Grab Your Balls. Medicine Balls that is!

Medicine balls have been used by fighters for years to burn fat, improve conditioning and harden their physiques for fighters. I remember when I was a boxer doing sit-ups and getting the medicine ball slammed into my stomach with each rep. I am not sure if it did anything, but it sure as hell made feel like Rocky, and at 16 what more can you ask for?

In all seriousness, playing around with a medicine ball for the first time in ages reminded me just how versatile and effective a training a tool they are. There is a good reason why they are older than that scary cougar at the bar! There are a ton of exercises you can do with a medicine ball, most of them can be categorized as either throwing or holding movements. Throwing a medicine ball will build explosive power because you can accelerate right through the full range of motion. In most barbell exercises this would cause joint injury pretty quick. As for the holding exercises, medicine balls are great because they are comfortable to grab and if you drop them you won't break a toe. I find women love medicine balls because it doesn't feel like weight lifting to them, so it is much less intimidating.

Here are some throwing drills:

• Ground slams. We did this at boot camp yesterday. Pick the ball up, raise it overhead then slam it into the ground as hard as possible. Repeat until all the anger is out of you.


• Forward pass. Like in basketball, throw it from your chest straight out. This is great with a partner.


• Overhead backwards throw. Swing it between your legs the accelerate it right overhead and behind you. Try to throw it as far as possible.


• Lateral pass. Move the ball to one hip, throw it across your body. This is also great with a partner.


• Sit up and throw. Grab the ball with both hands, do a sit-up but chest pass it to your partner at the top. They will then pass it to you and you will absorb the momentum of the ball and go back down into a sit-up.

You may notice all of the these throws are full body movements. This is great for fat loss, but they will really strengthen your abs too! All that throwing requires you to generate power through your hips and waist before launching the ball. The twisting movements are especially beneficial for sports improvement.

Medicine ball carrying exercises are pretty simple. Do lunges, sit-ups, squats, etc but hold the ball with both hands. Hold it overhead or move it from one side of the body to the other. It does not take a heavy medicine ball to turn an easy exercise into a gut buster. Medicine balls are like kettlebells in that they are versatile enough for you to safely create your own exercises. So when you get one, experiment a little and have some fun with it!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vPNRHV1CeCc&feature=related

Jump for your fitness goals

Yesterday I showed up for boot camp and there were no toys (training implements) lying at the ready for us to attack. I was instantly struck with fear as I thought I would forced to jog like an emaciated school girl for an hour straight. Luckily that was not the case, Marty Hansen, our instructor simply said we are using this, and pointed to his body. After sizing up Marty and figuring I could carry him pretty easily he said no, your own body's.

No implements, just our own body's. The day before had been a really brutal workout in the heat so I figured we would take it pretty easy. Do a bunch of stretching, some core work, some push-ups and maybe some lunges. Nope. Instead he warmed us up real good and then put us through a brutal workout of jumps, hops and hand walking that absolutely destroyed me.

When I was in Thai Boxing we would do a lot of hopping and jumping and I remembered that it can make for a solid workout. That was almost a year ago now though so I had totally forgotten how amazing jumping is for conditioning and strength development. Today as I write this my legs feel fine but my ab muscles are surprisingly sore. So what exactly did we do?

