Cabin Fever Workouts

This weather giving you a little cabin fever?  Caught up on all your DVR programming and last six months of People magazine?  Here are five workouts you can do anywhere, at any time with little to no equipment.


30/30s

• Pick 5-8 exercises depending upon what you have access to.  If you do not have any equipment you will be just fine with body weight.
• You should pick at least one lower body exercise (squat variation or lunge variation), one upper body exercise (push up, rowing or pressing variation), one core exercise (plank or sit up variation) and one total body or power exercise (jumping jacks, burpees, jump squats, kettlebell  swings, etc.)
• Perform each exercise for 30 seconds.  Rest for 30 seconds between each exercise.  After last exercise in circuit rest for 60-90 seconds and then repeat for another 2-4 rounds.
• Want to make the circuit harder?  Perform each exercise for 40 seconds and rest for 20 seconds between each exercise.
• Example Circuit using just body weight:
• 1. Forward Lunge (right leg)
• 2. Forward Lunge (left leg)
• 3. Prisoner Squat
• 4. T-push up
• 5. Sprinter Sit Up
• 6. Burpees

Ladders

• Pick 2-3 exercises depending upon what you have access.
• There are a few different combinations you can use.  If you are using two exercises pick one upper body exercise and one lower body exercise.  If you are using three exercises pick one upper body pulling exercise, one upper body pushing exercise and one lower body exercise.  The other three exercise option is to pick one upper body exercise, one lower body exercise, and one total body exercise.
• A few ways to do the ladder.  You can work up the ladder, down the ladder or work up and then back down.  You can also go up and down the ladder by 1's, 2's, 5's and work up to or from any number you want.  The higher the number, the more rounds you will perform.
• Example Circuit:
• 1 push up or plyo push up
• 1 jump squat
• 2 push ups
• 2 jump squats.....
• Work up to 10 of each and then work back down the ladder to one rep of each.

On The Minute

• Pick 1-3 exercises, preferably compound exercises such as kettlebell swings, medicine ball slams, dumbbell push presses or burpees.
• Start each exercise on the minute performing 10-15 reps of each exercise.  Rest once all reps are completed.  Next round starts on the next minute.  The longer the reps took you, the less rest you have.  The shorter the reps took you, the more rest you have.
• Perform 10-20 total rounds.
• Progress from week to week by adding reps to each exercise or by adding rounds.
• Example Circuit using two exercises.:
• 12 kettlebell swings on the minute.  Rest until next minute starts.
• 12 goblet squats on the minute.  Rest until the next minute starts.
• Repeat this sequence for 5-10 rounds of each exercise.

Inverted Ladder

• Pick one upper body exercise, one lower body exercise and one "cardio" type of exercise such as jumping jacks, jumping rope, burpees, mountain climbers or jump squats.
• One exercise is going to work up the ladder.  One exercise is going to work down the ladder.  And the "cardio" exercise will stay the same each round.
• You can work up and down the ladder by any number you want and perform as many rounds as you want.
• Example Circuit:
• Round One: 10 squats, 20 push ups, 25 Jumping jacks
• Round Two: 12 squats, 18 push ups, 25 jumping jacks
• Round Three: 14 squats, 16 push ups, 25 jumping jacks....
• Work up to 20 squats, down to 10 push ups and keep jumping jacks the same each round.

Prep, Cook, Get Ready

• Get into the kitchen and get your meals ready for the upcoming week.  Cut, cook, refrigerate...what ever it takes you get some food prepared.  You could spend a half hour in the kitchen or spend 60 minutes in the kitchen.
• Know what your breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinners are going to be for at least the next 2-3 days.
• While you are in the cabinets and refrigerator toss away everything that does not coincide with your health, weight loss or body composition goals.  Last years Girl Scout cookies, the half eaten bag of chips, the left over cake...they all have to go.

20 Random Nutrition Thoughts

I had a 20 Random Training Thoughts blog post a few weeks ago so it's time to follow it up with a 20 Random Nutrition Thoughts post.

