As one may expect, there is some awesome equipment at the Sports Science Institute’s High Performance Centre. From proper state of the art racks, to machine you’d imagine requiring a license to operate. It’s all there… all the kettle bells and whistles!
However, there’s one little, and often overlooked, piece of equipment I want, nay, need to interact with each time I’m in the HPC – the foam roller.
About a year and a half ago, I injured my lower back attempting a deadlift. If I’m honest with myself, I went about it in all the wrong way. My errors included:
– Doing it last in my workout. Meaning my muscles were tired so stability and form was off;
– Attempting a PB. Again, an assault on an already depleted body after a vigorous session;
– I wasn’t concentrating. Like a gym chop, I had the metal blaring in my earphones, lip syncing Down With the Sickness instead of telling myself to keep my back straight.
Let’s just say that’s an ever-present lesson I only need to learn once. My best friend after the injury, besides the chiro I spent a small fortune visiting for two months, the ol’ trusty foam roller.
To quote our own info, “Foam rolling—or stretching, or massage—sends an OK signal, stimulating your nervous system in such a way that your brain frees up your muscle’s tone, loosening the guitar string.” Check out the full article at https://dev.mh.co.za/fitness/30762/) Also, have a look here for some simple but incredibly effective foam rolling exercises.
It’s almost become second nature now, to have a bit of a roll after each session. I’ve even taken the time to procure my own one for home – quite possibly one of the best fitness-related purchases I’ve ever made. Do it, you won’t regret it!
This is what Rodet had in store for this week’s RIPT classes:
Monday (Day 1):
Warm-up – 2 x 2 mins cardio & dynamic stretches with lift prep.
Primary Lifts – Deadlifts (5 x 2) superset with Split jerk (5 x 2)
Metcon – Overhead MB toss / Tyre flips / Renegade rows / Overhead plate step-ups / Battle rope Burpees / Prowler (2 x 60:30 secs work:rest ratio)
Finisher – Resisted sprints (10 push-ups, 10 reverse crunches, 10 squats at partner change-over)
Cool-down – static stretches
Wednesday (Day 2):
Warm-up – 2 x 2 mins cardio & dynamic stretches with lift prep.
Primary Lifts – Bench press (5 x 2) superset with Power cleans (5 x 2)
Metcon – Pezziball jack-knifes / Iso-lunge with press / Turkish get-ups / Cycle – standing climb (2 x 90:60 secs work:rest ratio)
Finisher – Partner 1: MB prowler / Partner 2: Battle rope Burpees
Cool-down – static stretches
Friday (Day 3):
Warm-up – 2 x 2 mins cardio & dynamic stretches with lift prep.
Primary Lifts – Back squat (5 x 2) superset with Box jumps (5 x 2)
Metcon – MB sit-up with slam / Assault bike / KB snatches / Skipping / Thrusters / Row ergo. / Inverted rows (2 x 40:20 secs work:rest ratio)
Finisher – L-sit with 10 Burpees
Cool-down – static stretches
So there we have it… train hard, train smart, and keep on rollin’!
(Cue the Limp Bizkit)
