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core strength

throw those weights away....THIS is how you build core strength!

Personal_trainer_showing_a_clien-2.jpg
 
Lol at hyjak - that pic says it all :)

My PT is really into core work - partly because I told him I want to get better at rockclimbing, so he's going all out to improve my core strength. So today we did Dumbbell chest press while lying on a fitball. I thought about this thread... what would Markos say about that?? Because before his newsletters came along I thought it would be an OK exercise.
 
The guy in my gym with the overall best physique does dumbell presses on a ball.

I say he's got the best physique because while maybe a dozen others have got bigger arms or chests, he has legs to match - he's a former runner, now cyclist - and unlike most of us blokes in the gym he's pretty lean, I'd guess around 10% body fat. He's very much in proportion, and has both strength and fitness.

He does the presses on a ball for his core strength, and says it helps him a lot with the long cycle rides, bent over the bars.

Now, he didn't get that great physique from the ball, but still. That's what he does.

I would think that for the rockclimbing, having good overall strength would be more important than core? Squats to help you push up the rock, chins to help you hold onto it...? I wouldn't really know, though, I've not done much of it.
 
I am not an ignorant pleb and I have a PT. Just because someone is a PT doesn't mean that they focus on fads.

Aren't you essentialy a PT but without the piece of paper?

Gday Bree. I'm not a PT and I dont train any clients one on one. I'm a strength and conditioning coach. The gym generally has anywhere from 4 -12 lifters in it at any one time.

Regardless of what people want, I train them to get stronger. Gyms are for lifing weights to get strong. If you want to lose fat, stop eating the food that made you fat.

Far too many people put a high caloric cost on exercise. It is minimal, around 300 calories per hour. A medium fries at Mickey Dees.

Now whats easier, dont eat the chips or bust your ass for an hour in the gym. Not fluff like 99% of women do in gyms, I mean lift heavy objects off the ground and press them overhead.

Now I have around 5-7 PT's training at PTC at any one time. They come to learn. After doing one session at PTC you quickly realise you know f u c k all and you best get up to speed.

I even have a gym owner travel 45 minutes to my gym to train, as does one of his PT's. Three PT's from that gym train or have trained at PTC. He even hired one of my clients as a PT because he has much more knowledge about getting people stronger, leaner, fitter than anyone who has learnt their stuff from books.

These PT's talk about their clients all the time, they tell me they cant wait to get away from them. You dont like the name pleb. Call them what you want.

My clients travel up to an hour, in the cold, rain, hail, to lift in a garage. Some do that 6 days a week.

Obviously, I must be doing something very different.

Now Bree, if you could please help me, post up your weight, training period, and how much you can squat, deadlift, clean, bench press and overhead press.......on free weights. I want your beep test score and your time over 20m.

I do this simply to compare the progress of my girls against others. Seeing I dont frequent commercial gyms, this is the only field work I do.

If my girls are lagging, I look at ways to speed up their progress. I always give value for money.

If you dont do these exercises or are not trying to get strong, which is the sole purpose of a gym, then my original comment is valid.

thanks for your co operation
 
Ahhh, so you are more of an instructor than a PT?

Don't expect any form of respect when you talk to people like they are idiots.

I can deadlift 120kg these days. I have had to back off and start doing some rehab work as my job has been causing some problems with my back. Also have achilles tendons that are twisted 90 degrees, and because of this I was getting stuck squatting 80kg before the lack of flexibility caused me to lose balance because i was shifting the weight. Because I don't want to squat unless I do a full squat, I am undergoing some excruciating weighted stretches to get more flexibility. And I'm please to say I am getting there. But I guess with your one size fits all solution, I wouldn't have kept progressing so would have been a waste of time.

I am 155cm tall and weigh 60kg. And I have lost 25kg and kept it off for five years, so don't give me your crap about how nothing works except your way.

What the hell makes you think because I am a woman and I train in a gym and heaven forbid have a PT that all I do is fluff? He kicks my arse over all the cardio I do, I know it frustrates him because it affects my lifting ability, but he also understands that for me flogging myself on a spin bike is my stress relief and we find ways to work with it.

And I can understand why most PTs are annoyed by their clients. They get frustrated that people don't listen and follow their guidelines. I work in sales and sometimes I would love to punch my customers in the head, but that is not the case all the time, with everyone.

Once I have proved my flexibility and aren't driving 400kms a day, I will start with cleans. Looking forward to it, because my trainer makes me want to do well, and encourages me. he doesn't feel the need to put down others who disagree and is always willing to discuss the pros and cons of all forms of exercise, regardless of his preferred method.
 
I wasnt looking for respect Bree, just stating my philosophy

Glad your happy with your PT and results. Nice work, keep it up.
 
I work in sales and sometimes I would love to punch my customers in the head, but that is not the case all the time, with everyone.

