We don't know how to do everything. Motivation Post

You have done every workout know to man, made up your own workouts, created new supersets, used top of the line equipment, invented new equipment and conquered every obstacle that can be thrown at you. Well even then you haven't tried it all. New techniques are invented daily,  medical books are rewritten with new ways to control muscles and how they respond under stress. Some new up and coming trainer decides that its best to run in arched shoes... A few years later we find out that they are harmful. How about the trend of running with no shoes? or minimized shoes.

There is one thing i do know, The iron never lies. 100 years ago the dumbbells may have been triangular or spherical, and now they may be Bowflex adjustable or your everyday gym weights. They still weight the same amount. It matters what you do with them and how dedicated you are. Always learn, grow, experience, and fail. Get back up and try again! push harder, do things you have always wanted to do. But don't get in your own way, there is enough resistance in this world.

 Do an extra set, extra mile, extra hundred steps for me today. Let me be your gym partner who pushes you a bit harder because i know you all have got it in you. Get after it!

  ]

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

New Year, New Movements! KB Fitness

A VAST majority of people who join a gym know very little about the equipment or the movements needed to get the results they want. Well lets keep it simple. I am a certified Kettle Bell instructor (ACE Certified) but beyond that, a kettle bell can be used for so many different things (Curls, presses, leg movements, core). Today we will focus on legs/core.

Here is the workout. 

December 31st, 2014 Leg KB Workout

Air squats, Max rep in 2 minutes

Kb Squat 35#/18#, Max rep in 1 minute

Bottom of air sq hold, 30 seconds

Rest 15 seconds, Repeat from beginning 1 more time

Overhead KB squat, Max rep 1minute each side

lunges, 1 minute, max distance

Repeat 3 times, no rest!

Air squats, Max rep in 2 minutes

Kb Squat 35#/18#, Max rep in 1 minute

Bottom of air sq hold, 30 seconds

Rest 15 seconds, Repeat from beginning 1 more time

Stretch out, hydrate and get nutrition! have a happy New Years! 

 

Christmas Workout! Earn your Christmas Ham!

YOU are what YOU want to be. Plain and simple. If you want to be the biggest baddest guy at the gym... BE that guy. Go out to the store, gets all the proper nutrition, focus on your workouts and rest when needed. If you want to be the fastest runner, get to your routine, same goes for losing weight. There is no magic pill or secret movement. New Years eve is not the day to decide you want to change. Start today! right now. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas/Holiday season as your year wraps up. Get ready for some really challenging workouts coming very soon. Here is my workout for today!

1 Mile Run or 3k row

10 Rope Climbs or 50 Pullups & Dips
20 Tire Flips or 100 2 count mountain climbers
100 Burpees or 50 Pullups & Dips
20 Tire Flips or 100 2 count mountain climbers
10 Rope Climbs or 50 Pullups & Dips
1 Mile Run or 3k row

So pick what you want, but make it difficult! Always

Legs Of Steel, Strength Without Weights.

There isn't a REAL substitute for heavy squats and other heavy leg movements. BUT, we can do the best we can with explosive movements (one of our key techniques for training without weights). I am going to stay away from using a weighted backpack this week for legs and just go for raw explosive power to get the burn we want/NEED.

Dec 3rd, LEG DAY (EXPLOSIVE)

 ------------

10m 20m 30m Shuttle Runs, Try and increase sprint speed as your continue.

rest 30 - 45seconds, Do 5 sets. if possible, time your runs. 

 ------------

25 reps burpees

25 reps squats

25 mountain climbers

 Repeat twice

------------

Jump Squats 

3 sets of 20, rest 30 seconds

JUMP AS HIGH AS POSSIBLE. 

Jumping lunges 

20M of lunges, turn around perform a 30 second air squat hold 

go back to where you started. 

do this 2 more times, 3 sets / 120M Total

Broad Jumps

Jump as far sideways as possible and then back

if you have a bench to jump over, that would be best.

Max distance sideways, max vertical jump combo

------------

Lets finish strong. Repeat your warm up springs. measure time to view fatigue.

10m 20m 30m Shuttle Runs, Try and increase sprint speed as your continue.

rest 30 - 45seconds, Do 3 sets. 

Stretch, Drink/Eat within 30 minutes. Get after it everyone! 

Thursday will be a (Rest Day), but i am going to post a Monthly Challenge for everyone

looking for a bonus workout.  

