One thing that I really think is important for people to understand when they get into fitness is that there’s no “right” way of working out. Once you understand the basics of which movement targets which muscle group, and that you need resistance to build muscle, the sky is the limit on putting together different exercises and even creating new exercises to build strength.
[The core of the body is the what keeps the body stabilized, similar to what a trunk does for a tree.]
That means that while beginners might need workout programs made out for them to get started, once you gain more knowledge about working out you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with different techniques and exercises as long as you do it with safety in mind.
Even if you’re going to be away from your workout equipment with limited time this weekend (hopefully because you’re out having a nice weekend), you can still get in a quick body weight workout. Here are a few quick and easy body weight workouts you can do, interval training style, to quickly get in some exercise:
[With this picture, you can now be confident that you have the proper form when doing "fence pull ups"!]
Beginner Body Weight 6 Minute Training:
Push Ups / Planks / Body Weight Squats
If you’re not able to do full push up and body weight squats yet, you can do kneeling push ups and squats without going all the way down. Anyway, here’s the workout:
Three Sets of (no breaks in between the 3 exercises, one minute in between each set):
5-40 Push Ups(depending on level)
15 second – 2 and a half minute plank (depending on level)
Most of you who are reading this blog are aware that sugar is bad for you. You’re also aware that most likely, you get plenty of sugar just by eating the healthy foods you like. You may not know that the American Heart Association has said that sugar is “associated with risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, and high levels of C-reactive protein, which has been linked to oxidative stress and inflammation”, but you do know that your body doesn’t feel good when you consume a lot of sugar.
[The guy who made this animation has done a lot of really well made and hilarious animations. It's amazing how much talent some people have! ]
There’s one problem though. Despite knowing that sugar is bad for you…you can’t stop. You can’t bring yourself to go without putting sugar in your coffee in the morning, or stop yourself from binge eating 20 cookies. This post is dedicated to showing you techniques to help beat the sugar addiction and get back your body. Here it goes:
Like many people, I was never really into swimming growing up besides for leisure. Sure, I knew how to swim and took a few courses here and there in different summer camps. But in general, I never had a serious interest in it and by the time I hit high school age I almost completely stopped swimming (which is sort of funny considering I made time to sail).
[One of my dreams is to take a boat out to the ocean and just watch the most graceful and beautiful creatures to be found on the planet. I also think that anyone who ever wants to take a voyage out to the ocean is safer and better off if they're a solid swimmer as well.]
Who doesn’t know that person who seems to eat whatever they want, whenever they want, but never seems to gain any weight. The same person who drives you crazy as they stuff their face, guilt free, with that 400 calorie fatalicous donut while you’re trying to stick to a strict diet consisting of lettuce and some nuts with no dressing.
What if I told you, that by reading this article, you can learn how to BE that person.
[Read on to learn how she's able to eat like that without ever gaining weight...]
Why Some People Never Gain Weight
The first thing you have to understand about people who never gain weight is that they only eat when they’re hungry. Not the kind of hunger you get when you “crave” ice cream or a large piece of steak, but rather the kind of hunger you get when your body is telling you that you’re starving it and it needs food now. Which brings us to the next point…
A few years ago, I read a book by Timothy Ferris titled The 4-Hour Workweek. I found that most of what I read in it was for entertainment value only, and only applicable to someone who wanted to stay single for their entire lives. That being said, there was one piece of advice in there that I really liked. Always aim for the exceptional. The reasoning?
[Aiming for the exceptional actually makes it easier to accomplish your goals because you're more motivated to achieve them.]
When you’re trying to accomplish or attain something that’s amazing, you’ll be so motivated and pumped up about accomplishing it that you’re more likely to accomplish it than if you were trying to do something mediocre. This really resonated with me, and I felt that the idea of not striving for mediocrity is some of the best advice I’ve heard. Here’s how you can apply this concept in the best way possible, starting today, to both fitness and to life:
For those of you who don’t already know, I was injured in the army and diagnosed with a bad case of Jumpers Knee. After that, I was possibly one of the first people in the entire Middle East to be treated with Prolotherapy for bilateral Jumpers Knee. I’ve also recently gotten Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy or PRP, and I’ve come a long way from being in constant chronic pain and while I’m not 100% yet, I’m on the road to recovery.
