Last year we set out some simple goals for New Year Resolutions. It is now time to recap, review and set new objectives for 2008. Last year the goals we set out for physical and mental well-being were to:
Lose Weight
Pay Off Debt
Save Money
Get a Better Job
Get Fit
Eat Right
Get a Better Education
Drink Less Alcohol
Quit Smoking
Reduce Stress
It should in theory be easier to attain some of these goals, as the media is playing a large part now in educating people on healthy eat and exercise, with shows such as Celebrity Fit Club and You Are What You Eat becoming more popular, and the new public smoking laws in the UK making it easier for smokers to avoid temptation while trying to kick the habit.
As far as Motley Health is concerned, the areas that we really focus on are:
Lose Weight - lose that belly fat, tone up, get in shape for the summer
Get Fit - or stronger, look more athletic, be more active
Eat Right - i.e. a Well Balanced Diet geared towards your fitness / sporting needs
Keep a weight loss / fitness / diet journal - log your progress over the year
So these are the Motley Health New Years Resolutions. All the information that you need to follow these rules can be found on the Motley Health site, so go for it. Following the full list will provide you with a better quality of life, as being debt free and improving your education go go a long way to reducing stress and opening new horizons, but the three core New Year Resolutions are to get in shape, get fit, and be healthy.
As mentioned last year, keeping a journal is an excellent way to monitor your progress, so sign up for a free Motley Health Fitness Training Log today! Whether you just wish to make a note of changes to diet, or keep a log of running times, weight training, or just keep a general weight loss blog with your trails and tribulations, then a Motley Health training blog will be your tool for success in 2008!
Stretching is a part of fitness and exercise which is often neglected. Many people find it difficult to find the time to exercise, and stretching just seems to take up precious minutes which could be used on the cross trainer, lifting weights, or out running.
Before performing any exercise, it is important to stretch out the main muscle groups that you will be using - this applies to playing football, running, weight training, circuit training or yoga. Warming up the muscles will make them more pliable and less susceptible to injury. Stretching done after exercise helps to dissipate the waste products that build up in the muscles, as well as lactic acid, and it is generally accepted that this helps to reduce soreness.
After a fitness training session the muscles are still warm, therefore it is a good time to work on improving flexibility. Some strengthen exercises can actually cause the muscles to shorten which will restrict their range of motion, which in turn reduces flexibility. In order to maintain or improve flexibility in the joints as well as reduce the risk of injury, it is important to include a stretching routine into any workout. A good stretching routine should use a combination of stretching and relaxation.
The correct way to stretch is known as the static stretching method. This involved stretching as far as is comfortable, and holding that position for a set count (usually 10-20 seconds) and then releasing. A common mistake people make when stretching unsupervised is to move into the stretch quickly and then bounce in an attempt to stretch the muscles and joints further than possible by just using their body weight or by gently pulling.
It is beneficial and advisable to stretch at least once every day, even on rest days. It is not advisable to stretch first thing in the morning without having warmed up first. Develop a routine for stretching everyday. For your routine, either start at the head and neck and move down, or start with the feet and ankles and move up. Do not keep jumping all over the body when stretching.
Rules of Stretching
1. Before starting a stretch, ensure that your are in the correct start position. 2. While stretching, keep you breathing natural, and do not hold your breath. Stretching does not require the same effort as weight lifting, and applying too much effort could lead to injury. 3. Always come out of the stretch slowly. 4. In standing stretches, joints should always be in alignment, i.e. shoulders above hips, hips above knees and knees above ankles. 5. Never bounce. Bouncing can cause unnatural elasticity in the muscles which can lead to injury. 6. Never ask a friend or partner to push a stretch further, unless under the guidance of a qualified instructor. Many martial artists will push stretches further, with good results, but an untrained partner could do more damage than good. Communication and trust is essential when aiding stretching. 7. A stretch should be held for at least 10 seconds when warming up and for at least 20 seconds when cooling down, or working on improving flexibility. 8. While stretching, relax, stay in control, and breathe easy. If you cannot breathe easily, you are putting too much effort into stretching. 9. Stretch each muscle group only once per each stretch session. Do not go back to work on muscles again, as they may have cooled down by the time you are ready to repeat a stretch. 10. Do not do spot stretching, but instead take a full body approach to stretching and ensure that all the major muscle groups are stretched.
