Barry Lewin

I managed to steal some time with Barry Lewin, semi-pro surf-ski racer, while he is in the middle of Coast to Coast for Cancer (C2C4C), to do an interview with him.

Barry was born 19-04-83, in Empangeni, but has grown up and currently still living in Durban. Barry participated in many different sports while at school but started to favour K1 paddling, after he had finished school he went on to take up Surf Ski racing. He then later became a semi-professional surf ski racer. Barry weighs 90 kg and is 6ft2. Mr Lewin has achieved so much in his personal and professional career. to read up about his life achievements and to follow his blog, go to http://www.barrylewin.co.za/ .

Health and Performance Unlimited: Hi Barry, thanks for using one of your rest days to spend some time with me. Your currently doing the C2C4C, tell us about that?

Barry: C2C4C is a expedition where five intrepid adventurers on jet ski’s will travel over 2800km’s of coastline in 3 Southern African countries in order to increase awareness and raise funds for the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) as part of the Coast 2 Coast 4 CANSA (C2C4C) campaign supported by SPAR and Acer.
The pilots, SA surfer Jason Ribbink (Durban North), ex-Protea cricketer Lance Klusener (Mount Edgecombe), marine conservationist Mark Addison (Widenham) and former Dolphins cricketer Russel Symcox (Scottburgh) and myself, will journey on our Yamaha WaveRunners from the Mozambique border to the Namibian border with the aim of creating awareness, educating and raising funds for CANSA.

Health and Performance Unlimited: I’m sure you have had to make many sacrifices to achieve what you have, tell us about that? What are your day to day challenges?

Barry: The biggest challenge is time management. In marginalized sport there is not much cash. We do it for the love and often the best pro athletes will have to work on the side to supplement their income to survive. It’s this balance between training, work, family and sleep (when you can get it) that makes or breaks you. The people who juggle these elements the best will succeed. In tough times the passion for what you show’s through. If you love what you do sacrifices easy!

Health and Performance Unlimited: What is a typical training day for you?

Barry: Morning Paddle of around an hour followed but gym, pilates or core
Afternoon Paddle including interval training
I do one run and a one swim a week.

Health and Performance Unlimited: Have you ever suffered injuries that took you out of your sport for a while? If so what did that do to you mentally and physically?

Barry: I had some shoulder problems last year. I never paddled for 2 months. It is very difficult mentally. We race so much that it was probably good physically for the body to give it some rest but when you are used to racing it kills you sitting on the bank watching. I love the racing and really miss it. I know I really doubted why I was trying to be an athlete last year when I got injured. I was really down with withdrawal from not paddling and dealing with pressures from sponsors to get training. The second I climbed back in the boat the love for the sport answered all those question.

Health and Performance Unlimited: If you weren’t a semi-professional athlete, what would you be doing?

Barry: I did a marketing degree at Varsity College so probably working in that field. Promoting sporting events or even athletes for a business angle. I have already started with some events and would love to get more into this industry in the future.

Health and Performance Unlimited: You have opened Varsity College Surfskischool, was that always a dream? How did you go about opening it? Was being a semi-professional surf ski racer a big help?

Barry: The school was actually opened by Dawid Mocke in Cape Town and he hired me to run the Durban Branch. I got involved to try give back to the sport that has given me so much joy and spread the stoke I feel when I paddle. Joy is so much sweeter when shared. I started slowly with a couple ski and have built it up to 4 level groups. Being a surfski pro was definitely a help. A perfect opportunity for me to share my knowledge and racing experience with new people and ultimately build the sport.

Health and Performance Unlimited: Thank you so much for your time, good luck with the rest of the C2C4C.

- Caron-lee

Don't be Resistant to Resistance

I recently ran a poll on the blog to find out whether people think woman should do resistance training or not, 87% of you thought they should. This would make one think that it is the case, however it’s not.

