Your 12 Week Personal Training Plan by Greg Brookes, Certified London Personal Trainer

Less than a month to go before Christmas and you should be feeling proud of yourself and your achievements. Try to spend some time relaxing, practice some meditation, thinking about absolutely nothing. Stand up straight with a good posture and hands by your sides, breath deeply through your nose and then mouth. This will help energize your system and promote Chi, the natural energy system that flows around your body. Half an hour to an hour of self meditation will relax the mind and body.

Week 10: Flexibility

Simulate movement patterns

In daily life we move in many directions including bending, twisting, lunging and squatting. When stretching and preparing for exercise it is vitally important to replicate the movements that you are going to be performing during that activity. Some people spend 5 minutes on a piece of cardio equipment like a bike or treadmill and then perform some general stretches before beginning their exercise programme. Often the body still hasn't gone through any of the movements that are going to be performed during that particular activity. Dynamic warm up exercises offer a much better alternative to the conventional options and are time saving too. These exercises will not only warm up the body and prepare the nervous system for exercise but can be designed to replicate the exact movements used during that particular exercise programme. For example a small circuit of body squats, lunges, body twists, pushes and pulls can prepare the body for exercise in only 5 minutes.

Once you have completed your dynamic warm up you can address all those muscles that have been identified as being tight (see week 6). It is important to balance the body before commencing exercise, trying to perform a squat with one tight hamstring or glute muscle can often lead to misalignments and compensations throughout the entire body. If you know that you have a tight chest and are going to be performing a number of push ups then ensure that the chest is stretched first so there is adequate range of movement before the exercise begins.

Muscle energy techniques (MET's)

Once you have completed your workout, whether it is cardio or resistance, it is a good time to address all those tight muscles again while they are warm. MET's were developed from Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF), developed in the late 1940's. An MET uses an isometric contraction of the target muscle before the stretch is applied. Unlike a PNF technique the MET only requires a isometric contraction of 30% of the total effort. Isometrically contacting the target muscle prior to the stretch activates the Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO), which in turn stimulate an autogenic inhibition response which creates the necessary level of relaxation in that muscle to allow it to be stretched. An example of an MET on the chest muscles would involve the following:

a) Chest muscle is stretched against a wall to the point of bind for 20-30 seconds. b) Then staying in the same position an isometric contraction is placed onto the chest muscle for 10 seconds at 30% of the total force. c) The stretch is then repeated. Complete the cycle 3 times d) Deep breathing will aid in the stretching especially a deep breathe out as the stretch is applied e) The stretching process should always finish on the stretch NOT the contraction

A cautionary note

If you have any back, neck, bone or joint problems consult your doctor before beginning a stretching program. No stretching routine should be painful. Pain indicates either incorrect technique or a medical problem. If in doubt, ask a qualified health professional.

Next Week: Resistance training