Monday, September 28, 2009

Kettlebell Challenge!!

Ok so after a while of inactivity on the site I decided today to make this site a priority and start posting again. I also decided to start something new with the kettlebells: The 365 Day kettlebell challenge! It will be pretty simple but I think turn very difficult towards the end. I will start with one rep for each exercise in the circuit and increase the reps by one each day of the challenge. My circuit looks like this:

one handed swing
one arm clean and press
squat
snatch

I was going to post this on monday but now its Thursday and I am 4 days in. So far so good. Today I did 4 sets of the circuit. Two sets per arm. I think it will start to get challenging in a few weeks but this is a good way for me to build up my endurance. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Nice run today!!

Went for a 4 mile run today in the Charleston humidity. Next time I have to get an earlier start!!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Today was a walk in the park...err neighborhood.

Today I went for a nice long one hour walk with the wife and son. We managed to go for 2.6 miles in the hour. We were able to get out before it got too hot and humid so it was a nice long walk. The boy was awake and content for most of it, just checking out everything he can see.

Kettlebells in the A.M tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tried something new today!

Earlier this week, I was convinced to try out the morning boot camp at AKS Karate. It really was a great workout. We set up stations to work through, set the time for 5 minute intervals and went for 6 rounds total. The intervals were changed halfway through and it really was a ton of fun and I got a heck of a workout. Ater the stations, we did sledge hammer swings for reps, 50 reps each side.

Friday, July 24, 2009

I did it!!!! 100 Burpees in less than 15 minutes!!!

I reached a personal goal of mine today. I went for a 45 minute walk with the wife and son. After that we came back and I completed 100 Burpees in under 15 minutes. I broke them down into sets but I only rested as much as necessary. My actual time was 14 minutes and 35 seconds!!! What a way to start a Friday!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

It was not long ago when 10 burpees were too much for me! On to the next goal of 100 burpees under 10 minutes.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Today's Crazy Eights!!

Today I spent 45 minutes walking with the wife and son at the park. After that I decided to try a circuit designed by Craig Ballantyne over at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. The workout was a series of 8 body weight exercises chained together with no rest between each exercise. Today's circuit looked like this:

60 jumping jacks
15 Spider Man pushups
20 alternating lunges (10 each leg)
20 Spider Man Climbs (10 each leg)
45 seconds Wall Squat
45 second Plank pose
5 burpees
50 high knees

No rest between exercises!!!!

Fore more workouts like this that you can do in your own home check out www.TurbulenceTraining.com.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Why Cardio Doesn't Work for Fat Loss

Why Cardio Doesn't Work for Fat Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work
so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has
tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn't add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren't previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks. That's a lot of
exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great - I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out...

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour. They
classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the "Compensators"
and the "Non-compensators".

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge "compensatory" increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio? If it does,
research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your
appetite and calorie intake to see if you are "compensating" for
your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program
of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research,
interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. And
increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat-
burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of
cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity
exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training


About the Author

Learn about the "Dark Side of Cardio" in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
www.TurbulenceTraining.com