Hill Sprints

Today was a beautiful, warm sunny day so instead of hitting the gym I biked to my favourite sprinting hill and ran some sprints. Hills sprints give you all the great benefits of sprinting such as improved metabolism and athleticism without the risk of pulling a hamstring that you face running flat sprints. Hill sprints also strengthen your ankles nicely, which is a highly underrated area to develop for peak athletic ability.

The next time it is a "leg day" and it is beautiful outside, take advantage of the weather and get some sun with that exermesize!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIXR1qEUbzQ

Tuesday Strength Workout

Today I hit the gym in preparation for a bench press contest I have entered for the end of July. With a wedding coming up and having just started a new job I opted out of the full powerlifting meet to keep things simple for myself. This workout focused on improving my speed in the bench press.

• Bike to the gym, 20 mins


• Speed Bench 8 x 3 paired with Pull-ups 8 x 4-5


• Dips 4 x 30 seconds/set paired with Face Pulls 4 x 30 seconds/set


• Cable Triceps Extensions 2 x 25 paired with Cable Curls 2 x 8-10


• Bike home, 15 mins (downhill mostly)

I prefer to bike to the gym on upper body days over driving as it does not negatively effect my strength levels and burns some extra calories. Also, nothing puts me in a better mood than some outdoor exercise!

If you don't care about the speed at which you can bench (speed increases power) than swap the speed bench for some higher rep dumbbell pressing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYPCJbAh3CE

I Swing A Lot

Here is a funny little workout I came up while I was recovering from my three day stag party. It isn't too hard but will get you sweating and feeling like you accomplished did something.

• 1 Arm Military Press x 10+10, 10+10
• Kettlebell Swing x 30, 20
• 1 Arm Row x 20+20, 15+15
• Swing x 20, 20
• Goblet Squat x 10, 10
• Swing x 20, 20
• 2 kettlebell Stiff Leg Deadlift x 20, 20
• Swing x 20, 20
• Rack Twist x 10, 8
• Swing 20, 20
• Underpass Lunge x 10, 10
• Swing x 20, 20

So in this workout, do one set of the body part movement (military press, goblet squat) and then one set of swings. You are doing a drill, then swings, then back to a drill and so on until the workout is complete. When you are done all those swings are sure to send your metabolism through the roof!

Get your fat butt outside!

Well summer is finally here for real now in Canada, altough it did snow here in Calgary two weeks ago! Summer is a great time to take your training outside and get creative. Have some fun and losen up a bit!

Here is the simple outdoor workout I did Thursday. The purpose of this workout was simply to elevate my metabolism and improve athleticism a bit.

• Bike Ride easy, 10 mins


• Hills Sprints, 20 mins total including rest periods


• Pull-ups and Push-ups at the park


• Bike Ride hard, sprints, 15 minutes total


• Mobility Drills

I should have done the mobility work first but I was so excited to get outside I forgot until I arrived at the hill. For some reason I feel like a dork doing hip circles in a park by myself so I just trained and then loosened up afterwards. Not ideal I know, but real life rarely is!

The workout I did here is not overly important, what is important is that training outside in fresh air and real sunlight is great for you. Your mood will improve and it will make training fun again! Nothing beats dragging your kettlebells or weights outside and blasting away in the sun with your shirt off!

Speed Squat Workout

Hey guys, here is Wednesday's speed squat workout. Use speed work if you want to improve explosiveness and/or technique in a specific lift. I am preparing for a powerlifting meet so improving speed in the squat, bench and deadlift is a must!

• Speed Box Squat 10 x 2 x 55-65% raw 1 rep max
• Speed Sumo Deadlift 10 x 1 x 55-65% raw 1 rep max
• Shovel lift 2 x 8+8, 6+6
• Hyper extensions 3 x 15

This session was short and sweet as I train 6 days a week and like to keep each session brief but intense. If you need to increase your core strength, and you probably do, that shovel lift is a great drill to build it.

I often do the shovel lift in a squatting motion and keep the bar parallel, but the video below shows a really effective version as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZG0wqpCiA8

Spinal Decompression Goodness

Hey everyone! Thanks goes out to Jay for this post.

As an avid weightlifter and chair sitter my spine is getting squished for lack of a better term all the time. The Thai boxing gym I used to train at had an inversion table that I used to just love, unfortunately my current gym doesn't have one and at the same time I am squatting more than ever. The result is a back that feels tight all the time. I have tried to loosen it up or decompress it without much success, that is until Jay sent me this link called Spinal Decompression Procedure for Increased Spine Health. There is some great info here guys so be sure to check it out!

Here are some similar articles you information seekers:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5047594_spinal-decompression-exercises.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?Introduction-to-Height-Increase-Exercise&id=314674

Applying tracking to the spine will make you feel better and improve your health, so why give it a try?

Speed Bench Press Training

Tuesday's are Speed Bench training for me so I hit the gym to do just that. For speed bench, use about 55-65% of your 1 rep max. The goal is move the weight extremely fast, focus on velocity, not heavy weight. This will teach you to be fast and explosive, a skill that is proven to improve your 1 rep max!

Here is the workout:

• Speed Bench 8 x 3 @ 65% 1 rep max (this is waved up and down throughout the weeks)


• Pull Ups 8 x 4-5 (paired with speed bench)


• Incline DB Press 3 x 30 second sets (counting time not reps)


• Pull Ups 3 x 3 (paired with speed bench)


• Cable Triceps Extensions 3 x 30 second sets (counting time not reps)


• Rope Curls 3 x 30 second sets (counting time not reps)


• Face Pulls 3 x 30 second sets (counting time not reps)

As you can see my accessory work uses time instead of reps to manage work load. For an understanding of why check out my previous post and the link placed in there. Basically I have reason to believe that my hypertrophy work sets have not been long enough to elicit actually hypertrophy. Time under tension is said to be a huge factor in hypertrophy and my sets usually last about 10 seconds when 30-45 seconds is said to be ideal.