Laura Hoggins, Lift Yourself author and pro-functional trainer at The Foundry, is an advocate for strength conditioning and has shared he favourite exercises to try.
Speaking of her experience with strength and conditioning, Hoggins said:
‘I remember when I first deadlifted 100kg, it was just the most insane thing,’ she says. ‘The whole studio was cheering for me. The satisfaction of working towards a goal that didn’t have anything to do with what I looked like, or how much I weighed; it was such a relief.’
It’s clear that, since then, Laura’s found her sweet spot, whether she’s tearing across the gym floor pushing a prowler or executing a clean and press.
What is the purpose of strength and conditioning?
It may seem like a time conserving approach to chuck the instructions out the window when building your new kitchen table, and although you might get there in the end, it's going to be a long and painful process.
The same could be said for training, but there's no certainty you will reach your destination with such a lackluster approach.
So, thats where strength and conditioning comes in.
When it comes to getting strong and building muscle, strength and conditioning allows you to quickly and effectively create the foundations to build a strong body on, whilst speeding up your visible gains in the process.
What is conditioning?
If the word 'conditioning' sends shivers down your spine because of all the hours you've spent slaving away on a treadmill seeing no results? Well, what if we told you conditioning didn't mean you have to pound away on the treadmill to see your gains.
Conditioning isn't solely centered around running, conditioning can be broken down into both aerobic conditioning and strength conditioning.
Aerobic conditioning
Aerobic conditioning is centered around strengthening your cardiovascular and respiratory systems, whilst also reducing the risk of diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and depression. Aerobic also plays an important role in achieving weight loss or maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Some of its methods include, speed, agility and endurance forms of training.
Strength conditioning
While strength conditioning can be beneficial for weight loss and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, its function differs slightly to aerobic conditioning as its focus is centered around building muscle and strengthening your musculoskeletal system. As to its methods? They include plyometrics, mobility, core stability, weight training and so much more depending on the individual's needs.
What are the benefits of conditioning?
1/ Injury Prevention
Whether you’re an athlete or amateur, injury prevention is equally as important to your progress. Conditioning helps you stay injury free by raising your awareness of movement and position in the body, as well as strengthening and building your muscles. Aka, creating good foundations to build the house.
2/ Improved Performance
Practice makes perfect, quite literally. A strength and conditioning programme is designed to improve your performance over time. Using scientifically-backed training methods, conditioning is designed to highlight your weaknesses and accelerate your progress.
3/ Enhanced General Health
Whether you believe us or not, there’s only one way to find out. Exercise in general is of course good for the health, but the combination of strength training, HIIT training, plyometrics and cardio conditioning that come under the umbrella of ‘strength and conditioning’ help increase cardiovascular health as well as muscular, skeletal and mental health.
4/ Faster Recovery After Injury
We’re all prone to a little muscle ache after the gym, but there’s nothing daunting that mastering the staircase after a heavy sesh. Good news is, strength and conditioning helps make your muscles stronger and more adapt, meaning you will recover much faster.
5/ Increased Muscle Mass and Metabolism
Kickstart your metabolism with some strength and conditioning. The National Library of Medicine found that building muscle has increased metabolic benefits. An increase in lean muscle mass reduces the risk of insulin resistance, a group of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other factors which can lead to ill health such as elevated fasting glucose and triglyceride levels, hypertension, obesity and reduced HDL cholesterol.
6/ Builds healthy bones
By integrating regular weight bearing exercise, you will be strengthening your bones and in turn your musculoskeletal system. Potentially leading to the prevent of osteoporosis in the future.
How to build your strength and conditioning workout
Laura builds her sessions around the main compound lifts – ones that recruit multiple joints or muscles – like deadlifts and squats. ‘Then I build in some accessory lifts to add volume and extra stimulus for that muscle,’ she explains.
Then come the all-over conditioning exercises to get her heart rate up. ‘Ideally, I like to split my strength sessions from the conditioning sessions, but usually my busy lifestyle doesn’t allow for that,’ she adds.
Like Laura, you probably don’t want to hit the gym twice a day, so focus on strength first, conditioning last. You want to have plenty left in your energy stores to maintain good form for heavy lifts, then use anything you’ve got left for the higher intensity cardio work.
Ready? Let's go.
Firstly, focus on functional lifting
Perform 1 set each of A1, A2 and A3 back to back, then rest for 90-120 secs. Do 4 supersets in total.
What weights to use: If you’re a beginner, master the moves without weights first. An empty bar is a great next step. The 15kg women’s bar (thinner, so easier to grip) is a useful way to get used to the barbell and develop your grip. Then you can start slowly adding kilos
A1/ Barbell Deadlift
Targets: Core, back, glutes, hamstrings
Do: 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a heavy bar for advanced lifters, 10-12 reps with a lighter one for beginners
(a) With your feet about hip-width apart and shins close to the bar, squat down and hold the bar with a strong overhand grip in your right hand, and an underhand grip in your left hand. Keep your knees soft, hips high, back flat and chin tucked for a neutral spine. Brace your core and pull your shoulder blades towards each other – visualise drawing them down towards your back pockets.
