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Wild Geese
Fitness Training

A One Stop Solution for Your Shoulder Problems

Sep 30, 2019
4 min

A One Stop Solution for Your Shoulder Problems

Ok, I admit this is a pretty clickbaity title. What I’m going to tell you may not cure every shoulder issue, but it will certainly go a long long way towards building strong, healthy shoulders that can take on any challenge. It’s the Windmill exercise. This is a very common movement, thanks in no small part to the proliferation of the kettlebell and associated lifts. Before this turns into a history lesson, here’s a 5 minute tutorial video for you: Kettlebell Windmill from Da

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A Better Push Up

Sep 15, 2019
2 min

A Better Push Up

Push Ups are a big bang exercise for most people. Once you’re strong enough to do the basic push ups well, and by that I mean do 25 solid reps to a very high standard, ie locked core, tucked pelvis and good scapular movement, then it’s time to add in a few variants. This is the Persian Push Up You will see in the video I have my hands on blocks, but they can just as easily be done on a flat floor. The blocks allow me to work deeper and take some stress off the wrists in the

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Conditioning Made Easy part 3 – Cardiac Output or Building an Aerobic Base

Feb 27, 2019
3 min

Conditioning Made Easy part 3 – Cardiac Output or Building an Aerobic Base

Aerobic training doesn’t necessarily mean dancing around in a leotard with big hair It’s not the 80’s any more….. But it does need to be done. Your cardio vascular system underpins everything else, the other cooler energy systems rely on the aerobic system for replenishment, to take over when they’re done and keep you moving forward. In the last round of the fight, in the last quarter of that game, this is where you are going to wish your aerobic system was better developed.

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Monday Mobility – Swing Your Clubs!

Feb 24, 2019
2 min

Monday Mobility – Swing Your Clubs!

Last week we restarted our Monday Mobility series with a great Thoracic Mobility drill ( <– that was a link to it in case you didn’t spot it) Lets stay on a theme, the upper back, shoulder and chest. Ie, the thoracic region. If there was a single catch all for the entire thoracic region, I’d have to say the Indian Club is it. Last weeks drill showed you how to extend the spine, which open the ribs and allows the scapula to move more freely. Swinging the Indian Club shows the

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Core Blimey! or How to Strengthen the Abs while Opening the Hips

Jul 16, 2017
1 min

Core Blimey! or How to Strengthen the Abs while Opening the Hips

A strong core is vital for any athletic endeavour. Even if that athletic endeavour is simply looking good on the beach. Ursula Andress in 1962’s Dr No. That’s athletic right? Most of the people I train are involved in a sport or activity that requires good levels of strength, mobility and endurance to control their body, someone elses body or a piece of equipment through space with some degree of force. I recently published a photo album of some of our clients doing what they

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Oct 25, 2016
1 min

Workshop Announcement – Clubs & Maces

Big news!! Cillin Cleere from Indian Clubs Ireland and I are putting our heads together to teach a 1 one day workshop covering the use of Indian Clubs and the Mace. On Nov 20th, I’d like to invite you to Wild Geese to learn about these ancient training tools, find out what they’re used for and why they’ve stood the test of time. Go have a look at this page, there’s cool videos and stuff….. Indian Clubs and Mace Workshop – Nov 20th, 2016 See you there Dave Hedges www.Wg-Fit.c

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8 Exercise to Armour Plate your Knees

Dec 1, 2015
3 min

8 Exercise to Armour Plate your Knees

On Monday I posted about the worrying amount of knee injuries recorded in field sports. The article I referred to was from Ireland’s native GAA, but it’s the same across most team field sports. While I have several rugby, GAA and even a Hockey player in my gym, most of my crew are in the martial arts. A large chunk of whom are BJJ. So while the predominance of knee injuries in field sports happen off the ball, ie the player hurts themselves. In BJJ (and many rugby injuries) t

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3 Considerations for Training the BJJ Player

Nov 24, 2015
3 min

3 Considerations for Training the BJJ Player

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a phenomenal martial art and sport. Granted, I don’t train it personally, it’s just not where my training goals lie. But I work with some of Ireland’s best. I say Ireland’s best, even though they are Polish, Russian, Brazilian, Italian and, oh yes, Irish. Most of whom are in preparation for Januaries Brazilian Jiu jitsu European Championships. The sport itself is incredibly demanding on the body, but it’s also very individual. No two fighters move exac

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Strong, but Weak At The Same Time..

Nov 4, 2015
3 min

Strong, but Weak At The Same Time..

Over the last few weeks I’ve been dropping a lot of heavy hints about the upcoming Upper Body Mobility & Strength Workshop this month. But I’ve a story from the gym yesterday to tell you that may just convince you to book a spot for yourselves, or not. You may just like the story. It’s about the Strength part of the title. You see, mobility isn’t a simple thing. Doing a movement is one thing. Doing it right is something else entirely. And moving well requires not only the req

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From Russia with Love……

Oct 4, 2015
2 min

From Russia with Love……

About 2 months ago one of my regular members, Kevin”Hardcore” Callan who is the head of the Kyokushin Karate Ireland Federation asked me to help out one of his fighters. I work with him and several of the IKK senior instructors so was more than happy to help out. The fighter was due to compete in the Kyokushin Karate World Championships in Russia and Kevin realised she needed sharpening up with a period of Strength and Conditioning work. Aneta throwing an Axe Kick in Russia

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A Great Warm Up Drill To Approach With Caution

Sep 23, 2015
3 min

A Great Warm Up Drill To Approach With Caution

I hate warming up. I understand it’s a vital part of training, and I’m incredibly particular about how my clients warm up. But when it comes to my own training, it’s just not something I ever enjoyed or dialled in as a habit. Terrible I know! I’m the coach, I should be doing everything perfect. But that aint the truth, and any coach that pretends to be perfect is filling you full of shit. So in my own warm ups I set a timer. I set it for 10 minutes. In that 10 minutes I move.

