Personal Trainer Singapore – Coach Jonathan Wong

I have no clue why this is called the “football” bar. But from the point of view as a coach and personal trainer, it is a great piece of equipment to have in a gym or training center.

It looks like a normal barbell except that it has handles that are diagonal to the bar (see pic below) this allows the hands to be in a position that puts less stress on shoulders.

Shoulder injuries are a problem. In fact it is so prevalent that I just had a staff education session to teach our trainers more about how to handle personal training clients with current or former shoulder injuries.

Here Are Our Trainers Learning How To Find And Release Trigger Points That Cause Shoulder Pain

The grip of the football bar allows exercise to be performed with less stress on shoulders, preventing injury.

I got 4 of these football bars for our new training center (the biggest and best private gym in Singapore) due to be open in August 2009!

Also, because of the number of people with pre-existing shoulder injuries (they didn’t get them from training with us!) this kind of modified bar is a necessity. It allows training “around” the injury so that the rest of the body doesn’t get weak. We can train and get strong even while a client is going through our 16 week shoulder rehab program that fixes the causes of the injury.

We work from very simple to very advanced injury prevention routines that “bullet proof” your shoulder from future injury and make you stronger than ever. Golfers, tennis guys and anybody who does anything where pushing, throwing or swinging is involved can benefit.

At the Genesis Performance Center, I recently had a personal training client who was having pain in her hip. The pain comes at the top portion of a squat or dead lift movement.

Any time there is a pain in the front of the hip (anterior hip pain), don’t forget to consider “femoral anterior glide syndrome” as a possible cause.
The pain seems to be at the front of the hip joint and does not seem to come from a muscle or ligament.

SOLUTION: Think about how the femur (thigh bone) is made secure in the hip socket. It is held tight and back in the socket by the function of the glute muscles. That means your buttocks have to work well to keep the bone in place.

So, during your warm up, do more glute activation (you can even do these between sets as I instructed my client to do) and during exercises like squats, lunges, or pulls, remember to focus on a contraction of the buttock muscles to keep the femur tight in the socket and avoid it slipping forward and causing pain.

Some glute exercises are show below.

Hip pain is a common problem that gets fixed with as part of our personal training and athletic performance programs! Training with us is not just about being lean and looking good! But you have got to leave feeling better and healthier as well!

More than 1 year ago I had an adductor/Groin Strain. I am not even sure how I got it, but groin strains are part of playing sports where change of direction and quick acceleration and deceleration are common. Basketball, soccer, rugby etc. This is especially true if you are already highly stressed in life and have weak adrenal glands. (It’s an Eastern medicine concept).

As a fitness coach and sports performance coach in Singapore I deal with groin strains quite often.

The first thing about rehab is to train around the injury. NOT rest at home.

“Oh I’m injured, I’ll lie in bed” is a wrong mindset for training with an injury. In general I recommend training stuff that does not hurt.

The limit is “dull pain for a few seconds after the exercise is over”.
So sharp pain means stop immediately and so does dull pain that lasts a long time.

This recommendation helps blood flow to the area which boosts recovery, at the same time it is pretty sure not to re-injure that area.
Also, continuing training makes you feel empowered and it maintains strength in the rest of your body.

For adductor/groin strains, the exercises you choose should be of 2 kinds. As you can see in the video.

• Wide Stance
• Single Leg

Doing more of these also help prevent groin injuries (as well as a good warm-up and good movement mechanics).

Since then, my groin has been bullet proof! Yay!

If you have a previous injury or movement problem don’t worry, our personal training programs and athletic performance programs integrate reconditioning. So you will be soon back to full speed, full strength and full health.