When to Avoid Stretching
1. If you experience a loss of function or a reduction in the range of motion, do not stretch, as this could indicate an injury. 2. If you have had a recent injury or sprain, do no stretch, as this can aggravate the problem. 3. If you feel a sharp pain during stretching then stop. 4. If you have had any recent fractures, do not stretch until your doctor has advised that it is safe to do so. 5. If a bone blocks the motion, do not stretch.
If in any doubt about stretching, then speak with your doctor or a qualified fitness instructor.
It is very easy to build yourself a simple dip station at home, if you already have a rack. A dedicated dip station costs almost as much as a basic power rack/cage, so why spend money on both. If you have a power rack, all you need to do also have a good solid dip station is to purchase a couple of thick tree posts. I bought a pair for GBP8.00 a few years ago and they still serve me well.
In this photo I place the poles across the supporting bars on the power rack, obviously the bars should be higher if if was going to use the dip station on a workout, but this photo is just to give an idea of how a dip station can be set up at home on a power rack/cage.
Reality TV shows generally make pretty annoying viewing, but the Celebrity Fit Club series does show how simple it is to get back into shape after spending too long not thinking about what you eat, or doing any exercise.
In the below clip Michelle Harris visits the set of VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club. Michelle and guest fitness expert Harvey Walden do a fitness workout with Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick. Other guests include pop singer Tiffany and "Ross the Intern" from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
This clip shows one of Harvey Walden's military style workouts. Harvey's workout starts at 6.30 minutes if you wish to skip to that part. Harvey's advice for non-celebrities to get fit is to get a trainer, a partner, and new work out clothes, to get in the mood for training. The workout includes some good old fashioned fat burning circuit training moves. Three types of push ups, scissors, jumping jacks, knee raises and simple stretching. Give it a go, and you too can start to get fit like a celebrity.
I am always on the lookout for new content for Motley Health, and recently I have been sourcing the best fitness videos from YouTube to feature on the site. Today I came across this video. It is described as being one of the routines from Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease DVD series. The routine features Ashley Roberts of the hit girl group, The Pussycat Dolls. Now, is this really aerobics? Will this "workout" get you fit? Maybe if you dance for several hours, but I think that this is stretching the definition of aerobics somewhat. But does it really matter?
I was reading a health and fitness forum the other day and saw what has to be the worse case of a fitness rip-off that I have come across. It was an exercise machine, which admittedly was fantastic to look at, but it came with a price tag of USD15,000. The manufacturers claim was the most worrying thing though - that it could get you fit with just 4 minutes of exercise per day. The four minute routine really consisted of 2 minutes of rowing, followed by two minutes on a stepper. With a price tag of USD15,000 you would expect to do a full body workouts, but all that seemed possible, judging from the demonstration videos, was rowing and stepping. An equivalent rower would be a basic Sculling Hydraulic Rowing Machine, which costs around GBP120/USD250, and a simple stepper costs about the same amount. So for GBP250/USD500 you could have everything that the machine for USD15000 offered.
This got me thinking. How many other fitness fad rip-offs are there out there? I have been a member of a large commercial gym, that provided almost no guidance, tuition or motivation from the staff. I also know that all large commercial gyms rely on people joining and not attending. If every gym member went to their gym twice a week there would always be lengthy queues for the machines, showers, swimming pool and saunas. To me, these gyms are a rip-off - they take our money, knowing that they cannot server everybody, and therefore do nothing to actually encourage people to workout more, or to reach their goals. The gyms make money because people fail year after year to actually lose weight and get fit!
But what else is there that is a real rip-off. By this, I mean something that the manufacturer knows will not actually do what they claim it to do. I am not sure how they get away with it really, as I would have thought that the advertising standards authority would stop the adverts, but maybe there are different rules in different countries.
Expensive equipment and health clubs are not the only rip-offs though. There are so many different supplements and fad diets, plus eBooks on the internet, plus detox diets, stupid vibration plates and the such like, all of which to some extent or another will not do what they claim to do so, at least not without a lot of hardwork.
