Calisthenics. Core Exercises.

Calisthenics is a smart, scientific approach to weight loss, strength gain and living a more active, fulfilling life. This is the fourth resource in our series on calisthenics, designed so you can work out in the privacy of your home or on location when travelling and can’t attend your sessions with your Tiger Athletic personal trainer without the aid of equipment, a trainer or supplements and begin to understand that you too can get healthy using just your body, the physical environment and a little imagination.

The word calisthenics comes from the ancient Greek words kálos (κάλλος), which means “beauty”, and sthénos (σθένος), meaning “strength”. It is the art of using one’s body weight and qualities of inertia to develop one’s physique. A longstanding urban legend has claimed that the exercise was named after one of its earliest promotors, the Greek historian Callisthenes.

Core exercises primarily involve dynamic and static contraction of the back and abdominal muscles, also aiding with improved balance and overall stability.

Crunch

Start in a supine position on the ground. The shoulders are curled towards the pelvis while the lower back remains flat against the floor. The focus is placed on contracting the abdominal muscles.

Variation

• The Crunch It Up places the feet under a stationary object such as a low bed or couch. The arms are crossed over the stomach and the knees bent. Using the abdominal muscles, the torso is brought up just until the arms touch the thighs. The torso is then lowered to the starting position.
• The V-Ups starts in a supine position with arms straight out on the ground and parallel to the body. The body is bent at the hips, the torso is raised off the ground and the legs brought to the chest with knees bent. The legs and torso are then lowered until they are just a few inches off the ground, but not touching it.
• The Side-V starts on the ground, lying on one side of the body, with the arm closest to the ground stretched out perpendicular to the body. The other arm is bent, and the hand placed behind the head. The torso is raised and the legs, kept straight, are raised until the legs form a 90-degree angle with the torso. The legs and torso are then lowered until they are just a few inches off the ground, but not touching it.
• The Jack-Knife starts on the ground, legs stretched out straight and the arms on the ground extended straight up over the head. The chest and legs are simultaneously brought up until the hands touch the feet. The legs and torso are then lowered until they are just a few inches off the ground, but not touching it.
• The Bicycle starts on the ground, the hands behind the head. The knee is pulled in toward the chest while the upper body curls up to touch the opposite elbow to the knee. The leg is then straightened, and the exercise performed on the other side. The legs should be suspended off the ground during the exercise.

Muscle Groups

• Abdominals

Hyperextension

Start in a prone position on the ground with the arms straight out in front of the body. The arms, legs and upper chest are lifted off the ground, and then slowly lowered back to the ground. This exercise is also known as “Superman’s”.

Variation

• The Thumbs-Up starts in the same position, forms two fists with the thumbs pointed straight up, then lifts the head, shoulders and chest off the ground as high as possible.
• The Swimmers raises and lowers the opposite leg and arm and alternates sides.
• The Pillow Humpers places a towel under the hips and the feet under a stationary object like a low bed or couch. The hands are placed behind the head and the torso is raised off the ground as far as possible.

Muscle Groups

• Lower back
• Erector spinae

Planche

Start on the ground in a prone position, with the hands at the side of the body by the hips, palm down. The body is held straight while the arms push the body off the floor until the arms are straight. The entire weight of the individual is balanced on the arms. The body is then lowered to the ground.

Muscle Groups

• Full Body

Plank

Place the toes and the forearms on the ground, with the elbows underneath the shoulders and the arm bent at a 90-degree angle. This position is maintained for as long as possible.

Variation

• Front Plank
• Side Plank
• Reverse Plank
• Static Push Up – simply holds the starting position of a Classic Push Up to failure.
• S&M Push Ups – builds on the Static Push Up variant, but opposite legs and arms are lifted from the ground. The position is held to failure before switching sides.

Muscle Groups

• Core
• Abdominals
• Back
• Shoulders

Russian Twist

Start by sitting upright on the ground, with arms crossed and knees bent. The feet are lifted off the ground while the torso is twisted so the left elbow can touch the right knee, then twisted in the opposite direction so the right elbow can touch the left knee. The movement is repeated if possible.

