Workout Of The Week 12/8/2011

This is another workout designed for minimal space and minimal equipment just in case your house bound due to weather.

Warm up by jogging in place 1 minute, perform 25 jacks, 15 push ups and 15 sit ups and repeat cycle two more times.

Perform the following exercises from top to bottom, pause and then repeat for a total of 4X through.

20 burpees20 windmill push ups
Perform a push up and then rotate to one side into a side plank (see below).
20 squat thrusts
20 plank row- can use a weight of just pull elbow back.

20 tuck squat thrusts
Perform a squat thrust and then when you hop up out of it perform a tuck jump.20 renegade push ups
20 full burpees
Perform a regular burpee but instead of a push up lie all the way down on the floor before pushing up and hopping in.
20 travel push ups - 5 to the right, 5 to the left. Repeat.
Perform a regular push up and then walk hands and feet to the right until you have completed 5 push ups then repeat back to left for 5.

20 pike and drop
You can hop or walk your feet back into the push up.
20 tricep push ups


Rest

After 4th round of the above perform 4 sets of 10 jackknife sit ups (start out lying on your back and then pike up and touch your toes). Stretch.

Workout Of The Week October 13th, 2011

W.O.W. 10/13/2011

You will need dumbbells and a place to run for this workout.

Warm up for five minutes.


Perform two rounds of the following:
Single leg squat hop Right X20
Burpee X20
Single leg squat hop Left X20
Push up and row X20 (10 a side)
Run a fast 400 meter
Rest





Perform two rounds of the following exercises:
Frog hop X20
Jack squat thrust X20
Frog hop X20
Squat and shoulder press X20
Run sprints 30 secs on/30 secs off - 5X




Perform two rounds of the following exercises
Split jump X20
Tuck squat thrust X20
Split jump X20
Overhead lunge X20/s
Run 800 meters





Finish with 4 sets of 20 sit ups.

Easy Spicy Beef Topped With A Fried Egg

I can't remember where I found this recipe but I just ran across it. I love to add a fried egg to spicy beef dishes. It's a compliment to the spice and it adds an extra dose of the perfect protein.

Easy Spicy Beef Stir-Fry

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 pound beef flank steak, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 large green onions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, sugar, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a bowl. Toss beef with marinade, cover, and refrigerate 1 hour to overnight.
2. Heat peanut oil in a wok or large, nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the green onions, and cook for 5 to 10 seconds before stirring in the beef. Cook and stir until the beef is no longer pink and is beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
3. Fry an egg in a hot skillet so it is brown and crispy around the edges. Flip it and cook just long enough to set the yolk. Place it on top of the beef and serve.
   

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving without the egg - Calories: 212 Total Fat: 13.6g Protein: 22g Carbs: 4g
With the egg - add 90 calories, 7g Fat, 7g Protein, 0g Carbs

Super Sets

If your workout has stalled there is one simple change that can mix it up without even changing the exercises. Train one muscle group while your resting another. This type of training keeps your heart rate up and makes your workout super efficient.

Here's an example of a good, basic, total body lifting routine based on super sets:

Warm up first (always) with light calisthenics and/or cycling, rowing or elliptical.

Perform 3 sets of each combination of exercises. Take a very short break between sets.

Incline bicep curls X8 reps
Single arm tricep overhead extension X8/side

Dumbbell shoulder press X8
Walking lunges X20 steps

Pulldowns (or pull ups) X8
Bench press X8

Reverse curls on bench X20
Hyper extension X10

Top Four Body Weight Drills

There are four exercises that you can do anytime, anywhere so keep them handy for when you are on the road or stuck in your house for any reason. Here are the drills with variations to keep it interesting.



Push Ups

#1. Decline push ups - put your feet on a chair or table to perform the movement.
#2. Renegade push ups - perform a push up and as you come up out of the push up extend the opposite arm and leg. There are a couple variations on this drill. The most popular one is push up and row (pull one elbow to the ceiling at the top of the push up) but it isn't nearly as effective without weights and the drills I have listed are specifically designed to be challenging without using any equipment.
#3. Tricep push ups - keep elbows close to your body throughout the exercise.
#4. Plyometric push ups - as you come up push off explosively so that your hands (and/or feet) leave the floor.

Squats

Here are just a few squat variations. There are many, many more.
#1. Change the tempo of the squat by pulsing at the bottom for 10-20 reps before you come all the way up.
#2. Take your feet really wide with toes turned out, place your hands on your head and sink down at least to a 90 degree angle at your knee.
#3. Drop into a squat with your hands on your head and walk around the room for 10-20 steps.
#4. Bring your feet together and touch the floor with both hands on either side of your feet. Explode up into a jump while reaching for the ceiling.




Squat Thrusts/Burpees

#1. Just to clarify - a squat thrust is nothing fancy, just down/back/in/up. A burpee has a push up thrown in.
#2. Add a jack with the legs once your in plank and a jack as you hop up.
#3. After you kick your legs back lay all the way down on the floor so legs, belly and chest are all touching then push yourself up and hop in and up.
#4. After you kick your feet back bring your knees into your chest and kick back again before you hop in and up.




Sit Ups

#1. Traditional gym-class sit ups - hands behind the head, knees bent and curl all the way up to touch your elbows to your knees.
#2. Straighten your knee with arms straight over head. Curl up and touch your toes.
#3. Start with legs straight and hands behind your head. Curl up all the way, bringing one knee into your chest, touch it with your opposite elbow (you should twist across).
#4. Put your hands behind your head and tuck elbows and knee together so they touch. Extend legs out parallel to the floor. Bring them up some if your lower back bothers you.

Mix up sets and reps for the above exercises to create even more variation.

Low Carb Dieting

I highly suggest that you get a copy of 'Living Low Carb' by Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS. Especially Chapter 6, The Biggest Myths about Low-Carb Diets. If you have been resistant to low calorie diets you may just see yourself in his text. Especially the quote "...there is no physiological need for carbohydrates in the human diet." There is a lot of research backing this up. Just think about it. It would be easy to study protein vs. carbs. Put one person on an all carb diet and one person on an all protein diet. The research shows that the person on the all carb diet would die within the year and the all protein person would be thriving. In chapter 7 he compares 38 diets and why they work and don't work for some people. He talks about how hard a diet is to follow and how effective he thinks it is. He doesn't just talk about low carb diets, he talks about the most popular diets over the past few decades. He shows why they may or may not work. Obviously he thinks low carb is the way to go but is not preachy about it.

I have seen many clients finally lose weight after embracing the low carb (or even just a lower carb life). Most of them tell me they don't miss bread or pasta once they have practiced the new way to eat for a week or so.

Go forth and live low carb!

W.O.W. July 13th, 2011

Workout of the week:

This is a basic strength workout for the weight room.

Warm up well before beginning the workout because you will be lifting heavy. Choose a weight that you struggle with by the 6th repetition. If you really want to go for it you should find a spotter or lift with someone else.

Bench press 4X6-8

10 squat thrusts
(no push up)

10 burpee
(same as to the right)

Pull ups 4 sets to failure

25 donkey kicks

Squats 4 sets of 6-8 reps

20 frog hops

20 tuck jumps

1 minute of sit ups, rest and repeat for 1 min, rest and repeat one more time.

Stretch.