Training Archives - Page 2 of 28 • Share It Fitness

The Return of the Treadmill Interval Workout from Hell

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Training, Uncategorized, Weight loss 1 Comment

If you thought our first treadmill interval workout was tough…just wait…

It’s baaack.

The follow-up to our now infamous first treadmill interval workout is here, and it’s badder than ever. It’s been almost a year since our first treadmill interval workout hit the press but we heard you all loud and clear since then.

Hard didn’t even begin to describe it. Brutal? Getting closer.

The original was just plain ridiculous. It took many months of conditioning for some to even make it through the entire thing. But you know what? Those of you who stuck with it and made it an integral part of your training, realized just how good this workout was. This realization made itself known in the form of tight tummies, round butts, and a lean, toned appearance.

We got to thinking, it’s about time we put together a proper follow-up. After all, who can’t appreciate the simplicity of an entire workout consisting of just a treadmill. No running around the gym, giving evil eyes to anyone who looks like they’re about to grab that exercise ball you’re just 3 reps away from running over to use.

Just you and a treadmill.

We’re sticking to similar goals here; massive calorie burn (>800), dramatically increased EPOC, boosted metabolism, and a great 1-2 day a week workout that can quite easily slide right in with the rest of your current fitness plan. There’s a little twist this time however…

A Little Twist…

To really push things into higher gear, we’re going to do a little work in between some of our intervals. This time, we’re combining explosive plyometric movements with the treadmill work, to deliver one of the most intense lower body workouts you’ve ever seen. The combination of sprinting and jumping is going to do wonders for helping you build lean, shapely muscle across your lower body, while also ensuring your heart rate stays high, and your energy systems are depleted. By pushing yourself so far from your normal resting state, your body is going to have to work extra hard to bring you back to that pre-psycho workout state. This is where EPOC comes along and helps you continue to burn calories well after you leave the gym.

Real quickly, EPOC refers to the number of calories it takes to get your body back to that pre-exercise state. The further from that pre-exercise state you are, the more energy (calories) it’s going to take to get you back there.

As I mentioned last time, the speeds are suggested guidelines. Of course many of you won’t be able to run this fast at first..or even after a while. That’s okay. The speeds I’ve listed are appropriate for an experienced exerciser with well-established endurance.

Treadmill Interval Workout Part II

Without further adieu, let’s get right into it….

0-2:00 – Jog at 5 mph
2:10-10:00 – Alternate running each .2 mile interval at 7 mph and 10 mph.
10:10-12:00 – Lower speed to 3.5 mph, perform walking lunges, alternating legs.
12:10-13:00 – Run at 11.5 mph
13:10-15:00 – Lower speed to 5 mph
15:10-23:00 – Alternate running each .2 mile interval at 7 mph and 10 mph.
23:10-25:00 – Lower speed to 5 mph, perform side shuffles (think defensive stance in basketball)
25:10-27:00 – Turn around and shuffle, leading with the opposite foot.
27:10-30:00 – Alternate running each .1 mile interval at 7 mph and 10 mph.

30:00-40:00 – PLYO TIME! Hop off the treadmill and get ready to burn it out with some explosive jumping movements. I want you to perform the following circuit for 5 minutes total:

10 squat jumps/8 Russian lunges/rest 30 seconds.

For the next 5 minutes you’ll be doing this circuit:

10 twist jumps/8 mule kicks/rest 30 seconds

40:10-42:00 – Set speed to 5 mph, perform side shuffles
42:10-44:00 – Turn around and shuffle, leading with the opposite foot.
44:10-50:00 – Lower speed to 3.5 mph run/jog backwards
50:10-60:00 – Increase incline to 15%, run/jog at 4mph

Coil up like a spring and EXPLODE during the plyo portion of this workout…

That’s it – all done. Looking back at this workout, let’s check out what we’re doing here. We’re putting you through some hiit sprinting for distance, which I always find to be a bit more challenging than going for time. Next, we’re hitting your body with a fast side shuffle – something it surely isn’t used to. We keep mixing things up with different movements and speeds before we get into the real wildcard - 10 minutes of back-to-back plyometric circuits. Your legs are going to be jelly by this point, but keep going and make a conscious effort to EXPLODE through each plyo movement. We’ll finish things up with a little more shuffling, backwards running, and finally, burning things out with a strenuous 4mph hike at 15 degree elevation.

This treadmill interval workout is going to absolutely destroy your legs. You’ll probably have some serious soreness after this, so be sure to give yourself adequate rest before going back at it. Remember, this workout is designed to max out your fat burning potential, improve your endurance, and help build picture-perfect lower body muscle. When you need to step things up a notch, want a real kick in the pants, or really want to start making progress, give this treadmill interval workout. Just remember to thank us as soon as you’re finished cursing us.

P.K’s Marathon Journey: Healthy Carb Loading

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Dr. P.K. Newby Posted in Active Living, Healthy Eating, Nutrition, Recipes, Sport Training, Training Leave a comment

It’s been quite some time since I’ve provided a post over here, alas: occasionally life gets in the way of work, as I’m sure many of you know. In this case, all of my “free” time is going into marathon training. It’s getting close now, with less than six weeks until the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15. I’ve had two 20-milers already and I have one final, extra-long run coming up before the taper blessedly begins. I’m running to raise money for cancer research this year, and I’m pretty excited to be combining my fitness goals with a much larger goal than my own health: raising critical funds to support scientific research to help conquer cancer. My official page is here, in case you are interested in supporting this very worthy cause. (And, for more about this year’s marathon journey, here’s my first post on that topic ["Game On"] and, more recently, my Valentine’s Day post on chocolate, love, and running.)

Now, whether you are a runner like me or into some other sport or physical training, you are no doubt interested in optimizing your diet for overall good health and peak physical performance. A plant-based, nutrient-rich diet filled with vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats is definitely the way to go. (The big picture view of science-based dietary advice is here.) Dietary needs do shift a bit when fueling the body for a long race, however. Pasta and tomato sauce is the classic meal marathoners consume before their long runs, and it is indeed a good choice to boost your glycogen stores.

But is your pasta and sauce really as nutritious as it could be? Click here for the full article on healthy carb loading with my easy recipe for chunky, veggie-filled tomato sauce and whole grain pasta.

And, just to be clear, this is one of my favorite go-to dinners, even when I’m not training.

Dr. P. K. Newby is guest blogger and fellow fitness enthusiast who is currently training to run the Boston Marathon, her third. She is a nutrition scientist and educator with expertise in the prevention of obesity and chronic diseases through diet and the relations between agriculture, food production, and public health. She brings together her passions for food, cooking, science, and sustainability through her writing and videos to help people eat their way towards better health, one delectable bite at a time. To learn more, subscribe to her blog The Nutrition Doctor is In the Kitchen, become a fan on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, check out her food porn on Pinterest, or peruse her recipe page for fabulous soups, salads, seafood, sweets, and more.

The Med Ball Cardio Challenge: Intense Fat Burning Workout Video

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Strength Training, Training 2 Comments

An effective fat burning workout doesn’t need to be overly complex….just INTENSE.

With winter coming to a close, the annual flood of “Help! I’ve got to get in bikini shape by summer!” emails start rolling in. And like clockwork, I quickly dish out the same advice: Start doing high-intensity cardio/weight combination workouts to quickly burn the fat, kick your muscles into growth mode, and re-ignite that metabolism you’ve neglected for so long. Oh, and clean up your diet while you’re at it.