Body Weight Leg Day. Let's make it hurt.

Continuing off of yesterdays  Post. Here is today Leg day gym workout with the gym. I am focusing on hitting certain muscle groups strictly and isolating them to get the burn we are looking for without having to use to much volume (reps).

I will be doing some hill sprints between my first few sets to help the warming up process and to add a bit of cardio to the routine. You can sub out the cardio if you would like and decrease your rest time also add in either a wall sit or a air squat hold.

i am a few days into this new routine i have created and i can really feel the soreness i was looking for overall. In the future i will be perfecting the burn and the muscle isolation i will want for each muscle group. so stay posted, and keep working hard and asking questions because its going to get crazy.

Nov 26th, 2014: Leg Day (Week 1)

Air Squats (20 reps DEEP AS POSSIBLE)

Hill sprint, walk back to start. repeat air sq/sprint for 5 sets.

Skill Work, Pistols assisted or free standing. 10 minutes of work

GRINDER WORK, Get Thru it.
Prison Squats 6x20

Lunges 4 x 20

Step-ups 4x20 

calf raises 4 x 50

 

Feel free to add weight to any of this movements. 

If you can still climb up stairs easily. Repeat with weighted pack. 

 

Stretch out, drink water and eat within 30 minutes. 

 

Keeping Your Fitness In Check!

Being great at one thing doesn't quite justify as being "Fit" in my book. And i think a lot of professional athletes agree with me on this one. If you are a great football player, you have good strength, speed and endurance. If you play volleyball your skills are in agility, strength and the ability to jump higher than most people.

This trend of multifaceted ability stands true across the board. I am not going to say that any one skill is more important than any other. Use your time wisely in the gym and become a well rounded individual. If you stick to doing one thing, you will miss out on a world of opportunity in the fitness community.

Don't just run, or bike, or swim. Do them all in a rotation that keeps your body guessing on what is next in your training.

Put it this way, if you had advance knowledge that in 365 days you would be in a fight for your life. You don't know what your opponent will be, or what will be asked of you. The logical thing to do would be to increase your overall strength, endurance and speed. This should be your mindset every day because you never know if your life will be in danger or what you will have to do to survive.

Workout

Complete 5 rounds for time of:

• Run 400m
• 15x overhead squats (95#/65#) or 30x Air Squats 

Work hard and get fit
-Mike 

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 

Tuesday Gym Tips (it is a numbers game)

Sick of using the same reps/sets/exercise patterns? well stop using them. Lets make things interesting by using some great techniques and creative thought to make your workout more interesting.

A majority of the fitness population have heard the same advice when it comes to strength training. 3 sets of (some amount of reps), why not 4 sets? why not 2 sets? Lets talk numbers.

Take a few minutes before lifting to figure out what area of your body you want to improve that day.

Get to the gym and warm up with body weight exercises and stretching (10 minutes).

Pick the major muscle groups you're going to be hitting and start warming them up with light sets of movements that work that specific muscle group. Doing these light sets are important and will reduce the possibility of injury.

Since you have hit the major muscles, your secondary muscles are now warmed up and ready to be focused on. since they will be partially fatigued at this point but still feeling ready for work, hit them hard. Drop sets/ ladders/ pyramids/ partial rep sets with light weight burn sets/ heavy low rep sets.

now that you have hit the major and minor muscle groups to be focused on. hit some of the weak points you missed, calves, forearms, core, lower back.

At this point you should be pretty well roasted and praying that it ends soon. This is the point where you can walk out, or keep going for that extra mile.. literally. Follow up your workout with intense cardio, (double unders, interval sprints, sprint a mile, high box jumps, tabata style interval training". 

Now that you have put in all the possible energy you could expend. Be sure to spend the next 30 minutes and eat and drink. Consume the amount of calories you need to replenish or eat slightly less if your looking to lose weight. Water is just as important and food, drink plenty of water to ensure you aren't dehydrated.

Workout 

21 - 15 - 9 Reps

Wall Ball Throws ( 20#, scale down to jumping air squats)

pushups 

Between each round, run 400m with wall ball, or 10# weight 

Go hit the gym!

Total Strength

          What makes you physically strong? This is often a source of constant debate and there are many differing opinions as to what constitutes a strong person. That is because there are a number of different types of muscular strength.
What are the different qualities of muscular strength and what is best type to have? Or do we have to train in all aspects of the strength game. If so, what ratio between the different strength types should we aim for?