Muscle Groups

• Abdominals
• Intercostal
• Obliques

Standing Knee Raises

Start by standing upright, with arms raised out in front of the body. The left knee is brought up as high as possible, held up for a few moments, then lowered to the ground. The right knee is then raised as high as possible, held, then lowered to the ground.

Muscle Groups

• Abdominals

Leg Raises

Start in a supine position on the floor, palms on the floor under the lower back or buttocks. The legs are slowly raised to a 45-degree angle with the ground, then slowly lowered to the ground.

The exercise can be increased in difficulty by raising the legs to a 90-degree angle, and not allowing the legs to return fully to the floor between repetitions.

Variation

• Flutter Kicks – raise both legs off the ground by several inches, then alternates lifting each leg to the 45-degree position and returning it to its starting position.
• Hello Darlings – raise both legs off the ground by several inches, then opens and closes the legs with a horizontal movement.
• The Hanging Leg Lift – tart by hanging from a horizontal bar by their hands. The knees are brought slowly up to the chest and then returned to the starting position. The difficulty can be increased by keeping the legs straight as they are raised as high as possible.

Muscle Groups

• Abdominals
• Hip flexors 

Beach Scissors

Begins by lying on the side, one hand propping up the head, both legs kept straight. The upper leg is raised as high as possible, held in the air for a moment, then lowered to the starting position. The difficulty may be increased by propping up the body on one elbow.

Muscle Groups

• Hip flexors
• Obliques

Hip Ups

Begins by lying on the ground, propped up on one elbow, hip and feet touching the ground. The hips are then raised until the body is in a straight line. The hips are then lowered to the starting position.

Muscle Groups

• Obliques
• Intercostal

Supine Windshield Wipers

Begin by lying on the ground in a supine position, legs raised in the air at 90 degrees, arms stretched out the sides. The legs are then lowered to the right side by rotating the hips, then brought back to the starting position. The legs are then lowered to the left side, then returned to the starting position.

Variation

• Half Windshield Wipers
• Full Windshield Wipers

Muscle Groups

• Abdominals
• Obliques
• Intercostal

Yes, No, Maybes

Begin in a supine position on a raised surface, with the head and neck extending off the edge. The head is then moved up and down in a “yes” fashion. The head is then turned from side to side in a “no” fashion. Finally, the head is moved from side to side, bringing each ear to the nearest shoulder in a “maybe” fashion. The exercise may also be performed in a prone position, with the hands placed on the back of the head to provide extra resistance.

Muscle Groups

• Neck

Tiger Athletic Fitness & Conditioning uses personal training to assess, motivate, educate and train you in a private, modern appointment only strength and conditioning in the heart of Sandton. Our rigorous pre-participation health appraisal screening process ensures that we design and deliver comprehensive exercise programs that safely and effectively meet your goals. Start your own Tiger Athletic fitness program by booking your initial interview.

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Lift

Men who are after getting bigger and stronger are no longer the rulers of the free weight section in the gym. Science has shone the light on how women also benefit from lifting weights as resistance training establishes itself as the training type with the greatest long term effect on metabolic rate…number one for burning fat and toning your body!

Weight lifting increases the strength of connective tissue, muscles and tendons. This leads to improved motor performance. Research in motor control of aging humans has been centered around determining how motor performance is influenced by age, and around efforts to unravel the mechanisms that contribute to declines in motor performance. Changes are often characterized by slower and more variable movements, specifically slower initiation of movement, slower movement durations, declines in coordination of movement, reduced force production, coactivation of antagonist muscles during movement, and increased variability of movements (i.e., movements become inconsistent or varied from one use to the next). Specific examples of tasks that are linked to dimensions of motor control include goal-directed movements such as pointing, reaching and grasping, and aiming.

Lifting weights improves your ability to perform activities of daily living by boosting physical work capacity, enabling you to work harder and longer, promoting fat-free body mass while decreasing sarcopenia, that is when the lean muscle mass decreases with age. If we don’t add strength training to our routine, not only will we lose muscle mass with age but also lose strength and gain fat. Having more muscle than fat tones your body and give you the lean, firm physique you have always wanted.

