Balance and Strength

Strength, Endurance, Conditioning and speed are only a few aspects of being in shape.  In reality, there are many more.  One of the most often neglected is balance.  Truth be told, we don't work on it a lot but our regimine adapts pretty well when we do.  Try this workout, it takes about 20 minutes.

First do sets of 5, then 6, then, 7, 8, 9 and finally 10 for the people with more time.  My lunch training class only got to 9.  It was enough.

Holding a single dumbbell (I used 40#, my team used a 30#) perform the following sequence.  This is generally called a "Dumbbell Complex" becaues you don't set the dumbbell down until you're finished with the sequence.

Standing on right foot

Dumbbell press (right arm)

back extensions (let weight hang down)

one leg negative squat (hold weight upright again, but use left foot to stand up only, use right foot only on the way down)

Now, switch to left foot and repeat all the above with dumbbell in left hand.

After that sequence, do pullups, then go back to top.

so your first set will look like this:
5 right dumbbell press, 5 right back extension, 5 one leg negative squat, 5 left dumbbell press, 5 left back extension, 5 one leg negative squat, 5 pullups.  Then on to 6....to 9.

Diet Spotlight - 4 hour body

Tim Ferris - (Four Hour Work Week).

This is probably one of the more interesting diets I've ever looked it.  It has most of my favorite components laid out in a simple plan.  As with all diets I question it's sustainability.  That point aside, a friend of mine from work is trying it out and has rapidly lost 10lbs of baby weight in about 3 weeks.  She both breastfeeding daily (that burns about 500 cals/daily) and is exercising twice a week using high-intensity techniques also from Tim Ferris (author of this eating plan).

Things I like
(1) real food
(2) organic, grass-fed beef
(3) unlimited vegetables
(4) slow carbohydrates in the forms of legumes*
(5) simple rules
(6) lean proteins
(7) cheat day!
(8) easy meal prep - due to simple meals

Things I don't like
(1) kinda boring - sustainable?
(2) low fat (this can be good or bad) fat tastes good!
(3) egg whites (almost) exclusively - my gripe here - egg whites are good for you YES, but 1/2 the protein in the egg is in the yolk and ALL the vitamins.

*this legume point is an interesting note here: though my other favorite diet (the paleo diet) does not permit legumes they are a part of the diet in the societies on earth who love the longest - they can't be all that bad.  So notwithstanding the research for the paleo diet, my personal "jury" is still out on them.  Tim includes them b/c carbs ARE energy.  Fast carbs are basically fat unless you're eating them after a workout (which he also includes here).

RULES for the 4 hour body.

2nd workout of the day

I love this style of working out.  It really jacks up the heart rate, increases your power output and generally wipes you out.

Once every 4 minutes for a total of 5 rounds do the following:

10 Sumo Deadlift High pull with 95 pounds total barbell
10 pullups
10 toes to bar
10 pushups
carry 40# dumbbell 100m

That set took roughly 2 minutes (my best time was 1:43, Taylor beat me at 1:41).  Use the remainder of the 4 minutes to rest (if you can call it rest :) )

easier version if you only have dumbbells:


10 Sumo Dead-lift High-pull with one dumbbell
10 arm haulers (see my old videos for demo)
10 leg lifts
10 pushups
carry that dumbbell 100m or hold it for 40 squats

Enjoy!
Brian

Another WaveReps workout - I almost had a mutiny

I took my afternoon crew through this one and they almost revolted against me.  It was the hardest they had done yet.

Rep rounds of 5-10-15-20-5-10 (left off 15, and 20 because we ran out of time)


Dips
Pullups
Jump Squats
overhead dumbbell press (2x30#)
upright rows (1x40#)

So the first round you do 5 of each, the second round you do 10 of each and so on.

18 minutes was the time to complete (skipping the last 15 and 20).

Train hard!
Brian

from uncomfortable to hard

Take a workout you do find easy and making it very hard can be just a few simple tweaks.  Change is a good friend for muscles.  Your body adapts quickly to changes in tempo, resistance, method, etc.

A favorite crossfit workout of mine is called "Cindy":

max rounds in 20 min of:
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 squats

I've reached 28 rounds on this one. Not saying that was "easy" just that I'm comfortable with the setup.  That means it's time for change!!  So I grabbed my lunchtime crew (I now have two separate classes - one during lunch MWF and one in the evenings M and Th) and tried this with them.

Max rounds in 20 min of:
5 weighted pullups (1x30# dumbbell)
10 diamond pushups
15 split jumps (count total jumps not each leg)

---that was a "gasper".  I only got to 14 rounds.  Actually a little disappointing for me but it felt good.

My crew did an easier version perhaps you would be interested.

Max rounds in 20 min of:
3 weighted pullups (1x30# dumbbell) NEGATIVE PORTION ONLY (partner assisted going up)
10 diamond pushups
15 lunges (total steps, not each leg)

Take care friends!
Brian

10 minutes, one exercise, what could go wrong?

