Vibration Training... Gimic or Real?

We've all seen them, funny looking machines that people stand on while holding on to bars as the plate/surface vibrates under them making them look like they are performing in a rap dancing video or something...

Is it really beneficial?

Vibration has actually been around since the ancient Greeks, they used it for injury rehabilitation. In the past few years, some Elite Athletes have been using the Whole Body Vibration training (WBV) for either as a recovery or injury rehabilitation tool.

WBV works on the activation of the body's reflexes. Using it in different ways and frequencies causes the central nervous system to stimulate activity along the whole kinetic chain.

According to all the research and testing it helps with the following list:

• Increase Strength and Power
• Helps improve Flexibility
• Reduces Pain Sensation
• Helps increase Bone Density
• Improves Postural Control
• Improves Circulation and Lymphatic Drainage
• Improves Proprioception

Even with the testing theory supporting it, the jury's still out on the supporting research.

Every research paper I have read regarding this form of training has shown success in every objective...
research after research, test after test supports the benefits of WBV training... but... my question's of it are these...

Is it available to everyone?
Is it Viable for everyone?
How much can we do on it?
Who can/should use it?
Is it functional for an athlete?

The list of questions could go on, though, I will give you my thoughts as a trainer, and you can make your own decisions on it's values if you so wished to study it...

I have searched for the different forms of training/exercises you can do on a WBV machine and yes, there are a bunch of them, as you can see on this link to youtube WBV.

I would agree that it is a form of exercising that could very well be beneficial to the elderly. This because by just standing on it, an elderly person would find that their central nervous reaction would force muscle contraction, to try and keep them stable. Doing this over a period of time would help with the longevity of their stabilisation and strength.

As you will see from the youtube movies, there are many different forms of exercise you can perform on the WBV machine, so, as for the average person, it can give you a form of variation to your weekly training routine. You wouldn't use it every day but as to say doing exercises or a class on it twice a week could be good for a change, and it would keep it's effectiveness.

Now as for the athlete, again, I can see the benefits of such a machine. Although, my thoughts are regarding the versatility of the exercises to use it for an Athlete... The cost effectiveness to an Athlete... The accessibility to an Athlete...

When you are talking of the strength and power needs for an athlete, putting the into movements to assist them on their sporting field, just from what I've viewed, I struggle to see the benefits of spending several thousands of $$ on such a machine to assist you with your training.

Again, I say this coming from someone who has only viewed the machine and read the literature, when you read reports like the one from the Australian Sports Commission then you can quite easily argue that they are beneficial.

I'm not saying they aren't beneficial, I'm just asking whether the cost is essential for the small benefit that is recieved from it? 

There are a heap of studies out there regarding it and the decision is yours as to whether you need to put it in your program... The first thing to do though is, find somewhere that has the machines, make sure you are well instructed on how to use them and don't go and buy a cheap replicar! It is well documented by the main bodies that are using and educating us with this type of training that the good machines cost big $$ and the also rans are costly cause they generally brake down and aren't good enough...       

   

Different Training Methods, Same Result

Training can get boring if you're doing the same thing over and over again!

The idea is to throw in some variations to get the same results, whether they be for specific sporting goals or for general personal fitness goals.

The great thing about training is there is always differents ways to get the same results. What this does is mentally keep you going by making the training feel fresh and new every time you do it.

When I train a fighter for  fight, I always throw in different methods along the journey so as to keep him working hard. That would mean that every day he turns up there is a litlle part of mystery to what is going to happen at training that day. This keeps a form of enjoyment in it as well as the mental game is still working.

A few years ago I trained a Rugby League side. throughout the year I made a lot of changes to the sessions and tried not to make any one session seem the same. That team openly enjoyed the training for the year and subsequently went on to win the Grand Final.

Athletes like Runners, Tri Athletes, footballers and many more are continuously going through rigerous season after season training regimes. If there wasn't variation in their sessions then mentally and physically their would be a breakdown.

 

The same goes for those looking to achieve and maintain certain goals with their own fitness levels over a period of time. 

I definately find that my clients enjoy the variation in their training. This is something that either as a trainer you should see if your client is becoming run-down and you need to change it up somewhat or even try to make each session as different as possible, thus making it almost a surprise as to what they are doing that particular day. 

I have even been known to do this to my fighters as well, with great success thus far. 

So basically, keep an arsenal of exercises up your sleeve. Exercises you know will help you to getting the same result and make it interesting. 

Over the coming weeks I am going to discuss different forms of training and their benefits, so keep watching this space. 

The next one will be an article on Vibration Training.... 

Is Sugar Bad? Yes and No!

OK.... Now I have to admit, too much sugar can be a problem.

Too much sugar is not a good thing, it can cause an amazing amount of problems. Everything from type 2 diabetes to obesity.

But, Sugar is not the enemy!

Obviously too much of anything is not a good thing... remember 'Super size Me' that was a movie of a man who ate McDonald's everyday for a month.

On 60 minutes they called it the 'Sweet Poison' they had a scientist and the testimonials of 2 people (ladies) telling us how bad it is!!

So now what?

