This is another video I took while visiting family in Belarus, as a followup to my "Travel Workout" I uploaded a couple of weeks ago. I finally made it in to a gym in Minsk. In this workout I demonstrate a technique called "Pre-Exhaust" training, which is great for hypertrophy (muscle growth)... however, I am limited by what I can do because I am still recovering from a distal bicep tendon partial tear, so I can't use heavy loads for upper body yet.
The nice thing about "Pre-exhaust" is that you can pre-fatigue a target muscle group using an isolation exercise before finishing it off with a compound movement. This still allows you to stress the muscle group adequately without needing to use as heavy of a load.
Some examples include:
Chest flyes before Chest press
Reverse flyes before Back Rows
Dumbell pullovers before Chinups (or Pulldowns)
Leg extensions before Squats (although I'm not a big fan of leg extensions in general)
Try out this training method in your next workout and see how it feels!
I still have one more video from Belarus that I will share next week, discussing recovery methods (warning: Sauna footage!), lol.
Watch for that. Until then, train hard and stay fit! I invite you to post a comment below if you have any questions or want to share a related story.
Here is a short animated video I put together highlighting some of the myths and misunderstandings surrounding weight-loss. I hope you get a laugh out of it:
Just remember... looking for a "Quick-Fix" to fat loss will result in a "Fast-Track" to failure! Take the time to educate yourself, make the necessary lifestyle changes, and be prepared to invest some time and energy to improve your health, fitness, body composition, and appearance. You are worth it!
In this post I want to share some important fat loss tips in response to a recent subscriber comment.
Before getting to that I want to thank everyone who completed the survey I posted! (If not please do so... it helps me get my readers the content they want!). --Subscriber Poll--
I had posted another "Subscriber Poll" a few months ago as well, and the response from that indicated that most of you were interested in learning more about fat loss and / or strength training. Hence my focus on getting stronger and leaner.
In my more recent online survey I wanted to get more specific, and it looks like many of you would like to see more body-weight exercises and workouts that require minimal equipment. There was also interest in unique or unconventional exercises.
Thank you for your feedback! I look forward to posting some good tips and tutorials for you soon!
Now let's discuss how to lose body fat! Here are some key points you need to consider if you're goal is to get leaner and STAY lean:
1. Nutrition is paramount for fat loss! You can't out-train a bad diet (check out Craig Ballentyne's video below). I set up my clients with a complete nutrition plan when they start on one of our programs, but the basics are:
Eliminate simple sugars
Drink more water (and green tea)
Keep your portions smaller but schedule a healthy snack mid morning and mid afternoon.
Aim to eat vegetables and a source of protein at each meal or snack
Take a fish oil supplement daily
Use a nutrition journal. Studies prove that when you write it down you will be more successful!
2. Resistance Training (ie- circuit training) is more effective than cardio for long term fat loss. Strength training exercise raises your metabolism, helps regulate insulin, controls your blood sugar levels, and reshapes your body. Resistance training leads to a double-reducing affect, where you are not only burning calories (and fat) while you are training, but your metabolism is also elevated for several hours following the workout. So don't assume that when I'm sharing information about resistance training that it doesn't relate to fat loss!
3. High intensity cardio trumps long, slow cardio: If you do cardio, incorporate high intensity intervals. Long duration, slow cardio can reduce your metabolism by causing you to lose lean tissue. Whereas high intensity, short duration cardio "interval training" can boost your growth hormone levels and help you maintain your muscle tissue while burning fat.
4. Mental Conditioning: Your mind controls your body, so you need to learn to take charge of it! If you complain or let negative self-talk creep into your subconscious (such as "I'll never lose weight", or "it's too hard and I don't have time", etc), you can sabotage your progress. You need to set clear goals, train yourself to visualize success with your goals, and approach your nutrition and exercise plan with confidence and optimism!
5. Follow a well structured training plan: Your exercise program should have planned variations and use productive exercises within a proven routine. This is exactly what I'm producing for you with my Get Lean ebook... should be ready soon!
I hope these tips help you reach your goal of getting leaner and stronger! I have several video tutorials lined up and ready to share soon... stay tuned for that.
Post a comment if you have any questions or want to share something. I look forward to hearing from you.