Lifting weights is a low impact activity, so you are at lower risk for injuries. It is less stressful on your knees and joints than running hence is one of the best ways to control loss of bone mass. Just as your muscles adapt to the stress of weightlifting by becoming bigger and stronger, your bones also adapt. When your bones perceive or receive stress on them, their response is to deposit more bone making them stronger.

As your body increases its muscle mass, it will work harder to maintain that muscle over fat ratio, this means that you will burn more calories throughout the day, therefore the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest.

Our weightlifting programs strengthen the muscles of your core, resulting in better posture and balance through strengthening muscles that support your spine, and other little muscles apart from the main muscle groups. This lessens physical discomfort or back pain and reverses some of the damage caused by sitting all day. Also those muscles help keep you upright and take care of everyday tasks such as balancing on one foot when walking, picking up the kids or stopping yourself from falling.

Commiting to a weightlifting program everyday or every other day goes a long way towards improving your discipline, acquiring perseverance that will help you achieve your health and fitness goals.

Lifting also helps regulate blood sugar lowering the risk of developing lifestyle illnesses born out of our increasingly sedentary lifestyles such as hyperlipidaemia and diabetes. As you  lose body fat, lifting weights greatly reduces your chances for becoming obese. The constant loaded movement when you lift weights stimulates rapid blood flow, as heart rate goes up you maintain a healthier heart lowering risks for developing cardiovascular diseases as you get older.

Research shows that not only can weight lifting improve your body composition and give you a toned appearance, but it can also improve your overall health and make you a happier person. Giving you confidence in yourself that will put you in a better mood generally or help you fight depression.

Our strength and conditioning programs are based on your current health and goals, improving fitness, aesthetic appearance, stress levels, cognition and mental toughness. Programs that are pre-emptive because they are based on screening for risk factors associated with cardiovascular, orthopedic, metabolic and pulmonary disorders before they happen rather than waiting for a ‘wake-up call’ to force you improve your health and lifestyle.

We offer simple, efficient and effective 50 minute workouts in a private, appointment only setting, so we can safely and effectively tackle lifestyle risks associated with obesity and sedentary lifestyle, reducing rates of illness and injury, improving personal well being, productivity and quality of life.

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Your Body. Your Rules.

Tiger Athletic offers custom fitness solutions based on your health assessment and goals in our private, modern, appointment only strength and conditioning gym in Sandton. We offer a structured, action-oriented exercise and nutrition programs to improve fitness and aesthetic appearance, reduce health risks and promote healthy behavior through extraordinary 45 minute workouts that are simple, efficient and effective.

In South Africa at least 62% of the population is overweight, raising the risk of morbidity from hypertension; hyperlipidemia; type 2 diabetes; coronary heart disease (CHD); stroke; gallbladder disease; osteoarthritis; sleep apnea and respiratory problems; and endometrial, breast, prostate and colon cancers. Obesity and being overweight is the second leading cause of preventable deaths globally. Let’s get you healthy.

All sessions in our state-of-the-art strength and conditioning gym are personal trainer led. We have a private shower and change room,  premium coffee, tea and cold refreshments are available as well as audio and visual entertainment in a de-stress area. You can pop in, workout and return to your everyday grind refreshed and refocused in under an hour.

Your personal trainer Aubrey, is a Coaching Science graduate and holds a 6th degree black belt in Karate with 25 years experience as a high performance athlete and coach. He designs safe and effective exercise programs and provides the guidance to help clients achieve their personal goals through one on one’ or small group training.

Physical exercise is the most effective way of actively preventing and fighting diseases which are associated with a sedentary lifestyle, bad eating habits, stress and an ageing population. Across the globe annually, millions of people die each year because of physical inactivity.

Start your journey to a healthier self, by booking an initial consultation below.

