WHAT YOU WON'T GET !

Let me start by saying I love what I do. I have a passion for it. I cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing. But lately I don’t like what I’m seeing in my profession. A lot of wannabe’s and cowboys. Add to that YouTube University and you have a lot crap out there. So I’m going to tell you what you won’t get should you decide to hire me as your Professional Personal Trainer (PPT).

·         You won’t see half naked pictures of me on my website, Facebook page or on my phone

·         You won’t see any before and after pictures of my clients. There’s no need. I know what they have accomplished and so do they. That’s all that matters.

·         I am not a “sports person”. I must admit I don’t really know what that is but seems like everybody is one

·         I am not a “public figure”. Again, not sure what that is only because the people who classify themselves a “public figure” I have never heard of.

·         I will not bore you with my life story or every amazing and incredible thing I have ever done in my life

·         I will not sell you products or supplements. This is unethical and a clear violation of trust between a client and PPT.

·         I will not give you advice on subjects that I am not qualified to do so.

·         I will not be an enabler

·         I will not tell you what you want to hear just to make you happy.

·         I do not have different rates for different packages. Like the gold package, silver package, bronze package. What that says to me is “if you don’t pay me enough, I will only give you minimal service”. Sure glad surgeons don’t work that way!

·          I will not workout with you or do cardio sessions with you. This too is very unethical. It’s your time, your money. You’re not paying me to workout with you.

·         I won’t come to your house. You don’t need me to jump up and down and run around the dining table 25 times. Just buy a DVD 

I think that’s about it. I’m sure right now you may be thinking to yourself “ Fine! So what do you do ?. Monday , I am going to tell you all the things you do get if you decide to hire me as your PPT. Some of them might surprise you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and remember:

Training prepares you, Education sustains you   

 

How much water do you need ?

 You probably know that it's important to drink plenty of fluids when the temperatures soar outside. But staying hydrated is a daily necessity, no matter what the thermometer says. Unfortunately, many of us aren't getting enough to drink, especially older adults. "Older people don't sense thirst as much as they did when they were younger. And that could be a problem if they're on a medication that may cause fluid loss, such as a diuretic," says Dr. Julian Seifter, a kidney specialist and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

How we use water

Water keeps every system in the body functioning properly. The Harvard Special Health Report 6-Week Plan for Health Eating notes that water has many important jobs, such as:

 

•carrying nutrients and oxygen to your cells

•flushing bacteria from your bladder 

•aiding digestion

•preventing constipation

•normalizing blood pressure

•stabilizing the heartbeat

•cushioning joints

•protecting organs and tissues

•regulating body temperature

•maintaining electrolyte (sodium) balance.

Giving your body enough fluids to carry out those tasks means that you're staying hydrated.If you don't drink enough water, you risk becoming dehydrated. Warning signs of dehydration include weakness, low blood pressure, dizziness, confusion, or urine that's dark in color.

So how much water should you drink? Most people need about four to six cups of water each day.

     Water needs vary 

The daily four-to-six cup rule is for generally healthy people. It's possible to take in too much water if you have certain health conditions, such as thyroid disease or kidney, liver, or heart problems; or if you're taking medications that make you retain water, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), opiate pain medications, and some antidepressants.

How much water should you drink if you fit into that category? There's no one-size-fits-all answer. Dr. Seifter says water intake must be individualized, and you should check with your doctor to be sure you're getting the right amount. 

But even a healthy person's water needs will vary, especially if you're losing water through sweat because you're exercising, or because you're outside on a hot day. If you're wondering how much water should you drink on those occasions, speak with your doctor, but a general rule of thumb for healthy people is to drink two to three cups of water per hour, or more if you're sweating heavily.

      Tips for staying hydrated  

It's not just water that keeps you hydrated. All beverages containing water contribute toward your daily needs. And it's a myth that caffeinated beverages or those containing alcohol are dehydrating because they make you urinate. They do, but over the course of the day, the water from these beverages still leads to a net positive contribution to total fluid consumption, according to an article in the 2015 Harvard Men's Health Watch. 

Of course, there are many reasons why water is still the better choice. Remember, sugary drinks can lead to weight gain and inflammation, which can increase your risk for developing diseases such as diabetes. Too much caffeine can give you the jitters or keep you from sleeping. And, alcohol intake should be limited to one drink per day for women, and 1-2 drinks per day for men. 

To ward off dehydration, drink fluids gradually, throughout the day. An easy way to do this is to have a drink at each meal, as well as socially, or with medicine.

