In the gym last week I watched a guy lifting weights whilst standing on a swiss ball for his entire workout.

Unless he was looking to improve his skateboarding skills (which I doubt) there really is no point spending an entire workout balancing.

Don’t get caught up in the fads, for the average person training on your feet with free weights is a much more functional way to train.

95% of people have one goal – to look better naked, spending an hour balancing on a ball isn’t gonna make that happen.

Unless your No.1 goal is to get better at balancing leave this form of training to the circus acts. Balance training is not the most effective way to make you lose weight, tone up or get stronger.

If you want to change your body you have to force it to change, whether you would like lose unwanted weight or increase the size of your muscles you need to lift a heavy enough to force your muscles to adapt – which will in turn make your muscles become leaner and stronger.

If you are standing on 1 leg or trying to balance on something there’s no way you can lift enough weight for this to happen.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying balance training doesn’t have it’s place, but the majority of balance training should be focusing on working the core. The total time spent swiss/bosu ball should only be a small percentage of your entire workout.

Stick with the basics, Always perform large compound exercises, which are exercise’s that use multiple muscles at one time, use free weights standing up and train movement patterns instead of body-parts.
Incorporate everyday movements into you strength training routine where you;

Bend
Lunge
Squat
Push
Pull
Twist

You’ll get significantly better results in a much shorter amount of time!

Train Hard!

Dan Clay

www.dangerouslyfitpersonaltraining.com
www.personaltrainersydney.com

                        

Over the past couple of years kettlebell strength training has become very popular in Australia, recently Ive received quite a few questions regarding the use of kettlebells, people want to know what the benefits are.(Note:You can either perform this exercise for time or reps).I have been using kettlebells myself for the past 2 years and training clients with them for the past 1 year and a half.I love them, virtually all my training takes place outdoors and kettlebells are a great way for me to train quickly and conveniently without the hassle of going to the gym or setting dumbells and weight plates – I literally open up the back of my truck and have an instant gym waiting for me.

So what are the benefits?

Well…firstly kettlebell training will certainly give you the biggest bang for your buck, it must be one of the most effective forms of training for achieving the most out of your workout in the shortest amount of time.

You see the great thing about kettlebell training is it works the body as one unit with killer exposive exercises, these workouts are great for fat burning, toning, mental toughness, flexibility, strength and muscle endurance.

On recent trip to Kangaroo Valley I filmed one of my workouts… here is one of of my favourite exercises – the high pull, clean, snatch and press.

It’s a combination lift working many muscles at once – great for a quick workout and makes a good finisher.

Give kettlebell training a try, I doubt you’ll be rushing back to the gym to stand in queue in a hurry!

Train Hard!

Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit Personal Training
www.dangerouslyfitpersonaltraining.com
www.personaltrainersydney.com
www.bootcampsydney.com.au