How Strong is Strong Enough?

How strong is strong enough? 

It's a question that is often asked by athletes, coaches and recreational gym users since we started lifting to get stronger. My answer to this is a simple question back to you, what do you need to be strong for? 

If you are a Strong Man/Women or a Powerlifter then you need to be as strong as you possibly can. A lot sports require a near maximal level of strength but not an absolute maximum as other factors such as endurance, skill and weight categories come into play that will impact the need or ability to achieve maximal strength. 

That being said, being strong definitely has it's benefits in everyday life as well as in a sporting context. Simple things such as carrying shopping or opening a jar of jam are easier, DIY tasks and general labouring are less of a chore! There are also many health benefits from being stronger too;

• A more robust immune system
• Greater bone density to off set osteoporosis
• Greater muscle mass for a higher metabolic rate
• Less risk for falling and injury
• Easier to get up after a fall (for the older individual)

There are some general guides that coaches use in order to get their athletes lifting to a level that will enhance their sporting performance and power output; I have listed these below (please note that this is just one of many variations to these guidelines and that these are minimum standards and are for your general information).

Back Squat:   Men 2 x BW       Women 1.5 x BW
Power Clean  Men 1.5 x BW    Women 1.2 x BW
Deadlift          Men 2.5 x BW    Women 1.8 x BW
Bench Press  Men 1.5 x BW    Women 1 x BW
Pull Up           Men + 0.5 x BW Women + 0.3 x BW

So, back to our original question and we must also consider what the goals of most recreational athletes and gym users are too? For most of us, being able to shift our own body weight i.e. chins and dips or lift our body weight on a barbell i.e. squats, deadlifts or bench press would be considered an achievement. 

CrossFit/HIIT/Grit type workouts and WOD's have certainly got Olympic type lifts and their variations into mainstream gym culture. More people are using free weights, especially barbells and this is a good thing. 

There is a downside to this set up though in my opinion, and that is that these workouts are mainly delivered in a class format that is quite set in it's delivery. This in itself is no issue for most people, in fact to large extent this is a key factor in their success. However, being able to set your own timetable and choose the workouts that suit your schedule is important for some, me included. 


With this in mind I have set up a Facebook Group that provides workouts, challenges and training plans along with some general lifestyle advice. This Group also allows for the sharing of knowledge, training experiences and workouts too. 

To find out more you can email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net or visit my Facebook Page Get Coached which has links to set up your membership to the Closed Group "The HIIT Works by Get Coached". 

Self Discipline

Self discipline and consistency are traits that will enable you to hit your training targets and goals. But what exactly is meant by self discipline and consistency?

I have often heard of and read about Personal Trainers who “need your total commitment” or they can’t or won’t work with you. PT’s who need your every calorie consumed accounted for and every session completed logged and annotated with no flexibility or lenience.

Self discipline, consistency and commitment

This is all important stuff and progress needs to be tracked and monitored in order to measure the improvements made or to provide the feedback for changes to the programme if no progress is made.

However, having “Self Discipline” will mean something different to different people, and that’s OK. For some it will be a strict regimen as mentioned above and that will be what keeps you on track and moving forward. For others, it will be little things like only having one biscuit from the tin or a smaller portion size each meal; it may be training goals and targets being hit, maximum effort being given every session or seeing the physical changes in your body.

We all have our version of what self discipline is, sometimes that may not fit with your goals and you will need some guidance and support in redefining these behaviours. This may come from within or from an external source such as your Personal Trainer; however these behaviours are modified, changed or evolved they must become a consistent habit, a permanent change and that is where the true act of self disciple lies.

Make a change a consistent habit and a permanent change

In my opinion self discipline ensures that a change in behaviour becomes habit, that a change in your eating habits becomes a positive and ongoing lifestyle choice for example. Having self discipline ensures that these changes stick and become the new normal.

We are halfway through the first month of 2018, your enthusiasm is still high and you are all set up to achieve your New Year resolutions! This is great and l know that you will all endeavour to hit your targets squarely on the bullseye!

Hit your targets and achieve your goals

I want to offer a little help here and say that most people who achieve their goals have a plan, they map out what it is they want to achieve and tick off the milestones as the small goals on their journey to their target are passed. So set up a plan, map out your journey and be in no doubt you are best prepared to achieve your goals!

• Be consistent with your self discipline
• Stick with it!
• Don’t set unrealistic goals
• Use SMART Goals throughout
• Have a plan
• To state the obvious - STICK WITH THE PLAN!
• Let the plan evolve and grow

Thanks again for reading my blog if you managed to get this far! Please feel free to like my Facebook page Get Coached where you can also get in touch via messenger or you can email me on tsilvester@getcoached.net

Us Ageing Athletes

I have written several short articles as well as shared some good posts on training as we age. It is an important topic as we are living longer and learning more about how much we can still actually do as we age rather than follow old tradition and accept that as we age we become useless and decrepit.