And know that you also get fluids from water-rich foods, such as salads, fruit, and applesauce.

 

Bottom Line : Dont over complicate it. Simply try to always have a small bottle of water within arms reach. This will be a visual reminder to keep sipping through out the day !

Being mentally tough: it’s within all of us!

 Mental toughness is something most people want to have in abundance. Andy Lane argues that all people can show mental toughness if the situation is life threatening, or the goal is sufficiently important it activates a psychological state characterised by positive beliefs on coping with the pain from intense exercise. This blog provides guidance on how people can access their mental toughness.

At a glance

• Mental toughness is a highly popular concept mainly because its name is so ppealing.       Almost all aspiring athletes will want to be seen by others and see themselves as mentally tough.

• Athletes from a wide range of sports can display mental toughness, but this article focuses on coping with sensations of fatigue that stem from intense training. This type of training is common for most sport and physical activity.

• Mental toughness is widely debated in the academic literature, and although there is a great deal of debate on its nature, a common element is that it describes the capability to relentlessly pursue personal goals and be able to cope with adversity including sensations of fatigue and pain.

• When the goal is important enough, and where the athlete is highly motivated to pursue that goal, then an athlete will accept experiencing intense pain. A function of intense pain is to question whether the goal is worth pursuing. I propose that it’s not a lack of mental toughness that limits performance, but that the goal is not worth the suffering it brings.

What is mental toughness?

Interest in mental toughness by the academic, coaching and lay community is hardly surprising. Mental toughness is a set of interrelated concepts that describe athletes that are highly competitive, committed, selfmotivated, cope effectively, and maintain concentration in pressurized situations, persist when the going gets tough, and retain high levels of self-belief even after setbacks. Research in mental toughness began gathering momentum following Graham Jones’  article “What is this thing called mental toughness? An investigation of elite sport performers”. Subsequent research has clarified and expanded knowledge in this area and further studies have demonstrated that interventions such as imagery, goal-setting and self-talk can help athletes build mental toughness . As a crude summary of developments in this area, researchers have made theoretical leaps and bounds to define and clarify theconcepts, and, importantly, kept an ongoing focus on how to transfer theory to practice. Research into mental toughness is flourishing and this can only be helpful as the concepts it covers have a huge interests to athletes and coaches.

However, the popularity of the topic and focus on elite athletes has led to questions on the extent to which non-elite athletes are mentally tough . In this article, I argue that the ability to display mental toughness is within all people and, conscious of that fact, they should learn when they can activate it.

What evidence is there that we are all mentally tough?

People who might seem normal or average frequently display mental toughness in potentially life-threatening situations. Possibly the most powerful literature on the area of pain management is the study of pregnant women going through childbirth . An industry has developed to help women manage pain during childbirth; however, it is worth noting that most pain-management interventions are relatively modern (within the last 100 years). Qualitative accounts of women going through childbirth without pain management provide detailed descriptions of mental toughness characterized by dealing with thoughts of death and coping with intense pain .

Evolutionary psychologists have argued that humans have evolved to cope with pain and this coping response is hard wired and that we only access this response when situation demands call for it . In situations such as childbirth or other potentially life-threatening situations such as military endeavours , intense emotions are activated. Emotions have been found to mask sensations of pain . If an individual is aware that this is the process, and effective coping systems are with them, albeit dormant most of the time, then they have the potential to show an abundant amount of mental toughness. If an athlete perceives that sensations of pain are something that has to be endured in order to achieve goals, then they have opened the door to activating their inner mental toughness. 

Activating beliefs of mental toughness: “if he/she can do it, so can I”

People have a great deal more resources than they believe they possess and it is the ability to access these resources that is important. However, prior to being able to access them, the first step is to recognise that they exist; that is, say to yourself you can cope with a lot more than you think. One way of changing your view of how much you can cope with is to watch seemingly normal people do extra ordinary challenges. One example is Prof Greg Whyte’s work on Comic Relief challenges, which include some extra-ordinary performance such as swimming the English Channel (David Walliams), running repeated marathons (Eddie Izzard), and swimming in very cold water (Davina McCall). It’s worth remembering the qualities needed to be a comedian/actor bear little resemblance with those needed to be an athlete. Research shows that people learn by watching others and if someone of a similar age, gender, and experience of the task at hand succeeds, then this can develop the thought that “if he/she can do it, so can I”

Is the goal worth it?

