One of the fantastic things about training at our private personal training studio in East London, is that we can do things our way. If we believe there’s a more effective tool for a job, or a better way of doing things, we can adapt training methods. We’re not bound by equipment, rules or membership limitations, so we can explore different training methods to get the job done.
One such area of training variety is in resistance training. We don’t really ‘do’ the whole weights machines thing, so we can employ a whole raft of different types of resistance training to help our clients get into fantastic shape quickly.
Using a variety of resistance training maintains motivation because there’s always a new challenge around the corner, it keeps interest high, because we can offer lots of workout variety and finally it prevents physical stagnation from our clients because we keep their bodies ‘guessing’ when it comes to fitness - they never adapt to a method, creating lazy movement patterns and the like, dulling the effectiveness.
In this blog post we’re going to look at some of the different types of resistance training we use at AdMac Fitness, our private PT studio in Bow, East London.
Barbell exercises
Let’s start with the obvious one - barbell training. The OG of resistance training and still arguably the best and most versatile resistance training tool there is.
With an almost unlimited number of exercise and potential for ever-increasing weight, a barbell can be a whole workout in itself. You can adjust weights, sets, reps, rest periods and movement pattern to train your whole body. You can perform complexes (multiple exercises combined into a single exercise), super sets (different exercises performed back to back without rest) and everything else in between.
At AdMac Fitness barbell training is a fundamental aspect of our training approach, because it’s just so effective.
Kettlebells!
Kettlebell training can trace its roots as far back as the ancient Mongol armies (apparently). Their popularity took off again in the early 2000’s though when they became popular in Hollywood. To be honest, we don’t really care about that - we just use them because we think they’re awesome.
A kettlebell can be used for all types of resistance training - they can be used in place of dumbbells for lots of exercises, but they’re also excellent for swing movements, carry movements and explosive work. You can very easily perform a whole body circuit workout in 20 minutes with a kettlebell, such is their effectiveness.
There are particular techniques we use with kettlebells that make them slightly different to other resistance training approaches, which gives them unique properties. These include eccentric contract emphasis and unilateral strength improvements.
Bodyweight training… the forgotten one!
So many people forget about bodyweight exercise when it comes to resistance training, because they dismiss it as real training. Take it from us, done correctly, bodyweight training is no joke - it’s a tough workout that can (and does) get people into fantastic shape.
Bodyweight training is really scalable - at one end of the spectrum you have air squats, push ups etc, in the mid range you have pull ups, plyometrics, animal movement patterns etc, then at the top end you have advanced calisthenics. There’s progression for all levels and the results from other an athletic and physique points of view are great.
Limited equipment needed, with a huge physical upside. Bodyweight training is an important aspect of what we do at AdMac Fitness.
TRX and Suspension Training
The suspension trainer really blew up in popularity in the early 2000’s, because it offers HUGE exercise variety in a really convenient way. It has been described in some circles as stability ball training without the stability ball.
We use our suspension trainers with personal training clients of all levels, because they’re excellent, for all kinds of exercises and movements - from warm ups to high intensity circuit training, they’re super effective. It’s also a great way to progress and regress movements. For example, we can help people learn to do pistol squats with a TRX by making them easier, but we can also make core work and push ups much harder by using them.
Dumbbells - the other OG!
For many people, dumbbells are the forgotten about little brother of the barbell. For personal trainers, they’re an excellent way to improve unilateral (both sides) strength, create opportunities to load single sides, they offer unique exercise variety and freedoms of movement that you’d struggle to replicate with a barbell.
In some gyms people tend not to use dumbbells because it’s a kick in the teeth for your ego! For example, you’d think if you could bench press say, 60kg with a barbell you’d be able to bench press 2 x 30kg dumbbells, but that’s nowhere near the truth! In reality you can probably bench a couple of 22.5kg dumbbells! If your lifting is about your ego, you may want to give the dumbbells a swerve!
If (like us at AdMac Fitness), you’re more bothered about results than egos, grab hold of those dumbbells and use them a lot! Your body and health will thank you for it!
Battle ropes
Battle ropes are an excellent tool for upper body conditioning and they’re not especially common in commercial gyms. Being an independent personal training studio though, we’re not bound by such limitations!
We use battle ropes for a variety of reasons - we put them in circuits, we use them for workout finishers, we use them for warm ups. It’s a way to mix things up with upper body training, plus it’s a low-impact way to add huge reps to the arms.
Whilst battle ropes can be used to train more than just the upper body (they can be incorporated into exercises such as burpees, the most value is from using them as an upper body high rep training tool and that’s what we tend to do with them.
Different types of resistance training - concluded
At AdMac Fitness we will mix up all of these different types of resistance training to create interesting, varied and effective workouts. You’ll be constantly challenged and progressing with the help of the AdMac personal training team…
If you want your health and fitness journey to be guided by the best personal training team in East London, get in touch with us at AdMac Fitness. We operate from our private personal training studio in Bow, E3. Contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!