Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Get Started....and Get Started RIGHT NOW!

Thanksgiving has already past and just around the corner comes Christmas followed by New Years Day. It's that time of the year when people find themselves gearing up for the holidays - shopping, travel, vacations, etc.- instead of gearing up to take care of themselves. Holiday parties, too much food & drinks, lack of movement & exercise and too much TV! With the holidays come the New Year and all of the health & fitness resolutions.

In all of my years as a fitness trainer and strength coach, I can honestly say that I've witnessed many people start on their journey to improved physical health & performance only to have it end within a number of days, if not a few weeks. The most difficult, challenging and troublesome aspect on the path to health & physical improvement is getting started and making it a part of everyday life.

Many of you may find yourselves developing a plan but never do anything to move one foot forward, which is called PROGRESSION - "a movement or development toward a destination or more advanced state". Instead you stay in a stagnant position hoping that positive change will come.

My question is how can one expect to change when there is no applicable stimulus to create change? In order to create something....anything, in order to change, it requires that you take ACTION!

As my good friend and colleague Martin Rooney, CSCS - founder of Training for Warriors says in the video below, "It's time to start! It's to time to stick with something! Make your goal, get a commitment and START!"



GET TO IT!

-AR

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving - A Time to Give Thanks

May this be a time to give thanks and enjoy the comforts and unconditional love of family and friends as we celebrate the greatest gifts & blessings of all - LIFE.HEALTH.WELLNESS.!


I also want to wish my little brother a Happy Birthday!

Last but not least, don't forget about your workout. Here's a quick 10-15 minute "Turkey Day Blast" that you can do anywhere. All you need is a 4'x4' space, your body, no equipment, a 'kick-ass' attitude and a smile! Get to it!

Turkey Day Blast

Directions: Perform each exercise for the set number of reps. Rest for 15 seconds and continue to the next exercise. Repeat this sequence until all exercises are completed. Rest for 60 seconds & repeat 1 more time.
  • Pushups/Spiderman Pushups x 10 reps >> Rest 15 sec.
  • Squats/Squat Jumps x 10 reps >> Rest 15 sec.
  • Walkouts/Inchworms x 10 reps >> Rest 15 sec.
  • Alternating Lunges/Alternating Jumping Lunges x10/side >> Rest 15 sec.
  • Burpees x10 >> Rest 15 sec.
  • High Knee Sprints x30 seconds >> Rest 15 sec.
*Rest for 60 seconds and repeat 1x

Happy Thanksgiving!

-AR

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

I Train Because....

The other day I was in the gym going about my business and getting my own ass kicked. I was at the tail end of my workout and taking some recovery before cranking out my metabolic finisher. I noticed a few members staring in my direction as I started my 2-minute metabolic blast!

After the brutality of Burpees, High-Knee Sprints, 1-1/2 Push-ups and Squat Jumps for 30-seconds each, I lay there on the floor exhausted, feeling my heart pounding against my chest, trying to catch my breathe as I lay in a pool of my own sweat.

Cautiously one member walked up to me and asked if I was O.K. I looked up, smiled and said I felt awesome! Surprised by my response, she asked me the ultimate question - "Why do you train?"

After a brief pause of a few seconds to catch my breathe, I collected my thoughts and told her the various reasons why.

I train because....
  • It's what I love to do
  • It makes me feel tons better
  • It reduces negative stress
  • It allows me to think clearly and 'think outside the box'
  • It improves my physical performance
  • It helps to improve my posture, my movement ability and reduces the risk of injuries
  • It keeps my waistline in check 
  • It boosts my metabolism
  • It improves my strength, power, speed, agility, quickness and flexibility
  • It reduces body fat
  • It makes me leaner
  • It increases lean muscle 
  • It's awesome
  • It's what the human body was designed for
  • It makes me stronger
  • It improves my cardiovascular health
  • I like the feeling of my heart pounding against my chest
  • If I don't, I start feeling like s#*t
  • I'm afraid of getting fat and lazy
  • I make the time to do so
  • I'm all about taking on a challenge and succeeding
  • It allows me to take my training to a whole new level
  • I know I can overcome perceived limitations by pushing forth by never quitting
  • I can experiment with new exercises, protocols and methodologies
  • I can create my own style of training
  • I like to embrace the chaos & discomfort knowing that I'm getting better when I do
  • I continue to build thick skin to ward off ignorance, criticism, doubts & fear
  • I know results come from doing the things that I dislike
  • It allows me to ditch the stuff that's worthless and keep the stuff that works
Most importantly, I train because....
  • I have NO EXCUSE not to!

