Intervals are amazing fitness builders. And if you want to go to the extreme, Tabata intervals can't be equalled.<br />
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20 seconds of all out effort, followed by <br />
10 seconds rest<br />
= 1 round<br />
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Repeat for a total of 8 rounds.<br />
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Try these with burpees, sprints, squats, rope skipping, or any exercise that involves large muscle groups. Tabata Burpees truly suck in ways that cannot be properly articulated with words alone.<br />
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For these, you need a decent stopwatch or even better, an interval timer. I use something called a Gym Boss, which is a type of timer that is specifically designed for interval training.
davidav
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Recently downloaded Gregg Allman's new album, "Low Country Blues" from iTunes. It is one of the best blues albums I've heard in a very long time. If there are any blues fans on here, I strongly encourage you to get this album. You won't be disappointed.
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I prefer them hot with steamed soy milk, berries (either blueberries or rasberries) and some honey. I'm assuming you are talking about "oatmeal."<br />
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The best thing is to cook them in hot water, then if you have an espresso machine with a milk frother, to steam up some soy milk or low fat milk and pour it in. -
[quote name='mooshld']Save yourself the cash davidav and teach yourself the style by running barefoot first, if you like it and it suits you then get the shoes. If you buy the shoes and try and run in a heal toe fashion, you will get injured and you will have just blown the cash.<br />
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Mooshld.[/QUOTE]<br />
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That is a sensible suggestion, but the idea of running totally barefoot on roads frightens me. Stepping on pebbles, glass and such. -
"Minimalist" training shoes are becoming a lot more popular here in the States. I haven't tried them yet and I'm a bit hesitant due to the fact that I'm built more like a prop than a runner--worried about the impact to my knees with zero padding. But the concept is definitely interesting. I'm always toying with the idea of giving it a try to see how it feels.<br />
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Here's a website with a whole range of different minimalist type running shoes:<br />
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[url]http://minimalistrunningshoes.org/[/url] -
I do them for 1 minute holds. I think they're one of the best ab exercises you can do. Doing them for 2 minutes would be extremely tough. Perhaps I'll set that as a target.
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[video=youtube;sVzvRsl4rEM]
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Awesome band. This song is on the soundtrack to the movie "The Fighter." -
[quote name='mariner4life']If someone could find a study that said burpees were actually really bad for you i would be eternally grateful. They have been a staple for rugby coaches and fitness trainers for ever, and i for one have had enough.[/QUOTE]<br />
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And the church said AMEN.<br />
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Unfortunately, in my experience, nothing but good can come from doing burpees regularly. In fact, if you stopped doing everything else but kept doing burpees 3 or more times a week you would remain pretty fit. -
Bart:<br />
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There are different variations of Burpees, but I like to do them with a push-up at the bottom. So squat, kick out, push-up, return to squat position, then jump. That's one.<br />
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I've been doing sets of 10. Most recently I did 5 sets of 10. My goal is to work up to 5 sets of 20. I mix these in with sprint training, which makes for a very nice interval-type workout. -
Burpees are the most evil thing created by man. You kind of need to develop a perverse love for them; otherwise you will stop doing them after a few workouts. I think there are few, if any, other exercises that compare in terms of providing a full body workout in one exercise.<br />
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If you are traveling or really short on time and you want to exercise and get a decent workout in the least amount of time possible, then burpees are where it's at. -
Tom, I'm not sure where you can find information about the beep test, but watching the video it seems to be based on a similar principle to Tabata Intervals. This is a scientifically established training protocol that is incredibly intense, vomit-inducing even. I enjoy torturing myself with these, though I haven't done them in a while. It takes just four minutes to complete, and it is hell on earth.<br />
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You can find out more about Tabata intervals here:<br />
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[url]http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/tabataintervals.html[/url] -
A good question. I'm listening to a mix of all different stuff from different eras.<br />
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-- The Cramps (punkbilly band from the early '80s)<br />
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--Old Johnny Cash (Get Rhythm, Cry, Cry Cry, Walk the Line, etc.)<br />
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--Geto Boys (gangsta rap, but really good gangsta rap)<br />
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--She & Him (new, retro early 60's sound) -
