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Here’s another exceptional article from Tom Venuto. You see, Tom understands that cardio plays a major role in having a fit, muscular physique as well as for your overall health. I sometimes sound like a broken record in saying that the guys who dismiss all cardio have it wrong! And Tom makes a good argument in Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle .
On to the article…
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
BurnTheFat
The controversies over cardio for fat loss are endless: steady state versus intervals, fed versus fasted, long and easy versus short and intense, and so on. Obviously there is a lot of interest in cardio training and how to do it right. Sadly, most people are still doing 2 things terribly wrong and it’s killing their results…… As best as I can figure, there are two major reasons why people are still mucking up their cardio programs for fat loss.
REASON #1: NOT ENOUGH FOCUS ON TOTAL CALORIES BURNED
Most people aren’t burning enough darn calories.
Why? Well, I guess they are too busy worrying about the “proper” type of exercise (which machine or activity), the mode (steady state or intervals), the “optimal” ratio of intervals, or the “best” duration.
Some people coast along on the treadmill at 2.3 miles per hour or some similar sloth-like pace and they think that just by hitting a TIME goal, such as 45 or 60 minutes, that with “X” duration completed, they are assured to get the results they want.
On the other extreme, we have folks who have found or created some mega-intense, super-duper short training protocol like the “4-minute wonder workout from Japan.” Just because the workout is high in intensity and it is performed in intervals, they too think they are assured to get the results they want.
What’s missing in both cases is the realization that total fat loss over time is a function of total calories burned over time (assuming you don’t blow your diet, of course).
AND…
Total calories burned is a product of INTENSITY times DURATION, not intensity OR duration.
Too much focus on one variable at the exclusion of the other can lead to a less than optimal total calorie burn and disappointing results. And remember, intensity and duration are *variables* not absolutes! (”Variable” means you can change them… even if your “guru” says you can’t!)
When you understand the relationship and interplay between INTENSITY X DURATION you will find a “SWEET SPOT” where the product of those variables produces the maximal calorie burn and maximum fat loss, based on your current health condition and your need for time efficiency.
REASON #2: TOO MUCH FOCUS ON WHAT TYPE OF CALORIES BURNED
As best as I can figure, there is one whopper of a mistake that is still KILLING most people’s cardio programs and that is…
Way too much focus on WHAT you are burning during the workout – fats or carbohydrates – also known as “substrate utilization.” This idea comes from the notorious “fat burning zone” myth which actually tells people to exercise SLOWER and LESS intensely to burn more fat.
Hold on a minute. Pop quiz. Which workout burns more calories?
(A) A 30 minute leisurely stroll through the park
(B) A 30 minute, sweat-pouring, heart-pounding, lung-burning run?
Like, DUH!
And yet we have trainers, authors and infomercial gurus STILL telling us we have to slow down if we want to burn more fat??? Bizarre.
The reason people still buy it is because the “fat burning zone” myth sounds so plausible because of two little science facts:
- The higher your intensity, the more carbs you burn during the workout
- The lower your intensity, the more fat you burn during the workout
And that’s the problem. You should be focusing on total calories and total fat burned during the workout and all day long, not just what type or percentage of fuel you are burning during the workout.
It’s not that fat oxidation doesn’t matter, but what if you have a high percentage of fat oxidation but an extremely low number of calories burned?
If you really want to be in the “fat burn zone,” you could sit on your couch all day long and that will keep you there quite nicely because “couch sitting” is a really low intensity (”fat-burning”) activity.
(Of course, “couch sitting” only burns 37 calories per half hour…)
HERE’S THE FAT-BURNING SOLUTION!
In both cases, the solution to burning more fat is drop dead simple: Focus your attention on how you can burn more TOTAL calories during your workout and all day long.
If you want to burn more fat, burn more calories and you can do that by manipulating ANY of the variables : intensity, duration and also frequency.
If you build your training program around this concept, you will be on the right track almost every time.
BUT WAIT – THERE IS MORE TO IT…
Naturally, we could argue that it’s not quite this simple and that there are hundreds of other reasons why your cardio program might not be working… and I would agree, of course. But on the exercise side, the ideas above should be foremost in your mind.
On the nutrition side, you have to get your act together there too.
For example, many people increase their food intake at the same time as they start a cardio training program thereby putting back in every calorie they burned during the workout! Then some of them have the nerve to say, “SEE, cardio doesn’t work!”