[Life is too short to be bogged down by chronic pain. That's why I'm so passionate about letting people know about Prolotherapy and Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy treatments that can potentially help them live pain free again.]
In the past few days, I’ve come across a fair amount of people who in my opinion could really be helped with Prolotherapy or PRP but aren’t aware of it. Because of that, I’m writing this post as a short, convenient guide from someone who has gotten both these treatments on when you should look into getting prolo or PRP and which treatment you should get. Feel free to pass it around. Here it goes:
I’ve always enjoyed body weight exercises more than any other kind of exercise. Why? Because they’re fun, and I think real strength means having total mastery over your body weight, which is also why I have a lot of respect for gymnasts. Still, doing the same body weight exercises over and over for months or years can get tedious, which is why it’s important to incorporate new exercises to mix up your routine every once in awhile.
Which is what brings us to the Chinese Push Up, also known as “The Dive Bomber.”
[Monkeys are a great example of how much fun can be had when you have total control over your body weight. That being said, I would NOT suggest you try taunting tigers at home!]
How To Do Chinese Push Ups or “The Dive Bomber”
In my experience, there are three kinds of fitness people. The first person is the one who trains for health and enjoyment of life, the second person trains for competition, and the third person trains because they like challenging themselves physically. This post is for the second and third type of person, and is designed on giving you a few fitness training tips on how to challenge yourself and acquire that extra athletic edge. Here are the 3 tips:
[Extreme sports and activities often require extreme training to really succeed. While these exercises may be ridiculously hard, if you've gotten to the point that you can do them...you've gained that athletic edge.]
For Every Time You Jump Rope, Let The Rope Pass Under You 3 Times
As many of you know, I’ve been struggling with a bad case of Jumper’s Knee for a long time now which is finally starting to heal well, after multiple treatments of prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma therapy. One of the things that has been extremely frustrating with the injury is that not only have I been unable to run without pain, for awhile I couldn’t even walk without pain!
[This video really amazes me by showing just how much we're capable of doing without wearing shoes.]
The walking pain was becoming really frustrating, when one time while walking around barefoot, I noticed that I wasn’t in pain. I then went outside barefoot to go for a walk, and in the first time in a long time…I walked for over a mile barefoot without pain! I had already done some research on the importance of barefoot walking before this, but I couldn’t believe how true it was. I was so impressed that I have since added barefoot walking to my daily routine of physical therapy.
I tracked down the best to offer their greatest fitness tips on getting into shape and reaching your fitness goals. Here’s what they had to say:
Dave Navarro from Rock Your Day said, “You’re going to make excuses to try and get out of changing behaviors you want to cling to, so it helps to have an airtight, 30-second speech you can say in your head to remind you of why you MUST change your patterns, and you must change them NOW.”
Vic Magary From Gym Junkies said, “You MUST be willing to step out of your comfort zone to hit your goals. No matter if your goal is fat loss, building muscle or eating better you have to make a conscious decision to stop doing what is easy and natural to you, and try a route that actually works.”
Recently, a reader asked me why I don’t write more about military fitness and about how to get in shape military style. It was a good question, and I’m going to address it now. There are two reasons that I usually don’t talk about fitness in the military, one that is more obvious and one that might surprise you. The first reason is that at the end of the day, how we train in the military is not public information and I take that seriously.
The second reason is that even if I could discuss how we train in the military, the training is not necessarily ideal, healthy or even better than civilian training. In fact, from my own experience I found that training the military way is not close to as good as training normally. Why? Because the military, and that goes for every military on the planet, is not a place to pamper you or help you get strong healthily. It’s a fighting force and as far as it is concerned you are just another pawn on the board that has to be fit enough to do its job. It may be necessary, but it is far from ideal.
