Let's Get Heavy! (Weighted Movements). Jan 3rd

I have found great success and reward in doing body weight movements such as dips, pushups, lunges, pull ups and sit ups. That being said i have also pushed my Olympic movements even farther by doing weighted movements (See my picture of dips above). The same can go for lunges which help me push all the way to the ground. The equipment needed is very simple, often just a lifting belt with a chain, or even just a dumbbell between your legs. This form of training fits my mindset of fight vs gravity and i enjoy pushing myself to the limit to help every other movement i do. Let's get to the workout today.

Jan 3rd, Core Workout

KB Cross chops 25 each side. 3 sets

KB Swing 1 minute each hand

Sit ups with ab mat (or pillow) max reps 1 minute

Front plank, 1 minute

side plank L/R 1 minute each with weight in hand

Suck ups, 3 Seconds

Repeat 1 time

 Cherry Pickers 1 minute

Bicycles 1 minute

repeat twice more

100 Leg levers 

100 flutter kicks (2 count)

100 scissor kicks

Holiday Season, A great time to focus on that core! CHALLENGE TIME!

“I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count”. - Muhammad Ali

CHALLENGE TIME! I am going to be doing TWO challenges today

1) 1000 Situps for time. Full situps with an ab mat/Pillow under your lower back.
       Rest 5 Minutes
2) 10 minute plank Front/left side/right side. IF you fail mid set, take a 5 breath break, add 30 seconds onto the clock and then keep going.. ex) i fail at the 4 minute mark, i will take my few breathes and when i start again the clock will have 6min 30sec remaining. 

This should be a killer workout and i cant wait to crush it!

Best CORE EXCERCISE EVER! : Fork Put Downs.

          But in all seriousness folks. This is the one thing that was the hardest for me to tell all my clients. They would come to me looking for strength, power, and the ability/movements to give them a super flat/6 pack stomach... I was always honest and told them the stomach they were looking for wasn't in the gym... it was in their own kitchen. I would still work core with them tho promising them that when their diet and training were on the same page and consistent; that they would be more than happy with the results. So that it my rant for today, now lets focus on that core and PRACTICE PRACTICE some difficult movements.

Planks Enforces proper posture and hip stability/mobility.
Side planks. Work the obliques (if done correctly), and apparently are good for hip mobility too. Add the leg raise for extra fun.
Ab-wheel roll-outs (kneeling or standing). Excellent anti-extension exercise. The kneeling ones get easy pretty quickly, so you'll need to add weight/do them on an incline to progress to standing ones.
Hand walkouts. These are similar to rollouts, but you don't need the wheel. And probably easier to progress.
Hanging leg raises With straight legs, touch the bar with your feet and make sure you actually bend at the spine, else its just a hip flexor exercise. These feel great if done correctly, and also work your grip a little.
Dragon flags. These give me the most intense contraction of all the exercises I named. Also added bonus of anti-extension.
Pick one or two (preferably one plank, and one of the dynamic ones), and work on that after your regular workouts, 3 times a week. More often if you are a beast.

Today isn't a super heavy hard day. But make it a practicing day for what ever skill you would like. Tomorrow will be a much deserved rest day if you hit today hard enough. Get ready for next weeks cycle! 

Core Stability. Not just abs.

 

 

If you can do a movement sitting down OR standing, always pick standing. This added force you use do the movement and keep stable is a huge benefit to your core.

Also picking movements that are done over head, or force you to have a weight transfer from from your hands to your feet will help build the REAL core that you have wanted.

Some examples of these useful movements and weight transfers are hand stand pushups (see above picture), Olympic lifting, standing dumbbell curls and standing shoulder presses.

keep working hard everyone! here is a great upper body core workout for you.

Workout 8-1 

Complete 7 rounds of the following for time…

• 7 x triple unders (21x double unders or 63 singles)
• 7x chest to bar pull ups
• 7x Power snatch (95#/65#)
• 7x handstand push ups

If you need an alternate to these movements. post in the comments!

-Mike 

Getting the Core You Want

Everyone wants to have a 6 pack or a toned midsection but don't know how to get there.

 It takes hard work but in ways that can be done without changing to much of what you do. Adding simple changes and adding increased focus during your workout will get you to where you want to be.

Step 1: Variation to the norm. Crunches and situps are a thing of the past; its time to learn some new twists (literally).

Use the pullup bar in your gym or a sturdy tree branch and do knees to elbows, toes to bar, knee raises. Adding in new movements causes your body to make new connections and adapt to the added stress.

Step 2: While workout, instead of taking that 30seconds - 1minute of rest, drop down and hold a plank for your rest period. or if you are using a flat bench, do some leg levers or flutter kicks. Decreasing rest keeps your heart rate up to increase fat burning and adding core movements between sets really add up for the amount of reps done. Added bonus of decreasing the time spent in the gym because of the time you aren't spending at the end of your workout just doing core.


Step 3: Increasing core stability. Certain movements can be done sitting can also be done standing for added benefit. If you are doing dumbbell shoulder presses sitting on a bench, Stand up! The weight being lifted has to now be balanced and controlled thruout your body which activates your core and mid line stability. To increase this effect even more, do single arm shoulder presses at a time. This causes you have to balance your upper body and to keep everything stable.