A key aspect that can help decide if someone activates her/his mental toughness is whether the goal is sufficiently important. When we ask athletes whether the goal is important, they tend to report positively. On a 1-10 scale (1 is not important and 10 is highly important), few athletes report a goal is lower than 5, and the variation in terms of importance often starts at 8 . Therefore, using a rating scale does not reliably provide useful information.

The task below can help you identify which goal is the most important. Rather than rate the importance, it helps the individual work out which goal is more important, and whether trying to achieve one goal might influence attempts to attain another. 

Task: Rate and rank your goals

Example:

What is your goal? Reflection on the challenge the goal presents

1. To run a sub 3-hour marathon “This has been a goal for a while and whilst I have come close (within seconds), I have not achieved it”

2. To run 5km in sub-17 mins “I have come close to this, but not achieved it. I find the marathon training leaves me a bit tired at times”

Reflection and evaluation

The aim is to compare and contrast the two goals and examine if they could conflict. Having time to go for 2goals can be an issue and so prioritising one over the other in terms of when they will be attempted can help. In this case, the athlete needs to focus on one of these goals almost exclusively of the other. Placing the emphasis onto speed required for the 5km and intense pain from lactic acid associated with speed work is a different type of coping than that needed for a marathon. Running pace in the marathon would feel slow in comparison to running 5km, but mental toughness is likely to stem from being able to manage the supposedly slower pace over the final stages.

The suggestion is that the athlete decides which goal to focus on and commits to achieving that. The two goals are arguably in conflict both physiologically and psychologically.

Your goal

What is your goal? Reflection on the challenge the goal presents

1.

2.

3.

4.  

Using psychological skills to build mental toughness

Having identified the goal and worked out that you are committed to achieving that goal; the next step is to develop resources ready to meet the challenges that you could face; that is, getting the qualities that might be described as mental toughness ready for when they are needed. Research has found that use of psychological skills such as imagery and self-talk associate with mental toughness . Both imagery and self-talk are strategies where an individual changes her/his internal dialogue to be able to do a task successfully. Imagery can help achieve this via use of images and self-talk via language. 

Example of developing mental toughness in a soccer player…

A young professional soccer player has to participate in a multistage shuttle run test (bleep test) as part of his club’s conditioning and assessment programme. The bleep test is progressive and maximal and therefore he will run until exhaustion. The player believes that being one of the fittest players will help him gain an established place in the team. He also believes that the coach likes players to show mental toughness. Therefore, on the day of the test, getting a high score on the bleep test is an important goal, and the player needs to accept that he must produce a maximal performance and this will require coping with intense fatigue. To develop strategies to show mental toughness, the player should examine their inner dialogue and thoughts when doing similar tasks. Even if the player has not done the test before, there will be a time when he actively made a decision to stop exercising or slowed down; that is, he weighed up current feelings of fatigue against what was causing them, and made the decision to slow down. It is these thoughts and perceptions of fatigue that need to be addressed via self-talk training and imagery; thoughts that say slowdown will not be accepted if thoughts to achieve a certain goal are more powerful. And the decision to slow down is based on perceptions of fatigue, and the individual needs to increase the point where these thoughts occur.  In conclusion, mental toughness is something humans have in abundance and can access this when priorities demand. Where these goals are voluntary where the decision to abandon the goal is an option rather than involuntary, such as life-threatening situations or childbirth, then reflecting on whether the pursuit of the goal

is worth the pain that will be experienced can help clarify whether managing the pain will be worth it. Where goals are appraised as highly important, then psychological skills such as self-talk and imagery can help an individual re-programme how they will respond when unwanted thoughts occur during performance.

 

Can Superfoods Equal Super Performance?

 Meet three of today’s superfood darlings: açai berries, beetroot juice, and curcumin. What does the research say regarding their impact on athletic performance, recovery, and overall health? Here’s the delicious news.

“Superfood” has been a buzzword for years, but it’s really more of a marketing term than an official food-industry classification. Still, superfoods generally have one thing in common: They pack a significant nutrient punch. They may be high in one nutrient in particular, or they might contain several phytonutrients, antioxidants, other vitamins, and/or minerals. And since these perks come in a small volume of mostly low-calorie food options, they have an even greater appeal in our weight-obsessed culture. Some superfood all-stars of the recent past include blueberries, dark chocolate, oats, pistachios, and dark leafy greens such as kale and spinach.

     Superfoods can carry many health benefits. They may play a role in preventing serious conditions (like cancer and high blood pressure), decreasing inflammation (common in heart disease and stroke patients), increasing energy, reducing joint pain, and maintaining a healthy weight, to name just a few. (8) In this article, we’ll be shining some light on three superfoods that may play a role in enhancing athletic performance and recovery, while providing additional health benefits. First, though, a few words of caution.

