If you’re looking to keep your cardio fitness levels running high throughout the year regardless of weather conditions or other hindrances, then the incline treadmill workout is the best training option.
Incline workouts offer many benefits.
For starters, it’ll help you simulate hill running, thus burn off colossal amounts of calories without having to go outside and stomach the bad weather. In addition, incline workouts are great boredom busters, hence if you dread indoor cardio training, use the incline to your advantage and make your workout more challenging and fun.
As a result, if you’re not doing an incline workout—at least once per week—then you’re doing yourself a big disservice.
Looking back in my archives, I found this post from 2008; roughly 2 home relocations ago. About 8 years have passed, the ‘kids’ are teenagers now, the beach is in the backyard now instead of across the street, I still have those Powerblocks, and still love sprinting.
Today however it’s about 30°F out, 3 days before Christmas, and it’s snowing. Sprints will be much more difficult, biking is nearly impossible, and the unheated garage is freeeeeezing! I’ve been working diligently as a personal garage gym builder though, and now I also have a doorway pull up bar, push up equipment, an ab roller, springs, and big ole rubber tubes that work great for dynamic resistance training.
If you’ve no idea what I’m talking about, read the follow piece that details my thoughts on active recovery in 2008 and what I accomplished on a warm sunny day in June. I still feel the same way about active recovery, and if you’re not using it on the occasional rest day you’re missing out on fun activities that can help engage your friends and family, burn extra calories, and improve the recovery process from your strenuous gym workouts.
Even medical journals documenting active recovery research have found that, “active recovery can be prescribed and still retain performance benefits over passive recoveries”. Don’t you miss out!
Yesterday I went for a serious bike ride and it was good. I jumped on my mountain bike with my buddy Kevin and we hit the trails. After all, bike riding is a great cardio and I am in constant need of exercise. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the best mountain bike in the world – it’s a $200 Walmart special – but it works for me!
The Great Ride
Now, I am not a hardcore mountain biker by any means. In fact, I haven’t been riding at all lately and quite frankly I am out of shape when it comes to my bike. One might say I’m a novice bike rider but sometimes I just like to get out there and act like a warrior.
I sort of knew what I was in store for but refused to admit it, gazing at my bike with a somewhat incredulous stare. The bike held my stare, as it so often does, with its cold, hard, metallic callousness.
In cold weather climates, many runners log a large number of kilometers on the treadmill, and most of them complain that treadmill workout is rather boring. If you have the same problem and want to beat boredom while running on a treadmill, try the following tips. They will certainly make your treadmill running more fun.
Run with friends
If you have a friend who also trains on the treadmill in the same gym, you need to get her/him next to you. This way you will likely motivate each other as well as provide distraction in order to make your workout more efficient and faster. You do not have to run at the same pace with your friend(s).
One of the biggest problems in our society today is obesity. This is caused due to a variety of different problems, and this is also leading to a number of different treatment options. As such, finding the best weight loss Westchester NY has to offer depends on a variety of factors. Either way, we must accept that obesity is a true epidemic and that it requires more than a quick fad diet in order to be resolved. Not only must we come up with ways to help the people who are obese, we must also make sure that we prevent further people from becoming obese.
We know that obesity is dangerous. We know that it is a huge health risk. Yet we still don’t seem to truly understand what it all means.
When Does Obesity Happen?
Obesity can happen at any point during your life. It can, sometimes, escalate very quickly, and take on truly dramatic proportions. This is known as ‘malignant obesity’. Malignant obesity usually occurs after the early 20’s when we have stopped growing up, get too ‘busy’ to exercise, and when we still aren’t paying attention to what we’re putting in our bodies. (more…)
What is High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT)?
High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT) is essentially resistance training for fat loss, and like HIIT, it really is a big deal. HIRT training is the most effective way to increase your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), increase your Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC), and burn calories at the same time.
When using HIRT you will execute several exercises together (sometimes called a super-set or giant-set), for a certain number of reps per set, for a certain number of minutes, without rest.
