Max Benefit – Min Time Workout #2

Question #1 : Do you want to be healthier, fitter, leaner, sexier, etc?

Question #2 : Are you insanely busy?

If you answered yes to both questions, have I got good news for you.

Today’s post is the second in a series of mini-workouts designed to:

• improve fitness,
• improve health,
• burn fat,
• build functional strength,
• improve energy system function,
• improve muscular endurance,
• improve speed endurance
• AND save you time.

Each post in the series will consist of a single mini-workout.

All of these mini-workout posts will be catalogued together to allow you to mix & match to create your own custom plan. Here’s the first workout if you missed it.

Without any further ado, here is….

Exercises

• Bulgarian Split Squats – modifying the weight (bodyweight, vest, dumbbells, barbell, kettlebells, resistance bands) as your strength & endurance allows.

In the latter part of the workout, after you have ditched all of the external weight (barbell etc), you may find that you are unable to complete full range of motion lifts. If that is the case, you have a few options

1. Shift your weight backwards onto your heels. This will spare your quads & load up your hips…which are more endurance friendly
2. Shorten your range of motion. This will reduce your workload while still frying your quads

• Alternating Shoulder Presses – modify weight used to suit your strength/fitness level

• Band Overhead Pull Aparts – modify resistance band used to suit your strength/fitness level

Set/Rep Scheme

• Alternate exercises (Bulgarian Left Leg/Shoulder Press/Bulgarian Right Leg/Band Pull-Aparts/etc…)
• 1st Set – 20 reps, 2nd Set – 19 reps, 3rd Set – 18 reps….all the way down to 10 reps (Total of 11 sets)

Speed of Execution

Perform reps as fast as possible…with good form

Rest

Minimize reps between exercises – zero rest between sets is the goal

How to keep improving with this workout

The design of this mini-workout allows you to keep improving as you choose harder versions of the exercises and/or perform them faster and/or reduce the amount of rest between exercises

The Workout

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 20 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 20 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 20 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 20 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 19 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 19 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 19 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 19 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 18 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 18 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 18 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 18 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 17 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 17 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 17 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 17 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 16 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 16 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 16 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 16 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 15 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 15 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 15 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 15 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 14 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 14 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 14 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 14 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 13 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 13 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 13 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 13 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 12 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 12 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 12 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 12 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 11 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 11 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 11 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 11 reps

• Bulgarians – Left Leg – 10 reps
• Alternating Shoulder Pressess – 10 reps
• Bulgarians – Right Leg – 10 reps
• Overhead Pull-Aparts – 10 reps

That’s it for today. As I add new Max Benefit – Min Time workouts, I will include a link to a index page which will list all of workouts in one place.

Like this article???

If you like this article, don’t forget to subscribe to @healthhabits. When you subscribe, my friends at MailChimp will make sure to send you an email every time I post something new here at the blog.

As well, you also get access to the series of Supplement Reports that I am publishing this year.

Max Benefit – Min Time Workout #1

Question #1 : Want to be healthier, fitter, leaner, sexier, etc?

Question #2 : Are you insanely busy?

If you answered yes to both questions, have I got good news for you.

Starting today, I am going to start posting a series of mini-workouts designed to:

• improve fitness,
• improve health,
• burn fat,
• build functional strength,
• improve energy system function,
• improve muscular endurance,
• improve speed endurance
• AND save you time.

Each post will consist of a single mini-workout. All of these mini-workout posts will be catalogued together to allow you to mix & match to create your own custom plan.

Here we go with…

Exercises

• Push-ups – modifying the angle of your body to suit your strength/fitness level (feet elevated, flat on floor, hands on bench, hands on counter, leaning against wall, etc)

• Bodyweight Squats – modifying depth of squat to suit your strength/fitness level (ass to the grass, parallel to floor, 1/2 squat, 1/4 squat, etc)

Set/Rep Scheme

• Alternate exercises (push-ups/squats/push-ups/etc…)
• 1st Set – 20 reps, 2nd Set – 19 reps, 3rd Set – 18 reps….all the way down to 10 reps (Total of 11 sets)

Speed of Execution

Perform reps as fast as possible…with good form

Rest

Minimize reps between exercises – zero rest between sets is the goal

How to keep improving with this workout

The design of this mini-workout allows you to keep improving as you choose harder versions of the exercises and/or perform them faster and/or reduce the amount of rest between exercises

The Workout

• Push-ups – 20 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 20 reps
• Push-ups – 19 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 19 reps
• Push-ups – 18 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 18 reps
• Push-ups – 17 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 17 reps
• Push-ups – 16 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 16 reps
• Push-ups – 15 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 15 reps
• Push-ups – 14 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 14 reps
• Push-ups – 13 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 13 reps
• Push-ups – 12 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 12 reps
• Push-ups – 11 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 11 reps
• Push-ups – 10 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 10 reps

 

That’s it for today. As I add new Max Benefit – Min Time workouts, I will include a link to a index page which will list all of workouts in one place.

 

Like this article???

If you like this article, don’t forget to subscribe to @healthhabits. When you subscribe, my friends at MailChimp will make sure to send you an email every time I post something new here at the blog.

As well, you also get access to the series of Supplement Reports that I am publishing this year.

 

Introducing the 20:20 Workout…The Simplest Get Fit, Get Lean, Get Healthy, Get Strong, Get Awesome Workout of All Time

Here’s the general theory:

• 20 seconds of high intensity exercise
• 20 seconds of rest
• Repeat as many times as possible…while maintaining great form & high intensity.

Here’s why this workout is awesome:

• It’s dead simple. Even the newest of workout newbies can understand “work really hard for 20 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds”.
• It improves your energy system fitness…which improves your endurance, strength, power, etc.
• It makes most trainees stronger very quickly -(experienced trainees who already lift primarily for serious strength won’t see much in the way of strength improvement)
• It improves the muscular endurance of those people who already lift for serious strength…which will improve their strength training programs
• It’s great for weight loss
• It saves time. Most trainees will be gassed after 20 minutes…and it takes a real freak to keep the intensity up over 40 min.
• As you become more efficient at this program, your power & speed-endurance will improve significantly
• It can be performed at home, indoors, outdoors, on the playing field & in the gym.
• It’s fully expandable….from very simple beginner workouts to more complex workouts for advanced trainees or people with physical restrictions
• It’s 100% free

Workout Examples

Legs + Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull

• Stair Step Ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Chest Press (band, machine, db, bb) or Push-Ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlifts
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Rows or Bodyweight Rows for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Legs + Vertical Push + Vertical Pull

• Bodyweight Squats or Bulgairan Squats for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Pulldowns, Band Overhead Pull-Aparts or Chin-ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Single Leg Straight Hip Flexions – Front, Side & Rear
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Overhead Press – Band, Bodyweight, DB, BB
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Legs + Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull + Core

• Stair Step Ups or Box Jumps or Burpees for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Chest Press or Push-Ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Single Leg Stiff Leg Deadlifts
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Rows or Bodyweight Rows for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Ab Roll-Outs, Front Plank or Dead Bugs for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Legs + Vertical Push + Vertical Pull + Rotation

