clients.

 Also for those of you that like to include bum training in more choreographed conditioning classes, here is a segment from a good friend of mine, Spanish presenter Sylvia Jane.  This is really good information that you can use straight away.

 

I have loads more conditioning ebooks, videos and exercises for you.  Click here to see what I have for you!

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Step Choreography for You

Here is the complete step choreography from the Fit Fantastic Step day recently.  I had a great time and the routine went really well.  Enjoy

 If you want to see the whole class including full breakdown of this routine then please click here

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