How do I engage my core?

Many of my clients ask me what is my "core" or "pelvic floor" and how do I engage it. Here is some information I found useful after a recent fitness conference. The presenter Rick Kaselj is a physiotherapist in Delta.

What IS the pelvic floor?

The pelvic floor is a sling of muscles connecting the pubis to the ischial tuberosities that act to support the internal organs and maintain the alignment of the pelvis. These muscles are the levator ani (iliococcygeus and pubococcygeus) and the coccygeus muscles. Pelvic floor dysfunction is defined as excessive tightness or weakness of these muscles and is often associated with problems in the SI joint, coccyx, hip or low back. As was mentioned in a previous post, a common cause of pelvic floor dysfunction is pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of whether birth was vaginal or via C-section.  Conditions related to the dysfunction include urinary or fecal incontinence and possibly pelvic organ prolapse, among others.

Why do we need to worry about it?

Not only can pelvic floor dysfunction lead to urinary or fecal incontinence and possibly pelvic organ prolapse (to name a few conditions), the muscles of your pelvic floor are also part of the core’s inner unit.  In addition to their function in supporting the pelvic organs, these muscles work in concert with the transverse abdominus, multifidus and diaphragm in stabilizing the spine during movement.

How do we activate it?

To activate the pelvic floor muscles, inhale deeply, as you exhale use your diaphragm to push some more air out. Try it again and this time, imagine you are trying to push the air out all the way from your pubic region. Another way to achieve this is to try and stop the flow of urine when you have to ‘go’.  A way for men to figure out how to activate is for them to picture themselves wading into very cold water. There will be an elevation of the perineum and testicles to prevent them from touching the water.

Once you can activate your pelvic floor muscles, you can do a variety of exercises:

• Squeeze ‘ems – rapid contractions of the pelvic floor muscles
• Elevators – imagine going up an elevator to the 10th floor, stopping at every floor for a moment. Start with a small contraction and increase the intensity at each ‘floor’
• Long slow hold – can be done in time with a long, deep inhale and exhale. Tighten on the inhalation and relax on the exhalation.
• Stoplights – when you are driving, tighten and hold the contraction while the light is red. When the light turns green, slowly release the contraction as you do your traffic check before pressing on the gas.

To isolate portions of your pelvic floor muscles, think of them as being a baseball diamond. Home plate is right around the vaginal area, second base is opposite home plate – the muscles surrounding the anus, first base is on the left side of the pelvic floor and third base is on the right side. Try to activate these areas individually by ‘running the bases.’ Start by pulling up on home plate, relax them and pull up on first base, relax and pull up on second base, etc. Then try and run them in the opposite direction. It is harder than it sounds and is really difficult for pregnant women or other people who are ‘disconnected’ from their pelvic floor muscles.

But how do we deal with a tight pelvic floor?

It seems counter-productive to activate a tight pelvic floor and, to some extent, it is. Part of learning to relax these muscles, though, is to recognize when they are tight. Using the ‘long slow hold’ exercise mentioned previously, focus more on the relaxation portion. Lengthen the exhalation such that the pelvic floor slowly and almost completely relaxes. This becomes very important for women in the final stage of labour when they are trying to push a baby through a vagina surrounded by tight pelvic floor muscles!

Take home message

The pelvic floor muscles are not obvious to you or your client. In the absence of a pelvic ultrasound, you won’t truly know their condition unless your client experiences pain and dysfunction so it is important to practice prevention. In my practice and classes I get many prenatal women who are unable to ‘connect’ with their pelvic floor. This is pretty common due to the baby and uterus pressing down on the entire floor. It is still important for these mothers-to-be to continue to find the ‘connection’.

More info

• Chiarelli, Pauline. Postpartum stress incontinence: Prevention and rehabilitation. ISMJ. (2003); 4(6): 1-10.
• Herschorn, Sender, MD, FRCSC. Female pelvic floor anatomy: The pelvic floor, supporting structures, and pelvic organs. Rev Urol. 2004; 6(suppl 5): S2-S10.
• Price, Natalie; Dawood, Rehana; Jackson, Simon. Pelvic floor exercise for urinary incontinence: A systematic review. Maturitas (2010); 67: 309-315.
• Salvesen, K & Morkved, S. Randomised controlled trial of pelvic floor muscle training during pregnancy. BMJ (2004); 329: 378-80.

Balance a Healthy Lifestyle

Balance training is important for everyone, from athletes to casual exercisers.

Good balance and a strong core go hand in hand, and a strong core usually means better posture, less back pain and improved performance during exercise and athletics. Plus, the better you balance the less likely you are to fall or injure yourself. If you haven't thought much about maintaining—or enhancing—your balance, now is as good a time as any to start.