Incidentally, this is the exact reason that a few studies show that adding cardio or aerobic training to a diet “did not improve fat loss”: It’s not because the cardio didn’t work, it was because the researchers didn’t control for diet and the subjects ate more!!
It should go without saying that nutrition is the foundation on which every fat loss program is built.
Choose the combination of type, intensity, duration and frequency that suits your lifestyle and preferences the best, and WORK THE VARIABLES to get the fat loss results you want, but whichever cardio program you choose, remember that a solid fat burning nutrition program, such as Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is necessary to help you make the most of it.
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Lifetime Natural Bodybuilder
BurnTheFat
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: BurnTheFat
[Before we get into this very short piece, I'm making the replay of last week's free training teleseminar available for the next 3 days only. So if you want to listen to it, go to http://www.worldfitnessnetwork.com/more/maycallreplay.html right now.]
Who Are You Calling A Beginner?
Are you a beginner? Or an advanced lifter? Or an intermediate?
How do you know?
Let’s take a moment and define these stages as far as I’m concerned. It’s important for several upcoming articles I’ll be sharing on Programs and lifting practices. So I want you know which bucket you fall into.
A few pre-reqs:
- only free-weights count; using machines doesn’t count no matter how long and religiously you’ve stuck to it
- in the calculations below, any time you spent lifting longer than 10 yrs ago doesn’t count; sorry guys – your muscle memory is too far back, plus enough science has been done in the past decade that your past assumptions are likely no longer as true
- “consistently” means that you work with weights at least 3 days a week and you almost never miss a workout (or if you do, you make it up the next day); I’m talking at least 90% compliant here – that means at most you miss about 1 workout a month
- you could be doing body-building routines, strength routines, powerlifting, whatever – as long as it’s free-weights
Newbie - you’ve either never done an entire workout with free-weights, or it’s only been a couple times over the years when your buddy has invited you to ride along with his workout
Beginner - you’ve either just started a regular free-weight routine (a couple months) or you’ve started and stopped and started and stopped etc. over the years, never working out consistently for more than a year. There’s a good chance you fit the Beginner category.
Intermediate - You’ve either been working out consistently for the past 12 months, rarely missing a workout OR you have worked out for at least a year straight in the past and have now been back into it for at least 3 months.
Advanced - Here, you’ve got at least 3 full years of consecutive lifting, at least 1 of those years being current. Now, if you used to lift regularly, took some time off, and are now back into it seriously, you can only count half of your previous time. For example, if you lifted regularly for 4 yrs in the past, took a year off (or more), and have now been doing it consistently for the past year, that adds up to 3 yrs. But don’t count any time from longer than 10 yrs ago. So even if you lifted for 3 years straight 10 yrs ago, but have only just gotten back into it, you are not an advanced lifter in my book.
Semi-Pro – at this stage you know what it takes for you to get results and you have gotten great results; you could possibly enter a bodybuilding or strength contest; you’d know what do to though you’d have to work hard to get ready
Pro - you’ve already competed in either a bodybuilding show or a strength contest and did well; most likely you’ve been lifting consistently for the last 3 to 5 yrs, maybe more
I’m SURE there are people out there who disagree with me – if so, chime in!
p.s. I’m traveling (again) so I’ll hve an upcoming post on Bally’s Fitness Center soon…
Tabata interval training could be credited with kicking off the recent craze towards HIIT – high intensity interval training. This protocol was initiated by the Japanese performance researcher Izumi Tabata in 1996 and 1997 (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, October 1996, Vol 26 and also March 1997, Vol 27).
The basic findings of his research was that in 4 minutes of work, you could get more cardiovascular benefits, and more fat loss, than in 60 minutes of steady state cardio (e.g. jogging). That’s right: 4 minutes vs 60 minutes.
How is this possible?
By doing super high intensity interval training. HIIT.
There are many summary articles available on the web if you don’t want to go back to the original research. Here’s a summary (but this article is about a variation…):
His exact protocol was to stationary bike at your all-out fastest, 100% pace, for 20 seconds. Then rest for 10 seconds. Then go all out for 20 seconds. Repeat, etc. until you’ve done 4 minutes total. That’s it. It’s so simple. But…
Most people can’t do this.
When I say 100%, I mean 100%. Not “hard running/biking”. I mean all out, like a bear is chasing you. Many people puke during this kind of training.