This is quite a mindset change for those already in their later years, it’s not too late for this demographic but it is harder to make the necessary changes to mind and body. If those who are moving through their 40’s and 50’s now are not already active and training then it is time to get moving. It is not too late and changes can be made. Those who are even younger have more to lose and can also make greater gains. Any activity at any age is better than none, but the right activity for your age will be far more productive.

It is during our 40’s and 50’s that our lives tends to be the busiest in terms of work and family. Climbing the career ladder, running around after our children as glorified taxi drivers and supporting them as they move through their teenage years in growing up and studying hard.

Finding time for ourselves can be a challenge, and if we want to continue to be able to support our families and have the energy to progress our careers then we need to keep ourselves fit and healthy.

This can be different from the training we may have done in our 20’s when how we looked or how we performed in our chosen sport was the priority. Now we need to consider what we can still do as well as what our training and lifestyle goals are too. Keeping mobile, fit and healthy must come higher on the priority list than washboard abs and bulging biceps. That said, this is still possible too with the right training programme and determination.

As I’ve said before we lose muscle at an ever increasing rate as we age, our metabolism slows down and we take longer to recover during and from training sessions. With this in mind it is clear that there are certain training goals that should be part of the programme irrespective of the individual’s personal goals or preferences.

• Train to keep and gain muscle mass
• Take appropriate recovery and rest between exercises and training sessions
• Ensure appropriate nutrition for lifestyle goals and training aims
• Employ both steady state and high intensity conditioning training methods
• Listen to your body!

Training to maintain or gain muscle mass can be achieved by progressive overload of those muscles. That overload can be in the form of an increasing resistance or load, an increase in repetitions or a decrease in rest time. For high intensity conditioning Tabata or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) would be most appropriate. This includes Les Mills Grit, Crossfit and Metafit type training.

Stretching and mobility work is essential as we age to maintain joint range of motion, Yoga and ensuring as full a range of movement as possible when exercising will help in this too.

There are some great Master’s programmes and groups out there, Crossfit does this well as do many bodybuilding and weightlifting clubs and organisations.

However, this may not be for you and you may wish a more flexible or bespoke approach. If you want more specific help and advice on any aspect of your training plan then please do not hesitate to contact me on tsilvester@getcoached.net or via my Facebook page Get Coached.

A Health & Fitness Rant!

This is going to be a bit of a rant!

I have been involved in the fitness industry in one way or another for over 30 years now and have seen many changes over those years, but also and disappointingly so, no changes in certain key areas as well.

Let me start by saying that this is a great industry to work in, and I wouldn't still be involved if I didn't love what I do. However, it is also very frustrating on many levels and this is my rant! I would like you to see it as also a question and obviously these are my own opinions. I acknowledge that I am not the most knowledgeable or experienced PT out there, but I do strive to be as good as I can be though, and I’m always looking to learn.

"Always looking to learn"

One of my biggest frustrations is the ongoing lack of coaching standards in the industry. Active IQ have gone a long way towards improving this area of concern and their courses are going a long way to upping the standard of coaching and quality of knowledge within the fitness industry.

That being said I still see really poor coaching practice, shabby programmes and inappropriate exercise choices. PT clients and gym members are being let down badly here, the image of the industry is getting damaged and we being seen as unprofessional and ill informed with a real lack of depth in our knowledge.

"PT Clients & gym members are being let down"

People are leaving college courses not knowing how to coach basic exercises, having no understanding of simple anatomy or exercise physiology or even being able to engage in a conversation with a potential client. University graduates with relevant industry degrees have the necessary theory but very little or no practical coaching experience.

People have been training since before Milo first lifted the calf, there is very little that is new in the Health and Fitness industry in terms of strength or fitness training. Yes we are able to monitor and record progress more accurately with modern technology. We are more informed with regards to nutrition and how it impacts our bodies. We can periodise training programmes and tailor them to our clients individual needs to be more effective and goal oriented. Essentially though, we haven't changed much as human beings in that we still have the same basic anatomy and physiology as Milo, yes some of the goals may have changed and the reasons for training may have changed too. So why are we  trying to write over complicated programmes, take nutrition and dietary plans to extreme and even dangerous levels? We need to stop trying to impress our customers and clients with complicated programmes and fancy design layouts, keep it simple and on task.

"We haven't changed much as human being"

Social media allows us to share a huge amount of great knowledge and communicate with people we may never actually speak to or meet. However, it also means that some of that shared information can be either misleading or wrong; whether this is done deliberately or unintentionally doesn't matter, someone will be affected by it.

Social media also allows people to promote themselves and their businesses which is great (I do), but to be honest there are some really shallow, self centred and narcissistic individuals out there who's only focus is themselves.

