Haley is pregnant. Who would’ve guessed. She is exercising just like always. She feels better when she works out. She and the baby will be healthier because of it. And she will recover faster after the baby is born.

Please no excuses about not working out. They just don’t hold water.

Ouch, bad pun.

This is from their last workout with me (so far). Rita finally rocked the Hard. Not Easy shirt and everyone enjoys doing burpees with a side leap. Hope you enjoy. Keep a safe distance from the mountain lions. See you.

Kettlebell training is one of the best methods I have come across for total body training and weight loss. Works great for any fitness level. Above is Greg doing the single snatch, one of the pillars of kettlebell training.

There are many types of swings and presses available. I am especially interested in the single arm movements. The off-center weight of the bell make these movements really good for core development. The cardio demands are great as well so your metabolism will be tuned up. Keep the rest as low as possible.

This is an update on a post I wrote a while ago. Updated for variations available to use this concept for total body workout or leg workout indoors or out.

I use this workout for legs and use it for a total body workout. Here we go. This is a sample used as a leg workout.

3 min. walk warmup
Interval 1 – 3 min. walk 8 incline, speed depending on your fitness level, 3.0 -4.5
jump off treadmill, hands on head, 20 prisoner squats
10 jump squat
Interval 2 – 2 min. jog 4 incline, speed 5.0-8.0
jump off, 20 walking lunge with dumbells
15 squats on bosu or other balance equipment
Interval 3 – 1 min. run 2 incline, speed 6.0-10
20 ball bridge
20 single leg deadlift (10 each leg)
Interval 4 – 30 second sprint 1 incline, speed 7.5-15 again depending on your fitness level
30 crunches and 1 min. of plank (core hold)

Repeat

That should take almost an hour and you should be ready to sit down for a while.

To make it total body substitute your favorite upper and lower body exercises on the breaks, e.g. squat presses, push ups, chin ups, dips, etc.

Let me know what you think.

I built some new plyo boxes. Aren’t they beautiful and functional. Get it. Functional training. Eh..

Yes, I am finally adding some plyometrics back into my workouts. Skaters side to side over the small box, or power step ups. These are great additions to a circuit or interval routine. Depth jumps and power chins are all coming back.

If you have any questions about what these exercises are and would like to add them. Comment or email and I’ll explain further.

Back at the track for about 6 weeks. Had a knee issue for a while in the spring.

I have been working on running fast as I can. It feels great. It trains my legs nothing else, especially my hammys. And it keeps my body fat low. Usually do some active warmup, lunges and leg swings. Then jog a half mile. Do some power skipping for about 50 yards x 3 then walk back with some hurdle walks and walks on my heel only. Don’t let the balls of your feet touch. This gets the tibialis going and dorsiflexion as well.

Next I get 5 x 60 yard rolling start sprints. Then it is time for a few longer sprints. Depending on my mood I do some combination of 100, 150, 200, 300, or 400 meter sprints. If I am feeling OK by then I might finish with some bounding or hops. It all depend on the shape I’m in. My times are starting to come down so I am getting in better shape.

If you want to be more fit, add some sprinting or interval work. Your body fat percentage will drop.

It snowed this morning again. BUT, this week the word is temps in the 50s. Whoa.

Let’s get out into the outdoors and run, jump and breathe. No more stale air and stale recession chatter. Life is good. Let’s enjoy it. See you outside.

Thanks to Haley for the tip!

An article in the NY Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/health/nutrition/31BEST.html?ex=1202446800&en=3bfa19fc7ea45c91&ei=5070&emc=eta1

This is something I’ve been talking about for many years based on my experience. Keep your workouts hard and intense to keep your performance high. Oh yeah, you will look younger too.

Did I mention you will keep your weight down as well?

I am talking about doing sprint workouts at least once per week. I am talking about making your workouts as intense as you can handle. Not over-training but keeping your rest between sets as low as you can handle. Get rest between workouts. Train the whole body as a unit. Train movement patterns not body parts.

There have been a lot of 80° days lately. You need to get outside for some interesting cardio. Get away from the treadmill. Get onto a bike. Go to the track.

Here is what to do at the track. Jog a couple of laps to warm up. Then run half the straightaway as fast as you can. Walk the second half of the straight. Run the first half of the curve. Then walk the second half of the curve.

If you are in better shape jog the second section. If you are in great shape sprint the straightaway and jog the curve.

Do as much as you can from a half mile up to two miles. Excellent workout! Enjoy…