With so many at-home cookie-cutter workout routines out there, I figured it would be a great idea to discuss one of the best: P90X. After all, P90X is pretty cheap compared to paying a gym membership and hiring a personal trainer. This P90X fit test will let you know if you are prepared to try the P90X workout, the Insanity workout, or any of the higher intensity Beach Body programs.
Will P90X turn you into a bodybuilder, a powerlifter, an Olympic gymnast, a marathon runner, or a sport-specific athlete? Oh, hell no!
Could P90X possibly get you in the best shape of your life with minimal initial investment? Could P90X strengthen your body, improve your cardiovascular fitness, help heal nagging injuries, and dial in your 6-pack abs for summer? Oh, hell yes!
P90X is an intense workout program. Not everyone is able to keep up. Want to make sure you can handle P90X before you commit? Simply use the free P90X Fit Test. It only takes about half an hour to do the test.
While the majority of people will pass, and you can still use P90X if you’re determined, it is recommended that if you fail you try an easier program first. Now here is a quick summary of what to do.
Is there a hotter commodity in Hollywood today than Ryan Reynolds?
The Vancouver, Canada-born actor (b.1976) has built an impressive T.V. and movie portfolio over a two-decade career. Best known for his roles in romantic comedies (“Rom-Coms”) like “Just Friends” (2005), “Definitely Maybe” (2008), and the blockbuster “The Proposal” (2009), Reynolds has also quietly built an impressive action hero portfolio.
Many of us recall his portrayal of Hannibal King in “Blade: Trinity” (2004), where his chiseled “six-pack” physique was prominently featured. More recently, Ryan played the swordsman-mercenary Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) opposite Hugh Jackman, and is slated for the title role in Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ “Green Lantern“, due out in summer 2011.
Other personal accomplishments include being named People Magazine’s “Sexist Man Alive” for 2010, and the new face for Hugo Boss fragrances.
Ryan Reynolds also happens to be married to actor Scarlett Johansson, GQ’s 2010 “Babe of the Year”.
Attention men! This just in: you don’t need to gain 30 pounds of muscle in order for women to find you attractive.
I found this post from back in the year 2000 about a Harvard study in which college-aged men were asked to pick their ideal body from a group of images. Most men chose the body with 30 pounds more muscle mass than what they currently had.
A group of college females were then asked to choose which of the body images they were most attracted to. The majority of the women picked a body with 15-30 pounds less muscle than the men picked.
Justin Woltering of JustinWoltering.com writes today’s guest post. Justin has years of experience perfecting his exercise and nutrition program. He has spent countless hours mastering training flexibility, core strength, power and speed, cardiovascular fitness, and meditation. Having trained, and trained with, powerlifters, martial artists, bodybuilders, and various athletes, Justin knows what it takes to gain muscle, lose fat, or get into peak physical condition.
Are you tired of your current routine?
Do you want to increase athletic performance while creating the ideal physique?
If so, then try this sledgehammer and kettlebell workout to get better results then ever before. (more…)
I found this great slideshow on Men’s Health yesterday depicting a 175 lbs Men’s Health editor working in with NFL football star Dwight Freeney during one of Freeney’s offseason workouts. It is hilarious, fun, interesting, and educational all at the same time.
You will get an idea of how NFL players train in the offseason, which you can then use to add some conditioning drills to your own workout routine. The modified MH workout routine at the end of the slideshow leaves something to be desired, but the slidehow itself is worth your time.
Who is Dwight Freeney?
Dwight Freeney is a 6’1″ 270-pound, Pro Bowl defensive end and all-time sack leader for the Indianapolis Colts. He is powerful, explosive, fast, and generally pretty intimidating. Peep the slidehow:
Wall Balls is a silly name for an exercise, I know, but that’s what you get when you borrow exercises from Crossfit. In fact, Wall Balls are a great conditioning exercise that builds full body stamina and endurance. It will also make you sweat.
This is an exercise that integrates perfectly into a high intensity interval training (HIRT) circuit, and can also be used to build high intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions, but do not translate that well into Tabata training.
