Wild Geese
Fitness Training

Who’s Got a Golden Snatch?

May 16, 2016
2 min

Who’s Got a Golden Snatch?

I guess it’s official! This “fad” known a the Kettlebell is here to stay in Ireland. It’s been a long time since I started out as Kettlebell Instructor. A few years after I started and we’d just taken Wild Geese and turned it into a full time business, my Kettlebell classes were out the door. Then there was the very first Kettlebell Sports competition in Ireland down in Kilkenny. This was 2009. I was amongst the very first people in Ireland to compete in the sport of Kettlebe

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A Perfect Warm Up

May 5, 2016
2 min

A Perfect Warm Up

Warming up is a critical piece of any workout. Any performance. Yet there’s so much misinformation, so much dogma, so much nonsense surrounding the subject. Over the years I may even have been part of the problem in propagating some of the nonsense. Thankfully, these days I know better. So what is a warm up all about? – Raising the body temperature – Improving muscle function – Focussing the mind – Rehab and Prehab – Doing the things that are important. So a 5 minute jog foll

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Monday Mobility: How To Kick a Storm Trooper in the Head

May 3, 2016
2 min

Monday Mobility: How To Kick a Storm Trooper in the Head

So yesterday was a Bank Holiday Monday, so the gym was closed except for a few dedicated members who have their own keys to get in. I spent the day with my family. Which, as you can imagine, as a full time gym owner and coach, is time that is precious. On Sunday son no 1 made his 1st communion, which here is Ireland is pretty much mandatory if one wants to stand a chance of getting into the better schools. Part of the tradition is that the kids are given gifts of cash. So yes

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Apr 17, 2016
1 min

Monday Mobility: Open the Hips with the Frog Stretch

A long time ago I had a weekly feature called Monday Mobility. Which in case you couldn’t guess, was a post about mobility that came out on a Monday. It was popular. So I’m bringing it back. As you should be aware if you follow my work, I believe fitness is made up of three core properties Strength Mobility Endurance And no single part is any more important than the other unless you specialise in a particular sport. But even for the specialists, all three have to exist. A

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Why Are You Wearing Those Shoes?

Apr 15, 2016
3 min

Why Are You Wearing Those Shoes?

This mornings first client is a keen amateur runner. Over the weekend he went out to Amphibian King, he preferred running shoe supplier to buy himself some new kit. The guys in the shop do a gait analysis to help decide which shoes you buy. He’s always been told to buy shoes to prevent “over-pronation” He was wearing them on the day he went to get a new pair. The guys in the shop were baffled as to why he ever thought he needed over-prontation shoes, as this gait analysis sh

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Apr 11, 2016
1 min

A Simple Hip Opening Sequence

Stretching is far from my favourite topic, but that doesn’t mean I don’t do it or teach it. Usually I like people to move with their stretches, I’m not a fan of pure static work. I find the body responds better to movement. The reasons for why the body responds better to movement seem to change every few years depending on whichever study is currently at the forefront, so I’ve stopped thinking too much about it. It works. It always has done. I reckon it always will do. This

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That is the Right Question

Apr 11, 2016
1 min

That is the Right Question

The movie I Robot was on tv the other day. I forgot how enjoyable it was. Sci-Fi, robots, explosions, chases, guns, robots, what’s not to like? Oh, and who wouldn’t want an indestructible super strong robot arm? I know I would, it’s be awesome! Through the movie though Will Smiths character is investigating the death of his old buddy and genius scientist Alfred Lanning. Lanning made a holographic recording of himself with clues as to why he dies. But it can only respond to c

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Apr 4, 2016
2 min

This is first time ever to be pain free doing this

I know I talk a lot about the competitive athletes that train with me, the fighters, the mountain bikers, the Kettlebell sports guys etc But if I’m fair, most of my guys are simply in to train for life. Which if we think about it, is the only competition really worth entering as it’s one that we ultimately all lose. But as the saying goes, it’s about the taking part, not about the winning. So when one of my older clients, a man named Shay who has had more struggles than most

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HRV and the Wild Geese Training Methods

