NEED MOTIVATION???

check out this link if you have a minute...

this is probably the best motivation for any person wanting to take advantage of any talent they have been given...

CHECK IT OUT:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA

I bet it works

Speed up workout, get twice the core work

A typical workout routine looks something like cardio warmup, lift some weights or do some more cardio, stretch maybe if you get to it, and then lay on your back... exhausted... and do some half crunches until you have almost stopped sweating and then leave the gym...

A HUGE problem (well, one of the large problems) with this routine is that by the time you get to the core work, you are too tired and have lost a lot of the motivation you started the workout with. I have an idea that could help you.

Google core exercises. or use some serach engine to get some abdominal and lower back strengthening exercises... that is why i want you to type in CORE EXERCISES not just "ab routine" or abdominal circuit. In order to be balanced you need to strengthen your lower back with exercises like supermans ad hyperextensions as well as your abs and obliques with dyanmic movements that activate your core.

Use some of the core exercises that fit your current fitness level and write them down on your workout... HAVE I MENTIONED TO ALWAYS CHART YOUR PROGRESS???? Please write down your workout. If you don't write it down, your workout will move along at a slow pace, iwth a large possibility that you will not remember how many minutes you ran at what heart rate or what weight you used for how many reps. Chart your progress. Every workout you can push yourself to beat the guy or girl from that last workout.

Back to writing down the core exercises... Superset core with a weight lifting exercise. If you do 3 sets of 20 reps on leg press then after each set do a set of russian twists with a medicine ball.
Leg press
Russian Twists
Leg Press
Russian twists
leg press
russian twists

Instead of sitting on the machine or getting a drink of water after every set, throw core in to take up that time, keep your heart rate elevated, AND increase the amount of core work you get every day.

Do this with every weight lifting exercise you do... honestly, even if it is the same core exercise (not recommended) for each set of 20 repetitions and you do a cricuit of 15 exercises... that is equiavlent to 300 "crunches". 300 core strengthening reps that were all done during "rest periods" during your workout. It would take a lot more discipline to lay down after a workout and say to yourself... OK, 300 situps.

WORK HARD!

Consistency in Daily Workouts + Keeping Heart Rate Elevated = Fat Loss

To lose overall body fat you need those two components… if you are going to work out 3 days a week- GO to the gym three days a week. Get it done. Cash in your thirty minutes… your hour. Whatever you said you were going to do. Pick specific days that you are going to go to the gym. If you say three days a week, but you keep pushing it off, you lose accountability and then it is Friday and you are tired and only have Saturday left to go to the gym and haven’t been yet this week. Hold yourself accountable. Pick specific days that you are going to clock in to the gym, get your work done, and your weight loss will pay for itself.
Having a bad day?
Go to the gym if it is one of the days you are supposed to go. Starting your workout can sometimes be the hardest part of working out. SHOW UP! Do your workout. Breaking a sweat makes you feel better and at the end of the day after you got all your work done at your actual job AND your work done at the gym.. you feel better.

Keep your heart rate elevated above resting levels by working opposing muscle groups instead of sitting on a machine resting… Think about it. You make the most of your time, you can do your leg extensions then leg curls. Different leg muscles, one set of muscles can rest while the other is working AND you eliminate the rest time between each set, which not only eats up time you may not have, but it allows your heart rate to settle which partially limits your caloric burn.

Not if but WHEN you get to the gym make the most of your time. You got out of bed, YOU stopped on the way home from work… YOU made the goals to get yourself back into shape or into a better looking shape. this is for YOU. The gym fee you may is miniscule compared to the doctors bills that will pile up on you later if you are not physically fit as you age. You pay for the gym, USE IT!!!

stay focused on your goals.

Update on max out numbers and Super set routine

I completed a one rep max on back squat and front squat yesterday... I hadn't maxed out on back squat since May, but my strength has stayed fairly consistent. It actually has to have gone up. In May I got 375 on back squat with a belt, and yesterday i got 375 BUT the study that was being done called for the lifters to not use a belt.
Using a weight lifting belt increases intrabdominal pressure, allowing a lifter to lift more and is a lot safer than to max out not using a belt. But since using a belt increases the pressure in your abdomen, it allows your body to stay more rigid, which would allow you to lift more weight... up to 15% more! So getting the same weight that I did in May just without the use of a belt means that I have increased my strength, so nothing to be pissed about.

I had never maxed out on front squat before. I usually work out with 185 or 195 for 4 sets of 6-8. BUT I was able to get 275, so i am amped about those weights.

For another study he wanted me to complete a 10 rep max on leg curl, deadlift, and back squat. I did the leg curl and played around with a couple weights before getting 150 ten times. I also had to follow the protocol of one second concentric, two seconds eccentric (one second up, two seconds down), so I know that I was moving the weight in a controlled manner.

On a completely different note, I was training one of my most motivated clients last Tuesday... He is wanting weight loss and increased strength. While the two are very difficult to achieve at once, because to achieve greater strength you have to build muscle whcih means you have to consume more calories that you burn, and he wants to lose weight, which is the exact oppostie of the formula to build muscle mass... I believe when working with a detrained person, the two are possible to achieve at once. His body is in such a state of shock at the workouts, that all the calories he is burning lifting weights and strengthening his core with me, will help shed the fat off of him while his strength has already improved substantially.

His work out this past week was:
leg press
DB chest press
Lat pulldown

3x 10 on all and each set of these exercises was supersetted with the following core developing exercises:

Medicine ball wall throws 3x 10 with a ten pound ball
Supine Medicine ball chest throws 3x10 w/ a ten pound ball
Alternating supermans 3x 12 each side

I hope he continues his current regimine of lifting twice a week and running the other days to eventually prepare for a marathon. He has the drive for a total body transformation.

I posted a poll, take it and see the results. Let me know if you need anything.

graduate school perks

Being in grad school means less classes, more studying, increased drive and motivation in your classmates (for the most part), and increased amount of research that you are going to come across. yea, in undergrad I am sure my professors were completing research, but it was a largely undiscussed topic within the undergraduate classes. I have been asked to be a subject in two weight lifting studies. One deals with a one rep max on front squat and back squat and then testing my range of motion in my lower body and the other study has to do with my ten rep max on back squat, leg curl, and deadlift and then i will either be taking a placebo (pretty much a sugar pill) or chocolate milk and then completing some strength tests after an hour.

i am excited because I love to be pushed to do my best, and what better motivator than to know my results will be included in a doctorate study from UK... yea, my name won't be attached to any of the results, but I think it is pretty cool anyway.

I also get to max out on squat, which I haven't done since may... I need to beat my previous mark or 375 and I know I can do it because I had too many previous sets of heavy weight before I tried maxing out... too much fatigue to get 385 that day.

Look for my results within the next couple weeks.

WEEK 7 COMPLETE

I completed the 7th week of this 16 week program today. This week was skewed because of my work schedule had me working at abnormal times... I worked out normally four days a week, and I still did all four workouts, but there were just more days that the workout week went across.

I lifted sunday-monday-tuesday-friday... It was not the best case scenario, but the most important part of a workout program is consistency. flexibility is the remainder of your week needs to allow you to be able to move your workout around if work does not allow you to lift at the normal times.

SLEEP needs be a priority, also. I had the option to go out with some friends and drink... but I was dead from an eccentric workout so i passed... the next day there was no crazy feeling in my stomach , no extra fatigue built up... yea, i didn't go out.... but my strength went up.