• Bodyweight Squats or Bulgairan Squats for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Pulldowns, Band Overhead Pull-Aparts or Chin-ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Single Leg Straight Leg Flexions – Front, Side & Rear
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Overhead Press – Band, Bodyweight, DB, BB
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Woodchops, Stir the Pots or Palloff Press for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Legs + Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull + Core + Carry

• Waiter Walk or some other “Carry” variation for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Stair Step Ups or Box Jumps or Burpees for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Chest Press or Push-Ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Single Leg Stiff Leg Deadlifts
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Rows or Bodyweight Rows for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Ab Roll-Outs, Front Plank or Dead Bugs for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Legs + Vertical Push + Vertical Pull + Rotation + Sprint

• Bodyweight Squats or Bulgairan Squats for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Pulldowns, Band Overhead Pull-Aparts or Chin-ups for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Standing Single Leg Straight Leg Flexions – Front, Side & Rear
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Overhead Press – Band, Bodyweight, DB, BB
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Woodchops or Palloff Press for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds
• Sprint for 20 seconds
• Rest for 20 seconds

Repeat for a set time or until your form starts to break down and/or your intensity drops by (self-measured) 20%

Design Your Own 20:20 Workout

As I said above, the 20:20 Workout is fully expandable and is easily modified to fit your specific needs.

Step #1 : Choose the body movements that you want to work on

• Push Vertical
• Push Horizontal
• Pull Vertical
• Pull Horizontal
• Squat
• Hip Hinge
• Walk
• Run
• Sprint

Step #2 : Choose an exercise or exercises for each of the body movements you have selected

Step #3 : Organize the exercises so that you maximize your rest periods. Instead of putting 2 leg exercises back to back, stick an upper body exercise in between – ex. Squat – Horizontal Push – Hip Hinge – Horizontal Pull

Step #4 : Set a timer for a 20 sec work : 20 sec rest interval program. If you don’t have a timer, check out Gymboss. They’re easy to use, inexpensive and will prevent you dropping & cracking your smartphone screen

Step #5 : Fill a bottle of water & get ready to sweat

Questions? Hit me up on social media – Twitter, Facebook.

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Coming Soon : HIIT for Health

Early in the new year, I will be publishing an ebook on HIIT and why it is  such an amazing tool for improving your health.

I have been providing some version of this report to those of my personal training clients with significant health issues over the years. Since then, their doctors have slowly begun to see the benefits of HIIT as a tool to prevent & recover from serious health conditions.

In addition to to the scientific arguments for HIIT, the book will include a LOT of printable HIIT workouts and instructions on how to easily craft your own personal HIIT workout program.

This publication will be available 100% FREE for @healthhabits subscribers.

 

If you already subscribe to @healthhabits, keep an eye on your inbox in the first week of January

If you don’t subscribe to @healthhabits, what are you waiting for?

 

“I Don’t Have Time to Workout” Workout

Around the world, the #1 excuse for not exercising is…”I don’t have enough time”.

As a public service to those uber-busy people, I have put together a template for a 15 minute workout that is simple, effective and works for beginners & elite athletes alike.

• 15 minutes
• Great workout
• Guaranteed results
• No more excuses

Step #1

Buy a set of very affordable workout bands like these. ($30 from Amazon). You can probably find a set for next to nothing at the Salvation Army, Goodwill, Value Village, etc.

Step #2

Find a place to exercise.

Bands can be attached to a door:

or any immovable object:

Note: The spring link used in the video costs about $2-3 at Home Depot.

Step #3

Get an interval timer – Smartphone (iphone, android) app, Gymboss timer, etc.

Step #4

Choose 1 exercise / exercise combo from each group:

Group #1 

• Step-Ups
• Jumping Jacks
• Scissor Shuffles
• Running in Place / Jogging on the Spot
• Shuttle Runs
• Skipping Rope
• Mountain Climbers
• Burpees
• Exercise Bike sprints

Group #2

• Standing Band Chest Press
• Standing Band Row
• Standing Band Overhead Press
• Standing Band Pulldown
• Standing Band Woodchop
• Standing Band Pallof Press
• Standing Band Thrusters

Group #3

• Bodyweight Squats
• Bodyweight Hip Thrusts
• Bodyweight 1-Leg Deadlifts
• Standing Band Hip Thrusts
• Bodyweight Jump Squats
• Standing Band Deadlifts
• Standing Band Lunges

Step #5

1.  Set your timer for a 4-minute Tabata style interval

• 20 seconds of exercise
• 10 seconds of rest
• Repeat 8 times
• Total time: 4 minutes (160 seconds of exercise + 80 seconds of rest)

2.  Perform the chosen Group #1 exercise using the 4-min Tabata style interval. Using good form, perform as many reps as possible.

3.  Rest 90 seconds

4.  Perform the chosen Group #2 exercise using the 4-min Tabata style interval. Using good form, perform as many reps as possible.

5.  Rest 90 seconds

6.  Perform the chosen Group #3 exercise using the 4-min Tabata style interval. Using good form, perform as many reps as possible.

7.  Done 🙂

Step #6 – Optional

If you decide that you have more than 15 minutes and want to increase your volume of exercise, add additional exercises from any of the three groups.

Step #7 – Optional

Before you grab a shower, you could choose to add some mobility/flexibility exercises into the mix. Here are some resources:

• Microstretching
• Resistance Stretching
• 5 Ways to Wreck Your Workout
• Intro to Jill Miller & Kelly Starrett
• Mommy Strength
• Your Posture is Making You Look Short & Fat

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Subscribe to @healthhabits and my friends at Mail Chimp will make sure that every time I scribble an article for @healthhabits, it will end up in your email inbox.

In addition to the articles, I will be writing a series of Special Reports this year exclusively for @healthhabits subscribers.

Subscribe now and make sure you don’t miss out.

Health Habits Exercise Videos – Fat Burning HIRT Circuit #1

Here is the 4 minute “kick yo’ ass”, super fat-burning workout exercise video I promised you on Tuesday.

Note: I almost didn’t post it today as it is not 100% finished. The workout is good to go, but I need a bit more time for my video guru Lauren to input all of the instructional text.

So, what I am going to do is get this sucker online right now, and when we have added all the text, come back and replace all this text so future viewers never know that I put a beta version online.

About the Workout:

This is a High Intensity Resistance Training Circuit consisting of…

• 4 Minutes total work
• 8 x 30 second sets
• 3 exercises

The 3 Workout Exercises are…

1. Squats
2. Push Ups 
   
3. Jumping Jacks

Note – Choose the version of Squats or Push Ups equal to your fitness level. You want to push yourself as hard as possible, while being realistic about your current fitness level

Exercise Options

SQUATS

• Bodyweight Squats
• Goblet Squats
• Overhead Squats

PUSH UPS

• Push Ups from your Knees
• Standard Push Ups
• Single Leg Push Ups
• Push Ups with feet on Stability Ball

Exercise Tips

• Push yourself as hard as your fitness level will allow
• Keep rest to a minimum
• Maintain correct form – see “how-to” videos
• Work hard, fast & safe

This is a great fat-burning, fitness boosting workout. However, since I can’t watch over you like one of my “real-life” personal training clients, I need to drop a little common sense…

Please note that this video is designed for educational purposes only. Not all exercises and/or training programs are appropriate for everyone. Before starting any new workout routine, please take into account your personal health & fitness condition. Injuries can happen. Please consult your trainer or healthcare professional before jumping into this or any other exercise program.