• Warmed up, dynamic stretches and mobility work, then some light calisthenics
• Two foot jumps with a knee tuck. Jump as high as you can with your feet together and then land with your feet together. Landing with feet together is tougher than you think.
• Two foot hopping for distance. Jump with both feet and try to maximize air time while moving forward. Land and quickly rebound to hop again. we did sets of 5-6 hops. This got me sweating like crazy.
• Lateral Hops. I suck at these! Two foot jumps, rebounding for distance just like above but moving laterally. These take quite a bit of balance and coordination. Your abs will work like crazy here.
• Spider Man. Get down on all fours with the butt low. Now crawl forward while trying to reach out as far as possible with the lead hand. These work the "core " like no tomorrow.
• Reverse Spider Man. Surprisingly harder to coordinate than you think. The core will be punished again. These really got me panting and sweating, I actually collapsed in exhaustion at one point.
• Lunge Jumps. Get down into a lunge, then jump up and switch legs. Try to hop for height and get a lot of hang time.
• Deck Squats. These are a great exercise for mobility, fitness and strength. I get a lot of benefit from them because I am tall, heavy and stiff and this makes it very hard to do. While I was much better at jumping than my fiance, she killed me at this exercise, making it look easy. Stand tall, then squat down and roll onto your back bringing your legs up and back. The swing forward hard and get your legs under you, then stand up. Sounds easy right? Well, try it on one leg and tell me that!
• We did some body weight complex work as a finisher then stretched it out.

What did this body weight and jumping workout work? Well, I was sweating buckets and really hungry by the end so it surely elevated my metabolism for one. I was really sore in the abs and fairly sore in the glutes and the rest of my legs. Surprisingly my upper back was sore too. Maybe from the hand walking. I guess it worked my whole body!

All that jumping and hopping is great for athletic development. In sports you need to react quickly with power and precision and plyometrics as this is called, can really improve your game. You have to be careful and progress slowly though as jumping can be hard on the body and nervous system. Introduce it slowly and progressively, don't just jump right into the hard stuff! Sorry for the pun.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Q2yH1vixV4g

My New Favourite Kettlebell Exercise

Kettlebells are very versatile tools, you can lift them, press them, swing them and carry them for distance, you can even throw them! I have used them extensively for several years now and have a few favourite and dreaded exercises with the kettlebell. For beginners it is all about the swing. Swinging will build strength in the posterior chain without loading the spine and burn fat at the same time. It is a very safe and effective drill for anyone.

The dynamic kettlebell lifts such as cleans, snatches and high pulls are also great for fat loss, but take a little more coordination and much more attention to technique. I have used these movements successfully for fat loss and athletic improvement in the past and view them as staples in a kettlebell program.

After all these years of playing with my kettlebell and learning from others to find new exercises, I am excited about my new favourite kettlebell drill. A few years ago I played around with kettlebell hammer throws. I would do this by looping a rope through a 35 lbs kettlebell, then swinging it around over my head once or twice and launching it into the air. This is damn fun and I used to love throwing the bell as far as possible. For whatever reason I kind of forgot about this drill. To my surprise and delight, it was one of the drills in boot camp the other day!

At boot camp we use a lighter kettlebell, approximately 20 lbs, and we do not throw it. It is called "the Conan" and it is basically the same thing as the hammer throw only we stand in one place and swing it around and over our head as many times as possible. This is one hell of a drill! With about five rotations my abs are seizing up like crazy! My shoulders and back begin to tire quickly but it is so damn fun swinging the kettlebell around I can't stop. To change directions, you have to decelerate the kettlebell, then start the other way. This also makes the abs and back work nicely. Working the abs hard from a standing position is very beneficial for athletes because they need to be able to transfer force through their body, including the core, while standing. Not lying on a bosu ball.

A 20 lbs kettlebell may not seem very heavy, but when it is hanging from a 1.5 inch thick rope to make your grip work, and you are swinging it around to create a massive force, it gets really, really heavy, really, really fast. It is a hard movement, plain and simple. But it is extremely fun and will make you feel like the barbarian warrior it is named after. I love this drill and will include it whenever possible from now on!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IH4j69hlwSw

An example of the support that training in a team atmosphere provides

As my readers know I have been attending a boot camp this July and am really loving. We use kettlebells, sandbags, tornado balls, medicine balls, bosu balls, blast straps and many other implements to get a great fat burning workout. I am definitely leaning out, as an protruding vein in my lower abs proved to me on the weekend, but my mobility and overall sense of physical well being is increasing as well. I think the variety of movements we use in the boot camp is proving to be really healthy for me.

