Month: March 2011

A Fast and Effective Cardio Alternative – The M 100

Try out this great super effective cardio workout if you’re tired your current cardio routine. It only takes about 5 minutes!

  • Squat thrust — 10 reps
  • Mountain Climber — 10 reps (counting 1-2-3-ONE-1-2-3-TWO)
  • Squat Jump — 10 reps

Keep repeating the sets until your total combined reps count is 100.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkD9LwDBWW0

The 300 Workout Challenge from the Movie

Up for a challenge? Want to get fit like the actors from the 300 movie? Try out this crazy routine and see how well you can perform:

  • Pullups – 25 reps
  • Deadlifts with 135lbs – 50 reps
  • Pushups – 50 reps
  • 24-inch Box jumps – 50 reps
  • Floor wipers – 50 reps
  • Single-arm Clean-and-Press with 36lbs Kettlebell – 50 reps
  • Pullups – 25 reps

If you can’t do the whole set keep doing as many sets untill you reach the outlined reps.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ETHPvJzMQ

Top Fitness Tips

  1. When strength training move very slowly up and down. This helps you gain muscle mass and prevent injury due to good form.
  2. Workout exercises that target the same muscle group together.
  3. Eat eggs or oatmeal for breakfast, to avoid hunger later in the day.
  4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
  5. Do different exercises on different days. Your muscles need rest, if you do the same exercises everyday they will adjust to the work outs and you won’t be seeing the results you expect.
  6. Eat high fiber foods like fruits and vegetables. Fiber is the best way to get full for the lowest calorie count.
  7. Eat whole grains. They digest slower and keep you full for longer periods of time.
  8. Avoid junk food. For a funny video on the problems with junk food check out: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66boOY4xXGU
  9. Don’t drink calories.
  10. Eat snacks between meals.
  11. Working out at home is a lot easier if you’re too lazy to go to the gym. It is also a lot cheaper.

The Ultimate Full Body Workout Routine: Part 3 – Strength Training

This post is part 3 of the The Ultimate Full Body Workout Routine.
All the exercises here can be done with the Complete Home Gym for Under $100.
 

Shoulders

Pull ups:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83B1RLBBAts
Military Presses:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpWrzp9Mnyg
Lateral Raises:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8I4ySTVAdA

Legs

Calf Raises:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF8R0jBwdes
Lunges:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7KaRcUTQeE
Squats:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24PeqytTtq4
Swiss ball wall squats:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydVHCRhEnj8
Dumbbell Dead-Difts:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZnrc_MXX1U

Chest

Pushups:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh00_rniF8E
Incline bench press using the swiss ball:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNrKXmSemSQ
Swiss ball push ups:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NosiLQP_xlY
Swiss ball dumbbell flies:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg7Jt91Jjqc

Back

Rows:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP_fqQ6yEQ8
YTWL back exercises on the swiss ball:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xck3d8LidME

Arms

Dumbbell Kick-Back:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dkvabxAlU
Curls:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZawrdYA0WXU
Dips:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx9gVDCnT84
 

The Ultimate Full Body Workout Routine: Part 2 – Abs + Core Exercises

This post is part 2 of the The Ultimate Full Body Workout Routine.
All the exercises here can be done with the Complete Home Gym for Under $100.
Core Exercises:
20 kettlebell swings:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6u_nqSnM2S8
hip thrusts on the swiss ball:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXprDZlX8pY
Plank for 50 seconds:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSHjTRCQxIw
10 Side plank rotations on each side:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo0j8L8sXJk
10 Leg raises on the iron gym (requires the straps):
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSCCOAuF7Bo
 

Swiss ball exercises:

20 swiss ball myotatic crunch:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noD_RwkaGEQ&feature=related
20 swiss ball back crunch:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_OfbkJwxnc
20 swiss ball side crunches:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDSPi8N3RUA
30 swiss ball russian twists:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvIpcKy0JjQ
Super Man on the swiss ball for 30 seconds:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r1MiHU_Rwg
20 swiss ball jack knives:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYDHDUEDDe0
 

Ab exercises:

20 plain crunches with legs on the swiss ball:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UTXXBwmETk
20 V situps:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTYdRiLfuO0
10 reverse crunches:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfdmYbDczag
50 bicycle crunches:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixQGJ3Ja-2I

How to Commit to a Healthy Habit – The 21 Day Challenge

Commiting to a new habit may seem difficult. And any failures along the way may lead to discouragement.
The idea of the 21 Day Challenge has been floating around the blog world for quite some time. Basically you pick a single challenge and attempt to implement it for 21 straight days. Since the goal is a short period of time, psychologically it appears to be a lot easier. Once the 21 days have passed the habit becomes routine. You should only take on 1 challenge at a time.
Some 21 day challenges for you to try:

  1. The Ultimate Full Body Workout.
  2. The Perfect Diet/Meal Plan.
  3. Cut out all media besides music.
  4. Eat Slowly.
  5. Good Posture.
  6. Kick coffee.
  7. Don’t eat 3 hours before bed time.
  8. No instant messaging.