1. If fat loss is your goal, calories do matter.  Females should aim for a daily calorie intake that is around 10x their body weight.  Males should aim for a calorie intake around 12x their body weight.  Be sure to recalibrate those numbers once weight is lost.
2. Without getting too complicated here is an easy way to measure out servings of proteins, fats, veggies and starches:  protein - palm, fat- thumb, veggies- fist, starch- fist.
3. Two things that should be constants at every meal: protein and veggies. Females should have at least one serving of protein (a palm) and at least one serving of veggies (one fist).  Males should have two servings of protein (two palms) and at least two servings of veggies (two fists).
4. If there is one thing you can always eat more of its veggies.  At any meal, on exercise days, on non-exercise days, at breakfast, on Halloween. Vegetable intake is basically unlimited.
5. The one macro-nutrient that should remain constant on a daily basis is protein.   Whether you did not get off the couch all day or whether you crushed it at the gym your protein intake should be the same which is roughly around 0.8-1.0 grams per pound of body weight.
6. If carb intake goes up, fat intake should go down.  If fat intakes goes up, carb intake should go down.  If both are going up at the same time then we are in trouble.
7. If carbs are going to go up, they should go up on days you work out.  These are days where you can have starchy carbs.  Days that you are not working out you should keep carbs at your baseline levels and avoid starch intake.  You should "earn your carbs".
8. If you are over 15% body fat and looking to lose weight carb intake other than those coming from fruits and vegetables should be kept under a 100 grams a day.  The leaner you are, the more carb tolerant you usually are.
9. Be careful of your fruit intake.  Eating too much fruit will not make you fat, but it can prevent you from losing fat.  Keep fruit intake to 2-3 servings a day.
10. Whether you eat eat three meals a day or 4-6 small meals a deal what matters is your total calorie intake at the end of your day.  Meal frequency has been shown to have no effect on metabolism. Some do better managing their daily caloric intake by eating less frequently. Others do better by eating more frequently.
11. You have heard that everyone should be drinking at least eight cups of water a day.  That may work for some, but not for others. Water intake should be proportional to your body weight.  What you want to be aiming for is a water intake that is about half your body weight in ounces. So if you weigh 150 pounds shoot for 75 ounces of water a day which is just over nine cups a day.
12. Two easy ways to get your water intake up: Pound a large glass of water as soon as you get out of bed.  The other is pick up a 20-30 ounce canteen or glass water bottle.  Fill that up a couple times a day, add that to the large glass of water you pound early in the morning and then add that to the glass or two of water with each meal.  Your water intake should be taken care of.
13. Fat still gets a bad rap.  The real problem is not fat as an individual macro-nutrient.  The problem is where that fat is coming from and the other nutrients it is combined with.  Fat from a McDonald's Big Mac is different than fat which comes from omega-3 containing grass fed beef.
14. Most of your fat intake should be coming from whatever your source of protein is at each meal.  If you are going to add some extra fat some good sources would be: fish oil, coconut oil, avocado, and nuts such as walnuts or almonds.
15. Does the Paleo diet work?  Yes for some, but not for others.  Does Atkins work?  Yes for some, but not for others?  Does vegan work?  Yes, for some but not for others. There is no one diet that works for everyone no matter how well that book is selling on the New York Times best seller list.  Find what works best for you.  But which ever one you choose you are going to have to give it time to figure out if it is working.  Whichever route you go, give it at least four weeks.
16. If you look for some of the similarities between some of the most popular and successful diets, which does not include the Cookie Diet, what are you going to find?  A common theme of increased protein intake, decreased starch intake, increased veggie intake, getting fat from high quality sources, a lower overall calorie intake than your present calorie intake and eliminating processed foods.  There is really no magic to these magic diets.
17. Two easy ways to sneak more vegetables into your day:  omelets and shakes.  Throw some peppers, broccoli, spinach or other vegetables you may like into an omelet.  Throw some kale or spinach into your shakes.  Believe me.  A shake that is blended up with some spinach or kale may not look so good.  But you can not even taste the spinach or kale if you have a bunch of other ingredients in there.
18. A simple way to make up a shake that covers all your bases: include a liquid (water, almond milk, coconut milk, etc.), a protein source (protein powder, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese), a fruit (berries, berries and more berries) a green vegetable source (spinach, kale or greens powder), maybe a fat source (walnuts, pecans, almond butter, coconut oil, etc.) and whatever spices or sweeteners you want (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, honey, stevia, etc.).  Throw a couple ice cubes in there if you like a thicker shake.  One thing to note though is if you are being calorie conscious be sure to measure out how much of each you are putting in.  Calories can add up quickly.
19. Try an elimination diet every now and then.  For 30 days pick one thing to eliminate such as alcohol, grains or dairy and take it out of your diet completely.  Make note of how you feel after those 30 days.  Do you feel less bloated?  Has your joint pain decreased?  Do you have more energy?  Are you sleeping better?  If you can answer yes to one or more of those questions you may be onto something.
20.  You can not eat well if you do not have good foods available.  You can not eat like crap if you do not have crap foods available.  Get into your cabinets and refrigerator.  Get rid of all the crap and restock with foods that are going to match up with your daily habits and goals.  Good nutrition starts with being prepared.  "If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail".