Sometimes you work you way through the weekly workouts and you just want to focus on a single exercise.  Maybe you only have 10 minutes and you want to make it count.  Here is a great way to use that time.  The heart rate doesn't go high like some other things we do at thedailyfit.net but it will leave your legs quivering (if that's what you're looking for)

(1) pick a single exercise (my example is the squat)
(2) grab a pair of dumbbells that are basically hard for you (unless you're doing something like a pushup, then dumbbells are kinda silly)
(3) perform that movement 10 times in rapid succession
(4) immediately drop the weight to the ground (if weight is involved)
(5) immediately perform the same movement 10 more times using a 3/3 count (3 seconds down, 3 seconds up, no pause)
(6) repeat this every 2 minutes for 5 rounds.

Here is how I would normally write it out:

every 2 minutes for 5 total rounds do the following:
10 dumbbell squat 2x40#
10 slow squat (dry) using 3/3 count
rest remainder of 2 minutes.

Back at it

Most of my trainees have had some time off (hence the clock) for vacation and other things so I decided to go easy on them.  Just kidding.

This is a fun mix of exercises.  The intent as always is to build muscle and burn fat.  A recent study demonstrated the enzyme stimulated in our muscle "AMPK" is a master switch to burning fat for fuel.  Sounds good to me.  So here is another of that kind of workout.

Complete the following triplet 5 times.  But after each time you do it, select one of the below exercises to do.  Once you complete it, go back and do another of the triplet.  So I don't want you to do 5 rounds of the triplet at once, just one round and then the additional exercise.

Triplet:
10 pullups
20 pushups
30 squats

additional exercises (in between each triplet)
100m farmer carry 2x40#dumbbells
20 sumo deadlift high pull 95#
100 squats
20 weighted dips (30#)
20 weighted situps (20#)

My time was 14:55
Taylor was 15:00
Amalia finished 16:45

the body rewards effort

If you want results, you must work for it. There are no shortcuts, at lest not any legal ones.  Hard effort brings more results than light effort.  This is where most people say, "I thought walking burned more fat than running!"  It does but only WHILE you are doing it.  Run 1 mile - burn 120 cals; walk one mile burn 80 cals.  Which do you think will add up faster?  The body might burn less at that time but it will have to catch up later.  The payoff is more muscle, less fat and a longer life.  Any takers?

10 rounds of
10 1-arm row (hold pushup position with one arm and row with the other) 20# dumbbell EACH ARM
15 pushups
20 squats

my time: 15:20
2nd attempt (5 hours later using 25# each arm): 14:14

The transitions are tight on this one.  Your heart rate will be very high and you will probably have to rest a lot along the way.  Time yourself to complete it.  Try the workout again in a month.

Strategies for the New Year!

With the new year comes all kinds of ideas and schemes.  For the record, I have seen many so-called diets come and go in my short 35 years.  I have seen many "New Year's Resolutions" and a vast majority of them are dead by January 20th.  For every 5 people I see start P90X, 3 don't finish, 1 gets hurt by it and another  get results from it.  My strategy for most people is:

Lasting success is slow success.  So here are some things to start you off.


(1) focus on one simple exercise discipline.  If you are still doing it at the end of January then move on.
For example,  if you are doing nothing, start some walking or a simple workout a week.  Even one workout a week can cause beginners to gain muscle mass and lose fat.  Figure out what one or two days work with your schedule and start putting them in.  A simple 10 pushups (or knee pushups), 10 situps (or crunches) and 20 squats repeated 3-5 times will amount to a very good start for most people.  As you progress you can start to vary your workouts and increase your time.

(2) focus on one simple diet discipline.  For some people it might be simply drinking 2 glasses of water (16 ounces) 30 minutes before each meal.  This one small thing can cut nearly 100 cals out of each meal without you even trying.
Already doing that?  Try removing just soda from your diet.
Already doing that?  Try cutting out sugar.  Just doing this will help most people lose a good deal of weight.  It is not easy but pays long term rewards.
One of the new guys training with us said he is not drawn to sugar, but salty fat stuff.  To him I suggested shifting his bad fats to good fats.  Shift your usage away from the corn oil and the canola oil to coconut oil, olive oil, avocado.  Definitely remove fried foods. An excellent book for this is "Cook This, Not that" ($9.98).  The recipes are easy,  super good tasting and basically healthy but not to a fault.  It's not a book for "perfect" eating which most people can't do anyway.

(3) get enough sleep.  The average number of hours of sleep in the USA currently is 6.5.  Realing your life so you can move towards 8 hours.  Loss of sleep INCREASES APPETITE and SLOWS METABOLISM.  So by sleeping more you will give your body more rest (more health), eat less calories without even trying and burn more calories while you are awake.

If you are forging ahead of these there are lots more but keep it simple!  Examples: switch to foods with one ingredient, add another day per week of training, remove processed foods, increase green foods, add supplementation...

There are many more things, but work through these first so you are not overwhelmed.  Be blessed!
Brian