Improve Your Superfood Savvy

   Superfoods are great to add to an overall balanced diet. However, if all you consumed were the latest and greatest superfoods, you would be at risk for nutrient deficiencies, as well as potential toxicity from the large amounts of certain nutrients (particularly vitamins K and A) found in some of these foods. People most at risk for toxicity are those with health conditions such as thyroid disorders. A few more pointers about adding superfoods to your diet.

•Vary your selections. With some things, more is better. But with most foods, even “super” ones, more is just more. Excluding, limiting, or avoiding specific foods may decrease your nutrient variety and intake. Aim for a variety of produce, and you will take in a wider array of nutrients, not to mention flavors.What’s a healthy approach to incorporating superfoods? Figure out how you can add them to your rotation of wonderful foods. For example, when having salads you do not need to “all hail to kale” and shun other leafy greens. Instead, try mixed greens that include kale, arugula, and (a personal favorite) bibb lettuce for salads.

•Rethink supplements. As a general rule, try to consume the majority of your nutrients from food, and use supplementation to fill in gaps where increased need is indicated due to deficiency, health complications, or a desire for improved performance. Always know where your supplements come from; make sure you purchase them from certified and regulated companies. Look for those whose label indicates “USP Verified” or NSF/ANSI 173 certification. Supplements taken by athletes may also be labeled “NSF Certified for Sport,” which assures that they do not contain any ingredients that have been banned by major athletic organizations. (9)

•Do some research.  I advise caution when any food—or diet, type of exercise, etc.—touts itself as the cure-all for your weight, health, or performance concerns. Look at study results on reliable websites (ending in .gov, .edu, or .org, for instance), or talk to a registered dietitian or healthcare professional before you buy (or buy into) a particular claim, especially if it sounds too good to be true. 

Açai berries, beetroot juice, and curcumin are the focus of this article. Let’s look at what the research says about these three superfoods and what benefits they may offer to athletes.

 

Açai Berries

Açai berries, which come from the açai palm (typically found in South America), are a reddish-purple grapelike berry. These fruits may have more antioxidants (particularly anthocyanins) than other berries such as blueberries and cranberries. Antioxidants are important in fighting free radicals—harmful compounds that damage healthy cells and may increase the risk of cancer and heart disease.

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (2) states that consuming the berries does have a beneficial impact on performance, as well as on health and prevention of disease. However, more research is needed to determine to what extent the impact directly relates to the açai berry.

According to the Mayo Clinic, açai berries are associated with many health claims such as weight loss, an improved cholesterol profile, increased immunity, decreased joint pain, and even improved skin appearance. Research findings regarding these claims however, are inconsistent, so further investigation is needed.

The great thing is that when açai berries are consumed as a food and not in supplement form, there is very minimal risk and possibly many potential health benefits. To incorporate them into your diet, try adding a handful of açai berries into your smoothie for a tasty and a nutritious treat.

 

Beetroot Juice 

The red beet, more specifically the beetroot juice made from it, shows promise for increasing performance and reducing blood pressure. The juice specifically has been used in many studies to determine its health and performance benefits. (3) Beetroot juice has been studied for potential benefits in improved performance by lowering the muscles’ oxygen demand and increasing muscle efficiency, specifically in endurance exercise. Also, beets are naturally high in nitrates, and increased nitrates in the body have been shown to reduce blood pressure. This has many potential benefits for overall heart health.

Beets are high in fiber, as well as vitamins and minerals such as folate and potassium. The rich coloring of beets comes from betalains, pigments with powerful antioxidant potential.

There are some potential safety concerns regarding the amount of nitrates consumed, however. Nitrates may combine with other dietary nutrients to form nitrosamines that may be carcinogenic. More research is needed for this to be definitive. The World Health Organization recommends an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 3.65 mg/kg/day. (4)

