How to enhance your exercise results by doing just one thing

If an expert could give you some easy advice to tweak your technique at everything from running to rowing, what would it be?

The downward-facing dog is one of the most widely practised postures in yoga, yet many people find it difficult because they aim for the full version of the position.

Fitness advice can be overwhelming. Try to absorb all of the tips given by instructors and personal trainers about warm-ups and cool-downs, technique and timing, and it’s easy to lose track of your workouts.

If there’s one thing you need to remember to become a faster rower, a better cyclist or an expert at Pilates, what would it be?

We asked leading experts for the single best piece of advice.

BREATHING: don’t be so shallow

Breathing efficiency is important for any form of exercise but is an oft-neglected aspect of fitness preparation, says James Davies, an osteopath and author of Body: Simple Techniques and Strategies to Heal, Reset and Restore. “Start by placing your hands on your tummy and then taking a deep but relaxed breath in through your nose, allowing your tummy to expand as your lungs fill with air.” Breathe out slowly, but with controlled exhalation. “Try to let out a ‘ha’ sound with each exhalation until you have fully expelled the air in your lungs, tensing your abdominal muscles at the end to make sure every last bit of air is out,” Davies says. “Repeat this several times, controlling your breath carefully.”

CYCLING: push for pedal power

Humans didn’t evolve to ride bikes but to walk, run and jump on two legs.

“On a bike the perfect pedal stroke is one that emphasises our innate bipedal – or two-legged walking – function,” says Phil Cavell, the author of The Midlife Cyclist. “It involves a powerful downstroke or leg extension, and a relaxed upstroke or leg flexion – in other words, the perfect pedal stroke is to push down and don’t pull up at all.”

This is often surprising to cyclists who use cleats and clipless-pedal systems that fix specialist cycling shoes on to the pedal.

“Their usefulness is not that they enable you to pull up with each stroke but because they help to control foot placement,” Cavell says. “Cleats also require you to wear proper cycling shoes, which are designed to transfer more power and lessen foot fatigue.” A clipless pedal also allows standing up while climbing hills, sprinting and better bike control.

PILATES: try the ‘dimmer switch’ approach

Precision control of your inner core muscles underpins Pilates technique, and Lynne Robinson, the founder of the Body Control Pilates course, says finding them and knowing how and when you need to engage them is essential.

“When an instructor tells you to engage your inner core, they are talking about lifting the pelvic floor muscles at the base of your inner core which can be tricky to locate,” Robinson says. “To find them, breathe in and then, as you breathe out, gently squeeze your back passage as if trying to prevent yourself from passing wind, then move this control towards your pelvic bone, gently drawing the muscles up inside.”

As you are doing this you should feel your abdomen hollow. “Maintain this core connection and breathe normally for five breaths, making sure your ribs are still free to move, keeping your buttock muscles relaxed and your chest, neck and jaw free from tension,” she says. “Once you’ve located these inner core muscles, you can use them to control your movements.”

Less is more: don’t squeeze or clench too hard. “We refer to it as a ‘dimmer switch approach’,” Robinson says. “Switch your inner core up too high too soon, or engage it all the time, and it will end up overactive. Inner-core engagement should be proportionate to the demands being made on it.”

POSTURE: stand and walk with thumbs forward

Next time you are standing still or walking, check which way your palms are facing. “If your palms are facing back when you walk, you will be tighter through the back and internally rotated in the humeral head – the top of the arm in the socket – which makes for rounder shoulders,” says Jo Tuffrey, a Pilates instructor and posture specialist. A simple posture-enhancing tweak is to rotate the hands so the thumbs are facing forward. Doing this opens up the chest so that we look and feel taller and more upright. “By changing the position of your hands very slightly, you externally rotate the arm socket and improve your posture,” Tuffrey says. “Think about doing this every day.”

ROWING: rely on your legs

Arm and shoulder strength are not as important in rowing as you may think. “In fact, 60 per cent of the power in the rowing stroke should come from your legs, with 30 per cent from your hips and back, and just 10 per cent from the arms,” says Paul Stannard, the British Olympic rowing head coach.

“For anyone who struggles with this I suggest trying a legs-only rowing exercise to get used to the feeling of pushing with the lower body and not pulling with the arms, as poor technique is a risk factor for injury in rowing.”

Sit on the rowing machine with your body leaning forwards and arms out straight in front of you. “Glide up the slide and push the legs down really hard while simultaneously bracing the back and core so that the arms feel loose like pieces of rope dangling from the shoulders,” Stannard says.

“Imagine a horizontal seated leg press with each drive phase, always thinking ‘legs first, body next, arms last’ as you push.” As you glide back in the recovery phase, the sequence is reversed so arms, body and legs are released in that order.

