New Year, New You - Exercise

Talk 2 of 4 from the New Year, New You seriesWhat exercises are key to improving your health? What best to do? What best to avoid?In this talk, we had four renowned speakers talk about their interpretation of exercise, health and well-being whilst they immersed us into their world of fitness and looking after the human body.Stuart and Lizzie have very different backgrounds, but unite their knowledge of ex-Military Training, physiotherapy with a Yoga/Pilates approach in their company threezero12 (@threezero12).Many of us don't even think about our core in any way, shape or form, so it is one of the key areas to be often overlooked.What is better Pilates or Yoga? Which one should I start with first?Firstly, it is important to have your spine checked if there are any underlying issues that could cause problems when exercising.Then as Lizzie explained, Pilates is a bit like the foundation of a house that gives you strength, whereas Yoga allows movement.So for the best results you would do both, but at the same time there’d be no point diving into yoga if you’re already very flexible, and then missing your core strength and joints, as that would just set you up for an injury.Best option would be to chat to a professional, as they should be willing to sit down with you, maybe even offer you a taster to see where your strengths and weaknesses are, so you know where to go from there. There is no one golden rule for everyone I am afraid.Stuart and Lizzie’s take home message was: practice makes permanent, not perfect. Meaning the more you practice the stronger the habit but depending on the way you’re practicing, the habit may not always be a good one. So you need to make sure your form is on point as you don't want to train the wrong things in the wrong way, and potentially create a problem.Second up was Harry (@harryrowland), who found his way to a Pilates based PT approach through many injuries that he attained whilst playing Rugby.He started his company (@bandforce) to make exercising more accessible and easy to do at home.Not every exercise we do will have that 'magic effect' and make us feel great, but by keeping up with them, eventually you’ll start seeing the results and that’s where the magic effect happens.Harry focuses on getting clients their results not only whilst they’re training with him, but also in their day to day life. Remember your posture, and make the time for yourself to move about and stretch. Even just a little bit, every day, will get you a little closer to your goals.His take home message was that we should train to feel better! Not just for five minutes after the training, but hours after, because if you train well you don't injure yourself.Lawrence (@fafitsake) was the last PT to speak and his talk focused on drills and warm ups which are often more important than the exercise itself.An example of a drill would be a squat. You need to break the kinematic chain into its individual components, and make sure all of them are doing the job fully:1) Feet slightly turned out (the torque will anchor you into the ground)2) Gluteal activation (squeeze your bottom)3) Core muscles activation4) Squat without weights5) Then the squat with weightsHis take home message was: Your body needs to earn the right to progress.A lot of us want a quick workout and then get back to work, but unfortunately that’s not how it works.You can see a pattern throughout this. Although all of the PT's come from different backgrounds and have different approaches in working with their clients, the one golden rule is still unanimously agreeable of there being no such thing as a quick fix. A master practices the art of the basics that is all it needs. Everything stands and falls with the fundamentals!!!On that note, get out there enjoy a walk, some exercises, a run and just enjoy life! If you have any questions feel free to hit us or any of the PT's up as they will happily help you achieve your goals.One person still to mention (who saves us all by not making us carry heavy shopping bags #badposture) is Lindsay, with her company bespokefuel (@bespokefuel). They do a wide variety of snacks and meals for any type of diet, and deliver to all over London. One of the best meals and snacks we’ve had in a long time, so go check her out!Coming up next week is our Meditation and Mindfulness talk, followed by Beauty and Body Confidence so stay tuned everyone!By Michael Lezuo