Now that that’s over, it’s time to get sweaty….

THE WORKOUT

 As this is the first workout / exercise video I have put online, I would really appreciate your feedback. Be merciless….I want these exercise videos to be as good as they possibly can…without spending a ton of money of course 🙂

Planned Changes/Upgrades

• We are going to change the timer/buzzer. What I want is a 30 second timer for each set & either a 4 minute timer or progress bar so that people know how much time is left in the workout.
• Text warning 5 sec before the next exercise starts – “Push Ups are next” – or something like that
• A longer chunk of text at the end of the workout with more details about the circuit
• Text before the workout starts with some of the info I posted above

About my experience with these first few exercise videos

It has been incredibly cool. I have been lucky enough to find an amazing partner in my videographer Lauren Webb…(her Vimeo page – her Tumblr). She took my rambling descriptions of what I wanted to do with these videos and is making them look even better than I had hoped they could be.

And we are just getting warmed up. Lauren’s background is actual film making…not exercise videos. As such, this first round of videos has involved a LOT of getting to know each other, our goals for the project, our expectations and what can actually be done on a shoestring budget.

Not only will we be faster with the next round of videos, they will look better and will have more features. Stay tuned.

I would also like to thank our fantastic fitness model Nicole for her patience and positive attitude…as well as her ability to bang out push up after push up after push up.

Finally, I would like to thank the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto for providing the location for the video shoot. With that said, if you’re looking for a new gym in Toronto, I can highly recommend the JCC and suggest that you call and ask for my buddy Manny at the JCC –Call and ask for him at (416) 924-6211 x 500  or  shoot him a direct email .

Health Habits “How-To” Exercise Videos – Squats

As I promised yesterday, today’s post is the second installment of “how-to” exercise videos. Yesterday’s push-ups and today’s squats are going to be combined with a third “mystery” exercise to create a thoroughly unpleasant (and very, very effective) High Intensity Resistance Training circuit workout video that I will post on Wednesday. And as the exercise video library grows, I will create full-length (20 minute) High Intensity Resistance Training exercise videos. These videos will be posted on Thursdays…and will include instructions on how to add mobility, flexibility, HIIT and/or cardio training to the resistance training workout video to look after all your exercise needs. Alright, enough yakity yak…let’s get to the exercise videos

HealthHabits “How-To” Exercise Videos #2 – Squats

Bodyweight Squats

Goblet Squats

Overhead Squats

Tomorrow, I combine these exercises + one more “mystery” exercise into an awesome High Intensity Resistance Training circuit workout. Get ready to sweat.

NOTE – As this is my first attempt at doing workout – exercise videos, I would really, really appreciate your feedback on the quality / usability of these videos. My goal is to make them useful for people who workout at home (video on their tv sets or laptop) & at the gym (video on smartphone or tablet). 

Health Habits “How-To” Exercise Videos – Push Ups

I am launching a new project here at Health Habits.

Starting this week, I will be posting…

• a group of “how-to” exercise videos on Mondays,
• another group of “how-to” exercise videos on Tuesdays, and
• a short (4 min) High Intensity Resistance Training circuit workout video on Wednesdays

Wednesday’s 4-min circuit workout video will be made up of the exercises posted on Monday & Tuesday.

As the video library grows, I will create full-length (20 minute) High Intensity Resistance Training workout videos. These videos will be posted on Thursdays…and will include instructions on how to add mobility, flexibility, HIIT and/or cardio training to the resistance training workout video to look after all your exercise needs.

So…here we go….

HealthHabits “How-To” Exercise Videos #1 – Push Ups

Push Ups from your Knees

Push Ups – Standard

Push Ups – Single leg version

Push Ups – Feet on stability ball

NOTE – As this is my first attempt at doing exercise – workout videos, I would really, really appreciate your feedback on the quality / usability of these videos. My goal is to make them useful for people who workout at home (video on their tv sets or laptop) & at the gym (video on smartphone or tablet).

And before anyone compliments me on my awesome videographer skills with multiple camera angles and video editing and original music and all the other stuff that makes these videos look waaaaayyyy better than all the other exercise – workout videos on Youtube…..it wasn’t me. I managed to convince an amazing young videographer – Lauren Webb…(her Vimeo page – her Tumblr)  – to do all the hard work for me.

I would also like to thank our fantastic fitness model Nicole for her endurance. Even though Nicole is a super-fit personal trainer at the JCC, you wouldn’t believe how many reps she had to perform as we changed angles and played with lighting, etc. Two hours of push-ups, squats and jumping jacks…without getting sweaty and un-model-ly.

Finally, I would like to thank Manny Amaral from the Miles Nadal JCC in Toronto for providing the location for the video shoot. Everyone at the JCC is great and Manny is no exception. With that said, if you’re looking for a new gym in Toronto, I can highly recommend that you ask for my buddy Manny at the JCC – Call and ask for him at (416) 924-6211 x 500  or  shoot him a direct email .

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 11 – Day 3

It’s the last workout for week #11  and today’s workout is once again…all about HIIT and core stability.

Next Monday is all new stuff.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 60 seconds of static core-stability exercises.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Set #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for two full minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Set #2

1. Prone Plank for 60 seconds total

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your back droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

Set #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for two full minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Set #4

1. Side Plank for 60 seconds total – 30 seconds each side

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just like the prone plank…remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your hips/core droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

NEXT WEEK’S WORKOUTS

Monday, we start a brand new form of workouts.

[box type=”important”]And part of that workout is going to involve strength bands.

So, for the last time…I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of  moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 11 – Day 2

Get ready for a butt-kicking (yours) combination of HIIT and timed HIRT supersets.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-upI use with my real-world clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 5 minute HIRT resistance supersets.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Superset #2 

1. Bulgarian Split Squats
2. Toes to the Ceiling 

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Bulgarians, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

Superset #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Superset #4

1. Bodyweight Shoulder Press
2. Single Leg Hip Thrust – feet elevated

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Hip Thrusts, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Bodyweight Shoulder Press video
• SL Hip Thrust video

Superset #5

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Superset #6 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]Remember…We’re going to start using bands soon…so make sure you have some…and not the crappy (and dangerous) tube-style of resistance bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.[/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 11 – Day 1

It’s week #11 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series, and you have just finished a very demanding portion of the program. This week, we are going to shift back to a primarily HIIT style of training program, designed to increase fitness and minimize fitness…while giving your muscles a bit of a respite from the pounding they took for the past 6 weeks.

Have fun.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 60 seconds of static core-stability exercises.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Set #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Set #2

1. Prone Plank for 60 seconds total

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your back droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

Set #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Set #4

1. Side Plank for 60 seconds total – 30 seconds each side

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just like the prone plank…remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your hips/core droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]In 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training.

I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Note – I will put together a quick article tomorrow outlining which bands you might want to buy.[/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 10 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!! Congrats for making it through the end.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

  [box type=”important”]Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 10 – Day 2

It’s the last time you are EVER going to do this workout…so give it your best effort.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want you to give me 150% of the hold time you did last week – If you did 10 seconds, I need you to give me 15 sec today.

