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It’s great to work out and be consistent with your routine – just remember why you do this.

Go out and use this body.

Play sports, have fun.

That’s what it’s about.

We’re all athletes.

When you add a purpose to your training, it makes it all more meaningful and rewarding.

When you know what you train for, you progress faster too.

Here’s a bit of Drunken Master flow for inspiration.

I call it Drunken Master to sound cool but I really just lost balance… 🥲

Ask Me Anything

If you need help or have a question about your training, please do not hesitate to use this message box.
I will reply personally, and will create more adapted content thanks to you.
The better I understand your challenges, the better this class gets! 🤜🤛

1. 8 signs you’re overtraining.

If you work out at home or without a coach, it’s easy to fall in the overtraining trap.
Here are 8 signs you should look for to avoid pushing too far.

In strength training and fitness in general, more is not better.
In fact, few things are more dangerous than this kind of thinking.

Addiction to exercise is not healthy, and your fear of not doing enough can actually slow you down.
Overtraining is a silent killer of progress, health, and mental wellbeing.

So here are the signs you should pay attention to:

1) You see very little to no progress doing the same things that used to work.

2) You get soreness in muscles you don’t primarily target.

3) You feel stiff and seem to lose flexibility.

4) You wake up tired after a long night’s sleep (8 hours+).

5) You suffer from joint pain, and tendinitises start to develop.

6) You get sick more often.

7) You feel less motivated and don’t feel as happy after a workout as you used to.

And last but not least, if you ignore all these signs:

8) You just injured yourself while doing nothing new or special.

Overtraining is no joke, and pacing yourself demands discipline too, but it’s an integral part of the game.

2. Run faster in 4 weeks.

Read this if you play field sports and want to get faster.

Sprinting is a complex action, made of different phases and affected by different variables.

And it can take years to increase your speed noticeably.

However, there is one component that can make you faster on the field, and that’s strength endurance.

While this is not going to improve your top speed much, increasing strength endurance in your legs will help you hold your top speed longer.

And if you play football or rugby, this is often how you can make the difference.

One way I like to do this is by doing 3 sets of 15 single-leg pushes on Skillmill (by Technogym).

Set the level between 5 and 7 and, depending on your body weight, that should give you a similar resistance as when you’re running.

Do this for a few weeks or months and I guarantee you’ll run fast longer.

3. How to jump higher.

Plyometrics are a great way to build power, explosivity, elasticity… Whatever helps you produce force as fast as possible.

But do you know the proper way?

Plyos are not about jumping mindlessly until you can’t feel your legs anymore.

If you want to build functional power, whether it’s for sports or daily activities, it’s important to be quick, but also flexible in your movement.

This is to mimic real life or sport situations where you can’t afford to spend too much time loading the jump, and to train yourself to push and land in the safest way possible for your joints.

Bounce quickly, land softly.

Remember this and you’ll be fine.

4. Why you need to train with bands.

Do you know what an ascending strength curve is?

It is when a movement becomes easier as your joint reaches full extension.

In the case of triceps extensions, the movement is harder at the lower point, and easier at the top.

(If you’ve never noticed this, pick up something relatively heavy and try it now.)

If you want to make the most of your training time, and maximize strength and muscle mass gains, a simple resistance band can help you.

Step on the band or attach it somewhere, hold it by the other end and grab the dumbbell/barbell.
The elasticity will make the exercise equally challenging throughout the movement.

This is because the band works the opposite way: the more you stretch it, the harder it gets.

Bands really have the best price to usefulness ratio and I can’t recommend them enough!

I hope you found some useful tips and motivation in today's edition.

Please share your feedback and help me improve my content for everyone!

A great way to do this is by replying to this email and let me know whatever is on your mind.

Thanks for reading and see you next week!

- Nico

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