Wall Balls also can be used separately as a full body conditioning exercise by attempting to complete X reps as fast as possible, or by attempting to complete as many reps as possible in a set time limit. Either way, it burns!
Medicine Ball Training
Medicine ball training has been around for a long time, and in fact they were used frequently at gyms back in the 18th and 19th centuries. Ancient (3000+ years ago) wrestlers and other athletes used to train with various sand-filled implements, which evolved over time into the medicine ball.
The standard medicine ball is a weighted rubber ball measuring roughly 14 inches in diameter, although sizes vary greatly nowadays as you can get a medicine ball from the size of your fist to the size of your body.
Used in a wide variety of fitness programs, medicine balls can be benched, rowed, curled, pressed, squatted, tossed, caught, bounced, squished, and generally manhandled all for the sake of fitness.
The following guest post was contributed by Alexia Krause, a PR executive who is writing today about MMA Workouts for women.
MMA Workouts are not Just for Men
Mixed martial arts appears to be a male dominated sport, yet the number of women who are becoming part of the MMA community is continually growing.
There are many female MMA fighters (including Kaitlyn Young and Gina Carano), who follow the same rigorous regimens as their male counterparts. These inspiring ladies have broken open the doors to what used to be the “boy’s club” of MMA. They use the same techniques, MMA equipment, and exercises that most fighters would use.
Yes it is true, I have joined my local Crossfit. They call themselves The Savage Society, and they are based out of Manchester, NH.
Why Join Crossfit?
Crossfit is a place we can go to use revolutionary exercise ideals to create an elite level of fitness. This is not so much about strength and size, as it is fitness, which is a goal that I think has been lost to the majority of gym goers nowadays.
Rather than paying $10 a month for access to treadmills, ellipticals, and some free weights, with virtually no help or planning unless you pay $100s for a trainer, Crossfit has a formula to help you attain your personal fitness goals with workouts of the day and special routines to help you. It takes some of the thinking out of designing the perfect routine.
This will definitely be a new, positive experience, and I will probably end up getting Crossfit certified myself some day.
At a body weight of 180 lbs, Willie Albert of Iron Will Strength and Fitness in Ottawa Ontario Canada performs 10 total rounds of barbell back squat with 445 lbs, standing military press with 135 lbs, and barbell deadlift with 425 lbs. He was attempting to complete this circuit for time and finished in 4:35.
For all you math geniuses, that would be a total of 10500 lbs of work in less than 5 minutes. He’s not lifting elite powerlifting numbers, but to complete 10 rounds of this in 4 and a half minutes is impressive to me. I bet if he were going for a 1 rm, he’d be squatting and pulling in the 600s, and would be shoulder pressing 200+.
Originally posted: 1/27/10
Updates:
2/1/10 updated routine, added Excel spreadsheet workout logs)
3/8/10 added example HIIT routines for days 2, 4, and 6.
We are integrating 3 full body training sessions with 3 HIIT routines and taking the 7th day off. Since the goal is fat loss, we are striving to add some muscle mass, maintain strength, and burn as many calories as possible.
This is accomplished by staying in a slightly higher rep range than we would normally use for strictly strength training, while using super-sets for most of our exercises. We add an optional set to the end of each workout in case you are able to finish the workout early.
Major compound exercises are rotated to prioritize a different muscle group on each of the 3 training sessions each week.
Originally posted: 1/26/10
Updates:
2/1/10 updated routine, added Excel spreadsheet workout logs)
3/8/10 added example HIIT routines for days 2, 4, and 6.
We are integrating 3 full body training sessions with 3 HIIT routines and taking the 7th day off. Since the goal is fat loss, we are striving to add some muscle mass, maintain strength, and burn as many calories as possible.
This is accomplished by staying in a slightly higher rep range than we would normally use for strictly strength training, while using super-sets for most of our exercises. We add an optional set to the end of each workout in case you are able to finish the workout early.
Major compound exercises are rotated to prioritize a different muscle group on each of the 3 training sessions each week.
