Wheelbarrow Lifts and Shrugs – How To

I’ve started doing a particular movement, purely as an Interest*, to work my traps a bit more. I’d like to share it with you, but keep in mind that this isn’t a required movement for beginners.  Below is the explanation, plus a video for you.

* Interests are defined as non-critical exercises that you do simply because you like them or because you want to do something extra for some muscle group. In my 6x6x6 Routine, you’ll see a place for them. I want to stress again though, that beginners really don’t need to do this and in fact beginners (and even intermediates) need to be careful of time-wasting and/or over-training that can come from doing too many Interests…

I call this exercise “Wheelbarrow Lifts and Shrugs” and hopefully it will be clear why.

Take a set of heavy dumbbells. “Heavy” is a relative term of course – depending on your strength, maybe start with 25 lb to 30 lb dumbbells until you get the movement down.  Whatever you use, it will be much lighter than if you were doing regular shrugs. (more…)

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I’ve got two great exercises for you today.  And these two are ideal to superset – do one, then the other, back and forth.  And I bet one of these, you’ve never heard of before…

The videos tell the whole story so watch them here.  Please rate them with 5 stars on youtube if you like them!  Then you can post comments there too.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Oh, and if you are looking for a lifting routine ideal for burning fat this summer, you need to get Fat Burn Furnace.  I don’t have my typical “sales page” up where I hype it up and try to convince you to buy – this is just a link to the simple order page:  http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/fatburnfurnace.html.  So I’m counting on the trust I’ve built up with you by providing you all this free info – you know I’m putting my reputation behind this (as I do all my ebooks).  Go ahead and buy it – if you don’t like it just send me a note and I’ll refund your money, ok?

This first video is for overhead squats: (more…)

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I sometimes forget that some of you have really never done any serious exercise and most of my advice is for beginners, or possibly intermediates.  But you might be pre-beginner (what I call a newbie).  If that’s you, or if you have a loved one who needs something really simple to get started, this article is for you.  In fact, please forward this to anyone you know who just keeps finding reasons to never get started.  I assure you, this will not scare anyone off and after 6 weeks they/you will feel better and more confident, ready to take on the next stage of fitness.

Your First 6 Weeks Of Fitness

Starting something new, like a fitness routine, can be confusing and intimidating

After years of never exercising, you are ready to get started.  The problem is, you are really out of shape and don’t know where to start.  All the routines you see actually seem intimidating – you don’t understand the terminology and they look really hard.

You don’t want to start on something too hard that you give up after a few days.

You may have even read 3 Months To A New You, but maybe even that’s too much for you to start with.  Let’s face it, for obese or grossly out of shape people, you need to start with much less intensity.

So here’s a very slow, very easy way to get started.  You of course have been cleared by your doctor as being able to exercise, right?

I call it, the Just Help Me Get Started or My First 6 Weeks Of Fitness plan.

Many of you will read the rest of this and say “is that all?” It’s really simple and slow.  If you aren’t in too bad of shape or you are already doing some exercise, then this article wasn’t really written for you.

And some of you will dismiss this, saying that “it can’t be this easy to get started.”  And so you’ll go back to your couch and your TV and your bag of chips.

But a few of you, I hope, will say “ok, I know I’m terribly out of shape, but I can do this; it doesn’t seem too hard; let me give it a try”.

And once you finish these 6 weeks you will feel better than you’ve felt in years and then be ready for a more typical, less easy routine.  For example, the free routine in 3 Months To A New You.

This plan for 6 weeks does require you to learn a few exercises for which you’ll either need a gym membership or a few sets of dumbbells.  But trust me, you can do it!

Let’s Take It Day By Day

Week 1 (more…)

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Last month I shared with you some tips for lunchtime workouts.  Now I’ve got an article from Mike Geary with a totally different take on how to squeeze fitness into a busy day!  This is unusual, but he gives LOTS of details in this article (it’s longer than he usually writes).  Enjoy (and post comments!).

