One of the most difficult things for many people to understand when they first begin strength training is how to brace the core. We have all heard the saying, “set your core”, or “keep your tummy tight” but what does that really mean? To make it even more confusing, there is a multitude of different instructions and cues that are regularly used leaving people unsure of what they are meant to do. It is vital that you know how to correctly set your core muscles, for they can be the difference between good performance and injury. In this article, I will explain exactly how to do this correctly so you can implement this in your training immediately.

Gut health is a term that is thrown around a lot in the media these days but like everything to do with health it is very rarely explained correctly. I am sure if it was explained correctly the information I am going to share in this article would be common knowledge and many of the chronic health problems we see today would either not exist or managed much better than they currently are.  Gut health is something that I rate very highly for myself as it is something I have struggled with at times over the years. The first thing most people think of when they hear the term ‘gut health’ is how our body digests food. While this is definitely its major role, gut health is so much more than that as it can have a direct impact on the health of your entire body. It can influence the health of our immune system, and even your mental health, and works extremely hard to keep us healthy and happy. Our gut breaks down the meals we eat into a functional form that can enter the bloodstream and go where it is needed in the body. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyle with poor nutrition and high levels of stress can greatly affect the health of our gut leaving our body exposed to serious digestive diseases to food intolerances causing problems with how our body extracts nutrients from food. The message is clear, when gut health is compromised, we are guaranteed to face major health consequences.

A very common problem during a rehabilitation program for injury is when you get to that point that you do not have pain but you know your body is only one small step away from losing stability and control putting you at risk of going backwards. Trying to force your way through with strength methods is risky, but sticking with easy isolated mobility and floor based stability exercises achieves very little too. It is at this point I regularly use a training technique called REACTIVE NEUROMUSCULAR TRAINING (RNT for short). This is where a small amount of resistance is applied to a faulty movement that “feed the mistake” and therefor forces the body to make a correction. This can be a very frustrating phase to work through but extremely rewarding if you spend the time to work through it. In this article I will explain how I use several versions of this technique to rehabilitate injuries and even improve sporting performance!