Because of this intensity, most people fall into two categories after they decide to try it:
a) they end up not really doing 100% in the intervals; they do like 80%, which destroys the whole purpose
b) they give up
I’m no different. I don’t do Tabata because it’s too hard. I’m not afraid to admit it.
But I have an alternate that I think you will like even better…
The Inverted Tabata
Before I describe this (and it’s pretty easy to describe), I want to say that it’s quite possible that I’m not the only one to come up with this. I’ve been doing it since last year and decided to give it a name.
Maybe someone else has prescribed this before, but I did some web searches for “inverse Tabata” and “inverted Tabata” and even some “Tabata variations” and couldn’t find anything. [If you find something, please share it here so I can give credit.] Anyway, it is my belief that this is the first time “inverted Tabata” is being documented and you get to read it as part of the worldfitnessnetwork.com community! Ok, enough grandstanding.
It’s so simple, I was surprised nobody else talks about it.
Here’s all Inverted Tabata is:
- run full-on, 100% for 10 seconds
- shuffle (fast walk) for 20 seconds
- repeat at least 20 times, for a total of at least 10 minutes (but not more than 30 minutes)
That’s it! All I’m doing is switching the times from “20/10″ to “10/20″. Get it – inverse Tabata?
Of course warm ups are critical. I do this by first doing dynamic stretches and then doing a 5 to 10 minute slow, steady jog.
If you have knee problems, do it on a bike.
The principle works for 15/30 or 20/40 too. Personally, after experimenting, I find 15/30, at a total of 20 minutes, works best for me. I also finish up with a 1 mile steady state jog so my total cardio on this days is around 45 minutes.
The key factors are
a) warm up
b) do your “rest” period for no more than twice the “intense” period
c) make sure you define intense as “all out”
d) don’t have your intense period last longer than 30 seconds or else you won’t really be able to go all out
But this is still really, really hard. For me, around cycle 15 or so, I have trouble. I feel like my lungs are going to explode and that I might puke. And even though I am going 100%, I’m not going very fast at that time. I’m simply exhausted. A hungry bear would certainly catch me.
If You Run Outside
Now, as a practical matter if you run outside, you probably don’t have a timer handy. Of course, you can run with a stopwatch (I do).
If you don’t want to carry one around, some advance planning helps here. But the exact seconds in each stage may end up shifting a bit.
- Pick a starting point on your road. Have someone time you the first time to see how far you can go in 10 seconds. Mark that.
- Shuffle (or fast walk) back to the starting point and do it again.
- And again.
- And again. Each time marking off your finishing point.
- After 10 times, you now have what is likely to be your average distance for all 20 cycles. Consider that your end point.
So, for future Inverse Tabata runs, just sprint each time from your start to your end point and shuffle back.
Your initial sprints will likely be a little less than 10 seconds and your final sprints will likely be a little longer, but close enough.
Inverse Tabata With Weights
Now, for those of you who tried my fat-burning weight training workout, you’ll notice something. It essentially is a HIIT with weights. Go here to refresh your memory if you didn’t try it. Essentially, it involves triple sets so that you are doing about 30 seconds intense, then 5 to 10 seconds of inadvertent rest as you switch exercises, then 30 seconds intense lifting, then 5 to 10 seconds of “switching cost” rest, then 30 seconds intense, followed by 60 seconds of real rest.
While that workout isn’t “inverted Tabata”, you could esily see how you can develop a routine that is. I think I’ll try that mid-summer, after I complete the 5×5 workout I’m testing and will soon share with you…
So What’s the Science Behind This?
a) Izumi Tabata also tried intervals at 30 seconds intense, 120 seconds rest; that didn’t have good response (response is defined more fully in the scientific articles but let’s simplify here and think of it as oxygen capacity and total fat burn over 48 hrs)
b) I have no scientific studies to quote on how effective my inverse Tabata variation is compared to Tabata. But I do have years of experience and common sense.
c) Since I haven’t heard of inverted Tabata before, I can’t find any science on it; and since I don’t have million dollar labs at my disposal, I can’t really test it.
So, you’ll have to try it yourself and see how it works. Please note: like any information on this site, what I write is purely for educational purposes and you should see your doctor before trying anything. You need to take full responsibility for all your actions.
Do you do Tabata? What do you think of this alternative? Share this, Digg it, and make a comment!
Tags: inverted tabata, running, tabata
I want to share a great technique for you to throw in to your routine. This is not for beginners, but is great for when you hit a plateau or are getting bored with your existing routine.