          In the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries the common measure of strength was a 200lb press overhead, these remember were the days before the squat and bench had come into existence. 


Relative Strength
 
Relative strength shifts the question from “How much can you bench?” to “How much do you weigh and how much can you bench?”
In the interests of not filling this article full of scientific jargon and technical malarkey, what is the best layman’s definition for relative strength? The easiest way to explain it is the ratio between the total weight being lifted and the total bodyweight of the lifter. The easiest example is a 200lb lifter bench pressing a 300lb barbell. In this case the ratio is 1.5, that is to say, the lifter is bench pressing 1.5 times their bodyweight.

Explosive Strength
 
Explosive strength is best explained by the Oxford Dictionary of Sport Science & Medicine. Their definition: “The ability to expend energy in one explosive act or in a series of strong sudden movements as in jumping, or projecting some object (e.g. a javelin) as far as possible.” So our bench press question becomes, "How fast can you push the bar from chest to lockout in the bench press"

Muscular endurance
 
In short, muscular endurance refers to the ability to sustain a number of muscular contractions over a sustained period of time. So to use the bench question again it shifts to, "What is the most amount of reps that you can bench for a set period of time?" or just "How many reps can you continuously bench?" Bodybuilders who utilize high volume, high rep training with reduced time between sets certainly have a certain amount of muscular endurance.
 
What aspect of physical strength should we focus on?
 
As old school trainers, relative strength should always be a primary focus. Depending on what aspect of the iron game you are focusing on, you need to balance out the other three types of strength accordingly. Most importantly do not ignore any of them to your peril. Old school muscle men essentially liked to take a generalist approach to strength and then developed a specialty interest within this. These days, trainees tend to specialize from the outset which leads to imbalances in overall physical strength.

 Workout 7-25 (The Test)

Run 1 mile

3 sets of pushups till failure

Max situps in 1 minute

run 1 mile

Max distance lunges in 1 minute

Wall walk ups

run 1 mile

 

Personalizing Your Routine

          Sorry for this recent disappearance. I have been trying to make as much time as possible for clients and the gym so i can make my impact. I now have 9 full time clients and they are all making progress in what ever way that they were looking to make. But all of them are increasing their health.

        No routine will work for everyone, that is why a personal trainer is useful for helping create a workout built for you. I have a baseline routine i start people off on. It revolves around 3 days (upper, lower and total), but some people need more attention to certain points. Some of these special points of attention are agility, core, rehab and endurance. They don't need their own day, but touching on them more often than other things may sometimes be useful.

1) Find your weak points and work on them.

2) Use your strengths as a break from working hard on the weaknesses
    Ex: I have weak triceps but a strong chest. Hit your triceps and then do a chest exercise (which also works your triceps) to work on your weaknesses more than your strengths.

3) Push yourself harder than you think you can.

4) Don't let things get in the way of eating healthy and making time for the gym.

5) Ask for help if you are unsure of a movement, Also google is useful. I love when people ask me if their form is alright. It is a free 5minute PT session.

6) Someone in the gym knows more than you do. They are the ones to watch and learn from.

7) When creating your routine, always include a warm up exercise in the beginning, and a warm up set at the beginning of each muscle group.

8) Don't over-train a certain muscle group, or do to much of a single type of cardio.

Use any of that information if you find it useful. Even if you know about these things, it is good to hear it again from time to time.

Workout 7-23

With a 20 minute clock running

Jump rope 2 minutes 

perform as many push ups as possible until failure

(write down your # of pushups)

(start from the beginning again)

keep performing jump rope and max pushups until you run out of time. your score is the # of pushups you complete

You can do jumping jacks, Rowing machine, 2 minutes of running, 15 Double Unders as a sub for the jump rope. you can do pushups on your knees as a sub for standard pushups. 

Post your score in the comments.

Drop down and give me 1000! Setting goals, and reaching them.

When faced with an insurmountable task, how do you achieve victory? This is what people face on a daily basis when they set goals that "Seem" unreachable, but with the right mindset anything is possible.

"What I’d realized was that I had a “talent” and it was called working harder."

Training hard without consistency is nothing. Genetics without training hard is nothing. It all starts with consistency. Consistently outworking everybody else, that’s the trademark of a champion.
 
Make it your mission to work harder, more consistently but also smarter than the next guy. Before you know it, your genetics will have improved.

