Most of us are familiar with habit stacking – the practice of adding a new habit with an old one, the theory being that in combining the two it will help you stick to your goals. It seems that there is a similar trend emerging in our approach to working out, in which we’re fitness stacking to build our ideal exercise routines. If, like me, the thought of a 40-minute long HIIT or cardio session convinces you to disregard it before you have even started, then the idea of snacking on shorter exercises one after the other might be for you too.
My newly curated formula of 20 minutes of at-home rowing, bolted on with a 10-minute stretch and 10 minutes of mindfulness, has helped me to get back on track with a workout that motivates in the same time frame. Part of my newfound motivation is the luxury of being able to tap into digital fitness wherever I am, facilitating this new way of stacking my workouts together, depending on what I want to do or what my time allows.
Apple, whose Fitness+ platform has seen huge growth in this style of exercise, with mix-and-match workouts, has developed its short, time-sensitive class offering off the back of the demand for this type of training. The platform’s tech allows users to create a custom plan. “This is about fitness for everyone and making it fun. It’s always been our mission statement,” explains Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies. Guest Fitness+ trainer Joe Wicks, AKA The Body Coach – our very own modern-day Mr Motivator, who kept the nation moving during the pandemic thanks to his at-home YouTube workouts – now advocates for the curated workout that suits our needs today. “Action leads to motivation and a 10 to 15-minute boost of exercise is the sweet spot. Digital fitness is enabling this – you can put 10 minutes of exercise together without effort.”
The personal trainer who regularly puts me through my paces, Luke Worthington, agrees that stacking is conducive to a great workout routine. “A well-balanced health and fitness regime should look to address all five measurable pillars of wellness: strength, cardiovascular fitness, mobility, body composition and emotional wellbeing. At first glance, trying to do all of this potentially from a standing start might make you feel overwhelmed. Creating routines in the first place is the hard part – the trick is to start to add small things bit by bit. Fitness stacking takes advantage of the routine we already have and simply adds to it, without creating extra demand to your motivation.” Fitness stacking has been born out of our appetite for streaming workout classes and signing up to fitness apps. When you have a variety of different exercises in one place, you no longer need to go out of your way to find a new studio or discipline, it’s all in the palm of your hand.
Bryony Deery, founder of Pilates by Bryony, a digital platform that offers a streaming library of more than 400 classes, has also seen a shift in how people are consuming their workouts. “We have noticed more people have created at-home workout stations so they can dip in and out of movement throughout the day, and our classes are designed to be stackable and to work for and with you. One of our most popular classes is a five-minute core workout, which people add onto their Pilates practice, or the 20-minute core and bum-focused class. People use the app to fit around their needs.” The evidence all stacks up.
Shin splints are one of those nagging aches and pains most runners encounter at some point in their training—but that doesn’t mean you should just grin and bear it.
“We see it all the time in the clinic,” osteopath and clinical lead at The Livewell Clinic, Danny Sayandan tells Fit&Well.
Common themes, he says, are runners in worn-out shoes, heel striking instead of landing midfoot, or overstriding.
“It’s often linked to the least stretched muscle in the body—your calves—and most neglected muscle—the tibialis anterior—found on the front of the shin,” says Sayandan.
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When they’re tight or undertrained, the impact of every footstrike gets pushed straight into the shins, triggering a dull ache down the front or inside of your shins.
The solution? Add these five exercises from Sayandan to your weekly workouts to stretch and strengthen these often overlooked muscles.
5 exercises to try if you get shin pain when running
1. Toe raise
Toe Raises – Ask Doctor Jo – YouTube
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Sets: 2 Reps: 12-15 each side
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Why: Lifting your toes strengthens the front of your shin.
How:
Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
Lift your toes.
Hold for two seconds.
Lower your toes to the start.
2. Calf raise
Sets: 2 Reps: 12-15
Why: Build strength and endurance in the lower legs.
How:
Stand with your feet together.
Lift your heels to rise onto your toes and the balls of your feet.
Pause, then lower slowly.
You can also perform these with your heels off a step (as in the video above), lowering your heels below the step to add a stretch to your calves.
As you get stronger, progress to single-leg calf raises, then begin to add weight with a dumbbell or kettlebell held in one hand.
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3. Soleus wall hold
Sets: 2 Reps: 12-15 / Time: 30sec
Why: This bent-knee heel raise targets the deep-lying soleus muscle in your calves.