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On Age and Injuries

Sep 22, 2015
2 min

On Age and Injuries

Everyone who plays hard gets hurt from time to time. It’s a frustrating truth. Injuries we pick up in our teens and twenties and seemingly shrug off come back and bite us with interest in our 30’s and 40’s. But we don’t stop. Hell no, we don’t stop. That’s not who we are! Yesterday morning I was chatting with the Wild Geese Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach. He’s had a rough run of injury the last year, but is determined to stay in the game and get back to competing. We had a long ch

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2 Events, 2 training opportunities

Sep 16, 2015
2 min

2 Events, 2 training opportunities

We’re taking on new clients! To be honest, we’re always open to enquiries, but at the moment there’s two items on the calendar that are of particular interest. They are: The All Ireland Kettlebell Lifting Federation competitions and The European Brazillian Jiu Jitsu Championships. On December 5th, in Cork, there will be the last event on the AIKLF calendar. They’re running a 5 minute competition, which is ideal for lifters new to the sport and fro experienced lifters to test

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Loading Up the Pistol

Jun 17, 2015
3 min

Loading Up the Pistol

I like Pistols. No, not them (even though they’re cool too!) But Pistol Squats. The other day one of my lads comes in with a story to tell. A friend of his had been to a physio after some knee surgery. I don’t know the details of the surgery, so can’t fully comment. The crux of the story and the part which had my client baffled, was that the physio had recommended single leg squats (which he translated in his head to mean Pistol Squats) as rehab. To him it sounded wrong. And

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Monday Mobility: Middle & Upper Back Stretch

May 19, 2015
2 min

Monday Mobility: Middle & Upper Back Stretch

It’s back! And yes I know it’s Tuesday! Monday mobility used to be a regular feature on the blog, it’s time I brought it back. Ok, maybe not every Monday, but definitely some Mondays. When I remember…. Why is today Tuesday? Well, long story short, I’m not really that tech savvy and am having problems scheduling posts to go out at a particular time since rejigging the site. ‘I cant keep up with all this new technology.’ With luck, I’ll have all that back in control very soon.

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Ask Dave: What do you think of German Volume Training?

Feb 26, 2015
2 min

Ask Dave: What do you think of German Volume Training?

So I’m on the way out the gym the other day when a young lad from the BJJ stops me to say hello. Immediately I’m faced with a dilemma. My missus needs me home so she can meet her cousins for a dinner date but this young fella just passed his personal trainer exams and has been bubbling with great questions ever since. A dilemma I choose to deal with by taking time to chat with the lad while psyching myself up for a cycle home so fast that even Lance Armstrong would have to no

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“This’d Be Great For Building That Monkey Strength……”

Feb 11, 2015
2 min

“This’d Be Great For Building That Monkey Strength……”

“…….You know, getting Monkey Strong, not Powerlifter Strong” This was the sentence uttered by Peter, a private client yesterday when I had him doing an unfamiliar exercise. And yes mate, I know exactly what you mean. Monkey strong. We know our closest relative the chimpanzee is many many times stronger than us poor Homo Sapiens. But not only that, the Chimp is fast, agile and can cover fair distances over a variety of terrain and do it pretty fast. I don’t have exact figu

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3 Training Points for Bulletproofing the BJJ player

Oct 22, 2014
2 min

3 Training Points for Bulletproofing the BJJ player

I work with a good amount of martial arts guys, many of whom train BJJ. This isn’t news, I know, I mention it a lot. Romulo Barral having his knee checked out But today I was working with a very experienced practitioner and we ended up chatting about the sport and its effect on the body. Due to the nature of the game, BJJ is very much an upper body game. The legs are usually trained for flexibility and little more. Yet most players fall victim to lower body injury. Knees are

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Knackered Knees, No More!

Apr 28, 2014
3 min

Knackered Knees, No More!

Lets take a show of hands. All those who’ve NEVER experienced knee pain or injury put your hand up. Those who’ve had PAIN in their knees put your hands up. Yeah, as I thought, a few more that time. It’s a joint that get hammered by just about everything we do. Yet, with a bit of smart thinking and common sense we can keep it strong, health and functioning long into our twilight years. What we can’t protect against are the bangs and impacts we take as part of our sports and ma

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A Quick Guide to Upper Back Strength & Shoulder Health

Apr 22, 2014
2 min

A Quick Guide to Upper Back Strength & Shoulder Health

Your shoulders take a beating. Especially when your training partner knows 99 ways to hyper extend the joint to cause enough pain to make you tap before ligaments & tendons begin to tear or the joint becomes dislocated. It’s not just your opponents attempts to submit you, but the general posture of a fighter that can stress the shoulder joint. Having a rounded (kyphotic for you anatomy nerds) upper back encourages the shoulder blades to “wing”, which stretches out the muscles

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