April 9, 2020
09 Apr 2020

Hip Stretches: Top 5 best exercises you can do

The top 5 stretches for tight hips. Increase your mobility and reduce back pain!

Sam shows you the best stretches you can do at home to reduce tightness, improve mobility and reduce pain around the hip complex.

What is the problem we are facing?

Sam explains the issue we’re having working from home at the moment and spending more time in a seated position. The longer your body is in a seated position the tighter your hips become. Specifically we’re talking about tightness in the anterior (front facing) part of the hips. Which in turn leads to weakness in the posterior areas (hamstrings and glutes). This can lead to a whole host of unwanted side effects including lower back pain.

How do we fix this?

  1. Inhibit the right muscles (foam rolling etc)
  2. Lengthen the tight muscles – this is stretching which is covered in the video
  3. Strengthen the weak muscles. In this case we’d look at strengthening the glutes
  4. Integrate this into a global movement. (Fully body movement like a bodyweight squat).

So watch this video and do these 5 best hip stretches on a daily basis to help reduce the impact of all this sitting down we’re doing!

Effective Warm Up

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April 9, 2020
09 Apr 2020

Sports specific training during lockdown

‘Sport-specific’ is an oft misused term used to describe the training of athletes outside of playing their chosen sport. Far too frequently we see misguided training methodologies passed off as ‘sport-specific’ under the guise that if you are not performing these exercises your training will hold little to no transfer to performance. As a result, too many athletes, coaches and parents have a misguided notion of what ‘sport-specific’ training should really look like. With the onset of an enforced lockdown it appears that many athletes have gone way off course in their attempt to maintain training regimes that will lead to improved sporting performance. This article intends to give you a workable definition of sport-specific training and a blueprint for what you’re current training should include, if you are an athlete.

What is sports specific training?

The topic of sports specific training is such a multi-faceted topic that we could spend thousands of words going down that rabbit hole. This article simply does not have the scope to do that, so I will try to be succinct in defining it. Ultimately, what distinguishes sport-specific training from other styles of training is that sport performance is the ultimate goal and so the style of training utilised is specific to this goal.

Knowledge of the SAID (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) principle makes us aware that our body adapts to the specific demand imposed upon it. To use a simplistic example, if our goal was to improve upper body pushing strength then the bench press would be a better exercise selection than a calf raise. Carefully selecting training variables that elicit adaptions that transfer to improved performance in the athlete’s sport is therefore the ultimate goal of the strength and conditioning coach. With this in mind, let’s consider what sort of training does not fulfil these requirements.

What is NOT sports specific training?

Knowing that we need to stimulate the body with specific training to elicit certain adaptations we appreciate that sport-specific training is not high volume circuit classes. Whilst circuit classes may be fantastic for general population clients, who are looking for something to keep them ticking over with minimal equipment during this lockdown period, they are not what is required for the athlete in lockdown. Busy work is not always smart work.

Nor is Crossfit sport-specific training. Before anyone starts having a go at me, I’m by no means a Crossfit hater. I actually think it has many good qualities and have personally been training for Crossfit since the back end of last year. As good as it may be, however, it is not suitable training for an athlete looking to improve their sporting performance (unless their sport is Crossfit of course!). The high volume, medium intensity (and often times high intensity) nature of Crossfit runs counter to the low volume, high intensity doses of training we know athletes need to puncture their technical training with.

The method of training being propagated at the moment that annoys me the most, given the allure it has to athletes, parents and coaches who do not know better, is what I call ‘simulation equals specificity’ training. By that I mean, the training that claims to mimic the demands of your chosen sport. Could someone please tell me how lying on your back and getting up simulates, much less improves, the ability to perform a turn in swimming? I have particular sympathy for swimmers out there who are trying their best to train whilst unable to access a pool but please don’t be fooled into thinking that you need to perform ‘race simulations’ in your back garden to do some meaningful training. If this sort of training worked then wouldn’t you be doing it year round anyway, regardless of if we were in lockdown or not? If you would like to read how to actually utilise land training to improve your performance in the pool click here to read an article I’ve previously written, or please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me directly.