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Reference

• Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 10 – Day 1

This is the last week for this program. Next week is all-new stuff.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Push-Ups
2. McGill Crunches

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with push-ups in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• If you can’t do floor push-ups, please modify with an easier version – push-ups off of a bench/chair for example.
• Same protocol for the McGill Crunches
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between push-ups and crunches
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• Push-Up video
• McGill Crunch video

Calisthenics #1

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #2

1. 1 Leg Hip Thrust – with bent knee
2. Side Plank

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Hip Thrusts
• Perform 75 % of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For Side Planks, I want 30 seconds per set per side
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Hip Thrust one leg / Plank one side / Hip Thrust other leg / Plank other side
• Perform this sequence 2 times
• This means you will do 2 sets per leg and 2 sets of planks to each side

Calisthenics #2

1. Jumping Jacks – 40 reps

Superset #3

1. Lateral Squat
2. Body-Weight Shoulder Press

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 75 % of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Lateral Squat to the left/ Lateral Squat to the right / Shoulder Press
• Perform this sequence 2 times
• This means you will do 2 sets of presses and 2 sets to each side for lateral squats

• Lateral Squat video
• BW Shoulder Press video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]In a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 9 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!!

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 3-6 supersets
• You’re aiming for 6 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

  [box type=”important”]Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 9 – Day 2

Same exercises as last week…with the new rep/set scheme that we started on Monday.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 3-6 supersets
• You’re aiming for 6 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want you to give me 150% of the hold time you did last week – If you did 10 seconds, I need you to give me 15 sec today.

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Reference

• Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 9 – Day 1

This week’s workouts are identical to last week, except for one major difference….we’re decreasing the number of sets while increasing the number of reps per set. This is the second time through on this workout and I expect you to do better than last time.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Push-Ups
2. McGill Crunches

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with push-ups in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• If you can’t do floor push-ups, please modify with an easier version – push-ups off of a bench/chair for example.
• Same protocol for the McGill Crunches
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between push-ups and crunches
• Perform 3-6 supersets
• You’re aiming for 6 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• Push-Up video
• McGill Crunch video

Calisthenics #1

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #2

1. 1 Leg Hip Thrust – with bent knee
2. Side Plank

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Hip Thrusts
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For Side Planks, I want 30 seconds per set per side
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Hip Thrust one leg / Plank one side / Hip Thrust other leg / Plank other side
• Perform this sequence 3 times
• This means you will do 3 sets per leg and 3 sets of planks to each side

Calisthenics #2

1. Jumping Jacks – 40 reps

Superset #3

1. Lateral Squat
2. Body-Weight Shoulder Press

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Lateral Squat to the left/ Lateral Squat to the right / Shoulder Press
• Perform this sequence 3 times
• This means you will do 3 sets of presses and 3 sets to each side for lateral squats

• Lateral Squat video
• BW Shoulder Press video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]In a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 8 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!!

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

Remember…in 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 8 – Day 2

Get ready to sweat people…this workout is going to send your EPOC* through the roof.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• We’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want a maximum of 30 seconds

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]Remember…in 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 8 – Day 1

It’s week #8 and we’re getting a second shot at the workout we did in Week #5.

If the program is working like I designed it, you should improve  your performance in all of the supersets.

Alright….let’s get to work.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• We’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Push-Ups
2. McGill Crunches

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with push-ups in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• If you can’t do floor push-ups, please modify with an easier version – push-ups off of a bench/chair for example.
• Same protocol for the McGill Crunches
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between push-ups and crunches
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• Push-Up video
• McGill Crunch video

Calisthenics #1

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #2

1. 1 Leg Hip Thrust – with bent knee
2. Side Plank

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Hip Thrusts
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For Side Planks, I want 30 seconds per set per side
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Hip Thrust one leg / Plank one side / Hip Thrust other leg / Plank other side
• Perform this sequence 4 times
• This means you will do 4 sets per leg and 4 sets of planks to each side

Calisthenics #2

1. Jumping Jacks – 40 reps

Superset #3

1. Lateral Squat
2. Body-Weight Shoulder Press

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Lateral Squat to the left/ Lateral Squat to the right / Shoulder Press
• Perform this sequence 4 times
• This means you will do 4 sets of presses and 4 sets to each side for lateral squats

• Lateral Squat video
• BW Shoulder Press video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

In 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 7 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!!

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

  [box type=”important”]Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 7 – Day 2

Same exercises as last week…with the new rep/set scheme that we started on Monday.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want you to give me 150% of the hold time you did last week – If you did 10 seconds, I need you to give me 15 sec today.

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 2 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Reference

• Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 7 – Day 1

This week’s workouts are identical to last week, except for one major difference

• We’re decreasing the number of sets while increasing the reps per set….again.

And remember…. If you find that the program is too complicated for you, please please please leave a comment and I will modify it. Seriously…leave a comment. You will be doing me and the rest of the readers a big favor.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Push-Ups
2. McGill Crunches

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 75% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with push-ups in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• If you can’t do floor push-ups, please modify with an easier version – push-ups off of a bench/chair for example.
• Same protocol for the McGill Crunches
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between push-ups and crunches
• Perform 2-4 supersets
• You’re aiming for 4 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• Push-Up video
• McGill Crunch video

Calisthenics #1

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #2

1. 1 Leg Hip Thrust – with bent knee
2. Side Plank

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Hip Thrusts
• Perform 75 % of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For Side Planks, I want 30 seconds per set per side
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Hip Thrust one leg / Plank one side / Hip Thrust other leg / Plank other side
• Perform this sequence 2 times
• This means you will do 2 sets per leg and 2 sets of planks to each side

Calisthenics #2

1. Jumping Jacks – 40 reps

Superset #3

1. Lateral Squat
2. Body-Weight Shoulder Press

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 75 % of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 9 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Lateral Squat to the left/ Lateral Squat to the right / Shoulder Press
• Perform this sequence 2 times
• This means you will do 2 sets of presses and 2 sets to each side for lateral squats

• Lateral Squat video
• BW Shoulder Press video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

In a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 6 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!!

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 3-6 supersets
• You’re aiming for 6 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 6 – Day 2

Same exercises as last week…with the new rep/set scheme that we started on Monday.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 3-6 supersets
• You’re aiming for 6 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want you to give me 150% of the hold time you did last week – If you did 10 seconds, I need you to give me 15 sec today.

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 50% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 6 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 3 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

Remember…in a few weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Reference

• Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 5 – Day 3

Last workout of the week!!!!

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Shrug Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Inch Worms

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Rows and Inch Worms
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between Rows & Worms
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

What the Heck is a Shrug Row?

It’s the same movement as the regular row, except…you don’t bend your elbows. The entire movement happens in your upper back. It will feel really odd at first, but it is a GREAT back builder.