20 Random Training Thoughts

1. Based on the nature of our everyday lives most people need to focus on hip and thoracic mobility.  That being said you can not go wrong by including exercises such as Spider Man lunges, reverse lunges with overhead reach, side lying windmills and quadruped extension and rotations as part of your warm up.
2. If you have anterior knee pain start your lower body training with a leg curl variation such as a lying leg curl or slide board leg curl.  It serve as a nice additional warm up since the stress placed on the knees with leg curls is not the same as the stresses from squats or lunges.
3. Your core training can be broken down into four basic categories: anti-extension (front plank, dead bug, bird dog) anti-rotation (belly press, cable lift), anti-lateral flexion (side plank, suitcase carry) and hip flexion (Swiss ball jackknife, 1/2 get up).  By the end of the training week you should have done at least 1-2 exercises in each category.  
4. Sorry to disappoint you, but every training session is not going to be a record breaking training session.  Some days you got it.  Some days you don't.  That's the nature of the beast.  The days you got it, push it.  The days you don't, hold back.
5. Lunge variations are not just limited to forward and reverse variations.  Work some lateral lunge variations in: goblet lateral lunge, off set lateral lunge and slide board lateral lunges are some options.
6. There is more to making an exercise harder than just adding weight or reps.  You can change the grip, increase the range of motion or change the tempo to make things harder.  You can make chin ups harder by going to fat grip chin ups.  You can make a split squat harder by going to a rear foot elevated split squat.  You can make a dumbbell incline press harder by taking a three second pause in the bottom of the lift.  There are many, many options.
7. Use a variety of different holds with your lower body training and you will get a variety of training effects.  Use a goblet hold to get more of a core anti-extension training effect.  Use an off-set hold to get more core stability work in terms of anti-extension and anti-rotation.  Use a barbell to really jack up the load and move more weight.
8. Have aching elbows?  Do 1-2 sets of high rep band press downs as part of your warm up to get some blood flow pumping to that elbow region.
9. The best thing you can probably to do to get more results from your training program is not to write up your own training program.  If you are writing up your own programs you are most likely going to include what you like and not include what you don't like but probably need.  There is plenty of great resources and coaches out there that have quality programs for you to use.
10. The next best thing you can probably do to get more results from your training is find a training partner.  You know and I know that we are more likely to skip that last set or interval when no one is looking.  Or may be it is just me that is guilty of this, but I do not think so.
11. Five things you should add to your gym bag if you are training at a commercial gym, because the chance of said commercial gym having any of them is slim: 1) a lacrosse ball for self myofascial release work  2) Val Slides for different lunge and core exercises 3) a few different Superbands (1/2 inch thick, one inch and maybe a 1.5 inch) for warm up exercises, for band assisted chin ups, for band resisted push ups or for different core training exercises  4) Fat Gripz if narrow bars really take a toll on your elbows, to use for farmers carries and to get a different training effect  5) a Gymboss interval timer to keep your interval or circuit training spot on without having to peek at your watch or search around the gym for a clock.
12. Do not get married to one training tool whether it is  kettlebells, dumbbells, the TRX or God forbid the Bosu Ball.  Not every tool is good for every job.   The more tools you have in your toolbox the better off you will be.
13. A nice change of pace from your training can be to work in a body weight or mobility day to get some type of training stimulus while also promoting recovery.  A simple circuit of such would be something like: Quadruped Extension/Rotation x8/side, Yoga Push Up x8, Single Leg Glute Bridge x8/side, Split Squat x10/side, RDL w/reach x10/side, Inverted Row x10, Prisoner Walking Lunge x8/side, Side Plank x30s/side.  Go through the circuit 3-5 times.
14. Squat everyday.  This does not mean loading up a barbell and throwing a few plates on each side. You have plenty of other options that can be worked into your workout, your warm ups or if you are just hanging out at home: prisoner squat, squat to stand, goblet squat or an overhead squat with a dowel are some examples.  The one pattern that tends to deteriorate the most as we age is our squat, especially if we do not keep up with it regularly.
15. Have pain in your shoulders or elbows when placing a bar across the top of your back for squat or lunge variations.  Go to a pinkie-less grip. Index, middle and ring fingers will go around the bar.  Pinkie finger will go beneath the bar.  I picked this tip up from strength coach Joe Defranco and it has done wonders for my elbows and shoulders.
16. Include some type of power training into your workouts at least once or twice a week.  Power is one of the first things to go as we get older.  Not only that it is a great way to to get you in the right mindset for a workout.  And power training is different for everyone.  For some it may be work on the agility ladder.  For others it may be skipping drills.  For others it may be medicine ball throws.  You really do have a lot of power training options.    
17. Injuries can always be worked around.  Injuries should not be a built in excuse to stay away from the gym.  If you are having lower back pain I would suggest staying away from loaded lower body exercises such as squats.  Focus more on single leg variations.  If your shoulders are cranky focus more on horizontal pulling exercises.  If your lower back and shoulders hurt go through a mobility workout like the one I listed in point 13.  
18. Want to get better at a particular exercise?  Hit that exercise early in the week, early in your workout.  The exercise you hit early on is usually going to get the most focus mentally and physically.
19. Sometimes you just need to throw training rules out the window and just TRAIN!  Notice I said sometimes, not all the time.  Every now and then test your self with a gut check workout.  Or maybe you saw a workout someone else was doing and wanted to give it a shot.  Go ahead and give it a shot.  Maybe your current training does not call for a timed mile or max set of push ups, but you want to give it a shot.  Go for it!  It's all right to break the rules now and then.  I repeat, now and then.
20. Pick a performance related goal.  Do you want to run a 5K in 25 minutes?  Do you want to be able to do one chin up?  Do you want to be able to 15 straight high quality push ups?  Do you want to be able to deadlift 2.5 times your body weight?  Once you set a performance related goal it is easier to set up your training since your training should be helping you get to your goal.  