What should sport-specific training look like during lockdown?

During lockdown, we are faced with a number of different issues when determining how best to train in order to keep our training aligned with the adaptations we want to elicit.

  • A lack of equipment (most people it seems have access to the odd dumbbell or kettlebell, but very few have access to a power rack with barbells and bumper plates).
  • All technical training has ceased meaning we do not have to factor in fatigue from this training (likewise, it means that training adaptations usually derived from sport practice must know be sought from alternative means).
  • An uncertain return date to competition.

As strength and conditioning coaches, we are taught to make Plan B as close to Plan A as possible. Oftentimes, this takes the format of slightly adjusting the programme in front of us based off how the athlete is feeling on a given day. Obviously, in lockdown, Plan B will need to be a little further from Plan A than normal given the lack of training equipment available. Nevertheless, although we may have limited, or very little, equipment, we can formulate a training plan that addresses the movements that we would normally train. Is the plan you are currently following addressing the following movement patterns?

  • Squat
  • Hinge
  • Single leg
  • Upper push (vertical and horizontal)
  • Upper pull (vertical and horizontal)
  • Core
  • Throw
  • Jump
  • Energy system development

With minimal equipment (an odd dumbbell or kettlebell, or even a resistance band) it is possible to greatly enhance the intensity across all of these movement patterns. Do jumps require any equipment? No. Not got a medicine ball? Find a rock to throw instead.

With all technical training unable to take place, this leaves a huge void in our weekly training routine. In terms of skill development, there’s little you can do to replicate the demands of training and/or competition. But this is going to be the same for everyone. What you can do, alongside strength and power work, is focus on developing your energy systems so that once you return to training you are fitter than before. With extra time on your hands, now is the time to be developing your aerobic fitness, your ‘engine work’. Not to mention that now is not the time to be hammering your immune system with highly glycolytic sessions. Suppressed immune system function = increased chance of catching a virus and not being able to fight it off. Access to an exercise bike? Fantastic, an ideal low impact method of developing the aerobic system. No exercise bike? Use your daily exercise allowance to get outside and run.

An uncertain return date to competition means that implementing a vertical integration method of periodisation is likely most suitable. This is where we are training all components of athletic performance (strength, power, endurance etc.) but with a differing emphasis. With limited equipment now is a great time to focus on muscular endurance but whilst still maintaining an element of speed and power. Train extensive qualities so that you are well prepared for a return to normal training and the re-introduction of intensive training means.

Conclusion

In conclusion, how an athlete trains during lockdown should be as close as possible to how they would normally train. Pause for a moment and consider if this is what you are currently doing – or is your lockdown training devoid of any of the physical stimulus your normal training would include? Whilst we must accept that although general in nature, we can still move the needle forward by making Plan B as close to Plan A as possible. Even with limited or no equipment we can still train the physical attributes required to excel in your chosen sport, in a manner which will at least maintain, or more than likely improve, their capacity so that once normality resumes, you are ahead of the competition who have been following a diet of high volume circuits, Crossfit, or sport simulation exercises that more closely resemble circus tricks.

Effective Warm Up

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June 3, 2019
03 Jun 2019

The Importance of Strength and Conditioning Training For Swimmers

Swimming is a sport which is late to the strength and conditioning party. By that I mean, many coaches and athletes within the swimming world have for too long neglected the importance that strength and conditioning training can have on a swimmer’s performance in the pool.

There is, understandably, scepticism as to how training within the gym environment can benefit an athlete who is pool-based; however, just as standing on one leg on a bosu ball swinging a golf club does little to improve golf performance (William Wayland has written extensively on this subject [1]), the typical land-based training a swimmer is exposed to (performing endless medicine ball circuits and static stretching) does little to improve race performance in the pool. This article will highlight the importance of strength and conditioning training in making a swimmer resilient to injury in addition to improving their performance at the moments in the race when the swimmer has access to ground reaction forces – the race start and turns. It will then go into a case study with one of the swimmers I work with (Charlotte Rigg) who has seen a significant improvement in her race times since beginning formal strength and conditioning training.