The boot camp has a team atmosphere and below is an email sent to the team by Marty, our instructor. It gives some great advice but also is a great example of why training with a team is so fun and beneficial towards achieving your goals. Check it out:


Hi everyone,
It has been said that “80% of success is just showing up” and after that finding your last 10% is key to creating the difference.
Attendance each day improves and this is great for the whole group to train together and support each other by just being there.
Should you push yourself, you will find your limits and may be surprised that you can do more than you thought you could.

Everybody who entered the M-2 Sport Fitness Camp has slightly different goals. Whether it is fat dropping and or increasing your strength or overall better fitness, recovering is key to your success.
Maintaining a balanced and healthy diet, hydration and sleep habits are the areas to focus on for effective recovery:

· Physical change is ca. 70% dependant on your food intake and 30% on your exercise effort.
o Eat often, fruit in the morning and vegetables in the pm, eat protein every day.
o Eat food close to its source – avoid processed, breaded, deep fried and refined.
o Avoid eating big meals after 8pm.
o Increase fibre if you are not having 3-4 bowel movements a day.
o By simply cutting refined sugar and flour out of your diet 2-3 pounds of fat may be lost.
o You will have new blood every 3 months and new cells every year – ask me if interested.
· You require a minimum of 7.5 hours of quality sleep in darkness.
o Go to sleep at the same time each night and wake at the same time in the morning.
o Avoid caffeine after 4pm.
o Use the bedroom for sleep and partner time only (avoid work and TV)
· Without exercise you require 2 litres of water just for normal body functions (you get this water from food sources as well).
o Add a little sea salt to your water to reduce surface tension (1/8 teaspoon per litre)
o Drink before you are thirsty
o Beer or alcohol is not a hydrator and represents empty calories and hampers recovery by over demands on the liver.

Exercise provides:

· lactic acid is required to develop energy.
· a catalyst to drink water, eat better and sleep deeper.
· oxygen to your blood so you feel better.
· the transfer of your blood from the organs to the muscles.
· heat in your body so you move better.

I found these statements somewhere and find them inspiring:

1. If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep.2. The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention.3. Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.4. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.5. Minds are like parachutes...they function only when open.6. Ideas won't work unless YOU do.7. One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.8. One who lacks the courage to start has already finished.9. Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise.10. One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

I am having a great time training you and seeing your improvements and efforts.
Let’s keep it going.

Marty

This is what training and fitness is all about, getting out and having fun with people while you achieve your goals! So go find or create a training group and have some fun!



http://youtube.com/watch?v=IaQWGxj-aJU

Outdoor Workout at the Playground for fat loss

Saturday was a beautiful day outside and I just had to get out and enjoy it. Even though I had completed five days of boot camp, I still felt like training, albeit lightly, so I went over to the local playground to enjoy the weather and see what kind of training I could put together to help me lose weight.

I walked over to the park and examined my options. There is a well made playground with plenty of bars at different levels criss-crossing each other. Beside the playground is a large flat field about 70 meters long. I decided to cycle through pull-ups, dips, and 50 meter sprints. For the pull-ups I simply grabbed a bar over my head and banged out as many as possible. Then I moved to a pair of bars crossing each other and repped out a bunch of dips. After the dips I immediately walked over to the field and sprinted 50 meters. I took about a 10 second breather and then sprinted back. This was considered one set so I then rested about one minute to catch my breath before repeating the round. In summary:

• Pull-ups (cycle through chins, parallel chins and pull-ups) x as many as possible


• Dips x as many as possible


• Sprint 50 m, rest 10 seconds, sprint back 50 m


• Rest 1-2 minutes


• Repeat

I don't know how many reps or how many sets I did. This was what I call a bonus workout, as I had trained hard five times this week already. I just worked hard and had fun at the same time. The sun was super hot so it was nice to get a tan and a good sweat going at the same time. Nothing will improve your mood like training outside so I highly recommend you fit in some fun bonus training sessions at your local park. And don't worry, kids don't use playgrounds anymore, they are too busy getting fat in front of the TV!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hj6NyImbOvc

Wrestlers Use Kettlebells and Sandbags To Prepare for Matches

If you watch the Olympics you will get to see five minutes of wrestling between the hours of lame as gymnastics and long distance running. Sorry if that offends you, but I love the high testosterone sports that never get any air time like boxing, Olympic lifting, wrestling and some of the track events that display power.

