With Christams looming just three weeks away, the only thing on people’s minds is shopping, fine food and drink; and of course the works Christmas party! This leaves little room to think about exercise and fitness to which, we normally just push it to one side and say; “I’ll wait until January and start in the New Year!”
I’m afraid I have to agree, Christmas is a time where personal trainers like ourselves see a drop in business and a general laxidasial approach to fitness. After all, Christmas is, and can be a very stressful and expensive time of year.
Having said that, Oxford still caters for some great Christmas fitness excitement, with no other than the annual Santas on the Run event. A joyous 3k run around the festive spires of Oxford. What better way to bring in the merry season? The picturesque walk, jog or run for young and old winds through Oxford City Centre and University Parks, taking in Oxford’s pristine colleges enroute.

Fitness events this month around Oxfordshire:

Santas on the Run
About: 3k fun run around Oxford
Where: University Parks
When: Sunday 14th December
How much: £17:00 adults – £12 Children – FREE for under 5s

Your ticket includes:
• A FREE Santa suit and race number
• Unlimited support from our jolly elves
• Delicious mince pies on event day
• Warm up routine with 1,700 other Santas
• A fun-packed goody bag and Santa medal
• A fantastic way to start your Christmas holidays!
More Info

According to a report commissioned by McKensey & Company, obesity costs the global economy as much as war and terrorism, totalling a whopping $2 trillion each year!
The obesity epidemic costs the UK, £47 billion per year while in the US it’s £663 billion. In 2012 the report found that in the UK, obesity had the second largest impact after smoking, generating an economic loss of more than £44 billion a year, while the annual loss from the armed forces, violence and war was £43 billion.

Why it’s a problem!
There are more than 2.1 billion people across the world, (around 30 per cent of the world’s population) that are either overweight or obese, with experts predicting that almost half the world’s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030. Between 2000 and 2013 no country in the G-20 has managed to reduce its obesity prevalence, with it being responsible for 5 per cent of the world’s deaths.

The solution!
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “Overweight and obesity is a complex problem, which requires action across individual and societal levels involving industry, national and local government and the voluntary sector. There is no single ‘silver bullet’ solution. If we reduce obesity to 1993 levels, where 15 per cent of the population were obese, we will avoid five million disease cases and save the NHS alone an additional £1.2 billion by 2034.” The report predicted a series of 44 interventions that could bring 20 per cent of overweight or obese people in the UK back into the ‘normal weight’ category within 5 to 10 years. This would save around £16 billion a year in the UK. A few of the interventions that are being discussed are:

• portion control on fast food packed goods

• better nutrition labelling on foods and packaging

• Investing in parental education

• introducing healthy meals in schools and the workplace

• chaning the school curriculum to include more physical exercise

• encouraging more physical activities by introducing cycle lanes and free bicycle use

This report clearly highlights the ever growing problems associated with the obesity epidemic, and on current projections, the cost to the NHS could increase from £6 billion to £8 billion in 2015 to between £10 billion and £12 billion in 2030. With figures as high as these, people who are overweight or obese are going to eventually place a strain, not only on their waistline but, also on the economy too!
Don’t you think it’s time to take action? I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic as well as any additional interventions you feel would help to tackle this war againt fat!

About Chris Hall
As the founder of Hall Training Systems, it is my mission to provide you with the very best personal training experience. I set up Hall Training Systems as Oxford’s leading personal training service in nutrition, performance and weight loss, ensuring I can deliver the very best in training techniques.
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ or why not even give us a Tweet @Hall_Training