1. Change Your Base of Support. Balance is your ability to maintain your center of gravity over your base of support. When you're standing up, your legs are your base of support. The wider your legs are, the wider your base is and the easier it is to balance. The closer your legs are together, the narrower your base of support is and the harder it is to remain balanced. One of the easiest ways you can challenge (and therefore help improve) your balance during any standing exercise is to gradually narrow your base of support until your feet and legs are together while you perform your exercise. Bring your legs closer together while you do standing biceps curls, shoulder raises, squats or other upper body moves. Be sure to keep your abs pulled in tight and make sure you're not leaning backward as you perform your exercises.  Note: You can also widen or narrow your base of support while lying on or sitting on a stability ball to perform exercises, so try this progression when you're on the ball, too!
2. Try It on One Leg. Once you've mastered doing an exercise with a narrow base of support, you're ready for the next challenge: balancing on a single leg. Instead of standing on both legs during some of the same moves above, try it on a single leg. Start by just lifting one heel (keeping your toes on the floor) while doing your upper body moves or working up to a single leg squat. As you get better, lift that foot off the ground completely. From there, you can play around with the position of your lifted leg—holding it behind you, in front of you, to the side or, for a greater challenge, moving that leg while you balance on the other leg and perform upper body movements. Just be sure to alternate legs to keep your strength and muscle tone balanced between both sides of your body. Tip: You can also experiment with momentary one-leg balances. For example, on a forward lunge, lift your front or back leg for a moment each time your push up out of your lunge. 
3. Close your eyes. Your sense of vision is a big part of the balance equation. It works hand in hand with the vestibular (inner ear) and proprioceptive systems to maintain balance and prevent falls. By staring at a single focal point (minimizing your head and eye movement), you'll balance more easily. If you move your gaze or take vision out of the equation altogether, it's harder to balance. This option is definitely a challenge—not something for beginners and not something you can do in any given situation. You'll want to make sure you're in a controlled environment and that your body is planted (don't attempt this while walking or hiking or moving through space). You can start by just standing up tall and closing your eyes without moving. Over time, combine the narrow base of support with some one-leg balances while closing your eyes. You might be surprised how challenging it is to simply stand with your eyes closed, let alone stand on one foot or while doing a biceps curl. Just be sure to use your best judgment and listen to your body when trying this technique. Safety first!

PUMPkin Fun - A Screeeam of a Workout!

Why a pumpkin?
If you think about it, a pumpkin is like a big weighted medicine ball. While I wouldn’t recommend you try bouncing your pumpkin ... you can certainly use it like you would a medicine ball. The thing I love about using a pumpkin is you can get them in all different shapes, sizes, and weights.

When you’re using a medicine ball it’s perfectly round, easy to grip, and has even weight distribution. A pumpkin on the other hand can provide much more of a challenge to your core and abdominal muscles because of the irregular shapes and sizes.


Pumpkin Mountain Climbers
Place both hands on the pumpkin in a push-up position and raise your hips so you have a flat back. Keep your abdominal muscles tight and try to maintain as straight as possible as you bring one leg in towards your chest at a time. Squeeze your abs as you bring the leg in. 10-15 reps per side.

Pumpkin V-sit Twist
Lay on the ground in an upright position with your feet crossed and slightly leaning back. Take the pumpkin with both hands and rotate it side to side. Raise your feet off the ground for more of a challenge on the core. Keep your abs tight throughout the movement. 10-15 reps per side.

Pumpkin Wood Chop
Start by holding your pumpkin straight out in front of your chest and go down into a squat position. As you go down into the squat bring the pumpkin with you and lower it between your legs. Come out of the squat position bringing the pumpkin with you and extending it overhead with your arms straight. Repeat. Keep a flat back and your arms straight through the movement. 10-15 reps.

Pumpkin Diagonal Chop
Start by holding your pumpkin with straight arms but off to one side. Squat down bringing the pumpkin with you, chopping with it in a diagonal arch pattern. Try to keep the pumpkin away from your body and your arms straight as this is what really works the core. Holding the pumpkin close to your body or with “alligator arms” won’t make the exercise very effective.

Pumpkin Squat Thrust
Start with the pumpkin at chest height holding it with both hands. Go down into a squat position and drive back to the starting position while pushing the pumpkin over your head. Return to chest height and repeat. 10 -15 reps

Pumpkin Burpees
With the pumpkin on the floor in front of you,
 squat down to the floor, grab the pumpkin and extend your legs out and back with a jump to assume a push-up 
position. Perform a push-up with your hands on the pumpkin and then reverse 
the movement to stand back up. Repeat for 10-15 reps.

Pumpkin Lunge with Front Raise
Start by holding the pumpkin with both hands to one side at hip level. Step forward into a lunge position and in the process raise the pumpkin overhead with straight arms. Bring the pumpkin up to a point right above your head and then as you come out of the lunge and back to the starting position, chop the pumpkin back to your side. Alternate legs. 10-15 reps per side.

Pumpkin Lateral Reaches
Start by holding the pumpkin with both hands at chest height. Take a big lateral step to one side and lower the pumpkin down over your foot. Push off the lead foot and return to the starting position with the pumpkin at chest height. 10-15 reps per side.

