Over the next five blogs, I’ll be selecting one of the top five functional training tools in the industry which are transforming the way we train our clients as trainers and achieving results in half the time!

So what is this phenomenon ‘functional training’?

The buzzword is banded around far too often. ‘True’ functional training refers to strength training in movements that are replicable to real-life situations and are based on the primal movement patterns of bending, twisting, squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling and gait or the actions of walking and running.

Basic functional strength exercises manifest within one direction or single plane of motion and as we develop our functional strength we are capable of combining these movements into multi directional loaded exercises to maximise overall body strength, flexibility, coordination and fitness.

The training equipment we will be discussing over the coming weeks encourage this loaded, total body approach.

Each week the reviews will rate the functional kit in terms of affordability, versatility and usability giving marks out of 10, 1 being least and 10 being most.

This offering we’ll start with the most recent addition to the fitness industry, the battling rope!

Battling ropes

I remember these making their debut at the Fitpro Convention at Loughborough four years ago, filtering into contact/ combat studios (MMA, boxing) but they didn’t really emerge into mainstream gyms for wider use until recently.

They are certainly unique.

As soon as you engage in the trademark ‘power slam’ exercise (below), you understand why they were so popular with combat sports, recruiting the whole body but particularly shoulders, back and wrists.

Add exercises like single and double waves (below), side slams, star jumps and snakes on the floor (below) and you realise this is what high intensity interval training gets its name for.

I wouldn’t call this ‘cutting edge’ kit.

At the end of the day, all you’re doing is chucking a rope around in as many different ways as possible but it can be used for all abilities and it does create the fun-factor in any circuit, great for an explosive warm-up or an upper body metabolic workout without too much leg action.

Battling ropes offer an express workout solution but be wary of using them if you have pre-existing shoulder or wrist injuries and be sure to start off in an instructed setting such as boot camp or in a gym to set technique.

All-in-all, a valuable addition to the fitness industry.

Affordability – 7 / 10

Quite expensive – Prices range from £60 to £160 depending on the length and diameter. The typical size is 50 feet with 1.5 inch thickness so anchored around an end point leaves you with 25 feet of work distance. Obviously the longer and wider (2 inch) the rope the harder the exercises.

Versatility – 8 / 10

Offers a wide range of unique, low impact exercises which are highly upper body dominant.

Usability – 6 / 10

Most people will find it a fun alternative to conventional movements, easy to pick up technique but avoided by shoulder, back or wrist sensitive exercisers. Not very portable as it’s the equivalent of transporting a large snake in a bag and you’ll need a stable anchor point, fixed being better. The home use factor is limited as you’ll also need a large area but perfect around a bench in a park.

NEXT EDITION – ViPR!

However there has been no single test to measure overall fitness including aerobic fitness, anaerobic fitness and strength endurance………until now!

I give you the ‘Ben-Ten’ test.

I designed this test primarily for clients to monitor their progress in addition to getting a great total body, express workout. After countless efforts by a wide ranging client base, I’ve formulated standards to rank an individuals overall fitness.

Try it for yourself as a monthly gauge of progress or an express holiday workout!

A 5 minute warm-up and cool-down are advisable.

Repeat the circuit twice as fast as possible.

The Burpee x 10

The Press-up (ladies kneeling) x 10

The Jump Squat x 10

The Plank Extension x 10

Standards (timed from start to finish in minutes).

Outstanding = < 2 minutes
Good = 2.00 – 2.30
Average = 2.31 – 3.00
Needs work – > 3.01

Best of luck!

No matter what you think about the phenomenon, genetic testing has become the ‘must have’ service for personal trainers not to mention olympic athletes, premiership footballers and elite coaches realising the benefits to performance and unlocking the guesswork surrounding diet and exercise prescription.

After all, every one of us is made differently.

Our DNA contain genes which provide instructions for what we look like and how our body’s function and it is the small variations in these genes that cause the differences in our make up.

It therefore makes sense to know which variation of a gene we carry, so that exercise professionals can prescribe the right exercise and diet plans to achieve your genetic potential.

Sounds revolutionary….how does it stack up?

The evidence to support using DNA to map potential in sport is staggering and we, at Benjamin Hodson Personal Fitness, have been conducting tests to provide a truly bespoke service for over a year now achieving remarkable results.

So what does DNA testing measure?

We use a pioneering company called DNAFit to test samples at a laboratory analysing a panel of 45 gene variants specific to diet and exercise.

We collect samples using a simple swab test and the report is sent through within two weeks.

Here are some of the parameters measured and unveilings that I found out about myself I never knew before.

Exercise

The test revealed what type of sport best suited my body.

I have a 50%/50% power to endurance ratio of genes, so for the exercises I enjoy, a mix of long distance running and high intensity interval training is recommended to get the best out of my training.

I have a tendency towards a high VO2 Max or aerobic capacity.

It’s therefore best to schedule competitive events regularly into my training plan to maximise performance.

I’m lucky enough to have a fast recovery rate.

I don’t need to schedule in as many rest days and can pretty much train hard most days of the week without compromising performance.

My personal injury risk is low.