Oxford, Britain’s 52nd largest city with a population of 151,900 people [1]. Once the capital of England during the English Civil War, Oxford is known as the “city of dreaming spires”, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold, and is one of the most sought after cities to live. Home to Oxford University the oldest university in the English speaking language. Proud to have educated some of Britain’s finest Prime Misters, the likes of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair. Oxford has links to some of the best selling authors of all time including; Lewis Carroll, JRR Tolkein, and Philip Pullman, to name a few, and boasts Sir Roger Bannister, the first person in history to break the sub four minute mile barrier back in 1954.
Those who live in Oxfordshire are generally healthier and are expected to live longer than the national average for England. In 2012, only 20.2% of adults were classified as obese, which again is better than average [2].
I believe people living in Oxford tend to place greater value on their health and well-being and take pride in looking and feeling great. In fact, 53.9% of Oxfordshire are aware or concerned about their weight [3]. Oxford County Council have stated they are making it a priority of theirs to reduce obesity figures in both children and adults as well as to see an increase physical exercise [2].
Personally, I love Oxford and wish to see it live on as one of the greatest cities to live in, in the world. One reason I launched Hall Training Systems, was to offer the people of Oxford and those who visit the opportunity to take their health and fitness to the next level, and so founded one of Oxford’s finest personal training services.
I understand we cannot cater for everyone, nor is personal training a service that you may be ready to take up just yet. So, it’s why every month I bring you a review of Oxford’s sporting and fitness events that’s going on in the commmuity. I hope there’s something for everyone.

Let’s get Oxfordshire moving!

Fitness events this month around Oxfordshire:

G-Fit Mums
About: Get back into fitness after having a baby!
Where: Gladiator Fitness Studio
When; every Wednesday, Friday
How much: £6:00
More Info

Yoga Class
Where: The Clifton Centre
When: every Wednesday
How much: contact elaine@yogabeing.co.uk
More Info

Hot Bikram Yoga
About: Hot Bikram yoga suitable for all levels and fitness abilities
Where: YogaVenue
When: see website
More Info

Active Forever
About: Sport and social session for over 60’s
Where: The Park Club Milton
When: every Monday
How much: £2 non-members, free for members

Team Gladiator Running Group
Where: Gladiator Fitness Studio
When: every Sunday
How much: free

Pole Fitness
About: Pole Fitness combines dances, gymnastics and virus skills to get you fit!
Where: Jherico Community Centre
When: Sundays
How much: £7

Zumba
About: Dance based fitness
Where: The Old Fire Station
When: every Monday, Wednesday
How much: £5-£6

Multi-skill Sport & Fun Exercise for 2-4 year olds
About: Basic key skills. Games, balls, parachute, hoops, balance, gymnastics, running and lots of fun.
Where: St Clements Family Centre
When: see website

Oxford Walking and Bike Tours
About: See the best parts of Oxford as you take a 2 hour bike tour in and around the parks and collages of Oxford
Where: Tours start opposite Fudge Kitchen, 5 Broad Street
When: Monday to Sunday
How Much: Free – £25 per person
More Info

Sources
[1] http://www.oxford.gov.uk/PageRender/decC/Population_statistics_occw.htm
[2] Public Health Profile: Oxfordshire, 12 August 2014
[3] Oxfordshire Insight. Mosaic Dashboard

I’m now here to discuss the second in our two-part article on the potential spinach may offer in regards to performance. In the first part, I discussed how spinach was a superfood, a little powerhouse full of vitamins and minerals. I also talked about was how little iron spinach contained despite popular belief, and whether an active compound in spinach (ecdysterone) brought about an anabolic response and the potential for increased muscle mass. I’m sad to say unless you’re a rat, a pig or a sheep you’re unlikely to benefit from any significant anabolic response, sorry! If this is the case, then why did Popeye love his spinach leaf so much?
Well, what most people are unaware of is that spinach also contains a molecule called betaine. Yes, the same betaine that you would otherwise find in sugar beets, wheat bran, beetroot and spinach [1][2]. It can also be synthesised from choline in your body when dietary intake exceeds your current metabolic requirement (Ueland 2011). Interestingly enough though, if we look at figure 1 you’ll see spinach ranks higher in its betaine content than beets do, almost 3x higher in fact! (Craig. 2004) You can see wheat bran and wheat gem are at the top, which makes me wonder if Popeye had a wheat allergy. Why else would he miss these out of his diet?

(Figure 1)

So, the question is…
What is betaine and does it have any affect on performance or muscle growth?
Betaine is otherwise known as Trimethylglycine (TMG) but for the purpose of this article I’m just going to be referring to it as betaine. Most of you will associate betaine with beetroots and its vasodilatory properties. After all, every health store across the country has been advertising how beetroot’s nitrates can increase vasodilation – it’s been this years’ must-have supplement! I’m afraid to say the marketing claims behind beetroot and its ability to increase vasodilation of the blood vessels levels are mostly false.Despite its reputation, betaine has no affect on serum nitrate or nitrite levels. At least this is what two independent studies have found [3][4]. One study did find that consuming 6g of betaine per day did in fact increase levels of nitric oxide [5], but that’s 3x the dose of the previous studies, and would equate to the consumption of almost 1kg of spinach, or 3kgs worth of beetroot! This hardly seems worth the effort when other supplements will have the same affect. Instead, you could take 6g of the amino acid L’citrulline.