Injury Resilience

‘The biggest ability is availability’

This phrase is often used in the strength and conditioning world as a justification for much of the work we do. After all, who cares how much an athlete can lift, or even how high they jump, if they are not available when it matters most. As such, a significant portion of our training time each week needs to be dedicated to making athletes resilient against injuries they will likely encounter given the repetitive nature of their chosen sport.

Within swimming, the extant literature draws our attention to the fact that breaststroke swimmers are particularly susceptible to adductor injuries (the adductors are a group of muscles located on the inner thigh primarily responsible for hip adduction – bringing the legs together.

This should come as no surprise with Grote et. al. finding that breaststroke swimmers put extensive stress on the adductor muscles due to repeated adduction with peak adduction velocity of the thigh in breaststroke swimmers averaging 245° per second. In their study, 42.7% of respondents had been unable to complete all breaststroke training during their practices in the prior 12 months due to a hip adductor injury [2]. With this in mind, enabling the adductor muscles to work dynamically through a full range of motion is paramount in a strength and conditioning programme for a breaststroke swimmer.

Shoulder pain has been reported as the most common injury in competitive swimming [3]. For a swimmer who’s competitive stroke is not breaststroke, they are unlikely to swim significant volumes of breaststroke each week and so the risk of developing an adductor injury can be mitigated by simply not performing this high risk stroke (obviously if your competitive stroke is breaststroke this doesn’t hold true). However, every swimmer completes significant volumes of freestyle metres each week and so mitigating against potential injury risks becomes significantly more challenging. It is thought that training the adductors and internal rotators of the shoulder assists in preventing a swimmer ‘dropping’ their elbows when fatigued, through providing more shoulder strength and stability [3].

Ground Reaction Forces

During the dive and turn, a swimmer has access to ground reaction forces. It is thought that it is these two moments where the S&C coach can have most impact in a swimmer’s performance. In a 50m race, the dive start can account for up to 30% of total race time. For a 200m race, the dive start can account for up to 7.5% of total race time [4]. Studies have shown that time spent on the blocks to produce that level of force was 0.79 seconds [5] . This emphasises the need for both strength and power training, including training to develop rate of force development, to optimise this key component of the race.

Strength and power training, incorporating plyometric training, has been widely shown to improve start performance with significant correlations found between 1RM squat, peak power and jump height (3 factors all specific to producing high ground reaction forces) to start performance.  A study conducted by Bishop et. al. on the influence of a plyometric training intervention on start performance found that over an 8 week period such training resulted in a mean reduction of 0.59 seconds in start time [4]. In addition to a reduction in start time, these swimmers also managed to increase the distance covered from when the head contacted the water.

The other occasion during a swim race when the swimmer has access to ground reaction forces is during the turns. More turns = more ground reaction forces. This is why short course races are quicker than long course races. During a short course 50m race, it has been found that swimmers spend between 0.3 to 0.5 seconds on the wall, representing 1.5% of the total race time [6]. Additionally, biomechanical analysis has shown that the positions swimmers find themselves in during the turn, that is, as they are applying ground reaction forces, are very similar to those found in a Countermovement Jump [4]. It would therefore stand to reason that improving a swimmer’s countermovement jump would transfer into improved performance during race turns.

Case Study – Charlotte Rigg

Charlotte Rigg Simmer

Following a physio referral from Rickie Lovell, I started working with Charlotte at the end of September 2018 with the goal of providing her with strength and conditioning support to aid her swim performance.

The initial goal was to provide strength and conditioning support in the build up to short course Winter Nationals. Following a successful first cycle with PB’s across the board we continued working together in the build-up to the British Championships in April and, following yet another successful meet, Charlotte has been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Junior Championships at the end of August. Preparation is well underway for this.

From day one, Charlotte has bought into the strength and conditioning programme I have put in place for her and has been a pleasure to coach. She comes to the gym eager to train, fully appreciating the important role strength and conditioning can have on improving her performance whilst keeping her injury free.

Charlotte Rigg Swimmer

In her own words:

‘After a year of basic land training at my home swimming club, this season I wanted to try something different outside the pool which would be a new experience and help improve my overall strength and movement.