 Anything worth reaching is going to take hard work and time, are you committed?

Workout 

Complete 5 rounds for time of:

• 50x double unders (jump rope) OR 200 single unders (jump rope) OR 200 tuck jumps
• 100m KB farmers carry (70#/53#) OR any thing heavy
• 25x burpees OR 50 pushups & Jumping Jacks & mountain climbers
• 200m run

Supplement Sunday time with Mike

Let us sit down for a moment and talk about what vitamins and minerals you take into your body. Do you get everything you need daily from your diet? probably not... this is where the multi vitamin comes into play.

In the fitness world there is a problem with over complication. Muscle movements and routines are are confusing to the general gym base because of all the opinions floating around.  Supplements are infinitely more confusing unless you have a degree in nutrition/chemistry or pharmaceuticals. Even with those degrees i can't promise that you won't be overwhelmed with great PR and misleading statistics from the companies who have spent decades telling everyone that this one pill will make them ripped/skinny/strong.

This weeks topic is the multi-vitamin. I am starting with this one because i can recommend this one to anyone and everyone. weight loss, muscle growth, muscle/join rehab and over-all fitness can all be linked to having the right amount of vitamins and minerals. Now don't get what i am saying the wrong way, a vitamin wont solve all your problems, however, it will help you go in the right direction. Here is that tiny disclaimer at the bottom of every TV ad ever, "With proper exercise and nutrition, this vitamin will be the most useful".

Is there a difference between walmart brand vitamins and more expensive ones? It all depends on the active ingredients and how they are produced. instead of breaking down how vitamins have been synthesized in a lab and how the price of the product is reflective upon its marketing. Here is a list of 100 vitamins and their overall score. But don't just go by this list, i would pick a highly rated product and then crosscheck it with another website to make sure their isn't a bias on the one website!

Next weeks supplement will be Protein!

Today is a Rest Day in the Sisu Fitness World. But that doesn't mean you cant

make some gains. Get out and do some shopping to prepare your cupboards and

your refrigerator for when those food cravings kick in! If you have junk food 

sitting around in its easy to open and premade packaging, you will find yourself

grabbing a bite (or several bites) whenever you find it convenient.

Prepare some small healthy snacks around 250-500 calories to grab when those

mid morning/afternoon/evening cravings come on. 

Here are 9 tasty options!

-Mike

Hydration, Hospital Room Realization

I am sitting in a Hospital room with my Mother who has just broken her back. However, the lady in the next room has a very bad cold she is having trouble recovering from. Two completely unlinked events but what is one of the main ways to treat both patients? Saline solution. Also known as salt water. This solution hydrates the body and allows the body to function the best it can. Anyone who comes into the ER will most likely be given an IV of this solution. 

But i feel fine, i don't need more water! Dehydration is a very serious deal. Dehydration results in a reduction of the volume of blood in your body and a thickening of the blood that puts a strain on your cardiovascular system, increasing your heart rate. It also results in an imbalance of electrolytes that control the functioning of cells, which can lead to seizures, involuntary muscle contractions and loss of consciousness. Symptoms of dehydration include dry mouth, dizziness, extreme thirst, reduced urination, sunken eyes, low blood pressure, rapid breathing and confusion.

This becomes even more serious for athletes. Exercising while dehydrated causes micro traumas to the body and can cause your brain to swell. A study published in the October 2005 issue of the "Journal of Athletic Training" showed that muscle microdamage increased in individuals exercising while dehydrated in hot, humid conditions. Swelling of the brain can also result from exercising while dehydrated. While drinking water to replace fluids, the body's cells may take in the water too quickly. The cells can swell and rupture, including those in the brain, leading to a life-threatening situation"

So when the days get hot this summer and you want to stay in shape and enjoy the outdoors, make sure to drink your water, and lots of it. 

Workout

Its time to introduce Fluffies! 

This is a favorite core workout of mine.

There is three exercises you must complete to failure to do fluffies!
Tea cup holds (perform until failure)
6 Inch feet holds (perform until failure)
Feet elevated crunches (perform until failure)
As soon as you fail, switch right into the next movement! NO REST

 

Your feet should NEVER touch the ground thru this entire workout. i promise it will hurt, but will be
well worth it in the end.

- Mike

Want To Be Heathy, But Won't Work For It

Being in good health is expected in our society.