(By the way, this is the kind of thing I’ll be answering questions about on Thursday’s free teleseminar - sign up at http://www.askdatabase.com/campaigns/?af=49557 . Even if you don’t want to ask a question, you’ll need to enter your email address so I can send you the dial in info.)
But before I share today’s tips, we need a little background.
Workout Volume
It’s becoming in vogue now for fitness experts, especially strength coaches, to recommend lower volume workouts. Lower volume means fewer total number of reps per muscle group.
For example, a high volume workout for chest would be 4 or 5 sets of 8 to 12 reps of flat bench, followed by 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps each of incline bench, and then 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps of flyes. So the total # of reps could be anywhere from 80 to 156 reps! And Arnold, who advocated this kind of volume, would even do some muscle groups 3 days a week!
Nowadays people are generally seeing big strength gains and lean mass built in much lower volume routines – say, 4-6 total sets of 4-6 reps each, or 24 to 36 total reps per muscle group – once a week!
Which is better depends a bit on your goals, your personal ability to recover, your lifestyle, your diet, and a number of other factors.
But why not combine these…
What Are Drop Sets?
Regardless of what your current volume is, you will enjoy a little spice in your regular routine by doing drop sets (sometimes also called strip sets).
You do drop sets by starting out with weight X and doing your reps until you just barely get that last rep out. Then you (or your workout partner) literally take weight off the bar (”dropping” or “stripping” the weight). With just those 5 seconds or so of rest, you next do more reps with the lower weight until you fail. Then drop more weight. Etc. etc. until you are totally burnt.
But this works even better (in my opinion) with dumbbells because
- dumbbells are generally safer to use when you are exhausted; and that’s what your’ going for here – exhaustion
- you don’t need a training partner to help you switch plates; switching them yourself is fine, but then you end up resting too much between drop-sets
- dumbbells, at most gyms, are available in small increments (every 5 pounds) so you can go in steps that make sense for you, even for lightweight exercises
The Process
You want to get at least 4 reps for each set, even the last one. You’ll find that you need to drop the weight dramatically. For small-muscle exercises, like shoulder laterals, you might drop in increments of 5 pounds. But for bigger compound exercises (like chest presses), you need to drop a lot each time. Most people make the mistake of dropping too little between drop sets.
With dumbbells at a commercial gym, you literally just run down the rack and you can very quickly adjust your poundage. In contrast, doing these with barbells and plates is harder to get the poundage just right for each set so that you are getting 4 to 8 reps each set.
Generally, you still want to focus on compound exercises. Sure, you can do it for isolated movements, but we’ve gone over this many times: compound exercises are the best for building lean muscle mass and you only need to think of isolated movements if you are injured, extremely deficient in one particular area, or thinking of competition-level bodybuilding.
Examples of good exercises:
- Dumbbell chest press [chest]
- Arnold Presses [shoulders]
- Dumbbell rows (standing or seated) [lats, shoulders]
- Dumbbell lunges [upper legs]
- Dumbbell squats [legs]
- Dumbbell deadlifts [back and legs]
- Etc.
- (For more ideas, check out Craig Ballanytine’s $10 dumbbell workouts)
I am NOT recommending you base your routine around drop sets.
I’m not even recommending a single entire workout of drop sets.
When I do drop sets, I tend to just pick one exercise a workout. Then my next weight training day, I’ll pick a different exercise and focus on a different muscle group. For example, on Day1 I might do drop sets of dumbbell chest press at the end of my chest routine. Then Day2, if that’s a leg day, I’ll do drop sets of lunges.
So, if you are working with weights 3 days a week, you’ll only do a total of 3 drop sets a week and each will target a different muscle group.
Do these at the end of your workout because you’ll be wiped out for anything else!
Oh – one more thing: do NOT “save up” your energy within your regular workout just to have more strength for drop sets. Every set needs to be the maximum intensity you can muster, so don’t tank on your deadlifts just because you know you are going to do a drop set of lunges later…!
Have you used this? Got any tips to share? Share this, add it to Stumbleupon, and make a comment!
Tags: drop sets
The other day my ipod shuffle wasn’t working so I did my run in “silence”. The good news is that it didn’t affect my motivation or speed or anything. The bad news is that I figured out I’m a pretty weird guy…
You see, without my audio, my brain simply started thinking (I hear that’s what brain’s do when left to themselves).
