ACleaver

Last updated 01:00, Thursday, 12 July 2007

I WAS brought up on Rocky movies, my brother watched them constantly and I got the bug as soon as its famous music started.

The music inspires every generation to lift that extra rep and run just that little bit faster. But it isn’t just the music, it’s the man behind Rocky, Sly Stallone. He dedicated himself to years of training and it paid off dramatically for him. He varied his training throughout the years to meet the demands of the movie.

Stallone trained three times a day at times just to do this. It’s extreme but he got the results and I take my hat off to anyone who can change their body shape, more about what he brought to me when I was a youngster and what he gave to the world of fitness.

Until the first Rocky we never truly knew the dedication boxers went through to prepare. Rocky promoted skipping and hitting the punchbag as a brilliant cardio workout. Skipping and hitting the bag can burn a total of 1000 calories per hour for an average person.

The punchbag develops very good upper body endurance and with kicks and knees mixed in it can provide your body with that burn needed.

Skipping works on your coordination and footwork. It builds the calves and leg muscles and ensures your heart rate increases gradually. Skipping improves running so for anyone that wants something a little different then purchase a skipping rope.

One main advantage of the two exercises is it builds a stronger core which in turn will improve your overall wellbeing and life. Find a boxing club or purchase a bag and skipping rope, you won’t be disappointed.

Every Rocky film had running involved whether it was long distances or sprints. It promoted calorie burning and increased the VO2 Max to enable you to last longer and particular activities. Two of the best training methods were probably overlooked in the Rocky films and that was even at that time Stallone promoted the famous interval training. It’s the biggest fitness craze around the world now and interval training enables you to work at a harder rate for longer. The second aspect of the training done was step climbing. We all know the famous end to his run when he runs up the steps, well step climbing introduces greater tone and strength on the upper legs as well as developing the calve muscles quicker. Mount Steps in Whitehaven provide you with that exact benefit. Why not try this, run up and down the steps twice, rest for 1 minute, perform the exercise twice again this time have a 50 second rest. Keep decreasing the rest period by 10 seconds every time until you only have a rest for 10 seconds.

The two methods are before their time and only now are they recognized as some of the best training around.

Only the other day there I was reading an article on how this type of training adds more condition to your body. Not everyone though has the pleasure of a steelworks like Rocky had, so the next best thing is a medicine ball.

Lift the medicine ball overhead and throw it down on the floor really hard, this will simulate the motion of hitting an object with a sledgehammer. Performing a minute of these will certainly get your lungs gasping for air. Its main benefit is the overall conditioning it supplies to your body.

The shoulders and legs are simultaneously worked and when you throw the ball down your back will work with the shoulders to provide that power. It really hits the core and even though you may think performing ’x’ number of crunches does the trick, think again, power moves like this actually build deep down and help increase the link between the lower back and your abdominal region.

The latest Rocky provided everyone with completely new training to watch, even though Stallone is in his fifties in this movie, he proved that age holds no barrier.

He performed a kettlebell clean and press in the training which even though isn’t entirely new, kettlebells are only now being touted as a training aid. It’s now taken off in Hollywood and all the A-list celebrities are using them.

The reason they’re so good is because they are awkward to use and that is good would you believe. Your brain tells your body when something is easy to pick up because you do it all the time, the kettlebell however looks strange so your brain will make your body work harder to pick it up. It develops overall conditioning again and provides that welcome break from dumbells.

In fact throw your dumbells out and buy some kettlebells.

So as you see, the influence of Rocky speaks for itself, if you are not a fan then don’t worry just watch the training and get an idea of the training involved. You never know I might see you down Mount Steps.