A lower body program for runners, cyclists and all GAA,soccer and rugby players and any regular gym enthusiast.

Glute activation

These three exercise are an  example of  exercises that will activate and strengthen the glute med. A primary hip abductor. It basically prevents your knees from buckling in.

Keep this strong and it will help prevent and cure I.T. band problems.

I.T. band pain usually manifests as intense pain on the outside of the knee.

As the hip abductors(glute medius) lose their ability to control pelvic stability, the body recruits the I.T. band to help. As the I.T. band gets tighter and tighter it gets to the point where it rubs the outside of the knee with  every repetition on a run or bike. So keep the Glute Med. strong and the body won’t recruit the I.T. band as a hip stabilizer.

1 mini-band lateral walk

With the band just above or below your knee stand with your feet hip width apart and your feet perfectly straight.Now step sideways pushing out against the band while maintaining an upright posture and “straight feet”.

Perform 5-10 reps one way then repeat opposite way.

Rest 20-30 seconds then repeat.

2 Band Squat

With the band positioned  above your knee squat down whilst pushing out against the band until you’ve reached parallel or just below return to standing postion and repeat for a total of ten reps.

3 Bridge with Band

Raise hips and hold for 10 seconds, return to start position and repeat for a total of five reps.

Lower Body Strength

4  Bulgarian Split squat

This will add strength and stability to the front leg, and help stretch the hip flexor muscles of the elevated leg and also work on your core stability while maintaining an upright torso throughout the movement. Perform 10-12 reps each leg.

5  Stability ball hamstring curls

This will strengthen glutes,hamstrings,calves lower back,abdominal and oblique regions but also help stretch out the hip flexor muscles.

Perform 3 sets of 12

Flexibility

6 Hip flexor stretch

Tight hip flexors is one of the main causes of hamstring pulls.

So if your seated at a desk all day  or commuting long distances in your car or running on a regular basis then these babies are sure to be tight.

Hold stretch for 30 seconds then release and repeat for a total of three each side.

7 Groin stretch

Tight groins can lead to medial ligment of the knee and cartilage problems to name just a few so get this stretch in your routine.

Sit back onto your heels and hold for 30 seconds

Perform three sets each side

8 Lower calf stretch

Lower calfs are a hugely tight muscle group in runners especially but also most GAA,soccer and rugby players. This can lead to Achilles tendonitis, lower calf pulls ,ankle ligament damage to name a few.

Hold stretch for 30 seconds then release and repeat for a total of three each side.

Muscle is your body’s primary fat burner.They require energy to contract.Resistance training unlike running or cycling causes a significant amount of micro damage to your muscle fibers that requires your body to work hard expending energy to repair these tiny tears for up to 48 hours after your session.

Here is a sample session that will have your muscles burning calories like a furnace.

If your a beginner seek guidance from a fitness professional before trying this session.

Always warm up and cool down before exercise.

Perform 12 to 15 repetitons of each exercise without rest until final exercise is complete then rest60 seconds before repeating for a total of 3-5 sets.

Final word…resistance exercise is very important in your quest to banish the Christmas belly but even more important is what you eat or for that matter don’t eat.

Nutrition article to follow soon

A-1 Squat

A-2 Shoulder Press

A-3 Lunge

A-4 Press Up

A-5 Back Extension (or lat pull down or dumbbell rows if available)

A-6 Side Plank

Top Tip when buying prepacked foods:
When checking the nutritional labels on pre-packed foods look at the carbohydrate content.
Underneath that it should say”from sugars”.
Every 4 grams of these sugars is equal to one teaspoon of sugar.
For example a Kelloggs Special K Cereal Bar contains 24grams of carbohydrates of which 15 grams are sugar which means it contains almost 4 teaspoons of sugar!!!
Holly Fat Gain Batman!!!
Sugar is as big if not a bigger problem than fat consumption in terms all the current health issues that Irish society is struggling with, obesity and overweight epidemic,diabetes and high cholesterol and heart disease to name a few.
For all you Fitness Freaks looking to get leaner, slimmer and ultimately healthier check labels and be more nutritionally savvy.