Exercise of the Week: Tall Kneeling Alternating Chest Press

When people think in terms of horizontal pressing exercises most think of different dumbbell and barbell variations along with the many push up variations.  And if you were going to use all those variations you would have plenty of different choices to sprinkle throughout your training programs depending upon the situation.

Another horizontal pressing variation I've been using more of lately are cable press variations.  With the cable you're getting a different mode of resistance in addition to more freedom for the scapulae to move along with some lower body and core stability work.

With the following exercise, the tall kneeling alternating cable chest press, you're going to get a few things you wouldn't get from an alternating dumbbell bench press: recruitment of the glutes for stability and working the core in terms of resisting extension and rotation through the lumbar spine.

Don't expect to load the weight up on this exercise unless you really want to butcher it.  So it's not going to be a primary exercise that Hans & Frans would use to "pump you up", but it is a nice accessory exercise.

Sitting Isn't The Only Problem

Exercise of the Week: SLDL / Reverse Lunge w/Row

I try not to get to crazy with different exercise variations just for the sake of variety.  But if I come up with or come across a variation that I think is going to be beneficial while also provide a training effect I'm going to use it.  Here's an exercise variation that combines three exercises: a single leg deadlift (SLDL), a reverse lunge and a single arm cable row.  I would use this exercise as an accessory exercise as part of a total body workout with the rep range being 5-6 SLDL's and reverse lunges on each leg.

