With Valentine’s Day fast approaching it’s time to give that special someone in your life the gift of good loving. Science has proven that physical exercise can improve your sexual performance in a number of ways, so on that note, here are my Top 5 Exercises for Sexual Fitness: 1) Kneeling Rows 2) DiveBomber Pushups 3) Pulsed Squats 4) Hip Thrusters 5) Straddle The Elbow […]
In this article I want to cover a few fundamentals of strength and conditioning for combat sports that I recently shared with my friend Jason from Precision Striking. First I’ll discuss exercises to develop base strength, then move on to power movements and conditioning exercises. But before I get into that, here are some key points related to this topic. […]
GUEST POST from Paul Vandyken With the fitness culture becoming more popular and more people becoming aware of the benefits of working out, a large variety of people from different walks of life are now hitting the gym. Many of these people are looking for effective exercises and routines to train their abs in the hopes of developing a strong core or to get a six pack. Unfortunately, what many don’t realize is that you can potentially injure yourself by performing exercises incorrectly or by choosing the wrong exercises. However, if you know what you’re doing and you do it the right way, you can achieve the result you’re after. […]
What the heck is a Fat Burning Ladder workout? A Ladder Workout is a training technique that I often use, especially with bodyweight / calisthenics workouts. It’s also one of the training methods I will be introducing in my upcoming ebook/ video program, Bodyweight MASS Builder. It’s a high-intensity, high-volume super-set workout that will build muscle, increase muscular endurance, and burn fat. It’s a simple but challenging form of antagonist supersetting that you can apply to almost any exercises, but which I find particularly well suited to body weight exercises. Here’s how you perform this workout protocol: choose two exercises, typically one pushing movement and one pulling movement (antagonist muscle groups), OR a lower body exercise paired up with an upper body exercise, and you super-set these two exercises, moving back and forth between them with minimal rest. But here’s where the ‘ladder’ technique gets interesting: you begin with only ONE repetition on one [...]
Nutrition seems to be one of the most debated topics in the fitness industry. I’ve had numerous discussions or debates with other trainers about the value of tracking your food intake using some form of journal or nutrition diary. I argue in favor of using a journal or a free app like My Fitness Pal to track your calories and macronutrients (protein, fats, and carbs), or to at least have some awareness of portions and approximate macro intake. Those who oppose tracking often recommend just “listening to your body” to determine how much to eat. […]
Why the Biggest Losers Regained The Weight A few weeks ago there was a “Biggest Loser Study” that was getting a lot of media attention. It basically showed that 6 years later the majority of the contestants on the show had regained most of their weight. Even worse, it also revealed that their metabolism was slower than it was previously. For more details check out the Research Review of this study on the Precision Nutrition site at www.precisionnutrition.com/the-biggest-loser-study. The unfortunate thing is that this study paints a dismal picture that it’s impossible to sustain fat loss over the long term. Of course, the mainstream media loves these types of stories and they jumped all over it. However, that conclusion is absolutely false. The Biggest Loser Study failed to fully explain why these individuals regained most of the weight. We need to ask the question: “What mistakes are they making on the Biggest Loser program [...]
We’ve all seen it … the gym rat swinging heavy dumbbells and calling it “bicep curls”; or rocking back and forth with the full stack on the lat pulldown; or bouncing a heavy bar off their chest on a bench press, pounding out some fast reps. There’s also those people who treat weight training like “cardio” – firing off dozens of reps at lightning speed with very light weight. What do they all have in common? Besides the fact that most of them are probably injured in some way, they are are all performing their resistance training at a fast tempo. Now I admit that I’m generalizing when I describe everyone who performs fast reps as “ego-lifters” with crappy form… there are many experienced lifters who practice decent exercise technique but train with a faster tempo. However, the point of this article is to question whether that is the optimal [...]
What if I told you that there is one neglected body part that you could strengthen which would lead to an increase in full body strength and mobility? It might not be what you expect. I’m talking about your FEET. If you suffer from foot, ankle, knee, low back pain, or related problems including shin splints, bunions, heel spurs, plantar fasciitis, ‘fallen’ arches, or Achilles tendonitis, then this article should be of particular interest to you. Your feet may be holding you back from becoming stronger. The feet are the body’s base of support. During exercise, sport, and most daily activities, force enters the body through your hands and feet, with the feet supporting the bulk of this workload. However, whereas most people understand the importance of grip training and how strong hands contribute to a strong upper body, our feet are often neglected. Most people just shove their feet [...]
Do you ever wonder if some of those “amazing physique transformation” pics are actually legit? “Before and After” transformation pictures can be very motivational to those who are working on transforming their own physique, and an impressive progress photograph is one of the most powerful testimonials you can have for any given product, supplement, training program or nutrition plan. However, in many cases there is more going on in these pictures than meets the eye. While you can’t just assume that any unbelievable transformation pics are “fake”, IMO it’s also important to realize that most before/after or ‘progress’ photos involve a little tweaking… such as tanning, shaving, optimal lighting, posing, sticking your gut out vs flexing, pumping up, water and carb manipulation, etc. Even just the camera angle or changing your body position can create an “illusion” for the camera. This isn’t even getting into the discussion of whether photoshop [...]
With every new year comes new fad diets promising fast fat loss. These range from low carb, low fat, elimination diets, food timing diets, liquid diets, “clean-eating” diets, and the list goes on. But like I’ve said many times before, the fundamentals of fat loss nutrition remain the same: 1) Caloric deficit – take in less energy than you burn off. 2) Appropriate macronutrient ratios – particularly higher protein and adjust carbs and fats according to calorie goals. 3) Food quality – choose less processed foods, adequate micronutrition and fiber, and consume mostly natural “whole” food. 4) Nutrient timing – consider WHEN you eat, such as meal frequency and timing your carb intake primarily after exercise. Check out my blog post on this topic: => TOP 5 PRIORITIES OF FAT LOSS NUTRITION The one recommendation that I most often see debated is following a High Protein Diet. There is still a lot [...]