How To Strength Train Without Injuring Your Back
The prevalence of back pain is very high in Western countries.
On a personal level, an episode of back pain can be quite a distressing thing to experience and these episodes can escalate overtime into a chronic condition.
Severe, chronic low back pain is also a societal issue, with lots of healthcare resources being funnelled into treating low back pain.
Back pain can also get in the way of healthy pursuits like strength training.
Why Has My Parkrun Progress Stalled? Here’s 13 Possible Reasons (And How To Unlock Further Improvement).
Lots of people get into distance running via Parkrun - the blockbuster running, health and community-building success story of the 21st century.
It can be intoxicating to see your times come down really rapidly when you get started.
But then your progress stalls. And it's common to wonder why and whether you can make the magic come back.
Eventually, of course, a stall in progress will happen to everyone. There's a limit to how much we can improve.
But maybe there's some more speed on the table for you?
Here are some issues that may be holding you back and some thoughts on how to address them. They are not organised in any particular order.
These are the sort of issues that every day, non-professional, recreational athletes face.
And they may be within your power to address.
MODS-OGM Junior Running Fitness Resources - 2025
This article contains instructions for Mods-OGM junior coaches on delivering running fitness activities in the 2025 season.
How To Maintain & Improve Your Running Fitness During The Season (Hockey, Soccer, AFL)
Running performance is a critical part of many field sports, such as hockey, AFL and soccer. I’ve written about that previously here.
This article is in response to a request I received from some people at my hockey club (Modernians-OGM) about how to build and/or maintain running fitness during the season.
The request was, “Can we have a running program?”. We’ve built up running fitness in the pre-season and players are rightly concerned with maintaining it, and even getting fitter and faster.
Well, I could write a program, but then there’s a fair chance it wouldn’t suit most people. Different people are starting from different fitness levels. Some have years of running experience, others have less. It’s also common to need to make adjustments in the face of injuries.
All of these factors make a one size fits all program tricky to formulate. (But I have provided a bunch of ideas at the end of this article).
Most of all, different people have different amounts of time they can put in to developing their match-specific running prowess.
So, I thought it would be better to outline the principles for HOW you’d do it instead of writing a recipe.
If you want further help, please get in touch (tim@extensionfitness.com.au). I’m happy to help if I can.
All About The Aerobic Base With Hugo Van Den Broek - 2:12 Marathoner
The Aerobic Base.
What is it? How to evaulate it? Why build it? HOW to build it?
Simple, Home-Based Strength Training With Kettlebells And Dumbbells
There is A LOT you can do to improve your strength, fitness and health by exercising at home.
You DON’T need tons of gear. You DON’T need heaps of space.
In my opinion, all you need is a few kettlebells and dumbbells.
Why kettlebells and dumbbells? Because they are the most versatile, compact, non-ugly (even attractive?) bits of kit you can get which are reasonably affordable.
Want to know why you should consider home-based training and how to do it?
Read on.
The Needlessly Confusing World Of Exercise Intensity Zones. What Is Aerobic Threshold? What Is Anaerobic Threshold? What Is Lactate Threshold? What Is Lactate Turn Point? What Is VO2 Max?!!
Maybe you’ve got a New Year’s Resolution to be fitter, stronger and healthier in 2025?
Maybe you’re an enthusiastic recreational runner, swimmer, cyclist or triathlete?
Maybe you’ve caught the Hyrox bug?
Exercise For Older Adults - Focussing On Fitness
This post is part of a series on exercise for older adults.
In this post, I outlined how aging affects your muscles, bones, nerves and general movement capacity.
Then in this post I put forward some general principles older adults can follow when seeking to get started in working on their strength and fitness.
Here I focussed on the practicalities on strength training (How many sets? How many reps? How heavy? How often?).
In this article, I'm going to focus on fitness: training your heart & lungs (and all your systems - the whole you) for the sake of your health.