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Warning: this style of workout is WAY different than anything you’ve ever tried before and may result in a dramatically leaner, stronger body so that your friends no longer recognize you in a matter of weeks!

Alright, I exaggerated about your friends recognizing you, but this workout is still great for busy people that always use the excuse that they don’t have time to go to the gym, or even for the normal gym rat to try out for a few weeks to break out of a plateau.

Please keep an open-mind and don’t worry so much about what other people think, because this is quite different and you may get some funny looks, but you’ll get the last laugh with your new rock hard body! To be honest, most people are too self conscious to try something like this. If that’s the case for you, then that’s your loss.

Here’s how it works (these workouts can be done at home or even in your office):

Instead of doing your traditional workouts of going to the gym 3-4 times a week and doing your normal weight training and cardio routines for 45 miutes to an hour at a shot… with this program, you will be working out for just a couple minutes at a time, several times throughout each day, 5 days/week.

The program will consist of only (more…)

Continue reading about Time-Crunched Workouts: Quick Exercises to do at Home or the Office

You might remember a while back an article by Tom Venuto on the front squats.

Today I’ve got a new take for you – from Mike Geary.  I’ve been doing front squats for a while now, and I’ve gotta agree with Mike about how amazing front squats are as a full-body exercise.  Here’s what he has to say:

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

The Front Squat is a surprising exercise not only for legs, but also rock hard abs!

As you may have already discovered, the squat is at the top of the heap (along with deadlifts) as one of the most effective overall exercises for stimulating body composition changes (muscle gain and fat loss).  This is because exercises like squats and deadlifts use more muscle groups under a heavy load than almost any other weight bearing exercises known to man.  Squats and deadlifts use hundreds of muscles throughout your entire body to move the load and also to stabilize your body while doing the drill.

Hence, these exercises stimulate the greatest hormonal responses (growth hormone, testosterone, etc.) of all exercises.

In fact, university research studies have even proven that inclusion of squats into a training program increases upper body development, in addition to lower body development, even though upper body specific joint movements are not performed during the squat. Whether your goal is gaining muscle mass, losing body fat, building a strong and functional body, or improving athletic performance, the basic squat and deadlift (and their variations) are the ultimate solution.

If you don’t believe me that squats and deadlifts are THE basis for a lean and powerful body, then go ahead and join all of the other overweight people pumping away mindlessly for hours on boring cardio equipment.

Squats can be done with (more…)

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Here’s a fun workout that will help you break up boredom you might be experiencing as you progress in your lifting program.  It’s called The 35,000 Pounder, and as the name implies, you’ll lift 35,000 pounds today.  I’ll tell you how I came up with it.

But first, let me be clear that this is NOT for a regular routine.  This is a once-in-a-while workout (a single day at the gym).  In your quest for gaining lean muscle mass, if you use any of my routines you’ll see weeks where I suggest doing “fun” workouts.  This is different than taking a week off – this is still a serious week of lifting.  It helps reset your mind and muscles so that you keep making progress.

But what do you do in these “fun” weeks?  Well, I’m compiling a whole report on various single-workouts (I’m calling them The LeanLfiters Fun Workouts).  And The 35,000 Pounder is one I’m sharing today.

A great aspect of this workout is that it is just as useful for beginners as it is for advanced lifters.  It’s full-body, so works really well with FullBodyAttack but even for The 6x6x6 Routine and Hypertrofreak, you need some ideas for fun weeks.

Here’s exactly how you do it: (more…)

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“Darrin, with my schedule, the only time I can lift is during lunch.  I can do cardio in the mornings, but I don’t have a home gym so lunchtime is when I lift.  The gym is 30 minutes away from home, but right across the street from my work.  I only have 60 minutes for lunch, so I need to shower too. What should I do for my lifting routine?”  -  Mike

This is a common question.  But it’s a good question and I’m psyched that you are going to make every effort to get in your lifts.

We can take cardio out of the mix, per your email.  But what about lifting?