[quote name='MN5']Bit of a disappointing workout this morning, today was push press day and due to me completing it fairly easily last week I added 2.5kg to the weights, sheesh, barely completed the first set and crapped out on the others ( locking out in particular was pretty lousy ) much of this I put down to lots of skipping rope in the garden yesterday ( bloody sore calves this morning ) cos I honesly thought I'd do ok. Not as much spring to get me started perhaps ? I'll keep the weights the same for next week and hope for a better result. Do any "experts" out there think this may be the case as to why things didn't go as planned ? <br />
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On the plus side I did some super bicep curling ! also yesterdays skipping was pretty decent despite flicking a little stone into my boys head ( he toughed it out and didn't cry....much )[/QUOTE]<br />
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I really enjoy skipping rope MN5. It is one of the best cardio exercises available. Yes, calves will be tender if you haven't done it much before. But they'll toughen up quick. I use a timer called a "Gym Boss" (Google it) which allows me to go for 1 minute rounds. -
[quote name='Bones']Not really infomercial I guess but when I went and picked up a pull-up bar, got these for a tenner too:<br />
[url]http://www.everlast.com/Resistance-Stretch-Tubing-With-3-Strengths/productinfo/EVREST/[/url]<br />
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I'm on the road a fair bit for work and these have been a great purchase. Easy to just chuck in the suitcase and pretty big range of exercises you can throw together for a decent "in-hotel" workout if unable to get to the gym![/QUOTE]<br />
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If you travel alot Bones then check out Perfect Pushups. They easily slide into any suitcase and they make regular old push-ups a lot more effective. I'm a believer in good old fashioned hard work and I don't tend to buy any of these types of things that you see on infomercials, but the Perfect Push-up things really do work.<br />
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You can find out more about them here:<br />
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[url]http://perfectonline.com/store/index.php[/url] -
There's certainly a lot of fitness related crap out there in TV Land. I pretty much avoid most of it and stick to basics. However, one thing that I did buy that is advertised on TV is the "Perfect Push-up" handles. These little beauties were developed by an ex-Navy Seal and are really simple and effective. They rotate so when you're doing push-ups you can rotate on the way down and up again, really maximizing range of motion and the intensity of push-ups. They are much, much harder than regular push ups.<br />
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I've also heard good things about Px90. I've seen a few people I know lose a lot of weight and tone up using this program. However, with things like that, you get out of it what you put into it. And you can get similar results from any kind of interval training, which is what Px90 really is. -
Here's more from Jones. He really is the father if HIT, or High Intensity Training. <br />
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[url]http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/shannon4.htm[/url] -
Not a big fan of machines in general Bart, but the Smith machine is the exception to the rule. It is ideal for certain things.
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You're an animal Bart. One legged squats--now that's what I call sucking diesel. I probably couldn't do one in my current, reasonably fit 42 year old state. That's hard training. Just getting the balance isn't easy.
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[quote name='BartMan']MN5 - if you can't squat heavy, try squatting LOTS. With my hernia op last week I have dropped the weight waaaaay back, and am using the Smith machine, but going sloooow, and doing sets of 20. This morning on our walk it was killing me. Also try one legged squats - one leg foes back on bench behind you, and you squat down, the rear leg knee almost touching the ground. This will KILL your quads.. I hold onto the smith machine bar when I do this for balance.[/QUOTE]<br />
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20s on squats are brutal and yes, awesome Bart. I trained for a couple of years using Arthur Jones (inventor of Nautilus) principles, which he used to train Casey Viator, one of the youngest men to win the Mr. America bodybuilding contest.<br />
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It was very basic, easy to follow, very brutal but very effective for building both strength and size. The program was total body workouts focusing on large compound movements. 1-2 exercises per body part, 15 exercises in total, 3 times a week, sets of 20 on everything with the last reps close to failure--so a spotter is mandatory.<br />
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If you're interested in learning more about Casey, some info and pics:<br />
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[url]http://www.schwarzenegger.it/mro/viator.html[/url]<br />
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This was one of many programs I've followed over the years. I still stick to the core principles today because I believe they make a lot more sense than most of the crap you read in the muscle mags. Also, you have a lot more time for actual life when you're training 3 x per week as opposed to 6 or 7 times per week.
AMRAP - TSF 1st non-meatheads challenge + ACTC's workouts
What are you listening to, right now................
Oats Bro!!
The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste
The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste
Prone bridge AKA the plank
What are you listening to, right now................
Hill workouts
Hill workouts
Hill workouts
Yo-Yo Test mp3?
What are you listening to, right now................
MN5's 2010 get ripped plan
Seperating fact from fiction - infommercial fitness equipment
Seperating fact from fiction - infommercial fitness equipment
5 x 5 and the Texas Method - wish Id done this from the start !
5 x 5 and the Texas Method - wish Id done this from the start !
5 x 5 and the Texas Method - wish Id done this from the start !
5 x 5 and the Texas Method - wish Id done this from the start !