Contrary to popular belief, not seeing progress in your condition goals does not automically infer that you are "at maintenance" and need to cut calories further.
Nope, that's garbage! We really need to end the notion that athletic condition is associated with food avoidance. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Well this morning I had a run in with a fellow on the internet over his promotion
of supplements for weight loss. He was posting in a group and his advertisement for his magical product encouraged people to lose weight by mixing his potion with milk, peanut butter and butterscotch pudding mix! His other recipe included Oreo cookies and Jello flavoured puddingmix. Mmm sounds like a balanced nutritional meal to me! (not!) Not
surprisingly I got a little hot under the collar about this latest
dietary scam and decided it was time to talk about weight loss supplements.
Click the link to read the full entry on the Lean Green & Healthy blog.
This is part two of the Low Cost Home Training Program I posted up just before. I made the videos last summer and thought some new people might like to give it a try. These are serious routines and you will see good results if you do each of them twice weekly with suitable eating habits.
Here's the Pulling routine. The other one was the Pushing routine, remember?
Routine Description:
Warm Up: TRX Reverse Flies and Front Raises
I did 3 sets of 20 (10 reps of each movement) just as a nice warm up for the shoulders and upper back muscles. TRX Hanging Row:
In the gym I’d probably be doing a cable row, machine row, even a
dumbbell row… any type of horizontal pulling movement. Here I’ve gone
for the TRX variation, and I’m leaning back as far as possible so that
I’m pulling as much of my body weight as I can. I managed 4 sets of 16
reps here, you should aim for 10 - 12 reps.
Resistance Band One Arm Reverse Flies
Here I’m trying to replicate a Reverse Cable Fly that I might do in
the gym. In my program we’d call this a Precision Movement trying to
target the rear deltoid muscle specifically. Do 4 sets of 12 to 16 reps. Resistance Band Upright Row
Usually I’d do this with a barbell in the gym, but a resistance band
will suffice at home or on holiday. We want to be pulling our elbows
straight up into the air, and our hands to about middle-of-the-chest
height. 4 sets of 10 - 12 reps again here. Pull Ups / Chin Ups
Vertical Pulling movement. Self explanatory! These are tough though, so don't be too upset if you can't manage them as a beginner. Resistance Band Reverse Flies
Again. This is probably over kill having already done a TRX version
and a single arm version, but I wanted to show a few different options. Resistance Band Bicep Curls
Squeeze those biceps at the top and release slowly. 4 sets of 12 - 16 reps.
Not shown in the video, but do these too.Google them if you have to.
Hip Thrust / Glute Bridge 4 x 20 reps.
Hip Rotation aka Clam Shell Exercise, or Fire Hydrant
Exercise 4 x 20 reps each side. Hip Abduction aka Laying Side Leg Raise 4 x 20 reps each
side.
I shot these videos last summer and thought I'd share them again for all the people looking to get into shape as part of their New Years Resolutions.
Now, it's like I talk about all the time. If you actually want results you need to train productively, not just "burn calories". Resistance training really is the key, but weights are expensive! On a budget, some resistance bands and a suspension trainer are a great option to train seriously at home.
Today's routine is based on pushing movements, and accessory exercises that compliment them.
Routine Description:
Warm Up: Resistance Band One Arm Flies
I usually start this routine with Pec Dec in the gym. A dumbbell or
cable fly is a similar movement, and the resistance band fly is the
option we’ll use with the home routine. If you had two sets of the same
bands (and really they’re not very expensive, so that’s worth thinking
about) you could do both sides together… or one at a time like I am
doing here. I’m adding a little extra shoulder rotation to the end of
the movement here which I feel gives me just that little extra bit of
contraction in the pectorals.
Do 3 sets of 12 - 16 reps of these.
Horizontal Push: Push Ups
We could do a Chest Press with the Resistance Bands, but I feel like
Push Ups are as good an option as any. You can see I start with a
beginners version, leaning against the railing… and then I do a more
advanced version with my feet elevated. If you have the TRX and are
really looking for an advanced option you can have your feet in the
straps which means a lot of extra work to stabalise yourself.
Do 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Various Squats
I think the TRX Squats are a really good method to learn good, deep
squatting technique. You can lean back into the squat a little and you
have the handles to hang on to for balance, and you can squat nice and
deep. Once that’s too easy, try either the one legged (pistol) squat or
the one legged lunge. These damn near killed me. You can see some
discrepancy with my form from one side to the other as well… if only I’d
had a coach there to point that out at the time!
4 sets of as many as you can manage!
Resistance Band Front Raise
Coming back to upper body, and this is a nice one to target the shoulders. Anterior Deltoid muscle in particular.
Do 2 x 12 - 16
reps.
Resistance Band Side Lateral Raise
Shoulders again, this time trying to hit the Lateral (or middle if
you prefer) Deltoid. With both this and the above exercise, try to have a
little pause at the top of the movement, and then return slowly to the
starting position.
Do 3 x 12 - 16
reps.
Vertical Push: Resistance Band Shoulder Press
Much like performing a Dumbbell Shoulder Press in the gym, but with the Resistance Bands instead.
Do 3 x 10 - 12 reps.
Resistance Band Overhead Tricep Extension
Self explanatory, isn’t it? You could do a variation on Cable Kickbacks here as well, which I quite like.
Do 3 x 12 - 16 reps.
