Back in May this year I was honoured to have the opportunity to participate in Lisa Howell's Level 1 and Level 2 Flexibility teacher training courses. I’ve taken a huge amount from them both personally and professionally and can already see how much they will benefit my students. Thank you Lisa for sharing your incredible knowledge with us and making dance life safer for the next generation of students! 👌🏻❤️🙂 #LisaHowell #TeacherTraining #Physiotherapy #DanceMedicine #Spor

Barre Fitness and Progressing Ballet Technique classes. Book now for January 2019! Sculpt long lean muscles with no impact on the joints. Cl

YES! I am delighted to say I am now a fully certified Youth Exercise Specialist! 😃 Designing safe and effective exercise programmes for children and teenagers requires specialist knowledge, and this YES certification means I can extend all of my current services to clients aged between 6 and 18 years. Keeping our future generation healthy and active has never been more important, and I can't wait to get started! Xxx #PersonalTrainerBrighton #PersonalTraining #Qualifications

This week I’ve been working on eccentric loading for the posterior chain (calves and hamstrings featured here). 👌🏻 Eccentric training is pretty simple - it just involves focusing on the part of the rep that puts the muscle under load while it lengthens 🔛 In my opinion it’s one of the most powerful tools in the training armoury, as it can can: ✨Increase both flexibility AND strength at the same time ✨Build strength more efficiently than concentric training ✨Protect

Here I am, trying to eek out a few extra inches of extension! Old leftie still won't go as high as righty in arabesque (I think because of a weak glute medius muscle on the left - I really must do more clamshells on that side!!). Whether you dance or not, practicing slow and simple movements on the BOSU is great for revealing all of your body's hidden strengths, weaknesses, imbalances, and little shortcuts. Once you get up there and lift one leg, there is nowhere to hide! Nex

Working on upper body push strength today (which, by the way, is my nemesis). These tuck-throughs are killer... Getting from plank to reverse plank isn’t too bad, but getting the legs back through again is SUPER tough (‘specially when your socks get sweaty and start sticking to the floor 🤣). You have to really push and lift to get as much distance between the floor and the shoulders as you can, while still maintaining your abdominal compression with knees to the chest.

Slowly but surely progressing towards my front splits ☺️ While I still have a way to go with getting that back leg straight, I never dreamt I would get this far. As someone who was not born with naturally open hips, never did the splits as a child, and has run a lot of miles over the years, I’ve really had to work for this. Just a few years ago I couldn’t touch my toes! And to me, that’s the beauty of it. If you just keep chipping away, slowly but surely the thing that you th

A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has found that the distance a dancer can travel with a single leg hop predicts their risk of lower extremity injury. The researchers recorded horizontal single leg hop distance (measured as a % of the dancer's height), and vertical jump power (measured in watts) in a group of 43 college-age dancers. The dancers were then followed-up for 16 weeks, and their total number of injuries and hours spent d

I wanted to share this little routine I've put together, as I work to loosen up my tight hip flexors. If, like me, you are very tight in the front of the hips, the chances are you could benefit from adding more adductions, abductions, and glute isolations to your workouts. This will help stabilise the pelvis and, in combination with the right stretches, can help release tension or gripping in the hip flexors. Start with 8 reps of each move on either side, and work up

Working on my single leg strength and stability today with this killer split squat variation 💪🏻💀👌🏻 Placing the back foot in the stirrup of a band provides you with two progressions beyond those of your ordinary split squat: ✅ You experience some serious full body stability challenges - you will really feel glute medius on the side of the front leg working overtime to stabilise the weight-bearing hip ✅ You basically can’t place any weight through the back leg at all - t

Alex and I began training together in November last year, and have been primarily working on a circuits format. Alex was familiar with the technique involved in many gym-based exercises before we started, and after she asked me to ‘get evil’ with her (love it!!) we agreed that circuits would be the best session format to meet her needs. Just a few of the great things about working on a circuits format are; that the stations can be varied every week to keep things fresh; the s

Charlotte and I began training together in 2017. Charlotte was keen to work on some core restoration exercises, as her two lovely children had been delivered via cesarian section, and she felt that her abdominal muscles needed a little TLC. When we met, Charlotte was also recovering from a hip injury, and we both agreed (with the ok from her doctor) that stabilising the core and mobilising the low spine would help her post-rehab regimen. If you have been following my case stu

Working on a few BOSU goals of my own today :) Xxx #BOSU #Barre #Ballet #PractiseMakesPerfect #Balance #Stability #PersonalTrainerBrighton #PersonalTraining

I absolutely love working on my pike headstands. I have graduated away from the Swiss ball now. Just working on hamstring flexibility so I can get up without that little hop. :) Xxx #Headstand #Inversions #Pike #Playtime #UpperBodyStrength #CoreControl #PersonalTraining #PersonalTrainerBrighton

This is a great little routine for anyone wanting to build upper body strength and core stability. I am using 6kg kettlebells here, but make sure you choose an appropriate weight. Always go for technique over excessive load! 1. Renegade row: Make sure you hold your plank position, and use your core strength to keep your hips low and level. No rocking back and forth! 2. Chest press with BOSU bridge: Keep the glutes engaged and hold the hips high and steady - the feet might pad

I call that last move 'the juddering frog' >.< #Headstand #Inversions #PilatesBall #UpperBodyStrength #CoreControl #Playtime #PersonalTrainerBrighton #PersonalTraining

Feeling in need of a good quad burn? 🔥✨🔥 I’ve been working on this little flow for adding strength and length to the quads and deep abdominals/hip flexors. It goes like this: Descending sissy squat > camel pose > chair pose > ascending sissy squat When working on your sissy squats (which are definitely not for sissies by the way!) make sure you keep your knees, hips, and shoulders in a straight line as you descend. Folding the hips back and kneeling down is not an accepted

As many of you know, I encourage my personal training clients to work in minimal footwear during our sessions, in order to strengthen the feet and ankles, give the toes space to spread out as nature intended, and expose any naughty habits such as rolling arches or gripping pinkies! Minimal running shoes are great for this, and will give you the best level of protection if you are not used to working in bare feet. However, they can be more of an investment piece, so depending

If you know me, you’ll know I’m really into training the core. And I’m not talking six packs and crunches. I’m talking pelvic floor, abdominal compression, and dynamic, functional engagement of the deep muscles that support the spine. That is why I was super excited when Cath, who was an existing client of mine, said she wanted to continue working with me throughout her pregnancy in order to keep functionally fit and strong, and to learn all she could about healthy core activ

Millie and I began personal training together in August this year, with the goal of increasing Millie’s upper body strength, and improving her overall body toning. In order to meet these goals, I put together a full body workout plan for Millie, which consisted of the following elements: Compound leg exercises such as kettle bell squats and deadlifts, split squats and glider lunges Upper body dumbbell exercises such as dumbbell pullovers, lat pullbacks, pec flyes, lateral rai