Pumpkin Push-Up’s
This is one of my favorite pumpkin exercises as it really challenges the core and abdominals, not to mention your chest, arms, and shoulders. Now, there are several different variations of ways you can do a pumpkin push-up.

I’ll review the three most common:

Both hands on pumpkin: start with both hands on the pumpkin and get yourself in a push-up position. Lower yourself down towards the pumpkin and then return to the starting position. If this is too difficult, you can go to your knees instead of a plank position for your push-up’s.

One hand on the pumpkin, one hand on the ground: complete your push-up’s this way for a real challenge to your core, but also your shoulder stabilization. Try rolling the pumpkin back and forth between hands for an even greater challenge.

Feet on pumpkin: place both feet on the pumpkin and complete your push-up’s.

WEEK OFF - At Home Workout - Body-Weight Pyramid

Reverse Body-Weight Pyramid

Dynamic Warm-up - 5-10 minutes

5mins - Work continuously until the time is up.

5x Push-ups

5x Burpees

5x Squats

5x V-ups
Repeat until time is up




Active Rest Phase:
5 Minutes Skipping

4mins - Work continuously until the time is up.
5x Push-ups
5x Burpees
5x Squats
5x V-ups
Repeat until time is up

Active Rest Phase:
4 Minutes Skipping

 
3mins - Work continuously until the time is up.
5x Push-ups
5x Burpees
5x Squats
5x V-ups
Repeat until time is up

Active Rest Phase:
3 Minutes Skipping

2mins -Work continuously until the time is up.
5x Push-ups
5x Burpees
5x Squats
5x V-ups
Repeat until time is up

Active Rest Phase:
2 Minutes Skipping

1min - Work continuously until the time is up.
5x Push-ups
5x Burpees
5x Squats
5x V-ups
Repeat until time is up


Cool down and Stretch

The Super 30 Workout Challenge

This workout is dedicated to the number 30...this may or may not be my age *ahem*

WARM UP: 5 minutes of Dynamic movements ie. arm circles, marching, side shuffle, butt kicks, high knees, cross-overs, walking lunges.

PLEASE NOTE: a beginner should modify and only do one round. Remember to go at own pace and take breaks when needed.

You have 30 exercises to complete - back to back with as least rest possible - for 30 seconds...the major challenge is to do 3 rounds. If you do 3 rounds I give you permission to have a birthday cupcake with me!


1. Shadow boxing
2. Jumping jack (DB) press
3. Sumo squat with upright row
4. Burpee
5. Plank
6. DB Swing (front to side raise)
7. Squat jump
8. Spiderman push up
9. Bird-dog
10. 100m dash

WATER BREAK

11. Dive bomers (aka Hindhu pushups)
12. Wall Squat with Bicep Curl
13. Staggered Push ups
14. Knee's Up
15. Lunge (right) with Tricep Extension
16. Lunge (left) with Tricep Extension
17. Saxon bends
18. Mountain Climbers
19. Superman
20. Sucide shuttle run

WATER BREAK

21. Push up Plank
22. Heel Drop Sweepers
23. Side plank (right)
24. Side plank (left)
25. Skip (side to side; front and back)
26. Curtsy lunge
27. Hip Bridge
28. Bicycle crunch
29. Skater lunge
30. Inchworm

Cooldown - Speed walk 400m

Don't forget to Stretch!!!!

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Kettlebell Fat Burning Workout

Kettlebell Fat Burning Workout

 

  Courtesy of Lauren Brooks

  First warm up with Joint Mobility

  Circuit 1 Set you timer for  30 seconds on and 30 seconds of rest

 

     Push Ups

     Squat with 1 Kettlebell

    2 Handed Swings

    Clean and Press Right

    Clean and Press Left

    2 Handed Swings

     

Repeat for 3 Sets

 

Circuit 2 Set you timer for 45 seconds on and 45 seconds of rest

 

 

    TRX Back Row or One Arm Row Left and Right

    Hand 2 Hand Swings

    Back Lunge Right Leg

    Back Lunge Left Leg

    Burpees

    Plank Hold

 

Repeat for 2-3 sets

Luck of the Draw Workout

 I was given this idea from Valentine Rawat of Rawfit in the UK.


It's a lot of fun and challenging - if you are bored of your regular workout try this!

DECK OF CARDS – require a minimum of 2 deck of playing cards. Separate the Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks and Jokers from the numbered cards. Each athlete will pick a random card from the pile of faces decks and one from the numbered deck. The faces cards will define the exercise and the numbered would define the number of reps.


Dynamic Warm-ups

Then:
Ace = Side Burpees
King = KB Swings
Queen = Jack Knives
Jack = KB Jerks
Joker = Sprints of a football/soccer pitch

Workout continues for 45 minutes.

Then:
Cool down and Stretch

ENJOY!