For years woman have been told to do a combination of cardio and low weight/ high rep gym program’s, but many recent journal articles and research articles suggest otherwise. Woman should be doing resistance training and yes that does suggest higher weights and lower reps, your training program should be more similar to a males training program than it should be different. It is common for woman to argue that, “I don’t want to get big and bulky”, this won’t however be the case. Woman are built differently to men, therefore when your muscles get stronger through strength training you wont end up looking like a man. Woman do not have high testosterone levels, so unless you are genetically special or taking a supplement or aid you are not going to get “big”, your body just wont allow you to. You will notice that men generally have poor form in a gym so that they can lift heavier weights, where as woman will lift light weights and have close to perfect form, so keep the form and increase your weights, you will see many positive results. Increased strength will improve your life in the long term; you will benefit dramatically when you are older from strength training now.

One thing women need to get out of their heads and a habit they need to break is that dreaded scale. Strength training might make you heavier on the scale, but if you look in the mirror you will see a different person, measure your circumferences rather that weigh yourself as this will show honest results. You might be heavier but you’ll be smaller, which is what you want. Strength training will increase muscle mass while decreasing adipose tissue (fat); because the more muscle you have the more fat you will burn. Strength training builds muscle so you will lose fat.

Don’t resist resistance, strength training is the way forward for woman who want to lose weight and have the body of their dreams. I recommend reading “The New Rules of Lifting for Woman” by Lou Schuler. If I haven’t been able to convince you, he will.

- Caron-lee

Interview with Waylon Murray

Full name: Waylon Michael Murray
Date of birth: April 27, 1986 (1986-04-27)
Place of birth: Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Height: 1.9 m

Weight: 105 kg
School: Westville Boys High School
University: University of Natal, B.Comm Marketing
Occupation(s): Professional rugby union footballer

Health and Performance Unlimited: Hi Waylon, thank you so much for taking time out of your schedule to do an interview with us. You spent your high school career at Westville Boys High School, where you were head of the school and played first team rugby. Was it at Westville that your passion for rugby started or was rugby already a big part of your life beforehand?

Waylon: going into high school I had a passion for a number of sports but while I was Westville I got a chance to mature and grow my love for rugby, by the time I neared the end of my schooling I was still undecided whether cricket was going to be my career or rugby, fortunately enough I was mentored and given a lot of solid advice and ultimately I chose rugby, my passion has since grown daily as I’m always learning more about the sport that has contributed so much positive in my life.

Health and Performance Unlimited: You made your debut for the Natal Sharks in 2006 and have continued playing with them in both Currie Cup and Super 14 competitions. It was while playing for the Sharks that you got your shot at Springbok level, which is a huge achievement. Did you ever think you would achieve the things you have at such a young age?

Waylon: not in a million years did I ever think I would be playing for the sharks straight out of high school; much of my first year of professional rugby was spent in awe and wonder because the guys I was now playing with were my heroes through high school. I had always planned my future with these many goals with the hope that I would achieve them through a process of years working my way to the top, but I never realized it would happen so spontaneously.

Health and Performance Unlimited: I’m sure hard work and sacrifices came into play to achieve what you have. Your schedule is very busy, what is a typical day for you?

Waylon: a typical day varies from what part of the season you are in, but usually we have a gym session in the morning around 7,followed by a pilots or core strengthening session after followed by a strategy meeting, we have breakfast then we back in the afternoon for team meeting then field session then individual extras.

Health and Performance Unlimited: Having played both inside and outside centre, what are the key elements and training tips you can give to others in your position and other aspiring rugby players in general?

Waylon: I think the most important advice I can give to any rugby players is make sure to work hard every opportunity you get, whether it be practice or game time. Give yourself every opportunity to succeed by always believing and continuously making sure to keep learning and pushing limits that you didn't even realise were there.

Health and Performance Unlimited: You suffered a 7 month absence from rugby due to injury in 2009 but have since recovered and have had game time again. What was it like both physically and mentally trying to get back into the game? What was your rehab and training schedule like?

Waylon: that was the toughest period of my life, emotionally taxing and mentally draining. I was blessed to be around such incredible people that made sure my state of mind was always positive. I learnt a lot about my character and it was a tough road to health but I made it. Rehab was an integral part of my healing and it was full day commitment that helped me grow as a person, I would spend 2 hours in the gym every morning and another 2 hours in the afternoon making sure my conditioning would not be compromised while I was on the side line, very grateful to have many amazing people around me through that difficult time in my life

Health and Performance Unlimited: Thank you so much for you time Waylon, it is much appreciated.

