Uncategorized | APEX THE GYM

Blog Series – Train Like an Athlete? “Varying Training Intensity”

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

Training requires a minimal intensity (for the particular individual) in order to reap any benefits or gains. This means that the body and/or nervous system must be overloaded or pushed beyond a certain point for adaptation to occur. This goes back to the whole “recovery/regeneration” entry a while back, which stated that after a workout or exercise stimulus the human movement system requires recovery in order to see those adaptations. However, taking a step back, the body must Read More

How to Deal with New Year’s Resolutions

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

First of all, Happy New Year! Allow me to begin the year by discussing New Year’s Resolutions. For most people, it is a time to change bad habits and begin or increase good ones but the problem is that most people are not specific enough in their path to follow that change. They do not set specific enough

Don’t Beat Yourself up Over the Holidays

By Kevin Hirose – BHK, CSCS

I’m going to keep this brief and to the point. December is a busy month: the shopping, the planning, the dinners, the parties, etc. So inevitably your workouts and training may suffer or even become non-existent because of the lack of time and energy. Some people actually feel guilty and become stressed when they cannot exercise as much as they normally do. My advice is don’t beat yourself up over it; it’s not worth it!

Blog Series – Train Like an Athlete? “Injury Prevention via Proper Warm-up”

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

INJURY PREVENTION Via Proper Training Preparation (warm-up)

Injury prevention is an ambiguous term. What does it mean exactly? It often depends on who you ask. One person may say proper movement mechanics. Another would say doing “corrective exercise” does it. And another may say something like “avoid the activities or movements that increase risk of injury”. Anyway, my take on the subject is that it is a combination of many things but what you need to understand is that some injuries cannot be prevented no matter is done in training and in competition; it is part of the game. The key is to decrease the likelihood and the severity of injury.

Blog Series – Train Like an Athlete? “Be Realistic and Rotate”

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

Set Realistic Training Goals and Rotate Them Periodically

Firstly, choose clear and specific fitness and/or performance goals, if possible. If you are not training for anything specific such as a sporting event or physical challenge it can be a bit tricky to figure out. If you are unsure of which goal or goals to target, attain the help of a qualified health professional such as strength coach or personal trainer if they are more fitness and performance-based goals or a physician if they more health-related goals to help you determine them.

Blog Series – Train Like an Athlete? “Recovery/Regeneration”

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

Understand the importance of Recovery/Regeneration

So the more you put in, the better; the harder you work, the more benefits you reap. Yes and no. It is true the more quality training put in, the more potential benefits an individual can receive. However, there is a large “but”. But…in order for the body to realize the physical adaptations, there must be adequate quality recovery/regeneration. Without sufficient recovery, the body will only become

Blog Series – Train Like an Athlete?

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

If you’re like many people who workout, you usually have a clearly defined goal or many goals. Sometimes too many. Perhaps you’ve done the bodybuilding thing or the long distance running thing but in either case you didn’t reach the goals you wanted to achieve and/or sustained an injury, which halted your progress. If you are still confused then think about training like an athlete.

Breaking Down the Squat – Part 2

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

Here are the 4 main points to be discussed on this topic:

Squat Variations and Biomechanical Differences
Works the ENTIRE body in different degrees
Individual Mobility and Structural Differences
Squat Training Progressions and Programming

The first two points, as you may already know were discussed in Part 1. If you have not read it yet, please read at this link: http://mpowerconditioning.com/Site_2/Blog/Entries/2015/7/30_Breaking_Down_the_Squat_-_Part_1.html

On to Part 2…

Breaking Down the Squat – Part 1

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

The squat, a primal movement humans develop in infancy and use often in childhood, is a basic movement that people in Western society do not do enough of, mainly due to regular use of the chair. The squat is also an exercise. However, the are a few common misconceptions about the squat as an exercise such as:
“They are bad for your knees.”
“They are bad for your spine.”
“There is a one-size-fits-all squat technique.”

The Bare Basics of Exercise and Performance Nutrition

By Kevin Hirose – BKin, CSCS

Nutrition can get very complicated, especially exercise and performance nutrition. There is so much information these days, often conflicting, which makes it almost impossible for most people to figure out. Keep it simple:

Pre-workout meal = small meal consisting of moderate amount of carbs, some lean protein (animal and/or plant) and some fat about 1-2 hours prior to, depending on the meal size.

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