Mens Health Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout

Build a winning physique with this cutting-edge routine from the University of North Carolina's basketball training handbook

Photographs by: John Loomis, Workout Photography by: Beth Bischoff

The Medicine Ball 200
The old-school way to get your body in game shape

Perform this routine at the end of your regular workout or as a stand-alone workout, 3 days a week. (Use a 6-, 8-, or 10-pound medicine ball) Do 20 repetitions of each exercise in the order shown. Complete the routine as a circuit, doing 1 set of each movement in succession and without resting. Too easy? Rest 60 to 90 seconds and do the circuit again.

1. Big Circles Standing with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent, hold a medicine ball with your arms extended directly above your head [A]. Without bending your elbows, rotate your arms counterclockwise [B], using the ball to draw large imaginary circles in front your body [C, D]. Do 10 circles, and then reverse direction to clockwise and do 10 more.


2. Woodchopper  Stand with your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart. With your arms nearly straight, hold a medicine ball above your head [A]. Now bend forward at your waist and mimic throwing the ball backward between your legs -- but hold onto the ball the entire time [B]. Quickly reverse the movement with the same intensity, and return to the starting position. That's 1 repetition.



3. Standing Russian Twist  Hold a medicine ball with both hands in front of your chest and your arms straight [A]. Without dropping your arms, pivot on your right foot and rotate the ball and your torso as far as you can to the left [B]. Then reverse direction: Pivot on your left foot and rotate all the way to the right. That's 1 repetition.
4. Squat to Press  Stand holding a medicine ball close to your chest with both hands, your feet just beyond shoulder-width apart [A]. Push your hips back, bend your knees, and lower your body until the tops of your thighs are at least parallel to the floor [B]. Then simultaneously drive your heels into the floor and push your body back to the starting position as you press the ball over your head [C]. Lower the ball back to the start. That's 1 repetition.

5. Medicine-Ball Situp  Grab a medicine ball with both hands and lie on your back on the floor. Bend your knees 90 degrees, place your feet flat on the floor, and hold the medicine ball against your chest [A]. Now perform a classic situp by raising your torso into a sitting position [B]. Lower it back to the start. That's 1 repetition.




6. Rocky Solo  Sit on the floor with your legs straight, and hold a medicine ball with both hands just above your lap [A]. Twist your torso to the right and place the ball behind you [B]. Then twist all the way to your left and pick the ball up and bring it back to the starting position [C]. That's 1 repetition. Do 10 repetitions. Immediately do another 10 repetitions, but this time start by twisting with the ball to your left.

7. Toe Touch  Grab a medicine ball, lie on your back, and raise your legs so they're straight and perpendicular to the floor. Hold the ball above the top of your head with your arms straight [A]. Without moving your legs or bending your elbows, simultaneously lift your arms and torso until the ball touches your toes [B]. Lower yourself back to the starting position. That's 1 repetition.

8. 45-Degree Twist  Grab a medicine ball and sit on the floor. Lean back at a 45-degree angle, raise your legs and feet off the floor, and hold the ball with both hands in front of your chest, your arms straight [A]. Without dropping your legs or arms, rotate the ball and your torso as far as you can to the right [B]. Then reverse direction, rotating all the way to the left. That's 1 repetition.






9. Suitcase Crunch  Lie on your back with your legs straight. Use both hands to hold a medicine ball above your head and barely off the floor [A]. Simultaneously raise your torso and bend your right knee toward your chest as you bring the ball over your knee and toward your foot. Reverse the movement and repeat, this time bending your left knee [B]. That's 1 repetition.


10. Diagonal Crunch  Grab a medicine ball and lie on the floor with your legs straight and spread wide. Roll onto your right hip and hold the ball with your arms straight at 10 o'clock above the top of your head [A]. To perform the movement, raise your arms and torso and then touch the ball to the floor between your legs [B]. Lower your body, but instead of rolling back onto your right hip, roll onto your left and hold the ball at 2 o'clock above your head [C] before you repeat the movement. That's 1 repetition. Repeat, alternating back and forth in this manner.

30 Minute Body Blast (without the gym)

Squat Press

1A) Dumbbell Squat Press – 12 reps
1B) Stability Ball Rollout – 10 reps

Rest 1 minute before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Ball Rollout

Dead Lift

2A) Dumbbell Romanian Dead Lift – 12 reps
2B) Stability Ball Jackknife – 12 reps

Rest 1 minute before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Jack Knife

Lunge with Bicep Curl

3A) Dumbbell Forward Lunge with Bicep curl – 8 reps per side
3B) Side Plank with DB Fly Raise – 10 reps per side

Rest 1 minute before repeating 2 more times for a total of 3 supersets.

Side Plank with Fly

Bodyweight Intervals

Burpees – 10 reps
Rest 30 seconds
Repeat 3 more times for a total of 4 rounds.

To take this workout to the gym substitute the Dumbbells with a Barbell Squat and Lunge for added resistance - the press and curl may be omitted.

Exercise of the day: Kettlebell Swing!

