Category: Wednesday Wisdom

Last week we looked at the immediate (acute) effects of battling rope (BR) training. This week we are going to look at some research which has investigated the long-term effects of battling rope training on general fitness. Longer term battling rope studies are uncommon, therefore if battling rope training is going to become a more.. read more

The versatility of the battling ropes is well known among fitness trainers and coaches alike.  Previous research has shown regular training with battling ropes can improve grip strength, stimulate the aerobic energy system, recruit several important core muscles and improve metabolic conditioning in general populations. However the benefits of battling rope training is not restricted.. read more

HIFT improves strength, fitness and flexibility In this final instalment of articles on high intensity functional training, we are going to look at an interesting military study which compared the effects of HIFT versus conventional fitness training on strength, fitness and flexibility in well trained younger male and female army personal. This may particularly relevant.. read more

The Kettlebell swing is widely regarded as the ‘King’ of all Kettlebell exercises. It trains the commonly weak posterior chain muscles like no other exercise. It strengthens the core and has been found to combat back pain in many individuals. It’s hard to argue with its standing… As good as the swing is as a.. read more

In our third instalment in this series of articles on high intensity functional training, we are going to look at the results of another study, which investigated the effects of HIFT on body composition in sedentary overweight and obese women. Simultaneously reducing body fat and improving lean body mass is important to a large majority.. read more

Recently, a group of researchers (Feito et al. 2018) have made a call to label and define high intensity functional training or “HIFT” a type of exercise training that consists of functional, multi-joint movements incorporated into either aerobic or resistance based training to improve general fitness (Feito et al. 2018; Heinrich 2015). I find it.. read more

For many trainers and coaches, functional movement assessments such as the overhead squat, and others due to their complexity, are a barrier to performing the important task of observing movement competency, before progressing to load.  Given, the squat pattern is fundamental to many of the functional training movement patterns, utilised with kettlebells, functional bags, battling.. read more

Strictly speaking, there are two different types of interval training programs that are likely to be most relevant to you, the functional training practitioner. They are: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Sprint Interval Training (SIT) The first type of interval training (HIIT) you are already familiar with, but how familiar are you with the second type.. read more

In our last two articles we discussed the different stages of fatigue and the importance of implementing a fatigue management plan. In this article we will now look at some simple field based assessments that functional training instructors can use to determine if their clients are currently experiencing excessive fatigue, or even overtraining.  This test.. read more

The desire to help our clients achieve their health and fitness goals is important to most trainers, coaches and instructors. To assist our clients achieve these goals, it is important that each client has a clear training plan that considers how much training stress they can tolerate. It is for this reason, that monitoring some.. read more