I feel so much stronger which has resulted in improved performances and personal bests in my key events.’

Please don’t misinterpret the intention of this case study. By no means am I trying to take sole credit for Charlotte’s improvements since she has started working with me. She spends 20+ hours with her swim coach per week training and 2 with me. Nevertheless, I do believe there is a correlation between improved performances in the pool since she has undertaken formal strength and conditioning with personal bests in key events, but also in events she hardly trains. I think her results speak for themselves:

Short Course

Event Personal Best Time Before S&C Current Personal Best Time
100 Freestyle 1.00.75 59.20
200 Freestyle 2.10.47 2.06.45
50 Breaststroke 34.79 34.34
100 Breaststroke 1.12.44 1.09.21
200 Breaststroke 2.29.98 2.26.25
200 Individual Medley 2.22.64 2.19.74
400 Individual Medley 5.03.07 4.54.76

Long Course

Event Personal Best Time Before S&C Current Personal Best Time
400 Freestyle 4.50.14 4.37.44
50 Breaststroke 33.86 33.75
100 Breaststroke 1.11.87 1.11.30
200 Breaststroke 2.31.60 2.29.73
200 Butterfly 2.27.57 2.24.66
200 Individual Medley 2.22.82 2.21.42
400 Individual Medley 5.02.00 4.57.98

The purpose of this article was to highlight the importance of strength and conditioning training for swimmers. Through a three-pronged approach to strength and conditioning for swimmers, addressing injury resilience, the dive start and turns (through strength and power training), I believe strength and conditioning can play a key role in improved swim performance. Using the case study of Charlotte Rigg, I hope to have provided real life context as to how one swimmer’s personal best times have improved across the board since undertaking formal strength and conditioning. Whilst ostensibly it may seem that the S&C coach is not able to play as large a role as in some sports, there is still significant scope for the S&C coach to influence a swimmer’s performance in the pool and their ability to train year round injury free.

References

[1] Wayland W., ‘Strength and Conditioning Advice When Training Golfers’, https://simplifaster.com/articles/golf-strength-conditioning/ [accessed 23rd May 2019].

[2] Grote K., Lincoln T.L., and Gamble J.G., ‘Hip adductor injury in competitive swimmers’, American Journal of Sports Medicine 32: pp. 104-8, 2004.

[3] Richardson A.B., Jobe F.W., and Collins H.R., ‘The shoulder in competitive swimming’, American Journal of Sports Medicine 8: pp.159-63, 1980.

[4] Bishop et. al., ‘Strength and Conditioning for Sprint Swimming’, Strength and Conditioning Journal 35 (6), pp. 1-6, 2013.

[5] Lee C-Y, Huang C-F, and Lee C-W, ‘Biomechanical of the grab and track swimming starts’, available at https://ojs.ub.uni-konstanz.de/cpa/article/view/5337/4908 [accessed 23rd May 2019].

[6] Potdevin et. al., ‘Effects of a 6-week plyometric training program on performance in pubescent swimmers’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25: pp. 80-6, 2011.

Effective Warm Up

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December 19, 2018
19 Dec 2018

National Gym of the Year, 2018

Rigs Fitness were shortlisted for the ‘Best Regional Gym, Midlands & Wales’ at the National Fitness Awards 2018, at The Athena, Leicester. This was the 5th time in 6 years we’d been shortlisted for an awards at the NFA’s (winning a different award on 3 of the previous 4 years).  This was the third time we’d been shortlisted for ‘Best Regional Gym, Midlands & Wales’ and we were reigning champions having won in 2017. This year we won it again, but that wasn’t all…

…Rigs Fitness also won ‘National Gym of the Year’ at the National Fitness Awards 2018. This is a huge accolade for us and something that has been 6 years in the making. So this post is all about the Rigs Fitness timeline and why we’re so proud to be named as The Best Gym in the UK!

Team Rigs Fitness on stage collecting their ‘National Gym of the Year, 2018’ Award at the NFAs

August 2012 – Rigs Fitness opened it’s doors to the public, we had one full time member of staff, owner Sam Smith, who along with co-founder Paul Gilmore, brother Ben Smith a handful of coaches and family members launched Rigs Fitness with the goal of being a successful functional fitness centre in Birmingham.

