Chin Strapped

Happy 352nd Birthday Royal Marines

To celebrate the birthday of the Royal Marines, I’ve compiled a WOD that will inject tears into the eye of those who even look at it. The Marines were formed in 1664 and became a Commando regiment in the second world war, developing the training techniques that are still considered cutting edge today. Regular army…

Everyone needs Pyramid workouts

A Pyramid workout challenges you’re co-ordination during fatigue, boots muscular endurance, and not so gently pushes you to the brink. Here’s a Yogi using the same format to work on her shoulder strength with press ups. But since we’re looking at all round functional strength and conditioning, each round will hold three exercises, which we’ll repeat…

5 reasons crawling is the ultimate compound move

Crawling isn’t just reserved for babies and Saturday nights out. The benefits of stripping back our movements to the very basics can surprise us. Positions like a plank have us shaking because we’re so used to office chairs and memory foam mattresses. Try holding a squat for more than a minute and feel the burn….

I don’t wear earphones in the gym. Here’s why

I decided about a year ago that I’d stop listening to music in the gym to work on my concentration and mental stamina, fully aware of the pain in my lungs. Wondering around the gym over the past week I’ve been paying attention to the number of people wearing earphones, having a little dance to themselves. Which is…

Why I don’t use CrossFit gyms

In a recent post on Chin Strapped, I wrote about the need to instill a love for fitness training in young people. But a new study today into the financial stability of many Britons has exposed the flip side to the CrossFit argument. And a company that charges as much as £200 per month is pricing out those…

Death by plyometrics

I’ve really enjoyed staying in an AirBnB on Bull Island on the coast of Dublin Bay over the last three days. Surrounded by natural resources to get a ‘creative pump’ on, I took myself out running to see what I could find. Dollymount beach is just half a mile up the road and as I…

Why habits are a good thing

For years it was reinforced to me that ‘habits’ are synonymous with ‘nasty’ things like smoking, biting nails (of which I’m guilty,) and squeezing the toothpaste from the top, and not the bottom, of the tube. DON’T DO THE LATTER – IT’S JUST WRONG However, good habits have you doing beneficial actions without thinking….