Beebleblog

Eccentric Training does not mean that you have to wear a dress made from mud in the gym whilst reciting spells and living a lifestyle that other people would never understand. No my friends that would be an eccentric that you are thinking about, I am talking about Eccentric Training which is the controlled lengthening of a muscle and annoyingly spelt the same. This is a technique that you can introduce to your training in the gym or at home. The idea behind it is to improve your strength quicker than "normal" training. I use this training with many clients who want to improve muscular size or when I need them to improve strength quickly in a particular area.

How is it done?

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What is it for?

The Bicep Curl is probably one of the most popular exercises, especially with men who are a bit vain about their appearance. It is also a good exercise to practise for everybody as it has a very functional purpose through our daily lives. The bicep itself helps the back muscles to pull things towards you, for example in an isolated movement we use them to pick lighter objects up to place them on a table, desk or work surface. From the diagram you can see that it is the muscle positioned on the front of our upper arm highlighted in red in Fig.1. The bicep’s main job is to bend your lower arm up at your elbow. It is also used to aid the movement of bringing your arm straight up at the shoulder joint and last but not least to supinate your lower arm which means with your elbow at 90 degrees and your palm facing down it helps turn your palm to face up. If you try this you should be able to see the bicep shorten.

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In the world of health and fitness, not everyone wants to become a long distance runner, a professional sports person or a world class athlete. Some of us just want to be fit, keep the heart going and give ourselves every possible chance of a long healthy life. It means that we don’t have to join the latest gym or play all the sports under the sun to be healthy.

Take Sparky for instance: Sparky is my dog, she is a border collie, my companion and best friend (along with my wife, of course!) and because of her I get to walk across beautiful countryside for at least one hour everyday. We go across hills and valleys using our leg muscles, our hearts and our lungs – all in all a very good enjoyable workout.

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We all know by now that we should be drinking 2 litres of water a day to keep us alert and hydrated. However, we are not always given guidance about when we should drink the water or advice to ensure we get the most benefit from this good habit.

For starters I should point out that 2 litres of water a day is an approximation. We are all different ages, sizes, and body compositions and these will affect the amount of water we should be drinking. There is no calculation to work out how much we should be drinking, nor is there really any set rule, but if we take 2 litres as the guide, we can work from there.

When to Drink Water

For the day you will need to supply yourself with 4×500ml bottles of water. Timing your water drinking is actually very important.

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What is the Beep Test?

The Beep Test, the Bleep Test, the Yo-Yo Test, the Shuttle Run Test and even the Multi Stage Test are all one and the same. They work on the concept of beating one’s previous performance to show improvement in endurance and they are also a good measure of your VO2 Max (a measure of the body’s ability to take in and use oxygen measured in litres per minute - Beeble).

How is a Beep Test carried out?

Firstly you need a small amount of equipment. You will need a tape measure at least 20 metres long, you will also need 2 markers (e.g. cones) and you will need a stereo to play the actual beeps. Oh, and of course you will need a flat non slip area big enough to hold 20 metres in a straight line and enough of a gap at each end so you won’t go running into any walls! Below is a diagram of how the layout should look:

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