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?

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.

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Fitness & Training Blog

Fitness & Training Blog

health, training, nutrition & more

Jun 2021

How to train your heart

What is the most important muscle in the body? Your first answer may be to suggest your legs, abdominals or even your tongue, but however great a well-defined six-pack looks, the most important muscle is in fact the heart! It doesn’t just pump blood around our body, but also has read more...
Mar 2021

Writing the best "in-home" training programme

We’re on the six-week countdown until gyms (hopefully) reopen. So how can you make the most of your time at home? George gives us his top tips for designing a top-quality home training programme. The main difference between writing a programme for training at the gym and training at home read more...
Oct 2020

The Benefits of Caffeine

It’s National Coffee Week! Coffee is now the most popular drink world-wide.Every morning around 80% of British households kickstart their day off with an instant caffeine hit, collectively consuming around 95 million cups of coffee per day . Not that we need an excuse for our morning coffee, but there read more...
Sep 2020

Markers of fitness and how to test them

Today is National Fitness Day, and as personal trainers we think that’s a pretty good excuse to celebrate, and more importantly, take a while to think about what fitness means to each of us. "Fitness” means different things to different people. For some, it’s running a sub 7-minute mile, and read more...
Jun 2020

The Difference Between Fitness and Conditioning - Part 2

In our last blog post we looked at the difference between fitness and conditioning. While most types of exercise will improve our general fitness, we need to be a bit more specific when it comes to conditioning. If we’re looking at conditioning, there are two main factors we need to read more...