- Joint Mobility Work
- Dynamic Warm-Up (reverse lunge with twist, side lunge, inch worm, Russian twist, t-push-up)
- Glute Work (bridges, bird dog, single leg bridge, clam shell)
- Kettlebell Swings x 200
- Kettlebell Complex
- High Pull
- Press
- Clean
- Rack Squat
- Rack or Suitcase Lunge
- Row
- Stiff Leg Deadlift
- Pull-Ups (optional)
Monday, November 9, 2009
Kettlebell Workout of the Day
Alwyn Cosgrove, Soccer? To burn fat?
Hey guys, here is another great little newsletter from Alwyn Cosgrove that I wanted to share.
Check out this study that Craig Ballantyne forwarded to me:
Recreational soccer is an effective health-promoting activity for untrained men
Krustrup et al.
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2009;43:825-831
36 healthy untrained men were randomised into a soccer group, a running group and a control group.
Training was performed for 1 hour two or three times per week for 12 weeks; at an average heart rate of 82% of HRmax for both training groups.
During the 12 week program, the soccer group improved maximal oxygen uptake (a measure of aerobic fitness) 62% more than the running group. The soccer group also lost an average of 50% more fat than the running group (6lbs vs 4lbs).
The soccer group had an increase in lean body mass of 3.75lbs, an increase in lower extremity bone mass, a greater decrease in LDL-cholesterol and an increase in fat oxidation during running at 9.5 km/h. The running group saw none of these changes.
The number of capillaries per muscle fibre was also almost 50% higher in the soccer training group than in
running. Both groups reduced blood pressure equally.
The researchers concluded that participation in recreational soccer training, has significant beneficial effects on health profile and physical capacity and in some aspects it is superior
to frequent moderate-intensity running.
What does this tell us?
Well, think about soccer. The difference is more than adding a ball while running.
Soccer (I mean FOOTBALL) is essentially a form of interval training (although the work and recovery periods are randomized - CHAOS training as my friend Robert Dos Remedios calls it).
It's also multi-directional, multi-movement (jumping, heading, running, sprinting, kicking, tackling, with contact) and multi-planar.
Basically this study shows that open interval training, using multiple movements and directions is superior for conditioning, muscle building and fat loss when compared to the same intensity of running.
I just wish they'd discovered that watching soccer was just as good.....
--
AC
PS - I hate calling the game "soccer".... it's FOOT-ball. Played with your feet....
AlwynCosgrove.com
24420 Walnut street
Newhall, CA
91321
US
Check out this study that Craig Ballantyne forwarded to me:
Recreational soccer is an effective health-promoting activity for untrained men
Krustrup et al.
British Journal of Sports Medicine 2009;43:825-831
36 healthy untrained men were randomised into a soccer group, a running group and a control group.
Training was performed for 1 hour two or three times per week for 12 weeks; at an average heart rate of 82% of HRmax for both training groups.
During the 12 week program, the soccer group improved maximal oxygen uptake (a measure of aerobic fitness) 62% more than the running group. The soccer group also lost an average of 50% more fat than the running group (6lbs vs 4lbs).
The soccer group had an increase in lean body mass of 3.75lbs, an increase in lower extremity bone mass, a greater decrease in LDL-cholesterol and an increase in fat oxidation during running at 9.5 km/h. The running group saw none of these changes.
The number of capillaries per muscle fibre was also almost 50% higher in the soccer training group than in
running. Both groups reduced blood pressure equally.
The researchers concluded that participation in recreational soccer training, has significant beneficial effects on health profile and physical capacity and in some aspects it is superior
to frequent moderate-intensity running.
What does this tell us?
Well, think about soccer. The difference is more than adding a ball while running.
Soccer (I mean FOOTBALL) is essentially a form of interval training (although the work and recovery periods are randomized - CHAOS training as my friend Robert Dos Remedios calls it).
It's also multi-directional, multi-movement (jumping, heading, running, sprinting, kicking, tackling, with contact) and multi-planar.
Basically this study shows that open interval training, using multiple movements and directions is superior for conditioning, muscle building and fat loss when compared to the same intensity of running.
I just wish they'd discovered that watching soccer was just as good.....
--
AC
PS - I hate calling the game "soccer".... it's FOOT-ball. Played with your feet....