Along with HIIT, HIRT is a useful tool when avoiding endurance cardio while trying to lose fat, and it actually increases muscle mass more effectively than HIIT. HIRT training will give you the following benefits:
Increase metabolism for up to 36 hours post-workout
Outperform aerobic exercise in fat loss studies
Maintain muscle mass on a low calorie diet
Build muscle mass on a moderate to high calorie diet
HIRT workouts help maintain muscle mass when following a low calorie diet
HIRT workouts outperform diet and aerobic exercise in fat loss studies
HIRT workouts increase metabolism for up to 36 hours
The principles of HIRT are:
Full body workouts using sets of 5 to 15 reps
Pushing through the lactic acid burn
Utilizing a variety of combo-sets (super-sets, tri-sets, giant-sets, etc…)
Utilizing compound exercises
Focusing on the largest muscle groups
Most important, we have to stay true to the two rules of HIRT:
Rule #1 about HIRT: Don’t talk about HIRT. er… no, that’s a rule for a different club I attend on Saturday nights… ah, I’ve already said too much…
Seriously though, HIRT is all about maximizing intensity – you will get out of HIRT what you put into it.
You must maximize the intensity of each set. That means pushing it until you collapse or complete the drill. No resting or slowing down before the time limit is up.
You must maximize the intensity of each workout. Use all the time available to you, to complete as much work as possible. This is the only way to realize the maximum metabolic and muscle retention benefits of HIRT.
BMR and EPOC
As I mentioned before, along with burning calories through exercise, two of the most important factors in exercising to lose fat, are increasing BMR over the long term, and increasing EPOC per workout. Let’s learn a little more about BMR and EPOC, shall we?
Why do we care about BMR?
Your BMR describes the base metabolic rate for your body. It tells us how many calories your body burns at rest. Burning more calories at rest means you will lose fat faster or gain fat slower (if your daily calorie intake is too high). Improving BMR is simple: when you have more muscle mass, your body has a higher BMR.
Increasing your BMR will help you burn more calories over the long term.
Why do we care about EPOC?
Your EPOC describes how quickly your metabolism returns to your BMR after exercise. Because it deals more with the aerobic energy system, HIIT is more effective at increasing EPOC than HIRT, but not by very much. When targeting fat loss, we want to focus on workouts that increase EPOC as well as BMR.
The higher we can pump the EPOC after each workout, the more calories we will burn in the short term.
Who Can Benefit From HIRT
Anyone who wants to lose body fat while keeping all of their hard earned muscle mass, or anyone who wants to minimize fat gain while attempting to gain muscle mass. Alongside HIIT, HIRT should be a vital component to any serious fat loss plan.
HIRT would be useful for people who:
are looking to elevate their metabolism (BMR) long term
are looking to maximize short term fat loss through resistance training
are looking to keep as muscle as possible during a cutting phase
are looking to minimize fat gain during a bulking phase
are looking to increase aerobic endurance
are looking to increase anaerobic endurance
are looking to burn more calories on a daily basis
are looking to supplement their HIIT workouts with additional fat burning exercise
are athletes who participate in a sport such as boxing, MMA, soccer, basketball, football, wrestling, etc…, who need to increase muscular endurance in 5-10 minute bursts, while minimizing body fat
Who Should Avoid HIRT
Unlike HIIT, there are virtually no people who should avoid HIRT. Grasping at straws, the few people for whom HIRT might not be the best solution include those who:
are not cleared by their doctor to begin a high intensity exercise routine. Check with your doctor before starting HIRT.
are overzealous. You can’t use HIRT 3-4 times a week, and strength training or HIIT 3-4 times a week. Even though HIRT is not neurologically as taxing as HIIT or strength training, you still must rest between workouts.
are looking to maximize strength gains. Excessive HIRT and HIIT workouts will slow down strength gains.
are looking to increase speed. Because no sprints or max effort attempts are included in HIRT, speed will probably not be affected.
Designing a HIRT Training Routine
HIRT can be used for either cutting or bulking, usually maintain muscle mass while decreasing bodyfat, but also to minimize fat gains while increasing muscle mass. HIRT is also somewhat effective at improving aerobic endurance and even more effective at increasing anaerobic endurance.
As always, your diet is still 75% responsible for determining how these goals are achieved. Manipulate calorie intake and macronutrient ratios to gain muscle or lose fat according to your goals.