Fortunately the gym I am currently based at doesn't have any individuals fitting this description. Now this narcissistic self promotion may appeal to certain people and their need to be “that person”. However, for a large percentage of the population it will only be off putting and serve to further damage the industry's reputation as being full of self interested, and vacant but buff bodied individuals.

"Narcissistic self promotion"

Another major frustration of mine lies in the effort people put into their training versus the results they expect to get.

I know that everyone has different goals, different training abilities and varying levels of fitness but please don't turn up at the gym or class to train and then sit on your phone or chat, blocking kit from being used or taking up a class space that someone who does want to work could use.

Don't expect to get results if you are not going to put in the effort, don't blame someone else for your own lack of hard work.

Train as hard as you can, this might be more or less than the next person and that's fine. It's not a competition with them, it's about being the best you.

If you train to look good then train hard and get messed up in the gym and you will look better out of the gym.

If you want to physically change your body then you will need to be consistent in your training and work hard enough to elicit the changes you want.

"Be consistent in your training"

So, rant more or less over! This is a great industry and I have enjoyed and continue to learn my time as a gym instructor, gym manager, gym user and now personal trainer. We need to continue to improve ourselves and our industry and to educate our customers and clients so that we all benefit and achieve the goals we set ourselves.

You can reach me on Facebook via my page @getcoached.net and FB messenger, and via email on tsilvester@getcoached.net

Why Do HIIT Workouts?

High Intensity Interval Training has become a popular, mainstream training mode that offers many benefits both for fitness and health.

“Why should I do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)?”

I have written about HIIT workouts before, Olympic Lifts & HIIT and Train Less For More but here I want to go into a little more detail on what it will do for your body's fitness, strength and health.

Let’s start by defining what a HIIT workout is - High Intensity Interval Training involves short periods of hard work with short rest or recovery intervals in between.

HIIT has also been called HIIE (High Intensity Intermittent Exercise) or SIT (Sprint Interval Training) with this latter version associated more often with field sports conditioning or cardiovascular training.

HIIT is very anaerobic in nature and will certainly challenge you but it is a shorter workout in general than most set and rep type sessions.

“Can I build muscle doing HIIT workouts?”

Absolutely! Have you seen some of the Crossfit athletes? These guys are in good shape and the majority of their workouts are HIIT based. As long as your muscle is put under appropriate training stress to overload it with resistance of some kind then it will adapt and grow. HIIT will not elicit maximal hypertrophy, to achieve this you will need to follow a specific training programme with good appropriate nutrition as well.

Progressive Overload is a training principle that has been around and understood for a long time. Milo of Croton, a 6th century Greek wrestler lifted a newborn calf onto his shoulders and repeated this every day as the calf grew until some 4 years later Milo was lifting a bull!

This is a story that is often used as an anecdote to progressive loading and can be applied to traditional strength and hypertrophy training as well as HIIT and Crossfit type workouts.

“Can I get fitter as well as stronger doing HIIT workouts?”

Definitely! HIIT will place a huge demand on your cardiovascular system as well as generate large amounts of lactate. This will increase lactate tolerance and raise your lactate threshold too; both of which are important for improving anaerobic fitness.

Using resistance such as barbells, dumbells as part of your HIIT workout will help increase your strength endurance, boost your metabolism and increase your calorie burn!

"What are the health benefits?"

HIIT workouts have been shown to help reduce the risk of metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular and coronary artery disease as well as atherosclerosis. There is also evidence that HIIT can increase arterial elasticity which decreases with age.

“Should I only do HIIT workouts?”

Not necessarily, you can as there is enough variety in HIIT to ensure you don't get stale, bored or stop adapting to the training.

However, HIIT can also be incorporated into a strength or endurance workout plan as well and in fact will add considerably to both. It is an extremely versatile way to train as the equipment you use varies, there are body weight options if travelling for business or pleasure and you don't need a huge amount of space for most of the workouts!

“How will I stay motivated if they are so tough?”

The great thing about most of the HIIT workouts is that they have some sort of target. This is usually in the form of working out for a set time i.e. 40s work 20s rest for 10 sets so you know of you have to keep moving during the work efforts; another example would be having a set number of reps to complete as quickly as possible for the given exercises i.e. 15, 12, 10, 8, 5 of each exercise.

Seeing your times come down or your reps increase will keep you motivated as it shows you are definitely getting fitter and stronger!

So you can see that there are many options, variations and benefits from HIIT workouts and that you don't have to make many changes to your current workout plan in order to incorporate them.

To find out more about HIIT and how to plan your training Get in touch with me on tsilvester@getcoached.net or to get more HIIT workouts and challenges subscribe to my closed Facebook group The HIIT Works by Get Coached via my Facebook page Get Coached

It's Easier Than You Think.....

No seriously, it really is!