Simple in theory, but not always in practice. As a result, I decided to not only give ye faithful readers a cardio/weight fat burning workout, but give you one utilizing our pacer training approach. What the hell is pacer training? Well, pacer training is when you’re actively following along with your fitness instructor leading a workout, just like a group fitness class you’d take at a gym. We bring in one of our trainers, film them leading a workout from beginning to end, dictating the pace, intensity, and rest breaks….and you simply do your best to keep up with their intensity. The stands in stark contrast to throwing a list of exercises at you to complete, and hoping you bring the intensity that we’d like to see. By training with a real-life person, whose actively encouraging and guiding you, we’re able to increase the fat burning potential of this workout, because we’re able to better control your speed and intensity. Remember, a fat burning workout is only as good as the intensity you put forth….and believe me, the intensity in today’s workout is KILLER.

Now that we’re clear on what pacer training is and why it’s effective, let us get into why you’re really here…

You want to burn some fat, build some muscle, and get your body beach ready in a hurry right? Well, as mentioned above, performing high-intensity combo workouts will help you get there in a hurry. Today’s video workout is right up this alley and will serve as a good routine to follow 1-2x a week, in conjunction with additional HIIT cardio and/or a heavy compound lift workout.

The Minimalistic Fat Burning Workout

Beach season is just around the corner…time to amp up the intensity of your workouts and burn that winter weight!

The Med Ball Cardio Challenge is, unsurprisingly, just as the name indicates. You’re not going to need a ton of fancy equipment, or even a whole lot of room for this one. Our trainer, Sharon Blair uses a medicine ball (feel free to substitute a dumbbell if that’s all you have) and some killer body weight movements to really jack up your heart rate, slash through calories, and burn out your muscles.

Sharon quickly moves from one fat burning exercise to the next, keeping rest breaks short in an effort to maximize your caloric burn. Because of this high-intensity format, the workout isn’t going to drag on forever. This serious fat burning workout can be completed in just under half an hour, provided you’re mirroring Sharon’s pace. If you’re looking to really push yourself, consider running through this workout for one or even two more rounds.

So what are you waiting for? You want to start getting beach ready, right? Give the Med Ball Cardio Challenge a shot today and I think you’ll find it’s something you end up including in your overall fitness plan. For those of you who have never tried pacer training, get ready to really get pushed to the max. Just like having a real-life trainer pushing you, use Sharon as your guide, and let her motivate you to keep going. We’ve gotten a ton of positive comments and results from other pacer training workouts, so give this one a go and get yourself back onto the track of success.

Ready to get going? Click here to start the Med Ball Cardio Challenge!

The Share It Fitness Guide to Becoming a Cold Blooded (Fat) Killer

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Training, Weight loss 1 Comment

The only thing standing between you and a lean, fit body, is your approach…

Think of all the people you’ve known over the years who were trying to lose weight. Ballpark estimate; how many of them actually a) lost all of the intended weight and b) keep that weight off for good. Think it’s 50%? 25%? 10%? Studies detailing how many people actually reach their weight loss goals are all over the map. Rather than debate the merits of some arbitrary stats, I’m going to sum things up pretty simply:

Most people NEVER reach their weight loss goals!

This isn’t shocking. In fact, you probably already knew this.

Most of the people you and I know, who talk about wanting to lose weight go through a four-step cycle

Decide to lose weight
Start exercising
Lose the “easy” pounds before watching progress stall
Lose motivation, quit, repeat step 1 in 4-6 months.

Of course, there are those who actually lose the weight, before putting it all back on in a matter of weeks or months. These people go back to step one in 6 months to a year.

The Common Denominator

You’re probably asking yourself (and if you aren’t, you should be) what do all of these people have in common? Well aside from missing out on their weight loss goals, they share one very important characteristic. They simply have not taken a calculated approach to weight loss.

If they were doing things correctly, they should have squeezed in one little important step between step one and two above. Once you’ve made the decision to lose weight, you’ve got to take the time to carefully plan HOW you’re going to accomplish things. Glossing over this part, and diving in to the exercise part is setting yourself up for failure. Most people get the immediate gratification of losing the “easy” pounds once they begin exercising, but the well of easy weight loss dries up quickly. Once the going gets tough, their lack of a calculation is exposed, their progress comes to a screeching halt, and their motivation evaporates. I don’t need to go on about what happens next.

Doing Things the Healthy Way

First, let’s understand what we mean by weight loss. I’m assuming most of you don’t want to lose muscle mass, right? So we’re actually talking about fat loss. You want to burn off the excess fat you’re holding on to. Whether you’re 100 pounds overweight or sitting at 20% body fat and want to move into fitness model territory, the planning phase will be similar. What you’ll actually be doing will vary drastically, but the game planning will remain closely related.

That said, there’s a huge difference between someone with a ton of body fat to lose and someone at a healthy weight, but wants to do something about that “soft” appearance. You need to remember, your primary concern should be FAT loss…not the number on the scale. While the person with a ton of weight to drop may want to use the scale as a benchmark to start, the person who is already in relatively good shape and just wants to tighten, needs to not concern themselves with lowering the number on the scale. Your primary goal is to decrease your body fat percentage by conversely increasing your percentage of lean muscle mass. Make sense? Check this out:

This is a picture of our buddy Dave Thomas, co-owner of the Performance 360 gym in San Diego….and THIS is exactly why the scale doesn’t matter. Same weight, but HUGE difference in appearance.

Doesn’t matter if you’re a man or woman. A 130 lb body with 25% body fat is going to look way different from a 130 lb body with 15% body fat. Remember this when you skip meals in hopes of seeing the number on the scale drop the next time you step on. The number is dropping because you’re losing muscle mass…not necessarily fat.

One last thing I want you to keep in mind…assuming you have only a modest amount of weight to lose, you simply can not burn more than two pounds of body fat a week without sacrificing muscle gains. Forget the faddy diets and nonsense fitness plans that promise you’ll “Lose 40 pounds in 4 weeks!” .

Keep building muscle. Keep lowering your body fat percentage. These are your goals. Your reward? Watching your physique and health improve like you never thought possible. Respect BOTH parts of the body improvement equation and you’ll have much greater long-term success.

Where Do You Currently Stand?

First, you need to determine where you currently stand. To simplify things, I’m going to provide the following three classifications to help you figure out where you’re at TODAY.

Person A: Out of shape, never or infrequently exercise, >40lbs to lose.
Person B: Slightly below average, exercise 1-2 times per week, 20-40 pounds to lose.
Person C: Average, exercise 2-3 times per week, 10-20 pounds to lose.
Person D: Active, exercise 3-5 times per week, < 10 pounds to lose/no weight to lose but want to tone and tighten up.

In reality, most people probably share characteristics from several of the above classifications. Bottomline, you know where you stand better than anyone else. Accurately asses this and begin adopting workouts that are appropriate for your current abilities. Look for ways to push yourself out of your comfort zone and don’t be afraid of failure. If you never have a workout that you can’t fully complete, you’re not going hard enough.

Already, you have an understanding about what healthy fat loss truly means, you’ve assessed where you currently stand, and you’re just itching to get going. Now comes the fun part. This is where you start planning your roadmap to success…or in other words, the workouts that are going to get you to where you need to be.

Get Ready for Serious Fat Loss

Remember above I said the planning phases are largely the same, but the direction you take will be dependent on where you currently stand? What I’m laying out below would be applicable to person C and D…and quite possibly even person B, from the examples above. If you are drastically out of shape and have a ton of weight to lose, the following recommendations may be a bit too intense to start with. Don’t worry though, we’ve got you covered if you’re just looking to ease into something and get that fat loss train moving. Start here, and progress accordingly.

Determine Your Schedule

First and foremost, figure out how many days a week you can commit to working out. Be honest with yourself. If you can only commit to three days a week, make the most of those three days. Personally, I recommend four to five days of exercise with another couple of hours each week participating in an active hobby of your choice.

Learn about active hobbies and how they can dramatically improve your chances of achieving long-term weight loss success.