Another claims surrounding betaine is that it can help decrease fat mass, increase power output and increase muscle protein syntheses (Apicella 2012). According to a more recent study, betaine supplementation of only 1.25g twice per day saw increases in lean muscle tissue by as much as 4lbs, arm size by 10% and decreased fat mass by 7% in trained males [7]. Unfortunately, these claims and studies are locker room myths, misrepresented data or otherwise studies that failed to bring about noticeable results [8,9,10,11].
Although betaine doesn’t affect vasodilation or fat loss, it has been shown to increase growth hormone and IGF-1 by 7.8% following a morning fasted training session, and reduce cortisol levels raised by morning fasted training by 6.1% [12]. Both of these can only be a plus, but there are studies contradicting these results.

Where betaine really shines through is in its ability to reduce homocysteine levels in the body. Homocysteine is a marker of cardiovascular disease, and it is thought that higher circulating levels of homocysteine are indicative of a higher risk of strokes and heart attacks. Higher levels have also been linked to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease [13]. Betaine has shown promise across numerous human trails, being the number one supplement for reducing homocysteine. A single dose has previously lead to around a 10% reduction in persons with normal homocysteine levels [14] and a 20-40% reduction in those with high levels of homocysteine [15]. 

(Spinach – Popeye’s pre-workout)

So this begs the question…
Was Popeye right? Does spinach increase strength and muscle mass?
Given the evidence I’ll have to say no, until the research is clearer. Research around betaine’s ability to increase muscle growth, sports performance and positively affect growth hormone is conflicting, but there’s one thing for certain: it’s a wonder drug at reducing homocysteine levels and keeping yourself at bay from any type cardiovascular diseases! I think Popeye must have realized the importance of keeping his homocysteine levels in check, as well as an intolerance to wheat that left spinach as the go-to food for his daily betaine fix!

 Sources:
[1] Craig SA. Betaine in human nutrition. Am J Clin Nutr. (2004)
[2] Zeisel SH, et al. Concentrations of choline-containing compounds and betaine in common foods. J Nutr. (2003)
[3] Bloomer RJ et al. Effect of betaine supplementation on plasma nitrate/nitrite in exercise-trained men. J ISSN (2011)
[4] Trepanowski JF, et al. The effects of chronic betaine supplementation on exercise performance, skeletal muscle oxygen saturation and associated biochemical parameters in resistance trained men. J Strength Cond Res. (2011)
[5] BETAINE INDUCED RELEASE OF TISSUE FACTOR PATHWAY INHIBITOR AND NITRIC OXIDE: IMPLICATIONS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
[6]Ochiai M, Hayashi T, Morita M, et al. Short-term effects of L-citrulline supplementation on arterial stiffness in middle-aged men. Int J Cardiol. 2012;155(2):257-61. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2010.10.004.
[7] Cholewa, J. M., et al. Effects of betaine on body composition, performance, and homocysteine thiolactone. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013 Aug 22; 10(1): 39.
[8] Schwab U, et al. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. (2002)
[9] Apicella JM, et al. Betaine supplementation enhances anabolic endocrine and Akt signaling in response to acute bouts of exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. (2013)
[10] Hoffman JR, et al. Effect of 15 days of betaine ingestion on concentric and eccentric force outputs during isokinetic exercise. J Strength Cond Res. (2011)
[11] Pryor JL, Craig SA, Swensen T. Effect of betaine supplementation on cycling sprint performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. (2012)
[12] Apicella JM, et al. Betaine supplementation enhances anabolic endocrine and Akt signaling in response to acute bouts of exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol. (2013)
[13] McCaddon A, et al. Total serum homocysteine in senile dementia of Alzheimer type. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. (1998)
[14] Schwab U, Törrönen A, Toppinen L, et al. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2002;76(5):961-7.
[15] Effect of Folic Acid and Betaine Supplementation on Flow-Mediated Dilation: A Randomized, Controlled Study in Healthy Volunteers

About Chris Hall
As the founder of Hall Training Systems, it is my mission to provide you with the very best personal training experience. I set up Hall Training Systems as Oxford’s leading personal training service in nutrition, performance and weight loss, ensuring I can deliver the very best in training techniques.
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ or why not even give us a Tweet @Hall_Training

It was several months ago when I posted a short article based on some research about the best ways to recruit and develop the hamstrings.
If you missed it, can check out the original article here – Research on the best exercises for developing the hamstrings!

