Matt Kelly PT

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My 6 week training programme begins end of this month, and leads you right into Christmas (don't miss the early bird rate this week!!)

The benefits of personal training at half the price, group motivation, and a special nutrition booklet to compliment your hard work in the gym.

Limited spots available at both AM and PM. DM/email/text for further info or to let me know the days of your preference.

Sign up this week for special early bird price. Join for just 26 euros per month to save even more on your course!

The low equipment workout that can be done multiple times per week to keep your hips in basketball shape....

Keeping the load down in season is a priority of mine, with a.. mature... Set of hips with many dysfunctions!!

I prioritise doing these movements, multiple times per week, usually on practice days to keep me moving correctly. It's not a once size fits all when it comes to keeping chronic injury at bay, more that these are the exercises which I have found most fortifying and protective given my own issues (adductor strains/tendinopathy/ groin pain/stiffness)

Rear foot elevated split squats give great range of motion in the hip, stimulate the glutes massively, and like all single leg exercises help with proprioceptive capabilities and structural balance.

The single leg Romanian deadlift is a 'must-master' for all young athletes and one of the best activation exercises for being balanced on defense and shooting

I really love slider side lunges to help strengthen my groin and adduction/lateral movement

And lastly, the single leg eccentric squat - squatting down on one leg - this allows us to maximise the down or eccentric phase of the exercise to help stabilise and strengthen the knee and hip.

Keep it simple if you've no weights, do 3 sets of 12 of each of these exercises to give you a quality yet simple to execute basketball workout that takes 30 ish mins. Simple. @ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

'I couldn't do that' or 'How did you learn to do THAT' are two questions you often hear from inexperienced gym goers who can't fathom where to begin in order to do a pull-up or ab rollout, or any other more complex exercise.

The value in personal training, or personalised online programmes in this regard, is to give exercise progressions AND regressions. If you can't do a pull-up even a little bit, hanging at the bottom and trying real real hard for weeks on end probably isn't gonna yield much of a result.

Progression can be slow but that doesn't mean it can't be continuous, much of my job is facilitating people to build a proper foundation in order to do things we SHOULD be able to do with some application. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run.

Below is a series of exercises that can build a base which allows you to progress to doing an ab rollout. A move which can really assist in your compound lifts (look out for a post later in the week that stresses the importance of anti extension and anti rotation!)

It's also an exercise which seems impossible to many at first, but by breaking it down to it's simplified parts can make it more.manageable.

At first - walkouts back and forth into and out of a plank

Second - fist to elbow Swiss ball rollout

Third - ab rollout

Perfectly manageable stages that come down to application and consistency!

Nobody is a lost cause, they just need someone to tell them where to start from,and how to start! @ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

There's an old Charles Poliquin maxim that you don't 'deserve' an arm's day unless your sub ten percent body fat. I don't believe in this dogmatically, but I fully agree with the logic it's born out of.

Busy 'average joe' trainees usually don't have the time nor sessions to justify an exclusively gun based workout in my opinion.

It also comes back to the fact that most men who want to be 'jacked', make the mistake that getting bigger will give them the look they want, most of the time it's a lack of definition and leaning they lust after, and fail to identify this.

What does this have to do with arm day? Well my simple suggestion is of you are training 4,5,6 times a week - combine leg exercises with arms... Not only will this get the anabolic juices flowing, it will make for a far more economical workout in terms of calorie consumption, fat loss, conditioning etc etc...

Next time you want to pump the pythons, try super setting, or Tri setting, your initial movements with a large lower body movement you may not do on your usual leg day...

For example:

A1 - parralel bar triceps dips
A2 - DB walking lunges
A3 - pronated grip preacher curl

You could carry on your B series with similar compound movements, or isolation movements either paired, or without, a further lower body movement.

Enjoy the gain(z)

@ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

Everyone wants to squat, athletes, influencer's, those who want a big ass.

The split squat is the neglected cousin of the bilateral squat that could help you no matter the goal.

The split squat is unilateral, meaning it works one side at a time, which is great for increased mobility, balancing left and right - it recruits the adductors and groin through a nice range of motion, and if manipulated correctly will give most lifters better feel for their glutes than the conventional squat.

Front foot elevated for all you tight half reppers....