AlwynCosgrove.com
24420 Walnut street
Newhall, CA
91321
US
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Max Effort Bench Press Workout
- Floor Press, work up to a max single, then drop it down for a heavy triple
- Weighted Dips paired with Weighted Pull-ups, total of 50 pull-ups
- Kettlebell Swings x 200 (part of the November Challenge)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Burpee Power Snatches
I am always looking for new and challenging exercises to do with a kettlebell. Surfing youtube I found a cool compound exercise of burpees and snatches. In this video they use a barbell, but you could just as easily use a kettlebell, or ever dumbbells.
Or you could try a different variation with a kettlebell.
Here is an older video of me doing kettlebell pukers (burpee into clean and press).
Compound exercises will get your heart rate up and are great for improving your conditioning or burning fat. You will get tired really fast though so be sure to take care of anything else you need to do first, then use this as a finisher or as the only exercise in the workout.
Or you could try a different variation with a kettlebell.
Here is an older video of me doing kettlebell pukers (burpee into clean and press).
Compound exercises will get your heart rate up and are great for improving your conditioning or burning fat. You will get tired really fast though so be sure to take care of anything else you need to do first, then use this as a finisher or as the only exercise in the workout.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kettlebell Workout of the Day
- Joint Mobility Drills
- Dynamic Warm-Up (reverse lunge and twist, side lunge, inch worm, Russian twist, t-push-up)
- Glute Work (bridge, bird dog, single leg bridge, clam shell)
- Kettlebell Swings x 200 total reps
- Barbell or Kettlebell Complex, 4 rounds total, 6-10 reps per drill, 3-4 minute rest between rounds
- High Pull
- Clean
- Jump Squat
- Reverse Lunge
- Good Morning
- Row
- Stiff Legged Deadlift
Kettlebell News
Ryan Shanahan,
Here are 3 videos demonstrating KettleBell exercises guaranteed to get you Six Pack Abs.
Want to Target the Lower Abs watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=25760170592&oid=4842614532
For some New AB exercises watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=36164435592&oid=4842614532&saved
For a HardCore AB exercise watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=31286850592&oid=4842614532
To your succsess ,
Ryan Shanahan
Scott Sonnon
http://www.flowcoach.tv/?p=634
Here are 3 videos demonstrating KettleBell exercises guaranteed to get you Six Pack Abs.
Want to Target the Lower Abs watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=25760170592&oid=4842614532
For some New AB exercises watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=36164435592&oid=4842614532&saved
For a HardCore AB exercise watch :
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=31286850592&oid=4842614532
To your succsess ,
Ryan Shanahan
Scott Sonnon
http://www.flowcoach.tv/?p=634
Alwyn Cosgrove, Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0
Hey guys,
Alwyn Cosgrove is one of my favourite fitness authors. I derive a lot of my training philosophy from his book, The New Rules of Lifting. Below is his latest newsletter. I posted it because it can help all of us achieve our fat loss goals.
I once read that Albert Einstein started from a position of what he knew was impossible and worked backwards from there, with almost a child-like curiosity, before arriving at something that actually worked.
It's actually a fantastic approach as it forces you to avoid any traditional thinking. You create new ways of doing everything.
This is what Mike Roussell and I did when we decided to redesign Warp Speed Fat Loss.
We started with what we knew would be impossible?
Instead of thinking of a long, slow approach to fat loss (i.e months and months of dieting) we took the opposite approach:
What if you could lose all the fat you wanted in one day? Impossible.
One week? Nope.
One month? ......
Check it out: Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0 launches today.
--
AC
==================================
Here's an interview I just did with Mike Roussell:
Mike: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First so we all have some perspective, how long have you been a trainer?
Alwyn Cosgrove: I started training people in 1989. Actually 1987 if you count teaching martial arts classes.
In 1995 (after college) I went full time. Since day one I've been very particular (i.e. ANAL ) about what I do. I track and tweak everything. When we opened Results Fitness in 2000, we really started to gather a lot of data. We currently have 250 members and we track all their workouts and body comp changes week in and week out.
Mike: So it is like you run your own fat loss studies at your gym?
Alwyn: Exactly. We had read all the studies showing interval training to be superior for fat loss than steady state training. This confirmed what we were seeing with our clients. But I am a big believer in that there is no physiological limit to the amount of weight a person can lose in a week, month, or year so I kept tweaking and tracking the results.