Maybe I should have gone for a forum ID that concealed my identity more before making this statement...
 
I wasnt looking for respect Bree, just stating my philosophy.

Marko, I really like a lot of what you say, it's just how you say it that is the problem (what a girl thing to say). The way you write is intimidating and for most women to read your statements about spewing when training, etc, it is more likely to alienate them than encourage them to use weights.

Let's take Body Pump. I hate it. But if it gets women to do resistance training, to gain strength and advantages such as increase bone density, then it serves a really important purpose. And if it sparks their interest and gives them confidence to start learning about heavier lifts, then even better.

I've worked in a women's gym and I found it to be as frustrating as all hell. But with understanding and education, bit by bit trainers were able to get even 60 year old women lifting weights. Nothing big, but something.
 
Marko, I really like a lot of what you say, it's just how you say it that is the problem (what a girl thing to say). The way you write is intimidating and for most women to read your statements about spewing when training, etc, it is more likely to alienate them than encourage them to use weights.

Actually that's a good point, bree. I get turned off every time I hear mention of vomit... call me a wuss but I just don't wanna go there with exercise.
 
I will try and be nice, so if this post seems abrasive, please understand its not my intent.

WTF is resistance training. Seems to me its a Jane Fonda abbreviation of the original PROGRESSIVE RESISTANCE training. If your not trying to get stronger, youre getting weaker.

Now the vomit. When PTC first started, there was a couple of boards missing out of my fence due to the kids playing basketball.

From the very first session, lifters who had previously trained elsewhere had tried to keep up with some of the people who were already lifting at my place when it was free.

There ego got the better of them and they pushed till they puked. Good on them for trying. I dont make anyone puke. The lifter can stop at anytime.

People here the word cardio and have a preconcieved idea of what it means. My cardio sessions are insanely hard. People vomit.

About 4 months ago the vomit stopped. Lifters became fitter, and the hole was patched up. There have only been a handful of episodes in the last 4 months.

Nina, Max, Nick etc have never vomited, but they are amongst my fittest, strongest and hardest training lifters

During my Strongman comps, half the field vomits, in my pond, laundry, kitchen, but never in my gym.

Plenty of people marvel at the progress make and female lifters make at PTC. We train very hard. Very hard. Its not something your going to understand unless you lift there.

The girls especially love the fact they can so turn around their appearance and strength. I now have 5 girls that can do dead hang unassisted chin ups at PTC, Nina, Elissa, Caroline, Vicky, Briony. PTC is only 19 months old, most of these girls have less than 12 months training there.

I'm not sure that there are many gyms that can say that. The progress is rapid because the training is hard.

From day one I've said " I'd rather you leave coz its too hard than stay coz its too easy"

The kind of lifters that stay away from PTC because of the effort thats required there are the kind of lifters that I dont want. I actually have a waiting list for people wanting session times that I simply dont have.

Its why I've expanded and bought more equipment, to accomodate more groups.

Sales is not my problem, the business is doing well, and if my approach is keeping soft clients away, my marketing is perfect.

I could think of nothing worse than spending an hour with a soft chick and a fitball.

Now that would make ME vomit.
 
I can deadlift 120kg these days. [...]

I am 155cm tall and weigh 60kg. And I have lost 25kg and kept it off for five years
Bree, I think it would be really good if you were to write a short article about your experiences of training and your results. We could learn a lot from it. Deadlifting twice your bodyweight is strong in my books, especially for someone who (as I understand it) is mostly focused on cardio.
 
At the moment I do three weights sessions a week and three to six cardio. Cardio is anywhere from 20mins to 45mins. I have cut back- I was doing cardio twice a day, six days a week plus my weights until my trainer said I needed to address my 'obsessive tendencies'.

But back in my fatty days, it was 20-30 mins of easy cardio with a weights session three times a week. And I started with the 'fluff exercises' that Marko so quickly dismisses. I was so self-conscious and uncomfortable then that I would have bolted if I had walked into a place that was filled with grunting and massive men in the weights room. But everyone has to start their journey somewhere.

Once I started exercising again and seeing results, the diet followed because I didn't want to waste my efforts. It was hard as I was a uni student and there was much temptation around, but I went and got the Atkins book and it all began falling into place.

Now I can lift a lot and because of my midget build, I am naturally strong, so cardio is much more challenging for me. I have often thought about training for a half marathon or the like, but as I learnt with my crazy cardio phase, I get really pissed off if the amount of weight I can lift drops! Just need to encourage my work to move past these group bonding activities of 5km runs into something like a dead lift comp where I would kick the boys butts.
 
I will be on another road trip for work next month. Will see it up then! Reckon it would be good to have a 'journey thread'- how people got to where they are now. Most people don't just wake up and decide that deadlifts are their destiny.
 
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