• Cable Shrug Row video – I couldn’t find a BW Shrug Row
• Inch Worm video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

Imagine her doing this single leg

1. Single Leg Hip Thrust – with a straight leg (don’t bend the knee)
2. Toes to the Ceiling

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Hip Thrust Left/Hip Thrust Right/Toes to the  Ceiling
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Straight Leg Hip Thrust video – in the video, the guy is doing double legs…you do single
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Reverse Lunge
2. Body Weight SkullCrushers

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercises
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Reverse Lunge left leg/Reverse Lunge right leg/BW SkullCrushers
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Reverse Lunge video
• BW Skullcrusher video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning. Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

Remember…in 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me. Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 5 – Day 2

Get ready to sweat people…this workout is going to send your EPOC* through the roof.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Body Weight Rows – Overhand/Palms away from you
2. Prone Plank or Stir the Pots

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the rows
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with BW rows in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For the Planks/Stir the Pots – do 30 seconds per set
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between rows & core
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• BW Row video
• Plank video
• Stir the Pot video

Calisthenics #1

1. Jumping Jacks – 20-40 reps

• I want these performed quickly…if that means 20 reps instead of 40 reps….so be it.

Superset #2

1. Bulgarian Split Squat
2. Ab Vacuum

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Bulgarians
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout.

Ab Vacuums are performed as follows…

1. Exhale all the air out of your lungs.
2. Suck in your gut like Mr. Zane in the pic below
3. Hold it for time.
4. For this workout, I want a maximum of 30 seconds

• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between exercises – Bulgarian Left/Bulgarian Right/Ab Vacuum
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Ab Vacuum video

Calisthenics #2

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #3

1. Single Leg Straight Leg Deadlift
2. Body Weight Rows – Underhand/Palms toward you

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate SLDL left leg/SLDL right leg/BW Rows
• Perform this sequence 4 times

• SLDL video
• BW Row – palms facing video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training.

Remember…in 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Reference

• Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 5 – Day 1

It’s week #5 and we’re about to launch a 6 week program that…

1. Is loaded with advanced training methodologies,
2. BUT is designed to be simple enough for a beginner to understand and execute.

That’s the plan…. If you find that the program is too complicated for you, please please please leave a comment and I will modify it. Seriously…leave a comment. You will be doing me and the rest of the readers a big favor.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-up as always. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We’re  not going to be timing your supersets this time. However, I do want you to time the “WORKOUT” part of the workout – 30 minutes – not including warm-up and cool down. Start your timer when you are starting the work sets. When the timer goes off, move on to the COOL DOWN.
• We are going to alternate between resistance training supersets and calisthenic style exercises (ex jumping jacks).
• Like the first 4 weeks, we’re going to keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle if you need to catch your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. Push-Ups
2. McGill Crunches

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for each exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do with push-ups in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• If you can’t do floor push-ups, please modify with an easier version – push-ups off of a bench/chair for example.
• Same protocol for the McGill Crunches
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate between push-ups and crunches
• Perform 4-8 supersets
• You’re aiming for 8 supersets, but I wan’t you to stop if you form starts to get sloppy

• Push-Up video
• McGill Crunch video

Calisthenics #1

1. Dynamic Scissor Lunges – 40 reps

• Feel free to sacrifice a little depth to keep up the speed and get your 40 reps.
• Think of this more like jumping jacks than strength-training lunges

• Scissor Lunge video

Superset #2

1. 1 Leg Hip Thrust – with bent knee
2. Side Plank

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for the Hip Thrusts
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• For Side Planks, I want 30 seconds per set per side
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Hip Thrust one leg / Plank one side / Hip Thrust other leg / Plank other side
• Perform this sequence 4 times
• This means you will do 4 sets per leg and 4 sets of planks to each side

Calisthenics #2

1. Jumping Jacks – 40 reps

Superset #3

1. Lateral Squat
2. Body-Weight Shoulder Press

• Guess-timate the maximum number of reps you could do for both exercise
• Perform 25% of those reps per set
• For example, If the best you can do in a single set is 12 reps, I want you to do 3 reps per set for this workout. It won’t seem like much, but it’s part of my master plan for you.
• Minimize rest between sets
• Alternate Lateral Squat to the left/ Lateral Squat to the right / Shoulder Press
• Perform this sequence 4 times
• This means you will do 4 sets of presses and 4 sets to each side for lateral squats

• Lateral Squat video
• BW Shoulder Press video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. For some of you, the 30 min timer may have gone off before you finished the entire workout. For others, you may finish so quickly that you have to start over again at the beginning.

Either way, when the 30 minutes buzzer goes off, it’s time to stop and move on to the Cool-Down portion of the workout.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles.

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional) Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio. Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps.

• First, subtract your age from 180.
• Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:

1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:

• If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
• If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
• If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
• If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5. For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following: 180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

[box type=”important”]In 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training. I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years. If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness.

Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way. [/box]

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 4 – Day 3

It’s the last workout for week #4 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series and today’s workout is once again…all about HIIT and core stability.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 60 seconds of static core-stability exercises.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Set #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for two full minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Set #2

1. Prone Plank for 60 seconds total

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your back droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

Set #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for two full minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Set #4

1. Side Plank for 60 seconds total – 30 seconds each side

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just like the prone plank…remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your hips/core droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

NEXT WEEK’S WORKOUTS

Monday, we start a brand new form of workouts.

Remember….in 1 or 2 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training.

I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Note – I will put together a quick article tomorrow outlining which bands you might want to buy.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 4 – Day 2

It’s week #4 / Day #2 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series and today’s workout is a combination of HIIT and timed HIRT supersets…like we did the first 3 weeks.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same warm-upI use with my real-world clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 5 minute HIRT resistance supersets.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Superset #2 

1. Bulgarian Split Squats
2. Toes to the Ceiling 

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Bulgarians, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

Superset #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Superset #4

1. Bodyweight Shoulder Press
2. Single Leg Hip Thrust – feet elevated

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Hip Thrusts, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Bodyweight Shoulder Press video
• SL Hip Thrust video

Superset #5

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for 1 to 2 minutes

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Superset #6 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

Remember…In 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training.

I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 4 – Day 1

It’s week #4 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series and today’s workout is all about HIIT and core stability.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to alternate between 60 seconds sets of HIIT sprints and 60 seconds of static core-stability exercises.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Set #1

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

This one is dead simple….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video
• Elliptical Sprint video

Set #2

1. Prone Plank for 60 seconds total

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your back droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

Set #3

1. HIIT Sprints – stair step-ups or bike or hill sprints or elliptical or…

Same as Set #1….

• Walk over to a flight of stairs.
• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Bike Sprint video
• Hill Sprint video

Set #4

1. Side Plank for 60 seconds total – 30 seconds each side

If you can do 60 seconds straight, do that. If you need to do 6 sets of 10 seconds, do that.

Just like the prone plank…remember to keep your core tight and don’t let your hips/core droop. Remember, you’re a plank…flat…like a plank.

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more fitness skillzzz, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on your muscles

• Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, feel free to do 20-40 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

In 2 or 3 weeks, I want to start adding in some band training.

I highly recommend you do not the cheap tube-style exercise bands. Buy the flat/square style bands. They don’t break and will last you forever. I have had my first set for over 10 years.

If you don’t have any, you can pick some up for a good price at Rogue Fitness. Plus, if you end up buying some by following THIS LINK, Rogue Fitness will kick back 5% of the purchase price to me.

Thanks in advance for everyone who helps throw a little bit of moolah my way.

