Tabata burpee Gymboss Timer workout. Only perform this workout if you are already reasonably fit.

A Tabata workout is a very intense and very effective exercise routine. The Tabata workout was invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Tabata’s study used highly-trained endurance athletes in peak physical condition. The basic principle is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest. Eight intervals of one exercise must be completed before moving on to the next.

If you’re short on time but you still want a decent workout, then the Tabata burpee workout is for you. Short but very hard and extremely intense the Tabata protocol works so well because it maximizes oxygen consumption with short bursts of focused exercises.

1) For twenty seconds, do as many burpees as possible.
2) Rest for ten seconds
3) Repeat seven more times!

One of the hardest aspects of doing a tabata workout is staying focused for the whole four minutes. It only takes 6 to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods to substantially improve both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Tabata also found that short-term intense interval training is highly effective in lowering the ratio of lean body mass to fat without compromising your muscle size.

This cardio interval training method is an intense and quick workout routine but very effective. The rest period can be complete rest or a less intense pace (if using burpees I’d recommend a complete rest).

Tabata burpees are a great way to get a very intense workout in a very short period of time. I know you’ll feel like twenty seconds has never felt so long, 10 seconds never so short and four minutes never so painful!

I find the best and easiest way to time my Tabata workouts is by using my Gymboss Timer. The Gymboss Timer is easy to set and use is about the size of a small pager and has a belt clip and can either be set to beep, vibrate or beep and vibrate. The quality of it is also excellent and it comes with a 1 year warranty.

The burpee is performed in four steps:

* From a standing position, squat down and place your hands on the floor.

* Kick your feet back, while simultaneously lowering yourself into the bottom portion of a pushup. Your arms will not be extended.

* Immediately return your feet to the squat position, while
simultaneously pushing “up” with your arms. You will perform a pushup as you return your feet to the squat position.

* Leap up as high as possible from the squat position. Repeat, moving as fast as possible.

This is the ONLY way that I perform Burpees.

I usually train everyday in the the early evening, either using bodyweight, dumbbells, kettlebells, medicine ball a mixture of them all or I may go for a run, no matter what I train, I have one or two days off a month, but most days I exercise. Just recently I went for a run which consisted of about 5 miles that was a mixture of running on the road and cross country. On the cross-country portion of a run I came across a log about 4 feet long and a foot wide. Looking at it I thought that would be a great piece of equipment for a whole host of exercises, from step ups to presses. Anyway I picked it up, ran with it, dropped it, did a few push-ups with my feet resting on it, jumped up did a few steps then astride jumps. Lay down on the floor and pressed it. I carried on for a few more minutes doing as many exercises as I could think of and no surprise here, you can perform just about any exercise with a log that you can with a conventional barbell, its just the grip that’s a little difficult. Anyway I was a few miles from home so decided to carry on with my run.

Just recently I was browsing a well known internet auction site looking for a new exercise mat when I came across a listing for a sandbag, a “20 kg powerbag” actually, what I’d call a “posh sandbag”. It was very cheap compared to the price of a new one and not much more expensive than if I’d made my own, so I bought it and then began to look about for exercises to perform with it, you can use a sandbag for just about any exercise that you can can perform with a barbell, Clean and Press, Snatch, Push Press, Get Ups, Lunges, Dead lifts, Squats and Rows to mention just a few.

I put together a circuit including all of the exercises mentioned above and a couple more, performing each exercise as fast as possible with good form for 1 minute time, with only a few seconds rest between exercises and a couple of minutes to grab a drink between circuits. I ran through the circuit 3 times, after the first circuit I was gassed, after the second I was wasted, after the third I was on my knees gasping for breath and ready to puke and this is only with a 20 kg sandbag remember.

A sandbag is the most uncooperative and unpredictable piece of exercise equipment. It requires you use every muscle possible to hold and lift it. Working with a sandbag is like fighting an opponent who is constantly changing, moving and adapting. You aren’t pushing, lifting, holding and gripping at straight angles similar to a barbell or dumbbells. This means that with a sandbag your typically only able to lift 40/50% of what you would typically lift with traditional weights.