Special Project Swole discount:
Use coupon code HCCT to get 15% off the cover price! Click here to order.
My Review
I posted an article written by the authors of the book Hardcore Circuit Training for Men the other day, called Losing Weight with Circuit Training. Since then I found my copy of the book and finished looking through it.
Here is what I think:
First and foremost, despite the book’s title, this is not just a book for men. These circuits can be used and adapted by women and even kids. It can be used by weightlifters, triathlon athletes, regular athletes, MMA fighters, boxers, and pretty much anyone else who is looking to develop their conditioning.
Special Project Swole discount:
Use coupon code HCCT to get 15% off the cover price! Click here to order.
I will actually be reviewing this book in a couple days. It seems pretty good so far.
Lose that Holiday Weight Gain, the Circuit Training Way!
By: Chohwora Udu & Jim McHale
Overindulging during the Holiday season is all too easy, we know from experience! Even the best intentions can get forgotten amongst all the different parties and generous portions.
So what happens in January when you want to shed those extra pounds? Back to the same old gym routine? Why not start the New Year with a new training philosophy – high intensity circuit training.
what are the best exercises? Answer: view my series of best exercises posts.
how long should I workout? Answer: HIIT: 20 mins, Weightlifting & Endurance Cardio: 45 mins
how many sets should I do? Answer: That answer is going to require a dedicated post, so I’ll get to that shortly.
how many reps should I do? Answer: read on and find out…
There are 3 main kinds of repetitions (reps) when it comes to weightlifting; certain rep and set schemes are used depending on your goals. Let’s examine scheme #1:
Here we have what is essentially bodyweight circuit training, but using a pumpkin for resistance. You might laugh, but pumpkins can weigh 10-20 pounds if they’re big enough. I don’t know that this is a ‘good’ idea, but at least it demonstrates how to think outside the box.
Repeat the 4-minute workout below, 4-5 times for a Halloween-themed 20 minute fat burning workout.
Now check out these other Halloween themed workouts by The Workout Muse.
In the spirit of Project Swole’s recent focus on HIIT training, Jim Stoppani, PhD, Senior Science Editor for Muscle & Fitness Magazine and author of Encyclopedia of Muscle & Strength teaches you how to maximize the benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT).
Some of his ideas differ from what my research and experience has turned up in my post describing how to use HIIT, but the video is still a great tutorial with some exercise examples.
One difference you might notice, is that Stoppani advocates a 2:1 interval to rest ratio, while my research shows a 1:9, 1:6, and 1:3 interval to rest ratios are optimal.
His ratio would mean 2 minutes of sprints to 1 minute of rest, while my ratio would mean 20 seconds of sprints to 60 seconds of rest for an intermediate HIIT routine.
While I am sure Stoppani is an intelligent guy, I still definitely favor more rest as it helps your energy systems to recover when you are truly training at maximal intensity.
Here are some great ideas for putting together some serious conditioning workouts in your backyard:
Tire / Sled Drags – You can run backward and forwards; you can use your legs, arms, back, or chest to pull.
Tire Flips – Use large heavy tires.
Tire Throws – Use smaller tires. You can throw the tires forward or toss them over your head like a strongman keg toss.
Sledgehammer – Pick a heavy one and hit the tire with it.
Tire Jumps – Jump over the tire, jump into the tire, jump through the tire… be creative and just jump.
Various Shoulder Exercises – Press and rotate various objects above, behind, and in front of your head.
That is a very limited list of the things you can do in your backyard, but gives you some great ideas to start with. Variations of these ideas can be seen in the two demonstrational videos below.
I came across this video, which depicts the type of training I do in my thai kickboxing class and in the MMA class held right after my class. You can use these ideas to create your own conditioning program.
Dan Osman scales the side of a mountain in like a minute. This is one most excellent feat of strength and conditioning.
Unfortunately Dan Osman died when he jumped off a cliff and his rope broke, but it would be sweet if he was still alive, still helping to teach us to test our limits. RIP Dan-O.
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