Dosing concerns reinforce consuming this superfood in food form first (over supplements). Approximately ½ cup of beetroot juice or 15-ounce can of beets, or 1½ cups of roasted beets. Add some roasted beets to your mixed greens for a start to a delicious and nutritious salad.
Curcumin     
Turcumin is a bright yellow compound found in the spice turmeric, as well as in ginger. This substance has been touted for its anti-inflammatory benefits for exercise recovery, as well as its ability to decrease joint pain and prevent some types of chronic disease.
In particular, curcumin is being studied for its benefits on decreased post-exercise muscle soreness (5), improving recovery between training sessions. Research is also being conducted regarding curcumin’s anti-inflammatory properties, which may play a role in cancer prevention, heart health, autoimmune diseases, and digestive disorders. Curcumin is believed to inhibit inflammatory enzymes and therefore mediate the inflammatory response. (6)
To add curcumin to your diet, try a South Asian dish made with turmeric, such as curry. If you are not a fan of curry, you can use the spice in smoothies, sprinkle it over eggs in an omelet, or mix it into hummus. . Research has found that 1½ teaspoons of turmeric is safe for consumption for anti-inflammatory properties. (7) 

 

 

 

 

Purify Your River

    First and foremost,thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I understand that in today’s society we all lead very busy lives with many hurdles preventing us from achieving what we set out to do, despite our best intentions. Improving our health being a prime example.

   I’ve kept this blog concise as I believe in quality over quantity. The purpose of this blog is to provide you with an overview of key principles to get you started on the road to better health. If you apply these principles, over time incorporating

them into your daily life, I assure you… slowly but surely you’ll most definitely improve your health.

    As a result of working as a Professional Personal Trainer for over thirty years , I have had the privilege of working alongside and learning from a number of leading Naturopaths, Nutritionists,Physiotherapists, Doctors and Fitness Trainers. I have also had the opportunity to work with an extremely diverse array of people from those seeking dramatic weight loss to weight gain; to those with chronic diseases such as cancer; to power lifters and elite athletes across a variety of sports.

 

                                             The devils in the detail

         Through all of these experiences, common health related themes have emerged. Threads if you like that tie everything together and result in better health. The health and fitness industry can be very confusing, littered with many claims and misconceptions making it difficult to know what really matters. But the reality is that maintaining good health is actually a simple process, not necessarily easy, but fairly simple. If you disagree with any of my principles, that’s great. In fact, I encourage skepticism. If you’re skeptical it means you’re more likely do your own research, check out the facts and perhaps even apply the principle in question to see if you notice a difference. But I don’t encourage pessimism. I haven’t seen many people improve their health who refuse to try something new before checking the facts. I encourage everyone to maintain an open mind and if you can do this, you have already taken the first step towards better health.

     Ultimately, your health comes down to your beliefs. Your beliefs determine what you perceive as “healthy” which in turn influences your health related choices and behavior. So with that in mind I want you to think of your health as if it were a river with many streams feeding it and each stream being considered either positive or negative. For example,drinking 2-3 litres of water a day would be considered a positive stream and let’s say, a bottle of wine a night over time would be considered a negative stream. Applying this idea more broadly, if you love your job and look forward to the day ahead, this would be considered a positive stream. However, staying in a job you hate and constantly feeling stressed is definitely a negative stream. City smog or country air? Fish fingers or fresh fish?

Get the picture?

      All of these streams influence your river of health. The more positive streams theclearer the river. The more negative, the murkier the water will become and rest assured that over time this will take it’s toll. The health statistics in Australia,America,Great Btitain and other westernized countries are scary and getting worse. One in three people being obese, with over 50% of people on some form of medication or prescription drug.

My message is simple and clear - Prevention is better than cure so start making

changes now to purify your river of health before it’s too late.

 

One last thing before i get into it. Health and wellbeing is a lifestyle. A choice of habits and small decisions made on a daily basis, collectively accumulating over time. There is no fast track or instant result. You may already be applying most of the principles I am going to share with you over the next few days, which is great. But if you’re not don’t worry, just start to bring them in slowly, one at a time. I recommend you start to incorporate a new principal every 3-4 weeks. This should be enough time to ingrain them so they become habitual. This means you don’t have to consciously think about them and can move on to tackle the next principle. If you try taking on to many at once it’s likely you’ll feel overwhelmed and put it all into the ‘too hard basket’ and stick to the habits you’re already playing out daily.  

Bottom Line: All behaviour expands. Good behaviour gets better,bad behaviour gets worse. Write down the top five negative habits you would like to change and the top five positive habits you would like to have that you don’t already have. Take one from the negative list and one from the positive list. Now take the next 3-4 weeks getting rid of the bad habit and adopting the good habit. Over the coming i will be giving you 10 principals to follow that will get you to a happy and healthy lifestyle.