And…
oh my God…
I’m insane.
I kept thinking the same things over and over. Literally. It wasn’t a “worry thought” either – just a random thought about how my office is set up. So I kept repeating the same phrases over and over. “What if I moved my desk to the south side…. What if I moved my desk to the south side and repositioned my monitor… what if I repositioned my monitor… what if I moved my desk to the south side…”
I’m not exaggerating. This is what my brain did. For miles and miles.
Now, I managed to force myself to switch to a new idea (which I also repeated incessantly like a woodpecker too dumb to know it was pecking a metal mailbox).
But around mile 4, that same freggin’ office thought came back and I couldn’t shake it for a mile.
Enough Of My Psychosis, What About YOUR Psychosis?
Now, you don’t read WorldFitnessNetwork to hear what a psycho I am. But I’m guessing you are now curious about what kind of a “thinker” YOU are.
Here are few thinker types for you to consider.
Most of us will span a few of these, either alternating from day to day or even flitting from one persona to another in the same run.
To see which you are, make sure you are unplugging from your mp3 player – you can’t truly think with external input in your ears.
- The repeater – whatever thought pops into your head, you repeat it over and over; just when you think you’ve moved onto a new thought, you realize you are back to repeating the previous thought; this is me most of the time.
- The randomizer – you are like ADHD on cocaine.
- The workaholic – you go over your work.
- The planner – you think through your day ahead of time.
- The reflector – you reflect on how your day went (or about yesterday if you are a morning runner).
- The basketcase – you think about all the problems in your life and end up more stressed after your run than when you started.
- The perfectionist - you work over a particular issue ad infinitum and then rework it. And rework it again. And again.
- The freak – you might be one of these people who get all freaked out with the endorphins that come with running and start having odd visions and bizarre thoughts. I won’t list examples here. You know who you are. And stay away from my road.
- The gamer – you count the cars that pass; or see how many drivers you can get to wave at you; or you search for all the walnut trees along your route.
- The milestoner – to make it through, you keep resetting distance markers: “Just one more telephone pole”. “Make it to the next mailbox.” Etc. until you finish your run.
- The elite master – you think about your form; your pace; how your legs feel; how your stride is; how the hair on your arms is affecting your wind friction (ok maybe not that).
Which one are you? Or do you have another type I should add? Share this, Digg it, and make a comment!
Tags: running
I’ve talked about the equipment at 24Hr Fitness, and some tips to getting a great workout while traveling and going to an unfamiliar gym.
But let me take a minute to talk about the people I saw there. I’m about to go pretty harsh. I’ll try to keep my ranting to a minimum, and there’s actually a happy ending to this…
The Average Gym-Goer
First off 75% of the people there were barely exercising more than the equivalent of walking from their kitchen to their TV room. Most of them just did machines. And they barely put any effort into it. Just going through the motions.
Same thing with the cardio machines. Most of the people were just walking. Walking. I’m not anti-walking. But I don’t know why anyone would go to a gym to walk. It’s so much more fulfilling to walk outside.
Nobody (except for one guy, which I’ll talk about more) had a workout journal. I must have seen 100 people in my 3 days there on machines and freeweights and only one guy (other than me) was serious enough to have a training log.
I also saw some horrible form. Remember that single squat rack I mentioned? Well, a few people tried to use it. One duo actually did great squats but everyone else butchered it. The most common problem: not going down far enough. And no, these people weren’t advanced enough to intentionally be doing half-squats to To be sure, proper squat form is tough (especially for long-leg guys like me).
And there was this one guy doing deadlifts that I actualy thought was trying some yoga move. His back was so arched that I wouldn’t have been surprised if he never walked straight again.
And most people took way too much time in between their sets. They’d put in a half-hearted effort on their set, then stand around and talk for 5 minutes, then do another half-hearted effort on the next set. What a waste of time!
Women Can Lift Free Weights – Who Knew????
Now I hinted that it wasn’t all bad. For example, many of the women there were actually doing free weights. They were just as half-hearted about their effort as the men were, but at least the women knew the importance of free weights. (About the same % of women were split between machines-only and free weights as the % of men were split).
A Serious Lifter Was Spotted
You know that other guy I mentioned who had a training log? He was the real deal. First off, he had a training log. (Did I mention that already? smile) That’s a sure sign of seriousness.
Next, he hit his sets hard. He was making every set count, and every rep in every set count.