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Crank Up Your Metabolism

How fast your body burns calories is dependent on many things, among them; genetics, your sex, and your age. Resistance training is the best thing you can do to reverse the inevitable age-related slowdown. If you have signed up for a Tiger Athletic Strength & Conditioning Program, then you’re already heading in the right direction!

Whey protein increases calorie burn and fat utilization, helps the body maintain muscle, and triggers the brain to feel full, protein has a thermogenic effect, meaning it makes your body produce more heat and, in turn, burn more calories, but whey may be the most effective non-animal protein. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that fat oxidation and the thermic effect was greater with whey than with soy or casein.

Drinking two glasses of water before every meal helped dieters lose an average of 7 kilograms (2.2kilograms more than the non-water drinkers) over three months in a study presented at the American Chemical Society’s annual conference. Taking quick hydration breaks throughout the day also boosts your metabolic machinery and research shows staying properly hydrated keeps you feeling energized.

When your annoyed co-worker tells you you’re bouncing your leg, perhaps you can explain that you’re just doing some non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)—the expert term for fidgeting. Research shows that NEAT may help you burn an additional 350 calories a day. Small bursts of activity, like running upstairs, pacing while you’re on the phone, or shifting around in your seat all count. It adds up quickly, so take advantage of any chance to move more throughout your day.

Caffeine’s ability to speed up the central nervous system makes it a powerful metabolism booster; coffee beans provide antioxidants and real health value. Provided your cup is not laden with cream and syrup, coffee can be a great way to give you energy as well as some antioxidants. Coffee has been shown to improve energy levels during exercise, especially endurance activity, and help people work harder longer, which therefore burns more calories. Drinking coffee after a workout can also be beneficial. Consuming caffeine after exercise increased muscle glycogen by 66% in endurance athletes, enabling them to more quickly replenish energy stores used through exercise, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

If you drink three cups of coffee a day, consider swapping in green tea for one of them. In addition to giving you the metabolism-boosting caffeine jolt you crave, green tea is a rich source of antioxidants called catechins. And, in a study published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, drinking green tea combined with a total of three hours of moderate exercise a week reduced abdominal fat in subjects over a three-month period. Unsweetened, brewed green tea was shown to increase calorie burn by about 100 calories per day brew your own and avoid added sugar or artificial sweeteners.

Probiotics, the healthy bacteria found in yogurt, pickles, and other fermented foods like sauerkraut, may help you lose weight, if you’re a woman, shows a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Overweight men and women followed a 12-week weight loss diet; half of the volunteers also took a probiotic pill every day. Women in the probiotic group lost more weight than those in the placebo group and continued to lose weight during the 12-week maintenance period afterward (the probiotic didn’t make any difference for men). Consuming probiotics in food form has other waist-friendly benefits: Yogurt, like other full-fat dairy, also has a fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that studies show can improve fat burning. Avoid fruit-on-the-bottom varieties, which can have as much sugar as a candy bar.

Taking a quick break to look at funny cat videos on YouTube or take a Buzzfeed quiz doesn’t just feel good, you’re also burning calories in the process. A study from the International Journal of Obesity showed a 10 to 20% increase in energy expenditure (calories burned) and heart rate during genuine laughter. This translated to an increase of 10 to 40 calories burned within 10 to 15 minutes of laughter.

When you want to add flavour to your food, reach for hot sauce or chilli powder. Chilli peppers contain the chemical capsaicin. The capsaicin in the chili peppers has a thermogenic effect, causing the body to burn up to an additional 90 calories immediately following a meal. One study shows capsaicin activates brown fat, which increases calorie burning.

Eating a small mid-afternoon meal will prevent over eating at dinner time and it will also keep your metabolism stoked. Eating small meals raises your metabolism every time you eat. The key is to include a lean protein and complex carb each time, not processed or junk food. A few no-effort options: cottage cheese and fruit, peanut butter and an apple, or Greek yogurt with berries.