The Incredible Benefits of High-Quality Protein

                                                                                 
Muscle Maintenance

Older adults gradually lose muscle mass and strength as part of the aging process. This loss of muscle, known as sarcopenia, can lead to weakness, frailty and a higher risk of falls and injury. But research suggests that getting adequate dietary protein can help prevent or slow sarcopenia. A study of older men and women found that those who ate the most protein-rich foods lost approximately 40 percent less muscle mass over three years compared to those who ate the least amount of protein. Research shows that 25-30 grams of high-quality protein per meal may be optimal to maintain healthy muscles and bones for adults.

Weight Loss

When people on a calorie-restricted diet ate protein foods for breakfast, like eggs, they reported that their appetite was satisfied longer. Also,eating an egg breakfast versus a bagel breakfast helped dieters lose more weight. In addition, a decreased ratio of dietary carbohydrate to protein may improve blood lipid profiles duringweight loss.

Energy for the Day

Several studies have demonstrated the cognitive benefits of eating breakfast, such as improved memory recall time, improved grades and higher test scores.10 In a recent study, eating eggs for breakfast helped dieters feel more energetic than those who ate a bagel breakfast of equal calories.

Better Blood Sugar Level Maintenance

High-quality protein provides steady and sustained energy because it does not cause a surge in blood sugar or insulin levels, which can lead to a rebound effect or energy “crash” as levels drop.

Weight Maintenance

Following weight loss, adults who consumed diets higher in protein were better able

to manage their weight than adults on a lower protein diet. In fact, the group that consumed a diet with a greater percent of total calories from protein had smaller waist circumferences and were better able to maintain weight loss. 

Bottom Line : Protein is essential for good overall health, not just building muscles.  Every time you sit down to eat be able to look at your plate and identify your healthy source of protein.

Avoid These Exercises

Upright Rows
The problem with this exercise is in the positioning of your arms.This position creates what is called an "internal rotation". Every time you raise the weight a small tendon in your shoulder gets pinched(known as impingement) by the bones in the shoulder.Over time the tendon will gradually become worn down and damaged. It's not a matter of if it will eventually wear out but when.  

Behind the neck shoulder press or behind the neck lat pull down
These are the two that will wreck your shoulders. This time it's the "external rotation"that will cause the damage. With your elbows or hands behind your ears the rotator cuff can no longer stabilise the shoulder joint. This action will cause the joint itself to "grind" every time you do a rep. Over time this can cause serious damage to your shoulders.Never do any type of exercise where you need to place your hands or your elbows, what i call the high five position, behind your ears.

The bent knee sit up
Walk into any gym and you will see people lying on their back,knee's bent, doing dozens of sit ups. This type of action causes the hip flexor's to pull directly on your spine creating a tremendous amount of strain on your lower back. This exercise will certainly make any bad back worse or create a back problem.

Dumbbell flyes
Remember that gravity always pulls straight down.Because of that this exercise puts an extreme amount of tension on your biceps and your shoulders.Dumbbell flys takes the biceps and the shoulders deep into their point of "insertion" and this is always a high risk movement. Add to that,it causes very little chest activation, its just not worth the risk. Your much better off doing cable flyes or the pec dec.

Lying leg press
This exercise is very popular because it allows you to load up a ton of weight and give the appearance of being incredibly strong. The leg press is an extremely dangerous exercise for your back. As your knee's come down to your chest , your back begins to round out or flatten. It will actually bubble out. At that point the lower part of your spine ,the lumbar vertebra's, begin to separate and pull apart. This is never a good thing. Also, because your hips don't lower you use very little hamstrings. I recommend giving this one a miss.

Squats with plates under your heel's
People put little plates under their heels for one of two reasons. 1.lack of ankle flexibility or 2.they believe it hits the quadriceps harder. Lets deal with number 1 first. You would be much better off improving the range of motion in your ankles first. This way there would no need to use the plates. Number 2. There is no evidence that squatting this way recruits more quad muscles. Here are the problems with using plates under your heels. The biggest and most serious problem is that it cause a sheering on your knee cap and your ACL in the knee joint. This over time can lead to serious knee problems. In some cases ,surgery. If you look closely, there is a small gap between the plate and the balls of the foot. What this means is the centre part of the foot has virtually no support.

Helicopter twist or rotary torso twist
I'm sure we have seen somebody with a bar or broom stick across their back twisting from side to side. Your disk's and your spine are not designed to twist. It will,but its not made for that. The disk in your spine and the vertebrae that make up your spine are designed to compress. Like a tire. Let me add. It does not work your stomach and it will not get rid of your lovehandles.

There you have it. I hope this has helped you in some way. My final reccomendation to you is to avoid all of the exercise's i have discussed.
Stay Focused
Eric