Did Peter O’Sullivan Push Me Off Mount Stupid? (A Discussion About Trustworthiness Of Academic Journals).
Pete O'Sullivan (Physiotherapist - Body Logic & Curtin University), who's a personal friend plus one of my online adversaries & interlocutors on this issue - kindly agreed to have a chat about his own perspective as an active researcher.
How Do You Actually Change Your Eating Habits?
Lately I've been thinking and writing a lot about fat loss.
This is mostly because I have a number of clients for whom fat loss is the main reason they hire me.
It can be a tough, intractable problem that's hard to solve.
So I have been thinking deeply about it and trying my best to give them an edge; a solution; a new framework; some motivation; a kick in the pants; some moral support; some insight about the nature of the issue.
But it is also because I'm marketing my business - thinking out loud about the "pain points" of prospective clients and trying to show how I can help address them.
With that in mind, this post is about how you can change your habits in relation to food.
Using Strength Training To Combat Obesity
You may have seen the recommendation that you build muscle as a top priority to fight against obesity.
That's sound advice I heartily endorse.
Engaging in strength training, and building up skeletal muscle really does work for fat loss. Having more muscle raises your metabolic rate (you burn more energy).
Being stronger makes exercise easier, which means you may do it more.
Gaining strength makes everyday movement feel easier and better, so there's a fair chance your incidental activity will increase.
But there's other, more subtle, reason to focus on strength training when you're trying to lose a lot of weight - ESPECIALLY for those people who are totally new to regular, consistent exercise...
Exercise For Older Adults - How To Get It Done (With A Focus On Strength Training)
Ok, we've set the scene and laid out some general principles.
Now, let's dive in to the nitty gritty about how to engage in strength training and improve your cardiorespiratory (heart and lungs) fitness.
Exercise For Older Adults: General Principles
If you’re an older adult, and you want to start exercising - especially strength training - this article is required reading!
I've deliberately chosen that topic (as opposed to just "exercise") because strength training is more complicated and technical than straight fitness training, and people feel the need for more professional help getting started.
There's more potential for injury, and people are confused about various things (How heavy? How often? Which exercises? etcetera).
In this blog post, I'll step out exercise principles which generally apply to both fitness and strength work but with particular attention to strength training in a gym context.
Cross Training For Distance Running
An important element of enjoying running, and ensuring longevity as a runner, is finding a form of cross training which can support your running training.
What Is It?
Cross training is a way to build running fitness without running. Typically, it involves exercise that mimics running but without so much impact on your body - cycling, walking, stair climbing etc.
Muscles, Strength & Aging - How Aging Affects Your Muscles, Nerves , Bones and Movement
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen articles in the media about the importance of strength training for older adults.
This year, I've fielded a number of enquiries from men and woman aged 60 and above who’ve been prodded into action through the media, or by popular podcasters like Peter Attia (author of the bestselling book, Outlive) and Andrew Huberman.
What's with that? Why does the media - and these podcasters - want you to lift weights all of a sudden?
How Can I Lose Fat? A Primer On Fat Loss.
This is an article to set the scene for people looking to lose body fat.
It is a big picture view of the things which matter, or are commonly talked about, when it comes to pursuing that goal.
Home-Based Strength & Fitness For Middle-Aged Men: Dadbod Session #2
Short, intense, home-based strength and fitness workouts are a great way for busy Dads to fit in the physical training they need. Here's another example of what I mean.
Attention Recreational Runners! Why And How To Run “Strides”.
"Strides" are a great way to warm up and fantastic for building strength, speed and coordination without a high fatigue cost or lots of stress on your body.
This is especially so for beginner and intermediate runners, who may run with poor form at slower paces but have good technique at higher paces.
Hypertrophy For Dadbods: Muscle Gain For Middle-Aged Men
“How do I pack on more muscle? “
So goes the primal yearning of middle-aged Dadbods across the ages.
Verily, I hereby bequeath to thee the secret knowledge. (Translation: In this article, I'll tell you how to do it. )