A Kettlebell Swing is highly efficient, working the abs and strengthen the core muscles as they provide a stable platform for other muscles to pull from PLUS they work the posterior chain muscles such as the hamstrings, glutes, core and back.

A kettlebell swing is a perfect choice of exercise for tabata training. This very short but intense style of training is ideal for kettlebell swings as they hit a lot of muscle at one time and get the heart rate soaring. Although Tabata training only involves work periods of 20 seconds with 10seconds of rest it is very brutal but very effective.

Swings are a fantastic conditioner and body fat burner. More and more studies are concluding that greater body fat burning occurs when training is performed at higher intensity levels rather than long slow endurance type training.

 

FORM IS CRUTIAL!

Here is a good how-to video:

 Good Luck!

Key Principles of Rolling Ropes

Easter Workout - Burn off those mini eggs!

If you DO have better things to do over the long weekend, try combining exercises into combination sets to get more work done in less time. It'll
skyrocket your results!

Choose exercises that allow you to work one movement pattern or
muscle group while allowing relative recovery of another. Then
alternate back and forth from one to the other.

Run threw the following paired up movements 3 times
Jump Squat with a Push up
Rear Lunge together with a Hip Bridge
Mountain Climbers with T-Plank
180 rotational squat jump with V-sit

This is an excellent opportunity to use the Tabata Protocal - all-out-intensity!

Round 1: 20 seconds work for each exercise, with 10 seconds rest in between
Round 2: 30 seconds work for each exercise, with 30 seconds rest in between
Round 3: 45 seconds work for each exercise, with 15 seconds rest in between

FYI: 12 mini eggs are 190 calories

Circuit Training Helps Fight Fat

Circuit Training Helps Fight Fat
by Mark Kravjansky


Circuit training involves doing a series of weight and callisthenic exercises rapidly — you do an exercise and then proceed quickly to the next. It’s a great training method because it develops strength and endurance fitness at the same time.

But, how effective is it for cutting the fat? Dr. Robert Haltom and colleagues studied the number of calories people burn during and after circuit training. They also studied the effects of rest time between exercises on overall calorie cost.

Their subjects did two circuits of eight upper and lower body resistance exercises of 20 reps. Subjects rested for either 20 or 60 seconds between exercises. The researchers found people burned approximately 260 calories from doing the circuit workout and the rest interval between exercises didn’t make much difference.

Though 260 calories might not seem like much, it only took 20 minutes of time, and when you consider this kind of training also builds and tones muscle, circuit training could turn you into a calorie burning dynamo. Those calories will add up!

(Med Sci Sports Exer, 31:1613-8,2000)

Congratulations to all Yummy Mommies!

Congratulations to all Yummy Mommies!

So far I've heard some great feedback regarding weight-loss and improved strength and Cardiovascular!

Helena lost 10.2 lbs in the past 4 weeks!

Amanda lost 3 lbs - keep mind she missed a week and a few classes due to the location by her home not offering classes that jived with her schedule. 3 lbs in 5 classes is pretty good considering.

You BOTH work so hard...I am INCREDIBLY proud of you!

BENEFITS OF CORE EXERCISES

BENEFITS OF CORE EXERCISES

ARE YOU WORKING THE RIGHT ONES?

If you’ve surfed the Internet, watched TV, or read a magazine or newspaper during the past week, then you’ve probably seen an advertisement for some sort of abdominal gadget - keep in mind these gizmos do not work! They may, however, solely work an isolated muscle, but not the deep abdominal wall or core.

WHAT IS THE CORE?
The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid and lower back (not the shoulders), and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck.

You frequently hear me ask you to use your entire core. That is because reactive CORE training is far more effective than individually working each muscle. Muscles are linked and therefore should be trained in a combined system.

DEEP CORE MUSCLES

Most people know the Basic Abdominal Muscles: Upper, Lower, Obliques

However there are 2 more you should know about - Deep Core Muscles:

- Transverse Abdominis runs horizontally found under the Internal Obliques. It is known as the "girdle" muscles, as it helps to compress the ribs while providing thoracic and pelvic stability. When you "vacuum" the stomach (suck in the belly button) you instantly appear slimmer due to improved posture.

- Rectus Abdominis runs vertically on either side of the spine. It is this muscle that allows our spine to flex and when developed creates the "6-pack" or "wash board" abs.

WHY ARE CORE EXERCISES IMPORTANT?

Core exercises can provide your body with several benefits:

1. Better breathing

Not only is breathing important, but proper breathing is equally important. Your transverse abdominis muscle (TVA) is linked to the diaphragm. So after strengthening your core muscles, you greatly boost your ability to inhale and exhale completely. And the more oxygen your body intakes, the better all of your body’s systems will function during a workout.

2. Recreational activities will be more enjoyable

Whether you enjoy skiing, surfing, cycling, or running, core exercises will improve any sport that requires flexibility and aerobic routines. That’s because these exercises improve your balance, flexibility, coordination, and breathing. The bottom line is that your endurance and sports skills will improve.