Now before I sing his praises further, let me make sure you have the right picture. He was about 5′10″ or so. Probably 190 lbs. So, we’re not talking a huge guy. And he was clearly in his late 40s. (He could be any of you reading this, if you put your heart into training.)
And he was strong.
Honestly, I was impressed with his strength for his size. He was doing dumbbell becnh presses with 100s. Chin-ups with 50 lbs strapped to his legs for sets of 15.
And he was supersetting, with 30 seconds between sets, doing opposing muscles. Almost all his exercises were compound movements.
And his form was solid. Clearly an experienced weight trainer.
This guy was so impressive that I almost introduced myself and wanted to find out more about his approach. But I didn’t want to interrupt him.
And next thing I knew, he was gone. Talk about efficient.
So What About You?
If I spotted you in a commercial gym, what would I say? Would you fall into the first category (the half-hearted, machine-using time wasters) or the second category (a focused lifter on a mission)?
Share this, Digg it, and make a comment!
I know you are trying to improve your physique this Summer.
Build muscle….
Lose fat….
And you certainly can find lots of great information on the internet for free.
Or can you?
=================
FREE vs. SPECIFIC
=================
Now, as the owner and operator of WorldFitnessNetwork.com, I offer a ton of free info to help you build lean muscle mass, especially for men over 35.
There are other strong sites out there too of course. They (usually) offer great advice in a generic sense. The general principles are easy to find. Lift heavy. Eat clean. Rest. Etc. Etc.
(There’s also a lot of hype. And once in a while you find people promoting god-awful programs that are just worthless.)
But what they all lack is that individual attention and specific advice FOR YOU.
What happens when you don’t really understand the general principles? (It’s ok to admit it – many sites gloss over the basics and assume you already know them.)
What happens when you can’t tell the hype from the reality? (Like these crazy people saying to do military presses while standing on a Bosu ball! they should be pistol-whipped!)
What happens when you’ve tried all the basic advice, but you are hitting a plateau?
Or when you have a specific question you can’t get answered?
If you have a great personal trainer, you can ask them. But personal trainers are expensive. And few of them are focused on the goals of building lean muscle mass for men over 35.
You can spend hours searching the internet. But usually you only find part of the answer, and it’s not specifically geared towards you – your condition, your program, your body.
With all this in mind, I’m excited to announce a 4-part teleseminar where YOU can get YOUR questions answered by me…
====================================
ANNOUNCING THE WORLDFITNESSNETWORK
STUNNING SUMMER TRAINING TELESEMINAR
FOR MEN OVER 35 WHO WANT LEAN MUSCLE
====================================
The first class will be next week, Tuesday May 19 at 8 pm eastern time. As I describe below, the exact topics will be determined by you! But I imagine it will cover
- fat loss workouts
- how to overcome plateaus
- how to build muscle without the fat
- diet and supplement advice
- the role of cardio with weight training
- your specific challenges
======================
WHAT IS A TELESEMINAR?
======================
A teleseminar simply means that I’ll be giving a seminar over the telephone.
For four weeks, I’ll be answering YOUR questions, at the same day and time every week
Each seminar will be 45 minutes long. And you don’t have to travel anywhere!
Don’t worry – you don’t have to speak live on the phone in front of everyone.
Once you sign up, there will be a members-only page that allows you to submit your specific questions. I may email you back and forth to make sure I completely understand your situation and question so I can give you the best answer during the seminar.
And you get to listen in on me answering other people’s questions too!
Each week, for 4 weeks, I’ll remind you to submit new questions. But if you don’t have a question, that’s ok – you can still listen in. If you can’t make one of the calls, we’ll make the replay available – but only for the people who have signed up.
========================
ONLY ACCEPTING 30 PEOPLE
========================
Here’s the catch – to make this effective, I need to limit this to the first 30 people. That way, everyone can submit their questions and I’ll have time to answer them.
We have thousands of subscribers so this means less than 1% of you will be able to participate. And it will be on a first come, first served basis.
==================
And it’s only $29!
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Click here for the details: http://budurl.com/wfntelemay09
I hope you’ll join me for this great series!
Sincerely, Darrin
p.s. Remember, I’m only taking the first 30 people. Go to http://budurl.com/wfntelemay09 to sign up.
p.p.s. Later I’ll likely be selling these recordings as part of a larger package, but they’ll be much more expensive then. So this is your chance to a) make sure YOUR questions are in the mix; b) you get to listen to it now, in time for summer; and c) get it at the lowest price.