Once you’ve got your schedule determined, it’ll make planning your workouts so much easier. When it comes to workouts, I don’t think there is a silver bullet out there that will work 100% of the time for 100% of the people on them. Doesn’t matter if it’s P90X or something you found here on Share It Fitness. Personally I find those with the best success are doing a variety of workouts which utilize several different fitness methods. An effective fitness program may take some components of HIIT, metabolic conditioning, and some intense plyometric work, and roll them into one killer routine. Then again, what works for one person may not necessarily work for another. Because of this variation, having a seasoned professional create a personalized fitness program for you specifically, is almost always going to be the best route.

Customized fitness programming is something we’ll be starting at Share It Fitness in the near future, so if you’d like to be alerted when the beta version of FitPlan becomes available, leave a comment below and we’ll put you on our list.

Determine Your Workouts

For those of you chomping at the bit and want to get started immediately, check out the guidelines below. Again, this is for the slightly-out-of-shape to in-shape-but-wanting-to-tighten-up individual.

Two 30-minute HIIT cardio sessions. Vary sprinting with biking.
Two power lift sessions (see day 1/2 of Speed/Power plan)
One complex barbell workout
Three 10 minute “finisher” workouts
One plyometric cardio workout
One jump rope workout (see Iron Man workout)

Wondering how I fit all of this into a five-day schedule? Have a look:

Day 1: Power lift session #1 followed by 30 minutes HIIT cardio. Total gym time: 1 hr 15 minutes.
Day 2: Jump rope workout followed by 10 minute finisher workout #1. Total gym time: 45 minutes.
Day 3: REST/Yoga (my active hobby)
Day 4: Power lift session #2 followed by 10 minute finisher workout #2. Total gym time: 1 hour.
Day 5: 30 minutes HIIT cardio followed by 10 minute finisher workout #3. Total gym time 40 minutes.
Day 6:REST
Day 7: Complex barbell workout followed by plyometric cardio workout. Total gym time: 1 hour 15 minutes.

This type of set up would have you actively ”working out” 5 days a week for a grand total of 4 hours and 55 minutes…which is just slightly less than 3% of your entire week. Not asking too much of you, is it?

Looking Ahead

Every six to ten weeks I’ll re-evaluate things and mix up the workouts I’m doing. Maybe I’ll include a different plyometric routine or vary the exercises in my power lift sessions. Sometimes I’ll go in a complete opposite direction and include some different stuff like pilates workouts in place of a jump rope workout. It all depends on how I’m progressing and how my body is responding.

The one constant to remember however….ALWAYS be looking to increase the weight of your exercises. Shoot for a modest 5% increase in weight used every 2 weeks or so. Some people will call for a faster increase. Personally, I find shooting to bump things up every half a month or so will allow for a safe and steady progression. This is how you avoid hitting plateaus and falling into that cycle to nowhere.

Fat Loss Recap

The main takeaway from all of this is you’ve got to take a calculated approach to your fat loss goal. You can’t go out there without a plan and assume you’ll continue making progress indefinitely (this is assuming you make any progress to begin with).

Identify your current abilities. Identify what you want to achieve. Identify how you’ll achieve it. Monitor your progress. The last two parts are the most important, so check out the detailed description of them below…

Design a fitness plan (or have a professional design one for you) that will help you reach your identified goal AND is appropriate for your current fitness level.
If on your own, pick out workouts based on how many days and hours you can commit to working out.
Physically write down which workouts are on which days of the week. This way you’ll walk into the gym already knowing what you’ll be doing.
Chart the weights used for each exercise every few days so you know when it’s time to bump things up.
Mark down when you’ve started a new workout so you’ll be aware how long you’ve been doing the same thing.

This is the fat loss approach that works. It’s unfortunate so few people take this approach, because they are missing out on the satisfaction and benefits of achieving a beautiful and healthy body. No matter where you are, you can achieve your goals as long as you take a calculated approach. Stay focused, stay hungry, and good things are sure to be coming your way.

Triple Threat Training: A New Workout Method for Better, Faster Gains

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Strength Training, Training, Weight loss 5 Comments

Triple Threat Training is a new workout method that’s already creating a buzz.

Finding ways to boost your motivation and stay engaged with what you’re doing should be at the core of your fitness being. When your workouts become too predictable, that burned out feeling takes over your mind. Slowly but surely, it begins devouring your motivation and sapping you of your energy. This in turn leads to the deadly cycle of missed workouts and “I can just do it tomorrow” mentality. You want to make noticeable, sustained progress? You’ve got to avoid this goal-killing cycle and find ways to keep your motivation high. One great one to keep motivation high is including new workout methods into your training plan from time to time.

Before we go any further, I want you to ask yourself something. How are you currently working out? How long have you been working out this way? If you’re like most people, you’re probably on something like the routine listed below..and have been for quite a while…

Monday: Upper body weight training
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Lower body weight training
Thursday Cardio

……and so on….

This type of training can be very effective, but it can also get extremely boooringgg. Knowing you’ve got that 5 mile run or 40 minutes of HIIT training after a long day of work doesnt drum up a lot of excitement in most people. Over time, the runs start seeming longer and the lifts more like a chore. Back when you started this training format, you were probably full of excitement and anticipation of a new workout routine. As time dragged on, the novelty faded, the gains slowed down, and your perception of this once new and exciting workout routine changed. It never ceases to amaze how much power perception plays in all of this. When we perceive things to be new, effective, and exciting, we’re so full of motivation. When they become more like a dreaded chore at the end of a long day, it’s no wonder we start skipping workouts and giving up all the progress we fought so hard for.

Not only that, but when you’re split training as mentioned above, you’re only impacting ONE aspect of your fitness on each training day. In this case, you’ll train your upper body maybe once or twice a week, while your cardio is getting done at most three times a week. Sound about right?

Personally, I cycle my training on and off. I’ll train in the manner listed above for a month or two, then completely change gears and go with something totally different. That “totally different” is what I’m going to show you today.

A New Workout for a New You…

In an effort to not only keep things fresh, but allow you to jump-start your progress, I want to introduce something I call Triple Threat Training. Triple Threat Training is all about including three aspects of exercise in one workout. Working in this format accomplishes several things standard split training (usually) cannot…

Allows for more training each week. Short intense sessions allow you to hit muscles more frequently than standard split weight training routine does.
Increases metabolism and calorie burning potential more than a standard HIIT/weight training split can.
More diverse workouts mean less predictability and typically, sustained motivation.

Who is Triple Threat Training ideal for?

Those looking for an increased rate of fat loss.
Someone with a moderate level of fitness ability and are looking to develop that athletic/”toned” appearance
Someone stuck on a plateau or for those people who feel they’ve tried everything and still can’t lose the last few pounds.
Anyone looking to increase athletic performance and/or need to train for a race/event.
This new workout method delivers big results to those who stay committed…

Triple Threat Training is a new workout method I developed for myself several years ago. Like other training methods, it works best when you cycle it on and off and don’t stick to it for too long. I like to train exclusively in this format for 6-8 weeks before changing gears and going with something different. Nonetheless, I’ve come back to Triple Threat Training several times over the last few years and find that it’s one of my favorite ways to workout. It provides that motivational spike I’m looking for, while delivering fast and steady gains while I’m on the plan.

How It Works

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Triple Threat Training combines three corresponding exercises into one monster combination interval. We start with one power/explosive cardiovascular movement, follow it up with a more finesse-based cardio movement, then finish out the combination with a strength exercise designed to affect multiple muscle groups at one time, while also allowing for a period of “active rest”. By using active rest, we are able to do more work in the same amount of time. With Triple Threat Training, we’re not stopping for 60-90 seconds after each set; we’re pushing through and minimizing the time we spend standing around catching our breath or letting our muscles recuperate. We’re also not counting reps, we’re strictly going for time. I’ll usually set an interval timer, and listen for the beeps. It really is a very simple way of training. Because things are precisely calculated, each training session is either 36 or 45 minutes long (difference is explained below).

