Train the muscles you CAN'T see in the mirror

This week, I got out of my comfort zone by BAKING along with learning that my muscle is not helping me to swim (wow, that sounds very egotistical but if my swimming instructor said this...) and make one last push towards getting a 5k PB.

The above paragraph should really be about the Superbowl, which I will begrudgingly watch tonight. I'm an awful loser... I'm not sure that sentence will be read in the context that I mean it to be in.

With that said, on to this week's newsletter:

Work More on the Muscles You Can't See in the Mirror.

One of the reasons a lot of us train is to look good in the clothes we are in. So this above sentence seems pretty counterproductive. But, what I have noticed in the years that I have coached is that when people are training by themselves they over rely on the exercises that work in the mirror muscles which can lead to injuries, imbalances and poor postures. And, by risking being too general on this, I'm going to single out guys who skip leg days and spend too much time doing bench and bicep curls and girls who do a lot of leg days but do a lot of reverse lunges and squats, not really targeting the backs of the legs as much as they should. I have definitely mentioned this before, but I am guilty of the former in the past!

It is for the above reasons (as well as nightmare flashbacks in doing Zoom only sessions this time last year!) that I incorporate a lot of band work into my Boot Camps and use them in my own personal sessions.

It's hard to target the back and hamstrings without bands, weights or equipment. But we will have a few examples in this newsletter.

But first, let's get into a little more detail about why we need to do these exercises!

Upper Body Back (especially Upper back exercises!) So if you an in a regular boot camp, you're probably doing a lot of bodyweight push up variations and presses. It can be hard to get back exercises in. With your chest muscles getting stronger and tighter, your back muscles will get weaker. Your shoulders will round more, giving poor posture and increased risk of injury in the shoulder. This combined with how we sit, look at our phones etc, is not good for our bodies. When I got into training in my late teens, it was all about chest pressing and bicep curls. To this day, I still struggle to press overhead.

Pro Tip: Chin-ups, because of how our shoulder rotates during that movement, should not be considered as an exercise to counter this!

With lower body, the go-to exercises are squats and lunges. And a lot of volume. Yes, there's a bot of work in the backside and hamstrings, but we are many putting the focus on the front of our legs. Nothing for the back. This can tighten up the front of legs and even change our hips position, affecting our lower back. Just because there's a pain in a specific area of our body, doesn't mean the cause is there. Weak hamstrings (backs of the legs), calves, backside, or too tight on the front of the legs (quadriceps) can have a negative impact on your lower back as well as lead to injuries when running!

So here are a list of exercises that you can include in your next workout, whether it is at home or in the gym, that can focus on these areas:

Upper Body:

Bodyweight Exercises:
Handcuffs
YWTs

Equipment Exercises:
Band Pullaparts
Band Dislocates
Banded Face Pulls
Bent Over Rows
Seated Row
TRX Row
Reverse Fly
Face Pulls

Lower Body:

Bodyweight Exercises:
Inchworms
Glute Med Exercises
Hamstring Walkouts
Single Leg RDL
SL Squat from SL RDL Position
Calf Raises
Toe Taps

Equipment Exercises:
RDLs
Mini Band Lateral Walks
Banded Hip Thrusters
Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell RDL