No exercise ranks higher in importance to every person than breathing! Without air, we will die! Pretty simple, yet there are so many more things that breathing does to our body and many people are completely unaware of this. Most people do not even understand what a normal breath is. Without doubt, learning how to breathe is the most neglected part of any training program, whether it is for sports, rehabilitation or just getting in shape. The first thing people think of when I talk about breathing is how it relates to aerobic endurance, and while it plays a part in this, it really is so much more than that, and as you will see in this article how it can contribute greatly to weight loss, stress, strength, flexibility, and chronic disease! We will discuss all of the important things breathing does to your body, then teach exactly how to breathe correctly whether it is for relaxing, stretching, lifting weights or playing sports.

With all the technology available in modern society it has provided great opportunities to do things never before possible, but at the same time has and continues to come at a cost to our health. Without doubt the use of the smartphones has seen an epidemic of neck and shoulder problems due to the poor posture being placed on the neck. I work closely with a well respected chiropractor with over 30 years experience, and he has never seen so many young patients with neck pain than he has in the last 2-3 years! Postural problems caused from sitting too much, looking at smartphones, tablets and TV all lead to potential head, neck and shoulder problems. Muscles in the shoulder can become extremely tight leading to headaches, treat with migraines and potential serious injuries like shoulder impingement or disc bulges in the neck! Most people will resort to stretching, massage, even chiropractors and physiotherapists to release these tight muscles. And while these strategies are great and can help, they do not solve the ultimate problem. For without improving stability of the shoulder, and strengthening muscles that have become lazy and weak, the tight muscles will just tighten up again within a few days. To get off the merry go round and fully restore function to the shoulder a complete approach is needed. And without a doubt you will need to one strengthen the Serratus Anterior. This muscle plays a massive role in this puzzle, but is very difficult to isolate and strengthen. In this article, I explain why this muscle is so important and how to go restoring it back to full strength and function.

Have you ever come to a point where you want to do a workout but you feel like you have done everything? Or perhaps you feel you need a new challenge, something to really inspire and drive you to do amazing things, and more importantly, achieve amazing results. Or maybe you are a keen sports person, and your frustration is not lack of inspiration, but instead you are searching for more specific and effective programs to complement your sports training. You are looking for something that will give you an edge over the competition, and help you excel. These are just some of thoughts people tell me everyday in my dealings of running a Personal Training business. I am now in my 12th year doing this profession and over this time I have accumulated a plethora of programs, resources, books, course notes, DVD's and most importantly successful case studies of how to design effective workouts for health and fitness that answer all these questions and more. There is no way you can ever run out of ideas, as long as you understand what variables to manipulate and how to do it. There is a real lack of education and knowledge about effective ways to train, with so many people blinded by the emphasis on calorie expenditure. I wanted to put together a resource that encompassed as many different health and fitness goals as possible and show people how to make exercise fun, safe, and constantly challenging to force your body to change. But most importantly I wanted to show people how to TRAIN SMARTER NOT HARDER!