Mike: What has been one of your biggest breakthroughs lately?
Alwyn: One day it hit me -- cardiovascular programming is an ass-backwards concept.
I don't know when I first thought this - but it was confirmed to me when viewing Lance Armstrong's performance in the New York Marathon.
I'd been taught through my college education and countless training certifications and seminars that cardiovascular exercise was necessary to improve the cardiovascular system and subsequently aerobic performance.
But there seemed an inherent flaw in that argument….
Why didn't Lance Armstrong - with perhaps one of the highest recorded VO2 max levels in history - win the New York Marathon? Or beat people with lesser aerobic levels than himself?
The greatest endurance cyclist (and possibly endurance athlete) of all time - the seven time Tour De France winner - finished 868th and described the event as the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done.
Runner's World Magazine actually examined Lance's physiology (and VO2 max which was tested at 83) and compared them to the numbers of Paul Tergat (the World Record holder and defending NYC Marathon Champion at the time).
They concluded:
"This figure wouldn't mean much if it weren't for the pioneering research of famed running coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., who first published his Oxygen Power tables in 1979-- According to Daniels, who's rarely off by more than a smidgen or two, a max VO2 of 83 is roughly equivalent to a 2:06 marathon"
Based on his other physical qualities the magazine suggested that Lance was capable of running 2:01:11.
The world record at the time was 2:04:55
Lance ran 2:59:36 (and don't misinterpret me - that's still a great time). But it's clear that the physiology didn't transfer the way the running community expected.
The flaw in this thinking was looking solely at aerobic capacity -- VO2 max - the "engine" as it were. And it's fair to say that Lance had a "Formula One" engine.
But he didn't have the structural development for running. Lance was a cyclist - his body had adapted to the demands of cycling. But NOT to the specific demands of running (in fact Lance had only ran 16 miles at once EVER prior to running the marathon). Lance had developed strength, postural endurance and flexibility in the correct "cycling muscles” - but it didn't transfer to running the way his VO2 max did.
From this example we know that cardio training doesn't transfer well from one activity to another - and it only 'kicks' in because of muscular demand - so why don't we program muscular activity first - in order to create a cardiovascular response. Makes total sense.
So how does this relate to fat loss? We have found that our most successful fat loss programs center around stimulating the muscles to burn more calories - not ramping up and down the cardiovascular system. What matters is total caloric burn and how much you can increase the person's metabolism. It is a total shift in thinking.
Mike: Wow. So it is this the death of intervals and cardio? How to you put this into action with clients?
Alwyn: What we have found is so great about this approach is that you burn more calories, lose more weight, while putting a lot less stress on your joints.
Here's how I like to think about it. Let's look at traditional interval training which uses running.
Depending on stride length - walking a mile takes about 2000 repetitions and running takes 1000-1500 and will burn on average 100 calories or so.
So if we use an interval training model of running and walking - we're looking at around 1500 reps to burn 100 calories.
If we take traditional models of caloric burn - this means we'd need to do 35 miles to lose one pound of fat from our interval training efforts (discounting the metabolic afterburn for now).
So we have a problem. It's a very poor "rate of return" on our "rep investment".
Additionally - running applies a vertical force of 2x bodyweight on the joints of the lower body.
So now we have a dilemma.
Let's choose a 180lb deconditioned overweight client.
1500 reps x 360lbs = 540,000lbs of force to burn 100 calories. (The 360lbs is 2x 180lbs)
That's a LOT of stress on the joints. Literally - TONS!
Now no one was getting injured, but it seemed like there had to be a better way. A better "return"...
So -- we started to think of how we could use different interval training methods other than running to get the same metabolic effect without stressing the joints so much.
We used the airdyne bike, other bikes in order to create a training effect with less load. But whenever you take the bodyweight out of the equation in cardio - you have to work harder to burn the same calories. So this usually needs more reps. So that didn't seem like a much better idea.
At this point we started using metabolic training with weight training implements/kettlebells and bodyweight exercises in the same interval format.
So a circuit of five exercises, performed three times round (15 total sets) would actually burn more calories than the same time spent doing traditional cardio. That was a plus.
But we could also do sets of just 10-15 reps. So we're looking at 225 total reps (with a force LESS than your bodyweight) as opposed to 1500+ reps at double bodyweight.
