March 2016

Fitness
biceps. You need to build your
energy systems – your brain’s
ability to know what muscle
fibres it needs to recruit for
a job – and your connective
tissue, such as ligaments (that
link bone to bone) and tendons
(muscle to bone). You can do
this by lifting weights lower than
your maximum with perfect
form to build strength (and an
athletic body).
The Strong Lifts 5x5 system
(stronglifts.com) works this way.
You do 5 reps for 5 sets (with
90 secs between sets) in big
compound exercises that work
more than one major muscle
group at a time. You take the
weight up a little each session.
Roger Love, a local personal trainer,
continues our A-Z of fitness with... L
Long Runs – This is a specific
term used in training for events,
particularly half-marathons
and marathons. As the name
suggests, it should be your
longest run of the week. It
should be at a steady pace (so
you can hold a conversation)
and is to build up your
aerobic fitness, efficiency and
endurance.
Lats – The latissimi dorsi (to give
them their full name) are like
wings on both sides of your
back. They are vital for posture,
strength, calorie-burning and,
generally, looking good, but are
often neglected by gym rats
who concentrate more on arms
and chest.
Great exercises to develop the
lats (and lots more besides) are
pull-ups (hands away from you)
and chin-ups (hands towards
you) on a bar, such as the ones
to be found in London Fields,
Well Street Common and
Victoria Park.
To get started at home,
you could use methods
recommended by Mark Lauren,
the American bodyweight guru
(marklauren.com). He suggests
using anything stable enough
to pull yourself up from lying
flat on floor, such as a table
or a pole between two raised
surfaces. Alternatively, hang
from the doorknobs with your
feet either side of the door.
Check those hinges first!
Ligaments – When building
strength, we often concentrate
just on muscle. But there is
more to power than just bulging
You will also do Easy Runs (no
longer than 40 minutes to help
your legs recover from hard
training and which should be
enjoyable); Tempo Runs (harder
than long runs and for 20mins
or 30mins), and Speed Work,
when you run fast (but not
sprint) for bursts mixed in with
slower intervals.
Roger Love is a personal trainer
based in Netil House, Hackney.
hackneypt.com
32 LOVEEAST