Disclaimer: This seminar is for informational purposes only and is
not intended to replace sound medical advice. Never act on any
advice you get online without checking with your doctor first.
Tags: seminar
- Photo from 24hrfitness.com
I just got back from a business trip. As you might know yourself, getting your workouts in while on the road is a challenge.
Assuming time isn’t too tight, working in a run is usually pretty easy.
But weight training is more of a challenge.
(In fact, this trip gave me many ideas I’ll want to share with you over the next several weeks. For today I want to give you some tips to consider if you are out of town and need to go to an unfamiliar gym.)
Bodyweight exercises are a great option if you are still a beginner for weight training, or if you are just going for fat loss, or if you really have no time.
But I really wanted some metal.
So I did what you would probably do first – I checked the hotel gym.
Uh-ugh. No freeweights. Suffice it to say, that was a no-go for me.
- Lame Hotel Gym
(I still don’t get it how 5-start hotels can have crummy gyms. This one had a few sets of light dumbbells, one very limited “Universal” style resistance machine, and only 1 each of a bike, a climber, and a treadmill. For over 400 guests. Sheesh.)
Luckily, I checked this all out ahead of time.
All I did was call the hotel, talked to a few people and had them describe the gym to me exactly, piece by piece.
…
Going To The Commercial Gym
Next I went to the internet to search for fitness centers nearby. The closest was a chain called “24 Hr Fitness”. I’d never been to one before, but I saw that I could get a 7-day free pass online. Cool.
So I called them and got a run down. “We’ve got all you need,” I was assured. Plus, they were truly open 24 hrs a day, which is important because I work out early mornings. With the timezone difference, I was there at 4:00 in the morning!
Immediate Reaction To The Layout
So I get to the gym, and my immediate reaction was “Oh no, the place has way too many machines. This can’t be good.”
Luckily I found the freeweights stuck in the back (which was fine by me).
And to my pleasant surprise, many of the machines were from a company called FreeMotion and were essentially cable machines. (They ended up being great for various rows and pull movements I did.)
But it was clear that this was not a “lifter’s gym”. There was only one squat rack in the entire place. All the benches were bolted to the floor. Not just the bench press stations – I mean every single little bench.
Some other observations:
- Everything was pretty crowded in terms of the layout – almost no floor room for bodyweight warm-ups or ab exercises.
- On the plus side, they had a nice set of dumbbells, with 2 or 3 sets of every weight up to 120lbs, with increments by 5lbs and a few increments of 2.5 lbs. Nice for drop sets.
- They also had (in addition to the aforementioned FreeMotion machines) 3 full cable setups.
- For cardio/HIIT, there was no Airdyne. Airdynes are great for HIIT.
- But they had these machines called “CrossTrainers” or something that were kind of a cross between ellipticals and stair climbers. I tried one out and loved it – I could really get my heart working (unlike I find with ellipticals) and the motion was so smooth on my knees (which take a beating on plane rides).
7 Tips For Unfamiliar Commercial Gyms
My workouts ended up being great, but here’s what you should think about when hitting a commercial gym that you aren’t familiar with:
- Go during off hours, if possible. If I went when it was crowded, and didn’t know they had only one squat rack, I would have been ticked off.
- Bring your workout journal with you. It’s too easy to show up an an unfamiliar gym without your plan and then wander around wasting time. Serious lifters stay focused.
- Have “backup” exercises. If you are expecting a particular piece of equipment, and they don’t have it, you need to be flexible and adapt your routine with the next-best equivalent.
- Walk around the gym first. Before you lift a single weight, walk around the entire gym and make sure you know where things are. And get your plan together for #3. That way you don’t wast time in the middle of your workout.
- Follow good etiquette and don’t break the Unspoken Rules. Jason’s post pretty much says it all.
- Try to get a free pass. Many gyms will give you a free one-day pass. Also check the web. But don’t lie – I’m not a fan of lying and saying you are thinking of joining if you aren’t. Be honest. And if you will be there for a few days, maybe a week pass is a better deal.
- Call your hotel first. It’s rare, but not unheard of, that a hotel has a great weightroom. So call ahead. If they don’t have one, ask if they offer any discounts at local “real” gyms.
In a few days I’ll share another really important observation with you about my experience…
Have you had similar experiences? What other tips do you have? Share this, Digg it, and make a comment!
Tags: commercial gyms