Timed Intervals

(:30/:30/:30) Beginner/Intermediate
(:30/:60/:30) Advanced
30 second rest after each three-exercise combination

This is the difference between a 36 or 45 minute workout. If you’re better conditioned, opt for the :30/:60/:30 format, which includes one minute of a finesse cardio movement, instead of the standard 30 seconds. Other than that, the workouts are identical and should provide a serious challenge, regardless of what your fitness ability currently is.

I’m going to break down each combination, tell you exactly what equipment you’ll need, and then briefly explain how to perform the movements. If you’re unclear about things, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to get back to you.

Triple Threat Combo #1

Equipment needed: Bench/Box and jump rope (fast jumps in place if no jump rope).

Notes: Set up a bench, and jump up and onto the bench. Pause, and jump straight off, to the opposite side. Turn around and repeat. Without break, go right into jump roping or quick jumps in place if you don’t have a rope. From here, get down and dirty and start those hindu push ups. Take 30 seconds rest after your hindu push ups, then repeat 2 more times for a total of 3 rounds.

Bench Jump Over and Back/Jump Rope/Hindu Push Ups

Triple Threat Combo #2

Equipment needed: Dumbbells or anything you can plant your hands on for split pikes.

Notes: We’re going with the explosive squat jump to slowly bump your heart rate, but primarily burn out your legs, before taking things to the ground. We’ll be working the posterior chain as well as driving that heart rate up further with the crabs kicks. From there, you’ll prop yourself up and perform split pikes for the final 30 seconds of work.

Squat Jumps/Crab Kicks/Split Pikes

Triple Threat Combo #3

Equipment needed: Bench or box.

Notes: Powerful lateral bench hops morph into high knees, which end with a set of dips on the bench as you catch your breath and burn out of your triceps.

Lateral Bench Hops/High Knees/Bench Dips

Triple Threat Combo #4

Equipment needed: Barbell.

Notes: Perform long jumps by simply squatting down and taking the longest jump possible. Stop, turn around, and repeat. Don’t use any momentum or take a “running start”. On breakdowns, make sure you really move your feet in between the “sprawl” to the ground. Focus on your footwork and quickly transitioning from a fast burst of running in place to getting parallel to the ground, as seen in the video link below. With the hang snatch, keep a straight back and do your best not to lean forward or hunch over while performing the exercise.

Long Jumps/Breakdowns/Hang Snatches

Triple Threat Combo #5

Equipment needed: BOSU.

Notes: We’re incorporating a BOSU here to really tax those stabilizer muscles and give things a different look. As always, move from one exercise to the next as quickly as possible and do your best to only rest at the end of each combination. This is a very taxing three-exercise combination, so don’t get discouraged if you can’t make it all the way through.

BOSU Trifecta’s/BOSU Jumps/BOSU Climbers/

Triple Threat Combo #6

Equipment needed: Plate or other sort of weight.

Notes: For those that are unfamiliar with shuttle runs, it’s simply a quick sprint, no more than 10 yards in length. To be most effective, walk off 20-30 feet, and sprint each section, only slowing down to touch the ground, before turning and repeating the run. Finish things strong with the tricep press, using the plate or weight used for the weighted speedskaters in the first part of this combination.

Weighted Speedskaters/Shuttle runs/Tricep Press with Leg Lift

The great thing about these workouts is the potential to mix-and-match a variety of exercises to create effective routines. This is simply one of about a half a dozen Triple Threat Workouts I’ve put together. While there is no exact list of which exercises can and cannot be used to make up a Triple Threat Workout, these are simply ones that I’ve used myself and have gotten great results from. If you try to design your own workout, it’s important to keep a few things in mind….

Utilize a strength movement that allows you to catch your breath or “actively rest”.
Cardiovascular movements should ideally work different aspects of the lower body.
Triple Threat Workouts should have a clear focus so they can be effectively paired with other Triple Threat Workouts with differing focuses to avoid over training.

Depending upon your goals, mixing in 2-3 of these Triple Threat Workouts a week may be just what you need to take things to the next level. This new workout format should help sustain or even relight that motivational fire and keep you on the track to success for many months to come.

If you’re liking what you see and still want more, be sure to LIKE US on Facebook, where we’ll be posting the rest of our Triple Threat Workouts in the near future.

The Single Best Exercise For a Total Body Transformation Is…

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Matt Posted in Strength Training, Training 3 Comments

Get ready to experience the best exercise for a total body transformation.

What if I were to tell you there was a single exercise that did as much for alleviating back pain and improving your posture as it did for cutting up your abs and helping you build strong, beautiful muscle across your entire body? Would you be interested in hearing more?

While you may often hear the deadlift or squat is the best total body exercise, these movements often exacerbate back and posture problems, given their high risk factors when performing them. Even with proper form, it’s easy to tweak something when trying to up the weight with these movements. Still great movements, and I perform them personally, but if I were looking for something to build my entire body while helping to specifically improve my core foundation and posture, I’d go for something else.

This super exercise carries less risk than squats or deadlifts, and can be performed at a higher pace, thereby providing a cardiovascular element as well. Build muscle, burn fat, improve the functionality of your body….essentially transform your entire body with one amazing movement. This is why I (and so many other people) consider it to be the single best exercise out there….

This Best Exercise Is…

With that in mind, I’m pleased to introduce you to the kettlebell swing.

Why can the kettlebell swing be considered one of the best exercise for improving your entire body? Let’s take a look..

Lighter loads = less risk. I’ve seen wayyy too many people overload on a deadlift or squat and push their lower back past it’s limit. The higher loads associated with these exercises makes them hard to perform correctly, and open the door to serious injury. Since a kettlebell swing is performed by one burst of acceleration, rather than slowly pushed into place like a squat is performed. Given the nature of this type of movement, it’s nearly impossible to overload on a kettlebell swing.

It will help you make better and faster muscular gains. Your core muscles protect your spine. They help support the spinal column and keep things aligned. When performing a movement like kettlebell swings, the abdominals become actively engaged and tighten. Here’s why…

Put your hand over your belly. Next, slowly breath out as you would while doing a slow pushing movement, like a squat. What’s that feel like? Your core doesn’t feel very tight or engaged. Now, put your hand back on your belly and exhale strongly and sharply, as you would during a quick, intense movement, like a box jump. Your core tightens up and engages.

The nature of the kettlebell swing causes your core to become more engaged, thus strengthening the area of your body. As noted above, your core provides support for your spine. When the brain senses the core is stabilized, you are able to generate more power. More power means you’re lifting more weight on a variety of exercises. More weight means you’re making better and faster muscular gains.

It will improve your posture. When performed correctly, a kettlebell swing workout will dramatically improve your posture and alleviate lower back pain. Here’s why…

Renowned spinal biomechanics professor, Dr. Stuart McGill discovered a movement, such as the kettlebell swing, actually reverses posterior strain on the discs in the lower back (L4/L5). (1) Performing other posterior chain exercises (exercises targeting muscles on the “back” of your body) such as back raises, deadlifts, or goodmornings can magnify lower back problems. Given the “opening up” of the lower back while performing a movement like the kettlebell swing, pain may actually be reduced and help lengthen and align your spine, thus improving your posture concurrently.

It will RIP. YOU. UP. And I mean this in a good way. The kettlebell swing targets muscles in your core (noted above), as well as your glutes, quads, hamstrings, and other smaller hip, ankle, and knee stabilizing muscles and tendons. It doesn’t stop there; on the downward motion of the kettlebell swing, your shoulders will come into play as you control the negative portion of the lift. Simply put, you’re training the way an athlete does. Fatiguing major muscle groups, strengthening stabilizer muscles, and getting the benefits of the “negative” lift. Remember, training like an athlete will have you looking like an athlete with just a bit of consistency.