Due to the inherent instability of the sandbag the lifter must use more muscles, making each exercise more beneficial and efficient. Sandbags are easily manipulated for use at any fitness level from beginner to the advanced athlete. Because of these benefits, sandbags are perfect for shedding body fat, in fact they won’t just help you shed fat they’ll rip it away.

When it comes to training nothing is much more low tech than a sandbag, except maybe a rock. Sandbags are easy to learn, challenge the whole body, and have more versatility than almost any other form of equipment. They are an incredibly versatile inexpensive tool that offer the benefits of unstable training with a challenging load. Sandbags offer the ultimate in functional training, combining all the benefits of resistance training, with the versatility of medicine balls and core stability in one highly effective piece of equipment. The adaptability and multi-use features of the sandbag make it one of the most effective training tools available.

Versatile enough to carry out any strength training exercises with the advantages of added rotational variations and throwing progressions that are unable to be safely performed with barbells or dumbbells. It is the inherent instability of sandbags that makes them much more difficult to lift than traditional weights, typically users will lift only 40/50% of what they are capable of lifting with conventional weights. This inherent instability encourages stabilising muscles to be switched on during training, thus making the lift more complex and encouraging increased levels of coordinated movements during training and making lifting harder.

With sandbags the use of the core stabilizers becomes an integral part of many exercises rather than a separate component phase of the exercise program. The built in instability due to the construction of the sandbags magnifies the effects of poor core stability. Sandbag training recruits stabilising muscles to a greater degree than working with traditional weights. The inbuilt instability means that far greater core and postural recruitment is required to stabilize during the lifting movement.

Sandbag training carries over to sports performance, again this is due to the inherent unstable nature of the sandbag. It improves the function of stabiliser and neutraliser muscles which strengthens joint stability and allows a higher potion of prime movers to be recruited. This in turn improves the ability to apply more power and strength to any given situation on the playing field.

The increased workload on your stabilizers and muscular and nervous system in general not only prepares your body for the instability of actual sports and life in general but will also increase calorific expenditure significantly i.e. you can burn more fat training with a sandbag than you can on machines and, in some cases, free weights. The bottom line is sandbag training burns fat. Adding intense sandbag training to your routine will have you ripped in no time!

There is an example 10 exercise sandbag circuit available here.

Variety is an important concept to apply to your fitness program. Aerobic and high intensity anaerobic style conditioning, muscular fitness, stretching, core exercises and balance training should all be part of a balanced workout routine. It can be hard to devise regimes that include all of the above, luckily we don’t have to do it ourselves.

The American military have put together a series of free podcasts that include plenty of high intensity, aerobic and high intensity anaerobic style conditioning, fitness, stretching, core exercises and balance training. I’ve been using them on and off over the past couple of years to help add variety to my workouts.

The work along workouts are led by certified fitness trainers from all branches of the American Military. Most of the workouts are no equipment needed workouts that you can do anywhere, if equipment is called for its either a stability ball, a pair of dumbbells, resistance bands or jump rope.

There are a total of 80 workouts in all, lots of full body workouts or if your looking to strengthen and tone specific body parts there’s a workout for that too. The term podcast can be misleading since neither podcasting nor replaying podcasts requires an iPod or any portable music player in fact no special reader is needed to view the workouts as they’ll open in most browsers or they can be downloaded for use on mp3 players and ipods.

These programs takes viewers through workouts led by service members with expertise in fitness training.

These Fit for Duty episodes focus on high-energy cardiovascular workouts.

These episodes feature the Pilates method used to build strength, flexibility and agility.

These resistance training episodes feature a variety of fitness-building techniques, such as Marine Corps Martial Arts and weight training.

Free standing punch bags are ideal for people who don’t have anywhere to hang a punch bag. Selecting a free standing punch bag can seem like a tough task with the range available. However, a few simple steps will enable you to make the best choice and leave you with a free standing punch bag that will last over time and enhance your fitness, punching and kicking skills.