Most fitness experts say you need to keep your time in the gym to under an hour.  I think this is a good target for most people, but it all depends on your current level of fitness and your goals.  I’m not one of those guys who goes crazy when I hear someone spends 1.5 hours in the gym.  The rule you may have heard about “45 minutes” is just a myth.  No valid science supports that, because it varies based on too many variables to control in a scientific setting.

But in your case, you are tight on time with a hard deadline from your employer.  You have only 60 minutes and you have to walk there, change into your gym clothes, warm up, workout, shower, and walk back.

[Side note:  don't forget to actively participate in the free discussion forum - I give away a free ebook each month to the most active person!  After you read this article, go to http://worldfitnessnetwork.com/forum/ and either ask a question or answer a question!]

Let’s assume you take 4 minutes to walk there, 3 minutes to throw on shorts and a t-shirt, and 4 minutes back.  Then make sure you do 5 minutes of muscle-specific warm ups.  And a 10 minute shower.  That leaves you 35 minutes to workout.  I’m going to round it down to 30 minutes to ensure you get back on time.

With Only 30 Minutes Available A Day, Go With A Split Routine

The key is to do a split routine, not a full-body routine. I don’t know if you are a beginner or not.  I usually recommend beginners do full-body routines.  But I don’t think anyone can make good, consistent, long term progress on only 30 minute full body routines.  (Being full-body, you can only do them 2 or 3 times a week because you need recovery days.  Newbies can make progress for several weeks in 30 minutes a shot, but they will plateau if they don’t add more volume.)

Under this scenario, which is not ideal, I would recommend lifting 5 days a week.

I want to point out that normally, I only recommend 5-day routines to more advanced lifters. I also include a 5-day routine in my annual intermediate routines, but only for a brief period.  In your case, you are looking for a long-term consistent solution (unless you change employers and have more flexibility with your time).

Even if you are a beginner, in what I’m recommending you won’t be overtraining.  At 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, that’s only 2.5 hrs a week lifting which is nowhere near over-training levels.

Day By Day Breakdown

Each day, pick a different major lift.  I’ve talked about The Big 7 before.  Pick one of those each day as your main lift.  I know, you have only 5 days and there are 7 of The Big 7, so I suggest these: (more…)

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………….

pic: Do exercise routines have to use a 7-day week?

Sounds like a silly question, right?  I mean, a “real” week is 7 days, so shouldn’t our routines be based on “reality”?

Actually, after years of lifting and running, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that in many cases, our bodies don’t care about “real weeks”.  Our bodies care about the balance between stimulation and recovery.

The goal for every serious fitness buff is to kick your own butt just enough to get progress, but not too much that your body can’t recover.  This applies to lifting weights, running, skiing, biking, etc.

Why 7?

So we’re all stuck on “x days per week” and we assume that a week means 7 days. (And to be fair, it usually does mean 7 days.)

But what if the key to getting in the right amount of work means you have to shift your paradigm from 7 days a week to something different…?

What about a 6-day week?

What about an 8-day week? (Please, no Beatle quotes…)

In my newest lifting program, Hypertrofreak, I include two different programs.

And guess what?  I’m using an 8-day week.

I have you working out 6 days a week, but there are 8 days in my week.  That means you are getting 2 recovery days each cycle.

Here’s a cut and paste from part of the program:

Day 1 = Day 1
Day 2 = Day 2
Day 3 = Day 3
Day 4 = recovery
Day 5 = Day 5
Day 6 = Day 6
Day 7 = Day 7
Day 8 = recovery
Day 9 = Day 1
Day 10 = Day 2
Day 11 = Day 3
Day 12 = recovery
Day 13 = Day 5
Day 14 = Day 6
Day 15 = Day 7
Day 16 = recovery

At first, this is hard to get your head around and can be a little confusing.  But if you learned to tie your own shoes, then you can learn this.

I’m also experimenting right now with (more…)

Continue reading about Why Do Lifting Routines Assume A 7 Day Week?