Having a salad for lunch or dinner fills you up with belly-flattening fibre and nutrients, and adding one more ingredient will really stoke your metabolism: salmon. You already learned the metabolism-boosting effects of protein, but with salmon you’ll also get a dose of omega-3 fatty acids. In a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, supplementing diets with fish oil for six weeks increased lean muscle and decreased fat. Other studies have shown similar effects. Scientists speculate this reaction may be due to fish oil’s ability to reduce levels of fat-storage enzymes in the body.

Do you really need to stay seated while you listen in on a conference call or wait on hold with the internet company? This super-easy tweak nearly doubles the number of calories your body will burn. A 68 kilogram person, for example, burns 72 calories an hour sitting and 129 calories an hour standing. Walking around an office slowly increases the burn to 143 calories an hour. You recruit more muscle fibres and must use your postural muscles to stabilize yourself, which burns more calories. Make it a habit to stand and walk around each time the phone rings and get up out of your chair at least once every hour.

Pick organic produce. Pesticides found on conventionally grown produce, called “obesogens,” are blamed for slowing metabolism and predisposing some people to gain weight. One of the biggest hidden causes of weight loss resistance is toxicity. Buy organic whenever possible and choose the cleanest, highest-quality cuts of meat.

Take one bite at a time. Wolfing down your food makes it more likely you’ll eat more, says a study published by the American Dietetic Association. Another study found even among women who didn’t diet, reducing stress and practicing mindfulness can prevent fat gain. It takes about 20 minutes before a hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) tells your brain to stop eating. When you engulf a burger and fries, you don’t give CCK enough time to relay the message to your brain, and you eat too much, speed eating also raises fat-storing insulin levels. Just as important as eating the right diet is slowing down and becoming mindful when you eat.

Exposure to the type of blue light emitted by smartphones, computers, and tablets immediately before and after dinner increased hunger and impacted glucose metabolism in people who participated in a small North-western University study. The study authors aren’t sure of the reasons for the link, and say more research is needed—but even if the link between blue light and appetite doesn’t hold up in later studies, other research shows that limiting mealtime distractions helps control portions.

Tiger Athletic is a private, appointment only strength & conditioning gym in the heart of Sandton. We offer tailor made, goal oriented  fitness programs based on an individualised approach to health and fitness assessment, motivation and goal setting, coaching science and client education.

Your personal trainer Aubrey, is a Coaching Science graduate and holds a 6th degree black belt in Karate with 25 years experience as a high performance athlete and coach. He designs safe and effective exercise programs and provides the guidance to help clients achieve their personal goals through one on one’ or small group training.

Let’s chat about your health.

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Preadolescent Fitness

Preadolescent refers to a period before the development of secondary sex characteristics (e.g. pubic hair and reproductive organs) and corresponds roughly to the ages 6-11 in girls and 6-13 in boys.

Preadolescent youth should be encouraged to participate regularly in physical activities that promote cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal health. Regular physical activity can improve aerobic fitness, muscle strength, bone mineral density, motor performance skills, body skills and psychosocial well-being.

Childhood obesity and overweight figures continue to increase and the physical activity levels of most preadolescent boys and girls are down. The percentage of overweight boys and girls has more than doubled during the past two decades, and many children who are overweight have one or more cardiovascular disease risk factors. Daily participation in physical activity/education classes continues to decline with the average child/teenager spending 3-4 hours per day using electronic media) e.g. television, gaming or computer).

The negative health consequences of childhood obesity and physical inactivity include hypertension and the appearance of atherosclerosis and type 2 “adult-onset” diabetes in children and teenagers. Since positive and negative behaviours established at a young age appear to track into adulthood, it is likely that inactive children will become inactive adults. The key is to value physical activity and help children develop healthy habits and behaviour patterns that persist into childhood.

At Tiger Athletic we model and support participation in developmentally appropriate fitness activities that are fun and supported by cultural norms, which have a powerful influence on a child’s health and activity habits. We offer well organised personal training sessions that give boys and girls the opportunity to experience the mere enjoyment of physical activity which will have long lasting effects on their health and well-being.

Our programs realise that youth have different compared to adults, hence adult exercise guidelines and training philosophies are not imposed on children. We provide developmentally appropriate physical activity programs for preadolescents that demonstrate our understanding of age specific needs and concerns.