I can continue with sports with high impact and thankfully don’t have to be over cautious when it comes to protecting my joints.

Diet

I’m able to eat carbohydrates and saturated fat without worrying about putting weight on.

I have a very low sensitivity to carbs and low sensitivity to saturated fat which means I receive less energy per calorie of both carbs and fat than someone who puts weight on easily when they eat bread, pasta or dairy products.

A low carb diet wouldn’t be advisable for me as I’d lack energy and wouldn’t be able to concentrate although sticking to slow releasing or low GI foods would help in weight management.

This was good to know!!

I should stay away from smoked or chargrilled meats as much as possible.

The test revealed that I have enzymes which activate potentially toxic substances present in meat cooked at high temperatures and recommends increasing my intake of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cauliflower and spinach to improve my livers detoxification.

I should eat an abundance of foods with antioxidants.

I need to eat berries, dark leafy greens and citrus fruits as my body is predisposed not to neutralise what are called ‘free radicals’ which damage the body and can lead to illness.

I have a raised requirement for omega-3, vitamin B6, B12, vitamin D and folic acid.

Interestingly, I have a possible predisposition for hypertension when I eat too much salt.

Drinking alcohol in moderation activates a gene that increases my ‘good’ cholesterol.

Probably something I didn’t need to know!

I am lactose and gluten tolerant.

As well as this genetic deep-dive into your wellbeing, we offer one-to-one consultations to make sense of the data but the report does outline the findings clearly.

We also prescribe detailed genetic meal plans that suit your make-up to maximise weight loss and optimise health and bespoke fitness programs.

Ultimately, this cutting edge approach to diet and exercise has given our company the tools to offer clients the best possible service, taking the guess work out of ‘what works for some and not for others’.

If you’re interested in finding out how DNA testing will compliment your training and diet or to book an appointment for a swab test please visit our DNA Lifestyle Coaching page.

At the end of the day, you wouldn’t pay for the services of a health professional if they weren’t ‘healthy’ themselves or a ‘fitness’ professional if they weren’t ‘fit’ themselves.

Personally, health and fitness is my life and has always been so.

To enable me to function at 100% with regard to energy levels, concentration and mood, not to mention keep in shape, I adhere to what I call the principles of S.E.E. or Sleep, Eat and Exercise for purpose.

To illustrate, here’s a typical day in my life;

You may be thinking its easy for me to carry off as it’s my job.

But you’d be wrong. It’s my lifestyle. And with a little effort it can be your lifestyle too.

So here’s a few pointers in the right direction;

Sleep.

To keep your mind and body in balance the two most important elements are sleep and water.

It’s essential to get between six and eight hours of sleep and keep hydrated with water throughout the day.

Sleep deprivation and dehydration are critical factors in weight gain and poor health.

If we are consistently deprived of sleep our diets shift to a craving for high-energy foods coupled with an inability to exercise and a drop in immunity. If we are dehydrated, a lot of the physical processes going on in the body are subdued.

Eat.

If you want to operate at the highest level no matter what your job it’s essential to eat clean, unprocessed and unrefined foods that will sustain energy levels throughout the day.

For weight management, remember it’s all an energy balance.

Carbohydrates are the prime source of energy. It therefore makes sense to adjust the carbohydrate content of your daily diet according to your activity levels.

For example, if you know that you’ll be having a sedentary day, stick to high protein foods except for a slow releasing carbohydrate breakfast. Conversely, if you’ve got a hectic physical day drip feed carbohydrates into breakfast, lunch and snacks ending with a high protein dinner.

Exercise.

Keeping active is the basis of life and it doesn’t matter how you move your body in a society becoming increasingly more sedentary.

Take every opportunity to move whether it be walking to work, joining an exercise class or simply running around with the kids.

Remember anything is better than nothing but if you want to achieve optimal holistic fitness, the body requires a combination of what I call the ‘vital organs’ of fitness which resonates through FIT1000 London and my personal training career.

The Vital Organs.

Walking and Running – promoting cardiovascular fitness through human locomotion.
(FIT1000 Run)

Functional strength movement – promoting strength through loaded, coordinated movement.
(FIT1000 Boot camp)

Yoga – promoting flexibility and relaxation through controlled stretches.
(FIT1000 Yoga.)

For maximum effect practice each of the ‘vital organs’ at least once a week in addition to 30 minutes daily walking.

Try the principles of SEE for yourself.

You’ll soon discover a new you.

The Palaeolithic (Paleo) diet or more commonly referred to as the Caveman diet, on face value, is a healthy way of eating.

It’s based on eating wholesome, unprocessed and unrefined foods, sticking to foods that proponents claim were not around in the palaeolithic era including dairy products, grains, legumes, processed oils, and refined sugar.

It is suggested that the emergence of these food groups in our diet with the advent of agriculture has given rise to the problems of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

I’m in agreement that high calorie, processed foods and the input of sugar into almost all foods is damaging our bodies and is a major factor in ill health.

But if you look deeper into what the diet purports, you realise that it’s just another well marketed, fad diet and that eliminating certain food groups entirely is not the way forward to sustainable health and weight management.