Since then, there has been a new piece of research published. It looks at the muscle activation of the hamstrings between the two exercises; the stiff-leg deadlift and the lying leg curl. [1]
While studies have evaluated differences between these exercises in activation of the medial hamstrings (semitendinosus and semimembranosus) versus the lateral hamstrings (biceps femoris), The new study particularly looked at activity in the upper and lower aspect of the individual muscles of the hamstrings – i.e targeting specific ‘compartments’ of a muscle.
The study I recalled [2] back in my previous article looked at the comparison between eccentric and concentric contractions across four different exercises. Of which two out of the four exercises they compared were the Romanian Deadlift (RDL) to Lying Leg Curl (LLC) finding greater activation of semitendinosus, semimembranosus and bicep femoris in the RDL compared to the LLC for both eccentric and concentric contractions. However, according to this new study the evidence seems to be slightly different…
The new study, took 10 well-trained men (with a training experience of 3x per week for over a year) and got them to perform their 8 RM on both the stiff-leg deadlift (SLDL) and LLC across two days. The results showed the following:

• Activation of the upper hamstrings was similar for both exercises. However activation of the lower hamstrings, both medially and laterally, was significantly greater in the LLC. The difference in activation of the lower hamstrings was much greater in the leg curl, showing greater lower lateral (outer head) hamstrings activity of ~170% and lower medial (inner head) hamstrings activity of ~65% compared to the SLDL

Brad Schoenfield who conducted the study said:

• “The data for the lateral hamstrings was not unexpected; the short head of the biceps femoris does not cross the hip joint, so a knee-dominant exercise such as the leg curl would necessarily be the only way to directly target this muscle. However, the data for the medial hamstrings was somewhat surprising since both the semitendinosus and semimembranosus are biarticular muscles (crosses two joints). Results suggest that the partitioning of these muscles may allow for greater regional-specific activation in their lower aspect.”

So what can we take home from all of this?
Well if we look at back at the original study, it claimed that the bicep femoris was activated more when performing a RDL to a LLC. How could it make this claim? The more recent study didn’t so much look at total hamstring recruitment, but rather recruitment between the upper and lower portions of the hamstrings. Also, let’s not mix up the stiff-leg deadlift with the Romanian deadlift, even though people tend to categorise them as the same exercise, although they are similar. The stiff-leg deadlift is performed as a hip flexor/extensor exercise with the knees locked out, however the RDL is performed in the same way but with the knees slightly flexed. It’s this break at the kneecap, which may help slightly to recruit the bicep femrois, but only very slightly. I also find that unless they are under proper supervision, most people will over-flex at the knee, turning it into a deadlift, when performing an RDL. This will place slightly more emphasise through the bicep femoris, which may account forfirst study’s results.
In my opinion you will get greater activation of the bicep femoris through knee dominant flexion exercises, such like the lying leg curl, than through hip dominate ones (i.e Romanian Deadlift), as the bicep femoris does not cross the hip joint. Having said that we shouldn’t just discount one exercise in favour of another, and nor should we see muscles as simply spanning from origin to insertion through their movement. [3]
Both studies show that performing hip-dominant exercises, such as the stiff-leg deadlift and Romanian deadlift, and knee-dominant exercises, such as the lying leg curl or glute-ham raise (GHR), are both beneficial in terms of maximizing activation of the muscle complex as a whole. In addition, both types of exercise have the ability to place more emphasis on the upper and lower compartments of the individual muscles.
Here at Hall Training Systems, we believe in the use of a constantly varying the selection of exercises. With the aim of stressing a muscle from as many different angles as possible in order to elicit the best response.