How:
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a bannister or other sturdy anchor point for support (an alternative is to rest your back on a wall, as in the video above).
Bend your knees and push your hips back to lower into a squat, with your knees bent at 90˚.
Hold this position and either perform 12-15 calf raises (see above), or rise up onto the balls of your feet and hold for 30 seconds.
4. Tibialis stretch
Anterior Tibialis Stretch Kneeling – Ask Doctor Jo – YouTube
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Sets: 2 Reps: 8-10
Why: This is a gentle stretch for the muscles in the front of the shin.
How:
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Kneel with your feet together, sitting on your heels with your hands or forearms on the floor to help control the load through your ankles.
Push through your hands or forearms and carefully lift your knees to increase the stretch in the front of your shins.
Hold for a few seconds, then lower.
Rather than an exercise, try to practice this continuously—and certainly as you move from exercise to exercise in this workout. Concentrate on landing softly through your midfoot to retrain your gait and reduce impact through your heel, ankle, calves and shins.
Just because an exercise is considered a ‘classic’ or everyone on the gym floor is doing it, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best for muscle growth. While there are lots of exercises out there that are effective for hypertrophy, there are some that are arguably ever so slightly better, due to the fact that they’re easier to progressively overload, or are more convenient, time-wise.
If you’ve started to hit a plateau in your training or feel your gains have been somewhat minimal, then it may be time to switchup your programme. Exercise Researcher, Dr. Pak Androulakis-Korakakis, has shared five exercises in a recent YouTube video, that he’s stopped doing for muscle growth, and some smart swaps you can try instead to unlock better (and hopefully bigger) results…
Barbell back squat
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The barbell back squat is hailed as the king of lower body exercises – like, if you don’t do it, who are you? But is it best for honing in on your quads? Dr. Pak would disagree. “Barbell squatting, in my opinion, is not the most time-efficient way to blast your legs, and can feel ‘meh’ given that it overloads your spine.” It’s also not the safest exercise to go all out to failure on.
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Try swapping to: barbell front squat or leg press machine
For those who love barbell work, but don’t look forward to back squatting, Dr. Pak recommends trying the front squat. His reasonings: you’ll use less weight (so it’s less of a pain to set up), and using an anterior load can increase knee flexion so that you can sink deeper into the squat, meaning a bigger stretch on the quads. For those who want to sack off the barbell altogether, try the leg press. “Exact same movement pattern as the squat, without the actual loading. Minimal setup required, easy to fail safely,” he says.
Barbell bench press
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Another classic strength exercise and a staple in Arnie’s chest routine back in his heyday. However, the bench press isn’t always freely available and, although it absolutely encourages chest hypertrophy, some people do find it uncomfortable to perform. “For me, I often felt it in my shoulders, and it bothered me from session to session,” says Dr. Pak. “It can also be a bit annoying that you need a spotter if you want to push hard.”
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Try swapping to: machine chest press
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“It’s super easy to set up, allows me to train close to failure without the mental load of being trapped under a barbell, and you can adjust the incline, the grip – it’s very versatile.” Don’t have access to this machine? Dr. Pak also says the dumbbell chest press is a fantastic option, as it gives you more range of motion and you can target different areas of the chest, depending on the position of your weight bench. No dumbbells? Deficit push-ups and dips are his bodyweight alternatives.
Bent-over barbell rows
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When a wide thick back is the goal, everyone immediately thinks ‘bent-over barbell rows’. Yes – a great exercise, but Dr. Pak says it isn’t without its terms and conditions. “Bent-over barbell rows absolutely torch your lower back, especially if you’re pushing heavy weights and close to failure. While that’s not inherently bad, it becomes a bit of a problem, sometimes, and it can be annoying when you’re trying to bias certain parts of your back.”
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Try swapping to: bent-over dumbbell row
“I’m able to get more range of motion, have a bit more control, be able to be a bit more versatile with my grip, and in general, it’s a very versatile exercise that only requires you to grab the dumbbells, bend over and do them.” Dr. Pak also adds it’s a great exercise to superset with a chest exercise (think dumbbell press press above), ideal if you’re tight for time and need a workout you can get done sharpish. “A better bang for your buck option,” he says.