(b) Take a deep breath in and drive through your heels to extend at the hips and lift the bar up to stand, keeping your spine neutral. At the top, push your bum back, hinge at the hips and slowly lower the bar back down to the starting position.
A2/ Barbell overhead push press
Targets: Shoulders, back, arms, core
Do: 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a heavy bar for advanced lifters, 10-12 reps with a lighter one for beginners
(a) Stand with your feet about hip-width apart and rest a barbell at collarbone height on your shoulders. Your grip should be just beyond shoulder width and your elbows should be slightly in front of the bar.
(b) Taking a deep breath, dip into a slight squat and then squeeze your glutes to come up to full hip extension. Use this momentum to drive the bar upwards, pressing with your arms and shoulders to extend the bar overhead. Push your head through your arms to lock out at the top, where your arms are fully straight and your spine is neutral. Hold for 1 sec, then reverse the movement to bring the weight back down
A3/ Barbell bent-over row
Targets: Back, biceps, triceps
Do: 4 sets of 6-8 reps with a heavy bar for advanced lifters, 10-12 reps with a lighter one for beginners
(a) Stand with your feet hip-width apart (used to that stance by now?) and grip a barbell with your hands just wider than hip-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and hinge at the hips by pushing your bum back to lean forward and load your hamstrings. Keep your back flat and brace your core.
(b) Take a deep breath and pull your shoulder blades back to row the bar up to your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body. Once you’ve reached full range, slowly lower the bar back towards the floor. Check your position and repeat.
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Then, your accessory lifts
Perform one set of B1, then one set of B2, followed by a 60-90 second rest. Repeat until you've done three supersets.
B1/ D-Ball Squat
Targets: Quads, hamstrings, core
Do: 3 sets of 10-12 reps
(a) Stand with your feet hip-width apart and squat down to pick up a D-ball, taking time to wriggle your hands beneath it. Put the ball into your lap, then wrap your arms around it, so you're hugging it to your chest. This is your starting position.
(b) Reverse the squat to stand with your shoulders back and chest proud.
(c) Squat down again by pushing your bum back as you descent, driving your knees outwards. Squeeze your glutes and drive through your heels to come back up again and repeat.
B2/ Zercher Reverse Lunge
Targets: Core, quads, hamstrings, back
Do: 3 sets of 10-12 reps each side
(a) Cradle a barbell in the crook of your arms (it's easiest to start with the weight on a squat rack at elbow height and lift it from there). Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hands crossed over each other.
(b) Inhale and step back into a lunge on your left leg, making sure the ball of your foot makes solid contact with the floor and your knee kisses the floor. Keep your spine neutral - you might feel like you're leaning forwards slightly to maintain a neutral spine - and your right knee tracking slightly over your right foot. Return to the starting position at full hip extension and repeat on the other side.
Lastly, move onto conditioning
Perform a 10-min EMOM (every minute, on the minute). On odd mins, do C1. On even mins, do C2. Work for about 40 secs at a challenging intensity, then rest for 15-20 secs before switching.
C1/ Farmer’s Carry
Targets: Core, back, shoulders
Do: Walk for 40 secs, rest for 20 secs
(a) Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent, and hinge at the hips to bend down and grab hold of a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand, then return to standing.
(b) With shoulders back, lats and core engaged and elbows tucked into your sides, walk or shuffle (don’t run – tempting as it is) across the gym floor.
C2/ D-Ball Over Shoulder
Targets: Core, glutes, quads, hamstrings
Do: Work for 40 secs, rest for 20 secs
(a) Stand directly over the ball, feet either side of it, and squat down to wriggle your hands underneath it.
(b) Focus on activating and tightening your hamstrings to come up and pull the ball into your lap. Bring your knees a little closer together and rest the ball there to let you adjust your grip in the ball.
(c) Drive through your heels to begin to rise, then thrust your hips forward in an explosive movement to come all the way up. Use your arms to guide the ball over your shoulder, slightly ducking underneath the it once your hips come to full extension. At the top, gently let the ball fall backwards over your shoulder. Back to square one.
Regardless of your starting point, or you goals, strength and conditioning and benefits so many areas of not just your workout, but your every day life. So, try incorperating some of these core moves into your workouts to see the difference in how you perform, move and live.
Kirsti is a health and fitness journalist, a personal trainer and tech junkie. She’s a South African journalist who followed her passion for health and fitness all the way to the UK, where she now spends her days sweating it up and perfecting her form in gyms all over London.