One of the ladies on the show, Amy, said how it was basically killing her. My question is, how much were you having? and how much exercise were you doing?
This lady said she was having 4ltr of ice cream and 8 blocks of chocolate per week???!!!

Oh my, what did she think her problem was again?  There is definitely a pattern forming here that doesn't look good, and to me it's not the sugar that's catalist...

Surely she could see that the amount she consumed wasn't good? I mean to say, crikey, no one person should eat that amount of chocolate or ice cream! in a week, what was she thinking?
I'm sorry, it wasn't the sugar that was her problem, it was herself that was the problem.

People want to grab a reason that suits them, for there being a problem... they don't want to take the responsibility on themselves as to why they put on weight or internally are unhealthy.

The fact of the matter is, as people say 'I'm canning sugar because that's why I'm fat'... they will lose weight, until something else takes it's place. The guy from 'Super Size Me' proved that in no uncertain terms. Prior to going on the full on 'Mcdonalds Diet', He was a Fit and Healthy individual, by the end of his McDonald's crash diet, he was not. Too much hurt him!

Too much of anything hurts you!

It seems that every day we are turning on the news to hear that a scientist is saying that there is a certain type of food group that is bad for us... I don't need a scientist to tell me that eating too much fast food, drinking too many soft drinks having too much ice cream, is bad for me but that's not going to stop me enjoying the odd burger can of Pepsi or soft serve!!!

Hey here's the thing guys, it's only supposed to be an every now and then thing!

In my time in this industry, if there is one thing I have found, no-one ever tells the truth about what they really eat and how much of it they ate!

People always say to me 'I'm always watching what I eat and I exercise'
OK then, how come you either don't lose or maintain your weight?

Guys, the responsibility comes back to you and you alone. We can tell you how to do it, you just need to do it.

It really frustrates me to watch programs such as this... Lets take another point from this show... It showed Amy going for a strenuous walk and then later on she told us that she has lost 26kg in the last 12 months from cutting out sugar, this is great, trust me, I am always happy to see people get results like this... but... my question is, what else is she eating and what sort of exercise is she really doing, the reason I ask this is, yes it's great she lost 26kg, but in a 12 month period of regular exercise and reducing food intake to where it should be, is it just me who thinks she could have lost more weight?
Hmmm...

OK then guys, lets look at everything objectively in point form...

• Too much Sugar is not good for you
• Too much Fat is not good for you
• Too much Protein is not good for you
• Too much Water is not good for you

 I could go on and on but I won't.

The simple fact of the matter is this, control what you're eating, make sure it's a balanced diet, don't eat too much of anything, in fact, don't eat too much, exercise regularly (if you find that hard, get a trainer) and people, don't lie to yourself! Remember when you are pointing at what you think is the problem, there's at least 3 fingers pointing back at you.

Oh yeah, by the way, the air we breath is polluted, just think about that the next time you breath... don't over do it :-)

Boxing Corruption Again

If you watched the Pacqiuao - Bradley Fight you would have seen one of the most one sided fight get one of the most one sided bad decisions I have seen in years.

I had Pacquiao winning 8rds to 3 with 1 even and that I believe was a generous decision for Bradely.

Pacquiao landed the only power punches in the fight and continuously made the fight. Accoording to the punch stat, he outlanded Bradley 253 - 159.

I have looked and looked and I can't find one report that says the decision was correct. The only reaction that has been is that the Boxing Commission needs a massive overhaul after yet another disgusting mess!!!

The only fighter that was visibly rocked on more than one occasion was Bradley. He was slowed down in such a way that he looked as though he was on his way out during the middle rounds.

He himself has openly said he wants to look at the tape to see if he actually won the fight???
Let me tell you... You know after a fight whether you've won or not, you shouldn't need to look at the tape.

All the main reaction can be seen at the Bad Left Hook Site .

A rematch is apparently available on Nov. 10th. Manny not sure coz he's a pro, he needs to talk to managers and promoters etc.. before saying too much. I still reckon he's hoping for a match with Mayweather, or maybe he's going to retire, I have heard that he had talked of retiring prior to this fight.

Whatever happens, the whole world knows what happened tonight!...

Fiona Does It Again!

Fiona Mcdonald has done it again... She competed in the Morton Bay, Olympic distance Triathlon at Redcliffe and nailed it.

Fiona came 5th in her age group and knocked 36 minutes off her Noosa time! What an effort... and to top it all off, Fiona had gas left in the tank due to her treating this as more of a training run.

This was all just 1 week after competing in a Triathlon on the Gold Coast.

Her ultimate event that she is preparing for is the Iron Man event in Cairns July 2013.

Look out Cairns...

Fiona in action at one of her many Tri' events

Injury Hits Tuff Tech. Boxing Team!

Our Tuff Technique Boxing Team has been hit with injuries galore that will sideline 3 of our 6 man boxing team.

Mitch Campbell and Adrian Smith will now not be fighting on April 14 due to both of them sustaining rib injuries over the past week.

Mitch and Smitty seen here during a recent power session

Mitch has a fractured rib and is now waiting on scans to see how deep it goes to give us an answer as to how long he will be out of action for. Hopefully it won't be long.