Note – I will put together a quick article tomorrow outlining which bands you might want to buy.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 3 – Day 3

It’s the last workout for week #3 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series.

[box type=”note”]Just a reminder about how to time these sets. Here’s what I do. Set your timer for 30 x 10 second intervals. This will give you a final beep at the end of the superset (300 seconds = 5 minutes). Re individual sets, all you need to do is count 3 beeps (3 x 10 sec = 30 sec)[/box]

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• We are also going to use some 1 minute HIIT supersets today as well
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Inch Worm

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer (for 30 x 10-second intervals) or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Inch Worm video

Superset #2 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #3

1. Push-Ups
2. Arms-Overhead Reverse Lunge

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Push-Ups, adopt a “normal” arm position
• I am showing a modified version of push-ups in the picture above. If you’re not strong enough for “normal” push-ups, I prefer not to do “girl” push-ups from the knees. Instead, use an implement (counter, chair, couch) to adopt a more vertical position.
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Push-Ups video
• Reverse Lunge video

Superset #4 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #5

1. 2-Leg Hip Thrusts with changing leg widths
2. McGill Crunch

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the Hip Thrusts, change leg position from set to set. Start with feet together…moving to feet wide apart by the last set

• Hip Thrust video – ignore the barbell
• McGill Crunch video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Chest
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 3 – Day 2

It’s week #3 of our  Best Body Transformation 2013 and it’s the last time you will be doing this workout.

Unlike last week, we’ll be doing some HIIT sprints today. Lucky you.

[box type=”note”]As I asked you to do yesterday, I want you to perform 20-30 minutes of EZ cardio tomorrow. Friday, we return to another resistance training workout.[/box]

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• Like Monday, we are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Bulgarian Split Squats
2. Toes to the Ceiling 

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Bulgarians, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Shoulder Press
2. Single Leg Hip Thrust – feet elevated

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Hip Thrusts, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Bodyweight Shoulder Press video
• SL Hip Thrust video

Superset #3

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute
• I prefer bike sprints or hill sprints

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #4 

1. Bodyweight SkullCrusher
2. Shuffle Jump Lunges

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the skullcrushers, make sure that your elbows are always pointing DOWN towards the floor

• BW SkullCrusher video
• Shuffle Lunges video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Shoulders
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT

Tomorrow, I want you to do 20 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Maffetone Heart Rate Calculator

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training with another workout posted here at HealthHabits.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 3 – Day 1

Here we go…3nd week of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series.

Today’s workout is almost the same as the last two Mondays. The only differences is that we are adding 1 more set of HIIT sprints and adding in a cardio workout to be performed before the next resistance training workout.

Allons-y

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• We are adding in 1 additional HIIT set this week
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Prone Bridge OR Stir the Pots (if you have a stability ball)

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto a dumbbell/kettlebell between your legs

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Prone Bridge video  –  Stir the Pot video

Superset #2

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #3

1. Bodyweight Rows
2. Single Leg Straight-Leg Deadlifts

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the rows, do them one arm at a time
• If you need to add resistance to the SLDLs, hold onto a DB/KB

• Bodyweight Rows video
• SLDL video

Superset #4

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #5 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Pecs
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT (optional)

Tomorrow, I want you to do 20 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 2 – Day 3

It’s the last workout for week #2 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series.

[box type=”note”]I have had a couple of questions about how to time these sets. Here’s what I do. Set your timer for 30 x 10 second intervals. This will give you a final beep at the end of the superset (300 seconds = 5 minutes). Re individual sets, all you need to do is count 3 beeps (3 x 10 sec = 30 sec)[/box]

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• We are also going to use some 1 minute HIIT supersets today as well
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Inch Worm

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer (for 30 x 10-second intervals) or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Inch Worm video

Superset #2 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #3

1. Push-Ups
2. Arms-Overhead Reverse Lunge

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Push-Ups, adopt a “normal” arm position
• I am showing a modified version of push-ups in the picture above. If you’re not strong enough for “normal” push-ups, I prefer not to do “girl” push-ups from the knees. Instead, use an implement (counter, chair, couch) to adopt a more vertical position.
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Push-Ups video
• Reverse Lunge video

Superset #4 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #5

1. 2-Leg Hip Thrusts with changing leg widths
2. McGill Crunch

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the Hip Thrusts, change leg position from set to set. Start with feet together…moving to feet wide apart by the last set

• Hip Thrust video – ignore the barbell
• McGill Crunch video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Chest
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 2 – Day 2

Week # 2 – Workout #2 of our  Best Body Transformation 2013 series.

The exact same workout as last week…no additional HIIT sprints.

[box type=”note”]As I asked you to do yesterday, I want you to perform 20-30 minutes of EZ cardio tomorrow. Friday, we return to another resistance training workout.[/box]

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• Like Monday, we are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Bulgarian Split Squats
2. Toes to the Ceiling 

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Bulgarians, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Shoulder Press
2. Single Leg Hip Thrust – feet elevated

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Hip Thrusts, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Bodyweight Shoulder Press video
• SL Hip Thrust video

Superset #3 

1. Bodyweight SkullCrusher
2. Shuffle Jump Lunges

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the skullcrushers, make sure that your elbows are always pointing DOWN towards the floor

• BW SkullCrusher video
• Shuffle Lunges video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Shoulders
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT

Tomorrow, I want you to do 20 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Maffetone Heart Rate Calculator

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

FRIDAY’S WORKOUT

Friday, we get back to a resistance training with another workout posted here at HealthHabits.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 2 – Day 1

Here we go…2nd week of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series.

Today’s workout is almost the same as last Monday’s. The only differences is that we are adding 1 set of HIIT sprints and adding in a cardio workout to be performed before the next resistance training workout.

Let’s get on with the sweating.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• We are adding in 1 HIIT set this week
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Prone Bridge OR Stir the Pots (if you have a stability ball)

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto a dumbbell/kettlebell between your legs

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Prone Bridge video  –  Stir the Pot video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Rows
2. Single Leg Straight-Leg Deadlifts

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the rows, do them one arm at a time
• If you need to add resistance to the SLDLs, hold onto a DB/KB

• Bodyweight Rows video
• SLDL video

Superset #3

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #4 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Pecs
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

TOMORROW’S WORKOUT

Tomorrow, I want you to do 20-30 minutes of cardio.

Go for a walk, jog, run on the treadmill, swim laps, ride your bike, etc…

• If you have a heart rate monitor and are between the ages of 17-64, I want you aiming for a Phil Maffetone HR calculator.

Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training Heart Rate

To find your maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First, subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract your age from 180.
2. Modify this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best matches your fitness and health profile:
a. If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an additional 10.
b. If you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c. If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the same.
d. If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.

For example, if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).

• If you can’t monitor your heart rate, I want you to use the “talk test”. With the TT, you should be ABLE to talk to your training partner…but you won’t WANT to.

WEDNESDAY’S WORKOUT

Wednesday, we get back to a resistance training.