We had our mantra of ‘Train Like An Athlete’ and prided ourselves on the quality of our coaching and friendly environment that genuinely allows people from all backgrounds, all ages, and all levels of fitness, to come and train in an approachable atmosphere and achieve their fitness goals

  •  Owner Sam Starting Work at Rigs in 2012
  • Rigs Fitness Grand Opening, 12.08.12
  • The Mayor with Owner Sam and Co-Founder Paul
  • December 2013 – Rigs Fitness wins Newcomer of the Year at the National Fitness Awards
  • December 2014 – Rigs Fitness was shortlisted for Regional Gym of the Year, Midlands & Wales and came runner up
  • December 2016  – Rigs Fitness wins Functional Training Gym of the Year at the National Fitness Awards
  • December 2017 – Rigs Fitness won Regional Gym of the Year, Midlands & Wales at the National Fitness Awards
  • December 2018 – Rigs Fitness won Regional Gym of the Year, Midlands & Wales and National Gym of the Year at the National Fitness Awards

December 2018 – Rigs Fitness has been open for almost 6 and a half years. We have had 6 and a half years of continuous growth in all aspects of the business. Owner Sam Smith is now one of 15 fitness staff, we’ve developed and opened our very own Performance arm of the gym, athlete development programme, Youth Athlete Academy – have in house physiotherapists, sports massage therapists and nutritionists and have had sports stars from all over the world come and train with us.

We also now promote a number of successful sporting events around the Midlands, work with over 20 local schools and businesses, and have helped over 1500 members work towards their fitness goals and ultimately become fitter, healthier and happier

BUT… we still have our mantra of #TrainLikeAnAthlete and pride ourselves on the quality of our coaching and friendly environment that genuinely allows people from all backgrounds, all ages, and all levels of fitness, to come and train in an approachable atmosphere and achieve their fitness goals.

  • Rigs Fitness Team on stage at the NFAs
  • Rigs Fitness after ‘The Next Level’ upgrade 2016
  • 45 Rigs Members take on Rough Runner 2017

Rigs has developed and adapted in so many ways, but our core business model has stayed true throughout the years. We’ve always had an unwavering dedication to functional fitness, and created an approachable atmosphere to allow anyone and everyone to come and realise their potential in the gym environment. 

Winning ‘National Gym of the Year 2018’ is an amazing achievement for our Fitness Team that we’re all super proud of, but we’re equally as proud of the environment, atmosphere and fitness family we’ve created at our facility here in Birmingham. 

If you’re interested in coming down and seeing what all the fuss is about then don’t hesitate. Our door is always open to new members who want to come down and achieve their fitness goals, whatever they are. 

Call Us: 01212461976 // Visit Us: www.rigsfitness.co.uk // Visit Us: Rigs Fitness, B130AY // OR: Laugh at our Owner: https://goo.gl/nvfQVq 

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December 18, 2018
18 Dec 2018

Athlete Development at Rigs Fitness, Birmingham 2018 Review

Athlete development and performance training birmingham

2018 has been another successful year for our ever-growing Athlete Development Programme. As the year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to share some of the highlights of the year with you.

The year got off to a great start with the addition of Sean McDermotts Gaelic Football Club to our Team Athlete Development Programme. The team had a successful season winning the Warwickshire County Championship and falling just short in the All Britain series, losing in the semi-finals to the eventual winners.

Sean McDermotts GFC at Rigs Fitness

A special mention must go to one of our youth athletes, Bailey Saunders. Bailey joined the ADP in January 2017 as a 13 year old lad looking to take his rugby to the next level. Fast forward 18 months, Bailey has ticked off all of these goals:

  • Greater Birmingham (represented 2017/18 season)
  • North Midlands (representing 2018/19 season)
  • Hartpury College (place offered to start September 2019)
  • Worcester Warriors Academy (representing 2018/19 season)

Bailey’s success story shows how formal strength and conditioning from a young age can accelerate development and help young athletes to realise their athletic potential. But, of course, this would not have been the case had Bailey’s commitment and attitude to training not been second to none.

