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! 

The Next Step, High Intensity Training (Turning Steal)

Do you know those exercises you hate to do? you should do more of those. 

Recently i was asked what the next step would be to see more gains. They had been seeing great results and they want to go further. This is a common question I hear quite often. As a personal trainer, my first response to someone would be to get some personal training with me of course. A personal trainer can restructure workouts and diet plans. There are a few tricks and tips i can share to help out the avid fitness buff looking to get more out of their workout.

Decrease your rest! Stop texting, facebooking, tweeting, and socializing in general. I understand that the gym is a great place to pick up girls or guy, but if a girl/guy sees you absolutely crushing a workout and focused, shoot them a smile. If all goes well they will slip you their phone number and leave it at that.

If you usually take a minute of rest between sets, take 45 seconds. If you aren't used to doing super-sets of multiple exercises, start incorporating them into your routine (back to back exercises with no rest).

Do core movements between other exercises to get your abs worked out while not spending more time in the gym. Doing this also keeps your heart rate up and you will get more out of your time in the gym.

Drop Sets are great for taking a good routine to the next level of training. Example: A set of hammer curls by itself can be a great exercise if you push yourself to keep good form and get enough reps and sets in. After you are about to fail with your set, pick up a lighter weight (5 - 10 pounds lighter) and do another set right away. and then take your rest. This can work for almost every exercise.

Diet is a big part of progress, if your trying to gain. Eating one more meal can make a big difference on how your body recovers and receives its energy. If you are trying to lose weight, tracking your calories and allocating calories per meal is an important way to make sure your not over eating on a meal to meal basis.

Hydration is something i assess with every client and anyone i give a fitness consultation too. It is just as important as whether or not they smoke or drink alcohol. Everyone can drink more water, even if its just a glass more per day.

Sleep is necessary for everyone in different ways. Getting enough sleep per night to rebuild and function is important for body builders. and maintaining a healthy sleep cycle is important for those trying to lose weight so they can get thru the day without napping and to keep a healthy metabolism.

Consistency is a defining mark of an individual looking to maximize their progress. 5 meals every day, enough water every day, working out on a regular basis and not eating the wrong foods on a weekly basis.

Once you have met most of these by yourself and you hit your next plateau is when you should consider getting a personal trainer. If you are unable to push yourself to achieve what was just laid out in this list, you should also get a personal trainer to push you to reach your goals.

Workout 7-10 (Turning Steal)

 5 Rounds of

Single Arm Flat Bench (12-15 reps on each side)

Rotating Shoulder press (12 - 15 reps)

Front plank (1 minute)

Drink some water

5 Rounds of

15 Walking Lunges (15 on each leg)

20m of max distance frog jumps

2 minute of Farmers carry (hold weight in right hand for one minute,

And then carry it for another minute in left hand)

5 minutes of continues ab work

If you can think of an ab exercise, 

do it until you cant anymore and then do the next one 

that comes to mind until the 5 minutes is up.

 - Mike

 

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

Consistancy, not quick what you think. Caveman Style.

When i say consistency is key, my clients get it confused sometimes. 

Diet and fitness: keeping up with a healthy balanced diet every meal of every day is what makes the   biggest amount of improvement in how people look and feel. I do allow cheat meals, not because people need them, but because we are all human and we like to enjoy certain things, some of which might not be the best diet choice.

       -Earn your cheat days: Before major eating holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter) i like to host workouts where my clients/friends/family have a chance to earn their meal and help make up for the massive amount of calories about to be eaten.

However, consistency to me also means keeping in touch with our ancient background. If something has worked for humans for hundreds of thousands of years, don't change it. Caveman had to chase down their food, kill it, and carry it home. This is the core to my training. My diet also revolves around what was available to humans for the majority of time compared to the recent discoveries of farming and the industrialization of food production.

What is the best choice for footwear?

In a recent law suit, sketcher's shape ups have been sued for causing injury in the feet, knees and hips of wearers. The "Ground breaking" design of the semi circle arch causes stress fractures to bones and increases stress on joints and forces them to move in a way they aren't meant to move. They also have been proven to not cause anymore benefit to the body than regular walking. Source

Barefoot Running: I don't care if you have to wear those silly looking nylon shoes/socks that are banned by most military branches, these are a better option for you than any other footwear. Decreasing the padding underneath ones foot causes them to run the way the body is supposed too (lightly heal striking is okay). We are lucky and cursed to have shoes to protect our feet, but in the process we have become used to landing heavily on our heals which is not very efficient for us.

"most proponents add, because landing near the front of the foot will require less oxygen and effort and allow you to push harder at any given speed and ultimately run faster or longer."

Live like a caveman/cavewoman the best you can, from your diet and fitness to how you travel from point A to point B. 

Caveman Workout

LSD Run or Swim (Long Slow Distance, how far you can travel in 1 hours worth of time at a moderate pace). 

Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes

5 pullups (or jumping pullups)

10 pushups

15 Air Squats. 

Note*If you fail to compete a round when the minute ends, just start right into pullups for the next round. 

Bonus -  if you had to cut some of the sets short, just make up the reps you missed out on at the end. Great bonus right?? 

Personal Trainer Mike

Fitness one step at a time. (From couch to Sisu Strength)

   A lot of people think of fitness as a destination and not the journey.

                

       With TV gimmicks like one pill a day and (30 Day, 60 Day, 90 Day) fitness plans, you would think people would ask; What do you do after the 90 Days? Rinse and repeat for the next 275 days of the year. This system of being unhealthy, getting "Fit", and then becoming unhealthy is a vicious cycle that is embraced by health marketers. 

Done with (any fitness DVD), start the next new BETTER one! or the old one again but with more intensity! 

Don't get me wrong, i love that people are trying to better their lives and take a step in the right direction. However, i want them to see these fad diets and workout plans as just that, a step and not the final destination. 

The ideal situation would be someone coming to me and telling me, "well i did this fitness dvd and it was good, but i don't know where to go from here". This is where a personal trainer gets to step in and show them alternative workouts and keep their intensity up.

Today's workout is the most important workout of the week

Go out grocery shopping with all the coupons you can find and i know there is a lot so no complaining that eating healthy is expensive if you just do some preparation. Get enough food to last you a week. Looking ahead to your week, determine if you have enough time in your day to prepare food at the time of you eating it, if not prepare your meals today. I usually prepare a few meals as a back up if something coming up.

The biggest set back i see for my clients and friends/family who are trying to get healthy is, "I ran out of time and grabbed what ever food i could while walking out the door". Well, you could prepare ahead of time to have a healthy substitute or even easier, don't buy and keep unhealthy food. Don't let your split second decision mess up your diet for the day, prepare for that moment of weakness and don't give yourself the option to grab something unhealthy. 

Here is a healthy option for a grab and go snack that you keep in your freezer to grab when you need it and prepare it when you have time! No Excuses! 

Mexican Paletas (Fruit Icepops)

And here is a simple recipe for a Paletas de Melon.

And other Paletas

Go have a healthy day. Monday's post will be up first thing in the morning.