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After years of training for distance running and triathlon as a teenager I developed a repertoire of training sessions that improve cardiovascular fitness rapidly. It’s now thirteen years later and I still can’t believe that the fitness industry is so far behind sport science in teaching people to apply basic principles to improve their cardiovascular fitness. The sessions I learnt in the 90s are still some of the best and well known methods to improve aerobic fitness. Here are the 4 basic sessions that EVERYONE should be doing to improve their cardiovascular fitness:

Milo of Croton was a wrestler of note who lived in the sixth Century BC. It is said that the great wrestler once lifted a 4-year-old bull on his shoulders, roasted it and ate it all in one day. Impressive, no? What I find most impressive about this story is how Milo was able to train and develop the strength to carry the bull. The tale goes that every day from when the calf was born, Milo would go out and lift the calf. As the calf grew so did Milo’s strength. Modern sport scientists would call this a perfect example of progressive overload in training. No doubt, modern day animal activists would probably have something to say as well! It is amazing what can be achieved when the sum of years of training is accumulated. Recently, the performance of two of my clients gave me pause to reconsider that we all have to start somewhere but eventually everyone can achieve great results over time.

As a trainer with a strong background in exercise science and exercise physiology I take a slightly different approach to exercise. Basically, I use exercise prescription to improve someone’s health. Through exercise prescription we can treat people of all ages and a variety of health ailments in a very specific way. In effect, exercise becomes medicine.

In this more medical approach the ‘dose’ of exercise is adjusted through it’s intensity, volume, duration, regularity and modality.

Here are my top five tips for clients regardless of whether they are exercising for weight loss, cardiovascular health, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, mental health, to limit the effects of ageing to decrease stress or if they just want to be in better health then they currently are:

On the weekend I was invited to attend an Ocean Swim by my good friend, Chris Jonson. Chris is a member of the Coogee Surf Club and had been approached by the Club to gather some competent swimmers for an ocean swim to Wedding Cake Island in support of Triple M star Gus Worland.

Strength Training 101:

I’ve blogged before about the 4 sessions everyone should be doing to improve their cardiovascular fitness. This week I take a look at the basics of strength training and give my top tips for putting together an effective training program. First of all, I feel it is important to point out why strength training is important. Strength or resistance training promotes muscle cell growth (hypertrophy), increases bone density, prevents muscle wastage with age (sarcopenia) and bone loss with age (osteopenia and osteoporosis). Resistance training has been proven to be beneficial for people of all ages and genders. The difficult part is knowing what to do and how much of it to do. Here is a great starting guide:

I could not wait to write this blog post. It’s been a pretty exciting weekend:

One of the great perks of being a personal trainer is seeing people achieve something they never thought they could or would. This weekend I experienced that feeling no less than 3 times. Stavroola Anderson and Nigel Janson are two clients of mine who took part in the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon on Sunday Morning and Claire Moran has been working with me to improve her speed to increase her chances for selection in the NSW State Touch Football Team. Claire had her final trial on Friday and I received the first of my 3 excited text messages from her on Saturday:

This Saturday is the inaugural “Accidental Runners” 5km event. I have organised this event to provide a supportive and encouraging first step for inexperienced runners to move into social and perhaps, eventually, competitive running. It is targeted towards novice runners and clients who have never competed in a running event before. Some of my more talented clients will also be joining us to support and lead the newest of the “accidental runners”. This means there is no better time to write a blog with my top 10 tips for preparing for an event:

I don’t think I’ve ever had 2 more nervous clients in the week leading up to the inaugural Accidental Runners 5km – and understandably so. I have tremendous respect for anyone who is willing to step out of their comfort zone and to take on your first 5km race is no mean feat. I’m not sure if either of them thought when I first suggested that it was time to take on a challenge that we would actually follow through with it. So understandably, there were some very nervous conversations and training sessions in the final couple of weeks before the race.

With a lot of my clients currently preparing for the City2Surf I thought it would be pertinent to pass on some of my advice as a former distance runner turned sprinter on some of the do’s and don’ts of the world’s most popular fun run.

I first competed in the City2Surf when I was 16. I was fortunate to enough to be sponsored by the Department of Sport and Recreation and it was quite the adventure travelling to Sydney for the first time by plane from Gunnedah.

That year I made a lot of mistakes but still managed a great time of 51mins 15secs especially when I enjoyed the luxury of a preferred start position. The race record is 40mins 3secs set by Steve Moneghetti in 1991 (see picture above). Since then I have run the race a further 5-6 times with all times under 60mins. I think running under 60mins from the back of the pack is harder than 51min from the preferred start line! It’s not easy running on the gutter for 14km to avoid the crowds and prams. That said, if you know a few tricks you can save yourself a lot of time and energy. Here is my breakdown of how to run a strong City2Surf time: