A quick bonus tip:

Originally coined by Chila, Peckham and Manheim, back in 1981 and used for the title of their course at Michigan State University: ‘‘Myofascial Release’’

What is fascia tissue?

Fascia is the body’s connective tissue. It's fibrous cobweb-like connective tissue found throughout the whole of the body runing from head to toe. Your fascia provides a framework that helps support and protect individual muscle groups, organs, and the entire body as a unit.

What is a strength curve?

A strength curve is a graphical representation of how a muscle generates and applies force in a specific direction. This force is then represented using three basic categories: ascending, descending and bell-shaped.

Eccentric contraction explained:

An eccentric contraction occurs when a muscle lengthens under load. An example of this would be when you're lowing yourself into a squatting position. Generally speaking, a muscle can be upto 150% stronger during an eccentric contraction than a concentric contraction. 

Concentric contraction explained:

A concentric contraction occurs when a muscle shortens. An example of this would be when you're coming up from a bottom of a squat.

What are muscle fascicles?

In anatomy, a muscle fascicle is a bundle of skeletal muscle fibers surrounded by perimysium, a type of connective tissue.

Who is Michael Goulden?

Michael Goulden is the founder of a training company and is a resistance training specialist in exercise mechanics. He has been integrating exercise mechanics with neuromuscular preparation to create a uniquely sustainable approach to health, fitness and performance.

Who is Charles Poliquin?

Charles Poliquin is recognised as one of the world’s most accomplished strength coaches, and has produced hundreds of medals, wins and personal bests for elite athletes in over 17 different sports, including athletes for both the summer and winter Olympics, the NHL, and NFL.

Who is Ben Pakulski?

Ben Pakulski, nicknamed the Pak-Man, holds an Honors Degree in Kinesiology and is an IFBB professional bodybuilder and winner of the 2008 Mr. Canada competition. In the IFBB, he finished 2nd twice in 2008.

What is a level 5 trainer?

Our level five trainers are our ‘elite’. They’re seriously experienced, and incredibly knowledgeable. They have all gone above and beyond, attending numerous industry events, clocking up multiple courses, and spending numerous hours learning through practical experience with clients. They have shown unparalleled dedication to becoming the best personal trainers possible, and have been recognised in the health and fitness industry for their level of excellence.

What is a level 4 trainer?

Our level four trainers have gone the extra mile. All of them have further industry qualifications, whether in nutrition, post-natal exercise, endurance or hypertrophy. They have attended workshops, webinars and courses to lift their learning above others in the area. They are likely to have been a personal trainer for several years, and be pushing to learn more about how they can offer the best possible advice to you.

What is a level 3 trainer?

Our level three trainers are fully qualified, with industry-recognised qualifications, but are relatively new to personal training. What they lack in experience, they will make up for in dedication and enthusiasm. All our level three trainers work closely with a more senior member of the team to ensure the Hall Training quality of service is maintained, and you make constant progress towards your goals.

Did you know?

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Georgey's 12 week transformation - weeks 9 & 10

TAGS: 12 week transformation


This week my blog posts have had to make way for a fantastic blog post by our personal trainer Becky, on Weight Gain Over Christmas, a subject which seems particularly relevant to me this year!

Over the last two weeks I have had three Christmas parties: my own work one, our Hall Training team one, and one with the team at Studio PT in Summertown. I’ve actually been very impressed with myself, as over the three of them I drank two glasses of champagne and two small glasses of red wine. Those of you who know the old me would know that would just be me getting started at a Christmas party usually! But what I’ve found is that I’m not actually missing alcohol anymore. I’m perfectly happy with water or a Coke Zero, and don’t have any worse a time not having any booze. This is a really nice realisation for me and my drinking habits will definitely be different going forward!

It’s my birthday today and we’re going out for a nice dinner with my family. I’m going to try and eat quite sensibly but still enjoy myself and follow the same logic on Christmas Day too. It’s a hard time of year to diet with all the social occasions, but it’s not as hard as I thought. This is down to one word which actually sums up my last two weeks: guilt.

When I started this process I knew it would be mentally tough, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the way it would distort my thinking. When I was younger I struggled with an eating disorder, at times very severe, for seven years. This diet process hasn’t caused me to relapse – although I have had a couple of wobbly moments – but a lot of the thinking processes are the same. For those who compete or take on a short and extreme transformation process like this, everything has to revolve around food for a period. This means extreme guilt when I eat something ‘wrong’, like the half a mince pie I ate last night. It also means feeling like a failure even though I know I’ve done well.

When I started this process I had a certain goal in my head. In all honesty it was unrealistic and I knew it, but I thought it would be best to be over-ambitious than under-ambitious. These last two weeks I have had to come to terms with the realisation that I’m not going to get there, and the difficulty comes in recognising the progress I have made. It’s been since my last blog that everyone has started to say that they can see I am looking leaner, that I’m looking good, but to be honest I feel exactly the same as I did when I started. My perspective has started to go and it feels as if I’ve failed completely because I haven’t reached the goal I set. I am trying hard to reverse this feeling and concentrate on the positives, but it’s something I’ve heard from others in the fitness industry and who compete – you never feel lean enough. That’s something everyone should be prepared for before they start something like this. Not trying and feeling a bit rubbish about yourself is one thing – you’re not doing anything to make a change. Trying really hard for ten weeks and still feeling rubbish is a totally different thing to get your head around. Support from friends who have been through similar (and much more extreme) processes is invaluable.

But on the bright side, I still have a couple of weeks left. My training is better than ever, I will be able to rest a lot over the Christmas period, I think my abs are there somewhere, and when I’ve finished I will have done exactly what I set out to do – show people how hard it is to really apply yourself for a 12-week period and get a solid six pack. Now to try not to eat all the other mince pies at Christmas…

 Wishing you a Merry Christmas!
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