While the absolute level of activity required to achieve and maintain fitness in youth has not been determined, the Children’s Lifetime Physical Activity (C-LPAM) is a child specific model that addresses the amount of physical activity necessary to produce health benefits associated with reduced morbidity and mortality.  This model highlights the minimum activity recommendations and optimal functioning standards for children and is thus the backbone of all Tiger Athletic youth fitness programs.

With our qualified instruction, enthusiastic leadership, and adherence to safety issues, children can safely enhance their fundamental movement abilities and be better prepared for successful and enjoyable participation in recreational activities and sport.

Tiger Athletic is a private, appointment only strength & conditioning gym in the heart of Sandton. We offer tailor made, goal oriented fitness programs based on an individualised approach to health and fitness assessment, motivation and goal setting, coaching science and client education.

You can start your journey to a healthier family by booking an initial consultation below. This first step, is a vital screening mechanism, instrumental in appraising health status and developing comprehensive programs of exercise to safely and effectively meet your goals.

Let’s chat about your family’s health!

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Tiger Athletic Fitness & Conditioning (Pty) Ltd

Tiger Athletic is a private, appointment only strength & conditioning gym in the heart of Sandton. We offer tailor made, goal oriented  fitness programs based on an individualised approach to health and fitness assessment, motivation and goal setting, coaching science and client education.

Your personal trainer Aubrey, is a Coaching Science graduate and holds a 6th degree black belt in Karate with 25 years experience as a high performance athlete and coach. He designs safe and effective exercise programs and provides the guidance to help clients achieve their personal goals through one on one’ or small group training.

We use state-of-the-art plate loaded equipment and free weight circuits, high intensity interval cardio training, calisthenics and boxing to provide an extraordinary workout that is simple, efficient and effective in 45 minutes.

Our facilities include a private shower and change room,  premium coffee and refreshments as well as audio and visual entertainment so you can pop in, workout and return to your everyday grind refreshed and refocused in under an hour.

Step 1 is the Lifestyle Consultation & Health Appraisal. A vital screening mechanism, instrumental in appraising health status and developing comprehensive programs of exercise to safely and effectively meet client objectives.

Step 2 is the Fitness Assessment Selection and Administration. Your current level of fitness and skills is assessed to provide a basis for developing goals and effective exercise programs as well as in identifying potential areas of injury and starting points regards intensity and volumes of exercise.

Step 3 is the Custom Goal & Program Development. Information from the physical assessment in conjunction with personal information gathered in the consultation and health appraisal is used to plan a time efficient, goal specific program, reasonable in length, frequency, intensity and complexity so that the client is more likely to continue adhering to the program while having fun!

Finally, Book Your Appointments. Tiger Athletic operates on an appointment only basis to ensure the highest possible quality in service delivery and personalised attention at all times.

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World’s Best Personal Training Deal!

Tiger Athletic is a private, appointment only strength & conditioning gym in the heart of Sandton. We offer tailor made, goal oriented  fitness programs based on an individualised approach to health and fitness assessment, motivation and goal setting, coaching science and client education.

We use state-of-the-art plate loaded equipment and free weight circuits, high intensity interval cardio training, calisthenics and boxing to provide an extraordinary workout that is simple, efficient and effective in 50 minutes.

Our facilities include a private shower and change room,  premium coffee and refreshments as well as audio and visual entertainment so you can pop in, workout and return to your everyday grind refreshed and refocused in under an hour.

Your personal trainer Aubrey, is a Coaching Science graduate and holds a 6th degree black belt in Karate with 25 years experience as a high performance athlete and coach. He designs safe and effective exercise programs and provides the guidance to help clients achieve their personal goals through one on one’ or small group training.

You can start your journey to a healthier self by booking an initial consultation below. This first step, is a vital screening mechanism, instrumental in appraising health status and developing comprehensive programs of exercise to safely and effectively meet your individual objectives.

Let’s chat about your health!

 

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