It’ll make you more flexible. As mentioned above, the kettlebell swing will strengthen and stretch stabilizing muscles and tendons. In particular, the nature of this movement will target the oft neglected IT bands and piriformis. By stretching things out here, you’ll generate greater hip flexbility, thus allowing you to generate more power on a variety of exercises, while also protecting you from injury. Not to mention, a tight set of hips and piriformis muscle is often responsible for that nagging lower back pain you think is the result of sitting in a chair all day. While sitting all day might not help, a little stretching of these bodily components could do you a world of good.

It’ll help you lose that spare tire. I particularly love strength exercises that can be slightly modified to include a cardiovascular component. Unlike deadlifts or squats (doing deadlifts fast is a big no-no), the kettlebell swing is an explosive movement that can be used to increase your heart rate as well as muscular fatigue.

By going slightly lower on the weight, but making sure to still maintain proper form, you’ll be able to perform a higher number of repetitions in faster succession. Instead of doing sprints for 30 seconds on/30 seconds off, try performing kettlebell swings. You’ll get all the great muscle-building/core stabilizing benefits as mentioned above, along with the fat burning, metabolism boosting benefits of high-intensity cardio. It really is the best of both worlds.

At this point, I bet you’re just itching to get going. Here’s where you start…

Set the kettlbell squarely in front of you. Bend your knees, while lowering your hips, making sure they stay in line.
Grip the kettlebell with both hands. With your weight on your heels, rip the kettlebell behind you, as if you were snapping a football between your legs.
Just as the kettlebell begins to move forward, explode with your hips. Drive your hips up and come to a standing position, kettlebell at chest height.
At the height of the swing, you should be tightening your core, keeping your spine long and neutral, while squeezing the glutes and “opening” up your lats.
Control the kettlebell throughout the negative portion of the movement and return between your legs to the “hike” position described in step 2.
Repeat.

Check out the beginning of a kettlebell swing below…

From start position to the “hike” between your legs.

The second half of the movement is as follows….

Driving hips up you reach maximum height, before returning back to the “hike” position, before repeating.

Give this a practice either with a very light kettlebell or no weight at all to start. Get your form down first before attempting to “workout” with the kettlebell swing.

Kettlebell Swing Workout

Now that you’ve got your form squared away, you probably want to know how to best use this awesome new exercise you’ve got in your arsenal. The workout below uses the double-handed kettlebell swing and is designed to jack up your metabolism, build athletic and lean muscle across your body, while burning maximum calories.

3 x 10 KB Swings (30 seconds rest between sets)
3 x 12 KB Swings (decrease weight by 10-15%, 20 seconds rest between sets)
3 x 16 KB Swings (decrease weight by another 10-15%, 20 seconds rest between sets)
2 x 24 KB Swings (decrease weight by another 10-15%, 10 seconds rest between sets)

From here, go back up the ladder, starting with 2 x 24 KB swings until you finish with 3 x 10 KB swings at the heaviest weight.

Check back next week when we give you a serious fat burning/muscle-building two-exercise combination workout using kettlebell swings and an equally amazing body weight only plyo movement designed to strip away body fat faster than anything you’ve ever tried!

Still not convinced the kettlebell swing is the best exercise out there? Comment below and tell us what you consider to be the best exercise for transforming the entire body!

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(1): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21997449

The 6×6 Mind, Body, and Soul Workout

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, General Health, Self Improvement, Strength Training, Training, Weight loss Leave a comment

Improve your mind, body, and soul to unlock your true potential.

Several weeks ago, I was bouncing around the web, checking out a few new health and fitness sites that had been recommended to me. I was just casually scoping things out, looking for a little inspiration, when suddenly, something hit me. Maybe it was the 16th article titled “Lose the Belly Fat Fast!” or the random blog commenter asking what she needs to do to look like Victoria Beckham (seriously? you want to look like a pipe cleaner with fake boobs?), but whatever it was, it was clear; fitness content around the web is losing sight of the big picture.

It seems like more and more these days, people are demanding, and creators are producing, content that is geared towards the superficial. It’s all about how can I look better. Now, before we go any further, I’ll admit, wanting to look good is not in and of itself a bad thing. If that’s what motivates you to get off your butt and go to the gym, so be it. Personally, it’s a big factor in what dictates my intense regimen. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good. But from a content creator side of things (you know, the person or people who are producing the workouts and fitness articles you’re reading) we’re doing you a disservice by not paying attention to all aspects of your being.

At least around here, I think I do a pretty good job of trying to balance posts that are….a bit superficial in nature, shall we say (Anyone Want a Bubblicious Butt?), with others that conveys important physiological health and wellness information (Why the Number on the Scale Doesn’t Matter). But the truth of the matter is, if you stumbled upon only one of our articles, you might not get the full picture of what we’re all about. I truly want to help you from top to bottom, while getting you into the best shape of your life, both inside and out. With that in mind, I got to work on the a plan that respects all aspects of your health; mind, body, and soul.

This mind, body, and soul workout is unlike anything else you’ll find on Share it Fitness. It takes a three-pronged approach towards you and your health. Not only is it focused on improving your health and aesthetics (things like flattening your stomach, toning your arms, etc) but it strives to strengthen your mind and nourish your soul. This was a bit of a challenge. How can a workout really improve your soul? Well, it took some careful thinking, a little consulting with a couple of yogi’s I know, but I think we successfully put together something that achieves all three goals.

The workout I created is tough, both physically and mentally. The physical aspect of the workout I’m about to share with you takes more than strength or endurance; it takes determination and will-power. You’ll quickly figure out if you have the will-power to make it through this workout, let alone, stick with it over an extended period of time. This is where the mental aspect comes into play. Far too often, workouts are created like a grocery list. You start at the top, perform each exercise, and move on. There isn’t enough structure to push you to your limits. With this workout, exercises are carefully balanced and rest times precisely placed to give you that “I don’t know if I can make it through this entire workout” feeling. That feeling is what builds mental toughness. Strong mental tenacity is at the core of almost every one of those insanely fit (and insanely healthy) people, so many of you are striving to be.

As mentioned, I wanted to delve a little deeper and design something that took a more holistic approach to your health and wellness. Those yogi friends of mine helped me put together a guided meditation practice that will feed your soul, just as the physical aspect of this workout feeds your body and physical well-being. By using meditation and learning how to turn your thoughts inward, you’re able to channel your energy and come away a stronger, happier, and healthier person in the long run.

Now, on to the workouts….

Working the Mind, Body, and Soul

The Mind and Body

The workout format is as follows:

Two strength exercises followed by one cardio exercise (in bold). Each exercise consists of 36 repetitions, broken up into 6 sets of 6 repetitions. On strength exercises, shoot to use a weight that is roughly 10-20% heavier than you would for a standard 3 sets of 10 repetition format. For example, if you typically perform 3 sets of 10 reps on bench press with 100 pounds, bump it up to 110-120lbs for 6 x 6. Only decrease weights if you are losing your form and/or unable to reach the full 6 repetitions in later sets.

What makes this workout so hard is the strict rest times. We’re going to overload the muscle, so be sure to abide by the times listed. Wear a watch, keep an eye on the clock on the wall…do whatever you have to do. Continue to push and don’t let those rest breaks deviate from what is indicated below.

Shoot to perform this workout two times a week to start. Feel free to continue with any additional cardiovascular or strength training you’re currently doing. Just be sure you aren’t over training sore muscles; give yourself a solid 48 hours between strength workouts.

6 x 6 Smith Machine or Barbell Squats, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Box Jumps (perform tuck jumps if no box/bench available), 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Bent Over Rows, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Bench Press, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Burpees, 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Pull Ups (do dead hangs if you can’t do pull ups), 20 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Lat Pulldowns, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Twist Jumps, 10 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Farmer Walks (holding dumbbells in both hands, walk the length of the room; ~10 feet = 1 repetition). 30 seconds rest between sets.
6 x 6 Curl Press, 30 seconds rest between sets
6 x 6 Russian Lunges, 10 seconds rest between sets

The Soul

With the physically tough stuff out-of-the-way, we’re going to now turn our attention to nourishing your soul. A lot has been written about mindfulness and the physical benefits derived from meditation. Meditation transcends the physical and improves the things you simply cannot measure. Learning to meditate, clear your mind, and channel your energy within yourself can help you become a happier, more thoughtful human being, and open up new doors within the mind.