We gave it a try. Clients loved it (which was a huge plus), and actually started to get better results than we were getting with intervals.
So we get more fat loss, less stress on the body, and happier clients. It is a win-win-win. Currently we don't program traditional interval training our regular fat loss clients anymore.
So, yeah...it is the death of traditional intervals.
You can get a sample workout using this kind of training program at:
http://warpspeedfatloss.com/workout.php
--
AC
AlwynCosgrove.com
24420 Walnut street
Newhall, CA
91321
US
Alwyn Cosgrove is one of my favourite fitness authors. I derive a lot of my training philosophy from his book, The New Rules of Lifting. Below is his latest newsletter. I posted it because it can help all of us achieve our fat loss goals.
I once read that Albert Einstein started from a position of what he knew was impossible and worked backwards from there, with almost a child-like curiosity, before arriving at something that actually worked.
It's actually a fantastic approach as it forces you to avoid any traditional thinking. You create new ways of doing everything.
This is what Mike Roussell and I did when we decided to redesign Warp Speed Fat Loss.
We started with what we knew would be impossible?
Instead of thinking of a long, slow approach to fat loss (i.e months and months of dieting) we took the opposite approach:
What if you could lose all the fat you wanted in one day? Impossible.
One week? Nope.
One month? ......
Check it out: Warp Speed Fat Loss 2.0 launches today.
--
AC
==================================
Here's an interview I just did with Mike Roussell:
Mike: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. First so we all have some perspective, how long have you been a trainer?
Alwyn Cosgrove: I started training people in 1989. Actually 1987 if you count teaching martial arts classes.
In 1995 (after college) I went full time. Since day one I've been very particular (i.e. ANAL ) about what I do. I track and tweak everything. When we opened Results Fitness in 2000, we really started to gather a lot of data. We currently have 250 members and we track all their workouts and body comp changes week in and week out.
Mike: So it is like you run your own fat loss studies at your gym?
Alwyn: Exactly. We had read all the studies showing interval training to be superior for fat loss than steady state training. This confirmed what we were seeing with our clients. But I am a big believer in that there is no physiological limit to the amount of weight a person can lose in a week, month, or year so I kept tweaking and tracking the results.
Mike: What has been one of your biggest breakthroughs lately?
Alwyn: One day it hit me -- cardiovascular programming is an ass-backwards concept.
I don't know when I first thought this - but it was confirmed to me when viewing Lance Armstrong's performance in the New York Marathon.
I'd been taught through my college education and countless training certifications and seminars that cardiovascular exercise was necessary to improve the cardiovascular system and subsequently aerobic performance.
But there seemed an inherent flaw in that argument….
Why didn't Lance Armstrong - with perhaps one of the highest recorded VO2 max levels in history - win the New York Marathon? Or beat people with lesser aerobic levels than himself?
The greatest endurance cyclist (and possibly endurance athlete) of all time - the seven time Tour De France winner - finished 868th and described the event as the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done.
Runner's World Magazine actually examined Lance's physiology (and VO2 max which was tested at 83) and compared them to the numbers of Paul Tergat (the World Record holder and defending NYC Marathon Champion at the time).
They concluded:
"This figure wouldn't mean much if it weren't for the pioneering research of famed running coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., who first published his Oxygen Power tables in 1979-- According to Daniels, who's rarely off by more than a smidgen or two, a max VO2 of 83 is roughly equivalent to a 2:06 marathon"
Based on his other physical qualities the magazine suggested that Lance was capable of running 2:01:11.
The world record at the time was 2:04:55
Lance ran 2:59:36 (and don't misinterpret me - that's still a great time). But it's clear that the physiology didn't transfer the way the running community expected.
The flaw in this thinking was looking solely at aerobic capacity -- VO2 max - the "engine" as it were. And it's fair to say that Lance had a "Formula One" engine.
But he didn't have the structural development for running. Lance was a cyclist - his body had adapted to the demands of cycling. But NOT to the specific demands of running (in fact Lance had only ran 16 miles at once EVER prior to running the marathon). Lance had developed strength, postural endurance and flexibility in the correct "cycling muscles” - but it didn't transfer to running the way his VO2 max did.