- Caron-Lee

Netball training program for males and females.

Netball is an explosive sport involving horizontal as well as vertical movements to progress an athlete forward to receive a pass, make a pass and score a goal. This game also allows the player to jump up to receive a ball as well as dodge another player to be available for a pass. The game is centered on the fact that players can outrun and out smart one another to score goals.

It is for this reason that I am going to draw up a training program with exercises and movements that can help the athlete to achieve all his or her goals.

As with many sports now both sexes are involved in previously male dominated sports, with netball it is males that for the last few years have evolved and expanded the game. To see males and females play the game is amazing!

However males and females have different needs when it comes to training. Females build lower body muscle mass more than they build upper body muscle mass partly due to the structure of the female body and the hormones that are in abundance in the female body. For this reason females should focus on upper body exercises to make the strength gains in the lower body equal to the strength gains in the lower body (Essentials of Strength and Conditioning)

Upper body exercises for females:
1. Shoulder press with dumbbells
2. One arm dumbbell bicep curl
3. One arm bent over triceps kick back
4. One arm bent over row
5. One arm front and lateral raises with dumbbell or medicine ball
6. Rotator cuff exercises

Lower body exercises for females:
1. Adduction on machine
2. Abduction on machine
3. Body weight wall squat on Physio- ball
4. Front and back lunges either body weight or with dumbbells at your side
5. Hamstring curls on Physio -ball
6. Sumo Dead lift or squat either body weight or with a dumbbell

Males would add more resistance to their upper body exercises and depending on the nature of their training perform the exercises more frequently, females would control the repetitions and perform the exercises with light weight until the body adapts then increase the weight at a steady pace.

Upper body exercise for males:
1. Rotator cuff exercises
2. Lateral pull downs
3. Bent over row
4. Shoulder press
5. Incline press
6. Forearm flexion and extension
7. Bicep curl ( eccentrically loading the muscle)
8. Triceps push down

These exercises can be performed on the Physic- ball.

Lower body exercises for males:
1. Squats
2. Lunges
3. Hamstring curls
4. One leg raises

For both males and females plyometrics can be done just make sure that you have adequate rest in between each plyometrics session.

Core and abdominal exercise should also be an important part of the training program here are a few exercise that you can do:

1. Russian rotation
2. Side crunches on a Physio-ball
3. Crunches on the Physio-ball
4. Sit-ups with a weight across your chest
5. Medicine ball toss to your chest

These exercises can help females and males reach their ultimate goal and succeed in their sport!

Regards
Chrysilla Stander

How to break a tackle without it breaking you!

Rugby injuries can be serious when players make movements without being conscious about their body and especially their neck and back. There are ways to prevent injuries from occurring, however movements happen spontaneously and unforeseen circumstances can cause an injury.

Strengthening your neck and back can aid in decreasing the effects of injury, as well as decrease the time players need to rehabilitate.

Here are tips to prevent injury during a tackle situation:

1. Aim for the opponents middle, above the hips but below the rib cage
2. Go in with your shoulder towards the opponents middle and put your arms around his/her waist and drive the individual backward
3. During this stage your are moving forward trying to make your opponent lose his/her balance
4. When you are doing these movements remember to keep your back straight
5. Your fall should be cushioned by your opponents body
6. Your neck should be placed on the opponents body for safe keeping

Neck and back strengthening exercises:

Neck:
1. Theraband :

v Lateral flexion
v Anterior flexion
v Posterior flexion

2. Fury :
v Lateral flexion
v Anterior flexion
v Posterior flexion

Modified bridge extension and barbell plates can be added on to the Theraband for extra weight if the exercises progress.

Back:
v Seated rows
v Reverse flies
v Sumo dead lift
v Straight leg dead lift
v Good mornings
v Bent over rows
v Upright row
v Lateral pull downs
v Snatch
v Fury Row and Raise

These exercises will make your neck and back strong enough to break any tackle but not break YOU!

Regards

Chrysilla Stander

Reek of Alcohol? Your Performance will stink too!