Sources:
[1] Schoenfeld BJ, Contreras B, Tiryaki-Sonmez G, Wilson JM, Kolber MJ, Peterson MD. Regional Differences in Muscle Activation During Hamstrings Exercise. J Strength Cond Res. 2014;.
[2] McAllister MJ, Hammond KG, Schilling BK, Ferreria LC, Reed JP, Weiss LW. Muscle activation during various hamstring exercises. J Strength Cond Res. 2014;28(6):1573-80. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000302.
[3] Young M, Paul A, Rodda J, Duxson M, Sheard P. Examination of intrafascicular muscle fiber terminations: implications for tension delivery in series-fibered muscles. J Morphol. 2000;245(2):130-45.

About Chris Hall
As the founder of Hall Training Systems, it is my mission to provide you with the very best personal training experience. I set up Hall Training Systems as Oxford’s leading personal training service in nutrition, performance and weight loss, ensuring I can deliver the very best in training techniques.
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ or why not even give us a Tweet @Hall_Training

So we’ve come to end of the week and I’ve rounded it off by a brutal legs session… Lovely!!
However whilst I cool down and catch my breath, it gives me a chance to pass over some of my tips for strengthening and developing the hamstrings, as I find people lack the knowledge and understanding of proper exercise selection and repetition ranges when it comes to gaining mass and size of the hamstrings.
Now before I begin it’s important we understand the function and anatomy of the hamstrings.
Comprised of three heads – semimembranosus, semitendinosus and the bicep fermoris, the hamstring serves both as a knee flexor and hip extensor.
Predominately comprised of fast twitch muscle fibres, the hamstrings servers a large role in explosive power movements, such as sprinting and jumping.

When training the hamstrings it’s important to take note of two things…
1) When the hamstrings are trained as a HIP EXTENSOR, so such exercises as – Romanian Deadlifts (RDL’s), Good Mornings, Hyper Extensions etc, the make up of the fibre type is predominately slower twitch, Meaning a higher rep range favor these movements better. i.e 8-15 reps. [1]

However…
2) When the hamstrings are trained as a KNEE FLEXOR, such as lying leg curls, standing leg curls, Glute Ham Raises (GHD’s) etc, the fibre type is predominately fast twitch so a rep range of 1-6 reps would suit better and of an explosive nature. [1]
Reasons for this is when flexing at the knee more of the bicep femoris is recruited which is higher in fast twitch muscle fibres compared to the semimembranosus, and semitendinosus which are slower twitch and recruited more when it comes to flexion/extension of the hip.

So where does this leave us when it comes to exercise selection?

Researchers at the University of Memphis published a paper in the June edition of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. [2] The researchers got 12 well-trained strength athletes to do four exercises for the hamstrings on different occasions: the Romanian deadlift, lying leg curl, good morning and the glute ham raise.
The researchers used electrodes to measure the electrical activity in the muscle groups, an indicator of how hard the muscles had to work during the concentric and eccentric movements.
Here are their findings:
When it came to recruitment of the bicep femoris – Romanian deadlift came top for both eccentric and concentric strengthening (lying leg curl was the least effective exercise) [3].

For the semitendinosus and the semimembranosus, the Romanian deadlift was the best exercise for the eccentric movement. However for the concentric movement the glute ham raise was shown to be the best [3].

The researchers of the study concluded, athletes wishing to strengthen and develop their hamstrings should look at prioritising RDL and glute ham raises in their program.
We here at Hall Training Systems always like to ‘mix it up’ and like to put our clients through progressions on exercise as well as a change in rep range, sets and tempos every few weeks or so. However one exercise that’s normally at the core of our programs is a variation of the deadlift, be it – deadlift, trap bar deadlift, snatch grip deadlift, single leg deadlift or Romanian deadlift!

Sources:
[1] PICP Level 2- Rhode Island
[2] McAllister MJ, Hammond KG, Schilling BK, Ferreria LC, Reed JP, Weiss LW. Muscle activation during various hamstring exercises. J Strength Cond Res. 2014;28(6):1573-80. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000302.
[3] ergo-log.com

About Chris Hall
As the founder of Hall Training Systems, it is my mission to provide you with the very best personal training experience. I set up Hall Training Systems as Oxford’s leading personal training service in nutrition, performance and weight loss, ensuring I can deliver the very best in training techniques.
You can find me on Facebook, Google+ or why not even give us a Tweet @Hall_Training