Jane Tracy - Personal Training

Exercises of the Month

	Fitball - Get on the Ball Lisa Westlake

	Chop and Lift Gray Cook Gray shows you two movements that will remove any negatives and add positives to ensure the quality of your clients’ core development.

	Resistance Training for Tennis Paul Haslam

	Integrated Warm Ups Annette Lang Are traditional warm ups overrated? According to Annette, not if you make it engaging and specific to the demands of your activity!

	Improving Balance Evan Osar The ability for us to balance cannot be taken lightly. Dr. Osar shows you the proper progressions with the proper kinds of strength needed to improve balance for everyone.

	Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite: The Science and Myths of Training Women Paul Chek More and more evidence today suggests poor conditioning and a lack of understanding of the importance of conditioning females among coaches and trainers - Paul's article blasts through the barrier of ignorance and addresses the science and myths of training women.

	Female Response to Exercise and Supplementation Andre Noel Potvin

	Developing Total Speed Patrick Beith Beith takes us on an exploration of the three major aspects of speed: acceleration, maximum velocity and speed endurance.

	Essentials of Integrated Training - Part 5 Mike Clark Clark takes us right to the CORE, where all movement begins, in an article that focuses on the fundamental concepts of core stabilization and how to design an integrated, effective and dynamic core stabilization program.

RUNNING IN HONG KONG

If you're not in on the secret, there's an amazing running community in Hong Kong. Get up early on any given Sunday in autumn & winter and you'll find there's a race taking place with hundreds and sometimes thousands of enthusiastic competitors of all ages and running ability.

If you've never thought about racing before you could start off with a shorter, smaller race such as the AVOHK 5K series which take place around Wanchai Gap, Tai Tam Reservoir and Bowen Road. There are a number of 10K races including the hugely popular Nike 10K which generally takes place in November in Tin Shui Wai.

If you're up for a longer distance and a hillier challenge you could consider the Reebok 15K which takes place along Sai Kung High Island Reservoir or the AVOHK Reservoir Series which are 12 - 15K hilly races over trail and road around Aberdeen, Tai Tam and Tai Lam Chung Reservoirs.

If you want to know more about the running scene in Hong Kong, check out the HK runners site at http://www.hkrunners.com/. If you want some motivation and company to get yourself going consider joining a running club such as HKLRRC, which runs a popular Wednesday night track session at Sha Tin sports ground on Yuen Wo Road http://www.hklrrc.org/ or AVOHK http://www.avohk.org/. Also check out Hong Kong's local running magazine HK Runner http://www.hk-runner.com/.

If you don't fancy racing, do try out some local outdoor running when weather permits. My local run is out along the Lam Tsuen River path. It's away from the road and there are parks along route. It's always uplifting to see groups of elderly locals, keeping fit performing their Tai Chi routines. Alongside there are normally groups of ballroom dancers and sometimes musicians. There's a regular trio of guitar players and sometimes a lone flautist who plays haunting melodies that carry across the river. As well as a hubbub of human activity, the path is full of butterflies & birds, with egrets regularly seen along the water. As well as a great work-out, the sights & sounds are a great stress reliever.

RUN TO THE BEAT

If you like to keep motivated with music, run with your MP3 player. My top running tunes at the moment are:

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne

Beautiful Liar - Beyonce & Shakira

Take Control - Amerie

Let's Dance - Vanessa Hugdens

Lift - Poets of the Fall

NB MP3 players don't like rain!! Hong Kong weather is unpredictable. MP3 players don't work after a downpour. I've learnt the hard way & trashed 3 iPods this way.

PERSONAL TRAINING SERVICES

I offer a FREE initial fitness assessment.

Personalised fitness programme to meet your current level of fitness, individual needs and goals.

Corrective exercises to improve posture and range of motion.

Progressive exercises to provide an appropriate level of challenge as your fitness develops.

A phased programme that develops your stabilization, strength and power.

Integration of balance, flexibility & core work along with targeted resistance training.

Interval training challenges for your cardio workout.

Advice on healthy nutrition to help you meet your lean body weight targets

SPINNING & CORE BALL TONING

I'm now running 2 Spinning classes at Simply Fitness in Hong Lok Yuen. I'm delighted to say these are proving very popular. Please come along and try them out:
Monday/Friday 8.00-8.45 am

The CBT session is:
Tuesday 2.00 pm

I shall be picking up other classes over the coming weeks.

Here are 10 tools to help your mind and body rest, rejuvenate and step up to the next challenge you bring on.

1. Daily Nutrition Habits: What you eat and drink every day determines your athletic potential. If you eat poorly on a daily basis, your athletics potential ceiling will be low. Maintaining daily optimal health through a nutritious diet will do more to speed your recovery from workouts than any other factor.
2. Sleep Habits: Sleep is when your body does its best repairing and rebuilding. If you skimp on sleep, you will delay recovery.
3. During Exercise Nutrition Habits: Fueling and hydrating properly during exercise will put you in the best possible shape at the end of a session so you need less total recovery time. For easy workouts that last less than an hour, water will suffice. For workouts lasting longer than one hour, you should consume a sports drink that contains carbohydrates, electrolytes and possibly protein.
4. Post-Exercise Nutrition Habits: Post-exercise nutrition is vital to help your body rehydrate, replenish electrolytes, replace carbohydrates, provide protein and supply antioxidants. By refueling within 30 minutes of the end of exercise, you can quickly replenish muscle glycogen. If you miss this window, it can take up to 48 hours to fully replenish your muscle glycogen fuel stores.
5. Remove Heat Stresses: Sometimes it’s easy to forget about the simplest things, so whenever possible, drink fluids to cool your core temperature, wear moisture-wicking fabrics that don’t trap heat, and apply cool compresses to your skin to release heat.
6. Time Management: Running all over town or doing a month’s worth of errands in a day does not constitute as a recovery day. Manage your time well so you’re better able to plan nutritious meals, get a full night’s sleep and recover for your next workout.
7. Stress Management: Do what you can to reduce ongoing stress in your life. Not only has chronic stress been shown to cause illness, injury and burnout—it’s also not good for recovery and overall athletic performance.
8. Pre-Exercise Nutrition: Ensure your carbohydrate tank is full and you are fully hydrated before beginning a workout. If you work out first thing in the morning, consume some low glycemic index carbohydrates with water to replenish fuel stores.
9. Yoga: Stretching, relaxation and meditation have been shown to speed recovery.
10. Massage: Massages increase circulation, flush away waste products and bring fresh nutrients—all while promoting relaxation.
Source

TENNIS IN HONG KONG

Tennis is a very popular & accessible sport in Hong Kong. Social levels are played throughout the private sports and country clubs and also on the widely available public courts. Joining a team will add to your level of skill, fun and fitness. If you have the time look at joining a team in the tennis league. Visit the Hong Kong Ladies Tennis League at http://www.hkladiestennis.com/home.html or Hong Kong Tennis Association http://www.tennishk.org/ for details. It's a fun way to get around Hong Kong & visit other clubs, enjoying tennis and a tasty lunch as well!

Tennis is a sport that requires a high degree of timing and co-ordination to be played well. At a social level it is important to remember you need to get fit for your sport, rather than expecting social tennis to keep you fit. A support programme of strength training & flexibility, should help you get the most from your game and help to keep you injury free.

Take a look at this months training program which focuses on strength conditioning for tennis.

KEEP CHECKING OUT THIS SITE FOR REGULAR UPDATES!

I'll be adding more info about the professional training packages that I can put together for you here very soon! I'll also include articles by the top fitness industry gurus and articles on health and nutrition. So keep coming back to this site regularly!