3. Less frequent lower-back pain

Lower-back pain is a relatively common occurrence in everyone’s life. This usually happens after placing too much weight on the lower back, or applying it too quickly. But by strengthening your core muscles, your lower back will become better suited to bear heavy weights. When you have stronger core muscles, your spine will move more freely, thus reducing the frequency of lower-back difficulties.

4. More strength

In the old days, you’d wear a weight belt in the gym, in order to do exercises such as dead lifts, shoulder presses, or squats. The function of the weight belts was to support your core muscles as you did an array of exercises.

However, that was before we knew about core exercises. Your core muscles, such as the TVA can replace those ancient weight belts, supporting your body the natural way.

5. Your flexibility will increase

You may be thinking, “What do deep abdominal muscles have to do with flexibility?” Core exercises stabilize your lower back, which in turn can improve your body’s flexibility. That’s because your ligaments and muscles can move in their full range of motion. This improved flexibility will reduce pressure and tension in the muscles of the lower back.

So there you have it! Core exercises should be an integral part of your exercise routine, because they give your deep abdominal muscles a workout. By strengthening your stomach, you also strengthen your workout!

10 Core Exercises

1. Front Plank
2. Side Plank
3. Back Bridge
4. Bicycle
5. Standing T
6. Double Crunch
7. Pointing Dog
8. V Hold
9. Scissor Kicks
10. Russian Twists

Advantages Of Metabolic Resistance Training Over Traditional Cardio

Steady state cardio meaning running on a treadmill for 45 minutes at near the same pace the entire time has been the standard method of weight loss since the 1980s when the popularity of aerobic classes exploded. Unfortunately we've been following a tradition that isn't nearly the most effective means of weight loss, long-term and short-term.



Metabolic resistance training is a new phrase that has been gaining in popularity over the last couple of years and for a very good reason. It essentially causes a metabolic disturbance in your body meaning you'll be burning calories up to 48 hours after you work because your metabolism will be at an elevated state. This is great for weight loss because you'll find yourself burning fat even after you finish working out as opposed to steady state training where you stop burning calories once you stop training.



So what exactly is metabolic resistance training? It's basically a way of training that incorporates high intensity interval training by means of weight resistance training. Now this doesn't necessarily mean to pick up the latest issue of Muscle & Fitness and lift weights all day. Instead you're training with full body resistance training instead of muscle isolation exercises as well as doing sprints outside (or on the treadmill) and having a recover period in between.



Now metabolic resistance training is going to be significantly more difficult than steady state cardio but you'll get more results quicker than you would doing the latter and it won't take you nearly as long to do it. Most people aren't accustomed to training this way and the level of intensity is usually something they are not able to handle so if you're a beginner the best thing you can do is slowly progress your resistance up as you develop. A huge mistake many people take is going right into this high level of intensity training and after they nearly throw up they'll quit and go hang out on a bicycle for the rest of their gym duration.



A very fundamental example of this is a sprinter and a marathon runner. If you watch the ending of a marathon and see the winner you'll notice how incredible skinny and emaciated they look. This is not a very attractive body that you'll want to have but they do the same type of training that you do, long steady state cardio. If you watch the Olympics and see the sprinters who win gold metals they have a very lean muscular look to them that is very attractive. They achieve this by sprinting, therefore by incorporating high intensity metabolic resistance training into their workouts.

20 Minute Circuit Workout

This workout is a 20-minute workout that will take you to your maximum physical effort as well as your maximum heart rate.

The object of this workout is not to rest in between exercises. You will see that one minute of a particular exercise will burn out the targeted muscle group as well as increase your heart rate to a fat and sugar burning zone.

Try the 20 minute workout below - if it is not challenging enough for you try it again, totaling only 40 minutes of your time in the weight room.

20 Minutes Circuit Workout

(*choose light weights for max reps)

1) Bench press or pushups - max in 1:00
2) Squats - max in 1:00
3) Pullups (assisted) or pulldowns - 1:00
4) Bike or jog - 3:00
5) Military press - 1:00
6) Lunges - 1:00 each leg
7) Bicep curls - 1:00
8) Bike or jog - 3:00
9) Tricep extensions.- 1:00
10) Leg ext - 1:00 (requires leg machines - or repeat squats with weights)
11) Leg curls - 1:00 (requires leg machines - or repeat lunges with weights)
12) Plank - 2:00
13) Crunches - 2:00
14) Stretch

There is an unlimited number of ways to organize a circuit workout. The above workout is organized with upper body, lower body and cardiovascular exercises. By simply doing the above upper body and lower body exercises in such a way, you will be able to rest your upper body muscles while you workout your lower body muscles, but you will never rest your heart.

This is how you make the circuit workout challenging to your cardiovascular system as well as your major muscle groups. Studies have shown that mixing a resistance training regimen with a cardiovascular element will increase your metabolism, therefore burning fat and building muscle. The result is a decrease in body fat percentage.