We expect to do as we please and just avoid certain things and live our lives happily. It takes hard work and dedication in fitness and diet to almost promise a healthy life. But even then there is some things out of your control such as genetics and accidents. The things that can be controlled should be controlled daily.

Eating healthy, stay active and drinking water.

As a personal trainer i have clients from the age of 19 to 75. It is amazing to me to hear the stories of fitness and health from the 75 year old and try to apply it to the younger clients. But somethings from back in the day don't work anymore due to science proving them to be unhealthy. You have a chest cold? smoke a lucky strike!.

I wish i could help every single people that i come to, but i only have so many hours in a day. i love that i am getting booked up client wise, but i am always looking to help everyone (the reason for this blog), so please take any information and use it how you see fit. 

Workout (Body Armor) 

Body armor is a workout routine i designed for mixed martial arts and to keep your

upper body and core as strong as possible. building up muscle "Dense muscle" helps take

imparts from opponents and give you all around mid line strength.

Dumbbell shoulder press (3 sets of 6 - 8 reps)

Incline chest press (4 sets of 8 - 12 reps)

Flat flys ( 3 sets of 12 - 15 reps)

Roman chair crunches (3 sets till failure)

Russian twists (3 sets till failure)

Crunches (300 total, go until failure, take a deep breathe and go again)

Which Exercise is the Best?

Today while training i had a client ask me, "If i was asked to bench press a few months down the road, however, leading up to that day i don't have access to a bench press, would i be in trouble", great question. Lets break this down.

Flat Bench Press - moderate strength, moderate stability. As a movement it is a (no pun intended)  bench mark exercise. But could you go thru life never having access to a flat bench for bench press? Or  get everything you need out of a gym that doesn't have a bench press?

The answer is simply yes.

By breaking down the movement of the bench press and finding the strength and stability in other movement, you could become successful in achieving a decent bench press.

Smith Press - Using the smith press with a flat bench to achieve the movement of a bench press is strictly a strength movement and little to no stability. Remember that the bar is counter balanced and doesn't way 45 pounds by itself. Using this machine to train your chest for the strict movement of a bench press will have its benefits, but if faced with standard 45 pound bar that isn't restricted in its movement, you might find some issues with stability.

Machine Chest Press - The machine in the gym that you put the pin in the weight stack and continue until you can no longer lift anymore. This machine is a classic in a machine based gym. The movement isn't that natural and it won't prepare you by itself for a standard bench press.

Dumbbell Chest Presses -  You will find yourself doing this workout at some point and it will be harder that you think. You can no longer rely on a controlled weight stack or smith press. You now have to control the weight in the x,y and z axis with no assistance. But slowly but surely over the months you will find yourself putting up more and more weight. As you get stronger, without even knowing it, your shoulder stability and control of the weight becomes more and more efficient in the movement itself. But you won't get up the amount of weight you will find in a standard bench press.


Putting them all together. By using specific movements for their strongest traits, smith press for the movement, machine press for the strength, and dumbbells for its stability; you will be in good shape with enough training for any old school bench press. If you can do 70 pound dumbbell flat bench presses, you will be able to do 200 pounds or more on a flat bench.

Workout 6/21/2013

Walking lunges 20 lunges on each leg

rest 30 seconds

3 rounds

30 air squats

25 Max distance forward jumps

20 push ups

15 mountain climbers

10 burpees 

 rest 30 seconds

50 sit ups 

 

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

Consistancy > All other gym advice.

The fitness world is full of people talking up routines, diets, equipment, exercises, timing, attitude, etc. Shut the fuck up, go to the gym, and put some fucking work in. Nothing else is that important, and perfection in every other area will amount to fuck all if you leave out the consistent effort piece.

You can't out exercise a bad diet. you must eat consistently healthy food over the course of a week/month. You are allowed to eat something that isn't "Healthy" every now and then, but rarely.

Combining training and diet will lead to success in the fitness world 100% of the time. Is it hard work? yeah of course it is, but is it doable? absolutely.

"The death bed is coming for each and every one of us. Why waste any time doing things that will accelerate the process"

Today's Workout from Sealfit.com

Baseline: Pre-SOP and box breathing, then ROM Drills. 20 minutes of grinder PT.

Endurance: LSD run, ruck or swim.

Benchmark WOD: “Helen”. Complete 3 rounds for time:

• Run 400m
• 21x KB swings (53#/35#)
• 12x pull ups

Stay Strong, See you tomorrow - Mike