For more challenges google is your friend.

The Ultimate Full Body Workout Routine

After reading books and articles on proper exercises that workout your body entire I believe I have come up with the ultimate routine:

All the exercises here can be done with the Complete Home Gym for Under $100.
I use cardio to kill two birds with one stone: Cardio in and of itself and a full body warm up. Jogging around your neighborhood for 15-20 minutes should be enough.
Regarding stretching there is a lot of controversy of whether you should do it before or after you work out. To avoid any issues I simple don’t do any stretches on Day 1 and Day 3 and simply stretch my entire body with yoga on Day 2. I found the P90x version masculine enough for those of you who feel that yoga is too feminine. I can finally reach my toes!
Check out this page for a complete list of yoga poses if you do not feel like purchasing the dvds: http://www.sheerbalance.com/brettsblog/p90x-yoga-poses-tony-horton/
 

The Outline

Day 1 – Cardio + Abs/Core

15-20 min cardio

Core Excercises

  • 20 kettlebell swings
  • hip thrusts on the swiss ball
  • Plank for 50 seconds
  • 10 Side plank rotations on each side
  • 10 Leg raises on the iron gym (requires the straps)

Swiss ball exercises

  • 20 swiss ball myotatic crunch
  • 20 swiss ball back crunch
  • 20 swiss ball side crunches
  • 30 swiss ball russian twists
  • Super Man on the swiss ball for 30 seconds
    20 swiss ball jack knives

Ab exercises

  • 20 plain crunches with legs on the swiss ball
  • 20 V situps
  • 10 reverse crunches
  • 50 bicycle crunches

It might look like a lot but each set of repetitions takes under 1 minute or less so one complete round takes about 20 minutes if you don’t rest in between reps.

Day 2 – Yoga from the P90x series

Day 3 – Cardio + Strength Training

Shoulders

  • Pull ups
  • Military Presses
  • Lateral Raises

Legs

  • Calf Raises
  • Lunges
  • Squats
  • Swiss ball wall squats
  • Dumbbell Dead-Difts

Chest

  • Pushups
  • Incline bench press using the swiss ball
  • Swiss ball push ups
  • Swiss ball dumbbell flies

Back

  • Rows
  • YTWL back exercises on the swiss ball

Arms

  • Dumbbell Kick-Back
  • Curls
  • Dips

For videos of the above exercises check out part 2 and part 3.
There you have it!

The Perfect Diet/Meal Plan – 3 Meals/3 Snacks

We all struggle with our food intake to some extent. For those that need help I suggest you try the following diet. After trying different things I came up with a maintainable diet that is easy to keep and works great with a workout schedule:
The idea is simple 3 Meals with 3 snacks in between.

  • 8am: Oatmeal, add eggs on alternating days.
  • 10am: Snack
  • 12pm: Salad
  • 2:30pm: Snack
  • 5pm: A dinner of your choice, but try to keep it healthy.
  • 7pm: Snack

For snacks I have 1 or 2 servings of  fruit, vegetable, yogurt, or nuts.
You may swap the salad with dinner on days where your workout is closer to lunch time.
Be sure to eat slowly and enjoy your food, that way you will stay full for longer periods of time. Any amount of coffee, tea, or water can be had during the day.
Other than that you should stick to the diet unless you begin to starve. In that case you should have another snack since starving is unhealthy and push the next meal forward by an hour or 2. But this should be rare. No sweets/junk food, except once a week.
The point of this diet is to be aware of what you eat and how often. Sometimes we just eat out of boredom, by sticking to a schedule this problem may be mitigated. I also try to eat only natural foods that haven’t been processed much.
There you have it, I hope that you can benefit from this diet just as I have. Please comment on your progress.

Delicious Salad Recipe


Who said salads are tasteless? With the right ingredients salads can taste great and fill you up at the same time.
Try out this recipe instead of one of your daily meals:

  • A handful of baby spinach leaves.
  • Dice up 1 cucumber.
  • Dice up 1 tomato.
  • Handful of almonds.
  • Handful of craisins.
  • Some feta cheese diced up.
  • If you’re feeling particularly hungry you can add 1 carrot stick diced up for extra flavor.
  • Olive Oil with Balsamic Vinegar, a drizzle of each.
  • Optionally you may season, the ingredients above are more than enough for flavor.

Toss the ingredients together and enjoy!