Exercise of the Week: Push up w/ Val Slide Combos

I feel one of the best ways to challenge your core is through push ups and push up variations. I also feel  one of the best training tools you can use to challenge are Val Slides.  So why not put the two together to make things even a bit more challenging?  The following video shows a few different push up variations that incorporate the Val Slides.  Take a look:

 

Exercise of the Week: Split Stance Cable Chop & Split Stance Row

Exercise of the Week: Split Stance Overhead Band Press

Single Leg Bench Bridge Progression

One of the best glute exercises, yet one of the toughest glutes exercises, is the single leg bench bridge.  Since it can be a tough exercise this is not an exercise I would throw at a client right away. This is an exercise we would progress up to and the progression to follow is pretty simple: bench bridge hold to  bench bridge to single leg bench bridge.

Here's a six week progression to get you up to the single leg bench bridge:

• Week One: Bench Bridge Hold 2-3 sets of 30s
• Week Two: Bench Bridge Hold 2-3 sets of 45s
• Week Three: Bench Bridge Hold 2-3 sets of 60s
• Week Four: Bench Bridge 3 sets of 12 reps
• Week Five: Bench Bridge 3 sets of 15 reps
• Week Six: Bench Bridge 3 sets of 20 reps

Now you're ready for the single leg bench bridge.  Start out with 8-10 reps per side.  Once you can complete about 12-15 reps per side then we can start having a bit more "fun" by adding some resistance  or going to a foot elevated version.

Alright, time to put those glutes to work.

38 Ways to Train Better, Move Better and Live Better

Another birthday has come and gone.  Besides making me realize that I'm getting dangerously older, my hair is getting closer to a full shade of gray and becoming painstakingly slower birthdays days also get me thinking.  The wheels start churning and thoughts go into overdrive.  This year my 38th birthday got me thinking about the simple things that a lot of us, including myself, could do better.  Some are things I learned along the way or picked up from others.  Some are things I think about on a daily basis.  Some are things I need to think need about more often.

1. Spend at least five minutes a day working on your breathing.  Do it in a supine position, in a prone position, in the morning, before bed.....doesn't matter how or when.  Just do it.
2. Get yourself a foam roller.  It will be the best $20 investment you will ever make.  Once you have a foam roller use it daily for 5-10 minutes a day.
3. Keep your cell phone out of your bedroom.....unless you plan on taking photos or videos I probably shouldn't know about.
4. Eat something green at least three times a day, preferably five times.  Mint chocolate chip ice cream doesn't count.
5. When you strength train....train for strength.  Train with the intention of getting stronger, not to burn fat, tone up, get ripped or whatever else the young kids say.
6. Do 10-15 minutes of some type of interval training at least twice a week.
7. Don't believe everything Dr. Oz has to say.
8. Start your day by pounding a large glass of water.
9. Have fun with your training with from time to time.  It's OK to break the rules.
10. Find a training partner, trainer or coach.  
11. Enjoy your coffee.  It's not the bit of cream or sugar in your coffee that is the problem.  It's the donuts, bagels and croissants that come with it.
12. Laugh daily.  Life is hard enough.
13. Cry when you need to.  
14. Spend 5-10 minutes before each training session on dynamic flexibility and mobility work.  And don't half ass it.
15. Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces of water per day. For example if you weight 150 lbs, drink 75 ounces of water a day.  If you weight 200lbs....you can do the math.
16. Never work out in white tube socks and black sneakers.
17. Realize you don't need bread.  You want bread, but you don't "need" bread.  And it doesn't matter if it's whole grain, whole wheat, white or whatever other labeling is thrown on it.  Bread is bread.
18. Aim to get 0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of ideal body weight.  If you weigh 165 but would like to get down to 150lbs aim for 120-150 grams of protein per day.
19. Realize there is no one good seated posture.  The best seated posture is a constantly moving posture.
20. Stop worrying about when the best time to stretch is.  Just stretch.
21. Stop comparing your training and nutrition to movie stars and professional athletes.  They have more things and time at their disposal than us average Joe's and some pretty good genetics and plastic surgeons.
22. Store your food in glass containers.  Drink from glass water bottles.  Do not microwave your food in plastic.  To make it simple just get rid of your plastic ware.
23. Stop looking for advice that you want to hear.  Start getting advice that you need to hear.
24. Train with a goal in mind every now and then: a road race, a Tough Mudder, being able to do a chin up, setting a dead lift PR, etc..
25. Get out for a long walk at least once a week.
26. Tell your mother you love her.  Tell your father you love him. Tell your kids you love them.  Don't just assume that they know.
27. Do some type of squatting on a daily basis: a body weight squat, a goblet squat, a squat hold, a squat to stand, etc..  Any type.  If you don't use it, you lose it.  And what's the one movement I see deteriorate the most?  The squat.
28. You may not be able to control how you sleep, but you can control the behaviors that could lead to good sleep: shutting down the cell phone and Ipad at least 30 minutes before bed, setting up a good sleeping environment,  not falling asleep to the TV, etc..
29. Have some sort of dead lifting variation in your training program: single leg deadlift, kettbell deadlift, barbell deadlift, trap bar deadlift, etc..  There is probably no other exercise that is more "functional" than the deadlift.
30. Learn a ton of body weight exercises such as lunge variations, push up variations, chin ups and squat variations.  You will have a whole array of exercises to use when you're on vacation, stuck at home or just want to mix it up.
31. But before you learn variations master the basic variation.  Be able to do a good, clean set of push ups before you go trying more advanced variations.  Be able to do a good split squat before you get into lunge variations.
32. Don't blame others for your poor food choices.  Chances are you put that piece of apple pie in your mouth.  Someone else didn't do it for you.  Hold yourself accountable.
33. Set behavior based goals such as getting in three hours of exercise a week or taking your fish oil on a daily basis.  Behavior based goals will influence your outcome based goals such as losing weight or body fat.  You also have more control over behavior based goals.
34. When someone asks how you're doing don't just say "Good" or "OK".  Ask them how they are doing.
35. Stop hopping from one thing to another. When starting out on a new training or nutrition plan, give it time to work.  And when I say give it time, give it at least four weeks.  
36. When your alarm goes off in the morning get your ass out of bed.  
37. Realize it's OK to break the rules now and then.  It's OK to have some cake from time to time.  It's OK to switch out an exercise now and then.  It's OK to have a few beers.  Don't beat yourself up over it.  Enjoy it.  Then get back on track.
38. Be thankful for what you have rather than focusing on and being jealous of what you don't have.