If you are not as fit as you would like to be then getting fit (fitter) can be a daunting challenge. Especially if you've had a quick look of Facebook or Instagram for some inspiration and come across pictures of unbelievably toned and muscled young men and women who are portraying the latest training routine, fitness trend or product!

However, rest assured that most of these guys and girls are models and do this for a living!

It is also important to understand that Rome wasn't built in a day, so take that first step of many and begin your fitness journey now. If not, then a year from now I guarantee that you’ll wish you had so do your future self a favour!

Regrets are no use to anyone

Doing a ten minute walk every day is way better than doing nothing, you are lapping those people sitting on the couch! Step by step literally, on the road, the treadmill or the stepper gradually build up the time and distance that you walk for.

I really can't emphasise this enough but it is really is easier than you think. If you are not sure what to do in the gym then speak to a gym instructor or a personal trainer to show you how to use the gym equipment and to get a programme developed for you.

It should be a simple programme to start with and should address any issues or needs highlighted during the initial consultation such as postural or movement deficits. For most people this means some specific exercises and gentle stretching.

Simple but thorough consultation and programming

Your programme will gradually evolve over the weeks and months ensuring you remain motivated and heading towards your goals and targets.

A good personal trainer will also look at other aspects of your life and advise on any changes that will improve your overall wellbeing. This may be to improve your nutrition & hydration, aid sleep, reduce stress or improve your skin quality.

Here are some simple guidelines below:

• Drink more water
• Reduce caffeine intake
• Eat less processed foods
• Eat more fruit, vegetables and salads
• Sleep consistently i.e. go to bed at a similar time every night
• Be more active as in move more often (take the stairs rather than the lifts, walk at lunchtimes, get up and walk a short distance between work breaks)

These are only some generic points, your personal trainer should devise a tailored individual plan for you based on your specific needs and goals.

If you don’t have access to a local personal trainer or are unsure what is involved then please feel free to get in touch with me  via email at tsilvester@getcoached.net for a FREE Lifestyle Consultation.

Visit my Facebook page @getcoached.net or Instagram tsilvester67

Olympic Lifts and HIIT Workouts

I’ll start by saying I know that I’m going to upset some purists on both sides of the fence!

Sorry guys but this is already out there in classes and workouts, I am just giving my views and opinions on how the Olympic Lifts can be used within HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) type workouts.

Grit by Les Mills, Crossfit and various other HIIT or circuit class's use variations of the Olympic lifts in their programmes to great effect. Crossfit in particular uses barbell exercises very well and has made the more traditional lifts popular again.

So let's put this in perspective here, for those of you that feel putting these lifts into a class is a disgrace then consider this; the majority of the people that attend these classes are not looking to lift seriously (in terms of loading up the Olympic lifts or competing) and just want a good whole body workout that leaves them feeling challenged and satisfied at the end of the class. Those that are lifting for sporting gains will seek out a qualified Strength & Conditioning coach and those looking to be competitive Olympic lifters will join a weight lifting club to get expert coaching.

So why are these lifts becoming more popular in mainstream health clubs and included in gym workouts and classes more frequently?

Well the various elements of the Olympic lifts and the full lifts themselves are whole body, multi-joint compound movements that engage a lot of fast twitch muscle thus having a high calorific expenditure, a big metabolic boost effect, high EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption) as well as various other health & fitness benefits. They are fast, explosive and energy sapping; ideal for a HIIT workout!

• Multi Joint - The movement uses more than one joint in the body i.e. the squat involves the ankle, knee and hip joints
• A Compound exercise is an exercise that elicits multi joint movement such as deadlifts or military press
• Fast twitch muscle fibres are our high energy muscle fibres that enable powerful, fast movement.
• Our metabolism is the rate at which our bodies use energy or calories. Our BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) is the energy we use to live, digestion, breathing, heart beats etc
• Activity increases our metabolic rate as does an increase in muscle mass. Our metabolism can remain elevated for several hours after intense activities
• This is also linked to EPOC where intense activity has increased our metabolic rate and as such the amount of oxygen required by the body post activity
• HIIT can reduce the risk of metabolic disease such as diabetes,  cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular diseases
• HIIT can decrease age related arterial stiffness
• HIIT can increase insulin sensitivity
• Correct technique is still crucial, this will ensure that the exercise is safe and effective. Even with a lighter load there is a risk of injury (as with any exercise) if executed poorly.

The benefits are fantastic though, having coached Grit, delivered S&C to various athletes up to Olympic and Paralympic level and used them in my HIIT Works programmes I can assure you of their effectiveness.

I hope you found this motivational?

There are several options for you to find out more/get more from your HIIT workouts;
You can you our HIIT Works closed Facebook group @TheHIITWorksbyGetCoached or email me at tsilvester@getcoached.net or go to www.getcoached.net/the-hiit-works
Well there you have it, enjoy and unleash your inner athlete!