But what can we do about it? People will always look for a quick fix, whether it be a piece of machinery that claims to give them washboard abs in 2 weeks, or supplements that will make them look like Mr. Universe in a month, or a new diet fad that will allow them to lose all their fat and still have the energy to stand up at the end of it. Would the world be a better place if we had a list of all the ripoff fitness fads, diets and machines? Will I we be sued if we called the products a rip-off, or can we only give a bad review? And who are these people that keep giving good reviews? Can the claims be tested? One machine claims to give a full workout in 4 minutes, stating that the quality of a workout is solely dependent on oxygen consumption during exercise, and that their machine will lead to increased oxygen consumption. Sounds a bit far fetched to me. 60 minutes circuit training, or 4 minutes on a stepper / rower. What do you think is best?
There has been much hype over the film 300, or more specifically over the athletic physiques of the men that appeared in the film. Many people were soon asking, how do I get a body like that? What sort of training program do I need to follow? Is it possible for the average guy to look so athletic? In short, the answer is yes. But it requires a lot of hard work. The sculpted bodies in the movie "300" were chiselled by the legendary 300 workout found in Men's Health magazine. The actors trained hardcore, using kettlebells, weights, bodyweight, tires, and more.
But for most people, this workout was difficult to do because it includes a lot of equipment typically not found in home gyms or commercial gyms. So you couldn't do the kettlebell clean and press or box jumps.
That's why Men's Health expert Craig Ballantyne developed the Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 workout. This is a 500 repetition workout performed using only bodyweight exercises. No weights are needed. It's still challenging, it will still burn fat, and it will still help you achieve the body of a Greek Warrior. The great thing is that you can do it in any gym, or with a few pieces of equipment, a home gym also.
Craig Ballantyne describes how the workout developed:
"Now earlier this year I tried the 300 movie workout. It is a challenging 300 repetition workout put together by a trainer for the lead actor in the 300 movie. This isn't how they did their workouts...it was just a test of his strength-endurance."
Here is the workout all exercises are done without rest:
"That was one tough workout. But like I said, I think I've put together something that is just as tough, and more available for people to do. Obviously both are advanced workouts...and you shouldn't do either unless you are as fit as a college athlete."
Here is Craig Ballantyne's TT Bodyweight 500 Workout:
50 Prisoner Squats 50 Pushups 25 Jumps 25 Stability Ball Leg Curls 50 Stability Ball Jackknifes 50 Step-ups (25 reps per side) 25 Pull-ups (NO substitutions) 50 Forward Lunges (25 reps per side) 50 Close-grip Pushups 50 Inverted Rows 50 Squats 25 Chin-ups (NO substitutions)
"Whew! Where you are really going to slow down is with the pulling exercises. That is a lot of chinups and pullups and rows to do in one workout. But you will have such an arm and shoulder pump after the workout it will blow you away.
If you are unsure about some of the exercises, just go to Youtube and search Craig Ballantyne or Bodyweight 500 and you'll find a couple of videos showing you the form and more details about the workout.
However, I will say this one more time. This is a very advanced workout. So don't do it unless you are already fit.
If you aren't super-fit, but want to work up in a challenge, I have an alternative for you. Start with the following workout, called the Bodyweight 100. Please note: This is still not a beginner workout.
Here is the bodyweight 100. Do it once, and then a week later try doing it twice. One week after that, try doing it 3 times. Then you could be ready for the Bodyweight 500 in the fourth week."
"Those are the 300 and Bodyweight 500 workouts. These will put turbulence on your muscles and help you burn fat and boost your metabolism without slow boring cardio."
Men's Health expert Craig Ballantyne has designed the trademarked Turbulence Training home fat burning workouts to help thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Craig's workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig's beginner bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.
For more advice on bodyweight exercises read our circuit training article.
Motley Health is currently undergoing more changes. We are starting to include video tutorials into our pages to help with training. For weight training and fitness correct form is essential and without a personal trainer the best way to learn good form is through video. We are also planning to expand the martial arts section with interesting videos, mostly focusing on forms and training methods. Currently we are building a selection of videos on YouTube for inclusion on the site. Our YouTube page is http://www.youtube.com/motleyhealth.
We will be bring more videos to the site over the forthcoming weeks, and aim to provide the highest quality training videos all types of exercise and fitness activities.