Exercise of the Week: Deadbug Pallof Hold

It's been quite awhile since I threw up an Exercise of the Week.  It's not because I ran out of exercises.  I've just been slacking on the blogging end between joining Fitness Revolution, training for the Boston Marathon, training clients and god knows what else.  And before playoff hockey kicks up I figured I should get something up before I become a real slacker.

So here is another Exercise of the Week, the Deadbug Pallof Press.  This is an exercise I stole from strength coach Tony Gentilcore.  I saw him perform it on one of his videos, decided to give it a shot and it has quickly become one of my current favorite core stability exercises.  This exercise trains core stability in a few ways, anti-extension and anti-rotation.  It can also be done a few ways.  A regression to this exercise would be to leave the feet on the floor the duration of the set. Or you can use a resistance band if you do not have access to a pulley system.  Or the sets and reps can be done a few ways.  In the video I perform the set doing three 10-second holds.  You could also do ten individual presses.  Or you can just do one 20-30 second hold each way for 2-3 sets.

Important coaching tips to think about while executing this exercise.

• Press your lower back hard into the floor to resist extension through the lumbar spine.
• There's no need to load up the weight or tension.  In the video I'm only using 10lb of resistance from the low pulley.  Just a little weight or tension will get you trembling.  
• Press your knees together to help fight the rotational forces.

Exercise of the Week: Low Pulley Overhead Triceps Extension

On another note, Accelerated Fitness will be holding it's first Bootcamp For A Cause this Saturday February 22 @11am.  For a small donation of $20, cash or check, come get a great workout in while helping make a difference at the same time.  All proceeds go to The Children's Room.

