Suspension Training Is it the best resistance training method for strength, mass and muscular performance in older adults? Once you reach 20 years of age, your muscle strength will reduce by 1.5% and muscle size by 1-2% per year on average. To put that into perspective, take an average 20yo, 75kg male with a healthy…
What is Muscular Strength? Muscular Strength refers to the amount of force a muscle can produce in a single maximal effort. It is relative to both the size of muscle fibres and the nerves ability to activate these fibres. Muscular strength is also one of the most common motivators for people to seek advice from…
Welcome readers as today we explore the functional and general benefits of unilateral training. Lets start with breaking down the term unilateral training. In essence this refers to training one limb or one side of your body at a time. An example of this is doing a split squat where the leg in front of…
Why is it important for the body to move in an efficient and functional way? There are over 650 muscles in the body and in a perfect world they would all work effectively with one another to produce ideal and efficient movement in all situations. This is not the case and in my view as…
My PT journey: My PT journey started back in early 2012 when I completed my cert 3 and 4 in fitness. For those that are unaware, a certificate 3 and 4 in fitness (the minimum standard you need to run one on one and group PT sessions) is a relatively general course. I am not…
Core training is a very popular term in the fitness industry. However, during my time as a PT I have seen vast differences in people’s understanding of what this actually means. I remember when I used to think core, my mind would immediately go to the ‘6 pack abs’ and defined obliques. These muscles are…
Front raises, lateral raises, above head shoulder press are all very common exercises designed to build and sculpt the shoulder muscles. A combination of these 3 exercises will assist in building the various muscles of the shoulder (anterior, middle and posterior deltoid). As far as developing the shoulder muscles goes, these exercises are absolutely ideal,…
For those familiar with the ‘Tan’ run in South Yarra you will certainly be aware of the Anderson Street Hill. A long incline that seems to go forever. However, one of the best legs of the run for fitness and we will go into why soon. For those that haven’t ran the ‘Tan’ which is…
Welcome back as we continue our discussion on ‘myofascical release’ and why we foam roll or do any other form of self massage. As mentioned in our last blog, today we are breaking down why we release to a more technical level. We hope by the end of this article you have a better understanding…
Foam rolling and what is technically known as ‘self myofascial release’ is a huge part of our training philosophy at Functional For Life. However, we often get asked when we are working with new clients, ‘what is the point of foam rolling’? That is a fair question and we can see why it might seem…