These are the guidelines I will use for creating a HIRT workout:
Each HIRT workout must be a full body routine.
Sets of 5 to 15 reps will be used. Lower reps to focus on muscle gain, higher reps to focus on muscular endurance.
Each HIRT workout will use super-sets, tri-sets, or giant-sets.
Each HIRT exercise will be a compound exercise focusing on the largest muscle groups.
Each super-set should last 8-10 minutes.
60-90 seconds rest between super-sets.
No rest within a super-set.
All exercises should be executed explosively – meaning as fast as possible while maintaining good form.
Three Sample H.I.R.T. Training Splits
There are thousands of ways you can integrate HIRT into your workout routine. You can use full body workouts, a 5 day split with HIRT at the end of your strength training, you can go HIIT-less to avoid sprinting, you can focus solely on HIIT and HIRT for max fat loss. You are only limited by your own imagination.
You can choose to implement several kinds of HIRT splits:
Priority: fat lossDay 1: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance trainingDay 2: 25 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular trainingDay 3: 45 minutes of endurance cardio goal – anaerobic recovery and aerobic endurance training
Day 4: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance training
Day 5: 25 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: fat loss, but maximize muscle retentionDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity interval trainingDay 3: Off goal – recovery
Day 4: 45 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity resistance and endurance training
Day 5: 30 minutes of full body resistance training plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal strength resistance training and maximal intensity interval training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: gain muscle and attempt to lose fat at the same timeDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIRT plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training and maximal intensity interval trainingDay 3: Off goal – recovery
Day 4: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 5: 30 minutes of HIRT plus 20 minutes of HIIT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular training and maximal intensity interval training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Priority: gain muscleDay 1: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance trainingDay 2: 30 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity cardiovascular trainingDay 3: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 4: 30 minutes of HIRT goal – maximal intensity interval training
Day 5: 45 minutes of full body resistance training goal – maximal strength resistance training
Day 6 & 7: Off
Three Sample H.I.R.T. Workout Routines
Sample HIRT workout #1
For this workout, you will have to change equipment and/or stations to move to each new exercise, so your best bet will be to plan ahead and keep all the equipment you will need for the super-set at one station. This will keep rest down between sets.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
10 reps of deadlifts with 20% of your 1 rm
5 clapping pushups
5 chin ups
10 ab wheel roll outs
Super-set B:
5 jump squats
5 pull ups
10 bench presses with 20% of your 1rm
5 windshield wipers
Super-set C:
5 one leg split squats with each leg
10 inverted rows
10 push ups
5 fold ups with a half second pause at the top
Sample HIRT Workout #2
For this workout, you will have to change equipment and/or stations to move to each new exercise, so your best bet will be to plan ahead and keep all the equipment you will need for the super-set at one station. This will keep rest down between sets.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
5 push ups
5 inverted rows
5 jump squats
5 cable crunches
Super-set B:
5 chin ups
5 pistol (or one leg) squats
5 Russian twists with a medicine ball
5 push ups on the medicine ball
Super-set C:
10 skipping lunges
5 ab wheel roll outs
5 dumbbell or kettlebell swings with each arm
5 neutral grip one arm dumbbell or kettlebell rows
Olympic HIRT Workout
For this workout, you will move from one exercise to the next without any rest at all, since you won’t have to change equipment. Each movement will set you up to transition to the next movement, so that you are only executing one rep of each exercise per set and then flowing directly into the next rep of the next exercise.
This workout mainly utilizes Olympic lifts. Use really light weight or you might die, but you will probably puke anyway.
Execute each super-set for 10 minutes without rest. Rest for 180 seconds between super-sets. The workout should take 45 minutes including a 5 minute warm-up and stretching after the workout. Super-set A:
Among the top pre workout supplements, Citrulline Malate is a supplement that provides amazing benefits in the world of athletes and bodybuilders. This supplement originates from the vital amino acid citrulline, which is produced when amino acid ornithine and carbamoyl phosphate is combined. This process occurs when the body disposes of nitrogen waste. On the other hand, malate (or malic acid) is a salt compound found in some fruits. This combination makes up citrulline malate.