I’m not going to lie, meditation is hard if you’re brand new to the practice. My first attempt at meditation didn’t exactly go as planned. What was supposed to be a 30 minute meditation session turned into a two and a half hour nap, as I awoke to find myself sprawled out on the ground. Needless to say, I got a little too relaxed. To avoid running into issues of your own, we’re going to have you start slowly. For your “soul training” you’re only going to mediate for six minutes at a time, six days a week. That’s it. Six, short minutes.

6 x 6 Meditation Practice

Originally, I wanted to lay out a different meditative focus for each of the six days. The yogi’s, knowing better, suggested I leave that part to the individual. Following their direction, I’m simply going to list some meditative options that I think you may find interesting. Feel free to come up with your own if none of the below appeal to you.

Our precious human life
Death and impermanence
Remembering the kindness of living beings
Wishing love

For a full list, check out some others I found on this website.

Some other options I personally find beneficial:

Envisioning yourself attaining a goal
How to become a better human being
A particular teaching from your preferred religion, if applicable.
Nothing at all - keeping a clear and open mind, allowing thoughts to calmly flow in and out, like a wave on the shore.

Remember, when you meditate, try to keep all of your thoughts and energy on that ONE focus. While outside influences and thoughts may invade your mental space, do not fight them. Recognize them for what they are, allow them to come in, before allowing them to slowly fade away. Do not grasp on to them or attempt to banish them. Just realize this is all part of the process. Over time, your ability to stay focused and present in the moment will increase, as well as your ability to increase the length of your meditation sessions. Do what’s right for you and proceed with your “soul training” as you see fit.

This mind, body, and soul workout is probably unlike anything you’ve ever attempted. I’m a true believer that incorporating the unfamiliar and potentially uncomfortable into our lives is how we achieve maximal growth. This powerful workout plan is designed to help you improve your body, mind, and soul with a carefully constructed method that uses a holistic approach to improving you as a human being, inside and out. Use all, or parts of it as you see fit, and be ready and open to experience change like you never thought possible.

Seven Fat Burning Workouts to Slim You Down and Tighten You Up

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Matt Posted in Cardio Training, Training, Weight loss 2 Comments

Photo courtesy of womenshealthmag.com

Having a hard time burning off those last few pounds? Maybe you’ve just committed yourself to getting back in shape and need a little help getting started. Regardless of where you stand, if you’ve got a little fat to burn off, you’ve come to the right place. Instead of laying out a highly structured fitness plan, I wanted to give you some quick, effective, and flexible fat burning workouts you can start incorporating TODAY to get turn your body into a fat burning machine.

I’m guessing you want to lose the weight quickly, right? Well, for starters, forget about that steady-state cardio. You know, chugging along on a treadmill at one speed for 30-60 minutes, repeated several times a week. Not only is that crap boring….it’s also not the most effective use of your time. The fat burning workouts you’re about to read about make use of one very important concept; high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Before we get into the workouts, let’s do a brief overview on what HIIT is and why it’s going to help you burn fat fast.

What is HIIT?

So you probably want to know what HIIT is all about before you get started. HIIT, or sprint interval training, is a method of exercise in which you switch between short and intense bursts of all out intensity, followed by longer and less intense recovery intervals. Because of the more intense nature of this format of exercise, HIIT workouts are generally much shorter than the slow and steady workouts you may be used to. A typical HIIT workout will usually last between 12-40 minutes, depending on your fitness abilities and training goals. HIIT can be applied to most forms of exercise, including running, biking, swimming, plyometrics, even weight lifting.

So now that you have a better idea of what HIIT is, let’s take a quick look at why we’re recommending your fat burning workouts should rely on HIIT principles. A study by Gibala et al [1] showed just two and a half hours of HIIT training produced near identical “biochemical muscle changes to 10.5 hours of endurance training and similar endurance performance benefits.” Additionally, another study by Jeffrey King [2] out of East Tennessee State University showed HIIT training possessed the ability to increase “the rest metabolic rate (RMR) for the following 24 hours due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption….more effectively than doing only traditional, long aerobic workouts.”

What’s the bottom line? Bottom line is doing HIIT cardio will help you get more done in less time, while increasing your metabolism and post-exercise oxygen consumption which leads to greater caloric burn (and fat loss) well after your workout has ended. HIIT is simply a regular cardio workout on steroids.

Seven Fat Burning Workouts You Should Have Started Doing Yesterday

With all of that in mind, we’re going to show you seven unique ways to get your fat burning potential into gear, and help you turn your body into a lean, mean, envy-inducing machine.

Feel free to use some or all of these. Personally, I enjoy mixing things up depending on where I am and what kind of mood I’m in. Not only that, variety is the backbone of a strong workout plan, and will help ensure you continue making gains when all your buddies who are stuck doing the same thing watch their progress slow to a snail’s pace.

Fat Burning Workout #1: Iron Man

Equipment needed: Heavy bag, jump rope, body weight.

Rest 20 seconds after each exercise.

30 seconds Jump Rope or Dumbbell “Jump” Ropes if you don’t have a rope
30 seconds Heavy Bag workout; alternating jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and kicks.
30 seconds Turbo Jacks
30 seconds Up/Down Planks

Repeat this four exercise circuit a total of 5-8 times depending on your current fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #2: Metabolic Burn

Equipment needed: Barbell, body weight.

Rest 20 seconds after each exercise.

30 seconds Barbell Squat Jumps
30 seconds Clean and Press
30 seconds Twist Jumps with barbell behind neck
30 seconds Bent Over Barbell Rows

Repeat this four exercise circuit a total of 5-8 times depending on your current fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #3: Plyo Power

Equipment needed: Body weight

Rest 30 seconds after each exercise.

45 seconds Turbo Crab Kicks
45 seconds Triple Plank Hops
45 seconds High Knees in place
45 seconds Turbo Lunges

Repeat this four exercise circuit a total of 4-7 times depending on your current fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #4: Burner

Equipment needed: Body weight

Rest 60 seconds after each exercise.

Max Crunches in 60 seconds
Max Burpees in 60 seconds
Max Ground Runners in 60 seconds
Max Hindu Push Ups in 60 seconds

Repeat this four exercise circuit a total of 4-6 times depending on your current fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #5: Grinder

Equipment needed: BOSU, body weight

Rest 30 seconds after each exercise.

20 seconds BOSU Woodchoppers (use BOSU in place of medicine ball)
20 seconds BOSU Trifecta’s
20 seconds BOSU Jumps
20 seconds BOSU Climbers

Repeat this four exercise circuit a total of 8-10 times depending on your current fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #6: Treader

Equipment needed: Treadmill

2 minute warm up jog
:45 run at 8 mph/slow jog 1:30 at 4-5mph
:45 run at 9 mph/slow jog 1:30 at 4-5mph
:30 run at 10 mph/ slow jog 1:30 at 4-5mph
:30 run at 11 mph/ slow jog 1:30 at 4-5mph

Repeat this cycle a total of 4-5 times depending on your fitness abilities.

Fat Burning Workout #7: Sprinter

Equipment needed: Open field or track

Walk off 50 yards.

50 yard sprint/20 seconds rest

Repeat 8 times.

Walk off 100 yards.

100 yard sprint/30 seconds rest

Repeat 8 times

Walk off 200 yards.

200 yard sprint/60 seconds rest

Repeat 8 times.