 Mitch at training 

Smitty has severly bruised ribs but scans have cleared him of any brake or fracture so his recovery will be quicker but still will put his short term preperation behind the eight ball so we will wait for either a May 5th or even later debut for him. 

 Smitty at training

Craig Robson has had a very hard time recently. Unable to put regular training sessions in due to his shoulders. On my understanding so far, he has torn his sheath around both shoulder structures. He will be going under the surgeons knife in the near future. 

Craig Robson stopping at training for a pic.

These are minor set backs for our Club/Training Gym as we do know it will all be good as the journey continues.

Fiona McDonald to Enter Iron Man Event

Fiona here during the Noosa Tri

Fiona Mcdonald has competed in many events over the past 12 months, Triathlons (Including the Noosa Tri), Half Marathons and various shorter events, Enduro Bike Events the list goes on.

 Fiona here after Twighlight 1/2 Marathon

(She came to training a few hours after this run)

Just in the past week she has competed in the 'Twilight 1/2 Marathon' and then on the weekend Fiona just finished a massive Enduro Bike Ride from Wagga to Mangoplah to Holbrook, up Chinamans Gap to Jingellic then up Manuss Hill, off to Tumbarumba then off to Laurel for the finish to the first day (210km)... Day 2 they rode to Humala then back to Wagga (150km).

 Fiona here during her mamoth Hills Ride

Now if that wasn't enough, Fiona is now emarking on one of the most testing journies in sport. She has decided to compete in the Cairns Ironman in June 2013. 

The Ironman event is renouned to be one of the hardest of any endurance events you could ever contest but if I and all those who know her will know, Fiona is well up for the challenge there aren't many who are tougher or work harder, so goodluck Fiona, go and kill it....

On track for April 14th

Mitch Campbell and Adrian Smith are currently on track for their scheduled fights on April 14.

They have been doing the hard yards in the gym well and are building well for Mitch's second fight and Adrian's debut fight.

Talking technique and tactics

As well as doing hard rounds with each other, they have been doing the odd sparring with other fighters Like Tom from Grunt Training and Ricky and Pete from Fast Hands BC. 

With the fight night still 24 days away, I couldn't be happier with their progress. 

Mitch and Smitty Sparring 

Their weight's are on track and at this point their fitness is doing the same. Getting the timing right as we did with Mitch on the 3rd of March is our current goal. 

Mitch sparring with Tom

 Adrian sparring with Ricky

On another note we now have Junior and Corey also from the same company (Army) as Mitch and Adrian in the team. Will have photo's of them up soon. 

On a not so great note though, Craig Robson's fighting careeer has been put on hold as his on-going  shoulder problems have been diagnosed and he will be needing operations on both shoulders. That's not the news anyone wanted to hear. I hope he can rehabilitate soon and get back to the gym.

Robbo working the bag on our road trip to Grunt Training

Campbell Wins!

Mitch Campbell crashing one of many right hands down
on his apponent Chris Newman.

Mitch Campbell did it all the right way on Saturday night. Right from the outset, he took control with his good solid straight jab, and continued the asault with a fantastic array of punches that took him to a convincing points victory. 

For his first fight, Mitch showed an amazing amount of control to not allow himself to be dragged into any brawling match with Newman. He kept it tidy and backed Newman up many times with his powerful straight punches down the middle. 

A lot of  credit goes to Chris Newman though, for being a tough adversary. This due to the fact that Mitch quite obviously backed him up with big shots on more than one occaision during the fight but he never gave up apart from the end of the last round where he quite obviously was holding so not to be hit any more by Mitch's power shots.

The bell saved Newman in the last round as he was quite obviously exhausted as he held Mitch against the ropes to stop any last minute action.

The boy's whom Mitch has been doing a lot of work with over the past few weeks Middle Weight, Dave and Heavy Weight, Fletcher holmes also fought on the night with Dave missing out on a close points decision and Fletcher winning again, going to 2 - 0, with now 2 knockouts. 

L to R - Dave, Mitch and Fletcher after the fight. 

Now our thoughts are on March 31st at Inala where we will have not only Mitch but we will have Smitty and Seth going around.

On another good note, last week saw Smitty right back in the swing of things since his sprained shoulder. He has been punching for just over a week and last wednesday he did rounds with Mitch. It's all looking good for more success on the 31st .

Smitty sparring with Mitch last Wednesday night.

Darcy Rosenlund Back at Tuff Tech's Gym

This week has seen the return of, local cycling identity, Darcy Rosenlund.

For those who are not totally clued in on the cycling in Australia, it is one of the hardest contested forms of sport in our big country.

Darcy has won many a title at within Australia, one of which includes a victory over Robbie Mckewen.
He spent a few years contracted to a team in Italy but in recent years has been plagued by injury which has included shoulder and knee reco's.

He has thought a little of competing in Tri-Athlons and I know his athletic ability, it is one of a man who would well be a force in that field. 

I wish him all the luck in the world for his future endeavours....

Darcy seen here this week doing the hard yards...