What is Strength and Conditioning?

In this blog we will look at:

What strength and conditioning is
Who it is for
What it will involve

What is it?

Well, let’s start with what it isn’t. It isn’t a particular exercise, nor is it in a particular setting. It isn’t a hardcore beasting gym workout nor is it just for those who are at the top of their athletic game. So what is it? Strength and conditioning focuses on two main areas:

Improving your movement quality and confidence for any given setting, be it for a sport or for real life scenarios such as getting out of a chair with ease.
Preventing injury, be it in a sporting scenario or building balance and proprioception to prevent falls.

Other benefits of Strength and Conditioning are:

Improved general health and wellbeing – e.g. bone health, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
Improved mood – exercise of all types helps to release serotonin which improves mood. It also gives you a sense of achievement and reward.
Improved posture, thus improving breathing and circulation
Improved performance – identifying strengths and weaknesses and building on these, making exercise more enjoyable!
Improved muscle mass – reducing risk of developing insulin resistance, high blood pressure and high HDL cholesterol (and more!)
Improved cardiovascular health
Improved metabolism, i.e. your ability to burn calories at rest
Faster recovery after exercise or activity so you can do more of what you enjoy

2. Who is it for? In short, everyone! Whether you’ve never done a tailored exercise program before or you’re hitting sub 18 min 5k’s at Parkrun every weekend, we are experts in adapting the exercise sessions to make them tailored for your needs. Examples of clients we have include:

Elderly clients wanting to improve their walking confidence and balance
Runners and cyclists wanting to reduce their risk of injury and hit training targets
Hikers training for specific events

3. What will it involve?

Sessions are run by Tom, a chartered Physiotherapist and Strength coach.
You will be expertly lead and guided through the session, so you will always feel confident and safe.
Sessions are tailored to you and your needs via a 1:1 or group-based environment.
Exercise sessions vary from 45mins to 1 hour

Sessions will involve:

A thorough warm up to improve your readiness for the session.
Tailored and guided exercises to suit your individual level and needs.
A gentle cool down to ease you back into your day.