Free standing punch bags are heavy bags that have large rounded bases and rest on the floor rather than suspended from the ceiling or hung from wall mounts. Free standing punch bags make a great choice for anyone who will be both punching and kicking the bag, this is because the foam on many Free standing punch bags begins close to the base and provides more usable striking surface for kicks.

Free standing punch bags can be filled with either water or sand. It used to be said that water provided some energy feedback and adds a realistic feel when hitting the bag and that sand makes the bag weigh more, but generates a thick, unyielding feel. While thats the case for bags without a built in spring. Many bags today are made with inbuilt springs and feel realistic no matter what they are filled with. Free standing bags are usually designed to weigh between 250 and 300 lbs. when filled. Free standing punch bags also roll, so they’re ideal for situations where you need your heavy bag to move out of the way. Gyms and martial arts studios often use standing bags so that they can move them in to the center of the floor while in use and then roll them away when done to make room for other activities.

Personally unless you have a very heavy hanging bag, I think you get a better workout from a free standing bag as they offer more resistance. I’d also go for one with a built in spring.

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See larger image Century Cardio Wavemaster (Misc.)

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See larger image Century Original Wavemaster With FREE DVD (Misc.)

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See larger image Golds Gym Floor Standing Tube Trainer (Misc.)

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This evenings workout will be a bodyweight and medicine ball workout that I put together on my iPhone using THI Personal Trainer LITE this app takes full advantage of the iPhone and iPods capabilities. The app includes a sample exercise library with complete and clear instructions. The sample workouts are professionally designed (CSCS certified) or you can create your own, use the Workout Editor to add exercises, create new training programs and modify existing routines quickly and conveniently.

Whether you are looking to build muscle, find an effective total body workout you can do anywhere or just improve your overall flexibility THI Personal Trainer’s professionally designed workout programs will be a great addition to your workout arsenal. High quality video combined with professionally designed training routines that are fully customizable makes this app the perfect personal fitness assistant. All information is contained within the app, meaning all videos load quickly and there is no need to connect to your wifi or 3G networks to run it.

FEATURES
- Sample exercise library
- Pre-built Training Programs designed by professional Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialists (CSCS)
- Logging system
- Graphing system
- Fitness reports
- Interval timers
- Capability to build your own customized workouts
- Capability to add your own exercises

PRE-BUILT WORKOUTS INCLUDING:
- Beginner Programs
- Intermediate Programs
- Advanced Programs
- Sample Hypertrophy routine
- Sample Metabloic routine

Compatible with iPhone and iPod touch Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later. Oh and did I mention its free!

This evening I went for a run and decided to use the runkeeper app for the iphone to record my run. You can see the results here. I ran 3.73 miles in 34:17 thats an average speed of 6.53mph. What is interesting is that toward the end of the run about a mile from home is a little hill, I always have to work a little harder here but what I didn’t realize that in working harder I was also increasing my mph from an average of around 6.5 to 10.3mph. I’ll be using the runkeeper app each time I go for a run from now on.

This evenings workout was the Art of Strength Providence using a 20kg kettlebell. This was my first time using a kettlebell in a while. I had half expected my strength to have declined after doing mainly bodyweight exercises for approximately the last six weeks but I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to complete the workout with pretty much the ease that I have been to on past occasions.

I’ve decided to give iPhone/iPod touch users an optimized version of the site. I’m using the WPTouch plugin which I first heard about from Stephen Fry, I stumbled across a podcast where he was banging on about how great wordpress is and he mentioned he’d optimised his blog for the iphone using WPTouch. The plugin has been working great so far. It was pretty easy to modify the default theme and get it to match the full site design. It’ll also make it easier to respond to comments from my iphone. I’ll also be able to post from my iphone no matter where I am. You can view the standard non-mobile full site by clicking on the link at the bottom of the site.

This evenings workout was a burpee workout. I ran to the football pitch and after a quick warm up placed my hoody and water bottle 15 meters apart. I performed 8 burpees by my hoody, walked to my water bottle and performed another 8 burpees. I did this 8 times. After a quick drink I went through this routine a further 3 times for a total of 256 burpees.