Conditioning Research

I was visiting my Mum last weekend.  She is getting older.  Still well enough, although the trials of age are catching up with her.  Noticeably in terms of mobility, basic movements. It made me think of a comment that someone made on a recent post : I recently got a daily e-mail from John Wood, of bodyweightbasics.com . It is usually a little sales pitch for an old time strongman book or some cool equipment, but sometimes it's training tips, routines,etc. This days was about the get-up. Not the Turkish get up, just the get up. Lay on the floor, front or back, and stand up. Do this 50 times. Try to make each one a little different. Alternate laying on your back and front. He uses it as a finisher on his workouts. I am terribly out of shape, and I tried it. It did give me a workout. Given what you have noted the importance of being able simply rise from the floor can mean, especially in old age, I am not sure I can think of a more simple, basic and safe e...

I think I featured this guy in the past , but he has gone and broken his own world record for the plank with a stunning 3 hours, 7 minutes, and 15 seconds. The full story is here.

John Sifferman has just posted an interview that he did with me focussed on the Hillfit book.  It is on his Physical Living site. The questions really let me get to the heart of what Hillfit is about

One hard 4 minute session seems to have effects similar to 4 x 4minute sessions. The whole study is available and worth looking through: Low- and High-Volume of Intensive Endurance Training Significantly Improves Maximal Oxygen Uptake after 10-Weeks of Training in Healthy Men Conclusion Our study demonstrated that slightly overweight and healthy individuals only required brief, duration bouts of exercise with good effort three times a week, to produce large increases in VO 2max  and work economy and reduce blood pressure and fasting glucose levels. Additional studies to examine both adaptations at the molecular level and feasibility for public health appear warranted.  There is a further write up here .