If you're lacking confidence about lifting weights and need some extra support to get stronger without injury, we're here to help. Join our gym today for expert guidance.
With a club membership or just a few expert strength-building classes at Strength Ambassadors, you can be getting extraordinary results from your training. Read our client success stories to see how our diverse sporting community of beginners and experienced lifters alike has helped numerous people to dramatically increase their confidence, achieve their fitness and strength goals, and boost their abilities in the gym.
Strength Ambassadors provide courses, workshops and personal training in all types of weight training for all abilities. With a variety of training sessions and methods available, check out the rest of our website or contact us to find a class that suits you and your self-improvement goals.
“I want to get stronger but I don’t know how! I’m new to the weight room and find it intimidating.”
You want to get stronger but you find the weights area in the gym intimidating and you are nervous about injuring yourself.
You are either new to strength training or you have tried to do some in the past but you don’t feel confident enough in your technique or your knowledge to train on your own.
You want to learn good technique and know exactly what to do in the gym to get the results you want. You want to feel confident in your lifting and know what to do to keep progressing.
“I love lifting weights but I really need help with the Olympic lifts. I haven’t had enough time and coaching to learn the technique properly.”
You want to learn or improve your olympic lifting: the snatch and the clean and jerk. You may be doing Crossfit, a sport or just interested in adding olympic lifting to your training.
You want a confidence-building experience where you learn the movements properly and at a pace that suits you.
You need dedicated time to master the technique under the eye of an experienced weightlifting coach.
"I want to learn how to squat, deadlift and bench press properly, but I don’t know where to start.”
You are new to lifting weights and you don’t know where to start. You’d love to learn how to squat, deadlift and bench press with correct technique.
But you find the typical weight room off-putting and you are not sure who to trust.
You want to be stronger without getting injured. You want to know that you are lifting with proper technique.
And most of all, you want to be confident you’ll actually get results!
There are more than 7.2 thousand health and fitness clubs in the United Kingdom, according to this research, with around half (3,600) of those clubs being purely fitness gyms. In further research, the fitness industry is estimated to be worth a huge £3.9 billion by 2022, making it one of the most valuable industries in the country.
But what do those numbers mean for the upcoming new year? We put the statistics in context to see how the gym industry might shape up in 2022.
In years gone by, weightlifting has been thought to be solely for bodybuilders and pro athletes. However, we now know that not to be true. Weightlifting can be for anyone! With health benefits for people of all ages and abilities, weightlifting could be the perfect addition to your routine. Keep reading this insightful guide to learn why it’s never too late to start weightlifting, and how to modify weightlifting to suit your fitness levels and goals.
If you’re an athlete who follows a specific training program and/or bodybuilding regimen that requires intensive training and proper nutrition, then it’s very important to know what happens when you do not eat enough protein.
Protein is the most intricately involved nutrient in regards to muscle development and muscle tissue repair. As such, we need to ensure we are consuming an adequate amount, especially if we are practicing a regular weightlifting workout.
But how much is enough protein for a weightlifter? What is the exact importance of protein in a weightlifter’s diet? What happens if you lift weights but don’t eat enough protein?
Keep reading to find out.
The power clean is a compound Olympic-style lift used in weightlifting. To execute it, the lifter moves a barbell from the ground to a racked position across the shoulders with speed and force so that at the end of movement, the bar rests on the front of the shoulders with the lifter standing up straight with feet parallel. The power clean is a variation of the clean and jerk, one of the lifts in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting. The power clean is often used by athletes from other sports, such as athletics, to develop power and speed.
The power clean comes with a wide range of benefits if someone is willing to put in the time, energy and practice required to execute it correctly, but what exactly are these benefits? Why are power cleans a favourite among weightlifters and athletes alike? Should you be utilising this intensive compound exercise in your regular workout? Find out in this handy guide, where we offer you our top 7 reasons why everyone should power clean in more detail!
