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Jan 07 2009

Video: The Basic Squat

This squat video by the American Council on Exercise shows proper form and technique for the squat. They’re doing body weight squats in this video, to show form and function, but it’s also a good idea to progress to a point where you’re using weights.

Adding weight to your squat can come in the form of a barbell across the shoulders, dumbbells in each hand, a kettlebell in one or both hands or even a dumbbell in one or both hands.

[youtube Z4h17vtgH7k nolink]

Body Weight Exercises

Bodyweight exercise is fantastic. Push-ups can be done anywhere you have a floor and they’re one of the perfect vacation exercises. Squats are just as easy to perform anywhere you have a floor. If you’re using body weight, you can begin with one or two if you’re quite large, then progress as you get stronger. If you’re already quite strong, do a massive set of 50 or 100 squats.

Jeff Anderson the Muscle Nerd uses a combination of many different types of bodyweight exercises plus gym tools in his Combat The Fat Workout program. I’ve used the Combat The Fat Workout as my primary training routine when I was getting in shape to climb to Mt Everest Base Camp in Oct of 2008. I needed endurance and lung capacity to be able to handle the 9 hour days of climbing and Jeff’s program did the trick.

I’ve recently added a squat challenge to my body weight challenge section in my “other” forum. Challenge yourself, see how many squats you can do in 2 minutes or try another one and see how many long it takes you to do 100 squats.

Watch the squat video, make sure you’re using proper form, because when it comes right down to any training you do, it’s all about form, not the weight.

Written by Rob · Categorized: Exercise · Tagged: Body Weight Exercises, squat, Video

Mar 18 2008

Turbulence Training Author Interview

Craig Ballantyne, the author of Turbulence Training, bodyweight fat loss training manual, and contributor to Mens Health magazine stopped in for a little chat a month ago and it’s now being partially released to readers. This Craig Ballantyne interview is ongoing, so be sure to register on the last page for updates.

turbulence training
Craig says

Everyone’s familiar with the term “turbulence” as it applies to flying. You know to buckle your seatbelt when you hit turbulence because the airplane has to work very hard to re-position itself in the air.

This is the same theory behind “Turbulence Training“, a combination of resistance training and interval training designed to lead you to the promised land of single-digit body fat.

Craig couldn’t be more clear about the need for variety and change in your workouts as well as the critical importance of weight training for building and keeping muscle in any successful fat loss program. Turbulence Training is just that. Craig has also been credited with the 300 workout that the actors for the movie 300 followed, but as it turns out, he didn’t, it was Mark Twight of Gym Jones (who I want to train with incidentally).

The original 300 workout, will kick your ass…

[Read more…]

Written by Rob · Categorized: Exercise, Weight Loss Programs, Weight Training · Tagged: Body Weight Exercises, Craig Ballantyne, Fat Loss, interval training, Interviews, Movie 300, Pullups, Pushups, Turbulence Training

Jan 22 2008

The Ultimate Perfect Pushup Review

I posted my perfect pushup review a few months back and it got a lot of attention, er…. , slammed by a bunch of guys on a martial arts forum. It caught me a bit off guard as they trashed the product and the review. Then as I watched their discussions, I found that other members agreed with me and had gotten results themselves and from spouses who used the perfect pushup and were able to reduce wrist and palm pain by their design.

Other comments on the post found that my perfect pushup review was spot on and I’ve yet to have any negative comments here on the blog.

perfect pushup review

The Ultimate Perfect Pushup Review

Then, just recently, I was contacted by Taylor, a young aspiring bodybuilder from the United States who has done what I’m calling the Ultimate Perfect Pushup Review. He’s been using the perfect pushup 21 day program that comes with the product and been getting some great results.

Taylor has posted his video results and his charts indicating his gains over the 21 days. Now he’s on to part 2 of his program and adding a bulking phase to gain some lean mass. It’s more than a review, it’s a real guy, doing the real work and posting his results.

Good luck Taylor, I fully support you.

The Navy Seals Perfect Pushup product is relatively inexpensive at $40 (the travel version is a bit more) and a great addition to your home gym. The device allows you to rotate through a range of motion different from regular pushups and thus hitting the pecs in a different way. I recommended them in my perfect pushup review and I recommend them now.

Written by Rob · Categorized: Exercise · Tagged: Body Weight Exercises, Bodybuilding, perfect pushups, Push Ups, Pushups, Review

Oct 16 2007

Navy Seals Perfect Pushup Review

Pushups have long been a staple of any body weight workout routine and the true measure of a man. Any physical fitness test done at schools or in bars by college students revolves around the amount done in a given time or overall amount done to failure. The pushup is also the staple of the Navy Seals and before even arriving at the Basic Underwater Demolition / Seal training, the candidate must pass a physical exam including pushups. What the seals learned from years of trial and error, was that basic bodybuilding routines and programs created worn out shoulders and other body parts. After extensive testing to determine why their seals were being injured, the end result was the Perfect Pushup.

perfect pushup review

The Perfect Pushup

The military realized that 73% of Navy Seals were on disability after 20 years of service (cite) so they spent an entire year researching why and found that it was the traditional weight training exercises that did the damage. They switched to functional training and the Perfect Pushup was invented.

perfect pushupThe Perfect Pushup is designed to rotate with your body as you put it through the pushup movement. The natural tendency of your shoulders and chest is to rotate, so the perfect pushup rotates with you as you do the movement. The result is less injuries and a better built body.

Benefits

  • Unique rotating handles allow your arms to rotate naturally during pushups
  • Engages more muscles, while reducing joint strain
  • Exercises based on U.S. Navy SEAL Two Min Drills

Its very simplistic in design, but rugged in construction, and the price is right at less than $40 – so there’s no reason not to invest in this fantastic fitness gadget. The Perfect Pushup is available from amazon. Includes a full color instructional poster that shows perfect form along with a customizable 21 day workout planner based in SEAL 2 minute drills that works for any fitness level – from beginner through Olympic athlete. A travel version will soon be available as well which folds flat to fit in your suitcase.

Written by Rob · Categorized: Weight Loss · Tagged: Body Weight Exercises, Bodybuilding, Fitness Gadget, Pushups, Review, Training, workout

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