Posts Tagged ‘body weight’
No Rules Lower Body Training
Sometimes you just need to do things differently and break the rules a little!
Check out this lower body session I put together for you. I know there will be some folks thinking “you shouldn’t put those exercises together” or how effective can bodyweight movement be?”
You can get strong as hell using bodyweight movements. If you don’t believe me, read up on the training of Herschel Walker. This dude did nothing but bodyweight training growing up and he went on to tear it up in track and football at the University of Georgia, as well as killing it in the NFL.
In this video I combine two tradition movements, the squat and walking lunge, with two killer bodyweight moves.
I was wiped out after this session. It turned out to be a pretty good conditioning workout as well.
Most of the time I like the heavy stuff but like I said, sometimes you just need to break away from the traditional modes of training and say, forget the rules.
I want to hear your comments on how you break the rules. I want at least 5 comments on this one folks.
My first training video!
I picked up a Vado HD pocket camcorder from ebay last week. I quickly put it to good use as I filmed my workout on Monday.
I want to give you a glimpse into my world. I’ve talked about how I do things but I want to do more than that. I want to show you.
This workout was 35 minutes of pure INTENSITY! My ass was kicked after this training session. It consisted of two 15min. sets. The first set alternated clean/press and mixed grip pullups for 5 reps each. The second set alternated pushups and recline rows (using blast straps) for 10 reps each. But by the end of each set I had to drop a rep or two each round. The goal was to complete as many reps as possible in 15 minutes!
Here we go!
Drop me some comments and tell me about the last workout that really kicked your ass!
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Cardio vs. Conditioning
And the winner is…CONDITIONING BY A MILE!
I admit it. I used to do tons of cardio. In fact, during my fat loss journey of over 75lbs, all I did was cardio. Was I successful? In a way I was. But as the saying goes, I wish I knew what I know now back then. My cardio sessions used to consist of 45 minutes of jogging, stair mastering, elliptical work or any other piece of equipment because I thought that was the best way to burn fat. I was DEAD WRONG!
YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME!
About five years ago, before I went to grad school I discovered intervals. At time I did know that was I was actually doing. I would alternate periods of high intensity work with periods of moderate work. However, I was still slaving away on those same old pieces of cardio equipment. While I was in grad school we read several studies about how much more fat those in the studies lost with interval training versus steady state cardio. This was one of my a ha moments! Then I discovered folks like Craig Ballantyne and others who were big proponents of interval training. I read their thoughts, incorporated higher intensity intervals into my training and my fat loss sky rocketed. I began to use intervals with my clients and they achieved tremendous results, often burning more fat in a few months than they had in the previous couple of years!
You see the standard 30-45 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical DOES burn fat calories while you’re working but, the moment you step off that stationary bike, the fat burning stops. With interval training (and these intervals can be anything you want them to be) you can continue to burn fat for upwards of 24hrs. This is due to post exercise oxygen consumption or EPOCH. I won’t go into EPOCH now because its boring and I could write pages on it! Just know the harder you work, say, sprinting 50yds up hill, walking back down, and repeating 20 times, you’ll burn tons more fat. You won’t burn that many calories during the workout itself but, you’ll burn tons of fat after you’ve finshed, while you’re resting and reading your favorite book. The fat you burn at rest will far exceed what you burn lollygagging on the elliptical!
So, instead of wasting your time doing half ass work on the bike, stair climber or treadmill, do CONDITIONING work instead of CARDIO. My conditioning work most often includes some form of interval training or body weight conditioning. These sessions last no more than 25-30 minutes. If they do, you can bet your gym membership you are NOT working hard enough. Another bonus of intervals is burning more fat in less time. Who doesn’t want that?
These are two of my favorite conditioning workouts:
Hills Sprints:
Find a hill, something about 50yds in length with a decent incline. Sprint up that hill as hard as you can then walk back down. Rest as much as you need to (you rest will lessen as your conditioning improves) then repeat as many times as you can in 20 minutes.
The “Super Circuit”
This is something I put together last summer training with some of my college athletes. It consists of mostly bodyweight exercises.
