Gym 101 offers paths toward excellence

Left to right, UK pro fighter Josh Kaldani, Alan Orr and Rob Binns at Gym 101 in Mount Maunganui.

Gym 101 owner Rob Binns believes standard training routines and excess bulking-up are causing many of the injuries suffered in contact sports like rugby and league.

"The problem is they work the muscles harder than they can see in the mirrors - the beach muscles - chest, abs, arms," Binns said.

"The back muscles get missed and as soon as you have an imbalance between the two opposing muscles you have a weakness and that is when your injuries are going to come in.

"There are a lot of rotator cuff injuries due to the strengthening of the shoulders. They are doing a lot of exercises with the arm extended which makes the shoulder weaker. Everything we are doing is working an area to keep the shoulder joint supported."

Binns says all the rugby gym training is linear through the bench press, lat pull down, lifts and squats but the game's impacts are not.

"On the rugby field you get tackled from all sides and getting twisted up and down. We use kettle bells and the suspension training system. Kettle bells are a very old Russian training tool that use the whole body at once rather than isolating.

"You can do all the Olympic lifts with them but you use your entire body to hold them up. We like to strengthen the guys not make them bigger. It's all about power to weight ratio. They use the core and are sports-specific."

Binns has joined forces with new Mount Maunganui resident Alan Orr to create a unique synergy.

Orr is an 8th Degree Black Belt in Wing Chun and Jui-Jitsu, making him one of the world's finest exponents. He has a top UK pro Josh Kaldani training at the Mount.

"There are a lot of gifted athletes and potential here," Orr said.

"We have already achieved a lot in the four months I have been here and there is massive potential to grow the sport further."

Orr also trains MMA fighter Faith van Duin from Papamoa, who last month won the women's feather weight Storm Damage Championship in Australia to become No1 in Australasia and move up to No5 in the world.

Info: www.gym101.co.nz