From this example we know that cardio training doesn't transfer well from one activity to another - and it only 'kicks' in because of muscular demand - so why don't we program muscular activity first - in order to create a cardiovascular response. Makes total sense.
So how does this relate to fat loss? We have found that our most successful fat loss programs center around stimulating the muscles to burn more calories - not ramping up and down the cardiovascular system. What matters is total caloric burn and how much you can increase the person's metabolism. It is a total shift in thinking.
Mike: Wow. So it is this the death of intervals and cardio? How to you put this into action with clients?
Alwyn: What we have found is so great about this approach is that you burn more calories, lose more weight, while putting a lot less stress on your joints.
Here's how I like to think about it. Let's look at traditional interval training which uses running.
Depending on stride length - walking a mile takes about 2000 repetitions and running takes 1000-1500 and will burn on average 100 calories or so.
So if we use an interval training model of running and walking - we're looking at around 1500 reps to burn 100 calories.
If we take traditional models of caloric burn - this means we'd need to do 35 miles to lose one pound of fat from our interval training efforts (discounting the metabolic afterburn for now).
So we have a problem. It's a very poor "rate of return" on our "rep investment".
Additionally - running applies a vertical force of 2x bodyweight on the joints of the lower body.
So now we have a dilemma.
Let's choose a 180lb deconditioned overweight client.
1500 reps x 360lbs = 540,000lbs of force to burn 100 calories. (The 360lbs is 2x 180lbs)
That's a LOT of stress on the joints. Literally - TONS!
Now no one was getting injured, but it seemed like there had to be a better way. A better "return"...
So -- we started to think of how we could use different interval training methods other than running to get the same metabolic effect without stressing the joints so much.
We used the airdyne bike, other bikes in order to create a training effect with less load. But whenever you take the bodyweight out of the equation in cardio - you have to work harder to burn the same calories. So this usually needs more reps. So that didn't seem like a much better idea.
At this point we started using metabolic training with weight training implements/kettlebells and bodyweight exercises in the same interval format.
So a circuit of five exercises, performed three times round (15 total sets) would actually burn more calories than the same time spent doing traditional cardio. That was a plus.
But we could also do sets of just 10-15 reps. So we're looking at 225 total reps (with a force LESS than your bodyweight) as opposed to 1500+ reps at double bodyweight.
We gave it a try. Clients loved it (which was a huge plus), and actually started to get better results than we were getting with intervals.
So we get more fat loss, less stress on the body, and happier clients. It is a win-win-win. Currently we don't program traditional interval training our regular fat loss clients anymore.
So, yeah...it is the death of traditional intervals.
You can get a sample workout using this kind of training program at:
http://warpspeedfatloss.com/workout.php
--
AC
AlwynCosgrove.com
24420 Walnut street
Newhall, CA
91321
US
Mike Robertson Newsletter, My Thoughts on the Lumbar Spine and Low Back, Part III
Hey guys, check out the link below for some great information on how to keep your back safe during heavy lifting.
In our final installment of this series, I discuss specific coaching cues, thoughts and ideas to help you get the most out of your, or your client's, training.
My Thoughts on the Lumbar Spine and Low Back, Part III
As well, don't forget that there's an entire low back training seminar available for you to download on the Newsletter Archive page, so that should help clarify a lot of the questions you might have.
Good luck and good training!
Stay strong
MR
Robertson Training Systems LLC
9402 Uptown Dr., Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN
46256
US
In our final installment of this series, I discuss specific coaching cues, thoughts and ideas to help you get the most out of your, or your client's, training.
My Thoughts on the Lumbar Spine and Low Back, Part III
As well, don't forget that there's an entire low back training seminar available for you to download on the Newsletter Archive page, so that should help clarify a lot of the questions you might have.
Good luck and good training!
Stay strong
MR
Robertson Training Systems LLC
9402 Uptown Dr., Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN
46256
US
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Workout of the Day
- Joint Mobility Drills
- Dynamic Warm-up (reverse lunge with twist, side lunge, inchworm, Russian twist, t-push-up)
- Glute Work (glute bridge, bird dog, single leg glute bridge, clam shell)
- Kettlebell Swings x 200 total
- Back Squat 8 x 2 reps
- Deadlifts, work up to a heavy but not max single
- Barbell Hip Thrust 4 x 8
- Barbell Roll Out 4 x 8
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