Binge drinking as well as long term drinking has negative, detrimental effects on one’s athletic performance. You’ve always been told don’t drink before a game/event and always watched as many professional athletes chose water over alcohol, well here’s why.

Binge drinking has many physical and physiological effects on a person’s body. It had a massive impact on reaction time; one’s reaction time is slowed and can remain like this for up to several days. It also decreases one’s hand-eye co-ordination. The deterioration of these crucial skills will impact one’s performance massively in sports such as rugby and cricket and netball. Accuracy and balance are also negatively impacted by alcohol consumption, which will affect performance in sports such as gymnastics and baseball. These motor skills are vital in most sports and they are acutely affected by the utilization of alcohol.

It is indicated in various studies that alcohol also has a harmful effect on speed, strength and power. Alcohol often leads to dehydration and this leads to electrolyte imbalances. Dehydration affects one’s muscles in various ways, causing cramps, strains and tears. It can also lead to a decrease in muscle mass which ultimately leads to worsened performance. Alcohol has 7calories per gram and is stored similarly to fat, it can also destroy amino acids and store them as fat, therefore alcohol causes an increase in body fat percentage, which will not only impair certain energy systems which will decrease energy levels, but will also decrease recovery and increase muscle soreness.

Drinking alcohol continuously over longer periods as opposed to binge drinking can have permanent negative effects on athletic and everyday performance. It affects brain and nervous function, can cause blood clotting and liver failure and can cause fatty deposits. Long-term alcohol usage also leads to weakened heart muscles.

I have given many reasons to avoid alcohol as an athlete as your performance will undoubtedly be affected in a bad way, they say “don’t drink and drive”, I say “don’t drink and do exercise.”

- Caron-lee

How do I become game fit and still have fun?
For most people becoming game fit is problematic. I also have a problem staying on one training program long enough for it to work. I have now come up with an idea that in the last few weeks has changed the way I feel and train. For a training program to be effective it needs to be specific to the sport that you are playing. The principle of specificity comes into play when writing up your training program. What do I want to achieve, in how long do I want to achieve it and am I going to follow through my plans one I have started? All these questions should be running through your mind when you are thinking of starting your sport specific program.

So let us discuss the first point: What do I want to achieve?
Today I am going to discuss how you can become fit for court sports; such as tennis, basketball, netball, badminton and squash. All these above mentioned sports have one common aspect and that is the fact that you are constantly in motion, this might not always be in a physical context but it can be in a mental context as well. All these sports require the individual to think of the next move or plan. With this thought in mind the athlete needs to be very cautious about everything that they do. So how do I become mentally and physically fit? For these sports to be carried out successfully the individual needs to do the following:

1.Agility
2.Balance
3.Anaerobic endurance
4.Proprioception

I will now explain all these above mentioned and possible exercises:

1.Agility
2.Balance
3.Anaerobic endurance
4.Proprioception

Agility:
Can be defined as a person’s ability to change his/her body position, it requires a combination of balance, coordination, speed, endurance and muscular endurance.

Balance:
An awareness of where your body parts are with regards to your surroundings

Anaerobic endurance:
Is your body’s ability to function without “air”. What this means is that your are not dependant on the aerobic system solely but that your body uses other by products to produce energy or ATP

Proprioception:
Is your awareness of all your senses in relation to your surroundings and your body parts in that specific surrounding.

Exercises you can do to improve these abilities:
T-Drill (agility)
Stand on one leg (balance)
20 m sprints (Anaerobic endurance)

Illinois agility test Stand on one leg but bend the leg as if in a half squat (balance)
10m shuttle runs over 100m (Anaerobic endurance)

Hexagon agility test (agility)
Close your eyes and stand (balance)
20m shuffle then 10m sprint (Anaerobic endurance)

Side to side agility test (agility)
5m sprint, walk 5m then sprint 5m and walk the next 5m over 20 m (Anaerobic endurance)

5 Dot drill (agility)
Across court running, game specific activities (Anaerobic endurance)

The next question that should be asked is in how long do I want to achieve my goal?
You as the individual know how long you have before your competition starts. You must plan ahead to make sure that you have adequate time to get game ready. Therefore it is important to structure your training in such a manner that you can prepare for all facets of your game which can be the following;
Ø Aerobic fitness
Ø Anaerobic fitness
Ø Sport specific fitness
Ø Sport specific skill training
Ø Game preparation
In how long do I want to achieve my goals?
· When is your sporting event
· What is the sporting event
· What stage of your training program are you currently in
· Do you have any injury

You should start at the top and work your way down to the bottom to achieve optimal performance. Make use of timing and fit all of the above into your program.

