Author: Bennett Dahl

Categories
Motivation

Casual Friday

Picture

To this point in time I’ve been a personal trainer for 12 years. In those 12 years I’ve worked with countless people who have had desk/sedentary jobs that have been vastly different as people but they all have had a few things in common. When I show them things they could do at work to help negate the sitting and just feel better the same thing gets said in a lot of different ways.

“That never occurred to me.”
“I would never think to do that.”
“I always forget about it.”

As a society the majority of people sit WAY to much.

Driving to work.
All day at work.
Driving home.
Sitting once home again because they’re tired from working all day.

What can I do today to help feel better?

  1. Find ways throughout the day to get up and move and help alleviate the pain and stress you get from sitting to long.
  2. If at all possible get a standing desk or a stability ball to sit on to get you more upright.
  3. Make it a point to get up as much as possible even if it’s to do the smallest thing and not the exercises I have outlined below.

Be sure to check out the video below that will show you 3 things you should be doing everyday ESPECIALLY if you sit for work! After the video below that I have each exercise shown broken down in still images.

Categories
Exercise Tutorials

Two Oblique Exercises You’ve Never Done Before!

Want abs? 🤔

Try these 2 twists on oblique training you haven’t tried before!

Band Pikes w/Rotation😱

  1. Start in a pushup position with your feet in the band. As you tuck your knees to your chest rotate as much as you can pulling your knees to the outside of your elbow.
  2. Band Side Plank w/Rotation + Knee Tuck 💥
    Get into your regular side plank postion. Take your top arm and reach as far as you can under your body like you’re hugging yourself. At the same time pull your knees to your chest, pause for a second, then repeat.

​These exercises are classics in suspension trainers/TRXs, but don’t offer the same challenge or fluidity that using bands to do it does. The engagement you get in your core by having to physically pull your feet to your chest against resistance along with the rotation it allows makes this a unique “twist” 😉.

Categories
Personal Training

What Is Our First Step When I’m Considering Training?

The first thing we need to do is schedule up a time for us to meet and learn more about each other through a consultation and free training session. During the free training session we will be doing a qualitative assessment. A qualitative assessment is a low intensity way to see how your body functions and what muscle imbalances you might have. From there I’m going to be able to make recommendations to you based on the goals we had spoken about in the consult, and what I find in the qualitative assessment. I want you to experience exercises we would be using and let me educate you on why so you can make an informed decision about what it is you want to do moving forward with your training program. This allows us to see if we’re a fit for each other as well.

Categories
Exercise Tutorials

Getting Your First Pull-Up!

Have you tried to get your first pull-up and haven’t been able?
Have you been doing pull-ups for awhile but can’t seem to make the progress you want?
Do you want to build muscle, lose fat, improve your posture, but just haven’t been able to?
​
Those questions are both common themes I run into. When I meet with clients one of the things I’m asked the most is, “Where will we start?” It’s an excellent question and one you should ask of ANY service professional about their service. One of the areas I explain to them I need to look at whether they’re new to working out or have been at it the past 20 years is how well they can engage and use their shoulder blades. I’m not keeping someones best interest in mind if I’m putting them onto exercises they’re not currently ready for, or can do correctly. I would be wasting their time, limiting their results, and worst yet setting them up for INJURY!

To avoid that and help explain better one of the key areas I want to look at when starting with someone I put together an 11.5 minute video with breakdowns on different pulling exercises to engage your scapula and get your first pull-up!

In the video I will be breaking down these exercises:

  • Body Row.
  • Hinge Row (Bent Legs).
  • Hinge Row (Straight Legs).
  • Assisted Pull-Up.
  • Negative Pull-Ups
  • Flex Arm Hang.
  • Pull-Ups!

I recommend doing 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps the Body Row, Hinge Row, and Assisted Pull-Up before moving onto the Negatives, or Flex Arm Hang. Once you can engage your shoulder blades correctly mix in the Negatives and the Flex Arm Hang. You’ll find that with the engagement you get A LOT more out of the simplest movements you were doing before (if you were) but just not very effectively.