How to Best Use These Seven Fat Burning Workouts

As you can probably tell, we put together seven workouts that use a variety of different equipment. Wether you’re into working out at home, at the gym, or even outside, there is something for you. I know you’ve all got a desire to burn the most amount of fat as fast as possible, but avoid the temptation to do too much too soon. Since HIIT is quite a bit more intense than other forms of cardio, the possibility of over training is real. To avoid this, shoot for 3 workouts per week to start, slowly working up to 4. If you’re mixing in the resistance-focused workouts, feel free to shoot for 5 workouts per week.

Following this schedule should produce awesome results and really help you cut through that excess fat you want to rid yourself of. In the meantime, if you’ve got any questions about these fat burning workouts or anything at all, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

[1]: http://jp.physoc.org/content/575/3/901.short

[2]: http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/theses/available/etd-0412101-214442/unrestricted/king0417.pdf

The Speed/Power Workout: How to Build Muscle When All Else Fails

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Matt Posted in Strength Training, Training 4 Comments

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Muscle just looks better…Find out how to build muscle NOW!

These days, your run of the mill exercisers seem to fall into one of two groups. Your first group is all of those people with body fat issues. Whether they have it or not, they are convinced they’ve got fat to burn and focus the bulk of their efforts on cardio. The next group is made of up of those guys and girls who aren’t overweight, but still consider themselves out of shape. They’re often skinny, skinny-fat, or “average”. The have a desire to add muscle mass, but for whatever the reason are having a hard time doing so. The result? A physique that would make Nicole Richie jealous. Since the heavy group wants to lose weight and has no desire to focus their efforts squarely on weight gain at this point, our post today is for all of you “hard gainers” out there.

Where do you fall? Are you a hard gainer? Not sure? Well, do you have more straight lines than curves? Does lifting 15 pound dumbbells for a few sets make your arms sore for days? Do you have an underlying sense that you don’t know what goes in to building muscle? If your answer is predominately yes to these questions, chances are you fall into the “not fat, but not fit” group. If this is you, keep reading, because we’ve taken some advanced body building concepts and tweaked them for the average gym-goer in an attempt to show you how to build muscle and get some meat on those bare bones!

What You’re Asking For

First off, what are your goals? If you’re like most people I talk to, your goals are something like this:

Lower body fat percentage
Increase lean muscle mass
Get “toned” (toned is simply the result of achieving the first two bullet points, rather than a goal in and of itself)

If I’m understanding things correctly, basically, you DON’T want to look like this:

Anyone want the body of a 14-year-old boy…..? Anyone..?

But do want to look more like this….

Low body fat, lean muscle mass, and as a bonus…eating is encouraged.

Does that look (and sound) about right? I mean, why shouldn’t it, right? One body is healthy, lean, and sexy…the other looks like it just came from a refugee camp.

Ready to Start Building Muscle?

So you get it, you understand what you want, you know the benefits of what you want, and you like food just a bit too much to ever achieve that “beautiful” mainstream media type of look. One problem, you have no idea how to build muscle. You’ve tried all sorts of muscle-building workouts but your body simply doesn’t respond. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong, but something isn’t working the way it’s supposed to. First off, don’t sweat it; a lot of people have a very hard time adding muscle to their frames. Whether it’s a lack of knowledge or genetics, building muscle is a ton of work. Well you my friends are in luck. This workout plan is going to give you the knowledge and workouts you need to help even the most clueless and muscle-adverse genetic makeup switch into a lean, mean, muscle-building machine.

The basis for this workout is coming from my own personal experiences. I’ve recently been dabbling in body building workouts in an effort to take myself to the next level. Now, keep in mind, I am NO body builder…as a matter of fact I am one of the furthest things from it. I stand 5’10″ and weight in at a very lean, 165 pounds. I am NOT big, and I am NOT bulky. I am lean and healthy. Simply using body building workouts will not instantly cause you to develop large bulky muscles…if only it were that easy there wouldn’t be so many failed faux bodybuilders running around.

Since most of our readers are a bit more novice, we’re going to simply take the concepts behind the type of workout I’m about to lay out, and make it more user-friendly. We’re cutting back some of the volume, removing some potentially dangerous exercises, and making this a plan that will help you build muscle fast and efficiently.

The Speed/Power Workout: A Recipe for Muscle Building Success

As I mentioned above, the basis of this workout comes from Layne Norton’s PHAT training. We’re shifting between two different styles of lifting in one program. On days one and two, we’re going heavy, performing complex movements, with lower rep sequences. This method of lifting is great for building strength across your entire body. Follow up days will place more of a focus on explosion, speed, and hypertrophy (Read bout muscle hypertrophy here).

The shift between these two vastly different types of training will typically help you build muscle fast and at the end of the day, may even give you a better personal understanding of how to build muscle. By seeing how these two methods of hitting your muscles work, you should be able to take what you’ve gleaned here and apply them elsewhere.

Day 1: Upper Body Power Day

3 sets of 3-5 reps Bent Over Rows
2 sets of 6-8 reps Rack Chins
3 sets of 3-5 Flat Bench Press
2 sets of 6-8 Lat Pulldowns
3 sets of 8-10 reps Dips
3 sets of 6-8 reps Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
3 sets of 3-5 Dumbbell Military Press

Day 2: Lower Body Power Day

3 sets of 3-5 reps Squats
2 sets of 6-8 reps Reverse Barbell Lunges
2 sets of 6-10 Leg Extension Machine
3 sets of 6-8 Bulgarian Squats (per leg)
2 sets of 6-10 Standing Calf Raises
2 sets of 6-10 Lying Hamstring Curl Machine

Day 3: REST

Day 4: Upper Body Hypertrophy Day

6 sets of 10 reps (using 50% weight used on day 1) Bent over rows
3 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Cable Rows
3 sets of 8-12 reps Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
2 sets of 12-15 reps Incline Dumbbell Flys
3 sets of 8-12 reps Skullcrushers
2 sets of 12-15 reps Arnold Presses
2 sets of 12-15 Cable Tricep Pushdown
3 sets of 8-12 reps Barbell Preacher Curls
2 sets of 12-15 reps Lateral Dumbbell Raises

Day 5: Lower Body Hypertrophy Day

6 sets of 10 reps (using 50% weight used on day 1) Squats
3 sets of 8-12 Reverse Barbell Lunges
2 sets of 12-15 Leg Press Machine
2 sets of 12-15 Box Jumps
3 sets of 8-12 reps Seated Hamstring Curls
3 sets of 12-15 Leg Extension Machine
2 sets of 12-15 Long Jumps
2 sets of 12-15 Russian Lunges holding Dumbbells

Day 6: REST

Day 7: Rest if needed, or go back to day 1 and start the rotation again

Again, I’m not saying this plan to build muscle is BETTER than Layne Norton’s plan. I’m simply saying it is more accessible to the average gym goer. If you’ve got the foundation, drive, and time to go all out, balls to the wall, by all means, skip this workout and go right for Layne’s PHAT program.

Half of the Battle…

Now that you know HOW to build muscle, you’re in a position to win half (well, almost half) of the battle. You see, the reason so many of you out there are having trouble adding muscle to your bodies and improving your physiques is because you simply aren’t eating properly. Specifically, you aren’t eating enough. Your body is unable to build new tissue (lean muscle) if you aren’t taking in more calories than you burn each day. Do this workout without taking in enough protein and calories and all you’re going to do is spin your wheels.

Granted, this is a fine line to walk. Start loading up on junk to increase your daily caloric intake, and you’ll not only build muscle and strength, but also a whole lot of fat in the process. This is why the importance of your food choices is so vital. A rough gauge to determine your maintenance caloric needs are roughly 13 calories per pound of body weight. If you’re looking to build muscle you need to eat MORE than your maintenance level each day. Shoot for an additional 300-400 calories above maintenance as you begin this plan. This will give you a slow but steady supply of excess calories ready to lend themselves to the muscle-building mechanisms of your body.

