The Prison Workout

Great post by Mark regarding Prison workout. You can use your body weight for great workout, so stop making excuse that you are too busy to hit the gym.

Blast from past - Jack Lalanne

Here are two great videos by fitness legend "Jack Lalanne" . These videos may be old but they are still relevant.

Why are people tired ?
In this video he explains why people are all pooped up when they wake up in the morning, they feel lazy all the time. He explains 3 main reasons for these :

1. Lack of Exercise.
2. Empty calories.
3. Nervous Tension.

Enjoy the video


10 point self improvement plan.

Here is 10 point self Improvement plan by Jack :

1. Exercise
2. Nutrition
3. Positive Thinking
4. Good habits
5. Grooming
6. Smile
7. Posture
8. Help others
9. Relaxation
10. Faith

Enjoy the video

Warm up...

Not a good way to warm-up

Yesterday I saw a very strange warm up routine..A guy aged 30-35 comes into gym and first thing he does is "Preacher Curls" . As i go to a commercial gym I have seen many strange things but after watching this I was just dumbstruck .

Charecteristic of a Good warm-up

• Elevates Body Temperature.
• Promotes mobility in Joints.
• Develop proper movements.
• Works whole body in multi planes.
• Prepares for athletic movement.
• Teach correct Posture.
  

How to perform warm up correctly.

My favourite warm up routine is based on Olympic exercise performed with just bar in a continuous fashion.

It goes like this (Performing 5 reps of each exercise) :

• Romanian Deadlift
• Cleans
• Snatch
• Overhead Squat
  
• Military press
• Push Press
• Push Jerk
• Rows
• Overhead reverse Lunges
• Good Morning
  

Things you would note is that there are lots of Over head movements like
Squats and lunges. These Would test out your balance and will provide mobility throughout the shoulder and hip complex

Also note that its not advisable to do static stretching before lifting. It has been shown that static stretching before lifting leads to significant decrease in strength.


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You cant go wrong with these

Running Backward.

I was just looking on a crossfit WOD some days back which involves around running forward and then backwards. I have been running backward for quite some time and here are some thoughts on why its a good exercise.

• Balance out things: Backward Running is just opposite of Forward running so while running forward puts stress on Hamstrings and calves on the other hand running backward but more stress on Quads and shins. Running backwards also have place in rehabilitating knees injury.
  
• Builds Stamina : Running backwards require much more stamina and is tough on cardiovascular system. Don't believe me, Run 200 meter forward and then run same distance backwards now compare which is challenging. Probable reason is that running backward requires more leg muscle and after long years of forward running you have adapted to forward running.
  
• Add variety to workout : If you are bored from running forward then running backwards is a nice change.
  
• Improves awareness of the surroundings : As in the case of running forward you are not sure what is behind you so you tend to take cue from other things like sound and thus are better aware of your surroundings.
  
• Landing on toes: There is no way you can run backward while landing on heels and thus it promotes landing on toes which is lot better. Using this can be a good way to build leg strength for running using Pose Technique.
• Looks on People face: People will look you with awe when they see you running backwards faster then they can run forward.
  

Word of Caution

Running backward can be dangerous if you are running on uneven surface and if you fall you can hurt yourself. So if you are doing it first time do it on a field or a track. Another safe way is to run backwards uphill. Running uphill will reduce your speed and will also reduce the distance from ground so if you fall you would land on hip rather then head.

Workout

One of my favorite workout related to running is running 200 M forward then running same distance backward immediately followed by running sideways thus covering all possible plain of motion.

What would you prefer.

On left is the Pic of tennis player Rafel Nadal and on right is the pic of a body builder. Now my question to you is which physique will you prefer ? If you prefer Nadal physique then why are you still doing same routine that you picked from a bodybuilding magzine that only works for bodybuilders loaded with steroids ??

What you should do ?

• Train for functional strength - Train for Functional movement i.e the movement that have carryover in real life. for example deadlift is just like picking something from ground, now think of any real life movement where you need to curl the weight up ?
  
• Train for Maximum strength - Train for Maximal strength i.e lift in range of 1-3 reps. Stronger you get more reps you could lift of a lighter weight.
  
• No curls in squat rack - If you are a fat guy who needs to shed some weight or a skinny guy who needs to pack lot of muscle, then isolation exercise is the last thing you should be doing. Do big three exercise - Squat, Deadlift & Military Press.
  
• Ditch your 5 days body split routine. - Ditch your 3 X 10 5 days a week body building routine for 3 days full body routine while doing squats or deadlift each time. you would be amazed with strength as well as size gain.