-AR

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Workout of the Day - The 9-9-9 Mayhem Blast

I was reading through some of the latest & greatest news, nutrition and workout tips on MensHealth.com and came across and interesting write up. Featured in the 'Men's Health Daily Dose' was a workout titled "The 9-9-9 Workout" created by fitness expert David Jack.

Here's an overview of what it consists of. The 9-9-9 Workout entails that you complete 4 exercises for 9 reps each for 9 rounds in 9-minutes or less. Your pace is determined by fitness level and you can rest as needed between each exercise. In other words, you simply go by "feel".

Again, complete a total of 9 rounds in 9-minutes or less. That constitutes 1 round. Rest for 2-minutes and repeat the workout again for round #2.

The goal is the same as round #1 - complete the workout for 9 rounds in 9-minutes or less.

Given the criteria for the workout, I decided to give it shot. Before starting, I choose to change things a bit and 'tweak' the 9-9-9 workout to my liking. As most of you know, I'm all about creating a challenge and going full throttle! Not that the 9-9-9 workout wasn't challenging enough. I just wanted to change the exercises and see what I could create.

In the end I came up with an awesome, heart thumping, ball busting, kick ass workout.

I call it....


This workout was a BEAST to say the least! It showed no mercy but I knuckled down and managed to finish my 1st round in 7:41 and my 2nd round in 8:52 - just under the 9 minute mark! I then recovered for 2 minutes and cranked out a 4-exercise core challenge finisher for 2 rounds, 30 seconds each.

Check it out:

The 9-9-9 Mayhem Blast

Instructions: Perform 9 reps of each exercise for 9 rounds in 9 minutes or less. Rest for 2-minutes & repeat again for round #2. 

1) DB Goblet Squat x9
2) Pushup Position Rows (R&L) x9/side
3) DB Push Press x9
4) Burpees x9

Rest for 2-minutes then crank out the 'Finisher' below:

Finisher: 30 seconds each exercise, 2 rounds non-stop

1) Spiderman Planks
2) L-situps - R
3) Planks to Pushups
4) L-situps - L

So there you have it! One results driven workout that's guaranteed to torch body fat and boost your metabolism for hours!

Give it a shot and CRANK IT!!

Now....where's that puke bucket?! Just kidding!

Sort of! HA!

-AR

Monday, November 7, 2011

Taking the Escalator or the Stairs?

The premise of introducing more work for the body results in greater caloric output due to an increase in biomechanical function. In other words, the more we move, the greater the potential to burn more calories. The question is how do we engage people to move more? To become a lot more 'functional' without the mindset in thinking that exercise is boring, a form of punishment, a sense of obligation or being too time consuming? How about we add some FUN into the mix of things!

In the beginning of the video below, note the number of people taking the escalator vs. the stairs. Add a group of creative individuals that tranform your ordinary set of stairs into a 'piano' and the results are incredible!

Check it out. Enjoy!


Remember to take the stairs. In my mind, the escalator & the elevator are both out of order!

-AR

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Take It To The Next Level

Whether your goals are health, performance or sports related, this is a "first hand look" of what you need to do to "take it to the next level"!

I think you'll dig the puking part too....which takes place twice! HA!

Enjoy!


-AR

Quote of the Day

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit."
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher & polymath
__________
-AR