What happened to summer?! Here in the UK we’re into August and still hardly any sunshine. I usually train outdoors but even the hardiest of fitness fanatics would have been discouraged by the downpoars we have been experiencing recently. So I got in a quick workout indoors in my tiny flat and I thought I [...]

There are many short, sharp workouts which are brilliant if you are pressed for time and need a 10 or 20-minute gutbuster to keep your fitness levels up. However, I also like to work out for a longer period of time, especially when my aim is to train for endurance. My problem is that I [...]

Olympic lifts, kettlebells, gymnastic rings….these are a few of our favourite things…. Ever wished that there was a single instruction manual containing all of this cool stuff? Well, now there is! Andrew Stemler, creator of the popular i-Course – a full day of learning all the key Crossfit skills – has produced a manual to [...]

 Many people including myself and many readers of this site would say we do ‘functional fitness’. We use the phrase almost without thinking, but most people have never heard of it and it must sound very odd. This thought struck me as I was watching a climbing film, Alistair Lee’s Onsight where one interviewee comments that [...]

I don’t know about you but I have been feeling the credit crunch bite recently. It got me thinking about how you can cut down on your fitness expenses. Gym membership, expensive clothing, shiny new kit, supplements – they all cost money. But there are many ways to get fit, look great and stay strong [...]

On Sunday I attended the Crossfit London i-course in east London, a full day event aiming to teach participants all the essential Crossfit skills, from olympic lifts to rings to kettlebells to bodyweight exercises. I was invited to attend and review the course by Andrew Stemler of Crossfit London, whom I have trained with before. [...]

I went for a max chin-up attempt the other day and got 11 good reps with the form I was aiming for. Going over 10 reps was a milestone for me as I was stuck on around 7 or 8 for ages! However, once I had broken through that particular plateau, progress was faster and [...]

The muscle-up is one of the most challenging tests of strength for the amateur trainee. If you’ve mastered dips and pull-ups and you are looking for your next challenge, add the muscle-up to your arsenal. If you want to learn this difficult move you will need some excellent guidance and Crossfit London’s Ring Training guide [...]

The dip is a staple of many a strength or bodybuilding programme and there are many ways to perform it. A classic bodyweight exercise, it is a good place to start to develop functional strength with no equipment needed. What is the dip? The dip is an upper body strength exercise where you lower and [...]

This is the second article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Most commercial gyms have a combination of free weights and resistance machines. This guide deals with free [...]