Leg extension machine
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We know what you’re thinking ‘What! But leg extensions are brilliant for hypertrophy – no setup required, easy to push to failure…’. All correct, and Dr. Pak says he still does these from time to time, by the way. However, there is a bodyweight exercise that he currently prefers…
Try swapping to: sissy squats
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“Not only are they effective at torching the rec fem (rectus femoris, the long muscle that runs down the front of your thigh), but they’re also easy to superset with leg curls, which makes them a killer combo for busy hypertrophy sessions,” says Dr. Pak. This is a tough bodyweight exercise in general, but if you are able to nail it for reps, Dr. Pak suggests increasing the difficulty by slowing down the tempo, increasing your range of motion (so going lower) and, we’ll throw our two pence in, you can also add a weight belt.
Dumbbell skullcrushers
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We all know that if you want bigger arms, the triceps will need a significant amount of attention (not just the biceps), because they make up the majority of our upper arm. But Dr. Pak says he’s stopped doing skullcrushers altogether. “Don’t get me wrong they train the longhead of the triceps, and they’re simple to set up, and also quite hardcore when you do them right. That said, after a while, they started to bother my elbows a little bit more on high rep sets.” If you experience something similar, here’s what you can try instead…
Try swapping to: skullovers
This is a hybrid between a skullcrusher and a dumbbell pullover. “You’re still blasting the triceps, but the movement feels a bit more natural and the stretch at the bottom is a bit smoother. They also feel a bit easier to control through the full range of motion, and I find that I can get closer to failure without things feeling off with my elbows,” he says. Obviously, if skullcrushers don’t bother your elbows, keep doing them, or give these a go if you want to try something different.
The mitochondria are considered the ‘powerhouses’ or ‘engines’ of your cells. As Dr. Terry Wahls points out, most chronic diseases involve dysfunctional mitochondria. Poorly functioning mitochondria play a big role in disease risks, a slower metabolism, and the aging process. Researchers have concluded that exercise improves mitochondrial quality and function and stimulates mitochondrial turnover. It’s time to start thinking about these little organelles that have a big impact on our wellness and longevity.
Exercise for your mitochondria
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Additional research also revealed that just 12 weeks of resistance exercise training yielded qualitative and quantitative changes in skeletal muscle mitochondrial respiration. Not only did resistance training increase lean body mass by 4% and quadriceps muscle strength by 15%, but staying committed to those 12 weeks of training also improved the respiratory capacity and functioning of the mitochondria.
So, which exercise is superior for improving mitochondrial functioning? Which exercise results in the most dramatic positive cellular changes? Let’s dive into the research.
The study
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In a study published in Cell Metabolism, the researchers explored how different types of exercise — resistance training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or a mix of both — change muscles and cells at the molecular level in younger and older adults. The researchers focused on how genes and proteins respond to exercise, how exercise impacts the mitochondria, and how these changes affect overall fitness and metabolism.
The study methods
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For 12 weeks, younger and older adults completed one of three exercise programs: traditional resistance training, HIIT, or a mix of both at a lower intensity. The researchers measured fitness and VO2 peak, insulin sensitivity, muscle mass and strength, mitochondrial health and function, and changes in gene activity and protein levels in muscle.
The results
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Here are the study results:
HIIT has the biggest impact in improving aerobic fitness, insulin sensitivity, and mitochondrial function, compared to other workouts. These results were especially noticeable for older adults.
HIIT reversed some age-related declines in muscle mitochondria and enhanced the cell’s ability to make new proteins.
HIIT enhanced mitochondrial capacity by close to 50% for young adults and nearly 70% in older adults.
Resistance training mostly helped build muscle mass and strength, but didn’t have as much of an impact on aerobic fitness or mitochondria. The combined training resulted in smaller and moderate benefits compared to just doing HIIT alone.
Changes at the molecular level
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HIIT caused significant increases in gene activity and protein-building machinery. Most of the benefits from exercise take place after the genes send their signals during the protein-building stage. HIIT improved protein quality and helped reduce damage to muscle proteins, which helps the body build new and efficient mitochondria.
Concluding thoughts
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This study shows that HIIT is one of the most powerful ways to improve muscle health and fitness even in later years. This type of exercise, which involves shorter bursts or intervals of higher-intensity movements, is superior for the mitochondria and helps your body make more and better mitochondria, which can slow age-related decline and boost your energy levels.