Youth athlete development
Head of Performance, Josh Bridgeman training youth athlete Bailey Saunders

Longstanding ADP athlete Alex Edmonstone has enjoyed another successful year as Captain of Olton and West Warwickshire 1st XI. At the start of the year, he led the team to the indoor National Division 2 title and as we head towards Christmas, the team is sitting pretty at the top of National League Conference West looking to continue their Premiership promotion push in 2019.

Head of Performance Josh Bridgeman with Alex Edmonstone
Head of Performance Josh Bridgeman with Alex Edmonstone

This year has seen a successful year for the group of fighters we have had on the ADP. Thai boxer Louis Evans has won both of his fights this year alongside raising a new born baby! 2019 promises to be another exciting year for him with training already started for his next bout in March.

Within the Rigs coaching team, Callum Hawthorne undertook formal S&C for the first time in the build-up to his pro-K1 debut, which he went on to win. And, of course, Rigs’ owner Sam Smith returned to the ring for the final time winning with a comprehensive second round stoppage after following our holistic approach to his S&C (more details of the approach we took with Sam can be found on our Instagram page).

Fellow Rigs coach Rob Stevens, formerWorld Kickboxing Champion, has seen the success of these fighters and started on the ADP ahead of his fight in April 2019. So has Hamzah Muhammed as he returns to the ring in the next Strictly Business show

  •  iADP Rob Stevens
  • iADP Boxer Sam Smith 
  • iADP Callum Hawthorne

Anya Bates is another youth athlete who has achieved success on the ADP, with the highlight of her season winning her first ever English Schools medal in 2018, placing third in the Senior Girls100m hurdles.

Rigs Fitness Youth Athlete Anya Bates
Rigs Fitness Youth Athlete Anya Bates

Whilst many are winding down for a well-deserved Christmas break, some of our ADP athletes are still training hard in preparation for upcoming trial dates. Having competed for Great Britain in the European Junior Championships earlier on this year, Charlotte Rigg has been in the last stages of her preparation for Winter Nationals as she looks to end the year in style.

She performed exceptionally well in this National event, managing to get PB times in both of her events, and breaking a 20 year old West Midlands record, at the age of only 16! Her City of Birmingham teammate, Aimee Hood, has just begun preparation for the 2019 season where she will look to put in a strong showing at National competitions.

Harry Miles has started formal S&C as he looks to become a much more robust athlete in2019, with the added bonus of recent trials for both the men’s and mixed GreatBritain u24 Ultimate Frisbee teams.

Claire Rylance is training extremely hard as she looks to go into the England Women’s Touch Rugby selection camp at the start of January fitter and faster than ever before…just don’t mention the words Watt Bike to her!

  • iADP Athlete Charlotte Rigg
  • iADP Athlete Claire Rylance

This year has seen us develop closer links with Rickie Lovell and the team at Achieve Physiotherapy as we strive to provide the most comprehensive athlete support package that we can to our athletes. This means many of our athletes are able to benefit from the multi-disciplinary team approach we can take to their training and athletic performance.

One of our athletes who has benefitted hugely from this approach is Simon Ryder. When Simon first came to me, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to lift properly again due to his injury history. Working closely with Rickie, Simon is able to lift heavy on a weekly basis chasing down numbers in the gym and making progress week to week.  

Members of Rigs – keep your eyes peeled for information releasing soon about an upcoming injury workshop atRigs in January.

A 2018 year review of the ADP would not be complete without mention of the launch of our very own Youth Athlete Academy. After an extremely successful taster session at our Open Weekend in June, we went from strength-to-strength with a successful SummerSeries during the school summer holidays before our main launch in September.In our weekly sessions, we provide a general physical preparation programme for youth athletes looking to optimise their athletic potential. We do this in a safe, fun and structured manner with DBS checked coaches.

The Youth Athlete Academy, Rigs Fitness Birmingham

If you like what you have read and want to find out any more information about our Athlete Development Programme then CLICK HERE FOR MORE 

Here’s to an even better2019!

Useful links can be found below:

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