1. Jump Rope (100 reps)
2. Pushup/Pullup (alt. one of each until you complete 1o reps of each)
3. Bar Anti-Rotations (10 reps)
4. Box Jumps (10 reps)
5. Mountain Climbers (20 reps)
6. Med Ball Slams (10 reps)
7. Burpees (10 reps)
Complete 2-4 rounds total if you’re just starting out. If you’re more advanced complete see how fast you can complete 5 rounds or do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes.
The bottom line is CARDIO SUCKS! If you want to burn more fat, ditch the treadmill and find a hill and see how hard you can push it! You’ll be surprised at what you find out about yourself!
Ditch the cardio equipment! Do hill sprints to accelerate your fat loss.
Don’t do what I did!
The first gym I ever joined was Walker’s Gym in Hopewell, Virginia. The gym is run by Mr. Walker and his son Barry. Walker’s was where I learned to train. Mr. Walker and Barry taught me everything about training and how to get as strong as an ox. They taught me to get in there, go heavy, rely on big lifts like squats, deads, heavy presses and rows. This was an intense place to train. There were champion power lifters all around me. Mr. Walker was a master’s world champion and Barry won numerous events and held many records. This was a no nonsense place. There was no A/C, little heat in the winter but you never noticed because the atmosphere was electric.
This isn’t Walker’s but you get the picture…
But, when I got to college I lost the INTENSITY. I got sucked into “college lifting!” You know, curl and bench everyday to impress the chicks. You try every muscle mag workout because you want to get ripped! There was absolutely no atmosphere in that gym, which I now know is no excuse for the way I trained.
You see, I had also ballooned to over 250lbs. I was fat! And of course, to get ripped and get chicks you have to follow the workouts the ripped guys did right and put in tons of time on the elliptical and stair climber! Never mind nutrition (which we’ll get into a later date). I was depressed and wasn’t getting any girls!
I did drop all the weight and got some girls but my training still wasn’t right. I now know that although I got the weight off, it could’ve come off much quicker had I remembered those lessons Mr. Walker taught me when I was in high school.
About a year ago I decided to go back to those old lessons and some new ones I learned over the past few years training clients. I quit doing only high rep, high volume workouts thinking that was the best way to add size. I quit doing endless, mind numbing, 30 minute plus cardio sessions. I started lifting heavy again and man did it feel great. I started piling on the weight doing squats, deads, heavy dumbbell press, barbell rows that got me size and strength in high school. I starting doing interval conditioning sessions with sprints, hill sprints, body weight circuits, and sled pushing for no longer than 20-25 minutes. I brought the INTENSITY back into my training! And you know what happend? I put on more size, added more strength, and trimmed more body fat than I had in the previous years of training.
PLEASE DON”T DO WHAT I DID! Lift heavy, use intervals for conditioning, eat clean and you’ll get the results you desire. Above all — train with INTENSITY in all you do!
I grew up…
I grew up watching my dad train in our living room with an old Weider bench, a barbell and a pair of sawed off barbells used as dumbbells. Oh, and the weights, plastic and filled with sand or concrete. It was about as primitive as your could get. You see, my dad worked (still does) for the power company which is brutal work. In the summer you’re sweating your butt off and in the winter you’re freezing it off. He spent his days back then pulling cable and digging ditches. For anyone that has ever done any manual labor, you have to be strong. He lifted every morning before work to prepare his body for the day he told me. This is when I caught the training bug.
I began doing push ups and sit ups between commercial breaks at night when we would watch TV. I watched any Stallone or Arnold movie that I could get my hands on. Why? To me they were the epitome of strength and I wanted to be that strong and be that ripped.
As soon as I able to train with my dad I did. I bought every muscle mag I could get my hands on, following beasts like Arnold, Dorian Yates, and Lee Priest.
I’d say I’ve been in love with the iron for nearly 20 years. It’s in my blood now! Along the way I’ve had some training success and plenty of failures. In fact I’ve dedicated my life and professional career to helping others achieve their training goals. Whether you goal is just to get stronger for sport, look good naked, or just be healthy enough able to chase your kids around the yard, I want to help.
Keep training hard my friends.
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