Additionally, it can’t be said enough, but you’ve got to find a way to get ample protein. Your body uses amino acids to build muscle tissue, and without it, your gains will be minimal at best. Shoot for .75-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. Opt for lean beef, chicken, fish, tofu, and legumes to make sure you’re getting your protein requirements from nutritionally dense sources. A little protein with a side of anti-oxidants is a hell of a lot better than a little protein with a side of saturated fat, wouldn’t you agree?

The L.A. Workout – The Ultimate Workout For a Superstar Body

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Matt Posted in Strength Training, Training, Weight loss 10 Comments

The L.A. Workout delivers fast results with just a little bit of hard work and determination…

You guys are in for a real treat today. I’ve listened to the requests and have been working on something for quite a while now. This bad boy is a real killer. Anyone ready to spend the better part of a week hobbling around due to extreme muscle soreness? If not, keep browsing, because this workout hits your muscles in a way few others do. The L.A. (Legs. Abs.)Workout (my attempt at a hip workout title…save your comments) is a leg and ab workout designed to completely shred up your midsection, build long, lean, powerful leg muscles, and help transform you into a lean, mean, athletic machine.

The concept for the L.A. Workout came about after doing a little experimentation in the gym. Most of you guys should know that I’m a big fan of lower body workouts that combine heavy power movements with explosive, plyometric exercises. I think (and science agrees) this combination produces great gains; better than either format alone. But there was something that I felt was missing from that combination. To really achieve that deep muscle burn and KNOW you had a killer leg workout every time you sat down for the next week, something else was needed. I soon figured out what that something was, and have been using this workout with great success ever since.

The L.A. Workout – What It Is and How to Use It

The L.A. workout is a two-day split routine that targets your abdominals, legs (quads, hamstrings), and glutes. The primary focus however, is on developing a strong, tight core and long, lean muscles in your legs, hence the title of this workout. Since this is only a two-day workout, and not a full workout plan, per se, you can feel free to include this into everything you’re already doing. Since we’re hitting these muscle groups hard, you’re going to want to give yourself ample time to rest up between workouts. Remember, if sitting down is painful, it’s probably better to rest until that muscle soreness fades a bit more. A good schedule for this workout would be Monday and Friday, with your choice of workouts filling in the rest of the week.

Of course, any workout that is promising to deliver a great set of abdominals is going to have a cardiovascular element to it. You know by now that doing tons of crunches doesn’t lead to that six-pack….burning the fat over that six pack is what leads to making that definition visible. So with that in mind, you should perform these plyometric exercises with great intensity. View them as not only working your legs and abs, but jacking up your heart rate and torching calories to help those sexy abs shine through. To maximize your progress, I’d suggest another day or two of high-intensity cardio..depending on your own individual needs and fat loss goals.

Since I know some of you will ask about what else you can do, I’ve listed some other workouts we’ve put together that complement the L.A. Workout very nicely:

Of course, if you’re on your own fitness plan already, I would simply substitute the L.A. Workout on days that have a heavy lower body focus. Don’t over think things…fitness really isn’t that difficult.

What You Can Expect with This Workout

Pure, unbridled, brilliant soreness. The kind that lasts for days. The kind that makes you roll out of bed like a log, rather than sitting up and standing like a normal human being. Seriously, this workout hits your muscles in a way they’ve never been hit, so extreme muscle soreness is a near certainty. Now, lets not mistake this for injury pain. Muscle soreness is that pain that you kinda like, kinda don’t. Injury pain just hurts and makes you think you should go to a doctor. You know the difference…once feels good when you massage it…the other just hurts more.

But don’t let all of this pain talk put you off. The more your body gets used to this workout, the less muscle soreness you should feel. This is also a good gauge because it’s a great indicator of when your body begins to adapt. Once you start breezing through this workout and experience little to no muscle soreness, it’s probably a good idea to increase the weight. After all, THAT’S how you keep making progress…which leads to our next point.

Other Things You Probably Already Know But Need to be Told Again

Look at this, or any, workout plan as a guideline. We put together the best format of exercises, sets, reps, and combos that we can. Your responsibility is to perform them to the best of your ability and use a little something called intuition. To make the most of this workout, you need to sense when it’s time to bump things up. Doing the greatest workout known to mankind will only work wonders for so long. After a while, that same workout is going to become as useless as Lance Armstrong at an anti-drug rally. Always be looking to increase the intensity of this workout by gradually increasing the load you’re moving. This is the key to developing those long, lean, and beautiful muscles you’re working towards.

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Let us also not forget, diet is a huge part of this equation. If you’re not fueling yourself with enough calories and protein, all of this is in vain. Your body doesn’t create new tissue (muscle) out of thin air. It needs the nutrients to create the lean muscle mass. If you are starving yourself, or simply not eating enough, your body will be in a deficiency and unable to create new muscle. Please, please, please….don’t worry about getting fat. Don’t worry about getting big and bulky. Just eat a couple of hundred calories more than you usually do (if you’re trying to build muscle) and see where that gets you. Some people need more, some need less. Be in reality, an extra chicken breast and half a sweet potato more than you normally eat is enough to provide your body with the building blocks necessary to build a lean, sexy body.

So, with all of that out-of-the-way, let’s get on to the workout…

The L.A. Workout

Again, this is a two-day split workout, with day one geared towards heavier weights and power lifts, and day two focusing on lighter weights, explosive movements, and higher reps.

Day 1 – Go heavy, you don’t necessarily need to realize full muscle fatigue, but make sure the last rep of each set is difficult to perform. Take 60-90 seconds rest between each set unless otherwise noted.

3 sets of 4-6 reps Barbell of Smith Machine Squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps Hack Squats
2 sets of 8-10 reps Deadlifts of Rack Pulls for those with bad back/lower body joints
60 seconds Russian Lunges/rest 30 seconds/repeat 3 times total
3 sets of 6-8 Leg Extension Machine
3 sets of 6-8 Lying Hamstring Curls
60 seconds Mountain Climbers/rest 30 seconds/repeat 3 times total
2 sets of 8-10 Standing Calf Raises (use smith machine)
50 Decline Plate Crunches/50 Hanging Knee Raises/50 Weighted Cable Crunches/2 minute plank*

*Perform each abdominal exercise in as few sets as possible before moving on to the next.

Day 2 – Today has more of an explosive, athletic focus. Just because the weights are lower and reps higher, doesn’t mean sets should be easy. The last rep or two of each set should be difficult to complete. Focus on EXPLODING through each plyometric exercise and landing softly on the balls of your feet. No more than 60 seconds rest between each set unless otherwise noted.

2 sets of 12-15 Barbell or Smith Machine Squats
15 Squat Jumps/rest 20 seconds/repeat 3 times total
2 sets of 15-20 Alternating Reverse Barbell Lunges
25 Spider Planks/25 Russian Twists with Plate/25 Bicycle Crunches*
10 Bulgarian Squat Jumps(per leg)/rest 30 seconds/repeat 3 times total
3 sets of 12-15 Seated Hamstring Curls
3 sets of 15-20 Seated Calf Raises (rest dumbbells on thighs if no machine available)
15 Long Jumps/rest 20 seconds/repeat 3 times total
25 Oblique Dips (per side)/25 V-Ups/25 Leg Up Crunches*

*Perform each abdominal exercise in as few sets as possible before moving on to the next.

Give this workout a go and see how your body responds. If you’re like us, you should notice some serious muscle growth in your legs and butt within a couple of weeks (PLEASE don’t mistake this for bulkiness). Give yourself a solid month to analyze the results of this workout. The worst thing you can do is give it a half-assed effort, get disappointed, and move on to the next thing; stick with your workouts long enough for them to work for you.

In the meantime, if you’ve got any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

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