From the category archives:

Workouts

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.

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Sandbag Training.

by Harry on December 28, 2009

in Workouts

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.

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Art of Strength Newport kettlebell workout.

August 1, 2009

Art of Strength: Newport is the second in the world’s 1st work along kettlebell DVD series by Anthony Diluglio.
This workout is a circuit style kettlebell workout, it’s a tough workout divided-up into 10 “rounds” including a 5 minute snatch test. Most rounds take about 4 minutes and consist of continuously alternating between two exercises for [...]

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Art Of Strength Firepower.

July 28, 2009

Art Of Strength Firepower kettlebell workout has 5 different programes you can choose from, all 5 use the same 15 drills but manipulating the sets and rest time between sets. Each of the 5 rounds has that number of exercises, and each set is 1 minute long. So round 5 has 5 exercises and the [...]

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Kettlebell exercises, kettlebell complexes.

July 22, 2009

Kettlebell Complexes string several Kettlebell exercises together to create one smooth flowing set of movement. This type of training is excellent to work a huge amount of musculature in a short amount of time. The conditioning aspect of this type of training is great, you’ll find yourself huffing and puffing after repeating a sequence just [...]

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Kettlebell workout.

July 19, 2009

Kettlebell workout. Reps are 5, then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1 on the right and 5, then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1 on the left.
* Snatch
* Clean and Press
* Front Squat 2 minutes
* Bent Over [...]

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Workout combining bodyweight and dumbbells.

July 15, 2009

This evenings workout was a mix of dumbbell and bodyweight exercises, If you want real fitness, fat loss and physique building results that you can use in the real world, then combining bodyweight and dumbbells is the best option. Forget about strapping yourself into some machine that has no relation to any movement you’ll [...]

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Workout for 14th July.

July 14, 2009

This evenings workout, another deck of cards workout:
Suits
* Spades = Rustys
* Hearts = Push-ups
* Diamonds =Tuck Jumps
* Clubs = Squat Thrusts
Repetitions
* ace = 11 reps
* 2 = 2 reps
* 3 = 3 reps and so on
* Jack = 11 reps
* Queen = 12 reps
* King = 13 reps
* Joker = 25 of the previous exercise.
I [...]

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22 Minute Single Kettlebell Warrior Workout.

July 13, 2009

This Kettlebell workout from dragondoor.com was brought to my attention by Graeme in a comment he posted on one of my posts. Thanks Graeme.
Minutes 1 and 2:
Around the Body Pass. This is my first exercise for every kettlebell workout. It is a beautiful opening move, and helps prepare my mind as much as my muscles [...]

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No space workout.

June 29, 2009

I have 8′ x 4′ of space at the bottom of my bed in the hotel room I’m staying at this evening and thats all the workout room I need give myself a great workout.
After a quick warm up:
Squat thrusts
Stand with feet together. Squat down and place your hands on the floor next to [...]

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