RUNNING: think about your rhythm

Your foot cadence is not the same as your running speed. “When we talk about cadence, we are referring to the rhythm of your feet, or your steps per minute,” says Sam Murphy, a running coach and the author of Run Your Best Marathon. “Efficient runners tend to have a relatively high cadence, meaning they pick up their feet quickly, which prevents overstriding and enables them to harness more ‘free’ energy – think bounce – from the elastic recoil of the tendons.”

Most recreational runners will benefit from increasing their cadence. Some fitness trackers will measure it for you, but a DIY method to find your existing step count is to time yourself running for a minute (on a flat, even surface ideally) while counting the number of times one foot lands. Multiply the figure by two to get your steps per minute. “If your cadence is in the low 160s or slower when you’re cruising at a reasonable pace for you, you may want to consider stepping it up,” Murphy says. “This is not just for efficiency reasons but because research has found that increasing cadence significantly reduces impact – or force of landing – and vertical loading rates, measures that are associated with running injuries.” An increase in steps per minute of 5 per cent is a sensible aim and downloading a metronome app can help to instil the right rhythm.

SWIMMING: concentrate on your body position

Body position is the foundation for an efficient front crawl swimming technique and should be perfected before you focus on breathing technique, says Richard Blackshaw, a swimming talent officer. “You are after neutral body alignment – so everything nicely in line from the head, through the spine and down to the toes,” he says. “Think about having your eyes facing the bottom of the pool when breathing out and a neutral head position, rather than swimming with a head held too high, which will keep the hips high in the water.”

You need some rotation of the hips and shoulders to engage muscle groups needed for propulsion through the water. “But rotation of your body should not exceed 45 degrees, so don’t twist and turn too much. And your toes should just break the water surface at the highest part of the kick, rather than make a big splash.”

WALKING: focus on swinging, not step count

Joanna Hall, a qualified sport scientist and the founder of the WalkActive program prescribed by GPs, says trying to increase daily steps can backfire if you have a poor technique. “A lot of people have muscle imbalances they don’t know about, particularly if they spend a lot of time sitting. This means that when they move, their movement pattern and muscle recruitment is suboptimal and that can affect breathing, posture and joint discomfort, and predispose people to injury.”

Rather than attempting to increase the quantity of steps or your pace, Hall says it’s the arms, not legs, that create good walking rhythm, so focus on swinging them faster in a smooth, natural motion.

“Try not to overstride or take huge strides as it places a lot of pressure on the knees and hips. And leaning too far forward can lead to lower-back pain.” Think about peeling and lifting your back foot off the ground with each stride as this will achieve good alignment from ankle to knee to hips. “What happens to that rear foot is more important than what happens to the foot in front of the body.”

WEIGHT TRAINING: think about your tempo

Tempo refers to the rate at which you perform an exercise and describes how much time you spend in each part of the movement. “Instead of moving through exercises as fast as you can, I encourage clients looking to improve their strength training to incorporate tempo training into their moves,” says Victoria Anderson, a clinical exercise specialist and founder of Longevity Health and Fitness. “By doing this you add more neuromuscular control and that can lead to increase in muscle mass, muscular strength and greater joint stability.”

Think about each phase of the move and aim for a 3:1:1 tempo – that is three seconds in the eccentric or lowering phase of the movement, one second in the bottom of the movement as a pause and one second to come up out of the movement in the concentric phase. “In a weighted squat this would involve lowering for three seconds, pausing for one second at the bottom and pushing up for one second,” she says. “By spending more time in the eccentric or lengthening phase of a movement you create a greater stimulus for muscle growth.”

YOGA: begin with easier versions of the downward dog

The downward-facing dog is an inversion posture that builds strength in the upper body and lengthens the hamstrings and calves. It is one of the most recognised and widely practised postures in yoga, yet many people find it difficult because they aim for the full version of the position, says Lexie Williamson, a yoga instructor and author of Move: Free your Body Through Stretching Movement. If you have tight hamstrings from lots of sitting or tight calf muscles from wearing heels or walking long distances, you might struggle.

“A stiff back and hips or tight leg muscles can cause the back to round, forcing your body weight forward and placing excess strain on the hands and shoulders,” she says. “To remedy that, bend your knees slightly in the downward dog position and lean back until your spine is straight, gradually aiming to straighten your legs over several weeks or months of practice, but keeping the back straight.”

Another option is the “walking dog”, performed by bending one leg and drawing the heel of the opposite foot to the floor. “Move from side to side doing this alternately,” she says. “It eases the pressure on the upper body and is also a great dynamic warm-up exercise before a workout.”

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