Warming up before exercise is crucial because it prepares your body for what’s to come. Stretching before physical activity ensures that all of the muscles are stretched out and ready to move, making it a great way to warm up before exercise. Whether you’re preparing to tackle one of the big 5 lifts, ensuring you’re fit for athletic exercise, or about to start developing your clean and jerk – a great warm up and cool down is always essential.
There are two types of stretches: dynamic and static. Dynamic or moving stretches involve large movements, such as arm swings. Static stretches hold the muscles in positions for 20 to 30 seconds, such as bending down to touch your toes. It is important to understand both types of stretches and what they can be useful for so that you can really make the most out of your workout and improve results.
When building strength, barbell squats are one of the most effective exercises you can do. Squats are a compound, full body movement that can help you build strength and muscle when performed with proper form. The barbell squat is one of the most effective exercises to increase raw strength and power because of how it utilises the hips, glute muscles, core, lumbar spine, and quads.
But did you know that there are numerous different types of barbell squats? Though ‘front squat’ and ‘back squat’ are phrases we might regularly hear thrown around the gym, it’s key to understand the difference between the two so that you can utilise them to the best of your ability. At Strength Ambassadors, we’re experts in strength training and know squats like the backs of our hands. That’s why we put together this comprehensive guide to make your life easier and talk you through the key differences between the front squat and the back squat.
We all know that there are a variety of benefits to weight training — including improved fat loss, strength and athletic performance — but at the core of weight training, there are 5 key lifts that are known as the big 5. Also known as compound exercises, the big 5 work multiple muscle groups at the same time, making them some of the most effective exercises you can do when it comes to building strength. The big 5 lifts include:
When it comes to pull-ups, we’ve all had the same experience of wondering which grip is best. Hands facing the body? Hands facing away? One hand each way? Even the amount of different bars can be confusing! The problem is, if we’re unsure exactly what to do, we might be getting it wrong. This could cause ineffective workouts and even damage to the muscles, so it’s always best to trust the experts.
At Strength Ambassadors, we know the ins and outs of building strength and for pull-ups, we know it can sometimes be hard to navigate which grip is the right one. Though other grips come with different benefits in areas like functional strength, could the neutral grip be right as a starting point? We’ve put together this handy guide explaining the ins and outs of neutral grip pull-ups and why they can make a great addition to your workout.
Today we’re going to be talking about a topic which slightly divides the weightlifting world: Deloading.
Some lifters will groan inwardly at the very mention of the word “deload”. Why? Because they see it as a waste of time. Many fear that taking a week to lift lighter and do less will harm their progress, or stunt their hypertrophy programme (which you can read all about here).
In actual fact the deload week benefits show that it could be the opposite.
Let’s take a look at them, what a deload week is, and how often you should plan one.
Kettlebell swings are an incredibly versatile and impactful exercise. Using an explosion of power resonating from a harmonious connection between your glutes, hips and hamstrings, they’re capable of boosting muscular power, increasing endurance and even burning the same amount of calories in 20 minutes (400) as you would on a cross country ski.
Outside of their benefits, kettlebell swings also come in a number of variations which makes them a great option for beginners and experts alike.
But if you want to know which variation works what muscle before committing: here’s a guide to all the kettlebell swing muscles worked.
"It just feels brilliant, it feels really good!"
Holly - Olympic Lifting
"Ladies Who Lift has been a massive confidence booster for me"
Angela - Ladies Who Lift
"Everything in my life is easier for being stronger!"
Melanie - personal training
"I was snatching in my first session, which I really didn't think I would be able to do!"
Dominic - Olympic Lifting PT
"The process has been really fun, I've enjoyed pushing it a little bit more every week"
Pippa - Ladies Who Lift
"It's been great - extraordinarily instructive!"
Greg - Olympic Lifting
"Now I've learned how to be more powerful!"
Jess - Olympic Lifting
"We've got a really nice squad of lifters here...everyone's so supportive"
Jon - Olympic Lifting classes