As promised, here is one of the workouts I videotaped while visiting my in-laws in Belarus (near Russia). I was unable to make it to the gym regularly, but I wasn't about to miss training... especially considering how much food we were eating on this trip!
Admittedly, there was plenty of alcohol consumption as well... at least more than I am used to. In fact, on our first night in Belarus my father-in-law, Valeriy, served us a couple of shots of his "special Vodka" to celebrate our safe arrival. Not wanted to disappoint him, I tentatively snapped it down in one shot. Within a second it hit me... literally sucking the breath right out of me! My face must have turned white because he quickly put a glass of water in front of me. Of course, I'm still trying to act "cool" as I casually sip the water, and whisper painfully "vkusna" (which means "tasty" in Russian).
It turns out this stuff was moonshine and was 96% alcohol! No lie! Well that was the worst drinking experience, but not the last. I didn't understand most of what everyone was saying, but there must have been alot to celebrate because we were toasting with shots of Vodka at almost every dinner!
Needless to say, I didn't want to miss my workouts on this trip!
So I set up several simple, intense circuit training workouts using body-weight exercises, such as the workout I show you in this video. This is similar to the workouts used in the Systemic Endurance phase in my Get Lean program (check it out at Get Lean Book).
Using exercises and a program like this you never need to miss a workout while traveling. If you're interested in the Power Wheel or Jungle Gym Straps, check them out at the lifts on the left of my blog.
I have 2 more videos ready to upload from our trip, including a gym workout (demonstrating a great high-intensity training method) and my Russian sauna experience!
I've had several new subscribers since I last sent out a newsletter, so I decided it's time for another Poll to check in with you guys and get an idea what your interests are.
Please take a second to make up to 2 selections on the Poll below... it will help me get even better content out on my blog and newsletter in the future. Thanks!
I have a couple of training videos (recorded during my trip to Russia) prepared for you that I'll be posting next week ... check back then!
It's been several weeks since I've posted a blog... I've been a busy boy! Let me catch you up on what's been going on:
To help me with my growing client load I've recently hired a new trainer to work with me, and my goal is to have 1 or 2 more trainers working with Top Form Fitness clients. This change has required me to make some changes within my business, such as organizing our programs into templated training systems and creating PowerPoint nutrition presentations for each phase, as well as providing more training resources for both the clients and our trainers. This results in a better training experience and more consistent results for the clients, and enables the trainer to deliver more professional service.
Changes like this are exciting, but they can take time. However, I'm almost finished... just working on completing a series of exercise tutorial videos for an online video library. This will be a great resource for both one-on-one AND online clients! I'll post a link when I have it set up.
I've also been training myself quite seriously this spring/summer, and I've competed in a couple of Strongman competitions with some members of the strength athletics group I started, Team Barbarian. I've basically been testing my strength training program, as are several other trainers, before I package it up as an ebook training manual and make it available to others online.
I was very pleased with my strength gains and my competition performance, however I was unfortunate enough to suffer a partial tear of my bicep tendon in one of the events. After a few weeks of modified training it should heal... but the glory of being strong lasts forever! LOL! Here is some footage of the competitions:
New Liskeard Strongman, 2010:
United Way Strongman Contest, 2010:
Btw, if you enjoy strongman training or checking out the competitions, subscribe to my new YouTube channel ... I've got alot of new footage on there and I'll be submitting more videos soon.
Anyway, the biggest news for me at present is that my wife and daughter and I are jumping on the plane tomorrow and heading to Belarus! We will be visiting my wife's family and introducing our daughter to the grandparents who haven't met her yet. This is Kaitlyn's first flight... pretty exciting!
While in Belarus I plan to take some time to get caught up on rest, rehab my bicep tendon, and work on one of my ebooks. I've been putting the 2 ebooks (training manuals) on the back-burner for too long... now I expect to have time to finish one of them, and get started on the biggie!
I also plan on getting some good video footage from Belarus (including training tutorials, and the banye -a hot/cold Russian sauna experience!) which I will post on my blog and send out on my newsletter. I look forward to staying connected with everyone online more this season.
Finally, I'm hoping to post a biweekly Top Form Fitness Challenge video. So check back here again, and subscribe at StrongerAndLeaner.com and I'll have more good training and nutrition information to share!