So, if you are looking to lose inches and body fat, workouts like this coupled with 4-5 smaller meals and 3-4 quarts of water everyday will help you achieve your goal.

The key is to burn more calories than you take in and this workout will help you with that - promise!

Build Stronger Bones!

Types of Exercise

There are several types of exercise, each with a specific target for improving your physical health:

• Range-of-motion exercises, which move each joint through its full range of motion daily
• Strengthening exercises, which build muscle strength and improve joint stability
• Endurance exercises, which bring heart rate up and improve cardiovascular fitness

Two subcategories of strengthening exercise are weightbearing exercise and resistance exercise. Weightlifting is an example of resistance exercise. Right now, let's focus on understanding weightbearing exercise.

What Is Weightbearing Exercise?

Weightbearing exercise is essential for building and maintaining healthy bones. Weightbearing exercise is any activity you do while on your feet and legs that works your muscles and bones against gravity. During weightbearing exercise, bone adapts to the impact of weight and the pull of muscle by building more bone cells. Consequently, bone becomes stronger and more dense. The risk of fracture, osteopenia, and osteoporosis decreases.

Weightbearing exercise includes:

• walking
• jogging
• hiking
• dancing
• step aerobics
• soccer
• baseball
• basketball
• tennis, racquetball
• bowling
• golf
• stair climbing

Exercises that are non-weightbearing (although good cardio) include:

• swimming
• bicycling

Boot Camp is a GREAT workout with lots of weight bearing exercise!

7 exercises to AVOID

The 7 Worst Exercises of All Time

1.) Abs Machine

Crunches and sit-ups only promote excessive flexion of the lumbar spine and tend to cause neck and back pain. What’s worse than crunches or sit-ups? Doing a similar movement with added weight in a machine that only trains your body in an unnatural front to back motion in a seated position!

Yes, abs machines, like crunches and sit-ups, do make your feel your abdominal muscles, but there are far better ways to accomplish this without the high risk of short and long-term injury to your spine.

Remember, the true function of your core is stabilization, both static and dynamic- to be able to maintain a neutral, straight-line position from your hips to your shoulders in all 3 planes of movement (front to back, side to side, and rotational) no matter what the external stimulus may be.

Alternative: For rock hard, athletic abs focus on pillar stabilization exercises like front, side, and back pillars and ground based rotational core work like chops variations and upper body twists.

2.) Back Machine

First of all, people already use too much “back” on most movements because of tight hips and inactive/weak glutes. Thus, I prefer to focus more on hip extension movements that strengthen your butt rather than continually overloading the spinal erectors. Plus, adding in corrective stretching for the hip flexor complex, the hip rotators, and the hamstring complex that opens up your hips and alleviates excessive spinal flexion and compressions is literally exactly what the doctor ordered.

Second of all, just like the abs machine, this bootleg exercise trains your body in one plane of movement in a fixed path and as a results doesn’t work your key stabilizer muscles.

Lastly, the way that most people perform this movement in such an out of control manner for speed just makes me cringe watching. It literally looks like they are trying to lie down for reps- is this the type of movement that we want to get really good at? Wait, don’t answer that

Alternative: For a strong, stable back focus on deadlift, good morning, and hip extensions variations while simultaneously focusing on the corrective stretching and self-massage of the Lumbo-Pelvic-Hip (LPH) complex. A prone cobra, or airplane as it is sometimes called, is also a great exercise to improve spinal erector endurance while simultaneously improving scapular strength and stability.

3.) Leg Extension Machine

The bottom line with this exercise- it will wreak havoc on your knees! The excessive compressions on your patella (knee cap) will without a doubt results in the brake down of articular cartilage which will in turn results in a bunch of arthroscopic knee surgeries to remove loose bodies and eventually full blown crippling arthritis. Avoid this machine like cancer!

Alternative: For strong, stable knees, focus on both knee-dominant (lunge, step-up, and single-leg squat variations) AND hip-dominant single-leg exercises (single-leg hip extension, deadlift, and good morning variations) to prevent strength imbalances between limbs AND to prevent strength imbalances between your front and back thighs and your inner and outer thighs.

4.) Fly Machine

If your goal is tear your pecs and destroy your rotator cuff, then I highly recommend that you add this exercise to your routine. I think the chest fly machine actually gets even more play then the bench press, which is considered to be the most popular exercise for guys.

Again, the use of a machine versus doing a dumbbell fly alternative eliminates the use of the key stabilizer muscles surrounding your shoulders. Furthermore, the common male desire to use maximum weight to build a chest he can be proud of typically results in overuse injuries like shoulder impingement or biceps tendonitis.

Alternative: For strong, stable shoulders focus on performing an equal amount of pushing and pulling exercises. In fact, more pulling exercises initially may be a good idea if you find yourself heavily internally rotated and hunchbacked from years of focusing on your beach muscles (chest, abs, and biceps) while neglecting your rear shoulders and upper/mid muscles. The best pushing exercise you can do is any push-up variation as it not only safely trains the entire front side of your body but also engages your upper back musculature in a way that the bench press does not. Furthermore, every year people die from bench pressing, but there has never been a reported death from performing a push-up!