The last question is how am I going to follow through with my plans and training once I have started?
Here are a few ideas on how to stick to your program and make it work;
1.Find yourself a motivational training partner
2.Train only if you are happy and feeling well, do not try and train if you are unwell
3.Make a play list that you can train to and that will motivate you
4.Diarize your training schedule so that you can have enough time to train and not rush your session because you have no other obligations, if something is hindering you, you might not train optimally
5.Record what you have done

For any athlete to train it is difficult, but with hard work and perseverance it can work, you can succeed.

Regards
Chrysilla Stander

ADVANCED TRAINING PRINCIPLES: Part 2

Pre-Exhaust training: Due to the fact that the triceps and the anterior deltoids are smaller than the pectoral (chest) muscles, they will fatigue first during a movement such as bench press. The pre-exhaust principle makes up for this, here you pre fatique a bigger muscle before beginning a movement such as bench press. So for the chest you would do a set of dumbbell fly’s to try and isolate and pre fatigue the pectoral muscles and then immediately go and do a set of bench press so that the larger pectoral muscles can fatigue at the same time as the smaller muscles thus working the pectorals harder.

Running the rack: This involves doing an exercise with a set of dumbbells, putting them down, picking up the next lighter weight, and doing another set without stopping and this carries on until exhaustion. This is a dumbbell variation of the stripping method.

I go/You go: You need a training partner for this or simply some one in the gym training the same muscle group as you. For example, you do a set of barbell bicep curls then hand the weight over to your partner who does a set immediately, he then hands it straight back to you and you do another set. This carries on until exhaustion. This increases intensity due to the short rest intervals between sets.

Flushing method: This involves using a lighter weight and holding the weight steady at various points along the path of the exercise, forcing the muscle to tense isometrically.
Partial reps: Continue to do partial reps when your to tired to complete full range of motion reps.

The Plantoon system (21’s): Do 7 half reps only in the lower range of the motion, 7 half reps only in the upper range of the motion and then 7 full/normal reps

Schwarzenegger A. (1985). Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding. Pelham Books,158-160.

Best Regards
Shane Scott

ADVANCED TRAINING PRINCIPLES: Part 1

Some of you might already be using supersets and tri-sets but there are a few more advanced training principles that you may not be aware of. Here are a few more to help spice up your training or help you overcome a plateau in your training.

Super set: Performing two exercises in a row with out rest

Tri set: Performing three exercises in a row with out rest

Negative repetitions: This is the eccentric part of the contraction, eg., lowering the weight during a bicep curl. For this principle you slowly and controlled lower the weight during the eccentric/negative part of the movement, and one can also do strictly negatives by getting some one to help you lift the weight and then you strictly control the lowering by yourself.

Shocking principle: The body is amazingly adaptable and thus you need to vary your exercises and training so that the body doesn’t become accustomed to the training, this variation will help keep your body adapting to the new exercises or training. You have to surprise the body with new workouts, unusual exercises or exercises performed in a different way or order.

Stripping method: This is a great technique that you can really feel working. This should be used only for the last few sets and not in the begging of a workout. Take triceps cable pressdowns for example, you start with the heaviest weight that will allow you to do 6 reps, then once you have done 6 reps you immediately make it two plates lighter and carry on for as many reps as possible without resting, then you immediately make it another one or two plates lighter and carry on until you reach the first/lightest weight plate. By the end your triceps are on fire even for the lightest weight.

Don’t try and go to heavy with these if you are a beginner and always focus on proper technique. This information was obtained from the reference below:
Schwarzenegger A. (1985). Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding. Pelham Books,158-160.

Best Regards
Shane Scott