Bootcamp For A Cause

When: Saturday, February 22 @11am

Where: Accelerated Fitness

153 North St, Lexington, MA 02420

Exercise of the Week: Val Slide Push Away / Push Up Combo

Here's a great push up variation that will really challenge your core stability:


 

Hamstring Self Myofascial Release

Exercise of the Week: Single Arm DB Floor Press

Floor presses are a nice exercise to add into your training program as an alternative for some horizontal pressing work, an alternative for some triceps work or if coming back from a shoulder injury.  The shortened range of motion is going to cause less stress on the shoulder and place more emphasis on the triceps.  You could perform barbell floor presses, dumbbell floor presses or even kettlebell floor presses.    But why would I perform single arm floor presses?  Two reasons.  One is the offset loading that is going to require more core stability demands especially when the weight is cranked up.  The second reason has to do with the weight being cranked up.  Getting into and out of position when weight starts going up with a bi-lateral dumbbell floor press can be pretty difficult.  I find it much easier to get into and out of the position with the single arm version once the weight in each arm starts going up.  You are able to use your free arm to get into and out of the racked position almost like you would if you were doing a Turkish Get Up.



One more thing....have a happy and healthy new year.  Make 2014 your year!!

It's Not Just a Reach

Exercise of the Week: Medial & Lateral Hurdle Hops

Medial and lateral hurdle hops are exercises that are used early on in the lateral plyo progression.  The concern really isn't how high the individual is hopping.  The concern here is how the individual controls the landing from the hop.  Once the individual shows the ability to control the landing in both directions, medially and laterally, then we'll move onto an exercise that is going to have more power emphasis such as Heidens.

Exercise of the Week: Val Slide Reverse Lunge w/Press Out

Women vs. Men

I've been training since 1999.  In that fourteen year period I've learned  a lot,  I've seen a lot and I have been amazed a lot.  One thing I picked up on  and continue to see is the difference between women and men when it comes to training, nutrition and even the clothes they work out in.  Here are some of my observations:

• Women do not know that a rest period should exist from time to time. Women just want to know what the next exercise is.  Rest periods do not exist for them.  Men on the other hand are hoping for a rest period between exercises and they want to know what the exact rest period is.    
• If a woman can not do a chin up it is usually because she is not strong enough.  If a man can not do a chin up it is usually because he is not lean enough. 
• Women have nice workout clothes and are willing to send some decent money on their workout clothes at places such as Lululemon.   Guys do not care about their workout clothes, will not spend money on their workout clothes and if they do buy workout clothes they buy them at TJ Maxx.
• Women would not be caught dead in tube socks.  Men have no problem wearing tube socks no matter the color, how many stripes are on them or whether they are "quitters".
• Women are too focused on whether a food is low fat or not.  Men do not think enough about fat in their diets.
• Women want a pizza with vegetables.  Men want to know how many combinations of meat they can put on their pizza.
• Women love to count calories.  Men have no idea how many calories they are taking in on a daily basis.
• Women love their egg whites.  Men love eggs.....and bacon...and sausage.
• Women are focused on three areas when it comes to training: core, glutes and arms.  Men are focused on three different areas when it comes to training: chest, abs and bi's.
• Women who are afraid of being big bulky from strength training have been mislead through years of weightlifting mythology.  Men who are afraid of getting big and bulky have no chance of getting big and bulky in the first place.

• Women care what they look like when they work out.  Men have no idea what they look like when they workout.
• Woman do not work on push ups because they have been told for years they should do "girl" push ups.  Men do not work on push ups because they would rather bench press.
• Women think "cardio" can not be anything less than 60 minutes.  Men think "cardio" is anything over five minutes.
• Women are not focused enough on protein intake.  Men are too focused on protein intake and not enough on vegetable intake.
• Women like to do what's trendy....hot yoga, ballet barre, spin fusion (Does spin fusion exist?)  Men like to do what they were doing in the high school weight room twenty years ago.
• Woman want more exercise variety in their training and are more susceptible to exercise ADD.  Men would bench press and do biceps curls every day of the week for months on end if you told them to do so.
• Women need to be pushed to lift heavier weights.  Men need to be told to back off on the weight and be coached up on their form.
• Women have a right to wear spandex to the gym.  Men never have a right to wear spandex to the gym.
• Women are too focused on flexibility work especially if they are already flexibile or mobile.  Men are not focused enough on flexibility work especially if they are not flexibile or mobile.
• Women are more open to working with a personal trainer.  Men think only women work with a personal trainer.

Want to add anything to the list?