5.) Elliptical Machine

Look- if you are really, really overweight and haven’t exercised in over a decade, then I think an elliptical has some use. But, other than that, I think it’s relatively useless.

Yes, it is a low-impact alternative to running on a treadmill, but there is very little range of motion during the movement and does not burn nearly as many calories as the machine claims it does.

Furthermore, the elliptical is not a good machine to do intervals on because it promotes excessive hyperextension of the knee. This can easily result in injury at high levels of speed and resistance.

Think about it- what’s the first machine people who are new to cardio exercise jump on? The elliptical! Why? Because it’s so friggin’ easy!

Trust me, I have been there and done that. I used to convince myself that the elliptical was a good option for me because I had weak ankles and a bad back from a major car accident. But then I finally woke up one day I realized I wasn't seeing any positive changes. By perform a ton of corrective stretching and massage to improve my tissue health, and work on hip and ankle mobility to take pressure off of my knees and hips so that I could get back to running pain-free.

At the end of the day, you can read a magazine while on an elliptical, so how much benefit do you really think you will get from this overpriced waste of space?

Alternative: For optimal results during your cardio training, you must focus on intervals. They burn 9 times more body fat than aerobics and also result in greater improvements in overall conditioning than long, slow, boring cardio. If you are overweight/de-conditioned and/or have joint issues, the best place to start an interval training program is on a spin bike, or better yet, an Airdyne Bike which has both upper and lower body attachments to make it more of a total body conditioning experience.

6.) The Sex Machine- Abductor/Adductor Combo

Ah, the sex machine… omen all over the world seem convinced that this “naughty” exercise can some how help them rid themselves of the thunder thigh/cellulite situation.

How many times have I heard: “What exercises can I do to get rid of this flab inside my leg?” Too many times!

Come on now, you know that spot reduction is a myth by now, right? Seriously, no amount of direct inner or other hip-thigh work will burn that ugly fat covering that sexy toned musculature everyone wants to see so let it go baby.

So the first thing you need to do is clean up all of the junk carbs in your diet and starting consuming lean proteins, healthy fats, and fruits and veggies every 2-4 hours while plugging water like a fish.

Then you need to get off this sexy machine and get real with a total body workout!

Alternative: The best exercises for your inner and outer-hip thigh will come from band-resisted hip walk variations, side pillar variations, and any and all single-leg exercises, especially lateral lunges.

7.) Leg Press Machine

It never ceases to amaze me how we all look for the easy way out when it comes to working out. It’s clear why people prefer to leg press- they get to lay or sit on their ass depending on the exact type of leg press machine being used.

If you want both nice legs and a flat midsection then you need to squat! And yes, you can’t squat lying down, sorry!

But squats are tough because they require a whole body effort, an effort most people aren’t willing to put in explaining why they get crap results form their workouts.

The leg press could very well be a major contributing cause for the rapidly increasing number of bulging and/or herniated discs among exercise enthusiasts. People always use way too much weight and use poor form resulting in brutally compressive forces on the spine.

Seriously, if you are opting to leg press over squatting, then you don’t know squat, pun intended

Alternative: The best (and safest) exercises for your lower body are a healthy combination of double-leg and single-leg exercises using free weights and body weight based exercises. Be sure to perform an equal amount of knee-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. squats and lunges) and hip-dominant lower body exercises (e.g. deadlifts and single-leg hip extensions) to make your knees, hips, and back bulletproof. In fact, most people are very knee-dominant and could benefit to start by performing a greater number of hip-dominant movements to balance out their lower body musculature.

You’ll notice once common trend among all of these poor exercises: they all involve MACHINES!

Get off those machines and focus on functional movements using free weights, bands, stability balls, etc. Not only will you ramp up your fat-burning and muscle-building pursuits, but more importantly you won’t end up hunchbacked in a wheel chair by the time you turn 50

Core Weekend Exercise

As we approach the weekend, and enter into our third week of Bootcamp, I want you to continue working on your core muscles. These muscles are our stabilizers - used in every thing we do. To have a weak core, can result in pore posture, causing pain in our lower back and shoulders.

Here is a move you can do on your own at home with your stability ball:

Place your hands shoulder-width apart on top of a stability ball that's resting against a wall or in a corner.

Extend your legs to balance on toes and hands, and tighten your abs so your body is aligned from head to heels

1. Lift left foot a few inches off floor. Hold for up to 5 counts, lower it, and lift right foot. Repeat, alternating feet, until you've done 5 lifts per side

2. Work up to 10, then try doing it with the ball moved away from the wall.

Challenge: Add a push up to the plank and leg raise

Modification: Omit leg raise, come on to knees. Make sure to keep chest up and away from the ball.