It’s been a few weeks since I presented at the SFN Expo, and after a holiday and a busy week catching up I thought I would put down some pointers from the weekend.
I was given the opportunity to present again with the help of Andy McKenzie, coach, mentor and good friend, who is the guy behind the Combined Strength Group.
Andy has provided myself and other coaches with some fantastic opportunities over the past few years and there were a few of us presenting at the SFN Expo this year.
The SFN Expo is one of the biggest fitness events in Scotland. It allows businesses and companies to showcase products, supplements and workouts. On top of these many of the big names in the industry attend to deliver seminars, workshops and Q&A’s. There was lots going on – strongman competition, live Q&As, Crossfit Competitions and meet and greet with some of the industries biggest names.
The Combined Strength Group had workshops running over the weekend at the Live Demo Area, kitted out by Origin and Clyde Built Fitness.
We also had the pleasure of sharing this area with the World Record Deadlift holder, Eddie Hall, who delivered a workshop on the Sunday.
It was fascinating to hear what Eddie put his body through, the time, commitment and dedication to achieve his goal of lifting 500kg and winning the worlds strongest man title. He also provided lots a valuable training tips and advice, specifically on the Deadlift.
In addition to Eddie Hall, the Combined Strength Group had a full agenda of some brilliant workshops.
Tom Morgan, David Lees, Grant Ford, Nikki Banks, Sean Brady and Rob Clark all delivered fantastic workshops in a variety of subjects from Handstands, Kettlebells, Squats, Shoulder Health, IWT and Core work.
We also had some of the other Combined Strength Coaches on hand to help and assist with the workshops and demos.
The quality of the Combined Strength Coaches really is on a different level from much of the industry, you only have to look at the work these guys are doing to see the difference.
My workshop was focusing on ‘How to Maximise your Training with Limited Equipment’.
Over the past few years I have really started to eliminate certain things from my training and with my clients training and have always found that focusing on the basics have always produced the best results.
Much of my upper body training is done with Bodyweight and some gymnastic ring and my workshop focused on this. How to progress and regress from the basic press up through to a muscle up.
We first started looking at the Press Up, making sure the body is in the correct position before we start the rep.
Abs engaged, glutes squeezed, fingers spread, elbows back are all essential when performing the Press Up. Once the set up is correct, pull yourself to the floor, then push up until your elbows are straight. This is a Press Up…….
If you are struggling with a Press Up, focus on the Straight Arm Plank. Make sure you can hold this for 2 minutes before moving onto the Press Up.
If we ‘Push’ then we should ‘Pull’. The next exercise we focused on was Bodyweight Rows with the gymnastic rings.
As a result of poor posture, looking at a screen too much and usually training too much ‘chest and arms’ at the gym we develop a weak upper back. Bodyweight Rows are one of my favourite exercises for helping strengthen and building muscles of the upper back.
To ensure you get the most from the Bodyweight Row make sure you have your glutes and abs switched on (like a plank). Don’t let your hips sag as you perform the Row. Hold onto the Rings and keep them close to the rib cage. Slowly straighten your arms, this should result in your body moving away from the rings. Once your arms are extended, perform a rowing movement pulling your body (which should be straight and tense) towards the rings.
To make this exercise easier, you should position your body at a more upright angle, to make the exercise harder, your body position should be at a steeper angle.
Now we know how to push and pull give this simple upper body, Bodyweight workout a go:
Press Up / BW Row – 10-1 ladder
Basically perform 10 Press Ups, 10 Rows, 9 Press Ups, 9 Rows…… all the way down to 1 of each. 55 reps all in on each exercise.
These exercises are a great starting point to more advanced Ring and Bodyweight work.
Once we have achieved standards on the ‘basics’ we can look at developing some skill work such as Archer Press Ups on the rings or Muscle Ups.
The interesting thing about delivering the workshop was that more people were interested in learning the Muscle Up rather than the Press Up and Bodyweight Row.
When it comes to more advanced exercises, particularly involving the gymnastic rings, it is vitally important that you ‘earn the right to progress’.
If you skip the ‘basics’ you won’t have the solid foundations in place to ensure you are strong enough for the more advanced movements. You are also leaving yourself wide open to injury as your joints and ligaments won’t be ready for the advanced stuff.
I will save the details for more specific drills to progress towards a Muscle Up in a future blog but the main take home I was looking to provide at my workshop was to focus on mastering the basics, and all you need is some Gymnastic Rings.
Before moving to the ‘cool’ looking exercises make sure you can perform 30 solid Press Ups, 30 BW Rows at a 45 degree angle, 10 Dips and 10 Pull Ups.
If you can’t hit these numbers, spend a bit more time on building the strength here before progressing. You will thank me in the long run.
It was great to be part of the Expo and was great to have so many people getting involved in the workshop and taking an interest in Bodyweight training.
Fortunately I had the opportunity to practice what I preached with a week’s holiday. I still wanted to get some training in and managed just fine with a set of gymnastic rings and some sunshine.
Remember, when it comes to training with limited equipment, be relentless at becoming strong in the basics – this will always serve you well.
Coach Milligan 