Using Citrulline Malate Pre Workout
When citrulline malate is taken 20-40 minutes before a workout or weight training session, it improves overall performance and increased stamina. A citrulline malate study done by the Journal of Strength and Conditional Research shows a significant increase in strength a quarter of the way through a workout by 18%. Toward the end of the workout, participants’ strength increased by 53%. This enhances overall performance and allows for swift recovery in between workouts and many other benefits.
Benefits of Using Citrulline Malate During Workouts
Additional benefits of Citrulline Malate include reduced fatigue and improved aerobic performance. European studies show an increased reduction in physical and mental fatigue. This supplement allows for more intense training as it provides energy (increases ATP production by up to 30%) and a metabolism boost for heavy work-out sessions and fast recovery. Citrulline malate relaxes the blood vessels which leads to fuller looking muscles. It’s been clinically shown to help support lean muscle mass gains. It also includes the ability to decrease overall body fat. Some additional benefits include improved memory, increased mental alertness and overall clarity. It has the tendency to leave users feeling strong, well-relaxed and have an overall sense of well-being. (more…)
I don’t HATE endurance cardio. I’m trying to give it a chance, albeit a slim chance.
It has its purpose in workout routines, especially for those who are untrained, obese, or have health complications that make high intensity training dangerous. But I can’t just blow off the continually mounting evidence (for the past 15 years) that high intensity interval training is optimal for fat loss and for developing speed, power, muscle, and even endurance!
For many years now, hardcore trainers have been touting the superior effectiveness of high intensity intervals for fat loss. But still, trainers, athletes, housewives, couch potatoes, televangelists, martial arts instructors, teachers, doctors, and pretty much anyone outside of the ‘hardcore trainer’ group suggests that if you want to lose weight you have to either walk everyday or jog for at least an hour a day 4-5 times a week. Wake up people!
Finally I was able to finish the conclusion to my best abs exercises series. If you haven’t already, you can read the Top 10 Best Abs Exercises Part 1. Then don’t forget to hit the Top 10 Best Abdominal Exercises Part 2.
Here is my list of the second 5 of my favorite 10 ab exercises that you can use to get 6-pack abs. Perform these exercises on a regular basis, mix them up, use different speeds, tempos, angles, and positions to get a full workout. Always try to mix it up from workout to workout.
Here are 3 ways you can combine these exercises for different workouts:
Choose 5 exercises that work in different plains of motion and perform them all in a continuous circuit. Rest only 1 minute after the circuit and not at all during the circuit. Repeat 3 times.
Figure out a way to alter each of these exercises to perform them hanging. You can hang from your hands, arms, legs, or feet. To hang from your feet, go get yourself some gravity boots.
Superset each one of these ab exercises with an exercise from your regular upper or lower body workout routine. Do 3 sets of each superset. I used this method to increase the circumference of my calves by 1.5 inches in 6 months.
That is quite enough out of me for now. Go ahead and read about the 5 exercises and then figure out how to work them into your routine.
Here is the long awaited follow up to the Top 10 Best Ab Exercises Part 1 and the precursor to the Top 10 Best Abs Exercises Part 3. I would like to introduce 5 of my favorite 10 ab exercises, that you can use to get a 6-pack abs look. Do these exercises regularly, mix it up, use different speeds, tempos, angles, and positions to get a full workout. Always try to progress from workout to workout.
Here are 3 ways you can gauge progress with abdominal exercises:
Try to complete more reps in a given time period. For example, do as many fold ups as possible in 60 seconds. Try to break your personal record (PR) each workout.
Try to complete more total reps each time you perform the exercise. For example, week one do 3 sets of 10, week 2 do 3 sets of 12, week 3 do 4 sets of 10, week 4 do 3 sets of 15, etc…
If it applies, try to add weight to the exercise by holding a plate or dumbbell on your chest or behind your head, or use a weighted vest. You can also add weight to your legs with ankle weights. Try to use more weight, or complete more reps with the same weight, each time.
Part 1 of this series was long and tedious, so I won’t put you through any babble-writing. On to the exercises…