Wrestlers often have incredible physiques, are incredibly strong and have amazing fitness levels. So much so that when they transition to mma they often totally dominate the true martial artists. How do they get into such amazing shape and become so darn strong?

Well, I never competed in wrestling but from what I have read and watched, it is a combination of several factors. Number one their sport practice and competition involves pushing, pulling and throwing an opponent who is trying to do the same to you. So by wrestling they are practicing resistance training for prolonged bouts. Number two they often have very intense warm-up/conditioning sessions of body weight exercises. Not merely jogging like most boxers do, but sprinting, jumping, squatting, lunging, hand walking and bridging just to name a few. I do a lot of body weight exercises these days and am always amazed at how effective they are for conditioning and relative strength. The third factor contributing to the amazing physical abilities of wrestlers is that they do all of this, and then lift weights and odd implements as well! Alexander Karelin, the famous Russian wrestler, would do Zercher deadlifts, cradle the bar in your arms and bend way down, for 10 reps with 440 lbs!

Wrestlers have always been innovators in the strength and fitness field, in fact, most old time strongmen were wrestling champions. Today's wrestlers use Olympic lifts, kettlebells and sandbags to develop incredible strength and power in the legs, abs and back so that they can lift and throw anyone in a match. Training with these implements together will make you strong as hell if you push it hard because the extra stimulus will force your body to adapt. I love to lift weights, but when I added kettlebells to my powerlifting routine my numbers increased dramatically. The key is to balance these different implements in your regime so you are progressing towards your goals and not just wasting energy training for the fun of it! Check out this video of a wrestler getting ready for the Olympics using kettlebells and sandbags.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TBASHEYeaw

Interesting New Training Implements for fat loss and conditioning

As you all know I have been attending boot camp recently and will be for the balance of July. So far it has been really fun and challenging at the same time. My fiance and I go together so it is also good "quality" for us as a couple so I recommend attending a boot camp to anyone. Generally speaking we do circuits of 40 seconds to one minute working with 20 seconds of rest. The amount of stations we use varies from 9-15 and the amount of rounds (total circuits) is either 2 or 3 total.

Our workouts are different every day which really helps with fat loss because it keeps the body from adapting. Often we use really cool implements like medicine balls, kettlebells, sandbags, bosu balls, slosh pipes and broom sticks for a wider variety of drills. Two new implements, new to me, that I had never used before were the Tornado Ball and the Indian Clubbells.

The Tornado ball is a medicine ball with a rope attached to it. You use it to train your core by swinging it around your head or swinging and slamming it into stuff, or even swinging and then throwing it! It is really fun to use and makes your core work super hard to stabilize your body. You can make your own by putting a rope through a kettlebell. I used to do hammer throws with my kettlebell and can tell you that nothing makes your abs flex harder than swinging a 53 lbs kettlebell around your head when attached to three feet of rope (this has thrown me to the ground many times!). Fun stuff!



Indian clubbells have been around as long as kettlebells I think. They are great for building the wrists and improving rotational strength. If you play a sport then you want to improve your rotational strength! Think about, throwing, kicking, tackling, hitting, all these activities occur in a rotational plane of movement, not straight forward and back. So by increasing your rotational power you will increase your performance on the field. Plus, it is a neglected movement so you are sure to build muscle! Increasing wrist strength is also extremely important. Your grip can never be strong enough if you compete in a combat or full contact sport grabbing an opponent can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

There is also something very primal about swing weights on ropes or clubbells that is very satisfying. It makes feel like the warriors from old times who would heave massive swords and axes with grace. I recommend the tornado ball and clubbells to anyone looking for some quality variety in their training.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sLMfRXM2S2Y