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 1 – Day 3

It’s the last workout for week #1 of our Best Body Transformation 2013 series. Just to re-cap one final time, these workouts are designed…

• to be performed at home (or the gym or outdoors)
• are the actual workouts I am using with my client

What I am attempting to do is create workouts that can be performed by a wide range of trainees – from beginners all the way to professional athletes. To do this, I am setting up a structure where…

• I am using exercises that aren’t very complicated
• weight/resistance is determined by the trainee’s level of ability
• intensity level is determined by the trainee’s level of ability

I have been beta-testing these workouts for months on a wide variety of people, and I am pretty darn satisfied with them. However, if you find any flaws, please please please shoot me a comment with your concerns.

[box type=”note”]I have had a couple of questions about how to time these sets. Here’s what I do. Set your timer for 30 x 10 second intervals. This will give you a final beep at the end of the superset (300 seconds = 5 minutes). Re individual sets, all you need to do is count 3 beeps (3 x 10 sec = 30 sec)[/box]

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• We are also going to use some 1 minute HIIT supersets today as well
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Inch Worm

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer (for 30 x 10-second intervals) or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Inch Worm video

Superset #2 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute
• If you have cardio equipment (bike, elliptical, treadmill), feel free to substitute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #3

1. Push-Ups
2. Arms-Overhead Reverse Lunge

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Push-Ups, adopt a “normal” arm position
• I am showing a modified version of push-ups in the picture above. If you’re not strong enough for “normal” push-ups, I prefer not to do “girl” push-ups from the knees. Instead, use an implement (counter, chair, couch) to adopt a more vertical position.
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Push-Ups video
• Reverse Lunge video

Superset #4 

1. Step-Up Interval Sprints

This one is dead simple. 

• Step up and down on a single step as fast as you can for 10 seconds
• Rest 10 seconds
• Repeat for a full minute

• Stair Step-Up video

Superset #5

1. 2-Leg Hip Thrusts with changing leg widths
2. McGill Crunch

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the Hip Thrusts, change leg position from set to set. Start with feet together…moving to feet wide apart by the last set

• Hip Thrust video – ignore the barbell
• McGill Crunch video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

Personally, I did 3 rounds of this workout last week – for a total of 9 supersets. It took me 58 minutes to do the 45 minutes of exercises. At the end, I was pooped and really sweaty.

Our guinea-pig client did 5 supersets the first time he tried this workout. He would have done more, but his form was failing and I made him stop.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Chest
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 1 – Day 2

It’s workout #2 of our  Best Body Transformation 2013 series. Just to re-cap one last time, these workouts are designed…

• to be performed at home (or the gym or outdoors)
• are the actual workouts I am using with my client

What I am attempting to do is create workouts that can be performed by a wide range of trainees – from beginners all the way to professional athletes. To do this, I am setting up a structure where…

• I am using exercises that aren’t very complicated
• weight/resistance is determined by the trainee’s level of ability
• intensity level is determined by the trainee’s level of ability

I have been beta-testing these workouts for months on a wide variety of people, and I am pretty darn satisfied with them. However, if you find any flaws, please please please shoot me a comment with your concerns.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work. Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• Like Monday, we are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Bulgarian Split Squats
2. Toes to the Ceiling 

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Bulgarians, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto 1 or 2 dumbbells/kettlebells

• Bulgarian Split Squat video
• Toes to the Ceiling video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Shoulder Press
2. Single Leg Hip Thrust – feet elevated

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• For Hip Thrusts, alternate legs between sets
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Bodyweight Shoulder Press video
• SL Hip Thrust video

Superset #3 

1. Bodyweight SkullCrusher
2. Shuffle Jump Lunges

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible with proper form
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• For the skullcrushers, make sure that your elbows are always pointing DOWN towards the floor

• BW SkullCrusher video
• Shuffle Lunges video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets.

Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

Personally, I did 3 rounds of this workout last week – for a total of 9 supersets. It took me 58 minutes to do the 45 minutes of exercises. At the end, I was pooped and really sweaty.

Our guinea-pig client did 5 supersets the first time he tried this workout. He would have done more, but his form was failing and I made him stop.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Shoulders
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

Best Body Workout – 2013 – Week 1 – Day 1

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post – Best Body Transformation 2013 – this new series of workouts are designed…

• to be performed at home
• are the actual workouts I am using with my client

What I am attempting to do is create workouts that can be performed by a wide range of trainees – from beginners all the way to professional athletes. To do this, I am setting up a structure where…

• I am using exercises that aren’t very complicated
• weight/resistance is determined by the trainee’s level of ability
• intensity level is determined by the trainee’s level of ability

I have been beta-testing these workouts for months on a wide variety of people, and I am pretty darn satisfied with them. However, if you find any flaws, please please please shoot me a comment with your concerns.

As I also mentioned in yesterday’s workout, we are starting with bodyweight exercises only. For cardio/HIIT workout, my guinea-pig client already had an elliptical machine at home, and he will be using that for cardio. However, for the sake of these workouts, you don’t need to have a cardio machine…you two feet and the great outdoors will suffice.

Alrighty then…let’s get on with the workout.

THE WARM-UP

This is the same workout I use with most of my clients. The goal is to lubricate your joints, mentally get you in workout mode  and physically warm up your muscles – making them more elastic and ready to work.

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

• We are going to use a series of 5 minute supersets…alternating body-parts to maximize recovery.
• Keep rest periods as short as YOUR fitness level will allow.
• No sitting while you’re resting – stretch a muscle while you’re catching your breath
• Don’t sacrifice good for for a few extra reps – watch the videos
• Push yourself as hard as YOU can. Pretend I am there…screaming at you!!!!

Superset #1 

1. Face the Wall Squats
2. Prone Bridge OR Stir the Pots (if you have a stability ball)

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the squats, hold onto a dumbbell/kettlebell between your legs

• Face the Wall Squats video
• Prone Bridge video  –  Stir the Pot video

Superset #2 

1. Bodyweight Rows
2. Single Leg Straight-Leg Deadlifts

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the rows, do them one arm at a time
• If you need to add resistance to the SLDLs, hold onto a DB/KB

• Bodyweight Rows video
• SLDL video

Superset #3 

1. Wide Grip Push-Ups
2. Lateral (side to side) Squats

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer or watch a clock
• 30 seconds per exercise per set
• Perform as many reps as possible…
• …with proper form – I would rather see you perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you need to add resistance to the Squats, hold onto a DB/KB
• Notice that the toes are facing forward on the squats – this is the form I want to see, but if your knees don’t like this, you’re going to need to pivot your foot as you lunge to the side – gotta look after those knees

• Wide Grip Push-Ups video
• Lateral Squats video

For some of you, this is the end of the “workout” portion of the workout. If you’ve pushed yourself HARD, you might be running out of gas. If this is the case, it’s time to do the “cool down” portion of the workout and get on with the rest of your day.

For those of you who have built up more endurance, I want you to start repeating these supersets. Let YOUR fitness level and recovery ability dictate how many more supersets you are going to perform. Ditch the ego…use some common sense.

Personally, I did 3 rounds of this workout last week – for a total of 9 supersets. It took me 58 minutes to do the 45 minutes of exercises. At the end, I was pooped and really sweaty.

Our guinea-pig client did 5 supersets the first time he tried this workout. He would have done more, but his form was failing and I made him stop.