My goal is to not get you abs, it is to stabilize your mid section which helps you -

• More functional workouts that translate into daily life activities
• Improved performance in sports
• Reduction in the risk of injury
• Better ability to function each day
• Interesting workouts that challenge you in new and different ways

 Workout: June 17th, 2013

Run 1 Mile 

30 push ups

30 sit ups

30 mountain climbers

Run 1 Mile

 

Handstand Pushups, Step by Step Instruction

Handstand pushups seem useless used just for showing off, but the movement is actually useful. It is a body weight movement you can do anywhere and works your shoulders, stabilization muscles, and core. There is a process to get to the handstand pushup but i will start with the simple pushup. Hands shoulder width apart, feet on the ground and just get very proficient in them. After many many pushups i suggest using a step up box and putting it under your feet so your feet are slightly elevated. Eventually increasing the height of the box until you can put your feet on a bench and do plenty of pushups. (See Picture Below)

As you increase the height of your feet you will also increase the amount of weight that is transferred to your hands also to work the muscles and develop the movement needed to get to the handstand pushup (or at least to the next step).

The next step is to walk your hands back towards the bench to get closer to the position your upper body will be in while in the handstand position. Practice this form of pushup while keeping your feet on the bench for stability. 

We are getting closer! while you are in the position, do nice controlled pushups. Get comfortable while being upside down and pause in different spots in the course of the pushup movement to build your confidence.

The next step is get in the normal pushup position with your feet flat against a wall and to walk your feet up the wall and to walk your hands backwards until your body is in a 45 degree angle. This may take some practice and you might want to remove your shoes if you care about your wall.

Put a mat under you so you feel safe from fall damage which may happen but you aren't going to fall to far. Practice walk ups and then walk back down the wall until you are back in the normal pushup position and Repeat! 

Keep building your strength control and confidence until you can walk up the wall far enough so that you are almost vertical and hold that position to get the feeling of a handstand hold (also a great workout in itself). While in this position lower your head onto a mat slowly, if you can't push back up, that's okay. keep practicing until you have the upper body strength to hold the handstand for 30 seconds and then slowly lower. 

After a while you will feel confident from all the practice and steps, and with someone present you can have them spot you so you feel safer from falling away from the wall!

The Final extra step!

Practice single arm dumbbell or kettlebell presses and holds. continue building up your strength and stability and eventually you can attempt single arm handstand holds and pushups!

Keep up the hard work and don't quit!

No Excuse Legs and Core Workout

One of my favorite combination  to work together during a session at the gym. Mainly because you cant do one without working the other in some way. However, there are ways to benefit from this and also ways to separate and focus what is being worked.

No Excuse Leg Workout

Simple exercises that can be done anywhere with no equipment for legs all revolve around the squat and leg raises (also an ab workout). A few variants of the squat. 

Air Squat:  With no weight, simple squat down so your upper legs break parallel. Stand back up and repeat. be sure to do this slowly and controlled.
     
       - Goblet Squats: Same movement as the air squat except hold onto something in front of you (Anything heavy will add resistance). 

       - While in the lowered air squat position, shuffle yourself to the left and right without standing back up.

       - Jumping Air Squats:  Exactly how it sounds, While going back up the standing positions, stand up faster than normal and jump into the air.

       - Frog Leeps: Same movement as jumping air squats, except in the movement of jumping, launch yourself forward. Upon landing, continue the air squat movement and back into a deep air squat.

Since there is little to no weight added for these movement, do them for a considerable amount of reps. anywhere between 20 - 40 Reps. And for a few sets.

Example - 30 reps of Air Squats right into 30 reps of Frog Leeps.
                  Rest 30 Seconds
                  20 reps of Air Squats right into 20 reps of Frog Leeps.
                  Rest 30 Seconds
                  10 reps of Air Squats right into 10 reps of Frog Leeps.
                  Followed by a set of Crunches until you cant do anymore, Push It!!

No Excuse Ab Workout

There are a dozen or so muscles that make up the core of a persons body. Hitting all of them is what gives someone that well defined, strong core. Not abs, but core. I stress this because someones 6 pack isn't going to keep them from pulling a muscle or resisting injury from sports/exercise. We will start with the deep (internal) core muscles and work our way out to the muscles everyone likes to show off (me included), but hard work and determination all year and a healthy diet allow these muscles to show. 

Planks: Front Planks/Side Planks, I believe we all have done them either in high school gym class or because we saw someone doing them and they looked like they might be useful. My motto with training myself and others is, "Your brain stops you from reaching your full potential", your body can be pushed harder than you think it can be. Scientifically your brain stops you because your afraid of pushing it to hard. Yes there is a fine line between a lot of work, and over working to injury. 

6 Inches: Laying on the ground and holding your heels just 6 inches above the ground, For an added bonus workout, do this exercise on a flat bench or other raised flat surface and hold your legs in the 6 inches position, this way, as you fail and your legs fall; they will still continue to be working as your legs fall below the parallel position since your legs will be off the ground from the start.

Flutter Kicks: Same as 6 inches except alternate flutter kick your legs. 

Leg Levers: Again, similar to 6 inches except alternate the height of your feet between 6 inches and a foot off the ground. 

Normal Crunches/ Side Crunches: exactly how it sounds. 

Toe Touches: while laying flat on your back, point your legs straight up in the air, attempt to touch your toes with your hands and crunch up to get even closer to reaching. 

There are plenty of other exercises i use with my clients, but i would be giving away all my secrets for free! i cant have that now or else i would be out of a job. 

Work hard, and then work harder

-Zolo