Rear foot elevated to really stretch your quads

Bulgarian split squats are fantastic for a serious stretch and athletic function (get inventive with how you elevate the back foot - gym benches are not always free and they really hurt my footsies!)

Both feet elevated is something you've likely rarely seen if at all, increases range of motion even more and is great for a tight groin!

Variety and progression is so important for proper programming - here are four variants, and that's without even getting into using different equipment - dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, cables.

If stagnating routines and reduced results from training are an issue you may be interested in a remote programme to mix it up, my brain is dying to help you!

@ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

Stiff man attempts Sunday split squats

Too busy during the week to train enough? Tired? Long hours in work?

Welcome to Sunday - the day where you can easily exercise twice if you're serious about improving body composition.

Those with young children or big families have further complications, but if you're a young or older professional, student, or athlete you don't have many excuses.

You won't be out EVERY Saturday if you're goal is to get in better shape (surely) so you should be feeling fresh.

But you've only been to the gym twice that week, so, get up on Sunday and take the dog for a walk, then go to the gym later, or vica versa.

It's actually the perfect set up for the week because you're likely to go to bed early and you've had some nice endorphins in the system all day to help stave off the Sunday fear.

It also leaves you with 7 to 8 other hours, minimum, to do whatever else you need to do. So there's no real excuse.

Everyone 'wants' to be shredded, ripped, toned, jacked etc. But if it's not what you really want in terms of how you spend your time, that quickly becomes visible.

If health and being in the shape you want to be in is about consistent effort, your moment to moment and day to day choices are a far clearer indicator of what you truly want to prioritize, rather than the over arching idea of being 'sub ten percent' or having a 6 pack.

..and that's FINE. It's better to make an honest appraisal of what you're willing to do to get where you want to go. It eliminates the unpleasantness of struggling between your desire for donuts 🍩 and your need for dumbbells 💪 and in the end, you can actually spend your Sunday as you wish and embrace the choices, rather than being caught between enjoyment and guilt!

But don't bu****it yourself if you could be doing more.

Very grateful to Ernst & Young for inviting me to speak to their staff about some steps we can take to improve health and well being within an office environment.

It's great to see so many companies taking the initiative to prioritize staff health. Happy staff and good capitalism - what's not to like!?

Thanks to and her team for inviting me. Lovely people and an enjoyable, laid back environment.

Do you even dip bro?

Another post trashing the barbell bench press (jk, kinda)

When we think about building any muscle, do we really consider training the muscles for all it's functions enough?

One of the most important functions of the pectoralis major/pecs, is adduction of the humerus. Aka bringing your arms in towards your sides. Like... Dips.

If you are trying to develop those pecs and have been pressing all the live long day mix it up with some dips. Not only are they great for pec development but they're tops for tricep strength and growth, scapular movement and control, as well as shoulder stability.

It's not a simple exercise and requires care but it's effective, and great fun too - I always feel like they're pull ups for my chest - they make me feel mildly athletic !

@ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

How many of you actually overhead press regularly?

In terms of fat loss clients, especially the ladies, you'll rarely see me doing flat barbell or dumbbell presses, varying between standing presses, push presses and varieties of seated press that lean towards the high incline and up.

As I've said before whole body workouts are the way forward. Pairing something like a push press, superset with a lower body exercise is a fantastic way to increase the work load on your heart and lungs and consume them cals.

I know bro's are reluctant to stop benching and doing all bro things, but in my experience the overhead press is a sensational way of building strength, as well as amazing body composition tool.

Strong shoulders = strong bench press.

My top overhead presses are:

Barbell/dumbbell push press

Seated military press/neutral grip dumbbell press

1 1/4 (bottom quarter) neutral grip dumbbell press

High incline barbell/dumbbell press

Arnold press

Try not to smile like a good while you do it though. It kills your gains.

@ énergie Fitness Dun Laoghaire

Pleased to formally announce (at least on on Instagram) that I will now be available in Energie Fitness Dun Laoghaire for all your personal training needs - one to one, small group, and remote programming. DM me ASAP to get my special discounted rates!

is an incredibly affordable and well equipped gym in the Dun Laoghaire area - it has all the toys and tops folks working there and has one of the cheapest monthly memberships in the area. Join and get me to write you a killer programme!