Feb 29, 2016
2 min

HRV and the Wild Geese Training Methods

Over the last couple of days I was in the company of a group of trainers listening to Joel Jamieson talk about his Bioforce HRV system. With Joel Jameison of 8WeeksOut.com and Bioforce HRV Now, I’m still processing this info, i tend to take my time with things like this, not really talking too much about things until I’ve had some practical experience using the tool and/or techniques. But, after reading Joel’s book, going through his online video course, listening to him talk

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2 Workshops, 1 Cert

Feb 21, 2016
2 min

2 Workshops, 1 Cert

Sometimes you just have to get a little bit giddy and excited. Here’s my excited face: But seriously, the next couple of months promise to be awesome! Here’s why, in order of appearance: Upper Body Mobility & Strength Workshop Stuff you’ll learn: Joint mobility from the finger tips all the way to the spine Mobility drills taken from: -Martial Arts -Gymnastics -Anatomy in Motion -and more Scapula control and why it is vital to the shoulder Relationships between the shou

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Some Highlights from 2015

Jan 5, 2016
3 min

Some Highlights from 2015

Well, it’s 2016 and everyone is just getting back on their feet and finding their rhythm again after the Xmas break. While I’m not one for sentimentality, the end of the year does remind us to look back and take stock of what we have done over the last 12 months so that we can be better armed for what is to come in the next 12 months. So what did happen in 2015? Anatomy in Motion has really taken off! I’ve been using AiM in the gym both as part of peoples regular training as

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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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A Missing Link in the War Against Knee Injuries

Nov 29, 2015
3 min

A Missing Link in the War Against Knee Injuries

One of the most common complaints in sports is Knee pain and / or knee injury. If you look at injury statistics, most common field sport injury is the knee. David Moran, from Kerry GAA blew out his cruciate last year This article in the Independent yesterday for example: http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/gaa-counting-cost-of-injuries-26839935.html The best part? The statistic is for non-contact injuries. How is this so? Why is the knee so vulnerable? Is it reall

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The Complete Guide to the Kettlebell Snatch

Oct 30, 2015
2 min

The Complete Guide to the Kettlebell Snatch

The Kettlebell Snatch is an iconic lift. To be perfectly honest, it’s a non essential lift for many and it’s not a lift that features strongly in the programs I write for people. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend the time to get to know the lift. In short, it’s the Kettlebell Swing’s big brother. And while we get most of the benefit of the lift from the swing, the Snatch does add in a lot more challenge. But it’s also a technical beast. in action.Must have been inspi

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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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Make Your Shoulders Happy with the Bottoms Up Turkish Get Up

Sep 20, 2015
2 min

Make Your Shoulders Happy with the Bottoms Up Turkish Get Up

Last week I wrote about the Bottoms Up Kettlebell grip and waiters walk. We talked about how and why I like to use them in Wild Geese, and how they benefit the shoulder. Thanks to every one who got in touch following that post, it seems there’s a need for more information on the issue of shoulder friendly training. So without further ado, lets pick up where we left off last week. (If you missed the previous post, click HERE) Now the next of my favourite Bottoms Up Kettlebell

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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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Bottoms Up For Better Shoulders

Sep 13, 2015
2 min

Bottoms Up For Better Shoulders

The nature of the clients that come to Wild Geese for training means that they’re the type of folk who see physical limits as challenges rather than actual limitations. This means I get people coming to me with all sorts of injury issues. A very common injury site is the shoulder, especially with our Rugby, BJJ and MMA guys. That’s me, checkout the clavicle on the left of the image (it’s my right) So we have developed a fairly good system of training to get these guys back in

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Avoiding a Common Trap

Aug 17, 2015
2 min

Avoiding a Common Trap

Combat athletes are my favorite athletes to train. It stems from my own extensive background in martial arts and security work. It’s the entire basis of the training carried out in Wild Geese. It’s why we don’t over emphasise any one element of training over any other. While many worship strength, others flexibility and the ever growing trend of super high intensity saggital plane circuit training. The WG-Fit method worships the well rounded, the adaptable and the focused. St

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