THE COOL DOWN

For the cool down, I want you to take 15 minutes and do some physical therapy on the muscles that you just trained:

• Legs
• Pecs
• Back
• Core

Grab a rope, band tennis ball, lacrosse ball, yoga ball, golf ball wrapped up in a sock or one of these and start mashing your muscles. Here are some “how-to” videos.

• Quad video
• Hamstring video 
• Glute/Hip video
• Pec/Shoulder muscle fix video
• Back video
• Hip Flexors / Pelvis / Core video

Best Body Transformation 2013

For the past two years, I have been posting free workouts here at Health Habits

• Best Body Workouts 2011
• Best Body Workouts 2012

These workouts employed all manner of fitness equipment and as such, were more appropriate for people with gym memberships.

This year, we are going to focus on people who workout at home.

• To begin with, we will only be doing body-weight exercises.
• After a month or so, we will add in some strength band workouts. I suggest you buy yours NOW!!!
• As we go along, I might add in a kettlebell or some other piece of home fitness equipment. I will give you lots of notice OR give you alternative exercises.

The workouts we will be posting online are exact replicas of the ones I am using with one of my newest clients. In fact, to show you how effective these workouts can be, my little guinea pig  has agreed to track his physique transformation as the year progresses.

His goals are as follows:

1. Reduce body-fat
2. Get fitter – stronger, more flexible, agile, etc
3. Get healthier
4. Look great in the buff

Which are probably the same goals as 93% of y’all.

Here’s what we’re starting with…

Measurements : Day # 1

• Weight : 283 lbs
• Waist – landmarked @ Belly Button  : 50″
• Hips – landmarked @ Butt : 45″
• Upper Arm – Midpoint between Shoulder & Elbow : 17″ relaxed – 18″ flexed
• Thigh – Midpoint between Hip & Knee : 28.5″
• Neck :19″
• Chest – landmarked @ Nipples : 53″

[colored_box color=”yellow”]There are a few other health issues that we will be tracking, but will not be reporting here at HH (as per client request). Nothing out of the ordinary, but he wants to retain some modicum of privacy. If, in the future, he decides to open up his life a little more, I will report how this transformation has affected these issues.[/colored_box]

Pictures: Day 1

• On Monday, I will post the first resistance workout.
• On Tuesday, I will lay out the dietary / lifestyle plan that I put together for our guinea pig
• On Wednesday, I will post the second resistance workout.
• On Thursday, I will make some recommendations about future exercise equipment purchases.
• On Friday, we have the 3rd resistance workout.

If you have any questions for me or the GP, feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me a message on Twitter.

after pic???

Best Body Workout – 2012 – Week 52 – Day 3

Last workout of the week….enjoy it.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

Superset #1 

1. High Incline DB Chest Fly
2. High Incline DB Chest Press
3. High Incline DB Rear Delt Fly

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer
• 5 reps per exercise per set
• Choose a weight, you could perform 15 – 20 reps with
• Keep proper form – I would rather see you use less weight or perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you can’t complete 5 reps on a set, lower the weight for the next set
• After 5 minutes, lower the bench half way and get ready for Superset #2

• High Incline DB Chest Fly video
• High Incline DB Chest Press video
• High Incline DB Rear Delt Fly video

Superset #2

1. Medium Incline DB Chest Fly
2. Medium Incline DB Chest Press
3. Medium Incline DB Rear Delt Fly

The only difference between these exercises and the ones in SS #1 is that we have lowered the incline on the bench…making it more horizontal/less vertical

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer
• 5 reps per exercise per set
• Choose a weight, you could perform 15 – 20 reps with
• Keep proper form – I would rather see you use less weight or perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you can’t complete 5 reps on a set, lower the weight for the next set
• After 5 minutes, lower the bench all the way flat and get ready for Superset #3

Superset #3 

1. Flat DB Chest Fly
2. Flat DB Chest Press
3. Flat DB Rear Delt Fly

Same exercises…flat bench

• 5 Minutes – Set your timer
• 5 reps per exercise per set
• Choose a weight, you could perform 15 – 20 reps with
• Keep proper form – I would rather see you use less weight or perform fewer reps
• Minimize rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you can’t complete 5 reps on a set, lower the weight for the next set
• After 5 minutes, clean up your equipment and get ready for Superset #4

Superset #4

1. Standing 1 Arm Cable or Band Row

• 1 exercise – 5 MINUTES – Set your timer
• Set the cable stack/band in a low position
• 5 reps per set – using a weight you could perform 15-20 reps with
• Do 5 reps with the left hand, then do 5 reps with the right hand
• After this set, move the position of the cable UP one or two notches
• 5 reps left hand, 5 reps right hand
• No rest between sets
• Here’s what the mid position will look like
• Continue moving the cable up one notch until you reach the high position or the 15 minutes are complete
• No partial reps – full range of motion
• If you can’t complete 5 reps on a set, lower the weight for the next set

• Standing 1 Arm Cable Row video

Superset #5

1. 1 Arm Bodyweight Row (Smith Machine, suspension trainer, cable stack set to heaviest weight)

• 1 exercise – 5 MINUTES – Set your timer
• 5 reps per set – bodyweight only
• Do 5 reps with the left hand, then do 5 reps with the right hand
• As you tire, change the angle of the exercise…horizontal is harder, vertical is easier
• No rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• 1 Arm Bodyweight Row video

Superset #6

1. Cable Straight-Arm Push-down (you can substitute a band for the cable)
2. Push-Ups (bodyweight)

• 2 exercises – 5 MINUTES – Set your timer
• 5 reps per exercise per set  – using a weight you could perform 15-20 reps with
• Do 5 reps push-downs, then do 5 reps with of push-ups
• As you tire, I want you to sacrifice the number of reps instead of sacrificing form
• If you can’t complete 5 reps on the pushdowns, lower the weight for the next set
• If you can’t get 5 reps on push-ups give me 4..or 3..but keep the form tight
• No rest between sets
• No partial reps – full range of motion

• Cable Straight-Arm Push-down video

That’s it…you’re done for the day.

Reminder 

• If you find that you can’t complete 5 reps on any of the sets, I would rather you drop the reps and keep good form, than get sloppy.
• Try to keep rest periods as short as possible – it’s key to the fat-burning effect
• This is a tough workout, no matter what your fitness level, so take a look at these post-workout pain-reducing techniques.

Best Body Workout – 2012 – Week 52 – Day 2

Today’s workout follows the same model as Monday’s workout……We’re asking your muscles to be explosive over and over and over without giving them much rest. It’s a wicked calorie burner that will make drastic changes to your fitness.

WORKOUT WARM-UP

Circles – Starting with the ankles and moving all the way up to your neck, gently make circles with all of your joints – 10 revolutions each joint in each direction

• video 1
• video 2

Dead Bug – Push your lower back into the floor and articulate your arms & legs as in the video. 1 set of as many reps as possible with your lower back pushed into the floor. When your back starts to arch…STOP

• video

1 Arm Swing Snatch – 25 reps per arm  – Dumbbell or kettlebell – choose a light weight – the goal is to warm-up

• video

THE WORKOUT

Superset #1 

1. Wide Grip Pulldowns / Assisted Chins supersetted with
2. Overhead Shrugs (barbell or dumbbells)